Maureen Murphy

* Current
* Honey Bee Scout

**Maureen Murphy**, is one of two tritagonists (alongside Bill) of *F is for Family*. She is Frank and Sue Murphy's daughter and originally their youngest child until the birth of Megan. Initially, Maureen is a sweet and intelligent girl with a tomboyish attitude and an interest in computers and science. This often causes conflict between her and Frank, who would rather have Maureen live the life expected of a young girl in the 1970s.

As the series progresses, Maureen begins acting more rebellious as her family continuously ignores her. Maureen eventually befriends Bridget Fitzsimmons and the two develop a close bond being mischievous together, either to vent out Maureen's frustrations or seek attention from those around her.

Maureen is voiced by Debi Derryberry.

## Biography

Maureen is the 3rd of four children, being two years younger than Bill. Mr. Holtenwasser tells her that he drove Sue to the hospital for her birth.

Maureen's closest friends are two neighborhood boys, Ben and Kenny. She enjoys playing all kinds of dangerous, unsanitary, and poorly thought-out games with them.

In *F is for Halloween,* Maureen finds it difficult to decide on a Halloween costume. She thinks the girl's costumes are lame and Frank won't let her wear a boys costume. He does eventually allow her to dress as Mr. Coconut.

She has an interest in computers and is gifted in mathematics, though she is often discouraged by her school, Frank, and the Honeybee's from indulging in these activities because she is a girl. Once it's proven she got the highest mark of any girl on her math test, her parents let her sign up for Computer Club.

## Personality

Although Maureen is shown as a sweet and innocent girl, she tends to be manipulative towards people. Her tomboyish personality comes to light frequently, especially when she decides to dress up in boy's costumes for Halloween.

Given that Maureen was the only daughter in the family until "Baby, Baby, Baby", and is known as "Daddy's little girl", it's obvious that she has the best relationship with Frank, compared to Bill and Kevin. Frank does not often notice her bad behavior leading to her being defiant and putting herself in dangerous situations. Ultimately, it was Bill who had to teach her the consequences of these actions.

She often takes advantage of Bill. Most notably in *Bill Murphy's Day Off*, where she repeatedly bosses him around and rubs salt in his wounds because she knows about his suspension.

Maureen is the closest with the family dog, Major. She tried to dress him up for Halloween, but he wouldn't cooperate. Major follows her as she goes after Bill in "Bill Murphy's Day Off". The fireworks explosion causes the dog to run off, and in the next episode, Maureen is distraught over his disappearance and is determined to find him.

Maureen doesn't get along well with many of her peers, especially other little girls, who tease her and call her ugly or boring. Ben and Kenny seem to be the only kids her age she gets along with.

Maureen is also quite smart for her age and takes an interest in rockets and computers. She dislikes the Honeybee Scouts and many other traditionally feminine activities.

## Family and Relationships

### Frank Murphy

Frank is Maureen’s dad He sees her as his perfect little princess, which she uses to her advantage quite often. She always gets into trouble or picks on her brother Bill, which Frank never catches on to. In "F is For Halloween", Frank tells Maureen he's taking her to trick or treat in a better neighborhood. Maureen is crushed when she realizes he's lied to her and is really looking for Sue. By the end of the episode, however, they apologize to one another and Frank tells her he'll make some cereal. Though Frank loves her dearly, he wants her to act more ladylike and often disapproves of her tomboyish personality and interest in rockets and computers. When Maureen suffered a severe black eye, he was in shock and demanded the nurse to see her without waiting in line.

His sexist attitude results in over-protectiveness and Frank not taking his daughter seriously at times. He often dismisses her ambitions, and informs her often that; "There are no girl [blank]." This frustrates Maureen, who feels the need to prove him wrong and in season 2 she manages to do so by outperforming her classmates on a math test. Frank then says that Maureen can grow up to be anything or anyone she wants to, as long as she's not like Kevin or a golfer.

During the course of Season 5, when Megan became the fourth Murphy child, Frank ultimately starts to be more stern with Maureen and as such, starts to become more equal with her alongside her brothers. A notable example is when Maureen tells a crying Megan to "shut the fuck up" while Frank was walking into the house, making him calmly yet firmly scold her for doing so. Another is when he approved of Maureen's punishment of going to church after going to the graveyard with Bridget. Despite this, Frank goes with Bill, while Sue was tasked with taking Maureen.

### Sue Murphy

Sue is Maureen’s mother. She and Sue aren't that close. Maureen finds most of the activities Sue enjoys to be boring, such as shopping, selling Plast-a-Ware, and macramé. Because of this, and the fact that Sue is more likely to discipline her, she gravitates more towards Frank in general. She may have inherited her mathematic abilities in part from her, as this was what Sue was studying in college before becoming pregnant with Kevin. Sue has always been the one to encourage her interest in traditionally masculine subjects.

### Kevin Murphy

Maureen seems to get along well with, Kevin. She enjoys hanging out in his bedroom and listening to him play guitar. She also seems to take after him in some ways, such as when she stole coins from a fountain at the mall. He also complied when she told him about Bill getting in trouble with Jimmy Fitzsimmons, despite the fact that he was with Claire at that moment. She does see her older brother as a bit of an idiot, however, and is doubtful he would be able to take care of her and Bill while their parents were away.

### Bill Murphy

Bill and Maureen are close in age and spend more time with each other than with the other family members. When Maureen is left under Bill's supervision, she takes advantage of this and refuses to listen to him. Though, she did learn her lesson about this in "Saturday, Bloody Saturday" when she got hurt after Bill had warned her. At home, Bill and Maureen fight and squabble often. She tried to protect Bill from Jimmy during their fight in "Bill Murphy's Day Off", but later in that episode, she also blackmails him with the threat of telling their parents he was suspended. However, she came to regret it after seeing him lash out at her and tried to apologize before he unintentionally started a fire.

She also looks down on him at times, mainly for being a wuss. She will back down when he is really angry.

It is not shown until Season 3 where they start to bond more, as they both realize they'll be the middle children of the family once the fourth Murphy child is born. Though they still bicker throughout the season, in the season finale, Maureen rescues Bill in the river by using her ring toss skills.

## Extracurricular Activities

* Computer Club
* Drama Club
* Honeybee Scout

## Trivia

* She would be 58 today in 2023.
* Her favorite color is purple.
* She is an Aries.

## Gallery

Maureen as Mr. Coconut"Can I be Nazi Jesus?"Ripping Bill's dollarHEIL DER FUHRER!"Just push it down"Maureen as a Honeybee Scout