For 16 seasons, Meg Griffin has been the butt of the jokes in Family Guy. Throughout that time, the teenage misfit has been farted on, hit with baseball bats, emotionally battered, jettisoned into spaced, held for ransom, and even wished out of existence.
Though Meg first started out in the show as a relatively normal angsty teenager who's occasionally embarrassed by her family, she's become the black sheep who never can seem to catch a break.
Poor Meg is continuously ridiculed by her family, and her high school life isn't much better. She's tormented and ignored by practically everyone, especially her father who would rather tell his daughter to shut up instead of offering some fatherly advice.
However, Meg's endless trail of misery and woe has led to her becoming one of the most popular characters on Family Guy.
The barrage of insults and antics hurled toward Meg has become one of the program's longest running gags, and even though she's frequently used as the punchline to a joke, there's still plenty of things some fans might not know about the beanie-wearing teenager.
From her hidden talents to the origins of her iconic pink beanie, here are the 15 Things You Didn't Know About Family Guy's Meg.
She Has a Child
Growing up with a father like Peter Griffin doesn't ensure the smoothest of sailing. Meg's life is anything but simple. Her diary is laughed at by her brothers, her looks are constantly made fun of by her mother, and Meg isn't even invited to her father's own birthday parties.
With such a terrible up brining, it unfortunately seems like the cycle will continue with Meg's offspring. In "A Fistful of Meg", the teenage Griffin opens her locker, and to the audience's surprise, it's revealed that she has a child which she keeps locked in there.
As the tiny baby excitedly greets his mother, Meg asks the baby what he's doing out of his box and then violently shoves her school books in the baby's face. It looks like Peter's bad habits had a lasting effect on his daughter.
Her Father Isn't Peter
Though Meg was raised as Peter's daughter, her last name might not be Griffin after all. In "Screwed the Pooch", it's discovered that Meg might actually the offspring of someone named Stan Thompson.
In the episode, Brian is put on the stand in court in an attempt to gain access to seeing his puppies. He's questioned by Peter, who says that he would be half the dad Brian is if he only knew certain facts about his children.
Peter starts to question Brian about his kids, including who Meg's real father is, which Brian responds is Stan Thompson.
Unfortunately, Meg is blasting her headphones during the revelation and unable to hear the answer. A shame, as it might have saved the teenager years of torment at the hands of Peter, who hates Meg so much that he even wishes her out of existence in one episode.
She Was Born With a Tail
Though there is an episode that finds Stewie and Brian in an alternate universe where humans are replaced with dogs, the human version of Meg Griffin still isn't without a few K9 features. In the episode "Fore Father", Meg almost discovers that she was born with an animal-like tail.
While rummaging through some of the clutter in the Griffin attic, Lois finds a trove of Meg's childhood keepsakes. Lois digs through the chest, commenting that she's found Meg's little baby booties, her little bronzed hat, and her tail.
As a startled Meg turns around and asks her mother what she's found, Lois hurriedly puts Meg's hairy appendage back into the chest. You never know what disturbing childhood secrets you might find in the Griffin family household.
The Secret of Meg's Hat
Since the beginning of Family Guy in 1999, Meg has been wearing jeans, a pink shirt, glasses, and her pink beanie.
Meg is only seen a handful of times without her iconic beanie, and usually for short periods of times. While most fans might assume that Meg wears her hat because she's insecure, there's a much more disturbing reason.
It is discovered in "Friends Without Benefits" that Meg wears her hat because of a medical condition. Meg was actually born with a rare birth disorder that has her heart actually located in the same area as her brain.
In a flashback, you can see baby Meg's heart pulsating in her head. A confused Dr. Hartman says, "That's not supposed to be there, so she should probably always wear a hat," explaining the origins of Meg's beanie.
She is an Undercover Russian Double
In "Spies Reminiscent of Us", Family Guy parodies the 1985 comedy film Spies Like Us starring Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase. Coincidentally, Chase and Akyroyd star in the episode as American spies, recruiting the help of Stewie and Brian in a secret plot that takes place in Russia.
