History Literature / Fudge

* ThisIsReality: A sobering one at the end of ''Tales Of A Fourth Grade Nothing''. Peter, despite himself, keeps asking if Dribble is going to be okay after [[spoiler:Fudge swallows his turtle. Dr. Cone is solemn when telling him gently, no, by saying maybe he should get a new turtle instead of hoping. Later, Dribble comes out of Fudge, and Muriel confirms what Dr. Cone said]].

** For readers annoyed by how Anne and Warren Hatcher handled Fudge's misbehavior, this starts coming to a head in ''Double Fudge.'' By this point, Fudge is smart, but still too young for first grade, so he's in what's called 'mixed group.' The latest manifestation of his self-centeredness is his obsession with money. It's all he ever talks about, so much so that his teachers sent him to the guidance counselor and called his parents in for a conference. Anne is absolutely humiliated by the teachers gently asking if they're having money problems at home and suggesting to her that she and her husband focus less on material items and start emphasizing how the best things in life are free. She asks Peter if ''he'' thinks they've been too materialistic and if he understands things like how all the money in the world can't make up for love and friendship, etc. They end up taking Fudge to Washington, D.C. to see the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to try and help him understand that money isn't just a conduit to happiness, and Fudge finally just asks the tour guide how you get more of it. Anne nervously tries to explain Fudge is just so interested in money, and the tour guide is like, "I get what you're saying, but someone has to set him straight." An older gentleman in the crowd steps forward and volunteers, giving Fudge a heartfelt speech about savings, investing, and retirement, and it goes completely over his head when he suggests "Or someone can just give it to you." Peter overhears someone in the crowd say "This kid is hopeless," and the tour guide just looks at Fudge and says, "You're going to love the gift shop. All the kids do."

** In ''Fudge-a-Mania'', Peter reminds his mother that Fudge knocked out his front teeth the last time that Sheila babysat his little brother. Peter may have forgiven his mother for lashing out at him, but he remains unimpressed by how Sheila handled the situation. Anne assures her that this time he is off the hook for anything Fudge ''or'' Sheila does.

** Peter appears this way at least as often as not -- though to be fair, the books are almost all from his point of view.

* RealityEnsues:
** A sobering one at the end of ''Tales Of A Fourth Grade Nothing''. Peter, despite himself, keeps asking if Dribble is going to be okay after [[spoiler:Fudge swallows his turtle. Dr. Cone is solemn when telling him gently, no, by saying maybe he should get a new turtle instead of hoping. Later, Dribble comes out of Fudge, and Muriel confirms what Dr. Cone said]].
** ''Superfudge'' has Fudge trying to engage in his previous toddler behavior by hiding Tootsie in the closet, covering her in grocery stamps, and [[spoiler:riding off to a distant bakery with his friend Danny without telling anyone]]. In the previous book, he was three, and his parents considered him still a baby then. Thing is that he's now four years old, deemed responsible enough to go to kindergarten, and precocious for his age. Anne and Warren are also raising another newborn, with Anne implied to be suffering postpartum depression. Even though Tootsie is nowhere near as mischievous as Fudge, she is still a baby. They punish him more accordingly because he's not the baby anymore, letting being ''a'' baby. Warren tells him after the [[spoiler:bike incident that he lost the privilege to ride for a month because he proved he was irresponsible]].

* MisplacedKindergartenTeacher: Inverted. Fudge's first kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Hildebrandt, is a strict and inflexible kind of person who refuses to call Fudge by his preferred nickname, even commenting "there's something wrong with that child" (to which Peter defends his little brother). The personality clash is solved by transferring Fudge to a different class.

* ADogNamedCat: In ''Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing'', Peter names his dog Turtle in memory of his turtle Dribble (who was swallowed alive by Fudge).

** In ''Fudge-a-Mania'', Fudge is inspired by his new friend Mitzi's book about herself, ''Tell Me a Mitzi'', and checks to see if the local library has a copy of ''Tell Me a Fudge'' (or "Farley"). When Fudge finds out no such book exists, he throws a big fit, ''right in the library''. Naturally, Peter is embarrassed.

