Peter Griffin

This article is about the Family Guy character. For other uses, see Peter Griffin (disambiguation).

Template:Family Guy character Peter Griffin is an Irish American fictional character of the animated television series Family Guy. His middle name, Löwenbräu, is revealed in the episode "Peter, Peter, Caviar Eater". Peter is the patriarch of the Griffin household and one of the central characters on the show. He is married to Lois, and is the father of Meg, Chris, Stewie and Bertram. When he gets naked, his fat blocks his penis from view. His voice, which has a thick Rhode Island accent, is performed by the show's creator and lead writer, Seth MacFarlane.

The character is Archie Bunker without the knowledge of what he's doing. He has the mind of a child, basically, and a source of big laughs is when he doesn't realize he's doing something inappropriate.

— Producer Seth MacFarlane, interview in The Advocate

Backstory

Lois' wealthy father Carter objected to Peter because of his lower social class — this resentment remains a theme in Carter and Peter's relationship, as shown in several episodes, although he is occasionally open to strained association with Peter. After marrying, Peter and Lois settled in Quahog, where Peter got a job at the Happy-Go-Lucky Toy Factory. After the death of the factory's owner, he became a fisherman, and then found employment at the Quahog Pawtucket Patriot, where he first worked as a brewmaster, then a demotion to shipping clerk, due to his alcoholism.

Jobs

Peter has had work experience from many job positions as mentioned and seen throughout the show. Peter has primarily worked as a safety inspector at the Happy-Go-Lucky Toy Factory until his boss Jonathon Weed died from choking on a dinner roll (right after Brian spits it out). He then became a fisherman using his own boat, the "S.S. More Powerful Than Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, And The Incredible Hulk Put Together" with the help of two Portuguese immigrants, Santos and Pasquale, until his boat is destroyed. His current job is working in the shipping department of the Pawtucket Patriot brewery. He frequently references odd or nonsensical jobs he previously held in one-shot gags, such as the corrupt, sexually abusive landlord to a family of rats or using his considerable fat to provide "nighttime warmth" for Lara Flynn Boyle. He was also a towel boy at a pool which is where he first met Lois. He also obtains several positions that don't last beyond the episode he has them in.

Personality

Peter is unintelligent and consistently depicted as crude and lowbrow. He enjoys stereotypical blue-collar activities such as causing mischief while drinking with his friends. His favorite pastime is watching television. An I.Q. test confirms that his low intellect places him in a category slightly below mentally retarded. Peter's brash impulsiveness leads to several odd scenarios, such as attempting to molest Meg in order to adopt a redneck lifestyle. He is incredibly jealous of other attractions Lois has in her life, an attitude that tends to get out of hand in most cases. He mostly loves his children, although he emotionally abuses Meg to gain his wife's approval, and neglects Stewie a great deal.

Ancestry

Whereas Lois's Old Money lineage is well-defined, Peter's ancestry is obscured by dozens of ancestors who exist for the sake of one-shot gags. The most prominent of these relatives are Nate Griffin, an African American slave who was owned by Lois's ancestors, and fell in love with their daughter which means Lois and Peter are related. Peter discovers that his real father is not the late Francis Griffin, the stern Roman Catholic Irish American patriarch of the first five seasons, but an Irishman named Mickey McFinnigan, a town drunk who resembles his son in every aspect, save red hair and an aged face. In another episode, "Padre de Familia", Peter discovers that he was actually born in Mexico, where his mother went for an abortion. Thelma went into labor during the procedure, and smuggled him home. She never filed his citizenship papers out of shame, which made Peter an illegal immigrant until he received citizenship at the end of the episode.

Appearances in other media

Peter had several appearances outside Family Guy, often in the form of direct parody. The Simpsons has had several depictions of Peter Griffin. Robot Chicken (produced by Family Guy cast member Seth Green) has depicted Peter (voiced by MacFarlane) in several cameos, and the Griffin family was also parodied in the "Cartoon Wars" episode of South Park, implying that Peter's flashbacks are Family Guy's sole source of humor. Peter has also appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman and in advertisements for Subway Restaurants. Peter and Lois appear as animated cameos in the episode "The Lemon-AIDS Walk" of Drawn Together. They can be seen (from an angle that does not reveal their faces) and heard, with Alex Borstein reprising her respective role.

External links

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