Sheldon Cooper
Encyclopedia
Sheldon Lee Cooper, B.S.
, M.S.
, M.A.
, Ph.D.
, Sc.D.
(born 1980) is a fictional character
from Texas on the CBS
television series The Big Bang Theory
, portrayed by actor Jim Parsons
. Parsons has won two Emmy Award
s and a Golden Globe for this role.
Sheldon is a Caltech theoretical physicist
, who shares an apartment with his colleague and best friend, Leonard Hofstadter
(Johnny Galecki
). They live across the hallway from Penny
(Kaley Cuoco
). Sheldon exhibits a strict adherence to routine, a total lack of social skills
, a tenuous understanding of irony
, sarcasm, and humor, and a general lack of humility
or empathy
. He is vocal about his own superior intellect compared to those around him. These characteristics provide the bulk of his character's humor and the center of some episodes. He has been described as the show's breakout character
. Reviewers and fans have speculated that Sheldon's personality traits are consistent with a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome
and/or obsessive–compulsive personality disorder and asexuality
.
Beginning with the season five episode The Flaming Spittoon Acquisition
, Sheldon began dating Amy Farrah Fowler.
knew. He is named in honor of actor/producer Sheldon Leonard
, and Nobel Prize
Laureate Leon Cooper
. Chuck Lorre
originally intended Johnny Galecki
to play the role, but Galecki thought he'd be "better suited" for the character of Leonard. Lorre said that when Jim Parsons
auditioned for the role, he was "so startlingly good", that Lorre "asked him back to make sure he hadn't gotten lucky," making Jim Parsons re-audition.
, he was raised by his father (George Cooper, Sr.) and his mother (Mary Cooper) along with an older brother (George Cooper, Jr.) and a twin sister (Missy Cooper). His mother is a devout Evangelical
Christian
and she raised Sheldon according to her beliefs, for example enrolling him in a Christian youth bowling league and teaching him how to pray. He was taunted and bullied by the neighborhood children and his classmates, as he claims they were threatened by his intelligence. Sheldon was a child prodigy
, as evidenced by his many extraordinary accomplishments while still a child: he built a poorly-working CAT scanner that incinerated his sister's guinea pig
, called snowball a so-called "Sonic Death Ray", and an armed robot constructed using integrated circuit
s made from materials cooked in his sister's Easy Bake Oven, which he modified, and which burnt her eyebrows off. Sheldon entered the University of Texas in Austin
at the age of eleven, right after completing the fifth grade. When Sheldon was twelve years old, he wanted a titanium
centrifuge
to separate radioactive isotope
s. Around this time, he dabbled in lasers (eventually getting him sent to boarding school
). According to his mother, he also tried to build a nuclear reactor
at the age of thirteen in order to provide free electricity for his town; however, this was halted after a government agent informed him that it was illegal to store yellowcake uranium (which he wanted to buy on the Internet) in a shed. At age fourteen, he graduated from college summa cum laude
, began doctoral work, and was the youngest person at the time to receive the Stevenson Award when he was "14 and a half". Sheldon worked as a visiting professor at Heidelberg University in Germany at age fifteen, and received his first Ph.D.
at sixteen years old, working on twistor theory
. He then spent four years on his second dissertation, and at the beginning of the series had held his current job for three-and-a-half years.
class, and attempting to donate to a sperm bank (though he eventually refuses as he feels there is no guarantee his sperm will produce high-IQ offspring). According to Prady, the character "began to evolve after episode five or so and became his own thing".
Aside from his idiosyncrasies, Sheldon is logical. He possesses an eidetic memory
and an IQ of 187, although he claims his IQ cannot be accurately measured by normal tests. He has claimed to have a Masters Degree and two doctoral degrees in early episodes. However, by the episode "The Love Car Displacement", his list of qualifications had increased. Sheldon has an overly extensive general knowledge, as shown by his comments regarding various details of anecdotal knowledge (for instance, the introduction of the fork into Thailand).
Despite his intelligence, Sheldon is usually inept in most social interactions. His eccentricities, direct remarks, and demanding nature put him at odds with his own friends and especially Penny. He has a distinct lack of emotional maturity and is often baffled by even the most common social interactions. He not only fails to understand the simplest sarcastic jokes made by Leonard, but also regards Penny's sadness over one of her breakups with blatant confusion. However, recently, he has begun to understand the concept of sarcasm, attempting unsuccessfully to employ it himself towards Penny in the second season, and successfully employing it towards his friends in the third season. Sheldon occasionally uses slang
(in a very unnatural fashion), and follows jokes with his catchphrase "Bazinga!" ("Bazinga!" is now officially trademarked by Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.) He is not entirely sure how to hug someone, and he avoids human contact whenever possible. Sheldon's expression of his more advanced intelligence has gotten him fired from his job, and even Leonard is surprised to learn that Sheldon is conceited enough to believe that Isaac Newton
is intellectually inferior to himself. Despite his egocentricism, Sheldon appears to be somewhat aware of his social ineptitude, particularly his lack of understanding of sarcasm. He mentioned that he keeps a record of his daily social interactions after Penny snapped at him and Leonard asked him why, to which he suggested that Leonard "review my log of daily of social interactions, to see if there's a blunder I overlooked." Sheldon is also a difficult person to work with. In "The Electric Can Opener Fluctuation", Sheldon finds out that the others have tampered with his experiment, in order to make him more pleasant to work with. He also found out that they were considering killing him and had even come up with a plan to do so. When Leonard comes up with an idea for an iPhone application to solve physics problems, Sheldon immediately tries to seize control of it. When Leonard makes it clear that he is in charge, Sheldon continues to annoy the others, resulting in his getting fired by Leonard. When Sheldon asks him why, Leonard tells him "[he is] impossible to work with". At the end of the episode, Leonard takes him back at Penny's request, but he is then shown working with Penny on an application for identifying women's shoes, implying that he was fired again. Sheldon also generally displays apathy
to the world around him; in "The Toast Derivation", Leonard notes that Sheldon criticized Bill Gates
for focusing on his charity work rather than Windows Vista, a remark that earned him a punch in the face from Gates.
Sheldon also has childlike qualities. For example, even though he does not seem to realize it, he must get his way, such as in naming the Caltech Physics Bowl team (Army Ants) or deciding to go to San Francisco by train instead of flying (due to his fascination and love of trains) for a conference where he seeks Nobel laureate
George Smoot
's approval. He needs his mother (or Penny) to care for him when he is sick, which involves singing "Soft Kitty" and rubbing Vicks VapoRub
on his chest. He cannot stand to be interrupted, concede when he does not know something, keep a secret, or hear people bicker or argue, crinkling his lips with intense frustration when any of these events occur. Sheldon does not have a driver's license (although he does possess a learner's permit); he relies upon his friends for transportation to work or other places. He has attempted to learn to drive on a simulator, but he fails miserably and attempts to obscure his failure by claiming he is "too evolved" to drive. He immediately accedes to his mother's wishes, despite openly arguing with her. An example of this is his apologizing to Penny after an argument.
Like his friends, Sheldon is scientifically inclined, and is fond of comic books, costumes
, roleplaying games, video games, customizable card games, action figures, fantasy, and science fiction, specifically Battlestar Galactica
, Doctor Who
, Stargate
, Star Trek
, Star Wars
, and Firefly
, although he strongly dislikes Babylon 5
. Sheldon is particularly fond of the Star Trek franchise and apparently considers it analogous to religion, as evidenced during a conversation with Amy Farrah Fowler where he "turn[s] to a force greater than [himself]", and answers "Star Trek" after Amy guesses "religion". He has claimed to be an honorary graduate of Starfleet Academy
, and is an avid fan of science officer Spock
. When Penny gave Sheldon a napkin used by Leonard Nimoy
, the actor who originally played Spock, this greatly overwhelmed Sheldon as he realized he now possessed the DNA
of his famed idol. However, Leonard Nimoy and Stan Lee
have both applied for restraining order
s against Sheldon. He also used to idolize fictional prodigy Wesley Crusher
from Star Trek: The Next Generation
for qualities of the character Wesley Crusher he found similar to himself, but Wil Wheaton
's surprise cancellation of an appearance at a Jackson
, Mississippi
Star Trek convention in 1995 soured him to both the character and actor. Other favorite characters of his are Green Lantern
, Batman
and The Flash
. Sheldon often wears vintage T-shirts adorned with superhero logos specific to the DC
universe, among them the Flash, Superman
, Aquaman
, and the logos of the various Lantern Corps
. He usually wears a long sleeve shirt underneath it along with plaid pants. Sheldon is tall and thin (setting him apart from his shorter colleagues), with Penny (and later Leonard) saying he looks like a giant praying mantis, and Raj
likening the robotic C-3PO
of Star Wars
as "a shiny Sheldon".
Sheldon likes playing Halo
every Wednesday and paintball
on the weekend with his friends. Unlike Leonard, Sheldon embraces his genius fully and is not ashamed of admitting his particularly eccentric interests (such as Klingon
Boggle
). He can also play the piano and theremin
, and seems to be a very good Tuvan throat singer, but would be better if not for a section in his roommate agreement with Leonard denying him time to practice.
Despite his strange behavior, Sheldon has, at times, demonstrated a much softer side to himself. In one instance, when Penny was low on money, Sheldon let her borrow a large amount of his savings, but while she worried about paying it back, he was entirely uncaring as to when he got it back. This was later described by Leonard as "one of the few idiosyncrasies that doesn't make you want to, you know, kill him". Also, after Penny let him stay at her place when he locked himself out of his apartment, Sheldon sincerely thanked her for it. When Penny gave Sheldon a Christmas present, he was extremely anxious because he did not know what it was and therefore did not know how to reciprocate. He purchased multiple gift basket
s of bath items (in order to choose one which matched the value of her gift), only to find that she got him a napkin autograph
ed by Leonard Nimoy
(which he had also wiped his mouth with, and therefore had his DNA on it). This prompted him to give her all the baskets and a hug (the first time he has demonstrated any physical intimacy
with anyone). Sheldon sees himself as a protagonist
and hero, and Penny appeals to his admiration of heroic qualities when Howard's mother is hospitalized.
Sheldon's attitudes on finances seem to be mixed. He once remarked that he would prefer to live alone, but could not afford the rent. However, he is also shown to have thousands of dollars hidden around the house (as his expenses only amount to 46.9% of his after-tax income) or in uncashed checks
which he claims is money he does not need, as the things he wants to buy have not been invented yet. He is agreeable to lending money, and Leonard remarks it is one of the few positive attributes of Sheldon's eccentric behavior. He wants more funding at work and fails to understand why his colleagues are not let go so that more of the school's grant money can be given to him. This does not stop him from spending the money on personal conveniences for his own office, but he refuses to spend money on a desk for Raj. Sheldon distrusts banks, believing that when computers take over the world "the ATMs
will lead the charge."
In contrast to his profoundly religious mother and devout Christian upbringing, Sheldon has no interest in religion. He tends to ignore or express dislike for religious celebrations such as Christmas, and wastes no time in bringing up the pagan origins to each festival. Additionally, his scientific beliefs often come into conflict with the spiritual beliefs of his mother, Mary. Nevertheless, he has an agreement with his mother to attend church once a year, and his upbringing leads him to exclaim "Thank you, Jesus!" upon scoring a strike in bowling
Sheldon also appears to have problems understanding societal laws at times. He is shown to drop objects out his window into traffic without regard, in addition to breaking into buildings. He has expertise with picking locks and disarming alarm systems. Furthermore, the Department of Homeland Security notifies his mother when, as a teenager, he acts contrary to federal law. As he states later, "Apparently you can't hack into a top secret government supercomputer
and then try to buy uranium
without the Department of Homeland Security tattling to your mother."
With few exceptions, Sheldon refuses all drugs, including alcohol and caffeine, as a promise to his mother. He does not tolerate them well; after consuming two glasses of wine at an award ceremony, he becomes intoxicated and behaves inappropriately during his acceptance speech, finally mooning
the audience. In addition, when Penny mixes alcohol into his drink, he began to play the piano and sing "To Life
" in front of an audience. A small amount of coffee has made him extremely hyperactive in one instance, but unproductive in another. Taking valium also has affected his behavior.
) in every theater before a movie, attempting to locate the "acoustic sweet spot". However, he can adapt to seats with sub-optimal conditions, such as suitable cushion densities and light dispersion, provided he has the opportunity to test them.