* WouldHitAGirl: Fudge. He kicked Sheila when she told him he'd eventually get used to his baby sister, and kicked his teacher when she [[BerserkButton calls him by]] [[DoNotCallMePaul his real name.]] Diminished a bit since he's also a lot younger and therefore smaller than either of them, which eliminates one major reason[[labelnote:*]]the fact that males on average are stronger than females[[/labelnote]] why this is generally considered a particularly bad thing.
* VitriolicBestBuds: While Peter and Sheila have made it clear that they'll always hate each other, they do seem to hang around each other regardless. Pete's relationship with Jimmy Fargo also borders on this.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Sheila's fear of dogs, which comes to the fore once Peter gets Turtle, but then later gets turned sideways when she gets a dog of her own. Apparently, Jake (her dog, [[GenderBlenderName who is female]]) is the exception to the rule.

** Peter has a few moments where he willingly helps Fudge. Notably, he gets mad at Ms. Hildebrandt for saying something is wrong with Fudge for refusing to be called by his given name. Peter says there's nothing wrong with him; it's their parents' fault for nicknaming him.

* AmazonChaser: Peter's first crush, Joanna, is described as being significantly taller than him.

** Fudge initiated conflict with his kindergarten teacher Ms. H, but Peter tells her she's being unreasonable, compared to Mrs. Ziff who becomes a CoolTeacher and says Fudge must be as sweet as his name. Fudge calls Ms. H "Ratface" for insisting on addressing him as Farley. Despite Peter telling Fudge that it's rude to call a teacher that, he admits Ms. H ''does'' look like a Ratface and refers to her as such in later books.

** Fudge initiated conflict with his kindergarten teacher Ms. H, but Peter tells her she's being unreasonable, compared to Mrs. Ziff who becomes a CoolTeacher and says Fudge must be as sweet as his name. Fudge calls Ms. H "Ratface" for insisting on addressing him as Farley. Despite Peter telling Fudge, it's rude to call a teacher that, he admits Ms. H ''does'' look like a Ratface and refers to her as such in later books.

** In ''Superfudge'', the then four-year-old Fudge and his friend Daniel decide to run off on their own while telling their respective parents that they're at each other's houses. When the parents realize that the boys lied to them and haven't been seen for several hours, they (and Peter) are understandably panicked.

* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: '''Fudge'''. To a lesser extent, Tootsie, but she isn't the focus of the series, she's still a baby, and Peter is extremely relieved that she isn't another Fudge. Mini, although he isn't a sibling, acts this way towards Fudge, doing several things that mirrored things Fudge did to Peter when he was younger.
* ApologyGift: After [[spoiler:Fudge swallows Dribble, and the turtle comes out dead in the hospital, Peter is angry at Fudge again. He's also disgusted with his parents for giving presents to Fudge; when his dad brings a box for him, Peter brusquely says that another turtle won't make him feel better. Warren tells him it's not another turtle; he and Anne talked it over how Peter was a good sport about his pet being killed and wanted to apologize for the tragedy. Instead, he got a puppy -- a St. Bernard if you go with the cover art on some editions -- that is friendly and likes Peter immediately. Warren also assures him that Turtle as he is named is going to grow too big for Fudge to ever eat, and sets boundaries with a recovered Fudge by telling him it's Peter's dog]].
* AscendedExtra: Henry Bevelheimer, who simply worked as the elevator operator for the apartment building the Hatchers live in, plays a much larger role in ''Double Fudge''[[note]]He [[AbsenteeActor didn't even appear]] in ''Fudge-a-Mania''.[[/note]] He fixes up the apartment Jimmy Fargo and his father used to live in once they move out, he helps out a bit with [[LostVoicePlot Uncle Feather's brief period of not talking at all]] by concluding that the myna bird is "on strike", and later on he converts the elevator to self-service, installs a security camera inside the elevator and becomes superintendent of the apartment building, in which he also calls a special meeting for all the kids in the apartment on how to use the elevator on their own.

* ArtImitatesArt: In ''Double Fudge'', after Frank Fargo's "Baby Feet" paintings (made with baby Tootsie's footprints, as mentioned above) become famous and sell for a lot of money, as a GetRichQuickScheme Fudge (whom is obsessed with money in this story) makes a knock-off series of paintings: "Dog Feet," using the family dog Turtle to help make the paintings. However, Mr. Fargo is impressed and claims they show "a lot of promise."

