 YMMV •  Radar •  Quotes • ( Funny •  Heartwarming •  Awesome) •  Fridge •  Characters •  Fanfic Recs •  Nightmare Fuel •  Shout Out •  Plot •  Tear Jerker •  Headscratchers •  Trivia • WMG •  Recap •  Ho Yay •  Image Links •  Memes •  Haiku • Laconic •  Source • Setting
|
|---|
The Peanuts comic strip began in 1950 and ran until 2000. In the 50 years it was in papers, it saw many characters come and go.
Charles "Charlie" Brown[]
 |
Charlie Brown: "I'd like to be President or a five-star general or a big-time operator..." |
 |
Perhaps one of the most famous comic strip characters in history. "Good Ol'" Charlie Brown is the star of the strip. He's the kind who never has things go his way. Running Gags with him include trying to kick the football but having it pulled away, failing miserably on the baseball team he manages, and otherwise just being the outright Butt Monkey of the strip.
- Anti-Hero: Type I
- All Love Is Unrequited: Between him and the Little Red-Haired Girl.
- Butt Monkey: Almost nothing goes right for him. Whenever he actually gets his way, it comes off as a huge surprise.
- Catch Phrase: "Good grief."
- Characterization Marches On: In the strip's early years, his personality was markedly different from his current depiction to the extent that it's difficult to recognize him as the same character. Initially, he was portrayed as a snarky trickster and a screwball, in contrast to the Butt Monkey role he is famously known for today.
- Charlie Brown Baldness: Trope Namer.
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: More like Cloudcuckoolander's owner. When Snoopy's bizarreness causes problems in the neighborhood, there's a tendency for everyone to blame him ("He's your dog, Charlie Brown!"), and he'll end up having to deliver a lecture, explain Snoopy's actions, or otherwise interfere.
- Determinator: As often as he's beaten up by the world, he never gives up.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: "The Peanuts Movie" rewards Charlie Brown with a well-deserved happy ending when he gathers the courage to speak to the Little Red-Haired Girl, who tells him that she appreciates him just as he is.
- Epic Fail: At everything.
- Actually, there are a few times during story arc when Charlie Brown succeeds at something, however (see below)...
- Failure Is the Only Option: ...the fates deny Charlie Brown complete success at the end of a storyline, returning him to Butt Monkey status.
- Full-Name Basis: To most people.
- Heroes Want Redheads: The red-haired girl.
- Stalker with a Crush: As he would follow her home from school and spy on her in her yard.
- Limited Wardrobe: His yellow shirt with a zig-zag pattern. Doubles as a Memetic Outfit.
- Love Triangle: Apex of one between Peppermint Patty and Marcie. And instigates his own once or twice. Fortunately, All Love Is Unrequited.
- Nice Guy: Despite the universe constantly crapping on him, he still treats everyone nicely.
- One-Note Cook: "All I can make is cold cereal and maybe toast."
- Second Place Is for Losers: His ultimate fate in A Boy Named Charlie Brown.
- Stalker with a Crush: In "Someday You'll Find Her, Charlie Brown," Charlie Brown falls in love with a girl he glimpses on television for just two seconds and embarks on a quest to find her, enlisting Linus's assistance.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: He's won at least two baseball games over the course of the strip, one in April 1973 and one in March 1993.
|
Charlie Brown: I hit a home run in the ninth inning, and we won! I was the hero! |
|
- He once won a bowling trophy, but true to form it gave him no joy as his name was misspelled on it ("Braun").
Sally Brown[]
Charlie Brown's younger sister. She's not that bright, and sometimes prone to firing off sarcasm when Charlie helps her with her homework. She has an unrequited crush on Linus, whom she calls "sweet babboo".
- Companion Cube: Many strips had her talking to the school building.
- The Ditz/Dumb Blonde: She has shades of this, mostly in the school reports she writes (such as "Butterflies are free. What does this mean? This means you can have as many of them as you want.")
