Main Characters | Friends and Classmates | Minor Characters
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Charlie Brown's classmates and neighbors
Schroeder
First Appearance: May 30, 1951 — Final Appearance: September 12, 1999
Introduced in 1951, Schroeder started off as a sarcastic, deadpan boy until Charlie Brown introduced him to the toy piano, after which he gradually evolved into the musical prodigy and Beethoven fanboy he is today. Lucy often tries to hit on him, to little success. He is also set as the catcher on the gang's baseball team.
- Art Evolution: In The Peanuts Movie, the front of his hair is coiffed to be more prominent, while his striped shirt has blue and dark blue stripes almost consistently, rather than the depicted blue and black stripes as seen above.
- A Day in the Limelight: Schroeder is the main character in Play It Again, Charlie Brown.
- Better the Devil You Know: He much prefers Lucy hanging around his piano than Frieda; the first time she did, she thought Beethoven was a drink.
- Berserk Button: Do not mess with his piano. And especially under any circumstances do not ever say anything insulting and disrespectful about Beethoven in front of him. EVER. And never suggest that a pianist should be Only in It for the Money, because a true musician knows it's ART.
- And never, ever, EVER mention polka music or the accordion in his presence.
- But I Would Really Enjoy It: He usually rejects Lucy's advances completely, but a few strips have suggested that Schroeder is open to the possibility of eventually marrying her:Lucy: Lets say we've been married for six months, and I've made a beautiful tuna casserole for dinner. Then you come back from work and walk into the kitchen and say, "What? Tuna casserole again?"Schroeder (upset): I would never say that...Lucy: Then I'd say, "I worked hard making this tuna casserole, but all you care about is that stupid piano!" Then you'd walk out...(Two beat panels as he puts a jacket on and runs to the sandlot field)Schroeder (to Charlie Brown): Sorry I'm late, I got involved in a marital dispute.
- Celibate Hero: Unlike most characters who suffer from unrequited love for someone else, he only cares about Beethoven's music and hasn't shown any romantic interest in anyone (of course Lucy will never accept this).
- Characterization Marches On: In his earliest appearances, Schroeder was a baby with no notable characteristics. On September 24, 1951, Schulz incorporated his daughter Meredith's toy piano into the strip, giving it to Schroeder, and the rest is history.
- Chickenpox Episode: In one Sunday strip, Schroeder can only sit and watch while his friends play ball, as he's getting over the chicken pox and must keep his distance. Nevertheless, when a fly ball comes his way, he does catch it and throw it back to Charlie Brown, who remarks, "Just what I need...a handful of chicken pox!"
- Child Prodigy: He may be a child who only plays on a toy piano but he has the talent to rival some of the greatest piano players who ever lived. He has mastered complex compositions by both Beethoven and Mozart before he could even speak.
- Color-Coded Characters: Purple.
- Deadpan Snarker: In reaction to Lucy and Charlie Brown.Lucy: May I ask why you didn't send me a valentine?Schroeder: Sending a valentine would have implied that I can stand the sight of you.
- He managed to use his piano as a snarker in A Charlie Brown Christmas when he made it sound like a toy piano (for the only time in his entire run in the series.)
- Flanderization: Schroeder has been in the strip almost as long as Charlie Brown, and he wasn't always just "The Beethoven Guy". During the early days of the strip, he was The Lancer to Charlie Brown, before that role was taken by Linus.
- Heroic BSoD: Happens to him during an arc where he forgets Beethoven's birthday. He actually walks up to a large statue of the composer and hangs his head in shame, saying, "I hate myself!"
- Jerkass to One: He's less than kind to Lucy, probably because she's always talking to him while he's practicing. When the van Pelts temporarily move away and Schroeder finds that he misses Lucy, Charlie Brown calls him out on it:"Well, what do you care? You never liked Lucy anyway! You were always insulting her!"
- Last-Name Basis: Seemingly, as he was always known simply as "Schroeder", even before he could talk and play the piano; although Schulz states that that is his first name.
- Loony Fan: His main character trait is being a fanboy of Ludwig van Beethoven.
- Manly Tears: Shed some in a strip where Charlie Brown was reading him a Beethoven biography, and it explained how the deaf composer had his back to the thunderously applauding audience and had no idea how much they loved his music.
- Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: The soft spoken feminine boy (one of three) to Lucy's short-tempered masculine girl.
- Nice Guy: One of the few characters who never insults or tries to take advantage of Charlie Brown, and on a couple of occasions even got angry with other kids for treating Charlie Brown badly. Justified, since in the early days of the comic strip, it was Charlie Brown that introduced Schroeder to his love for the piano. The two have remained close and loyal friends since then.
- No Full Name Given: His full name was never revealed.
- Not So Stoic: There was that time when Lucy moved away...
- Out of Focus: Occurred in the 1980s.
- Toon Physics: Schroeder is somehow able to play full Beethoven sonatas on a toy piano with the black keys just painted on.
- The Piano Player: He does get lines (usually trading Lucy's flirtations for sarcasm), but in big crowd scenes he tends to stay in the background, hunched over his instrument.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
- Dishes out a fantastic one to Violet in a Sunday strip (adapted into Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown), after she gives Charlie Brown a valentine out of pity.Schroeder: Hold on there! What do you think you're doing? Who do you think you are? Where were you yesterday when everyone else was giving out valentines? Is kindness and thoughtfulness something you can make retroactive? Don't you think he has any feelings? You and your friends are the most thoughtless bunch I've ever known. You don't care anything about Charlie Brown! You just hate to feel guilty! And now you have the nerve to come around one day later and offer him a used valentine just to ease your conscience!
- He also did it to the girls who quit Charlie Brown's team after he had told them they wouldn't be getting uniforms in Charlie Brown's All-Stars:Schroeder: I think we were pretty rough on Charlie Brown. You girls are very thoughtless. Don't you think Charlie Brown has feelings? All of you are the most thoughtless bunch I've ever known! You don't care anything about Charlie Brown! He's been loyal to you because he thinks you're his friends. But do you ever act like friends? No! Those uniforms meant as much to Charlie Brown as they did to you! Probably more!
- Dishes out a fantastic one to Violet in a Sunday strip (adapted into Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown), after she gives Charlie Brown a valentine out of pity.
- Satellite Love Interest: Inverted; most of his personality is based on his sarcastic replies to Lucy's advances.
- Screaming at Squick: When Lucy kisses him as he looks at her.Schroeder: Ugh! I've been kissed by a girl! Ugh! I've been poisoned! Get some iodine! Get some hot water!note
- Shown Their Work: The musical scales above Schroeder that illustrated his playing were often actual drawn sheet music; Schulz said he liked thinking that at least a few readers were trying to figure out what he was playing.note
- The Stoic: Almost always seen with a perfectly calm expression.
- Tears of Fear: Schroeder once burst into tears when Charlie Brown tried to get him to play on a real, full-sized piano, intimidated by its size.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Much like his idol, macaroni and cheese. He tells Lucy in one strip he'd never marry someone who couldn't make it well.
- Visual Gag: A lot of strips involving him with Snoopy or Woodstock had them. Like Snoopy reclining on the musical scale or getting his foot caught in it, the notes falling off the scale and onto an umbrella-holding Snoopy, Woodstock sliding down notes, or running from a treble clef, or Schroeder quieting him with a pound sign on his beak. He once even got Lucy to clam up with a music scale over her mouth! The stuff you can only pull off in comic strips.
"Pig-Pen"
First Appearance: July 13, 1954 — Final Appearance: September 8, 1999
Another mostly undeveloped character, introduced in the strip's first decade. He existed mainly to be, well, a dirty character. Schulz phased Pig-Pen out gradually because he considered Pig-Pen to be a one-joke character.
- Art Evolution: In The Peanuts Movie, he has more hairs on his head, much the same as Linus, although it's depicted as a full head of hair that's very messy, rather than Linus' partial combover. His clothing has also gone from all-green to a lime green shirt and brown overalls.
- Early Installment Character-Design Difference: His trademark dust cloud didn't show up for a couple of years.
- Flat Character: The reason for the above. Charles Schulz disliked the character, because he was basically just one joke, but character popularity forced him to include Pig-Pen occasionally.
