The Griffin Family (Peter Griffin | Stewie Griffin | Brian Griffin) | The Neighbors (Glenn Quagmire) | Recurring Characters (Pawtucket Brewery | Adam West High School | Quahog 5 News) | Antagonists
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Adam West High School
Principal John Shepherd
Principal John Shepherd
Voiced by: Gary Cole
Debut: "Let's Go To The Hop"
The principal of Adam West (formerly James Woods Regional) High School.
- Ambiguously Bi: Although Principal Shepherd usually just harasses women, he's also been in his fair share of gay jokes. In "Meg Goes to College", for example, Principal Shepherd was willing to sleep with Peter Griffin in exchange for letting the latter's daughter go to college. Later in the episode, he and Peter went on a romantic vacation at The Cape Cod.
- Ambiguously Jewish: Peter claims to see him attending synagogue offscreen in "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein," but he has a quite WASPish name and encourages James Woods High School's students to pray to "the Christian God" in "Secondhand Spoke". He could have converted, or Peter could have mistaken someone else, such as the principal of Chris' school at the time, for him (he also claimed to see Bill Nye the Science Guy in the synagogue, who isn't Jewish either).Principal Shepherd: I don't care what the courts say, let's thank the Christian God together.
- Apathetic Teacher: At times, it's clear he doesn't give a crap about his job.
- Ascended Extra: Had been a character since season 2 but mostly appeared in the background or brief cameos until season 16's "Crimes and Meg's Demeanor," after which he became a much more prominent character, culminating in a spotlight episode, Season 18's finale "Movin In' (Principal Shepherd's Song)."
- Awful Wedded Life: There's never been a time when his wife appeared/was mentioned in a positive light. He's either making passive-aggressive insults toward her or complaining about their marital issues. The first time we see her in "Crimes and Meg's Demeanor", they got into a huge fight and she even left him for a few days.
- Bad Liar: When Lois called him out for hitting on her, Principal Shepherd claimed he was just lighting candles for a lie he couldn't think of at the moment.
- Chivalrous Pervert: Tried to romance Lois Griffin in "Connie's Celica" with a dark room, candles, roses, a beret, and everything.Principal Shepherd: You wanted to see me, Mrs. Griffin?
- Collector of the Strange: In "Crimes and Meg's Demeanor", we learn that he collects girly dolls.
- Creepy Gym Coach: Commonly sexually harasses his female students, most of which are under 18.
- In "An App a Day", Principal Shepherd was upset with how there weren't any attractive girls at the school anymore.
Principal Shepherd: God, there's like nobody hot at this school anymore.- In "The Heartbreak Dog", Principal Shepherd gave all the students extracurricular jobs to do and assigned the hot girls to do things like wash his car and come to his house after school to clean his bedroom.
- In "Movin' In (Principal Shepherd's Song)", Principal Shepherd got in trouble with the court for massaging female students' shoulders, so he did the same thing to Chris just so that he could technically be telling the truth in court, when he said that he did that to everybody.
- Divorce Is Temporary: Goes through an ugly divorce in season 15's "The Peter Principal." The next season, he is inexplicably married to his ex again, and goes through another unpleasant spat with her.
- Face–Heel Turn: Started off as a nice enough guy but as the series went on, Principal Shepherd, like most of the other characters in the show, slowly devolved into a despicable, loathsome, villainous douchebag.
- George Jetson Job Security: Principal Shepherd is guilty of sexual harassment, promoting bullying, illegal gambling, ephebophilia, fat-shaming, ableism, and racism. However, he still managed to keep his job despite all of this. In "Movin' In (Principal Shepherd's Song)", he was finally fired for fat-shaming Chris but because of plot, got rehired in the end.
- Lives in a Van: Although he lives in an apartment in some episodes, in others, ("Run, Chris, Run" and "Movin' In (Principal Shepherd's Song)") he lives in his car.
- More than Just a Teacher: Subverted. In "Movin' In (Principal Shepherd's Song)", Principal Shepherd lost his job as principal and it was shown that outside of school, Principal Shepherd is still just as much a principal as ever, treating his everyday life as though he were running a school.
- Never My Fault: In "Movin' In (Principal Shepherd's Song)". After getting fired for fat-shaming Chris, he invokes a "weaselly apology" where he tells Chris he's sorry Chris was offended by what he said.
- Pædo Hunt: Not only is Principal Shepherd is a shameless ephebophile, but he also was suggested to have sex with dolls of little girls in "Crimes and Meg's Demeanor".
