The Family Guy Fan Theory That Will Change The Way You Look At Peter
Along with the likes of "South Park," "The Simpsons," and "American Dad," "Family Guy" seems destined to be an animated series that will go down in TV history. Since the show debuted in 1999, viewers have been laughing with (but mostly at) Peter (Seth MacFarlane), Lois (Alex Borstein), Stewie (also Seth MacFarlane), and the rest of the Griffin family as they lead their dysfunctional day-to-day lives Quahog, Rhode Island. The absurdist nature of the comedy often sees Peter getting his family into a variety of totally outlandish scenarios, which is one thing that has kept viewers coming back episode after episode.
In fact, "Family Guy" is well-known among its fanbase for having its characters go through all kinds of whacky situations and plots. Who could forget the time Peter launched his own R-rated TV network? Or how about Stewie becoming a radioactive squid in a post-apocalyptic world? Nothing is off the table for "Family Guy," and the series isn't afraid to throw wild storylines at its characters.
With so much material to parse through, the series has produced a number of intriguing fan theories. One, in particular, will have you thinking more about exactly how Peter Griffin fits into the universe.
Fans theorize that Peter has a hive mind
As previously mentioned, there are a lot of "Family Guy" episodes that contain absurdist storylines and character details, so much so that when you look at them all together, it quickly becomes clear that they couldn't possibly all happen in the same timeline. So, one Redditor posed the theory that Peter actually has a hive mind, à la "Rick and Morty," and exists in a multiverse. Redditor u/FaZe_poopy2 explained that since Peter references events that happen outside the show's continuity, "Peter must be a hive mind connected to all other Peters across the multiverse, living their lives as well as his own, experiencing what they experience as his." The Redditor further argued that since the series hasn't changed its settings or characters over the years, it's possible that "each episode could be another griffin family."
Another theorizing fan expanded on this hypothesis and posed the idea that Peter's hive mind ability was passed on to Stewie, which would explain his genius-level intelligence. Redditor u/Mike_b_nimble wrote, "So the reason Stewie has all of the knowledge and tech that he does is because al the Stewie's in all of the multi-verse share a collective mental capacity."
This hive mind theory will more than likely never be addressed in the show, but it does make a lot of sense when you consider just how many whacky situations Peter gets himself into.