Joe Swanson

Joseph "Joe" Swanson is a fictional character in the Fox animated television show Family Guy. He is voiced by actor Patrick Warburton. He is a macho paraplegic police officer in the Quahog Police Department. He is married to Bonnie Swanson, and has two children, Kevin andSusie.^[1] In the episode "Stew-Roids", it is revealed Kevin died in Iraq.

Fictional character biography

Joe is characterized by his over-zealousness, machismo, short temper, and by-the-book attitude. He is devoted to his wife Bonnie and son Kevin and his daughter Susie and takes great pride in his line of work. He is very good friends with Peter Griffin, Cleveland Brown, and Glenn Quagmire and the four are often seen together at the local bar. Joe's enthusiasm can occasionally go too far into rigid perfectionism, however; he sets high, unreachable standards for himself and others, especially Kevin. He has a domineering relationship with his son, whom he pushes very hard in part to live vicariously through him.

In his first appearance in the episode "A Hero Sits Next Door", in which he moves to Quahog, Rhode Island from Providence, Joe reveals that he became paraplegic after falling from an orphanage roof while attempting to apprehend The Grinch for stealing Christmas presents. In the episode, "Ready, Willing, and Disabled", Joe began to doubt his self-worth after a thief escaped arrest. To bolster his spirit, Peter encouraged him to enter the Special People's Games in thedecathlon. Joe went on to win the decathlon, but only after Peter spiked his water bottle withsteroids. Joe became a sports celebrity with endorsement deals, and even became subject of a highly inaccurate ABC movie, Rolling Courage: The Joe Swanson Story. At a celebration withMayor Adam West, Peter exposed Joe's steroid use after Joe failed to acknowledge Peter's contribution as his coach. Joe neared depressionagain, but encountered the thief that had previously evaded capture and this time successfully apprehended and by mistake, killed him.

[edit]Jail time

Despite being a police officer, Joe has been sent to federal prison at least twice. In "One If by Clam, Two If by Sea" after he and the others were framed for burning down the English pub, The Clam's Head Pub, and again in "Airport '07" after he, Peter and Cleveland hijacked an airplane in order to have Quagmire re-hired as a pilot.

]Abusing authority

Though a capable officer, Joe has been known to abuse his authority. In "Barely Legal," instead of looking out for suspects related to Brian and Meg's disappearance in this episode, Joe spies on Bonnie from Peter's house as she undresses (pretending that she is a stranger who is getting naked). In "It Takes a Village Idiot, and I Married One," Joe blackmails a woman into aiding Lois' campaign for mayor, disregarding the fact that the woman was a victim of rape and being questioned.

[edit]Legs healed

In "Believe It or Not, Joe's Walking on Air", Joe undergoes a successful leg transplant. However, Peter, Glenn, Cleveland, and his wife become annoyed by the newly mobile Joe, as he becomes arrogant and hyper-competitive. The guys try to beat Joe in the spine so he would be paralyzed once more, only to wind up getting beaten up. Bonnie then tries the same with a gun; she wounds him multiple times, completely missing her target. In order to save himself more pain, Joe takes the gun and shoots out his own spine.

This was not the only time Joe had a leg transplant. In "Perfect Castaway", he got new legs after Peter ate them when the guys were stranded on a desert island. However, the guy who Joe got the legs from was also paralyzed. Throughout the show, Joe has had four different pairs of legs, including his dead wife's legs in the future (as seen in "Stu and Stewie's Excellent Adventure"). In the episode "Ocean's Three and a Half", Joe was shown to have a lack of control over his bowels, like many other paraplegics, for which he wears adult diapers (this fact was referenced again in the episode "420"), and a possible erectile dysfunction, suggested by a line from Bonnie in the same episode: "now let's go put your penis on". In "And the Wiener Is...", a collision with his son Kevin while skiing causes his legs to work; moments later, he is hit again and back to being paralyzed.

[edit]

Joeseph "Joe" Swanson
Family Guy character
First appearance	A Hero Sits Next Door
Voiced by	Patrick John Warburton
Information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Police officer
Spouse(s)	Bonnie Swanson (wife)
Children	Kevin Swanson (son deceased) and Susan "Susie" Swanson(daughter)