| “ | You should know when you hold hands with me, you are holding hands with everything I’ve ever eaten. | ” |
- Gene Belcher
|
Eugene "Gene" Belcher is the middle child of Bob and Linda Belcher and the tritagonist of Bob's Burgers. He is the only boy out of the three siblings. Gene is an aspiring musician and a prankster. He maintains very close relationships with both of his parents and two sisters, Tina and Louise Belcher. Gene, along with Tina, is usually a pawn in schemes set up by Louise. He attends Wagstaff School with his siblings.
Profile
Appearance
Gene has black hair, tan skin, and brown eyes, like his father (as revealed in The Gene and Courtney Show). He is 3'6". He wears a yellow shirt, blue shorts, and red All-Star Converse sneakers. When promoting the restaurant, he often wears a burger costume. In the episode "Beefsquatch", he wore a Sasquatch mask. In earlier episodes, Gene claims to have peed in his burger suit, despite Bob's insistence that he stop.
Gene also has very frequently been seen in his underwear.
His nightwear consists of a light green long-sleeved top, with light green shorts, and occasionally slippers. From Slumber Party, onwards they consist of a white top with sky blue sleeves and sky blue shorts.
In Synchronized Swimming, he wears a girls swimsuit. In The Kids Rob a Train, he wears overalls and a red bandana. In Tina Tailor Soldier Spy, he wears a purple shirt that says Jessica, one boot and 2002 plastic glasses.
He is generally perceived as overweight. According to Gene, it was an ice-cream sandwich that initiated his weight gain.
Personality
Gene enjoys pestering everyone around him by using sound effects with either his Casio SK-5 keyboard or his megaphone. He frequently records fart sounds and uses them as sound effects and additions to his music.
Gene is an 11-year-old boy, and though he’s shown to be mature for his age in a number of episodes, he has a gross sense of humor. His favorite jokes and quips often involve excrement, his genitals, and/or farts.
In Broadcast Wagstaff School News, it’s discovered that Gene looks just like Bob when he was 11. Gene then begins to dress and act like Bob when he accepts that he is destined to look like him when he gets older, even giving himself a bald-spot.
Gene has a passion for flamboyant performance art and loves to tell jokes and be the center of attention. He takes the opportunity to act as a musician whenever he can, as seen in the episode Burger War when he performs at Jimmy Pesto's restaurant.
Gene is highly creative but has a short attention span and often quits or won't start anything that requires a strenuous amount of effort. However, when he puts his mind to it he is shown to accomplish a lot and write ingenious songs despite having no training such as Topsy, Work Hard or Die Trying, Girl, Turkey in a Can, and The Quirkducers. In Work Hard or Die Trying, Girl, he performs a one man Die Hard themed musical, which he claims to be his life's work, in the basement of Wagstaff School. He plays the tambourine (Sexy Dance Fighting) and the guitar (The Cook, the Steve, the Gayle & Her Lover). However, in the Itty Bitty Ditty Committee, it’s revealed that Gene has no formal music training, and although the keyboard is his main instrument, he only knows how to play in two keys.
Like his father, Gene has interesting connections with inanimate objects. He befriends a talking toilet in O.T. The Outside Toilet. In Mutiny on the Windbreaker he develops a confused feeling for a manatee puppet. In Glued, Where's My Bob?, Linda mentions he talks to his stuffed animals.
In the episode It Snakes a Village, Gene's phobia of snakes is revealed. He translates this phobia into a brief song about the fact that he doesn’t like snakes due to their lack of arms and legs.
Gene is easily distracted and a free spirit and is identified by Linda as the "least responsible" of the three kids. These traits are the theme of Best Burger, when Gene forgets to bring the black garlic to a burger making competition.
Despite his age, Gene shows maturity in Lil Hard Dad when he encourages Bob to let go of an argument about a broken toy helicopter.
Gene is extremely un-athletic but does play baseball in The Unnatural. Gene becomes cheer captain in Gene it On and his team competes in the regional competition. Despite being terrible at sports and such, he was athletic enough to be a stand-in for Courtney's usual rollerskating partner in Roller? I Hardly Know Her!.
