Despite once being portrayed as having a high intellect, more recent episodes have depicted Brian as having an average-at-best intelligence and being a fraudulent intellectual, such as pretending to be well read or understanding concepts he does not, such as the multiverse theory in " Road to the Multiverse". Brian is extremely grateful for being saved, but Stewie of this timeline finds Brian's affections unnerving, not knowing the reason behind them. Once he arrives at the "award ceremony", however, he discovers that he has misunderstood the meaning of the word " special". However, Brian fully embraces being less intelligent and Stewie gives up and decides to adjust to the new reality, until Brian and Peter decide to enjoy a garage-set " London Fog" night, where they will take long and deep breaths as the exhaust from the car, envelopes them, and Stewie realizes Brian's behavior is actually going to kill him. MacFarlane claims to have drawn inspiration from several sitcoms, namely The Simpsons and All in the Family.

He is the pet dog of the Griffin family, and in keeping with the series' treatment of anthropomorphic characters generally, Brian's human attributes receive little acknowledgment and no explanation; he is largely treated as a human character. Aside from the fact that like other particles, they are likely incomprehensibly tiny, because tachyons always travel faster than light it isn’t possible to detect one on its approach.K. whose articles have been published in Physics World, New Scientist, Astronomy Magazine, All About Space, Newsweek and ZME Science.

The voice of Brian is provided by series creator Seth MacFarlane, who also provides the voices of many other characters including Peter Griffin, Stewie Griffin, and Glenn Quagmire. In a list of the Top 25 Family Guy characters compiled by IGN, Brian was placed second on the list (behind Stewie). Brian agrees to come along as he could watch Black Swan and shoot one load at Natalie Portman and another load at Mila Kunis (the actress who portrays Meg; Stewie also interrupts before Brian can say her name). An example of this is when in " Brian: Portrait of a Dog", Peter is shown in a flashback finding a fully grown Brian as a stray.As he is setting it up, Brian is struck by a reckless driver in a hit and run and later succumbs to his injuries at the veterinary clinic. Seth MacFarlane's role in the episode was nominated for the Award for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance at the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards. As Jess had only a little time left to live, Brian agreed to help her with her bucket list and the two fall in love.