Phillip Kiriakis
Philip Kiriakis is the product of a very interesting love triangle involving Victor Kiriakis, Kate Roberts, and Vivian Alamain. Technically, Vivian gave birth to Philip; she stole Victor and Kate's fertilized embryo and had it implanted in her womb. Kate, however, is Philip's biological mother. Both women attempted to raise Philip and fought for Victor's love, with Kate finally winning that battle.Philip spent much of his childhood outside of Salem but returned to be spoiled by both Vivian and Kate. He developed a slight gambling problem and was forced to enlist his family's help to repay his debts. Victor adamantly refused to "rescue" his son but when he showed up late and severely beaten by a debt collector, Victor used his influence and power to save his son and get revenge on his attackers. Later, Victor forced Philip to work to pay off his debt.
Victor forced Philip to work to pay off his debt.
In school, Philip made his presence known among his classmates. He butted heads with Shawn Brady over the attention of Salem's beautiful young teenagers. Philip used his gambling ways to assure that Belle Black would end up at the school dance without a date so that he could make his move. Then, new arrival Chloe Lane caught his attention. At first, Philip partook in ridiculing Chloe for her eccentric behavior and dress. In time, however, he began to fall for her. And he fell for her hard. However, his uncontrollable jealousy finally split them up and kept them apart.
When Jan and Mimi's terrible prank at Last Blast 2001 made it look like Chloe was involved in internet pornography, Philip railed against her and she saw a side of him she didn't like. He went away for the summer on the Salem High trip to Puerto Rico -- where he almost died while jewel-hunting with Shawn and Belle -- and she got closer to Brady Black. Philip spent the school year trying to win her back, even going so far as to date the vixen Cynthia in a futile attempt to make Chloe jealous. Then at the Last Blast 2002, it looked as if Chloe might've finally found it in her heart to forgive him, right before she passed out. Philip rushed her to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with leukemia.
Philip rushed her to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with leukemia.
As Chloe went through treatment for her disease, Philip tried to make her feel better by taking her mind off of her illness, while Brady was more realistic. They argued about Chloe, finally deciding it was better to work together to try to make her feel better. Eventually, Philip seemed to have won Chloe's heart by his romantic gestures. He even postponed enrolling at Columbia to spend more time with her, but kept this from his parents. Then he managed to convince Chloe to go away with him on a whirlwind trip to New York. As he was going to pick her up, however, Brady came back in the picture. He stopped by Chloe's house to tell her he was also going away -- to find her biological father, who he had located in the witness protection program. Chloe decided to go with him, instead of with Philip. But, Philip would have none of it. He got his father's henchman, Nico, to track down Brady and Chloe then he trailed them to Dry Creek, South Dakota. Here, he busted in on them in the clinic where Chloe's father worked. He and Brady fought and Chloe accidentally said her father's real name. He overheard it and took off. Philip ended up bribing the sheriff to arrest Brady then bribed the clerk at the hotel to deliver notes that looked like they were from Brady, so Chloe wouldn't worry. Chloe did worry, though, and insisted on going to the police station on the way out of town. Here, they found Brady. Eventually, the truth came out and Chloe told Philip it was over.
He and Brady fought and Chloe accidentally said her father's real name.
A distraught Philip returned to Salem while Chloe and Brady remained in Dry Creek. By this time, his father had found out about him deferring enrollment and kicked him out of the house. His mother refused to take him in and he ended up staying with Belle at her dorm. Through Belle and Mimi, he was convinced to stop trying to manipulate Chloe. He got a job at DotCom and moved in with his brother Lucas. He tried to get his life back on track, even taking a class at Salem University, but eventually realized the only way he could truly turn his life around was by leaving town. He did just that, joining the Marines, but he recently made a surprising return to Salem as the masked man on the reality TV dating show, Love is Blind.
