Creed Bratton (character)

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Creed Bratton
Portrayed by Himself
First appearance "Pilot"
Information
Aliases William Charles Schneider
Gender Male
Age allegedly 82[1]
Date of birth Claims To Be Born On November 1, 1925
Occupation Quality Assurance
Parents Un-named Chinese people (adoptive family)
Based on Himself


Creed Bratton (claims to be born November 1, 1925)[1] is a fictional character from the U.S. television series The Office. The character is a fictionalized version of the actor who plays him, Creed Bratton.

Contents

[edit] Overview

Creed Bratton is a taciturn and creepy kleptomaniac quality assurance officer at the Scranton branch of fictitious paper distributor Dunder Mifflin. As a result of his drug use during his career as a rock musician in the 1960s, Creed has a phenomenally poor memory; he hardly remembers the names of his own co-workers, once referring to Angela as "Andrea," and "Pumpkin," Stanley as "Sammy," Meredith as "Mary Beth," or "the chick you (Michael) hit with the car" and Oscar as simply "Ace" (Ironically though, he was the only one to know Hank, the security guard's name in Night Out). Little is known about Creed's life outside the office; the scattered details that emerge (as well as his behavior in the office) are invariably bizarre. He is also extremely dishonest, with details emerging of his many scams, including faking his own death. When asked his age, the reply varies wildly depending upon what suits him at the time. In the Season 4 episode, Fun Run, Creed states in what seems to be an honest manner that he will soon be 82[2]. In the next episode, Dunder Mifflin Infinity, Creed, in an attempt to look young , dyes his hair black and says that he is 30 years old. He then corrects himself, saying that he'll be 30 in November.[3] The real Creed Bratton was born in 1943, making him 65.

[edit] Character history

A product of the 60s, Creed is older than all of the other employees at the office. Prior to joining Dunder-Mifflin, he was most notably a member of the rock band The Grass Roots in the late 60s.[4] He has been a member of several cults as both a leader and a follower, but he believes that the latter is much more fun although there's more money in the former.[5] Still a heavy drug user[4] (primarily marijuana[6][7]), Creed suffers from its effects; he admits to having poor concentration[4] and regularly forgets even the names of his co-workers,[8] occasionally newly introducing himself to someone with whom he has worked for years.[9][10][11]

Creed was originally hired by then-regional manager Ed Truck.[12] He now serves as the quality assurance manager. Creed can be counted on to shirk nearly all responsibility, ranging from informal office duties such as spring cleaning[9] to his primary job responsibilities.[13]

Outside of work, Creed teeters on the edge of homelessness, and has professed his willingness to do whatever it takes to avoid becoming homeless again.[13] He lives in Toronto, spending three nights a week there in order to milk the welfare state, and surreptitiously sleeps in his cubicle the remainder of the week.[14]

Creed appears not to be bound by moral guidelines, exhibited most notably by his passion for stealing. The episode "Casino Night" provides the first glimpse into this side of Creed's personality. He steals gambling chips in order to win the evening's prize, and admits in a talking head interview, "I love stealing things." Once revealed, his kleptomania returns in subsequent episodes, either explicitly or implied. For example, he takes a toy from a toy drive drop box[15] and returns $40 to Michael; when Michael says he didn't give Creed the money he tells his boss "In a way, you did", implying that he stole the money from Michael's wallet.[16] He had been caught stealing at least twice by Jim.

Creed's lack of shame or morals extends beyond mere kleptomania. He places his wedding card on another guest's gift[17] and continues to stare at Pam's chest when she wears a low-cut sweater. When she asks him to stop, he serenely says "In a minute." [18] He even submits a formal complaint to Toby that says he "is sick of looking at the redhead all day, and wants a seat facing the receptionist."[19]

Creed has likely been arrested multiple times, as he assumed he needed a profile shot for his ID photo.[19]

Little is known of Creed's childhood. In an interview,[20] Creed explains that he was left on a doorstep and adopted by a Chinese family, which also explains his ability to speak Cantonese.[21] He explains that the family bound his feet, unaware that the practice was traditionally restricted to young girls; he lost a toe in the process.[22] He has tried to show off his four toes in many episodes.

Creed believes that his blog URL is www.creedthoughts.gov.www\creedthoughts, but his "blog" is actually a Word document set up by Ryan Howard, wanting to "protect the world from being exposed to Creed's brain". Describing the content of the blog, Ryan says, "Even for the Intranet, it's pretty shocking."[23] NBC provides the character with an actual blog at http://blog.nbc.com/CreedThoughts.

[edit] Season 1

Creed can be seen in the background and in group scenes in the first season, but no story lines developed around him.

[edit] Season 2

In "Halloween", Michael Scott is ordered to fire someone and he considers Creed (who is dressed as a vampire), but Creed fights back and suggests Devon instead, and Devon is fired. Later in the season, it is revealed that Creed has four toes on his right foot (because his adoptive Chinese parents bound his feet as a young child) and enjoys arcade-style shooting games. He reveals to Michael that he spent some time in an iron lung when he was sixteen.

In a deleted scene from "Booze Cruise", he takes an electric guitar from a failing Michael and performs a blues hit with great reception. He then reveals that he was once a member of The Grass Roots, and as a result of drug abuse cannot concentrate for longer than 90 seconds. He speaks simple Cantonese and has friends in China, possibly Huadu. He can identify strains of cannabis in high-resolution photographs. He snacks on nutritious, pungent mung bean sprouts, which he keeps stashed in his desk on a damp paper towel, though he admits that "they smell like death". In "Casino Night," Creed steals poker chips to win the evening's prize, a mini-fridge from Vance Refrigeration. He states that he has never owned a refrigerator before.

