Family Guy began back in 1999, and since that time, many characters have been introduced alongside the central Griffin family, to help tell the stories of the eccentric Quahog residents. After all, the show would have quickly gotten stale with only six characters. While some of the expansive cast are beloved, others are considerably less so.
Furthermore, there are particular characters that continue to make Family Guy great. On the other hand, some are part of the problem regarding its recent decline. Read on for five characters who make Family Guy great and five who do not.
10 Do Not: Glenn Quagmire
Appearing on the show since the pilot episode, Quagmire is a neighbor of the Griffin family and one of Peter's drinking buddies. His main character traits are his womanizing ways and sex addiction. Quagmire also despises Brian, the Griffins' dog, in what is mainly a one-sided feud.
Voiced by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, Quagmire has devolved over the years into a truly disgusting individual. Nonetheless, he remains one of Peter's close friends. Some of his heinous acts include implications of rape and necrophilia as well as recording Meg Griffin while she's in the bathroom.
9 Do: Cleveland Brown
One of Peter's friends/drinking buddies on Spooner Street, Cleveland is a decidedly different character to many of the others on Family Guy. Although voiced by a Caucasian actor, Mike Henry, he is one of the few African-American regular characters on the show and the only person of color in his friends' group.
However, Cleveland offers much more than just diversity. Family Guy's comedy can sometimes be cynical and even cruel to its characters. Yet, despite all this, Cleveland is genuinely wholesome and well-intentioned. This probably was part of the reason why he was chosen to have a spin-off; The Cleveland Show.
8 Do Not: John Herbert
Usually known only by his surname, Herbert is an elderly neighbor of the Griffin Family. Living with his dog Jesse, Herbert is revealed in season six (and later confirmed in season nine) to be a war veteran, having fought in the United States Air Force during the Second World War. However, he is also arguably Family Guy's most disturbing character.
Herbert is a pedophile, with a fixation on Chris Griffin, who is a teenager. He attempts to seduce Chris on multiple occasions throughout the series in different, creepy ways. Placing a serious issue like pedophilia into an animated comedy may not have been the best idea.
7 Do: Mayor West
Mayor Adam West was played by the actor Adam West for almost two decades until he died in 2017. The eccentric, scatter-brained mayor of Quahog, Rhode Island, Mayor West, married into the main characters' extended family through Lois' sister, Carol. Over the years, Mayor West shared numerous hilarious scenes with many of the characters.
Throughout the whole time that Mayor West was featured on Family Guy, almost no reference was made to the actor's famous role as Batman from the 1960s television series. This is perhaps one of the biggest indicators of how well the character worked on his own merits, without relying on his real-world counterpart's resume.
6 Do Not: Chris Griffin
Of the three children, middle child Chris is probably the least interesting as a character. While his younger brother Stewie is a genius with a time machine among other contraptions and his sister Meg derives comedy from being the show's punching bag, Chris brings very little to the table in advancing the show's plot.
In "Disney's The Reboot" (Season 18, Episode 4), the audience is shown a scenario in which Chris is the main character, with the rest of the family no longer being part of the show. Unsurprisingly, this did not work particularly well. Ultimately, Chris' main function is to react to the insane hijinks that the other characters are involved in.
5 Do: Diane Simmons
This may seem like an odd inclusion to some. However, in her way, murderous news anchor Diane Simmons did make the show great. After appearing for years as an irrelevant side character, she takes center stage in "And Then There Were Fewer" (Season 9, Episode 1) in which she is revealed as the killer of four other characters after not even being considered as a suspect.
In just a few lines of dialogue, Diane went from being a mere side character to a complex, twisted woman who felt more real than she had done in the eight seasons prior. Not only that, but she went down in history at the center of arguably one of Family Guy's greatest plot twists that very few people would have seen coming.
4 Do Not: Lois Griffin
On some occasions, Lois serves as Peter Griffin's voice of reason, balancing out the childish craziness that her husband regularly exhibits. She is one of the few people to get through to Peter when someone needs to. Additionally, she is the object of desire for other characters, such as Brian and Glenn Quagmire.
However, she is also a bad mother to her only daughter, Meg. While Peter's mistreatment of her can be put down to being part of his characterization, Lois also indulges in this behavior while being loving to her sons, Chris and Stewie. One example is neglecting to get Meg vaccinated for mumps in "Not All Dogs Go To Heaven" (Season 7, Episode 11).
3 Do: Stewie Griffin
If this were any other show, Stewie would likely be an unimportant character. However, this is Family Guy or more specifically, animation, where anything is possible. Thus, there is a British-accented, evil genius baby as part of the core cast of characters.
Of the six family members, Stewie has emerged as the show's breakout character. His time-traveling escapades and friendship with the family dog, Brian, have contributed to a vast number of Family Guy's most entertaining episodes. They have even ventured into some dramatic fare, with Brian's temporary death during two episodes in the twelfth season, which showed Stewie in a completely different light.
2 Do Not: Peter Griffin
As the protagonist of Family Guy, Peter is in almost every scene in each episode. He has been in several different storylines with his family, friends and neighbors. Peter has thus become very well-known since the show's debut in 1999.
With all this in mind, it is important to mention that Peter is not a likable character. Buffoonish, selfish and immature, even those nearest to him have been irritated with Peter on occasion. In comparison to his nearest counterpart on The Simpsons, Homer, Peter seems to care very little for his kids, especially Meg.
1 Do: Brian Griffin
Brian is an alcoholic, struggling writer, an absent father, and a best friend to a talking baby, all while being the family's pet dog. While series creator Seth MacFarlane has voiced many characters (including Peter and Stewie), he has said in the past that Brian is the closest to himself, sharing the same voice, beliefs, and interests.
His double-act with Stewie is one of the more defining components of Family Guy in its later years. Whether it's in a locked vault or across time and space, this pairing can easily carry an episode on their own. Brian's relationships with characters outside the family have also been explored, with Glenn Quagmire openly showing his distaste for him.
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