The Big Bang Theory prequel Young Sheldon chronicles the childhood of Sheldon Cooper, molding the boy into the man he becomes — but not every character from his younger years makes an appearance in the original series. Young Sheldon began airing in 2018, and has spanned six seasons so far. The popular prequel focuses on Sheldon’s childhood, filling in some of the gaps he fails to report in The Big Bang Theory.
Young Sheldon sees Iain Armitage taking on the role of Sheldon Cooper, and the young actor gives a solid follow-up to Jim Parsons’ original performance. Across The Big Bang Theory‘s 12-season run, Sheldon shares plenty of details about his life growing up in Texas, but he leaves a few important figures out. Despite how crucial they are to his childhood and upbringing, there are several Young Sheldon characters who never appear and are never mentioned in The Big Bang Theory
13 Paige Swanson
Paige Swanson (McKenna Grace) is first introduced in season 2 of Young Sheldon as a rival child genius and a member of Dr. Sturgis’ class. Despite not liking Paige at first, Sheldon eventually forms a friendship with her. She becomes a useful ally to him, especially given her more advanced social skills. She also grows close to Sheldon’s twin sister, Missy, seeking comfort in the twins as she deals with her parents’ divorce. Despite being such a significant part of Sheldon’s childhood, she isn’t mentioned in The Big Bang Theory, which seems unusual considering her close relationship to the Cooper family.
12 John Sturgis
Dr. John Sturgis (Wallace Shawn) is initially the pen pal of young Sheldon before inviting him to audit his course. Sturgis shares a love of science with Sheldon, and the two strike up a wholesome friendship. Sturgis eventually starts dating Sheldon’s grandmother, Connie, but due to his ongoing mental health issues, he decides to break it off. Despite playing both a grandfatherly role and mentor part in Sheldon’s life, he never mentions John Sturgis in The Big Bang Theory. Instead, he frequently mentions television scientist Professor Proton.
11 Grant Linkletter
Dr. Grant Linkletter (Ed Begley Jr.) is a physics professor at East Texas Tech and a rival to John Sturgis. He also serves as Sheldon’s adviser, though he frequently gets frustrated with the boy’s inability to understand sarcasm and his demands on his time. Linkletter also pursues Sheldon’s grandmother for a short time, but as she’s mourning her relationship with Dale, Connie isn’t interested. Despite Sheldon not picking up on Linkletter’s frustrations with him, he greatly respects the scientist. Therefore, it seems unusual that he doesn’t mention the man in The Big Bang Theory.
10 Dale Ballard
Dale Ballard (Craig T. Nelson) is Connie’s on-and-off-again boyfriend, who is first introduced in Young Sheldon season 3. Dale is also Missy’s baseball coach and a bad influence on Sheldon’s older brother, Georgie, encouraging him to drop out of high school. It’s not unusual that Dale isn’t mentioned in The Big Bang Theory, as he doesn’t have any overlapping storylines with Sheldon. His relationship with Connie is tumultuous, so it seems likely that Sheldon doesn’t have a reason to bring Dale up.
9 Mandy MacAllister
Mandy MacAllister (Emily Osment) is introduced in Young Sheldon season 5 and quickly starts a relationship with Georgie, unaware he’s over a decade younger than her. Mandy becomes pregnant with Georgie’s child in season 6, and she ends up raising CeeCee with help from him and the Coopers. Like most people, Mandy is thrown off by Sheldon at first, but she eventually forms a sweet relationship with the boy. Mandy is another character who isn’t mentioned in The Big Bang Theory, but given that Sheldon mentions Georgie having a multitude of ex-wives, it’s possible Mandy hasn’t been in their lives for many years.
