After months of ongoing speculation, Family Guy finally killed off one of its main characters in last night’s episode of the hit animated series.

The Griffin’s dog Brian (voiced by creator Seth McFarlane) was the character to depart as he was hit by a car and killed.

Stewie Griffin could have saved his canine companion by using his time machine but he had dismantled it earlier in the episode which was entitled ‘Life of Brian‘.

Following emotional scenes of the Griffin family bidding farewell to their dog, they ended up replacing him with a new pet named Vinny (voiced by The Sopranos actor Tony Sirico).

At first, Stewie couldn’t accept Vinny but was won over by the rugged canine’s sympathetic support with the episode ending with the pair sleeping in the same room.

Originally, fans had predicted that ridiculed Griffin child Meg (voiced by Mila Kunis) would be killed off but executive producer Steve Callaghan revealed that Brian’s death had been done to try and shake things up for the show.

“Well, this was an idea that got pitched in the writers room and it sort of caught fire, and we thought it could be a fun way to shake things up. As soon as this idea came up, we started talking about what the next couple episodes could be and we got very excited about the way this change will affect the family dynamics and the characters. It seemed more in the realm of reality that a dog would get hit by a car, than if one of the kids died. As much as we love Brian, and as much as everyone loves their pets, we felt it would be more traumatic to lose one of the kids, rather than the family pet.”

Future episodes of the show have hinted that Brian could yet return a’la Kenny in South Park but Callaghan has admited that he does not fear a backlash from fans.

“I’m not, only because our fans are smart enough and have been loyal to our show for long enough, to know that they can trust us. We always make choices that always work to the greatest benefit of the series.”

The ballsy decision has already been discussed heavily by fans with some pleased to see Brian leave given his constant gripes with politics.

However it would appear to be the end of an era for one of television’s most iconic animals. Vinny has a lot to live up to!