Chris Griffin

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Chris Griffin
Family Guy Character
Chris Griffin
Character Information
Full Name	Christopher Cross Griffin
Hometown	Quahog, Rhode Island
Age	13 (Episode 1.1 - prior to 4.13) 14 (Prior to 4.13 - present)
Gender	Male
Hair Color	Blonde
Height	5 ft 6 in (1.70 m)
Weight	250 lb (113 kg)
Occupation	Paper-boy
General Characteristics
Political Leaning	briefly Republican^[1]
Religion	Roman Catholic In the episode When You Wish upon a Weinstein Peter nearly made Chris convert to Judaism
Heritage	Irish
Hobbies	Painting Drawing Singing
Show Information
First Episode	"Death Has a Shadow"
Voice actor	Seth Green
WikiQuote
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Chris Griffin

Christopher "Chris" 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.

1 Character history and personality
2 Sexuality
3 Characters who have recurring relations with Chris
- 3.1 The Evil Monkey
- 3.2 Herbert
4 Character origins
- 4.1 Name
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Character history and personality

Chris, like his father, lacks intelligence and common sense, 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 ( eg. in "Deep Throats", he gives Peter and Lois a detailed lecture on the effects and dangers of cannabis). 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 unusually 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.

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.

It can be argued that Chris is the only member of his immediate family who has never been depicted killing (directly or indirectly) anyone (or anything). Peter, Lois, Meg, Stewie and Brian have all killed, mostly in gags. However, Chris did attempt to kill Lois when under Stewie's robotic control in one episode.

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 becomes a Young Republican, not because he has conservative views, but because Alyssa offers to let him touch her breasts.

[edit] 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. Chris is, however, an experienced masturbator, as revealed in the episode Barely Legal.

In the episode A Picture is Worth a 1,000 Bucks, he dates the famous model Kate Moss, but there is most likely nothing physical between them.

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). In Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story during one of Peter's "Grinds My Gears" segments he says "We all know that no woman anywhere wants to have sex with anyone." to which Lois responds with "Women are such teases. That's why I went back to men." After saying this, Meg acts repulsed, while Chris says "Go on..." However, many of these incident might not be because he's so much attracted to Lois as another sign 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 Sam, 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. Later in the episode he confides to Sam of his awkwardness with girls, so she suggest he think of her as a guy. Sam asks if he'd like to go make out, and Chris replies "Yes, Sir!".

[edit] Characters who have recurring relations with Chris

[edit] The Evil Monkey

The evil monkey in Chris's closet

The 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.

The Evil Monkey appeared in:

"Dammit Janet": (His first appearance) 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.
"Fore Father": Chris says he wants to go camping so he can get away from the Evil Monkey. The Monkey then threatens him again.
"Ready, Willing and Disabled": (His third appearance) we find out how he became evil in the first place. He came home from work to find his wife in bed with another monkey.
"Emission Impossible": Lois sends the kids to their rooms for some peace with Peter. Chris comments about the Evil Monkey again.
Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story: He appears at the filming and is awed at by the crowd of photographers. He then does his signature point and everyone cheers.
"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.
"Brian the Bachelor": Chris's zit is interrupted by the Evil Monkey's threat and Chris shouts "I am in no mood!"
"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.
"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 Slow Ride by Foghat.
"Jungle Love": The Evil Monkey cries after finding out Chris isn't coming back from South America.
"Stewie Loves Lois": The first time The Evil Monkey threatens someone other than Chris. Peter is upset about having been "raped" and the Evil Monkey does his trademark point at him as he goes past. Peter then says "Stop it, Meg" and continues crying.

[edit] Herbert

Main article: Herbert (Family Guy)

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.

[edit] Character origins

Chris's voice was based on Ted Levine's performance as Jame "Buffalo Bill" Gumb in The Silence of the Lambs. In the commentary for Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, Seth Green reveals that he based his voice for Chris on what "Buffalo Bill" would sound like if he were working at a drive-thru in a McDonalds (speaking through a PA system); the result being a pre-Chris Griffin voice.

[edit] Name

Chris's seldom-used 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.

[edit] References

^ Chris exhibits no political interests, but joined the Young Republicans to gain favor with schoolmate Alyssa (a minor character).

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