8 Pastor Jeff
Pastor Jeff (Matt Hobby) is the pastor of the Coopers’ local church, and he works closely with Sheldon’s mother, Mary. Despite Sheldon’s strong opinions and frustrations trying to understand religion, Pastor Jeff has an untold amount of patience for the young boy. Jeff’s friendship with Mary mainly includes him sharing his marital problems, as he struggles to communicate with his wife due to a language barrier. Although it makes sense that Sheldon doesn’t reference to Pastor Jeff in The Big Bang Theory due to his issues with religion in adulthood, it’s odd Jeff isn’t brought up when the show alludes to his mother’s affiliation with the church.
7 CeeCee
Baby CeeCee is born to Georgie and Mandy in Young Sheldon season 6, and by the end of the outing, her parents are engaged. It’s known from The Big Bang Theory that Georgie ends up with a backlog of ex-wives and girlfriends, so it’s likely that Georgie and Mandy break up. Despite being Sheldon’s niece, CeeCee isn’t mentioned in the original show and doesn’t attend Sheldon and Amy’s wedding. However, considering her mother isn’t introduced until Young Sheldon season 5 — a whole four years after The Big Bang Theory ended — it’s unlikely the writers planned far enough ahead to include her.
6 Billy Sparks
Billy Spark (Wyatt McClure) is Sheldon and Missy’s childhood friend and neighbor, an innocent and simple child who enjoys the company of the Cooper family. Billy is mentioned a few times in The Big Bang Theory, with Sheldon referring to him as one of his childhood bullies. However, Young Sheldon disproves this and sees Billy pursuing a friendship with Sheldon. He also repeatedly fawns over Missy, who rejects him repeatedly throughout the series.
5 Brenda Sparks
Brenda Sparks (Melissa Peterman) is the mother of Billy and the Coopers’ next door neighbor. Out of all the characters, Brenda seems the most likely to not be brought up by Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory due to her cheating scandal with Sheldon’s father in Young Sheldon. Prior to this, Brenda has a strained relationship with Mary. This is until Young Sheldon season 3, when the two form an unlikely friendship and make George’s affair even more heartbreaking, as the two fight when Mary discovers that her husband feels more able to confide in Brenda than her.
4 Pastor Rob
Pastor Rob is the youth pastor of the Coopers’ church, hired by Pastor Jeff and Mary, both of whom are impressed with his unique point of view. Pastor Rob has a generally good relationship with all the kids and is even the first person to find out about Mandy’s pregnancy. He also has a particularly close friendship with Mary, advising her on her smoking habits and staying in her corner when Jeff forces her to take a leave of absence from the church. Much like Pastor Jeff, it’s not unusual that Rob isn’t mentioned in The Big Bang Theory, especially due to Sheldon’s resistance to religion.
3 President Hagemeyer
Linda Hagemeyer is the president of East Texas Tech, the university Sheldon attends in Young Sheldon season 4. Despite Sheldon’s struggles, President Hagemeyer is quite patient with the boy. She’s also often used as a sounding board for his issues at home. It seems unusual that Sheldon never mentions Linda in The Big Bang Theory, seeing as Young Sheldon shows the two having a close relationship.
2 Wayne Wilkins
Wayne Wilkins is a colleague of George Senior’s, working as the P.E. teacher and assistant football coach at Medford High. Wayne doesn’t play a prominent role in Young Sheldon, but one notable storyline involves him finding out that his wife cheated on him, and as a result, had become pregnant. Wayne ends up teaching Sheldon frequently and enjoys hearing George’s ludicrous stories about his son. However, with his football focus, it’s not surprising Sheldon never mentions Wayne in The Big Bang Theory.
1 Jana Boggs
Jana Boggs is the former girlfriend of Georgie, who breaks up with him once he decides to drop out of high school. Jana is quite a jealous girl, often worried about Georgie’s relationship with Veronica. She also struggles with having to share her Spanish class with Sheldon. After Jana and Georgie’s split in the Young Sheldon season 5 episode “Potential Energy and Hooch on a Park Bench,” the character doesn’t appear again, so it makes sense Sheldon doesn’t mention her in the future.