Gene enters a Table Scaping competition (because it was the only non-athletic after-school activity) in Boyz4Now and makes it to the regional competition. Although he makes it to the final round, he doesn’t win because he fails to prepare a second display.
Gene's love of fashion is highlighted in several episodes. In A River Runs Through Bob, he refuses to throw away Tina's sash because it is satin. In Tina Tailor Soldier Spy, he digs through trash to create his own fashion line. In Slumber Party, he joins the fashion show. In The Homone-iums, he asks about working in a female shoe store.
Gene also loves food and inquires about or talks about eating in many episodes.
Relationships
Relatives
Bob Belcher
Bob Belcher is Gene's father. Though Bob and Gene have a close and loving relationship, they don't have much in common, and sometimes find it hard to bond (Spaghetti Western and Meatballs), especially as neither are very athletic (The Unnatural). Bob often chastises Gene for his more inappropriate jokes and rambunctious behavior.
Sometimes, Gene gets privileges that come with being his father's only son, like being called to help Bob when he fell down the stairs in I Get Psy-chic Out of You and joining his father in a Valentine's Day couples trapeze date in V for Valentine-detta.
Linda Belcher
Linda is Gene's mother. The two have an extremely close relationship and have lots in common, namely their love for performance and showbusiness. When Gene writes a story for his aunt Gayle in The Gayle Tales, it features the two as country stars on the Nashville mainstage, and when Bob and the girls leave the restaurant in the care to Gene and Linda, they live their long-time dream of creating a piano bar, "Gene and Linda's Show Tunes and Mouth Foods" (The Hurt Soccer).
Gene loves receiving his mother's affections, like getting hugs and smooches from her. When Linda gets a job at Fresh Feed, Gene claims her apron as his own, explaining "because it smells like her and I'm 11 and I still like mom" (Lindapendent Woman). Gene also brings his mother's Maxi Pads with him to school (Cheer Up, Sleepy Gene).
Louise Belcher
Louise is Gene's younger sister, but as discussed in the episode Large Brother, Where Fart Thou?, he doesn't do traditional big brother stuff. This changes when Gene defends Louise from Logan at the end of the episode. Usually, though, Gene usually follows along in Louise's schemes, either willingly or otherwise. The two often unite to help, spy on, read the diary of, or trick their older sister Tina.
Tina Belcher
Tina is 2 years older than her brother Gene. Usually, the two are on the same page, often on the receiving end of manipulation and scheming from youngest sister Louise, and on the rare occasion, teaming up against her. Though infrequently, Tina can sometimes express exasperation with her little brother's antics, like in The Belchies and Best Burger. Tina sees a duty in being Gene's sister, telling Louise: "We're his sisters! What if we don't approve [of his girlfriend]?" (The Unbearable Like-Likeness of Gene).
Love-Interests
Courtney Wheeler
In The Unbearable Like-Likeness of Gene, Gene reluctantly agrees to date an annoying girl named Courtney. He finally works up the nerve to break up with her, but then he finds out that her dad writes jingles and could help him land a career in the music business, and becomes conflicted. He writes a jingle demo for her birthday party and, after seething with frustration, Gene angrily demands Courtney to "just stop breathing". As a result, Courtney faints and is hospitalized due to her congenital heart condition. She tricks Gene into thinking that he killed her as revenge, and asks if he can set her up with Peter Pescadero.
He later discovers that Doug has used one of his jingles in a silent muffler commercial.
Courtney and Gene reunite as a musical duo for the morning announcements in The Gene & Courtney Show. As they work together, they begin to rekindle their relationship and eventually kiss. When Doug confronts Gene about using Courtney again, Gene promises that this time his feelings are genuine. As the couple becomes more romantic, however, their morning announcement radio show suffers. They decide that they can't do both, and Courtney chooses the show over the relationship. Hurt, Gene pretends to agree, but plays her one final romantic song on the Valentine's Day morning announcements. Since this episode, it's assumed that The Gene & Courtney Show has continued daily, presumably Gene and Courtney spend a lot of time together to prepare for the announcements.
