The West Wing

# The West Wing

## Abstract

The West Wing is an American political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White House, where the Oval Office and offices of presidential senior personnel are located, during the fictional two-term Democratic administration of President Josiah Bartlet.

The West Wing was produced by Warner Bros. Television and features an ensemble cast, including Rob Lowe, Dulé Hill, Allison Janney, Richard Schiff, John Spencer, Bradley Whitford, Martin Sheen, Janel Moloney, and Stockard Channing. For the first four seasons, there were three executive producers: Sorkin (lead writer of the first four seasons), Thomas Schlamme (primary director), and John Wells. After Sorkin left the series at the end of the fourth season, Wells assumed the role of head writer, with later executive producers being directors Alex Graves and Christopher Misiano (seasons 6–7), and writers Lawrence O'Donnell and Peter Noah (season 7).

The West Wing has been universally regarded among many publications as one of the greatest television shows of all time. It has received praise from critics, political science professors, and former White House staffers and has been the subject of critical analysis. The West Wing received a multitude of accolades, including two Peabody Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and 26 Primetime Emmy Awards, including the award for Outstanding Drama Series, which it won four consecutive times from 2000 to 2003. The show's ratings waned in later years following the departure of series creator Sorkin after the fourth season, (with him the writer or co-writer of 85 of the first 88 episodes), yet it remained popular among high-income viewers, a key demographic for the show and its advertisers, with around 16 million viewers.

A stage version of the season 3 episode " Hartsfield's Landing ", " A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote ", premiered on HBO Max in October 2020, featuring the entire surviving original main cast along with key recurring cast in their original roles.

## Cast and characters

The West Wing employed a broad ensemble cast to portray the many positions involved in the daily work of the Executive Branch of the federal government. The president, the first lady, and the president's senior staff and advisers form the core cast. Numerous secondary characters, appearing intermittently, complement storylines that generally revolve around this core group.

### Main cast

- Rob Lowe as Sam Seaborn (seasons 1–4; guest season 7): the deputy communications director to Toby Ziegler. In his time at the White House, Sam is responsible for writing many of Bartlet's speeches. He departs the White House following the reelection of President Bartlet to run for Congress. He is recruited to become Santos's deputy chief of staff at the series end.

- Moira Kelly as Mandy Hampton (season 1): a media consultant contracted by the Bartlet administration and is Josh Lyman's ex-girlfriend. She departs without explanation following the first season.

- Dulé Hill as Charlie Young: originally the personal aide to the president and later a deputy special assistant to the chief of staff. He is in a relationship with Zoey Bartlet. At the series end he begins to study law at Georgetown.

- Allison Janney as C. J. Cregg: the press secretary. She succeeds Leo McGarry as chief of staff and departs the White House at the end of the Bartlet administration. Post-series, she marries Danny Concannon and has a child.

- Richard Schiff as Toby Ziegler: the communications director who writes many of Bartlet's speeches, including both inaugural addresses and many State of the Union addresses. He is fired from the Bartlet administration after confessing to illegally leaking highly classified information about a secret space shuttle, though he is pardoned for his crimes at the series' end. He has twin children with his ex-wife, Andrea Wyatt, who is a congresswoman from Maryland.

- John Spencer as Leo McGarry: Bartlet's close personal friend and chief of staff. Following a heart attack, he becomes counselor to the president, and later the Democratic candidate for vice president. He dies before assuming office.

- Bradley Whitford as Josh Lyman: the deputy chief of staff to Leo McGarry. Josh later leaves the White House to become the "Santos for President" campaign manager. When Santos is elected, Josh becomes White House Chief of Staff.

- Martin Sheen as Jed Bartlet: the president of the United States. An economist by training, he is a former congressman and governor from New Hampshire who unexpectedly won the Democratic Party nomination. He suffers from multiple sclerosis, a fact he initially hides from the electorate. Sheen described him as a conglomeration of John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton. He is succeeded by Matt Santos.

- Janel Moloney as Donna Moss (seasons 2–7; recurring season 1): the senior assistant to Josh Lyman. She later departs to be a spokesperson for the Russell campaign and then the Santos campaign. Upon Santos's election, she becomes chief of staff to the first lady.

- Stockard Channing as Abbey Bartlet (seasons 3–7; recurring seasons 1–2): the First Lady, Jed's wife, and a physician.

- Joshua Malina as Will Bailey (seasons 4–7): initially hired as a speechwriter and moves into the role of deputy communications director. He later becomes chief of staff to the vice president, Russell's campaign manager, and communications director. After the series end he becomes a congressman for Oregon.

- Mary McCormack as Kate Harper (seasons 6–7; recurring season 5): the Deputy National Security Advisor. Before the West Wing she was in the Navy, and CIA.

- Jimmy Smits as Matt Santos (seasons 6–7): a congressman from Texas who is convinced by Josh Lyman to run for president. He eventually wins the nomination and later the election.

- Alan Alda as Arnold Vinick (seasons 6–7): a senator from California who becomes the Republican nominee for president. After his loss in the general election, he is nominated Secretary of State by President-elect Santos.

- Kristin Chenoweth as Annabeth Schott (season 7; recurring season 6): the deputy press secretary and later works on the Santos campaign. At the series end, she is appointed press secretary to the incoming First Lady.

### Background

Each of the principal actors made approximately $75,000 per episode, with the established Sheen receiving a confirmed salary of $300,000. Rob Lowe left the series in the fourth season, reportedly because he did not get a salary increase. Disparities in cast salaries led to very public contract disputes, particularly by Janney, Schiff, Spencer, and Whitford. During contract negotiations in 2001, the four were threatened with breach of contract suits by Warner Bros. However, by banding together, they were able to persuade the studio to more than double their salaries. Two years later, the four again demanded a doubling of their salaries, a few months after Warner Bros had signed new licensing deals with NBC and Bravo.

John Spencer died of a heart attack on December 16, 2005, about a year after his character experienced a nearly fatal heart attack on the show. Martin Sheen gave a brief memorial message before " Running Mates ", the first new episode that aired after Spencer's death. The loss of Spencer's character was addressed beginning with the episode " Election Day ", which aired on April 2, 2006.

In an interview on the first season DVD, Bradley Whitford said that he was originally cast as Sam, even though Aaron Sorkin had created the Josh character specifically for him. In the same interview, Janel Moloney stated she had originally auditioned for the role of C.J. and that Donna, the role for which she was eventually cast, was not meant to be a recurring character. Other actors were seriously considered for other roles, including Alan Alda and Sidney Poitier for the President, Judd Hirsch for Leo, Eugene Levy for Toby, and CCH Pounder for C.J.

## Crew

The series was created by Aaron Sorkin, who served as executive producer for the pilot episode alongside director Thomas Schlamme and John Wells. Kristin Harms and Llewellyn Wells were producers for the pilot. Michael Hissrich acted as a co-producer.

The first season proper saw the return of all of the pilot production team along with the addition of Ron Osborn and Jeff Reno as consulting producers and Rick Cleveland as a second co-producer with Robert W. Glass as an associate producer. Glass left the production team after only five episodes. Julie Herlocker joined as Associate Producer beginning with episode six. Osborn and Reno departed after nine episodes. Paul Redford served as a story editor throughout the first season. Lawrence O'Donnell worked as executive story editor for the second half of the season.

With the second season, Kevin Falls became a co-executive producer. Cleveland left the production team and Redford and O'Donnell were promoted to co-producer. Peter Parnell and Patrick Caddell became co-producers and Julie Herlocker and Mindy Kanaskie became associate producers. O'Donnell was promoted again to producer five episodes into the season and Hissrich joined him twelve episodes into the season.

The third season saw the departure of Parnell, Caddell, and Herlocker and the temporary absence of O'Donnell. Director Christopher Misiano became a supervising producer, Patrick Ward joined the series as an associate producer, and Eli Attie joined the writing staff as a staff writer. Redford was promoted to producer. With the thirteenth episode of the third season director Alex Graves became an additional supervising producer and Attie became a story editor.

The fourth season marked the temporary departure of Hissrich. Misiano and Graves became co-executive producers alongside Falls. Attie was promoted to executive story editor and Debora Cahn became a staff writer. The fourteenth episode of the season saw Redford promoted to supervising producer and Kanaskie, Ward and Attie promoted to co-producers.

The fifth season saw the departure of both Sorkin and Schlamme as executive producers. Schlamme remained attached to the series as an executive consultant. John Wells remained the sole executive producer and showrunner. Co-executive producer Kevin Falls also left the show. O'Donnell rejoined the production team as a consulting producer. Wells also added Carol Flint, Alexa Junge, Peter Noah, and John Sacret Young as consulting producers. Andrew Stearn came aboard as a producer and Attie was promoted to producer. Cahn became story editor and Josh Singer replaced her as staff writer. With the tenth episode Flint, Junge, Noah and Sacret Young became supervising producers.

With the sixth season Misiano and Graves were promoted to executive producers. Redford and Junge left the production team and Dylan K. Massin became a co-producer. Cahn was promoted to executive story editor and Singer replaced her as story editor. Lauren Schmidt filled the staff writer role. The fourth episode saw the departure of original crew member Llewellyn Wells. Debora Cahn was promoted to co-producer with the fourteenth episode.

The seventh season saw Noah and O'Donnell promoted again, this time becoming additional executive producers. Attie became a supervising producer. Hissrich returned to his role as producer for the final season.

## Episodes

As with many serial dramas, multiple story arcs on The West Wing span several episodes and entire seasons. In addition to these long-running narratives, each episode contains smaller storylines that usually begin and end within a single episode.

