Family Guy is one of my all-time favorite cartoon shows. Everything about it just tickles my fancy, from the classic show tunes that sporadically popped up at inopportune moments to the absolute ridiculousness of some of the scenes (like Peter hurting his knee, grasping it, and then wincing about it for a minute). The show also endears itself to me with its collection of zany characters. I mean, there are entire episodes where Stewie, an eloquent infant, and Brian, the lush, wannabe writer and family dog, go on adventures by themselves (those are my particularly favorite episodes).

There's no character with such crazy behavior as Meg Griffin. It's become a typical aspect of Family Guy for everyone to absolutely loathe Meg. It originally was an inexplicable joke for me. I used to wonder why everyone seemed to hate her when she seemed fairly normal, albeit a bit whiny. But as the show went on, I started to feel the same sense of revulsion at Meg. (Strange, I know.) It was like her family's annoyance at her seeped out of the television screen and into me. I can't watch an episode where Meg's problems are at the forefront anymore without rolling my eyes.

Meg has her issues, a lot of them. But I have to admit that her issues made for some amusing episodes. The crazy facts about Meg only get crazier every episode that passes. Read on if you want a closer look at Family Guy's least popular character's attributes and history.

25 Hot Dog Home Movie

I'm rather fond of hot dogs, despite the fact that I have no idea what kind of odd mixture of meat is contained within them. Oh good gravy, I just Googled "what's in a hot dog." For the love of all that's good in this world, don't do that. Anyway, aside from the horrid online search I just performed, one of the things that has ruined hot dogs for me is Meg's usage of them. It's a running gag on Family Guy to show Meg holding a packet of hot dogs and then exclaim excitedly, "I'm going to pretend you're the New York Knicks." First of all, gross. Second of all, thanks a heap, Meg, for ruining hot dogs.

At one point in the show, Meg desperately wants to get expelled from school.

(A bully had it in for her, and who can blame him?) She decides to post a video online that her principal would be sure to see and that is worthy of getting her expelled. We as the audience only get a small glimpse of the video, and what should we see next to Meg? That's right. It's a packet of hot dogs. Funnily enough, the video gets no traction whatsoever. Only one person views it, and it's a disgusted Stewie. Meg ruined hot dogs for no reason since she ended up not getting expelled after all. Seriously, what's with Meg and hot dogs?!

24 Here, Kitty Kitty

This may not seem like a sound method for sussing out who is trustworthy or not, but I usually check to see how people get along with animals before I make a judgment on their character. If they fawn and adore animals, I'm more likely to trust them than if they're cold and indifferent toward little critters. (Yeah, this isn't the most reliable method for character judgments, I'm aware.) Another reason to not like Meg, aside from the fact that she's just not likable, is that she's a danger to all animals.

It has been revealed that Meg enjoys strangling stray cats during her spare time.

Not only that, but she has convinced her less brainy brother, Chris, to try poisoning squirrels. It's not just me that sees this as dark and disturbing behavior, right? Harming small animals during adolescence is a warning sign for a potentially lethal future career. (I've seen my fair share of crime shows to know that.) I wouldn't be surprised if Meg started to pursue such creepy proclivities. Maybe the reason that no one in her family likes her is because they can just sense the hidden danger lying within her and they are only responding accordingly. That would definitely put the whole show in a new light. We wouldn't feel so sorry for Meg all the time.

23 Locking Your Secrets Away

I get misty-eyed at the idea of lockers. I bet there are a ton of people who might roll their eyes at that, but I bet those people actually had lockers when they went to high school. My high school had absolutely no lockers whatsoever, so there was no such thing as meeting someone by your locker, stopping at your locker before class, or passing notes through someone's locker over there. Everyone who went to my high school just had to carry everything on their backs. (Hence, my back problems.) After seeing what Meg keeps in her locker, my useless wish for one has kind of faded away. Meg's friends (which she somehow has managed to keep) approach her during one episode while she's at her locker.

Within her locker is a little baby.

She hushes it up, and then closes the door on it as her friends near. That implies that she somehow managed to get herself a baby, which means she would have had to have had relations with a male. Meg spends so much of her time trying to get a date, seeing that she keeps a baby in her locker makes me wonder how she finally managed to nab a guy for herself. It also, of course, makes me wonder what's going to happen to that baby when Meg graduates from high school.

22 A Meg By Any Other Name Would Be Just As Stinky

Time travel is a tricky thing. In my opinion, if you ever have the opportunity to go backwards or forwards in time, you should refuse it. Don't believe me? Read Ray Bradbury's short story "A Sound of Thunder." That'll make you swear off time travel forever. Such paltry concerns of messing up the space-time continuum don't bother Stewie in the episode where he decides to travel into the future. He meets his future self (with whom he is very displeased with) and the rest of his family, all of whom have aged accordingly.

