Jeffrey Tobias "Jeff" Winger is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the American television sitcom Community. He is portrayed by Joel McHale and first appeared in the pilot episode of Community. Jeff was created by producer Dan Harmon, who briefly attended Glendale Community College. While at Glendale Community College, Harmon became involved in a Spanish study group. Harmon designed the character of Jeff around himself, creating the character as a solipsistic narcissist. As the rational agent of his Spanish study group, Jeff is the self-proclaimed patriarchal leader of the study group. Jeff embodies a sardonic and cynic personality and traits of a stereotypical sociopath: he is manipulative, resentful, self-obsessed, derisive, megalomaniacal, and inveterate to lying. However, Jeff's abiding relationship to members of his study group eroded many of his sociopathic traits. Role in Community Jeffrey Tobias Winger is the son of William and Doreen Winger. Jeff attended Greendale Community College as a student, until graduating in "Advanced Introduction to Finality". In the following episode, "Repilot", Jeff is offered a job as a teacher at Greendale by Craig Pelton, an offer he accepts. Prior to serving as a teacher, Jeff served as a criminal defense lawyer for a major law firm. During his tenure, Jeff landed multiple cases for the firm, attracting the attention of Alan Connor, who discovered that Jeff's degree was illegitimate, and sent an incriminating email to the Colorado Bar Association. Jeff, in turn, made a deal with the bar to prevent him from getting disbarred, on the condition that he would earn a degree from an accredited institution, ultimately deciding to attend Greendale. Jeff's exact age has changed multiple times, and is unknown. In "Early 21st Century Romanticism" (season two, 2011), Jeff's driver's license lists his birthday as November 20, 1971, making him 40 years old at the time of the episode's airing. This was later clarified as a mistake by the props department, who used Joel McHale's birthday in place of Jeff's. In "Intro to Political Science" (season two, 2011), Annie Edison plays a clip of Jeff's audition tape for MTV's The Real World: Seattle, with the clip dated to 1997 and Jeff estimated to be 19 at the time of the tape, placing him in the age range of 32-33 at the time of the episode's airing. This was retconned in "G.I. Jeff" (season five, 2014), when Jeff suffers a mental breakdown upon