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Charles "Charlie" Kelly is the janitor and former co-owner of Paddy's Pub, and one of five main characters in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Biography[]

Early Life[]

Charlie was born some time in 1976, to Bonnie Kelly and Shelley Kelly. Charlie did not grow up with his father, and for just under a decade believed that Frank Reynolds was his biological father, until he visited Ireland and met his pen pal, who was secretly his father. [15x6]

As his mother didn't want him to go to the toilet alone, she dressed him as a girl in order to be able to bring him into the women's bathroom with her. This is a habit Charlie adheres to for decades, and claims he is unable to poop unless he's wearing a dress. [13x6]

Growing up, Charlie spent a significant amount of time with his best friend, Mac McDonald. Each Christmas, they would get together and throw rocks at trains. His mother would also sleep with a variety of men every Christmas Day, and it is strongly implied that she was a prostitute, however, Charlie represses and refuses to come to terms with this. Charlie also began huffing glue at a very young age thanks to a gift he was given from his mother's client. [A Very Sunny Christmas]

In eighth grade, Charlie won a dance competition to "Take My Breath Away" by the band Berlin. [3x15]

Charlie has mixed memories about how others perceived him in high school. At times he is oblivious to the fact that he wasn't considered cool [5x5]. Other times he remembers that he was called "Dirtgrub" and he would eat dirt and spiders to make the cool kids laugh to leave him alone. Even though Dennis and Dee also attended the same high school, they usually did not interact with Charlie. Although, Tim Murphy mentioned that Dennis was "never that cool to begin with", and that he would end up hanging out with "Dirtgrub" and "Ronnie the Rat" (Mac) underneath the bleachers [7x12]. In high school, Charlie, Mac, and "Psycho Pete' were in a group they called "Freight Train". [7x12][10x3]

Physical appearance[]

Physically, Charlie is a man of short stature; being the shortest member of the Gang until Frank's arrival, something he is self-conscious about. He has green eyes, and unkempt hair, as well as a scruffy beard. He is on the thin side, though Dee considers him fat,[2x8] and he once described himself as the "funny fat friend."[3x3]

Charlie has horrible personal hygiene, due to only bathing with a sink[2x1] on a non-regular basis[3x15] Other characters often comment on his smell and even claim to see lice. Charlie denies it when confronted, but shows no qualms with wearing the same clothes, often filthy from work, for days. Many people, himself included, have claimed he sweats significantly more than the average person.

He mainly wears old secondhand T-shirts, some more notable ones being shirts for "Magna", "San Juan, Washington", "O'Keefe Brewery", and "Eleven Point River". In earlier seasons he wore short sleeve polo shirts as well. For pants he wears baggy ripped jeans, and has a pair of beige khaki cutoffs for shorts. His most iconic and oft worn article of clothing, however, is his green army fatigue shirt-jacket with the specialty mark of a United States Navy Aviation Electronics Technician and a Ruptured Duck patch, which gets more decrepit and ripped as the show goes on until he patches the holes in The Gang Goes to Ireland. He has also worn his grey MacGregor hoodie since 1998, and began wearing a black and red Adidas track jacket with a VA-65 Tigers patch from season 2 on; these three remain constant staples of his wardrobe and serve as an example of Charlie's poverty.

A commonly seen outfit is his "bird law" lawyer get up; a short sleeve button up, clip on tie, and beige khakis. For nicer occasions such as a dinner to Guigino's or a high school reunion, he wears a white dress shirt and over-sized corduroy blazer along with his jeans and sneakers.

Charlie has a tattoo on his left forearm which says "BAD NEW", done by himself with ink and a paper clip to look more "hard" in "Dennis and Dee Get a New Dad". It was meant to say "BAD NEWS", but it hurt too much so he gave up.[1]

Charlie's main shoes are a pair of suede high top Vans with red soles and linings, which he's worn since 1998 and have become tattered with age.

Charlie's signature attire is his pyjamas: a holey black t-shirt depicting a shiny black horse, and an old pair of long thermal underwear paired with old school basketball socks. This is due to his apartment not having heat, causing a drop in temperature at night.[4x9]

Personality[]

Intelligence[]

Like the others, Charlie possesses several narcissistic characteristics. Despite this, he is not as morally corrupt and narcissistic as the others in The Gang, but he still has many moments of pure selfishness. He never admits ignorance on any subject, despite being ignorant of just about everything, and often acts like he knows better than others. He tends to try and demonstrate his knowledge by throwing out terms associated with the subject in question, or simply mirroring what other people are saying, without any real understanding.

When called out on his painfully obvious illiteracy and general lack of intelligence, he gets incredibly defensive and angry. He also has a problem with authority, and often ignores the gang's attempts to control his dysfunctional behavior. He also appears to have pica, consuming objects such as paint, cat food, and wolf hair.

