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Chris Griffin

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Template:Family Guy character

Christopher Cross "Chris" Griffin is the second child of Peter and Lois Griffin in the TV cartoon series Family Guy. He is the brother of Stewie Griffin, and half-brother of Bertram. Meg may be Chris's half-sister, but this has never been proven. Chris is voiced by Seth Green.

Character history and personality

Chris, like his father, lacks intelligence and common sense, but has numerous hidden gifts, in particular artistic ability, knowledge of film and TV actors, and occasionally makes very insightful comments from out of nowhere (eg. in "Deep Throats", he gives Peter and Lois a detailed lecture on the effects and dangers of cannabis). He is often tormented by an evil monkey who lives in his closet.

From birth, Chris has been overweight (a newspaper clipping shows an exhausted Lois holding a baby Chris with the headline "Elephant Child Born to Local Woman"). In "He's Too Sexy For His Fat", Chris started an exercise regimen with Peter's help, but to no avail. Peter took him to a cosmetic surgeon, but Chris rejected the idea of liposuction, though Peter did not. Chris has an unusually large penis, of which Peter was envious ("And the Wiener is..."). Chris was initially portrayed as a student at Buddy Cianci Junior High School in Quahog, but starting with the episode "Jungle Love", he is a freshman at James Woods High School. He's also meant to be the dumbest student there.

When the Griffin home seceded from the United States ("E. Peterbus Unum"), Chris was head of their "space program", albeit an unsuccessful one, which can be seen when he falls from the tree. At one point, Stewie controlled Chris to do his bidding, until a microwave short-circuited the mind control device and he tried to kill Stewie. In "Brian the Bachelor", Chris developed a pimple, which he named Doug the Pimple, that could speak and even, at one point, hold a gun. It compelled him to commit various acts of mischief. The plotline is a loose allusion to the plot of Little Shop of Horrors, yet another Family Guy reference to musical theater. In the episode "Breaking Out Is Hard to Do", Chris was pulled into a-ha's "Take On Me" video. In "Jungle Love", he got married in South America after joining the Peace Corps.

Chris was originally given a "punk" image, according to creator Seth McFarlane's DVD Commentary tracks. He wore earrings, and his painful awkwardness was not as emphasized as it is later in the series.

In one episode, Chris is revealed to have been an accident, caused by a faulty condom ("and the resulting lawsuit bought us this house! You're my favorite mistake!" says Lois.)

Chris is left-handed, as seen in the episode Fore Father.

Whenever Peter and Lois are engaged in conflict, Chris seems to cheer for Peter. When they were both running for president of the Quahog School Board, Chris cheered for Peter while watching the debate on TV. When Meg pointed out that Peter couldn't hear him, he cheered again even louder. On another occasion, when Peter and Lois were having a fist fight, Chris cheered for Peter, telling him to "kick her ass!". An angry Meg shoved him, saying that the whole mess was Peter's fault. Chris, who hated to be touched, promptly began fighting with Meg. Finally, Brian and Stewie began brawling with each other.

Chris's talent for painting was discovered when Peter used a painting Chris gave him as a birthday gift to patch up a broken window in his car. When Antonio Monatti, a snobby New York City gallery owner, sees this painting, he takes Chris to New York, dresses him in different clothes and renames him Christobel. The gallery owner also distances Chris from his father. The unveiling of Christobel's latest piece, an Andy Warhol-esque portrait of his father, dashes Chris's career, and the family returns to Quahog.

In the direct-to-video Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, the future Chris is a traffic cop married to a smoking, foul-mouthed hustler named Vanessa.

Sexuality

Generally, Chris is considered to be heterosexual, and in several episodes he demonstrates a compelling interest in girls. In "You May Now Kiss The...Uh...Guy Who Receives", he is attracted to a student named Alyssa, who is a young Republican; Chris becomes a Young Republican, not because he has conservative views, but because Alyssa offers to let him touch her breasts (he has to ask her if that's something he wants first). In the episode A Picture is Worth a 1,000 Bucks, he dates the famous model Kate Moss, although nothing physical between them is depicted.

