Brian Griffin is a fictional cartoon character on the FOX animated television series Family Guy, and is voiced by show creator, Seth MacFarlane. MacFarlane uses his normal speaking voice when voicing Brian, as opposed to the vocal modifications he makes when voicing other characters in the show such as Peter and Stewie.
Overview
Brian is a talking dog, who has lived with the Griffin family since Peter picked him up as a stray. While he exhibits some typical dog behaviors like eating garbage, licking himself, leaving dead birds on the porch, intensely fearing the vacuum cleaner and the dog whistle, sleeping at the foot of Peter Griffin's bed, and trouble standing up in the car, he also possesses various anthropomorphic qualities, such as the ability to speak intelligently, drive a car, and walk bipedally. He also has a particularly sharp wit. Peter is his best friend, despite Brian's vastly superior intelligence.
Brian has a cultured background; he loves opera and jazz (he is a fan of John Coltrane) and speaks fluid French, Tagalog, and is competent Spanish. He is also a member of Mensa. He loves to sing, and can imitate a barbershop quartet without accompaniment. He is an avid writer, having once been invited to write for The New Yorker, although he was fired once the magazine learned he did not graduate from college. He has also attempted to write a novel, although has made little progress (for which Stewie mocks him). He is a smoker, an alcoholic and recovered cocaine addict. Brian discovered that his cocain habbit have stemmed from his mother abandoning him and for which he saw a therapist. He has also made references to either buying, being in possession of, or smoking marijuana in the following episodes:
- A Very Special Family Guy Freakin' Christmas - After Peter tells Brian his idiotic plan to get the family's presents back, Brian asks, "Can I buy some pot from you?" in refrence to a line from Animal House
- Jungle Love - When Brian tells Chris about his time in the Peace Corps, he says that that the country he went to had "great dope" which was growing wild, and that he and his buddies had once gotten so high that they ate all the food that was meant for the natives.
- Deep Throats - Lois states Brian has some "inspiration" in a cigar box under his bed. However this may not be a reference to Brian's drug problem due to the fact that Brian, Lois and Peter sleep in the same bed.
- Whistle While Your Wife Works - After Brian says that he and Jillian talk about Real World/Road Rules Challenge, Stewie responds by saying "You hate MTV!" in which Brian responds by saying "Pot helps."
- Barely Legal - When Lois is telling Brian how much it means to Meg that he is taking her to the school dance, Brian asks "You got any weed?" to which Lois answers "I put it in your coat pocket."
- No Chris Left Behind - When Brian learns that Meg has connections to pot at her school, he makes up an excuse to Lois so that he and Meg can smoke pot and get out of watching Swan Lake.
He has been to rehab, but since he still drinks and smokes pot, it is assumed that it was only for his cocaine addiction.
Brian held several jobs while living in Los Angeles including waiter, car wash attendant, screenwriter and pornographic film director. He does not hold steady employment in Quahog, although did once become a substitute teacher at Chris' school as well as short stints as a taxi driver and police officer for the Quahog police department as a drug sniffing dog. He left the police force after becoming addicted to cocaine. Nevertheless, he is able to afford a car, pay bills, and maintain a credit card.
In contrast to the other characters on the show, Brian actually can remember things from show to show. In the "The Fat Guy Strangler" episode, Brian remembers Peter encouraging him to jump into the closed window of the General Lee in "To Love and Die in Dixie". Brian also recalls Stewie beating him up mercilessly in Patriot Games and lets him swallow Peter's tobacco spittle in retaliation in the "Airport '07" episode.
As the most sensible member of the Griffin family, Brian often serves as the voice of reason or as a mediator during family arguments. He is also usually the first (and often only) one to realize that there is impending danger.
Because of his intelligence and dry, deadpan manner, Brian sometimes acts as the "straight man" of the show.
Background
In the Family Guy universe, dogs are either talking, anthropomorphic creatures like Brian and his cousin Jasper, or more true-to-lifes, such as his mother, Biscuit, his father Koko, and his one time lover, Seabreeze. Both classes are subject to the same rules, such as not being allowed inside certain shops or to wander the streets without an owner. Brian's "humanity" is rarely remarked upon, however, exceptions include when Peter's boss, Mr. Weed, referred to him as a "funny talking dog" and in the episode "Brian in Love" when Brian tries to explain his relationship troubles to Peter, who responds, "Oh my God! You can talk!" Another example of Brian's "humanity" is his attraction to human women; Brian has dated several since the show began, and is deeply in love with Peter's wife, Lois.
