Shawn Hunter

“	I'm afraid okay? I've seen the pain on my father's face every time a woman walks out because he's not good enough.	”
	—Shawn Hunter

Shawn Patrick Hunter is the deuteragonist of Boy Meets World. His troublemaker attitude and popularity is often used as a foil to Cory's awkwardness and neurotics. Shawn often did poorly in school in his earlier years but in college he developed an affinity for poetry. He went most of his life without proper parental figures. Later in the series, Shawn met Angela Moore, his first long-term girlfriend. After the series, he pursues a writing career and becomes a reoccurring character on 'Girl Meets World'.

Personality

Throughout the series Shawn was shown to be a troublemaker, giving him a "bad boy" reputation and a popularity boost. He is a good friend to Cory and tries to be a good brother to Jack. Compared to Cory, Shawn usually has an opposite opinion, view, and personality. Of all the characters, he seems to be the one put through the most loss (including his girlfriend, Angela, and his father, Chet, who left him, and died shortly after coming back). Shawn is often seen wearing his leather jacket.

Character History

Shawn Hunter was born to Chet Hunter and an unnamed stripper, who left Chet and Shawn shortly after giving birth. Eventually his father fell in love with and married a woman named Virna, giving Shawn a mother. Shawn also has a half brother named Jack (Jack is Chet's son).

Season One

In the first season, Shawn is shown to be the best friend of Cory. The subject of his family is slightly touched upon, focusing mainly on the difficulty of his father being laid off and unable to give Shawn presents for Christmas, or have him buy lunch at school.

Season Two

Entering high school (7th grade), Shawn gains a reputation around school for being a player, and becomes one of the most popular kids in seventh grade. Shawn's mother, Virna, abandons him and leaves him homeless. His father, Chet, takes off after her, leaving Shawn alone. Shawn moves in with the Matthews', but doesn't take well to following their rules, and runs away. This gets him in trouble with the law, as he was planning on vandalizing the school. The cops drop him off with his teacher, Jonathan Turner, who lets him stay the night. Back at the Matthews', it's revealed that Chet will not be returning for a while. Alan and Amy tell Chet that they can't take care of Shawn forever. Shawn overhears, and feeling unwanted by everyone, he decides to run away. Jonathan then offers for Shawn to come and live with him, and Shawn accepts.

Season Three

Shawn is adapting well to living with Mr. Turner, and having a constant authority figure in his life. But as time passes, he begins to feel like a guest in his home, and runs away to go to Europe for self discovery. Cory talks him out of it, and while Shawn agrees, he still feels lonely. To get rid of the feeling, he buys a pet pig to replace Cory (after he starts spending more time with Topanga) as his best friend. Topanga is outraged and demands that Shawn return the pig. He is hesitant, but in the end, Shawn realizes it's the right thing to do. Topanga confesses that she does care about him and would like to be his friend. Throughout the season, Shawn dates more and more girls, until a nice girl stands up to him and dumps him. Shawn is in shock, and Cory and Topanga tell him that he needs to stop fooling around with so many different girls, and commit. He attempts to, but fails. In the season finale, Chet returns, and asks Shawn to move back in with him. Shawn, thinking his home life is finally repaired, is overjoyed and agrees

Season Four

Shawn and Cory discover that Virna is back in town, and try to convince her to move back in. She tells them that she will, only if Chet changes his behavior, and he promises to do so. Shawn's depression is finally lifted, his family back together. However, when his father gets a job as the school janitor, and Shawn gets bullied because of it, it causes more problems. He goes to talk to his mother, and she tells him that is proud of Chet. Shawn accepts this, but Chet quits to keep from embarrassing him. Even though Virna has promised to stay, she leaves her family again for unexplained reasons. We see Shawn become affected by this when he starts feeling like a failure, and joins a cult to try to 'feel' something. But when Mr. Turner goes into a coma, Shawn is forced to re-evaluate himself, and leaves the cult.

