Cory Matthews

“	You know what, Shawnie? I always thought that Topanga was the one person I could never live without. But she's gone. And you're here. And I'm alive! So it must be you.	”
	—Cory Matthews

Cornelius "Cory" A. Matthews is introduced as a witty, sporty boy with average interests but later he becomes a funnily neutrotic man with great morals and values. Throughout the series, we learn that the most important things to Cory are his love for Shawn, Topanga, and his family.

Cory is the character that spends a lot of time ensuring that the group is working together perfectly and that any problems are resolved very quickly. Cory is shown to experience his first love, first fight, first drink, marriage, and virginity loss (after marriage).

History

Season One

The first season of the show begins with Cory Matthews and his best friend Shawn Hunter , two average sixth-graders who come from two different backgrounds. They do not care about schoolwork, despite the efforts of Mr. Feeny , their longtime teacher. Their primary interests are in sports, though later on Shawn and then Cory begin to express interest in each other.

This season focuses specifically on Cory's relationships with the other characters in the show. He begins to understand his parents more and respect them for all that they do for him. His relationship with his older brother Eric Matthews becomes confusing as Eric's constant obsession with girls is foreign to Cory and he becomes more protective of his little sister, Morgan.

Cory also begins to show interest in Topanga Lawrence , a smart outsider in his class, though he often hides this by insulting and teasing her. Cory and Shawn's relationship endures real tests for the first time, and Cory must often choose between doing what Shawn wants him to do and what is best for Shawn and their relationship.

Season Two

During the second season, Cory and Shawn starts high school and meet Mr. Jonathan Turner , an unconventional English teacher. Although they initially view Mr. Turner as cool, they soon realize that he is a teacher first, hence why Cory called him "Feeny with an earring."

Throughout the second season, Cory and Shawn try a variety of ways to become popular with their classmates. In doing so, they almost get into fights with the school bullies and even get in trouble with their school principal, Mr. Feeny . Eventually, Shawn becomes cool and popular at school, but still keeps his friendship with the less popular Cory Matthews. Shawn’s mother, Virna, deserts Shawn and his father, Chet, which upsets Shawn greatly. Chet then leaves to find Virna.

After this occurred, Shawn lived briefly with Cory and his parents but soon figures out that it was just not the right fit for him. Later, Shawn moves in with Mr. Turner. Cory tries at some points to begin a relationship with Topanga, but this is mostly because he does not want to be left out of the dating game. Sensing this, Topanga is wary of his advances, and despite the mutual attraction, the two do not date during this season.

Season Three

During the third season, Cory finally admits that he wants to ask out Topanga, but cannot work up the courage to do it. Consequently, Shawn asks her out. Although Cory was hurt, he soon realized Shawn set the whole thing up so he could unite Cory and Topanga and make Cory confess his feelings for her. This hurts Shawn, but he will do anything to make his best friend happy. Cory tells Topanga how he feels, and (to Shawn's dismay) they become boyfriend and girlfriend.

Later in the third season, Cory and Topanga  are worried that their relationship has hit a rut, and decide it would be best to break up while they are still able to keep the friendship. They get back together a few months later, when Cory follows her to Disney World to win her back. Eric spends this season desperately trying to make up for his first three years of slacking off in high school. He makes progress, but it is not enough; he is not accepted to any universities as of his high school graduation.

He decides then to take a year off and figure things out, beginning with a summer road trip. After finding out in the season finale that Cory feels estranged from him, Eric invites Cory along for the ride. Shawn nearly makes several life-changing blunders this season, but Cory and now Mr. Turner help him to make the right choices. Cory endures several tests of character this season - everything from being credited with a great deed which he did not deserve, to being insistently pursued by another girl while he is with Topanga. Sometimes Cory makes the right decision, sometimes the wrong one, but he learns from each.

Season Four

The fourth season opens with Cory and Eric's return from their road trip. In this season, Eric finds himself confronted with life after high school. After having a couple of jobs and meeting people that teach him some interesting lessons, Eric decides to retake the SAT and give college another try. Alan Matthews decides to quit his job and open a sporting goods store, with Eric as his partner.

Topanga’s mother is transferred at her job to Pittsburgh, which is over 300 miles from Philadelphia. The news devastates Cory, but Topanga runs away from her new house and returns to Philadelphia. Topanga’s parents decide that she can live with her Aunt Prudence in Philadelphia until she graduates.

