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This Neutral Character was Headlined on September 2024. | ||
| “ | I'll be famous one day, but for now I'm stuck in middle school with a bunch of morons. | „ |
| ~ Greg Heffley |
| “ | Fun? That’s the exact opposite of fun! This entire year has been terrible and nobody even cares! My family, my best friend! Well, I’m SICK of it. Somebody needs to pay! | „ |
| ~ Greg's neutral breakdown in the style of inner monologue |
Gregory "Greg" Heffley is the titular main protagonist of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid franchise and its' live-action/animated film adaptions and is also the main antagonist of the Rowley Jefferson spin-off book trilogy.
He is an American student at Larry Mack Junior Middle School starting out as a 12-year-old who is constantly bullied by his older brother Rodrick Heffley and schoolgirl Patty Farrell and feel outcasted by both of his brothers and his parents with the exception of his best friend, Rowley Jefferson, even though he is often critical and been manipulative towards him and others.
In the live-action film series until Dog Days, he was portrayed by Zachary Gordon, while in The Long Haul, he was portrayed by Jason Drucker. In the animated film series, he was voiced by Brady Noon until Rodrick Rules, and is currently voiced by Wesley Kimmel since Cabin Fever.
Why isn't He Heroic or Villainous?
- His best acts were all either accidental or motivated selfishly, also they only amount to affable behavior:
- While he did save Rowley's reputation at school from the cheese touch, this was unintentional, and he tried to spin himself into a hero for doing something about it, only to be made an outcast by the fact that he technically had the cheese touch. The heroic nature of this action is even more diluted when one considers how he immediately passed the cheese touch onto a new student to save himself from the ostracization.
- Allowing people to get inside the church soup kitchen was unintentional, as he was only shoveling the snow in hopes of finding money that he anonymously requested be sent to the church for him. Even after learning about it, he isn't glad to have helped people, but instead appreciates that he's being talked about in the paper and subsequently makes an effort to reveal his identity for the recognition.
- He moved his cabinmates back into the cabin when they were forced to sleep out in the rain along with his dad, however this relied on Fridge Brilliance because the kids that slept outside were not in any actual pain the next morning.
- His suggestion to his family to drive the camper through shallow water to escape the campground was more an act of self-preservation than one to save his family in their entirety.
- While he does have a handful of genuinely bad acts under his belt, they are mostly either done out of stupidity rather than malice (ex. making Rowley break his foot, vandalizing the school), too petty to deem him a full-blown villain (ex. stealing a cupcake when he was nine), or ultimately just jerk behavior (ex. his poor treatment of Rowley).
Appearance
In the books, Greg is a medium-sized 12 year old who has three strands of hair. The live-action films portray him as a white person who has realistic hair. In the CGI films, he is made to represent his appearance in the books, with his shirt being white. In the film version, he was a short, slim and dark-haired teenager with brown eyes and light skin.
Personality
Greg is lazy, petty, slightly narcissistic, egotistical, eccentric, and sometimes even selfish and dishonest, and apparently lacks talent, often bullying kids who are more unpopular than him. He hardly has any skills aside from video games and possibly singing. However, despite all this, Greg still has had his kind and caring moments, just not that often. He hates taking the blame for anything, and would much rather not take all the credit. Greg explains and narrates throughout the series that he has no strong talents, other than video games and comics. As such, he spends most of his time on them, which deters him away from schoolwork and chores. For a time, he harbored a hope of drawing for the school newspaper, but his comic was bowdlerized by the editor (Mr. Ira) and Rowley’s comic, which was also Greg's idea, was better liked by the people at his school. He hardly shows any other talents. However, Greg is probably good at singing, due to the fact that when he was auditioning for the school play, the drama teacher told him he had a nice soprano (high male) voice and is also good at sewing, but he complains that these talents do not make him stand out.
Greg almost always tries to find a scapegoat to put the blame on for his behavior, but he is oblivious to the fact that nobody forced or influenced him, other than probably his older brother, Rodrick, to act in this manner. Very few times has Greg actually admitted to being "wrong" in a decision he made and took responsibility for it. It should also be noted that while Greg is arguably a watered down version of Rodrick, he does not have any productive interests and could actually be considered more hurtful than Rodrick psychologically.
Although he's considered a "wimp", he has a problematic behavior in many cases, and he often puts himself and his family into trouble. Typically he is looking to find a scapegoat to blame, and only in very rare occasions does he admits being "wrong", but he also seems to care for others and, as such, is willing to give himself to people he loves, especially Rodrick. The parents of his best friend, Rowley, believe Greg is a bad influence on their son (mainly Rowley's dad) because he sometimes gets bad grades in school, does not focus on his studies like he's supposed to, and barely listens to his parents.