Season Five

In the season premiere, Shawn's half brother, Jack returns after being absent from his life. Shawn does not take well to this, but Cory convinces him to try to get along,with Jack since he is Eric's roommate. Following this, Chet kicks Shawn out, and demands that he go and live with Jack. Sometime during this, Chet skips town again, leaving an underage Shawn on his own once more. After Topanga mentions to Shawn that he needs to start getting serious, he and Cory find the purse of an unnamed girl. Shawn sets out a mission to find the girl, and her interests force him to realize that he does want an intellectual relationship, and not just a physical one. He falls in love with Angela Moore, and the two date for the majority of season 5. They get into a fight, when Shawn starts drowning his sorrows in alcohol, and pushes Angela in anger. He apologizes, and their friendship is resolved. They break up for a short while when Shawn's exes tie him up out of revenge. He tells them that he didn't mean to hurt them like he did, and while Angela is impressed, it doesn't do much for them. The two get back together sometime before prom. Shawn worries that he will not graduate high school, and while Topanga helps him study, he only passes by a few points.

Season Six

Shawn gets scared of his serious relationship with Angela, and breaks up with her. Cory and Topanga try to get them back together once learning that they are still in love with each other. Shawn's father Chet comes back to town and promises to stay but Shawn doesn't believe him because he has made that promise so many times before only to take off again, During an argument with Shawn, Chet suffers a heart attack and is rushed to the hospital. Shawn manages to make amends with Chet before he dies. A few days later, while cleaning out his dad's trailer, Shawn finds a letter to Chet from Jack's stepfather and discovers that Chet went to him for help to pay for Shawn's college fund and is outraged because he is not one to receive charity, but eventually realizes that Jack's stepfather was trying to help. Shawn then decides to go on a road trip and takes Cory along with him, the two stop at a truck stop where Chet frequently stopped at and discovers that his dad was proud of him and talked about him a lot. Shawn then reveals that he will not be returning and convinces Cory to let him go, Shawn is then visited by the ghost of his dad and Chet tells Shawn that he will always be with him and Shawn drives off to his uncertain future. A few days later, Shawn returns when Cory's younger brother Joshua is born premature and may not survive, Shawn tells Joshua about all the good things in life: Family and Friends.

Future

Shawn was the third person who held Cory and Topanga's daughter, Riley, after she was born. He moved away from New York the day after her birth and went on to become a writer and a photographer for a travel magazine.  He forms a bond of sorts with Riley's best friend, Maya, as they both have a lot in common. Both have had rough upbringings, and neglectful parents now he has a great relationship with and now he and her mum Katy are dating.

Relations

• Son of Chet Hunter.
• Half-brother to Jack Hunter.
• Step-son of Virna Hunter (nee Cordini)
• Step brother to Eddie via The Pink Flamingo Kid (Eddie is Virna's son)
• Brother of Stacy Hunter (character no longer exists) via "Cory's Alternative Friends"
• Nephew of Mike Hunter
• Grandson of Gertie Hunter
• Biological son of an unknown stripper.
• Best friend to Cory Matthews
• Best friend of Topanga Lawrence-Matthews
• Friend and ex-boyfriend of Angela Moore
• Father figure to Maya Hart
• Dating Katy Hart
  

Quotes

• Cory: Who are you, and what are you doing in my seat? 
  Shawn: His name is Andy. 
  Cory: Who's Andy? 
  Shawn: He's my new... 
  Cory: [anxiously] Best friend? 
  Shawn: [reluctantly] Friend. Cory, we agreed that were gonna go out and meet new people. 
  Cory: [on the verge of crying] Am I not making you happy? 
  Shawn: [heartfelt] No, Cory, it's... it's not you. Okay? It's me. And right now, I just need my space. 
  Cory: [panicking] But we're still friends? 
  Shawn: [gravely] Right now, I don't know what we are. Give me my space.
• "I'm afraid okay? I've seen the pain on my father's face every time a woman walks out because he's not good enough."
• Well that's what someone does when their best friend takes a gun and stabs them in the back right in front of their own eyes!
• Cory: Shawn! 
  Shawn: Cory? Is that you? 
  Cory: No, it's the audio-book section you moron!
• Angela: Well, is anyone of us safe? 
  Shawn: Yeah, Virgins! Virgins never die! 
  Cory: [Turns to Topanga] All right! Thanks for saving me. 
  Eric: [proud of himself] I'm dead. 
  Jack: I'm dead. 
  Shawn: I'll get as sick as you can get without actually dying. 
  Angela: Feeny, he's dead. 
  Eric, Shawn and Jack: [sing-songy] Go, Feeny! Go, Feeny! Go, Feeny!
• Shawn: [everybody hears the squeaking of the janitor's approaching cart] Don-don't say it, don't! 
  Cory: The janitor's the killer! 
  Shawn: And that's the end of the janitor!
• Shawn: (In a British accent) And the honesty game just got a little more interesting!
• Shawn: [after finding out they have to take a test] I even read the book! 
  [everybody gasps] 
  Shawn: That's right, my head still hurts!
• Shawn: Use a mirror babe.
• Cory: Shawn what does your father do for a living?                                                                              Shawn: Shhh! I wanna find out!
• Shawn: (To Cory and Topanga) You two made my life a living hell.