Brian was born on a farm in Austin, Texas, in a litter of five puppies, of whom he was the only anthropomorphic. His youth and adolescence have not been explored in detail, although he somehow made his way to Rhode Island and attended Brown University. He is currently one class short of graduating from Brown (in the season 4 episode "Brian Goes Back to College", Brian re-enrolls in an attempt to earn his degree, but fails). Brian has also served in the Peace Corps. He has mentioned that he hung out with Andy Warhol in the 1970s, though this particular interlude is most likely one of the show's reality-bending cutaways, as he is said to be only seven years old.
His age is usually treated differently depending on the joke. In one episode, he states: "I'm seven years old and if I play my cards right, I got seven more years ahead of me." Brian spent some time as a homeless stray washing car windshields for change before he met Peter, who offered him a home with his family in Quahog, Rhode Island. When Brian returned to Austin years later to find his mother, he found that she had died and her owners were using her stuffed body as a table. Brian absconded with her body to give his mother a proper burial.
Prior to Brian, the Griffins had another talking dog named Todd, who was put down at the age of 15 due to illness.
Despite his anthropomorphic intelligence, Brian shares certain traits and shortcomings with real dogs. For example, he cleans himself with his tongue and scratches at fleas with his hind leg. On the commentary of "Road to Rhode Island" he confirmed that he sees in black and white. He has a fear of the toilet flushing and of the vacuum (which is ironic, considering that he was actually vacuuming in the episode "Fore, Father"). He also couldn't control his animal urges for the prized Pewterschmidt dog, Seabreeze. Furthermore, although his maturity and broad range of experiences seem to imply that he is as old as a middle aged human, as a dog he is only seven years old. Peter has been known to tease him about his shorter lifespan. In one episode, he seems to have a 'midlife crisis'. He is also shown to have a liking for dog food at times. In "Chitty Chitty Death Bang", he chases the chuck wagon from the commercials for Purina Chuck Wagon, and in "Barely Legal", he comes running with joy when Peter's daughter Meg shakes a bag of Dog Chow. He also, like other dogs, defecates outside on a daily basis, which results in him being made to wear diapers in the episode "Bill and Peter's Bogus Journey"). In "The Thin White Line", Peter states after Brian bails him out "Brian, it's times like these that I regret that you're going to die 50 years before I do."
Brian seems somewhat ashamed of his animal urges and insecure about his canine status in general. He once refused to do degrading pet tricks for Peter during a dog show, despite it being necessary to win the money needed to buy the family a new air conditioner. He also chastised Lady and the Tramp for acting in typical dog-like behavior, saying that "that's just what they want you to do". He suffers mistreatment as a dog, with references to movies like The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and School Ties, movies about characters who suffer from racial segregation and anti-Semitism. He is humiliated when the Griffins catch him with canine pornography.
Brian is notably intelligent, enjoying renound works of art such as the opera Carmen and the works of Fyodor Dostoyevsky. He has also heavily invested in the stock market, and collects first editions of literary classics. In Meet the Quagmires he is shown to be able to play the guitar and Keytar, although this may have just been another play on the scene in Back to the Future. His intellectual bent makes it very difficult for him to form romantic relationships with most human women, which may be one reason for his substance abuse as a coping mechanism.
In Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, which is set 30 years in the future, it is revealed that Brian died (or rather, will die) after "getting into the garbage and eating some chocolate". In heaven, he tries to get into intellectual conversations with Van Gogh, Ernest Hemingway, and Kurt Cobain, but is discouraged to learn that their deaths were far more artistically noble than his. It should be noted, however, that the future as depicted in Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story may not actually happen, as Stewie takes action to prevent his own future as it is shown in Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story from occurring.
Relationships
Romances
In addition to behaving like a human, Brian sometimes pursues relationships with humans. No character has ever commented on the zoophilic aspects of a sexual relationship between Brian and a human, except in "The Perfect Castaway" (see below), where Peter asks Lois why she wants to stay with Brian, then remarks, "that, plus, hello? He's a dog." MacFarlane mentions in the commentary for "Castaway" that making episodes about Brian being in love is "always a line that we have to walk," concerning the mainstream media's anxiety regarding bestiality.
