Glenn Quagmire

Glenn Quagmire is a character on the animated series, Family Guy. Notable for his prodigious libido, he is voiced by the show's creator and lead writer, Seth MacFarlane. Quagmire's sexual obsession and complete lack of morality have made him one of the most popular characters on the show, and MacFarlane is frequently pressed upon by fans to perform Quagmire's voice at his public appearances.

Description

Quagmire's more defining characteristic is his sexual obsession. One of Peter Griffin's neighbors, as well as one of his best friends, he is often shown to be sexually attracted to Peter's wife Lois, which Peter appears completely oblivious to. MacFarlane describes Quagmire as "a despicable human being who is still caught in the rat-pack era". The show generally depicts Quagmire as constantly attempting to pick up women and going to many extremes, including targetting underaged girls and drugging his dates.

He has several catch phrases, including various sexually-charged outbursts such as "Oh!" and a drawn-out "All right". Arguably the most popular of his catchphrases is the nonsensical "Giggity giggity giggity," which also appears in Spike Jones' "Cocktails for Two". Many times, these phrases are accompanied by suggestive pelvic-thrusting motions, headbanging, or both.

Quagmire's house, while ordinary-looking from the exterior, is stocked with gadgets stereotypically associated with swingers from the 1960s and 1970s, such as a mirrored bedroom ceiling, lava lamps, a cabinet-style record player, "disco-like" decorations that fold out from panels in the walls at the press of a button, and dozens of revolving beds (possibly inspired by the apartment of Dudley Moore's character Stanley Tibbets in Foul Play). The rest of the interior decor also follows the same sixties-retro theme, with abstract paintings, a sunburst clock and stylish period furniture. He keeps an "abort" button behind his home bar, which returns his decor from his swinging bachelor pad to a more "normal" look.

It is referenced several times that Glenn works as a commercial airline pilot. Many flashbacks show that before becoming a pilot, Quagmire served in the U.S. Navy. He introduced himself to Peter Griffin as "Ensign Glenn Quagmire", but was wearing an enlisted uniform at the time.

Appearance

Glenn has short black hair, parted in the middle; he is of average height (5'10") and somewhat slight build (134 lb). His most noticeable physical characteristics are his enormous jaw and chin, and his long nose. These strange features have led some viewers to draw puzzled comparisons ranging from Arnold Schwarzenegger to David Deangelo. His physical appearance seems to look more like a young Bob Hope, but bears the strongest resemblance to a young Neil Sedaka, who may have even inspired Quagmire's trademark head-jerk. It is also possible that his head shape and neck is used to look like male genitalia. Another identifying feature is the tattoo on his left buttock reading "Your face here! Call 555-0134". The phone number, of course, is Quagmire's.

Ethics and sexual deviancy

Many gags associated with Quagmire, if not most of them, feature his sexual exploits, tendencies, and fetishes, which are often hinted at or stated outright as being above and beyond outside of what many would consider "normal," covering a wide enough range to justify the description of him as a pansexual. Various gags throughout the show have suggested that his "diverse" sexual appetite includes (but is certainly not limited to) rape (including statutory), incest, drug usage, and necrophilia. Some gags suggest that he is a registered sex-offender. Peter Griffin has referred to Quagmire as a "heartless sex hound" in his presence while in mixed company, yet Quagmire seems to casually acknowledge the fact with no rancour.

One of his few sexual turnoff appears to be homosexual sex; however in The Perfect Castaway he was willing to attempt a homosexual orgy with Peter, Cleveland, and Joe after several months castaway on a desert island, though none of the men were able to achieve an erection. He states that his opinions of homosexual sex is "two halves can't make a whole without a hole".

He seems to have little interest in long-term relationships with women. When one of his partners casually asked what he did for a living after waking up in bed beside him, Quagmire cheerfully responded with "Hey, I've got a question for you too: why are you still here?" (On a Family Guy DVD featurette, creator Seth MacFarlane says that he believes this to be Quagmire's "defining moment".) However, in "I Take Thee Quagmire", he actually falls in love and marries a woman named Joan, Peter's temporary maid. But after seeing Lois' top almost fall off, he realizes he made a mistake. He then tries to get a divorce, which ultimately leads to Joan being killed by Death.

Trivia

• The word "quagmire" refers to both a soft soil that yields easily (such as quicksand) and a mess or hopeless chaos. In the latter sense, Quagmire's name is a clear reference to his seeming polymorphous sexuality (perhaps resulting from an unresolved Oedipal complex alluded to briefly in season 4). The title of a Family Guy episode from Season Four, dealing with infidelity, plays up the second meaning ("The Cleveland-Loretta Quagmire"). However, his full name is Glenn Quagmire. The name is most obviously a pun - both a glenn and quagmire describe a landscape.

• He has some contortion skill.

• Quagmire's initials are possibly a reference to GQ Magazine.

• He has built up a tolerance to the Mace brand of tear gas.

• The Spanish translation of "Giggity-giggity" appears to be, "Toma-toma-toma-toma-toma", as seen from episodes dubbed into Spanish for Spanish television.

• A possible predecessor to Quagmire appeared in Seth MacFarlane's Larry and Steve. In the short, there is a pilot character with the same voice, who looks somewhat similar to him.

• Quagmire is a die-hard fan of Wings.

External links

• Quagmire Videos Free quagmire clips
• Quagmire Gifs and Avatars Free quagmire gifs and avatars