Although he said he was in the Marines, it was clear to everyone that Philip was up to something different. In fact, he was working with John Black in the ISA on a mysterious mission. Unfortunately, both Belle and Shawn became involved, making him look bad to his superiors, and he was bumped back to being a regular Marine. He planned on getting his job back, though, by proving himself through getting the dirt on what Rex was really up to. He teamed up with Shawn and Belle to work on this, which only put him in danger of getting too close to the woman he secretly loved. They got into some sticky situations together, but ultimately didn't come any closer to the truth about Rex.
When the Salem Stalker started killing off Salem's residents, Philip believed, like Shawn, that Rex was likely responsible. Philip's father was eventually killed, but not by the Stalker. His own wife, Nicole, pulled that one off. Philip was suspicious of Nicole, but no evidence could be found against her. When the identity of the Stalker was revealed to be Marlena, Philip was there to support Belle, especially after Shawn vanished.
Philip finally admitted to Belle that she was his "mystery" woman. She was shocked, but Philip continued to romance her. Her heart, however, still belonged to Shawn. Until he returned a changed man. When it was clear that Shawn wanted nothing more to do with her, she agreed to move on with Philip. His dreams came true when they made love for the first time. It wasn't long before Philip proposed and a somewhat reluctant Belle accepted his proposal.
Kate was eager for Philip and Belle to tie the knot, especially when it became clear that he was going to be shipping out with his Marine unit at any moment. They planned an elaborate, if last minute, wedding. Little did Philip know that Belle's heart still belonged to Shawn. For his part, Shawn didn't realize it until it was too late; he crashed his motorcycle through the stained glass window at the church, very nearly killing himself and Belle in the process. And he didn't even stop the wedding. The very next day, Philip shipped out with his unit. He felt secure in his love for Belle and was ready to go out and fight for his country. In fact, he accepted a dangerous mission so that he could try to get back home sooner. Unfortunately, he was taken hostage on that mission. Back home, Belle was devastated; no one knew his real captor was Tony DiMera. Shawn organized a rescue mission and together he, Rex, Lucas and Brady rescued Philip. Instead of returning to Salem, though, Philip rejoined his unit. He was caught by a landmine and seriously injured. Belle, Kate and John Black flew to Germany, where Philip had been flown for surgery. Belle had to break the news to him that he had lost part of one of his legs. Shawn also arrived and her two paramours told Belle she had to choose between them; Belle chose Philip. They all returned to Salem. Once back in Salem, Philip began the arduous process of recovery. He was helped along when he learned that Belle was pregnant. He was thrilled; she was a little less so. Her feelings for Shawn had not gone away. Still, they were both delighted to welcome their daughter Claire, who arrived rather abruptly during a wedding ceremony. Belle suffered from severe post-partum depression and Philip helped her as much as he could. When Claire was only a few months old, she became seriously ill. They almost lost their baby, but when Zack Brady was killed, his liver saved their daughter's life. No one wondered at the time why he was a perfect match. Kate and Bonnie figured it out and Mimi soon knew, as well; Philip isn't Claire's father, Shawn is. Much to Belle and Kate's chagrin, Philip decided that he wanted to be the first amputee to drive a racecar. Around this same time, he and Belle also decided to have another child. When they couldn't get pregnant, some tests were run and it was discovered he had 'slow' sperm. They decided to go the in vitro route, as did Shawn and Mimi. Unfortunately, they mysterious gloved hand had other ideas and played around with the Petri dishes. Belle ended up pregnant with Shawn's baby and Mimi's surrogate with Philip's. When Belle refused to even consider an abortion, Philip was outraged. In a fit of anger, he went to the track, 'borrowed' Max's car and ended up in a terrible accident. He wasn't seriously injured, but, especially after overhearing Shawn tell Belle he loved her, he knew he had to fight for his wife. Upon Mimi's urging, the two couples sat down to discuss custody arrangements. Both Mimi and Philip thought it was a great idea; Shawn and Belle, not so much. Shawn and Philip ended up at Brady's Pub in a drinking contest. Shawn ended up in the hospital with alcohol poisoning; while he was there, someone (Chelsea) left a file in his room that told the truth about Claire's father. Everyone read it, but no one believed it.Philip thought that whoever had messed with their in vitro process had also done this and he was determined to get to the bottom of it. A DNA test proved that in fact, Shawn was Claire's father.
