Brian Griffin

Atheist puppeted by God

Stewie

Meg

Chris

**Brian Griffin** is a fictional character from the American animated television series *Family Guy* and the series' tritagonist. An anthropomorphic white dog voiced by Seth MacFarlane, he is one of the show's main characters as a member of the Griffin family. He primarily works in the series as a less-than-adept writer struggling to find himself, attempting essays, novels, screenplays, and newspaper articles.

He first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family, in a 15-minute short on December 20, 1998. Brian was created and designed by MacFarlane himself. MacFarlane was asked to pitch a pilot to the Fox Broadcasting Company, based on *The Life of Larry* and *Larry & Steve*, two shorts made by MacFarlane featuring a middle-aged character named Larry and an intellectual dog, Steve. After the pilot was given the green light, the Griffin family appeared in the episode "Death Has a Shadow". Brian's appearance is a redesign of Steve the dog, from MacFarlane's previous show.

Brian has been featured in many items of merchandise for *Family Guy*, and he is considered to be one of the show's biggest merchandising icons. He has also made crossover appearances in the other MacFarlane-produced shows, such as *American Dad!* and *The Cleveland Show*.

As a character, Brian has been very well received by critics and fans. When Brian was killed off in the season 12 episode "Life of Brian", the events of the episode received substantial attention from the media and elicited strongly negative reactions from fans of the show. Brian subsequently returned two episodes later, in "Christmas Guy", after Stewie travels back in time to save him.

## As Wes

"**Brian the Closer**" is the fourth episode of the thirteenth season of the animated sitcom *Family Guy*, and the 235th episode overall. It aired on Fox in the United States on November 9, 2014, and is written by Steve Marmel and directed by John Holmquist. In the episode, Brian works for a real estate agency, which leads him into trouble with Quagmire.

Peter finds Brian's old rope toy in the sofa, and Brian becomes possessive of it, making Peter jealous. One day, when the rope toy is in Brian's mouth, Peter ties it to his car and drives off. Brian trails behind the car and smashes into a fire hydrant, losing all his teeth and breaking his nose severely. He is miserable without his teeth and Lois refuses to spend money at the dentist to get him a new set since the procedure would be expensive and the fact that he's a animal. While having a drink with Quagmire at The Drunken Clam, Brian starts to cry until Quagmire gives him the number to his dentist where he has an account.

When Brian returns, the family finds that the dentist has given him a prominent smile. Apprehensive about his appearance, the family offers support. Brian begins to find the new look suits him. While out for a walk, he is mistaken for a real estate agent. When the actual agent shows up, he gives Brian a job offer to join the agency called Quahog Realty. He finds himself selling lots of properties, including one to Bonnie near a cliff and one to Jason Voorhees that overlooks a camp. The owner sees how good Brian is at selling good property, so talks him to tackling a terrible condo and soon overhears that Quagmire has just received a bonus. Brian pays Quagmire back for the dental work and leads him into buying the property by convincing him it is a great investment.

After showing him the prospective video, Quagmire is still hesitant until Brian convinces him a hated rival pilot is after it. After the purchase, the guys accompany Quagmire to the property to find it is a run down dump and was completely misrepresented. Joe reveals that there is an escape clause good for 72 hours after purchase, but when they arrive at Quahog Realty, he is not around and it is revealed that he has ducked out to hide for the 72 hours. Taking refuge at a motel, he finds Quagmire already waiting for him. Quagmire informs Brian that his already low opinion of him has been pushed even further. Brian confesses that Quagmire may be his only friend, but it is revealed to only be a ruse to outlast the 72 hours. Because of this, an outraged Quagmire knocks Brian's teeth out with a lamp. Returning to normal life, the family consoles Brian.