"Whistle While Your Wife Works" was the first time where it was heavily implied that Brian did have sex with a human woman (albeit a very dim-witted one) named Jillian. Stewie pressed Brian the most for these details, noticing that his collar was inside-out after being away for a whole night. After Stewie meets Jillian, he hassles Brian for the rest of the episode about her lack of intelligence, once asking if her parents were "brother and sister". Brian finally decides to attempt to break up with Jillian, but instead, he ends up leaving Stewie in the car for three hours, apparently to have sex with her. In the end, Brian's relationship with Jillian appears to be based solely on sex and has virtually no meaningful qualities. They are still together.
In the episode "Brian Wallows and Peter's Swallows", Brian falls deeply in love with an elderly human woman named Pearl Burton. Before Pearl passes away, Brian shares a virtual reality vision of their possible future together that involves marriage and children. He once made a pass at Meg while drunk, and had a brief fling with a prostitute named Tina while he was hooked on cocaine. During the show's fourth season, in "Brian the Bachelor", he falls for a woman named Brooke Roberts while appearing as a contestant on The Bachelorette. Although she chooses Brian as the winner, she doesn't return his affections outside of the show.
In a different episode ("Peter's Got Woods"), Brian has another brief romance, with Shauna Parks, one of Meg's teachers at James Woods High. She seems to find him cute ("Nothing cuter than a nervous white dog"), but breaks up with him over his loyalty to Peter, who foiled her (and Brian's) attempts to change the name of the high school to honor Dr. Martin Luther King. Parks is black, in contrast to Brian's previous girlfriends, who have all been white. On one episode, Stewie asks Brian a hypothetical along the lines of "What kind of man would I be if I just left like that?" Brian replies with "You'd be a black man," and then apologizes profusely, again citing his father. In contrast, he seems perfectly comfortable around Cleveland and his family.
Although he seems to be somewhat ashamed of it, Brian also has relationships with "regular" dogs. In the episode "Screwed the Pooch", he is faced with being neutered as punishment for impregnating Seabreeze, a racing dog owned by Lois' father, Carter Pewterschmidt. In the last moment, however, he discovers that the impregnating male turns out to be Ted Turner.
With Meg and Chris
Brian is one, if not the only, member of the family who does not treat Meg as badly as the others, but he seems to ignore her more than anyone else. He has, however, been known to join in on laughing at Meg's misfortunes, as well as reading her diary along with the rest of the family. In "Barely Legal", he makes out with Meg at a dance after he gets drunk. The kiss affects Meg, causing her to become deeply infatuated with him. Even after he tells Meg that he doesn't want to be attached to her, she continues to irritate him. The infatuated Meg kidnaps Brian and brings him to a hotel where she attempts to seduce him. However, Peter, Lois, Cleveland, Quagmire, and Joe appear and rescue Brian before she can.
Brian also seems to ignore Chris most of the time. He mostly reacts when Chris says something extremely stupid, such as "Brown is the color of poo!", when Brian reminisces about attending Brown University, or answering "eating a pebble!", when Brian asks the family what would be really exciting. In both cases, Brian reacted with a simple, flat "yes", implying that his main attitude towards Chris seems to be bemused tolerance of Chris's stupidity. However, he did give Chris advice on what to do when Chris kissed Sam (who he thought was a boy at the time although it turned out she was a girl) in "To Live and Die in Dixie".
With Lois
Brian has a special relationship with Lois. He realizes that he harbors romantic and sexual feelings towards her in the episode "Brian in Love", but learns to accept friendship in lieu of a romantic relationship. However he seems to retain a certain amount of longing for her. In the episode "The Perfect Castaway", Brian was married to Lois for a period of several months after they thought Peter and his friends were killed in a hurricane while fishing. The marriage was largely based on Brian's ability to support the family financially in Peter's absence by taking a job at the local Hummer dealership. Despite Brian's desire to consummate their relationship, Lois insisted throughout their marriage on keeping their beds separated. When Peter unexpectedly returns home alive, Lois' feelings for Peter rekindle and Brian and Lois divorce, as Brian accepts that Lois still loves Peter. Lois declares shortly afterwards that she was one day from deciding to finally have sex with Brian, to his great frustration. He additionally reveals that his attraction may go beyond skin-deep; in "Sibling Rivalry", as Lois begins to gain weight, Peter comments that he is no longer attracted to her. When he asks Brian if he still is, he replies "I don't care what she looks like, I would wreck that chick."