[edit] Season 3

In "Gay Witch Hunt", Creed says that he made love to many women during the 1960s (outdoors, in the mud and rain), and could possibly have made love to a man, as "there'd be no way of knowing." When Pam, at Kelly's insistence, wears a slightly more revealing shirt than is usual, Creed comes to her desk and stares at her for an awkwardly long time. When she asks him what he wants, he says he is "just looking."

In "Diwali", he immediately recognizes a sexual position in the Kama Sutra by name (the "Union of the Monkey").

In "Branch Closing", he expands on his love of stealing by selling $1,200 worth of office equipment when he thinks his branch is closing. When Hannah Smoterich-Barr exposes her breast to put milk in a baby bottle, he takes a picture of it and puts it on the computer.

In "A Benihana Christmas", he joins Karen and Pam's part and performs a real song of his titled, "Spinnin' N Reelin'".

In "The Return", Creed's memory problems are revealed when he confuses the death of Ed Truck with the departure of Dwight Schrute from Dunder-Mifflin. He does seem to remember some facts, such as the funeral for the bird in the parking lot.

In "Business School", he is easily recruited by Dwight into "an alliance" to destroy a bat which Jim has led Dwight to believe has bit him and has turned him into a vampire. He fashions a stake out of a broom handle, using tools he has readily available at his desk.

In "Cocktails," Creed is greeted warmly by a group of teenagers entering Poor Richard's Pub. He reveals to the camera that he runs a fake ID business out of the trunk of his car with a laminator that he stole from the sheriff's department.

In "The Negotiation", Creed creates an extreme tale of Roy's attack of Jim, falsely claiming that "Halpert" had stolen Roy's car. He also said that Roy came in with a sock filled with nickels, and that "Schayrute" defended with a can of hair spray and a lighter. When he tells this version of events, Angela denounces him as "useless". Creed then immediately returns to his business.

In "Product Recall", his negligence leads to paper being sent out with an obscene watermark. Every week he is supposed to do a four-hour quality spot check at the paper mill, and he is indignant that the watermark problem happened during the one year that he skipped out on those duties. He then does everything he can to keep his job and survive, like "I did when I was a homeless man". Creed engineers the transfer of blame from himself to a paper mill manager, for whom he procures a card and farewell money collected from all the workers; on his way out, he pockets the money and tosses the card. In a deleted scene, it was revealed that Creed faked his own death 10 years ago "for tax reasons", and admits that he draws benefits as his own widow.


In "Women's Appreciation", Creed is shown using the women's bathroom. He says he is a "pretty normal guy", who does one weird thing. "I go to the woman's bathroom to do number two. I've been caught several times and I have paid dearly."

In "Beach Games", Creed is seen catching a fish with his bare hands, and then shows up later to a hot dog eating contest holding a fish skeleton and says, "Nobody told me we were having hot dogs!"

In "The Job", Creed is seen counterfieting Dwight's motivational "Schrute Bucks" and takes several 50-pound boxes of them to Dwight demanding payment. After Dwight uses an invisible ink marker to determine that they are fakes Creed tells him " Listen, Schrutey " and threatens to flood the market with the fake Schrute bucks to render them worthless.

[edit] Season 4

In a preview for Season 4, Creed states that "it turns out" he has grandchildren and children, presumably from his many relationships in 1960s ("The Office Summer Vacation" NBC promotional video). In another video on NBC.com, he states that "some kid he sold weed to got a job in Corporate" (implying Ryan).

In "Fun Run", Creed stated that he has been a member of many religious cults, both as a leader and follower. He prefers to be a follower, but gets paid more for being a leader. He also displays an extensive knowledge of painkillers when he questions Meredith on what kinds of medication she has been administered for her pelvic fracture. In a deleted scene, he swallows all of Meredith's painkillers and leaves none for an incredulous Meredith to take.

In "Dunder Mifflin Infinity", Creed dyes his hair black (around the same time the office copier mysteriously runs out of toner), drinks Red Bull, tries to use slang terms, and refers to himself as being under 30 to escape Ryan's supposedly imminent weeding out of older workers. He is anxious for Michael to get a new chair, as Pam gets Michael's old chair and he gets Pam's, so then Creed will have two chairs and will "only need one more."

He stated that he transfers his debt to another identity named William Charles Schneider, which is the actor's birth name. It is suggested that this is the character's actual name as well.[24]

In "Job Fair", Creed referred to Angela as "pumpkin" indicating that he had moved on from calling her "Andrea".

In "Goodbye Toby", it is revealed that Creed does not remember his position at the company and refers to it as "Quabity Ashwitz".

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Episode "Fun Run".
  2. ^ 3
  3. ^ Episode "Dunder Mifflin Infinity"
  4. ^ a b c Episode "Booze Cruise", deleted scene.
  5. ^ Episode "Fun Run".
  6. ^ Episode "Drug Testing".
  7. ^ Episode "Back from Vacation", deleted scene.
  8. ^ Episode "Launch Party".
  9. ^ a b Episode "The Secret".
  10. ^ Episode "Valentine's Day", deleted scene.
  11. ^ Episode "The Convention".
  12. ^ Episode "The Carpet".
  13. ^ a b Episode "Product Recall".
  14. ^ Episode "The Coup", deleted scene.
  15. ^ Episode "A Benihana Christmas".
  16. ^ Episode "The Negotiation".
  17. ^ Episode "Phyllis' Wedding".
  18. ^ Episode "The Coup".
  19. ^ a b Episode "Conflict Resolution".
  20. ^ Tough Day at 'The Office'
  21. ^ Episode "Dwight's Speech".
  22. ^ Episode "Take Your Daughter to Work Day".
  23. ^ Episode "The Job".
  24. ^ Creed Thoughts #35
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