Pingu (fanon biography)

Paul Neil George Jones (born 6 July 1980), also known mononymously as Pingu, is an actor and television personality known for his eponymous show, Pingu. Born in Zürich, Switzerland, he spent a great deal of his time there before moving to Whitby, Yorkshire, where he was raised by his British-American parents. He was influenced by everything around him due to the freedom his parents gave him, which led to him taking a variety of subjects from fishing to sports. He starred in a pilot in 1986, and first starred in his own show in 1990, along with his family, and occasionally his friends and partners. His show has influenced a mass audience, often speaking in grammelot devised by his director, and went on to star in a new reboot in 2017. He continues to be a revered cultural icon of the 1990s.

Early life
Pingu was born on 6 July 1980 at the Balgrist University Hospital (German: Universitätsklinik Balgrist) in Zürich, Switzerland. The first of two children, his father, Paul Henry Jones (born Paul Arnold Henry Jr.) is a British-American former musician who now works as a courier. His mother, Polly Margaret (née Mead) is a British housewife who crochets for a living. His paternal grandfather is a musician and a weight-lifter who participated in several competitions, later retiring in the 1960s. Jones was an active child growing up, often visiting his friends' houses and homes, and loved playing sports, most particularly ice hockey. He has been described as strong-willed by peers, but is often prone to misbehaving. He has been described as "almost the polar opposite of his younger sister Pinga, who is quite shy and reserved ... unabashedly bashful."

Pingu attended the Outdoors School for Excelling Penguins in Whitby, England, along with fellow pupils Pingo, Pingg, Pongi, and school sweetheart Pingi.

Pingu: 1990-2006
Pingu was inspired by watching movies as a child, and has stated movies such as Jaws and E.T. made an impression on him. He wanted to act as young as 5, but his parents were initially reluctant to send him to a casting agency on the grounds that privacy, as a choice, would not be an option. Pingu states: "I wanted to get my parents for me to audition ... my mum said to me, "no, my baby, you can't do that yet. I went to my dad, and he also said no. I couldn't sleep for several days, and I kept nagging them on until they finally walked me to an acting agency. The endeavours that my parents had to endure for me, I guess." Pingu began to divide his time between school on weekdays and acting on weekends, with his parents setting up a schedule for him. "They told me to start speaking in gibberish, and so with the script I was given―which was no less than a plot, I had to use my actions to do what I had to do. It was confusing at first, really, but then it became sort of fun to improvise by inserting a few words here and there." Soon after the first episode aired, the show made some revenue, and the company that produced it divided its equal worth amongst themselves and the family. "The company didn't want us to be left out of the ordeal, so we reluctantly took in the quid" quoted Pingu. In spite of the show's success, he kept the same schedule even until its final episode in 2006, stating that he "didn't want to fall into the trap of child actors" and "wanting to make sure [Pingu] was well behaved and come out unscathed from this whole ordeal". After the show ended, the money largely came from re-tapings of the show, and were given some revenue from the distributors. "It was a whole lotta quid. It was an experience to deal with." Shortly thereafter, he retired from acting.

Intermediate period: 2006-2017
During his retirement, Pingu continued to maintain contact with his friends and partner; he strengthened his relationships by often performing gigs with them, and go to social events together. Not much else is known about his self-termed "intermediate period", other than he continued to strengthen his contact with his closest friends. Pingu, with his family, moved to New York in 2012, and began living on a suburban neighborhood of Queens, New York.

Personal life and relationships
Pingu's "first real friend" was Robby, who he met while fishing in a pond. They originally did not get along well, but after Robby sustained some injuries after breaking his arm in an enclosure, they bonded together. Pingu still maintains this relationship to this very day, and Robby has even joked about Pingu being his "boyfriend". Pingu first met Pingi during a school session, in which she was a new student there. Initially, they did not get along, as Pingi had already expressed her feelings for him, but after taking shelter from accidentally shattering a stranger's glass window with a snowball, their relationship became more closer. Pingu has no desire to marry or have children; "Things are fine the way they are." Pingu currently lives in Queens, New York City with his partner. He initially did not get along with Pingg and Pingo, until they hung out with each other more, and subsequently became friends shortly thereafter. Even after moving to New York City, they still get in contact with each other via e-mail and personalized video calls. Pingu first met fellow crew members Pendra, Pen-Pen, and Chef Fred while working on the set of Pingu in the City, and became acquainted with each other afterwards. After the original series ended, Pingu retired from acting to work on his relationships until his show rebooted in 2017. Pingu chooses to keep on a low profile, rarely updating his social media accounts. "You know, when you have so many things going on, you've gotta be able to choose how to process that information. Doing that on social media is complicated, because you're essentially posting about trivial matters and/or pursuits that, in the end, do not work or matter because it's grating."

Personal interests
Pingu occasionally plays music with his friends and younger sister, often playing instruments such as the keyboard, piano, zither, trumpet, saxophone, and classical organ. He is an avid sportsperson, recently taking up association football while living in New York City; his favorite pastimes are curling and hockey. Pingu is a foodie.

Other notes
This is a fanon biography of Pingu, and as such those details are to be taken with a grain of salt. For the official biography of Pingu, go here → Pingu (canon biography)