He refuses to sit anywhere other than his designated spot on the left cushion of the couch in his apartment, which he considers his "single point of consistency in an ever-changing world" and "the singular location in space around which revolves my entire universe", exceeding his love for his mother. He regularly reproaches Penny and other people for sitting in his spot, even when he is not intent on sitting in it himself. Even disruptions to this location are enough to disturb him. Although he did allow Penny to sit in his spot in the first episode, as well as Howard, for a short time in "The Apology Insufficiency", only 94 seconds later he reclaims his spot. Sheldon's need to sit in certain spots goes beyond even his own apartment, for instance when Sheldon comes over to visit Penny in one episode, Sheldon goes about the room sitting in random chairs until ultimately deciding a chair nearby the counter was his spot at Penny's. Also, when he had dinner at Raj's apartment he insisted that they all figure out where they were going to sit. Raj's sister Priya dismissed this and suggested they all sit anywhere. Sheldon continued to insist they figure out spots until Leonard told him to sit down after which Sheldon claimed they were all like "hippies at a love in." Leonard again told him to sit to which Sheldon replied "right on man, right on."
Sheldon is constantly worried about others touching his food. He washes his hands as often as he can, and he showers twice daily. Leonard used Sheldon's concerns for food to mock him in "The Einstein Approximation", as did Raj in "The Engagement Reaction". Penny has stated that he still has not learned not to insult those who handle his food, to which Amy Farrah Fowler agrees.
He is extremely worried about becoming sick. He became worried about Penny infecting him with influenza
and subsequently contracted it. Another time, he wanted a full medical examination by Leonard's girlfriend, Dr. Stephanie Barnett, in order to discover the cause of a high-pitched noise in his head. When Howard's mother is sent to the hospital, Sheldon refuses to go due to exposure to pathogens and germs, until Penny confronts him. He accidentally wanders into a biohazard
room at the hospital, after fearing the restroom's cleanliness, and endures a two-week quarantine.
When Sheldon is complicit in a lie, he exhausts all of his efforts in his almost always unsuccessful attempt to make it believable. Similarly, he cannot be entrusted with a secret because he develops nervous tic
s. However, it is easier for him to lie if he has prior knowledge of the deception or an "ironclad alibi
" thought out in advance, as opposed to it being "impromptu dishonesty".
Once, he was distraught when Penny entered his room in the middle of the night. On another occasion, Sheldon hesitantly let Penny in his bedroom to get a key for his desk to retrieve a flash drive
, constantly reminding her that, far from creating a permanent easement
, it was only one-time permission.
While perfectly comfortable speaking to small groups, Sheldon cannot speak to crowds deemed large enough to trample him (36 adults or 70 children) without having a panic attack
. In general, he obsesses over safety.
He also keeps a record of what he considers faux pas
"strikes", which he allocates to those who violate his self-imposed conditions. Upon receiving three strikes, Sheldon gives them the choice of either apologizing or taking a class which can be done online. For many of the characteristics aforementioned, Sheldon's friends often consider him "insane" or "crazy" despite Sheldon's repetition of another catchphrase "I'm not insane/crazy! My mother had me tested."
Sheldon is also seen as one who holds grudges - as evidenced in season five, when he claims that he has a list of mortal enemies (which comprises 61 people) that he began when he was 9 in 1989 and recorded it onto a 5.25 inch floppy disc. At the end of the episode "The Russian Rocket Reaction", it is revealed that he now has 62 mortal enemies (having added Brent Spiner
and the person responsible for quality control at Verbatim, Inc at 1989,(because the floppy disc failed to open) but removing Will Wheaton after he presented him with a signed doll). He also says that Penny has only recently been deleted from the list, even after knowing her for five years.
research at Caltech. Throughout the course of the show, Sheldon has switched disciplines from bosonic string theory
to heterotic string theory, reconciled the black hole information paradox
using a string network condensate approach and worked on time-dependent backgrounds
in string theory, specifically quantum field theory
, in D-dimensional de Sitter space
. With Rajesh
, he has worked on the string theory implications of gamma ray
s from dark matter annihilations and considered a method for optimizing a 500 GeV
particle detector to this end.
In the second-season finale "The Monopolar Expedition", Sheldon receives a grant from the National Science Foundation
to travel to the North Magnetic Pole
for an experiment in search of magnetic monopole
particles, with Leonard, Raj and Howard as his support team. In the experiment he detects what he believes is significant monopolar magnetic charge, validating one of the chief predictions of superstring theory
. Though Sheldon publicly announces he has confirmed string theory and will receive a Nobel Prize
, he learns that the charge detected was actually static electricity from the others' electric can opener, forcing Sheldon to issue a retraction to his announcement and severely damaging his reputation at the university.
Sheldon and Leonard jointly wrote a paper on supersolid
s to be presented at an Institute for Experimental Physics topical conference on Bose-Einstein condensates. He has also lectured on topological insulator
s.
Like Leonard, Sheldon keeps a whiteboard in the living room for scientific theories. It usually contains virtual particles in quantum mechanics
or series of Riemann zeta functions, but is sometimes used to play pictionary. He often rambles on about his imaginative ideas and theories, much to Leonard's annoyance, but does not listen to his friend concerning his (Leonard's) research.
Once, when he was obsessed with solving a physics problem, he took on menial tasks to clear his thought processes as to emulate Albert Einstein
's success under similar circumstances. Much to Penny's dismay, one of the menial tasks he takes on is serving food at the Cheesecake Factory where she works, even though he was not an employee. Sheldon became offended when he found that Missy inaccurately tells others he is a rocket scientist
; he apparently thinks the title is beneath him and that she might as well tell people "that I'm a toll taker on the golden gate bridge!".
In "The Flaming Spittoon Acquisition" Sheldon is shown to be a qualified Notary Public
. Sheldon is also noted for his dislike of the science of geology
(referring to them as "the dirt people" in "The Benefactor Factor", remarking that he has no respect for the field whatsoever, and stating that he doesn't consider it a real science).
. The writers have stated that they did not use Asperger syndrome as a basis for the character, but instead thought of his actions as "Sheldony". Series co-creator Bill Prady stated: "We write the character as the character. A lot of people see various things in him and make the connections. Our feeling is that Sheldon's mother never got a diagnosis, so we don't have one". In an interview, Jim Parsons noted the writers' response, but added that in his opinion, Sheldon "couldn't display more traits" of Asperger's. Parsons, who plays Sheldon, has read John Elder Robison
's memoir Look Me in the Eye
about his life with Asperger syndrome, and said that: "A majority of what I read in that book touched on aspects of Sheldon". However, he also stated that "the way [Sheldon's] brain works, it's so focused on the intellectual topics at hand that thinking he's autistic is an easy leap for people watching the show to make".
Also in the-infestation-hypothesis Amy observes Sheldon's obsessive knocking saying, "You are aware that your ritualistic knocking behaviour is symptomatic of obsessive compulsive disorder?" to which Sheldon responded "Is not. Is not, is not." also in other episodes when for instance Penny has opened the door before the had finished knocking he still had to finish knocking even when Penny chased him with an 'infested chair'.
" and a stereotypical Texan, including a fondness for football
, skeet shooting
, and heavy drinking. His death occurred close enough to the start of the series that Sheldon's sister, Missy, visits him to bring him paperwork regarding their father's estate. Sheldon recalls that his father would force him to watch football, despite his lack of interest for the sport, and would take him outside to show him how to "shoot close enough to a raccoon
that it craps itself".
Sheldon's mother, Mary, is a devout Christian whose spiritual beliefs often come into conflict with Sheldon's scientific ones. Despite this, his upbringing influenced him enough that he shouts "Thank you, Jesus!" after bowling a strike, before hastily adding, "As my mother would say". Mary is characterized as a doting mother and is readily available when Sheldon needs her. Sheldon expresses his love for his mother more than once (though he claims to have stronger feelings for the spot on his couch), and she is the only person that he capitulates to. Leonard calls her Sheldon's "Kryptonite
". After Sheldon and Penny get into a bitter, days-long war, Leonard gives Mary's phone number to Penny. After Mary chastises Sheldon, he immediately apologizes to Penny. On another occasion, when Sheldon has a falling out with Amy Farrah Fowler and begins hoarding cats, Leonard himself calls Mary, who meets with both Amy and Sheldon and reports that she is glad they broke up, as she would have forced them to stop seeing each other anyway. Sheldon, not realizing his mother is using reverse psychology
, proposes that they "set aside their differences." Nevertheless, Sheldon remains very much attached to his mother, albeit he does not display it in front of her. When he was taking acting lessons from Penny (wherein he decided to make up his own skit involving Spock), he got so absorbed into his own acting that he cried about leaving his mother. Not sure how to react, Penny immediately called Sheldon's mother, saying "I think I broke your son!"
Sheldon has a fraternal twin sister, Missy. A tall, attractive brunette, Leonard, Howard, and Raj all made efforts to date her. Upon Sheldon realizing that within Missy's eggs
lay the potential for another "superior mutation" like himself, he declares his friends unsuitable to be with his sister, an action which Missy resents. Missy also kicks Sheldon in the testicles (revealed in "The Pork Chop Indeterminacy"). Sheldon also has a yet-unseen older brother, George Jr. Both Missy and George Jr. beat Sheldon up as children, and their mother describes them to be "dumb as soup". Despite this, it appears that Missy admires her brother, mentioning that she regularly refers to him as a "rocket scientist" (which unwittingly offends Sheldon, who considers rocket science to be beneath him).
Sheldon is very fond of his grandmother, whom he calls "Me-maw", who in turn calls him "Moon Pie
""Because I'm nummy nummy and she could me all up".
Sheldon can only handle having a limited number of friends in his "landing party
" at a time. Sheldon once tried to cut off Raj from his circle of friends to make room for Barry Kripke although the sole reason for that was because Raj got one answer for his questionnaire wrong. Otherwise he likes Raj because of the ethnic diversity he brings about in the group and the fact that he too likes monkeys and trains. He lends help to Koothrappali by giving him a job under his supervision, and considers him a good friend.
Sheldon often makes fun of Howard for not having a doctoral degree and for being an engineer, referring to engineers as "noble semi-skilled laborers" and "the Oompa-Loompas of science", and calling engineering "the slow younger brother of physics". In addition, he mocks his friend Leonard's work in experimental physics as unoriginal and simple. In "The Bozeman Reaction", he referred to Howard as "a treasured acquaintance" instead of a friend like the others. However, he still helped him in his work and shows dismay when Howard is distracted by Penny's friend Christy during Halo
night. He also referred to him as "the funny one" in their group. In the episode "The Apology Insufficiency", Sheldon angers Howard by revealing details to the FBI that prevent him from obtaining a much needed security clearance. Howard refuses to accept Sheldon's apology, until Sheldon gives Howard his spot on the couch. However, Sheldon asks for the spot back after only 94 seconds. Howard has vacillated between not really caring whether he and Sheldon are friends and being visibly wounded when Sheldon is dismissive of him. When Sheldon was considering who to jettison from his circle of friends and said critically that Howard did not have a Ph.D. and was not available to play video games during the Jewish High Holidays, Howard seemed pleased that he might be freed from Sheldon's friendship, only to watch as Sheldon then ordered a horrified Raj out of the circle of friends. Later, the "treasured acquaintance" remark makes Howard's face fall, as he is upset that Sheldon does not consider him a friend but does consider Leonard, Penny, and Raj friends. In "The Bus Pants Utilzation", Sheldon also picks on Howard on numerous occasions. For example, when Leonard reveals his idea for a smartphone application regarding solving differential equations (using Schrödinger's equation
or Fourier analysis), Sheldon points out that Howard does not do such a thing, because he is only an engineer. Secondly, when Sheldon tells his side of the story on why Penny likes to hang out with the guys all the time, he refers to their group of scientists as "a group of geniuses and their friend Howard", thus ruling him out. When Sheldon, unsatisfied with Leonard's leadership of the team, calls for a change in leadership, he says it is necessary to "dissolve the bonds that tie three competent scientists together", referring to only himself, Leonard, and Raj. In addition, when trying to lure Raj and Howard to abandon Leonard's project and join him in a rival company, Sheldon offers them, amongst other things, custom mugs. While on Raj's mug is written "World's greatest astrophysicist", Howards's mug only contains his name, with Sheldon explaining that he typed "World's greatest engineer" into the label maker, but could not bring himself to press Enter. A more subtle example is when Sheldon, after being kicked off the team for his inflexibility, learns that the guys named the app "Project Len-Wolo-Pali", and asks if the name "Koothra-nard-owitz" (with Howard's name at the end rather than the middle) had already been taken.
