Joe Swanson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Joe Swanson
Family Guy Character
Sgt Joe Swanson
Character Information
Full Name	Joseph Swanson
Hometown	Providence, Rhode Island
Age	39
Gender	Male
Hair Color	Brown
Height	5' 9" (1.77)
Occupation	Police Officer
General Characteristics
Political Leaning	Conservative
Vehicle	Wheelchair
Best Friend	Cleveland Brown, Glenn Quagmire, Peter Griffin, and Brian Griffin
Show Information
First Episode	"A Hero Sits Next Door"
Voice actor	Patrick Warburton
WikiQuote
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Joe Swanson

Sgt Joseph "Joe" Swanson is a fictional character in the Fox animated television show Family Guy. His voice is supplied by actor Patrick Warburton. He is a super-macho paraplegic police officer and is married to perpetually pregnant wife, Bonnie, and has one son, Kevin.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] In the show

Joe is characterized by his over-zealousness, machismo, short temper, and by-the-book attitude. He is devoted to his wife and son Kevin and takes great pride in his line of work. He is friendly towards Peter Griffin, Cleveland Brown, and Glenn Quagmire and the four are often seen together at the local bar. Joe's enthusiasm can occasionally go too far into rigid perfectionism, however; he sets high, unreachable standards for himself and others, especially Kevin. He has a domineering relationship with his son, whom he pushes very hard in part to live vicariously through him.

Joe in his debut

Joe's fearlessness is best exemplified in episodes such as the "Da Boom" wherein, despite being fused to the ground by a nuclear explosion, it was implied that Joe was perfectly capable of fighting off a giant mutated rat. Joe is known for yelling "Let's do it!" and "Bring it on!" when facing various physical challenges with his trademark over-enthusiasm. Along with Steven Seagal films, Joe also seems to enjoy any number of other macho "shoot-em-up" action movies and martial arts films, and screams hysterically when they're turned off.

Despite his bravado, Joe may also harbor some insecurity and low self-esteem. He once described to Peter how he gave Kevin a "love tap" punch after Kevin beat him at a game, then beat him up until it became a blur. Kevin had to live in foster care for some time after that. Also, in the episode, "Ready, Willing, and Disabled", Joe began to doubt his self-worth after a thief (wearing a Jimmy Carter mask, a reference to Point Break) escaped arrest by outrunning him. To bolster his spirit, Peter encouraged him to enter the Special People's Games (a Special Olympics parody) in the decathlon. Joe went on to win the decathlon, but only after Peter spiked his water bottle with steroids. Joe became a sports celebrity with endorsement deals, and even became subject of a highly inaccurate ABC movie, Rolling Courage: The Joe Swanson Story, starring Tony Danza as Joe (and Bea Arthur as Peter). At a celebration with Mayor Adam West, Peter exposed Joe's steroid use after Joe failed to acknowledge Peter's contribution as his coach. Joe neared depression again, but encountered the thief that had previously evaded capture and this time successfully apprehended him (incidentally severing the crook's spine and killing him in the process). "Catching the perp" renewed Joe's confidence and he returned to life as normal.

[edit] Disability

Joe received his paralyzing injury one year around Christmas time. He was investigating a robbery at an orphanage (committed by the Grinch) and slid off the roof on a roller skate, injuring his spine and leaving him unable to walk (a flashback in the episode "A Hero Sits Next Door"). He regained movement of his legs for a brief time due to a sledding accident, but his son Kevin accidentally ran into him, re-paralyzing him.

To make up for his disability, Joe has developed massive upper-body strength. He also doesn't let his disability stop him from performing physical tasks, such as water skiing, roller skating, sledding, choreographing local musicals, driving, and in one instance, climbing a streetlamp.

In The Perfect Castaway, Peter and Joe are marooned on an island with Cleveland and Quagmire for several months. During this period, Peter eats Joe's legs on the grounds that Joe doesn't need them. After the men are rescued, Joe is given a new pair of legs in a transplant and claims that unfortunately, since the donor was also handicapped, he is still unable to walk - a fact obviously of no consequence as Joe suffers from a spinal injury.

In Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, Joe is one of the few members of the now elderly friends not to be in a wheelchair in the future. Bonnie's legs were transplanted on after she died.

In some episodes, Joe gets feeling or movement in his lower body. In And the Wiener is..., he falls down a hill and gets up on his legs, and while exclaiming, "I Can Walk...," he is hit by the sled and paralyzed again. In Chick Cancer, he says his bottom is sore, indicating some feeling in his lower body, although he may have just been using sarcasm.

Peter doesn't seem to recognize his paralysis. In Petarded, he asks Joe what it's like to be mentally retarded, and after Joe says he's handicapped and not retarded, Peter says he's just "splitting hairs". In The Cleveland-Loretta Quagmire, Joe falls into the water, and Peter tells him to kick. When Lois tells him that Joe's a paraplegic, Peter says "It doesn't mean he can't hear!" In Chick Cancer, while directing his movie, Peter tells Joe to get up, saying his character can walk. Later on, Joe is seen in a wheelchair with badly animated legs in front of the wheelchair to provide the cheap illusion that he's walking.

He may be incontinent and wears adult diapers as implied in one episode when a bag of burning dog feces was left at his door. Joe took his legs in his hands and used them to stomp out the fire. Once he realized what was contained in the bag and was now on his shoes he screams out, "Doody!" which his wife, Bonnie, who was in the house calls back to him, "I'll change you in a minute, Joe. I'm doing the dishes."