List of Modern Family characters

Philip Humphrey "Phil" Dunphy (Ty Burrell) is Claire's husband of 15 years who sees himself as the "cool dad". He dotes on his wife Claire and constantly tries to find ways to bond with his three kids. He is seen as very competitive, one example being his always beating his son. He has a very juvenile attitude and is referred to by Claire as the "kid [she's] married to." He uses a parenting method that he calls "peerenting", which is a combination of talking like a peer but acting like a parent.

Phil is a realtor who is very confident in his work, once saying, "I could sell a fur coat to an Eskimo." Phil has a severe case of coulrophobia, which is first revealed when despite Mitchell's objection, Cameron comes to Luke's party dressed as a clown. This may stem from Phil's having found a dead clown in the woods when he was a child. Phil once dresses up as a clown for a kids' party but has a panic attack when he catches his reflection in multiple mirrors. Phil appears to love home repair yet never seems to get around to any of the jobs requested by Claire. Throughout season 1, his ongoing project is fixing the step. He at times shows a sort of crush-like affection for Gloria. However, he says he "would never stray from Claire," although Gloria did kiss him during a "kiss cam" segment at a basketball game in the final episode of season 1, "Family Portrait", however he was immediately regretful for not preventing it as he didn't want to do it. In college, he was a cheerleader at Fresno State and his birthday is on April 3.

Phil seems oblivious as to what he says by miscalculating (if at all) the consequences of his expressions, such as "Phil Dunphy is no straight guy" (when he is referring to not being a straight man) or "If you ain't white, you ain't right" (referring to the t-shirt color of a team that he was playing on). He often seeks approval from Jay, who generally does not openly show approval of anyone. In the Season 3 episode "Dude Ranch," Phil shows considerable skill both on horseback and with a shotgun, notably shooting two clay pigeons on one foot.

In moments of acute adversity or shock in which most people would curse or swear, Phil utters humorous exclamations: references to food such as, "Sweet Potato Fries!" or "Chicken in a basket!", etc. or he might make a historical reference such as "John Philip Sousa!" It is revealed in "Tableau Vivant" that Phil had once tried to break up with Claire but didn't dare to do so.

A running gag in the show has Phil running up the stairs (often when carrying an object) and tripping on a loose step, causing him to say some variation of "Gotta fix that step!" Provided by Wikipedia