Most episodes follow President Bartlet and his staff through particular legislative or political issues. Plots can range from behind-closed-doors negotiating with Congress to personal problems like post-traumatic stress disorder, from which Josh suffers during the second season. The typical episode loosely follows the President and his staff through their day, generally following several plots connected by some idea or theme. A large, fully connected set of the White House allowed the producers to create shots with very few cuts and long, continuous master shots of staff members conversing as they walk through the hallways. These " walk and talks " became a trademark of the show. The final two seasons presented a narrative change, with the focus of the show divided between plots in the West Wing with President Bartlet and his remaining senior staffers and plots revolving around the rest of the main cast on the campaign trail for the 2006 election.

- In the first season, the Bartlet administration is in its second year and is still having trouble settling in and making progress on legislative issues.

- The second season covers the aftermath of a shooting at Rosslyn, the 2000 midterm elections, and dealings with a new Congress and sees scandal when the White House is rocked by allegations of criminal conduct and the President must decide whether he will run for a second term.

- The third and fourth seasons take an in-depth look at the campaign trail and the specter of both foreign and domestic terrorism.

- In the fifth season, the President begins to encounter more issues on the foreign front, while at home he faces off with the newly elected Speaker of the House, battles controversy over Supreme Court appointments and oversees a daring plan to save Social Security.

- The sixth season chronicles the quest to replace President Bartlet in the next election, following the primary campaigns of several candidates from both parties, while the President himself attempts to build his legacy but finds his ability to govern compromised by his illness.

- In the seventh season, the President must face a leak of confidential information about a secret Department of Defense program from inside the White House, while the Democratic and Republican candidates battle to succeed him in the general election.

## Development

The series developed following the success of the 1995 theatrical film The American President, for which Aaron Sorkin wrote the screenplay, and in which Martin Sheen played the White House Chief of Staff. Unused plot elements from the film and a suggestion from Akiva Goldsman inspired Sorkin to create The West Wing.

According to the DVD commentary, Sorkin intended to center the show on Sam Seaborn and the other senior staff with the President in an unseen or a secondary role. However, Bartlet's screen time gradually increased, and his role expanded as the series progressed. Positive critical and public reaction to Sheen's performance raised his character's profile, decreasing Lowe's perceived significance. In addition, the storylines began to focus less on Sam and more on Josh Lyman, the Deputy Chief of Staff. This shift was one of the reasons for Lowe's eventual departure from the show in the fourth season.

For the first four seasons, drawing on research materials, scene drafts, and occasionally entire draft scripts from his writing staff, Sorkin wrote almost every episode of the series, occasionally reusing plot elements, episode titles, character names, and actors from his previous work, Sports Night, a sitcom on which he began to develop his signature dialogue style of rhythmic, snappy, and intellectual banter. Fellow executive producer and director Thomas Schlamme championed the walk and talk, a continuous shot tracking in front of the characters as they walk from one place to another that became part of The West Wing ' s signature visual style. Sorkin's hectic writing schedule often led to cost overruns and schedule slips, and he opted to leave the show after the fourth season, following increasing personal problems, including an arrest for possession of hallucinogenic mushrooms. Thomas Schlamme also left the show after the fourth season. John Wells, the remaining executive producer, took the helm after their departure.

The West Wing aired on Wednesdays at 9:00 pm ET from its debut until the end of its sixth season. NBC elected to move the series to Sundays at 8:00 pm for its seventh season, a move universally regarded as the beginning of the series' end (since NBC and the NFL had reached a deal for Sunday Night Football to return to the network in the fall of 2006), and the series finale aired on May 14, 2006. The West Wing took a large ratings hit with the move, which put it up against ABC 's Top 20 hit Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and CBS ' Top 30 hit Cold Case in its timeslot.

## Legacy and influence

The show's legitimacy, political slant, and idealist representations of Washington, as well as its notable writing and film merits, have generated considerable discussion.

In 2011, The New York Times reported the then-fledgling government of Myanmar used DVDs of The West Wing episodes to study democracy. This was corroborated by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton the following year.

In March 2014 cast members Bradley Whitford, Janel Moloney and Richard Schiff participated in a Harvard Institute of Politics event with show writer and MSNBC Host Lawrence O'Donnell to discuss the impact of the show., while the following month Bradley Whitford and Richard Schiff also participated in a discussion with writer Eli Attie at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics.

In 2016, Sorkin and the cast reunited to mark the 10th anniversary of the show's finale at the ATX Festival.

In 2024, the Paley Center for Media in New York hosted an exhibition marking the 25th anniversary of the show's premiere., which cast member Janel Moloney wrote about attending. Sorkin had previously marked the show's 20th anniversary at a Paley panel in New York in 2019., while both Sorkin and cast members had previously participated in a Paley panel in Los Angeles in 2000.

### Realism

While The West Wing is not completely accurate in its portrayal of the actual West Wing, former White House staffers and journalists have described the show as capturing the feel of the real West Wing. President Gerald Ford 's daughter Susan made the comment "I can't watch. They turn left and right where you are not supposed to." Some West Wing veterans have said it exaggerates the formality and volume of chatter in the West Wing, under-represents the number of people involved in a decision, and over-idealizes its occupants.

Former Senate aide Lawrence O'Donnell and former White House aide and presidential campaign speechwriter Eli Attie were both longtime writers on the show (O'Donnell for seasons 1–2 and 5–7, Attie for seasons 3–7). Former White House Press Secretaries Dee Dee Myers and Marlin Fitzwater and pollsters Patrick Caddell and Frank Luntz also served as consultants, advising the writing staff for part of the show's run. Other former White House staffers, such as Peggy Noonan and Gene Sperling, served as consultants for brief periods.

A documentary special in the third season compared the show's depiction of the West Wing to the real thing. Many former West Wing denizens applauded the show's depiction of the West Wing, including advisor David Gergen, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, and former Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton.

While critics often praised The West Wing for its writing, others faulted the show as unrealistically optimistic and sentimental. A large part of this criticism came from the perceived naiveté of the characters. Television critic Heather Havrilesky asked, "What rock did these morally pure creatures crawl out from under and, more important, how do you go from innocent millipede to White House staffer without becoming soiled or disillusioned by the dirty realities of politics along the way?"

### Social influence

Despite acclaim for the veracity of the series, Sorkin said, "our responsibility is to captivate you for however long we've asked for your attention." Former White House aide Matthew Miller noted that Sorkin "captivates viewers by making the human side of politics more real than life—or at least more real than the picture we get from the news." Miller also noted that by portraying politicians with empathy, the show created a "subversive competitor" to the cynical views of politics in media. In the essay " The West Wing and the West Wing", author Myron Levine agreed, stating that the series "presents an essentially positive view of public service and a healthy corrective to anti-Washington stereotypes and public cynicism."

Dr. Staci L. Beavers, associate professor of political science at California State University, San Marcos, wrote a short essay, " The West Wing as a Pedagogical Tool". She concluded, "While the series' purpose is for-profit entertainment, The West Wing presents great pedagogical potential." The West Wing, in her opinion, gave greater depth to the political process usually espoused only in stilted talking points on shows like Face the Nation and Meet the Press. However, she noted that the merits of a particular argument may be obscured by the viewer's opinion of the character. Beavers also noted that characters with opposing viewpoints were often set up to be "bad people" in the viewer's eyes. These characters were assigned undesirable characteristics having nothing to do with their political opinions, such as being romantically involved with a main character's love interest. In Beavers' opinion, a critical analysis of the show's political views can present a worthwhile learning experience to the viewer.

While it aired, The West Wing offered viewers an idealist liberal administration that provided a sort of catharsis to those on the left who felt that their political beliefs were largely forgotten or ignored in the era of the Bush administration. Writer Hédi Kaddour remarked that The West Wing "show what would have liked to have seen and had: a different American administration, closer to our desires as people more or less on the left."

One of the stranger effects of the show occurred on January 31, 2006, when The West Wing was said to have played a hand in defeating a proposal backed by Tony Blair 's government in the British House of Commons, during the so-called " West Wing Plot". The plan was allegedly hatched after a Conservative Member of Parliament watched the episode " A Good Day ", in which Democrats block a bill aimed at limiting stem cell research, by appearing to have left Washington D.C. but actually hiding in a congressional office until the Republican Speaker calls the vote.

A number of episodes referred to a practice of the administration having one day each year on which they accepted meetings with people or groups who would not normally receive an audience with high-level White House staffers, referring to the event as "Big Block of Cheese Day". The name came from the fact that President Andrew Jackson had a large wheel of cheese placed in the White House from which the public were invited to eat during a reception, while discussing issues of the day with politicians. In 2014, the White House announced that it was to host an online Q&A with Obama administration officials and staff, called a Virtual "Big Block of Cheese day", on January 29, 2014. The event was promoted with a video featuring stars from The West Wing. The event was repeated on January 21, 2015, again promoted by stars from the show. On April 29, 2016, Allison Janney appeared in character as C.J. Cregg during a White House press briefing.

### "The Left Wing"

Despite its commercial and critical success, The West Wing has also received criticism from the right. Jewish Journal columnist Naomi Pfefferman once referred to The West Wing as "The Left Wing" because of its portrayal of an ideal liberal administration, and the moniker has also been used by Republican critics of the show. Chris Lehmann, former deputy editor and regular reviewer for The Washington Post ' s Book World section, characterized the show as a revisionist look at the Clinton presidency.

