Created, designed, and voiced by Seth MacFarlane, he is an anthropomorphic white labrador retriever who is the best friend of both Peter and Stewie Griffin and comic foil with the ability to speak, sing, drive, and stand on two legs.

Brian first appeared on television, along with the rest of the Griffin family, in the series premiere "Death Has a Shadow" on January 31, 1999.

However, it turned out to be temporary, as he made his return to the series just two episodes later in "Christmas Guy", after Stewie, his best friend, traveled back in time to save him.

Brian is an alcoholic and very fond of dry martinis; he is seen to have withdrawal symptoms in various episodes when he is told or forced to stop drinking.

After a brief stint as a drug-sniffing dog, he developed a cocaine addiction, but after spending time in rehab he managed to achieve sobriety.

Family Guy uses a floating timeline in which the characters do not age much, so the series is always assumed to be set in the current year.

He greatly fears the vacuum cleaner which Lois refers to as "Mr. Hoover", he once ran excitedly into the kitchen when Meg shook a bag of dog food in "Barely Legal", and in the episode "Bill & Peter's Bogus Journey" it is revealed that Brian can only defecate and urinate on the Griffins' front lawn.

Brian is a political liberal, who supports legalizing marijuana, gay marriage and ending the war on terror.

Brian sees himself as a romantic and has had several relationships over the years, mainly with human women like Rita, Ida, Padma, and Kate.

Brian is deeply depressed following the marriage, becoming overweight and emotionally distant to the point where Jess brings him to the pound to be put down.

In the episode "420", Brian finally publishes Faster Than the Speed of Love, and the novel is shipped, but it is critically panned and does not sell a single copy.

[5] In the episode "Dog Gone", he receives an invitation from the Rhode Island Society for Special Literary Excellence to an award ceremony celebrating his novel.

Brian, convinced that he is a great writer, attempts to gain the family's interest in this piece of news but fails to do so.

In the episode "Brian Griffin's House of Payne", he writes a television script entitled "What I Learned on Jefferson Street", and it is shown to CBS who picks it up after reading it.

Brian becomes depressed, as he wants to be a good writer for the few remaining years he has, and doesn't want to be overshadowed by Stewie, who has his whole life ahead of him.

Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane created a cartoon short entitled Life of Larry.

[9] In 1997, when MacFarlane was working for Hanna-Barbera Studios, writing for shows such as Johnny Bravo, Dexter's Laboratory, and Cow and Chicken,[10] he made a sequel to Life of Larry.

[11] The short caught the eye of 20th Century Fox representatives, who asked him to create a TV series revolving around the characters.

[12] Several premises were also carried over from several 1980s Saturday-morning cartoons he watched as a child, namely The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang, and Rubik, the Amazing Cube.

[18] "Man's best friend is a poor understatement when it comes to dealing with Peter's constant mission to paint the world with all sorts of stupid.

Having lived with the Griffins for many years, and being accepted (and audibly heard more than Stewie for some reason) as a peer, Brian has become a character as important to fans as the show's titular star."

", IGN commented that Brian would be perfect to play Q, if Family Guy ever decides to make a James Bond parody.

[21] In a review of the eighth season, following his transition into a heel character, Ramsey Isler stated that Brian "left his lofty position as the voice of reason and switched to pretentious loser".

As he is setting it up, Brian is struck by a reckless driver in a hit and run and later succumbs to his injuries at the veterinary clinic.

After a month of mourning the loss of their beloved pet, the family replaces Brian with a new dog, named Vinny.

Family Guy's official Facebook and Twitter pages were bombarded with messages and comments from fans demanding that they bring Brian back.

Hostile messages were also directed towards Family Guy's producing staff, including the show's creator, Seth MacFarlane.

Brian and the rest of the family appear in The Simpsons episode, "Homerland" as guests in the season 25 premiere.

[41] This include Family Guy: It Takes a Village Idiot, and I Married One (ISBN 978-0-7528-7593-4), which covers the entire events of the episode "It Takes a Village Idiot, and I Married One",[42] and Family Guy and Philosophy: A Cure for the Petarded (ISBN 978-1-4051-6316-3), a collection of seventeen essays exploring the connections between the series and historical philosophers.