| “ | You bullied me for years, Adam. You made me feel unsafe for years. You were one of the main reasons I wasn't kind to myself. And I'm supposed to believe you've suddenly changed? You're full of shame man, and I can't be in that place anymore. I've had to work really hard to love myself, and I won't go back to hiding things about me again. | ” |
| — Eric to Adam[src] |
Eric Kwabena Effiong is one of the main characters in Sex Education. He is portrayed by Ncuti Gatwa. He is the best friend of Otis Milburn, who develops feelings for his bully, Adam Groff.
In season 1, Eric is introduced as one of the few gay students at his school, who has a crush on Anwar, one of the most popular students and a member of The Untouchables clique. Eric also encourages Otis to start a sex clinic with Maeve, as this can help them to gain popularity and finally stop being losers. Furthermore, Eric comes from a very religious Nigerian-Ghanaian family and is bullied by Adam, on whom he eventually develops a crush after Adam gives him a blowjob during a detention. Sadly, shortly after that Adam leaves for a military school, which prevents the two from getting together.
In season 2, Eric starts seeing Rahim, a new French student at his school. When Adam comes back from military school and starts taking Eric for night walks, it makes Eric hesitant about his feelings for Rahim, eventually dumping Rahim for Adam, after the latter interrupted the school play and confessed his feelings for Eric in front of the whole school.
Eric keeps dating Adam in season 3, still developing their relationship; the two start going out more or have sex for the first time. Despite that, Adam's still struggling with telling his mother about being gay, which starts to annoy Eric. Eric and his family are also going to Nigeria for their relative's wedding, during which Eric meets a photographer called Oba with whom he shares a passionate kiss, thereby cheating on Adam. After coming back home, Eric tells Adam about the kiss, which eventually leads to their breakup. To make things worse, Eric also needs to find himself a new school, as Moordale Secondary is set to be closed.
In season 4 Eric starts attending Cavendish College, where he befriends a group of popular kids called The Coven. At his mother's insistence, he also attends baptism classes at his church. Eventually, during the baptism ceremony, he stands up and tells everyone present there about his sexuality, not wanting to hide anything about himself anymore. Eric also has visions during which he speaks with God, who shows him his destiny; Eric decides to become a pastor, finally finding himself.
Early Life[]
Eric grew up in a very religious, African Christian household with his parents and several sisters. He came out to his family when he was 13. He stopped believing in God, but rediscovered his Christian faith and African roots after he was assaulted, and became a regular churchgoer again, even after Rahim criticised his religion due to his own experience with religion.
Four years before the series, Eric was playing the French horn during school assembly and got an erection in front of everybody. After that, many students, and especially, Adam, started to call him "Tromboner", which according to Eric, doesn't even make sense, as he plays French horn, not a trombone.
Throughout the Series[]
Season 1[]
In season 1, Eric is Otis' right-hand man. They do everything together. Eric gets bullied and beat up continuously by Adam, until the two of them are in detention together and Adam gives Eric a blow job. They start to secretly hook up until Adam is sent to military school.
After joining Swing Band, Lily Iglehart comes over to his house, under the assumption that he'll have sex with her. After the shock wears off and Eric tells her he's gay, they have a make-over and watch gay porn. His father catches them and tells Lily to leave.
Eric also had a crush on Anwar but this wasn’t reciprocated.
Season 2[]
In season 2, Eric starts dating Rahim - a new French kid at school. They become boyfriends and even say "I Love You", but secretly Eric still has feelings for Adam. Eric even sees Adam late at nights to smash things but he turns Adam down eventually telling him that he can't like someone who doesn't like themselves. Adam eventually makes a big public display of affection to prove to Eric his love and the two get together.
Eric also plays in the swing band throughout this season.
Season 3[]
In season 3, Eric is happily dating Adam. They even go on a double date with Otis and Ruby. Eric pushes Adam to open up more. Eric's family decides to go to Nigeria for a wedding. There, Eric is not allowed to talk about being gay and has to hide it from his grandma and extended family, which upsets him. However, he's still excited to bond with his family members.
