Glenn Quagmire

Origins and appearance

The name Quagmire was chosen by a college acquaintance of MacFarlane's; the word quagmire refers to both a soft soil that yields easily, such as quicksand, and a situation that is difficult to get out of. The title of the episode "Quagmire's Quagmire" plays on the second meaning. MacFarlane came up with Quagmire's voice after listening to fast-talking radio jockeys from the 1950s era, describing the character as a "50s radio guy on coke." The "giggity" phrase was inspired by Steve Marmel's Jerry Lewis impression. Quagmire's home follows the same retro theme, decked out in a style reminiscent of the swinging party set of the 1950s and 1960s; nearly every part of the house has a discreetly hidden bed.

Role in the show

Quagmire is a bachelor who works as a commercial airline pilot. He lives on Spooner Street where he is a neighbor and friend of Peter Griffin, Cleveland Brown and Joe Swanson. He has had two spouses: Joan, a maid for the Griffins who died; and Charmise, a prostitute whom he divorced. The former episode, "I Take Thee Quagmire", was acknowledged by MacFarlane as the first to have a plot revolving around Quagmire.

During his time in Korea in service, he had a brief career as a Korean soap opera star and was lovers with his co-star, Sujin. They would reconnect ties during his brief travel there with Peter, Joe and Cleveland. Quagmire briefly dated Cheryl Tiegs in the early 1980s, but she dumped him because of his constant jealousy and his sex addiction. Cheryl, who Quagmire considers his long-lost one true love, would again appear twice in Quagmire's life, both times due to Brian Griffin's meddling: the first one, in "Jerome Is the New Black", when Brian invited him to dinner under the pretense he was going to dinner with her; the second one, in "Tiegs for Two", when Brian dated her just to mess with him (he would bring Jillian, Brian's ex-girlfriend, with him, with both starting a fight and both Jillian and Cheryl dumping them).

Quagmire despises Brian Griffin, and they have a feud that spans several episodes.

In the episode "Quagmire's Baby", he discovers that he has a daughter, Anna Lee, but puts her up for adoption; several episodes imply that Quagmire has fathered several other children. His father, Dan, is introduced in the episode "Quagmire's Dad"; he is a naval veteran of the Vietnam War who has a sex change and becomes a woman named Ida. Quagmire's sister, Brenda, is first seen in the episode "Jerome is the New Black" and is the subject of "Screams of Silence: The Story of Brenda Q". In both episodes she is the victim of domestic violence from her partner Jeff, whom Quagmire murders in order to protect her.

He is characterized as indulging in numerous sexual fetishes such as BDSM, frotteurism, biastophilia, somnophilia, and erotic asphyxiation to voyeurism, exhibitionism, incest, pecattiphilia, zoophilia, and necrophilia. Following the episode "Family Goy", he develops a pornography addiction after discovering the existence of internet pornography. When in sexual situations, he often shouts variations of his catchphrase "giggity", which has been used on Family Guy merchandise such as keyrings.

Scenes involving Quagmire's sexual behavior have sometimes been censored by Fox, such as a cutaway in the episode "Airport '07" which implied that he engaged in necrophilia with a dead virgin at her funeral. The Parents Television Council, a long-term critic of Family Guy, says that Quagmire provides "some of the tawdriest moments" in the show.