One The Office Fan Has a Theory About Why Michael Scott Hates Toby Flenderson

NBC's hit workplace comedy The Office has spawned its fair share of fan theories, including one that suggests Michael Scott was actually a genius and another which teases the idea that Dunder Mifflin employees' often off-the-wall antics were due to the fact that they were all suffering from radon poisoning.

One wild theory, proposed by Redditor Athena_Nikephoros, aims to get to the bottom of Michael Scott's deep hatred of Toby Flenderson. In many episodes, the Dunder Mifflin manager doesn't shy away from making degrading comments against Toby. And who could forget Michael's less-than-warm welcome when the HR manager returned from Costa Rica?

Seeing how Michael's antics would have gotten him fired many times over in a real-world office environment, it seems odd that Toby never took action against Michael. But as reported by Screen Rant, one fan theory suggests that his contempt stems from a childhood trauma.

While we don't know much about Michael Scott's early life, we do know that he had a stepdad named Jeff, so the theory partially stems from the idea that perhaps he resents his biological father for divorcing his mom. Michael speaks about his issues with his real father during a mandatory counseling session with Toby. Since the HR rep is divorced, it's possible that Michael transferred his hatred for his own father to Toby, who is just an unlucky receiver of Michael's pent-up resentment.

The theory suggests that because Michael desperately longs for a family of his own, he may harbor ill feelings toward Toby for not being able to make it work with his own family.

"Michael has no sense of subtlety or nuance, and so doesn't see that Toby is a far better father and human being than his own dad," the Redditor writes.

Michael isn't the only one who distrusts the no-nonsense HR rep; some fans think Toby is actually the Scranton Strangler.

[h/t Screen Rant]