Courtney appears again in Roller? I Hardly Know Her! but not as a romantic interest. To the contrary, Alex admits that he has a crush on Courtney (And every other girl in their grade), and Gene seems unfazed. By the end of the episode, Gene, Alex, and Courtney are all friends with each other after bonding over the experience at the roller rink and are seen playing Robo-Wizard Quest together at the end of the episode.
Her final appearance to date is in "The Gene Mile," where she goes to the ice cream store with Regular Sized Rudy, Louise, and Alex.
Friendships
Regular Sized Rudy
Largely by proxy, it seems, Gene is friends with Regular Sized Rudy (who is better friends with Louise as they are in the same school year). Their relationship is sidelined in relevant episodes, like in The Kids Rob a Train, Dawn of the Peck or The Itty Bitty Ditty Committee. Both Gene and Rudy are major characters in these episodes but the relationships between other characters are definitely hierarchically higher than theirs.
The most of their relationship that can be seen in an episode is in Y Tu Ga-Ga Tambien, as their relationship changes over the course of the plot. Near the beginning, it can be assumed that they tend to spend recesses together (along with Tina and Louise) but Rudy is the first to leave the group when Ga-Ga Ball comes to Wagstaff. This implies a lot about their relationship and Rudy's lack of interest in Gene's recess activities overall.
Zeke
Alex Papasian
Alex's first appearance is in the episode Cheer Up, Sleepy Gene wherein he and Gene bond over their inability to perform in P.E. This leads to Alex inviting Gene over to a sleepover where Alex tries to run away from home but is hopelessly underprepared. In this episode, a more serious and responsible side of Gene is shown and the two boys have a sort of falling out before coming back together and becoming good friends by the end of the episode.
His second appearance is in Roller? I Hardly Know Her! where his relationship with Gene is explored further and it is stated that he and Gene have become best friends since Alex's first episode. In this episode, Alex says he has a crush on every girl in their grade (including Courtney), but Gene reacts in a way that would imply that he is over Courtney or that he is only friends with her now.
In The Gene Mile, Alex is one of the kids who plans, with Gene, to go to the ice cream store during the mile.
Jimmy Pesto, Jr.
Story
Gene was born to Bob and Linda Belcher. He has an older sister named Tina and a younger sister named Louise.
Quotes
- “A fart is like fingerprints and we have the same fingerprints!”
- “I'm just a girl with a dream who got tired of hearing the word no!”
- “As long as we're giving orders, put some clothes on! Leave something to the imagination, for God's sake!”— "Beefsquatch"
- “I can't take all the credit! I'd like to thank this brick and Quest Love.”— "The Belchies"
- “I’m gonna write a eulogy. I knew you so briefly you dead soap dog.”
- “No one blackmails our sister but us!”— "Bad Tina"
- “We're Belchers, from the womb to the tomb!”— "Bad Tina"
- “Was it obvious I don't care?”— "Burgerboss"
- “My life is more difficult than anyone else's on the planet. And yes, I'm including starving children, so don't ask!”
- “I think I have the best legs in the family, and the smoothest bottom.”
- “I was BORN to be a mother!”
- “A world without a Gene is not a world I want to live in.”— "Sliding Bobs"
- “Next time we do this I'm getting an epidural!”
- “Come on! If you're going to be loud, you've gotta be proud!”— "Bad Tina"
Gallery
- Main article: Gene Belcher/Gallery
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Archer version
- Main article: Archer/Bob's Burgers connection
Trivia
- He is shown to be incredibly impulsive, often doing and saying things with little to no thought as the consequences or what they imply. Another way of saying this is how he blurts out anything that comes to his mind.
- In "My Fuzzy Valentine", Louise refers to Gene as "Eugene", proving that this is his real name for which Gene is short, meaning that he shares his first name with his voice actor, Eugene Mirman.
- The name Gene means "well-born".
- Despite Gene's love of music, he has no training and he has never shown an interest in partaking in formal lessons.