- Hopeless Suitor: Quote Linus: "I'm not your 'sweet babboo!'"
- Ironically, it was Linus who was first interested in her, albeit in a creepy Wife Husbandry way when she was still a baby.
- Large Ham: Why doesn't she have an entry in this trope page yet? SHE'S BEEN ROBBED!! SHE'S BEEN CHEATED!! CALL HER LAWYER!! SHE DEMANDS THAT WE ACKNOWLEDGE HER HAMMINESS!!
- Malaproper: Her school reports, to the point of being a Running Gag.
- Shipper on Deck: She ships Charlie Brown/Marcie, and not subtly: "KISS HER, YOU BLOCKHEAD!"
- Stalker with a Crush: On Linus, practically since the day she learned how to walk.
- Took a Level In Dumbass: She was originally just sweet and naïve before she devolved into The Ditz.
Snoopy[]
Charlie Brown's pet beagle. Introduced two days into the strip, he initially acted much like a normal dog but came to be known as a playful, varied character. Running Gags include him pretending to be a "world-famous" something or other, fighting the Red Baron, teasing the cat next door or stealing Linus' blanket.
- Afraid of Needles: "I don't want to get a rabies shot!!"
- Anthropomorphic Shift: In the comic strip's early days, Snoopy was depicted as a regular dog before evolving into the anthropomorphic character we know today. A recurring joke is Peppermint Patty's belief that he is a child with an unusually shaped nose.
- Anti-Hero: Type IV
- Breakout Character: Following the Anthropomorphic Shift.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Why can't Charlie Brown have a normal dog like everybody else?
- Fantastic Racism: "I don't care for any story where the dog comes out second best!"
- "NO DOGS ALLOWED!"
- Snoopy is extremely racist himself...toward cats.
|
"I have the world's largest collection of anti-cat jokes!" |
|
- Four Legs Good, Two Legs Better
- Funny Animal: A non-talking variant, though he "thinks" dialogue.
- Insistent Terminology: Any time he pretends to be someone important, he'll call himself the "world-famous x", even if that profession is something you would never describe as "world-famous" (e.g. golf caddy).
- Intellectual Animal
- Mr. Imagination: Quite often, he'll imagine himself to be just about anyone.
- Scout Out: His "Beagle Scouts" (Woodstock and other birds).
- "Take That!" Kiss: He does that a lot.
- Through a Face Full of Fur: Trope Namer.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Sometimes his getups and antics are noted and commented on. And sometimes it seems like they're missing the point, such as Charlie Brown grumbling about having to untangle Snoopy's ears. After Snoopy had been flying around. Under his own power.
Woodstock[]
See here for tropes regarding him
Linus van Pelt[]
A shy, smart, young boy. He started off as a hyper-intelligent toddler who could do almost anything (include build a huge paper boat, dribble a basketball like a pro, etc.) but evolved into… well, an Innocent Prodigy. He's not beyond childhood naïveté, such as his established belief in The Great Pumpkin every Halloween. There's also his trademark blue Security Blanket, which he's rarely seen without.
- As the Good Book Says...: He is known to quote Scripture.
- Berserk Button: Being called "sweet babboo" by Sally.
- Improbable Weapon User: He uses his blanket as a whip.
- Innocent Prodigy: Former Trope Namer.
- The Lancer: To Charlie Brown.
- Little Professor Dialog: Moreso than the rest of the cast.
- Matchmaker Crush: On the Little Red-Haired Girl, whenever it's especially inconvenient for
- No Matter How Much I Beg: Linus enlists Snoopy in this trope to kick his blanket habit (Snoopy eventually resorts to having it made into sport coats for himself and Woodstock).
- He also tries it with Charlie Brown with less success.
- Number One Dime: His blanket.
- Out of Focus: Come the 1990s.
- Security Blanket: Trope Namer again.
- She Is Not My Girlfriend: "I'M NOT YOUR SWEET BABBOO!"