- Hidden Depths: One-note character or not, Pig-Pen is the only one of the gang to be truly happy and secure in his own skin. He also plays a mean upright bass.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: Type B, albeit downplayed. Pig-Pen is already a generally happy and optimistic person as is, but because his dirtiness is congesting, he can never find himself with any continuous friends. He even admits to Snoopy in "It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown" that he doesn't get many visitors to his house.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: If he does have a real name, it is never mentioned.
- Out-of-Character Moment: His final appearance in the strip features him rather ashamed of his filthiness. This is unusual, as he had repeatedly expressed pride in his looks.
- The Pig-Pen: Trope Namer. One strip from the 1950s features a clean Pig-Pen. He looks weird. Often he pushes the bounds of believability. Even when he is clean, he can often become dirty within seconds merely by stepping outside (at which point he says, "You know what I am? I'm a dust magnet!") He once got dirty while walking in a snowstorm. The other characters in the strip are torn between disbelief and a weird sense of admiration towards him. (Charlie Brown once said half-sarcastically that Pig-Pen "might carry on him the dust and dirt of ancient civilizations".) In The Peanuts Movie, he gets cleaned by water from the smoke alarm, prompting Patty to ask, "Do I know you?"
- Plucky Comic Relief: He mainly exists to showcase his poor hygiene.
555 95472
5 during the big dance sequence in A Charlie Brown Christmas
First Appearance: September 30, 1963 — Final Appearance: May 22, 1983
A blond kid with a number for a name. His full name is '555' but he usually just goes by '5.' He also has two sisters named '333' and '444' who go by '3' and '4' respectively. His last name is his zip code.
- Iconic Outfit: He usually wears shirts with the number '5'—his name—on them.
- Sliding Scale of Parent-Shaming in Fiction: 5's father is said to have given his family their strange names based on the worry of how numbers are taking over people's lives. When asked if this was his father's way of fighting back, though, 5 clarifies that this was just his father's way of giving up and surrendering.
- Spiky Hair: Usually depicted as wearing this.
- The Voiceless: In the Christmas special, he and his sisters appear during the big dance number, but they don't have any lines.
- You Are Number 6: His name consists of three number digits instead of letters, mainly as a Stealth Pun about 555.
Frieda (and Faron)
First Appearance: March 6, 1961 — Final Appearance: November 22, 1985
A periphery female character whose main concern was her "naturally curly hair." Early on, she was a schoolmate of Linus'. She also carried a cat called Faron, whom Schulz eliminated out of fear of making it a cat-and-dog strip (and because he couldn't draw cats well). Only in the strip during the so-called "Golden Era". However, she did feature prominently in one episode of the 2014 French TV series, which also brought Faron back from oblivion (though he wasn't mentioned by name).
- Cats Are Snarkers: Sometimes implied with Faron.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Freida disappeared from the strip before The '80s were over. However, she continued to appear in the cartoons to fill crowd shots. Faron, meanwhile, fared even worse, disappearing from the strip the same year he appeared, due to Schulz not thinking he meshed well with Snoopy's redesigned characterization. Both sometimes reappear in revival projects however.
- Demoted to Extra: Her last major impact on a storyline was running throughout October 1969, when she reported Snoopy to the Head Beagle; from here on, her appearances became fewer and further between, sometimes not appearing for years at a time. Her next-to-last speaking role was part of an arc where Charlie Brown tried to adopt out Spike.
- Flat Character: She had naturally curly hair and wanted you to know it, and is obsessed with proper beagle conduct for some reason, but apart from that she didn't do much. This trope is also why Freida stopped making regular appearances in the strip.
- Individuality Is Illegal: She disliked the fact that Snoopy would rather dance and play with rabbits than hunt them, and once even reported him to the Head Beagle over it. (Fortunately, the Head Beagle is a Reasonable Authority Figure.)
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's constantly badgering Snoopy to hunt rabbits, as stated above, but only because she cares about him in her own way.
- Motor Mouth: Early on, especially in her first week of strips. In fact, this was initially her key character trait, her "naturally curly hair" shtick springing from a whole series of almost Talkative Loon-type asides in the first strip featuring her:Frieda: How do you do, Charlie Brown? I have naturally curly hair! Do you feel that spring will be here soon? I belong to twelve record clubs! Now that we're getting a good picture on our TV, the programs are lousy!
- Named After Somebody Famous: Faron was named for Country Music singer Faron Young.
- The Stool Pigeon: In one arc, she becomes the Concerned Clair type, threatening to report Snoopy to the Head Beagle for refusing to hunt rabbits, and then, actually doing it. (Not a single other member of the cast takes her side — dogs regard this as the equivalent of being Hauled Before A Senate Subcommittee.) Fortunately, the current Head Beagle is "very understanding", according to Snoopy.
- Tomboyish Baseball Cap: Inverted. She refuses to wear a baseball cap when she is playing baseball because she's afraid it will mess up her "naturally curly hair".
- Unknown Rival: An amusing variation with Faron, who Freida bought to try and make Snoopy less complacent. Neither animal was very motivated against each other.
Patty
First Appearance: October 2, 1950 — Final Appearance: November 27, 1997
One of the first characters to appear in the strip (she's there on its very first day!), she and Shermy were both portrayed as older than Charlie Brown in the beginning. Patty existed mainly to antagonize Charlie Brown before even Lucy did so. She got Demoted to Extra early on and then disappeared entirely as Lucy upstaged her and Violet.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Normally depicted as a brunette, The Peanuts Movie gave her blonde hair, presumably to set her apart from Peppermint Patty.
- Art Evolution: As mentioned above, The Peanuts Movie design gives her blonde hair instead of being a brunette to avoid confusion for the other Patty. This design also changed her dress and hairbow color from red to shades of green. Really, the only consistent design feature is her cross-hatch pattern on their clothing.
- Beta Bitch: More of a follower to Violet than a full-fledged Alpha Bitch. When she was alone, she was usually quite friendly; whenever with Violet she was all too happy to join in on all the meanness.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome:
- Vanished from the strip eventually, though she made a surprise return in Happiness Is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown and then in The Peanuts Movie, where she had a notable crush on Pig-Pen (much to Violet's disgust).
- She was one of the characters in the original 1967 production of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown. By the time of the 1985 Animated Adaptation of the musical, she had been gone from the strip for so long that nobody remembered who she was, and she was replaced with Sally — an exchange that was followed through by the 1999 revival of the stage production.
- Love Triangle: Many of the early strips implied various forms of love triangles between Charlie Brown, Shermy, Patty, and Violet (once she showed up). Often Patty and Violet fought over who was Charlie Brown's girlfriend, although they were just as likely to be fighting to push him onto the other girl.
- Nice, Mean, and In-Between: The nice to Violet's mean and Lucy's in-between. When on her own, Patty is a relatively nice person who can be rather cordial (I.E. saying "present" during roll call), and really only starts to slip into harsh territories when in her tight-knit friend circle.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted, though when Peppermint Patty made the scene, Patty was already on her way Out of Focus.
- Pet the Dog: Of the three "mean girls" (Patty, Violet, and Lucy), Patty was by far the most likely to do something nice for someone, and was on friendlier terms with Charlie Brown than the other two. She also was rarely mean to Charlie Brown unless she was with one of the others.
- Those Two Girls: Started out as a solo character, but as the years went by she was rarely seen without Violet.
Violet Gray
First Appearance: February 7, 1951 — Final Appearance: November 27, 1997
The other (almost) original female in the strip. She never developed all that much in her run, and existed mainly as a young Suzy Homemaker-type and tormentor of Charlie Brown (more so than Lucy). In early years she was noted for making mud pies. She also held her dad in high esteem. After Lucy rose to prominence, she didn't fall back to quite the extent, or as soon as, Patty did.
Her last name was given exactly once: in the April 4, 1953 strip.
- Alpha Bitch: She once got inexplicably angry at Charlie Brown, threw his coat and hat at him, and shoved him out of the house. They were in his house at the time.
- Demoted to Extra: At some point in the 1970s, until she along with Patty just unceremoniously vanished from the strip. Thereafter she made only occasional cameos.
