List of characters in the Family Guy franchise

These are characters from the animated American TV series Family Guy. Characters are only listed once, normally under the first applicable subsection in the list; very minor characters are listed with a more regular character with whom they are associated. Characters that appear in only one episode are not listed.

Griffin family

• Peter Griffin – The average American father. Despite having a distant relationship with his own fathers (biological as well as adopted), Peter tries to be close to his own children. He is not particularly competent at fatherhood. Peter is obese and a heavy drinker. In addition, his IQ falls in the borderline retarded region of the scale as shown in Petarded. His biological father is Irish, and his great grandfather was an African American slave owned by Lois's ancestors . Voiced by Seth MacFarlane. He is a nominal Roman Catholic, but only sporadically expresses any real religious belief.
• Lois Griffin – Lois is the more than average housewife/mother. She is a stay-at-home mother that juggles her piano lessons, kids, and husband all in one day, while she dodges her infant Stewie who is matricidal. Voiced by Alex Borstein.
• Meg Griffin – Meg, the first child of Peter and Lois, is a self-conscious and unattractive teenager girl. She is 16 years old for the first five seasons and turns 17 in the episode Peter's Two Dads. The other family members treat her as a black sheep. Voiced by Lacey Chabert in season 1 and Mila Kunis in season 2–present.
• Chris Griffin – Chris is the middle child and oldest son of Peter and Lois. He is aged 13. He is also very unintelligent, gullible, and fat. He is self-conscious but sometimes goes into denial of his weight. He greatly fears the evil monkey that lives in his closet. Now he works at a convenience store managed by Carl, but used to be a paper boy. Voiced by Seth Green.
• Stewie Griffin – Stewie is the baby of Peter and Lois, and the result of Lois's only intentional pregnancy. He tends to talk in an adult way and is portrayed as having an ambiguous sexuality (even though he is still an infant). In early seasons, he is bent on murdering his mother and consistently tries to do so. However, in the later episodes, he shows slightly less of an interest of killing Lois, though he has still tried to kill her on occasions, such as in the episode, "Stewie Kills Lois". Stewie uses a higher than average vocabulary. Later in the seasons he tends to have a sexual desire for Brian the family dog and girls which makes him Bisexual. He has a closet with hundreds of deadly weapons. Stewie also has a teddy bear named Rupert who Stewie always thinks is alive, in Stewie thoughts or flashbacks Rupert has a muscular man body with his teddy bear head. Voiced by Seth MacFarlane.
• Brian Griffin – The family's highly anthropomorphic talking dog. He was born in a Puppy mill and he was given up by his mom at a young age. He saw his mother once more in the episodes "Road to Rhode Island" but she died and was stuffed and used as a table. Brian didn't like that so he buried her. His dad Coco was a Police dog who was taught to attack black people during time of discrimination. He first met Peter when he was sitting alone on a sidewalk as a stray, when Peter came down the road Brian came to his car to wash it. Peter refused but Brian kept on washing. When he was finished Peter told Brian he didn't have change. Brian understood and sadly walked away. Peter, feeling sorry for Brian, offered to take him home to feed him. This happens in "Brian: Portrait of a Dog". He is now living with the Griffins. He is often seen pointing out how ridiculous Peter's ideas are. Brian enjoys the opera and theater, and is very liberal. He can't seem to find the right woman, and is constantly dating new ones. Despite his many girlfriends, Brian has deep feelings for Lois, as revealed in "Brian in Love". Brian is proclaimed as an atheist. Voiced by Seth MacFarlane.

Other relatives of the Griffins

Peter's family

• Francis Griffin (deceased) – Peter's Irish American surrogate stepfather who had a strong religious lifestyle. An obsessively devout Roman Catholic, he disliked Lois because she is a Protestant (to the extent that he spray-painted "To a Protestant Whore" under the "Just Married" sign on their car during their wedding), disapproved of his son's family's lifestyle, and frequently attempts to force his religious views on them, going so far as to force Peter to baptize Stewie in tainted holy water in "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Fonz". Despite all of this, he truly did love and care for Peter, and showed on multiple occasions to care for his grandchildren. Francis used to have a job at a metal fabrication plant; after his short retirement, he became a body guard for the Pope. Francis died on Meg's 17th birthday when Peter, dressed up as a clown, got drunk and tried to ride a unicycle down the stairs. He ended up falling off of the stairs and landing on top of Francis, breaking all of his ribs, rupturing his spleen, and puncturing his lung; despite the whole family's efforts to save him, Francis died in the hospital. His last words were "Peter... you're a fat stinking drunk!", which is later revealed to be a clue to win over his real father. Francis appears in the episode, "Family Goy" as a ghost to tell Peter not to be Jewish. Voiced by Charles Durning.
• Thelma Griffin – Ex-wife to Francis and mother to Peter. She is 82 years old (as stated in "Mother Tucker"), and has gray hair with noticeable wrinkles below her eyes, purple earrings and a purple bead necklace. She also wears glasses like her son and husband and is a heavy smoker. Unlike Francis, she is generally friendly and personable, and gets along well with Lois. Before Francis's death, she divorced him because she had "needs he didn't fill". She first appeared in "Holy Crap" where she was voiced by Florence Stanley, and has been voiced by Phyllis Diller in all subsequent appearances.

