Angus MacGyver Traditional Cache

MacGyver was against guns, smoking, drugs, and drinking. All in all, MacGyver is a great show that provides plenty of action and entertainment, actual useful knowledge, and a positive role model who portrays good morals. He also was one of the most caring heroes on TV who took time to help others just because they needed help. He really had genuine compassion and kindness towards others. He shook his hand after punching someone. It really showed a human side to him, that it's okay to say "ow" when you hurt. He was definitely a cool hero.

MacGyver's main asset is his practical application of scientific knowledge and inventive use of common items—along with his ever-present Swiss Army knife and duct tape and the usual coincidence of being locked up in a room full of useful materials. The clever solutions MacGyver implemented to seemingly intractable problems—often in life-or-death situations requiring him to improvise complex devices in a matter of minutes—were a major attraction of the show, which was praised for generating interest in engineering[1] as well as providing entertaining storylines. All of MacGyver's exploits on the show were ostensibly vetted to be based on real scientific principles (even though, the creators acknowledged, in real life one would have to be extraordinarily lucky for most of MacGyver's ideas to succeed). In the few cases where MacGyver used household chemicals to create poisons or explosives or other things deemed dangerous to describe accurately on television, details were intentionally altered or vague.

Angus MacGyver is a highly intelligent, optimistic action hero who prefers non-violent conflict resolution wherever possible. He refuses to carry or use a gun due to a childhood accident with a revolver that resulted in the death of a friend. The character is portrayed as an outspoken advocate of gun control. Even in cases where his improvised devices are used to attack hostile opponents, he is always doing so in self-defense and, if possible, subduing or disabling rather than killing. He is often suspicious of militaristic attitudes within the government; he sees his Phoenix Foundation employer as an alternative to the more conventional (and violent) means of law enforcement.

He was born and raised in Minnesota on either January 23, 1951 (per his passport in "Everytime She Smiles") or March 23, 1951 (by working back from dates given in the episodes "Thin Ice", Passages, Friends, Runners, and "Phoenix Under Siege"). His Minnesota heritage explains why he speaks with a Minnesota accent. (Richard Dean Anderson himself was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota.) MacGyver lived his childhood in Mission City. Like Anderson, MacGyver was an avid hockey player as a child, and competed in his local hockey league, continuing to play the game as an adult. He graduated from Alexander Ramsey High School in Roseville, Minnesota. His character is a graduate of the fictitious Western Tech where he earned a degree in physics.

MacGyver's first name remained a mystery until the final season; whenever he's asked about it, he says he dislikes his first name and changes the subject. Consequently, most of his friends and colleagues call him by his last name or simply "Mac." The script for the series pilot gave MacGyver's first name as "Stace", but this information did not appear in the finished episode, although it was mentioned in promotional material for the series. His first name was finally officially revealed in "Good Knight, MacGyver", in which he learns of a 7th century Scottish ancestor, Angus M'Iver, and admits that they share their first name; and repeated in the series finale, which introduces MacGyver's son, whose middle name is Angus.