Characterization
Although Shawn and Gus often have disagreements, they have been friends since early childhood and actor James Roday describes the pair's bond as "unbreakable. It's one of those friendships that make people who don't have one ask, 'Why does Gus put up with Shawn?' It's not about putting up with one another. It's about knowing each other so well that things that might annoy someone from the outside don't annoy you anymore." Shawn knows exactly how to manipulate Gus, and often frustrates his friend with his antics, but has come to rely on him more in their case work as the series has progressed. Roday believes that Shawn has "evolved a lot" as a partner, moving away from "dragging Gus around by the collar against his will from case to case to case" toward a more equal partnership. He states that under Gus's influence, Shawn has "wisened up a little bit" and is learning to display a little more discretion at times. Shawn's growing maturity is especially notable in Season 3, Episode 16 "An Evening with Mr. Yang" the first of what would become a running plot concerning a serial killer who individually targets Shawn. In order to convince Shawn to play his game, Mr. Yang (who actually turns out to be female) kidnaps Shawn's mother. Shawn has trouble coping with the pressure of finding his mother and continues with his crazy antics but is unable to make any progress on the case. He opens up to Gus and viewers are able to witness a more mature version of Shawn rising to the situation. Shawn tells Gus that he needs his help, showing humility and maturity, and for the rest of the episode Gus, the normally calm one, becomes the crazy one so that Shawn is able to focus on the task at hand. At the end of the episode, after Shawn's mother has been found and Yang arrested, Juliet approaches Shawn informing him of how impressed she was by his maturity and says that she would like to go on a date with him. Shawn has been constantly hitting on Juliet for the past 4 seasons and every time Jules has refused to return his attentions. Shawn had at this point rather given up on Juliet and has moved on to Abigail, his high school sweetheart whom he is about to go on a date with at that very moment. Juliet says she understands, gives him a loving kiss on the cheek, and walks away.
Shawn's seemingly random stream of consciousness often belies the far-reaching logical connections that his observational skills allow him to make. He explains the multiple-personality-afflicted Robert Dunn's condition to Gus by referencing The Flying Nun, which starred Sally Field, who played the similarly-affected title character in Sybil. He also hybridizes movie quotes voiced by James Earl Jones in two separate films (The Lion King and The Empire Strikes Back) when addressing a mountain lion: "Simba, I am your father." Running jokes on the show center around Shawn's love of Jerk Chicken and pineapples (even though he has a "distaste" for pointy objects), which he will often bring as a gift to people he is meeting for the first time; his frequent desire for Kit-Kat bars (source:Episode 6, Season 3: There Might Be Blood) his inability to set his cell phone to vibrate, even when spying or infiltrating the homes of suspects; his fondness for Val Kilmer; his love of Curt Smith and Tears for Fears; his comments on other people's hair; his difficulty in pronouncing certain words (such as "chassis"); mispronouncing or misquoting phrases (e.g. "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Marzipan", "Abercrombie and Fletch") and after being corrected, claiming "I've heard it both ways" (this is usually intentional); his use of other people's property in his psychic "visions" (i.e. using O'Hara's scarf to cover his eyes, ripping out the paper tray of the printer belonging to Chief Vick, Gus's head); and, of course, the pseudonyms he makes up for Gus each time he questions a person of interest, often a reference to an obscure '80s movie, a combination of two or more celebrities' names, or something he created on the spot.
Shawn was introduced in the serial killer Mr. Yang's book on page 11. He is described as "a thick-tufted boy genius who ice skates through life on polished blades of snarky eloquence." Shawn is friends with the Santa Barbara Coroner, given they share a similar sense of humor. Shawn bribes the coroner with gifts in exchange for information on cases Shawn has not been officially hired to take.
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