*** This leads to a moment later in ''Double Fudge'' where when the mom says, "That's enough, Fudge!", Tootsie says, "Eeee-nuff, Foo!". (She's too young to pronounce "Fudge" properly.)
* BabysFirstWords: Tootsie's first word was "Yuck", said in ''Superfudge'' when Peter was changing her diaper and said "yuck". Then she later says it as "Nu Yuck" when the family is planning to move back to New York City.

* BecauseISaidSo: A variant in ''Tales'' when Peter's mom is yelling at him about "allowing" Fudge to jump off the jungle gym. Since she left Sheila in charge, Peter asks why she's mad at ''him'' and not Sheila, and his mom is unable to come up with a better reason other than "I just am." To her credit, she later admits she wasn't being fair and apologizes to him.

** Mr. Hatcher's secretary Janet keeps a lot of crackers and cookies in her purse, that she is seen giving to Fudge to perform a favor or behave well, Peter thinks to himself she must eat a lot to keep them in her purse regularly.

* {{Bowdlerise}}: Of a sort; in ''Superfudge'', the original 1980 text mentioned that Peter's mother was allergic to nuts and couldn't even eat peanut butter as a result, while the 2002 reprint softened it up so she is just allergic to tree nuts, but not peanuts, and can still eat peanut butter. In both cases, Peter says "Without peanut butter, I might starve."

* CallBack: Each subsequent Fudge book has had at least one to any previous stories. ''Double Fudge'' seems to contain the most call backs, from Fudge [[spoiler:swallowing Peter's pet turtle in the first book (and Peter comparing it to their youngest cousin swallowing Fudge's tooth) ]] to Fudge wanting to marry Sheila Tubman.

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Jimmy's mother is said to be a NiceGirl that helps out with Jimmy's birthday party, giving Peter a pet turtle. ''Superfudge'' opens with her and Mr. Fargo getting a divorce, and she actually walked out on them. Jimmy doesn't miss her, saying he prefers his dad over her. Peter misses the implications that it may have been due to Mr. Fargo quitting his job as a university professor/part-time actor and going into painting, severely cutting into their income level.

* DisproportionateRetribution: Fudge [[WouldHitAGirl kicked his teacher]] for calling him by his real name.

* ElevatorFailure: In ''Double Fudge'', Fudge and Mini-Farley and fellow neighbor Olivia Osterman get stuck in their apartment's elevator on Halloween. But Fudge is able to successfully use the emergency intercom to communicate with Henry and everyone else in the lobby.

* FoodSlap: In ''Tales Of A Fourth Grade Nothing'', Fudge becomes so irritating with his food strike and his becoming "the family dog" that Warren takes him into the bathroom, sits him in the tub, and dumps a whole bowl of cereal over Fudge's head. From there comes Fudge's favorite expression, "Eat it or wear it". Peter later does this in ''Fudge-a-mania'' when Fudge mocks him about [[spoiler:eating Dribble, Peter's pet turtle, in the first book]]. And Fudge [[NeverMyFault has the gall to get upset.]]

* InfantSiblingJealousy: Both Peter and Fudge fall into this to varying degrees when Anne is pregnant with and gives birth to Tootsie. Peter is initially worried that his new sister will be a repeat of [[AnnoyingYoungerSibling Fudge]] and even ineffectually threatens to run away from home when he finds out about the pregnancy, but he comes around quick after seeing Tootsie for the first time. Fudge meanwhile is jealous at the fact that he's no longer TheBabyOfTheBunch, especially since this is around the time Warren and Anne start taking his bad behavior more seriously.

* JerkassHasAPoint: When Peter is butting heads with Sheila, he quite accurately points out a lot of her faults: she's an arrogant KnowNothingKnowItAll who hides that she is a coward. Sheila later admits this in her spotlight book especially when her best friend says the same thing.
* JerkassRealization: Anne has one the day after she blames Peter for Fudge having an accident in the park. He rightly points out that she put Sheila in charge, and thus she should have no reason to be angry at her. Then he spends the rest of the day not talking to her or eating her cooking. When Peter is grumping in bed, Anne comes meekly. She says she owes him an apology for how she acted and said it was wrong to make him a scapegoat. Peter doesn't let her off the hook until she admits that Fudge could have jumped off the jungle gym at any time, even if she had been there. Then he accepts her apology.

