Francis (Malcolm in the Middle)

Francis is a fictional character from Malcolm in the Middle. He is played by Christopher Masterson.

The oldest of the brothers and the biggest trouble-maker, Francis is a regular character on the show, though he has lived outside of the house since before season 1 began. His mother, Lois, was in labor with Francis in the middle of her and Hal's wedding. Francis was a troublemaker from a young age; he broke curfew, drank, and slept around. Lois exiled him to a military academy after he was caught in bed with his girlfriend and crashed her car, which proceeded to burn up, though the last straw was when he got his nose pierced. From afar, Francis provides many fodder for many interesting subplots.

During the first two seasons, at the military academy, rebellious Francis finds a formidable adversary in Commandant Spangler, whose hook-for-a-hand proved a valuable comic device as Francis sows insurrection in the student ranks. After the second season, at only 17 years old, he legally emancipates himself with the help of forged signatures and an unscrupulous Alabama lawyer. He then leaves the academy and heads to Alaska to find work as a logger.

While in Alaska, he marries a local woman, Piama, whom he had dated for three weeks. Lois reacts hysterically and continues to be somewhat hostile toward Piama for some time. Piama, like Lois, is hot-tempered and does not shrink when Lois goes after her. By season 4 he and Piama have left Alaska and Francis begins working as a farmhand at a New Mexico dude ranch owned by a German couple. (They are Danish in the German-dubbed version of the series.) Here, Francis becomes more of a responsible adult: he even begins to discipline his younger brothers, who regard him as a rule-breaking role model. A little over two years after he begins working at the ranch, however, he is fired because the ATM he used to deposit funds wasn't actually an ATM.

For the remainder of seasons six and seven, Francis makes only occasional appearances, yet he is still credited in each episode. Later, we find that the character has regressed and is no longer portrayed as the responsible adult he had been during his time working on the ranch. He has returned to his deadbeat ways, living in a cheap apartment without getting a job. Here, he briefly takes a job as the agent for his friend's band and attempts to start his own business.

In the final episode, Francis and his mother fight over the fact that he remains unemployed. Later, his father discovers that Francis has found a job with a large corporation called Amerisys Industries and has worked there for two months. He explains that he enjoys the job immensely, but he kept the job a secret from his family because he equally enjoys frustrating his mother by telling her that he's unemployed. Piama seems to be pregnant in their final scene, illustrating that Francis's transition into adulthood is complete. In this respect, Francis and his father are depicted as having extremely similar personalities and fates. Both married young, despite their mothers' disapproval, and both are intensely in love with their wives despite the fact that they often fight.

Last Name

The family's last name was only revealed twice during the entire series run, both times on a nametag worn by Francis. In the first episode his military school nametag reads "Wilkerson" (in subsequent first and second season episodes his name tag simply read "Francis") but in the last episode his employee ID reads "Nolastname" (or "No Last Name" a joke referring to the fact that the family name was never spoken aloud). In this same final episode, the family's last name is indecipherable during Malcolm's introduction as valedictorian at his high school graduation.