Mau5

Mau5 turns deadmau5's mouse-head identity into a Twitch global. Joel Zimmerman's own career timeline traces the name to a dead mouse he found inside his computer. Friends began calling him the "dead mouse guy," and when `deadmouse` was too long for a username, he shortened it to `deadmau5`.

The mouse idea became a literal stage image when deadmau5 began performing in a mau5head in 2008, followed by an LED version in 2010. The overlap with gaming became especially visible in 2015 when Valve released the deadmau5 Dieback Music Pack for Dota 2. Older Dota chat also used Mau5 for mouse and "rat" jokes, giving the global a second life beyond electronic-music streams.

Viewers type Mau5 in Twitch chat for deadmau5, mau5head imagery, electronic music and DJ sets, or gaming moments where a mouse or rat joke fits.