Meg Griffin

In early seasons Meg was a self-conscious, insecure teenager who wanted to join the popular crowd at school and was rebuffed, particularly by head cheerleader Connie D'Amico. Neil Goldman, a classmate, pursued her instead, much to her dismay. She usually puts up with mistreatment but occasionally snaps: she confronts her parents and Chris in "Seahorse Seashell Party" and attacks a man after a minor car accident in "Road to Rupert". Later seasons make her more sarcastic and unpredictable. Despite how she is treated, Meg has shown skill at bird calls, the saxophone, foreign languages and several sports, and her parents are usually surprised by this. Many of her storylines involve attempts to improve her life or find a boyfriend, and she has fixated on men who show her kindness, including Joe Swanson and Brian.

Peter treats Meg worse than anyone else in the household and makes her the target of his jokes. Several episodes nonetheless show he cares about her, such as "Meg and Quagmire", where he stops Glenn Quagmire from pursuing her. Lois seldom intervenes and often belittles Meg's lack of popularity, although in earlier seasons she tried to boost her daughter's confidence. Brian initially showed her more decency than the rest of the family, but from around the tenth season he takes pleasure in mistreating her. Stewie is dismissive of her at times but warms to her in several episodes, and she saves him from choking in "Stand by Meg". Her closest bond is with Chris, who shares some of the family's abuse; the two team up in episodes such as "The Heartbreak Dog" and "Young Parent Trap".

Lacey Chabert voiced Meg without credit in the first season. She left when her schooling and her part in Party of Five took up her time, and Mila Kunis took over. Some Chabert episodes aired in the second season because of production order. Kunis won the part after several auditions and callbacks in which she was asked to slow down and enunciate. MacFarlane felt her work on That '70s Show proved she could carry a scene. Her voice is first heard as Meg in "Da Boom", and the two voices alternate in broadcast order before settling on Kunis. Tara Strong sings for Meg in "Don't Make Me Over". Archive recordings of Chabert are used in "Back to the Pilot", and Chabert returned for "Yug Ylimaf". Cree Summer has said she was offered the role before being dropped.

IGN ranked Meg eleventh in its list of the top 25 Family Guy characters. Critical opinion of how the writers have handled her is mixed. Kevin McFarland of The A.V. Club, reviewing "Seahorse Seashell Party", argued that the show had spent years making her a scapegoat rather than developing her. Kunis has said in interviews that the character is stuck as a perpetually awkward sixteen-year-old and that she enjoys playing that. In November 2016 showrunner Alec Sulkin told Splitsider that the writers wanted to develop Meg and Chris further. He added that an episode in which Meg comes out as a lesbian had been discussed but not finalised.