Despite Penny not being a scientist nor sharing many of the group's interests (Parsons described the characters of Sheldon and Penny as "polar opposites"), and having constant fights with Sheldon in the early episodes, they became close friends, due to some time alone with each other, such as when Penny cares for Sheldon during illness or when Penny takes him in as he is locked out of his apartment while his friends are in Las Vegas.
Sheldon returns the favor as he cares for Penny when she dislocates her shoulder. In all of these instances, the story line ends with one of them singing "Soft Kitty
", a song Sheldon's mother used to sing to him, when he was sick. On the one hand, Sheldon and Penny spend a lot of time getting on each other's nerves: Sheldon often mentions how uneducated or untidy Penny is, while Penny likes to irritate him by sitting in his spot, messing with food, and they once started a futile war (Penny blocked Sheldon from doing his laundry on his laundry day, and he replied by exposing her clothes and underwear outside the window). However, they also efficiently team up, for example to plan Leonard's birthday or to develop Penny's "Penny Blossoms" business, singing along sailor songs to motivate the other ones. They end up spending a lot of time together as two close friends, help each other and give each other advice (Penny helping to find a suit for Sheldon for an awards ceremony, or seeking Stan Lee's address for him because he couldn't meet him as the other members of the group did; Sheldon teaching Penny physics to help her in her relationship with Leonard), and, on a few occasions, they appear to share a sort of intimacy that Sheldon doesn't have with anyone else: they both take care of each other when they don't feel well; they stayed together in the flat, cranky and grumpy, as they had both caught flu after a hug they had exchanged; Sheldon has an immediate very nervous and alarmed reaction when he hears Penny calling for his help from her flat; they sing together "Soft Kitty" as a round in a kind intimate moment; Sheldon adds an amused "Bazinga!" to one of Penny's jokes, to which she replies with a tender "Hmm..."
Sheldon acknowledges Penny as one of his closest friends (along with Leonard and Raj), while he considers that Howard is a "treasured acquaintance", though he has known him a lot longer than Penny. Also, when Penny and Leonard break up, Sheldon still considers Penny a friend and makes dinner plans, which he tries to hide when Howard informs him that it is inappropriate behavior and "bros come before ho's". He actually goes through a lot of trouble (hiding frozen hot dogs in his pants, confronting a huge threatening dog ... ) just to dine with her, though he's already been forced to eat a whole meal with the boys. In the end, Leonard and Penny in a way share custody of Sheldon, taking him to Disneyland and out to buy new shoes.
The interaction between Sheldon and Penny has been praised by critics. James Chamberlin of IGN
wrote: "Cuoco and Parsons are great in their own right, but when put together, they truly shine." Matt Roush of TV Guide
said that Sheldon and Penny's "scenes and episodes together are usually Big Bang at its best". Todd WanDerVerff of The A.V. Club
wrote that they "made such an inspired odd coupling that at times, it seemed as though the entire show were about them" and their chemistry "has some of the rattle and rhythm of the great comedic duos". Chuck Lorre stated that Sheldon and Penny have "become a natural comic pairing" and they "bounce off each other beautifully".
Some fans support a romantic relationship between Sheldon and Penny. Lorre, however, is opposed to this, saying: "We've stumbled into creating a character who has chosen a lifestyle for himself that is unique. And I don't see any reason to modify it." WanDerVerff was also critical of the idea writing: "TV teaches us that any time a man and a woman are in some sort of relationship with any sort of spark to it, that man and that woman will inevitably begin sleeping together, and I think that's what the Sheldon/Penny shippers are responding to, but The Big Bang Theory is showing us that that doesn't necessary have to be the case". Kaley Cuoco said that if they dated, "Penny would kill Sheldon". In The Infestation Hypothesis, Sheldon and Penny acknowledge they are like an old married couple.
In the Season 3 finale, Raj blackmails Sheldon into meeting a woman that he and Howard discovered on a dating website
. Initially incredulous, Sheldon is surprised to learn that the woman (Amy Farrah Fowler, played by Mayim Bialik
) is largely a female version of himself, to the horror of Howard and Raj. Amy agreed with her mother to go on a date once a year (in exchange for her mother not bringing up the issue, plus occasional use of a George Foreman Grill
). Over the course of a few lines, the two realize they have a connection to each other and go on the date. The relationship continues in the fourth season. In the first episode of the fourth season, Sheldon reveals that they have been in contact via numerous electronic means over the summer and that they plan to have a child together without marrying and without sexual intercourse. Their decision to have a child in this manner is thwarted by Penny, who threatens to tell Sheldon's devout Christian mother of his plans to have a child that will be born to unwed parents. Despite their compatibility and empathy towards each other, Sheldon often points out that they are not in a romantic relationship, most often by saying of Amy, "She is a girl who is my friend, but not my girlfriend!" Despite Sheldon's assessment that Amy is not the free spirit he is, he delights in how she has gotten him experimenting in the social sciences. The two enjoy intellectual games they create, and Amy openly expresses the same intellectual superiority to people around her that Sheldon expresses to his friends. For instance, when Sheldon does not understand how Amy, a neurobiologist, could ridicule Bernadette Rostenkowski, a microbiologist
, for her studies, Amy remarks, "I study the brain, the organ responsible for Beethoven's Fifth Symphony
. Bernadette studies yeast, the organism responsible for Michelob Light." The two temporarily broke up after an argument regarding whether theoretical physics or neurobiology is the superior academic discipline, but quickly made up after Sheldon's mother intervened. Amy has sometimes shown romantic interest in Sheldon. After Sheldon inadvertently infers that Leonard and Amy may have had sex after a wedding reception both attended together, he has an unexpectedly violent reaction, karate-chopping Leonard's neck with his left hand, while telling Leonard "She's not for you...not for you!"
Sheldon has formed a strong bond with Leonard's mother, Dr. Beverly Hofstadter (Christine Baranski
). The similarity in their personalities allowed them to bond on a level Sheldon has been unable to find with anyone else. After their initial meeting, they have kept in touch via e-mail, sharing information and research papers. When she visits to inform Leonard that she is divorcing his father, Penny gets her drunk. She kisses Sheldon in a fit of passion, but rejects seeking further physical intimacy with him.
Sheldon has claimed to not like Leonard's girlfriends, with the exception of Dr. Stephanie Barnett (Sara Rue
). He clashes with Priya Koothrappali (Aarti Mann
), Raj's sister and Leonard's girlfriend, when she employs her Cambridge University law education to nullify his roommate agreement with Leonard by noting ambiguities in the document. After seeking advice from Amy, Sheldon re-drafts the agreement, eliminating any ambiguities, and blackmails Priya by threatening to tell her parents about her relationship with a non-Indian if Leonard did not sign the revised document. Yet, he has had the most conflicts with Penny.
Sheldon shows little interests in forming social relationships outside of his current circle of friends – an indifference that extends to romantic attachments. Despite such indifference, Sheldon somehow manages to attract the romantic interest of at least three women and one man (including Leonard's mother), although on three of those occasions, he is initially oblivious to their advances. In the episode "The Cooper Nowitzki Theorem", Ramona Nowitzki is a graduate student who Sheldon grows tired of after she inserts herself into his life and curtails his recreational activities. He finally dismisses her from his apartment when she asks for shared credit on his scientific discovery. Penny once asks what Sheldon's "deal" is, alluding to his sexual orientation
. Leonard responds that "we've been operating under the assumption that he has no deal", with Howard suggesting that Sheldon might reproduce by mitosis
. Series co-creator Chuck Lorre said: "Part of what's wonderful and unique about [Sheldon] is he has chosen not to play in the relationship game either way -- heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, any sexuality".
Critics and viewers have postulated that Sheldon may be asexual
or aromantic, while others dispute this assertion. Noel Murray of The A.V. Club stated that "giving Sheldon a girlfriend, boyfriend or even a "friend with benefits" would be [...] far outside the scope of the character". Kona Gallagher of TV Squad wrote that "the idea of Sheldon with a lady is a jarring one". In contrast, Jon Weisman of the Los Angeles Times
wrote that "the right woman could draw [Sheldon] out of his shell". In an interview, Parsons said that he thinks that his character eventually will have a romantic relationship.
More recently, in Season 5, Sheldon shows that he isn't okay with Leonard getting together with Amy. While Amy considers Sheldon to be something like a boyfriend, she dislikes some of his idiosyncrasies and doesn't seem to be quite as asexual as he is. In fact, Amy has opened sexual negotiations. Her opening offer involved a torrid encounter; those negotiations resulted in, at least, cuddling; and Sheldon would mention 'spooning' in a later conversation. Second base was not reached, however.
In the season 5 episode The Flaming Spittoon Acquisition, Sheldon and Amy officially began dating after Amy and Stuart begin dating and Sheldon becomes jealous, however he did not admit to being jealous. Sheldon stated he would like the terms of their relationship to stay the same, even though they are now in a relationship.
. He pitted his robot, the Kripke Krippler (or, as he called it, the "Kwipke Kwippwer"), against the guys' robot, M.O.N.T.E., in an unofficial robot fight
. Kripke continued his antagonism towards Sheldon when he pulled a prank on Sheldon when the latter was a guest on NPR
's Science Friday. However, Sheldon has attempted to befriend him on only two occasions, to gain access to an open science grid computer
and as a prospective member in a new group of friends. Leslie is a sometime lover of Leonard, and an optical physicist. Leslie and Sheldon mutually consider themselves to be intellectually superior to the other; however, Leslie is wittier, generally besting Sheldon in their repartee. She often calls him a "dumbass." In Seasons 1 and 2, Sheldon considers her his "arch enemy".
However, the person Sheldon considers to be his "mortal enemy" is Wil Wheaton. Sheldon's hatred of Wheaton stems from Wheaton's cancelling an appearance at a science fiction convention in Jackson, Mississippi
that Sheldon had gone to some lengths to attend years previously. In Season 3, the two encounter each other at a customizable card game tournament, and Sheldon's antipathy towards Wheaton is heightened when Wheaton uses gamesmanship
to defeat him in the tournament. He tells Sheldon that he cancelled the appearance because his grandmother had died and he went to her funeral, causing Sheldon to throw the game out of sympathy, only to find out the story was a ruse. Sheldon's animosity towards Wheaton is further reinforced during a bowling
face-off between Sheldon's team and Stuart's team, on which Wheaton is substituting for another player. Again resorting to gamesmanship, Wheaton senses relationship troubles between Leonard and Penny (two of Sheldon's bowlers) and manipulates Penny into dumping Leonard, causing her to leave the bowling alley in tears. Sheldon's team is thus deprived of its best bowler, and they eventually lose the match. In Season 4, Sheldon spites Wheaton by stealing a print of Raiders of the Lost Ark
with 21 seconds of unseen footage after Wheaton jumps ahead of him, Leonard, Howard, and Raj in line at the screening. However, Wheaton and Sheldon make up as Wheaton gives Sheldon his last mint copy of his action figure, causing them to be friends. After Wheaton gives Sheldon a mint condition, unopened and signed Wesley Crusher figure, Brent Spiner
grabs it and opens it, causing Sheldon to add Spiner to his "mortal enemies list", maintaining the number of names at 61.
wrote that "Parsons is doing something rare on network TV: making intellectualism admirable, even heroic".
On July 16, 2009, Jim Parsons was nominated for an Emmy Award
for Lead Actor in a Comedy for the role of Sheldon. He was nominated again on July 8, 2010, and won the award for "Lead Actor in a Comedy Series" on August 29, 2010 in the 62nd Primetime Emmys. In August 2009, he won the Television Critics Association
award for the highest individual achievements in comedy. He was also nominated for a People's Choice Award for Favorite TV Comedy Actor and a Satellite Award for best actor in a comedy or musical series. On January 16, 2011 Parsons won the Golden Globe for best actor in a television series, and the award was presented by co-star Kaley Cuoco. He won his second consecutive Emmy on September 18, 2011.
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
, M.S.
Master of Science
A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...
, M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
, Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
, Sc.D.
Doctor of Science
Doctor of Science , usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D. or Dr.Sc., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries Doctor of Science is the name used for the standard doctorate in the sciences, elsewhere the Sc.D...
(born 1980) is a fictional character
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from Texas on the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
television series The Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom serve as executive producers on the show, along with Steven Molaro. All three also serve as head writers...
