Rowley Jefferson

Rowley Jefferson is Greg Heffley's best friend and a major character in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. He has protective parents who aren't fond of Greg's behavior, assuming that he is a bad influence. In the first book, Rowley ate the cheese, but no one knew. Besides that, he is often nice to everyone and he always has his mouth open. In The Ugly Truth, which is the fifth book in the series, Rowley might act as the primary antagonist. Like most of the main characters of the series, Rowley was based of someone in real life, and he is someone whom very little is known about.

Personality
Rowley Jefferson is overweight, overly affectionate, immature, naive, idiotic, ridiculous, ignorant, spoilt, meek and strong-willed. Rowley isn't too mature, as heavily implied in Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules. On his birthday, he gets a whole bunch of toys meant for children younger than him and a very girlish diary - however, he's overjoyed about it. Also, in Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days, he ends up taking the chocolate-covered raisins over a trip to the grand championship of Twisted Wizard 2. In a later scene in Rodrick Rules, Greg looks at Rowley's "Sweet Secrets Diary", which he got beforehand in the book, and finds out he hardly puts anything cool in it; he doesn't even put Greg's NAME in it. Which makes Greg wonder why he's even friends with him in the first place. Rowley, in some ways, is also very ridiculous; his stupidity often lands Greg up in trouble, especially in the fourth book. Rowley is also shown to have a great interest in world travel, and according to Rodrick Rules and The Last Straw, Rowley has been to South America, Europe and Australia. Rowley has very little willpower up until Dog Days, since Greg could convince him to do almost anything that he told Rowley to do.

Appearance
Rowley appears to be wider than Greg. He has 7 strands of hair, sticking downwards in a curved way. Rowley never has appeared with his mouth closed, leaving him with an open happy face, or open sad face. However, there has been an illustration showing Rowley with his mouth open.

Interests
Rowley has strange interests for his age and gender. Rowley is hooked into a European singer, Joshie, which Greg stated was for six-year old girls. Rowley has said in the first book that he likes a single-panel comic, "Li'l Cutie," which Greg despises. In Dog Days, it is shown that Rowley actually doesn't like video games that much and only plays them because Greg forces him to.

Greg Heffley
Greg and Rowley overall are best buddies, though they do share some differences and have a complex relationship. Even though that Greg has done some bad things to Rowley, like breaking his hand and big toe, and getting him in trouble for something he didn't do, they still remain friends. Rowley likes to talk to Greg about his trips around the world, though Greg has completely no interest for his distant trips. Rowley also tries to copy Greg's habits in some ways, such as obtaining a diary, and copying Greg's "rival sporting colors". Greg often has a habit of using Rowley for his own schemes and desires. Rowley, in fact, starts off as a pushover for Greg to manipulate, but in Dog Days, it is becoming evident that he is losing patience with Greg. This is proven by the fact that he and Greg got over fight rather quickly in Diary of a Wimpy Kid over a Safety Patrol dispute, but in Dog Days, they fight again; this fight nearly breaks them up as friends and leaves them separated for the entire summer. Rowley isn't manly, and this trait has annoyed Greg several times. Apparently, both he and Rowley are starting to hate each other's characteristics, and it is suggested that Greg and Rowley will no longer be friends. Greg may also share Rowley secret of eating the cheese, if that's the case the friendship between them is over or if Rowley manages to spread a story about Greg in the fifth grade. He is more well-off than Greg, which causes a few minor problems.

Robert Jefferson
Rowley and his father both have a very good relationship, as implied in Dog Days. Robert shows none of his shrill behavior towards Rowley and, in fact, share many of the same interests, such as tennis, watching movies, etc.

Trivia

 * Rowley actually went to Brazil for his trip to South America, as shown in the online book.
 * Rowley is older than Greg, as his birthday takes place during the first semester of school. This is ironic as Rowley is actually more immature and babyish than Greg.