- Girlish Pigtails: In the early '50s strips, Violet often wore her hair in braided pigtails, giving her a noticeably prettier appearance than Patty's. The pigtails made a return in her cameo appearance in one 1989 strip.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Violet's not known for resorting to physical violence quite as often as Lucy, but she's not above it. In one Sunday strip in 1963, when Charlie Brown tried to calm Violet down and talk his way out of a pounding from her, she slugged him anyway while he was in mid-sentence, explaining herself to Patty: "I had to hit him quick... he was beginning to make sense!"
- Informed Attractiveness: According to Schulz, she was introduced to be "the pretty girl" of the gang, which explains the reactions she got from every single one of the male characters in early '50s strips.
- Jerkass: Developed into one of the strip's most clear-cut examples of this over time, being less violent (though she did have her moments there too) but more catty and malicious than Lucy. Worth noting that she and Lucy do not get along, unless they're bullying Charlie Brown; in one 1959 Sunday strip they have a "crab-off", seeing how many of Violet's insults Lucy could take. Violet initially dominated due to being bigger, until Lucy got fed up and completely schooled her.Lucy: YOU'RE A NO-GOOD, TALE-TATTLING LITTLE SNEAKING SNIP-SNAP PONY-TAILED APE!!
Linus: [as Violet walks away in tears] Nobody beats Lucy at infighting! - Love Triangle: Many of the early strips implied various forms of love triangles between Charlie Brown, Shermy, Patty, and Violet (once she showed up). Often Patty and Violet fought over who was Charlie Brown's girlfriend, although they were just as likely to be fighting to push him onto the other girl.
- Mad Libs Catchphrase: "My dad can [insert random past-time here] better than your dad.", and "My dad is more X than your dad."
- My Dad Can Beat Up Your Dad:
- A running theme in the strips was Violet telling Charlie Brown how and why her dad was superior to his in every way. Ultimately has this turned around on her, as Charlie Brown explains that no matter how busy his father is at the barber shop, he will always stop to acknowledge his son, something Violet has no comeback for.
- In one strip she tries this on 5, but he seems to trump her by saying, "My dad goes to PTA meetings!"
- Nice, Mean, and In-Between: The mean to Patty's nice and Lucy's in-between. Compared to Lucy, who has a superiority complex masking a hidden respect for others, Violet is temperamental almost 100% of the time, showing a visible Lack of Empathy for anyone around her. As detailed under jerkass above, even Lucy, as big of a self-centered crabapple as she is, can't stand Violet's behavior at times.
- Non Sequitur: In one Sunday strip, Violet berates Pig-Pen for always being dirty, telling him, "Girls like boys who are neat and clean and keep their shoelaces tied!" Then, after continuing on, she meets Charlie Brown, who is neat and clean and has tied shoelaces... and proceeds to yell in his face, "But there are a lot of things more important than just being clean!" and storms away, leading a perplexed Charlie in her wake.
- Parasol of Prettiness: In one strip. The parasol in question was stated to be "hi-fi".
- Parental Neglect: The various My Dad Can Beat Up Your Dad strips seem to imply that her father isn't fairly active in her life, as the other kids are usually able to trump her by mentioning a loving act their dad does for them, no matter how minor.
- Rich Bitch: Implied rather than outright stated, but her family seems to be considerably well-off – certainly more so than the Brown family – and she seldom passes up a chance to lord her social superiority over the other kids.
- Tomboyish Ponytail: Drawn with a ponytail in her later years, but not so tomboyish. The one time she had no ponytail
◊, she became extremely irritable. - Took a Level in Jerkass: She was very nice and sweet in the early days of the strip (especially to Charlie Brown, surprisingly enough). But a few years down the line... Interestingly, the personality flip seems to coincide with her hairstyle changing from its original braided pigtails to the ponytail (making her look a lot like Lucy in the process). Unintentional Important Haircut moment?
Shermy
First Appearance: October 2, 1950 — Final Appearance: June 15, 1969
A male character featured in the strip's early years, Shermy was the first Peanuts kid to speak, having all the dialogue (and delivering the punchline) in the very first strip on October 2, 1950.
◊ His original purpose was to serve as a Straight Man to Charlie Brown, but he gradually got fewer and fewer roles as Schulz said that he saved him for instances when he "needed a character with very little personality".
- Always Someone Better: Downplayed, but Shermy usually served as Charlie Brown's superior in things that mattered to him during the early years of the strip.
- Art Evolution: His small cameo in The Peanuts Movie has his hair is spiked up to give a similar appearance to how he looks in the strip.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Shermy's last appearance in the strip was in 1969. The last time his name got mentioned was during a strip in 1977 when Charlie Brown mentioned Shermy was the baseball team's Designated Hitter.
- Demoted to Extra: Shermy appeared in the first strip, and has the first line but he gradually became less important as Schroeder, Lucy and Linus appeared, being relegated to supporting role by the mid-1950s and then becoming a rarely seen cameo by the start of the 1960s before vanishing altogether by the end of the decade.
- The Generic Guy: The reason for his reduced role and eventual vanishing; he just didn't have many interesting qualities about him.
- The Lancer: The earliest one to Charlie Brown, until his appearances became less frequent.
- Love Triangle: Many of the early strips implied various forms of love triangles between Charlie Brown, Shermy, Patty, and Violet (once she showed up). Often Patty and Violet fought over who was Charlie Brown's girlfriend, although they were just as likely to be fighting to push him onto the other girl.
- Straight Man: Served as this when paired with Charlie Brown.
The Little Red-Haired Girl (Heather Wold)
The closest to a depiction we ever get in the comic strip
Click to see her as shown in The Peanuts Movie (MASSIVE SPOILERS)
Charlie Brown's one true love, so-called since she has red hair, though he's too spineless to come out and admit it to her. First referenced in 1961.
- Art Evolution: Due to lacking a design in the strip (only being shown in silhouette form at most, see right), her design tended to vary across the TV specials, usually having (though not always) a pointy nose, long-flowing red hair, and wearing red or pink dress. Now a Subverted Trope, as following The Peanuts Movie, her design is more consistent and solidified. The movie largely dropped the pink Color Motif in favor of turquoise clothing, she now sports short red hair with curls at the front, retains the pointy nose, while wearing a hairband of some kind, with all post-2015 Peanuts media now taking after this design specifically, something The Snoopy Show further exemplifies.
- The Bus Came Back: Charlie Brown glimpses her while on a skiing trip a few months after her 1969 departure, Peppermint Patty and Marcie see her at a girls' summer camp in 1972, and she's revealed to be back in the neighborhood in 1978.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: In The Peanuts Movie, after Charlie Browns' book report is destroyed, she uses Charlie Brown's catchphrase of "Good grief!".
- The Ghost: She's almost always off-panel in the comic strip, and the one time she isn't, they are depicted as being covered in shadow. The Peanuts Movie plays with this: she's on-camera quite frequently, but her full face is obstructed for much of the runtime, often being seen from far away or having her back to the camera. She's only shown close-up in plain view in the last few minutes of the movie.
- Informed Attractiveness: When she makes an appearance in the movie and specials, she has roughly the same face model as the other children, with two separate appearances giving her the Blush Sticker treatment to set her apart from the others. The Peanuts Movie does give her a largely unique hairstyle, and a smaller, pointier nose to set them apart from everyone else.
- Named by the Adaptation: Heather in the TV show, and the movie gives her the full name of Heather Wold.
- Nice Girl: She comes across as this in The Peanuts Movie. Generally polite to everyone around her, soft-spoken, and never makes fun of Charlie, even when he messes up. At the end, she chooses him as her summer pen pal, not because she feels pity for him, but because she genuinely respects him for his kind and honest personality.
- No Name Given: In the comic strip, this was the case, consistently being called "The Little Red Haired Girl", although in the 1977 TV special, It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown, she was dubbed "Heather" (as well as being seen for the first time), a name that Schulz had revealed for her nine years earlier in an article in Woman's Day magazine. In The Peanuts Movie, her full name is "Heather Wold" according to the list of test scores.
- Put on a Bus: She moves away (devastating Charlie Brown) in a 1969 story arc.