, portrayed by actor Jim Parsons
Jim Parsons
James Joseph "Jim" Parsons is an American television and film actor. He is best known for playing Sheldon Cooper on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory, with his performance often cited as a significant reason for the program's success...
. Parsons has won two Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
s and a Golden Globe for this role.
Sheldon is a Caltech theoretical physicist
Theoretical physics
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics which employs mathematical models and abstractions of physics to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena...
, who shares an apartment with his colleague and best friend, Leonard Hofstadter
Leonard Hofstadter
Leonard Leakey Hofstadter, Ph.D., is a fictional character on the CBS television series The Big Bang Theory, portrayed by actor Johnny Galecki. Leonard is an experimental physicist from New Jersey who shares an apartment with colleague and best friend Sheldon Cooper...
(Johnny Galecki
Johnny Galecki
John Mark "Johnny" Galecki is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as David Healy in the ABC sitcom Roseanne, Rusty Griswold in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, and as Leonard Hofstadter in the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory.-Early life:Galecki was born in Bree, Belgium, of...
). They live across the hallway from Penny
Penny (The Big Bang Theory)
Penny is a fictional character on the CBS television series The Big Bang Theory, portrayed by American actress Kaley Cuoco.Penny is the main female character on the show. She is Leonard Hofstadter and Sheldon Cooper's neighbor across the hallway, and the main love interest of Leonard...
(Kaley Cuoco
Kaley Cuoco
Kaley Christine Cuoco is an American film and television actress. She first came to attention for her role as Bridget Hennessy on the Emmy Award-winning sitcom 8 Simple Rules. She later starred as Billie Jenkins on the final season of the supernatural drama series Charmed...
). Sheldon exhibits a strict adherence to routine, a total lack of social skills
Social skills
A social skill is any skill facilitating interaction and communication with others. Social rules and relations are created, communicated, and changed in verbal and nonverbal ways. The process of learning such skills is called socialization...
, a tenuous understanding of irony
Irony
Irony is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or situation in which there is a sharp incongruity or discordance that goes beyond the simple and evident intention of words or actions...
, sarcasm, and humor, and a general lack of humility
Humility
Humility is the quality of being modest, and respectful. Humility, in various interpretations, is widely seen as a virtue in many religious and philosophical traditions, being connected with notions of transcendent unity with the universe or the divine, and of egolessness.-Term:The term "humility"...
or empathy
Empathy
Empathy is the capacity to recognize and, to some extent, share feelings that are being experienced by another sapient or semi-sapient being. Someone may need to have a certain amount of empathy before they are able to feel compassion. The English word was coined in 1909 by E.B...
. He is vocal about his own superior intellect compared to those around him. These characteristics provide the bulk of his character's humor and the center of some episodes. He has been described as the show's breakout character
Breakout character
A breakout character is a fictional character in different episodes, books or other media that becomes the most popular, talked about, and imitated. Most often a breakout character in a television series captures the audience's imagination and helps to popularize the show, sometimes inadvertently...
. Reviewers and fans have speculated that Sheldon's personality traits are consistent with a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome
Asperger syndrome
Asperger's syndrome that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction, alongside restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. It differs from other autism spectrum disorders by its relative preservation of linguistic and cognitive development...
and/or obsessive–compulsive personality disorder and asexuality
Asexuality
Asexuality , in its broadest sense, is the lack of sexual attraction and, in some cases, the lack of interest in sex. Sometimes, it is considered a lack of a sexual orientation...
.
Beginning with the season five episode The Flaming Spittoon Acquisition
The Flaming Spittoon Acquisition
The Flaming Spittoon Acquisition is the tenth episode of the fifth season of The Big Bang Theory that first aired on CBS on November 17, 2011. It is the ninety-seventh episode overall.-Plot:...
, Sheldon began dating Amy Farrah Fowler.
Creation and casting
The character of Sheldon Cooper was inspired by a computer programmer that series co-creator Bill PradyBill Prady
Bill Prady is a television writer and producer who has worked on American sitcoms and variety programs, including Married... with Children, Dream On, Star Trek: Voyager, Dharma & Greg, and The Gilmore Girls.-Career:...
knew. He is named in honor of actor/producer Sheldon Leonard
Sheldon Leonard
Sheldon Leonard was a pioneering American film and television producer, director, writer, and actor.-Biography:...
, and Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
Laureate Leon Cooper
Leon Cooper
Leon N Cooper is an American physicist and Nobel Prize laureate, who with John Bardeen and John Robert Schrieffer, developed the BCS theory of superconductivity...
. Chuck Lorre
Chuck Lorre
Chuck Lorre is a writer, director, producer and composer who has created many American sitcoms, including Grace Under Fire, Cybill, Dharma & Greg, Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory...
originally intended Johnny Galecki
Johnny Galecki
John Mark "Johnny" Galecki is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as David Healy in the ABC sitcom Roseanne, Rusty Griswold in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, and as Leonard Hofstadter in the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory.-Early life:Galecki was born in Bree, Belgium, of...
to play the role, but Galecki thought he'd be "better suited" for the character of Leonard. Lorre said that when Jim Parsons
Jim Parsons
James Joseph "Jim" Parsons is an American television and film actor. He is best known for playing Sheldon Cooper on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory, with his performance often cited as a significant reason for the program's success...
auditioned for the role, he was "so startlingly good", that Lorre "asked him back to make sure he hadn't gotten lucky," making Jim Parsons re-audition.
Early life
Originally from Galveston, TexasGalveston, Texas
Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
, he was raised by his father (George Cooper, Sr.) and his mother (Mary Cooper) along with an older brother (George Cooper, Jr.) and a twin sister (Missy Cooper). His mother is a devout Evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and she raised Sheldon according to her beliefs, for example enrolling him in a Christian youth bowling league and teaching him how to pray. He was taunted and bullied by the neighborhood children and his classmates, as he claims they were threatened by his intelligence. Sheldon was a child prodigy
Child prodigy
A child prodigy is someone who, at an early age, masters one or more skills far beyond his or her level of maturity. One criterion for classifying prodigies is: a prodigy is a child, typically younger than 18 years old, who is performing at the level of a highly trained adult in a very demanding...
, as evidenced by his many extraordinary accomplishments while still a child: he built a poorly-working CAT scanner that incinerated his sister's guinea pig
Guinea pig
The guinea pig , also called the cavy, is a species of rodent belonging to the family Caviidae and the genus Cavia. Despite their common name, these animals are not in the pig family, nor are they from Guinea...
, called snowball a so-called "Sonic Death Ray", and an armed robot constructed using integrated circuit
Integrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
s made from materials cooked in his sister's Easy Bake Oven, which he modified, and which burnt her eyebrows off. Sheldon entered the University of Texas in Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
at the age of eleven, right after completing the fifth grade. When Sheldon was twelve years old, he wanted a titanium
Titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. It has a low density and is a strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant transition metal with a silver color....
centrifuge
Centrifuge
A centrifuge is a piece of equipment, generally driven by an electric motor , that puts an object in rotation around a fixed axis, applying a force perpendicular to the axis...
to separate radioactive isotope
Isotope
Isotopes are variants of atoms of a particular chemical element, which have differing numbers of neutrons. Atoms of a particular element by definition must contain the same number of protons but may have a distinct number of neutrons which differs from atom to atom, without changing the designation...
s. Around this time, he dabbled in lasers (eventually getting him sent to boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
). According to his mother, he also tried to build a nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
at the age of thirteen in order to provide free electricity for his town; however, this was halted after a government agent informed him that it was illegal to store yellowcake uranium (which he wanted to buy on the Internet) in a shed. At age fourteen, he graduated from college summa cum laude
Latin honors
Latin honors are Latin phrases used to indicate the level of academic distinction with which an academic degree was earned. This system is primarily used in the United States, Canada, and in many countries of continental Europe, though some institutions also use the English translation of these...
, began doctoral work, and was the youngest person at the time to receive the Stevenson Award when he was "14 and a half". Sheldon worked as a visiting professor at Heidelberg University in Germany at age fifteen, and received his first Ph.D.
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
at sixteen years old, working on twistor theory
Twistor theory
In theoretical and mathematical physics, twistor theory maps the geometric objects of conventional 3+1 space-time into geometric objects in a 4 dimensional space with metric signature...
. He then spent four years on his second dissertation, and at the beginning of the series had held his current job for three-and-a-half years.
Personality
The first four episodes of The Big Bang Theory portray or allude to Sheldon doing things that are inconsistent with his later characterization, including trying to impress Penny, knocking at doors in a "normal" way, participating in a salsaSalsa (dance)
Salsa is a syncretic dance form with origins in Cuba as the meeting point of Spanish and African cultures.Salsa is normally a partner dance, although there are recognized solo forms such as solo dancing "suelta" and "Rueda de Casino" where multiple couples exchange partners in a circle...
class, and attempting to donate to a sperm bank (though he eventually refuses as he feels there is no guarantee his sperm will produce high-IQ offspring). According to Prady, the character "began to evolve after episode five or so and became his own thing".
Aside from his idiosyncrasies, Sheldon is logical. He possesses an eidetic memory
Eidetic memory
Eidetic , commonly referred to as photographic memory, is a medical term, popularly defined as the ability to recall images, sounds, or objects in memory with extreme precision and in abundant volume. The word eidetic, referring to extraordinarily detailed and vivid recall not limited to, but...
and an IQ of 187, although he claims his IQ cannot be accurately measured by normal tests. He has claimed to have a Masters Degree and two doctoral degrees in early episodes. However, by the episode "The Love Car Displacement", his list of qualifications had increased. Sheldon has an overly extensive general knowledge, as shown by his comments regarding various details of anecdotal knowledge (for instance, the introduction of the fork into Thailand).
Despite his intelligence, Sheldon is usually inept in most social interactions. His eccentricities, direct remarks, and demanding nature put him at odds with his own friends and especially Penny. He has a distinct lack of emotional maturity and is often baffled by even the most common social interactions. He not only fails to understand the simplest sarcastic jokes made by Leonard, but also regards Penny's sadness over one of her breakups with blatant confusion. However, recently, he has begun to understand the concept of sarcasm, attempting unsuccessfully to employ it himself towards Penny in the second season, and successfully employing it towards his friends in the third season. Sheldon occasionally uses slang
Slang
Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...
(in a very unnatural fashion), and follows jokes with his catchphrase "Bazinga!" ("Bazinga!" is now officially trademarked by Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.) He is not entirely sure how to hug someone, and he avoids human contact whenever possible. Sheldon's expression of his more advanced intelligence has gotten him fired from his job, and even Leonard is surprised to learn that Sheldon is conceited enough to believe that Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
is intellectually inferior to himself. Despite his egocentricism, Sheldon appears to be somewhat aware of his social ineptitude, particularly his lack of understanding of sarcasm. He mentioned that he keeps a record of his daily social interactions after Penny snapped at him and Leonard asked him why, to which he suggested that Leonard "review my log of daily of social interactions, to see if there's a blunder I overlooked." Sheldon is also a difficult person to work with. In "The Electric Can Opener Fluctuation", Sheldon finds out that the others have tampered with his experiment, in order to make him more pleasant to work with. He also found out that they were considering killing him and had even come up with a plan to do so. When Leonard comes up with an idea for an iPhone application to solve physics problems, Sheldon immediately tries to seize control of it. When Leonard makes it clear that he is in charge, Sheldon continues to annoy the others, resulting in his getting fired by Leonard. When Sheldon asks him why, Leonard tells him "[he is] impossible to work with". At the end of the episode, Leonard takes him back at Penny's request, but he is then shown working with Penny on an application for identifying women's shoes, implying that he was fired again. Sheldon also generally displays apathy
Apathy
Apathy is a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation and passion. An apathetic individual has an absence of interest in or concern about emotional, social, spiritual, philosophical or physical life.They may lack a sense of purpose or meaning in...
to the world around him; in "The Toast Derivation", Leonard notes that Sheldon criticized Bill Gates
Bill Gates
William Henry "Bill" Gates III is an American business magnate, investor, philanthropist, and author. Gates is the former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen...
for focusing on his charity work rather than Windows Vista, a remark that earned him a punch in the face from Gates.
Sheldon also has childlike qualities. For example, even though he does not seem to realize it, he must get his way, such as in naming the Caltech Physics Bowl team (Army Ants) or deciding to go to San Francisco by train instead of flying (due to his fascination and love of trains) for a conference where he seeks Nobel laureate
Nobel Prize in Physics
The Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901; the others are the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and...
