History Series / Wilfred

* HypocriticalHumor: From "Conscience":

* {{Bathos}}

* MemeticMutation: This happens in-universe when Jenna's infamous marijuana-fueled incident on the TV news ("Squishy Tits") becomes a viral video on the Internet, and even gets [[StupidStatementDanceMix remixed into a music video]].

* ToiletHumor: In the {{Tag}} for the episode "Fear", Wilfred plays with a Play-doh press that excretes a little turd of dough, groaning and making fart noises all the while.

''Wilfred'' is an American fantasy comedy series starring Creator/ElijahWood as Ryan, a troubled young man, and Creator/JasonGann as Wilfred, a dog who appears to Ryan as a man in a dog costume but as a normal dog to everyone else.

''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' showrunner David Zuckerman adapted the [[Series/WilfredAustralia original Australian show]] into an American version for [[Creator/FXNetworks FX]] with a much more mysterious and psychological edge. In this version, the main character is Ryan, a depressed former lawyer who [[BungledSuicide attempts suicide]], only to be interrupted by his beautiful new neighbor Jenna and her dog Wilfred. Ryan and Wilfred form a tumultuous friendship as Ryan attempts to work through his problems and find a love life. Wilfred's motives and origin are a recurring mystery, and the show frequently teases various answers as to whether Wilfred is real or Ryan is insane.

''Wilfred'' is an American comedy starring Elijah Wood as Ryan, a troubled young man, and Jason Gann as Wilfred, a dog who appears to Ryan as a man in a dog costume but as a normal dog to everyone else.

''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' showrunner David Zuckerman adapted the [[Series/WilfredAustralia original Australian show]] into an American version with a much more mysterious and psychological edge. In this version, the main character is Ryan, a depressed former lawyer who [[BungledSuicide attempts suicide]], only to be interrupted by his beautiful new neighbor Jenna and her dog Wilfred. Ryan and Wilfred form a tumultuous friendship as Ryan attempts to work through his problems and find a love life. Wilfred's motives and origin are a recurring mystery, and the show frequently teases various answers as to whether Wilfred is real or Ryan is insane.

See [[Series/WilfredAustralia this page]] for the original Australian show. Now with a [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php/BestEpisode/Wilfred Best Episode Crowner]] and [[Recap/{{Wilfred}} recap page]] that could use a lot of love.

* NotSoDifferent: Ryan and his father, to the point that they both entered relationships with [[spoiler:mentally unstable women]] that ended very badly.

* XanatosGambit: In "Conscience". It was meant to be a BatmanGambit, but it worked out after the "lose condition" happened anyway. The plan was for Ryan to challenge Drew to a ping-pong game and win, hoping that Jenna would be in the
vicinity to see him [[SoreLoser lose his shit]]. He still went pretty crazy after ''winning''.

* {{Jailbait}}: Apparently, the age of consent for dogs is three.

* YourCheatingHeart:
** Wilfred cheats on Bear with a stuffed giraffe named Raffi in "Pride" and has to deal with Bear's suspicions the next day.
** Wilfred acts like Ryan having another dog 20 years ago is like cheating on him in "Anger".
** [[spoiler: The final episode reveals that Ryan's mother had an affair with the leader of the Grey Shepard cult and Ryan himself is the result. His biological father gave up his parental rights so that Henry could raise Ryan as his own son]].

* XanatosGambit: In "Conscience". It was meant to be a BatmanGambit, but it worked out after the "lose condition" happened anyway. The plan was for Ryan to challenge Drew to a ping-pong game and win, hoping that Jenna would be in the vicinity to see him [[SoreLoser lose his shit]]. He still went pretty crazy after ''winning''.

* BiTheWay:
** In "Fear", Wilfred states he roots other dogs all the time to establish dominance. Later, in the same episode, he plays "fuck/marry/kill" with Ryan and says he'd "screw Toto, marry Lassie, and kill Marmaduke."
** Through most of the show, it's not clear what gender Wilfred thinks that Bear is, and he sometimes makes comments that suggest that Bear is male. In the final season, however, [[spoiler:one sequence shown from Wilfred's perspective shows Bear as a female bodybuilder in a revealing teddy bear costume]].

* AttentionWhore: Wilfred, as a dog, is obsessed with always being the center of attention, and will go to very dark levels to stay that way.

--> '''Ryan:''' "You've lost your mind. It's like you've got some kind of...God complex."\\
'''Wilfred:''' "I'll let you in on a little secret, Ryan. I don't have a God complex. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY4jAcmey8k I AM GOD! THUNDER!!]]"\\

'''Ryan:''' "How did you do that?!"\\
'''Wilfred:''' "[[ChewingTheScenery Lucky coincidence!]]"

* GreatGazoo: [[spoiler: Season 4 reveals that Wilfred is actually a god known as Mataman. Subverted as it turns out to be a RedHerring.]]

