Dennis Reynolds
Encyclopedia
Dennis Reynolds is a fictional character on the FX television series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
. Dennis is a co-owner of Paddy's and is Deandra
's twin brother. Dennis is extremely narcissistic
, selfish
, histrionic
and vain
. His sense of self-worth
is entirely dependent on what others think of his appearance and sex appeal
. He frequently obsesses over any possibility that he may have a visible physical flaw and often spends the remainder of the episode trying to correct it. Dennis needs constant reassurance that he is attractive; he often goes to shocking or dangerous lengths to gain the attention and approval of people around him. Throughout the series, Dennis frequently drinks large amounts of alcohol
and occasionally uses other drugs
, such as crack cocaine
and ecstasy. He is played by Glenn Howerton
. Dennis is the only one from the show's trio of male lead characters (himself, Mac and Charlie) who does not share a first name or nickname with the actor who portrays him, and Howerton said at a convention that this was deliberately done to distance himself from his role as much as possible.
"Popping off" his shirt in inappropriate situations has become one of Dennis' main clichés. Dennis' delusional self-image
influences him to believe that anyone would want to see him without his shirt and would be just as pleased as he is with what they see.
. He is almost wholly unable to empathize
and routinely destroys others' property, betrays his friends, and harshly criticizes the appearance of people in his presence. He even insults and demeans his friends, particularly Deandra and Charlie
, on a regular basis and never hesitates to draw attention to their flaws, shortcomings, and past failures. This can lead to the conclusion that Dennis has sociopathic tendencies. Both his friends and enemies have referred to him as "a piece of shit" within the series. In response, Dennis usually smiles or laughs and rarely disagrees with their sentiment, seeming to be perfectly comfortable with that description. Dennis openly considers himself to be the epitome of physical attractiveness, but is actually very insecure about his looks. Although he is generally unfazed and often pleased by insults about his personality or nonphysical features, he is very sensitive to any negative remarks about his physical appearance. Any critique of his looks, however mild or trivial, deeply distresses Dennis and often leads him to extreme behavior to rectify the supposed problem. In the episode "The Gang Exploits a Miracle", Deandra counters Dennis' insults by claiming that he has a "fat face" which temporarily causes Dennis to become dangerously anorexic
.
Exceedingly promiscuous
, Dennis tends to easily gain the short-term favor of women. He's claimed that, in his sexual encounters, the words "no", "don't", and "stop" never stop him from following his intentions. It has been revealed that Dennis was once dismissed from a counselor position at a summer camp because he was accused of the statutory rape of an underage
teenage girl, although he maintains he just kissed the girl, who was only a year younger than he was. Members of The Gang comment on his attraction to teenage girls in "Underage Drinking: A National Concern"; in this episode, Dennis ends up being blackmailed by an eighteen-year-old high school senior
into escorting her to her high school prom; however, he showed rare morals and restraint in both turning down the teenager's blatant sexual advances and seeming briefly relieved when she returned to her high school boyfriend. Dennis also has a fascination with anonymous sex, even almost engaging in an underground sex orgy with Frank. Dennis repeatedly shows a poor understanding of the line between seduction and rape. For example, in one episode he did not understand how having sex with a sleeping stranger could possibly be considered rape. In a later episode he failed to understand what was wrong in creating a situation where a woman would agree to have sex with him out of fear for her own safety.
Dennis is also implied to have had a gay
experience while blackout drunk
at the beginning of the first season when Mac
, helping Sweet Dee get revenge, got Dennis drunk on tequila. Though Dennis shows a complete lack of an understanding of the mechanics of gay relationships
, he knows what it means to be a bear or a twink
and understands how a "top" differs from a "bottom"; he explains to The Gang that "speed is the name of the game" when defining the role of a "power bottom." The possibly-ambiguous nature of his sexuality and gender identity has been explored in other episodes and is usually connected to his vanity and need for peer approval.
Dennis' taste in music is primarily what Mac calls "early-eighties glam-rock
femme-shit." Dennis is seen singing along with songs of Rick Astley
on multiple occasions. He also professes to being a huge fan of Steve Winwood
, having replaced a fitness instructor's CD with Winwood's "Higher Love
" at the local gym and bragging that he owns "all of Steve Winwood's shit" on separate occasions. Despite making less than $400 a week at the bar, Dennis' family's wealth enables him to wear stylish clothing, live in a large apartment and drive a Land Rover
. He is the most educated of The Gang, having graduated from University of Pennsylvania
in 1998 with a bachelors degree. Though it's not known what his major was, he mentions that he minored in psychology but failed to achieve his original ambition to become a veterinarian. He also has some artistic talent that he expresses by drawing cartoonish, large-breasted women, which Charlie finds oddly enticing. It is once hinted in the episode, "Dee Gives Birth" that Dennis may be interested in Norse mythology, after he threatens to rain down "the fury of Thor's hammer" onto the hospital, after the Nurse says she can not find Dee a room with a working television.
