Fred (Drop Dead Fred)

Fred (Drop Dead Fred) "It takes more than a fire truck to stop Drop Dead Fred." Gender: Male Type: Reckless Prankster Age: Unknown Species: Imaginary Friend Portrayed by: Rik Mayall Status: Alive Media of origin: Drop Dead Fred

Drop Dead Fred (otherwise known as Fred) is the titular protagonist of the 1991 film Drop Dead Fred. He is a spiritual, imaginary friend of Elizabeth's schizophrenia who tries to help Elizabeth free herself from her insecurities in the most senseless and chaotic ways possible. He is portrayed by Rik Mayall.

Why He Should Drop Dead

1. His character is literally an embarrassment to Rik Mayall's career. Ranging from the universally embarrassing actions Fred makes to his horribly hammy acting by his portrayal of acting like a childishly chaotic psychopath. Such to the point that he wastes the talents of Rik Mayall himself.
2. He is supposed to be a supportive imaginary friend to Elizabeth, but he is a very toxic influence on Elizabeth. Encouraging her to do some very rotten things like committing acts of robbery by stealing jewelry when Elizabeth was a kid, then causing vandalism at a restaurant for no reason, and then making Elizabeth give in to peer pressure while she is completely stressed about what's going on in her life.
3. He is extremely obnoxious, overly childish and rude, unruly, unfunny, very idiotic, creepy, loud, manipulative, and an unlikeable jerk who has a voice that can get extremely annoying to listen to when he yells or acts immature.
4. He acts completely mean-spirited towards everyone in a self-centered, careless, obnoxious, and idiotic way.
5. He has done some very rude, insensitive, and obnoxious things. These include smearing dog crap on the carpet of Elizabeth's home, mocking Elizabeth about her ex-husband for leaving her, and he causes tons of havoc at a restaurant, making both Elizabeth and her date look completely batshit crazy in front of others.
6. He is also incredibly destructive, especially since he has a habit of damaging property.
   • He relentlessly breaks tons of stuff in Elizabeth's house.
   • And finally, he makes Elizabeth destroy Janie's home and everything she owns for no apparent reason other than his amusement.
7. He shows to have a complete lack of respect for human decency, like showing perversion towards Elizabeth's mom.
8. His actions make him out to be absolutely horrifying for how he seems to resemble some kind of psychotic repression to Elizabeth's brain, such as making Elizabeth come off as purely insane while Fred is making things a whole lot worse for Elizabeth when she becomes an adult.
   • In fact, his irresponsible behavior has caused other people to go insane. These include Elizabeth's date who thought Elizabeth's madness was charming (which caused him to go crazy in a creepy way) and her friend who thought Fred was on the floor when she was hitting the ground.
9. He is a ripoff of The Mask, because he's crazy and a trickster god, except with none of the charm or likeability The Mask had.

Redeeming Qualities

1. While he is a crude, annoying, unhelpful, and too much of a mischievous troublemaker who causes a lot of problems and stress for Elizabeth, he does genuinely care for her and her happiness. At the end of the film, he sees that Lizzie is happy with her life and that she doesn’t need him anymore. The both of them kiss before saying goodbye.
2. Rik Mayall, who is often known for his comedic talents, tried his best to work with such an obnoxious personality by giving it his all.
   • The character he plays can moments of being pleasant or tolerable whenever he isn't yelling, bickering, or being flat out stupid.

Trivia

• Robin Williams was offered the role of Fred, but he was busy with Hook. The writers originally envisioned John Cleese in the role.

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