* HarmlessVillain: Wilfred attempts to poison Ryan. [[spoiler:With chocolate. To be fair, it would've worked on Wilfred...]]

* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: The series uses one word taken from a quote; for example, Episode 1 is "Happiness", from the Mark Twain quote "Sanity and happiness are an impossible combination."

** Ryan has pretty big concerns about ending up crazy like his mother, who had a mental breakdown around his age. [[spoiler:TheStinger reveals that she sees her cat Mittens as a woman in a cat suit.]] The series finale lends more weight to this, as Ryan discovers that [[spoiler:his birth father Charles also suffered from hallucinations and is now medicated. When Ryan asks if his dog talks to him, Charles says, "Not for a long time."]]

* {{Jailbait}}: Apparently, age of consent for dogs is three.

* ManChild: Ryan, sort of. His personality isn't very childish; however, a lot of his actions stem from him acting against things he's held grudges against since he was a child. Drew might be this moreso than Ryan, though...

The show's origins are in an Australian short film, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2bYHOvnfRY Wilfred]]", which was a finalist at Tropfest 2002 and later adapted into a [[Series/WilfredAustralia darkly comic Australian series]] on Creator/{{SBS}}. In this version, Wilfred belongs to Sarah, and he can be seen by her boyfriend Adam. Wilfred dislikes Adam and decides to test him, having endured the ups and downs of Sarah's love life. So, in addition to winning Sarah's heart, Adam must also contend with Wilfred. The show ran two seasons.

''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' showrunner David Zuckerman adapted the show into an American version with a much more mysterious and psychological edge. This time, Wilfred is seen by Ryan, a depressed former lawyer who [[BungledSuicide attempts suicide]], only to be interrupted by his beautiful new neighbor Jenna and her dog Wilfred. Ryan and Wilfred form a tumultuous friendship as Ryan attempts to work through his problems and find a love life. Wilfred's motives and origin are a recurring mystery, and the show frequently teases various answers as to whether Wilfred is real or Ryan is insane.

''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' showrunner David Zuckerman adapted the show into an American version with a much darker and psychological edge. This time, Wilfred is seen by Ryan, a depressed former lawyer who [[BungledSuicide attempts suicide]], only to be interrupted by his beautiful new neighbor Jenna and her dog Wilfred. Ryan and Wilfred form a tumultuous friendship as Ryan attempts to work through his problems and find a love life. Wilfred's motives and origin are a recurring mystery, and the show frequently teases various answers as to whether Wilfred is real or Ryan is insane.

* AnAesop: Each episode is centered around Ryan learning a lesson about something in his life (it's the remaining word after the pre-episode quote fades). For instance, an episode in season 2 was about Ryan learning to abandon his guilt.

** In episode 3, Wilfred states he roots other dogs all the time to establish dominance. Later, in the same episode, he plays "fuck/marry/kill" with Ryan and says he'd "screw Toto, marry Lassie, and kill Marmaduke."

* BiggerIsBetterInBed: episode 6:

* CaughtWithYourPantsDown: In episode 7, Ryan walks in on Wilfred masturbating to giraffe porn.

* ConspiracyTheorist: Wilfred is terrified of veterinarians and screams out microchip plots when Ryan takes him to one in episode 2. In episode 9, he apparently has similar theories about the post office.
* ContinuityNod: Ryan makes a quick reference to the car accident plot of episode 7 in episode 8.

* DeadAllAlong: Played with in episode 13.

* DreamingOfThingsToCome: In episode 3, Ryan dreams of the moment his biker neighbor comes over to kick his ass for breaking into his house and stealing his weed, which occurs a bit later in the episode. Muddling the matter, however, is the fact that the dream is also full of the sort of weird things that happen in dreams, like a clock with spinning hands and Ryan having baby feet and pulling a tooth out of his mouth. [[spoiler:The tooth bit actually happens when Spencer punches him in the face in the waking world.]]

* GhostlyGlide: Parodied in the episode 'Respect', wherein Wilfred glides around the room as a dark messianic character, choosing which old people get to die.
* GilliganCut: In episode 8, Ryan is about to go off on Kristen for being a raging bitch. The next cut is Wilfred berating him for not actually going through with yelling at her.

* GoneHorriblyRight: Episode 6's XanatosGambit. Ryan feels pretty terrible about it afterward.

* HeelFaceDoorSlam: At the end of episode 8, Kristen reveals that it was her fault that Sneakers died and begs Ryan for forgiveness. She hopes that Wilfred will let her pet him, only for him to slap a glass of red wine at her.

* HypocriticalHumor: From episode 6:

* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: The series uses one word taken from a quote; for example, episode one is "Happiness", from the Mark Twain quote "Sanity and happiness are an impossible combination."

