Philip J. Fry

Philip J. Fry is roughly the central character of the television series Futurama. Roughly, because although he is the progenitor of the central drama for the show, there are many episodes that feature him minimally, or as a minor character.

History

\nFry, as he is called, was a New York pizza delivery boy on December 31, 1999. It was on that New Year's Eve that he stumbled into a cryogenic capsule while on delivery and frozen there, remained until December 31, 2999. Needless to say, upon reawakening, he found himself in a world very different than the one he left at the turn of the 21st century--a fact that is the source of much dramatic irony during the show, especially the earlier episodes in which Fry is featured more heavily. After "situating" himself in the 31st century, Fry gains the friendship of a cyclops Turanga Leela, or Leela, and a bending robot named Bender. Together, they find Fry's next of kin, the ancient Professor Hubert Farnsworth, who agrees to employ each of them in his delivery service, Planet Express.

Character

\nAnother great source of humor derives from Fry's unique lack of intelligence and unabashedly pathetic lifestyle. He lives like a pig with his best friend, Bender, rarely thinks more than five minutes into the future, and frequently injures himself. According to the episode "My Three Suns", he is twenty-five years old. Even though Fry is far from the paragon of male figure, form, or virtue in any century, he does manage to accrue some romantic experiences. At one point, he reunites with his girlfriend from the 20th century, and also experiences a one episode pairing with Amy Wong, the intern at Planet Express (see "Put Your Head on My Shoulder"). At one point he also dates a robot version of Lucy Liu (despite the protests of the other characters), but the relationship does not last long and at the request of the real Lucy Liu, Fry deactivates the robot, just as the real Liu is falling in love with Bender. Throughout the series, Fry maintains an interest in Leela, which eventually builds to a frequently rejected love, especially in later episodes. Also, Amy continues to act as an object of corporal interest to Fry and the other (human) male characters, but they never get together again. In the "Roswell that ends Well" Episode Fry returns to 1947 and becomes his own grandfather (he has sex with his grandmother). Because of this he has a genetic anomaly that causes him to lack the delta brainwave. This helps him save the universe from a malicious race of disembodied brains, dubbed the "Brainspawn" (episode: "The Day the Earth Stood Stupid"). So in some way he may even be the most important person in the universe! It is later revealed that Fry is to be the deciding factor in the galactic conflict between the Niblonians and the evil Brainspawn. As is revealed, the Niblonians are responsible for Fry being frozen, because he would be needed to defeat the Brainspawn in the 31st century, but he would have naturally died long before that. Traveling through time, Fry was present at the time of his past self's freezing, but Nibbler gave Fry the choice this time, and for Leela's sake, Fry froze himself. In return, Nibbler helped Fry get together with Leela by giving him a flower, which Fry then gave to Leela after she had a bad date. Category:Futurama characters