Pierce Hawthorne

Pierce Hawthorne is a main character as well sometimes an antagonist in the Sony/NBC television series Community.
He was portrayed by Chevy Chase, who also played Clark Griswold in the Vacation film series and Dr. Grant in Zoom (2006).
== Personality ==
Pierce's boorish and abrasive personality was a direct result of his upbringing. His life of luxury insulated him and made it hard for him to understand typical social norms. Adding to this was him being raised by his father Cornelius who passed on his racist and bigoted beliefs. This attitude, coupled with his lack of tact, had gotten him into trouble as he constantly made outrageous statements unaware of how rude and offensive they were. His father was also emotionally abusive towards Pierce when he was a child, often undercutting him and making him feel worthless. In his adulthood, this led him to over exaggerate his abilities and competency in various areas. He does, however, have some musical abilities, and is shown to be a competent pianist, though non-creative and wont to plagiarism. Pierce was also fairly gullible; this was evidenced in his participation with a religious movement known as "Reformed Neo Buddhism" that his friends and mother warned him was just a cult. As he was much older than most Greendale students, he experienced disorientation with youth culture. In order to fit in he tried to embrace it with little success, particularly technology. During his time with the study group, they attempted to change his behavior for the better with mixed results. Despite this, he would on occasion surprise his friends by offering support or some sage advice when they least expected it
== Character History ==
==== Season one: ====
Pierce was invited to a Spanish Study group by Abed where he met Jeff, Britta, Troy, Annie, Shirley. He desperately tried to become best friends with Jeff but upon being rejected started a more adversarial relationship with him. After bragging about his musical abilities, Annie hired him to write Greendale's new school song. Pierce's "expertise" at identifying racial, ethnic and cultural stereotypes was called upon by Dean Pelton to create the school's politically correct mascot the Greendale Human Being. Over the semester, his relationship with the study group experienced some ups and downs. At one point, he humiliated Shirley after pulling a prank on her. He refused to apologize and was he kicked out of the group for it. Shirley left the group as well, feeling that she wasn't respected. Eventually he and Shirley reached an understanding after they helped Jeff and Britta deal with some obnoxious teenagers. The two returned to the group after realizing how much they were needed. Pierce also spent the semester romancing a fellow student as well as a a teacher. Despite help from Jeff, he was unable to form a familial bond with his ex-stepdaughter Amber. When Troy was kicked out of his house by his father, Pierce offered to let him stay at his mansion.
==== Season Two: ====
Pierce started the new year with Troy as his new roommate. When Pierce's mother passed away he took her death in stride since he believed in the tenets of their religion which promised her eventual rebirth. He temporarily joined Leonard's group of Hipsters and started to become paranoid about being excluded from the study group's activities. His behavior became more erratic and unbearable after he suffered an injury and began to over medicating on pain pills. The group held a vote over whether or not to invite him back to the group next year which he accidentally walked in on. Pierce blamed Jeff for being left out of yet another group activity and took advantage of the annual paintball tournament to get revenge. He created a safe zone from the contest in the cafeteria called "Fort Hawthorne", and after reuniting with the group, secretly loaded Jeff's paintball pistol full of blanks. His friends confronted Pierce after learning of his betrayal and he quit the study group. After City College's involvement in the paintball contest is revealed, Pierce surprisingly became the savior of Greendale when he won the contest and the prize of $100,000. Afterwards he refused an offer from the study group to rejoin stating he was done with them.
==== Season Three: ====
Pierce spends the summer with his Buddhist sect and returns to the study group claiming to be a changed man. After learning that there is a market for Hawthorne Wipes products for the gay community, Pierce tries to begin marketing the product to them. This gets the attention of his father who disapproves of his decision. Jeff tries to stick up for Pierce but ends up causing Cornelius to have a heart attack, which he dies from. The Hawthorne Wipes board of directors remove Pierce as C.E.O. of the company. During a wake held in the cafeteria, he helps to incite a riot, which gets him and the study group kicked out of Greendale. He attends a reading of his father's will and learns that his father's personal assistant Gilbert Lawson is his half brother. He later takes part in an elaborate plan to save the Greendale and Dean Pelton from Ben Chang. After being reinstated at school, Pierce fights for sole ownership rights over the Sandwich shop business venture he started with Shirley. He enlists the legal aid of Alan Conner to help him while Jeff represents Shirley in the dispute. After a passionate speech, Jeff convinces Pierce to drop his case. Pierce then suggests that Jeff be named as a representative for his and Shirley's business venture.
==== Season Four: ====
Pierce and the study group return for their fourth year at school. While watching Jeff compete in the "Hunger Deans" he struggles to make a joke out of the contest. He attends the "Inspecticon" convention with Shirley and they end up participating in a focus group on an American version of "Inspector Spacetime". On Halloween, Pierce claims to be trapped inside his mansion's the panic room in order to lure the study group there. He tries to teach them a lesson about going to Vicki's party without him by pretending the mansion is haunted. Pierce's shenanigans ends up revealing that there actually is an unknown presence in his house in the form of his half-brother Gilbert. He is invited along with Abed, Annie and Troy to Shirley's Thanksgiving Day dinner with her in-laws. Pierce invites Jeff to an old fashioned barbershop and the two end up bonding over their mutual father issues. After 13 years at school, Pierce decides to finally graduate from Greendale in order to do so before Jeff does.