Greg wants to be famous when he grows up and imagines it many times. He is very petty in order to win.
Greg always has an exaggerated thought, being confident of being rich and famous. He also kind of bullies and use Rowley much more than needed, as he often thinks of hurting him and makes him do a lot of his work, like giving him piggy-rides, looking out for dog-poop, and completing Greg's English work since Greg is not good at writing in cursive, though Greg believes that he is doing it for a good cause. Although Greg is shown not to be hostile towards Rowley, in Rowley's diary, Diary of an Awesome, Friendly Kid, Greg can be seen shouting at Rowley for trying out his retainer.
He also had a huge crush on Holly Hills, when she turned up at the seventh graders' roller rink (Rodrick Rules film). Holly Hills was a new seventh grader at Westmore Middle School whom he fell deeply in love with. In the film adaptations of Rodrick Rules and Dog Days, he put in so much effort to win Holly all to himself, which was what Rodrick was reading out loud from Greg's diary in the film Rodrick Rules. After Holly's sister Heather Hills' Sweet Sixteen party in the film Dog Days, Holly took Greg's hand, indicating she liked him back and she thinks he is really amusing. However, in the books, Greg lost interest in Holly after she mistook him for Fregley.
In the movie series, Greg mostly acts the same of how he does in the books. However he is more mindful and even selfless. This goes as far as to take the blame for eating the Cheese on the ground (which is what gives one the "Cheese Touch") when it was really Rowley, which restored their friendship. This follows on in the Rodrick Rules film adaption when he volunteers to be Rowley's assistant for his Magician act in the talent show on the condition that Rodrick gets to compete with his band after they are grounded by their parents for throwing a party.
In the spin-off books, he is a cruel and selfish jerk to Rowley, from insulting him to attacking him with his own book, to chasing him with a slug on a stick. He is ungrateful for the work Rowley did for him, which was make the book about himself. He also seems to take credit for Rowley’s work, which is noticeable in the second spinoff book. Then in the third spin-off book, he thrashes Rowley’s house while his parents are gone, pretending to be possessed by a demon as an excuse and even attacks Rowley.
Quotes
| “ | Okay, first of all, let me get something straight. This is a journal, not a diary. (Looks at it.) Yeah, I know what it says on the cover. But, when my Mom went out to buy this thing, I specifically told her not to buy one that said "diary" on it. This just proves Mom doesn't understand about kids my age. (Ideal Bully: Sissy!) The only reason I agreed to write in this thing is because when I'm rich and famous, I'll have better things to do than answer people's stupid questions all day long. (Male Reporter: Gregory! Tell us about your childhood! Female Reporter: Were you always so smart and handsome?) Here's my journal. Now, shoo, shoo. (Susan: That's our boy up there. Frank: Why did I ever say no to him??) Mom got me this thing so that I could write down my "feelings" about starting middle school. But I'm gonna be fine. It's my best friend, Rowley Jefferson I'm worried about. He's definitely not middle-school ready. (Rowley: Geronimo!) He's not quite clear on the concept of growing up. (Rowley: I want a puppy, a kitty, a gumball machine...) But anyway, this is about me, not Rowley. I always figured they'd make a movie about my life. But I didn't think they'd start the story here. Because, seriously, who wants to see a movie about a kid who's stuck in middle school with a bunch of morons? | „ |
| ~ Greg's intro narration in the first film and lines in the first book. |
| “ | Let me just say for the record that I think middle school may be the dumbest idea ever invented. You got kids like me who haven't hit their growth spurt yet mixed in with gorillas who have to shave twice a day. There's juvenile delinquents and weirdos. I'm smaller than about 95% of the kids at my school, so thank God for Chirag Gupta. (Chirag: It's mine! It's not yours) He's an excellent buffer between me and these morons. (Random Student: Hey, Greg!) Hey... fella! (narrating) Seriously, I don't know what happened to these kids over the summer. Was there a nuclear accident? Science experiment gone bad? Thank God there are a few normal people or this place would be a total freakshow. If you're as discriminating as I am, it can be tough to figure out where to sit on your first day of middle school. One bad move, and you're stuck next to some idiot for the rest of the year. | „ |
| ~ Greg's narrative opinion on Westmore Middle School. |