George Smoot
George Smoot
George Fitzgerald Smoot III is an American astrophysicist, cosmologist, Nobel laureate, and $1 million TV quiz show prize winner . He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2006 for his work on COBE with John C...
's approval. He needs his mother (or Penny) to care for him when he is sick, which involves singing "Soft Kitty" and rubbing Vicks VapoRub
Vicks VapoRub
Vicks VapoRub ointment is a mentholated topical cream manufactured by Vicks, intended to assist with minor medical conditions that temporarily impair breathing, including the common cold. It is applied to the chest, often immediately before sleeping. VapoRub is currently manufactured and packaged...
on his chest. He cannot stand to be interrupted, concede when he does not know something, keep a secret, or hear people bicker or argue, crinkling his lips with intense frustration when any of these events occur. Sheldon does not have a driver's license (although he does possess a learner's permit); he relies upon his friends for transportation to work or other places. He has attempted to learn to drive on a simulator, but he fails miserably and attempts to obscure his failure by claiming he is "too evolved" to drive. He immediately accedes to his mother's wishes, despite openly arguing with her. An example of this is his apologizing to Penny after an argument.
Like his friends, Sheldon is scientifically inclined, and is fond of comic books, costumes
Cosplay
, short for "costume play", is a type of performance art in which participants don costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea. Characters are often drawn from popular fiction in Japan, but recent trends have included American cartoons and science fiction...
, roleplaying games, video games, customizable card games, action figures, fantasy, and science fiction, specifically Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore as a re-imagining of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. Larson...
, Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
, Stargate
Stargate
Stargate is a adventure military science fiction franchise, initially conceived by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin. The first film in the franchise was simply titled Stargate. It was originally released on October 28, 1994, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Carolco, and became a hit, grossing nearly...
, Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
, Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
, and Firefly
Firefly (TV series)
Firefly is an American space western television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon, under his Mutant Enemy Productions label. Whedon served as executive producer, along with Tim Minear....
, although he strongly dislikes Babylon 5
Babylon 5
Babylon 5 is an American science fiction television series created, produced and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski. The show centers on a space station named Babylon 5: a focal point for politics, diplomacy, and conflict during the years 2257–2262...
. Sheldon is particularly fond of the Star Trek franchise and apparently considers it analogous to religion, as evidenced during a conversation with Amy Farrah Fowler where he "turn[s] to a force greater than [himself]", and answers "Star Trek" after Amy guesses "religion". He has claimed to be an honorary graduate of Starfleet Academy
Starfleet Academy
In the fictional universe of Star Trek, Starfleet Academy is where the future's recruits to Starfleet will be trained. It was created in the year 2161, when the United Federation of Planets was founded...
, and is an avid fan of science officer Spock
Spock
Spock is a fictional character in the Star Trek media franchise. First portrayed by Leonard Nimoy in the original Star Trek series, Spock also appears in the animated Star Trek series, two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, seven of the Star Trek feature films, and numerous Star Trek...
. When Penny gave Sheldon a napkin used by Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Simon Nimoy is an American actor, film director, poet, musician and photographer. Nimoy's most famous role is that of Spock in the original Star Trek series , multiple films, television and video game sequels....
, the actor who originally played Spock, this greatly overwhelmed Sheldon as he realized he now possessed the DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
of his famed idol. However, Leonard Nimoy and Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
have both applied for restraining order
Restraining order
A restraining order or order of protection is a form of legal injunction that requires a party to do, or to refrain from doing, certain acts. A party that refuses to comply with an order faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...
s against Sheldon. He also used to idolize fictional prodigy Wesley Crusher
Wesley Crusher
Wesley Crusher is a character in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. He is Beverly Crusher's son and is portrayed by actor Wil Wheaton, the character was a regular for the first four seasons. Afterwards, the character appeared sporadically. The character also appeared briefly in...
from Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
for qualities of the character Wesley Crusher he found similar to himself, but Wil Wheaton
Wil Wheaton
Richard William "Wil" Wheaton III is an American actor and writer. As an actor, he is best known for his portrayals of Wesley Crusher on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Gordie Lachance in the film Stand by Me and Joey Trotta in Toy Soldiers...
's surprise cancellation of an appearance at a Jackson
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...
, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
Star Trek convention in 1995 soured him to both the character and actor. Other favorite characters of his are Green Lantern
Green Lantern
The Green Lantern is the shared primary alias of several fictional characters, superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The first Green Lantern was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Martin Nodell in All-American Comics #16 .Each Green Lantern possesses a power ring and...
, Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
and The Flash
Flash (comics)
The Flash is a name shared by several fictional comic book superheroes from the DC Comics universe. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in Flash Comics #1 ....
. Sheldon often wears vintage T-shirts adorned with superhero logos specific to the DC
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
universe, among them the Flash, Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
, Aquaman
Aquaman
Aquaman is a fictional superhero who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in More Fun Comics #73 . Initially a backup feature in DC's anthology titles, Aquaman later starred in several volumes of a solo title...
, and the logos of the various Lantern Corps
Green Lantern Corps
The Green Lantern Corps is the name of a fictional intergalactic military/police force appearing in comics published by DC Comics. They patrol the farthest reaches of the DC Universe at the behest of the Guardians, a race of immortals residing on the planet Oa...
. He usually wears a long sleeve shirt underneath it along with plaid pants. Sheldon is tall and thin (setting him apart from his shorter colleagues), with Penny (and later Leonard) saying he looks like a giant praying mantis, and Raj
Rajesh Koothrappali
Rajesh Ramayan "Raj" Koothrappali, Ph.D. is a fictional character on the CBS television series The Big Bang Theory, portrayed by actor Kunal Nayyar....
likening the robotic C-3PO
C-3PO
C-3PO is a robot character from the Star Wars universe who appears in both the original Star Wars films and the prequel trilogy. He is also a major character in the television show Droids, and appears frequently in the series' "Expanded Universe" of novels, comic books, and video games...
of Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
as "a shiny Sheldon".
Sheldon likes playing Halo
Halo (series)
Halo is a multi-million dollar science fiction video game franchise created by Bungie and now managed by 343 Industries and owned by Microsoft Studios. The series centers on an interstellar war between humanity and a theocratic alliance of aliens known as the Covenant...
every Wednesday and paintball
Paintball
Paintball is a sport in which players compete, in teams or individually, to eliminate opponents by tagging them with capsules containing water soluble dye and gelatin shell outside propelled from a device called a paintball marker . Paintballs have a non-toxic, biodegradable, water soluble...
on the weekend with his friends. Unlike Leonard, Sheldon embraces his genius fully and is not ashamed of admitting his particularly eccentric interests (such as Klingon
Klingon language
The Klingon language is the constructed language spoken by the fictional Klingons in the Star Trek universe....
Boggle
Boggle
Boggle is a word game designed by Allan Turoff and trademarked by Parker Brothers, a division of Hasbro. The game is played using a plastic grid of lettered dice, in which players attempt to find words in sequences of adjacent letters.-Rules:...
). He can also play the piano and theremin
Theremin
The theremin , originally known as the aetherphone/etherophone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox is an early electronic musical instrument controlled without discernible physical contact from the player. It is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Léon Theremin, who patented the device...
, and seems to be a very good Tuvan throat singer, but would be better if not for a section in his roommate agreement with Leonard denying him time to practice.
Despite his strange behavior, Sheldon has, at times, demonstrated a much softer side to himself. In one instance, when Penny was low on money, Sheldon let her borrow a large amount of his savings, but while she worried about paying it back, he was entirely uncaring as to when he got it back. This was later described by Leonard as "one of the few idiosyncrasies that doesn't make you want to, you know, kill him". Also, after Penny let him stay at her place when he locked himself out of his apartment, Sheldon sincerely thanked her for it. When Penny gave Sheldon a Christmas present, he was extremely anxious because he did not know what it was and therefore did not know how to reciprocate. He purchased multiple gift basket
Gift basket
A gift basket, or fruit basket is typically a gift delivered to the recipient at their home or workplace. A variety of gift baskets exist: some contain fruit; while others might contain dry or canned foods such as tea, crackers and jam; or the basket might include a combination of fruit and dried...
s of bath items (in order to choose one which matched the value of her gift), only to find that she got him a napkin autograph
Autograph
An autograph is a document transcribed entirely in the handwriting of its author, as opposed to a typeset document or one written by an amanuensis or a copyist; the meaning overlaps with that of the word holograph.Autograph also refers to a person's artistic signature...
ed by Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Simon Nimoy is an American actor, film director, poet, musician and photographer. Nimoy's most famous role is that of Spock in the original Star Trek series , multiple films, television and video game sequels....
(which he had also wiped his mouth with, and therefore had his DNA on it). This prompted him to give her all the baskets and a hug (the first time he has demonstrated any physical intimacy
Physical intimacy
Physical intimacy is sensual proximity or touching. It can be enjoyed by itself or be an expression of feelings which people have for one another...
with anyone). Sheldon sees himself as a protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
and hero, and Penny appeals to his admiration of heroic qualities when Howard's mother is hospitalized.
Sheldon's attitudes on finances seem to be mixed. He once remarked that he would prefer to live alone, but could not afford the rent. However, he is also shown to have thousands of dollars hidden around the house (as his expenses only amount to 46.9% of his after-tax income) or in uncashed checks
Cheque
A cheque is a document/instrument See the negotiable cow—itself a fictional story—for discussions of cheques written on unusual surfaces. that orders a payment of money from a bank account...
which he claims is money he does not need, as the things he wants to buy have not been invented yet. He is agreeable to lending money, and Leonard remarks it is one of the few positive attributes of Sheldon's eccentric behavior. He wants more funding at work and fails to understand why his colleagues are not let go so that more of the school's grant money can be given to him. This does not stop him from spending the money on personal conveniences for his own office, but he refuses to spend money on a desk for Raj. Sheldon distrusts banks, believing that when computers take over the world "the ATMs
Automated teller machine
An automated teller machine or automatic teller machine, also known as a Cashpoint , cash machine or sometimes a hole in the wall in British English, is a computerised telecommunications device that provides the clients of a financial institution with access to financial transactions in a public...
will lead the charge."
In contrast to his profoundly religious mother and devout Christian upbringing, Sheldon has no interest in religion. He tends to ignore or express dislike for religious celebrations such as Christmas, and wastes no time in bringing up the pagan origins to each festival. Additionally, his scientific beliefs often come into conflict with the spiritual beliefs of his mother, Mary. Nevertheless, he has an agreement with his mother to attend church once a year, and his upbringing leads him to exclaim "Thank you, Jesus!" upon scoring a strike in bowling
Sheldon also appears to have problems understanding societal laws at times. He is shown to drop objects out his window into traffic without regard, in addition to breaking into buildings. He has expertise with picking locks and disarming alarm systems. Furthermore, the Department of Homeland Security notifies his mother when, as a teenager, he acts contrary to federal law. As he states later, "Apparently you can't hack into a top secret government supercomputer
Supercomputer
A supercomputer is a computer at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation.Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as problems including quantum physics, weather forecasting, climate research, molecular modeling A supercomputer is a...
and then try to buy uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
without the Department of Homeland Security tattling to your mother."
With few exceptions, Sheldon refuses all drugs, including alcohol and caffeine, as a promise to his mother. He does not tolerate them well; after consuming two glasses of wine at an award ceremony, he becomes intoxicated and behaves inappropriately during his acceptance speech, finally mooning
Mooning
Mooning is the act of displaying one's bare buttocks by removing clothing, e.g., by lowering the backside of one's trousers and underpants, usually bending over, whether also exposing the genitals or not...
the audience. In addition, when Penny mixes alcohol into his drink, he began to play the piano and sing "To Life
Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters by Sholem Aleichem...
" in front of an audience. A small amount of coffee has made him extremely hyperactive in one instance, but unproductive in another. Taking valium also has affected his behavior.
Idiosyncrasies
Sheldon exhibits a strict adherence to routine, such as doing specific recreational activities on specific days of the week, having a bowel movement at a specific time every morning (08.20), eating specific food items on specific days, being unable to reconcile changes to food orders, doing laundry on a specific day and time (every Saturday night at 8:15), or knocking on the door three times while repeating the name of the person he is seeking with a particular frequency ("[knock knock knock] Penny [knock knock knock] Penny [knock knock knock] Penny" being the most common) and if interrupted by them answering, not being content until he has finished the knock in its entirety. He also makes loud noises (or musical notes with a xylophoneXylophone
The xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets...
