Chris Griffin
| Chris Griffin | |
|---|---|
| Family Guy Character | |
 Chris-Cross | |
| Character Information | |
| Full Name | Christopher Cross Griffin |
| Hometown | Quahog, Rhode Island |
| Age | 14 [1] |
| Gender | Male |
| Hair Colour | Blonde |
| Height | 5' 6" |
| Weight | 250 lb. (113.40 kg) |
| Occupation | Paper-boy |
| General Characteristics | |
| Political Leaning | Republican[2] |
| Religion | |
| Heritage | |
| Hobbies | |
| Show Information | |
| First Episode | "Death Has a Shadow" |
| Voice actor | Seth Green |
| WikiQuote | |
Christopher Cross Griffin is the second child of Peter and Lois Griffin in the TV cartoon series Family Guy. He is the brother of Meg and Stewie Griffin, and half-brother of Bertram. Chris is voiced by Seth Green.
Contents |
Character history and personality
Chris lacks intelligence and common sense (possibly inherited from his father) 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 ("Fifteen Minutes of Shame"). 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 unusally 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.
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. 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.
Like Meg, Chris is a loner. His best friend was a tree until Peter "killed" it with a shotgun in "Da Boom" after Chris insists on bringing it along on their trip, to Peter's disapproval.
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. Lois and Stewie were other characters to undergo major yet gradual character changes in this manner.
In one episode, Chris is revealed to have been an accident, caused by a faulty condom ("and the lawsuit bought us this house! You're my favourite mistake!" says Lois.)
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. Like his father, Chris is overweight in adulthood and stupid. However, it is likely that this future has been completely changed, as Stewie traveled back in time to kill Vanessa (also taking in the theory that any minor changes during time-travel can majorly change the present or future).
In the episode "You May Now Kiss The...Uh...Guy Who Receives", he is attracted to a student named Alyssa, who is a young Republican. He became a Young Republican, but he wasn't really doing it because he had conservative views, but because Alyssa promised him that he could touch her breasts.
Sexuality
Generally, Chris is considered to be heterosexual. In You May Now Kiss the...Uh...Guy Who Receives he becomes a young Republican to impress a girl and in other episodes he shows he has an attraction to girls.
However, he has very little sexual knowledge. In Love Thy Trophy he believes babies come from the Child Welfare Office (although Lois actually told him, prior to this event, the truth), and in And the Wiener is... he shows he does not know what an erection is.
It is hinted throughout the show that Chris may have Oedipal tendencies. In E. Peterbus Unum while Lois is home schooling him and he passes a note to Meg saying "Mrs Griffin is hot," and in Model Misbehavior told Lois that he would pleasure himself to her modeling photos (Meg also said this, which led Peter to insanely banish her from the house, yet he did nothing to Chris). However, this also could also be more of his usual stupidity.Chris is probably the only member of the Griffin family who has not had his sexuality questioned by the writers.However, in To Love and Die in Dixie, he was kissed by someone who he thought was a boy and later admitted to Brian that it felt 'right', but as the person turned out to be a girl, Chris is probably heterosexual.
Characters who have Reoccurring Relations with Chris
Evil Monkey
An 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.
- His First Appearance is in the episode Dammit Janet where 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.
- In the episode Fore Father Chris says he wants to go camping so he can get away from the Evil Monkey. The Monkey then threatens him again.
- In his third appearance in Ready, Willing and Disabled, we find out why he was Evil in the first place. He came home from work to find his wife in bed with another Monkey.
- In Emission Impossible Lois sends the kids to their rooms for some peace with Peter. Chris comments about the Evil Monkey again.
- In Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story He appears at the filming and is awed by the crowd of photographers. He then points at them for fun.
- In the season 4 episode,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.
- In Brian the Bachelor Chris's zit is interrupted by the Evil Monkey's threat and Chris shouts "I am in no mood!"
- In 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.
- In 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 music.
- In Jungle Love The Evil Monkey cries after finding out Chris isn't coming back from South America.
- Stewie Loves Lois is the first time The Evil Monkey threatens someone else from Chris. Peter is upset about having been "Raped" and the Evil Monkey does is trademark point to him as he goes past. Peter then says "Stop it, Meg" and continues crying.
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. Note: Herbert rhymes with "pervert" and he has a dog named Jesse that is like a mirror image of him in a way, and whose hind legs are completely useless.
Herbert's appearances include:
- To Live and Die in Dixie: In his first appearance, Chris is delivering newspapers to his house, and he tries to persuade Chris to come inside. His views on women are, "Who needs 'em?", revealing he may be a misogynist and/or gay. At the end, he leaves 113 messages on the phone, and they are all about Chris.
- From Method to Madness: He sees Jeff Campbell, a teenage nudist, and says "Holy moly, it must be my birthday!"
- Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story: He is heard during the intermission asking, "Chris do you have a shower scene? Or do I have to keep dreamin'?"
