Mac (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia)

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Character
Name: Mac
Occupation: co-owner of Paddys Pub
Relationships: Dennis Reynolds (best friend/roommate); Dee Reynolds (roommate/friend); Charlie Kelly (best friend); Frank Reynolds (friend)
Fandom: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Other:
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Ronald 'Mac' McDonald is one of the five main characters on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Canon

Mac is a co-owner of Paddy's Pub, with his high school friend Dennis and Dennis's father Frank. He views himself as a martial arts expert and the self proclaimed Sheriff of Paddy's Pub, but tends to run away from any type of confrontation.

Mac is the only member of the gang who claims to have any religious belief, and regularly attends church. He rarely refuses to get involved in schemes he believes to be morally reprehensible, but often views his religion as a means to achieve his selfish goals, such as getting into Heaven.

For the first 6 seasons, Mac's full name was unknown. His father's full name was revealed to be Luther MacDonald, during a season 4 parole hearing. Mac's mother was never named in the series and is only referred to as Mac's mom. Mac's full name was revealed in season 7

Fandom

Sexuality

Mac's sexuality was repeatedly questioned during the series. It became a recurring joke despite his many relationships with women, and ultimately Mac did come out in Season 12. Throughout the series, fans regularly analyzed Mac's actions, dialogue and interactions with other characters to determine if there was any truth in the running joke. Essays were written by fans claiming that Mac was gay,[1] or bisexual. While some viewed his actions on the show as homophobic, there was a growing consensus that Mac was a closeted gay man.[2] Others still believed that Mac was straight and the joke arose from his previous relationship with a trans woman.[3]

In fandom, Mac has been almost exclusively paired with other male characters in fanfiction. Works often deal with Mac's conficting emotions regarding his own sexuality, and may be tagged "Internalized Homophobia" to reflect this. In works where Mac is openly gay and proud of his sexuality, he is often considered to be OOC.

Shipping

  • Mac/Dennis is the non-canonical slash pairing of Mac and his roommate Dennis Reynolds. It is the most popular ship in this fandom.
  • Charlie Kelly/Mac is the somewhat popular pairing of Mac and his childhood friend Charlie Kelly. As Mac and Charlie were friend since childhood, many works are set before they meet the rest of the gang.
  • Mac/Dee Reynolds is a rare ship in this fandom.

Example Fanworks

Archives & Fannish Links

Canon

References

  1. ^ Is Mac gay? (Archived Link) by Uncle Mike, 30 July 2013, accessed 3 October 2018.
  2. ^ TIL Rob McElhenny who plays the homophobic character on IASIP was raised by a lesbian couple a discussion on Reddit, 9 August 2015, accessed 5th October 2018
  3. ^ Mac isn't gay posted by Reddit user u/jad2121 in R/FanTheories, 10 July 2015, accessed 3 October 2018.