While possessing incomplete-at-best sexual knowledge — in Love Thy Trophy Chris is convinced babies come from the Child Welfare Office — Chris is an experienced masturbator, as revealed in the episodes The Fat Guy Strangler and Barely Legal. Ironically, in Holy Crap, grandfather Francis Griffin accuses Chris of masturbating when he was really just using the bathroom.

It is hinted in the the episodes Model Misbehavior, E. Peterbus Unum, Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story that Chris may have Oedipal tendencies. However, these incidents may be intended solely as gags demonostrating Chris's stupidity.

Chris is probably the only member of the Griffin family who has not had his heterosexuality questioned by the writers. However, in To Love and Die in Dixie, Chris is kissed by a girl he believes to be a boy, and then admits to Brian it felt "right".

Characters who have recurring relations with Chris

The Evil Monkey

File:Evilmonkey.jpg
The evil monkey in Chris's closet

The Evil Monkey lives in Chris's closet and frequently threatens to kill him. However, whenever Chris brings up the evil monkey to his family, they dismiss him with light laughter, except for his little brother Stewie, who believes him.

The Evil Monkey appeared in:

  • "Dammit Janet": (His first appearance) Chris declines his mother's attempts at getting a job, this way Lois can't protect him from the Evil Monkey. After which he points at Chris as a threat. Chris then runs out the room crying.
  • "Fore Father": Chris says he wants to go camping so he can get away from the Evil Monkey. The Monkey then threatens him again.
  • "Ready, Willing and Disabled": (His third appearance) we find out how he became evil in the first place as well as the origin of his threat. He came home from work to find his wife in bed with another monkey at which point he threatens them in the same manner as he does Chris.
  • "Emission Impossible": Lois sends the kids to their rooms for some peace with Peter. Chris comments about the Evil Monkey again.
  • Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story: He appears at the filming and is awed at by the crowd of photographers. He then does his signature point and everyone cheers.
  • "North by North Quahog": Peter and Lois start making out in bed and Chris, Meg, Stewie and the Evil Monkey can all hear a creaking noise.
  • "Brian the Bachelor": Chris's zit is interrupted by the Evil Monkey's threat and Chris shouts "I am in no mood!"
  • "Breaking Out Is Hard To Do": Chris is glad not to worry about the evil Monkey in AsiaTown but finds out there is a lookalike there.
  • "Model Misbehavior": Chris is glad to go to Lois' parents to get away from the Evil Monkey, which after they drive off soon starts smoking marijuana and listens to Slow Ride by Foghat.
  • "Jungle Love": The Evil Monkey cries after finding out Chris isn't coming back from South America.
  • "Stewie Loves Lois": The first time The Evil Monkey threatens someone other than Chris. Peter is upset about having been "raped" and the Evil Monkey does his trademark point at him as he goes past. Peter then says "Stop it, Meg" and continues crying.
  • "It Takes a Village Idiot, and I Married One": Chris tells about the evil monkey but then explains how the Evil Monkey hasn't been as evil since becoming a Jehovah's Witness. Chris is then in bed in fear and the Evil Monkey jumps out of his closet wearing a suit. Instead of pointing a Chris in a threatening manner, the Evil Monkey holds a copy of The Watchtower in the same threatening manner.

Herbert

An elderly man named Herbert is seen with Chris from time to time. His dialogue implies that he is an ephebophile and a pedophile, but Chris doesn't seem to realize it. He has lusted after many teenagers, but Chris seems to be right for him, although he may have stopped chasing after Chris sometime in season 4.

Character origins

Chris's voice was based on Ted Levine's performance as Jame "Buffalo Bill" Gumb in The Silence of the Lambs. In the commentary for Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, Seth Green reveals that he based his voice for Chris on what "Buffalo Bill" would sound like if he were working at a drive-thru in a McDonalds (speaking through a PA system); the result being a pre-Chris Griffin voice.

Name

Chris's seldom-used middle name is probably an homage to musician Christopher Cross. It is first used in the episode Brian the Bachelor, shortly after the revelation that his mother Lois had been a late 70s MOR groupie.

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, 20, 25, 26 http://bobspoetry.com/Bobs03Ja.pdf