Character biography
Ian Clayton Gallagher was born on May 9, 1996, the product of a PCP-fueled affair between his mother Monica and Clayton Gallagher, Frank's brother, in the summer of 1995. Monica conceals knowledge of this affair from the Gallagher family, leaving them to believe that Ian is Frank's son. Ian is gay and, initially, closeted. When his older brother Lip discovers a cache of gay pornography in their shared bedroom, he first confronts Ian with it and then sets Ian up to receive oral sex from Karen Jackson, a neighbor whom Lip tutors. When Karen confirms that Ian was unaroused by her ministrations, Lip comes to accept his brother and becomes Ian's trusted confidant.
Ian is highly orderly and disciplined, traits that are attributed to his membership in his school's Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps, rather than his upbringing. He is an excellent marksman.
When the series opens, Ian is involved in a sexual relationship with Kash, owner of the Kash and Grab, the neighborhood convenience store where Ian works. Kash, a Muslim, is married to Linda and has two children with her. Usually, Ian and Kash have sex in the storeroom, but one weekend when Linda and the children are out of town, Kash brings Ian to their home. Upon seeing the reality of Kash's life with his family, Ian balks at having sex with him.
Ian's schoolmate, Mandy Milkovich, expresses a sexual interest in him. When he does not reciprocate, she tells her brothers that Ian assaulted her. After evading them, he comes out to Mandy, who not only calls off her brothers but suggests that she be his sham girlfriend to deflect any questions about his sexuality.
Ian continues his affair with Kash, but Linda, who has installed security cameras in response to rampant shoplifting at the store, catches them in the act on tape. Surprisingly, she does not mind if the affair continues but demands that Kash impregnate her before he has sex with Ian again. Meanwhile, Mandy's brother Mickey, an aggressive shoplifter who has been terrorizing Kash, steals the gun kept in the store for protection. Ian confronts Mickey at his home, determined to retrieve it. In the ensuing altercation, the pair realize their attraction and have sex. They maintain the sexual relationship, although Mickey denies any emotional attraction to Ian; Ian cools off his relationship with Kash. Eventually, Kash catches the two having sex in the store and, in response, shoots Mickey in the leg and has him arrested, following Mickey's brazen theft of a candy bar.
Ian feels that Frank resents him. The truth is uncovered when Ian undergoes DNA testing when Lip hopes to prove that Frank is not the children's biological father. Ian receives a shock when it is revealed that he is the son of Frank's brother, which makes Frank his uncle and Ian the half-sibling, as well as cousin, of the other children.
Following the news of Ian's parentage, Lip encourages him to find his biological father. Upon visiting "Grammy", Frank's mother, who is incarcerated on charges relating to two deaths in a meth lab explosion, Ian and Lip learn that Frank has three brothers, Clayton, Jerry and Wyatt. Wyatt, however, is eliminated from consideration because he lost his testicles while serving in the Navy. Jerry, who turns out to be Frank's twin, refuses to speak to the boys. Clayton closely resembles Ian, and the boys assume he is Ian's father. Lip suggests that the affluent Clayton would make a better father than Frank but Ian is disgusted by this. Outside, Ian insists to Lip stop pushing his issues on him and he states that Frank is his father just as Lip and the rest of his siblings are his family, where he belongs. Ian's choice is accepted by his brother and by an overhearing Clayton.
Season 1 closes with Ian's arrest and release after being stopped with Lip in a car stolen by Fiona's boyfriend Steve. He tells Fiona that he's gay and Fiona claims she already knows.
In Season two, Ian still works at the Kash and Grab, but his physical relationship with Kash is apparently over. It permanently ends when Kash, who can no longer reconcile being gay and married, leaves. Ian is no longer interested in the Marines, setting the goal of obtaining admission to West Point. He does not have the grades to be accepted, so Lip offers tutoring. Although willing to help him, Lip is opposed to Ian joining the military to "fight for a country that thinks you're one of God's mistakes". A colonel, whom Lip knows through a contact at a local university, leaves a West Point application with Ian, who is chagrined to learn that the officer thinks Lip is the interested party. This leads to a physical confrontation between the brothers. They refuse to communicate with each other until Grammy, recently released from prison for medical reasons, convinces them to fight and work through their issues. After a short battle, Ian confesses that he feels trapped in Lip's shadow. He and Lip reconcile.