Lucille "Lucy" van Pelt[]
Linus's older sibling. She started off as a wide-eyed, childish little girl but gradually evolved into the bossy "fussbudget" we all know to this day. She antagonizes not only Linus, but Charlie Brown as well.
- Anti-Hero: Type IV
- Big Sister Bully: Lucy is both physically and verbally harsh to Linus. She is less so with Rerun in the comics, but in the animated specials, she can also be rude to him.
- Character Development: Early on, she was nothing like her most famous personality: she was a wide-eyed toddler who acted, well, like a toddler.
- Cloudcuckoolander: In her early years.
- Hopeless Suitor: Towards Schroeder, who only cares for Beethoven music.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite her tendency to be bossy and crabby, she has demonstrated a kinder, more caring side several times. For instance, when Charlie Brown is hospitalized, Lucy becomes visibly upset and ultimately vows not to pull away the football if he recovers. She honors her promise, although Charlie Brown inadvertently kicks her hand.
- Manipulative Bitch: She will do anything to get what she wants and betray anyone if it serves her or if she can get some laughs out of it.
- Murder the Hypotenuse: Schroeder's piano.
- Never My Fault: Her constantly pulling the football game away when Charlie Brown's supposed to kick it, causing them to lose the game, and then blaming Charlie Brown for it in It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown are one of the reasons people hate that special. It even used to be the Trope Namer for that page.
- One-Note Cook: "How did Beethoven feel about cold cereal?"
- Pet the Dog: She's protective towards Linus.
- Even moreso to Rerun. While she slugs, manipulates, and bosses around Linus all the time, she's very nurturing to Rerun.
- Running Gag: Pulling the football away after getting Charlie Brown to come kick it.
- Screaming At Squick: Only happens in response to Snoopy pulling a "Take That!" Kiss. However, Happiness is a warm puppy after all.
- Ted Baxter
- Tsundere: Most clearly towards Snoopy. Yeah, don't think about that one too much...
"Rerun" van Pelt[]
Linus and Lucy's younger brother. He was never given a true name, and was always referred to as "Rerun" after a comment that Lucy made about a younger brother being akin to a TV rerun.
- 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.
- Morality Pet: To Lucy. Not so much in the animated version, where she can be grouchy to him.
- Only Known by Their Nickname
- Sequential Artist
- Spotlight-Stealing Squad
Marcie[]
A nerdy female character introduced in 1971. She acts as a foil to Peppermint Patty, whom she calls "sir".
- 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.
- Catch Phrase: "You're weird, sir."
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: To Peppermint Patty.
- 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.
- Ditzy Genius
- Malaproper: Quite often. Among other things, she says "Zucchini" for "Zamboni" and "Splendid Bowl" for "Super Bowl".
- Meganekko: She also wears Nerd Glasses with Opaque Lenses.
- Senpai Kohai: Only in the Japanese-dubbed version, she address Patty as such as part of the adaptation in that language.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Girly Girl to Peppermint Patty's Tomboy.
Patricia "Peppermint Patty" Reichardt[]
A not too bright tomboy character who's good friends with Charlie Brown. She first appeared in the strip in 1966.
- Book Dumb: Grade point average of around 1.0, but easily the most athletic of the kids.
- Cloudcuckoolander
- Daddy's Girl
- Don't Call Me "Sir"!/My Name Is Not Durwood: On the giving as well as the receiving end, calling Charlie Brown "Chuck" and Lucy "Lucille".
- F Minus Minus: She often gets D-minuses or even Z-minuses on her tests.
- Informed Flaw: She apparently has a big nose, even though to the readers it doesn't look much different from anyone else's.
- 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.
- 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.
- One of the Boys: Almost, for all intents and purposes.
- Playing a Tree: A variant - in It's Christmas Time Again, Charlie Brown, she gets stuck with playing a sheep. Hilarity Ensues.
- 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.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Tomboy to Marcie's Girly Girl.
