Who is Stewie Griffin in Family Guy?

Stewart Gilligan Griffin, better known as Stewie, is a fictional character from the animated television series Family Guy. Voiced by Seth MacFarlane, the creator of the series, he made his debut on January 31, 1999, in the episode "Death Has a Shadow" alongside the other members of the Griffin family.

Based on two of Seth MacFarlane's cartoons, The Life of Larry and Larry & Steve, which had a middle-aged guy named Larry and an intelligent dog named Steve, MacFarlane himself designed and created Stewie after being invited to submit a pilot to the Fox Broadcasting Company.

Stewie’s character in Family Guy

Stewie is a very intelligent toddler who behaves and speaks like an adult. He is Meg and Chris's youngest brother, Bertram's older half-brother, and the third child and second son of Peter and Lois Griffin. At the beginning of the series, he was a violent, matricide, and world-domination-obsessed megalomaniacal sociopath.

As the series went on, especially after the two-episode arcs "Stewie Kills Lois" and "Lois Kills Stewie," Stewie's violent tendencies diminished, and he became a more flamboyant, eccentric, and friendly lad—something that may have been hinted at in the direct-to-video movie Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story.

Additionally, he has developed a great bond with Brian, the family's anthropomorphic dog, whom he initially resisted in the first few episodes. Stewie is regarded as the show's standout character and has been nominated for multiple awards by authors like Jodiss Pierre.

Stewie Griffin in Family Guy

The one-year-old prodigy Stewie Griffin is described as having a sophisticated voice, a football head, and the ability to speak fluently in an upper-class British accent with a rather sophisticated vocabulary.

The season 1 episode "Chitty Chitty Death Bang" marks his first birthday, while in the season 12 episode "Chap Stewie" the family celebrates another birthday of Stewie, which can be assumed to be his second. Stewie is fascinated by Raffi and Teletubbies and is extremely well-read, able to quote pop culture references that precede his birth.

Among his other childish tendencies, Stewie thinks Peter has vanished during a game of peekaboo, frequently has difficulty understanding the idea of shapes, talks to his teddy bear Rupert as though he were alive, bursts out laughing when Lois blows on his stomach and is unable to use a toilet. Stewie has a remarkable, science fiction-level command of mechanical engineering and physics.

Stewie has greater freedom from his parents in the more recent seasons, and he usually spends a lot of time with Brian. Additionally, he becomes more flamboyant and begins interacting with more people, even if he continues to feel resentment toward many of them, as evidenced by cutaways in subsequent episodes.

Stewie’s character creation in Family Guy

Seth MacFarlane, the creator of Family Guy, voices Stewie and many other supporting characters, including Brian Griffin, Peter Griffin, and Glenn Quagmire. According to MacFarlane, an automobile that belonged to Stan Lee served as the basis for Stewie's nickname. On multiple occasions, MacFarlane has also associated Stewie with David Hyde Pierce, stating that he would like Pierce to portray Stewie in any live-action adaptation of the series.