The adult animated comedy Family Guy generates millions of viewers across the world each week, and even if you’re not an avid watcher sharing in the dark sense of humour and twisted jokes, chances are you’ve heard of Stewie Griffin. The psychotic one-year-old with a penchant for barbed sarcasm and super intelligence – especially in comparison to his dysfunctional family – is probably the show’s biggest star, aside from the family guy himself Peter Griffin. Whether it’s plotting to take over the world – which he doesn’t do so much these days – or planning to kill his mother Louis, the football-headed toddler does it with the kind of style and attitude that characterises the most enduring of character creations.
Stewie is a diverse character, sometimes being shown as a baby, playing with teddy-bears and becoming transfixed by children’s television programmes, and at other times as a more adult figure with a knowledge of pop-culture that long predates him. It’s a wonderful contradiction that adds depth to the character, and makes his appeal all the more pronounced.
But what are his greatest moments? There are so many that choosing is a difficult endeavour to say the least. However, the true greats have been chosen, and we invite you to read on to find out Stewie’s ten greatest moments.
10. Brian And Stewie
To celebrate 150 episodes, an hour long special was screened featuring Brian and Stewie getting locked in a bank, followed by some musical numbers, and it is an episode that really shows off many aspects of Stewie’s personality at its best. The episode format is a bit of a cliché, but though the episode is about the honesty in the relationship between the two characters, there are a lot of humorous elements which break the tension: getting drunk and piercing Stewie’s ear, Brian eating from Stewie’s nappy and being chased around the room by a rogue bullet.
The episode is very different from the others as it is just one long scene, featuring only two characters, and it is the strength of the character’s personalities that makes the episode brilliant.
If a best part of the episode had to be chosen, it would have to be Stewie unfastening his dungarees saying ‘I know how to do the snaps’. This part always brings a smile because the normally quite adult Stewie is showing a trait that would be considered very sweet in a young child.
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3 Comments
Great choice for No.1 moment. First time i saw it i couldnt breath thru laughing. Excellent fun article.
Awesome choices!
Stewie is very similar to other popuar characters and historical figures-the Cigarette Smoking Man, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Khan Noonian Singh, Nero(matricide), Saruman, Napoleon. Unlike many characters, Stewie is won’t be dependent on the magic/science of a wizard/scientist to gain, and maintain, power. His grasp of science, and technology, makes that unnecessary. He combines the role of the Dark Lord, and the wizard/scientist who serves him. He is both King Artur, and Merlin. He also is filled with a great appetite for violence. He would personally take part in fighting to gain power, if necessary. Also, were he to achieve power, and his empire were to come under attack and/or internal revolt, he would probably not take poison, eat his gun, cut his throat. He would probably go down fighting, due to his violent tendencies, and his unwillingness to voluntarily relinquish power. And, of course, the hope that he might be victorious over his enemies and/or disloyal subjects who had so foolishly rebelled against him. This would make him especially dangerous. Despite his British accent, Stewie displays some traits that are unmistakeably Irish. Like many Irish-Americans, Stewie’s relationships with family members are rather troubled. He seems to basically hate, or at least look with contempt, on all of them. The only living creature he admits to feeling any affection for was Brian, when they were trapped in the bank vault. Many Irish -Americans seem to like dogs better than family members. Still, he is very abusive to Brian. Brian once called Stewie a “pompous little antichrist”. According to Christian theology, the Antichrist will serve Satan in exchange for world rule. It’s questionable whether Stewie Griffin’s collosal little ego would allow him to serve anyone. With his grasp of science, he would probably feel any help from Hell would be unnecessary. Stewie also shows modern society’s negative feelings toward a certain minority group. Those with very high I.Q.s. Liberalism emphasizes equality. Anyone with a real high intelligence level doesn’t really fit into their ideas of how the world should be. Also, the liberals and phony conservatives who have for so long incompetently mismanaged modern society know, on some level, how incompetent and stupid they are. They hate, and fear, the idea that someone with superior intelligence and abilities will come and threaen their failure filled reign over this society. Stewie also represents a basic liberal archetype- the Evil White Male. Such as the Smoking Man, and Anakin Skywalker. Psychologists have developed a “profile” of mass murders and serial killers as single white males with high I.Q.s. Stewie fits that Boogey Man role perfectly. Never mind Chairman Mao’tse Tung, Pol Pot, many English queens. Did Seth Mcfarlane, an Irish-American, give Stewie an English accent to make him seem more sinister and evil? Perhaps there will be an episode which will deal with the Antichrist issue.