However, criticism of the show has been made from the left as well. Cultural critic and Jacobin columnist Luke Savage has taken issue with the show's portrayal of "technocratic governance" as "exciting, intellectually stimulating, and, above all, honorable", and its attendant liberal elitism, saying, "there is a general tenor to The West Wing universe that cannot be called anything other than smug." The hosts of socialist podcast Chapo Trap House are frequent critics of Sorkin and have called The West Wing an "expression of the patronizing self-entitlement of liberals."

On the other hand, some Republicans have admired the show since its inception, even before the departure of Sorkin and the show's resulting shift toward the center. In his 2001 article "Real Liberals versus The West Wing," Mackubin Thomas Owens wrote, ″Although his administration is reliably liberal, President Bartlet possesses virtues even a conservative could admire. He obeys the Constitution and the law. He is devoted to his wife and daughters. Being unfaithful to his wife would never cross his mind. He is no wimp when it comes to foreign policy—no quid pro quo for him."

Journalist Matthew Miller wrote, "Although the show indeed has a liberal bias on issues, it presents a truer, more human picture of the people behind the headlines than most of today's Washington journalists."

### Filming techniques and reactions

In its first season, The West Wing attracted critical attention in the television community with a record nine Emmy wins. The show has been praised for its high production values and repeatedly recognized for its cinematic achievements. The series has also been praised for Sorkin's rapid-fire and witty scripts. The series had a budget of $2.7 million per episode.

The West Wing is noted for developing the " walk-and-talk "—long Steadicam tracking shots showing characters walking down hallways while involved in long conversations. In a typical "walk-and-talk" shot, the camera leads two characters down a hallway as they speak to each other. One of these characters generally breaks off and the remaining character is then joined by another character, who initiates another conversation as they continue walking. These "walk-and-talks" create a dynamic feel for what would otherwise be long expository dialogue, and have become a staple for dialogue-intensive television show scenes.

### Awards

In its first season, The West Wing garnered nine Emmys, a record for most won by a series in its first season. In addition, the series received the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series in 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003, tying Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, Mad Men and Game of Thrones for most won in this category. Each of its seven seasons earned a nomination for the award. With its 26 total awards, The West Wing tied with Hill Street Blues as the drama with the most Emmy wins until Game of Thrones broke the record for most wins in 2016, with 38 total awards.

The series shares the Emmy Award record for most acting nominations by regular cast members (excluding the guest performer category) for a single series in one year. (Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, Game of Thrones, Succession and The White Lotus also hold that record). For the 2001–2002 season, nine cast members were nominated for Emmys. Allison Janney, John Spencer and Stockard Channing each won an Emmy (for Lead Actress, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress respectively). The others nominated were Martin Sheen (for Lead Actor), Richard Schiff, Dulé Hill and Bradley Whitford (for Supporting Actor), and Janel Moloney and Mary-Louise Parker (for Supporting Actress). In addition, that same year Mark Harmon, Tim Matheson and Ron Silver were each nominated in the Guest Actor category (although none won the award). This gave the series an Emmy Award record for most acting nominations overall (including guest performer category) in a single year, with 12 acting nominations. Twenty individual Emmys were awarded to writers, actors, and crew members. Allison Janney is the record holder for most wins by a cast member, with a total of four Emmys. The West Wing won at least one Emmy in each of its seasons except the sixth.

In addition to its Emmys, the show won two Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, in 2000 and 2001, Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. Martin Sheen was the only cast member to win a Golden Globe Award, and he and Allison Janney were the only cast members to win SAG Awards. In both 1999 and 2000, The West Wing was awarded the Peabody Award for excellence in broadcasting.

The following table summarizes award wins by cast members:

Many cast members were Emmy-nominated for their work on The West Wing but did not win, including Martin Sheen—who was nominated for six of the seven seasons of the series without receiving the award—as well as Janel Moloney, who was nominated twice, and Dulé Hill, Rob Lowe, and Mary-Louise Parker, who were all nominated once. Matthew Perry, Oliver Platt, Ron Silver, Tim Matheson, and Mark Harmon also received Emmy nominations for guest starring on the show.

Thomas Schlamme won two Emmys for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series (in 2000 and 2001), and Christopher Misiano won an Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series in 2003. The West Wing ' s only Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series was in its first season, when Rick Cleveland and Aaron Sorkin shared the award for " In Excelsis Deo ".

W. G. Snuffy Walden received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music in 2000 for "The West Wing Opening Theme".

"The West Wing Documentary Special" won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Program in 2002, with the award shared by Aaron Sorkin, Tommy Schlamme, documentarian Bill Couturie, show writers Eli Attie and Felicia Willson, and others.

Readers of TV Guide voted the cast of The West Wing their Best Drama cast of all time, receiving 37% of the votes, beating Lost, which received 23%.

A Wall Street Journal poll in 2016 named Martin Sheen's Josiah Bartlet as the second greatest fictional president, behind Harrison Ford 's President James Marshall in Air Force One.

### Critical reception

On the review aggregator websites Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, the first season scored respectively 96% and 79/100. Rotten Tomatoes scores the second 88%, the third 73%, the fourth 92%, the fifth 65%, the sixth 64%, and the seventh 95%.

## Nielsen ratings

## Exploration of real world issues

The West Wing often featured extensive discussion of current or recent political issues. After the real-world election of Republican President George W. Bush in 2000, many wondered whether the liberal show could retain its relevance and topicality. However, by exploring many of the same issues facing the Bush administration from a Democratic point of view, the show continued to appeal to a broad audience of both Democrats and Republicans.

In the second-season episode " The Midterms ", President Bartlet admonishes fictional radio host Dr. Jenna Jacobs for her views regarding homosexuality at a private gathering at the White House. Dr. Jacobs is a caricature of radio personality Dr. Laura Schlessinger, who strongly disapproves of homosexuality. Many of the President's biblical references in his comments to Dr. Jacobs appear to have come from an open letter to Dr. Schlessinger, circulated online in early May 2000.

The Bartlet administration experiences a scandal during the second and third seasons that has been compared to the Monica Lewinsky affair. President Bartlet has known that he has relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) since 1992. The scandal centers on President Bartlet's nondisclosure of his illness to the electorate during the election. He is investigated by an opposition Congress for defrauding the public and eventually accepts congressional censure. Multiple sclerosis advocacy groups praised the show for its accurate portrayal of the symptoms of MS and stressing that it is not fatal. The National MS Society commented:

For the first time on national television or even in film, the public encountered a lead character with both an MS diagnosis and the hope for a continued productive life. Because West Wing is a fictional drama and not a medical documentary, writers could have greatly distorted MS facts to further their storyline.

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, the start of the third season was postponed for a week, as were most American television premieres that year. A script for a special episode was quickly written and began filming on September 21. The episode " Isaac and Ishmael " aired on October 3 and addresses the sobering reality of terrorism in America and the wider world, albeit with no specific reference to September 11. While "Isaac and Ishmael" received mixed critical reviews, it illustrated the show's flexibility in addressing current events. The cast of the show state during the opening of the episode that it is not part of The West Wing continuity.

While the September 11 attacks are not referred to in The West Wing continuity, the country enters into a variation of the War on Terrorism. Al Qaeda, mentioned briefly by Nancy McNally in the beginning of Season 2, plays no role in the longer terrorism story arcs of Seasons 3, 4 and 5. It is only mentioned again in Seasons 6 and 7. The stand-in used instead is the fictional Bahji terror group who first plots to blow up the Golden Gate Bridge. In response, the President orders the assassination of foreign leader Abdul ibn Shareef, one of Bahji's primary backers. This storyline has similarities to the real-world U.S. invasion of Afghanistan as well as U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia since it brings the Middle East to the forefront of U.S. foreign relations and elevates terrorism as a serious threat.

In the middle of the fourth season, Bartlet's White House is confronted with genocide in the fictional African country of Equatorial Kundu, which was compared to the Rwandan genocide of 1994. The result is new foreign policy doctrine for the Bartlet administration and military intervention to stop the violence, which come after much hesitation and reluctance to call the conflict a genocide. In reality, the Clinton administration did not intervene in Rwanda.

In the sixth and seventh seasons, The West Wing explores a leak of top-secret information by a senior staffer at the White House. This leak has been compared to events surrounding the Valerie Plame affair. In the storyline, the International Space Station is damaged and can no longer produce oxygen for the astronauts to breathe. With no other methods of rescue available, the President is reminded of the existence of a top-secret military space shuttle. Following the President's inaction, the shuttle story is leaked to a White House reporter, Greg Brock (analogous to Judith Miller), who prints the story in The New York Times. Brock will not reveal his source and goes to jail for failing to do so, as did Miller. In order to stop the investigation, in which authorities suspect Chief of Staff C.J. Cregg, Toby Ziegler admits to leaking the information, and the President is forced to dismiss him. In comparison, the Plame affair resulted in the arrest and conviction of "Scooter" Libby, the Vice President's chief of staff. However, Libby was convicted of perjury in testimony to a grand jury. No one was convicted for "blowing the cover" of Plame. (Richard Armitage, an official in the Bush State Department, acknowledged leaking information about Plame to reporters but was never charged with a crime.) Libby's two-and-a-half-year prison sentence was later commuted by President Bush, though the other facet of his sentence ($250,000 fine) stood until his 2018 pardon by President Donald Trump and was duly paid. In the series finale, President Bartlet, as his last official act, pardons Ziegler.