* JustFriends: Jenna and her "old college chum, Bobby 'Blueballs' Davis". Wilfred warns Ryan that he is nearing the friendzone in episode 6.

* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: Jenna's boyfriend Drew is a beer salesmen for Sheboygan Lager. He tells Ryan this anecdote in episode 6: when Drew discovered another brewery talking to his clients, he turned around and carried the same plan to completion. A month later he encountered a salesman for the rival brewery at a bar, who had been fired thanks to Drew. Drew decides to buy him a bottle of Sheboygan Lager. [[spoiler: He later reveals he didn't even buy the guy a beer; he bought himself one and told the guy to lick his nuts]]
* TheLadette: The beer-chugging, cheesesteak-gobbling Jenna, Ryan's object of affection in the series. The problem is that Ryan spends all of episode 2 thinking that [[UnsettlingGenderReveal she has a dick]], and all this manliness does not help matters.

* LonersAreFreaks: Ryan has to deal with the rest of the neighborhood believing this in episode 10.

** As revealed during the season 1 finale, Ryan was one too. When he returns to his old ways [[spoiler: he screws pretty much everyone's life up]].

* MyGreatestFailure: In episode 8, Ryan reveals that his childhood dog Sneakers drowned because Ryan left the gate to the pool open.

* NothingIsTheSameAnymore: [[StatusQuoIsGod Usually averted at the end of each episode]]. Notably played straight, however, when [[spoiler: series 1 ends; Wilfred sacrifices himself for the greater good and forgets Ryan, Ryan may or may not be insane, Jenna thinks she's pregnant after Kristen's urine is unknowingly tested instead (causing her to settle down with a man she doesn't really like) and Kristen, who doesn't realize she's pregnant, tells her husband about her affair so Ryan can't blackmail her anymore, ending her relationship and causing her to disown Ryan and run off to India.]]

* ThePollyanna[=/=]KidsAreCruel: Ryan's childhood dog Sneakers. Golly! [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge Let's punch Kristen's tits off!]]
* PublicDomainSoundtrack: "Claire de Lune" is used in episode 12.
* RageQuit: After getting a TabletopGame/{{Clue}} accusation wrong in episode 7's tag, Wilfred flips the game board and sucker punches Ryan.

** [[spoiler:Ryan is not actually the son of Henry Newman; his biological father was Charles Smith, who founded a cult called the Flock of the Grey Shepherd. Catherine Newman ran away to join the cult, where she and Charles conceived Ryan. Before Charles was tried and convicted of tax fraud, Henry agreed to defend him on the condition that Charles gives up custody of Ryan to Henry. Ryan was raised to be totally oblivious of his true parentage.]]
** [[spoiler:"Wilfred" (the man wearing a dog suit) is merely an imaginary friend, who has been hallucinated by Ryan for the entire series. His appearance is based on memories of Richard (a cult member who dressed as a dog god named Mataman), while his personality is actually based on Ryan's secret alter-ego. This image was then projected onto a real dog named Wilfred, who had always been a completely normal and non-anthropomorphic animal.]]
* RomanticFalseLead: Drew, Jenna's current husband. He's not a bad guy, but he's got enough flaws to make the viewer want Ryan to succeed.

* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Sensitive Guy and Manly Dog.

** In Episode 3, when Wilfred is taken away by animal control for attacking a neighbor, he is wearing [[Literature/SilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Lecter's]] mask.
** Episode 13 [[DeadAllAlong casts doubt]] on whether Ryan actually [[BungledSuicide bungled his suicide.]] Cue ''Series/{{Lost}}'' references from Wilfred.
** In "Dignity," Wilfred pulls a stupid stunt, holds his arms wide, and exclaims: [[Film/{{Gladiator}} "Are you not entertained?!"]]
** In "Sincerity," Wilfred shows Ryan a picture of himself on a mountaintop with his "arms raised in a V" in front of a "lemon-yellow sun." These are from the lyrics to Music/PearlJam's song "Jeremy."

* TheStoner: Wilfred gets high pretty often, but he doesn't fit the rest of the stereotype very well; he's too much of an asshole. Ryan is also an example, especially once he gets a medical marijuana recommendation in Episode 2.

* TechnicolorScience: Appears near the end of episode 6.

* ToiletHumor: In episode 3's {{Tag}}, Wilfred plays with a Play-doh press that excretes a little turd of dough, groaning and making fart noises all the while.

* UngratefulBastard: In episode 3, Ryan buys Wilfred a Kobe beef chewing bone. Wilfred simply complains that it's not a bong or vaporizer.

** Episode six has [[spoiler:Wilfred giving Ryan a lethal dose of Theobromine, only for the pair to discover it's the chemical in chocolate that makes it lethal to dogs,]] making it one of the few examples of Wilfred getting his facts wrong.