- Satellite Love Interest: In the comics and specials, she had only one trait; just being somebody for Charlie Brown to pine over. In the strip, the most we ever see of them is a shadow. The 2015 movie makes a concerted effort to avert this trope, giving her a kind personality, being soft spoken, and is actually frequently seen on-screen, albeit mostly as The Faceless.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: This is her role in The Peanuts Movie. She becomes Charlie Brown's summer pen pal not out of pity, but because he's a genuinely good person that she likes and respects who'll go out of his way to humiliate himself if it makes someone else happy.
- Unseen No More: While she's mostly kept off-screen or off-panel back in the animated specials and comic strips, her fairly important role in The Peanuts Movie has made her main character trait of being The Ghost something of The Artifact. The advertising and promotional materials for the movie had several unobscured portrait renders of her, Snoopy's Town Tale (a mobile tie-in made to advertise the film) has them as a character, and even The Snoopy Show features her, albeit as The Faceless, in one episode. So while she's meant to be The Ghost, she oftentimes isn't portrayed as such post-2015.
Snoopy's friends, relatives, and rivals
Spike
First Appearance: August 13, 1975 — Final Appearance: December 21, 1999
One of Snoopy's five brothers, and the first of his siblings to be introduced, in 1975. Spike lives in the desert outside Needles, California, and hangs out with his only friend, an inanimate saguaro cactus. He works as a den-cleaner for coyotes. Snoopy often sends him mail to keep in touch.
- A Day in the Limelight: Surprisingly for such a minor character, Spike got his own Spinoff live-action movie, It's the Girl in the Red Truck, Charlie Brown.
- Companion Cube: The cactus.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Surprisingly, one Sunday strip revealed this as the reason why he lives alone in the desert:Spike: Why do I live all alone out here in the desert? I'm going to tell you something I've never told anyone. Years ago when I was young, I was out walking with some people. Suddenly, a rabbit ran across in front of us. "Get him!" shouted the people. Even though I didn't want to, I darted after the rabbit. I wouldn't have known what to do even if I had caught him. Then it happened! the rabbit ran into to the road, and was hit by a car! I was stunned! Why did I do it? Oh, how I hated myself! And how I hated those people who shouted, "Get him!". So I came out here to the desert where I couldn't hurt anything again. I've never told this to anyone before.
*Spike looks at the cactus he's been telling the story to*
Spike: I guess I still haven't. - Dreary Half-Lidded Eyes: His half-lidded eyes give him a tired look.
- Hero of Another Story: He is the protagonist of It's the Girl in the Red Truck, Charlie Brown.
- Honest John's Dealership: At one point he had a real estate office.
- My Greatest Failure: After causing the death of an innocent rabbit, he's never completely forgiven himself.
- Nonstandard Character Design: His large eyes and skinny body make him stand out among the other Peanuts characters.
- Noodle People: Spike is extremely emaciated-looking from the neck down.
- The One Who Wears Shoes: Not usually, but sometimes. Spike claims that his shoes were a gift from Mickey Mouse.
- Perma-Stubble: He is consistently shown with pronounced whiskers (possibly in reference to his lifestyle).
- Sphere Eyes: Has big round eyes that accompany his half-raised eyelids.
- Self-Imposed Exile: He's been living as a recluse in the desert ever since his former owners forced him to chase a rabbit, which caused its death.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: At one point he had a real estate office. His clients? A pack of coyotes. One of his most visible deals? Selling them the vacant lot on which Charlie Brown's baseball team plays. The ramifications? Celebration that some strict league rules would not be as heavily enforced.
Snoopy's other siblings (Andy, Belle, Marbles, Molly, Olaf, and Rover) and nephew (Belle's son)
Andy
Olaf
Marbles
Belle and her son
Andy's First Appearance: February 14, 1994 — Andy's Final Appearance: September 27, 1999
Belle's First Appearance: June 28, 1976 — Belle's Final Appearance: May 11, 1981
Belle's Son's First Appearance: June 29, 1976 — Belle's Son's Final Appearance: June 30, 1976
Marbles's First Appearance: September 28, 1982 — Marbles's Final Appearance: October 9, 1982
Olaf's First Appearance: January 24, 1989 — Olaf's Final Appearance: September 27, 1999
Apart from Spike, Snoopy has six other siblings. Four of them, Andy, Olaf, Marbles and Belle, have appeared in the comic strip. The final two, Molly and Rover, only appeared in the animated TV special Snoopy's Reunion. Of those siblings, one—Belle—had a son, thus providing Snoopy with a nephew.
- Advertised Extra: Belle, kind of. She never became more than an extremely minor character in either comic or cartoon, but she's had a lot of merchandise dedicated to her and even appeared in the intro for The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show, as one of the characters mentioned by the theme song — despite never actually appearing in the show itself.
- Canon Foreigner: Molly and Rover. While the strip made it quite clear that Snoopy had seven siblings, only five of them were named in the strip itself, and the names and appearances of Molly and Rover are not considered canon to the strip.
- Canon Immigrant: Andy. He's the only Peanuts character to have debuted in animation before appearing in the comic.
- The Klutz: Andy has traces of this.
- Fat Idiot: Olaf is the chubbiest and probably the dimmest of the siblings.
- Informed Species: All of them inherit their non-resemblance of a beagle from Snoopy, but Marbles is by far the worst, having spots on his ears and back that make him look more like a Dalmatian.
- Non-Standard Character Design: Olaf is the only sibling who is fat and has a rounder face with his tongue always out. Many of the siblings also have eyes that are perpetually spherical.
- Noodle People: Snoopy's nephew is drawn with unusually long legs and a narrow body, as well as thin arms. Snoopy compares him to The Pink Panther.
- The One Who Wears Shoes: Marbles, like Spike, occasionally wears shoes. Unlike Spike, he doesn't wear anything else.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Marbles's reaction when Snoopy's World War I fantasies get too weird for him.
- The Smart Guy: Marbles is considered the brains of the family, and has spent some time researching why some dogs walk at an angle. He's also the only one of them who doesn't buy into Snoopy's fantasies and finds it ludicrous when his brother refers to his doghouse as a Sopwith Camel.
- Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Belle and Molly have prominent eyelashes. In addition, Molly wears makeup and Belle wears a lace collar, sometimes a pearl necklace, and a dress in her animated appearances.
- Those Two Guys: Andy and Olaf eventually took on this role in the strip.
- Walking the Earth: Andy and Olaf took to doing this, but as they're not very good at finding their way they never seem to end up where they want to be. Somehow they always do manage to find their way back to Snoopy's doghouse, though.
Snoopy's parents (Baxter and Missy)
Baxter's First Appearance: June 18, 1989 — Baxter's Final Appearance: June 18, 1989
Missy's First Appearance: July 26, 1996 — Missy's Final Appearance: July 26, 1996
Snoopy's loving parents.
Snoopy's fiancées
Snoopy's first fiancée was referenced in strips published in 1965. He met her figure-skating and she stole his heart, but her father refused to bless their marriage because Snoopy had dropped out of obedience school. He later met her on the beach (where he calls her a 'Beach-Beagle') and almost drowned trying to impress her, only to learn that she was dating a golden retriever.
His second fiancée was referenced in strips published in 1977. Snoopy falls in love with her, but on their wedding day she chooses to run off with Spike. She later abandons him as well. She is named 'Genevieve' in the (non-canon) animated special Snoopy's Getting Married, Charlie Brown and, in that, runs off with a golden retriever instead of Spike.
- The Ghost: Neither dog is ever actually seen.
- Parental Marriage Veto: What sinks the first fiancée's relationship with Snoopy.
Beagle Scouts (Bill, Conrad, Fred, Harriet, Olivier, Raymond, Roy, and Wilson)
Just a few of the scouts
First Appearance: June 9, 1974 — Final Appearance: November, 1999An octet of birds that Snoopy leads on nature hikes and instructs in the ways of the world.
- Bar Brawl: During one arc, some of the birds go into town and get into one of these. Most of the birds get out okay, but Harriet, who was the strongest brawler, is arrested and Charlie Brown has to bail her out.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: Olivier tends to give bizarre and odd responses to Snoopy's questions. At one point he asks Snoopy to tell the ocean to smile so he can get a better picture of it.
