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, thinking he is a bad influence. 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. In the first book, Rowley ate the cheese, but no one knew. Besides that, Rowley is often nice to everyone and he always has his mouth open. Rowley has very little will power, since Greg can convince him to do almost anything that he tells Rowley to do. In the fifth book, Rowley might act as an 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, affectionate, immature, naive, idiotic, ridiculous, spoiled, meek and strong-willed. Rowley isn't too mature, as heavily implied in Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules. There, he gets a whole bunch of kiddie toys and a girlish diary - however, he's happy about it. This shows that Rowley is immature. 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 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: 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, Rowley has been to South America, Europe and Australia.

Greg Heffley
Greg and Rowley overall are best buddies, though they do share some differences and have a complex relationship. 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 of as a pushover, but in Dog Days, it is becoming evident that he is losing patience with Greg. He and Greg fight in Book 1 over a Safety Patrol dispute, but do eventually get over it, but in Dog Days, they fight again, a fight that doesn't leave them as friends for the whole of 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.

Robert Jefferson
Rowley and his father both have a very good relationship, as implied in Dog Days. As they are shown to play sports together and do a wide variety of 'father-to-son' activities.

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 sad happy face.

Interests
Rowley has strange interests, for his age and gender. Rowley is hooked into a European singer, Joshie, which Greg stated was for 6 year old girls. Rowley has said in the first book that he likes a single-panel comic, "Li'l Cutie." In Dog Days, it is shown that Rowley actually doesn't like video games.

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.