) in every theater before a movie, attempting to locate the "acoustic sweet spot". However, he can adapt to seats with sub-optimal conditions, such as suitable cushion densities and light dispersion, provided he has the opportunity to test them.
He refuses to sit anywhere other than his designated spot on the left cushion of the couch in his apartment, which he considers his "single point of consistency in an ever-changing world" and "the singular location in space around which revolves my entire universe", exceeding his love for his mother. He regularly reproaches Penny and other people for sitting in his spot, even when he is not intent on sitting in it himself. Even disruptions to this location are enough to disturb him. Although he did allow Penny to sit in his spot in the first episode, as well as Howard, for a short time in "The Apology Insufficiency", only 94 seconds later he reclaims his spot. Sheldon's need to sit in certain spots goes beyond even his own apartment, for instance when Sheldon comes over to visit Penny in one episode, Sheldon goes about the room sitting in random chairs until ultimately deciding a chair nearby the counter was his spot at Penny's. Also, when he had dinner at Raj's apartment he insisted that they all figure out where they were going to sit. Raj's sister Priya dismissed this and suggested they all sit anywhere. Sheldon continued to insist they figure out spots until Leonard told him to sit down after which Sheldon claimed they were all like "hippies at a love in." Leonard again told him to sit to which Sheldon replied "right on man, right on."
Sheldon is constantly worried about others touching his food. He washes his hands as often as he can, and he showers twice daily. Leonard used Sheldon's concerns for food to mock him in "The Einstein Approximation", as did Raj in "The Engagement Reaction". Penny has stated that he still has not learned not to insult those who handle his food, to which Amy Farrah Fowler agrees.
He is extremely worried about becoming sick. He became worried about Penny infecting him with influenza
Influenza
Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...
and subsequently contracted it. Another time, he wanted a full medical examination by Leonard's girlfriend, Dr. Stephanie Barnett, in order to discover the cause of a high-pitched noise in his head. When Howard's mother is sent to the hospital, Sheldon refuses to go due to exposure to pathogens and germs, until Penny confronts him. He accidentally wanders into a biohazard
Biohazard
Biohazard may refer to:* Biological hazard* Biohazard , a book by Ken Alibek* Biohazard , a New York hardcore punk band** Biohazard , a self-titled album from Biohazard...
room at the hospital, after fearing the restroom's cleanliness, and endures a two-week quarantine.
When Sheldon is complicit in a lie, he exhausts all of his efforts in his almost always unsuccessful attempt to make it believable. Similarly, he cannot be entrusted with a secret because he develops nervous tic
Tic
A tic is a sudden, repetitive, nonrhythmic, stereotyped motor movement or vocalization involving discrete muscle groups. Tics can be invisible to the observer, such as abdominal tensing or toe crunching. Common motor and phonic tics are, respectively, eye blinking and throat clearing...
s. However, it is easier for him to lie if he has prior knowledge of the deception or an "ironclad alibi
Alibi
Alibi is a 1929 American crime film directed by Roland West. The screenplay was written by West and C. Gardner Sullivan, who adapted the 1927 Broadway stage play, Nightstick, written by Elaine Sterne Carrington, J.C...
" thought out in advance, as opposed to it being "impromptu dishonesty".
Once, he was distraught when Penny entered his room in the middle of the night. On another occasion, Sheldon hesitantly let Penny in his bedroom to get a key for his desk to retrieve a flash drive
USB flash drive
A flash drive is a data storage device that consists of flash memory with an integrated Universal Serial Bus interface. flash drives are typically removable and rewritable, and physically much smaller than a floppy disk. Most weigh less than 30 g...
, constantly reminding her that, far from creating a permanent easement
Easement
An easement is a certain right to use the real property of another without possessing it.Easements are helpful for providing pathways across two or more pieces of property or allowing an individual to fish in a privately owned pond...
, it was only one-time permission.
While perfectly comfortable speaking to small groups, Sheldon cannot speak to crowds deemed large enough to trample him (36 adults or 70 children) without having a panic attack
Panic attack
Panic attacks are periods of intense fear or apprehension that are of sudden onset and of relatively brief duration. Panic attacks usually begin abruptly, reach a peak within 10 minutes, and subside over the next several hours...
. In general, he obsesses over safety.
He also keeps a record of what he considers faux pas
Faux pas
A faux pas is a violation of accepted social norms . Faux pas vary widely from culture to culture, and what is considered good manners in one culture can be considered a faux pas in another...
"strikes", which he allocates to those who violate his self-imposed conditions. Upon receiving three strikes, Sheldon gives them the choice of either apologizing or taking a class which can be done online. For many of the characteristics aforementioned, Sheldon's friends often consider him "insane" or "crazy" despite Sheldon's repetition of another catchphrase "I'm not insane/crazy! My mother had me tested."
Sheldon is also seen as one who holds grudges - as evidenced in season five, when he claims that he has a list of mortal enemies (which comprises 61 people) that he began when he was 9 in 1989 and recorded it onto a 5.25 inch floppy disc. At the end of the episode "The Russian Rocket Reaction", it is revealed that he now has 62 mortal enemies (having added Brent Spiner
Brent Spiner
Brent Jay Spiner is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of the android Lieutenant Commander Data in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and four subsequent films. His portrayal of Data in Star Trek: First Contact and of Dr...
and the person responsible for quality control at Verbatim, Inc at 1989,(because the floppy disc failed to open) but removing Will Wheaton after he presented him with a signed doll). He also says that Penny has only recently been deleted from the list, even after knowing her for five years.
Career
Sheldon is a senior theoretical particle physicist, conducting string theoryString theory
String theory is an active research framework in particle physics that attempts to reconcile quantum mechanics and general relativity. It is a contender for a theory of everything , a manner of describing the known fundamental forces and matter in a mathematically complete system...
research at Caltech. Throughout the course of the show, Sheldon has switched disciplines from bosonic string theory
Bosonic string theory
Bosonic string theory is the original version of string theory, developed in the late 1960s.In the early 1970s, supersymmetry was discovered in the context of string theory, and a new version of string theory called superstring theory became the real focus...
to heterotic string theory, reconciled the black hole information paradox
Black hole information paradox
The black hole information paradox results from the combination of quantum mechanics and general relativity. It suggests that physical information could disappear in a black hole, allowing many physical states to evolve into the same state...
using a string network condensate approach and worked on time-dependent backgrounds
String background
In theoretical physics, a string background refers to the set of classical values of quantum fields in spacetime that correspond to classical solutions of string theory. Such a background is associated with geometry that solves Einstein's equations or their generalizations and with the values of...
in string theory, specifically quantum field theory
Quantum field theory
Quantum field theory provides a theoretical framework for constructing quantum mechanical models of systems classically parametrized by an infinite number of dynamical degrees of freedom, that is, fields and many-body systems. It is the natural and quantitative language of particle physics and...
, in D-dimensional de Sitter space
De Sitter space
In mathematics and physics, a de Sitter space is the analog in Minkowski space, or spacetime, of a sphere in ordinary, Euclidean space. The n-dimensional de Sitter space , denoted dS_n, is the Lorentzian manifold analog of an n-sphere ; it is maximally symmetric, has constant positive curvature,...
. With Rajesh
Rajesh Koothrappali
Rajesh Ramayan "Raj" Koothrappali, Ph.D. is a fictional character on the CBS television series The Big Bang Theory, portrayed by actor Kunal Nayyar....
, he has worked on the string theory implications of gamma ray
Gamma ray
Gamma radiation, also known as gamma rays or hyphenated as gamma-rays and denoted as γ, is electromagnetic radiation of high frequency . Gamma rays are usually naturally produced on Earth by decay of high energy states in atomic nuclei...
s from dark matter annihilations and considered a method for optimizing a 500 GeV
GEV
GEV or GeV may stand for:*GeV or gigaelectronvolt, a unit of energy equal to billion electron volts*GEV or Grid Enabled Vehicle that is fully or partially powered by the electric grid, see plug-in electric vehicle...
particle detector to this end.
In the second-season finale "The Monopolar Expedition", Sheldon receives a grant from the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
to travel to the North Magnetic Pole
North Magnetic Pole
The Earth's North Magnetic Pole is the point on the surface of the Northern Hemisphere at which the Earth's magnetic field points vertically downwards . Though geographically in the north, it is, by the direction of the magnetic field lines, physically the south pole of the Earth's magnetic field...
for an experiment in search of magnetic monopole
Magnetic monopole
A magnetic monopole is a hypothetical particle in particle physics that is a magnet with only one magnetic pole . In more technical terms, a magnetic monopole would have a net "magnetic charge". Modern interest in the concept stems from particle theories, notably the grand unified and superstring...
particles, with Leonard, Raj and Howard as his support team. In the experiment he detects what he believes is significant monopolar magnetic charge, validating one of the chief predictions of superstring theory
Superstring theory
Superstring theory is an attempt to explain all of the particles and fundamental forces of nature in one theory by modelling them as vibrations of tiny supersymmetric strings...
. Though Sheldon publicly announces he has confirmed string theory and will receive a Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize in Physics
The Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901; the others are the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and...
, he learns that the charge detected was actually static electricity from the others' electric can opener, forcing Sheldon to issue a retraction to his announcement and severely damaging his reputation at the university.
Sheldon and Leonard jointly wrote a paper on supersolid
Supersolid
A supersolid is a spatially ordered material with superfluid properties. Superfluidity is a special quantum state of matter in which a substance flows with zero viscosity.-Background:...
s to be presented at an Institute for Experimental Physics topical conference on Bose-Einstein condensates. He has also lectured on topological insulator
Topological insulator
A topological insulator is a material that behaves as an insulator in its interior or bulk while permitting the movement of charges on its surface....
s.
Like Leonard, Sheldon keeps a whiteboard in the living room for scientific theories. It usually contains virtual particles in quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics, also known as quantum physics or quantum theory, is a branch of physics providing a mathematical description of much of the dual particle-like and wave-like behavior and interactions of energy and matter. It departs from classical mechanics primarily at the atomic and subatomic...
or series of Riemann zeta functions, but is sometimes used to play pictionary. He often rambles on about his imaginative ideas and theories, much to Leonard's annoyance, but does not listen to his friend concerning his (Leonard's) research.
Once, when he was obsessed with solving a physics problem, he took on menial tasks to clear his thought processes as to emulate Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
's success under similar circumstances. Much to Penny's dismay, one of the menial tasks he takes on is serving food at the Cheesecake Factory where she works, even though he was not an employee. Sheldon became offended when he found that Missy inaccurately tells others he is a rocket scientist
Aerospace engineering
Aerospace engineering is the primary branch of engineering concerned with the design, construction and science of aircraft and spacecraft. It is divided into two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering...
; he apparently thinks the title is beneath him and that she might as well tell people "that I'm a toll taker on the golden gate bridge!".
In "The Flaming Spittoon Acquisition" Sheldon is shown to be a qualified Notary Public
Notary public
A notary public in the common law world is a public officer constituted by law to serve the public in non-contentious matters usually concerned with estates, deeds, powers-of-attorney, and foreign and international business...
. Sheldon is also noted for his dislike of the science of geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
(referring to them as "the dirt people" in "The Benefactor Factor", remarking that he has no respect for the field whatsoever, and stating that he doesn't consider it a real science).
Asperger syndrome
Several viewers have asserted that Sheldon's behavior is consistent with Asperger syndromeAsperger syndrome
Asperger's syndrome that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction, alongside restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. It differs from other autism spectrum disorders by its relative preservation of linguistic and cognitive development...
. The writers have stated that they did not use Asperger syndrome as a basis for the character, but instead thought of his actions as "Sheldony". Series co-creator Bill Prady stated: "We write the character as the character. A lot of people see various things in him and make the connections. Our feeling is that Sheldon's mother never got a diagnosis, so we don't have one". In an interview, Jim Parsons noted the writers' response, but added that in his opinion, Sheldon "couldn't display more traits" of Asperger's. Parsons, who plays Sheldon, has read John Elder Robison
John Elder Robison
John Elder Robison is the author of the 2007 memoir Look Me in the Eye, detailing his life living with Asperger syndrome. He is the elder brother of memoirist Augusten Burroughs, who also wrote about his childhood in the memoir Running with Scissors.-Life:Robison was born in Athens, Georgia while...
's memoir Look Me in the Eye
Look Me in the Eye
Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's is a New York Times bestseller by John Elder Robison, chronicling the author's life with Asperger syndrome and tough times growing up.-Story:...
about his life with Asperger syndrome, and said that: "A majority of what I read in that book touched on aspects of Sheldon". However, he also stated that "the way [Sheldon's] brain works, it's so focused on the intellectual topics at hand that thinking he's autistic is an easy leap for people watching the show to make".
