Characters / F is for Family - Murphy Family

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Members of the Murphy family.

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The Murphy Family (in general)

• Anti-Hero: They're all deeply flawed human beings, but it's made clear on multiple occasions that they honestly love and care for each other. Even outside of the family, they've proven to care about others and they try to do the right thing.
• Dysfunctional Family: Big time. All of them are very short-tempered, and have regular arguments and fights with each other.
• Happily Married: Ultimately, despite their marital problems being a recurring conflict throughout the show, Frank and Sue are this. Sure, they argue frequently, but when something seems to genuinely drive a wedge between them, it's never Played for Laughs. For all of Frank's faults, he's completely devoted to Sue, turns down Chet on the spot when he suggests cheating on her, and is always remorseful when he can sense that she is genuinely upset with him. In the end, their marriage survives the various struggles the events of the show puts it through, with Sue admitting to Kevin at the start of Season 5 that, despite everything that's happened between them, she's still in love with Frank.

Immediate Family and Household

Frank Murphy

Francis "Frank" Xavier Murphy

"Oh don't start with me you fuckin' disappointment."

Voiced by: Bill Burr (English), Noé Velázquez (Latin American Spanish), Haley Reinhart (in some flashbacks)

Frank is the patriarch of the Murphy family. He's a working-class Irish-American man with an explosive temper.

