This Is Family Guy’s Funniest Character (Even Though They Only Appear in Less Than 30 Episodes)

It’s unreal to think of a time when the Griffin family wasn’t causing chaos on the small screen, but that was the case before Family Guy made its debut back in 1999. That’s when fans were introduced to Peter, Lois, Meg, Chris, Stewie, Brian, and a host of other delightful oddballs that populate the Family Guy world, and everyone has their favorite member of the Griffin household.

While they are all hilarious, the show’s funniest character is actually not a member of the core family, and though they only appear in 28 episodes (of a series that has spawned over 400, mind you), they are still a standout star.

A Big Impression

So who takes the spot as Family Guy’s funniest character? That honor goes to Peter Griffin’s greatest foe, Ernie the Giant Chicken, who appears in 28 episodes throughout the series (to date) and has delivered some truly unforgettable scenes in the process. It doesn’t hurt that most of Ernie’s scenes involve either Peter or Lois, but he is still the key ingredient to making those scenes work.

Some of the funniest scenes in Family Guy are the random cutaways or detours that end up completely derailing an episode, and that’s actually the most accurate description of Ernie as a character in eternal. Every time Ernie shows up, he delivers a laugh, even if he’s just a quick aside to other things happening in the foreground, but when he actually gets the attention, Ernie’s scenes steal the show.

Who Is Ernie the Chicken?

When we first meet Ernie during Season 2’s third episode (titled “Da Boom”), we actually don’t know the Giant Chicken’s name yet, as he’s just a random Chicken Peter gets a coupon from. It turns out the coupon has expired, and once Peter discovers this upon using it, he comes enraged and dives through a window to attack the Chicken.

The battle itself is epic and hilarious as they battle throughout the city, which becomes a tradition in their battles. In this fight, Peter is able to take the Giant Chicken down by slamming him repeatedly into a photocopier, though they both still end up falling out of an office building. This leads to another hallmark of their battles, which is that Ernie seems to be immortal, given that he never actually dies from what are truly deadly fight scenarios.

The battles between Peter and Ernie only get more outrageous and vicious, and several other beloved franchises are worked into their always-entertaining battles. Those include a spoof of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark that eviscerates Ernie with an airplane propeller, or Ernie starring as Boba Fett during a lengthy Star Wars spoof (although, surprisingly, they didn’t end up fighting during this particular collision).

Truly Outlandish Scenarios

One of my favorite battles is during Season 10’s twenty-third episode, “Internal Affairs”, which begins when Peter accidentally runs into Ernie’s car. Thanks to a chance run-in with Stewie, Peter and Ernie accidentally end up being transported through time courtesy of Stewie’s time pad, and they battle across history, and end up cloning themselves countless times and overtaking a lab. Somehow, it gets even more epic when they end up destroying an oil rig as Ernie is not only strangled but impaled and roasted with rocket engines, and yet somehow he still survives.

Stewie is also to thank for another hilarious battle in Season 11’s fourth episode, “Yug Ylimaf”. In keeping with the episode’s title, a fight between Peter and Ernie ends up taking place in reverse in all of its slow-motion cinematic glory. This battle includes everything from Peter getting hit with a flamethrower, a runaway bus, a live grenade in a coffee shop, and a massive plane crash. This is not even the focal point of this episode, but it still stands out, especially when you find out it all started when Peter hit Ernie’s bike with a car door.

We even get a battle between Lois and Ernie’s wife, Nicole, in a different episode, and while it’s not nearly as epic as Ernie and Peter’s squabbles, it’s still funny and shines a light on the issues between the two families at times. This also surfaces in a later episode (“The Chicken or the Meg”), which has Ernie accepting Meg into his family, and it somehow ends with Meg beating him senseless and decapitating him.

An Unexpected Heartwarming Moment

While there are obviously issues between Peter and Ernie, their rivalry also creates of the show’s most heartwarming and unexpected moments after Ernie finds himself in the hospital. Ernie has the Bird Flu and also ends up having Peter as a nurse, and though Peter says he has now won the feud, he doesn’t get much satisfaction from it.

Unfortunately, Ernie passes away, but then Peter races in and actually manages to save him by giving Ernie intense CPR and bringing him back. Ernie is confused as to why he just saved him, and Peter says he needs him and the excitement he brings to his life, though he also admits he doesn’t want to be solely responsible financially for all the damage they cause during their fights. This is a pretty heartfelt moment and yet still comedy gold, and is the perfect representation of what Ernie brings to the show. That’s why he’s the funniest Family Guy character, and hopefully, we get to see more of Ernie’s hijinks down the line.

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