Peter Is Going Insane Theory (Family Guy) (2024)

Content Warning: Portions of this entry make mention of suicide, which some may find difficult or upsetting. If you need support or are dealing with suicidal thoughts, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline's website or call 1-800-273-8255.

About

The Peter Is Going Insane Theory is a Family Guy fan theory and creepypasta hypothesizing that Peter Griffin went insane after the deaths of his entire family and the events of the series are all in Peter's mind as he gradually becomes more insane. The theory was first posted to Reddit's /r/FanTheories subreddit in 2012 and went viral on TikTok in late 2022 as users encouraged others to look it up, touting it as scary and disturbing.

Origin

On August 7th, 2012, Redditor bblank0308 posted a Family Guy fan theory to /r/FanTheories^[1] that garnered over 540 upvotes in 10 years (shown below). The theory hypothesizes that the wide range of impossible hijinks that the Griffin family experiences without repercussion is possible because it's all in Peter Griffin's mind.

According to the theory, Meg Griffin was a popular, beautiful girl and Chris Griffin was mentally deficient due to a lack of oxygen at birth. One night, Meg took Chris to a party and got into a drunk driving accident, killing them both. Lois commits suicide while pregnant with Stewie due to grief. Peter was unable to handle the loss of his family and went insane, resulting in the events we see throughout Family Guy. Peter then holds resentment for Meg because she is responsible for the deaths, explaining why she is always berated by Peter in the series. He had high expectations for Stewie, so imagines him as a genius. Peter imagines himself as stupid despite being smart prior to the deaths, as he feels inadequate for being unable to protect his family.

Cleveland, Joe and Quagmire are all his real friends and Cleveland and Quagmire's appearances in the show represent them visiting him in a mental hospital. Peter has never actually met Joe but imagines him as a powerful man and good father despite his disability. Cleveland eventually stops visiting Peter because he feels himself going insane, resulting in Peter imagining The Cleveland Show.

Have you ever wondered how the entire Griffin family has been able to get into all sorts of hijinks, ranging from the paranormal to societal, without there being any repercussions? Well, the answer is very simple-the entire plot is within Peter's mind. It all started with Meg-rather than being the big, unattractive, unpleasant girl that everyone in the show makes her out to be, she was a very beautiful and very popular teenage girl, at the prime of her life in high school. And she was also very caring for her poor younger brother, Chris. Chris didn't get enough oxygen when he was born, thus resulting in his mental retardation throughout his life. Meg had a special bond and love for Chris, and could not stand the fact that Chris could not receive the attention and love that she had received from everyone, including their parents. As a result, one night Meg took her younger brother to a party. However, after heavy drinking on Meg's part and a panic attack on Chris' part, Meg decided to take her brother home. As a result of her inebriated state, Meg totaled the car-resulting in the death of her and her brother. Unable to grieve with the death of her two children, Lois committed suicide shortly after the accident, while she was pregnant with a son that Peter posthumously decided to name "Stewie". Unable to cope with the death of everyone that he had ever loved, Peter slowly slipped into insanity, creating a world where his three children and his wife were still alive. That is why everyone in the show is so mean and distasteful towards Meg-Peter still resents her for ultimately being responsible for the death of everyone around him. However, there is still a minuscule part of Peter that loves Meg for the beautiful and wonderful girl she was, and the love that she held for Chris, which is why, every once in a while, you see Peter showing some sort of compassion towards his daughter. This would also explain the hyper intelligence of Stewie. Unsure of how Stewie's future would have become, Peter imagined his son with great intelligence and great potential, creating any sort of gadget that he would please. However, his resentment towards Lois also builds up in his image of Stewie, angry at her for taking away their still unborn child, which would explain why Stewie constantly plans for his mother's death, which would explain why Stewie never seems to age. As for Peter's extreme stupidity, he wasn't like that in real life. Peter was actually a very intelligent man. However, feeling like he had not met to the standards of his role as a father and a husband, unable to protect his children and his wife, Peter in himself has turned himself into the complete idiot that he perceives himself to be. However, he has created a different personality to express the intelligent man that he had always been, in the form of the family dog, Brian. As for Cleveland, Quagmire, and Joe, they all are real people involved in Peter's life. Cleveland and Quaqmire did live in the same neighborhood as Peter. Their appearances in the show represent the times that they visit their old friend, Peter, in the mental hospital, and attempt to humor him in his insanity-induced world. Cleveland and Quagmire also told Peter about Joe, the man who moved into his new house with his wife, his son, and a newborn baby on the way. Having never met Joe, Peter decided to include him into this new world, as the man that he never could have been-a strong, heroic, devoted father and husband, who unconditionally loved his family, despite his crippling disability. Cleveland, having visited his friend Peter more in the hospital, found that he himself was slowly starting to lose his mind when he was helping Peter indulge in his imagination. As a result, Cleveland decided to stop his visitations to Peter, resulting in the "spin-off show" that Peter created. In his new world, Peter constantly is the one who brings troubles onto himself and his family. However, in the end of it all, he knows that his whole family is safe, and that he loved each and every member unconditionally. And that is really all that Peter Griffin ever wanted.

Spread

In December 2022, TikTokers began posting videos about the theory, encouraging viewers to look it up and touting it as scary. On December 8th, 2022, TikToker^[2] @andysterl posted a video sharing the name of the theory and claiming it "still scares [them] to this day," garnering over 4.6 million views in six days (shown below). TikTokers^[3][4] continued to encourage users to look up the theory over the following days.

On December 10th, TikToker^[5] @trentallen90 posted a stitch criticizing the theory for being based on assumptions as there is nothing in the series that hints that it could be true, garnering over 82,000 views in four days (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References