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• Abusive Dad: He verbally abuses his kids on a regular basis, hurling any obscenity at them he can think of. Although rarely, he does occasionally hit Kevin or Bill when they're being especially annoying to him (granted nothing too serious).
• Alcoholic Parent: He often drives drunk, and can't reliably complete simple tasks without getting sidetracked by booze and cigarettes.
• Ambiguously Bi: Played for Laughs - he has quite a few strangely... touchy... quotes towards his new friend Chet.
• Brutal Honesty: Most of the time, Frank isn't afraid to yell out whatever's on his mind, and will frequently disregard any tact or politeness when doing so. Unfortunately for him, other people naturally want to hear none of it.
• Character Catchphrase:
  • "I will put you through that fuckin' wall!"
  • "Those fucking animals."
  • "Does it ever fail?"
• Character Development: Starts out the show at his worse, but as seasons go on he shows his more empathetic and sympathetic side openly, and tries to be there for his kids in his own way. His total growth in the five seasons is shown in the ending, which is an almost complete recreation of the opening scene of Season 1, but Frank handles the situation totally differently. He puts the call on hold, joking and eating with his family... showing that he has mellowed and is more willing to show he loves them.
• Corporal Punishment: Notably averted. For all of Frank's anger issues and the verbal abuse he subjects his family to, he is never shown to have resorted to physical punishment or abuse of any family member, no matter how angry he is. His punishments for his kids' misbehavior are limited to yelling, albeit that some of his yelling is very emotionally hurtful, taking away privileges, or making them engage in activities that he hopes will set them straight, even if that almost never ends up being the case. His infamous threats to "PUT YOU THROUGH THAT FUCKING WALL!" are never acted upon, and they become less and less frequent as the series progresses.
• Dad the Veteran: After graduating high school, Frank was conscripted into the US Army (14th Infantry Regiment) and fought in The Korean War. After the war, he served in the US Air National Guard until he was discharged from the military.
• Elites Are More Glamorous: Despite his appearance and overall attitude, Frank was originally a member of the 14th Infantry Regiment in Korea, which was revered for its strenuous training in mountain warfare.
• Embarrassing Nickname: "Francine," given to him by his father.
• Entitled Bastard: Most of his angry rants involve how he feels he deserves something from other people, whether it's actually warranted or not.
• Everyone Has Standards: While he eventually goes along with the plan to have Scoop removed from Mohican Airlines, he outright refuses any suggestions that would harm or kill Scoop, like what Bob and Gugliargi are pushing for.
• Fan Disservice: The shot of his balls Bill and the audience are subjected to.
• Family Man: A very grudging but still mostly loving example.
• Fatal Flaw:
  • Frank's wrath is the biggest source of conflict between him and his family, friends, and co-workers. His pride also gets him into a lot of trouble with his job and his wife.
  • Another flaw of his is that he's selfish. Although Frank did suffer as he had an abusive father, he was drafted into the war while he was in his late teens or early twenties, and he and Sue basically became parents before either of them was fully able to enjoy the freedom of their youth, it doesn't excuse how he treats his family. To Frank, he's the only one who's truly suffered more than others and nothing compares to what he went through, so he lacks compassion and empathy when others open up to him. After his dad dies, Sue calls Frank out on always finding someone to blame for his shortcomings. This makes Frank realize that he needs to do more to be a better parent and let go of his horrible past.
  • Somewhat tying into his selfishness is his complexity addiction. While this generally just means he goes on tangents when he rants and raves, it also ties into how he handles his father's passing and how he ruins a lot of chances to make meaningful moments with his family because he was so addicted to a complex narrative. That narrative being his father's "Box 16" was some great mystery solver, something that'll really help him with his feelings towards his dad. By the time he finds out by being told by someone else (another issue is Frank's refusal to get help), he has failed his family yet again and has to work towards mending the relationship.
  • Refusal to get help from others. While he does rant and rave at anyone, really, he has a huge problem with getting help from others. He refused to really talk to Sue about his feelings after his father passes, this ties into some of his insecurities involved with Sue getting a job, his obsession with "Box 16", and really just about anything when he needs actual help. One of the worst examples of this is if he just asked his dad's friends about "Box 16", the entire 5th season could have played out very differently. It should be noted, though, that Frank DOES ask for help but usually when things have gotten too out of hand.
• Freudian Excuse: At least some of Frank's anger issues and personal insecurities can be traced back to his childhood, living with his Abusive Dad who mocked and taunted Frank for his perceived lack of masculinity.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: The show ends with Frank realizing he needs to let go of his childhood trauma and not let it affect his current life or Sue and his kids will just resent him just as he and his mother resent his dad. Thus, he begins to make active efforts to do better.
• Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow: Had a full head of hair in his younger years. Now it's both receding and thinning up top. Amusingly enough, Frank was completely oblivious to this and the entire neighborhood agreed to not mention it to him.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: You'd better believe it. His short temper is one of his major traits, and definitely his biggest personality flaw.
• Heroic BSoD: When he sees a graphic picture of childbirth at a Lamaze class, Frank blanks out the way his 11-year-old son did when he saw anything disgusting up until the last episode of Season 3. Complete with the same music.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Towards his new friend Chet Stevenson in Season 3. Sue accuses Frank of being overly defensive of him, despite increasingly obvious hints that he's not such a great guy. Though granted, Chet Stevenson was very charming and charismatic on the surface. Though Frank does eventually come into full agreement with his wife's suspicions (which are proven to be correct).
• I Was Quite a Looker: As demonstrated in the intro sequence, he was quite a bit more handsome as a youth. But now he's grown a beer belly, and is starting to go bald.
• It's All About Me: Frank has a tendency to overplay his own issues in detriment of others. Despite what others have been through, he believes that he is the person with the worst life, and the worst problems in the cast, and this lack of perspective gives him a limited amount of empathy towards others to work with towards, since he always believes they're being whiny since their problems are small compared to his.
• Jaded Washout: Frank had dreams once. But after military service and 3 kids, they're dead and he's a bitter wage slave just living day to day.
• Jerkass: He's extremely hotheaded, rude, stubborn, and prone to hurling obscene insults at everyone around him.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite all his faults and overall attitude, he really does love and care about his family. He also cares about his job and looking out for his coworkers, and tries his best to be a middleman to everyone when the strike approaches, even though he notes himself that you can't choose both your job and your friends.
• Like Father, Like Son: Is very similar to his son, Kevin, which is a big reason they don't always get along.
  • For all of his frustrations with Bill's timidity and Kevin's constant defiance, flashbacks in the fourth season show that he was exactly like them when he was their ages.
• Locked Out of the Loop: With the union guys after they no longer trust him.
• Loser Protagonist: He's a wage slave who had to give up his dream of being a pilot, and was even fired on Christmas Eve.
• Men Can't Keep House: As seen in the first season of Episode 4. It's the whole reason why he doesn't want his wife to have a part time job.
• Near-Death Experience: Repeatedly mentions he nearly bled out on a battlefield somewhere in Korea.
• Negated Moment of Awesome: In the Grand Finale, Frank appears poised to end the series on a moment of triumph when Buster Thunder successfully completes a jump over an airliner on live TV. Then Buster takes the mic. What should have been one of the proudest moments of Frank's career thus turns into another major disappointment.
• Never My Fault: Frank has a tendency to blame others for his setbacks, whether it's Bob Pogo, Roger Dunbarton, his father, or his kids. Sue finally calls Frank out on this in the series finale after Frank blames his father, whose been dead for several months at this point, for his publicity stunt to bring in more traffic to Alaquippa backfiring and causing him to be demoted.
• "Not So Different" Remark: In the Grand Finale, after Frank complains to Dick Sawitzki about his father being an asshole to him growing up, Dick points out Frank is drinking in a bar on Christmas because he acted like one to his own kids.
• Papa Wolf: Demonstrated with his brawl against the Fitzsimmons' on Christmas eve.
• Parental Favoritism: Sure, Frank loves all his kids, but he's much more affectionate with Maureen than with his sons. He also favors Bill for having a paper route, while looking down on Kevin for his musical endeavors.
• Parental Neglect:
  • Is all but completely oblivious to his son Bill's descent into delinquency all throughout Season 2. Frank is clearly affectionate to Maureen and at least Kevin provokes a reaction out of him. He does help Bill retrieve money from some dickish customers on his (Bill's) paper route so at least he's not completely absent.
  • In Season 3, this is one of the main conflicts, as his kids are all doing something and fail to communicate with him since he is worried about the new baby and obsessed with Chet.
• Parents as People: He's verbally and sometimes physically abusive and prone to flying off the handle at any moment, but he tries to provide for his children and loves his family more than anything. His kids eventually become more sympathetic to him when they learn how bad their grandpa was. Part of Frank's growth in Season 5 after Big Bill dies is learning that Bill and his mom were "two messed-up people that fucked and made me. And nothing more.".
• Pet the Dog: Despite mostly being a product of his time socially, he does come to Sue's brother's defense when his homophobic father in law insults him.
• Politically Incorrect Hero: Thanks to the Deliberate Values Dissonance on display.
  • He expresses quite sexist beliefs to both his wife Sue and their daughter Maureen, not wanting the former to get a job out of his own insecurity, nor wanting the latter to pursue any "masculine" dreams like becoming a scientist.
  • He also displayed some fear of African Americans (minus Rosie) due to the possibility of being mugged by them, even from one who happened to politely ask him for gas (who was actually a white investigative reporter on an undercover story about racism in America).
  • Even though he knows homosexuality is something people are born with and defends his gay brother-in-law, he's still not completely comfortable with it and hopes none of his kids turn out gay. When he defends Louis, he says Louis is a great guy but still makes a homophobic comment about Louis having "some sugar in the tank".
• The Protagonist: He's the main star of the show.
• Pushover Parents: His attempts at disciplining his children for bad behavior are almost always ineffectual. This reaches a head in Season 5 when he passes Bill off to the cops for their junior cop program to straighten Bill out, only for Bill to show a bunch of neighborhood kids some porn in Chet's old home. When Frank goes to the cops to complain about it, the cops point out the whole reason Bill is in the program is because Frank is not good at disciplining Bill.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gives one to Bob Pogo in the Season 1 finale.
• Running Away to Cry: Does this in the first episode when Kevin tells him "I fucking hate you!"
• Seduction-Proof Marriage: For all his complaints about her, it's clear Sue is the only woman for Frank. When Chet suggests getting Frank some extramarital company, he instantly shuts him down.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: Though not crippling, he exhibits some clear PTSD from his stint in Korea, casually mentioning all the bloodshed that he witnessed and experienced over there.
• Shotgun Wedding: He got Sue pregnant with Kevin, which forced them to marry young.
• Sir Swears Alot: His dialogue is about 90% profanity.
• Tranquil Fury: A rare example for Frank occurs when Sue's father relates how not only did his father get his first love, but he wishes he could've done the same to Frank.
  Frank: "...Get the fuck out of my house."
• Trademark Favorite Food: Pigs in blankets (bacon-wrapped hot dogs) with mustard.
• Trauma Conga Line: Season 4 was even harder on him than Season 2. His abusive father moves in and starts supplanting him as his children's parental figure, his attempts at being a better parent fail miserably, his relationship with his family reaches an all-time low, he learns that Mohican Airways is being bought out, which will likely result in him losing his job for good, and his father has an evidently fatal stroke/heart attack just as he tries to bury the hatchet for good. He also watches a traumatizing video about childbirth. The only consolation he receives is that he finally gets to see the birth of one of his children.
• Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: He's foul-mouthed, temperamental, and is prone to being very insensitive to the feelings of others. In many other sitcoms, he wouldn't be seen as even half as likable as he is here. It helps that 1), the show drives home that he loves his family as much as possible, and 2), he's surrounded by people that are much worse.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: Any time Frank gets some sort of meaningful victory, it never sticks. Something bad is bound to happen shortly afterwards, and he will be even worse off than he was before.

Sue Murphy

Susan "Sue" Murphy (née Chilson)

"Outside of being a wife and a mother, I’ve got nothing! I sell plastic that I cry into!"

Voiced by: Laura Dern (English), Kerygma Flores (Latin American Spanish)

Frank's wife and the mother of Kevin, Bill, Maureen, and baby Megan, who isn't content with her life.