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He was mostly this in his much earlier appearances, where he actually tried his best to help not make the school turn into utter chaos.
- Spotlight-Stealing Squad: In later seasons, Principal Shepherd kind of replaced Mr. Berler as Meg's teacher and eventually ended up being prominent in many episodes sharing screentime with the Griffins, even when his school isn't involved.
- Super-Breath: Principal Shepherd had coffee breath in "Adam West High", which he could use to smoke out and even create matter such as flying surfboards to escape.Principal Shepherd: Go, go, principal coffee breath!
- Ungrateful Bastard: In "Movin' In (Principal Shepherd's Song)", Peter and Lois invite him into their home after he's forced to live in his car after being fired. Shepherd responds to this kindness by essentially taking over the house, treating it like a school and the family his unruly students. When the Griffins complain about these antics, he retaliates by locking them in the basement.
- Witch Hunt: In "Wild Wild West", Principal Shepherd is a conspiracy theorist, who believes witches are among the Quahog citizens.
Mr. Rob Berler
Mr. Rob Berler
Voiced by: Seth MacFarlane
Debut: "Let's Go to the Hop"
Chris and Meg's teacher.
- Absurd Phobia: Mr. Berler is terrified of vampires. He even sleeps with a cross and garlic just so he can be safe.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Started off as Meg's teacher but just kind of disappeared and was eventually replaced by Principal Shepherd.
- Creepy Gym Coach: Mr. Berler was really giddy to show his class a sex tape he made with his wife in "Brian Sings and Swings".
- Deadpan Snarker: Makes lots of nasty comments about Meg when she's in his class.
- Expy: Mr. Berler was seated next to Principal Skinner in "The Simpsons Guy", suggesting he's a knockoff of him.
- Evil Teacher: Encourages bullying and allows Connie and Gina to abuse Meg.Mr. Berler: Meg! You stay away from the cool kids. You know you don't belong there. And Connie, shame on you for getting her hopes up, making her think she had a chance to be friends with you guys.
Connie D'amico
Gina
Gina
Voiced by: Alex Borstein, Camille Guaty
Debut: "Let's Go to the Hop"
Connie's friend who also bullies Meg.
- Beta Bitch: She is popular and is a bully, just like Connie.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: She didn't appear from Season 9 to Season 18.
- With Friends Like These...: Her reaction to learning about Connie's (alleged) murder from Meg is to cheer about not having to take a quiz (due to Lois being arrested as the prime suspect).
Patty, Esther, and Ruth
Patty, Esther, and Ruth
From left to right: Patty, Esther, and Ruth
Voiced by: Alexandra Breckenridge ("Barely Legal"), Barclay DeVeau ("Halloween on Spooner Street"), Martha MacIsacc ("Friends Without Benefits" to present) (Patty); Tamera Mowry-Housley ("Barely Legal" and "Peter's Daughter"), Christina Milian ("Halloween on Spooner Street" to present) (Esther), Natasha Melnick ("Friends Without Benefits"), Emily Osment ("A Fistful of Meg" to present) (Ruth)
Debut: "Don't Make Me Over"
Meg's geeky, unpopular friends.
- Ambiguously Bi: Ruth once said that Lois was hot but she's also shown interest in boys.Ruth: Your mom's so fucking hot.
- Beautiful All Along: "Scammed Yankees" revealed that the slightly more conventionally pretty Patty does have a rather hot body.
- Butt-Monkey: Though not nearly as much as Meg, Ruth gets the short end of the stick a lot later on in the series. She was sold as a sex slave with seemingly no one coming to her rescue (and gets her tongue ripped out to boot), people make fun of her last name, her protests against Monsanto are rudely interrupted by Principal Shepherd, and a boy she liked wouldn't kiss her, even after she bought him dinner.
- Butterface: Patty. In the episode "Scammed Yankees", Brian accidentally sees her undress and finds out that she has a beautiful body... aside her face.
- Characterization Marches On: In the show's earlier days, they were mostly just generic unpopular girls who served as friends for Meg to talk to, and as far as names went, were only named by the scripts. But at some point in the series, they got more focus, more funny and cynical moments, and even more importance to the episodes, even if that importance is just an idea they give to Meg to advance the plot.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Meg's group of friends used to include a blonde girl, Beth, who actually debuted before Patty, Esther, and Ruth, but disappeared after Season 6, possibly because the writers noticed that unlike Meg and the rest she's actually very pretty (in comparison to the other three).
