Dwight Schrute
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| Dwight Kurt Schrute III | |
|---|---|
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| First appearance | Pilot |
| Statistics | |
| Gender | Male |
| Age | 30s |
| Title | Assistant (to the) Regional Manager |
| Family | Mose (cousin) |
| Portrayed by | Rainn Wilson |
| Created by | Greg Daniels |
Dwight Kurt Schrute III is a fictional character on the NBC's The Office portrayed by Rainn Wilson. At Scranton, Pennsylvania paper-goods distribution company Dunder-Mifflin, Dwight is a salesman and the titular Assistant (to the) Regional Manager under Michael Scott. His counterpart in the original UK series of The Office is Gareth Keenan.
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[edit] Interests
Dwight is trained in the art of surveillance and is a former Lackawanna County volunteer sheriff's deputy. He maintains a volunteer position as a security official at Dunder-Mifflin. He is also a purple belt in karate, and calls himself a senpai, which means "senior student" (but should not be used when referring to oneself). Dwight fancies himself a survivalist, based on his dog-eat-dog views on health care and his belief that a hero is "someone who kills people that wish him harm." Dwight, when put in a position of authority (which he relishes to the extreme whenever given a task from Michael), often uses it to punish his co-workers, especially Jim Halpert. He also once told the women of the office that they no longer could use the restroom.
Dwight is a pop culture and sci-fi buff who has expressed fanship of Harry Potter, Battlestar Galactica, The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Smallville, The Apprentice and Lost. His all-time favorite film, out of the over 240 he has seen, is The Crow. Dwight also hints at being afraid of androids taking over the world. Also, he has been seen wearing a World Anime Expo 2002 t-shirt, suggesting that he attended this (fictitious) anime convention. Dwight seems to have an admiration for TV and movie villains, such as Lex Luthor and Anakin Skywalker. He is also obsessed with the new Battlestar Galactica. Dwight claims to be able to raise and lower his cholesterol at will. When asked why he would want to raise his cholesterol, he responds, "So I can lower it." He also claims to have a perfect immune system, though he has suffered some ailments and maladies in subsequent episodes. Dwight also watches The Apprentice and says that he never misses it.
Dwight, as shown in the episode "Diwali," has a great understanding of the Hindu religion (including the origin of the Diwali; the festival of lights). His love and knowledge of Indian culture includes owning a Kurta. In "Diversity Day", Dwight expresses that he is sexually attracted to whites and Indians.
He listens to Froggy 101, a Scranton country-western station, and participated in a Rock 107 call-in contest to try to win a Jethro Tull box set. Dwight serves as DJ for the eighth annual Dundie awards and his music tastes include Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire," R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts", Mötley Crüe's "Wildside", and Life of Agony's "River Runs Red".
Dwight loves Count Chocula cereal. He is also a fan of Birkenstock sandals. In the episode "E-mail Surveillance", he states that he always keeps an extra pair in his car "for special occasions." Dwight's sporting streak tends toward paint ball, Karate, and laser tag (he is part of a laser tag team called "The Gandalfs"). He also has a "crossbow range" in his house. Dwight also mentions that he has a bo staff, and hints that he will bring it in after he is awarded the position of being the official security supervisor of the Scranton branch. Dwight is interested in muscle cars and drives a maroon 1987 Pontiac Trans Am he restored, and prior to that, he owned a 1978 Nissan 280Z. He knows how to make traditional baby dolls from corn husks.
Dwight is musically talented as well. He has been known to jam on the guitar and he is seen regularly playing the recorder. His repertoire includes "Greensleeves", "The Longest Time", "Mambo No. 5", "Teach Your Children", and "On the Wings of Love." He always wears a Casio calculator watch.
Dwight has a collection of bobblehead dolls at his desk including a personalized one that Angela Martin gives him for Valentine's Day. He also has Philadelphia Phillies catcher, Mike Lieberthal and former Phillies firstbaseman and current Baseball Tonight co-host John Kruk.
[edit] Coworker relations
Inexplicably, Dwight hero worships his boss, viewing him as model for success, and often jumps in on Michael's ill-conceived schemes, including an old-fashioned raid of Accounting by Sales. He craves authority, and is thrilled when asked to handle any task, such as choosing a health plan and being appointed as an honorary security guard for the office building. He has also been known to assume authority even when it is not handed to him. He lists Michael as his emergency contact and injured himself with a concussion when crashing his car in trying to rescue Michael. Dwight feels threatened by Ryan Howard, to whom Michael often assigns tasks, and he continues his resentment towards Ryan throughout the second season. In the third season, Dwight attempts to take Ryan under his wing, since he does not want to constantly be at odds with Ryan like he was with Jim. After a failed initiation attempt, Dwight takes Ryan on his first sales call with negative results. Ryan however, retaliates at the company he tried to sell with by throwing eggs at the company with Dwight quick to follow. The two end up going out for beers afterwards. Dwight states that his favorite moment in Dunder-Mifflin history would be his first day when Michael hazed him with the fire extinguisher.