Mickey is released from juvenile detention and he and Ian resume their relationship. Mickey starts working security at the Kash and Grab. Frank catches the boys having sex in the cooler and Mickey, fearing that his father will kill him, resolves to kill Frank. After stalking him for several days, Mickey changed his mind and assaulted a police officer instead, which violated his parole; returning him to juvenile detention, where his father can't hurt him.
Monica Gallagher returns home, following the death of Frank's mother, Grammy. She tells Ian that Frank told her about Mickey and that he should be proud of who he is, and that she accepts him. The next day, Ian, depressed over a poor computer science test score, allows Monica to take him to a local enlistment center to join the Army. He is rejected, because he has not graduated high school. The following morning, Ian is attacked in his kitchen by Terry Milkovich, father of Ian's sham girlfriend Mandy, because he believes Ian has gotten her pregnant.
Ian spends the next few days avoiding Terry but it becomes increasingly more difficult. Lip suggests they plant Grammy's old gun in the Milkovich home; this will violate Terry's parole and, if the gun is tied to a murder, could get him incarcerated for life. They break in and discover Terry already has several guns; they plant theirs anyway. Terry catches them. Lip escapes, but Terry corners Ian and is about to shoot him when Mandy, brandishing a rifle, orders him to stop. Terry already knows that he himself impregnated Mandy. Mandy later explains to Ian that when Terry drinks, he sometimes mistakes her for her deceased mother, but insists "it's no big deal". Ian helps raise funds for an abortion.
The night before Thanksgiving, Ian returns to the gay bar. He is picked up by an older gentleman, who calls himself Ned. They spend the night together, where Ned says “I’m going to cum on those ginger cakes”. A few days later, Fiona's on-again off-again boyfriend, Jimmy, arranges a dinner for the Gallaghers and his family. Ian is shocked to learn that "Ned" is really Lloyd, Jimmy's father. Ian tries to tell Fiona several times, but is interrupted when Frank shoves him against the wall out of anger for Monica leaving. Ian is saved when Jimmy's wife, Estefania, hits him over the head with a frying pan.
The third season takes place several months later. Ian is still trying to improve his chances of getting into West Point, while helping with the financial stability of the family. His relationship with Lloyd has turned into somewhat of a friends-with-benefits. When Mickey returns, Ian feels confused over whether Mickey actually likes him or not, especially after he has sex with a girl from their neighborhood. He later realizes that Mickey cares about him when he follows him and Lloyd to a gay bar. Lloyd later asks Ian if he could break into his house to steal back his things, since his soon-to-be ex-wife changed the locks. Ian enlists Mickey and a couple of their friends to do it. Mickey asks Ian why he likes Lloyd, and Ian says it's because he isn't afraid to kiss him. Right before Mickey goes into Lloyd's house for the heist, he kisses Ian for the first time. When Ian and the rest of the Gallagher children are taken away by DCFS, Mickey lets him stay at his house, since his father Terry was away on a hunting trip. Terry ends up coming home early and catches Mickey and Ian having sex. He beats both of them, and forces Ian to watch Mickey have sex with a prostitute. Afterwards, Mickey goes to great lengths to avoid Ian. Eventually, Mickey is forced to marry the prostitute after finding out she's pregnant, but he and Ian have sex on Mickey's wedding day. The season closes with Ian, believing he has no future with Mickey, using his brother Lip's identification to join the military.
Several weeks elapse between seasons three and four, and no one hears from Ian in that time. Lip receives a visit from two military police officers, who inform him that Ian is wanted for attempting to steal a helicopter and other military equipment and being absent without leave. He denies knowing Ian but he and Debbie eventually find him at a gay bar, where Ian got a job as a bartender.
