For others with the name 'Dylan', see Dylan (disambiguation).
Dylan Stardust Marshall is Haley's on-and-off boyfriend and eventual husband as well as the father of her children, Poppy and George.
For a long time, Dylan had no plans for college and wished to pursue his love for music and guitar-playing. In Season 5, Dylan reveals he is studying nursing, saying: "I used to heal people with my music, now I'm just doing it with drugs". Dylan is warm, somewhat dim but sweet, and has always been kind and loving towards Haley, even though she doesn't always treat him well. Dylan is the tallest of the Modern Family characters. Dylan has been given names by alot of the family members.
Personality[]
Most of the family sees Dylan as not very bright, and for this reason Claire in particular doesn't consider him good enough for her daughter, Haley. Claire's attitude softens somewhat in Season 7, when Haley starts dating him seriously again. However, she never fully accepts him as a good enough partner for Haley.
Dylan is always kind to everyone and throughout the show, and is never shown doing or saying anything malicious to anyone else. His lack of intelligence gets him into awkward and weird situations more than once, but he is never cruel or mean on purpose. He is very similar to Haley's father (and new father-in-law), Phil Dunphy.
Summary of Dylan[]
In the beginning of the show, neither Claire nor Phil are very fond of Dylan. In Season 1, when, to everyone's surprise, Dylan makes an insightful speech that clears up a fight between Gloria and DeDe. Claire and Phil briefly reconsider their opinion of him until he sings a song he wrote, "In the Moonlight (Do Me)", that references his desire to have sex with Haley. Claire never really changes her negative perception of Dylan, while Phil later becomes very fond of him, perhaps seeing his own relationship with Claire in Haley and Dylan's. Despite the song's obscenity, most of the family members were seen singing the song afterwards, implying its catchiness. When Dylan and Haley got in a fight, he plays the song from his phone in front of her house in a reference to the film "Say Anything", and she makes up with him.
His band consists of four members including him—two other guitarists, and a drummer—all of which (except for the drummer) can be seen playing in the episode "Travels with Scout". Cameron, Haley's uncle, was a drummer in his band for one gig.
In "Dude Ranch," Dylan proposes to Haley, but is interrupted by Claire. Later, he gets a job as a ranch hand, and he and Haley break up. However, they get back together after a few seasons.
In the episode "Virgin Territory," Alex accidentally reveals to Phil that Dylan and Haley had sex. However, this was kept a secret from Phil by Claire . According to her, Dylan was the one who said something about it.
In the episode "Disneyland," Haley sees Dylan after Claire points him out. Dylan is initially embarrassed to see Haley, but later on near the end of the episode they're seen to be back together again, much to Claire's dismay and Phil's delight. It is also revealed that he got a job at Disneyland as a Dapper Dan, but was fired. He and Ethan argue about who has Haley’s affection.
When Haley is concerned that she might not get into college in Season 4, she decides to ask her parents if she can live with him in a shared apartment. Phil and Claire are incensed by this, so they try to persuade her by telling all the bad things that would happen later if she continues her decision, and she becomes confused. But later on, this decision changes when it is revealed that Haley is accepted into college, and that Luke has been hiding the acceptance letter because he doesn't want her to leave. Dylan, being a good boyfriend, asks Haley to her school prom that night and asks her to not forget him even while they're apart, saying he wants to be her “Angela Wilkins.”
They start dating again in the episode “Torn Between Two Lovers”, after sleeping together while Haley was still dating Arvin Fennerman. In “Did the Chicken Cross the Road?”, he and Haley learn that they will become parents, something they shared with the family in Stuck in a Moment. In the next episode, it is revealed Haley is pregnant with twins, causing them to cancel their plans to move out and to remain living with Phil and Claire.
He was labeled as a guest appearance in each episode he was in, until Season 11, where he is credited as a main cast. However, he never ends up in the intro.
Season Summaries[]
Dylan first appears as Haley's boyfriend in “Pilot”. Claire and Phil, as well as the rest of the family, do not like him. However, Phil quickly warms up to him. In “The Incident”, he performs an insinuating song for Haley that displeases her parents, although it is shown that it got stuck in their heads at the end of the episode. In “Great Expectations”, he refuses to go to a party in order to chill at Jay's. In Fizbo, he is nearly seduced by a zoologist. He and Haley break up in “Fifteen Percent” but reunite later in “My Funky Valentine”. He also makes Cam his band’s temporary replacement drummer in “Travels with Scout” and finds himself trapped in the Dunphy home alone in “Airport 2010”.
Dylan makes an appearance in “Chirp”. In Mother Tucker, Phil tries to sympathize with him after his second break-up with Haley. In Bixby's Back and Boys' Night he also have his scenes.
He joins the family in Wyoming vacations in Dude Ranch but Claire prevents him from propose to Haley. Haley later finds him in Disneyland working here. He also appears in Baby on Board.
He wants to live at the Dunphy's in Bringing Up Baby. He later helps Phil and Luke with their personal issues in Fulgencio. He watches Lily and Joe with Haley in A Slight at the Opera and recovers from a hangover in Heart Broken.