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• Almighty Mom: While she still has issues with consistent child discipline, a Running Gag is that despite Frank's frequent outbursts of yelling and profanity, the kids tend to blow him off, but are absolutely terrified of Sue when she is angry. Frank straight-up asks them why that is in "The Screw-Ups."
• Batter Up!: Her weapon of choice is a baseball bat. This is because she played softball in high school.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Sue is sick of her unfulfilling, soul-crushing life as an unappreciated homemaker, and yearns to have a career of her own. She then gets an unfulfilling, soul-crushing job, working for a bunch of jerks who don't appreciate her.
• Beware the Nice Ones: She's the one who puts a stop to the fight with Jimmy and his scuzzy father, by giving the latter a good whack to the solar plexus with a baseball bat.
  "Get the FUCK off my lawn!"
• Cordon Bleugh Chef: Seems she has to work with what she can, like the hotdogs wrapped in bacon from the first episode. Also, her TV dinners are still frozen in the middle.
• Crocodile Tears: At various times, her father, husband, and brother all accuse her of fake-crying to manipulate them, which she angrily denies when Frank says this. Her sudden change from crying to anger from talking to Louis, after he says he taught her how to fake-cry, suggests that this may at be at least partially true.
• Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Suffers from this every now and again. She's not unhappy as a mother, but she really wants to fulfill herself with a good career and accomplish something with her life.
  • In Season 5, after seeing Vic and his friends struggle with parenthood and recognizing that there are a lot of new parents in Rustvale who didn't have good parental role models, she starts a successful business teaching parenting classes. That may be why she's not upset about money when Frank tells her that he took a huge pay cut after his publicity stunt at the airport backfired.
• Fatal Flaw: Sue is rather self-absorbed, and neglects or outrights dismisses her friends' and family's problems in favor of focusing on her own. She also ignores all of her own shortcomings as a wife and mother in favor of pinning all the blame on Frank, which nearly caused their marriage to collapse in Season 2 when she tries to encourage him to be more open about his feelings, only to still get angry when he does exactly that. In Season 5, it's revealed that she outed her gay brother to her parents to try and deflect the heat she and Frank were receiving at their wedding when her parents found out she was pregnant, something that's haunted her ever since.
• First-World Problems: While Sue is deeply upset about her life in Season 3, it's not until she talks with Nguyen-Nguyen, a survivor from the Vietnam War who describes in painful, excruciating detail what happened on the day that she lost her family and village, that Sue realizes she needs to be more thankful.
• Forced Out of the Closet: She does this intentionally to Louis to deflect her father's anger at discovering she's pregnant with Frank's baby out of wedlock, and accidentally to Gene when she comes across him making out in a car at the gay bar trying to find Louis.
• Formerly Fit: Flashbacks revealed that she used to have a very small waistline. Now she sometimes gets comments about her weight.
• Freudian Excuse: It's implied that a lot of her self-absorbedness stems from being spoiled by her wealthy parents growing up.
• Hartman Hips: A full figured woman with very wide hips and thighs. Vic calls her a hot piece of ass, telling her that she knows she's fine and "If I was a biscuit and you was gravy, I'd sop you."
• Housewife: Up until Season 1, Episode 4, when she's given an opportunity to take a part time job working with Plast-a-Ware.
• Innocently Insensitive: To Frank over his embarrassment in the electronics store.
• In-Series Nickname: Her full name is Susan.
• Lame Comeback: Sue's first attempt to throw her bosses' harassment back at them after Vivian advises doing so to survive the workplace shows she's clearly not comfortable with sexual insults. Her bosses seem surprisingly understanding of this fact and accept her first awkward attempt at a comeback in good humor. She does get better, to the point where she shocks them in Season 4.
  Sue: Listen, I do have something I'd like to say! You guys may think you're the bees knees. But I feel sorry for you. Because you're all just a bunch of ignorant, small-minded... cock people!
  (beat)
  Tracy, Dana, and Gene: (laughing) Sue Murphy! Cock people! She's a keeper!
• My Greatest Failure: Season 5 reveals that she was the one who was responsible for her gay brother Louis being outed to their parents and disowned. Sue told her father at her and Frank's Shotgun Wedding in a desperate effort to deflect from his anger at her for getting pregnant out of wedlock. Sue's regretted it ever since.
• Never My Fault: Frank is hardly a good parent, but Sue tends to blame him for most, if not all, of the family's problems, while ignoring her own faults such as being a pushover when it comes to disciplining Kevin or paying less attention to her other children because she cares more about finding her own purpose in life. When Bill calls her out on frequently ignoring him in favor of her obsession with the Forkoontula in the Season 3 finale, Sue is honestly shocked that Bill considers her just as bad as Frank and she still doesn't do anything to remedy it in Season 4.
• Not So Above It All: Gets noticeably upset in Episode 5^note Which season? when her new boss forces her to make another run out of town for a regular customer. She's also quite violent and insensitive to others at times, committing the same acts that she would normally call Frank out for.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Since Sue rarely yells at the kids, the occasions where she does are treated much more seriously by them than when Frank does it. Frank questions why the kids are more scared of her shouting than him in Season 5, not realizing this trope is in effect every time Sue yells at the kids.
• Parental Favoritism: According to Word of God, her favourite is Kevin.
• Phrase Catcher: When Frank is quarreling with her or talking about quarreling with her, he mocks her by saying "Yit-dit-dit-dit!"
• Pregnancy Makes You Crazy: A possible excuse for her less than savoury behaviour and actions in Seasons 3 and 4. However, its arguable that her aforementioned personal flaws (see Fatal Flaw and Never My Fault) may actually be the actual cause.
• Pushover Parents: With Kevin (at least according to Frank.) She see's herself as more of a Reasonable Authority Figure considering Kevin's disability.
• Shotgun Wedding: She married Frank only after she got pregnant with Kevin.
• Uptown Girl: Sue comes from a rich family, with a very successful father, who also helps her family financially as revealed in Season 3.
• What the Hell, Hero?: She has given Frank several of these throughout the series, including quite the silent one after discovering he sabotaged her possible job interview. She ends up on the receiving end of one of these after her parents point out to her that part of the reason for Louis's estrangement from the rest of the family is because Sue outed him to their father to deflect from Stan finding out that Sue was already pregnant with Kevin at her wedding to Frank. She gets another one from Louis himself when she finally finds him.
• Your Makeup Is Running: When she cried over how dull and meaningless her life was.

Kevin Murphy

Kevin Murphy

"I'm gonna go escape to a magical realm. Far from here."

Voiced by: Justin Long (English), Miguel Ángel Leal (Latin American Spanish)

Frank's and Sue's firstborn son. He's a dimwitted slacker who often challenges his father's authority.

