List of Boy Meets World characters
Boy Meets World is an American television sitcom that chronicles the coming of age events and everyday life-lessons of Cory Matthews. The show aired from 1993 to 2000 on ABC, part of the network's TGIF lineup for seven seasons.
Several of the characters that originated on Boy Meets World later appeared in its sequel, Girl Meets World. The only main characters not to make an appearance on Girl Meets World are Rachel McGuire and Eli Williams. For a listing of characters unique to that series, see the list of Girl Meets World characters.
Main characters
Cory Matthews
Cory Matthews is the protagonist of the series. His best friend is Shawn Hunter, and his mother and father are Amy and Alan Matthews. By the end of the series, he has three siblings: Eric, Morgan, and Joshua. Cory is friends with Topanga Lawrence, his "first true love", whom he eventually marries late in the series. He goes to his neighbor and teacher George Feeny for advice on his problems.Cory struggled in high school, where he often had trouble with bullies and has less-than-stellar study habits. Cory's personality changes somewhat as he gets older. For the first few years, he's a slacker and just barely a better student than Shawn. While Cory is the type to get more worked up or neurotic about random things, Shawn is more laid back. During his junior and senior year in high school, Cory becomes a hard working student, able to raise his GPA in addition earning an adequate SAT score to get accepted into colleges. Certain dialogues in Seasons 4 and 5 indicate that he likely had a B-plus average in the second half of his high school career. As the series progresses, Cory's "slacker" tendencies diminish, and his neuroses increase, along with his pessimism and paranoia.
By the end of the series, Cory, Topanga, and their friends eventually left Philadelphia for an internship that Topanga got with a law firm in New York City, and by the time of the events of Girl Meets World, Cory has had two children with Topanga, a daughter named Riley plus a son named Auggie. Cory is, at this point in his life, a seventh-grade history teacher, and his daughter is also in his class. In this spin-off series, Cory, who is now matured and experienced, plays the similar role as his father Alan and George Feeny had: mentoring his children and their friends about life, while still learning his craft as a young teacher.
Mr. Feeny
George Feeny is Cory's teacher/principal, mentor, and neighbor. Throughout the series, Feeny tries his best to guide Cory, Shawn, and their friends as they encounter problems in their lives on their road to adulthood. He first appears on the show as their grade-school teacher. He eventually becomes their high school principal, and lastly college professor. While teaching at John Adams, he encounters Griffin "Griff" Hawkins, portrayed by Adam Scott, who proves to be a bit of a weakness and often leaves Feeny flustered. Later on in the show, Mr. Feeny becomes the mentor and idol of Eric Matthews. Feeny is a Boston native and enjoys gardening. Mr. Feeny was once married to a woman named Lillian, who died before the series began. Although Feeny dated another teacher named Elizabeth from Boston off-screen for 15 years. He later marries Dean Lila Bolander, whom he finds success after his relationship with Elizabeth.He makes a brief cameo at the end of the Girl Meets World pilot episode as a figment of Cory's imagination and appeared again in the third and final season, including the series finale.
Amy Matthews
Amy Matthews is married to Alan Matthews and is the mother of Eric, Cory, Morgan, and Joshua Matthews. During the earlier years of the show, Amy was a real estate agent and eventually became an art gallery worker toward the end of the show. Amy often plays counterpoint to Alan in giving their children discipline and guidance. In dealing with Eric, she always discourages "babying" him, whereas several episodes involving Cory see a much more gentle and motherly Amy.Eric Matthews
Eric Randall Matthews is the elder brother of Cory, Morgan, and Joshua Matthews. He began the show as a suave, popular young man, who constantly went out on dates. He was originally portrayed as the stereotypical elder brother. Eric's character changed mid-series from preppy elder brother to "crazy, moronic brother". Eric often plays off his hero and mentor, Mr. Feeny. Though Eric and Feeny are not originally seen as having a close relationship, the two develop a bond.Eric is actually highly intelligent, but is too lazy and immature to be anything but a ridiculous "goof-off", to the annoyance of his family and Mr. Feeny. During the later years, storylines involving Eric became stranger and wackier. The change from a girl-crazy cool-conscious teenager to a scatter-brained odd-ball was a drastic change. Eric often provides comic relief in tough situations throughout the series. On the contrary, Eric has appeared sensitive when it comes to matters of family and friends.