** Many episodes leave the plot ambiguous at the end: We never find out if the dog daycare owner in episode 4 actually molested Wilfred or not or whether Wilfred actually killed anyone at the hospital or not in episode 5. We also never find out if Wilfred was genuinely possessed by Ryan's old dog Sneakers, or how Bruce and Wilfred met, and how he sees him like Ryan does. However, all of these are explained in the final season when [[spoiler:we get confirmation that Wilfred's humanlike interactions are all just hallucinations]].

-->'''Ryan:''' "[[spoiler:Then, who drew it?]]"
-->'''Catherine:''' "[[spoiler:Kirsten.]]"
* WipeThatSmileOffYourFace: Done with Ryan's tongue, in "Isolation"
* XanatosGambit: In episode 6. It was meant to be a BatmanGambit, but it worked out after the "lose condition" happened anyway. The plan was for Ryan to challenge Drew to a ping-pong game and win, hoping that Jenna would be in the vicinity to see him [[SoreLoser lose his shit]]. He still went pretty crazy after ''winning''.

** Wilfred cheats on Bear with a stuffed giraffe named Raffi in episode 7 and has to deal with Bear's suspicions the next day.
** Wilfred acts like Ryan having another dog 20 years ago is like cheating on him in episode 8.
** [[spoiler: The final episode reveals that Ryan's mother had an affair the leader of the Grey Shepard cult and he's the result. His biological father gave up his parental rights so that Henry could raise Ryan as his own son]].

** In one episode, Wilfred says, "I don't have a God complex. I ''am'' God!" This is a quote from Alec Baldwin's character in ''Film/{{Malice}}''.

The show's origins are in an Australian short film, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2bYHOvnfRY Wilfred]]," which was a finalist at Tropfest 2002 and later adapted into a [[Series/WilfredAustralia darkly comic Australian series]] on Creator/{{SBS}}. In this version, Wilfred belongs to Sarah, and he can be seen by her boyfriend Adam. Wilfred dislikes Adam and decides to test him, having endured the ups and downs of Sarah's love life. So, in addition to winning Sarah's heart, Adam must also contend with Wilfred. The show ran two seasons.

''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' showrunner David Zuckerman adapted the show into an American version with a much darker and psychological edge. This time, Wilfred is seen by Ryan, a depressed former lawyer who [[BungledSuicide attempts suicide]], only to be interrupted by his beautiful new neighbor Jenna and her dog Wilfred. Ryan and Wilfred form an tumultuous friendship as Ryan attempts to work through his problems and find a love life. Wilfred's motives and origin are a recurring mystery, and the show frequently teases various answers as to whether Wilfred is real or Ryan is insane.

* DeceasedFallGuyGambit: Wilfred frames a dead homeless man for a string of thefts. Ryan wants clear his name before realizing his alternatives are to confess (and be hated) or tell the truth (which no one will believe).

* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler:Ryan's dad...except that was in Ryan's head...and then he dies in a car crash.]]

* LaserGuidedKarma: Wilfred usually escapes an episode without getting his comeuppance, but "Responsibility" has karma catch up to him when [[spoiler:a car runs him over and he loses a leg. After spending an entire episode mocking a three legged dog. Subverted as he ''wanted'' to lose a leg to gain more attention.]]

* ManChild: Ryan, sort of. His personality isn't very childish however a lot of his actions stem from him acting against things he's held grudges against since he was a child. Drew might be this moreso than Ryan, though...

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: Wilfred. Is he some sort of magical creature, or is Ryan either dead or completely insane? [[spoiler: It turns out that Ryan really ''was'' crazy the whole time.]]

** Many episodes leave the plot ambiguous at the end: We never find out if the day-care owner in episode 4 actually molested Wilfred or not or whether Wilfred actually killed anyone at the hospital or not in episode 5. We also never find out if Wilfred was genuinely possessed by Ryan's old dog Sneakers, or how Bruce and Wilfred met, and how he sees him like Ryan does. However, all of these are explained in the final season when [[spoiler:we get confirmation that Wilfred's humanlike interactions are all just hallucinations]].

* HideYourPregnancy: Averted - the actress playing Kristen was pregnant throughout the season and Kristen gave birth to baby Joffrey.

''Wilfred'' is an American comedy starring Elijah Wood as Ryan, a troubled young man, and Jason Gann as Wilfred, a dog who appears to Ryan as a human man in a dog costume but as a normal dog to everyone else.

The show's origins are in an Australian short film, "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2bYHOvnfRY Wilfred]]," which was a finalist at Tropfest 2002 and later adapted into a [[Series/WilfredAustralia darkly comic Australian series]] on {{SBS}}. In this version, Wilfred belongs to Sarah, and he can be seen by her boyfriend Adam. Wilfred dislikes Adam and decides to test him, having endured the ups and downs of Sarah's love life. So, in addition to winning Sarah's heart, Adam must also contend with Wilfred. The show ran two seasons.