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• Big Brother Bully: He has his moments of being this to Bill, such as beating him up and throwing his hockey stick into a tree when he made fun of him.
• Big Brother Mentor: Although Megan is still a baby, there are still signs that Kevin will become this trope as she grows up, as he bonds with her and feels protective towards her in a way he never did towards Bill or Maureen. Part of this may be because of the role he played in her birth in the Season 4 finale, and part of it is likely because she is much younger than her brothers and sister.
• Book Dumb: "Did you know there were two world wars?"
  • In Season 4 he struggles to read a small pamphlet. He also didn't know about J. R. R. Tolkien or his works despite his favorite band taking a lot of inspiration from it. He becomes more interested in reading when Alice loans him a copy of The Fellowship of the Ring.
• Break the Cutie / Trauma Conga Line: Kevin suffers through continuous traumatic events during Season 2.
• Catchphrase Insult: "Dildo" is his go-to insult.
• Childhood Brain Damage: According to an argument between Frank and Sue, his slowness was caused by him drowning at a bottom of a motel pool for two minutes as a child. This is further emphasized when he fell into a frozen pond during a ski trip and began to have traumatic memories of motel pool incident.
• Cool Big Bro: Tries to be this to Bill. For example, when he signed his suspension form for him to give him a day off. He also lets Maureen listen in when he practices his music. He also shows a surprising knack for babysitting Megan when his mother makes him do so, taking her on a walk in her baby carriage and showing her the neighborhood she will likely grow up in.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: After he learns he isn't Alice's first boyfriend, Kevin becomes clingy and smothering as a result of his insecurities since he's never had a real girlfriend, causing Alice to break up with him. He eventually matures and turns the ship around, with his last scene with Alice being a case of Interrupted Intimacy.
• Deadpan Snarker: Often makes sarcastic and indifferent remarks.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: In one Season 3 episode where Kevin gets arrested for robbing a liquor store with his hoodlum friends, he gets placed into a detention cell filled with women at the police station, because the cop who brought him in mistook him for a girl (due to Kevin's long hair, unmanly crying, and wearing his mother's blouse). Soon afterwards when Frank comes over to bail out and scold Kevin, they pass by International Touch, who mistakes Kevin for a female prostitute, while also mistakenly assuming that his angry father was another pimp.
• The Dreaded: In the first episode Bill is being bullied by a group of three older kids until Kevin shows up and the leader of the group literally pisses himself in fear of Kevin.
• Dreadful Musician: Has the ambition, but none of the talent. Averted as of Season 4, where his song “Mr. Happy Guy” is considered good in-universe.
• Dumbass Has a Point: After learning about Bill's suspension from school, Kevin rightfully points out how illogical the form system is and how easy it is for students to forge their parents' signature:
  "They suspend me 'cause I'm a piece of shit, then they give me a paper saying I'm said piece of shit and I'm supposed to get my parents to sign it? Why the fuck would I do that?! I'm a piece of shit! For the life of me, I don't know why they don't just call the house."
• Dumbass Teenage Son: He's failing most of his classes, History in particular. See Childhood Brain Damage for possibility on the cause of this trope.
• Emo Teen: He's constantly angsting about his daddy issues.
• Everyone Has Standards: Laughing at a tape of someone's gruesome death is definitely not cool in Kevin's book.
  • He also doesn't like the cranky old lady being unreasonably rude to his dad.
• Fanboy: For "Shire of Frodo", a Tolkien inspired prog rock group.
• Flipping the Bird: Does it quite often.
• Freudian Excuse: Tries to invoke this by telling Frank the reason he's failing history is because his teacher is "a major perv".
• Hidden Depths: With a positive influence in his life such as Alice, Kevin shows a small desire to improve himself. Not only does he apply himself better in school somewhat, but his music improves by actually just having a happy influence in his life. It really shows that he probably needed someone to believe in him to make him grow up and show what he can do. After Megan is born, it is also shown that he is good with babies.
• Hormone-Addled Teenager: He's not quite as obsessed with sex as his friends but still frequently wishes to get some. He loses his virginity to Cutie Pie and tries to have sex with Alice in Season 5 a couple times.
• Hypocrite: Makes fun of Bill for being a "pussy", but is quite the crybaby himself.
• Innocently Insensitive: To Frank when he tries to show his appreciation for how difficult his job is.
• Insane Troll Logic: Gets upset when Frank distracts him from his missing dog drawing, causing him to draw Major with two penises, because he believes now someone will "bring us a double dicked dog!"
• It's All My Fault: Kevin completely blames himself for Vic's girlfriend taking his virginity. He sees it as a betrayal of Vic's trust on his part and becomes overwhelmingly guilty and self hating. At one point, Vic praises Kevin's character and integrity. He breaks down in tears when Vic leaves and concludes that suicide would be the only way to make things better.
• I Am Not My Father: Wants to avoid being a Jaded Washout like Frank.
• I Just Want to Be Loved: Is usually after approval and/or affection from his father.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: There are hints at this.
  • He seems regretful over his choices, especially seeing his father's mistreatment by an elderly passenger and his marijuana-induced reflection of his memories that led him to finish his assignment.
  • He showed Big Brother Instinct with him beating up the bullies when he heard of them beating Billy.
• A Man Is Always Eager: Deconstructed. As a 14-year-old boy, Kevin's hormones are unbridled and he's easily aroused by women. So when Cutie Pie has sex with him after mistaking him for an older man and believing his erection was equal to consent, Kevin is both horrified and deeply confused by what happened. Kevin didn't fully understand what he was consenting to or how he was being taken advantage of by an older woman. Cutie Pie then blames him for being sexually assaulted and scares him into keeping quiet by telling him that Vic will hurt him for sleeping with his girlfriend. After the act, Kevin begins to hate himself for being used by Cutie Pie, blames himself for being raped, and feels tremendously guilty for betraying his friend and neighbor.
• Nostalgia Filter: For his early childhood. Justified in that he was, well, a small child. He doesn't seem to remember a particular incident at a motel swimming pool, but Season 2 reveals that he suffers from PTSD as a result, and suffers a regressive panic attack when he falls into some water.
• Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Blue boy to Claire's pink girl.
• Progressive Rock: His favourite music genre.
• Rape as Drama: Kevin being statutorily raped, and the effects it has on him is a major plot point in Season 2.
• Romanticized Abuse: Averted. Not only is the sex between 14 year old Kevin, and Vic's adult girlfriend portrayed as extremely wrong, but we actually get to see the very realistic consequences play out, which directly stem from Kevin's young age, newfound sexual feelings, and inability to fully understand the consequences of what he was agreeing to in the moment. Vic later helps explain this to a very self-loathing Kevin, putting it that at his age "Once your dick gets hard, nothing makes sense."
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Manly man to Bill's sensitive guy. Downplayed considering Kevin is just as prone to crying as Bill.
• The Slacker: He'd rather do anything else besides school or hard work.
• The Stoner: The boy likes himself some drugs, mostly weed.
• Teen Pregnancy: Averted twice in the show. The first time he had the possibility of impregnating someone was when he hooked up with Cutie Pie, with the kid she has later being Vic's. Then in the Season 5 finale, when he was about to have sex with Alice while using one of Smokey's damaged condoms, Alice's dad scares him and makes him miss.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: His motivation to actually start trying to pass his classes.
• You Need to Get Laid: Frank's theory as to why Kevin and Bill started being at each others throats all the time. Though Kevin did have some sexual frustration, his main issue with Bill was that he wanted privacy and for his possessions to be respected.
  • This trope was pretty much averted as "getting laid" made things much worse for Kevin.

