Family Guy: Who Is Stan Thompson & What's His Relation To The Griffins?

Every "Family Guy” fan knows that Meg Griffin (Mila Kunis) is always the butt of the joke, enduring an absurd level of ridicule from practically everybody in Quahog. By far the worst offender is her father, Peter Griffin (Seth MacFarlane), who makes a routine of farting in her face, constantly telling her to shut up, and leaving her behind whenever the rest of the family is in danger.

What makes Peter's abuse even worse is the fact that he might not even be Meg's biological father, as a cutaway gag from Season 3 indicates Meg's real father to be a man named Stan Thompson. In the Season 3 episode "Screwed the Pooch," Brian Griffin (MacFarlane) attempts to prove he's a good father figure by explaining facts about the Griffin children that not even Peter knows — including the fact that Meg's real father is "Stan Thompson."

Meg, of course, doesn't hear this earth-shattering revelation, as she's wearing headphones and listening to music the whole time Brian is talking. To date, we have no more information about who Stan Thompson is, nor any explanation of how Meg ended up with the Griffin family in the first place. And considering all of the retcons to Meg's birth, we wouldn't hold our breath waiting for Stan any time soon.

While it's certainly quite a shock to learn that Meg isn't actually the biological daughter of Peter and Lois Griffin (Alex Borstein), it's worth mentioning that Meg's birth has been retconned several times throughout the series — often at Meg's expense, of course.

The first reference to Meg's birth comes in Season 1 Episode 2, " I Never Met the Dead Man," where Peter is disappointed to learn that Meg is not a boy, and asks the doctor to "check again." Other gags about Meg's birth include the one in "Friends Without Benefits" (where Meg is born with her heart on top of her head, explaining why she always wears a hat), and in "A Fistful of Meg," where we watch Peter change her birth certificate to "Megatron Griffin." Perhaps the worst is the cutaway gag in "Ratings Guy," where Lois and Peter fondly remember Meg's first trip to the fire station — where they attempted to abandon her as a baby.

Meg isn't even the only family member to have their true parentage questioned, as another throwaway line in "Regarding Carter" suggests that Chris Griffin (Seth Green) was adopted. These constant retcons about Meg's birth make it unlikely we'll ever meet her real father in "Family Guy," though it is funny to imagine Stan Thompson showing up all these years later after a forgotten throwaway line.