In Nigeria, Eric meets a photographer who tells him that there are others like him. They go to a secret gay club and have a passionate make out. Eric seems torn between Oba and Adam when he returns. Eventually, he tells Adam what happened with Oba but says that he doesn't necessarily regret it. He tells Adam he wants to "fly" now that he's out of the closet. They break up.
At the end of the season, Eric comforts his best friend Otis at the hospital after his mom had surgery.
Season 4[]
Alongside some other former Moordale Secondary students, Eric starts attending a new school called Cavendish College. After breaking up with Adam, he'd been on a couple of dating apps, but nothing worked out of it. At the new school, Eric befriended Abbi, Roman and Aisha, commonly known as the Coven. Encouraged by his mother to be baptized like his sisters, he also starts going to the bapitsm classes at his church. During the baptism ceremony, Eric decides not to hide himself anymore and comes out in front of his church community. Despite this the pastor and the rest of the church community accept Eric and want him to remain part of them.
Eric also bonds with his new friends, especially with Abbi, who was also religious but after her transition was forced to stopped going to church. On the other hand Eric also had an argument with Otis, who accused him of caring only about his new friends and Eric recalled every moment when Otis stood him up for Maeve. After all they made up and went playing Smash Bros to Eric's house.
Relationships[]
Romances[]
Adedeyo (hook-up)[]
Eric met Adedeyo for the first time in one of the baptizm classes the two were attending. A couple of days later they met once again; at the queer party, during which they hooked up.
Oba (kissed)[]
- Main article: Eric and Oba
Oba is a guy Eric met during a wedding in Nigeria. During the wedding, they have a little chat during which Oba invities Eric to a party. After the moment of hesitation, Eric decides to go with a stranger photographer. While being at a party, they share their first kiss, ending up sleeping in one bed. After this incident the two lost touch and never met again.
Adam Groff (ex-boyfriend; former enemy)[]
- Main article: Adam and Eric
Adam is Eric's bully, crush, and crusher. Throughout the first season, Adam bullies him, most of their altercations being physical. In the season finale, Adam kisses him and later gives him a blowjob. After that, they show a clear mutual attraction, but their fate is uncertain, as Adam leaves Moordale and goes to military school.
Throughout the second season, they're going for walks to a junkyard, where they smash stuff. Eric ends up cheating on Rahim (a boy he's dating at the moment), sharing kisses with Adam. The two slowly fall for each other, and Adam realizes that he needs to tell Eric how he feels about him. He interrupts the school play, calling out Eric's name, asking him to be his boyfriend in front of whole school. Eric's very impressed with Adam's behavior and after a minute of hesitating, he agrees.
In the new term, the two are enjoying their relationship, because of which other students make laugh at Adam. While Adam's still not ready to tell his mother about being gay. Adam starts to get jealous of Rahim, which annoys Eric. When Eric's away in Nigeria, he kisses another guy, cheating on Adam. In season 3 finale, Eric breaks up with Adam, explaining that they're on completely different pages.
Despite the breakup, Adam still had strong feelings for Eric, as he looked at their mutual photos everyday, missing Eric so badly. Eventually, Adam and Eric met again at the funeral of Erin Wiley, during which Adam asked Eric when he became fully comfortable with himself after coming out as gay. The two shared a hug as for goodbye. After the reunion, Adam started losing feelings for Eric and started perceiving him rather as someone he should be taking example from when it comes to being proud of himself.
Rahim Harrak (ex-boyfriend)[]
- Main article: Eric and Rahim
Rahim is Eric's ex-boyfriend. Rahim liked Eric since their first talk. He was often complimented Eric's outfits, finally deciding to ask him out. During their first date Rahim kisses Eric, later going to Rahim's, so Rahim can show Eric his place. There, Eric meets Adam, whom he hasn't seen for a couple of months. Eric fleds. Eric starts to go for night walks with Adam, starting to be confused about his feelings and who he wants to be with.
