TBBT Sheldon’s Character Growth Is His Alienated Friend’s Unexpected Influence

Having come to its end several weeks ago, The Big Bang Theory ’s prequel Young Sheldon finished what the original show couldn’t handle, providing a huge update on adult Sheldon Cooper’s life years after his storyline was let go.

Proving that things just couldn’t be better for the character still living his happy life with Amy and their two kids, the franchise made it clear that, despite his stubborn nature that rarely tolerated any significant changes, Sheldon still got a proper development leaving all his childish quirkiness behind and becoming an earnest family man.

Ironically, he owes such an incentive for personal growth to his friend he disliked the most.

Of all the original characters that have made Sheldon’s close surroundings since The Big Bang Theory season 1, Howard Wolowitz, invariably portrayed by Simon Helberg throughout the whole show, has always been the one to get the heat from his often annoying friend.

The character, who initially started as an engineer in CalTech and eventually became an astronaut, was constantly mocked by Sheldon who never even made an intention to hide his real thoughts saying that engineers didn’t deserve to be called scientists and therefore kept depreciating Howard’s achievements even when the latter became the first of the group to ever go to space.

Despite that, Howard still had no change of attitude towards Sheldon and never tried to return the favor just because he truly valued Sheldon’s presence in his life, however annoying it would often seem.

The Big Bang Theory eventually made it up to Howard when his personal big change had a major impact on Sheldon’s opinion about him that consequently made the show’s quirky character reconsider his life too.

Initially presented as a luckless womanizer with an endless stock of smutty jokes thrown at everyone around on a daily basis, Howard turns into a completely different person when he’s introduced to his future wife, Bernadette.

The path that Howard eventually takes, leaving his sleazy nature behind and becoming a loyal husband and loving father, is also something that Sheldon later found reasonable to follow. Young Sheldon’s finale thus serves as proof that Howard’s changed lifestyle became an incentive for Sheldon to finally grow up and dedicate himself to grown-up things like his family.