During the interim between the events of Boy Meets World and the sequel series Girl Meets World, Eric moves upstate, and is elected mayor of St. Upidtown, on the Quebec border. By his own admission, he has no understanding whatsoever of the town's political problems, but the electorate trust him because of his handling of their personal issues.
Initially, Friedle declined to reprise his role in the sequel series Girl Meets World; early plans had Eric's son, Troy, being a prominent part of the cast; the role of the teenage relative was instead filled by Cory and Eric's youngest brother, Joshua. He later became a recurring character starting in season 2. His story arc follows his entry into local politics. He gets strong praise and recommendation from a blogger named T.J. who turns to be a now-grown up Tommy.
Shawn Hunter
Shawn Patrick Hunter was born in Ohio and lived in Oklahoma for a while as a child. He had been in five different schools before the age of 12. Shawn has been the best friend of Cory Matthews for nearly their whole lives, since the two met when Cory fell into an animal pen at a zoo and Shawn came to his rescue. Shawn has a personality almost opposite Cory's; Shawn takes more risks and has more of a bad boy image. This causes problems, but never destroys their friendship. Later seasons depict the relationship between Cory and Shawn as being so close that it causes Topanga to be jealous.In the first season of Boy Meets World, not much is known about Shawn except that he is Cory's best friend. In season two and thereafter, the show begins to focus on Shawn's life as well. In the beginning, Shawn lives with both his parents, Chet and Virna Hunter. One day, Virna runs off with the trailer and Shawn is left under the care of the Matthews family while Chet chases after his wife. When the Matthews find out that Chet will not be returning for a while, [|Jonathan Turner], a teacher at John Adams High School, offers to take care of Shawn and eventually to become his legal guardian. About a year later, Chet comes back and Virna temporarily rejoins her family before eventually taking off again. Shawn goes through several ups and downs throughout the show, including briefly joining a cult and nearly succumbing to alcoholism, similar to his father. In a later season, Shawn's half-brother Jack arrives in town for college. Shawn moves in with Jack and Eric Matthews, Cory's older brother, leaving Chet free to take off again. However, on a trip back to town, during which Chet attempts to reconcile with Shawn and promises to finally stay, Chet dies of a heart attack. In later seasons, Shawn is able to talk to Chet as a ghost. During the final episodes of the series, Shawn discovers that Virna is not his biological mother when she sends him a letter after Chet's death. Apparently, Chet was left to take care of Shawn after his biological mother, who was actually a stripper, left shortly after his birth. Despite the Matthews family's offer to legally adopt Shawn after he discovers this, Shawn declines, declaring that he still has Jack as family and he still needs to take care of the Hunter clan.
Shawn is a ladies' man, a trait which Cory is constantly envious of. However, Shawn is jealous of Cory's close, long-term relationship with Topanga. Later in the series, Shawn falls in love with a girl named Angela. They have a tempestuous relationship, but genuinely care for each other. Angela eventually leaves as well, to travel with her military father.
In the episode "Fraternity Row" it is revealed that during high school Shawn was challenged in writing, but "Poetic License: An Ode to Holden Caulfield", reveals that during college he has improved significantly and additionally has had a lifelong affinity for poetry. He is also a skilled photographer, and nearly chooses a job at a glamour magazine company over college.
At the end of the series, Shawn moves to New York with Cory, Topanga, and Eric. Revealed during Girl Meets World, however, Shawn left New York the day of the birth of Cory and Topanga's daughter Riley, ultimately making a name for himself as a world-traveling writer and photographer. When he returns to the city, he forms a bond with Riley's best friend Maya, sharing a similar childhood upbringing and both coming from broken homes. He also forms a bond with Maya's mother Katy, who shares a similar feeling of abandonment due to her husband and Maya's father's leaving. By the second season, Riley is hopeful that Shawn will become Katy's husband and Maya's father, although Shawn still has unresolved feelings for Angela. Angela returns with news that she has since married a military man, like her now-deceased father, and wants advice on whether she'd be a good mother or not, which she insists can only come from Shawn. Shawn encourages her to be a mother, and Angela encourages Shawn to pursue a relationship with Katy. Shawn and Katy eventually date and get married, and Shawn becomes a father figure to Maya, eventually adopting her in the series finale.
After directing two first-season episodes of Girl Meets World, Rider Strong has become a fixture behind the scenes, while also making appearances in a recurring role.