While Community never got its six seasons and a movie, it did enjoy a loyal following during its time on-air. Much of that is thanks to its colorful cast of characters: Jeff Winger (Joel McHale), Britta Perry (Gillian Jacobs), Annie Edison (Alison Brie), Abed Nadir (Danny Pudi), Shirley Bennett (Yvette Nicole Brown), and Troy Barnes (Donald Glover).
Most infamous of all, however, was Pierce Hawthorne (Chevy Chase). The heir to the Hawthorne Wipes throne is a spoiled boomer with a warped sense of morality, often spewing racist sentiments or trying to split the group up. That's why are focusing on the darker side of Pierce — here are the 10 worst things he's ever done.
Sabotaged Jeff Winger During Paintball
From: "A Fistful of Paintballs" (Season 2, Episode 22)
With a grand prize of $10,000 on the line, the group decides to join together to win the school's latest paintball competition. Yet, when Pierce sees what he thinks is the group playing cards without him, he decides to switch out Jeff's paintballs with blanks. In reality, they aren't actually playing cards—they're deciding whether or not they should keep him in the group.
That was an unfortunate decision to make because, when the school went into full paintball mode, the Hawthorne heir took over the cafeteria, turning it into a stronghold full of ammunition. Considering there was a prize on the line, Pierce effectively tried to sabotage his friends just because he wasn't part of a card game.
Tried To Take Over Shirley's Sandwich Shop
From: "Introduction to Finality" (Season 3, Episode 22)
When Shirley kicks up a plan to open a sandwich shop in Greendale's cafeteria, Pierce helps her get her idea off the ground financially. He even works up a pitch to Dean Craig Pelton (Jim Rash) to boot! Now, it wasn't completely out of the kindness of his heart—he was recently ousted from his position at Hawthorne Wipes, so Shirley took pity on him.
This nice gesture did have a caveat, however, because once the time came for one owner to sign the contract, the group's resident old man launched a pseudo-legal battle against his friend. To make matters worse, he enlists Jeff's old friend from his law office to represent him, as Winger took Shirley's side.
Tormented Vicki During Presidental Debate
From: "Intro To Political Science" (Season 2, Episode 17)
When Greendale holds its student body presidential election, everyone imaginable runs — including Pierce. For whatever reason, though, the rich old man doesn't seem to have any desire to actually debate. Instead, he spends his time insulting one candidate. He starts by saying, "I'm gonna eat your brains, Vicki. I'm gonna slurp 'em right out of that melon you call a head." When he's told his microphone is on, he lays into her even more.
Then, he's asked what his platform is, he tells the school, "My platform will be one high enough to push Vicki off to her death." Eventually, the harassment is too much for her, so she drops out. Pierce leaves the debate immediately after, admitting he was only there to make Vickie's life miserable after she didn't lend him a pencil.
Pretended To Have Dementia To Play Poker
From: "Messianic Myths and Ancient Peoples" (Season 2, Episode 5)
Pierce starts hanging out with students his own age, but their bad behavior starts rubbing off on him. So, he pretended to have dementia when the dean walks in on an illegal poker game.
He and his friends tell the gullible headmaster that playing cards (and drinking, apparently) are the only things that help poor aging Pierce remember anything. The trick worked, hook, line, and sinker, so the card game continued.
Blamed Troy For Missing Pen
From: "Cooperative Calligraphy" (Season 2, Episode 8)
Look, we all know Pierce is racist, but this one comment is one of the worst. In the episode "Cooperative Calligraphy," the group is torn apart when Annie's pen goes missing. This sets off a series of events where the group tears the study room apart.
While everyone is trying to point fingers at a culprit, Pierce is first to make his ignorance known by saying, "We all know what we're really thinking. If, and I mean 'if' the culprit is among us, statistically speaking it's Troy." Thankfully, he's quickly shut down by Jeff, who makes it clear his thoughts are from a different era. But the fact that Pierce would racially profile his friend so quickly is troubling, to say the least.
Sprayed Troy & Abed With Pepper Water
From: "Environmental Science" (Season 1, Episode 10)
In the closing scene of "Environmental Science", Troy and Abed are gearing up for a water gun fight. While they're doing so, Pierce walks in with a little water pistol and is mocked relentlessly.
That's when the old man sprays Troy and Abed in the face, causing them to screech in pain. It turns out Pierce filled the gun with water and pepper, making a sort of pepper spray. We're not sure what his motivation was here.
Faked Dying To Turn His Friends Against Each Other
From: " Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking" (Season 2, Episode 16)
Frustrated with the study group not taking him seriously, Pierce decides to fake a drug overdose, making everyone believe he's on his deathbed. He leaves the group a video and items that exploit their darkest insecurities.
Sherley gets a recording of the group taking her back, Brita is given money to give to a charity of her choosing (despite needing the money herself), Jeff is told his father is coming to speak with him after years of being absent, Troy gets to meet his idol LeVar Burton despite never wanting to meet him out of fear of being disappointed, and Annie gets a Tierra to because he likes her the most.
Ruined The School's Trampoline
From: "Aerodynamics of Gender" (Season 2, Episode 7)
Pierce always seems to be streets behind when it comes to Jeff and Troy's interests. He shows up to school with an RC drone, but they're more into basketball. So he then gets into basketball, but the two had already discovered a secret trampoline behind the school.
Frustrated, Pierce decides to use his new drone to follow Troy and Jeff, discovering their newfound source of joy, and he wants part of it. He demands the two let him on and double jump (one of the only things they were told not to do on it), or else he will tell everyone about the trampoline. They comply, and Pierce is hurt in the process. This allows the school to discover the safety hazard and destroy it. Way to go, Pierce.
Gave Troy A Doll He Was Terrified Of
From: "Remedial Chaos Theory" (Season 3, Episode 4)
When Troy moves out of Pierce's mansion into a small apartment with Abed, the old man isn't happy. In fact, he decides to make Troy's housewarming party the worst thing yet.
He does this by regifting an old doll he had that scared Troy in his days sharing Pierce's home, and depending on the timeline, it works splendidly. Troy was scared, and Pierce got his revenge. Unless it's the timeline where Pierce died, in which case, the revenge probably wasn't worth it.
Tried To Ruin A D&D Game Designed To Prevent A Suicide
From: "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" (Season 2, Episode 14)
When "Fat Neil" shows signs of suicide, Jeff sets up a Dungeons & Dragons campaign with the group to help lift his spirits. Everyone, with the exception of Pierce, was invited — which was the biggest mistake Jeff could have made. By now, we've learned that Pierce likes to be included in things, even if he won't enjoy it, and if he's left out, he gets vengeful. That's exactly what happens in this episode.
He joins the campaign somehow and makes it his mission to ruin everyone's time, and when he's told why they're playing the game to begin with, he doesn't care. In fact, he tells Neil that the reason why he was given that unfortunate nickname is because of Jeff. He then steals Neil's sword that he earned from a previous campaign and takes control of the game in an attempt to destroy everyone. Thankfully, his plan fails, resulting in one of Neil's most enjoyable runs in Dungeons & Dragons.