Lois' family

• Carter Pewterschmidt – Billionaire industrialist, shipping mogul, and owner of U.S. Steel with investments in the timber industry, and member of a yacht club. Husband to Barbara, father to Lois, Carol, and Patrick. He harbors a deep hatred for Peter. Voiced by Seth MacFarlane.
• Barbara Pewterschmidt (née Hebrewberg) – Wife to Carter, mother to Lois, Carol, and Patrick. Often called "Babs" by Carter. It is noted on a few occasions that Barbara only married Carter for his wealth and family heritage. She is less hostile towards Peter than her husband. In the episode titled Family Goy, it is revealed that she is a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust, and that her family name was originally Hebrewbergmoneygrabber. Voiced by Alex Borstein.
• Marguerite Pewterschmidt - Lois's aunt who comes to visit the Griffins and dies on their doorstep. In her will, she leaves Lois Cherrywood Manor in Newport, Rhode Island.
• Patrick Pewterschmidt - Lois's brother who has a mental problem and became known as "The Fat-Guy Strangler".

Brian's family

• Jasper – Brian's gay, flamboyant cousin, known for constantly telling dirty jokes. He is married to a "skinny, hairless Filipino boy" named Ricardo. Brian roomed with Jasper when he moved to Hollywood to be a writer. Voiced by Seth MacFarlane.

• Biscuit – Brian's deceased mother. Was stuffed and used as a table after death.

• Dylan - Brian's son

Neighbors

A number of characters in the show live on the same street, Spooner Street, near the Griffins.

The Browns

• Cleveland Brown – Peter Griffin's mild-mannered African American friend. He owns and runs a deli. The character of Cleveland is the star of his own spin-off series, called The Cleveland Show, following his departure from Quahog. Voiced by Mike Henry.
• Loretta Brown – Cleveland's ex-wife, and the mother of Cleveland, Jr. Early in the show, Loretta had a minimal quantity of lines, the bulk of which were "Mm-hmm!" She also mispronounces Stewie's name regularly, calling him names "Stubby" or "Stoolie". She treats Cleveland harshly, and eventually cheats on him with Glenn Quagmire, leading them to divorce. In the episode "Love Blactually", it is revealed that she has regretted her actions and wants Cleveland back, but he refuses her advances. Cleveland informs her that he needs to move on, and advises her to do the same. Though she takes Cleveland's house in the divorce, she puts it up for sale. Voiced by Alex Borstein.
• Cleveland Brown, Jr. – In his appearances on Family Guy, he is the hyperactive and highly athletic son of Cleveland and Loretta. He leaves Quahog with his father in the first episode of The Cleveland Show. In the spin-off, he has become severely obese, and less hyperactive. Voiced by Mike Henry in Family Guy and Kevin Michael Richardson in The Cleveland Show.

The Goldmans

• Mort Goldman – a Jewish pharmacist, and one of Peter's friends. He runs Goldman's Pharmacy and is married to Muriel and has one son, Neil. Mort's defining characteristics are his whiny neuroticism and his chronic hypochondria. Voiced by John G. Brennan.
• Muriel Goldman – Mort's wife. Voiced by Nicole Sullivan.
• Neil Goldman – Mort and Muriel's geeky son. Neil is a stereotypical nerd who has a crush on Meg Griffin, who does not return his affections. He is more confident than his father, so much so that he doesn't seem to realize that Meg has nothing but contempt for him. Neil has a very squeaky-sounding voice when he has his retainer in, but when he takes his retainer out his voice becomes extremely deep. Voiced by Seth Green

Glenn Quagmire

• Glenn Quagmire – The Griffins' next-door neighbor and Peter's friend, whom Peter met in the Navy. He is an airline pilot, but is best known for his sexual deviancies, and secretly having a foot fetish. On several occasions, it is shown that he is in love with Peter's wife, Lois. Voiced by Seth MacFarlane.

