The Gang in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is so far removed from reality that they occasionally take on alter egos. Dee believes she’s destined to be a famous actor and spends her spare time coming up with characters to try out at Paddy’s. Dennis has such delusions of grandeur that he refers to himself as a “golden god.”
Oftentimes, the Gang’s zany schemes require one or more of them to take on a new persona — like that of art critic Ongo Gablogian — and convince somebody — like the owner of an art gallery — that they’re an entirely different person. This running gag has resulted in some of the show’s funniest moments.
Ongo Gablogian
In the episode “Dee Made a Smut Film,” while Dennis is trying to turn his erotic memoirs into an independent movie, Mac tries to prove that anyone can make it onto the art scene by selling Charlie’s scribblings to a prestigious art gallery.
In order to talk up Charlie’s art, Frank dons a black turtleneck and a white wig and adopts the persona of bohemian art critic “Ongo Gablogian.” He walks around the gallery saying, “Bullsh*t! Bullsh*t! Derivative!”
The Warthog
In season 8’s “Frank’s Back in Business,” Frank’s old company has come on hard financial times, so they decide to call him back in. His ruthless persona for doing business the old-fashioned way is “the Warthog.”
Within seconds, he shows his employees why the Warthog is so feared. He helps an intern with a paper jam, laughs lightheartedly, and then drops the friendly pretense and says, “Did I just do your job for you?” before firing him on the spot.
Mr. Covington
In the show’s 100th episode, “The Gang Saves the Day,” a stickup man comes into a store where the Gang is getting beer and holds the cashier at gunpoint. Everyone in the Gang imagines a different scenario.
Dee imagines turning on both the Gang and the stickup artist and being placed in witness protection in the true-to-life sitcom role of English butler Mr. Covington.
Dayman
Charlie puts on a musical in the season 4 finale “The Nightman Cometh,” using the metaphor of the Nightman becoming the Dayman to explain his own perceived maturity ahead of his extravagant proposal to the Waitress.
At the end of the show, Charlie is lowered down on a big prop sun in an all-yellow suit and sings an unscripted number about how he is the Dayman and wants to marry the Waitress, who promptly rebuffs him.
Brian LeFevre
When Dennis finds a wallet in the bar, he decides to steal the identity of its owner, Brian LeFevre. Initially, he, Dee, and Mac just use his tickets to see a game, but when it turns out to be a business meeting, Dennis decides to see how long he can pretend to be LeFevre before he’s caught.
In the final scene, when his cover is blown after impersonating LeFevre for several days, Dennis finally manages to “get off.”
Clown Baby
After discovering Charlie’s talent for taking a merciless beating, Mac and Dennis sign him up for a match in an underground fight club under the oddball alias “Clown Baby.”
When Charlie fails to show up for the fight, Mac has to reluctantly fill in for him and Dennis makes a boatload of money secretly betting against him.
Dr. Mantis Toboggan
Whenever Frank needs to impersonate a doctor — which is a terrible idea from the beginning for so many reasons — he uses the name Dr. Mantis Toboggan.
Frank plays the character when he tries to make a viral video and instead threatens people with a computer virus. He uses the name during the Wade Boggs challenge when he gives a college kid alcohol poisoning. He first used Dr. Toboggan as part of the titular system in “The D.E.N.N.I.S. System” when he diagnosed Dennis with HIV and dropped a box of Magnum condoms at his romantic interest’s feet.
Green Man
One of the first alter egos to be introduced on It’s Always Sunny was Charlie’s “Green Man” persona, which he hopes will catch on at sporting events. He manages to go viral by throwing a ball in Dee’s face in the middle of her own attempt at creating a viral video.
At the World Series, Green Man gets into a fight with the Phillie Phanatic — renamed the Phrenetic by the show for legal reasons — when he suggests that the Phillies should have a second mascot: Green Man.
Hugh Honey & Vic Vinegar
In the season 5 premiere “The Gang Exploits the Mortgage Crisis,” Frank buys a house at a foreclosure auction and, in order to save himself the real estate agent’s commission, he tasks Mac and Dennis with selling the property for him.
They adopt a good realtor/bad realtor dynamic with Dennis playing the sweet-natured Hugh Honey and Mac playing the hot-tempered Vic Vinegar. “We’re partners in real estate and partners in life.”