Brian and Stewie eventually save the day, but not before discovering that the Russians have secretly planted a number of agents in America.
During the end of the episode, Brian and Stewie sit in their living room and say the activation phrase for the agents, which is "Gosh, that Italian family at the next table sure is quiet."
As soon as the phrase is uttered, Meg becomes activated, goes to the phone, and starts speaking Russian. It doesn't seem like Meg will become a threat however, as the voice on the other end tells Meg to shut up. It seems that even as a dangerous sleeper agent, Meg doesn't get any respect.
A Tale of Two Megs
Meg Griffin made her debut in the first episode of Family Guy, "Death Has a Shadow," and even though the character's been around since the beginning, Meg went through a drastic change behind the scenes fairly early. Though many fans know the voice of the misfit Griffin as actress Mila Kunis, she wasn't actually the first to play Meg.
Mean Girls star Lace Chabert originally signed on to play Meg in the show's first season, but her contract didn't cover the entire series run. When the time came to end her contract, Kunis was signed on to replace Chabert.
Rumors began to fly that Chabert had a falling out during production, but the actress has since cleared up the event in interviews, stating that she was in school and busy doing Party of Five at the time. Chabert has even said that the show is hilarious and that Kunis was indeed the right actress for the part.
She Has Had Various Jobs
Like Peter and the rest of the Griffin clan, Meg has had her fair share of careers over Family Guy's 16 seasons.
In the first few seasons of the series, Meg began picking up odd-jobs around the neighborhood like babysitting her megalomaniac brother Stewie, doing yard work, and chauffeuring her father around town after he loses his license.
However, as the series progressed, so did Meg's extensive resume. Meg has found jobs as a waitress in a diner, an intern at the local news studio, a cashier at a local grocery market, an assistant at the Mayor's office, and a prostitute on the streets.
Meg's more eccentric careers have included a TSA worker at the airport, a reality television star, and pop culture sensation as the lead singer in the Griffin family band.
She Can't Taste Salt
After being picked on by her classmates and ignored by her family, it doesn't seem like Meg life can get much worse. However, even enjoying the simple things in life, like the flavors of food, are a challenge for the likes of Meg Griffin.
In the episode "A Hero Sits Next Door", Peter tries to one-up his new neighbor Joe Swanson by doing more heroic deeds than his handicapped rival. At the same time, Meg tries to get Joe's teenage son, Kevin, to notice her after she gets a crush on him.
Like everyone else, Kevin continuously ignores Meg during her many attempts to get his attention. In one of those attempts, Meg offhandedly mentions that she cannot taste the flavor of salt. It's just one more reason why being Meg Griffin is the absolute worst.
She's Had An Unsettling Love Life
Meg might be the most unpopular kid in high school (her own brother isn't even her friend), but that doesn't mean she hasn't had her fair share of suitors over the years. Meg has racked up quite the list of bachelors she's been romantically involved with, some more shocking than others.
There's of course Neil Goldman, the homely AV nerd who is infatuated with Meg in the first few seasons of Family Guy.
After Neil, Meg has hooked up with various guys and gals, including Jimmy Fallon, Jerome the bartender, a jailhouse prisoner, a nudist, her female classmate Sarah, and even the family dog, Brian.
One of Meg's more wackier flings was with Mayor Adam West, who had been seen dating Meg in a couple episodes before he marries Meg's Aunt Carol.
She's Amazing At Bird Calls
Admittedly, there isn't a whole lot of talent in the Griffin household. While Chris may be a gifted artist, Peter's only notable skills are eating, farting, and drinking enough Pawtucket Ales to kill an elephant.
Although the apple doesn't fall far from the tree regarding the many talents of Meg Griffin, she's not without a couple of hidden skills.
In "A Picture is Worth 1,000 Bucks", Peter tries exploiting Meg's talents for his own personal gain while in New York.
The only problem: Meg's one talent is making realistic bird calls. At first, Peter is ecstatic that Meg can call pigeons to her, but it quickly changes when Meg makes a huge avian mistake.
