Creed Bratton (character)

Creed Bratton
Creed Bratton as his fictional self
First appearance	"Pilot"
Last appearance	"Finale"
Created by	Greg Daniels
Portrayed by	Creed Bratton
Information
Aliases	William Charles Schneider
Occupation	Quality Assurance Director, Dunder Mifflin Scranton, Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin Scranton (Acting) (Season 7 - Season 8)
Nationality	American

Creed Rowland Bratton, also known as "William Charles Schneider" (claims to have been born November 1, 1925) is a fictional character from the U.S. television series The Office. Confusion may arise from the fact that the character is played by the musician of the same name, Creed Bratton. The fictional Creed is partially based on the experiences and former flower child lifestyle of the real one; however, the character is an embellished version of the real person. Unlike most characters of this version of The Office, he has no equivalent in the original BBC series despite sharing similar lines in the pilot episode with the character of Ryan Howard. Series writer B. J. Novak has said that the actual Creed Bratton is exactly like the character he plays, except that the real Creed is a good-hearted and likable person, while his fictional alter ego has a very dark side to him. His resourcefulness and duplicity are his defining traits along with his senile behavior and ignorance of the modern world.

Creed Bratton is a deviant, former hippie and homeless man employed at the Scranton branch of paper distributor Dunder Mifflin as a quality assurance director. Creed is a mysterious figure who is prone to making bizarre or confusing statements on a regular basis. As a result of drug use during his career as a rock musician in the 1960s, Creed has a phenomenally poor memory. In "The Convention", he introduces himself to Meredith, implying that he thinks she just started working at Dunder Mifflin. When seen at his office computer, he is usually playing spider solitaire.

Little is known about Creed's life outside the office; although it is implied that Creed has murdered several people that previously worked at the office. The scattered details that emerge (as well as his behavior in the office) are invariably bizarre and it is unknown how much of what he says is true. In "The Injury", he claims to have been in an iron lung when he was a child. In a deleted scene from "The Convict", Creed states that he has been incarcerated before, and that prison is where he obtained the name "Creed". Several episodes have shown him to be either senile or extremely absent-minded. In "Casual Friday" he reveals he has a daughter and tries to hook Jim up with her. When Jim says he already has a fiancee, Creed says, "I thought you were gay". When Jim questions why Creed would want to set him up with his daughter when Creed thought he was gay, Creed simply responds, "I don't know". Despite all of this, Creed generally has a cheery mood and is tolerated by his fellow employees. In "Conflict Resolution", he submits a formal complaint to Toby that says that he is sick of looking at "the redhead" all day (Meredith) but wants a seat facing the receptionist (Pam).