Unlike Charlie and Dee, Dennis was relatively popular in high school. According to Dennis, this was due mainly to his "good looks and charm" (though his popularity with women is hinted to have been mainly because of his family's wealth). In high school, he was notorious for hooking up with younger girls, according to Dee. His popularity continued into college at the University of Pennsylvania
, and in the episode "The Gang Reignites the Rivalry" he repeatedly states that he was "a legend" at his chapter of the Delta Omega Lambda fraternity, in fact his picture on the wall of the frat house was defaced and he was mocked and beaten by the current frat members. His narcissism caused him to believe that he would still be accepted and revered in the house, despite being in his 30s and when he was proven to be mistaken his behavior grew increasingly unhinged eventually leading to him (with help from Mac, Charlie and Frank) to put non lethal poison in the alcoholic drinks of the fraternity members and Dee. Despite his antisocial behavior Dennis has shown on numerous occasions to have a softer side. He developed a genuine affection for an indestructible junkyard cat he briefly adopted and named Special Agent Jack Bauer and in a later episode he revealed that he had hoped to be married by the time he was 30 contradicting his love of anonymous, no strings attached sex. However shortly after expressing this desire and marrying an old girlfriend he filed for divorce when he soon grew irritated with his wife's behavior and desire to spend time with him. In the episode "Dee Gives Birth" despite showing complete indifference to his sister's pregnancy up until that point he grew attached to the idea of becoming a father figure to (what he thought to be) Dee's child.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is an American television sitcom that premiered on FX on August 4, 2005. New episodes continue to air on FX, with reruns playing on Comedy Central, general broadcast syndication, and WGN America—the first-ever cable-to-cable syndication deal for a sitcom...
. Dennis is a co-owner of Paddy's and is Deandra
Deandra Reynolds
Deandra "Sweet Dee" Reynolds is a fictional character on the FX television series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, portrayed by actress Kaitlin Olson. Dee was the only major character in the show to be conceived without an actor in mind...
's twin brother. Dennis is extremely narcissistic
Narcissism
Narcissism is a term with a wide range of meanings, depending on whether it is used to describe a central concept of psychoanalytic theory, a mental illness, a social or cultural problem, or simply a personality trait...
, selfish
Selfishness
Selfishness denotes an excessive or exclusive concern with oneself, and as such it exceeds mere self interest or self concern. Insofar as a decision maker knowingly burdens or harms others for personal gain, the decision is selfish. In contrast, self-interest is more general...
, histrionic
Histrionic personality disorder
Histrionic personality disorder is defined by the American Psychiatric Association as a personality disorder characterized by a pattern of excessive emotionality and attention-seeking, including an excessive need for approval and inappropriately seductive behavior, usually beginning in early...
and vain
Vanity
In conventional parlance, vanity is the excessive belief in one's own abilities or attractiveness to others. Prior to the 14th century it did not have such narcissistic undertones, and merely meant futility. The related term vainglory is now often seen as an archaic synonym for vanity, but...
. His sense of self-worth
Self-esteem
Self-esteem is a term in psychology to reflect a person's overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her own worth. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs and emotions such as triumph, despair, pride and shame: some would distinguish how 'the self-concept is what we think about the self; self-esteem, the...
is entirely dependent on what others think of his appearance and sex appeal
Sexual attraction
Sexual attractiveness or sex appeal refers to an individual's ability to attract the sexual or erotic interest of another person, and is a factor in sexual selection or mate choice. The attraction can be to the physical or other qualities or traits of a person, or to such qualities in the context...
. He frequently obsesses over any possibility that he may have a visible physical flaw and often spends the remainder of the episode trying to correct it. Dennis needs constant reassurance that he is attractive; he often goes to shocking or dangerous lengths to gain the attention and approval of people around him. Throughout the series, Dennis frequently drinks large amounts of alcohol
Ethanol
Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a...
and occasionally uses other drugs
Psychoactive drug
A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, or psychotropic is a chemical substance that crosses the blood–brain barrier and acts primarily upon the central nervous system where it affects brain function, resulting in changes in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition, and behavior...
, such as crack cocaine
Crack cocaine
Crack cocaine is the freebase form of cocaine that can be smoked. It may also be termed rock, hard, iron, cavvy, base, or just crack; it is the most addictive form of cocaine. Crack rocks offer a short but intense high to smokers...
and ecstasy. He is played by Glenn Howerton
Glenn Howerton
Glenn Franklin Howerton III is an American actor of television and film. He is best known for his role as Dennis Reynolds on FX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia...
