Ethan Murphy was the husband of Marcie Murphy and the father of Shaun Murphy and his late brother Steve.
History[]
Raising Shaun[]
Ethan was abusive to Shaun because he wasn’t the son Ethan wanted. His friends who came over for Poker who weren’t any better with him. His abusive behavior was likely exacerbated by frustrations tied to Shaun's autism and not knowing how to deal with it, plus the fact that he was an alcoholic. According to Shaun, Ethan once said that he wished Shaun had never been born and he wasn't worth the trouble. While on one of his tirades due to his anger about Shaun, Ethan killed his pet rabbit. This led to Steve and Shaun running away from home and living in an abandoned bus to escape the abusive behavior of their father and the idleness of their mother to do anything about it.
After Steve's funeral, Shaun refused to go back to his parents and and was handed off into foster care. He lived with at least three different foster families. Shaun didn't speak to or see his parents again for years after entering the foster system.
Dying[]
Ethan was soon diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer with only a few days left to live. In his last moments, he requested that Shaun see him. When Shaun saw Ethan again, Ethan claimed that his actions were internalized anger at not getting to do the things he'd always dreamed of with his son and being unable to help him. Although Shaun angrily yelled at Ethan for what he was, he later returned to talk to Ethan who he decided to forgive and stop punishing. Ethan reciprocated this, but then revealed his true colors, calling Shaun weak and a spoiled little baby and blamed Steve's death on Shaun. As Glassman pulled Shaun away, Ethan told him to leave and "run away again." He later died, which Shaun was emotionally devastated about.
Personality[]
Ethan was abusive towards Shaun, having hated that Shaun didn’t act like other kids his age. According to Shaun, Ethan would hit and blame anyone but himself (so it seems that Shaun wasn’t the only one affected by him). He also appeared to be deceitful, appearing apologetic to Shaun and remorseful about everything when that wasn’t actually how he felt.
Appearances[]
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| S7 | ✔ |