But none of the family has changed as much as Meg has.

In the future, it is revealed that Meg has chosen to abandon her previous gender and now identifies herself as a man. She's a tad burlier than before, and she's sporting a brown mustache. She's also calling herself Ron Griffin. I'm sorry (not sorry) to say that this change does not make Meg (I mean Ron) any more pleasant. He still has this aspect about him that makes him... Meg-ish. Even though Ron speaks in a different voice, the words that come pouring out of his mouth just have the same effect that Meg's do. Stewie manages to go back in time without messing anything up, and we're re-introduced to our regular Meg. I can't say I was glad to see Meg again. Both Meg and Ron were equally annoying. It doesn't matter whether she's in the past or in the future, I'm pretty sure any Meg on the spectrum of the timeline is going to embody the awfulness that is her.

21 The Swanson Wife

Meg takes things too far on many occasions. She also has the tendency to obsess over people when she thinks there's even the slightest chance that they might like her. One of her unfortunate victims (I suppose most, if not all, victims of anything can be considered unfortunate) was Joe Swanson, Peter's handicapped cop friend. Joe Swanson had a wife named Bonnie and a young daughter named Susie. But you don't think something like a family could stop Meg from getting closer to her crush, do you? By acting as Joe's caretaker, Meg developed intense feelings toward Joe. She eventually got to thinking that life would be better with Bonnie out of the picture.

Meg arranges it so that Bonnie gets arrested.

With Bonnie gone, Meg finds no obstacles in her way to becoming the woman of Joe Swanson's house. In true, disgusting Meg fashion, she even starts to wear Bonnie's dress! Since it's Family Guy, everything gets sorted out in the end without lasting repercussions for Meg. But seriously, if I was Bonnie, I would be majorly steamed at Meg. What, did she think she could just take over another person's life entirely without getting in trouble? Well, she kind of did. For a bit.

20 Can I Join Your Social Club?

I'm not an unfeeling machine without a soul, comprised only of circuits and batteries. There are times when I do feel truly sorry for Meg. This is especially true during earlier episodes when it still seemed her family's hatred of her was inexplicable to me. In one episode, Meg is asked to join a "club," and since Meg desperately wants to belong to anything, she agrees to join.

The problem is the club was actually a group of girls who like other girls.

Since the only thing Meg wants more than a boyfriend is to be accepted, she decides to pretend to be one of them in order to fit in. It's at moments like these where I feel sorry for her more than I despise her. Here's Meg, so desperate to fit in anywhere, that she decides to join a group that most would consider outcasts already. Her mother, Lois, puts a stop to Meg's posing in the most hilarious way possible. Meg gets herself a girlfriend, and it bothers Lois that her daughter is faking this identity, pretending to be what she's not and tricking the girl she's dating. So Lois steps in and shows Meg what it really looks like when a girl likes another girl. Meg has to give up the charade, and she also loses the small social acceptance she had gained.

19 Asking For An Inch And Taking A Foot

It's always a bit confusing to me whenever labels of beauty are applied to cartoons. I mean, they're cartoons. I'm not exactly clear on the attributes one considers when you call a cartoon pretty. Meg is the laughingstock of her family and her school for supposed "bad looks." I don't think an episode goes by where a reference to Meg's ugliness is not made. I'm all for bashing Meg's personality, but I honestly can't see what makes her so unattractive to these other cartoon characters. Her hideous visage is so remarked upon, that everyone is surprised when she becomes a model. She doesn't just become a regular model though. Rest assured, everyone's perceptions of her looks are confirmed.

Meg becomes a foot model.

It's only after the photo-shoot occurs that Meg realizes the only part of her body the photographer wants to take pictures of are her feet. Apparently, Meg has really good-looking feet. (I've never seen a cartoon foot that I would call good-looking. Is it just me, or are cartoon feet always especially stubby?) The pictures of Meg's feet are meant for a web site that publishes photos of feet for people who get really happy looking at feet. (I'm trying to be discreet here.) You know, if you think about it, if Meg is as unattractive as people say she is, it makes sense that all the attractiveness in her body went somewhere. It just so happened to go down.

18 Secret Agent Girl

In a classic Family Guy episode, Brian and Stewie go on an adventure with Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd to try and find hidden Russian sleeper agents in Quahog before their activation sentence is said. (Gosh, I just love Brian and Stewie episodes. Whoever came up with the idea of the two of them hanging out is a genius.) As you can probably tell from my meager description of the plot, the episode of full of crazy hijinks.