** Earier in ''Tales Of A Fourth Grade Nothing'', Fudge ruins Peter's class project poster about transportation and gets a spanking for it. When Fudge later breaks into Peter's room again and cuts his hair into Dribble's bowl, he gets a trip to the barber while Peter gets a chain latch.

* NewBabyEpisode: The book "Superfudge" focuses on Peter and Fudge's mother having a third baby, a daughter named Tamara "Tootsie" Roxanne. Peter initially dislikes Tootsie, due in part to her being another sibling with a candy-related nickname, but eventually warms up to her. Fudge is also initially upset that he's no longer [[TheBabyOfTheBunch the youngest]], though he gets better too.

* NotNowKiddo: Peter often tends to come in for this from his parents. Subverted on one occasion, however, when after Fudge and his friend have seriously misbehaved he suggests that his parents confiscate Fudge's new bike. Although Peter's ''expecting'' them to all snap "Peter, ''please!''", much to Fudge's horror they actually consider this a good idea and do so.

** In ''Fudge-a-Mania'', Peter reminds his mother that Fudge knocked out his front teeth the last time that Sheila babysat his little brother. Peter may have forgiven his mother for lashing out at him, but he was unimpressed by how Sheila handled the situation. Anne assures her that this time he is off the hook for anything Fudge or Sheila does.

** Dr. Cone is the only adult that doesn't freak out or laugh when hearing that [[spoiler:Fudge swallowed Peter's turtle. Anne is too frantic to realize that Fudge broke into Peter's room to do so, violated his privacy, and killed his pet. Dr. Cone, on the other hand, knows the kid well, and that laughing would make Anne stress further. Dr. Cone also is sympathetic when Peter asks if Dribble is going to be okay, BreakingBadNewsGently that Dribble is dead from the digestive juices in Fudge's body]].
* OnSecondThought: When Fudge ruins Peter and Jimmy's poster for a school project, Peter asks for a lock because he knows his little brother loves going through his stuff. Anne refuses at the time saying she doesn't like locks because if there's an emergency, Peter may get trapped in his room. Then Fudge breaks into his room again, grabs Dribble's bowl, and uses Peter's scissors to cut his hair over the turtle. Realizing that if they don't do something soon that Fudge could seriously hurt himself with Peter's things, Anne and Warren install a chain latch for Peter's room as a compromise, since it's on the outside meaning no one can get locked in by accident. Peter even thinks this is fair since he can only reach the latch if standing on tiptoe, and Fudge is much smaller than him. [[spoiler:Fudge finds a way around this by using a chair to reach the chain latch]].

* ParentalObliviousness: Uncle Howie is this more than Warren and Anne in ''Double Fudge''. He's hard on his older girls Flora and Fauna, but the only restrictions he has for Mini is for him not to eat candy or processed foods. Even Warren and Anne aren't that lenient on Fudge, doling out punishments when he gets older such as confiscating his bike for a month due to running away to the bakery. When Mini lets Uncle Feather loose out of his cage, Uncle Howard only lectures him not to do it again and thinks Mini licking him is a sign of assent. Yes, Peter lampshades this and even Fudge goes YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe. You can't blame the twins for asking if they can stay with Warren and Anne when the Howard-Hatchers have to return to Hawaii to get away from their dad. [[spoiler:This eventually leads to Mini swallowing Fudge's tooth and laughing because he hasn't been taught it's rude and gross to do that to someone's first fallen-out baby tooth. Uncle Howie goes OhCrap and tries to get the tooth out, but it's too late and the only thing the Howard-Hatchers can do is flee before Fudge beats up Mini]]. To a lesser extent, Uncle Howard is also InnocentlyInsensitive by calling Warren by his EmbarrassingNickname Tubby and taking up space in the tiny Hatcher apartment, while Eudora and Howie use the kitchen without asking for permission.
* ParentsAsPeople: Peter's parents are nice, but often butt heads with their sons over various things (moving temporarily to Princeton, having a third child, etc). Peter's mother in particular is often shown blaming Peter for Fudge's actions, and she's overly concerned about Fudge while ignoring Peter in ''Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing'' after [[spoiler:Fudge is hospitalized for ''eating Peter's turtle'']]. These are usually reactions in the moment, and once she's had a chance to think about it, she usually recognizes that she's being unfair and apologizes.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Peter's parents in ''Superfudge'', at least when dealing with Peter. When Peter hears that his mother is pregnant, he immediately loses his temper, packs a gym bag, and threatens to run away. Do his parents freak out? No. Do they scold him? No. They simply ask him if he's thought of where he'll go, suggest that he eat dinner first and think it over, and promise that the new baby won't be another Fudge. Later on, when he threatens to run away again after hearing Fudge will be attending his school in Princeton, Anne jokingly asks if he wants her to pack him a peanut butter sandwich. When Fudge and his friend Danny disappear to bike to a faraway bakery without telling anyone, however, everyone is angry at them, and Warren actually does lock up their bikes for a month at Peter's suggestion.