Mickey finds Ian passed out at another bar, Fairy Tails, and brings him to the Milkovich home. After Svetlana, Mickey's wife, threatens him, Ian moves back home. Mickey and Ian launch a criminal enterprise, robbing closeted gay men and threatening to out them if they report the crime. Following his manic behavior throughout the season, Ian is laid up in bed in a deep depression, worrying his family that he has inherited his mother Monica's bipolar disorder. Mickey insists that he can take care of him, but Ian runs away with Mickey and Svetlana's baby, leading to his arrest. He than voluntarily commits himself to a psychiatric hospital. He's released after 72 hour, but refuses to take his medication until he almost hurts Debbie because of his psychosis. Mickey accompanies him to the clinic where Ian gets new medication, which he starts to take. He claims the medication makes him feel numb and gets into a physical confrontation with Mickey brought on by guilt and embarrassment that Mickey needs to care for him. Later that night, Ian is arrested by the military, which was called by Sammi (Frank's oldest daughter). He is later released after they discover his condition. He returns home to break up with Mickey, who is promptly chased by Sammi, who wants to kill him as revenge.
During Season 6, he visits Mickey in prison and falsely promises to wait for him. He begins a job as a volunteer fireman after he saves a woman from a burning car, though he needs to be saved too. Ian later finds Caleb, the fireman who saved him, and flirts with him. However, Caleb is different from Ian's previous partners because he wants something real, leading Ian into his first real relationship. Ian also gets a job as an EMT and threatens legal action when they consider firing him due to his condition. Much later, he and Caleb confide personal secrets and establish trust in one another. In the finale, he joins everyone (except Lip, Fiona, and Liam) in throwing Frank off a bridge when he ruins Fiona's wedding.
In season 7, he is still seeing Caleb, although his boss tells him that Caleb might be cheating. Ian and his brothers are not too surprised to find Frank survived the fall, but want nothing to do with him. Ian discovers that Caleb is bisexual and experiments with it himself, but the event doesn't suit him. Ian breaks up with Caleb and goes home, only to find that Frank got revenge by sealing the family out of their house with cement and taking Liam. In the events after, Ian goes through a manic episode because of his break-up, but Fiona helps him through it. The family find Frank opened a homeless shelter, and he turns them away for their actions against him. Ian forms a relationship with Trevor, a transgender man, and they are happy, until Mickey breaks out of prison and comes back into his life. They plan to flee to Mexico, but Ian backs out at the last minute and Mickey escapes alone. He returns home to attend his mother's funeral and he makes amends with Frank in the finale.
In season 8, Ian attempts to reconcile with Trevor, but is met with resistance. Ian seems to be the only other person other than Frankto mourn Monica's death. Ian becomes put off by Frank's behavioral change and believes he has lost his mind. However, he is persuaded a little when Frank defends him and the rest of his checks from an armed meth head. Ian is amused when Frank bonds with Liam and even gives helpful advice. Towards the end of the season, he stops his medication and becomes a religious fanatic known as "Gay Jesus". As a result, he is arrested for arson.
During season 9, Ian continues to have manic episodes after stopping is medication, though he tends to improve once he begins taking it again. He talks with Mickey's father, Terry, asking what he can expect in prison. He almost flees, but a talk with Fiona convinces him to do the right thing and turn himself in. Ian confesses to being bipolar and is sent to two years in prison, where he finds that Mickey is his new cellmate and the reunited lovers resume their relationship. In the finale, he's visited by Fiona, who tells him about her recent financial gain. Ian persuades her to leave and live her life. At the end, he sees the plane she's on and bids her farewell.
In season 10, Ian is still dating Mickey, although the two continue to have a rocky relationship. Ian eventually gets paroled, with Mickey being paroled not long after, but they get a corrupt parole officer. When their parole officer is murdered, Ian and Mickey are questioned as potential suspects. Ian suggests to Mickey that if they were to get married, they couldn't testify against each other; however, Ian gets cold feet and ends their relationship again. Ian eventually admits to his insecurities about how Mickey can love Ian with all of his issues, believing Mickey can potentially find someone better. After overhearing Mickey's new boyfriend, Byron, badmouthing all of the qualities about Mickey that he loves, Ian beats Byron and proposes to Mickey on the spot; who accepts. Ian and Mickey get married in the season finale.
In season 11, Ian and Mickey settle into married life. They both have a great relationship with Frannie, Debbie’s daughter. The two eventually begin an armed escorting service, moving money for several legal cannabis dealers throughout the city. Ian assists Mickey with caring for Terry, who becomes paralyzed after being shot. They eventually leave him in the care of a nun, who kills him. They move out of the Gallagher house and into a condo together. They discuss having children, but this is left open-ended.