The ending to the episode also reveals a surprising fact about Meg.

Stewie and Brian, back at home after their exploits with Chase and Aykroyd, utter the activation sentence within Meg's hearing. Immediately, she stiffens, rises from the chair she was sitting on, and goes to the telephone. She dials a number and begins speaking a string of Russian to whoever is on the other line. It's all pretty eerie, at least until the man on the other end of the phone call just tells Meg (or rather sleeper agent 2476) to "shut up." Even across the ocean and in another country, Meg has still managed to annoy people. This, more than any other moment in Family Guy history, confirmed Meg's status as an irritating presence. It's not just her family. It's not just Quahog. All the way in Russia, people are annoyed with her.

17 Someone Is A Little Salty

Another little known fact about Meg Griffin is that she can't taste anything salty. We learn this little tidbit about her while she's trying to chase after a boy (yet again). As she tries to leave an impression on him, she shouts after his retreating form, "I can't taste salt!" I don't know why she thought that this parting remark would be something a guy would like to hear. It may not have left a lasting impression on the boy, but it left a lasting impression on me. (Well, as lasting an impression as a funny line from an adult cartoon show can leave.) How can she not taste salt?

That's actually probably the most depressing thing about Meg's life.

I'm probably not the healthiest person around when it comes to flavoring my food. I like sugar, spice, and (everything nice) salt. I think I prefer salt to the actual, bland, natural flavors my food can provide. (Yes, I'm aware that this is extremely unhealthy. Let this be an example to anyone who is reading this. Don't be like me.) The fact that Meg can't taste salt just astounds me. I don't know what I would do if I lost my ability to taste salt. (I'd probably become an incredibly healthier person.) Maybe it's because she can't experience the pleasure of saltiness that Meg is the way she is.

16 Natural Weapons

I've never been excessively bullied by a bully when I was at school (just moderately bullied). As such, I've never had to contend with the prospect of engaging in a fight. Meg had to deal with that situation after she accidentally spills food on the new kid at school. This new kid is not the stereotypical, shy new kid who needs help learning his way around the campus. This kid has got himself an attitude, and Meg becomes terrified after she enrages him. After trying to get out of a confrontation with him by getting expelled (this plan doesn't work), Meg receives some advice from Glenn Quagmire.

He tells her to use the natural advantages of her body against her opponent.

At first, you might think that Quagmire is suggesting Meg use her body to allure the new kid and thus, avoid a fight. But this is Meg we're talking about here. She ends up using her body, but in the most disgusting ways possible. Did you know that Meg can use her zits as a weapon? Well, now you do. There's a fact about Meg for you. She uses other techniques against the bully, but her aiming and popping a zit at him was the most memorable move in her arsenal. Holy smokes, I hope I never have to see that again.

15 The Family Dog

If you need proof that Meg will go for any guy who shows the least amount of interest in her, just turn your attention to the Family Guy episode where she becomes madly in love with Brian. She comes home sobbing one afternoon, crying that no one wants to go with her to a school dance. She threatens to take matters into her own hands since she's so despondent about not going. Brian, like a reasonable, caring family pet, offers to go with her. She becomes exuberantly happy at the prospect, even though Brian is blatantly reluctant. After the dance and an unintentional kiss between the two, Meg becomes infatuated with Brian. She wears his collar in her room while flicking the lights on and off, she tries holding his hand every second of every day, and eventually she whacks him in the head with a dog food bag and drags his unconscious body to a remote location where they can be alone.

Brian has to be rescued from Meg's clutches.

The episode perfectly encapsulates what is wrong with Meg's pursuit of a significant other. She has absolutely no boundaries and she doesn't know how to take no for an answer. She also doesn't seem able to pick up on hints other people give her, letting her know they're not interested. Seriously, someone could outright tell her they're not interested, and Meg will twist it around in her mind to think that they're destined to be with each other.

14 The Tonight Show Starring Meg Griffin

At one point in the show, we find out the true power of make-up. Hand to my heart, I've never put make-up on as part of my daily routine. I find the idea of putting pencils and brushes near my eyes absolutely horrifying. I'm terribly squeamish about poking my eye out or something. And don't get me started on foundation. I don't see how I could just cake my face with a creamy layer of... of... well, I don't know what they put in foundation. Anyway, I might have to reconsider the idea of putting on make-up after seeing how transformative it was for Meg. Lois decides to boost Meg's confidence by giving her a make-over, and what do you know, Meg suddenly becomes drop-dead gorgeous.

