Wirt Aylward

**Wirt Aylward** is the older half-brother to Greg Universe who was murdered by the Fallen Moloch out of vengeance for the escaping and besting him during their adventure in the Unknown.

## Appearance

When Wirt appeared to Steven in the Astral Plane. He was tall man, having dark brown hair neatly combed and wore a white dress shirt, black dress pants and shoes with a long navy blue cape with yellow buttons, a somewhat pointed nose and big round black eyes.

## Personality

Wirt was a pessimistic realist in many ways, but also had a naïve and childish side to him. He was easily scared and surprised, and even though he was far more perceptive than his brother, he was very much still a kid at this time.

## Biography

Wirt's father passed away at a young age and his mother eventually remarried, taking the surname DeMayo but Wirt insisted on keeping his father's surname and did not have a good relationship with his step-father. Eventually his younger half-brother, Gregory DeMayo was born. Growing up Wirt had to study a great deal as his mother and step-father pushed him to join multiple clubs as 'Mathletes' and wrestling.

While Wirt resented his step-father he couldn't say no to his mother who had become stricter in the wake of her first husband's tragic death. Wirt also became Grey's primary caretaker as a means to better teach him responsibility, an act that kept the two brothers closer together but seemingly began to form a rift between their parents.

Eventually Wirt and his bother became lost in a place called the Unknown and Wirt struggled remain optimistic against impossible odds. Wirt would eventually begin to succumb to his hopelessness and give up on the notion that he and his brother would ever escape the Unknown. His tendency to think negatively is what made him an easier target for the Beast to drag down into despair. Wirt's brother, Gregory, was a parallel
 of his brother that pulled out the playful, jovial, childlike side of Wirt.

Wirt possessed low self-esteem and that he perceived himself to be an outcast, possibly due to his more sensitive interests like poetry and interior design. Wirt seemed to be the type of teenager that makes out everything to be worse than it actually was. In his confrontation with the Beast that was when Wirt critically analyzed
 his predicaments and remained considerate of others, he was able to calmly and confidently reach a solution, whereas before he was so overwhelmed with anxiety and uncertainty that coming up with worse-case scenarios was but the only thing he could do. In these situations Wirt was prone to lethargy, melodramatic, displaced anger and a tunnel vision focus on his problems.

By the time he and his brother
finally escaped the Unknown Wirt seemed to have matured, having found the strength to stand up to the Beast and escape the Unknown while also having accepted his responsibility as a brother. Eventually Wirt was accepted into colleague and became a lawyer, marring the love of his life Sarah. Meanwhile as Grey grew up, pursuing an interest in music his relationship with his parents dwindled, as they thought he was throwing his life away. When Greg finally graduated from high school his parents wanted him to attend the same colleague as Wirt did but Greg had enough and dropped out, taking the van he bought and drove off.

This
 action prompted Greg's parents to disown him, furious that he had thrown away everything they had done for him despite the fact that they had tried to control almost every aspect of his life. Greg would spend
the next several years on the road, writing to his parents but they never wrote back. The only person Greg kept in contact at all from his old family was his older brother Wirt who not only accepted Greg's life style and choice but allowed him to park his van in front of his house and live there for a bit when he was not traveling. Despite Wirt having a pretty successful life he slightly envied the freedom Greg had and felt
 he himself had missed a lot of chances during his childhood to try various things that had been forbidden by their parents.

Even
 when their parents learned that Greg was visiting and even temporarily living with them Wirt supported him when they demanded he cut off all
contact with his half-brother. Wirt refused to heed their demands, tired of their controlling attitude and made his feelings quite clear, especially to his step-father who he had resented ever since he was a child for his controlling attitude. Seeing it was clear he would not be swayed their parents dropped the issue all together but refused to acknowledge Greg's existence from there on out. For a time it seemed all was well…

Until one night when Wirt tried to convince Greg not to go with his new manager named Marty.

Wirt immediately knew Marty was a slime ball and warned Greg against going with him but Greg refused to listen. This led to several heated
arguments and Wirt even cancelled the musical gig Marty had set up, causing Greg to lash out at him and accuse him of being as controlling as their parents. Their argument took place in Wirt's car while he was driving and both failed to notice the tree that had suddenly grown out of the road until it was too late. Greg survived with light injuries but Wirt was fatally wounded with a tree branch embedded in his chest.

Greg begged his brother to hold on until they could reach the hospital but it was too late. Wirt Aylward died in his brother's arms and Greg, beside himself with guilt ran away again, cutting off all contact with
anyone remotely connected to his old life beside Marty.

Wirt Aylward was cremated in the following weeks, his ashes kept in a vase given to his widowed wife and their son Maurice.

## Relationships

### Family

**Greg Universe -**

**Steven Universe -**

**Maurice Aylward -**

## Background Information

Wirt is one of the main protagonists from the miniseries *Over the Garden Wall*