. Dennis is the only one from the show's trio of male lead characters (himself, Mac and Charlie) who does not share a first name or nickname with the actor who portrays him, and Howerton said at a convention that this was deliberately done to distance himself from his role as much as possible.
"Popping off" his shirt in inappropriate situations has become one of Dennis' main clichés. Dennis' delusional self-image
Self image
A person's self-image is the mental picture, generally of a kind that is quite resistant to change, that depicts not only details that are potentially available to objective investigation by others A person's self-image is the mental picture, generally of a kind that is quite resistant to change,...
influences him to believe that anyone would want to see him without his shirt and would be just as pleased as he is with what they see.
Description
Dennis has a strong superiority complexSuperiority complex
Superiority complex refers to an exaggerated feeling of being superior to others. The term was coined by Alfred Adler , as part of his School of Individual psychology...
. He is almost wholly unable to empathize
Empathy
Empathy is the capacity to recognize and, to some extent, share feelings that are being experienced by another sapient or semi-sapient being. Someone may need to have a certain amount of empathy before they are able to feel compassion. The English word was coined in 1909 by E.B...
and routinely destroys others' property, betrays his friends, and harshly criticizes the appearance of people in his presence. He even insults and demeans his friends, particularly Deandra and Charlie
Charlie Kelly (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia)
Charles "Charlie" Kelly is a fictional character on the FX television series "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," portrayed by Charlie Day. Charlie is co-owner at Paddy's and a childhood friend of Mac and Dennis...
, on a regular basis and never hesitates to draw attention to their flaws, shortcomings, and past failures. This can lead to the conclusion that Dennis has sociopathic tendencies. Both his friends and enemies have referred to him as "a piece of shit" within the series. In response, Dennis usually smiles or laughs and rarely disagrees with their sentiment, seeming to be perfectly comfortable with that description. Dennis openly considers himself to be the epitome of physical attractiveness, but is actually very insecure about his looks. Although he is generally unfazed and often pleased by insults about his personality or nonphysical features, he is very sensitive to any negative remarks about his physical appearance. Any critique of his looks, however mild or trivial, deeply distresses Dennis and often leads him to extreme behavior to rectify the supposed problem. In the episode "The Gang Exploits a Miracle", Deandra counters Dennis' insults by claiming that he has a "fat face" which temporarily causes Dennis to become dangerously anorexic
Anorexia nervosa
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by refusal to maintain a healthy body weight and an obsessive fear of gaining weight. Although commonly called "anorexia", that term on its own denotes any symptomatic loss of appetite and is not strictly accurate...
.
Exceedingly promiscuous
Promiscuity
In humans, promiscuity refers to less discriminating casual sex with many sexual partners. The term carries a moral or religious judgement and is viewed in the context of the mainstream social ideal for sexual activity to take place within exclusive committed relationships...
, Dennis tends to easily gain the short-term favor of women. He's claimed that, in his sexual encounters, the words "no", "don't", and "stop" never stop him from following his intentions. It has been revealed that Dennis was once dismissed from a counselor position at a summer camp because he was accused of the statutory rape of an underage
Age of consent
While the phrase age of consent typically does not appear in legal statutes, when used in relation to sexual activity, the age of consent is the minimum age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. The European Union calls it the legal age for sexual...
teenage girl, although he maintains he just kissed the girl, who was only a year younger than he was. Members of The Gang comment on his attraction to teenage girls in "Underage Drinking: A National Concern"; in this episode, Dennis ends up being blackmailed by an eighteen-year-old high school senior
Twelfth grade
Twelfth grade or Senior year, or Grade Twelve, are the North American names for the final year of secondary school. In most countries students then graduate at age 17 or 18. In some countries, there is a thirteenth grade, while other countries do not have a 12th grade/year at all...
into escorting her to her high school prom; however, he showed rare morals and restraint in both turning down the teenager's blatant sexual advances and seeming briefly relieved when she returned to her high school boyfriend. Dennis also has a fascination with anonymous sex, even almost engaging in an underground sex orgy with Frank. Dennis repeatedly shows a poor understanding of the line between seduction and rape. For example, in one episode he did not understand how having sex with a sleeping stranger could possibly be considered rape. In a later episode he failed to understand what was wrong in creating a situation where a woman would agree to have sex with him out of fear for her own safety.
