Who Is Pappy McPoyle in It’s Always Sunny? Guillermo del Toro’s Character Explained

Guillermo del Toro’s bizarre appearance in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 18 Episode 5 is not a random celebrity cameo created for the Renaissance Faire. He is reprising the role of Pappy McPoyle, the eccentric patriarch of the enormous McPoyle clan who first appeared more than a decade earlier. Pappy has been connected to one of the strangest unresolved incidents in Liam McPoyle’s history, including the loss of his eye and the violent bird named Royal. Season 18 brings him back alongside Liam and Ryan as Frank attempts to take control of the McPoyles’ land.

Related: What Happened to Liam McPoyle’s Eye? Why Ryan Loses His Eye in Season 18

Who exactly is Pappy McPoyle?

Pappy McPoyle is an elderly patriarch within the extended McPoyle family, the sweaty, milk-obsessed clan that has repeatedly caused problems for the Gang since the show’s first season. He is played by acclaimed filmmaker Guillermo del Toro underneath enough costume and makeup that viewers unfamiliar with the cameo could easily fail to recognize him. His exaggerated appearance and bizarre speech make him fit naturally into a family that has never been portrayed as remotely normal.

Sunny has never needed to map every branch of the McPoyle family tree with complete precision, and Pappy functions primarily as its ancient patriarch. His dialogue presents the family as an almost mythological bloodline rather than an ordinary collection of relatives. Season 18 continues that characterization by placing him at the center of the family’s Renaissance Faire kingdom.

When did Guillermo del Toro first play Pappy McPoyle?

Del Toro first appeared as Pappy in Season 8 Episode 3, The Maureen Ponderosa Wedding Massacre. The episode revolves around Liam McPoyle’s planned marriage to Maureen Ponderosa, which ends in chaos after Bill Ponderosa secretly spikes the McPoyles’ milk with bath salts. Pappy appears during the increasingly frightening wedding reception and delivers wild speeches about the history of the McPoyle bloodline.

The entire wedding eventually descends into violence as the drugged McPoyles attack one another and the Gang struggles to understand what happened. Liam loses an eye during that chaos, initially making the injury look like another consequence of the drug-fueled massacre. Pappy’s connection to the injury becomes much more important when the show revisits the incident several seasons later.

What does Pappy have to do with Liam McPoyle’s missing eye?

Pappy returns in Season 11’s McPoyle vs. Ponderosa: The Trial of the Century, which finally examines who was responsible for Liam losing his eye. The McPoyles sue Bill Ponderosa because his decision to spike the milk caused the wedding massacre, while testimony initially suggests that Ryan may have stabbed his brother. Charlie eventually uncovers a different explanation involving Pappy’s pet bird, Royal.

Royal is revealed as the creature that actually attacked Liam’s eye during the wedding. Pappy appears in court with the bird concealed beneath his hat, making the supposedly absurd explanation immediately more believable. Royal then attacks the Lawyer’s eye as well, providing a rather convincing demonstration of the bird’s violent tendencies before the judge throws the chaotic case out.

Why does Pappy return in Season 18 Episode 5?

Pappy returns because Frank Reynolds wants to purchase the land occupied by the Renaissance Faire. Frank has no interest in preserving the attraction because he plans to bulldoze the property and replace it with a data center. The problem is that the McPoyles control the land, and Pappy has positioned himself as its king.

When Frank makes his proposal, Pappy and the McPoyles refuse to sell and insist that the land has nourished their family for generations. Frank questions Pappy’s honor, prompting the McPoyle patriarch to turn an ordinary property negotiation into a series of Renaissance-style challenges. A staring contest eventually escalates into a joust, with the land and one of Mac’s eyes becoming part of the wager.

How does Pappy connect to Ryan losing his eye?

Pappy is responsible for creating the jousting challenge that eventually puts an eye on the line. Frank nominates Mac to ride for him, while the McPoyles choose Liam, but Mac becomes far less enthusiastic once he realizes that losing could mean having one of his eyes taken. Dee then secretly manipulates Ryan McPoyle into taking Mac’s position in the joust.

Ryan loses, and the wager produces the episode’s “eye for an eye” payoff. The situation is especially twisted because Liam already lost an eye years earlier in an incident involving Pappy’s bird, while Ryan now suffers a matching family injury during a challenge arranged by Pappy. Dee happily takes credit for engineering the entire situation because she has spent the episode trying to prove that a woman can “drive story.”

Why is Guillermo del Toro playing such a strange Sunny character?

Del Toro’s involvement with It’s Always Sunny grew out of his friendship and working relationship with Charlie Day. Del Toro directed Day in Pacific Rim and was already a fan of Sunny, eventually expressing an interest in appearing on the comedy himself. Rather than giving the celebrated filmmaker a glamorous cameo, the show transformed him into one of the most deranged members of the McPoyle family.

The casting works precisely because Sunny does not treat del Toro like an important celebrity guest. Pappy is covered in eccentric costume and makeup, surrounded by McPoyles and allowed to deliver absurd dialogue as though he has existed in their world forever. Del Toro has now returned to the character across Seasons 8, 11 and 18, making Pappy far more than a one-scene celebrity joke.

What does Pappy’s Season 18 return mean for the McPoyles?

The Ren Faire episode restores the McPoyles as a larger family unit rather than simply bringing Liam and Ryan back for another brief confrontation with the Gang. Pappy remains the dominant figure, Liam has become his favored “golden boy,” and Ryan is suffering because of previous bad investments involving businesses such as their video store and bowling alley. Their family hierarchy is ridiculous, but it gives Episode 5’s land dispute much more history than Frank initially understands.

Pappy’s return also reinforces one of the funniest things about the McPoyles. No matter how much time passes, their family seems capable of becoming stranger rather than more normal, and the Renaissance Faire gives them an environment where their behavior almost looks appropriate. Guillermo del Toro’s Pappy remains the perfect person to sit at the top of that family tree because he somehow makes Liam and Ryan seem restrained by comparison.