She becomes this singing/acting sensation.

This leads us to another crazy fact about Meg. During her tour of fame, she meets Jimmy Fallon, and he convinces her to spend some quality time together. And by quality time, I mean that Jimmy Fallon robbed Meg of her first. (Please note, this is a fictional, cartoon version of Jimmy Fallon that the creators of Family Guy came up with. I'm in no way saying this of the actual, real Jimmy Fallon.) After this horrible experience, Meg decides to give up her life of fame, beauty, and make-up.

13 The Beanie Look

Meg is rarely seen without her pink beanie. It's part of her signature look. When people cosplay as the Griffins, whoever is Meg absolutely must be wearing a beanie. Otherwise, she's just a girl wearing a pink beanie. Meg doesn't simply wear the hat because she's making a fashion statement. (Though I have to admit, I'm awfully fond of the beanie look.) As revealed in a flashback to Meg's birth, Meg's heart is not located in her chest like a normal person's heart.

Instead, it's located at the top of her head.

(She kind of looks like The Leader. You know, the Leader? One of the Hulk's villains? No? Anyone read comic books anymore?) Meg's doctor recommended she wear a beanie forever after in order to cover up her deformity. Oddly enough, Meg has gotten buzz haircuts in other episodes, and I've never seen the outline of a pulsing heart on her forehead before. There was even an episode where the Griffins went swimming in a polluted lake and they lost all of their hair. Meg's head looked as smooth as an egg then. Maybe her heart beats so weakly, we can't see it very well now that her skull is thicker. Or maybe, Family Guy is a cartoon television show that thrives on inconsistency.

12 Best. Name. Ever.

On my entire list, this is the one fact about Meg that is seriously awesome. (Wow, never thought I'd use the word "awesome" and the word "Meg" in the same sentence.) In one episode, some of Meg's friends approach her, and they call her Megan. Meg is surprised at this, but her friends seem even more confused at Meg's surprise. They were under the impression that Meg's full name was Megan. Meg, after all, is short for that. Lois' intention when she gave birth to Meg was to name her Megan, but Peter had other ideas. While Lois lay exhausted on the hospital bed, Peter got a hold of Meg's birth certificate and wrote over "Megan" with a pen.

Meg's actual name is Megatron Griffin.

For those of you who don't know, Megatron is the leader of the Decepticons in the Transformers series. That... is an entirely awesome first name to have. I normally don't agree with Peter's choices over Lois', but this is one case where Peter was clearly in the right. If Meg introduced herself as Megatron to people, I'm sure she would be more popular. Think about it. She should have totally embraced her name instead of cowering behind a nickname. I don't want to complain, but I would totally love to have been called Megatron instead of by my name. (Sorry, mom and dad.)

11 Truth Or Chair

My sister is one of my best friends. I love whenever she comes over for the holidays (or, conversely, when I go to her place for the holidays). I couldn't really understand Peter's reluctance to see his sister Karen for Thanksgiving. Who wouldn't want to spend time with their sister, eating a bunch of turkey, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce? It sounds like a great time to me. Then, Karen Griffin came to the Griffin household, and I understood the reasons for Peter's reluctance to see her. Karen Griffin was a huge bully (in more ways than one). She's also a professional wrestler named "Heavy Flo," so I think that her bullying sessions with Peter are a lot more intense than your average bullying session.

Surprisingly, it is Meg who takes care of Karen for her dad.

When Peter tries to step up to his sister in the wrestling ring, Meg shows up to save him when he finds himself overwhelmed by Karen's "Heavy Flo." Meg takes a chair to Karen's head and just creams her. Initially, it's a nice father-daughter moment. Peter is grateful to Meg and promises to be kinder to her (yeah, that doesn't last). Later on, in the living room, Peter gets a phone call from the hospital. Turns out, Karen did not survive the father-daughter bonding experience. Meg is responsible for the passing of her own aunt.

10 The Lannisters Of Quahog

Meg's idea of a good time is ruined during a costume party where she and her friends play a kissing game that involves two strangers going into a dark closet and making out for a bit. Desperate Meg ardently wishes to have her luck with men change with this game. I guess in her mind, she expects some kissing to persuade the lucky (unlucky) guy to fall deeply in love with her as long as they don't know it's Meg they're kissing from the start. But, seeing as how it's a costume party, everyone's features are obscured. Meg and a mystery person dressed as Optimus Prime end up in the closet together. After a few seconds of teenage romancing, the lights are turned on and it's revealed that Meg is actually in the closet with Chris Griffin, her very own brother.

They totally had a Luke and Leia moment!