Other issues explored in The West Wing include:

- North Korean and Iranian nuclear ambitions

- Strained relations and a state of brinkmanship between India and Pakistan

- Legislation of the Central American Free Trade Agreement

- The formation of the Minuteman Project

- Peacemaking and terrorism in Israel and Palestine

- The genocide in Darfur, Sudan

- AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa

- The Northern Ireland peace process

- The War on Drugs and conflict in Colombia

- Controversy over Intelligent design in schools

- Brinkmanship and potential conflict between the People's Republic of China and Republic of China over Taiwan's political status

- A federal government shutdown

- The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act

- Anthrax attacks against the Bush administration

- Federal funding for the arts

- Peak oil and the consequences of a decline in global oil production

- Federal subsidies for ethanol fuel given to corn growers

- Student loan forgiveness for teachers

- Invoking the 25th Amendment for an Acting President while the President is preoccupied with personal problems

## The West Wing universe

### Domestic

All contemporary domestic government officials in The West Wing universe are fictional. President Bartlet has made three appointments to the fictional Supreme Court and maintains a full cabinet, although not all names and terms of the members are revealed. Some cabinet members, such as the Secretary of Defense, appear more often than others. Many other government officials, such as mayors, governors, judges, representatives, and senators, are mentioned and seen as well.

Fictional locations inside the United States are created to loosely represent certain places:

#### San Andreo

San Andreo is a fictional California city. It is located near San Diego, has a population of 42,000 and is the location of the San Andreo Nuclear Generating Station. The fictional station was based on the real-life San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in San Diego County.

A near meltdown at the nuclear plant becomes the focus of an October surprise for Republican nominee Senator Arnold Vinick during the 2006 presidential election, due to Vinick's strong pro-nuclear stance and revelations of his active lobbying for the construction of the plant. This is seen to be a key factor in Vinick's narrow defeat in the election by Democratic nominee Congressman Matt Santos.

#### Hartsfield's Landing

Hartsfield's Landing is a fictional town in New Hampshire. It is stated to be a very small community of only 63 people, of whom 42 are registered voters, that votes at one minute past midnight on the day of the New Hampshire primary, hours before the rest of the state, and has accurately predicted the winner of every presidential election since William Howard Taft in 1908. It is based on three real-life New Hampshire communities, one of which is Hart's Location, which indeed vote before the rest of the state during the primaries.

#### Kennison State University

Kennison State is a fictional university in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, used as the setting of a bombing in the beginning of the fourth season.

### Foreign

While several real-world leaders exist in the show's universe, most foreign countries depicted or referred to on the show have fictional rulers. Real people mentioned on The West Wing include Muammar Gaddafi, Yasser Arafat, Fidel Castro, Queen Elizabeth II, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, King Carl XVI Gustaf, Thabo Mbeki, and Osama bin Laden.

Entire countries are invented as composite pictures that epitomize many of the problems that plague real nations in certain areas of the world:

- Qumar is a fictional, oil-rich, powerful, Middle Eastern state. A former British protectorate now ruled by a sultan and his family, it hosts a major US airbase and is frequently a source of trouble for the Bartlet administration. The nation is first introduced in the third season as a close ally of the United States but is criticized for its harsh treatment of women. After the September 11 attacks, it became a major venue for the show's terrorism subplots, including one where convincing evidence is discovered that Qumari Defense Minister Shareef is planning terrorist acts against U.S. infrastructure, including a failed conspiracy to destroy the Golden Gate Bridge, and President Bartlet authorizes his assassination by a covert operations team. Geographically, as it is depicted on maps, it roughly corresponds to the Hormozgan Province of Iran.

- Equatorial Kundu is a fictional African nation introduced early in the second season as one blighted by a rife AIDS epidemic, a coup d'état, and an ensuing civil war, resembling the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Its location, when depicted on maps, is roughly that of Equatorial Guinea. President Bartlet launches a military intervention in Equatorial Kundu during the fourth season in order to put an end to ethnic cleansing. Equatorial Kundu is also used during the third season of Sorkin's later television series The Newsroom.

### Fictional timeline

The West Wing universe diverges from history after Richard Nixon 's presidency, although there is occasional overlap; for instance, in the second episode of the series' second season " In the Shadow of Two Gunmen " Toby Ziegler speaks to a Secret Service agent outside a building named for Ronald Reagan, although this may have just been a production oversight. Fictional Presidents who are shown to have served between Nixon and Bartlet include one-term Democrat D. Wire Newman (James Cromwell) and two-term Republican Owen Lassiter.

Leo McGarry is mentioned as being Labor Secretary in the administration that was in office in 1993 and 1995. In the first season, an outgoing Supreme Court Justice tells Bartlet that he had been wanting to retire for five years but waited "for a Democrat" because he did not want a Republican president to replace him with a conservative justice (the Justice then snidely tells President Bartlet, "Instead, I got you."). The season 4 episode " Debate Camp " features a flashback to the days just before Bartlet's inauguration, as Donna Moss meets with her Republican predecessor, Jeff Johnson. In season six Leo says that the Republicans have been "out of power for eight years", and Republicans at their convention say "eight (years) is enough".

The passage of time on the show relative to that of the real world is somewhat ambiguous when marked by events of shorter duration (such as votes and campaigns). Sorkin noted in a DVD commentary track for the second-season episode " 18th and Potomac " that he tried to avoid tying The West Wing to a specific period of time. Despite this, real years are occasionally mentioned, usually in the context of elections and President Bartlet's two-term administration.

The show's presidential elections are held in 2002 and 2006, which are the years of the midterm elections in reality (these dates come from the fact that in the season 2 episode " 17 People ", Toby mentions 2002 as the year of the President's reelection campaign). The election time line on The West Wing matches up with that of the real world until early in the sixth season, when it appears that a year is lost. For example, the filing deadline for the New Hampshire primary, which would normally fall in January 2006, appears in an episode airing in January 2005.

In an interview, John Wells stated that the series began one and a half years into Bartlet's first term and that the election to replace Bartlet was being held at the correct time. However, the season 1 episode "He Shall from Time to Time" shows the preparations for Bartlet's first regular State of the Union address, which would occur one year into his presidency. In the Season 1 episode "Let Bartlet Be Bartlet", Josh Lyman asks Toby Ziegler, "Our second year isn't going much better than our first year, is it?"

In the season 5 episode " Access ", it is mentioned that the Casey Creek crisis occurred during Bartlet's first term and got his presidency off to a calamitous start, and network footage of the crisis carries the date of November 2001.

### 1998 presidential election

Bartlet's first campaign for president is never significantly explored in the series. Bartlet is stated to have won the election with 48% of the popular vote, 48 million votes, and a 303–235 margin in the Electoral College. Of three debates between Bartlet and his Republican opponent, it is mentioned that Bartlet won the third and final debate, held eight days before election day in St. Louis, Missouri. Josh Lyman says that in the days prior to the election, "Bartlet punched through a few walls" since the result seemed too close to call before the result broke his way. Leo McGarry says the same thing in " Bartlet for America " when he says, "It was eight days to go, and we were too close to call".

The campaign for the Democratic nomination is extensively addressed. In the episodes " In the Shadow of Two Gunmen, Part I ", " In the Shadow of Two Gunmen, Part II ", and "Bartlet for America", flashbacks are used to show Bartlet defeating Texas Senator John Hoynes (Tim Matheson) and Washington Senator William Wiley for the Democratic nomination and later choosing Hoynes as his running mate. The flashbacks also show Leo McGarry persuading Bartlet, then Governor of New Hampshire, to run for president.

### 2002 presidential election

The West Wing ' s 2002 presidential election pits Bartlet and Vice President John Hoynes against Florida Governor Robert Ritchie (James Brolin) and his running mate, Jeff Heston. Bartlet faces no known opposition for renomination, though Minnesota Democratic Senator Howard Stackhouse launches a brief independent campaign for the presidency. Ritchie, not originally expected to contend for the nomination, emerges from a field of seven other Republican candidates by appealing to the party's conservative base with simple, "homey" sound bites.

Bartlet's staff contemplates replacing Vice President John Hoynes on the ticket with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Percy Fitzwallace (John Amos), among others. After it is clear that Ritchie will be the Republican nominee, Bartlet dismisses the idea, declaring that he wants Hoynes in the number two spot because of "four words," which he writes down and hands to Hoynes and McGarry to read: "Because I could die."

Throughout the season, it is anticipated that the race will be close, but a stellar performance by Bartlet in the sole debate between the candidates helps give him a landslide victory in both the popular vote and the electoral vote.

### 2006 presidential election

A speed-up in The West Wing ' s timeline, in part due to the expiration of many cast members' contracts and a desire to continue the program with lower production costs, resulted in the omission of the 2004 midterm elections and an election during the seventh season. The sixth season extensively details the Democratic and Republican primaries. The seventh season covers the lead-up to the general election, the election, and the transition to a new administration. The timeline slows down to concentrate on the general election race. The election, normally held in November, takes place across two episodes originally broadcast on April 2 and 9, 2006.

Congressman Matt Santos (D- TX) (Jimmy Smits) is nominated on the fourth ballot at the Democratic National Convention, during the sixth-season finale. Santos, having planned to leave Congress before being recruited to run for the presidency by Josh Lyman, polls in the low single digits in the Iowa caucus. He is virtually out of the running in the New Hampshire primary before a last-ditch live television commercial vaults him to a third-place finish with 19% of the vote. Josh Lyman, Santos's campaign manager, convinces Leo McGarry to become Santos's running mate.