| “ | Greg: Rowley, if you had to say where you were ranked in terms of popularity from 1 to 200, where would you put yourself? Rowley: Is 200 good or bad? Greg: I'd say you're somewhere around the 154 mark. I put myself around number 19 or 20. I might even have a shot at the top spot at the end of the year if things go the way I think they will. |
„ |
| ~ Greg vaguely mentioning his popularity scale of 1-200 to Rowley ranking the latter near the bottom and himself near the top. |
| “ | Rowley: We're never going to be able to outrun these guys!!! Greg: We don't have to outrun them! We just have to outrun Chirag! |
„ |
| ~ Greg and Rowley running for their lives from the Shirts Team - who are all bigger - and from Chirag (who's on their team - the Skins Team). |
| “ | The cafeteria - possibly the cruelest place on Earth. But, I was about to make some kid's day by sitting next to him. | „ |
| ~ Greg's opinion on Westmore Middle School's cafeteria. |
| “ | Fregley must have bumped his head when he was little. Like, really hard. | „ |
| ~ Greg's opinion on Fregley. |
| “ | Greg: "Play", Rowley? "Play"? I've told you, like, a billion times that guys our age say "hang out", not "play". Rowley: Oops. Greg: Seriously, if you're not gonna listen to me, just tell me. 'Cause, if you pull another stunt like that, we'll be stuck on the cafeteria floor for the rest of middle school. Rowley: I found half a Snickers bar down there. Greg: I can't be the guy who eats off his lap in the cafeteria. I should be at the top of the food chain by now. Something's gotta change. Fast. Rowley: My mom told me to just be myself and people would like me. Greg: (looks at Rowley's Joshie bike) That would be good advice if you were somebody else. |
„ |
| ~ Greg expressing his embarrassment to Rowley of "playing" with him rather than saying to "hang out" with him. |
| “ | Greg: I found it. Rowley: Found what? Greg: Rodrick's middle school yearbook. This thing holds all the answers. Rowley, this thing is like a Bible. See this? This is where a person like me needs to be. (comes across the Class Favorites page) The Class Favorites. They're the best in their class. These people aren't nobodies. They're famous. They don't to worry about getting a seat in the cafeteria, either. Check this out; there's tons of things I qualify for: Most Likely to Succeed. Best Looking. Class Clown. They should just give that to me right now. Rowley: Don't you have to be funny for that? Hey, maybe we could try out for Cutest Friends! |
„ |
| ~ Greg making his objective to being famous in middle school to become a class favorite with help of Rodrick's middle school yearbook. |
| “ | Greg: And if I would have pinned her - which I could have done easily - you know I would have got in trouble for hurting a girl. Rowley: Why does she even wanna wrestle? Greg: Who knows? Girls are very confusing. Like today, I heard someone in the hallway saying that Bryce Anderson has a cute butt. What does that even mean? Rowley: A butt can't be cute. It's a butt. Greg: I know, but that's what they were saying. I don't see why girls our age can't talk just like regular people. Rowley: So how are you gonan become a Class Favorite now? Greg: Two words: Best Dressed. Rowley: How are you going to do that? Greg: Fashion is easy. You wear a shirt and a tie and kids are impressed. I'm telling you this is gonna work. |
„ |
| ~ Greg frustrated about his defeat against Patty Farrel and decided to focus on Best Dressed as his targeted class favorite. |
| “ | Rowley: Ta-da! Greg: I told you I was wearing this! Rowley: I know! I wanted to be matchers! |
„ |
| ~ Greg's irritation with Rowley stealing his idea of Best Dressed. |
| “ | Greg: (narrating) I dunno about anyone else, but I know what I learned: It is awesome to be me. The problem with Rowley is that he's not enough like me. I can't ditch him 'cause he'd be lost without me. But, maybe I can fix him. Because that's the kind of friend I am. | „ |
| ~ Greg deciding to help make Rowley more mature. |
Gallery
Trivia
- He is the current icon of the Plagiarism template.
- Greg used to have pages on both the Heroes Wiki and Villains Wiki, but both of them were removed because his actions are just affable and jerk behaviour.
External Links
- Greg Heffley on Wikipedia
- Greg Heffley on the Diary of a Wimpy Kid Wiki
- Greg Heffley on the Reception Scaling Purgatory Wiki
- Greg Heffley on the Bart Simpson Expies Wiki
 Neutrals
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Plainview Larry Mack Jr. Middle School Others Surrey Street (Lower Surrey Street Kids, Upper Surrey Street Kids) |
Trista |
Taylor Pringle |
Trevor Nix |
Whirley Street Kids Slacksville Movies Fanon See Also | ||
 Neutrals
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Animated Features Pixar Animation Studios Others Short Films Live-Action Features See Also | ||
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