Glenn Quagmire

Glenn Quagmire is a character on the animated series Family Guy, best known for his satyriasis. A commercial airline pilot, and veteran Navy seaman, Quagmire is a neighbor of the Griffins. He is voiced by the show's creator and lead writer, Seth MacFarlane.

MacFarlane describes Quagmire as "An appalling human being who is still caught in the rat-pack era" based on anachronistic 1950s party animal clichés. His neighbor and friend Peter Griffin describes him as a "heartless sex hound."

Catchphrases

Quagmire has several oft-used catchphrases, including giggity (and variations thereof, excitedly), all right, both usually indicating perceived sexual situations or opportunities; these exclamations are often accompanied by a head bob. His earliest catchphrase, Oh! (in arrogant triumph), is usually delivered with a pelvic thrust.

Ethics and sexual deviancy

Many of the storylines and most of the jokes about Quagmire feature his wanton and deviant sexual behavior. A few gags even suggest that he is a registered sex offender. Quagmire's foot fetish is referenced in several episodes. In at least one episode he is shown on the verge of engaging in sexual activity with his mother. He also is not above sex with a dead woman, as evidenced after his temporary wife Joan Quagmire's death. On one occasion, while out at sea with Peter and his friends, Quagmire confessed to a seemingly endless chain of bizarre sexual acts, ranging from picking up illegal aliens at Home Depot and Jo-Ann Fabrics stores to suffocate them while he masturbated to anally penetrating a spider monkey while reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Aside from these excesses, Quagmire finds sexual arousal in seemingly banal situations, and sexual innuendo in much of the show's dialogue. He once told a story to the guys at the bar about "two hot homeless twins" where Peter shielded Stewie's ears so his son could not hear it, but his pantomime of his activities is apparently so revolting that Stewie screams in terror when Quagmire tries to play the "got your nose" game. Quagmire is also known for more extreme predatory behavior, such as drugging the drinks of his dates.

Despite this, Quagmire is not completely lacking in values. His thoughtful counseling of Meg Griffin helped her overcome her demented crush on Brian Griffin. When his friend Cleveland's wife makes a blatant sexual pass at him in "The Cleveland-Loretta Quagmire", he is extremely hesitant about the morality of responding to a come-on from his best friend's wife. He is also moral enough to not engage in statutory rape, at least with Meg, often beginning conversations with her with "Are you eighteen yet?" However, like his Rat Pack predecessors, he espouses traditional, even conservative male sex roles even while engaging in varigated hyper-sexual indulgences. He opposes homosexuality, refusing for example to sign a petition for gay marriage. This sets up several homophobia gags and confusing run-ins with transsexuals, such as when he is horrified to learn that Taylor Hanson, whom Quagmire had found sexually attractive, is in fact male; he then stammers that he has hundreds of pictures at home and then suddenly leaves the scene.

When one of his partners, waking up in bed beside him, asks Quagmire his occupation, he cheerfully responds "Hey, I've got a question for you too: why are you still here?" On a Family Guy DVD commentary, MacFarlane says that he believes this to be Quagmire's "defining moment".

In "I Take Thee Quagmire", Quagmire actually falls in love and marries; the marriage does not outlast the episode. In an alternative timeline in "Meet the Quagmires", Quagmire is also shown married to Lois Griffin, toward whom he has in several episodes demonstrated an attraction.

Appearance

Quagmire has short black hair, parted in the middle with lightly tanned skin; he is of average height and somewhat slight build. His facial characteristics include an enormous jaw and chin, and a long nose. His general skull structure (apart from the nose) and hair color are similar to the American Dad character Stan Smith. He is usually seen wearing a red Hawaiian shirt with yellow flowers, a pair of blue jeans, brown boots and, when undressed, leopard-print briefs. He has also appeared in a light blue flamboyant tuxedo and red bow tie. His swimsuit trunks match his red Hawaiian shirt.

Quagmire's home follows the same retro theme, decked out in a style reminiscent of the swinging party set of the fifties and sixties. It has been shown in the episode "The Cleveland-Loretta Quagmire" that nearly every part of the house has a discreetly hidden bed and that he has his telephone number tattooed on his buttocks.

Name

The word quagmire refers to both a soft soil that yields easily (such as quicksand) and a situation that is difficult to get out of. The title of a Family Guy episode from Season Four, dealing with infidelity, plays on the second meaning ("The Cleveland-Loretta Quagmire").

Job

In the episodes "Love Thy Trophy" and "I Never Met the Dead Man", Quagmire is referred to as a pilot in dialogue, while "The Thin White Line" shows him in a pilot's uniform at the airport. He also uses his position to get Lois a job as a flight attendant in "Damnit Janet". It was not until "Airport '07" that viewers for the first time see him doing his job as a 767 Captain for the fictional TransNational Airlines; interestingly, in this episode he appears to be surprisingly competent and professional in his chosen career. In "Death Lives" when Peter has flash backs, it was also revealed that Quagmire was an enlisted Sailor in the United States Navy. Contrary to popular belief, he was not an Officer, as he is seen wearing the "crackerjack" uniform of an enlisted Sailor. This is in contrast to the fact that he introduces himself as "Ensign Glenn Quagmire" to Peter. Quagmire has also made a living under the alias James Francis. However, it may be that his rank was the one he introduced himself as and the discrepancy was due to an error by the animators. In an earlier episode, he is seen attending a staff party at the Happy-Go-Lucky Toy Factory with Peter, implying he may have worked there before becoming a pilot.

Theme song

Quagmire has his own theme song, as seen in "Breaking Out Is Hard to Do" and "Airport '07", although the theme song is only shown on the DVD version of the latter episode. The theme song, as seen during these two episodes, usually begins after Quagmire makes a sexual joke. It starts off with an announcer saying "Who else but Quagmire?", and then it goes into an opening sequence featuring his face against a background of changing colors, while studio singers sing the theme song, with Quagmire singing/speaking the last line;

He's Quagmire, Quagmire

You never really know what he's gonna do next

He's Quagmire, Quagmire

Giggity giggity giggity giggity, let's have sex!

The sequence then cuts to a setting that is supposed to be entirely unfunny. Quagmire will then perform an outrageous act, much to the surprise of the bystanders. So far, a fancy dinner party and a funeral for a young woman who died a virgin have been shown. During the dinner party sequence, where he was dressed as a waiter, he stripped down to his underwear and danced upon the table. During the funeral, he popped out of the coffin in his underwear and danced offscreen, implying that he had sex with the corpse (thus the deceased woman had indeed lost her virginity).

The presumed "closing credits" sequence is almost identical to the opening sequence, except the theme song is performed thusly;

He's Quagmire, Quagmire

Giggity giggity goo!