* SexySecretary: Mr. Hatcher's secretary Janet is noted to wear a lot of makeup and as very pretty according to Peter.

** When cousins Flora and Fauna are deciding on a nickname for their little brother Farley (as Fudge is already taken), Peter suggest calling them "Mini Farley." The twin cousins initially mistake it for "[[WesternAnimation/MinnieMouse Minnie]]."

* SwallowedAFly: In ''Fudge-a-Mania'', Peter believes he might have done this while riding to Bob's bicycle shop. This event makes him an honorary member of Bob's "I Swallowed a Fly" or ISAF club.

** In ''Fudge-a-Mania'', Fudge is inspired by his new friend Mitzi's book about herself, "Tell Me a Mitzi", and checks to see if the local library has a copy of "Tell Me a Fudge" (or "Farley"). When Fudge finds out no such book exists, he throws a big fit, ''right in the library''. Naturally, Peter is embarrassed.

*** Peter throws a tantrum of sorts to himself later on the night their Hawaiian cousins arrive at their apartment. He loses it and stomps on the cousins' towels and kicks their hairbrushes. Peter even compares his tantrum to Fudge...

** Cousins Flora and Fauna would also count, named for the natural beauties of nature, and are often nicknamed "the Natural Beauties."

* TheUnreveal: It's never revealed why [[spoiler:Fudge at the age of three thought that swallowing Peter's turtle Dribble was a good idea. Especially since Peter realizes that Fudge used a chair to reach the chain latch and unlock it to get into his room. Fudge finds it hilarious to recite the events as they happened until he suffers LaserGuidedKarma in ''Double Fudge'' and his cousin Mini swallows his fallen-out baby tooth just as he was about to leave it for the Tooth Fairy. Peter isn't that sympathetic, telling Fudge now he knows how it feels. This creates another unreveal as to why Mini swallowed a tooth that belonged to his cousin]].

* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Sheila's fear of dogs, which comes to the fore once Peter gets Turtle, but then later gets turned sideways when she gets a dog of her own. Apparently, Jake (her dog, [[GenderBlenderName who is female]]) is the exception to the rule.
----

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: In ''Otherwise Known...'', Sheila mentions having read a book about a girl who stops speaking after something bad happens to her. She seems to be talking about ''{{Literature/Speak}},'' where the main character becomes selectively mute after [[spoiler:being raped at a high school party]].

* AscendedExtra: Henry Bevelheimer, who simply worked as the elevator operator for the apartment building the Hatchers live in, plays a much larger role in ''Double Fudge''[[note]]He [[AbsenteeActor didn't even appear]] in ''Fudgeamania''.[[/note]] He fixes up the apartment Jimmy Fargo and his father used to live in once they move out, he helps out a bit with [[LostVoicePlot Uncle Feather's brief period of not talking at all]] by concluding that the myna bird is "on strike", and later on he converts the elevator to self-service, installs a security camera inside the elevator and becomes superintendent of the apartment building, in which he also calls a special meeting for all the kids in the apartment on how to use the elevator on their own.