Also in the-infestation-hypothesis Amy observes Sheldon's obsessive knocking saying, "You are aware that your ritualistic knocking behaviour is symptomatic of obsessive compulsive disorder?" to which Sheldon responded "Is not. Is not, is not." also in other episodes when for instance Penny has opened the door before the had finished knocking he still had to finish knocking even when Penny chased him with an 'infested chair'.
Family
Sheldon contrasts strongly with his family, as they are neither scientists nor intellectuals. His father, George, died before the start of the series and has characteristics of a "redneckRedneck
Redneck is a historically derogatory slang term used in reference to poor, uneducated white farmers, especially from the southern United States...
" and a stereotypical Texan, including a fondness for football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, skeet shooting
Skeet shooting
Skeet shooting is one of the three major types of competitive shotgun target shooting sports . There are several types of skeet, including one with Olympic status , and many with only national recognition.- General principles :Skeet is a recreational and competitive activity where...
, and heavy drinking. His death occurred close enough to the start of the series that Sheldon's sister, Missy, visits him to bring him paperwork regarding their father's estate. Sheldon recalls that his father would force him to watch football, despite his lack of interest for the sport, and would take him outside to show him how to "shoot close enough to a raccoon
Raccoon
Procyon is a genus of nocturnal mammals, comprising three species commonly known as raccoons, in the family Procyonidae. The most familiar species, the common raccoon , is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are...
that it craps itself".
Sheldon's mother, Mary, is a devout Christian whose spiritual beliefs often come into conflict with Sheldon's scientific ones. Despite this, his upbringing influenced him enough that he shouts "Thank you, Jesus!" after bowling a strike, before hastily adding, "As my mother would say". Mary is characterized as a doting mother and is readily available when Sheldon needs her. Sheldon expresses his love for his mother more than once (though he claims to have stronger feelings for the spot on his couch), and she is the only person that he capitulates to. Leonard calls her Sheldon's "Kryptonite
Kryptonite
Kryptonite is a fictional material from the Superman mythos —the ore form of a radioactive element from Superman's home planet of Krypton. It is famous for being the ultimate physical weakness of Superman, and the word kryptonite has since become synonymous with an Achilles' heel —the one weakness...
". After Sheldon and Penny get into a bitter, days-long war, Leonard gives Mary's phone number to Penny. After Mary chastises Sheldon, he immediately apologizes to Penny. On another occasion, when Sheldon has a falling out with Amy Farrah Fowler and begins hoarding cats, Leonard himself calls Mary, who meets with both Amy and Sheldon and reports that she is glad they broke up, as she would have forced them to stop seeing each other anyway. Sheldon, not realizing his mother is using reverse psychology
Reverse psychology
Reverse psychology is a technique involving the advocacy of a belief or behavior that is opposite to the one desired, with the expectation that this approach will encourage the subject of the persuasion to do what actually is desired: the opposite of what is suggested...
, proposes that they "set aside their differences." Nevertheless, Sheldon remains very much attached to his mother, albeit he does not display it in front of her. When he was taking acting lessons from Penny (wherein he decided to make up his own skit involving Spock), he got so absorbed into his own acting that he cried about leaving his mother. Not sure how to react, Penny immediately called Sheldon's mother, saying "I think I broke your son!"
Sheldon has a fraternal twin sister, Missy. A tall, attractive brunette, Leonard, Howard, and Raj all made efforts to date her. Upon Sheldon realizing that within Missy's eggs
Ovum
An ovum is a haploid female reproductive cell or gamete. Both animals and embryophytes have ova. The term ovule is used for the young ovum of an animal, as well as the plant structure that carries the female gametophyte and egg cell and develops into a seed after fertilization...
lay the potential for another "superior mutation" like himself, he declares his friends unsuitable to be with his sister, an action which Missy resents. Missy also kicks Sheldon in the testicles (revealed in "The Pork Chop Indeterminacy"). Sheldon also has a yet-unseen older brother, George Jr. Both Missy and George Jr. beat Sheldon up as children, and their mother describes them to be "dumb as soup". Despite this, it appears that Missy admires her brother, mentioning that she regularly refers to him as a "rocket scientist" (which unwittingly offends Sheldon, who considers rocket science to be beneath him).
Sheldon is very fond of his grandmother, whom he calls "Me-maw", who in turn calls him "Moon Pie
Moon pie
A moon pie or MoonPie is a pastry which consists of two round graham cracker cookies, with marshmallow filling in the center, dipped in chocolate or other flavors. The traditional pie is about three inches in diameter...
""Because I'm nummy nummy and she could me all up".
Friends
At the outset of the show, Sheldon's closest friends are Leonard Hofstadter, Howard Wolowitz and Rajesh Koothrapali. Penny, the neighbor across the hall, soon becomes another close friend. Sheldon is upset when he realizes Leonard is the center of their group of friends, but does not know that they actually miss and reminisce about him at this time. Sheldon is best friends with Leonard, as they live together and are accustomed to tolerating each other ever since Sheldon put out an ad for a roommate with a list of criteria to follow. Despite Sheldon sometimes making remarks to the contrary, he appreciates Leonard and assures Leonard that his friend will not die alone. Prady stated that "the fact that, despite everything, Leonard considers Sheldon his best friend reminds us of Sheldon's essential humanity."Sheldon can only handle having a limited number of friends in his "landing party
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
" at a time. Sheldon once tried to cut off Raj from his circle of friends to make room for Barry Kripke although the sole reason for that was because Raj got one answer for his questionnaire wrong. Otherwise he likes Raj because of the ethnic diversity he brings about in the group and the fact that he too likes monkeys and trains. He lends help to Koothrappali by giving him a job under his supervision, and considers him a good friend.
Sheldon often makes fun of Howard for not having a doctoral degree and for being an engineer, referring to engineers as "noble semi-skilled laborers" and "the Oompa-Loompas of science", and calling engineering "the slow younger brother of physics". In addition, he mocks his friend Leonard's work in experimental physics as unoriginal and simple. In "The Bozeman Reaction", he referred to Howard as "a treasured acquaintance" instead of a friend like the others. However, he still helped him in his work and shows dismay when Howard is distracted by Penny's friend Christy during Halo
Halo 3
Halo 3 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie for the Xbox 360 console. The third installment in the Halo franchise, the game concludes the story arc begun in Halo: Combat Evolved and continued in Halo 2...
night. He also referred to him as "the funny one" in their group. In the episode "The Apology Insufficiency", Sheldon angers Howard by revealing details to the FBI that prevent him from obtaining a much needed security clearance. Howard refuses to accept Sheldon's apology, until Sheldon gives Howard his spot on the couch. However, Sheldon asks for the spot back after only 94 seconds. Howard has vacillated between not really caring whether he and Sheldon are friends and being visibly wounded when Sheldon is dismissive of him. When Sheldon was considering who to jettison from his circle of friends and said critically that Howard did not have a Ph.D. and was not available to play video games during the Jewish High Holidays, Howard seemed pleased that he might be freed from Sheldon's friendship, only to watch as Sheldon then ordered a horrified Raj out of the circle of friends. Later, the "treasured acquaintance" remark makes Howard's face fall, as he is upset that Sheldon does not consider him a friend but does consider Leonard, Penny, and Raj friends. In "The Bus Pants Utilzation", Sheldon also picks on Howard on numerous occasions. For example, when Leonard reveals his idea for a smartphone application regarding solving differential equations (using Schrödinger's equation
Schrödinger equation
The Schrödinger equation was formulated in 1926 by Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger. Used in physics , it is an equation that describes how the quantum state of a physical system changes in time....
or Fourier analysis), Sheldon points out that Howard does not do such a thing, because he is only an engineer. Secondly, when Sheldon tells his side of the story on why Penny likes to hang out with the guys all the time, he refers to their group of scientists as "a group of geniuses and their friend Howard", thus ruling him out. When Sheldon, unsatisfied with Leonard's leadership of the team, calls for a change in leadership, he says it is necessary to "dissolve the bonds that tie three competent scientists together", referring to only himself, Leonard, and Raj. In addition, when trying to lure Raj and Howard to abandon Leonard's project and join him in a rival company, Sheldon offers them, amongst other things, custom mugs. While on Raj's mug is written "World's greatest astrophysicist", Howards's mug only contains his name, with Sheldon explaining that he typed "World's greatest engineer" into the label maker, but could not bring himself to press Enter. A more subtle example is when Sheldon, after being kicked off the team for his inflexibility, learns that the guys named the app "Project Len-Wolo-Pali", and asks if the name "Koothra-nard-owitz" (with Howard's name at the end rather than the middle) had already been taken.
Despite Penny not being a scientist nor sharing many of the group's interests (Parsons described the characters of Sheldon and Penny as "polar opposites"), and having constant fights with Sheldon in the early episodes, they became close friends, due to some time alone with each other, such as when Penny cares for Sheldon during illness or when Penny takes him in as he is locked out of his apartment while his friends are in Las Vegas.
Sheldon returns the favor as he cares for Penny when she dislocates her shoulder. In all of these instances, the story line ends with one of them singing "Soft Kitty
Warm Kitty
"Warm Kitty" is a children's song, mostly known for its appearance in the US sitcom The Big Bang Theory, sung by the character Sheldon Cooper where it is referred to as "Soft Kitty". The words to the song were written by Australian Edith Newlin, and are still under copyright...
", a song Sheldon's mother used to sing to him, when he was sick. On the one hand, Sheldon and Penny spend a lot of time getting on each other's nerves: Sheldon often mentions how uneducated or untidy Penny is, while Penny likes to irritate him by sitting in his spot, messing with food, and they once started a futile war (Penny blocked Sheldon from doing his laundry on his laundry day, and he replied by exposing her clothes and underwear outside the window). However, they also efficiently team up, for example to plan Leonard's birthday or to develop Penny's "Penny Blossoms" business, singing along sailor songs to motivate the other ones. They end up spending a lot of time together as two close friends, help each other and give each other advice (Penny helping to find a suit for Sheldon for an awards ceremony, or seeking Stan Lee's address for him because he couldn't meet him as the other members of the group did; Sheldon teaching Penny physics to help her in her relationship with Leonard), and, on a few occasions, they appear to share a sort of intimacy that Sheldon doesn't have with anyone else: they both take care of each other when they don't feel well; they stayed together in the flat, cranky and grumpy, as they had both caught flu after a hug they had exchanged; Sheldon has an immediate very nervous and alarmed reaction when he hears Penny calling for his help from her flat; they sing together "Soft Kitty" as a round in a kind intimate moment; Sheldon adds an amused "Bazinga!" to one of Penny's jokes, to which she replies with a tender "Hmm..."
Sheldon acknowledges Penny as one of his closest friends (along with Leonard and Raj), while he considers that Howard is a "treasured acquaintance", though he has known him a lot longer than Penny. Also, when Penny and Leonard break up, Sheldon still considers Penny a friend and makes dinner plans, which he tries to hide when Howard informs him that it is inappropriate behavior and "bros come before ho's". He actually goes through a lot of trouble (hiding frozen hot dogs in his pants, confronting a huge threatening dog ... ) just to dine with her, though he's already been forced to eat a whole meal with the boys. In the end, Leonard and Penny in a way share custody of Sheldon, taking him to Disneyland and out to buy new shoes.
The interaction between Sheldon and Penny has been praised by critics. James Chamberlin of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
wrote: "Cuoco and Parsons are great in their own right, but when put together, they truly shine." Matt Roush of TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
said that Sheldon and Penny's "scenes and episodes together are usually Big Bang at its best". Todd WanDerVerff of The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
wrote that they "made such an inspired odd coupling that at times, it seemed as though the entire show were about them" and their chemistry "has some of the rattle and rhythm of the great comedic duos". Chuck Lorre stated that Sheldon and Penny have "become a natural comic pairing" and they "bounce off each other beautifully".
Some fans support a romantic relationship between Sheldon and Penny. Lorre, however, is opposed to this, saying: "We've stumbled into creating a character who has chosen a lifestyle for himself that is unique. And I don't see any reason to modify it." WanDerVerff was also critical of the idea writing: "TV teaches us that any time a man and a woman are in some sort of relationship with any sort of spark to it, that man and that woman will inevitably begin sleeping together, and I think that's what the Sheldon/Penny shippers are responding to, but The Big Bang Theory is showing us that that doesn't necessary have to be the case". Kaley Cuoco said that if they dated, "Penny would kill Sheldon". In The Infestation Hypothesis, Sheldon and Penny acknowledge they are like an old married couple.