Dylan helps Cameron with Larry's fictional funeral in Larry's Wife. He also helps Haley to cheer up Alex in The Big Game and Luke with his tasks in The Old Man & the Tree.
Dylan makes a quick cameo appearance in Connection Lost in which he learns that Haley maybe married Andy. However, he does not know who could be her husband, or who is Andy is.
The Dunphys (except for Alex,) meet Dylan at the mall in Summer Lovin. In this episode, he tells Andy that Haley and him got back together multiple times. They almost convince Phil to let Dylan live with them in The Closet Case and make a quick appearance in She Crazy. In The More You Ignore Me, they break up for the third time.
Dylan makes a quick appearance in Alone Time in which he shows-up in the Dunphy's with his new wife and step-children, making Haley sad.
In The Escape, he, along, with Rainer and Andy, visits Haley at the hospital where Arvin supports her. Dylan tells her to move on since he is now married.
In this season, Dylan reveals to Haley that he is divorced and has been hiding that from her. Though Haley was dating Arvin at this time, she and Dylan kiss in “I Love a Parade” and then have sex in “Kiss and Tell”. Haley chooses Dylan over Arvin in “Torn Between Two Lovers” and they both learn that she is pregnant in “Did the Chicken Cross the Road?”. Later, we figure out that Mitchell and Cam were the first of the family to know of the pregnancy. In “Stuck in a Moment”, the whole family, minus Alex and Luke who learnt it in the previous episode, discovers the news. In “A Moving Day”, Dylan and Haley temporarily move out to a makeshift house in a small garage, but move back in with the Dunphys when they learn that they are expecting twins. In “Blasts from the Past”, Dylan introduces the Dunphys to his mom who resembles the deceased DeDe, much to Claire’s horror. In “SuperShowerBabyBowl”, Claire finally warms up to him when she apologises for hurting him, after he opens up that he feels he will never be accepted by the family. In “Red Alert”, it is revealed that he and Haley attend prenatal classes, in which he excels. In “Stand By Your Man”, he participates in a boy's night with Luke, Phil and Bill. Haley proposes to him in “Can't Elope” and they marry. He becomes a father in “A Year of Birthdays” when Haley gives birth to their twins, Poppy and George.
Trivia[]
- He likes Western films, such as "The Gunfighter" ("Great Expectations").
- He likes Anne Hathaway's films ("Moon Landing").
- He is allergic to mayonnaise ("Fizbo").
- The only known members of the family who dislike Dylan are Claire and Manny, though Manny only disliked Dylan when he was younger. This was because he had a crush on Haley and was jealous of their relationship.
- His last name is revealed to be Marshall in "Connection Lost".
- He mentions in “Summer Lovin” that he has a cousin named Dylan.
- Dylan is not an only child. In "She Crazy", he mentions that he was reading a book that belonged to his nephew, which means he has a sister or a brother.
- Dylan is the only character to appear in every season of the show even though he is a non-family member (although he joins the family in Season 10 upon his marriage to Haley).
- His middle name "Stardust" is revealed in "Can't Elope."
- He is similar to Phil Dunphy as both of them are childish and their marriage to their respective wives were not easily accepted by her family.
- He is also similar to Luke Dunphy.
- Dylan thought his daughter Poppy was possessed ("A Game of Chicken").
- He’s the only member of the main cast to never appear in the opening intro.
- Dylan looks different in the later seasons after having plastic surgery.
- Dylan’s songs (such as In the Moonlight) can be found on YouTube and Spotify.
Quotes[]
Season 1[]
Claire: Hi, Dylan. Dylan: Happy Valentine's Day, Mrs. Dunphy. [hands Claire a rose] Claire: Oh. Dylan, thank you. That is so sweet. Dylan: You know, all women should look as tasty as you when they're old. Claire: Huh. Conflicted. |
— From "My Funky Valentine"
season 2[]
Haley: Don't play dumb with me! Dylan: I never play dumb! |
— From "Mother Tucker"
season 3[]
Claire: Hey, Dylan. Dylan: Hey, Mrs. Dunphy. Claire: I was wondering if we could have a little chat. Dylan: Oh. You want me to go home. Claire: No, no. It's the- The opposite of that. Dylan: I want you to go home? |
— From "Dude Ranch"
Dylan: I know you're worried, but I'm designing T-shirts now, and they're going to be huge... also medium and small. |
— From "Baby on Board"
Haley: [to Dylan, in a Little John costume] Why are you dancing like that? Dylan: This is what Little John does, maybe. I don't know what movie this dude is from. |
— From "Disneyland"
Season 4[]
season 5[]
Dylan: Haley! Haley: Hey, Dylan! I didn't realize you were coming here. Dylan: Are you kidding? This place was like a home to me. It's like I was homeschooled. But I wasn't. I was school-schooled. Alex: Were you? |
— From "The Big Game"
Appearances[]
Appearances |
Episode | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | Total | |
Season 1 | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Season 2 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Season 3 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Season 4 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Season 5 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Season 6 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Season 7 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Season 8 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Season 9 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Season 10 | 14 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Season 11 | 11 |
Gallery[]
v • e • d Modern Family characters | ||||
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