- North by North Quahog: He disguises himself (unconvincingly) as an eighth-grader and asks two boys to dance. Brian points out that he is "one ugly eighth-grader". "You don't wanna hurt yourself dancing; make sure you stretch out those creamy hamstrings."
- Petarded: When they are singing the song after Peter is tested and found to be retarded, you can see him dancing towards the end (DVD only).
- Brian the Bachelor: When Chris takes his shirt off in the bathroom, he climbs up a ladder and spies on him, mimicking a scene in Animal House.
- The Perfect Castaway: He asks Brian for a car disguised as an ice-cream truck with which to entice children.
- The Courtship of Stewie's Father: Herbert is central to the plot of this episode. It is in this episode that his name is revealed, and that he also has a crippled dog named Jesse, who mirrors him. Chris breaks his window with a baseball, and Lois decides to pay for the broken window out of Chris's allowance. At Herbert's suggestion, Peter makes Chris do chores for Herbert. He later takes Chris out to dinner. At that point, he fantasizes about life with Chris, as his husband, for he sees himself as the wife, dressed as Donna Reed. He also does a musical number, "Somewhere that's Green" from Little Shop Of Horrors, which involves things that are extremely outdated, such as "watching Lucy on a big enormous 12-inch screen", and seeing the kids play Howdy Doody. In his fantasy family, he and Chris have two children, a boy who resembles Chris, and a girl who resembles Herbert. In the last scene of the episode, he turns on the TV to an announcement of the Little League World Series. He perks up and responds: "Jackpot!"
- You May Now Kiss The...Uh...Guy Who Receives: He does not sign Brian's petition for gay marriage "Get off my property, you pervert". While he may be homosexual, he may only be against gay marriage because he doesn't want gay people to have a commitment, or he doesn't want people to know of his own homosexual lusts for Chris. Or perhaps a sarcastic satire on his character.
- Petergeist: He saves Chris from being eaten by a giant evil tree, and battles the tree in a similar fashion to Gandalf's battle with the Balrog in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
- Hell Comes to Quahog: When Chris loses his paper route due to Superstore U.S.A., Herbert gets shot by the truck that's launching newspapers.
- Saving Private Brian: After Lois and Peter come down to stop Chris from rehearsing loudly in the garage, he gets angry at them and leaves to loiter in the park. To get to the park, he jumps on a motorcycle driven by Herbert.
- Whistle While Your Wife Works: He sends his dog Jesse out for a walk, and the dog is tempted to eat Peter's finger, which was previously blown off.
- Family Guy: Live in Vegas: He sings the Broadway song One Boy. This is humorous because the song is from Bye Bye Birdie, and is sung by a female character about her boyfriend.
External links
- Family Guy at the Internet Movie Database
- TurnInto How to become Chris Griffin
Trivia
- Chris's 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.
- Chris is apparently the only member of his immediate family who has never killed (directly or indirectly) anyone (or anything). Peter has killed Hanson believing them to be The Children of the Corn, the dragon Cybill Shepherd, and (as mentioned above) a tree which Chris regarded as his best friend. He also fell on Joan Cusack, killing her, before stuffing her body into a mailbox. Peter has also been involved in an accident with Lois which resulted in the death of a truck driver, and killed two pilots when he was "working" as Death. Meg has killed Dick Clark, William Shatner, when she ran him over, and (though only implied) an unnamed younger sister. Mila Kunis who voices Meg also played a college student who killed William Shatner’s character in film American Psycho 2. Stewie has killed scores of people, and Brian has run over Dean Koontz. However, Chris attempted to kill Lois but it can be debated whether he or Stewie should get the credit, as Stewie was controlling him. But in one episode he was shown beating a man who he believed to be dead with a bottle of wine.
- In the commentary of Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, Seth Green reveals that he based his voice for Chris on Ted Levine's performance as Jame "Buffalo Bill" Gumb in The Silence of the Lambs.
References
- ^ Chris is 14 as of the episode "Jungle Love". This is implied when Chris starts High School as a Freshman.
- ^ Chris joined the Young Republicans to gain favour with minor character Alyssa, though isn't actually a Republican by nature.
- 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
| Family Guy | |
|---|---|
| Characters | |
| Griffin family: | Peter Griffin • Lois Griffin • Meg Griffin • Chris Griffin • Stewie Griffin • Brian Griffin |
| Griffin family relatives: | Francis Griffin • Thelma Griffin • Bertram Griffin |
| Brown family: | Cleveland Brown • Loretta Brown • Cleveland, Jr. |
| Goldman family | Mort Goldman • Muriel Goldman • Neil Goldman |
| Other families: | Pewterschmidt family • Swanson family |
| Other individuals: | Glenn Quagmire • Herbert • Joe Swanson • Jonathan Weed • Mayor Adam West |
| DVDs and CDs | |
| Off the Cutting Room Floor • Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story • Live in Vegas | |
| Other | |
| Criticism • Episode list • Neologisms • Places • Songs • Voice Actors • Video Game | |
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