See, Meg, this is what happens when you're too desperate. You end up half-dressed in a closet with your brother while the rest of your friends watch from outside. The horror and revulsion that was all over Chris and Meg's faces when they found out who they were with reverberated through the television screen and swept over the audience. Never since Game of Thrones' pilot episode has the world been more shocked by sibling intimacy.

9 Convicted For Love

Is it just me, or are a large majority of these Meg facts about her attempts to find herself a man? Her...romantic nature gets her into trouble (again) when she falls in love with a prisoner in jail. Her feelings blind her to the danger of helping him escape, and she tries to cover for him when he makes his getaway. This lands her in a huge amount of trouble when she's caught doing this. She is sent to prison herself, and when she returns, she's a hardened, tattooed, and grim former convict. She terrorizes her family upon her return, and it is a whole new side of Meg that we had never seen before.

By the end of the episode, Meg eventually returns to her normal self. (And by "normal self," I guess I mean her pathetic, desperate, slightly crazed self.) And you know what? I actually missed her normal self. Without Meg, there's no one around to really pick on in the Griffin family. Peter and Chris are such easy targets, Stewie is just plain awesome, and Lois and Brian are the sane ones of the family. Meg's existence serves a purpose. We need that one person who we can all mutually pick on. Besides, tough Meg was actually terrifying. If you thought her creepy obsessiveness was bad, her grizzled criminal nature was even worse to behold.

8 Stan The Man

The weirdest episode of Family Guy was the episode when Meg nearly drowns during a flash flood, and Peter feels a rush of fatherly affection for her. It was so odd to see Peter interacting positively with her. Even though he's her father, Peter has never been much of a father figure to Meg. Well, turns out Peter might not even be her real dad. It is casually dropped that Meg's real father is a man named Stan Thompson. Meg was listening to music when this revelation was made, so she did not hear a single word. (Typical of her, to not be paying attention when important information is dispensed.) This Stan Thompson person is never mentioned again, but the memory of his existence plagues me to this day.

Imagine if Meg's real father made an appearance. Would that mean that Lois cheated on Peter with this Stan character? For no discernible reason, Lois seems to really care about Peter. I can't see her betraying him. So perhaps there was an arrangement between Stan Thompson and the Griffins. And what kind of a name is Stan Thompson anyways? It's such a generic name. (I'm so sorry to any Stan Thompsons who may be reading this.) I have no idea why this revelation has preyed on my mind for so long. I really need to focus on more important things (like pondering more Game of Thrones theories for the last season).

7 Tweety Bird

Aside from the awesome name of Megatron, Meg also has an awesome talent (at least in my opinion). After it's discovered that Chris has a secret talent for art, Peter goes out of his way to discover Meg's secret talent. She can't draw or dance or anything like that. Instead, she can make these very realistic bird calls. It's actually pretty nifty. She absolutely nails the whistles and trills of real bird noises. It may be just me, but I would prefer making cool bird whistles to being able to draw really well. (Birds are awesome.) I suppose this is one of those rare moments where I envy Meg one of her abilities. Her bird calls are so powerful, birds actually respond back to her, including the infamous Big Bird of Sesame Street fame. He's not too happy with having been called to Meg's side for no particular reason though. In fact, he's kind of miffed. But think of that power at Meg's fingertips!

She can just call nearby birds to her whenever she wants to.

Her power even extends to giant puppets of birds. Peter isn't as impressed with Meg's bird calls as he was with Chris' artistic talents. This is just one of those instances where Peter does not really understand the potential at his doorstep, or rather, the potential under his roof, since Meg actually lives with him.

6 The Road Rage Monster

I wouldn't be happy being the personal driver to Peter Griffin. He's like a taxi driver's worst nightmare. So even though I find Meg extremely annoying, I felt bad for her when her father got his license revoked. Lois assigned Meg to be Peter's driver, and it was no cake walk for Meg. Peter kept issuing inane orders to Meg, and then he invited his friends to join him in the car. Since Meg was driving, everyone else decided to enjoy some inebriating beverages. This made their behavior even rowdier than usual.

Part of their shenanigans involved setting Meg's beanie on fire.

She nearly lost control of her car, and another car that was behind her crashed into her. In her rage, Meg exited her car, approached the irate driver of the other car, and punched him until he was crying and crawling back into his car where his son was waiting. This example of Meg's behavior was the worst case of road rage I have ever seen. For some reason, Peter seemed inordinately pleased with Meg's fury. After that incident, it was like he wanted to show off her skill in getting angry to other people. All I got from the situation was that Meg made a grown man cry in front of his child. Not even in my worst moments have I accomplished that.