Storylines
Hyde was abandoned by his mother, Edna (Katey Sagal), who only appeared in three episodes, two of which featured only her screaming voice calling from inside Hyde's house. His stepfather, Bud (Robert Hays), had left some years earlier. A half brother was mentioned once in a Season 8 episode, though not much is known about him.
Hyde's best friend, and later foster-brother, is the nice, geeky Eric Forman. The two share probably the closest friendship out of the group, shown by how they care and rely on one another and one another's advice. When Hyde's mother left town at the end of the first season, Eric tried to persuade his parents to do something about his best friend's living conditions and thus Hyde was invited to live with the Formans, which Hyde does from season one until the series' end. He is adopted into the Forman family, and lives in the basement of their house. Since there are no extra bedrooms, he sleeps in a small storage room on a cot. When Red decided to kick Hyde out after an arrest for possession of drugs, Eric attempts to come to his rescue.
Hyde found a job working at the Foto Hut with his burned-out hippie boss Leo (Tommy Chong). Hyde and Leo become good friends until Leo suddenly left town, because he remembered that he was only supposed to stay in Point Place for a short time, yet stayed for eight years, leaving his family behind. Ironically enough, during his tenure in the Foto Hut, he was the more responsible worker between himself and Leo, even telling his own boss off for not doing his job. Hyde and Leo's friendship resumed when Leo returned to the series near the end of Season 7. He gave the money he made to Red and Kitty to help them pay the bills. It is evidenced thus that Hyde has a sense of propriety and responsibility to rival that of his friend Eric's, yet is not proud of it as he is more accustomed to his stoner lifestyle.
Hyde developed a fairly close relationship with Eric's dad, Red Forman, who admired his toughness, lack of showing emotions, and traditional masculinity, a quality his son Eric lacks. Red became the closest Hyde has to a real father after he moved in with the Formans. Red does occasionally feel that Hyde can be a bad influence on Eric, particularly due to his frequent marijuana use, and briefly kicked him out when Hyde was arrested. However, he is often shown to have a deeper respect for Hyde over his own son and occasionally prefers Hyde over him (such as when he offered Hyde a job at his new muffler shop instead of Eric).
In the season 6 finale, Kitty discovered that Bud is not Hyde's real father. Subsequently, Hyde met his biological father, William Barnett (Tim Reid), who was black, making Hyde biracial. He later met his half-sister, Angie Barnett who dreamed of one day running her own store, but ended up working alongside Hyde in her father's store.
Hyde is highly critical of organized religion. He tells an Episcopalian girl that she believes in "the exact opposite of what believe in". Also, in "Holy Crap", he claims he doesn't go to church because it would make him a hypocrite, him believing that organized religions had corrupted the teachings of the likes of others like Jesus, Buddha, and Muhammad. Despite the fact that Hyde mentions God (such as stating his hair was a gift from God in "Eric's Hot Cousin") he does not express any sort of organized religious affiliation. However, he is shown on several occasions to be reverent and somewhat religious when the time called for it.
In contrast to the sensitive New-Age men prevalent in the 1970s, Hyde is very traditionally masculine, much like Red Forman. He does not voice or show his emotions often (a notable exception being when he has to tell Jackie he cheated on her in season 5, and other occurrences throughout their relationship.) He does not worry about romantic relationships and women the way Michael Kelso, Eric, and Fez do; he considers himself too "tough" and strong for that type of behavior. He generally acts as though he does not care for anyone, perhaps as a defensive mechanism; however, it is shown during the course of the series that he does care deeply about his friends and the Formans. Hyde seems to be against extracurricular activities, although he does mention that he plays baseball in school and is a fan of the Green Bay Packers. Hyde's other hobbies include music, hunting, hanging around, and he is also shown to have a talent in mechanics.
After Eric's departure to Africa, Hyde's conflicts were front and center in the series, mostly due to his relationship with Eric's parents (his foster parents) and his short marriage to Samantha. He experiences conflict with Kelso, who he punches for attempting to sleep with Jackie in Chicago. He also struggles to maintain civility with Jackie and manage his career. Later in the final season, Hyde receives a letter from his father (William Barnett) telling him that he is selling his chain of record stores. Hyde, angry at the vague letter, fears that he won't be able to continue the career he loves. Later, Barnett shows up to Hyde's record store to tell him that he sold every store except for the one in Point Place, and has granted sole ownership of the last remaining Grooves. Hyde ends the series as the owner and manager of his Grooves record store.
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