Shawn's mother returns for a brief period, but then leaves again under unknown circumstances at some point between season 4 and season 6. Later that school year, Mr. Turner gets into a severe motorcycle accident in which he almost dies. 

Season Five

The next year, Eric moves out of his parents’ house and begins college at the fictional Pennbrook University (a pastiche of local Philadelphia schools including Saint Joseph's University and the University of Pennsylvania). He moves into an apartment with Jack, who turns out to be Shawn’s half-brother. Shawn clearly shows his hatred toward Jack after he refuses to live with him because he did not like the fact that Jack never called or checked to see if Shawn and his dad were doing okay. (Shawn eventually discovers that Jack never received any of Shawn's letters or he would have come to see him immediately).

However, after being convinced by his father and others around him, Shawn moves in with them, but he has nothing in common with Jack, which causes a lot of tension. A student, Angela Moore, who has been at John Adams High all along but becomes friends with the gang this season, begins to date Shawn. Over winter break, the students go skiing on a school trip. Cory sprains his ankle and Lauren, a ski-lodge employee, takes care of him. The two kiss, but Cory lies to Topanga, and tells her that they are both Herberts.

When Topanga finds out that he lied, they break up. Cory, upset about the break-up, gets drunk and is arrested, along with Shawn. The two agree never to drink again, but Shawn breaks the promise and shows up at school drunk. With the help of Angela and Jack, Shawn realizes that alcoholism runs in his family and that he needs to stop drinking.

Topanga forgives Cory after encountering her own kiss with an old friend from grade school. She realizes no kiss means more than the ones she shares with Cory. Cory and Topanga reunite and attend the prom together, where they are named King and Queen. On prom night, Cory's mother Amy announces that she is pregnant.

Mr. Feeny decides to retire at the end of the school year and move to Wyoming- however, he soon returns from retirement and goes back to teaching. Topanga is accepted to Yale, but Cory does not want her to leave him. At graduation, Topanga tells Cory that she decided not to go to Yale because she wants to be with him — then she proposes. The couple's parents are upset that they got engaged so young, but Cory and Topanga decide to elope. However, at the last minute, they decide that they want to get married “the right way,” in front of family and friends.

Season Six

Shawn, Cory, Topanga, and Angela join Jack and Eric at Pennbrook. Rachel McGuire, a new student from Texas, moves in with Eric and Jack, causing tension as both boys have crushes on her. Angela and Shawn break up due to his claim that they should meet new people, and, despite Cory’s efforts, decide to stay just friends. They eventually are brought back together by way of Angela's father during his visit to the college, recruiting students for his R.O.T.C. program of basic training in the army.

Mr. Feeny returns to take some classes, but then is offered a teaching job at the university. During their freshman year, Stuart (played by Ben Savage's brother Fred Savage), one of their professors, makes inappropriate (and unwelcome) sexual advances towards Topanga, causing Cory to shove him through a glass door at the Student Union. Cory is suspended, but for only one day; the Dean believes that Stuart had crossed the line. Mr. Feeny and the Dean eventually gain feelings for one another and begin dating. 

Season Seven

 Shawn receives a letter from his mother confessing she is not his biological mother. Shawn unsuccessfully searches for his biological mother. Alan offers to adopt Shawn, but they decide that it isn’t necessary because Shawn is already part of the family.

Shawn and Cory have challenges in their relationship throughout the season, particularly on the day of Cory’s wedding. Shawn admits that he is no longer Cory’s best friend, and gives him away to Topanga. Cory and Topanga get married and move into a shabby apartment for married couples on campus. They struggle for a while, wondering why their parents refuse to help them.

They eventually make it a wonderful home, and realize that they are capable of doing things on their own as a married couple. The group is growing up - they have to start thinking about what to do with their lives. In one episode, the newer friends get involved in a prank war with the originals (Jack, Rachel, and Angela vs. Cory, Shawn, and Topanga). The friends are almost completely torn apart, until Eric brings them back together and reminds them of the importance of their relationships.

In the series finale, Cory, Topanga, Shawn and Eric all head to New York, where Topanga was offered a dream internship at a law firm. Angela decides to move overseas with her father, and Jack and Rachel join the Peace Corps in Guatemala. The final scene has Cory, Topanga, Shawn and Eric meeting with Mr. Feeny in their old sixth grade classroom, with each one telling him how important he is in their life.