Eventually, after Adam let Eric down, Eric decides to give it a go with Rahim, finally becoming a couple. The two enjoy their relationship; Rahim, despite being an atheist, even goes to church alongside Eric and his family. The two declare love to each other, but Rahim's still unsure about Adam, who wants to steal Eric away from him.
During the school play, Adam runs onto the stage, where he declares his love for Eric. Eric, after a moment of hesitating, decides to dump Rahim and agrees to be with Adam.
In next term, Rahim is still upset about his break up with Eric, but with time he gets over it, and even befriends Adam.
Anwar Bakshi (former unrequited crush)[]
- Main article: Anwar and Eric
Eric used to have a crush on Anwar. With time, Anwar started to make laugh at Eric, which ended up with Eric punching him in face. Eventually, Eric apologizes to Anwar, hoping the situation didn't ruin their chances of being together, but Anwar responds that pretty boys like him are definitely not Eric's type. Between seasons 1 & 2, Eric lost his interest in Anwar.
Family[]
Abeo Effiong (father)[]
At the beginning of the first season, Abeo doesn't like the way Eric behaves and dresses. He thinks that his son should be like a real man. Everything changes after Eric was beaten up by some homophobe and was suspended at school. Then, Abeo convinces that he is proud of Eric and of how brave he is to manifest himself.
Beatrice Effiong (mother)[]
Beatrice is very caring about Eric. She supports him all the time and is proud of him. When Eric starts dating Rahim, she doesn't seem to like it, saying that Eric behaved like someone else when he was around him. She was also present at the school play in season 2 finale, watching when Adam was declaring his love for Eric on the stage. When she finally got to meet Eric's new boyfriend, she was impressed with what Adam did and congratulated him.
A couple months later, Eric, Beatrice and Eric's sisters went to Nigeria for their cousin's wedding. There, Eric wanted to wear some make-up, but was forbidden by Beatrice, who knew that doing that in Nigeria by a man is dangerous.
Beatrice also encouraged Eric to get bapitzed like the rest of their family, which he eventually agreed to. During the baptism ceremony he came out in front of his church community and was supported by his mother, who admitted that she was proud of him.
Friends[]
Otis Milburn (best friend)[]
Otis is Eric's best friend. They have been friends since they were 9. They turn to each other for advice on most matters. Despite having a brief fallout after ditching Eric on his birthday, their friendship remains strong.
Otis was trying to convince Eric that he shouldn't date Adam, because of the fact that Adam was bullying Eric in the past. With time, Otis finally accepts Adam as Eric's boyfriend.
Eric was supporting Otis after he was worrying about Jean after she had a baby. Some time later both of them started attending Cavendish College and kind of drifted apart, as Eric started spending more and more time with his new friends and left Otis behind, who was busy with setting up his new clinic. The two had an argument over it, during which Eric reminded Otis about all the times he stood him up for Maeve. Eventually the two made up and Otis was the first person to know that Eric wanted to become a pastor. They later go to Eric's house and play Smash Bros, like they used to.
Abbi Montgomery (best friend)[]
Abbi is Eric's best friend and a fellow member of the Coven. Abbi and Eric met after Eric and several other former Moordale Secondary students started attending Cavendish. The two quickly developed a bond, as both of them were very religious. Abbi was also keen on the idea of raising money for Eric's church, which was doomed to be closed. Abbi also made Eric an official member of the Coven, often hanging out with all of them.
Roman (friend)[]
Roman is Eric's friend and a fellow member of the Coven. The two met after Eric started attending Cavendish College and Roman, Abbi and Aisha were extremely nice towards him and let him into their group.
Aisha Green (friend)[]
Aisha is Eric's friend and a fellow member of the Coven. The two met after Eric started attending Cavendish College and Aisha, Abbi and Roman were extremely nice towards him and let him into their group.
Lily Iglehart (friend)[]
Lily is Eric's friend. The two are in Swing band together. Lily was the one vote that allowed Eric to join swing band. The two went to Eric's house to rehearse, during which Lily wanted to have sex with Eric, but Eric revealed that he was gay. The two played dress-up and watched porn on Eric's laptop until they were interrupted by Eric's father, Abeo. The two often had Swing Band rehearsals together, druing which they were sitting beside each other.
