Despite this, Lip isn't always wise: a number of people remark that he is the 'dumbest smart person' they've ever met. Whenever Fiona struggles, Lip keeps everything from falling apart. His playful side shines through in his interactions with Liam and other children. Though his opinion of Frank was once again low by the final season, Lip was shocked and upset over Frank’s diagnosis of alcoholic dementia, showing that he does love him in his own way. Lip was even grateful to the latter giving him helpful advice with women and his own child.

Lip realized from watching Frank that Frank always held back from his attacks on Lip. Lip was also surprised by Frank's change in Season 8 when he defended the family from a meth head and threatened him with death if he did. He spent the day with Frank after he learned he graduated from school. He was surprised Frank took the fall for Carl's crime when questioning him after his release, Lip was pleased with Frank's answer for doing that for family. This was seen when he was forgave his father for sleeping with Karen by urinating on him as his way of atoning for it. He often clashes with his father, Frank, and his estranged mother, Monica, in response to their neglect for years, though he shows that he does care for and love his parents on occasions when they acknowledge their faults. Lip's caretaking abilities rivaled Fiona's at this time, as he handled the responsibility well and had no problems tending to the needs of his family. Lip is loyal to his family and protective of his younger siblings, as seen when he took over as guardian after Fiona's incident in Season 4. Lip rebels against social norms, repeatedly refusing to apply to college or even finish high school, which leads to major problems, like graduating late, floundering in his first semester of college. Part of Lip's emotional problems are due to the high expectations his family places on him in their hopes that he will make something of his life and help them in turn. Lip is self-destructive, a common symptom of being an adult child of an alcoholic.

He is a loner and doesn't have close friends. Other than Carl, he is the only other member of the family to have a juvenile record, and he often gets into trouble just for the sake of causing mayhem. Despite his remarkable intelligence, Lip can be extremely irresponsible and self-sabotaging. Lip is extraordinarily intelligent for his age, boasting a high GPA and a genius IQ. Lip and Ian, who is later revealed to be Lip's half-brother and cousin, are particularly close and often give each other relationship or career advice, though on two occasions, this resulted in a fist fight between the two. All the same, Lip is grateful to his older sister for the years she spent raising him and his siblings. Lip is protective of his younger siblings, but his pessimistic worldview and apathy toward almost everything causes him to clash with Fiona in her attempt to better their lives. He is not as physically fit as Ian, and his provocative attitude frequently gets him beaten up. Lip often gets into fights, including brawls staged for cash, but generally doesn't care if he wins or loses. He also has a string of unstable relationships: two years of off-again-on-again dysfunction with Karen Jackson, a little over a year with Mandy Milkovich (where she pulled most of the weight and the two fought over Karen), a casual relationship with his roommate's girlfriend, Amanda (which ended up one-sided on her part) and a fling with his polyamorous professor, Helené Runyon. Lip has a cynical personality and is unrestrained in his criticism, which often gets him into trouble. Ian was his accomplice several times, but Lip covers for him because Ian wants to enter the Marines. Despite his apparent genius, he has terrible judgement and is frequently shown smoking cigarettes and weed, having unprotected sex with multiple women, and drinking copious amounts of alcohol. He uses his intelligence to make money for his family, such as taking the SAT for other students or avoiding the cops when selling beer and marijuana from an ice cream truck. While he possesses above average intelligence and excellent mechanical skills, he deliberately wastes time acting like the rest of the people in his town. He is a straight-A student with a 4.6 GPA. He is the second-eldest Gallagher child and the most academic. Phillip Ronan 'Lip' Gallagher is a main character.

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