Bill Murphy

William "Bill" Murphy Jr.

"I am sick of everybody calling me a pussy!"

Voiced by: Haley Reinhart (English), Héctor Cuevas Ireta (Latin American Spanish)

Frank's and Sue's second son. He's a very shy, timid, and unlucky young boy who's constantly burdened with anxiety.

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• Ancestral Name: He's named after his grandfather, William "Big Bill" Murphy, Sr.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: He sometimes fights with Kevin.
• Author Avatar: Named after Bill Burr himself, while possessing a similarly torrid relationship with his father. The final scene of the show even has Frank commenting on how much of a comedian he is.
• Berserk Button: Being called a pussy, especially after he overhears his father calling him a pussy during an argument with Sue.
• Break the Cutie: He goes from one traumatic incident to the next. It's pretty sad considering how boys were still expected to hide their pain back then. In fact, the final straw for him in the kid police program he was in is when he saw police racism on display and happened to look directly into Nia Roosevelt's eyes as she was terrified for her dad's safety.
• Butt-Monkey: While bad things keep happening to everyone in his family, Bill consistently gets the worst of it, like getting beaten up by bullies or suffering public humiliations.
• Deadpan Snarker: He has his moments.
• Fanboy: For Nickel and Pickle, a Hanna-Barbera-esque cartoon.
• Fiery Redhead: Owing to his Irish heritage and gradual hardening up. Red hair is a recessive gene, which would explain why neither Frank nor Sue have it.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The responsible to Maureen's foolish. Though, in Season 2 this flips with Bill becoming more reckless and Maureen more level headed. By later seasons, they're both irresponsible but Bill gets into more illegal things than Mauren.
• Grew a Spine: He tries to at multiple times and it is his primary arc.
• Groin Attack: On the receiving end of multiple throughout the seasons.
• Heroic BSoD: In Season 1, when he was under the bed while his parents had sex, which led to him seeing Frank's balls and later exposed to the disgusting stadium bathroom. Then again in Season 2 when he catches Kevin masturbating. Again, in Season 3, when he walks in on Julie in the ladies' room trying to check on Maureen after she's been in the bathroom for a long time, though it gets cut short when she freaks out. In the last episode of Season 3, he starts to have this when he sees a homeless person defecating in a phone booth, but then yells "NO!" and kicks the phone booth over in anger. He doesn't have one in Season 4, signifying that the phone booth episode was where the shock of seeing people at their worst has finally worn off. The next time this would happen is in Season 5 when he sees police racism firsthand in a cop car, but his reaction isn't remotely the same as before. When dropped off at home, he ignores everyone celebrating Christmas, steals a beer, drinking it alone and groaning about his life.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Bill's crush on Bridget Fitzsimmons. Simply due to thinking she's beautiful, he deems her to be a "perfect" girl and ignores her glaringly obvious personality flaws (for example, he keeps a newspaper photograph featuring Bridget just to fawn over it, ignoring her callous mockery of a seriously injured man). It's not until he starts hanging out with Bridget more often, does he begin to realize how cruel and dangerous she is.
• In-Series Nickname: His physically violent style of play on the hockey rink earns him the nickname "the Rat."
• Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Feminine boy to Maureen's masculine girl. He can also be this to Bridget's masculine girl at times as well.
• Middle Child Syndrome: Kevin's doted on by his mother and Maureen by his father, leaving Bill alone in the middle. He smugly warns Maureen that this will happen to her after the fourth child is born.
• Or Are You Just Happy to See Me?: He gets an erection at the public swimming pool after seeing his crush Bridget towelling off. It leads to Bill trying desperately (and failing) to avoid public embarrassment.
• Parental Sexuality Squick: Being stuck under the bed as his parents had sex was rather scarring for him.
• Potty Failure: Peed his pants after accidentally lighting Jimmy's entire fireworks stash.
• Pyromaniac: Not really, but this is what Frank takes to calling him after the forest fire incident.
• Redhead in Green: Always wears a green T-shirt and often a matching jacket.
• Self-Deprecation: Near the end of the series finale, Frank jokingly warns Bill that you can't make money being a comedian.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Sensitive guy to Kevin's manly man, though this becomes inverted somewhat as the series progresses. Conversely, he often acts as the manly man to Philip's sensitive guy.
• Sir Swears Alot: Just like his father.
• Thousand-Yard Stare: Has a pretty epic one whenever he gets an eyeful of something he knows he won't be able to unsee.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: Things seem to be looking up a little for him by the end of Season 2: Jimmy declares that they're officially cool after Bill wheeled him to the emergency room to get help for his broken leg, and he discovers that Jimmy's little sister has a huge crush on him.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: As early as Season 2's "A Girl Named Sue", Bill already behaves like this towards Kevin and Maureen (unprovoked). Throughout the same season, he becomes more aggressive and begins ditching school, shoplifting, skipping out on food bills and becoming a bully to his only friend Phillip. Though it doesn't excuse his behavior, it's not hard to see why this happened to him. Bill does apologize to Philip in "Pray Away", and again in Season 3's "Mr. Murphy's Wild Ride".
  • However, Bill's behavior becomes considerably worse as he plays hockey throughout Season 4 (he whacks other players with his hockey stick), even befriending his former tormentor: Jimmy Fitzsimmons, and that same person's father. Luckily, he does realize his actions upon seeing that Jimmy is being heavily neglected by his father and gives him the glory to help fix his relationship with him.
  • After complaining about how soft Bill is in the earlier seasons, Frank is horrified by Bill's assaultive behavior during hockey games and tries to explain to Bill that there's a difference between playing well and playing dirty.
  Bill: First I'm a pussy, now I'm a bully? Make up your mind what kind of disappointment I am!
• Trauma Conga Line: Some real nasty stuff happens to him throughout Season 1, as well as Season 2.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: Anytime things start to look up for Bill, it's just so life can sucker-punch him again. Bridget Fitzsimmons becomes his girlfriend in Season 3, but he quickly learns she's a psychopath that makes her brother Jimmy look like a Nice Guy.
• Youthful Freckles: The perfect complement to his red hair.

Maureen Murphy

Maureen Murphy

"Daddy says mommy's only work when the husband's in jail."

Voiced by: Debi Derryberry (English), Angélica Villa (Latin American Spanish)

Frank's and Sue's first daughter and their third child. She has a devious streak like her brothers, but is also more intelligent.