- A Day in the Limelight: Patty in the subplot of "Scammed Yankees", which had Brian being interested in her.
- Distaff Counterpart: The idea of Meg having three friends that she hangs with—one of them black—somewhat makes them younger female versions of Cleveland, Quagmire, and Joe.
- Embarrassing Last Name: Ruth's last name is Cochamer. It's pronounced "coke-hamer", but in the boys' room, it's "cock-hammer".
- Even the Girls Want Her: It's implied that Lois is attracted to Patty.Patty: Hi, Mrs. Griffin!Lois: Hi... hi, Patty.
- Girlish Pigtails: Esther wears a variant in the form of afro-puffs.
- Gonk: Patty is this, with her incredibly small eyes and very weak chin, which makes her look nothing like the other recurring characters.
- Nerd Glasses: Both Esther and Patty.
- Nice Girl: Though not without their moments (like abandoning Meg in her time of need when she had to face off against a bloodthirsty bully), they share Meg's politeness and aren't as bad as the other characters in the show. Patty, in particular, is friendly and cheerful.
- Only Friends: As Meg admits in "Our Idiot Brian."
- Only One Name: Patty and Esther have yet to have their last names revealed.
- Palette Swap: Ruth's clothes are different in "Leggo My Megg-O", for some reason.
- Perpetual Smiler: Patty usually smiles a lot, showing her braces.
- Redheads Are Uncool: Patty, though this is more implied, as she's in Meg's circle of friends and, apparently, she was considered "dumpy" right alongside Meg, Esther, and Ruth.
- Satellite Character: They mostly tend to show up in Meg-centric episodes or subplots.
- Token Black Friend: Esther is the only black girl in the group.
- Uncertain Doom: In "Meg's Wedding," Esther states that she and her boyfriend are (probably) going to go through with a suicide pact after prom. Coincidentally, she has not appeared since.
- Unexplained Recovery: Ruth in "Leggo My Meg-O" got her tongue ripped out, yet, in later episodes, she's talking normally and still has her tongue.
- With Friends Like These...: Their abandoning of Meg in "A Fistful of Meg" because they didn't want to get beat up by Mike because of their association to Meg.
Jake Tucker
Jake Tucker
Voiced by: Seth MacFarlane
Debut: "Brian: Portrait of a Dog"
Tom Tucker's son with an upside-down face.
- The Aggressive Drug Dealer: Peer-pressured Chris into drinking liquor in "North by North Quahog".
- Body Horror: Aside from his upside down face, Jake was also born without buttocks, as mentioned in "North by North Quahog".
- Bratty Half-Pint: Jake is a loud-mouthed, annoying brat who drives his father insane with all his complaining.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: His last appearance so far was in Season 14's "Peanut Butter Kid".
- Delinquents: A mischievous troublemaker at school, who's always up to no good. Partakes in drinking alcohol, stealing from his parents, and bullying other students.
- Drugs Are Bad: In "North by North Quahog", Jake brings alcohol to school and gets in big trouble for drinking in the bathroom with his friends.
- Facial Horror: The inverse of this happened in "It Takes a Village Idiot and I Married One". Jake, who already has an upside-down face, was playing in the lake, which Lois released medical waste into, which mutated him and turned his face right-side up.Jake: AAAAH! MY FACE! MY FACE! AAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!
- Freudian Excuse: Claimed in "Mother Tucker" that the reason he was so mean all the time was because his father never paid any attention to him.
- The Grotesque: Nobody likes to go anywhere near him because of his face. People call him a "freak" all the time and bully him.
- Karma Houdini: Didn't get in any trouble with his dad for stealing vodka from his liquor cabinet, drinking it, and giving some to other kids at the school. Tom refused to believe that his perfect little angel would ever do such a thing and instead just blamed the other kids Jake was hanging out with. It wasn't until Stewie and Brian intervened, that he was finally arrested for drug possession and sentenced to 200 hours of community service. However, this all happened offscreen.
- Parental Neglect: His father in "Hannah Banana" after hearing Jake complaining about evil monkey in his closet.Jake: Dad! There's an Evil Monkey in my closet!
Tom: I don't care, son. I. just. do. not. care. - Revenge Romance: Meg dated him in "8 Simple Rules for Buying My Teenage Daughter", just to make Neil jealous.
- Silver Spoon Troublemaker: Jake is the son of the fairly wealthy media celebrity, Tom Tucker and knows that because his father is rich, he can basically do whatever he wants and not get in any real trouble for it.