** Later, Tootsie walks all over one of Mr. Fargo's canvases while graduating out of her crawling stage. He finds out, and Peter picks up Tootsie. He tolds her protectively in case the man gets mad. Instead, Mr. Fargo chuckles and tickles her feet, asking if she could do it again because he likes the pattern.

* DeadGuyJunior: Of a sort. [[spoiler:After Fudge eats Dribble, Peter's pet turtle, in ''Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing'', their parents buy Peter a dog - whom Peter names Turtle.]]

* DoNotCallMePaul: Fudge absolutely will not answer to his real name, Farley (and who can blame him?). It's a bit of a BerserkButton, in fact. Fudge's kindergarten teacher defies this, and she refuses point-blank to call him "Fudge". At least Fudge has the excuse of being a little kid, but a grown woman, especially a ''teacher'' of all things, should be more accepting of a child wanting to be referred to by the nickname they have always used.

* HypocriticalHeartwarming: Peter spends much of the books complaining about Fudge, but he does not take it well when Fudge's kindergarten teacher claims that there's something wrong with him. (It's also that Peter knows that his parents were weird to nickname his brother Fudge.)

** Sheila is quite insufferable, even without Peter or Jimmy returning the favor. She's arrogant and a bit of a know-it-all in ''Tales Of A Fourth-Grade Nothing''. Plus it's her fault that Fudge loses his front teeth; while Anne doesn't remonstrate her and briefly blames Peter, she's not hired again for the job and it makes her visits to the Hatcher apartment awkward when she has to work with Peter and Jimmy on a project. ''Fudgeamania'' softens her up where she's quite willing to play with Fudge on his level, meaning he gets into no more life-threatening situations, and promises to be semi-civil to Peter (while they hate each other) after their grandparents marry.

** Subverted. When Fudge [[spoiler:eats Peter's turtle]], everyone's concerned about him, but ''not one person'' comforts Peter over the fact that [[spoiler:his pet has been eaten - his grandma even shouts at him when he understandably asks whether or not his turtle is alive]]. It isn't until after Fudge recovers that Peter's parents thank him for being a good sport about the whole thing and buy him a dog, since he had asked for one before and always wanted a puppy. This trope doesn't occur in the show's version of the incident, where, instead of yelling at Peter, his grandmother sits down with him and explains that [[spoiler:Dribble is dead]].

** In ''Fudgeamania'', Peter reminds his mother that Fudge knocked out his front teeth the last time that Sheila babysat his little brother. Peter may have forgiven his mother for lashing out at him, but he was unimpressed by how Sheila handled the situation. Anne assures her that this time he is off the hook for anything Fudge or Sheila does.

** Peter appears this way at least as often as not - though to be fair, the books are almost all from his point of view.

* SwallowedAFly: In ''Fudge-a-Mania'', Peter believes he might have done this while riding to Bob's bicycle shop. This event makes him an honorary member of Bob's "I Swallowed a Fly" or ASAF club.

** Fudge throws ''another'' shoe store tantrum in ''Double Fudge'', but this time he wants two pairs of shoes that he likes, but his mother can only afford buying one pair at the moment. Fudge's tantrum when the mother buys only one of the pairs involves him twirling around the store like a tornado (ala Series/DennisTheMenace) causing a big mess. When his mother finally catches up, she straps Fudge into Tootsie's stroller as punishment.

---->I'd turned into a raving lunatic. No, even worse - I'd turned into my brother at the shoe store!

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Anne Hatcher's desire to return to school to study art history, either at Princeton or NYU, is mentioned several times in '''Superfudge''', but in '''Double Fudge''', she has returned to her career as a dental hygienist.

* UnfortunateNames: ''Farley Drexel Hatcher''?!