- Only Six Faces: All the birds looked alike, even unnamed generic ones (except Raymond, who got halftone dots).
- Scout-Out: The named birds often took part in Beagle Scout hikes and campouts with Snoopy as the leader.
- Token Minority: Raymond is given a much darker coloration than the other birds.
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak: Harriet is the toughest of the birds, but she's also the one that's good at baking.
- The Unintelligible: Like Woodstock, their dialogue is a series of chirps drawn as vertical lines that only Snoopy can understand. (This allows for some interesting Visual Gags now and then using the dialogue balloons. For example, in one Beagle Scout strip, Snoopy takes roll, and they count off "|", "||", "|||" and "||||", then Harriet, who is five, says "||||" with a diagonal slash through it.)
- Wedding Episode: Bill and Harriet get married in a sequence of strips from 1983.
World War II
The cat next door. He doesn't get along with Snoopy, and frequently expresses his feelings by shredding Snoopy's doghouse.
- Cats Are Mean: One of the meanest characters in the strip.
- Silent Antagonist: Never heard in any way, except for the striking of Snoopy's doghouse; no unintelligible dialogue (unlike Woodstock) or cat sounds; and no thought balloons (unlike Snoopy). Except for one time, when it laughed out loud at Snoopy accidentally getting an electric shock. Though in animation, the cat is heard screeching when it strikes.
- Single-Stroke Battle: He can wreck Snoopy's doghouse with a single swipe of his claws.
- The Unseen: Never shown whatsoever in any medium.
Peppermint Patty and her classmates
Patricia "Peppermint Patty" Reichardt
First Appearance: August 22, 1966 — Final Appearance: January 2, 2000
A Book Dumb tomboy character who's good friends with Charlie Brown despite living on the opposite side of town and attending a different school. She is the best friend of Marcie, who tends to call her "sir", much to Peppermint Patty's dismay.
- Affectionate Nickname: Her father calls her "a rare gem." Patty likes this nickname very much.
- Accidental Misnaming: On the giving as well as the receiving end, calling Charlie Brown "Chuck" and Lucy by her seldom-seen full name "Lucille".
- The Ace: If it's even vaguely related to sports or physical activity, Peppermint Patty can do it better than anyone — except maybe Snoopy. She's always capable of trying new things, and she exudes a constant confidence to match. On the other hand, she's Book Dumb and her confidence isn't quite as boundless as it seems.
- Adaptational Jerkass: For some reason, some of the Peanuts animated media liked to crank her temper more than the strip. This has led to moments like the entirety of Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown, where she was way more bossy, yelling, and forcing all the boys to sleep in the snow. Thankfully, this seems to have been corrected in recent Peanuts animated cartoons/specials, making her more nicer side be shown.
- Art Evolution: The Peanuts Movie does a good job on keeping her design from the strip largely the same, the notable exception being that her hair is a considerably lighter brown than what's usually depicted, and that they wear pants, not shorts.
- Asleep in Class: The story of Peppermint Patty's life. Marcie once remarked that it seemed like Patty actually came to school prepared to sleep. Patty's response: "What makes you say that, Marcie?" while lying on her desk with a sleeping bag and pillow.
- Berserker Tears: In a 1972 storyline, when she met the Little Red-Haired Girl at summer camp and was so overcome with self-hatred as a result that she began crying hysterically. The outburst got Charlie Brown sent home early, since his name was mentioned and the counselors figured he was to blame.
- Book Dumb: Grade point average of around 1.0, but easily the most athletic of the kids.
- Breakout Character: Almost as much as Snoopy. Schulz once said he felt Peppermint Patty was his only character besides Charlie Brown who was 'strong' enough to carry a strip by herself.
- Broken Ace: Sometimes, though not always. Despite her skills, Peppermint Patty is deeply self-conscious about her appearance and smarts, and her crush on Charlie Brown, and it's sometimes hinted that she doesn't think as much of herself as it appears. The first time she saw The Little Red Headed Girl, she felt so inadequate in comparison that she broke down crying and couldn't stop, causing a huge commotion at camp.
- Character Catchphrase:
- "You kind of like me, don't you, Chuck?"
- "Don't hassle me with your sighs [or 'sarcasm', etc.], Chuck!"
- "I hate talking to you, Chuck!" [whenever she tries to confide in Charlie Brown and he doesn't tell her what she wants to hear]
- "You're weird, Marcie."
- "Whatever..." (Whenever Marcie corrects one of her malapropisms)
- "Stop calling me 'sir'!" (While she genuinely doesn't like being called "sir", she mostly uses this when she doesn't have an actual reply to what Marcie's saying. Lampshaded in one strip when Marcie drops a few hard truths on her, then adds "Incidentally, have you noticed I've stopped calling you 'sir'?")
- "Sarcasm does not become you, ma'am!" [whenever the teacher makes a sarcastic remark at her expense]
- "I'm awake! I'm awake! The answer is twelve!" [often her first words upon awaking after falling asleep in class]
- "I could strike [Charlie Brown] out on three straight pitches." (Trying to convince herself that she couldn't possibly have feelings for someone like Charlie Brown)
- "Chuck, you sly dog!"
- "You touched my hand, Chuck!" [whenever she tricks Charlie Brown into shaking her hand in animated adaptations]
- Cloud Cuckoolander: She thought for years that Snoopy was a weird-looking kid with a big nose. She's also enrolled in (and graduated from) a dog obedience school under the impression that it was a private school; attempted to enroll in a school for gifted children thinking that it meant she'd be given presents; and practiced for what she thought was a figure-skating competition only to learn the day of that it was a roller-skating competition, among other examples.
- Color-Coded Characters: Green
- Daddy's Girl: Peppermint Patty has a close relationship with her father, and is very proud that his nickname for her is "rare gem." Her mother is rarely mentioned – a Mother's Day strip has her state she doesn't have one, and she wants to give a Mother's Day gift to her dad instead.
- A Day in the Limelight: She was the star of She's A Good Skate Charlie Brown, and has major subplots in a lot of the later specials, adapted from her mostly-solo stories in the strip. She's also the main focus in Charlie Brown and Snoopy Presents: To Mom (and Dad), With Love. (see Breakout Character).
- Depending on the Writer: Her knowing if Snoopy is a dog or not. Most of the time, she doesn't and thinks of him as "the funny looking kid with the big nose", though sometimes, she does know that Snoopy is a dog, as seen from a scene in The Peanuts Movie and "Life's a Circus, Charlie Brown".
- Dolled-Up Installment: Schulz actually created her for a children's book that he never got around to writing, so he added her to the comic strip instead.
- Dreadful Musician: On a field trip her class took to a Messiah sing-along, she was the only one kicked out of the auditorium. It didn't help that the middle panel depicted her with a Volumetric Mouth as Marcie looked on in confusion.
- Dumb Jock: This is a girl who spent nearly a decade of the strip's run thinking that Snoopy was "the funny-looking kid with the big nose". And she can be more stupid, like when she was convinced that a dog obedience school was for humans, enrolled as a student doing all the curriculum as the dogs and never questioned why she was the only human doing it. Then she "graduates" and seriously thinks she doesn't have to continue in regular human school including arguing the point with the principal with Snoopy as her lawyer until the principal finally clues her in what she has done.
- Early-Bird Cameo: She first appeared in 1966 and made it into A Boy Named Charlie Brown, but didn't become a major character in the strip until the 1970s.
- Ear-Piercing Plot: In one arc, Lucy and Peppermint Patty wanted to get their ears pierced, and Marcie was a big help, telling them about all the dangers of getting that done by an unskilled amateur; Patty almost freaked when Marcie mentioned a penicillin shot.
- F--: She often gets D-minuses or even Z-minuses on her tests.[on a "Z-minus she received on a test] "That's not a grade... that's SARCASM!"
- Girliness Upgrade: Despite her dislike of wearing dresses, she's tried wearing frilly dresses and/or ribbons in her hair a few times with the hope that her teacher will see it as reason enough to avoid giving her a D-minus. Ultimately, it never works.