- He also has acknowledged, in "The Kids Run the Restaurant", that he is not a good singer (though Gene sings/plays a lot of the songs in the show)
- Gene is in between being a teen and a child, and unlike Tina Belcher (Gene's eldest sister), has shown a preference for remaining young. He prefers to stay close to home and his parents, especially Linda.
- Gene is closest to Linda Belcher due to their love of music and shared eccentricities.
- Gene is in sixth grade at Wagstaff School.
- Gene is the only Belcher with visible ears.
- In the episode "Moody Foodie", it is revealed Gene is uncircumcised. This is mentioned again in "Mazel-Tina" after Bob agrees to cater Tammy's Bat Mitzvah.
- It is suggested that Big Bob wanted Gene to be named Bob after him like his father before him ("Father of the Bob").
- In the episode "My Big Fat Greek Bob", Gene reveals that he has had a secret cat living under his bed for 8 months.
- In "Bad Tina", Gene reveals that he has and uses a litterbox under his bed.
- Gene was born late, after his due date and Linda implies his birth was difficult in "Ear-sy Rider".
- Also in "Ear-sy Rider", it is stated that Gene had a pet fish to prove he was responsible enough to get a dog (but he was not, and it is implied the fish died).
- Has a 28-year-old albino friend named Ken, who does improvised hip-hop. It is unknown if Ken is imaginary or not.
- Like Bob, Gene has an allergy to lobsters, as seen in "Lobsterfest".
- Gene's keyboard is a Casio SK-5, both Loren Bouchard and Eugene Mirman had one when they were kids.[2]
- Gene likes sand ("Carpe Museum").
- Calls his testicles "Two Small Coincidences." ("I Get Psy-chic Out of You")
- He also calls them his "money twins." ("The Taking of Funtime One Two Three")
- Gene is a Sagittarius, which means his birthday is between November 23rd and December 21st. ("O.T.: The Outside Toilet")
- In "Stand by Gene", Louise mentions that Gene once had a concussion.
- He does not remember getting a concussion.
- Gene doesn't know his own middle name because Linda won't tell him. ("Midday Run")
- Sometimes Gene dresses as the opposite gender and enjoys doing so. He also refers to himself as feminine quite often, and will respond when someone treats him like a girl. His family is mostly supportive of his gender fluidity; Louise has referred to Gene as her "sister" on multiple occasions, but Bob once chastised Gene for insisting he had a vagina. It is unknown if this behavior is indicative of a specific gender-fluidity orientation, or a result of him simply being eccentric, impulsive individual.
- The crew and cast have been asked about this, but essentially declined to comment because of their belief that, at Gene's age, it wouldn't matter (and he likely wouldn't have really thought about gender/sexuality at all yet).
- In "Crawl Space", Gene had a history report and when he was called to the board, he was scolded, then sent to detention for playing his grandparents' sex sounds in front of the entire class.
- Gene's favorite candy is Chunky Blast Offs, manufactured by Spratt's Sweets. ("Like Gene for Chocolate")
- When Linda and Bob were drunk, they signed Gene up for ballet in the episode, "Best Burger". It has not been mentioned since though Gene definitely went as Linda references it saying "Gene never would have taken ballet [if we didn't sign up for things drunk]"
- Gene's first spit-up was on the family sofa ("Sacred Couch").
- On one of Gene's birthdays, he sat on the toilet for so long, the clown that was hired had to come into the bathroom ("O.T. The Outside Toilet").
- In "It Snakes A Village", Gene reveals he once ate a button, and it passed through him without being digested. He kept the button after.
- Gene is afraid of snakes.
- Gene once ate a taco on the toilet.
- Gene is the only human character in the series with a confirmed eye colour, with it being brown (The Gene & Courtney Show")
- According to Linda, Gene has the best calves in the family.
References
- ↑ in the season 3 episode Lindapendent Woman Gene says "because it smells like her and I'm eleven and I still like mom"
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/74nnph/i_am_the_comedian_eugene_mirman_i_voice_gene_on/dnzr71t/