Do we like them?

Do we like Peter Griffin?

A character from Family Guy (1999–present)

Our score: 4 out of 10. Great company for a night in and a disaster as a role model. He has a big heart under the stupidity, but he's careless, selfish and cruel to Meg. We'd back him loosely, and only from a safe distance.

Peter is the bumbling patriarch of the Griffin family in the fictional town of Quahog, Rhode Island. Britannica describes him as someone whose reckless antics often lead to disastrous but comical outcomes. He lives with his wife Lois, their kids Meg, Chris and Stewie, and Brian, a talking dog. Seth MacFarlane voices him. MacFarlane has said he based the character on a security guard he knew at art school.

Peter's defining trait is that he acts on impulse. Almost every episode starts with a daft whim, such as a new obsession, a grudge or a get-rich-quick scheme. It then spirals into chaos for everyone around him. He is lazy, vain, easily led and not very bright. He often leaves Lois to clean up after him, and he treats Meg far worse than anyone else in the family.

He isn't malicious, though. Peter is loyal to his family and his drinking buddies, and he can be oddly sweet, usually by accident. That earns him some points. It isn't enough to offset a long record of selfishness and cruelty, and the show rarely makes him pay for it. So he lands below the midpoint: very funny, but not someone we'd trust with anything important.