- Hates Wearing Dresses: She was the first female character to wear pants. In a '70s arc her school required a dress code that banned her shorts and sandals. She took them to court — and lost, although eventually she was again seen in school in her trademark outfit, suggesting that her school did eventually relax the code.
- He Is Not My Boyfriend: Patty will angrily deflect any suggestion that she has a crush on Charlie Brown. However, her Clingy Jealous Girl moments give her true feelings away.
- Heavy Sleeper: Peppermint Patty's bad grades are possibly exacerbated by her tendency to sleep through class. This was explained by the fact that her father works late, and Patty is too insecure to sleep until he returns home.
- Hidden Depths: For a brash, overconfident tomboy, she expresses a lot of insecurity in her appearance. She even suggests that the chief reason for her poor grades in school is that the teacher doesn't like her looks.Patty: I've got a big nose, so I fail... it's as simple as that.
- Iconic Sequel Character: Patty didn't debut until 1966, a good 16 years into the strip's run. She quickly became however one of the most prominent characters in both the strip and specials, as well as a personal favourite of Schulz himself.
- Informed Flaw: She hates her nose and thinks it's too big, even though it doesn't look that much different from anyone else's. Of course, that may be the point. At one point when Linus tries to give up his blanket, he grabs her nose so he can hold onto something.
- Innocently Insensitive: She tries to be good to Charlie Brown and rarely means to contribute to his misfortunes, which sets her apart from characters like Lucy even when at her most overbearing and abrasive. She tends to be apologetic whenever she realizes she's done wrong, though her attempts to make amends sometimes just make things worse.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: A brash, tough tomboy but she also has a softer side. While she's overbearing and pushy, with a tendency to explode, she's also one of the few characters who will truly feel guilty and try to make amends whenever she hurts Charlie Brown's feelings.
- Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Sort of. She often gets an idea in her head, and doesn't seem to hear people correcting her until she's already humiliated herself and then compounds her stupidity by blaming everyone who warned and she ignored for not stopping her.
- Literal-Minded: Goes hand in hand with Know-Nothing Know-It-All on occasion, notably when she tried to enroll in a school for gifted children thinking that "gifted" meant the school administrators would shower her with gifts. She even brought a bag with her to carry the presents in.
- Lovable Jock: Flanderization, combined with the Comedic Sociopathy that characterized the strip, moved her into Jerk Jock territory occasionally, but at heart she was a dim but loyal tomboy with a crush on Charlie Brown.
- Love Triangle: Usually low-key rivalry with Marcie over Charlie Brown.
- Malaproper: Not as often as, say, Sally, but she has her moments. In one strip, she was assigned a report on Washington, D.C., and proceeded to write the report on George Washington instead; when Marcie tried to correct her, Patty thought "D.C." stood for a son of George Washington with the initials "D.C." Another time, she thought "D.C." stood for "doctor" and wrote a report about George Washington being an ophthalmologist and saving the vision of his friend, "Bunker Hill."
- Missing Mom: She lives with her father. It's hinted that her mother may have died, which at least partly accounts for her tomboy nature. In the series of strips where she commissions Marcie to make her a new skating dress, Marcie's mother does it, and Marcie notes that her mother feels sorry for Patty because she doesn't have a mother of her own.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Charlie Brown once overheard Patty insulting him in response to Marcie asking her if she liked him, and was so hurt that he went straight to bed when he got home. Patty, once she realized what she'd done, did the same out of depression for having hurt Charlie's feelings.
- Never My Fault: She tends to blame others when things don't go her way. In one strip she even tells Charlie Brown that her problems are his fault because she needs someone else to blame.
- The Nicknamer: She insists on calling some of the other character by nicknames, most famously "Chuck" for Charlie Brown.
- One Dialogue, Two Conversations: In a 1998 Sunday strip, Patty gets disgusted with Marcie for choosing violin lessons over summer camp, and Marcie replies, "You can't play Brahms on a canoe paddle, Sir." Then, when Charlie Brown tells Patty he's not sure he's going to camp either, Patty yells, "Oh, sure! Can't play Brahms on a canoe paddle, huh?" and storms away, leaving a perplexed Charlie Brown to utter, "I never know what anyone's talking about."
- Only Known by Their Nickname: She's always referred to as "Peppermint Patty", to differentiate her from the other Patty in the strip. Patty eventually disappeared from the strip entirely, but Peppermint Patty's nickname has still remained ever since.
- One of the Boys: Almost, for all intents and purposes. One arc featured a player on her team protesting Marcie joining, stating that he didn't want to play with a girl. Patty is not happy with this statement. "That's the first time I've ever been threatened with a shredding.."
- Passionate Sports Girl: She not only manages her own sandlot baseball team, but loves to play football, even in the rain (possibly especially in the rain). There was a brief story-line where she started associating this with the feminist movement, but eventually, she started to just do it for fun. Unfortunately, her bookworm friend Marcie doesn't share her appreciation for it much.
- Phrase Catcher: Her friend Marcie habitually addresses her as "sir".
- Playing a Tree: A variant — in It's Christmas Time Again, Charlie Brown, she gets stuck with playing a sheep. Hilarity Ensues.
- Prefers Going Barefoot: She strictly prefers wearing sandals almost everywhere she goes, even in the winter, which emphasizes her tough nature. One story arc involved the school's dress code banning her sandals, which her dad bought her because she's a "rare gem." It upset her to the point of tears.
- Raised by Dudes: It's implied at least part of the reason she's such a tomboy is because she was raised by a single father, and has no mother figure to speak of.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The brash red oni to Marcie's quiet and soft-spoken blue.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: She hates wearing dresses, but has worn some nice skating outfits every now and then.
- Shout-Out: To the York Peppermint Pattie, a brand of dark chocolate-covered mint confections.
- Sleepyhead: She falls asleep in class so often that she once got tested for narcolepsy. One strip explains that her father works nights, and Patty stays up late waiting for him to come home because she's afraid to sleep in the empty house. One series of strips had her held back a year in school — and the sound of snoring still came from her empty seat!
- Tender Tomboyishness, Foul Femininity: The Tender Tomboyishness to Lucy's Foul Femininity. Peppermint Patty is a tomboyish Passionate Sports Girl who almost never wears dresses and is rather laid-back and friendly for the most part. Lucy often wears a blue dress, is more openly flirty and romantic, and does not get along with others whatsoever.
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak: She is a fan of (and participates in) figure skating.
- Traumatic Haircut: Patty got one in a 1974 storyline in which she went to Charlie Brown's father's barber shop for a haircut so she would look nice for a skating competition. Unfortunately, Chuck's dad mistook Patty for a boy and gave her a boy's haircut, forcing her to wear a tall, curly wig to the competition.
- Tsundere: Type B. Generally friendly and flirtatious toward Chuck, but more than willing to shout him down if she thinks she's being insulted or ignored.
- Unwillingly Girly Tomboy: In one story arc, Patty is forced to wear a dress to school in order to conform with the new dress code, and gets teased for it. She hates dresses so much that she's willing to risk being expelled for wearing her normal clothes, and even (unsuccessfully) challenges the dress code at a school board meeting (with Snoopy as her attorney). At some point, however, the dress code was apparently relaxed, since Patty was only shown in a dress a few times afterward, and Marcie also never wears dresses.
- Waking Non Sequitur: A Running Gag throughout the strip is whenever Marcie wakes Patty up from her sleep, she ends up yelling random answers such as, "True! False! Mississippi River! Charles Dickens!"
- When You Coming Home, Dad?: Literally. She stays up late waiting for her father to come home, which is why she's always asleep in class.
- Youthful Freckles: Noticeably the only kid who has freckles. Or at least the only major character.
Marcie
"That was very profound, Sir."
First Appearance: July 20, 1971 — Final Appearance: January 2, 2000
A nerdy girl who first met Peppermint Patty at summer camp, and then later met the rest of the cast. She acts as a foil to Peppermint Patty, whom she calls "sir", much to P.P.'s chagrin.
- Ambiguously Brown: Her race was never stated, but some fans have interpreted her as East Asian — what with her dark hair, and fitting the well-worn stereotypes of the nerdy-but-serious student with Opaque Nerd Glasses who's an Education Mama's girl.note
- Armor-Piercing Question: Gives an amazing one to Peppermint Patty in A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, after Patty chews out Charlie Brown for his hastily prepared Thanksgiving dinner.Marcie: Did he invite you, or did you invite yourself?