Senator Arnold Vinick (R- CA) (Alan Alda) secures the Republican nomination, defeating Glen Allen Walken (John Goodman) and the Reverend Don Butler (Don S. Davis), among others. Initially, Vinick wants Butler to become his running mate. However, Butler does not want to be considered because of Vinick's stance on abortion. Instead, West Virginia Governor Ray Sullivan (Brett Cullen) is chosen as Vinick's running mate. Vinick is portrayed throughout the sixth season as virtually unbeatable because of his popularity in California, a typically Democratic state, his moderate views, and his wide crossover appeal. Vinick, however, faces difficulty with the anti-abortion members of his party as an abortion rights candidate, and criticism for his support of nuclear power following a serious accident at a Californian nuclear power station.

On the evening of the election, Leo McGarry suffers a massive heart attack and is pronounced dead at the hospital, with the polls still open on the West Coast. The Santos campaign releases the information immediately, while Arnold Vinick refuses to use Leo's death as a "stepstool" to the presidency. Santos emerges as the winner in his home state of Texas, while Vinick wins his home state of California. The election comes down to Nevada, where both candidates need a victory to secure the presidency. Vinick tells his staff repeatedly that he will not allow his campaign to demand a recount of the votes if Santos is declared the winner. Josh Lyman gives Santos the same advice, although the Santos campaign sends a team of lawyers down to Nevada. Santos is pronounced the winner of the election, having won Nevada by 30,000 votes, with an electoral vote margin of 272–266.

According to executive producer Lawrence O'Donnell, Jr., the writers originally intended for Vinick to win the election. However, the death of Spencer forced him and his colleagues to consider the emotional strain that would result from having Santos lose both his running mate and the election. It was eventually decided by John Wells that the last episodes would be rescripted. Other statements from John Wells, however, have contradicted O'Donnell's claims about a previously planned Vinick victory. The script showing Santos winning was written long before the death of John Spencer. In 2008, O'Donnell stated to camera, "We actually planned at the outset for Jimmy Smits to win, that was our.. just.. plan of how this was all going to work, but the Vinick character came on so strong in the show, and was so effective, it became a real contest... and it became a real contest in the West Wing writer's room."

#### Similarities to 2008 U.S. presidential election

Similarities between the fictional 2006 election and the real-life 2008 U.S. presidential election have been noted in the media:

- The Democratic candidate is a young ethnic minority representing a populous state: Matthew Santos of Texas on the show, Barack Obama of Illinois in real life.

- He has a grueling but successful primary campaign against a more experienced candidate: Bob Russell on the show, Hillary Clinton in real life.

- A third candidate from a Southern state has been damaged by claims of infidelity: John Hoynes of Texas on the show, John Edwards of North Carolina in real life.

- The Democratic nominee chooses an experienced Washington insider as his running mate: Leo McGarry on the show, Joe Biden in real life.

- The Republican contest is determined early in the primary season with an aging "maverick" senator of a western state being the nominee: Arnold Vinick of California on the show, John McCain of Arizona in real life.

- The nominee defeats a staunchly anti-abortion opponent with pastoral experience, among others: Reverend Don Butler on the show, Mike Huckabee in real life.

- He then chooses a younger, socially conservative running mate in the midst of their first term as governor of a sparsely populated, resource-rich state: Ray Sullivan of West Virginia on the show, Sarah Palin of Alaska in real life.

According to David Remnick's biography of Obama, The Bridge, when writer and former White House aide Eli Attie was tasked with fleshing out the first major Santos storylines, he looked to then-U.S. Senator Obama as a model. Attie called David Axelrod, with whom he had worked in politics, "and grilled him about Obama." While Attie says that he "drew inspiration from in drawing character," actor Jimmy Smits also says that Obama "was one of the people that I looked to draw upon" for his portrayal of the character. Writer and producer Lawrence O'Donnell says that he partly modeled Vinick after McCain. Obama's former Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, is said to be the basis of the Josh Lyman character, who becomes Santos's Chief of Staff. However, O'Donnell denied this claim. Ahead of the inauguration, a fan posted a video mash-up of the West Wing credits with Obama administration officials on Youtube that was featured on HLN 's program Showbiz Tonight

### Santos transition

As the series sunsets with Bartlet's final year in office, little is revealed about Matt Santos's presidency, with the last few episodes mainly focusing on the Santos team's transition into the White House. Santos chooses Josh Lyman as Chief of Staff, who in turn calls on former colleague Sam Seaborn to be Deputy Chief of Staff. In need of experienced cabinet members, Santos taps Arnold Vinick as Secretary of State, believing the senior statesman to be one of the best strategists available and respected by foreign leaders. Santos eventually decides on Eric Baker, the Democratic Governor of Pennsylvania and at one point the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, as his choice for vice president, and submits his name to Congress under the terms of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. While the show ends before he can be confirmed, it is implied he may face little opposition from Republicans due to the backing of Secretary of State Vinick.

President Bartlet's final act as President of the United States is pardoning Toby Ziegler, who had violated federal law by leaking classified information about a military Space Shuttle. The series ends with Bartlet returning to New Hampshire. Having said his goodbyes to his closest staff, former President Bartlet tells President Santos, "Make me proud, Mr. President," to which Santos responds, "I'll do my best, Mr. President."

## Other broadcasts

The show previously reaired on Bravo in the U.S. beginning in 2003. Cable channel TNT reaired episodes of the show in 2020 ahead of the U.S. election and the show's launch on HBO Max. In 2022, HLN aired a marathon of the show over the Thanksgiving holiday.

In the UK, the show originally aired on Sky One in 2000 before subsequently airing on Channel 4, E4 and More4.

The 2005 German series Kanzleramt on public broadcaster ZDF drew comparisons with The West Wing. The original did not air in Germany until 2008 to 2012 on the pay television channel Fox.

## Home media

The series is available on DVD, with a complete series set released in 2006. Season 1 is in the original 4:3 format while Season 2 onward are presented as anamorphic widescreen.

In 2010, the series was released in high-definition for the first time on streaming platforms Amazon Video and iTunes, with the first two seasons remastered in 16:9 to match the aspect ratio and resolution change in the third season. The complete series will be released on Blu-ray on October 1, 2024.

## Other media

### Books

Several books have been published about The West Wing. One of the first, in 2001, was Paul C. Challe's Inside the West Wing: An Unauthorized Look at Television's Smartest Show. In 2002, Newmarket Press published The West Wing Script Book, which included episode scripts from Aaron Sorkin. Also in 2002, Ian Jackman wrote The West Wing (The Official Companion). Analytical books about the series include Peter Rollins' The West Wing: The American Presidency as Television Drama (2003), The Prime-Time Presidency: The West Wing and U.S. Nationalism by Trevor Parry-Giles and Shawn J. Parry-Giles (2006), The West Wing (TV Milestones Series) by Janet McCabe (2012), Claire Handscombe's Walk with Us: How the West Wing Changed Our Lives (2016), and David W. Greybeal's Faith in The West Wing: The Portrayal of Religion in a Primetime Presidency (2023).

Melissa Fitzgerald and Mary McCormack, who portrayed Carol Fitzpatrick and Kate Harper, respectively, co-wrote What's Next: A Backstage Pass to The West Wing, Its Cast and Crew, and Its Enduring Legacy of Service. It was released on August 13, 2024. The book includes behind-the-scenes stories, photos, anecdotes from episodes of the show, and analysis of the show's legacy. They were interviewed together by their colleague when they appeared on MSNBC's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell in August 2024., and also participated with Sorkin and various cast members in several events tied to the book's release and the show's 25th anniversary hosted by the Skirball Cultural Center, Warner Brothers and Sixth & I Historic Synagogue.. While in Washington D.C. as part of the promotional events, McCormack, Fitzgerald and Sheen visited the White House, where Sheen had the opportunity to briefly greet President Biden.

### Twitter accounts

In 2010, Twitter accounts for many of the primary characters on The West Wing began to appear, including accounts for President Bartlet, Josh Lyman, Leo McGarry, Matt Santos and Mrs. Landingham. Tweets from the fictional characters have been featured on The Rachel Maddow Show, CNN and questions from the fictional accounts have been answered by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs during a White House Press Conference and from Vice President Joe Biden during a Twitter Town Hall. The success of The West Wing accounts has resulted in several copycats, including accounts from several minor or obscure West Wing characters, including Gail, the fish in C.J.'s office.

### Podcasts

In March 2016, The West Wing Weekly podcast hosted by Hrishikesh Hirway and Joshua Malina began. Each episode of the podcast discusses an episode of The West Wing and has featured various cast and crew members from the series.

On March 25, 2019, screenwriters Josh Olson (Oscar-nominated for A History of Violence) and Dave Anthony launched The West Wing Thing, on which the hosts "watch and then discuss" an episode of the series, analyzing and critiquing the show itself as well as its relationship to real-life American politics, both at the time it originally aired and in the present day.

### Fan conventions

A major fan convention, "West Wing Weekend" took place in September 28–30, 2018, at the Marriott Hotel in Bethesda, Maryland. The convention featured guest appearances from some members of the series' cast, as well as a number of panels, fan-based programming, and special events. A Kickstarter campaign for the convention was started on January 4, 2018, to raise $10,000, and it was fully funded within two days.

### Parodies

Many venues, including Funny or Die, Mad TV, 30 Rock, and the Late Night with Seth Meyers have parodied the walk-and-talk cliche of the show, including the "ping-pong" dialogue, in which one character would speak barely a word before the other said another, and then repeated back and forth. In 2000, West Wing cast members participated in a parody as part of the White House Correspondents' dinner as is recorded in archive footage from the Clinton Presidential Library.

Allison Janney performed in a parody of The West Wing in a 2016 episode of her sitcom Mom, titled "Pure Evil and a Free Piece of Cheesecake". Janney's character, Bonnie Plunkett fantasizes about becoming the President of the United States while doing a walk-and-talk scene with her White House chief of staff played by Richard Schiff.