After making one of her calls, Big Bird himself makes his trek to confront Peter and Meg. After Meg embarrassingly says she didn't mean to call Big Bird, the Sesame Street mascot cusses her out, and closes the discussion by spitting on her face.
Ron Griffin
It's frequently mentioned in Family Guy (mostly by Peter) that Meg doesn't have the most attractive features.
In fact, Meg goes through her life with most people mistaking her for a guy. It eventually gets the better of Meg, who has a sex change as an adult and changes her name to Ron Griffin.
In the direct-to-DVD movie Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, Stewie travels many years into the future to see how his adult life will pan out.
We get to see what happens to all the Griffin children, including Meg who after a year of college decides to get a sex change operation and change her name to "Ron."
After Stewie makes the connection, Meg announces that she needs to go buy a razor to shave her beard, to which Peter responds, "Okay, we get it Ron. You're a guy." It doesn't seem that much has changed for Meg even after her sex change.
She Has Many Musical Talents
Besides her birdcalls, Meg has a few other hidden talents hidden up her sleeve. During the many years on Family Guy, Meg has been seen playing various musical instruments, and actually being quite good at them. Judging from the way Peter sings, we're guessing that Meg got her musical talent from her Lois.
In "Don't Make Me Over," Meg is transformed into the attractive lead singer of the Griffin family band. Over various other episodes, Meg has been shown to be musically gifted with the trombone, drums, and even saxophone.
During the Simpsons crossover episode, Meg takes a crack at playing Lisa's sax and proves to be wonderful at it. However, unlike Lisa and Homer, Meg's gifts are not encouraged by Peter, who congratulates his daughter by throwing her new instrument into the trash.
"Shut up, Meg" is the Show's Most Popular Quote
Family Guy has had its fair share of one-liners over the years. From "Giggity, giggity, giggity," to "What the deuce?" there have been plenty of quotes from Fox's cartoon sitcom that have gone on to permeate every corner of popular culture.
However, there is one that fans have quoted more than everything else, and Meg is directly responsible for it. During the many times Meg has killed a joke, made an uncalled-for comment, or has just been randomly ridiculed, Peter or someone else has uttered the famous three words: "Shut up, Meg."
The line has become one of Family Guy's most popular catch phrases, and Mila Kunis herself has said that it's the thing that random fans have shouted at her the most while walking down the street.
Star Wars: Attack of the Meg
Everyone's a fan of Star Wars, especially Family Guy creator Seth Macfarlane. In fact, Macfarlane is such a big fan of a galaxy far, far away that he's made three parody episodes that recreate the events of A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi.
However, while each of the Griffins are given meaty parts in the recreations (Chris is Luke; Peter is Han Solo; Lois is Princess Leia; and Stewie is Darth Vader), Meg is given the shortest, most grotesque roles of the original trilogy.
You might remember that Meg pops up in Blue Harvest as the dianoga, the monster inside the trash compactor. In Something, Something, Something Dark Side, Meg shows up briefly as the slug monster, complains about her bit part, and is then told to shut up by Han Solo.
In It's a Trap, Meg is given probably her biggest part of all as the Sarlacc monster that eats Boba Fett, who is played by the giant chicken.
Her Real Name is Megatron
For years, audiences have assumed that Meg's name is short for Megan, but in the season 12 episode "A Fistful of Meg", we find out how wrong we've all been.
While at school, Meg is greeted by a group of friends who call her "Megan." Meg corrects them, saying that Meg is actually short for something else. We're then treated to a flashback to when Meg is first born in the hospital.
When Lois hands Peter Meg's birth certificate, he secretly takes a black sharpie and changes his new daughter's name to Megatron, capping off the event by giggling as he sings "robots in disguise."
There are thousands of people in the world named "Megan," but we would probably guess there's only one that's named "Megatron." The fact that she's named after a Transformer might just be the coolest thing about Meg.
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Can you think of any other interesting facts about Family Guy's Meg? Let us know in the comments!