** The trope is {{averted}} in later books as Fudge gets older and his bad behavior is taken more seriously, so he's punished more accordingly.
** Also averted earlier in ''Tales Of A Fourth Grade Nothing,'' when Fudge ruins Peter's class project poster about transportation and Fudge gets a spanking for it. When Fudge later breaks into Peter's room again and cuts his hair into Dribble's bowl, he gets a trip to the barber while Peter gets a chain latch.
* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: Fudge is a year older in ''Superfudge'', and his parents then have Tootsie, a newborn. He starts acting out by playing pranks and trying to be the baby again. In ''Tales Of A Fourth-Grade Nothing'', his parents would have only punished him for the worst of it. Here, Anne tells off Fudge for hiding Tootsie in the apartment because she's little and fragile, and ''smacks him'' when he decorates Tootsie in grocery stamps to trade her in for a reward item. When Fudge tries to sell Tootsie, give her away for free, and then pay someone a quarter to take her, Peter interferes. He tells Fudge bluntly that if he keeps acting like a baby, he'll miss out on the fun of growing up.

* IdiotBall: Sheila grabs it in ''Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing'' when she plays cooties with Peter and Jimmy, when she's supposed to be helping them watch Fudge. Her actions result in Fudge getting hurt on the jungle gym.

** Fudge's friend Jennie is an even worse case; she seems to be a perfect angel when she enters, but we then learn she'll bite people when she's angry and can't have her way, can be a real nuisance, and even [[PottyFailure intentionally pees on the floor]] at one point during Fudge's third birthday party.

* PottyFailure: A deliberate one occurs in ''Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing'' during Fudge's birthday party. When Jennie asks what Peter's turtle Dribble can do, she asks if Dribble can "make a tinkle." Then she says she can urinate as well, and demonstrates on the floor, much to Peter and Anne's horror.
** In ''Superfudge'', Fudge starts wetting his pants and the bed again, despite being fully toilet-trained, in response to the new baby.

** For reasons never really explained, Fudge think's it's bad luck to say [[Franchise/HarryPotter you know who's]] real name out loud. He seems to be confusing the protagonist with the villain.

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Jimmy's mother is said to be a NiceGirl that helps out with Jimmy's birthday party, giving Peter a pet turtle. ''Superfudge'' opens with her and Mr. Fargo getting a divorce, and she actually walked out on them. Jimmy doesn't miss her, saying he prefers his dad over her. Peter misses the implications that it may have been due to Mr. Fargo quitting his job as a university professor and going into painting, severely cutting into their income level.

* CoolBigBro: Peter sometimes shows instances of this towards Fudge. When Fudge starts developing InfantSiblingJealousy towards Tootsie, Peter decides to talk to him and tells him that being the older sibling isn't always so bad. This helps tone down Fudge's deliberate bedwetting and climbing into Tootsie's crib. Later, a teacher says something is wrong with Fudge for refusing to be called by his given name, Peter says it's not his little brother's fault because everyone calls him Fudge, saying his parents are weird. Later, he admits that Tootsie isn't so bad to have as a little sister, and enjoys spending time with her. Peter even inspires her to say her first word: "Yuck!" Then she says "New Yuck!"

* EmbarrassingNickname: Peter sees Fudge and Tootsie's nicknames as this. Warren has to deal with the fact that his long-lost cousin Howie still refers to him with his childhood nickname, Tubby, which ironically would better describe Howie in the present.

* LostVoicePlot: During some time in "Double Fudge", Uncle Feather inexplicably stops talking, and for a while Fudge tries to cover it up by imitating Uncle Feather's voice when alone in his room at night. but then Uncle Feather gets his voice back as the result of a near-death incident caused by Mini Farley.

* SuddenlySpeaking: Of a sort. When Peter and Fudge first meet their Hawaiian cousins, Mini Farley only growls and acts like an animal due to Flora and Fauna always commenting on him and acting as if he were non-verbal. When they visit in New York City a few chapters later, when Flora and Fauna go to Sheila's apartment for a slumber party, Mini starts talking for himself, and his voice surprises Peter so much.

*** Also from the same book, Fudge gets upset when his father ends up throwing out the omelet he cooked for himself and his two sons that he threw a fork against a potted plant and knocked some dirt out of it.

--->I'd turned into a raving lunatic. No, even worse - I'd turned into my brother at the shoe store!

** When the mom says, "That's enough, Fudge!", Tootsie says, "Enough, Foo!".
** When someone says "Enough!", it sounds like "Eeee-nuff" to Tootsie, and she squeals "Eeeeee!" in response.