### Campaign video

During the 2012 campaign season, most of the cast—including Mary McCormack as Kate Harper—appeared in a video paid for by the campaign to elect McCormack's sister Bridget Mary McCormack to a seat on the Michigan Supreme Court. Gently parodying the television series, the characters earnestly discuss the fact that voters often fail to vote in the non-partisan section of their ballots, which in this case would include court candidates such as Bridget McCormack, whose qualifications they praise. Although she is referred to as the sister of actress Mary McCormack, the characters do not recognize the name, except for Harper who finds it vaguely familiar. Bridget McCormack was subsequently elected.

### A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote

In August 2020, it was announced that cast members Martin Sheen, Rob Lowe, Dulé Hill, Allison Janney, Richard Schiff, Bradley Whitford and Janel Moloney would reprise their roles for a stage version of the episode "Hartsfield's Landing". The episode was intended to raise awareness and support for When We All Vote, a nonprofit organization founded to increase participation in United States elections by Michelle Obama, Lin-Manuel Miranda and others. Production began in early October 2020 at Los Angeles' Orpheum Theatre and premiered on October 15 on HBO Max.


Terry Bogard

# Terry Bogard

## Abstract

Terry Bogard (Japanese: テリー・ボガード, Hepburn: Terī Bogādo) is a fictional character created by SNK as the protagonist of their Fatal Fury series. Introduced in Fatal Fury: King of Fighters in 1991, he is an American fighter who enters the worldwide "The King of Fighters" tournaments to combat his father's murderer, Geese Howard. Following Geese's defeat, Terry becomes the guardian of Geese's son Rock Howard. He is also a regular character in the crossover video game series The King of Fighters, where he continues participating in tournaments. He has also been a guest character in other games, including the Capcom vs. SNK series, Arika ’s Fighting EX Layer, Street Fighter 6 and Nintendo's crossover fighting game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. In addition to video games, Terry has appeared in anime films based on Fatal Fury, and manga serialized in Comic Bom Bom.

SNK created Terry with the idea of a macho fighter which is reflected in his design. After several games, Terry was redesigned for Garou: Mark of the Wolves, where he is a more peaceful person. This had an impact on his design which was also altered for The King of Fighters games. Terry's popularity led SNK to create a female version of him for the 2018 game SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy. The character has been well received, and is ranked highly in popularity polls. Publications have praised the character's personality and movesets and how he was developed from Fatal Fury to The King of Fighters, although the female Terry saw mixed reception. Terry has become an icon for not just SNK, but fighting games in general, appearing prominently on SNK and non-SNK merchandise.

## Creation

### Origin

Terry Bogard originates in the development of Capcom 's fighting game Street Fighter (1987), for which developers Hiroshi Matsumoto and Takashi Nishiyama created a concept for a Caucasian man wearing a leather jacket; the concept was not used in Street Fighter, as they decided to make the main playable character a dougi-clad karateka name Ryu instead. They still wanted to use this concept in a game; after their move to SNK, they implemented him in Fatal Fury: King of Fighters (1991) as a playable character. Terry was also based off of Loren Avedon as an inspiration for his personality as well as his outfit choice for Fatal Fury 2 (1992). Particularly the role Loren Avedon played in The King of the Kickboxers (1990). His inclusion in Street Fighter 6 was done since Nishiyama had created the first Street Fighter during his time at Capcom and believed adding him alongside Mai Shiranui would fit in the game. However, all of Terry's special moves were created by Capcom designers. Terry and Street Fighter character Ken Masters have had past dialogue between them, so they were very conscious of their relationship when they created them.

In the making of the series, Terry and his brother Andy were characterized as the heroic leads, contrasting with the comical Joe Higashi. For the release of the Fatal Fury 3 game, Terry was quickly added because of his popularity with fans. When it came to his moves, SNK had different ideas and altered the special moves he could perform. While Terry has an easygoing personality, he is fueled with the thirst of revenge with killing Geese Howard in most games. However, in Real Bout Fatal Fury, revenge is not necessarily Terry's absolute goal, as is clear from the fact that he instinctively reaches out to Geese, who is supposed to be Jeff's enemy. Terry and fellow fighter Blue Mary get along, SNK writer Akihiko Ureshino does not see the two as a romantic couple but instead as a friendly relationship comparable to Robert Garcia and Yuri Sakazaki from Art of Fighting or Athena Asamiya and Sie Kensou from Psycho Soldier because Blue Mary is in doubts about her late boyfriend killed by Geese. However, Ureshino has shown a desire to promote Terry and Mary's relationship in either Fatal Fury or The King of Fighters.

The fourth title of Fatal Fury, Real Bout Fatal Fury, was made to end the conflict between Terry and his nemesis, Geese Howard. Ureshino believes Terry had no intention of killing Geese and getting revenge, and at most he just wanted to defeat Geese and make Jeff apologize after he died. Ureshino thinks Terry's feelings were expressed when he instinctively reached out his hand to Geese as he was falling off the building. However, Geese refused even that, and selfishly ended his life, abandoning the future of Billy Kane and the connections he had built up. Terry has been popular with the SNK staff to the point multiple individuals worked on his character's movesets during location tests of Real Bout Fatal Fury 2. When Rock says that "there is a possibility that he may change greatly in the future", he means that when he is confronted with a truth that he did not know until then, the values that Rock has cultivated while living with Terry may be completely overturned. If a sequel were had been released, perhaps Rock might have been transformed into a character who was at odds with Terry. According to Yasuyuki Oda, the phrase The King of Fighters is commonly associated with Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami than Fatal Fury characters. As a result, the new tournament was dubbed "Maximum Mayhem King of Fighters" to give a new tension to associate Terry and Rock.

According to Ureshino, Terry became a famous character thanks to KOF and Fatal Fury which earned his fame in Smash. In the Smash games, Terry he became depicted as famous and cultural figure, and he has many different jobs. He is rich, no matter how the player looks at it. However, Ureshino describes the Garou Terry as a childish adult who is lazy most of the time and believes that in a sequel he might be given a more mature personality. When the 35-year-old Terry appeared in KOF: Maximum Impact 2 under the name "Wild Wolf", his character story naturally followed this, and he also earned a living by giving lectures and writing essays, while at the same time showing a fatherly side, worrying about Rock's future, who has been forced to join in his wandering life. His earlier life with Rock is potrayed as similar to the Sakazaki family from Art of Fighting as they are comically worried about their money and fighting style at the same time.

The King of Fighters game was created with the idea of having Terry fighting against Ryo Sakazaki, the lead character from the Art of Fighting series. The King of Fighters protagonist Kyo Kusanagi was also created with this in mind. Though Terry does not have a major role in the Maximum Impact series other than revenge with Billy Kane over Geese's death in Real Bout, game designer Falcoon created the new lead Alba Meira to be Terry's KOF counterpart. SNK said that Terry's great popularity among players made him one of the most used characters for every installment of the series. For The King of Fighters XV, when the staff was finishing Team Hero, creative director Eisuke Ogura wanted to use Terry because he is a disciple of Tung, just like newcomers Meitenkun and Shun’ei. He thought he would be in the best position to watch over them. However, in the end we chose Benimaru Nikaido as a proposal from fellow busy character Kyo Kusanagi, as Benimaru is just good enough to take care of others whereas Kyo was requested by fellow fighter Chizuru Kagura join her team. In the end, Ogura was glad with this decision.

### Designs

The SNK staff described his original design as "the most macho, stand-out, original Terry". Youchiro Soeda was in charge of the animation of most of the characters in the first Fatal Fury. His appearance evolves across Fatal Fury; there were two rejected sketches. One involved a design with cowboy boots, a tattoo, and a pendant he had received from an unidentified woman. The role Loren Avedon played in The King of the Kickboxers (1990) inspired Terry's Fatal Fury 2 design. Nobyuki Kuroki handled Terry's design in the Real Bout titled games. Most of the main King of Fighters games up to The King of Fighters 2002 feature Terry in his Fatal Fury 2 outfit. In XII, his classic outfit was used to remain true to his origins, while color editing was made in order to make him look like Pokemon character Ash Ketchum as a gag. For The King of Fighters XIV, the artists found Terry's new appearance challenging to the point it was remade four times along with changes by his motion actor. Yusuke Amano was the character designer for Terry in this title which he enjoyed due to his personal experience with Terry ever since he played as him in his childhood.

In Mark of the Wolves, Terry was redesigned with a "cool" look by the SNK staff because they thought his previous appearance had become outdated. Yasuyuki Oda was in charge of this version of Terry with respect to the game design. Artist Falcoon considered this one of his favorite designs before he began working. He was pleased when he got the opportunity to work on the character's redesign. Falcoon said that both Terry and Mai Shiranui are his favourite SNK characters. Another reason for the change of clothing was to symbolize Terry's more peaceful personality now displayed in Mark of the Wolves. The King of Fighters 2003 and The King of Fighters XI feature the "Mark of the Wolves" design. In Maximum Impact and Maximum Impact 2 Terry wears both recurring outfits which bothered Ureshino. This is mostly due to the age difference Terry and Rock has as Terry is 24 years old in Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters but 35 in Garou: Mark of the Wolves. Meanwhile, Rock is only 17 Garou: Mark of the Wolves, making the time gap in Maximum Impact not fitting. As a result, even if Rock stands next to him, they look more like brothers than stepfather in KOF. That is why Ureshino feel uncomfortable when the two of them talk in demo scenes and the like. As a result, SNK solved this discomfort by setting Maximum Impact in an alternate timeline where Geese Howard is already dead, making it nearly the Garou: Mark of the Wolves timeline. Meanwhile, XV has Terry in Fatal Fury 2 design as regular and in his Garou design as DLC.