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• Affectionate Nickname: Frank calls her "Princess".
• Alliterative Name: Maureen Murphy
• Annoying Younger Sibling: She sometimes fights with Bill.
• Bratty Half-Pint: A more realistic one, to be fair to her. It's heavily implied that Frank doesn't discipline her as strictly as her brothers (Truth in Television for a lot of dads in those days).
• Brainy Brunette: She's the most book-smart of her siblings, and performs very well in school.
• Characterization Marches On: She was quite a brat for most the first season. After that, she started to mellow out.
• Creepy Child: Maureen develops a fascination with death and the occult after spending Big Bill's funeral in the mortician's workroom, where she receives a glass eye that was removed from a body prior to cremation. After she ends up in trouble because of a ritual with Bridget, Sue takes Maureen to work with Father Pat at the church. Sue then finds out that Maureen's newfound interest in the occult stems from her feeling neglected by Frank, who is obsessed with Big Bill's death at the expense of paying attention to his family.
• Daddy's Girl: Frank clearly loves her. That's true for the others, but it's clearer with her in a couple scenes. Once Megan arrives, this is downplayed.
• Eye Scream: She's accidentally kicked in the face by Bill, leaving a bloody, swollen gash near her eye and requiring her to wear an eyepatch while it heals (which she thinks is cool).
• Hidden Depths: Despite being a tomboy, Season 2 reveals she has an interest in working with computers, and turns out to be really, really good at math.
• Hypocritical Heartwarming: She regularly torments and quarrels with Bill, but does stick up for him against his bullies, like Jimmy and Bridget.
• Infant Sibling Jealousy: Develops this towards her not yet born sibling after Bill tells her that the new baby will be taking away the attention Maureen gets now just as Maureen did to Bill and Kevin confirms Bill did the same to him. Season 5 reveals this jealousy to be somewhat justified, however, Maureen is not as antagonistic towards Megan as some other examples of this trope, being more focused on trying to get her parents, especially her dad, to notice her again as opposed to trying to "get rid" of Megan.
• Little Miss Con Artist: Usually keeps her out of trouble with her parents.
• Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Masculine girl to Bill's feminine boy.
• Mistaken for Gay: Frank seems to be very worried that she will turn out to be a lesbian due to her lack of interest in girly things.
• Middle Child Syndrome: After spending most of her life basking in her status as the youngest child, she finds herself relegated to this after Megan is born, much to her dismay. The Season 5 Title Sequence reflects this change, as Maureen is now off to the side looking angry and resentful while Frank holds Megan in his arms, where Maureen would have been cuddled up to Frank in earlier seasons. This abrupt change drives much of Maureen's final story arc.
• Morality Pet: To Bridget. Unlike with Bill, Bridget seems to genuinely like Maureen and mellows out to an extent after befriending her.
• Odd Friendship: Develops one with Bridget of all people during Season 4.
• One of the Boys: Maureen's friends are all male, with the exception of Bridget. However, Bridget has the same kind of delinquent tendencies that attracted Maureen to playing with Ben and Kenny, only worse.
• The Smart Girl: Apparently the brightest kid in her class. Her mom even jokes that she should teach Kevin how to read.
• Tomboy: Was dead set on being a male character for Halloween, all her friends are boys, and isn't afraid to play rough.

Megan Murphy

Megan Murphy

Frank's and Sue's second daughter and their youngest child. She was accidentally conceived in the Season 2 finale, which resulted in Sue becoming pregnant throughout Seasons 3 and 4 until finally giving birth in the Season 4 finale.

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• The Baby of the Bunch: She's the youngest member of the murphy family, due to her age as a baby.
• Big Brother Worship: Megan seems to be especially affectionate with Kevin, who, other than a few mishaps, is shown to be very good with her.
• Practically Different Generations: To all her siblings. Even her youngest older sibling (Maureen) is already 9 going on 10 when she's born.
• Surprise Pregnancy: Much like her older siblings, this kid's conception was not intentional. This was all the result of Frank unwittingly using a punctured condom while having sex with Sue, due to Smokey Greenwood poking holes in random condoms.
• Three-Month-Old Newborn: At the beginning of Season 5, shortly after her birth, she's already cooing and emoting.

Major

Major

The Murphy's pet dog.

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• Big Friendly Dog: A little too friendly at times, he's often seen trying to hump someone's leg.
• Demoted to Extra: He had a more significant role in the first season, with a small subplot near the end where he runs away and the family looks for him. He's seen much less in the second season save for a few cameos.
• Dogs Are Dumb: Often seen with a clueless look on his face.
• Meaningful Name: His name might have something to do with Frank's time in the Army.
• Old Dog: He's at least over ten, as he was a puppy when Kevin was a toddler.

Extended Family and Relatives

Big Bill Murphy

William "Big Bill" Murphy Sr.

"Pick it up before I put you down that fucking well!"

Voiced by: Jonathan Banks

Frank's estranged father. He is a former hardware store owner turned traveling salesman, with a very rocky relationship with his son.