- Too Dumb to Live: It never put her in physical jeopardy, but her stupidity is breath taking at times. How else do you describe someone who confuses a dog obedience school with a human one so completely that she doesn't understand why she is the only human doing the obedience training with dogs, "graduates," and seriously thinks she doesn't have to go to regular school until the principal specifically spells it out to her.
- Youthful Freckles
Schroeder[]
A musical talent whose main focus is playing Beethoven on his toy piano. Lucy often tries to hit on him, to little success.
- Deadpan Snarker: In reaction to Lucy.
- Last-Name Basis: Always known simply as "Schroeder", even before he could talk and play the piano.
- Loony Fan: His main character trait is being a fanboy of Ludwig Van Beethoven.
- Manly Tears: Shed some in a strip where he, Lucy and Linus were reading 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.
- Out of Focus: Occurred in the 1980s.
- The Piano Player: This characteristic defines him.
- Shallow Love Interest: Inverted; most of his personality is based on his sarcastic replies to Lucy's advances.
Franklin[]
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.
- Black Best Friend: Trope Maker for the comics page.
- Only Sane Man: He frequently lampshades the other kids' eccentric natures.
- Token Minority: Pretty much the only reason he existed.
"Pig-Pen"[]
Another mostly-undeveloped character. He existed mainly to be, well, a dirty character. Schulz phased Pig-Pen out gradually because he thought he was a one-joke character.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome
- Ensemble Darkhorse: Despite his one-joke nature, he was a highly popular character and remains so to this day.
- Only Known by Their Nickname
- The Pig Pen: Trope Namer.
Frieda[]
An early 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. Only in the strip from 1961 to 1975.
- Cats Are Snarkers: Sometimes implied with Faron.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome
- Hair Flip
- 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.)
- Shout-Out: Faron was named for Country Music singer Faron Young.
Patty[]
An early character in the strip, she and Shermy were both portrayed as older than Charlie Brown. Patty existed mainly to antagonize Charlie Brown before even Lucy did so. She got Demoted to Extra early on but disappeared entirely as Lucy upstaged her and Violet.
- Alpha Bitch: Well, more of a follower to Violet than a full-fledged Alpha Bitch.
- Bob Haircut
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome
- One Steve Limit: Averted.
- Team Mom: In the 50s, anyway.
- Those Two Guys: She was rarely seen without Violet.
Violet Gray[]
In the strip from 1951 to 1984. She never developed all that much in her run, and existed mainly as a young Suzy Homemaker-type and tormentor of Charlie Brown (moreso than Lucy). She also held her dad in high esteem.
- 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.
- Informed Attractiveness: According to Word of God, 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
- My Dad Can Beat Up Your Dad
- Parasol of Prettiness: In one strip. The parasol in question was stated to be "hi-fi."
- Those Two Guys: Along with Patty, above.
Shermy[]
A male character introduced early on in the strip. His intent 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".
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: One of the first characters to suffer this.
- Generic Guy
- Put on a Bus: 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 he was the baseball team's Designated Hitter.
Eudora[]
Sally's classmate and summer campmate, who makes even her look smart by comparison.
- Cloudcuckoolander
- Nice Hat: She's never seen without her cap.
- Too Dumb to Live: Sometimes.
The Little Red-Haired Girl[]
Charlie Brown's one true love, though he's too spineless to come out and admit it to anyone but Linus.
- The Ghost: She's always off-panel in the comic strip.
- Heroes Want Redheads
- No Name Given
Spike[]
One of Snoopy's three brothers. 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. His shoes were a gift from Mickey Mouse. Snoopy often sends him mail to keep in touch.
- A Day in the Limelight: Surprisingly for such a minor character, Spike got his own Spin-Off live-action movie, It's the Girl in the Red Truck, Charlie Brown.
- Honest John's Dealership: At one point he had a real estate office.
- Perma Stubble
- 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 ballpark. The ramifications? Celebration that some strict league rules would not be as heavily enforced.