Family Guy is one of the funniest and most popular animated series on television. Its popularity doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, as Seth McFarland’s off-color cartoon is currently in its 18th season. While some secondary characters have come and gone over the years, the Griffin Family still remains intact.
That said, Family Guy owes much of its popularity to the writers, who are willing to take the characters to some pretty dark places. In fact, every single one of the main characters has done something truly awful (on more than one occasion). So, let’s take a look at the worst thing each main character on Family Guy has done.
Brian Tries to Swindle Quagmire
In the 4th episode of the 13th season (“Brian the Closer”), Brian gets all of his teeth knocked out while fighting with Peter over a piece of rope. When Peter and Lois refuse to pay for his dental work, Brian falls into a deep state of depression. However, as he drowns his sorrows at The Drunken Clam, Quagmire reluctantly agrees to pay to fix Brian’s broken smile.
With a new smile and newfound confidence, Brian decides to get into real estate. Unfortunately, his humility quickly turns to hubris. When his boss challenges him to sell a run-down apartment building, Brian tries to pawn it off on Quagmire, convincing him that it is a really good investment. Eventually, Quagmire realizes that he’s been conned and tracks Brian down to exact revenge.
Meg Uses Chris to Get Close to Her Crush
In the 8th episode of the 11th season (“Friends Without Benefits”), Meg falls head over heels for a new classmate, Kent Lastname. However, things turn sour when Kent tells her that he is gay and that he actually has a crush on her brother, Chris. As always, Meg decides to take things too far.
Instead of giving up and moving on, Meg decides to use Chris to get closer to Kent. She tells Kent that Chris wants to have sex with him and even prepares drugs to ensure that Chris will be asleep when Kent comes over. Just as Kent arrives, Meg realizes what she has done and calls it off before anything happens.
Bonnie Cheats on Joe
In the 17th episode of the 9th season (“Foreign Affairs”), Bonnie and Lois plan a trip to France. Lois thinks it will be a great opportunity to have a girl’s trip and enjoy Paris. However, she quickly realizes that Bonnie has something else in mind.
When Bonnie begins flirting with a paraplegic Frenchman, Francois, she considers leaving Joe permanently and staying in Paris with her new lover. Unwilling to let Bonnie go through with it, Lois calls Joe, who flies to France and attempts to win her back. In the end, Bonnie decides to leave Francois and return home with Joe.
Joe Cheats on Bonnie
In the 23rd episode of the 13th season (“Internal Affairs”), a fellow police officer reveals her true feelings for Joe. Though Joe is attracted to her as well, he wants to remain faithful to Bonnie.
However, when Peter reminds Joe of Bonnie’s infidelity in Paris, Joe gives in and sleeps with his new admirer. Later, Joe realizes that he went too far because Bonnie never actually slept with her French “lover.”
Peter Tells the Family That He Doesn’t Like Them
In the 16th episode of the 18th season (“April in Quahog”), Tom Tucker announces to Quahog that the world is ending. Apparently, a black hole is sucking in the entire solar system, effectively ending all of human existence. Peter decides to live out his wildest fantasies with the little time he has left.
However, as the final hour approaches, Peter reveals to the family that he doesn’t enjoy spending time with the kids. Just as this revelation sinks in, the news declares that it was all an April Fool’s joke. Now, Peter has to live with the consequences of his words.
Angela Harasses Peter at Work
In the 14th episode of the 8th season (“Peter-assment”), Peter breaks his glasses and has to wear contacts to work for the first time. When his boss, Angela, sees him, she instantly falls in love with his new look. Things quickly get out of hand, as Angela forces Peter to do humiliating acts in the workplace for her pleasure.
Eventually, this harassment culminates in Angela inviting Peter to her house for a night of intimacy. In the end, Peter is able to find a way to satisfy Angela and keep his job, without cheating on Lois.
Lois Judges Quagmire’s Father for Being Transgender
In the 18th episode of the 8th season (“Quagmire’s Dad”), Quagmire’s army veteran father returns to Quahog and reveals that he has been living a lie. In fact, Dan Quagmire is a man trapped in a woman’s body and intends to get Gender Reassignment Surgery.
As everyone adjusts to the surprising news in different ways, Lois uses the opportunity to make fun of Quagmire’s father for being “a little odd.”
Stewie Tries to Kill Louis… A Lot
It’s a running joke throughout the entire series that Stewie hates his mother. He actually hates her so much that he wants (and tries) to kill her on dozens of occasions. In fact, there is a two-part episode (“Stewie Kills Lois,” Part 1 &2) dedicated to this storyline.
In “Stewie Kills Lois,” we see just how far the talking baby is willing to go to kill his own mother. It takes him all the way to the White House, where he is finally able to take her down. However, as the episode ends, we find out that the whole thing was just a simulation, and Stewie never actually killed Lois.
Chris Beats Up Peter
In the 11th episode of the 14th season (“The Peanut Butter Kid,”) Peter goes to the mall with the rest of the family to return a metal detector. However, when they discover auditions for a children’s commercial, they choose to sign Stewie up. He immediately gets the part, at which time Peter decides to tell Chris that he is no longer his favorite son.
At first, Chris seems sad by the news. Unfortunately for Peter, this sadness quickly turns to rage, and Chris bashes Peter’s head against a nearby window. When Peter returns to the rest of the family, he reveals that Chris wasn’t actually sad about the news, “he just doesn’t like being touched.”
Cleveland Leaves to Create His Own Show
Easily the worst thing any Family Guy character could do is leave the show, and this is exactly what Cleveland did. His character was temporarily written out of the show so that he could go live in Virginia for “The Cleveland Show.”
The ill-fated spinoff eventually failed, at which time Cleveland came back to Quahog. However, his departure was not well received by any of the other characters.
