History Series / Wilfred

* 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...

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

* WhamLine: From "Confrontation" regarding [[spoiler:Ryan's childhood painting featuring Wilfred.]]
-->'''Ryan:''' [[spoiler:Then, who drew it?]]
-->'''Catherine:''' [[spoiler:Kirsten.]]

** Kevin, one of Ryan's coworkers, says that jalapeños are going to be the death of him. [[spoiler:Cut to the season finale, where we discover that Amanda framed Kevin, picking him as the fall guy for the sale of company secrets because he stole the jalapeños off of her bagel five times.]]
** At the start of "Resistance", Ryan muses that happiness is a rather flighty state of being. [[spoiler:He loses Jennna at its end after just getting together with her in the previous episode]].

** Ryan and Kristen's manipulative tendencies, displays of passive-aggressive behavior, and tremendous difficulties with emotional control are a result of being chiefly raised by their father, who had similar psychological hang-ups.
** Throughout "Questions" Ryan can't figure out why Kirsten's baby crying makes him panic. [[spoiler: Turns out it was Kirsten telling the baby to stop crying that sent him into a panic, as she did the same thing to Ryan when his parents were fighting.]]

* HideYourPregnancy: The actress playing Kristen was preggers throughout the season.
* HypocriticalHumor: from episode 6:

** ''"Community service is for drunk drivers and wife beaters, not upstanding citizens like us. Now let's go to the playground and blaze a fatty."''

** Ryan has pretty big concerns about ending up crazy like his mother, who had a mental breakdown around his age. [[spoiler: TheS tinger reveals that she sees her cat Mittens as a woman in a cat suit.]]

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: Wilfred. Is he some sort of magical creature, or is Ryan either dead or completely insane?

* InvisibleToNormals: No one else notices Wilfred's undoglike behavior except Adam/Ryan.
** Episode 11 reveals that Bruce, a mysterious man from Wilfred's past, sees him just like Ryan does. However, whether or not Bruce himself is real may be argued, as only Ryan and Wilfred ever see him.
** [[spoiler: Amanda can also see Wilfred, but a different version. Her Wilfred wants her and Ryan together and has a French accent. Though its possible she is truly delusional as Wilfred tells Ryan that he has no idea what she's talking about. Or maybe Ryan and Amanda both have their own delusions about the dog.]]

* TallPoppySyndrome: Kristen has a habit of trying to cut people down so they can be as miserable as she is when she's in a bad mood, which is incredibly often.

* BiTheWay: 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."

* InformedJudaism: Spencer (Ryan's biker neighbor), who complains about his old friend Jesse banging his girlfriend on the Shabbos.

* BasementDweller: Ryan spends a lot of time in his own basement getting high, even though he owns the entire house. At the end of season one, [[spoiler:it's put into question whether the basement really exists]].

* CutenessProximity: Wilfred uses it to his advantage.

* SuddenlyShouting: See AGodAmI.

* TheUnreveal: We never ''do'' 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.

* AbusiveParents: It's left ambiguous as to whether Ryan's father is really as bad as he says, or if Ryan is just insecure and projecting his problems onto a scapegoat.

* DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler:Bear]].

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Kristen honestly believes that [[Series/GameOfThrones Joffrey]] is a lovely name.

* ItRunsInTheFamily: 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...]]
** [[spoiler:The series finale lends more weight to this, as Ryan discovers that 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."]]

* MrViceGuy: Wilfred. Ultimately deconstructed in the final season where it's revealed that [[spoiler:all his substance abuse ([[FridgeLogic All of the times Ryan held a smoking bong underneath an ordinary dog's nose]]) has given him lung cancer]].

''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 show frequently teases various answers as to whether Wilfred is real or Ryan is insane.

* MrViceGuy: Wilfred. Ultimately deconstructed in the final season where it's revealed that [[spoiler:all his substance abuse has given him lung cancer]].

** [[spoiler:The series finale lends more weight to this, when Ryan discovers that 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."]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Jenna gets back together with Drew and dumps Ryan because she's afraid of change. If that wasn't bad enough, Ryan finds out that he really was crazy and his misadventures with Wilfred were all in his head. However, he does discover the truth behind the cult (and his origins), finds out that all three of his parents truly cared for him, gained the respect of his sister, and has conjured up a phantom of Wilfred who promises to downplay his gross malevolence and help him find happiness]]. At the end of it all, Ryan learns that he is worthy of love and that it's okay to love himself, even if [[spoiler:part of him is a rude, boorish, if well-meaning man in a dog suit]].

* TheUnfavorite: In the present, Ryan. During their childhood, it was actually Kristen.

* RedHerring: * [[spoiler: Everything to do with Dog Gods. Wilfred is just Ryan's hallucination.]]

''Wilfred'' is an American sitcom 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.

* {{Bookends}}: The first and last episodes of the show are called "Happiness".