Future Cory has a son and daughter with his wife, Topanga. He's also still living in New York, working as a middle school history teacher who looks after Riley and her best friend, Maya, in the spin off Girl Meets World.

Relationships

1. Son of Amy Matthews and Alan Matthews
2. Younger brother of Eric Matthews.
3. Older brother of Morgan Matthews and Joshua Matthews
4. Best friend of Shawn Hunter
5. Close friend of Jack Hunter, Angela Moore, and Rachel McGuire
6. Good friend of Frankie Stecchino, and Harley Keiner (as shown in Girl Meets World)
7. Friend of Joey Epstein
8. Associate of Griffin Hawkins
9. Frenemy of Stuart Minkus
10. Husband of Topanga Lawrence
11. Student of George Feeny and Jonathan Turner
12. The father of Riley and Auggie Matthews.
13. Father figure/mentor to Maya Hart.
14. Educator/mentor to Farkle Minkus and Lucas Friar.

Appearances

• See list

Series Highlights

• Graduated into John Adams High with Shawn and Topanga following Season 1, where he met Jonathan Turner and, later on, Eli Williams as his teachers.
• During his first year there, he was tormented by Harley Keiner and his henchmen, Frankie Stecchino and Joey Epstein after they targeted him because he tried to become friends.
• Began dating Topanga at the beginning of Season 3.
• Following Harley's departure to boarding school, befriended Frankie.
• Remained dating Topanga steadily, despite a couple of breakups.
• Graduated to Pennbrook University with Topanga, Shawn, and Angela Moore
• Despite a brief breakup in Season 7, he and Topanga were married, and as a result: he loses his virginity to her.
• Moved to New York City with Topanga, Shawn, and Eric.

Alternate Personalities

• Grandpa Cory (Breaking Up is Really, Really, Really Hard To Do)
• Brad Pitt (I Was A Teenage Spy)
• Cora (Chick Like Me)
• Young Cory (It's Not You... It's Me)
• WWII Cory (No Guts, No Cory)
• Christmas Future Cory (A Very Topanga Christmas)
• Ben Sandwich (Eric Hollywood)
• Killer Cory (The Psychotic Episode)
• Future Cory (Seven the Hard Way)
• Rory (As Time Goes By)
• "Cake" (An Affair to Forget)

Gallery

• Cory-Young

  Go to http://www.pinterest.com/usweekly/before-they-were-stars/

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Trivia

• He is played by Ben Savage.
• Cory has a great dislike of wool. The reasons given for this vary; he says once that he has an allergy for it but later just complains that it chafes.
• Cory loves pudding.
• Cory's favorite ice cream flavor is vanilla.
• Cory cannot spell his best friend Shawn's name.
• Cornelius happens to be his real name though nicknamed Cory. It has been stated that even Topanga does not know this and Shawn is assumed to not know this either.
• Cory is a hypochondriac.
• Cory is terrified of change.
• There are a few comparisons between Mr. Williams and Cory and Mr. Turner and Shawn, respectively. For example in The Pink Flamingo Kid, it is shown that both Cory and Mr. Williams cannot sweep their hands through their hair and in My Best Friend's Girl, Shawn asked Cory's girl (Topanga) out just like Mr. Turner apparently did to Mr. Williams as well.
• Cory loves Backgammon; he even calls it his middle name.
• Cory temporarily used alcohol to cope with his break-up with Topanga in Season 5.
• Cory dated Theresa Keiner
• Cory is very insecure about his curly brown hair. This is pointed out in at least 4 different episodes, notably Cory's Alternative Friends (where he tries to straighten it but fails miserably), Pairing Off (Where he is jealous of Shawn's hair since stroking it attracts girls to him), The Pink Flamingo Kid (Where Shawn brags to Cory about his hair, angering Mr. Williams as mentioned above), and Hair Today, Goon Tomorrow (Where Cory, still insecure about his hair, requires Topanga's help to realize it's not a big deal).
• He is left handed.
• Cory once appeared in an episode of Maybe This Time, another show by Michael Jacobs, (to watch click here ) in which, while listening to Shawn's trepidations over setting both the gym and cafeteria of Adams High ablaze, the pair meta-interacted with the main young female lead, Gracie, across her television set.  Later they are called back to their own show by the voice of Mr. Feeny ("How does he always find us?").
• Cory will become a history teacher, like Mr. Feeny, in Girl Meets World
• Due to being the middle child, he is often ignored by his family
• Cory was the only person not to live in the apartment Jack  bought in season 5.