Lois is sometimes alternately oblivious to, or intolerant of, Brian's feelings for her. In "I Take Thee Quagmire", Lois discusses, with Brian, problems arising due to her inability to wean Stewie from breast milk; Brian offers to "medically examine" Lois' breasts while giving Lois the impression that he knew what he was doing. After that discussion, Brian also offers to "medically examine" Lois' genitals; when Lois becomes confused as to why Brian would want to examine that area of her body, Brian simply replies hastily "Please pull down your underpants." In "Prick Up Your Ears", Brian immediately tells Lois, after Meg walked out of her room after she and Lois had a spirited discussion about vaginal intercourse, that he loves her. In "Peter's Two Dads", Lois and Brian secretly celebrate the death of Francis Griffin, but she slaps him when he grabs her breasts.
Brian was once seen wearing Lois' clothes, much to Stewie's surprise and disgust (though he appears to have just been mocking her).
With Peter
Brian is often refered to as Peter's best friend. He has at times made efforts to cheer Peter up, such as dressing up as the Dancing Banana and singing "Peanut Butter Jelly Time" in "The Courtship of Stewie's Father". He also looks out for Peter's long-term interests; when Peter built an indoor water slide by running water down the stairs and promptly injured himself by falling down them, Brian told Peter "I'm not gonna call the hospital because you won't learn anything if I do."
With Stewie
Brian and Stewie have an interesting relationship. They are the only two major characters, being a dog and an infant respectively, that would be unable to speak in reality. This connection is perhaps why Brian is the only character (ongoing or recurring) that seems to consistently, fully consider what Stewie is saying. Therefore Brian often becomes involved in Stewie's schemes, whether attempting to hinder or help him. Brian also seems to be the only one out of the whole Griffin family (and the entire Family Guy cast) who notices how abnormal Stewie is, although most of the adults associated with him can understand him.
Brian and Stewie share a level of intelligence and sophistication, but also certain reality-based shortcomings. Also, Brian and Stewie have joked with each other over their respective similarities in appearance to Snoopy and Charlie Brown. Brian is often given the responsibility of caring for Stewie, particularly over the older siblings, Meg and Chris.
The two share a love-hate relationship. Despite his being an infant, Brian has had a haphazard rivalry with Stewie:
- In "He's Too Sexy For His Fat", when Stewie becomes overweight, Brian calls him Orson, a reference to Orson Welles, who, in the later years of his life, was morbidly obese. Mocking Stewie's rotund shape, Brian spins him around on his back, while Stewie helplessly asks him to stop.
- Also, in "Screwed the Pooch", during the cold open, he places animal feed into Stewie's pocket, causing the animals in the petting zoo to bite and peck at him.
- Another act of cruelty occurs in "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Fonz", when Stewie is relegated to a protective bubble, Brian kicks him out of the house door. Brian also spray-paints his bubble black making it impossible for Stewie to see.
- In "Road to Rhode Island", Stewie mocks Brian's alcoholism by calling him "Cirrhosis the Wonder Dog," and in "Brian in Love", Stewie mocks Brian's interest in Lois by becoming overly affectionate toward her.
- In "Patriot Games", Brian lost a sports bet to Stewie but neglected to pay him in the agreed-upon time. Consequently, he was severely beaten by the toddler. Stewie broke a glass of orange juice over his head, beat him with a towel rack and shoved Brian's head into the toilet. Brian tried to avoid Stewie further by wearing a fake mustache and disguising his voice, but Stewie saw through his cover. He threw the dog down a flight of stairs, beat him with a golf club, shot him in both legs, and burned him with a flamethrower. Finally Brian relented with "Alright, let's go to the bank." At the end of the episode, Brian gets revenge by pushing Stewie in front of an approaching double-decker bus. Brian recalls this episode with visual flashbacks when he decides not to tell Stewie he's about to drink Peter's tobacco juice in the later episode Airport '07 as revenge.