- Asleep in Class: Marcie's done it a few times, although not habitually like Peppermint Patty. Once was due to sleep deprivation, since she was on safety patrol and was fatigued from having to get up at 6:00 a.m. Patty (who, for once in her life, was awake in class at the moment Marcie was asleep) was named as a temporary replacement for Marcie on patrol.
- A Day in the Limelight: Marcie is the main character in Snoopy Presents: One-of-a-Kind Marcie.
- Beware the Nice Ones:
- When set off, Marcie can prove to be tougher than Peppermint Patty, going so far as to demolish Snoopy's dog house with one punch. Furthermore, when she is being insulted, Marcie once furiously growled "Let's go shorten a few lifespans!" and Patty had to rein her back. (This was after Marcie had fallen on the ice and knocked herself unconscious trying to rescue Patty from a gang of hostile hockey players who were trying to force Patty, who had been practicing her figure skating, off the ice.)
- Patty didn't hold her back when she confronted Thibault after he'd been giving her a hard time about being a girl in baseball. She's ready to chew him out, threatening that if he says one word, she'll "belt [him] right across the chops!" He replies "Oh?" Marcie's response is a left hook.
- After she and Peppermint Patty try to earn some extra money by working as golf caddies, she ends up snapping at the constant bickering of their two clients and angrily tells them that she's quitting while also kicking their golf clubs everywhere. She becomes even more livid after their employer wants half of their earnings, and probably the only reason Marcie doesn't slug him is that Patty does so first.
- A later storyline has Marcie working as Patty's caddie in a children's golf tournament. When an opponent's caddie makes a patronizing comment to her, her reaction is to shove him into the lake, along with all of the opponent's clubs — and, much to Patty's chagrin, Patty's clubs as well.
- Book Smart: Marcie is a very good student, in contrast to her Book Dumb friend Peppermint Patty.
- Brainy Brunette: She is studious and has brown hair.
- Blind Without 'Em: Once, when pressured to not wear her glasses to increase her popularity, she spent the rest of the day walking into walls and poles.
- Bookworm: She's intellectual and loves books.
- Character Catchphrase: "You're weird, sir."
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: To Peppermint Patty, though she has plenty of Cloudcuckoolander moments of her own, especially when it comes to sports.
- Color-Coded Characters: Vermilion
- Compliment Backfire: One summer camp arc revolves around this, she complains about a boy who's calling her names, and proceeds to hit him with her lunch, push him in the lake, and push him into a patch of poison oak, all off-panel; even Patty tells her to stop, saying she's "going to kill that kid". As it turns out, it’s a boy who has a crush on her, calling her "lambcake" as a show of affection. Marcie explains her violent reactions to such an innocuous nickname in this way:When someone calls you "lambcake" when you know you're not a "lambcake", that's sarcasm.
- Costume Evolution: The Peanuts Movie has her translated to 3D CG pretty faithfully, the exception being her shorts, which are now pants.
- Creepy Monotone: Speaks this way in the 2016 shorts.
- Cunning Linguist: When the kids go to France in Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don't Come Back), Marcie's shown to be the most fluent in French out of the entire group. In the strip, she sometimes plays along with Snoopy's World War I fantasy by playing a "young French lass" who addresses Snoopy in French, which he is unable to understand.
- Deadpan Snarker: A more subtle one than many examples. It's often hard to tell how many of her Cloud Cuckoolander moments are genuine and how many are just her being sarcastic.
- Ditzy Genius: While Marcie is very smart and wise, she can be naive and goofy.
- Education Mama: In a 1990 storyline, she reveals to Charlie Brown that her parents put a lot of pressure on her to bring home good grades.
- Enraged by Idiocy: While generally meek and gentle, Marcie has been known to unleash on Peppermint Patty for doing or saying something particularly stupid. In the July 30, 1995 strip, she goes off on Patty for referring to composer Samuel Barber as "Samuel the Barber."
- Foil: She is Peppermint Patty's opposite in every aspect of their personalities (a serious bookworm in contrast to Peppermint Patty who is a Book Dumb athletic tomboy).
- Glasses Pull: Several strips end with Marcie taking off her glasses to roll her eyes at Patty — probably because we wouldn't see the eye roll otherwise.
- Gretzky Has the Ball: She's often unclear on the particulars of various sports, much to Peppermint Patty's irritation. In fact, chances are she's probably name-dropped the trope at some point.
- Iconic Sequel Character: Less so than Patty, but Marcie became a firm part of the core cast despite not debuting until two entire decades in.
- Love Triangle: Low-key rivalry with Peppermint Patty for Charlie Brown's favor.
- Malaproper: Quite often, with regard to sports. Among other things, she says "Zucchini" for "Zamboni" and "Splendid Bowl" for "Super Bowl".
- Named by the Adaptation: Marcie Johnson gets her last name in You're in The Super Bowl, Charlie Brown, but it was never acknowledged in the strip. The Peanuts Movie has the name "Marcie Carlin" on the test-rankings list (second to Charlie Brown listed as #1).
- Nerd Glasses: Not only that, Opaque Nerd Glasses.
- Nice Girl: One of the sweetest and kindest characters in the strip with only rare Jerkass Ball moments, and easily the nicest of all the female characters.
- No Full Name Given: Her last name was never revealed in the strip.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The quiet and soft-spoken blue oni to Patty's brash red oni.
- Shipper on Deck: Marcie used to ship Charlie Brown/Peppermint Patty. It was later revealed that she liked Charlie Brown herself, but figured he'd never go for her because she wore glasses.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: She has a crush on Nice Guy Charlie Brown.
- The Smart Girl: One of the smartest characters, though she has her moments of silliness.
- Troll: Increasingly with Peppermint Patty in the strip, as the years went by — especially in the school strips. It wouldn't be remiss to say that by the 90s trolling and having harmless fun at each other's expense was a major element of their friendship.Patty: (on the phone) Are you and Chuck having a good time at Summer Camp, Marcie??
Marcie: Charles, I can't hear what she's saying if you keep nibbling on my ear.
Patty: (gnawing on the phone cord) ARRRGGGGHH!
Marcie: Just teasing, sir! - Tsundere: Marcie sometimes shows tendencies of this. She actually kicked Charlie Brown in the leg when he balked at answering her question of whether he liked her.
Franklin
First Appearance: July 31, 1968 — Final Appearance: November 5, 1999
The strip's first black character and Only Sane Man. He never developed much of a personality beyond that, although he's apparently unnaturally good at break-dancing. According to Schulz, he's the only character whose knowledge of scripture comes close to rivaling Linus's. Also, he manages Peppermint Patty's baseball team.
- Art Evolution: The Peanuts Movie gives him an orange shirt, in contrast to beige as depicted above. He also has visible signs of a buzzcut, but not to the same extent as Charlie.
- A Day in the Limelight: He's the main character of the 2024 special Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin.
- Dad the Veteran: In his first appearance, he mentions that his dad is off fighting in Vietnam.
- The Generic Guy: Like Shermy before him, Franklin doesn't have a very strong personality. He is a good deal smarter and completely lacks Shermy's Jerkass moments, though. Charles Schultz claimed that "in contrast with the other characters, Franklin has the fewest anxieties and obsessions."
- Hidden Depths: "Flashbeagle" reveals that he's really good at breakdancing and happily cheers on Snoopy at the disco. Then he joins in, switching gears easily.
- Logical Latecomer: Franklin was like this, questioning bits of weirdness that the other characters took for granted such as Snoopy's World-War One helmet and Lucy's psychiatric booth.
- Named by the Adaptation: Franklin got the last name Armstrong in You're in The Super Bowl, Charlie Brown in 1994, which was never acknowledged in the strip, but Jump Start creator Robb Armstrong, who was a close friend of Schulz, says that Schulz chose the name in his honor and asked for his permission to use it, making it more-or-less canonical.
- Nice Guy: Of all the characters in the franchise, Franklin is probably the nicest. For one thing, he's the only one who's never said an unkind word to Charlie Brown.