Maeve Wiley (friend)[]
Eric seems to look up to Maeve, as he was very excited about her when Otis started sex therapy business with her. Eric is also a huge fan of Maeve and Otis' relationship. When Otis' having a small gathering at his house, Eric decides to invite Maeve there, knowing that Otis would be happy if she came.
When Maeve comes to Otis' to inform him about her leave to America, she also says goodbye to Eric. After a couple of months, Eric attends the funeral of Maeve's mother, showing her his support.
Aimee Gibbs (friend)[]
Aimee is Eric's friend. The two were close when they started attending Cavendish College together. Eric and Aimee are also deemed as the biggest supporters of Otis and Maeve's relationship.
Ola Nyman (friend)[]
Ola and Eric met via Otis, who was dating Ola and was best friends with Eric. Eric quickly befriended Ola, often hanging out with her and Otis.
Cal Bowman (friend)[]
Despite going to the same school earlier, Eric and Cal met while attending Cavendish, thanks to mutual friends. The two were going to parties together and were supporting one another. Eric is also the one who finds Cal after they go missing.
Personality[]
Eric is a loud, fun and bright personality. Considering how outgoing he is, he can often seem shameless, but as much as he wants to fit in, he does not care what people think of him.
Physical Appearance[]
Since Eric uses his clothing and fashion sense to express himself, his wardrobe is full of vibrant, colorful, and eccentric shirts, pants, and blazers of contrasting designs. His accessories include scarves and patterned socks.
After getting assaulted, he temporarily wears more conservative clothes to "fit in", and avoid being attacked. He also started wearing his cross necklace again.
Thanks to helping passer-through, Eric reverted to his old style, braiding more elements from his culture, and by listening to advice from passer-through, his makeup has more gemstone tones and glittery accents. Makeup also became a frequent element of his outfits.
Appearances[]
| Episodes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Total | |
| One | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | 8 | |
| Two | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | 8 | |
| Three | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | 8 | |
| Four | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | 8 | |
| Total | 32 | |||||||||
| Books | ||||||||||
| Sex Education: The Road Trip | Sex Education: A Guide to Life | |||||||||
| ✔ | M | |||||||||
| ✔ = Appeared | M = Mentioned | |||||||||
| - = Did not appear | P = Pictured | |||||||||
Memorable Quotes[]
| “ | She’s the best kind of cool, because no one in this place even knows it yet. | ” |
| — Eric about Maeve[src] |
| “ | Was it ALS challenge or just your basic dick sneeze? | ” |
| — Eric to Otis[src] |
| “ | Look, I'll be hurt either way. Isn't it better to be who I am? | ” |
| — Eric to Abeo[src] |
| “ | Was it the chlamydia or Jackson that gave you a hard-on? | ” |
| — Eric to Otis after he got an erection[src] |
| “ | You should wash your hands, you detty pig! | ” |
| — Eric to Owen[src] |
| “ | Well, it's kind of hard to like someone who doesn't like themselves. | ” |
| — Eric to Adam[src] |
Trivia[]
- Eric used to sing in church choir, but with time he realized he couldn't sing and gave it up.
- Eric loves The Origin of Love song, just like the movie it comes from, The Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
- Eric's a Virgo.
Gallery[]
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Sex Education Wiki has a collection of images and media related to Eric Effiong. |
Promotional Images[]
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.jpg "Sex Education Season 1 Promo Photos (18).jpg (86 KB)")
.jpg "Sex Education Season 2 Promo Photos (5).jpg (3.37 MB)")
.jpg "Sex Education Season 2 Promo Photos (10).jpg (1.41 MB)")
.jpg "Sex Education Season 2 Promo Photos (16).jpg (6.26 MB)")
.jpg "Sex Education Season 2 Promo Photos (28).jpg (120 KB)")
Episodic[]
References[]
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