- In "One if By Clam, Two if By Sea", Stewie calls on Brian to bet on the success of his Pygmalion-type project, to which Brian only replies, "why don't you shut up for about a week?"
- In "The Thin White Line" when Brian is in the taxi and about to depart, Stewie runs out in his pajamas calling Brian's name, apparently in an attempt to stop him from leaving, but instead spits in Brian's face.
- In "Road to Rupert", Brian sets the plot in motion when he sells Stewie's teddy bear to a stranger at a yard sale while Stewie is briefly away.
Political beliefs
Brian seems to have liberal political leanings, which mirror MacFarlane's; he is meant to be a manifestation of Family Guy's creator within the show (MacFarlane uses his ordinary speaking voice while portraying Brian, which makes director commentary sound as if done by the character). Brian's views have been demonstrated several times; through his criticism of then-Presidential candidate George W. Bush in his musical number "You've Got a Lot to See"; he is shown reading Michael Moore's book Dude, Where's My Country? in "North by North Quahog"; his car, a Toyota Prius), (which is addressed in "North by North Quahog" andthe commentary for "Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story") displays a "Kucinich '04" bumper sticker; also in Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story he is shown eating Stewie's teddy bear Rupert's leg because of Stewie's support for a flat tax system. Brian mentions in the episode "Don't Make Me Over" that he votes Democrat, though he also said in the first episode, "This is why I don't vote," suggesting that he was not a registered voter until a later date; in the episode He's Too Sexy For His Fat, Brian is quoted as saying "You know, I like Hillary Clinton, I don't care what anyone says." In the episode "You May Now Kiss The...Uh...Guy Who Receives", Brian goes to extremes to prevent a gay marriage ban proposed by mayor Adam West after his cousin Jasper comes to Quahog to get married to his Filipino boyfriend (West merely wanted the ban as a distraction after he squandered the entire city budget on a gold statue of the Dig 'Em Frog). In "Hell Comes to Quahog", Brian turns off the air conditioning in favor of a more environmentally safe alternative, to which Lois replies, "Save your hippie bullshit for the winter months."
In "Meet the Quagmires", it is revealed that in 1984 when Peter blew off Lois for their date and thus altered the future, Al Gore was elected President, which Brian seems happy about. When they call for Death to help them fix things, he reveals that "it has been a busy day" because Dick Cheney shot Justice Scalia in a hunting accident and the bullet went right through him killing Karl Rove and Tucker Carlson in the process; this makes Brian think that staying in the altered future isn't such a bad thing, and earlier he tells Peter that him not marrying Lois is the best thing that ever happened to the world
Brian’s political view has often led to controversy over his religion. He has spoken against Peter’s dad’s religion a few times, but this is most likely because of Francis’ extreme beliefs. Brian has frequently been shown to have the appearance of an atheist, but has mentioned God on several occasions:
- After being praised for his work in the Quahog Police Force in "The Thin White Line", he says "Thanks. But the real hero here is God for blessing me with this nose and a few other equally amazing appendages."
- In the episode "Chick Cancer", Brain says to Stewie, "You made a promise in front of God and all your toys to stick it out when things got tough".
- When the Griffins are plaged after Peter becomes a false idol in "If I’m Dyin’, I’m Lyin’", he says "You want an explanation! God-is-pissed!"
In addition, in “Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story” Brian shown to be in Heaven after he dies in the possible-future. However, this scene is used as a gag and may not mean Brian is a devout Christian. His particular religion remains unidentified, although during the episode Peter, Peter, Caviar Eater he made the sign of the cross while exclaiming "Holy Mary, Mother of God" in Irish Catholic fashion.
However, it may be fair to assume that Brian uses religious terminology and references because they are familiar to the wider audience of the show and work in the context of Brian's wit, and does not necessarily mean he is a theist.
References
- S. Callaghan Family Guy: The Official Episode Guide : Seasons 1 - 3 New York: Harper Paperbacks, 2005
- A. Delarte, "Nitpicking Family Guy: Season 4" in Bob's Poetry Magazine, 3.January 2006: 11, 14, 17 - 21, 24 - 26 http://bobspoetry.com/Bobs03Ja.pdf