While making SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy, SNK staff noted that because Terry was one of the company's most popular characters, his inclusion in the game was necessary even if he had to be redesigned as a woman; this incarnation has feminine clothing options including a variant of his original outfit wherein the FATAL FURY logo on his cap is changed to read "FATAL CUTiE", a cheerleader outfit, and steampunk-inspired clothes. This was not the first time SNK had featured a female version of Terry in a game: in 2003's SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos, he is magically transformed by the Darkstalkers character Demitri Maximoff.

### Voice actors

Starting with Fatal Fury: The King of Fighters until Neo Geo Heroes: Ultimate Shooting Terry was voiced by Satoshi Hashimoto who also voiced fellow playable character Kim Kaphwan. When he was replaced, Hashimoto said he was happy that his roles were widely recognized by fans and that he highly enjoyed Terry's character. Takashi Kondō replaced Hashimoto for The King of Fighters XIV onward and was very aware of his character's popularity. Kondo first met the character through his childhood when playing the video games that feature him. He described his character as cool due to his demeanor.

For the three animated adaptations of Fatal Fury, the character's role was left to Kazuyoshi Nishikori. In the English dubs of the three works, Terry is voiced by Mark Hildreth.Early in SNK Heroines development, the female Terry was meant to still have a masculine voice, but the decision was reversed following disapproval from the game's sound designers. Despite fears over the voice actresses' deliveries, in the end SNK felt Terry managed to fit in with the cast. Amano believed that SNK was able to explore a more humanistic take on the character through SNK Heroines.

### Fighting style

For the release of Fatal Fury 3 Terry's air move Rising Tackle (ライジングタックル) was removed in exchange for the Power Dunk (パワーダンク). The Power Dunk was better for the team even though it closely resembled the Rising Tackle. Another of Terry's most iconic early moves is called the Power Geyser, where he generates a massive geyser of energy by punching the ground. Designer Nobuyuki Kuroki said there were several rejected versions of this move, but one of them was used in a later Fatal Fury game, Real Bout Fatal Fury Special. In Garou, Terry has a new move called the Buster Wolf (バスターウルフ). Designer Yasuyuki Oda said its original name was actually "God Geyser Twin", but he did not find it fitting for the Showa period when the move was added. In 2019, Oda noted that one of Terry's most popular techniques is the Buster Wolf. The design required a certain amount of ruggedness, but Oda was careful to keep him from looking too old-fashioned. Regarding his moves, Oda put together his kit with the intention of producing the "ultimate version of Terry". For this game, the intent was to make 35-year-old Terry feel a little more subdued, so he paid attention to those areas. but, he still somersaults when he jumps, and goes into a full sprint when he dashes, so he hasn't really lost a step. He hopes Terry maintains his good health for more games.

When The King of Fighters was announced, Terry was quickly added into the franchise by the SNK staff, who noted "his popularity skyrocketed!" His development was overseen by many designers who "fretted over various aspects of his character". In retrospect the SNK staff noted he "became the powerhouse, getting a super punch cancel move added to his arsenal and becoming the fearsome character he is today". The ability to cancel the second hit of his standing punch move was added by one of the game's designers two hours before submitting the game's mask ROM. There were also arguments about the character's winpose, but in the end they decided on something new. Terry's alter ego "Wild Wolf" from KOF: Maximum Impact 2 was designed to share Terry's Garou: Mark of the Wolves with Rising Tackle and Round Wave having been removed, super special moves such as Power Stream and Rising Beat, which were in The King of Fighters 2003 and SVC Chaos ', have been added, and many special moves are now affected by braking. This applies to moves that you wonder if braking is even possible. Ureshino considers the best part of Wild Wolf is the high-power combo moves and seamless rushes that involve braking.

Game designer Masahiro Sakurai said he wanted to show the original appeal of Terry in Super Smash Bros. when including him in the game. Sakurai preferred using his Fatal Fury 2 design in Smash as he believes it is one of the most recognizable ones, most notably in the 1990s. In doing so, Terry was made to automatically look at his opponents in one-on-one fights, including jumps where the character spins. He was designed to be slower than most characters. A new move known as the Somersault Kick was created for Smash although the original moves were also retained. An airbased variation of his original projectile technique, the Power Wave, was also used to balance the character. In order to accommodate his full moveset, Terry is the only character who has different side special moves depending on whether the player inputs left or right, and can use Desperation Moves if his health reaches a critical point rather than as his Final Smash, which is a completely new move melding together his different Desperation Moves.

In Masami Obari 's Fatal Fury animated adaptations, Terry is given an original move taught by Tung Fu Rue in his last moments: the "Hado Senpukyaku" (波動旋風脚, lit. "Fluctuating Cyclone Kick") in which Terry covers himself into a tornado to take down his enemies. The move was implemented in both Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves and Street Fighter 6 as a tribute to Obari. Obari also took note of the anime move's usage in gaming and posted on his X account that it was an honor and was overwhelmed being involved in fighting games series.

## Appearances

### In video games

Terry has served as the lead character of the Fatal Fury series since his debut in the first game. The original Fatal Fury centers around Terry and his younger brother Andy who enter the King of Fighters tournament to avenge their adoptive father Jeff Bogard's death. He was murdered a decade before by the tournament's sponsor, Geese Howard. Along with their friend Joe Higashi, they manage to defeat Geese who dies falling from a tower after fighting one of the three main characters. The numerous Fatal Fury sequels released later feature Terry and his friends competing in new tournaments. The first sequel, Fatal Fury 2, introduced a new antagonist for Terry to defeat named Wolfgang Krauser who tries to conquer Southtown. By Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory, Terry continues his fight against Geese, who survived his apparent death and now seeks revenge against Terry and other rivals. Real Bout Fatal Fury concludes the Bogard and Howard rivalry by killing off Geese at the end of the game. Two subsequent Real Bout sequels featuring Terry were produced - Real Bout Fatal Fury Special and Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers (although neither game contains a storyline), along with Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition, a 3D game which retells the plot of the first game. Terry Bogard's character was reinvented for Garou: Mark of the Wolves, which features an older Terry as the mentor of Geese Howard's son, Rock Howard. During this time, Terry and Rock enter a new King of Fighters tournament related to the latter's heritage. As revealed in the featurette Memories of Stray Wolves, Rock is the winner of the tournament, joining the host Kain after learning he is related with his mother, leaving Terry who tells this story to Blue Mary. Terry is set to make his return in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves.

After the release of Fatal Fury 2, Terry appeared in The King of Fighters '94, where he serves as the leader of the game's "Fatal Fury" team alongside Andy and Joe. The King of Fighters series, which was originally conceived as a crossover of SNK's previous video game franchises, eventually established their own self-contained continuity set apart from the earlier Fatal Fury series. Terry became a staple of both franchises. While the Fatal Fury Team's members change various times across the series, Terry remains the team's leader. In NESTS Saga storyline, depicted in The King of Fighters '99 up to The King of Fighters 2001, Terry plays much larger role on helping Mary to take down NESTS's hidden agents, mainly outside the tournaments. The King of Fighters XII and The King of Fighters XIII, including The King of Fighters XV bring back the character in his Fatal Fury 2 outfit. Terry returns in The King of Fighters XIV and XV mainly to oversee his nemesis, Geese.

The Fatal Fury Team remains as in the first KOF in the games without a storyline. They include: The King of Fighters '98, The King of Fighters 2002 and Neowave. In The King of Fighters: Kyo, a role-playing game (RPG) centered on Kyo Kusanagi, Terry appears when Kyo goes to South Town and helps him fight Geese Howard. In the two games for the Game Boy Advance titled EX: Neo Blood and EX2, the Fatal Fury Team participates in the new tournaments. Terry also appears in the KOF: Maximum Impact sub-series in both his Fatal Fury 2 and Mark of the Wolves outfits, with the latter being labelled as "Wild Wolf" (ワイルドウルフ, Wairudourufu). The character is also present in The King of Fighters All Star in his Fatal Fury 2 and Garou personas and KOF 98: Ultimate Match Online.

He is also playable in the shooter game Sky Stage, and stars in the crossover video games NeoGeo Battle Coliseum in his Mark of the Wolves outfit and the SNK vs. Capcom series in his Fatal Fury 2 outfit. The shooting game Neo Geo Heroes: Ultimate Shooting uses him as a playable character. An alternate female version of Terry is featured in the game SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy. Terry's ending is a dream that revisits the events of Geese's death, but an older Rock also throws him from a cliff before he awakes in the present where Rock had been trying to wake him up after finished cooking their breakfasts. Terry appears as a guest character in the Arika fighting game Fighting EX Layer. He is available in the King of Fighters X Fatal Fury mobile phone game, the Chinese mobile phone game called KOF: WORLD, Metal Slug Defense, the dating sim Days of Memories and the otome game King of Fighters for Girls. A pachinko based on the Orochi storyline of the series was released by SNK featuring Terry, while The Rhythm of Fighters has the character. Terry appears as a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was released as downloadable content in November 2019, along with a stage based on Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters known as King of Fighters Stadium. Terry is set to appear as a playable character in Street Fighter 6 in September 2024 as part of its second season of downloadable content.