In the Season 3 finale, Raj blackmails Sheldon into meeting a woman that he and Howard discovered on a dating website
Online dating service
Online dating or Internet dating is a dating system which allows individuals, couples and groups to make contact and communicate with each other over the Internet, usually with the objective of developing a personal, romantic, or sexual relationship...
. Initially incredulous, Sheldon is surprised to learn that the woman (Amy Farrah Fowler, played by Mayim Bialik
Mayim Bialik
Mayim Hoya Bialik is an American actress who also holds a PhD in neuroscience.Her most notable TV roles have been as Blossom Russo on NBC's Blossom and as Amy Farrah Fowler on CBS's The Big Bang Theory.-Early life:...
) is largely a female version of himself, to the horror of Howard and Raj. Amy agreed with her mother to go on a date once a year (in exchange for her mother not bringing up the issue, plus occasional use of a George Foreman Grill
George Foreman Grill
The George Foreman Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine, commonly known as the George Foreman Grill, is an indoor, electrically-heated grill manufactured by Russell Hobbs Inc.. It is promoted by George Foreman, a former champion boxer. Since its introduction in 1994, over 100 million George...
). Over the course of a few lines, the two realize they have a connection to each other and go on the date. The relationship continues in the fourth season. In the first episode of the fourth season, Sheldon reveals that they have been in contact via numerous electronic means over the summer and that they plan to have a child together without marrying and without sexual intercourse. Their decision to have a child in this manner is thwarted by Penny, who threatens to tell Sheldon's devout Christian mother of his plans to have a child that will be born to unwed parents. Despite their compatibility and empathy towards each other, Sheldon often points out that they are not in a romantic relationship, most often by saying of Amy, "She is a girl who is my friend, but not my girlfriend!" Despite Sheldon's assessment that Amy is not the free spirit he is, he delights in how she has gotten him experimenting in the social sciences. The two enjoy intellectual games they create, and Amy openly expresses the same intellectual superiority to people around her that Sheldon expresses to his friends. For instance, when Sheldon does not understand how Amy, a neurobiologist, could ridicule Bernadette Rostenkowski, a microbiologist
Microbiology
Microbiology is the study of microorganisms, which are defined as any microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell , cell clusters or no cell at all . This includes eukaryotes, such as fungi and protists, and prokaryotes...
, for her studies, Amy remarks, "I study the brain, the organ responsible for Beethoven's Fifth Symphony
Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven)
The Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67, was written by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1804–08. This symphony is one of the most popular and best-known compositions in all of classical music, and one of the most often played symphonies. It comprises four movements: an opening sonata, an andante, and a fast...
. Bernadette studies yeast, the organism responsible for Michelob Light." The two temporarily broke up after an argument regarding whether theoretical physics or neurobiology is the superior academic discipline, but quickly made up after Sheldon's mother intervened. Amy has sometimes shown romantic interest in Sheldon. After Sheldon inadvertently infers that Leonard and Amy may have had sex after a wedding reception both attended together, he has an unexpectedly violent reaction, karate-chopping Leonard's neck with his left hand, while telling Leonard "She's not for you...not for you!"
Sheldon has formed a strong bond with Leonard's mother, Dr. Beverly Hofstadter (Christine Baranski
Christine Baranski
Christine Jane Baranski is an American stage and screen actress, and is perhaps best known for her Emmy Award winning portrayal as "Maryanne Thorpe" in the sitcom Cybill, and her Emmy nominated portrayal of "Diane Lockhart" in The Good Wife...
). The similarity in their personalities allowed them to bond on a level Sheldon has been unable to find with anyone else. After their initial meeting, they have kept in touch via e-mail, sharing information and research papers. When she visits to inform Leonard that she is divorcing his father, Penny gets her drunk. She kisses Sheldon in a fit of passion, but rejects seeking further physical intimacy with him.
Sheldon has claimed to not like Leonard's girlfriends, with the exception of Dr. Stephanie Barnett (Sara Rue
Sara Rue
Sara Rue is an American television actress. She is best known for the roles she played as Carmen Ferrara on the comedy-drama Popular and Claude Casey on the sitcom Less Than Perfect. She is also known as a spokesperson for Jenny Craig...
). He clashes with Priya Koothrappali (Aarti Mann
Aarti Mann
Aarti Mann is an American actress. She has starred in several television programs, including a part in the sci-fi drama Heroes. She is best known for playing the role of Priya Koothrappali in The Big Bang Theory.-Biography:...
), Raj's sister and Leonard's girlfriend, when she employs her Cambridge University law education to nullify his roommate agreement with Leonard by noting ambiguities in the document. After seeking advice from Amy, Sheldon re-drafts the agreement, eliminating any ambiguities, and blackmails Priya by threatening to tell her parents about her relationship with a non-Indian if Leonard did not sign the revised document. Yet, he has had the most conflicts with Penny.
Sheldon shows little interests in forming social relationships outside of his current circle of friends – an indifference that extends to romantic attachments. Despite such indifference, Sheldon somehow manages to attract the romantic interest of at least three women and one man (including Leonard's mother), although on three of those occasions, he is initially oblivious to their advances. In the episode "The Cooper Nowitzki Theorem", Ramona Nowitzki is a graduate student who Sheldon grows tired of after she inserts herself into his life and curtails his recreational activities. He finally dismisses her from his apartment when she asks for shared credit on his scientific discovery. Penny once asks what Sheldon's "deal" is, alluding to his sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
. Leonard responds that "we've been operating under the assumption that he has no deal", with Howard suggesting that Sheldon might reproduce by mitosis
Mitosis
Mitosis is the process by which a eukaryotic cell separates the chromosomes in its cell nucleus into two identical sets, in two separate nuclei. It is generally followed immediately by cytokinesis, which divides the nuclei, cytoplasm, organelles and cell membrane into two cells containing roughly...
. Series co-creator Chuck Lorre said: "Part of what's wonderful and unique about [Sheldon] is he has chosen not to play in the relationship game either way -- heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, any sexuality".
Critics and viewers have postulated that Sheldon may be asexual
Asexuality
Asexuality , in its broadest sense, is the lack of sexual attraction and, in some cases, the lack of interest in sex. Sometimes, it is considered a lack of a sexual orientation...
or aromantic, while others dispute this assertion. Noel Murray of The A.V. Club stated that "giving Sheldon a girlfriend, boyfriend or even a "friend with benefits" would be [...] far outside the scope of the character". Kona Gallagher of TV Squad wrote that "the idea of Sheldon with a lady is a jarring one". In contrast, Jon Weisman of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
wrote that "the right woman could draw [Sheldon] out of his shell". In an interview, Parsons said that he thinks that his character eventually will have a romantic relationship.
More recently, in Season 5, Sheldon shows that he isn't okay with Leonard getting together with Amy. While Amy considers Sheldon to be something like a boyfriend, she dislikes some of his idiosyncrasies and doesn't seem to be quite as asexual as he is. In fact, Amy has opened sexual negotiations. Her opening offer involved a torrid encounter; those negotiations resulted in, at least, cuddling; and Sheldon would mention 'spooning' in a later conversation. Second base was not reached, however.
In the season 5 episode The Flaming Spittoon Acquisition, Sheldon and Amy officially began dating after Amy and Stuart begin dating and Sheldon becomes jealous, however he did not admit to being jealous. Sheldon stated he would like the terms of their relationship to stay the same, even though they are now in a relationship.
Enemies
Sheldon has rivalries with two of his co-workers: Barry Kripke and Leslie Winkle. Barry is a plasma physicist with a case of rhotacismRhotacism
Rhotacism refers to several phenomena related to the usage of the consonant r :*the excessive or idiosyncratic use of the r;...
. He pitted his robot, the Kripke Krippler (or, as he called it, the "Kwipke Kwippwer"), against the guys' robot, M.O.N.T.E., in an unofficial robot fight
Robot Fighting League
The Robot Fighting League organizes and promotes combat robot competitions and other robotic sports. The RFL was created in November 2002 out of an ongoing discussion among many of the combat robot competition organizers...
. Kripke continued his antagonism towards Sheldon when he pulled a prank on Sheldon when the latter was a guest on NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
's Science Friday. However, Sheldon has attempted to befriend him on only two occasions, to gain access to an open science grid computer
Grid computing
Grid computing is a term referring to the combination of computer resources from multiple administrative domains to reach a common goal. The grid can be thought of as a distributed system with non-interactive workloads that involve a large number of files...
and as a prospective member in a new group of friends. Leslie is a sometime lover of Leonard, and an optical physicist. Leslie and Sheldon mutually consider themselves to be intellectually superior to the other; however, Leslie is wittier, generally besting Sheldon in their repartee. She often calls him a "dumbass." In Seasons 1 and 2, Sheldon considers her his "arch enemy".
However, the person Sheldon considers to be his "mortal enemy" is Wil Wheaton. Sheldon's hatred of Wheaton stems from Wheaton's cancelling an appearance at a science fiction convention in Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...
that Sheldon had gone to some lengths to attend years previously. In Season 3, the two encounter each other at a customizable card game tournament, and Sheldon's antipathy towards Wheaton is heightened when Wheaton uses gamesmanship
Gamesmanship
Gamesmanship is the use of dubious methods to win a game. It has been described as "Pushing the rules to the limit without getting caught, using whatever dubious methods possible to achieve the desired end"...
to defeat him in the tournament. He tells Sheldon that he cancelled the appearance because his grandmother had died and he went to her funeral, causing Sheldon to throw the game out of sympathy, only to find out the story was a ruse. Sheldon's animosity towards Wheaton is further reinforced during a bowling
Ten-pin bowling
Ten-pin bowling is a competitive sport in which a player rolls a bowling ball down a wooden or synthetic lane with the objective of scoring points by knocking down as many pins as possible.-Summary:The lane is bordered along its length by semicylindrical channels Ten-pin bowling (commonly just...
face-off between Sheldon's team and Stuart's team, on which Wheaton is substituting for another player. Again resorting to gamesmanship, Wheaton senses relationship troubles between Leonard and Penny (two of Sheldon's bowlers) and manipulates Penny into dumping Leonard, causing her to leave the bowling alley in tears. Sheldon's team is thus deprived of its best bowler, and they eventually lose the match. In Season 4, Sheldon spites Wheaton by stealing a print of Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by George Lucas, and starring Harrison Ford. It is the first film in the Indiana Jones franchise...
with 21 seconds of unseen footage after Wheaton jumps ahead of him, Leonard, Howard, and Raj in line at the screening. However, Wheaton and Sheldon make up as Wheaton gives Sheldon his last mint copy of his action figure, causing them to be friends. After Wheaton gives Sheldon a mint condition, unopened and signed Wesley Crusher figure, Brent Spiner
Brent Spiner
Brent Jay Spiner is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of the android Lieutenant Commander Data in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and four subsequent films. His portrayal of Data in Star Trek: First Contact and of Dr...
grabs it and opens it, causing Sheldon to add Spiner to his "mortal enemies list", maintaining the number of names at 61.
Reception
Jim Parsons' portrayal of Sheldon has received outstanding reception from critics, and is often cited as the main reason for the program's success. James Chamberlin of IGN wrote: "It's hard to imagine what The Big Bang Theory would be if it weren't for Jim Parsons' great portrayal of Sheldon Cooper." Matt Roush of TV Guide stated that "there's a spark of divine inspiration in Jim Parsons' uproarious Sheldon Cooper". Ken Tucker of Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
wrote that "Parsons is doing something rare on network TV: making intellectualism admirable, even heroic".
On July 16, 2009, Jim Parsons was nominated for an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for Lead Actor in a Comedy for the role of Sheldon. He was nominated again on July 8, 2010, and won the award for "Lead Actor in a Comedy Series" on August 29, 2010 in the 62nd Primetime Emmys. In August 2009, he won the Television Critics Association
Television Critics Association
The Television Critics Association is a group of approximately 200 United States and Canadian journalists and columnists who cover television programming...
award for the highest individual achievements in comedy. He was also nominated for a People's Choice Award for Favorite TV Comedy Actor and a Satellite Award for best actor in a comedy or musical series. On January 16, 2011 Parsons won the Golden Globe for best actor in a television series, and the award was presented by co-star Kaley Cuoco. He won his second consecutive Emmy on September 18, 2011.