Tobias Onyango Fünke is the husband of Lindsay Bluth Fünke and the father of Maeby Fünke and is a main character of Arrested Development. He is portrayed by David Cross and appears in 59 episodes of the series.
He was an psycho-analyst and therapist (with Tobias claiming to be the first "Analrapist") but lost his licenses after harming a man during CPR. He has since been seeking work as an actor with little success. He aspired to be a member of the Blue Man Group for a while, but they rejected him.
Lindsay married Tobias as a form of protest against her parents, but the two rarely have intimate moments. Although he repeatedly denies it, he is most likely homosexual. He suffers from a rare psychological condition, making him a Never Nude. He has a strange pattern of speech that makes almost everything he says have a disturbingly sexual undertone. He seems unaware of this.
Medical career
After meeting Lindsay Bluth, the two moved to Boston where Tobias was both a psychoanalyst and a psychotherapist and thus claimed he was the world's first "analrapist." ("Forget-Me-Now") He lost his licenses after harming a sleeping man with unnecessary CPR. He moved to California with his wife and daughter to figure out his next steps. ("Pilot") He continued to use his education to assist those in the Bluth family, but never to any good outcome. In 2012 as part of a work-release program from prison Tobias worked for Lucille Austero at Austerity. ("Smashed")
Tobias resume
Tobias' headshots.
After moving to California in 2003 Tobias decided that his destiny was to become an actor, and he pursued this career for several years without any success. Highlights of his "career" include: being turned down for the role of 'Dr. House'; landing the part of "Frightened Inmate #2" in a prison film, only to get fired for not being able to do the shower scene due to his condition (see below); and attempting to join the Blue Man Group as a standby understudy and, as a consequence, spending part of the second season covered in blue make-up.
In a move inspired by the film Mrs. Doubtfire, Tobias masquerades as a British housekeeper/nanny named "Mrs. Featherbottom" in an attempt to spend time with his wife and daughter after Lindsay kicks him out of the model house. While the disguise fools no one, the family humors him since this gets the housework done.
Although he continually takes very expensive acting lessons from Carl Weathers (the actor who is mostly known from his portrayal of Apollo Creed in the Rocky franchise as well as a Marine in Predator), he mainly gets tips on how to make stews from Mr. Weathers. Lindsay continually pokes fun at Tobias' desperation to become an actor, and they split up and reconcile many times over the course of the series.
Past 2006, Tobias continues to pursue his career in acting. He appears in another episode of Scandalmakers and works for tips as a sidewalk character posing as The Thing from Fantastic Four. ("The B. Team") ("A New Start") He also appears on several Miracle Network shows and in G.O.B.'s Jesus' crucifixion illusion. ("Colony Collapse") He also stages Fantastic 4: An Action Musical.
Never nudeEdit
Tobias suffers from "Never Nude" syndrome (which, as the narrator states, is "exactly what it sounds like") and wears denim cut-off shorts at all times in order to avoid anyone (including himself and his wife) seeing his pelvic area. The condition is similar to severe gymnophobia, although it is portrayed humorously. He conquers this for a time in the middle of the first season, but after a close-up picture of his genitalia is shown on the evening news (where it has been mistaken for a photo showing evidence of WMDs in Iraq), he is driven back to the cut-offs. ("Sad Sack") He reveals this to Lindsay at Spring Break. ("Spring Breakout")
He wears the cutoffs well into 2012, even wearing them at Cinco de Cuatro.
Sexuality
Tobias has said many things that make people question his sexuality, and he is shocked to hear when Lindsay tells him that the family thinks he's gay. He blames this on how "romantic" he is and even though he is now aware of what people think of him, he does not change. ("Indian Takers")
He makes frequent sexual double-entendres to which he seems completely oblivious. He even records himself saying these clearly homosexual statements and concludes that he is a "Blow Hard", further showing his propensity to be completely ignorant of his actions. Lindsay, who married Tobias to spite her parents, is convinced that her husband is a homosexual. His book, The Man Inside Me, is a cult gay hit, as Tobias wrote on the topic of romantic relationships with only male pronouns, to avoid confusion. ("Let 'Em Eat Cake")
He has experienced sexual difficulties with his wife. This leads to their joint decision to try an "open" marriage, even though Tobias himself acknowledges that this path never works. ("The One Where Michael Leaves") Tobias doesn't really follow through with the "open relationship", and often stalks his wife covered in blue paint, following her around on her attempted dates hiding in areas that are blue in color in order to remain unseen. ("The One Where They Build a House")
Tobias has a relationship with recovering drug addict DeBrie Bardeaux, though the physical nature is never explained. His sexuality is made even more ambiguous as DeBrie is mistaken for an elderly man by a doctor. ("A New Start")
Race
It is often hinted at (though never explicitly stated or fully developed) that Tobias is actually a black man with a skin condition. For example:
In the Season One Character cover, he is pictured wearing a Dashiki.
In "Good Grief" Tobias remarks, "I am surprised that she’s going after somebody so similar to my own type," when he learns Lindsay is attempting to have sex with Ice, the family's new black bounty hunter, though this also works as a reference to his sexuality.
In "Afternoon Delight", the following dialogue occurs between Lindsay and Tobias. Importantly, he does not point out that he is neither big nor black, just that he is not big:
Lindsay: People hear the name Tobias, they think 'big black guy.'
Tobias: Well, obviously, I'm not a big guy.
In "Afternoon Delight" Lucille tells Michael of her discovery of a "colored man" (Tobias, painted blue) in her apartment.
In "Notapusy" Lindsay makes a comment about not knowing how Maeby ended up with frizzy hair.
The cover of Tobias' book The Man Inside Me shows a black man hidden by a white man.
In "Red Hairing," the narrator states that the black politician Herbert Love reminded Lindsay "so much of Tobias when they first started dating."
In "Smashed" Tobias' middle name is revealed to be Onyango. Onyango is a name used by Luo People in Kenya and Uganda. Notably, Barack Obama's father's middle name is Onyango. Further, the name could be a play on the name Annyong, who is the adopted Korean son of Lucille and George Bluth
Tobias' wife Lindsay seems to have a "type" for black men, including Ice, "Girl-Michael" (who is actually a man), and Herbert Love. It is also suggested that Lindsay married Tobias in order to rebel against her father, perhaps because her father disapproved of her marrying a black man.
Identification as a "Cat"Edit
1x17 Justice is Blind (14)
Tobias' cat-like reflexes in "Justice Is Blind"
Tobias is very fond of awkwardly rolling or somersaulting into and out of certain situations mainly to show his dexterity and balance though this often backfires. Indeed, Fünke claims to command "cat-like reflexes" and is often seen lazily loafing around the furniture in the living room. He played a game of "cat-and-mouse" with Maggie Lizer before finally being 'caught' by the household dog. ("Justice Is Blind") When Fünke worked as a security guard, the Narrator remarked that he was unusually "cat-like."