### In other media

Terry Bogard is the central character in a trilogy of Japanese animated Fatal Fury films. Two of them were original video animations (OVA) while the third was a theatrical release where his character is voiced by Shōnentai lead singer Nishikiori Kazukiyo in the Japanese originals and Mark Hildreth in the English dubs. The first two OVAs, 1992 ' s Fatal Fury: Legend of the Hungry Wolf and 1993 ' s Fatal Fury 2: The New Battle loosely follow the storylines of their respective games, while the third theatrical film, 1994 ' s Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture, features an original storyline. The first OVA introduces a new love interest for Terry named Lily McGuire, an orphan raised by Geese Howard. Lily is killed by Geese during the first OVA, but she appears in both sequels as a spirit who guides Terry. The theatrical film introduced a new love interest for Terry named Sulia. She is the younger sister of the antagonist, Laocorn Gaudeamus, who sacrifices herself near the end of the film to help Terry defeat her brother. He is also present into the novelizations of The King of Fighters.

Terry plays a supporting role in the 2006 original internet animation The King of Fighters: Another Day. He appears in the episode Accede voiced in the Japanese version by his video game voice actor, Satoshi Hashimoto, and by Tony Carroll in the English dub. Terry is featured in volume 3 of the soundtracks series SNK Character Sounds Collection released by Pony Canyon. The CD features several songs based on his character. He appears in several manhua, including the Fatal Fury series, The King of Fighters and SNK Vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos, which retell the stories of their respective games. The first seven chapters of the manhua The King of Fighters 2003 by Wing Yen feature a short chapter from Garou: Mark of the Wolves that tells of Rock's training with Terry. His character is part of a social action program created by SNK Playmore named the " Nakoruru & Terry Club". The organization supports children to guide them to a better future. David Leitch portrays Terry in the live-action 2010 film The King of Fighters, where his role is that of a CIA agent who serves as the supporting side-kick and comic-relief of Iori, Kyo, and Mai's team.

Terry is also one of the characters featured in The King of Fighters: Destiny, an animated retelling of the first game in the series, voiced by his new voice actor in the games Takashi Kondo. In this story, Terry enters a tournament with Andy and Joe to avenge Jeff like the first Fatal Fury. He begins a romantic relationship with a woman named Angelina who is an agent from Geese. As Geese is about to kill Terry, Angelina sacrifices herself to protect him and he takes down Geese. After the battle, Heidern takes Terry and Kyo to meet the real mastermind behind Geese's power, Rugal Bernstein. Although Terry is defeated, Kyo manages to overpower Rugal. Terry plays a minor role in the manga The King of Fighters G where he faces Iori Yagami during the tournament and is nearly killed in combat by his enemy. However, when the tournament is interrupted, the Bogard brothers engage in a fight against Geese and Billy Kane.

## Cultural impact

### Popularity

Terry is frequently used to represent the company in crossover games, merchandise and publicity. During the KOF Year-End Party in 2005, a fan event held by SNK, the character's cap was given to every fan in attendance. His character has been well received by fans, appearing in several video games popularity polls. In Gamest ' s 1997 Heroes Collection, Terry was voted the staff's eighth favorite character. In a popularity poll by SNK for the release of Garou: Mark of the Wolves, Terry ranked second. SNK staff commented that "Terry's the eternal hero". A character popularity poll on the Neo Geo Freak website resulted in Terry as the fourth favorite character from the series with a total of 2,479 votes.

He was voted the number one fan favorite character with a total of 10,014 votes in a 2005 poll conducted by SNK-Playmore USA, which lead to his placement in the North American release of The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact to appeal to the Western gamers. For the Japanese special endings in The King of Fighters '97, three video game publications, Gamest, Famitsu and Neo Geo Freak, had to create a team composed of three characters for a special illustration. Gamest created a team composed of Terry, Blue Mary and Joe Higashi. In 2018, Terry was voted the most popular Neo Geo character. In his official blog, Falcoon reveals that both Meira brothers were initially conceptualized as the KOF counterparts to Fatal Fury stars given the game's setting is the same as their predecessors. In late 2018, Terry and other characters created by SNK appeared as part of a collaboration between other companies in Harajuku Japan involving new merchandising.

### Critical response

The character has received both praise and criticism from several media publications. GameSpot reviewer Frank Provo commented that one of Fatal Fury ' s biggest accomplishments is the creation of Terry Bogard and their use of him in later sequels. Damien McFerran praised Terry's design, saying that he is "emanating so much coolness it's little wonder that SNK otaku can always be seen wearing his trademark red cap". Dale Nardozzi of TeamXbox also praised Terry's distinct appearance. He also commented that Terry's clothes are some of the most common cosplays at every convention featuring video games. GamingExcellence's Andrew Sztein commented that Terry was one of his favorite series' character. He mentioned that he liked his design because "he should be working at Petro Canada part time" and added that his mispronunciation of English quotes is quite funny. IGN reviewer Ryan Clements also preferred Terry over all the other characters in the Fatal Fury series, commenting that he liked the way the character played in each game. Dan Whitehead from Eurogamer praised each part of Terry's appearance that makes him look cool. He noted that Terry is one of the most popular characters from Fatal Fury although he is "rather bland". UGO.com listed Terry's baseball cap thirteenth on their list of "The Coolest Helmets and Headgear in Video Games", calling it "completely badass", despite having "Fatal Fury" stitched on the front. Den of Geek placed Terry third on their "best fighting game characters" list. Editor Harry Slater commented that "Bogard is a stark reminder of the glory days of the two dimensional fighter". The English actor's voice in Maximum Impact received a good review in Hardcore Gamer magazine for fitting Terry so well.

GamesRadar called Terry "one of SNK's most memorable characters", ranking him the 86th "most memorable, influential, and badass" protagonist in games. They also listed him as the second best fighting character because of the appeal of his techniques. His role in the story, for example his adoption of Rock Howard, was also praised. In 2012, Complex ranked Terry the 11th "Most Dominant Fighting Game Character" commenting that his appearance in the least would be predictable based on his fame. 4thletter listed Terry's ending in Real Bout Fatal Fury as the best one in gaming as it not only ends his rivalry with Geese but also shows more of his relationship with Rock Howard. Arcade Sushi ranked him as the "4th best fighting game good guy" noted for more than "his hilarious English butchery". They praised his outfit and cited his moves as entertaining. Den of Geek listed him as the third best The King of Fighters character with the writer commenting on his "overthetop" moves as well as comparing him positively with Street Fighter characters Ryu and Ken Masters based on their personalities. The same site listed him as the third best fighting game character, remarking on his figure within SNK's games and his impact within gamers. TeamXbox referred to Terry as one of SNK's most popular characters due to the number of cosplayers based on him.

Several sites have commented on Terry's gameplay moves. Gaming Age writer Jeff Keely criticized how overpowered Terry became in The King of Fighters '99 because of his new special moves. Prima Games listed his "Burn Knuckle" as one of the 50 greatest fighting moves in video game history because Terry dashes towards his enemies in the process. Terry was given a move known as the "Buster Wolf" which was listed as one of the best techniques in fighting games by Arcade Sushi not only because of its impact, but also before landing the attack, the character ironically says "Are you okay?" Polygon recommended that newcomers to The King of Fighters XIV try Terry's movesets, despite some difficulties with mastering certain moves.

The female portrayal of Terry in SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy was met with surprise. Push Square joked about the implications of the developers changing Terry's gender while Nintendo Life wondered why they did not use Alice Nakata, a female fighter who has some of Terry's moves. Nevertheless, the site found Terry's fighting style in the crossover to be promising. Despite also finding the fighter's appearance confusing, Game Informer commented that every SNK game might need Terry regardless of gender. Destructoid noted that while Terry retained his original moves, most fans were unaware that the female Terry appeared for the first time in a Japanese mobile game. Daily World News agreed with Nintendo Life ' s questioning why SNK did not use Alice instead. They noted the most common response had been mixed and wondered if this was meant to be a joke similar to Iori Yagami's cross-dressing alter-ego, Miss X, from SNK Gals' Fighters. The character's inclusion in Street Fighter 6 was praised by Anime News Network for its level of attention to the detail despite noting negative backlash about his large chin, but still found it as a fanservice to SNK fans, most specifically gamers from Garou: Mark of the Wolves. Kotaku enjoyed this decision especially due to how Terry is the rival of Ken Masters from Street Fighter as highlighted in promotional artwork of previous crossovers.

Anime News Network ' s Bamboo Dong praised Terry's character development in the Fatal Fury original video animations because they portrayed his insecurities, something rarely seen in other adaptations. Chris Beveridge of Mania Beyond Entertainment also praised the characters' development citing Terry's grief over the loss of his love interest. In contrast THEM Anime Reviews' Raphael criticized Terry's story for being told several times already in other series and also panned his final fight against Geese Howard because of the lack of regular martial arts and the use of chi-like energy instead. For The Motion Picture, Anime News Network found Terry's tragic characterization and fate sad enough to make him sensitive as it contrasted his views on fighting game characters in general with Terry losing for the second time a woman he loves despite having the power to defeat the villain. Although the live-action film of The King of Fighters has been panned, Beyond Hollywood said that KOF ' s "only saving grace... is David Leitch, who is flat-out hilarious as world-weary CIA agent Terry Bogard. Yeah, the character doesn't make a lick of sense, but in this film, it borders on genius". Felix Vasquez of Cinema Crazed, however, criticized Terry's character in the movie calling him a "nuisance". Tyler Treese of GameRevolution has praised Terry's addition in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate by stating that "There are so many ridiculous possibilities for him to battle, and that’s exactly what makes Smash Bros. such a fun series." A commercial for the mobile phone game SNK Allstar generated disgust in social media for Terry being portrayed as a man sexually harrassing women. This led to the game's cancellation when SNK's heard about it.