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 (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) – 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. He is a nominal Roman Catholic, but only sporadically expresses any real religious belief.

• Lois Griffin (voiced by Alex Borstein) – 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.

• Chris Griffin (voiced by Seth Green) – Chris is the second child of Peter and Lois. His age was 13 in the earlier season but as he becomes a freshman in high school, he has most likley to have turned 14. He is also very unintelligent, gullible, and fat. He is self-conscious but sometimes goes into denial of his weight. He greatly feared the evil monkey that lives in his closet, until the monkey decided to leave and haunt Jake Tucker. Now he works at a convenience store managed by Carl, but used to be a paper boy.

• Meg Griffin (voiced by Lacey Chabert in Season 1, Mila Kunis in Season 2-present) – Meg, the first child and only daughter 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.

• Stewie Griffin (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) – 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. The character has a case of gender confusion, with some shows often suggesting homosexual tendencies. He also has a number of weapons that he employs throughout the series. Stewie also has a teddy bear named Rupert who Stewie always thinks is alive, often imagining Rupert as a man with a muscular body.

• Brian Griffin (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) – The family's 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 and smart (however he is seen to have sometimes be constantly drinking). He can't seem to find the right woman, and is constantly dating new ones. Despite his many girlfriends, Brian has had deep feelings for Lois, as revealed in "Brian in Love" but in the end agreed to be just good friends. Brian is proclaimed as an atheist.

Other relatives of the Griffins

Peter's family

• Francis Griffin (voiced by Charles Durning) – 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 as a ghost in the episode "Family Goy" to tell Peter not to convert to Judaism.

• Thelma Griffin (voiced by Florence Stanley in "Holy Crap", Phyllis Diller in all subsequent appearances) – 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' death, she divorced him because she had "needs he didn't fill".

• Mickey McFinnigan - Peter's biological father revealed in the episode "Peter's Two Dads." Unlike Francis, Peter shares many traits with McFinnigan as the resemblance is almost uncanny. He even has an animal companion like Peter in the form of a walking talking sheep, and he has a fondness for drinking as being the town drunk is an honor. McFinnigan was beaten by Peter in a beer drinking contest and after losing, he was convinced that only his son could be as good as a drinker as him.

Lois's family

• Carter Pewterschmidt (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) – Billionaire industrialist, shipping mogul, and owner of U.S. Steel with investments in the timber industry (though he later loses this and becomes owner of CNN and TNT), and member of a yacht club. Husband to Barbara, father to Lois, Carol, and Patrick. He harbors a deep hatred for Peter.

• Barbara Pewterschmidt née Hebrewberg (voiced by Alex Borstein) – Wife to Carter, mother to Lois, Carol, and Patrick. Often called "Babs" by Carter. It is noted on a few occasions Barbara only married Carter for his wealth and family heritage. She is less hostile towards Peter than her husband. In appearance, she is basically an older version of Lois. In the episode titled Family Goy, it is revealed she is a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust, and her family name was originally Hebrewbergmoneygrubber.

• Carol Pewterschimdt - Lois's sister who is rarely mentioned in the series. She was shown to have given birth to a baby boy in the episode "Emission Impossible."

• Patrick Pewterschimdt (voiced by Robert Downey, Jr.) - Lois's mentally insane older brother. He was shown in the episode The Fat Guy Strangler. The origins of his insanity come from his discovery of his mothers affair with Jackie Gleason. Haunted by that night he has a hatred for all overweight people and even attempted to kill Peter. After realizing he couldn't control himself Lois took him back to the asylum. Albeit he is a nice, calm gentleman when not in the presence of fat people, and has an imaginary wife named Marion who is revealed to be real when Brian and Stewie place a cucumber on her that pickles days later.

Brian's family

• Jasper (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) – 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.

• Biscuit (deceased) - Brian's Dead Mother.

• Coco (deceased) - Brian's Dead Father.

• Dylan - Brian's human son by his relationship with ex-girlfriend Tracy.

Neighbors

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

The Browns

• Cleveland Brown (voiced by Mike Henry) – 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.

• Loretta Brown (voiced by Alex Borstein) – 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 she has regretted her actions and wants Cleveland back, but he refuses her advances. Cleveland informs her 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.

• Cleveland Brown, Jr. (voiced by Mike Henry in Family Guy, Kevin Michael Richardson in The Cleveland Show) – 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.

The Goldmans

• Mort Goldman (voiced by John G. Brennan) – 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.

• Muriel Goldman (voiced by Nicole Sullivan) – Mort's wife.

• Neil Goldman (voiced by Seth Green) – 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.

The Quagmires

• Glenn Quagmire (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) – 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. He exhibits a vocal tic, the sound "giggidy" once or numerous times in rapid succession, particularly when aroused. On several occasions, it is shown that he is in love with Peter's wife, Lois.