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• Abusive Dad: According to Frank, his father was just an utter asshole to his son. He once went to Frank's fifth-grade school play for the sole purpose of humiliating him in public, mockingly laughing at his performance. He then forced Frank to walk home because "there's no room for queers in a De Soto", and made him walk in front of the car while he yelled "Who wants a daughter?" to the neighbors. He kept calling him "Francine" for the rest of the year. Really, it's a miracle Frank isn't in prison. Season 4 reveals it to have been even worse, as Big Bill was physically abusive as well and at least once beat Frank with a crutch.
• A Taste Of His Own Medicine: After years of being an abusive parent, he's finally punched in the face from the very son he tormented and is reduced to a helpless, whimpering old man.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: When he was a businessman, he pretended to be a likable guy. In private, he was mean to his family.
• Broken Pedestal: Any illusions his grandchildren had about him being a model parent was shattered by the Season 4 finale when it finally comes to light what it was actually like being raised by him, with Bill getting to witness his true character firsthand when he almost hits him over accidentally knocking a display case over.
• Broken Tears: When he finally realizes how much of a asshole he really is, he's reduced to a sobbing, apologizing mess.
• Catchphrase: "I will put you down that fucking well!" Frank's own Catchphrase, "I will put you through that fucking wall", was specifically made to reference his father's old threat, while also making more sense, since there was almost never a well nearby when Bill used it, but there's almost always a wall around.
• Character Death: Suffers a heart attack at the end of Season 4, with Season 5 revealing that he died from it.
• Distinguished Gentleman's Pipe: Brings it out during moments he's annoyed or angry, giving Frank a hatred of anyone who smokes them.
  Frank: Fuckin' Popeye.
• Expy: A more sympathetically-played version of Cotton Hill.
• Fiery Redhead: He had auburn hair in his younger years and was a very pissy father to his son, bordering on Evil Redhead.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: According to Big Bill, he was just raising Frank the way society was expecting him to back in the day. Anyone who knows the full extent of the abuse Frank suffered at his hands doesn't buy it, with Bill and Maureen pointing out that he's the reason their father has anger management issues. He takes this to heart and sincerely apologizes to Frank when they meet again in the hospital.
• Gruesome Grandparent: Harshly tears into Bill for accidentally knocking a mannequin over, almost striking him in the process. Later on he drives drunk with Bill and Maureen in the car. It's here that Frank's kids start to understand where he gets his issues from, and why he hates their grandfather so much.
• Heel–Face Door-Slam: Suffers a fatal heart attack just as he and Frank are about to reconcile.
• Heel Realization: It's only after getting a split lip after daring Frank into punching him after another round of insults and being told off by Bill and Maureen at the hospital in the Season 4 finale that Big Bill begins to realize just how badly he screwed up as a father.
• History Repeats: When Nora stops Big Bill from beating Frank, she takes the crutch and Bill trips on a plane of Frank's; hitting his head on the dresser and falling over on his left side. When Frank punches Bill during Maureen's play, Big Bill hits his head into a punch bowl and falls over the exact same way. The difference is the perspective: with Nora, she was standing up to her abusive husband and protecting her son. With Frank, it's beating on a pitiful old man, further emphasized by how Big Bill struggles to get off the ground by himself.
• In-Series Nickname: Though the series at first implies that he's called Big Bill to distinguish himself from his grandson Bill, he was affectionately called Big Bill by his friends while Frank was still a child, in part because he was a large, physically imposing man.
• It Will Never Catch On: Invested big in iron lungs and crutches...in 1952, when the polio vaccine was invented. His business quickly went under.
• Jerkass Realization: He goes through a series of these every time he has an epiphany or gets called out over his abusive behavior.
• Jerkass to One: He is initially charming to the Murphy family, who have never seen him before. They don't understand why Frank hates him and even begin to believe Frank might have lied or exaggerated his dad's behavior during his childhood. The facade begins to fall apart when Bill gets a taste of Big Bill's abuse at the sporting goods store.
  • At his funeral in the Season 5 premiere, it's revealed that the entire town loved and idolized Big Bill without being aware at just how bad things were for his wife and children, as a frustrated Frank has to sit through condolences from various neighbors and friends saying what a wonderful man Big Bill was, with Dick Sawitzki's son Chuck claiming that Big Bill was a better father to him than his own father was. And Dick agreeing. Later on in the series, Dick acknowledges the pain Frank suffered at the hands of his father, but does try to justify it by saying that Big Bill truly loved his family, but just didn't know any better about being a husband or father.
• "Just Joking" Justification: Big Bill tries to pass off his emotional abuse of Frank as "just a joke".
• Miniature Senior Citizens: Old age seems to have made the 'Big' part of Big Bill's nickname moot, as he's now shorter than teenage Kevin.
• Parents as People: After Bill and Maureen make him see how screwed up Frank is because of him, he confides to a nurse that he didn't realize the damage he was doing and was just raising Frank how society expected back then. Dick Sawitzki later tells Frank that Big Bill had a lot of good qualities and his main problem was that he just didn't know how to be a good father.
• Rags to Riches: He lost his savings and his hardware store shortly before his wife divorced him, and he left the family, leaving him basically destitute. Some years later, he ended up becoming a travelling salesman for a tyepwriter company, and a successfull one at that. Frank is incensed to discover that "the bastard bounced all the way back".
• Redemption Equals Death: Just after he realizes how much of an Abusive Dad he was and that he needs to patch things up with Frank, he suffers a heart attack and dies.
• Standard '50s Father: Big Bill is a rather telling deconstruction of it, down to the pipe he smokes.
• Traveling Salesman: He took up this job sometime after his hardware store closed down.
• Unseen No More: He's initially The Ghost as Frank hates his dad so much that he never even introduced his kids to their grandfather, lying to a 4-year-old Kevin that he "lives on a comet". Then Frank receives a letter from his father during the Season 3 finale, announcing an unexpected surprise visit/stay at their house. Big Bill makes his first appearance in the Season 4 premiere and remains a major character throughout the season.

Nora

Nora (formerly Nora Murphy)^note She presumably reverted to her maiden name after divorcing Big Bill Murphy.

"What kind of a man takes his disappointments out on his children?!"

Voiced by: Patti LuPone

Frank's mother and Big Bill's ex-wife, who divorced her husband not long after Frank reached adulthood.

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• And There Was Much Rejoicing: After hearing about Big Bill's death she danced a jig out of joy. She also didn't even attend his funeral. When Frank tries to get her input on the "Box 16" fiasco, she tells him to move on and is more upset about Bill taking an ashtray than she ever was about him dying.
• Grew a Spine: After who knows how long as a meek yes-woman to Big Bill, she finally stands up to him when he beats Frank with a crutch. She divorced him not long after. She seemed to have taken this trope and ran, turning her into a grumpy old woman who puts down everyone, especially her own kids.
• Grumpy Old Man: She's become a female version of this in the present day. She's in her late 60s and she's not a happy person to be around.
• Literal-Minded: From what little we see of her in a flashback, she seems to have an annoyingly literal mindset. Explaining in detail why a "Sell ice to Eskimo's joke" doesn't make sense.
• Missing Mom: Currently living in California with Frank's sister Eileen. She's married to a new man, who we never hear because all scenes with him had him passed out on the couch.
• Parents as People: While she wasn't actively abusive, she did stand by and allow Big Bill to verbally and physically abuse their children for over a decade. And in the present, she proves to be a cranky person who isn't much fun to be around. By the end of the series, Frank makes peace with the fact both of his parents were screwed up people.
• Shadow Archetype: She's this to Sue. Nora is Sue if the latter's marriage to Frank was even more estranged.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: She thinks that Frank's kids will be heartbroken seeing him leave to go work on his big Buster Thunder Jr. event. She is proven wrong when every kid who can speak expresses complete apathy to him leaving, some even wanting him to leave!

Eileen Murphy

Eileen Murphy

"Hey, beautiful! California, here we come!"

Voiced by: Eileen Fogarty

Frank's younger sister. She currently lives with her mother Nora in California.

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• Happily Ever After: She is excited to be bringing her new lover home with her. Ginny is much less sure, especially after finding out that Eileen's abrasive mother lives with her.
• Literal-Minded: Seems to have inherited it from Nora when she questions Big Bill's expression/threat to throw Frank down a well.
  Big Bill: Christ, you're just like your mother!
• Old Maid: She is unmarried in her 30s and still lives with her mother, who is still pushing her to find a man and get married. She turns out to be a lesbian.
• Pet the Dog: She doesn't seem to be as abrasive as her mother, and even stands up for Frank when her mother criticizes Frank's house.
• Youthful Freckles: She has these.

Stan and Marilyn Chilson

Stan Chilson and Marilyn Chilson

Stan voiced by: Kurtwood Smith

Marilyn voiced by: Carol Kane

Sue's father and mother.

