Philip J. Fry

Species: Human

Planet of Origin: Earth

Birthdate: August 9, 1974

Age: 1026 (biological age: 26)

Voiced By: Billy West

First Appearance: "Space Pilot 3000" (1ACV01)

General Information
Philip J. Fry is one of the key employees at Planet Express. As official Delivery Boy, ship crew member and general oddjob man, he is member of the core delivery crew that does most of Planet Express' actual work. He looks normal enough, only his 20th century clothes and his flaming red, double spiked hairdo make him stand out. He generally wears sneakers, blue jeans, a white T-shirt and a red jacket, but has been seen in other clothes on special occasions. Normally he looks not too well and even has a small beer belly, but there's much worse sights than him.

Fry is not the smartest person around, and usually a big loser. He often does things that are stupid or inconsiderate or both. If one of his crazy ideas goes bad (again), it is generally Leela's job to rescue him. It seems that Fry's mind is filled with a blissful emptiness, waiting for the next TV show, video game or mad impulse to fill it up. Nevertheless, Fry's heart is in the right place, and he cares about his friends, especially Leela with whom he is in love, although she has always rejected him so far. His best friend, however, is Bender - he always wanted a robot for a friend, ever since he was six years old, and Bender seems to be happy with this relationship.

Biography
Philip J. Fry is a true child of the 20th century and of Old New York. In his youth he did a lot of break dancing and was member of a street gang. So far he has refrained from adopting 31st century clothing, probably because no one cares about things like this these days. Since at least 1997 he worked as a delivery boy for Panucci's Pizza which he found an abandoned dog on the streets and named him Seymour (since the prank name was Seymour Asses) after feeding the dog pizza he followed Fry who then kept him. By 1998 he had taught Seymour to sing I'm walking on sunshine, clean up and wait for him after a delivery. Before Fry was frozen Seymore wanted him to stay for new years eve. On new-years eve of 1999, after his girlfriend Michelle broke up with him, he attempted to deliver a pizza to I. C. Wiener at Applied Cryogenics. While there, he was frozen for a thousand years, arriving abrubtly into his new life in the 31st century. On December 31, 2999 he was defrosted and ran straight into Leela who worked as Fate Assignment Officer at the time, and a bit later crossed bender's path. The three of them ended up working for Planet Express, the interstellar delivery company run by Fry's many-times-great-nephew, Hubert Farnsworth. For a time, he was romantically involved with Amy, but this relationship was short-lived. His true love is Leela, who is generally dismissive of his continuous advances. Fry is persistent, though, and has made countless attempts to win Leela's heart - so far without lasting success, but he seems to get closer to his goal. Fry has suffered countless accidents and wounds in his time at Planet Express, for example, he lost an arm on Decapod 10, a Tyrannosaurus ate his hands once, and he was reduced to his head on Europa while on a picnic trip with Amy and Zoidberg. His carreer has seen great heights as well: he briefly was Emperor of Trisol (as Fry the Solid) and multi-billionaire, and has fought in the war on Spheron 1 and against Omicronians with the Earth forces. On one occasion, he was infected with alien worm parasites that actually improved him in a way that Leela fell in love with him, but he wanted to know whether she loved him or what the worms made of him, so he made them leave and reverted to his old self - Leela dumped him on the spot. During this period he learned to play the Holophonor which impressed Leela a great deal, but without the worms he could not play it anymore. He later got a little outside help from the Robot Devil by exchanging his hands for the Robot Devil's and became a great Holophonor performer, but Beelzebot coerced him into giving them back, foiling another attempt to win Leela's heart. Together with Leela and Bender, he formed the The New Justice Team, assuming the name Captain Yesterday and a rather cool 70s style outfit not unakin to Elvis. During a trip back in time to the year 1947, he became his own grandfather, a genetic anomaly that caused a unique condition which makes him the most important person in the universe: Fry lacks the Delta Brain Wave that all other sentient beings possess, making him immune to the Brain Spawn and the greatest asset in the Nibblonians war against this menace. On account of this, Fry was able to save Earth and the entire universe from the Brain Spawn, and in return got the promise that the Nibblonians would assist in his attempts to win Leela's heart.

He lives with Bender in the Robot Arms Apartments.

Name
Outside the show Fry was called Philip after Phil Hartman, who was to play Zapp Brannigan. Fry was originally named Curtis. Within the show Fry was named Philip by his father after phillip screwdrivers. The J. is used in Many of Matt Groening's characters including Homer J. Simpson, Bartholomew J. Simpson and Mona J. Simpson, and is a tribute to Bullwinkle J. Moose. The trend is also followed by Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth, and presumably his son, Cubert Farnsworth, though his is never confirmed.

Family
Fry's family tree is a bit convoluted, due in part to the reuse of common names, but mostly because Fry went back in time and became his own grandpa (3ACV19).
 * Professor Farnsworth, Fry's many-times-great-nephew and at the same time many-times-grandson.
 * Cubert Farnsworth, Hubert Farnsworth's clone
 * Yancy Fry, Jr., Fry's older brother
 * Philip J. Fry, Fry's Nephew, named in Fry's memory
 * Yancy and Mrs. Fry, parents
 * Enos Fry, paternal grandfather
 * Seymour, his dog in the 20th century.
 * Mildred Fry, Grandmother
 * He may also have Amazonian children. (3ACV01)

Trivia

 * Probably the greatest Star Trek fan still alive, with the possible exception of Melllvar.
 * Tried to make out with a radiator once.
 * Used to drink 100 cans of cola a week back in school, right until his third heart attack.
 * Probably sterilized by the F-Ray, if only temporarily.
 * Addicted to Slurm.
 * Once ate a big heaping bowl of salt.
 * Is a slob.
 * Briefly achieved a higher state of existence after consuming 100 cups of coffee.
 * Temporarily became convinced he was a robot.
 * Used to find edible mushrooms on his bathmat.
 * Tried to swap his lungs for gills.
 * Great at video games, but bad at most other things.
 * Possesses creative musical talent.
 * Once possessed a lucky Seven leaf clover.
 * Very impulsive.
 * Dropout of Mars University and Coney Island College.
 * Loves anchovies.
 * Destroyed the Hubble Telescope in an epic space battle.
 * Has no problems in dealing with robots and aliens, may even be a xenophile.
 * Almost snu-snued to death.
 * Has stupid fingers, which prevents him from playing the Holophonor properly without outside help.
 * Was briefly employed at Applied Cryogenics.
 * Very occasionally has flashes of profound insight, but instantly reverts to his usual self and forgets whatever it was he thought of.
 * His favourite song is Walking On Sunshine by Katrina And The Waves.
 * He, along with Leela and Bender, appears in all episodes of the series.
 * Was once the Planet Express Ship Captian, and Also Thinks That Those Fools Should Make Tankers With 6000 and 1 Hulls.

Quotes

 * "No I'm... doesn't!"
 * "Bender! Have you seen my Sombrero?"
 * "People said I was dumb, but I proved them."
 * "That's the saltiest thing I've ever tasted. And I once ate a big, heaping bowl of salt!"