• Anna Lee Quagmire (voiced by Mae Whitman) - Anna Lee (Annal for short) is the illegitimate daughter of Glenn Quagmire who was left on Glenn's front door with a note "Glenn, this is your daughter next time use a condom, jerk." Glenn gave her up for adoption and had planned to get her back but decided against it after seeing how happy she was with her new adopted parents. He also shows that he isn't above incest with her when he states, "...who knows, maybe I'll bump into her in eighteen years."

The Swansons

• Joe Swanson (voiced by Patrick Warburton) – 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.

• Bonnie Swanson (voiced by Jennifer Tilly) – 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.

• Kevin Swanson (Voiced by Jon Cryer in "There's Something About Paulie," Seth MacFarlane thereafter) – 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. 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".

• 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 (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) – 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.

• Jake Tucker (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) – Tom Tucker's deformed son and Chris' former classmate. He has an upside-down face and is very angry about it.

Peter's colleagues

Peter has held three jobs. A small number of his colleagues have been shown on screen.

Happy-Go-Lucky Toy Factory

• Jonathan Weed (voiced by Carlos Alazraqui) – 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".

Pawtucket Brewery

• Angela (voiced by Carrie Fisher) – Peter's supervisor, in charge of the shipping department. Repeatedly awards Opie as employee of the month and promotes him.

• Opie (voiced by Seth Green) – 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.

• Fouad (voiced by Mike Henry) - Fouad is the foreign guy at Pawtucket Patriot Brewery that educated Peter on what sarcasm is.

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

• Principal Shepard (voiced by Gary Cole) - The principal of James Woods Reginal High School.

• Connie D'Amico (voiced by Fairuza Balk in Seasons 1 and 2, Lisa Wilhoitin all seasons afterwards) – The most popular girl in school, Connie is portrayed as conceited, shallow and vain. She shows great disdain toward Meg and plays cruel pranks on her with her friends. However, more than once Connie has formed an alliance with Meg; while this is usually to further her own social standing, at least once — in the episode "Stew-Roids" — Connie turns to Meg after she realizes what it is like to be shunned and mercilessly taunted by her classmates.

Channel 5 (WQHG)

Main article: Quahog 5

• Diane Simmons (voiced by Lori Alan) – 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.

• Tricia Takanawa (voiced by Alex Borstein) - Typically referred to as "Asian reporter Tricia Takanawa", she speaks in a monotone cadence that Borstein has described as "all presentation and no substance".

• Ollie Williams (voiced by Phil LaMarr) – 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.

Other characters

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

• Mayor Adam West (voiced by Adam West) – The mayor of Quahog. He 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. He has once been held hostage by Brian Griffin.

• Evil Monkey (voiced by Danny Smith) – A monkey living in Chris' closet, who scares Chris whenever he jumps out of the closet by pointing at him with an evil grimace. The family thinks the Evil Monkey is a figment of Chris' imagination and they ignore his pleas. In "Hannah Banana", Chris does poorly on a test at school and blames the Evil Monkey, which he says scared him while he was trying to study. Peter and Lois are fed up with Chris talking about the monkey, but are taken aback when Chris proves it is real by capturing it and showing it to them. The Evil Monkey turns out not to be evil after all. He explains he was forced to move into Chris' closet after his wife had an affair and divorced him (previously revealed in "Ready, Willing, and Disabled"), and pointing at Chris was only his way of trying to make conversation. Chris is at first unconvinced, but when Monkey helps him write a book report with a passing grade, Chris becomes great friends with him. Soon Chris realizes that Peter never gave as much attention to him as Monkey has just now and grows to resent him, while Peter becomes jealous of Monkey. Monkey helps Peter and Chris make up according to Lois' wishes. Eventually, Monkey moves out of Chris' closet and parts ways with him, saying he'll "go where I'm needed", and moves to Tom Tucker's upside-down-faced son Jake's closet as his new haunt.

• Herbert (voiced by Mike Henry) – An elderly ephebophile and pedophile 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 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 lightsaber resumes a normal sword shape, in reference to his lightsaber being his penis. Chris generally doesn't take him seriously, but when it appears that Herbert may finally be successful in luring Chris, his caregivers intervene.

• Jillian Russell (voiced by Drew Barrymore) – 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.

• Horace (voiced by John G. Brennan) – 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 hanged.

• Bruce (voiced by Mike Henry) – 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. It is heavily suggested through dialog, circumstances, and vocal affectation that Bruce is gay. In Blue Harvest, he played the role of Greedo.

• Greased-up Deaf Guy (voiced by Mike Henry) – 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.

• The Vaudeville Guys (both deceased) – Vern (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) 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").

• 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, 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.

• Judge (voiced by Phil LaMarr) - An unnamed judge that presides over trials involving any of this show's characters.

• Dr. Hartman (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) - A doctor that works at Quahog's hospital. He temporarily lost his medical liscense in "Stewie Loves Lois," but manages to regain it after treating Peter's urinating problem.

• 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