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Tropes applying to both

• Bourgeois Bohemian: Zigzagged Trope, Sue's parents are wealthy and implied to be Democrat supporters based on their argument with Frank over his support for Nixon. However, the "Bohemian" aspect became less since they disowned their "confirmed bachelor" son.
• Obnoxious In-Laws: They hate Frank for ruining their daughter's life with a Shotgun Wedding, and they even wonder about ways to get rid of him, telling Sue that they know the bishop and can make their marriage disappear. Frank shares mutual enmity for them. Although, at Thanksgiving when Frank is cussing out Stan and Louis, he takes the time to say he enjoyed Marilyn's company and story about the ducks and hopes they aren't killed. Which she, in turn, was clearly touched by.
• Parental Neglect: Frank reminds them about their other child, Louis, whom they have disowned after he was outed as being gay. Stan himself does his own form of neglect in that he gives his grandkids a lot of money but doesn't seem to want to spend a lot of time with them.
• White Anglo-Saxon Protestant: They're both white Protestants who are wealthy enough to be members of a country club. Stan also holds bigoted views against his son for being gay and his son-in-law for being Irish.

Tropes applying to Stan

• Buy Them Off: Stan's answer to all of his problems. He regularly tries to buy his grandkids' affections with money, while also using these gifts to throw Frank's financial struggles in his face. It's also revealed that he offered Sue $1000 to break off her engagement to Frank, and tried to coerce her into leaving Frank by threatening to cut her off financially.
• Catchphrase: Stan has quite a few! Judging from his wife's reaction in Season 5, he has a habit of making buzzer noises when he feels someone is wrong. He also tells a golf story repeatedly to impress people, which his wife is also sick of. Any time he threatens violence, his go to phrase is "Give you the business!". Stan also regularly tries to buy his grandchildrens' affection by offering them "happy paper (money) from the Pop-Pop tree!"
• Fanboy: Sue's dad is one for General Motors, based on how highly he speaks of his Cadillac car, while mocking the Murphys' Ford station wagon. He also tells the famous "Fix Or Repair Daily" joke.
• Fat Bastard: Stan has a noticeable gut and is a huge asshole to Frank. Back when Sue and Frank were getting married, Stan was in better shape but still the same asshole.
• Foil: Stan and Frank's dad, 'Big Bill' contrast each other greatly. Bill hides his dark side while Stan by no means conceals his; Bill was a struggling businessman during his younger days while Stan is wealthy; Stan keeps in touch with his daughter while Bill is estranged from Frank, though we can’t say the same for Louis. One notable thing that Bill is never seen lashing out at specifically Sue and Frank's marriage, while that's all Stan really does to Frank. Lastly, Bill eventually realizes that he mistreated his family and is guilt-ridden while Stan never owns up to his poor behavior and remains unrepentant. Even more shocking is both kids, Frank, and his own wife call him out on his behavior repeatedly on the show and he vehemently refuses to change and feels entirely justified in his actions.
• Jerkass: All in all, Stan is an opinionated bigot who is unpleasant to everyone and everything that he does not personally approve of.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Stan at first seemed like a Jerkass to One towards Frank over the circumstances behind his marriage to his daughter, who nonetheless was a loving grandparent to the rest of the Smiths. Then it turns out that he's a close-minded bigot, threatened to cut off Sue's financial assistance to try and extort her into leaving Frank, and all-around makes it clear that he was never going to like Frank regardless of the Shotgun Wedding.
• Papa Wolf: His constant complaining about Frank aside, at Frank and Sue's wedding he threatened to rip Frank's tongue out by the root. He once tells a story about how his dad broke him and a previous girlfriend up by getting her in trouble with the law and it ended with her dying... all so he can say he wishes he could do the same thing to Frank. The same love for Louis is gone all because Louis is gay, or a "confirmed bachelor".
• Racist Grandpa: Stan is very bigoted as he disowned his son for being gay and cites Frank's Irish ancestry as one of the things he dislikes about him.
• Shadow Archetype: Stan's own father was even more abusive than Frank's dad, going as far as to get a police friend to falsely incriminate his then-girlfriend, Sophie, of a crime, the end of result of which was her own father smacking her down a flight of stairs, which killed her. However, whereas Frank resents his dad, Stan is grateful for his actions.

Tropes applying to Marilyn

• Pet the Dog: Marilyn is much kinder than her husband and doesn't seem to bear Frank any ill will, and Frank reciprocates this by speaking kindly to her even amidst a tirade against Stan and Louis. She is also still in contact with Louis, although her interactions with him are sporadic. It is Marilyn who tells Sue that part of the reason for Louis's estrangement was her outing him to his parents.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Marilyn gives Stan a small one in Season 5 when Stan brushes off Sue's threat to not have her parents in her life if Stan won't try to spend Thanksgiving with Louis. She points out how his attitude is and how she doesn't want to spend her golden years with just him and wants to be involved in her kids and grandkids' lives. Combined with Sue's crying, Stan relents to be cordial, but not actually change. But it IS something.

Louis Chilson

Louis Chilson

Voiced by: Neil Patrick Harris

Sue's brother, who made his first physical appearance in Season 5. He currently lives in Florida, after being outed as gay and disowned by his parents.

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• Catchphrase: He has to mention he is gay to women quite often, and also uses Stan's "Give you the business!" threat jokingly at Frank and Sue's wedding.
• Cool Uncle: He bonds well with Bill and Maureen and is very patient with their questions and misconceptions about gay people.
• Crocodile Tears: Claims to have taught Sue how to fake cry.
• Forced Out of the Closet: Outed to his father by Sue in a moment of panic over her father discovering her out-of-wedlock pregnancy with Frank's baby.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's understandably bitter towards his parents for disowning him and Sue for outing him. Plus, he doesn't like Frank too much. But he's a decent guy overall and is willing to put his resentment aside for the family. When he believes his dad to be dying he's willing to put his grudge aside, and rightfully calls out Sue for lying about something as serious as a brain tumor. On the jerk side of things, he reminds Sue he taught her the fake tears routine.
• Like Father, Like Son: The Thanksgiving episode in the final season reveals that one thing he and his dad have in common is their distaste for Frank. They used to get along quite well, even dressing like Charlie Chaplin and dancing together, and all of this is gone because of Louis being gay.
• Obnoxious In-Laws: As stated above, he isn't a big fan of Frank. He is also the one who mentions Frank is balding, which apparently everyone in the neighborhood agreed to not mention to his face.
• One-Steve Limit: Averted with Louis Gagliardi.
• Straight Gay: Aside from his Charlie Chaplin impersonation, nothing about him signifies that he's gay and he constantly has to deal with women hitting on him.
• The Un-Favourite: Is this to his parents, due to him being a "confirmed bachelor".
• Unseen No More: Like Big Bill, he starts off as the The Ghost who is only mentioned up until he makes his debut in the fifth season.

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