House was raised by a Marine sergeant, likely moving often and unable to put down roots or make friends. He would have spent a lot of time alone, possibly reading or experimenting with materials in his surroundings. There is a strong canon argument for abuse by his father's hand, making Greg both stronger and weaker in the process. He learned to rely on himself, creating a wall that few can penetrate. When he loves, he loves hard, though his love is misguided and often more hurtful than comforting.

It is very likely House has only loved one woman, they were together for about five years. During that time, House suffered an infarction in his right thigh. Doctors make the worst patients, and by then House already had a reputation for being a jerk, and he had a hard time getting anyone to listen to him in the ER. He eventually realised what was happening, but by then his thigh had been compromised. His lover, Stacy, authorized amputation; House did not want any sort of surgery, and though she saved his life, he pushed her out of his life in retaliation.

Even as a child, Greg exhibited extreme intelligence, and a thirst for knowledge and meaning. He always felt everyone else was beneath him, in that regard, and he was something of a loner. He had few friends, though everyone wanted to be his friend. He aced tests in school, even med school, without much studying. He was not only book smart, he had common sense, and he was athletic. He needed to stay active, always doing something. he couldn't handle sitting still for too long; often becoming restless and then self destructive.

He always knew he wanted to be a doctor. For one, it was the only career he thought might actually challenge him. He quickly built a reputation for being a smart ass, and was kicked out of several medical colleges before finally graduating from the University Of Michigan. It didn't take him long to make a reputation for himself, brash and crass, cranky and irritable, he had little tolerance for patients, but he tended to solve their medical mysteries and give them treatments that worked.

And then he started feeling tired. And things went from bad to worse and after getting kicked out of the ER twice, he finally realised what was happening to himself, and by then it was almost too late. He had suffered an infarction in his right thigh, and while doctors wanted to amputate, Greg was adamant about riding it out, even if it killed him. He opted for a chemically induced coma, to try and get through the worst of it, and while he was out of commission, his girlfriend, by proxy, authorised amputation of the leg. Greg was not happy, and he deliberately pushed her out of his life.

He latched on to his best friend, Dr James Wilson. Wilson helped him through those first days and weeks and even months. Wilson bullied him into therapy to learn to walk with a prosthetic. He took permanent disability, rather than go back to work. He would spend his time working puzzles (jig saw, crossword, suduko, whatever he could find) and ghost doctoring on Wilson's cases.