Though The Big Bang Theory is an ensemble sitcom that follows the lives of several characters over the course of twelve years, the fact is the main storyline follows Leonard Hofstadter and his acquisition/pursuit of the character of Penny. One can fairly assume that Leonard was meant to be seen as the shows prime character. Though it is important to note that Sheldon and Amy do take the center stage in the later seasons of the show after Leonard and Penny's relationship seems to settle down.
But how much do we really know about the main character of one of the most viewed sitcoms of the decade? What do we know about his family? His childhood? His place in the group dynamic? Does he struggle with any insecurities, and how do they affect his daily life? Has he let go of the harder parts of his childhood or did he bring those emotional burdens into his adulthood? Explore the answers to these questions and more in the rest of this article as we explore the psychology, nature, past, and relationships of the character Leonard Hofstadter.
Updated on April 22, 2020, by Richard Keller: There's no doubt that Leonard changed over the course of Big Bang Theory's 12 seasons. By the time it was all over he was about to become a father, and that's a huge change in itself. With the show's ending in 2019, we now have some time to answer a few more questions about the show's main protagonist.
15 15. Was He Jealous Of Sheldon's Nobel Prize?
In the last episode of the series, Sheldon achieved one of his greatest dreams -- winning a Nobel Prize. There was much celebration, including a trip for everyone to the award ceremony in Stockholm. In doing so, Leonard's best friend stepped several levels ahead of him in the realm of physics.
However, there didn't seem to be a shred of jealously in Leonard's reaction. He was truly happy his long-time friend was granted the honor. In addition, as a theoretical physicist, Leonard knows proving the existence/non-existence of something in the universe isn't a quick thing.
14 14. Will Leonard Be A Good Father?
We can only speculate on this question, as Penny's pregnancy was mentioned in the show's last episode. However, after being friends with Sheldon for so long, we feel pretty good in saying he'll make an excellent caregiver.
First, he has Penny at his side to help him along the journey. As we have seen, she has certainly been a calming element for him over the years. Second, he has truly lived through Piaget's theory of cognitive development with Sheldon. Though already at the concrete stage of thinking long before he became an adult, Sheldon had to return to the other stages over time to become a fully emotional person.
13 13. Was He A Leader?
Every sitcom tends to have a "leader" who moves the group forward or comes up with the ideas. For instance, in The Monkees the leader was Mike. In Friends it was Monica who remained the center focus. Did Leonard have the same persona as these two? Yes, and no.
He certainly wasn't as cool as Mike Nesmith was as leader of the Prefab Four. Yet, Leonard did have his moments when the rest of his male friends freaked out. Eventually, he learned how to help Penny and the other ladies. On the other hand, he definitely has the neurosis of Monica. Particularly the one where he wants everyone to like him.
12 12. Was He An Introvert or Extrovert?
The answer to this question is: yes. You can probably place him under the category of an introverted extrovert. In other words, he was as social and outgoing as he could be when at the university or, say, Comic Con. In addition, it seems he dated prior to meeting Penny.
However, he was most comfortable hanging with Sheldon, Howard, and Raj. That's the gang he spent most of his time with in the apartment, at the university cafeteria, and at the comic book shop. This is where he could be himself instead of a false and more formal image.
11 11. Did He Belittle Sheldon?
A good deal of humor in The Big Bang Theory came from back-and-forth exchanges between Leonard and Sheldon. The latter would say something silly, and the former would throw back a disguised insult. Either Sheldon would move on with a feeling it wasn't worth arguing or he would throw another insult back.
However, it seemed like Leonard would burn Sheldon more times than the other way around. In the end, it wasn't belittling. You could compare them to the married couple on the classic radio show The Bickersons. We believe Leonard truly loved Sheldon like a brother. Yet, though he was with him for years, Leonard's patience was a bit thin.
10 10. Was He Affected By Penny's Income Change?
Let's be honest. Penny is objectively positioned as the cooler, more attractive, and more socially successful person in their relationship. However, Leonard was more successful in his career as he was an established figure at his University and Penny was an actress whose longest job was at the Cheesecake Factory.
It evened out the imbalance between the two of them. However, when Penny got a good job through Bernadette, she became the more successful partner (in addition to all of her other aforementioned traits) and it threw off the power balance between the two; placing Leonard as "inferior" in every way. Or so he felt.
9 9. Does He Enable Sheldon?
One of the biggest questions surrounding the interpersonal relationships on the show is whether or not the gang enables Sheldon's neurotic behaviour or if they are simply adjusting their own behaviour in order to help care for his differing needs. And the answer is no, they are not enabling him. They call him out when he goes too far while also making reasonable accommodations in order to make him feel more comfortable in his everyday life. It is simple to avoid sitting on one part of the couch, if doing so makes Sheldon happy. It is easy to eat at a certain restaurant if the routine calms him down. However, when Sheldon becomes rude or his demands cross the line, Leonard is good at shutting him down and reminding him that one cannot treat people like they are a means to an end. It is a good balance between enabling him and refusing to make any helpful accommodations at all (which would truly be worse than enabling him.)
8 8. Does He Respect Boundaries?