Dennis is also implied to have had a gay
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
experience while blackout drunk
Blackout (alcohol-related amnesia)
A blackout is a phenomenon caused by the intake of alcohol or other substance in which long term memory creation is impaired or there is a complete inability to recall the past. Blackouts are frequently described as having effects similar to that of anterograde amnesia, in which the subject cannot...
at the beginning of the first season when Mac
Mac (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia)
"Mac" is a fictional character on the FX television series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Mac is Charlie's childhood friend and Dennis's high school friend and later roommate. He is a co-owner of Paddy's and generally the pub's most active manager. Mac is played by Rob McElhenney...
, helping Sweet Dee get revenge, got Dennis drunk on tequila. Though Dennis shows a complete lack of an understanding of the mechanics of gay relationships
Same-sex relationship
A same-sex relationship is a relationship between two persons of the same sex and can take many forms, from romantic and sexual, to non-romantic close relationships. The term is mainly associated with gay and lesbian people...
, he knows what it means to be a bear or a twink
Twink (gay slang)
"Twink" is a gay slang term describing a young or young-looking gay man with a slender, ectomorph build, little or no body hair, and no facial hair. In some societies, the term chick or chicken is preferred. The related term twinkle-toes, which implies that a man is effeminate, tends to be used in...
and understands how a "top" differs from a "bottom"; he explains to The Gang that "speed is the name of the game" when defining the role of a "power bottom." The possibly-ambiguous nature of his sexuality and gender identity has been explored in other episodes and is usually connected to his vanity and need for peer approval.
Dennis' taste in music is primarily what Mac calls "early-eighties glam-rock
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
femme-shit." Dennis is seen singing along with songs of Rick Astley
Rick Astley
Richard Paul "Rick" Astley is an English singer-songwriter, musician, and radio personality. He is known for his 1987 song, "Never Gonna Give You Up", which was a #1 hit single in 25 countries...
on multiple occasions. He also professes to being a huge fan of Steve Winwood
Steve Winwood
Stephen Lawrence "Steve" Winwood is an English international recording artist whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is a songwriter and a musician whose genres include soul music , R&B, rock, blues-rock, pop-rock, and jazz...
, having replaced a fitness instructor's CD with Winwood's "Higher Love
Higher Love
"Higher Love" is a 1986 number-one hit song by Steve Winwood. It was the first single released from his fourth solo LP, Back in the High Life. It was written by Winwood and Will Jennings, and produced by Russ Titelman and Winwood...
" at the local gym and bragging that he owns "all of Steve Winwood's shit" on separate occasions. Despite making less than $400 a week at the bar, Dennis' family's wealth enables him to wear stylish clothing, live in a large apartment and drive a Land Rover
Land Rover
Land Rover is a British car manufacturer with its headquarters in Gaydon, Warwickshire, United Kingdom which specialises in four-wheel-drive vehicles. It is owned by the Indian company Tata Motors, forming part of their Jaguar Land Rover group...
. He is the most educated of The Gang, having graduated from University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
in 1998 with a bachelors degree. Though it's not known what his major was, he mentions that he minored in psychology but failed to achieve his original ambition to become a veterinarian. He also has some artistic talent that he expresses by drawing cartoonish, large-breasted women, which Charlie finds oddly enticing. It is once hinted in the episode, "Dee Gives Birth" that Dennis may be interested in Norse mythology, after he threatens to rain down "the fury of Thor's hammer" onto the hospital, after the Nurse says she can not find Dee a room with a working television.
Unlike Charlie and Dee, Dennis was relatively popular in high school. According to Dennis, this was due mainly to his "good looks and charm" (though his popularity with women is hinted to have been mainly because of his family's wealth). In high school, he was notorious for hooking up with younger girls, according to Dee. His popularity continued into college at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, and in the episode "The Gang Reignites the Rivalry" he repeatedly states that he was "a legend" at his chapter of the Delta Omega Lambda fraternity, in fact his picture on the wall of the frat house was defaced and he was mocked and beaten by the current frat members. His narcissism caused him to believe that he would still be accepted and revered in the house, despite being in his 30s and when he was proven to be mistaken his behavior grew increasingly unhinged eventually leading to him (with help from Mac, Charlie and Frank) to put non lethal poison in the alcoholic drinks of the fraternity members and Dee. Despite his antisocial behavior Dennis has shown on numerous occasions to have a softer side. He developed a genuine affection for an indestructible junkyard cat he briefly adopted and named Special Agent Jack Bauer and in a later episode he revealed that he had hoped to be married by the time he was 30 contradicting his love of anonymous, no strings attached sex. However shortly after expressing this desire and marrying an old girlfriend he filed for divorce when he soon grew irritated with his wife's behavior and desire to spend time with him. In the episode "Dee Gives Birth" despite showing complete indifference to his sister's pregnancy up until that point he grew attached to the idea of becoming a father figure to (what he thought to be) Dee's child.