Though not nearly as sexist and bigoted as Michael, Dwight is in no denial about his views. Dwight has also expressed homophobic views, but is unable to recognize homosexuality in others. He is also not above backstabbing which he demonstrates occasionally such as stealing an important sales commission from Jim or trying to sideswipe Michael by meeting with Jan Levinson and discussing how he is more fit to be the manager of the Scranton branch than Michael. However, Dwight is revealed to be the culprit behind both incidents to the victims. As a result of trying to steal Michael's job, Dwight is forced to do his boss's laundry for one year, even after he is forgiven. As far as his personal interactions with people in or outside of work, Dwight is leery of new people and never shakes hands with people unless told otherwise, even if they take the initiative first.
Dwight firmly believes that the only thing that separates humans from animals is rules. Dwight's rigid adherence to rules irritates others at times, such as his immediate need to noisily shred documents and credit cards. Co-workers Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly frequently play pranks on him. Jim once put nickels in Dwight's phone receiver until he got used to the weight. Jim then takes them out and Dwight inadvertently knocks himself in the head with the receiver. Jim also creates Dwight's security badge by intentionally having his middle name as "Fart" rather than his real middle name of Kurt. Another time, Jim pays everyone in the office $5.00 to call Dwight "Dwayne". He has also convinced Dwight that he could move objects with his mind. Dwight and Jim have an ongoing feud that reaches a head at the end of the second season, when Dwight threatens to quit unless Jim is transferred. Professionally, Dwight wins the 2005 Salesman of the Year Award, though this is likely due, at least in part, to his stealing Jim's largest client.
As a result of the Scranton-Stamford merger, Dwight is in an ongoing battle with salesman Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) in trying to gain Michael's respect as his right-hand man. The two have begun bickering over the meanings of their job titles which has caused them to insult one another frequently. Andy even proceeds to become friendly with Angela when he shows her a picture of a cat on his computer desktop, although it is unknown if Andy is aware of Angela's relationship with Dwight.
Dwight's Ongoing List of Grievances against Jim
- Jim replaced all of Dwight’s pens and pencils with crayons.
- Jim paid everyone in the office $5 each to call Dwight “Dwayne” all day.
- Jim planted a bloody glove in Dwight’s desk and tried to convince him that he committed murder.
- Jim said there was an abandoned infant in the women’s room, causing Dwight to enter while Meredith was inside, still on the toilet.
- Jim caused Dwight to knock himself in the head with his phone when Jim slowly filled it with nickels and then removed them all at once.
- Every time Dwight typed his name it said “diapers” thanks to a simple macro that Jim created.
- Jim convinced Dwight it was Friday when it was actually Thursday, thus causing Dwight to show up around 12:20 PM the following day. Dwight had also stated that he had never missed a single day of work the day before showing up late.
- Jim moved Dwight’s desk an inch every time he went to the bathroom. By the end of the day it was two feet closer to the copier.
- Jim locked Dwight in the conference room after Dwight took authoritarian control over the company's new healthcare plan.
- Jim occasionally places Dwight’s personal effects into gelatin. (Episode 101)
- Jim moved Dwight’s desk into the men’s room. (Episode 206)
- Jim stole Dwight’s karate purple belt. (Episode 206)
- Jim popped Dwight’s “fitness orb”. (Episode 208)
- Jim altered Dwight’s new security badge so his middle name read “Fart” instead of Kurt. The badge was also unusually large and labeled Dwight as a security threat. (Episode 221)
- Jim, with the help of the vending machine stocker, had all of Dwight's desk possessions put into the vending machine. He then gave Dwight a large bag of nickels to get them back.
- After finding out that Oscar is gay, Dwight asks Jim where he can obtain "gaydar" to fulfill Michael's request that he find out who all the homosexuals are in the office. Jim sends Dwight a metal detector that is labeled "HETERO" "HOMO" and "BI". It beeps as Dwight scans Oscar when it detects his belt, then again when it detects Dwight's own belt.
- Before leaving for Stamford, Jim took some of Dwight's stationary. At various points Jim would then fax Dwight instructions and warnings to fool him into thinking they were from himself in the future.
