20 Greatest Meets World Characters: #20. Stuart Minkus

#20. Stuart Minkus

Played By: Lee Norris (1993-1994, 1998, 2014-2017)

Episode Count: 25 (20- BMW, 5- GMW)

Role: Class nerd/Cory's nemesis/Farkle's father

Signature Episodes: Cory's Alternative Friends, Model Family, Class Pre-Union, Boy Meets Girl, Graduation, Girl Meets Maya's Mother, Girl Meets I am Farkle, Girl Meets Money

Sean and I had some contention over Minkus, with me generally supporting a higher rank, and him a lower one and so 20 is where he ended up. Sean and I are splitting the posts for the rankings 50/50 with me generally writing the ones for those I advocated (like Minkus) while he writes for the ones he advocated (Like Zay and Rachel), along with some obvious divisions like me writing Eric and Sean writing Shawn.

Minkus was in danger of dropping out entirely, and Sean had some understandable reasons. Minkus was a main cast member when he was on the show, but he wasn't on the show long, and was by no means a lead when he was. And, as I myself have argued in the past, Boy Meets World’s first season bears little resemblance to the show it became. The structure of the show (along with basically everyone’s personality except Feeny and the parents) really became codified in Season 2 when Minkus is already gone. So, all of that is why he’s not higher.

But what got him on the list, over the likes of more frequently appearing characters like Zay and Rachel? Singularity. Minkus plays a very interesting, dynamic role within the context of the series. In Season 1 he’s Cory’s nemesis, the only real rival he ever has in the series (unless you count Harley as one, and considering them ‘rivals’ probably gives Cory a bit too much credit), and just as important in the classroom scenes as Shawn is. He’s also a big part of the early year’s theme of “Cory feeling inadequate”. While Eric represents the maturity he doesn’t possess and Shawn the toughness and coolness, Minkus is academic prowess. Cory gets mediocre grades, and he’s recurrently resentful of Minkus for doing so well.

And the portrayal of Minkus as a super-nerd is also refreshing. He’s no Urkel - characters who intend to prank him or bully him generally wind up outwitted or ignored. He doesn’t just wind up giving as good as he gets, he gives far better than he gets. If you only watched Minkus scenes, you’d be forgiven for assuming he’s the hero of the series, and Cory and (particularly) Shawn mean-spirited idiots who tend to get their comeuppance in the end. Everything about him is different than you’d expect. Shy and inept with women? Nope. He’s extremely confident, behaves as if he’s an alpha male (because he sort of is…), and is way more comfortable and knowledgeable about the opposite sex than cool guy Shawn and then-cool guy Cory. Sure, Topanga never returns his interest but she doesn’t exactly express disinterest either. Hell, she even got a little into him when he had that tattoo. Is it any wonder this guy wound up building a corporate empire and marrying a rich, hot Amazon woman? Stuart Minkus is a testament to what most ultra studious, hard-working folks kids actually wind up being - straight-up winners. 

This identity, of course, became the blue prints for the character of Farkle, but as detailed before, Minkus was a much more successful example. He never went too far, he never came off creepy, and he never ignored repeated requests to back off. The Minkus-clone version of Farkle was such a failure that in Season 2 they more or less abandoned that entire personality. But Minkus worked.

All of that might be enough, but he continued to have a relevance beyond almost all returning vets by being Farkle’s father. We’ve spent more time with him as an adult than the likes of Eric, Jack, and Angela and seen what he’s become. Now a titan of industry, he very much maintains his personality, but also feels like he’s matured and evolved into someone this character would have become. Still brilliant, competitive, and self-confident, he carries himself with more swagger, presumably now that he’s not being picked on anymore. Still, despite some arrogance, he’s shown as a caring, dedicated father and loving husband. Unlike most in this show, Minkus is different things to different people. Everyone, adult or child, generally thinks of and treats our heroes the same way. Cory is Cory to everyone, and everyone sees him exactly the same way and everyone treats him the same way. To know Cory is to love him, but also to think he’s weird and exasperating. But Minkus' dynamic with Cory (and Shawn) is so different than his dynamic with Topanga which is so different from his dynamic from Farkle. That’s pretty unique. 

We’ve seen a lot of people grow in this franchise, but by far the most fun is the scope that has been for those Cory’s age, growing from actual children to adults and parents themselves. Even Eric was already past puberty when we met him, so despite changes in weight and hairstyles, he looks and sounds exactly the same as the day we met him. Minkus may not be what Cory, Shawn, and Topanga are to this show, but he’s the only other one besides that main trio we got to see this happen to, and it’s part of what makes this series so epic.

Not bad for a guy barely on the show.

You did a great job with this. Christian initially roped me into this saying each bio would be about one paragraph, but I tell ya, once you start writing about this show, it all comes pouring out.