Where Did Disturbed’s Mascot ‘The Guy’ Come From?

Where did Disturbed’s mascot The Guy come from?

Let’s find out!

Who Is ‘The Guy’ + Why Is the Mascot Significant?

‘The Guy’ is the musclebound, shadow-faced figure with glowing eyes and a menacing, toothy grin. He is the long-running mascot for veteran hard rock/metal band Disturbed.

Why Is He Named ‘The Guy’?

Let’s admit it — The Guy is a pretty ambiguous name, but the name actually has a pretty interesting backstory.

As revealed by singer David Draiman is a video uploaded to Disturbed’s YouTube channel, it was drummer Mike Wengren’s nephew who coined the name for the mascot.

“He used to be scared of the face,” Draiman recalls of Wengren’s nephew’s reaction, noting, “He would say to his parents, ‘Is that the guy? That’s the guy, isn’t it?’ And, so, it just stuck.”

When Did ‘The Guy’ First Appear With Disturbed?

Unlike the mascots for Iron Maiden and Megadeth (Eddie and Vic Rattlehead, respectively), The Guy did not appear on the front album cover of Disturbed’s debut album.

Instead, white-line sketches of tilted eyes, a sinister grin and off-set eyebrows are represented on the physical The Sickness CD. The band name and album title are written horizontally across the CD in the west and east cardinal directions, respectively. Label logos and copyright print are stacked sideways on the vertical axis in the north and south directions while The Guy’s visage (accented with long hair, chin piercings and beards to represent each member’s own look at the time) is seen in the ordinal directions of the layout.

The Guy originated out of Disturbed’s desire to have something to visually represent the band.

“Initially, I had a buddy of mine sit down with me,” Draiman says in the video above. His friend asked him what he wanted it to be and the singer made a certain face and that’s where it all started. After a simple sketch was made, Draiman’s pal used a digital distortion program (software) to mock up new renders of the face. After a couple tries, they landed on one that felt just right.

What Disturbed Album Covers Does ‘The Guy’ Appear On?

The Guy appears on the front of the following Disturbed album covers:

Ten Thousand Fists (2005)

Indestructible (2008)

Asylum (2010)

The Lost Children EP (2011)

Immortalized (2015)

Divisive (2022)

Who Has Drawn ‘The Guy’?

Renowned comic book artists Greg Capullo and Todd McFarlane worked together on the cover of Ten Thousand Fists.

David Finch, also a comic book artist, drew the cover for Indestructible.

Raymond Swanland, who has contributed art to Magic The Gathering and World of Warcraft, illustrated the Asylum artwork, as well as The Lost Children EP cover. Swanland also worked with Alex Tenta on Immortalized while Tenta is responsible for Divisive.

Where Else Is ‘The Guy’ Represented in Disturbed Imagery?

The Guy makes several appearances in Disturbed music videos, often depicted with superhero-like powers and is generally regarded as a powerful force capable of taking on greedy corporate sycophants to insidious armies.