The Swansons

• Joe Swanson – The Griffins' paraplegic neighbor and Peter's friend. He was injured in his job as a police officer before moving to Quahog, though some episodes show he has been a paraplegic since he was young. His injury was shown in a flashback in the episode "A Hero Sits Next Door" (although the movie dramatization portrayed in the episode "Ready, Willing and Disabled" portrays an out-numbered Joe getting beaten up on the street). He used to live in Providence, Rhode Island. Has severe anger issues as well as sexual and erectile dysfunctions. Voiced by Patrick Warburton.
• Bonnie Swanson – Joe's calm and soft-spoken wife, who had been pregnant from her first appearance in "A Hero Sits Next Door" in season one until "Ocean's Three and a Half" in season seven, when she finally gave birth to a daughter, named Susie. Her prolonged pregnancy was pointed out by Peter in the season four episode "Blind Ambition" and again when Susie was born. Voiced by Jennifer Tilly.
• Kevin Swanson (deceased) – Joe and Bonnie's teenage son. At one time, Meg had a crush on and dated him. Joe is very strict toward Kevin and never compliments him; as a result, he inherited his father's anger problems. Voiced by Jon Cryer once, Seth MacFarlane thereafter. In the episode "Stew-Roids," Joe abruptly reveals that Kevin "died in Iraq" and is never spoken of again. As mentioned in the DVD commentary for "Peter's Two Dads," creator Seth MacFarlane says that the decision to kill Kevin off was because "...There is absolutely nothing interesting about Kevin. He's just a boring character." Despite this, there is still some question of his death, due to its abscence of onscreen footage.
• Susie Swanson – Joe and Bonnie's baby daughter and Kevin's baby sister, born in "Ocean's Three and a Half". Susie beat up Stewie in "Stew-Roids", which resulted in Stewie being forced by Peter to build muscles.

The Tuckers

• Tom Tucker – He is a newscaster at Channel 5. Tom was briefly Thelma Griffin’s boyfriend who acted like a true father figure to Peter in “Mother Tucker.” In The Kiss Seen Around the World he is shown to care more about his ratings than Neil Goldman, who is about to jump to his death from the top of City Hall. In the pilot, he is named Mike. Voiced by Seth MacFarlane.
• Jake Tucker – Tom Tucker's deformed son and Chris' former classmate. He has an upside-down face and is very angry about it. Voiced by Seth MacFarlane.

Peter's colleagues

Over the seven seasons of Family Guy, Peter has held three jobs. A small number of his colleagues have been shown on screen.

Happy-Go-Lucky Toy Factory

• Jonathan Weed (deceased) – Peter's homosexual boss at the toy factory (based on Hasbro, headquartered in Pawtucket, RI), who spoke with a Hispanic accent(except in the pilot) and was described as an "effeminate weirdo" by his employees. He disapproved of nearly all of Peter's actions, mainly because most of them were detrimental to the company, and has fired or come close to firing Peter on multiple occasions. In "Mr. Saturday Knight" he was invited to the Griffins' house for dinner, where he died choking on a dinner roll shortly after promoting Peter to head of toy development. In his will, he had the factory demolished to pave the way for the development of a hospital for the terminally ill. His great-grandfather's surname was 'Bermudagrass' after the weed-like, invasive species of ground cover Bermuda grass. He is later mentioned by Stewie right before he attempts to kill Lois in "Lois Kills Stewie". He is voiced by Carlos Alazraqui.

Pawtucket Brewery

• Angela – Peter's supervisor, in charge of the shipping department. Repeatedly awards Opie as employee of the month and promotes him. The character is said by Peter in "Tales of a Third Grade Nothing" to be "obviously lesbian". Voiced by Carrie Fisher.
• Opie – Opie is a mentally challenged co-worker and ward of the state at Peter Griffin's workplace, the Pawtucket Patriot Brewery. He has won "Employee of the Month" more than once and has since been promoted ahead of Peter. Voiced by Seth Green.
• Fouad - Foaud is the foreign guy at Pawtucket Patriot Brewery that teaches Peter what sarcasm is. Voiced by Mike Henry.

Characters based in other locations

Some characters are based in other locations, such as Meg's and Chris' school. Additionally, regular cutaway gags feature the newsreaders as the local TV network.

