It goes without saying that Peanut’s Charlie Brown frequently gets the short end of the stick. He is frequently left out, and he is even more frequently made fun of and yelled at. No wonder the poor kid is so neurotic. As early as the very first Peanuts strip in 1950, Charlie Brown has been seen getting maltreatment from the other kids.
As the strip continued, the Peanuts gang got somewhat nicer to him, but they still stayed true to the original mean treatment to Charlie. Likewise, Charlie got hassled from all directions, whether by his friends or his own dog.
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10 “I’m Not Home”
Patty Lies To Charlie Brown’s Face
In the early strips from the 1950s, Charlie Brown had a relationship with Patty similar to what would become of Lucy and Charlie’s friendship. In other words, a friendship that had its tense moments and mutual annoyance but was still a source of guidance and support to each other. Actually, Lucy/Patty were the ones giving guidance, but the point still stands.
Regardless, this strip shows how mean Patty could be to Charlie Brown. He is standing right in front of her, yet she has no issue with lying blatantly in his face that she is not home.
9 “Stop Criticizing Me”
Charlie Has Enough Of Peppermint Patty’s Criticizing
Peppermint Patty can be brutally honest at times. This tough love and open honesty can rub some people the wrong way, especially when the timing is bad. This is on full display in this strip, where Peppermint Patty keeps nitpicking every little thing about Charlie Brown until he blows up at her.
His outburst lands them both in the principal’s office, for which Patty lands the sole responsibility on Charlie. Being criticized over several qualities is enough to make anyone explode, so the reader can’t really blame Chuck for acting the way he does.
8 “You’re A Fool!”
Violet Doesn’t Hold Back
Violet and Patty became the mean girl brigade of Peanuts before they were eventually phased out. No one got the brunt of their bullying like Charlie Brown. Even when Violet was alone, she still kept the mean girl routine going.
As evidenced in this strip, she exclaims that Charlie is a fool and considers talking to him a waste of time. Charlie Brown is not seen doing anything offensive, rude, or even annoying. He is literally just standing there when Violet unfolds on him. It’s no mystery why this character basically disappeared by the end of the strip.
7 “How I Hate Him”
From The Start, Charlie Brown Had His Detractors
This very first Peanuts strip set the stage for how the other kids of the comic would go on to treat Charlie Brown: poorly. Charlie just walks on by innocently, and right as soon as he passes, Shermy proclaims his hatred for him out of nowhere.
There is not much context or background to explain Shermy’s’s dislike of Charlie, but it would continue as the strip evolved, albeit in a less harsh fashion. While later strips would show the Peanuts kids making fun of Charlie, leaving him out, or even berating him sometimes, they would rarely be two-faced about their like or dislike of him, like the kid shown in this 1950 strip.
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6 “Good Sport”
Charlie’s Good Sportsmanship Goes Over Like A Lead Balloon
Lucy gives mixed messages to Charlie Brown every so often. For example, in this strip when Lucy begs to play checkers with him, telling him it’s okay even if he acts like a sore loser. To her surprise, Charlie handles his loss very well, finding the humor in it.
Lucy, instead of being pleasantly surprised, is livid over Charlie’s good sportsmanship. Despite just moments previously claiming that she would be accepting of however he reacted to his loss, Lucy completely disregards what she said by ranting at Charlie and flipping over the game board. There are sore losers, but Lucy is one sore winner.
5 “Don’t, Charlie Brown!”
Lucy Causes Trouble For Charlie
Lucy is known to stir up trouble, even dating back to the early years of the strip. She especially loves to cause trouble for none other than Charlie Brown. A prime example is when she keeps acting like Charlie Brown is about to hurt her despite him doing nothing but keeping to himself. It eventually attracts the attention of Patty, who threatens to beat up Charlie Brown if he doesn’t leave Lucy alone.
Charlie is understandably annoyed with Lucy for almost getting the snot beat out of him. Yet, Lucy being Lucy, she doesn’t care and goes right back to what she was doing.
4 “Day And Night”
Charlie’s Strikeout Draws The Ire Of His Teammates
Charlie Brown is the manager and pitcher of one of the worst baseball teams ever. A team that loses as often as his should be used to strikeouts. Yet, when Charlie is the one who misses hitting the ball, the whole team, even his own dog, turns on him. The teammates call him a “blockhead” and guilt him to no end.
Charlie is by no means the worst player on the team. Although, he certainly is not the best. Therefore, his jeering is not equal to the treatment the other equally abysmal players have gotten, adding to Charlie’s existing morose demeanor.
3 “The Longest Threat”
Peppermint Patty Loses Her Temper At An Oblivious Charlie Brown
Peppermint Patty has established that she has a major crush on Charlie Brown. Unfortunately for her, Charlie is completely oblivious to her hints a lot of the time. For instance, in this strip, Charlie wrongly attributes a secret admirer’s letter to the Little Red Haired Girl when it is actually from Peppermint Patty.
As a result, Peppermint Patty blows a gasket at Charlie Brown, warning him with a very long and involved threat. Considering that Charlie has no idea who the letter is from, it makes Peppermint Patty’s threats and yelling seem even more brutal.
2 “Boom”
Flying A Kite Becomes More Complicated With Charlie
Things don’t always go the way Charlie Brown wants. In fact, they rarely go the way he wants. Something as simple as flying a kite ends in an explosion for poor Chuck, as Peppermint Patty would call him.
Seeing their kite in shambles, Lucy adds insult to injury by yelling at Charlie that this is the one and only time she has seen a kite explode. She blames the freak occurrence on her friend, holding him responsible for the destruction of property. While Lucy may be upset that her and Charlie’s kite imploded, some chaotic kids would actually consider it cool.
1 “Emotional Maturity”
Charlie Gets Left Out By His Own Friends And Sister
Kids can be weird, and sometimes cruel, the Peanuts kids included. When Lucy, Sally, and a forgotten character named, oddly enough, 5, keep avoiding Charlie Brown and holler at him to not follow them, Charlie is left out in the cold.
Ironically, the trio are trying to leave Charlie Brown out because they say he’s a little kid, but in reality Charlie is the eldest of them. Instead, Charlie Brown chalks up their derision to his lack of emotional maturity. Peanuts fans could say many things about Charlie Brown, but they couldn’t say he lacked self awareness.
