Image Identities

The band is known for its attention-grabbing image. The members wear matching uniform jumpsuits and homemade masks. In the past, their jumpsuits have featured large UPC barcodes printed on the back and sleeves, which are identical to the barcode on their first album, Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat. Aside from their real names, members of the band are referred to by numbers 0 through 8.
The band didn't start of wearing masks, the idea was originally brought up by Shawn who one day brought in a mask and mucked around with it. It was fun and the idea caught on, soon other members of the band were wearing masks, they pivoted around the idea of how a mask can make you a different person. It was a chance the group were willing to take, to be original and out there, it worked. One thing the masks aren't is something to get people into Slipknot, a point continuously repeated by the band. The group were constantly being degraded for trying something different and as a result the masks were used to conceal identities and portray the band as an anonymous entity. "It's not about our names or faces, it's about the music." state Slipknot
Today most members of the band have now been photographed without their masks, largely as the result of their work outside of Slipknot:
Vocalist Corey Taylor and guitarist James Root appear unmasked when working with their band Stone Sour and Corey Taylor was unmasked in an appearance on the Killswitch Engage DVD. He has also appeared unmasked in the Des Moines Register and on a Metal Hammer DVD in which he receives a tattoo of Jean Valjean's prison number, 24601, upon his back.
Drummer Joey Jordison appears unmasked with his side project the Murderdolls and when he plays in other bands such as Ministry, Satyricon and Korn.
Percussionist Shawn Crahan appears unmasked with his bands To My Surprise and Dirty Little Rabbits .
DJ Sid Wilson works unmasked when performing as DJ Starscream.
Guitarist Mick Thomson appeared unmasked in a Total Guitar magazine shoot. He is also unmasked in the video for single "No Pity on the Ants" by Lupara. In the video, he plays a serial killer.
Bassist Paul Gray's face was revealed in a police mugshot leaked through The Smoking Gun, He also played unmasked on a recent tour with Reggie and the Full Effect (save for a notable Halloween performance, where the entire band wore Slipknot masks).
Gray and Jordison have appeared unmasked during various photo shoots and sessions with Roadrunner United.
In the video for "Before I Forget" the band performed without their masks; however, the band members' faces are shown only as brief glimpses, with the camera mostly focused on their hands and instruments. In the video, the masks are visible hanging off hooks, possibly representing their unwillingness to "forget." Each member is also unmasked in individual interviews on their DVD Voliminal: Inside the Nine.
The band's image has sparked controversy over the years. Some of the controversy comes from the band Mushroomhead, who, along with their fans, claim that Slipknot stole their image. In 2005, another source of controversy was the band's lawsuit against Burger King, claiming that company created the advertising based band Coq Roq to capitalize on Slipknot's image. The band's lawyer claimed that Burger King had contacted the band's label to get Slipknot to take part in "advertising campaign designed to motivate young people to vote."Burger King responded to the suit with a countersuit, and in that suit pointed out that many other bands, such as Mudvayne, Kiss, and GWAR have used masks as part of their image, although after private discussions the advertising campaign was dropped.