History Music / GWAR

* Michael Bishop - Blothar the Berserker (Lead vocals) 2014-present
** Was also Beefcake the Mighty (bass) from 1987-1993 and 1998-1999
* Mike Derks - Balsac the Jaws of Death (rhythm guitar) 1988-present

* Casey Orr - Beefcake the Mighty (bass) 1994-1997, 1999-2002, 2008-2011, 2019-present

On February 25th, 2019, Jamison Land (Beefcake The Mighty)announced his departure from the band on Facebook, citing family and career reasons.

* ''Germany Must Be Destroyed'' (2000) [[note]]An unofficial bootleg, taped during the Gwarmageddon 2000 tour. Widely traded on torrent/[-P2P-] sites.[[/note]]

** Just about every cover GWAR has done falls into this category. "[[Music/AliceCooper School's Out]]" replaced a couple of lines and essentially made the dissatisfaction with the school from the original song even more apparent; "[[Music/{{Kansas}} Carry On Wayward Son]]" became an ode to an "unemployed son" who needs to "get [his] ass off the couch and get a goddamn job"; and "People Who Died" became a tribute to several musicians and friends of GWAR [[CaptainObvious who died]]. The only covers that were (usually) played remotely straight were the ones performed on tour -- including "Golden Shower" by the Music/{{Mentors}} and the Billy Ocean/Who mashup from the Fall 2013 tour.

* SelfDeprecation: When not taking pot shots at Earthlings, celebrities, American culture, etc, they take shots at themselves for being less-that-stellar musicians (at least in the early days), making fun of their cheesy props, etc. Not to mention they portray their characters as rather dim and bufoonish.

* TheAlcoholic: Apparently why Kim Dylla (the first Vulvatron) was fired. A heated Facebook exchange with Brent Purgason revealed that her excessive alcohol consumption, [[CantHoldHisLiquor sloppy-drunk tendencies]], and the frequency with which she went onstage completely wasted and performed poorly were what got the band to let her go. Subsequent posts on the subject were something to the effect of "yeah, okay, I like to get fucked up before shows, but at least I can handle myself!", which did ''not'' help her case. Coincidentally, the scumdogs are shown to be alcoholics as well as drug addicts.

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: played straight in "Parting Shot", where Oderous says "Never trust your parents, especially when they're older", but then subverts this trope with the next line: "always use a beer koozie, it keeps it that much colder". Not

* EvenEvilHasStandards: While GWAR would cross lines most people felt shouldn't be crossed (such as portraying Seung-Hui Cho "going for the record" six months after the Virginia Tech massacre or having Oderus molesting [=JonBenet=] Ramsey), Dave Brockie was against using racist language as part of GWAR's act.

What happens when you take the theatrical stage performances of Music/AliceCooper, the costumes and makeup of Music/{{KISS}}, AudienceParticipation of ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow'', and throw it in a [[UpToEleven meat grinder]]? You get the [[EvilOverlord self-proclaimed overlords]] of all existence known as GWAR.

* BlackComedy; The live version of "Have You Seen Me" off the Road Behind single epitomizes this:

*** And then they [[RefugeInAudacity barbecue and]] [[ImAHumanitarian eat him.]] Roast Lamb of God, anyone?

* EvenEvilHasStandards: While GWAR would cross lines most people felt shouldn't be crossed (such as portraying Seung-Hui Cho "going for the record" six months after the Virginia Tech massacre or having Oderus molesting JonBenet Ramsey), Dave Brockie was against using racist language as part of GWAR's act.

* HumansAreMorons; "The Salaminizer" has this:

* ImpossiblyCoolClothes:

* NeverSpeakIllOfTheDead: Averted. GWAR trash talks and re-kills the deceased (Laci Peterson, Music/MichaelJackson and [[Music/TheMentors El Duce]], to name a few) on stage.

* TakeThat: They bring effigies of celebrities, politicians, and other noteworthy people on stage for ritualistic public execution. A short list of victims includes Music/MichaelJackson, Music/JustinBieber, [[LiveActionTV/JerseyShore Snooki]], El Duce from the Music/{{Mentors}}, JonBenet Ramsey, and every President of the United States (and during election years, those running for President) since Reagan.

* TakeThatMe: When not taking pot shots at Earthlings, celebrities, American culture, etc, they take shots at themselves for being less-that-stellar musicians (at least in the early days), making fun of their cheesy props, etc. Not to mention they portray their characters as rather dim and bufoonish.
** Meta, Dave Brockie maintained a blog on his website called "Stupid Shit That I've Done." It's ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. Even by GWAR standards, it's some impressive stupidity (usually involving drinking way too much). Highlights include trying to smoke a piece of hash and finding out it was a chunk of food and accidentally running over his own iPhone.
* TheGoodTheBadAndTheEvil

* TheRival / UnknownRival: In their fall 2013 tour with Whitechapel, Oderus brought up that Music/RobZombie got GWAR thrown off the 2013 Mayhem Festival line up. This resulted in Oderus taking shots at Rob Zombie throughout the concert and yelling "FUCK ROB ZOMBIE!" Whether this is true or the band trying to stir up some drama is unknown though.

* SesaneStreetCred: They played a few of their songs on ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor''.

* MoralEventHorizon: Happens ALL the time with them (sometimes even their enemies).

* Squick: From showering their audience in (fake) human/alien blood, semen, and various other fluids to songs like [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "Fuckin' An Animal"]], GWAR runs the gamut of stomach-churning.
** A nice example from "Bloody Mary", the lovely phrase: "Her womb explodes in a meat maggot mesh".

* {{TimeAbyss}}: The main characters are supposed to be millions of years old.

->''"It is I, ODERUS URUNGUS, lead singer of the sickest band in metal history, Earth's only openly extra-terrestrial rock band, and the destined destroyers of not only the human race but also reality itself. GWAR! Hulking, heaving, dribbling WAR-GODS who like nothing better than putting hordes of our sniveling fans to the sword while playing the marauding mutant metal that we are famous for! Star's of stage and screen, carvers of stem and spleen! GWAR LIVES!"''\\

In 2011, Cory Smoot (Flattus Maximus) was found to have died while on the band's tour bus]]. Original reports were that he had died from "a coronary artery thrombosis brought about by his pre-existing coronary artery disease", although a later report showed that "investigators found on Smoot a $5 bill with a white powder residue, a prescription bottle holding eight Oxycodone-Acetaminophen pills, a lighter and two empty syringes".