Top 10 Most GRUESOME Family Guy Episodes

“Family Guy” opened its ninth season with an Agatha Christie parody. The main inspiration for the episode is Christie’s seminal “And Then There Were None,” but the episode lampoons the mystery genre as a whole. It’s also every bit as violent, as numerous characters — including the popular recurring guest James Woods — are murdered by an initially unknown assailant. “Family Guy” has jokingly killed off characters before, but in this case, most of the deaths remained permanent. As a result, “And Then There Were Fewer” notably marked the final time we saw Muriel Goldman, Derek Wilcox, and Diane Simmons alive. It was quite surprising to see them go, especially in such frightful, intense ways.

Evil Stewie is one of the most, well, evil characters in the history of “Family Guy,” and he serves as the main antagonist in this season nine episode. Stewie comes to believe that he is growing “soft”, so he builds a device that will make him more sadistic. However, the machine instead makes Evil Stewie. This character wears the inverted color palette of normal Stewie and proves far more malicious. It’s not long before he’s hurting Brian, breaking the Kool Aid Man, and killing civilians of Quahog. The concept alone is disturbing, but it’s the grotesque visuals that make this episode so difficult to watch.

“Family Guy” has a penchant for displaying some truly sickening violence. And in this episode, the target is poor Brian. The dog rediscovers an old toy, resulting in Peter wanting it for himself. He ends up strapping the item to his vehicle, but Brian holds on for dear life and ends up flying behind the car. Peter gets more reckless in his driving in an attempt to get rid of Brian, resulting in the dog heading face-first into a fire hydrant. Not only is the injury horrific, but Brian spends part of the episode with a droopy, broken nose, no teeth, and a stuffy voice. It’s all very gross, and it’s quite troubling to watch a character in such obvious distress.

The episode may be called “Brian Griffin's House of Payne,” but the pain actually belongs to Stewie. The baby is happily strolling when he’s knocked down by Chris, who is running away from Meg. He takes a nasty spill down the stairs and suffers a very significant head injury as a result. The visual is not only revolting, but Stewie then spends much of the episode in a coma-like state as Peter and the kids attempt to blame Lois for causing the wound. The subplot is deeply disturbing, and viewers are forced to look at the nasty, rotting gash for a lot of the runtime.

Stewie was a force of nature in the early episodes of “Family Guy.” In this classic from season four, he becomes a bookmaker and takes bets on a boxing match between Mike Tyson and Carol Channing. Brian wagers $50 on Tyson, believing that it’s an easy win. But when Channing emerges victorious in a surprise upset, Stewie comes a-callin’. Brian doesn’t take him seriously and ignores his demands for money, prompting a frustrated Stewie to take aggressive action. He physically and psychologically torments Brian, and it can prove too much for viewers, especially squeamish ones. The tables later turn, resulting in even more brutality.

Peter Griffin and Ernie the Chicken go way back. It all started in season two, when Ernie gave Peter an invalid coupon. This prompted an irate Peter to attack Ernie, resulting in a gleefully over-the-top action sequence. The two have battled numerous times since then, with each fight getting more elaborate and destructive. Perhaps the best one comes in season ten’s “Internal Affairs,” which sees Peter and Ernie fighting for approximately five whole minutes. Roughly one quarter of the entire episode is dedicated to graphic violence, and many innocent people are hurt or die along the way. Not only do Peter and Ernie engage in a very gross battle, but we also see the collateral damage they cause, and it is not pretty.

Even by “Family Guy” standards, this episode contains a lot of upsetting material and is quite difficult to get through. It’s one of the most controversial episodes in the show’s history, which is largely due to its sensitive subject matter. The “Brenda Q” in question is Brenda Quagmire, sister of Glenn. Brenda is subjected to vicious mistreatment from her partner, Jeff, leading Glenn and the boys to take drastic action. As you can imagine, it’s not exactly the kind of topic that warrants laughs. The plotline received widespread criticism, with many condemning the serious topic, the dramatic tone, and the brutal conclusion. It’s certainly gruesome, in a different, more depressingly realistic sort of way.

This is another wildly controversial episode, featuring a problematic storyline, a dark ending, and an infamous cutaway joke. Let’s go in order. The storyline itself is quite distressing, as Peter becomes friends with a terrorist named Mahmoud. Mahmoud in turn recruits Peter to help his organization blow up the Quahog Bridge. This leads to the dark ending, as Peter accidentally blows the bridge up with his cell phone, effectively (if accidentally) committing a horrific act. Finally, the episode features a grotesque cutaway joke that sees Peter driving his car through the Boston Marathon and harming numerous people. It’s an onslaught of dourness, and many people were left offended by the episode’s objectionable content.

This two-parter was a long time coming. Stewie was obsessed with killing Lois in the early seasons, and here, he’s called out for his lack of action. He then runs a simulation in which he finally enacts his master plan. The result is, obviously, filled with death and misery. Stewie seemingly kills his own mother (though she actually survives), and Peter is even arrested for the crime. In part two, Stewie murders Cleveland, takes Brian, and becomes a dictatorial “President of the World” who does unspeakable things. His destructive reign comes to an end when he’s killed by Peter. It’s a lot of dismaying content to absorb, and the mere concept of family members hurting each other is gut-wrenching.

Leave it to “Family Guy” to turn a holiday special into a journey of unending misery. Perhaps the darkest episode in the show’s history, “Road to the North Pole” sees Brian and Stewie traveling to the titular land to see Santa. It’s…not what they were expecting. Santa is deathly ill, his factory is some type of nightmarish industrial hellscape, the elves are struggling, and the reindeer are, well, not exactly friendly. Brian and Stewie decide to take the mantle of Santa, only to commit a brutal home invasion that is traumatizing, to say the least. It’s a story direction that only “Family Guy” could take, and it’s all exceedingly gruesome.