- Only Sane Man: He frequently lampshades the other kids' eccentric natures. This strip is a good example.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Though he would change his mind and return later on, this was his initial reaction to the kids in Charlie Brown's neighborhood."I didn't mind the girl in the booth or the beagle with the googles, but that business about the 'Great Pumpkin'... No, sir!"
- Token Minority: The only reason he existed, Schulz having been in correspondence with a schoolteacher who believed adding diversity to such a popular strip would be a boon to race relations. Schulz got in a fair bit of trouble at the time for including a black character: several readers (mostly in the Deep South) wrote to him and his editors, angrily demanding Franklin not be shown interacting with the rest of the (white) cast due to the "controversy" of it. When Schulz ignored the complaints, some Southern papers dropped the strip in protest.
Sally's classmates
Eudora
First Appearance: June 13, 1978 — Final Appearance: June 13, 1987
Sally's classmate and summer campmate, who makes even her look smart by comparison.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Arguably the last major character to get introduced in the strip, she debuted in the late seventies and was a semi-major character for nearly a decade until she vanished around the late eighties. Apart from Rerun, she's the only major or semi-major character from the strip who does not appear in The Peanuts Movie... though she does appear in the 2014 series.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Without question the most eccentric cast member; she writes her book reports on the TV guide, eats chocolate-and-gravy sandwiches, tries to attack the water with loud battle cries when going swimming, and goes on field trips to a car wash.
- The Ditz: Just as an example:Sally: Eudora! What are you doing here? There's no school on Saturday!
Eudora: There isn't? That explains everything. Saturday's the only day I never get anything wrong. - Never Bareheaded: She's never seen without her cap.
- No Full Name Given: Her last name is never revealed.
- Replacement Flat Character: Eudora embodies Sally's early characteristics that Sally grew from.
Sally's schools
Original Building's First (Speaking) Appearance: August 31, 1974 — Original Building's Final Appearance: January 9, 1976
The schools that Sally attends. They are able to hear Sally talk to them and think of their own responses in exchange, though they can't actually speak aloud. Ironically, despite Sally hating school, the buildings are arguably Sally's best and most steadfast friends.
- Driven to Suicide: Sally's original school building eventually collapses, and when a tearful Sally asks the rubble why, the school's remains 'think' that it just couldn't take anymore.
- Genius Loci: They're buildings that are capable of thought and a limited degree of interaction with their surroundings.
- Mysterious Protector: When a bully harasses Sally for talking to a school building, the building drops a brick on the bully's head.
- Tap on the Head: How it deals with someone who is bullying Sally.
"Rerun" and his classmates
"Rerun" van Pelt
"Ask your dog if he wants to play."
First Appearance: March 26, 1973 — Final Appearance: January 30, 2000
Linus and Lucy's younger brother, born in 1972. He was never given a true name, and was always referred to as "Rerun" after a comment that Lucy made about another younger brother being akin to a TV rerun.
- Adapted Out: Curiously enough he's nowhere to be seen in The Peanuts Movie (outside a single comic strip shown during the end credits) despite having been one of the main characters of the strip's later years... and despite getting a Suspiciously Similar Substitute character in the movie just referred to as "Little Kid." He's also absent in the specials Is This Goodbye, Charlie Brown? and Happiness Is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: To Linus, though Lucy seems to handle him just fine.
- Ascended Extra: It took a quarter century after his introduction in the early 1970s for Rerun to become a regular. For most of that time Rerun was usually shown riding on the back of his mother's bicycle, when he was shown at all. By the last few years of the strip, however, his interactions with Snoopy and Lucy, as well as his entering kindergarten, had provided fresh material. Rerun is even the main character of a few of the more recent TV specials.
- A Day in the Limelight:Rerun is the main charcater in I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown.
- Drives Like Crazy: For a while, his main thing was being stuck on the back of his mother's bicycle. Said mother is a very bad cyclist.
- Line-of-Sight Name: Lucy is frustrated when he is born that he's male, angry stating he's a "rerun" of Linus. The nickname sticks.
- Mature Younger Sibling: Downplayed. His older brother Linus isn't immature per se (in fact, he's one of the most sensible characters), but Rerun doesn't suck his thumb, believe in the Great Pumpkin, or carry around a blanket. Rerun has admitted he doesn't idolize Linus in any way.
- Morality Pet: Lucy's nicer side emerges when he's around.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: He caused Charlie Brown's baseball team to forfeit their only victory due to involving them in a gambling scandal (he bet a nickel they would win against Snoopy).
- Nice, Mean, and In-Between: The nice sibling to Lucy's mean and Linus's in-between.
- No Name Given: He is Only Known by Their Nickname.
- Replacement Flat Character: Sometime after Linus developed his personality as a blanket-hugging, gospel-quoting weirdo, Rerun was introduced with Linus' original personality; being a baby learning to cope with the world.
- Sequential Artist: He specializes in what he calls "basement comics".
- Spotlight-Stealing Squad: After around two decades of being an incidental character, he became much more prominent in the strip's last few years, to the point where he was one of the main stars.
- Strong Family Resemblance: He looks an awful lot like Linus, to the point where fans and even translators have occasionally confused the two. There are a couple of visual differences:
- They both wear striped shirts, but Rerun often wears overalls over his. (Linus never does)
- Rerun's hair is only on top of his head, while Linus's hair curls around his ear.
Little Pigtailed Girl
A classmate and friend of Rerun.
- No Name Given: She is never given a real name.
- Super Gullible: When Rerun jokes about running away with her to Paris, she actually believes him and tells her parents (who get Rerun suspended for harassment).
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: When she accidentally gets Rerun suspended. Downplayed in that it was a small thing.
Camp characters
Peggy Jean
A girl Charlie Brown meets at camp. After they meet, she and Charlie Brown fall in love. She later leaves much to his dismay when she reveals she has a different crush.
- Accidental Misnaming: When Charlie Brown first meets her, he gets so nervous that he accidentally calls himself Brownie Charles. Peggy Jean proceeds to call him this whenever she addresses him. He likes it, but this does cause problems when she writes him letters that never arrive in part because they were addressed to 'Brownie Charles.'
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Character Derailment: Peggy provides an accidental example. She started off as a (slightly) tomboyish character but was changed to a more feminine character in Snoopy's Town Tale. - First Love: While Charlie Brown had pined for girls before, Peggy was the first girl that he ever approached romantically, and she and Charlie Brown were very close for a while... until her final appearance revealed that she had a different boyfriend.
- Girliness Upgrade/Not as You Know Them/You Don't Look Like You: Apparently, when developing Snoopy's Town Tale, the developers forgot that she was a tomboy. This caused her to lose any tomboyish trait she had prior. Also an accidental example of Flanderization.
- Tomboy: Inverted in Snoopy's Town Tale due to accidental Character Derailment. Played straight (or possibly downplayed since she has a hair bow) prior.
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak: A tomboy who has a hair bow.
Roy
A boy who Charlie Brown meets at camp.
- Lonely Together: Charlie Brown meets him when he's sad about being lonely. Since Charlie Brown is himself lonely and homesick, he uses this as a basis for the two of them to become friends.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Roy spent much his run as something of a bit character, but it's through him that Charlie Brown first met Peppermint Patty — who, naturally, became one of the most significant characters in the strip.
- Transfer Student Uniforms: In a way. In the summer camp strips, all the boys wear a sort of sailor's hat. Having first appeared at camp, Roy continues to wear his even when he's back at school.
"Shut Up and Leave Me Alone" kid
An unpleasant boy who shares a cabin with Charlie Brown at camp. He is notorious for his habit of telling those who talk to him to "shut up and leave him alone".
- The Aloner: He just wants to be alone.
- Character Catchphrase: "Shut up and leave me alone." It's the only thing he ever says. At one point he even wrote a letter to Charlie Brown, consisting entirely of that one sentence.
- The Faceless: He is never seen with a face.
- Meaningful Name: Fanmade example, but he prefers to be alone.
- No Name Given: We never learn his name, though fan pages and wikis name him, what else? "Shut Up And Leave Me Alone."
- No Social Skills: He spends all of camp facing a wall and ordering everyone who talks to him to shut up and leave him alone.
