Joe Swanson (Family Guy)

Joe Swanson is a recurring character from Family Guy. He is good friends with other main characters, Peter Griffin and Glenn Quagmire. He is in a wheelchair because a criminal hit him with a pipe, and later shot him in both of his legs. He is married to Bonnie Swanson.

Why He Rocks

 * 1) Despite losing both legs, Joe is shown to be quite a good cop in the show (in seasons 1-7 and season 11-present).
 * 2) He has a good relationship with Peter and Quagmire is often there to help them whenever they are in trouble.
 * 3) He has some pretty funny moments, such as in him listening to Tubthumping by Chumbawamba while continually saying "Oh no!" after the lyric "I get knocked down" and "Yeah!" after the lyric "But I get up again" in Bri, Robot.
 * 4) He has many unforgettable and hilarious quotes, such as "I brought construction paper and markers in case you guys wanted to draw breasts" and "Sex is overrated".
 * 5) Patrick Warburton does a great job at voicing him.
 * 6) He has a tragic backstory about him losing both of his legs due to a criminal shooting both of them when he was trying to go undercover.
 * 7) While he was flanderized in season 8, he was one of the few characters who wasn't flanderized into being a psychopath and a jerk.
 * 8) He redeemed himself in season 11 and still remains as a likeable character in the show.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) He was flanderized after season 7 and became a crutch for cruel handicap jokes, an old groaner who screams way too much, and a cowardly spineless cop who lets Peter get away with everything and never arrests him for any lawbreaking acts like shooting Joe in the eye with a BB gun, and for giving his daughter a raspberry in the "wrong place", but he luckily redeemed himself in season 11 and still remains as an enjoyable and likable character along with Cleveland, Stewie and Meg.
 * 2) He was extremely unlikable in "Believe It or Not, Joe's Walking on Air" as he acted like a complete jerk towards his friends and his wife, to the point that he even decided to replace his friends with another group. Thankfully, the ending shows Joe apologizing to his old friends for the way he acted after being reverted back to his disabled state.
 * 3) He was a complete hypocrite in "Screams of Silence: The Story of Brenda Q", where he claims he couldn't arrest Jeff unless Brenda filed a complaint and reports Jeff to him herself (which ultimately isn’t true in real life) even though he clearly sees Jeff abuse Brenda right in front of him and does nothing about it immediately despite being a cop. And later on tells Quagmire he could arrest him he for just suggesting to kill Jeff, only to agree to his plan to kill Jeff when he should arrested him in the first place.
 * 4) While he is still likable in the newer seasons, he gets WAY too much screen time often, which is something that the writers would do.