James Woods Regional High School

• Connie D'Amico – The most popular girl in school. Often appears conceited. She hates Meg and often plays pranks on her with her friends, but in moments when Meg is marked "cool" she has been friendly towards her and invited her to hang out simply due to her social standing. All other members of the Griffin family, have stood up to Connie, with 3 in Meg's defense: 1st was by Lois in "And the Wiener Is...", who sent Quagmire to "scar her for life" after Meg was humiliated at a football game; 2nd by a drunk Brian in "Barely Legal", who put her off by foreshadowing her unpleasant, inevitable future after she teased Meg at a school dance; and 3rd by Peter in "Peter's Daughter", who beat her up and gravely injured her after slamming her face eighteen times into the glass casing of a fire extinguisher after she mocked Meg yet again in the hall. Stewie also stands up to Connie for himself in "McStroke", where he framed her for child-molesting and had her arrested as revenge for her teasing of how small his penis is (Stewie posed as a high school student at the time). Chris also stood up to her for himself when he dated Connie D'Amico, (in "Stew-Roids") after she picked him to date as a challenge to make him popular. She ended up falling for him, while he eventually rejected her due to his newfound popularity. She schemed with Meg to humiliate Chris, in turn, and the two succeeded and went back to their previous hate/worship relationship, although Meg did stand up to her before teaming up with her (she showed her all the scars she had from self-harm and said "you want my help you can go fuck yourself" but teamed up after Chris threw a javelin at her). Voiced in Seasons 1 and 2 by Fairuza Balk and in all seasons afterwards by Lisa Wilhoit.

Channel 5 (WQHG)

Main article: Quahog 5

• Diane Simmons – The news station's news anchor and talk show hostess. In the episode "The King Is Dead", it is revealed that her birth name was Diane Seidelman. She and fellow anchor Tom Tucker often trade insults live on the air. Her largest role to date on the show has been when Peter hired her to play Anna in his version of The King and I; she quit after he kept changing everything. It is revealed that her husband killed himself. She once admitted she did not like black people. Voiced by Lori Alan.
• Ollie Williams – The news station's Black-U-Weather Forecast reporter. Ollie Williams is a fast-talking black guy who works at the Quahog News Station. Ollie never speaks for more than about 1–3 seconds at a time. Voiced by Phil LaMarr.
• Tricia Takanawa - Typically referred to as "Asian Field Correspondant Tricia Takanawa", she speaks in a monotone cadence that Borstein has described as "all presentation and no substance". Voiced by Alex Borstein.

Other characters

There are also a number of other characters that have recurred in the show.

