Vinny Filipeli

Vincent Santiago Griffin
Vinny Griffin
Name	Vincent Santiago Filipeli
Age	4 (human years)/28 (dog years)
Job(s)	Mobster (formerly)
Relatives	Victor Filipeli (father) Valeria Filipeli (mother)
Voice	Tony Sirico

Vincent "Vinny" Santiago Griffin (formerly Filipeli) is a dog that became the pet of the Griffin family as a replacement for Brian Griffin in the episode "A Filler in Need", following his death in "Life of Brian". In "Christmas Guy", Stewie went back in time to save Brian, erasing Vinny's legacy from existence. He is voiced by the late Tony Sirico.

Biography

The earliest of Vinny's life that has been traced is back when he was a young adult. No information about his parents or familial heritage is known, though he does claim to know a lot about his familial heritage, as he claims to be 1/16th cat. Vinny identifies as a Pussyhound, meaning that there must be some pussy cats and hound dogs in his family somewhere. His middle name, "Santiago" is also Cuban, so although he's mainly Italian. At least one of those 16ths has also got to be Cuban. Seriously, this guy's got some colorful characters in his background. Why did they never explore that back when he was on the show? Anyway, Vinny used to be in a gang. An Italian mobster gang and they were never up to any good.

Eventually, Vinny decided that he was done with being in a gang and he wanted to leave and live a normal life. He wanted to live with a family, just like normal dogs. So, he rented a cage at the pet store and waited there for a few days. It wasn't long before the Griffin family walked in and bought him as a replacement dog for Brian.

In the episode "Christmas Guy", Stewie found his past self, walking through the Christmas store and was able to catch him and get the return pad, sending him back in time the to moment when Brian died, so he could save him and set his life back to normal again. This meant that this was the end of Vinny and also that alternate timeline version of Stewie, so he vanished from existence, making it so that none of the stories with Vinny ever happened. The only very minor trace of Vinny was Stewie telling Brian about his death. He didn't mention Vinny though, so, there was none of that.

In the episode "The Boys in the Band", Stewie and Brian started up a duet band, called Red Shirt Blue Shirt. Both of them were replaced by the end of the episode. Stewie was replaced by Olivia, and later, Brian was replaced, explaining that he was replaced by a dog that neither of them have even seen or heard of before. The next thing you know, Vinny was on stage, taking Brian's place as the blue shirt of the band. This is Vinny's first appearance that hasn't been erased from the story's timeline.

In the episode "Nanny Goats", Brian was shot dead, by Stewie's rogue babysitter. Vinny then walked through the door, saying "Ay! Anyone in need of a pet dog slash false babysitter-assasin?"

Appearance

Vinny is an anthropomorphic dog, who is apparently a crossbreed between a pussy cat and a hound dog. He has light brown, slightly tan fur with an extremely lightly tanned extra set of fur, covering his body from his nose underneathings to his belly bottoms. He has a slightly pointy nose with a black nose on the end of it and little ears on the sides of his head. He has thick, black, rectangular black eyebrows. He wears a black collar with a golden circular tag on it. He talks with a wicked sweet Italian-American accent.

Personality

Vinny's a Wiseguy (well, Wisedog) with an Italian accent, and a streetwise attitude. Growing up being an Italian mobster, he acts tough, beats up people for acting different, and tends to insult people on occasions. But despite his Mafia connections, he actually does care deeply for the Griffins who took him in, especially Stewie. As he tried to help Stewie get over Brian's death, find Brian in Hell and help Stewie go back in time to save Brian's life, knowing fully well that this would result in him never being adopted by Peter.

Episode Appearances

Old Timeline

• A Filler in Need
• Mobsters Inc.
• Encyclopedia Griffin
• Boopa-Dee Bappa-Dee
• Vestigial Peter
• A Play on Turds
• Ganging Down
• Baby Got Black
• Replaced: Brian's Story
• It's in the Yard
• A New Lease on Death
• Grimm Job
• One of the Girls
• Road House
• He's Bla-ack!
• Death of a Mailman
• 3 Acts of God
• Italian Stu
• A White for the Coloreds
• Into Harmony's Way
• Turkey Guys
• Hot Pocket-Dial
• Wacky Races
• Road to New York
• Christmas Guy (Timeline's erased)

New Timeline

• The Boys in the Band (Cameo)
• Inside Family Guy (Fairy Tale Version; Pictured)
• Nanny Goats (Cameo)
• Stand By Meg (Non-Speaking Cameo)
• Christmas is Coming (Cameo)
• No Giggity, No Doubt (Non-Speaking Cameo)
• There's a New Mayor in Town (Cameo)

Trivia

• In one episode, Peter said that after Brian dies, they should replace with with a Great Dane. However, when he did, they got this old thing ... still pretty cool though.
• It isn’t known what happened to Vinny after his last cameo.
  • Due to the death of his voice actor, Tony Sirico, it can be implied that Vinny is deceased as well, following Family Guy's tradition of writing off characters when their voice actors die.