Dwight is in a secretive relationship with Angela, the head of Accounting, which is unknown to most of the office employees. Pam and Ryan know about the relationship. Pam becomes aware of their "relationship" by both Dwight's and Angela's actions toward one another. These actions include: Angela buying Dwight a candy bar, Angela buying Dwight his very own bobblehead, and Dwight giving Angela a key to his house. Ryan finds out after listening in on a conversation in which Dwight and Angela talk about "finances". Dwight complains to Angela about not getting "cookie", obviously referring to something sexual. Dwight and Angela are seen snuggling in the backyard of Jim Halpert's condo during a party there. The pair also discuss the rearing of children during the episode "Take Your Daughter to Work Day." Dwight also tries to attack Oscar Martinez when he pushes Angela out of the way after she makes a snide remark about his homosexuality.
[edit] Family
Dwight was originally a twin, but he absorbed his twin while still in his mother's womb. He is glad for this, for he believes that it granted him extra strength. In a deleted scene from "The Convict" he claims to have been born weighing 13lbs 5oz, rendering his mother incapable of walking for three months. Little is revealed about Dwight's parents except that his father—also named Dwight Schrute—battled high blood pressure and obesity all his life, but often went hunting with his son. Dwight lives on his family's 40-acre farm, where he grows beets with cousin Mose, which they sell to local stores and restaurants. Mose and Dwight hold annual Halloween bonfires, and teenagers have been known to use the farm for sex. According to Dwight, the Schrute family produces thirsty babies. Dwight's maternal grandfather, whose surname was Manheim according to Dwight's blog on nbc.com, fought in World War II and ended up in an Allied Prison Camp. This implies that his grandfather was a German soldier. Michael also refers to Dwight's grandmother as a "Nazi war criminal". His paternal great-grandfather was Amish and his name was Dweide Schrude. According to one of Dwight's blogs on nbc.com's "Schrute-Space," he had an Uncle Gunther, a goat farmer in Germany, who fled the Allied invasion and married a Finnish woman and they had 17 children. He also had an Uncle Grit who revealed that the Schrute family has an on-going hatred of Harry S. Truman because they were big supporters of Thomas Dewey.
There is a subtle plot line developing centered around Dwight's grandfather. Dwight arrived at Casino Night wearing the tuxedo in which his grandfather was buried. Dwight's grandfather was reburied in a barrel. A coffin is seen in the barn on the Schrute family farm.
[edit] Trivia
- Rainn Wilson based Dwight's hairstyle on his own style he had when he was sixteen.[1]
- Rainn Wilson initially auditioned for the role of Michael Scott (which he called his audition a bad Ricky Gervais impression), but producers were more impressed with his audition as Dwight and hired him for that role.[2]
- Dwight's reference to reabsorbing his twin is a condition known as Chimerism, in which one fetus is reabsorbed into the other, resulting in a baby with more than one set of DNA.
- Dwight was the youngest pilot in pan-am history. When he was four the pilot of the plane let Dwight sit in the cockpit with him and help fly the plane. Dwight said he could have landed the plane, but his father wanted them to go back to their seats. (Episode 211- Booze Cruise)
- In WWII, Dwight's paternal grandfather killed 20 men, then spent the rest of the war in an Allied prision camp. (Episode 6, Season 2- The Fight)
[edit] References
- ^ Wilson, Rainn (Actor). 2005. "Pilot" [Commentary track], The Office Season One (US/NBC Version) [DVD], Los Angeles, CA: Universal.
- ^ Rainn Wilson, Entertainment Weekly, June 30, 2006
[edit] External links
- Schrute-Space - Dwight Schrute's "blog" (NBC official website)
- Dwight Schrute Quotes - At Dunderball.com (Office fansite)
- More Dwight Schrute Quotes - at QuotesFromTheOffice.com
- Gareth Keenan vs. Dwight Schrute at www.theofficevstheoffice.com
- Dwight Schrute Bobblehead Petition - Petition to encourage NBC to create a Dwight Bobblehead
- Dwight Schrute Bobblehead - At NBCUniversalStore.com
| Characters of The Office – U.S. version |
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Main Characters |
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Michael Scott | Jim Halpert | Pam Beesly | Dwight Schrute | Ryan Howard |
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Minor Characters |
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Accounting |
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Miscellaneous Characters |
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Katy | Devon | Carole Stills | Bob Vance | Josh Porter | Billy Merchant | Tony Gardner | Martin Nash | Stacy | Brenda | Hank | Ed Truck | Mose Schrute | |
