as a child, christopher is a charming, and gentle-hearted young boy with an extended and confusing family. "...[d]espite his tangled start in life, he grew up with the ewing name." for christopher, it is always "family first," much like his adoptive father bobby ewing. he also possesses a strong sense of morality. he wants to protect his family, and make his family, and his adoptive father proud. because he is written as a "the hero," of the series, christopher is always very conflicted. "it's not easy to make the virtuous choice," said metcalfe. though christopher has grown up trying to emulate his adoptive father, "his ambitions are pushing him to succeed, sometimes my any means necessary." metcalfe said, "christopher is a chip off the old block," referencing the character's similarities to bobby. christopher has a strong sense of ethic. but unlike bobby, christopher has personal issues that make him much more "volatile," and a bit hot headed. metcalfe agreed with curt wagner's observation of christopher as wanting to live up the standard set by bobby, but being more of a realist, and knowing that good guys usually finish last. christopher spends a lot of time on the verge of abandoning his upstanding tactics. christopher is also very "brainy" and "intelligent" metcalfe revealed to "craveonline". of his alter ego, in addition to maintaining his smarts, metcalfe said christopher should be "a step ahead. i think in the past that was possibly the problem with bobby; is that he always seemed to be a step behind. i want christopher to have learned from his father's mistakes. i want christopher to have learned from history there and to maybe be a smarter version of his father, and also one there's a little more grey area with christopher." christopher is not completely defined by his morality, but at "his core he's a very moral and ethical guy," said metcalfe. however, christopher is willing to play dirty if it will help his family.