‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ Characters Personified as the 7 Deadly Sins

Fans of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” know the main characters aren’t exactly paragons of virtue. Part of what makes the show so relentlessly hilarious is that the Gang are all odious people. In order to better understand the raucous black comedy on tap in “It’s Always Sunny,” we’ve figured out which series mainstay aligns with each of the classic seven deadly sins.

Dee Reynolds (Kaitlin Olson) is frequently the victim of The Gang’s abuse, so calling her the personification of pride may seem counterintuitive. Hear me out: Dee sticks around only because of her exceedingly high opinion of herself.

We see the height of Dee’s self-regard in her interactions with many characters outside the core Gang. She’s almost always finding ways to cut others down (poor Cricket) to highlight how great she is. Despite her incredible lack of success in her acting career, Dee still carries herself like a member of the upper echelons of fashionable society.

Honorable Mention: The McPoyles

Two words: McPoyles rule.

The characters we deal with in “It’s Always Sunny” aren’t necessarily generous, but Frank Reynolds (Danny DeVito) tends to be at the heart of most of the Gang’s (failed) get-rich-quick schemes. Despite living in absolute squalor with Charlie (Charlie Day), we see Frank throwing around huge sums of money willy-nilly, like when he buys a Lamborghini to rub it in Dennis’ (Glenn Howerton) face.

Frank’s greed leads him to many questionable business practices, such as when he opened a sweatshop in Vietnam in the ’90s. At his insistence, “a lot of good men died in that sweatshop,” which seems to justify his business practices — at least to himself.

This one is a no-brainer. Dennis treats his friends like garbage, yells constantly, and admits his anger in self-important tirades like, “I am untethered, and my rage knows no bounds!” We see his anger arise due to his many failed sexual advances, during which he frequently berates the women who reject him. The Gang frequently acknowledge Dennis’ anger issues and either commiserate with or mock him, depending on the circumstances and which member he’s criticizing at the time.

Few characters have undergone a more radical transformation — physical or otherwise — than Maureen Ponderosa (Catherine Reitman). Originally portrayed as Dennis’ clingy wife (and then ex-wife), Maureen’s behavior becomes increasingly erratic as her participation in the series progresses. My theory is that her break from reality — because no healthy person decides to identify as a cat and have a “reverse nipplectomy” to have enough nipples to resemble a cat — was fueled by her feelings surrounding her relationship with Dennis. She was so envious of anyone Dennis paid more attention to than her that it drove her to her ultimate demise.

Cause of death: “prancing around on the rooftops like an asshole.”

Watch any of the episodes in which Charlie talks about Christmas, when multiple men dressed as Santa would come by his house every year, give him a present, and retreat upstairs to “cheer up” his mother. Bonnie Kelly (Lynne Marie Stewart) seems to be Charlie’s doting, sweet, air-headed mother, but after becoming Frank’s “bang-maid” in season three and the Santa fiasco we see in “A Very Sunny Christmas,” we know there’s more than meets the eye with this character.

Two words: Fat Mac.

Honorable Mentions: Bill Ponderosa, Rickety Cricket

Both of these characters are frequently shown guzzling drugs in different doses, combinations, and settings. Neither seems concerned with anything except their own fleeting, corporeal pleasure.

Charlie lives in complete and total squalor. He can’t be bothered with basic hygiene, doesn’t clean his apartment, and wears the same few shirts ad nauseam. He never learned to read, which isn’t a character flaw in and of itself, but indicates a lack of desire to learn. He frequently shows intense indicators of intelligence and talent though. He writes the musical “The Nightman Cometh” and a jingle for Paddy’s Pub in “The Gang Tries Desperately to Win an Award.”

The musical reads more like an attempt to come to terms with childhood trauma, however, because he can’t be bothered to go to therapy and is content living his life exactly how it is.