Series Highlights

• Attended Jefferson Elementary with Cory, Topanga Lawrence, and Stuart Minkus.
• Blew up a mail box with a cherry bomb; his first known encounter with the law.
• Graduated from John Adams High with his friends, maintained his friendship with Cory and Topanga.
• Lived with Mr. Turner while his father searched the country for his mother.
• Dated a lot of girls in high school, including Dana Pruitt, Jennifer Bassett, and ultimately Angela.
• Was reunited with his half-brother, Jack, in season 5.
  • Moved in with Jack and Eric Matthews in his senior year of high school.
• Went to Pennbrook with Cory, Angela, and Topanga. Broke up with Angela shortly thereafter.
• He and Angela had on-and-off feelings for each other, creating a roller coaster relationship during season 6 and season 7.
• Went on the road for two days after his father passed away, but later came back when Cory's younger brother Joshua Gabriel Matthews was born..
• Was heartbroken when Angela moved to Europe with her father (supposedly for a year)
• Moved to New York City with Cory, Topanga, and Eric.
• Guest star on Girl Meets World, starting with Girl Meets Home For the Holidays, and continuing on into later episodes.

Alternate Personalities

"Shawnzie Hunterelli"

• Grandpa Shawn (Breaking Up is Really, Really, Really Hard to Do)

• Shawnzie Hunterelli (I Was a Teenage Spy)
• Veronica Wasboiski (Chick Like Me)
• Young Shawn (It's Not You... It's Me)
• Killer Shawn (And Then There Was Shawn)
• Schneider (Eric Hollywood)
• Future Shawn (Seven the Hard Way)
• Isaac "Goodshot" Kelly (As Time Goes By)
• Frog Shawn (The Witches of Pennbrook)

Trivia

• Shawn seems to have a sweet tooth. He states in "Singled Out" that he was watching CNN because they suckered him in with a story on cake. He also attended Feeny's class for studying on SAT because he promised there would be cake and when he does attend the class, he can be seen eating cake and he stated he gained 15 pounds from the class but passed.
• Shawn is a recurring character on Girl Meets World. 
• Rider Strong (Shawn) actually hated his famous "Boy Meets World" haircut, but producer Michael Jacobs would not let him change it.
• It is revealed in Career Day that Shawn doesn't know what his dad does for a living.
• Shawn's middle name is Patrick.
• Shawn was born in Ohio.
• Shawn lived in Oklahoma before the start of the series.
• Shawn has trouble understanding his teachers in the earlier seasons of Boy Meets World, and he explains it is because he hears a strange buzzing sound whenever adults speak.
• Shawn once appeared in an episode of Maybe This Time, another show by Michael Jacobs, (to watch click here ) in which, while sharing his trepidation's with Cory 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 ("Busted.") 
• He kept a pet pig named "Little Cory" throughout high school
• He has the contact information for Cory's Aunt Sheila (who allegedly "looks like an elephant") in his "little black book," but this could have really been for Cory's cousin Wanda. Shawn is shown to be an excellent poet, as seen from the episode Poetic License: An Ode to Holden Caulfield.
• Shawn speaks at least five languages: English; "womanese," although he's only conversational in the episode "Torn Between Two Lovers (Feeling Like a Fool)"; French, in "What I Meant to Say," he says he's an idiot savant; Dutch, in "B & B's B'n B," to the Timmers; Italian, in "Easy Street," to Mr. Fontaine and Mr. Martini.
• Shawn and his family once lived in a house only two blocks away from the Matthews. But after Chet was laid off, the family relocated to the trailer park where the rest of the Hunter clan lived.