• Adam West – Mayor of Quahog, voiced by the real life Adam West. Is highly eccentric (bordering on insanity) and paranoid politician (having all graves in Quahog filled with cement due to his fear of zombies). Though his fears are usually unfounded, in some cases he is right in being paranoid (like when encounters the Noid & kills it to prevent it from ruining his pizza). He has been shown to be corrupt and generally irresponsible (taking bribes and using of tax dollars to build a solid gold statue of the Dig 'Em Frog). He has little in common with his real life counterpart.
• Herbert – An elderly ephebophile (attracted to adolescents) who resides just down the street from the Griffin Family and lusts after Chris. In "Play It Again, Brian", Chris finally realizes this and asks Herbert, "Are you a pedophile?" However, Herbert's answer, if any, is not shown. He has a dog named Jesse, who is unable to use his hind legs and is very old, like his master. In the episode "No Chris Left Behind", Herbert is shown to be the Grand Master of the Skull and Bones society at Morningwood academy. He also pronounces sibilant consonants with a high-pitched whistle. He also plays Obi Wan Kenobi in the Blue Harvest episode, in which when he is about to battle Darth Vader, his lightsaber is droopy; but when Luke (Chris) walks in, "the sword gets an erection," generally speaking. Chris generally doesn't take him seriously, but when it appears that Herbert may finally be successful in luring Chris, his caregivers intervene. Voiced by Mike Henry.
• Jillian Russell – Brian's sexy, bulimic and somewhat mentally challenged ex-girlfriend, portrayed as a stereotypical blonde. The only girlfriend Brian has had for more than one episode and was a recurring character in Season 5. He stays with her purely for sex. She breaks up with Brian in "Movin' Out (Brian's Song)" when it is revealed that Brian did not want a committed relationship with her, and married in the episode "We Love You Conrad". Before she married, she briefly dated Mayor Adam West. Like Brian, she perfectly understands what Stewie says. Jillian's parents are both dead. She is voiced by Drew Barrymore.
• Horace – Proprietor and bartender of The Drunken Clam. Has been shown to have been working there for as least as long as Peter and his friends have been regulars. In Lethal Weapons, he had his beer kegs and the remote to his TV stolen by New Yorkers, and he was shot. He survived, and made several more appearances throughout the fourth and fifth seasons. He sold his bar to Nigel Pinchley after a hurricane, but reclaimed ownership after Nigel committed insurance fraud and was deported back to Britain to be executed. Voiced by John G. Brennan.
• Bruce – Though this character was not given a name until more recent seasons, he has appeared in several episodes without being named. He even comments on it the first time his name is spoken in the series. Bruce has been seen with a variety of jobs, including working in a costume store as a Spider-Man for hire. It is revealed that Bruce has at least two cats. In Blue Harvest, he played the role of Greedo. Voiced by Mike Henry.
• Greased-up Deaf Guy – Has been featured in several cameos since his first appearance in "The Thin White Line". He can speak well, but somewhat out of tone, accentuating his parody of the hearing-impaired. He is always shown running, even when stopped he will continue to run in place and flail his arms. He was named Jay after an audience member by the same name in "Family Guy Live" queried his name in a Q&A Session. Voiced by Mike Henry.
• The Vaudeville Guys (both deceased)– Vern and Johnny, collectively known as The Vaudeville Guys, are two performers who appear in a handful of episodes (starting with Holy Crap) until their untimely demise in Saving Private Brian, in which Stewie shot them both dead. Despite this, they still appear in Back to the Woods, with Vern as a ghost and Johnny in Hell (for "liking little boys"). Vern was voiced by Seth MacFarlane, while Johnny never spoke.
• Ernie the Giant Chicken – In a running gag, storylines are randomly interrupted by extremely long, unexpected fights between Peter and a giant chicken. These battles parody the action film genre, with explosions, high-speed chases, and immense devastation to the town of Quahog. The sequences always conclude with Peter the victor leaving the giant chicken for dead, only for a sudden movement to show that the chicken is still alive. In the episode "Da Boom", the feud starts over a trivial incident where the chicken gives Peter an expired coupon at a grocery store. While the story in "Da Boom" is outside the continuity of the series, the feud nevertheless became a running gag seen in regular episodes, resuming briefly in "Blind Ambition". In "No Chris Left Behind", the chicken is identified as "Ernie", and he is given a wife named Nicole, also a giant chicken. In the episode, Peter encounters the chicken once more; however, during their fight, the two seem to have forgotten about the expired coupon they were fighting over. The two then make up and go out to dinner with Nicole, only to resume fighting over who pays the bill. Ernie makes a brief, non-fighting appearance in the time travel themed episode "Meet the Quagmires", in which Peter unwittingly assaults the giant chicken at an 80s dance, retroactively providing Ernie with a grudge against Peter. The chicken is planned to appear in the Star Wars parody episode "Something, Something, Something Dark Side," as the infamous bounty hunter Boba Fett, nemesis of Peter's Han Solo.
• Death – Voiced by Norm Macdonald in "Death is a Bitch", then Adam Carolla in all subsequent episodes. He is seen as a skeleton in a black robe and seldom removes his hood; underneath his hood is a human skull with spiders and snakes serpenting in and out of the eye sockets, mouth and ear cavities, as seen in "Death Lives". He once used his eye socket as a bottle-opener. He apparently hates the fact that he is technically dead and the fact that he has no buttocks ("I am minus an ass"). He doesn't seem to be very good at his job, as he is easily fooled by faked deaths. The Griffins have a somewhat-good relationship with him. When Death sprained his ankle and was unable to do his job, Peter unwittingly revealed that all of humanity is immortal while he heals. After Death discovers this, Peter fills in his role as the Grim Reaper and is charged with killing the kids from Dawson's Creek. Peter fails in this endeavor, accidentally killing the pilot and co-pilot of the plane. This fact, however, made it clear to the public that Death was back in business while the plane was safely landed by Karen Black. He also appears to have time travel abilities. He is not above necrophilia, although his romantic interests focus mainly on the living. He has lost his gag reflex due to films he is not proud of. He is often seen wearing a Providence College sweatshirt. He is not usually seen using his scythe. The living usually tend to die as soon as they make physical contact with him (except in "Death is a Bitch", where the Griffins perform actions such as Peter carrying him in the living room and Stewie rubbing his foot). He has a dog who strongly resembles him and is apparently charged with harvesting souls of dead dogs as his master does with humans. Voiced by Jimmy Kimmel, the dog is very briefly seen when Brian nearly chokes to death on a dinner roll which, in return, chokes Peter's boss Mr Weed and kills him. His mother was briefly voiced by Estelle Harris, and also resembles her son, save for wearing an apron and glasses and having gray hair. He is briefly seen driving a yellow Volkswagen Beetle which he then drunkenly crashes into a police car parked in front of him. He led an unhappy teenage life due to the fact that he could never get close to girls. He is revealed to have lost his virginity through necrophilia, having sex with a recently-deceased girl's body.

Bibliography

• Family Guy: The Official Episode Guide Season 1–3, New York: Harper Collins, 2005-11-01, ISBN 978-0060833053