Character Profile
Little is known about Ryan Howard's early life, but it is revealed in a deleted scene from "Diversity Day" that he grew up in Scranton. In the webisode "The Story of Subtle Sexuality", Ryan mentions that his parents live in separate houses, which implies that they are separated. At the beginning of the series, Ryan Howard is a temporary employee at the Scranton branch of the fictitious paper distributor Dunder Mifflin who joined the staff in the first episode, earning him the nickname "The Temp".
In early episodes he is shown to be uncomfortable with his professional relationship with his boss, Michael Scott. Michael often forces Ryan to carry out menial tasks for him while at the same time, becoming obsessed with Ryan's personal life as well as gaining Ryan's friendship. As the series progresses, Ryan begins to display a great deal of contempt and disdain for both his coworkers and his job. This becomes more apparent when Ryan is promoted in "The Job" to work at Dunder Mifflin's corporate office in New York. This leads to Ryan becoming an egotistical braggart despite lackluster sales skills. In the season 4 finale "Goodbye, Toby", Ryan is arrested for committing fraud. He is eventually released and required to work community service.
In the season 5 premiere Ryan returns to the Scranton branch after Michael arranges for him to work Pam's job. However, his malevolent aspirations to climb back to the top of the corporate ladder are revealed when he adds Jim and Kevin to a list of people who "will be sorry" when he returns to the top.
Ryan was a member of a fraternity in college and holds an MBA from the University of Scranton's Kania School of Management, which he earned during the second and third seasons. His dream is to one day own his own business.
Throughout the series, Ryan changes his persona about every year beginning with the 3rd season. When offered a job for Corporate in the Season 3 finale, Ryan decides to become more of a high-end person. He grows a beard and gets $200 hair cuts, but ends up getting into trouble with becoming a drug addict, drunk, and a person who parties too often.
In Season 5 he returns with blonde highlights and a "work hard, play hard" attitude. He works for Michael at the Michael Scott Paper Company (which is later bought out) and still tries to keep his work ethic and strives to do good.
By Seasons 6-8 he just throws out all his morals and ambitions as he becomes a hipster. He doesn't really care to work, reads poetry and initiates various creative projects. He switches clothing, from wearing fanciful scarves, fake glasses, suspenders, bow ties, trench coats, etc. and tries to create an "unsolvable attitude". He somehow manages to stay at Dunder Mifflin but his current position is unspecified, Michael mentions that he works there full-time in WUPHF.com. Many of the staff, most notably Jim and Pam, note Ryan's ineptitude as an employee and that he sponges off his parents by living with them and driving his mom's car.
Read more about this topic: Ryan Howard (The Office)
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