* FoulMouthedParrot: A G-rated version. Fudge is very proud of his myna bird, Uncle Feather, who can speak French. Any time someone addresses the bird, he responds by saying, "Bonjour, Stupid." It's also mentioned in ''Double Fudge'' that Uncle Feather loves swear words, but of course the words are never actually heard in the book.

** Additionally in ''Superfudge'', the original mentioned that Peter's mother was allergic to nuts and couldn't even eat peanut butter as a result, while the 2002 reprint changed it so she is just allergic to tree nuts, but not peanuts, and can still eat peanut butter. In both cases, Peter says "Without peanut butter, I might starve."

* BigBrotherInstinct: Peter has a few moments where he willingly helps Fudge.

* CoolBigBro: Peter sometimes shows instances of this towards Fudge. When Fudge starts developing InfantSiblingJealousy towards Tootsie, Peter decides to talk to him and tells him that being the older sibling isn't always so bad. This helps tone down Fudge's deliberate bedwetting and climbing into Tootsie's crib. Later, a teacher says something is wrong with Fudge for refusing to be called by his given name, Peter says it's not his little brother's fault;

* RealityEnsues: A sobering one at the end of ''Tales Of A Fourth Grade Nothing''. Peter, despite himself, keeps asking if Dribble is going to be okay after [[spoiler:Fudge swallows his turtle. Dr. Cone is solemn when telling him gently, no, by saying maybe he should get a new turtle instead of hoping. Later, Dribble comes out of Fudge, and Muriel confirms what Dr. Cone said]].

** It's not discussed at length, but this is likely a large part of the reason that Peter's parents freak out when [[spoiler:Fudge swallows his turtle]]. At first they have no idea what the effects of that might be, and then they're facing the possibility of their toddler having to undergo surgery. Even Peter briefly gets worried. And Peter also points out that [[spoiler:Fudge killed his pet and isn't even sorry about it]].

* BecauseISaidSo: A variant in ''Tales'' when Peter's mom is yelling at him about "allowing" Fudge to jump off the jungle gym. Since she left Sheila in charge, Peter asks why she's mad at ''him'' and not Sheila, and his mom is unable to come up with a better reason other than "I just am." To her credit, she later admits she wasn't being fair.

* BigFriendlyDog: Turtle, even though he slobbers quite a lot. In the television adaptation, he's a Saint Bernard; the books don't specify a breed other than that he's large.

* ButtMonkey: Peter.

* BreakingBadNewsGently: Dr. Cone, the only medical professional who doesn't laugh when [[spoiler:Fudge swallows Dribble]], has to tell Peter that [[spoiler:Dribble is dead]]. He does it by suggesting that [[spoiler:Peter get another turtle.]]

** Sheila makes a bad move by starting the cooties game with Peter and Jimmy when she's supposed to babysit Fudge. Ironically, she's the KarmaHoudini in the situation, as Peter's mother blames ''him'' for what happens.

* JerkAss: Daniel Manheim, in ''Superfudge'', is a spoiled picky brat who invites himself to meals multiple times in the book.

* NoSympathy: Subverted. When Fudge [[spoiler:eats Peter's turtle]], everyone's concerned about him, but ''not one person'' comforts Peter over the fact that [[spoiler:his pet has been eaten - his grandma even shouts at him when he understandably asks whether or not his turtle is alive]]. It isn't until after Fudge recovers that Peter's parents thank him for being a good sport about the whole thing and buy him a dog.
** This trope doesn't occur in the show's version of the incident, where, instead of yelling at Peter, his grandmother sits down with him and explains that [[spoiler:Dribble is dead]].

* OnlySaneMan: Peter appears this way at least as often as not - though to be fair, the books are almost all from his point of view.

** The worst instance was near the end of ''Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing'' where he [[spoiler:eats Dribble, Peter's pet turtle]]. While everyone is (understandably) worried about Fudge, no one seems to consider how ''Peter'' feels on the subject except for Dr. Cone. Peter eventually gets some acknowledgment for "being a good sport" throughout the whole thing and is given a dog, but Fudge is never punished in any way. Then again, being in the hospital for days while the doctors repeatedly feed you prune juice and other laxatives to make you poop isn't entirely unlike a punishment, especially with the ensuing threat of an operation.