If Leonard is the type of guy that is overly concerned with what people think of him and is willing to do whatever he can to convince them to like him, one could only assume that he would be incredibly respectful of their boundaries and would avoid doing anything that would make his friends uncomfortable. Well, it turns out that Leonard is actually a chronic boundary crosser.
He continually crosses Penny's boundaries over the show's twelve-year run and she frequently has to call him out for it. The weird thing about this behaviour is that Leonard does not do so with malicious intent. Every boundary that Leonard crosses is done with love and good intentions.
7 7. What Is His Role In His Family Dynamic?
One of the fascinating things about The Big Bang Theory is the fact that both Leonard and Sheldon have the perfect mom... for each other. Sheldon has a gentle, doting, and loving old fashioned mother that would have provided Leonard with the nurturing environment that he so craved in his youth. And Leonard has a distant, analytical, and science-focused mother that Sheldon would have traded his twin sister for had he had the chance.
In Leonard's family, he is the soft one. The rest of his family are highly intellectual people who enjoy spending their holidays peer reviewing each other's papers instead of spending quality time with each other. Leonard is the delicate member of the family who just wants a hug and some praise once in a while. So, in terms of tropes and roles, he is the black sheep. He does not fit into his family due to his differing needs. But that is okay as he spent his 20s making his own family.
6 6. Is He A Trustworthy Character?
Leonard is known to lie to his friends in order to get out of things that he does not want to do. He lied to Penny in order to avoid seeing her show. He lied to Sheldon in order to avoid caring for him when he was sick. Leonard is the kind of friend that will do anything to avoid doing something he does not want to- which is humorous considering his pathological need for approval. But that does not mean that he is untrustworthy.
He is incredibly loyal and is willing to go on rather questionable missions in order to help the people who matter to him. Yes, he is going to do everything he can to avoid doing a silly little favour for someone but if they truly need him, he is there.
5 5. Does He Struggle With His Self Esteem?
The fascinating thing about Leonard, and one of the reasons why he is such a good character, is the fact that he has carried the burden of his childhood into adulthood and the ways that that baggage affects his relationships with others and, more importantly, himself. His mother was emotionally absent during his childhood, leaving him feeling like he needs to do everything in his power to get the people around him to like him. And, in the early seasons of the show, one can see by his interactions with Penny that that often included changing who he was.
When Penny reacted poorly to his nerdy paraphernalia, he abandoned his interests entirely. When Penny rejected him, he sunk quickly into a low place. Taking the rejection incredibly personally and trying to convince Sheldon to allow him to acquire a cat to fill that void. This need to get people to like him and his willingness to change in order to gain that approval shows a deep insecurity within him. Luckily, he grows out of this (to a certain extent) by the end of the show.
4 4. Does He Have A Superiority Complex?
Even though we just discussed his insecurities, it is also important to note that Leonard does demonstrate a bit of a superiority complex at times to characters who remind him of the people who made his youth less than pleasant as well as his friends. One can easily see that Leonard sees himself as superior to Sheldon due to Sheldon's neuroses as well as seeing himself better than his other male friends due to their inability (at the start of the show) to secure romantic partners. He sees himself as the alpha nerd, as it were.
However, one must also note that he, as well as the rest of the gang, saw themselves as above non-geeky characters during the early seasons of the show. The ways in which they treated some of Penny's romantic partners and friends mimicked the ways in which they were treated in their youth. It is clear that Leonard, at the start of the show, had not healed from his childhood and was judging others in the same way that he was judged in an attempt to make himself feel superior to those who previously made him feel inferior.
3 3. What Is His Role In The Group?
When the show first began, Leonard felt like the straight man of the group. In sitcoms, the straight man is the relatively normal character who exists as a foil to the zany characters around them. They also typically tend to be the person in which the audience is meant to insert themselves into the world of the show. Leonard was the relatively normal nerdy character. He was not neurotic like Sheldon, a selective mute like Raj, nor as unwelcome in most situations as Howard. Though one would assume Penny to be the straight man, she was positioned as the object of affection within the series initially.
As the show progresses and we get to know Leonard better, it is revealed that he is just as neurotic as Sheldon, if not more. Leonard's role in the group shifts from the straight man to the man who just needs everyone to like him; even if it means that he backs down from his interests or opinions in order to keep the peace. This is not necessarily a bad thing as his apologies are often warranted but his need to be liked is interesting when one considers his relationship to his mother as well as his relationships with his peers in his youth.
2 2. How Does He Feel About His Life?
From an outside perspective, one would believe that Leonard has had a good life. And though his opinion on his life may have changed near the end of the series, it is apparent that he sees himself as having a turbulent and unfortunate upbringing when reflecting on his life in the earlier seasons.
His comments and reflections on his own life include stories about his mother ignoring him and depriving him of the emotional connection and praise he craved in his youth, of the other children ostracizing him for his nerdy nature, and of his lackluster love life.
1 1. Is He A Good Person?
The show presents Leonard as one of the good guys. But considering the ways that he has treated both his partners and his friends in the past, his place on the moral scale becomes less defined and clear cut. Yes, it is true that Leonard has never committed any crime that would be considered "malum in se" (which means a crime which is considered wrong due to the evil/immoral nature of the crime itself.) Any of his moral infractions have all been things that could be justified. So, in short: yes, Leonard is a good person. He is just not a person who is without flaws.