Caught in the middle was Belle, who was carrying – thanks to the gloved hand – Shawn's baby. Belle became gravely ill, and Philip had to make the horrible decision to have the pregnancy terminated to save Belle's life. Belle was devastated, and told Philip she was not sure that they had a future together. Philip also learned that both Kate and Victor had known Claire's true paternity all along. After paying off the surrogate who was carrying his baby with Mimi, a broken Philip left Salem and reenlisted.
Philip was seriously injured in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan, and Victor secretly arranged to have a plastic surgeon do a face transplant to repair the damage. Victor hid Philip in his mansion while he recovered, and snuck Claire in for visits. When Philip was well enough, he made his presence known in Salem by suing for full custody of Claire – and winning! Desperate, Shawn and Belle kidnap Claire and go on the run.
Philip and Victor tracked Shawn and Belle around the globe, finally finding them on a remote island. Philip managed to take Belle and Claire and headed back to Salem by boat. Shawn caught up with him, but they were forced to put their differences aside when a storm hit. The ship was rescued, but poor little Claire had been lost at sea. An exhaustive search turned up nothing, and the trio feared the girl was dead. However, after returning to Salem, they learned she had been rescued, but the rescuer was passing Claire off as her own child. At long last, Shawn, Belle and Philip catch up to her and are reunited. In exchange for Philip relinquishing custody, Belle agreed to let him visit with Claire. Though Philip did so, he was hurt when he realized the little girl now called Shawn "Daddy."
It turned out that Philip did have a child of his own, however. The surrogate who had been carrying Philip and Mimi's child had not gotten an abortion as she was paid to do. Once Philip learned this, he went on a mission to find the boy, and Belle – feeling sorry for Philip – was right by his side. Though Philip eventually found Tyler, he ended up allowing the baby to be adopted by a loving couple so he could have a stable home life.
Throughout the ordeal, Philip and Belle had grown closer. They had officially divorced and Belle planned to marry Shawn. Philip was not ready to give her up so quickly, and pursued her despite her protests. They finally gave into their attraction and made love a few days before her wedding to Shawn. Belle regretted it immediately after and swore it would never happen again, but Philip was not swayed, even after Belle took her vows.
Chloe returned to Salem just in time for the group's high school reunion and immediately suspected that all was not picture-perfect amongst her old friends. She pushed Philip for information, but he instead quizzed her about her apparently failed marriage to Brady. Chloe admitted that Brady was missing and she was a suspect. She offered to sleep with Philip in exchange for his help, but – still in love with Belle – offered his help with no strings.
Finally, Belle confessed to Shawn, who immediately left her. Philip saw his chance, but Belle was determined to win Shawn's forgiveness. As the mystery of Brady's disappearance grew, Claire was kidnapped again – this time, by Crystal, a psychic who claimed she was trying to protect the little girl from the danger that got Brady. Shawn, Belle and Philip – this time with Chloe's help – banded together and traveled to Ireland, where they were reunited with Claire. Brady, though, was nowhere to be found.
The group joined other Salemites on John Black's jet to go back home, but the plane crashed. At the crash site, Philip and Chloe grew closer and almost made love. However, they both resisted their desire, as Chloe was still a married woman and Philip did not want to make that mistake again.
After everyone was settled back in Salem, Victor named Philip his successor at the Kiriakis shipping business. Now Philip is locked in a battle over control of the docks with John Black, who has been ruthless since his takeover of the DiMera fortune. How far will Philip go to protect his family business? And now that Belle has left town with Shawn, is there another woman who will win his heart?