==== Season Five: ====
After the study group members graduated from Greendale they all went their separate ways. When Jeff returns to the school to research a case he is working on, the group shows up too. However, Pierce is conspicuously not there for the reunion although his absence is obliquely referenced. Feeling Greendale is responsible for how miserable all their lives have become, Jeff manipulates the study group into suing the school. Jeff is intent on pursuing the class action law suit until he gets a shocking surprise. He sees a hologram of Pierce which had been installed in front of the Library. It was put there as a small part of a sexual harassment lawsuit settlement Pierce was involved in. Although Pierce's prerecorded message is specifically about announcing a new campus Gender Sensitivity and Sexual Potency museum named after him, it serves to remind a Jeff about all that is good about Greendale. Jeff changes his mind and instead accepts a teaching position at school as a Law professor while the rest of the study group re-enrolls. Not long afterwards, the group learns about Pierce's death. They are then contacted by a man named Mr. Stone who is carrying out Pierce's will. Stone informs them that in order to be considered for a share of Pierce's fortune they must each submit to a polygraph test. After enduring the inquest, which exposes a few uncomfortable revelations about the study group, Stone delivers Pierce's final words to his friends. Each receives a canister of Pierce's sperm along with their personal bequeathals: He tells Britta to stop hating herself and gives her an iPod nano, Shirley is told that he always respected her and is given his time share in Florida, Annie is reminded she was always his favorite and is requeathed the tiara he tried to give her years ago, Jeff is told he is gay before receiving a fine bottle of scotch, Abed is told that he is crazy and Troy is praised as having "the heart of a hero". Troy is also awarded Pierce's share of Hawthorne Wipes valued at 14 million dollars. Troy is told in order to claim his bequeathal he must sail around the world, a task Pierce failed to do when asked by his father to earn his fortune. Later at a bar, Mr. Stone later revealed that Pierce died from dehydration from filling up those cylinders.
== Gallery ==
File:Screenshot 2023-06-20 1.02.00 PM.png|Pierce in Season 2
File:Screenshot 2023-06-20 1.02.13 PM.png|Jeff looking at the pierce hologram
File:Screenshot 2023-06-20 1.02.04 PM.png|Pierce holding a book
File:Screenshot 2023-06-20 1.02.09 PM.png|Pierce in his robe
== Quotes ==
: “Okay, I didn't really avoid sitting on them. I sat right on them. Hurt like hell. I saw eagles.”
:
: "Did I sound gay at the end? Do you want to do another take?"
:
: "How long was I out? Is Napster still a thing?"
:
: “I'm a millionaire, I'm an inventor, I'm a legend, and I had sex with Eartha Kitt. ”
:
: "I'll show you the tool that's most important to our survival... but fair warning, it's my penis."
:
: "I can't have children. I'm not sterile. In fact, it's a rare condition they call it hyper virility. Apparently my sperm shoot through the egg if you can believe it."
== Trivia ==
* Pierce is the first main character to leave the show. This occurred when actor Chevy Chase quit during Season Four. His final episode appearance as a regular cast member was in "Advanced Introduction to Finality". He returned for a brief cameo in Season Five episode "Repilot". Overall, Pierce has appeared in 85 episodes of "Community".
* Pierce had a German Shepherd named Walter while growing up.
* Pierce was part of a "Buddhist" Church that the others describe as a cult donning a wizards gown and a cookie wand.
* His address, according to a doctor's form in Pillows and Blankets, was 4319 Cranesworth Rd, Greendale
** His birthday is listed as 10/08/1943
* Pierce's favorite movie was "Fletch", which stars Chevy Chase. ("[[1]]")
* Pierce had been going to Greendale for 13 years. Until the study group, he had never previously remained friends with any of his classmates for more than one semester.
* Pierce represented Somalia in Annie's Model UN and considers it to be a "tropical paradise" based on its long coastlines, "a government that knows its place", and "all the guns and wives you can afford to buy."
* In the episode "Pillows and Blankets", a copy of his medical records says that his middle name was Cornelius instead of Anastasia, which is Chevy's birth first name. It also says he was born in 1943 which is the same year Chevy Chase was born in, making him 68 or 69.
* Pierce followed the Barenaked Ladies (or BNL, as they are referred to in the show) for a period of time. This is shown in his politician bio in the season two episode "Intro to Political Science".
* He belongs to a dozen country clubs, paying his dues, but doesn't play any golf.
* Pierce has very low regard for Billy Joel, as revealed in Advanced Criminal Law and reiterated in Comparative Religion.
* Chevy Chase, the actor who played Pierce, is very musically talented. Chevy Chase plays the Piano, and most of Pierce's musical stints were actually performed by Chevy Chase himself.
* Creator Dan Harmon revealed in a panel discussion that some of Pierce's lines were directly inspired by things actor Chevy Chase would say in his trailer during meetings.
Category:Community
Category:Comedy Heroes
Category:Anti-Heroes
Category:Male
Category:Spoilers
Category:Jerks
Category:Live Action Heroes
Category:Elderly
Category:Wrathful
Category:Sitcom Heroes
Category:TV Show Heroes
Category:Wealthy
Category:Egomaniacs
Category:Redeemed Villains
Category:Related to Villain
Category:Tragic
Category:Presumed Deceased
Category:Insecure
Category:Friend of a Villain
Category:Dimwits
Category:Extravagant
Category:Weaklings
Category:Xenophobes
Category:Incompetent