Brian Griffin is a fictional character from the animated television series Family Guy and is voiced by Seth MacFarlane. He primarily works in the series as a struggling writer attempting essays, books, novels, screenplays and newspaper articles.
Brian is a white-furred anthropomorphic dog. He can talk, generally walks on his hind legs (using his front legs as arms), has opposable thumbs, drives a Toyota Prius, and often acts more rationally than many of the other characters in the series. He is the pet dog and close friend of the Griffin family.
Brian has a particularly close friendship with Stewie, and many of the show's sub-plots center around them. They are occasionally at the centre of the plot (for instance in the Road to... episodes). Brian and Stewie have shown affection to each other several times, and in the episode, Brian and Stewie they admitted that they loved each other, not as lovers, but as close friends.
Brian is fond of dry martinis and was seen to have some issues in various episodes when he is told or forced to stop drinking. He used to smoke cigarettes, but after seeing Peter promote for the American Tobacco Association, he has quit smoking. In DVD commentary, he's admitted to gaining weight since he quit smoking. He still regularly smokes marijuana. After a brief stint as a drug sniffing dog, he developed a severe cocaine addiction, but after spending time in rehab he's managed to quit. He is the son of Coco and Biscuit, who are normal dogs, though Brian's human attributes have been present since he was a puppy. He is also an Iraq War veteran because Stewie signed him up for the Army in "Saving Private Brian".
Family Guy uses a floating timeline in which the characters do not age much, so the show is always assumed to be set in the current year. However, several of the characters, such as Meg Griffin, have aged two to three years since the show's pilot episode, while others, such as Stewie and Brian, have aged very little. At the start of the series, Brian was 7, but he is currently 8 years old. In several episodes, events have been linked to specific times, although this timeline has been contradicted in subsequent episodes. An example of this is when in "Brian: Portrait of a Dog", Peter is shown in a flashback finding a fully grown Brian as a stray. However, in "The Man with Two Brians", Brian tries to regain attention from the Griffin family by showing them home videos of him as a puppy. Although none of the videos of him as a puppy showed any member of the Griffin family, so it is possible that the videos were filmed by a previous owner. He also has a (human) son named Dylan, who is also a regular marijuana smoker. Brian manages to turn Dylan's life around, from a violent, uneducated teenager, to a well-mannered friendly young man.
Brian is the only Family Guy character who has appeared in every single episode of the series. Peter and Lois have appeared in all but one episode, that being Brian and Stewie (where they only appear in archive footage).
Brian dates a lot of women throughout the seasons of the show. He normally looks for women who are similar to him or share the same interests, though he has often been shown being drawn to women for purely physical reasons. He has a cultured background; he loves opera and jazz, and is vocally talented. He tends to hold liberal political positions even though Lois points out in the episode "Excellence in Broadcasting" that he is a contrarian. However many of his actions and aims throughout the series demonstrate his position as a liberal. For instance, his staunch efforts to get gay marriage legalized in Quahog, for his cousin Jasper. As well as his environmentalist behaviour, for example, the fact that he drives a Toyota Prius and his opposition to household air-conditioning in Hell Comes to Quahog.
Despite his overwhelming human qualities, Brian still exhibits some traits associated with real dogs, such as being unable to resist playing fetch, being afraid of vacuum cleaners, taking pleasure in rolling around in trash, getting excited by going for a ride in the car, and occasional coprophagia (as in the episode "Brian & Stewie"). As well as this, he occasionally displays classic dog behaviors, such as growling, barking, licking himself and wagging his tail. He also fears the sound of the toilet flushing, so instead of using it, he defecates on the lawn like normal dogs (as shown in Bill and Peter's Bogus Journey). He also tells Stewie that he "uses his tongue for toilet paper" (in the episode Running Mates).
Brian is a white-furred anthropomorphic dog. He can talk, generally walks on his hind legs (using his front legs as arms), has opposable thumbs, drives a Toyota Prius, and often acts more rationally than many of the other characters in the series. He is the pet dog and close friend of the Griffin family.
Brian has a particularly close friendship with Stewie, and many of the show's sub-plots center around them. They are occasionally at the centre of the plot (for instance in the Road to... episodes). Brian and Stewie have shown affection to each other several times, and in the episode, Brian and Stewie they admitted that they loved each other, not as lovers, but as close friends.
Brian is fond of dry martinis and was seen to have some issues in various episodes when he is told or forced to stop drinking. He used to smoke cigarettes, but after seeing Peter promote for the American Tobacco Association, he has quit smoking. In DVD commentary, he's admitted to gaining weight since he quit smoking. He still regularly smokes marijuana. After a brief stint as a drug sniffing dog, he developed a severe cocaine addiction, but after spending time in rehab he's managed to quit. He is the son of Coco and Biscuit, who are normal dogs, though Brian's human attributes have been present since he was a puppy. He is also an Iraq War veteran because Stewie signed him up for the Army in "Saving Private Brian".
Family Guy uses a floating timeline in which the characters do not age much, so the show is always assumed to be set in the current year. However, several of the characters, such as Meg Griffin, have aged two to three years since the show's pilot episode, while others, such as Stewie and Brian, have aged very little. At the start of the series, Brian was 7, but he is currently 8 years old. In several episodes, events have been linked to specific times, although this timeline has been contradicted in subsequent episodes. An example of this is when in "Brian: Portrait of a Dog", Peter is shown in a flashback finding a fully grown Brian as a stray. However, in "The Man with Two Brians", Brian tries to regain attention from the Griffin family by showing them home videos of him as a puppy. Although none of the videos of him as a puppy showed any member of the Griffin family, so it is possible that the videos were filmed by a previous owner. He also has a (human) son named Dylan, who is also a regular marijuana smoker. Brian manages to turn Dylan's life around, from a violent, uneducated teenager, to a well-mannered friendly young man.
Brian is the only Family Guy character who has appeared in every single episode of the series. Peter and Lois have appeared in all but one episode, that being Brian and Stewie (where they only appear in archive footage).
Brian dates a lot of women throughout the seasons of the show. He normally looks for women who are similar to him or share the same interests, though he has often been shown being drawn to women for purely physical reasons. He has a cultured background; he loves opera and jazz, and is vocally talented. He tends to hold liberal political positions even though Lois points out in the episode "Excellence in Broadcasting" that he is a contrarian. However many of his actions and aims throughout the series demonstrate his position as a liberal. For instance, his staunch efforts to get gay marriage legalized in Quahog, for his cousin Jasper. As well as his environmentalist behaviour, for example, the fact that he drives a Toyota Prius and his opposition to household air-conditioning in Hell Comes to Quahog.
Despite his overwhelming human qualities, Brian still exhibits some traits associated with real dogs, such as being unable to resist playing fetch, being afraid of vacuum cleaners, taking pleasure in rolling around in trash, getting excited by going for a ride in the car, and occasional coprophagia (as in the episode "Brian & Stewie"). As well as this, he occasionally displays classic dog behaviors, such as growling, barking, licking himself and wagging his tail. He also fears the sound of the toilet flushing, so instead of using it, he defecates on the lawn like normal dogs (as shown in Bill and Peter's Bogus Journey). He also tells Stewie that he "uses his tongue for toilet paper" (in the episode Running Mates).