Partially due to the neurotic and superstitious tendencies of his parents (Mac's Mom Burns Her House Down, Dee Sinks in a Bog), Charlie has trouble discerning elements of fantasy from reality. He often speaks with authority on the existence of fictional creatures (The Waitress Is Getting Married, Psycho Pete Returns, The Gang Goes on Family Fight) and treats superstitions and curses as genuine points of concern (Charlie's Home Alone, The Gang Gets Cursed).

Though his general intelligence, logic and grip on reality seem to be sorely deficient, Charlie is actually one of the most socially skilled and aware members of the gang, though this is not saying much. He frequently displays a greater awareness of, and concern for, social taboos, such as what is racist or anti-Semitic, than other members of the gang, particularly Mac and Dee. He also has a talent for manipulating other people when he puts his mind to it (chief examples being his intricate, Machiavellian schemes in Mac Bangs Dennis' Mom and Charlie and Dee Find Love), suggesting he possesses the keen psychological insight required to do so, thus causing many to ask how smart Charlie truly is.

Delusions of grandeur[]

Whenever the Gang begins a new scheme, Charlie often expects to be placed in a position of authority, such as being Dennis's campaign manager in "The Gang Runs for Office" or being captain of the boat in "The Gang Buys a Boat", despite being woefully unsuited for them.

When denied something he wants, he will usually attempt to get it anyway through deceit and manipulation, never taking responsibility for the havoc he always causes as a result. This is most notably seen in his (often criminal) persistence to woo The Waitress, who refuses to give him the time of day. Even when directly told his ideas are wrong or bad, he refuses to leave them behind, often attempting a compromise or outright denying his errors - for example, when told that the twist in The Sixth Sense was not that the main character was played by Bruce Willis, he tried to claim that the film had multiple twists. [5x11]

Like Dennis, Charlie's delusions of superiority and emotional volatility seem to cover up a deep-seated sense of shame and low self-esteem. His fits of rage often spring up when he senses he is being attacked, wronged or not listened to. The disproportionate amount of anger and the lengths Charlie goes to avenge himself against slights real and imagined suggest that on a subconscious level he is miserably aware and ashamed of his failings, and hates to be reminded of it.

Characters[]

Charlie has a tendency to dress up as characters and lose himself in fantasies based on movies he's seen. In some cases, a subtle reference to a movie is made without Charlie explicitly referencing the character. He has dressed up and pretended to be the following characters:

While dressing up as these individuals, Charlie often loses track of reality and literally adopts their personality and idiosyncrasies. This inability to separate fantasy from reality is a trait shared by his alleged biological father Frank, who sometimes tells stories from the movie Rambo as if they happened to him [4x1].

For some reasons, Charlie believes himself to be very well versed in legal ceremony and practice. He claims that his specialty is "bird law" and is adamant that he be the legal representation for anyone in the Gang who is in a legal jam [5x1]. This often means he is faced head-to-head against The Lawyer.

He also created the character Greenman and frequently dons the costume.

Musical Abilities[]

Charlie is the most skilled musician in the group. He can write original music and sing it. Charlie wrote the music and most of the lyrics to the song Dayman and performed it with Dennis as part of their group, Electric Dream Machine. It is implied that Charlie never learned to play the keyboard and his ability to do so is an entirely natural - he claims that "keyboards just make sense to [him]". [3x9]

He also wrote an entire musical in "The Nightman Cometh", including the following original songs:

He has also written and performed several other songs:

Besides writing music, he has also shown other music abilities:

  • He has perfect pitch [10x4].
  • He can play piano, harmonica, saxophone [11x3] and bugle. In several episodes, a guitar can be seen briefly in his apartment, hinting that he may also play the guitar. He has even been shown playing the keyboard and harmonica at once. [9x3]

Relationships[]

See also: Charlie and Dee, Charlie and Frank, Charlie and Dennis, Charlie and Mac, Charlie and the Waitress

Appearances[]

Episodes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
Season 5
Season 6
Season 7
Season 8
Season 9
Season 10
Season 11
Season 12
Season 13
Season 14
Season 15
Season 16

Trivia[]

  • Charlie Day and Mary Elizabeth Ellis (The Waitress) are actually married in real life.
  • Charlie dislikes lizards[3x2] and people's knees.[5x5]
  • Charlie's favorite food is "milk steak", his favorite hobby is magnets, and he "really likes" ghouls.[5x5]
  • Charlie claims he has never eaten blueberries or strawberries before, and had never had a pear until "The Gang Hits the Road". He has, however, eaten both raccoon and monkey meat.[4x1]
  • Charlie had never left Philly prior to the events of "The Gang Gets Stranded in the Woods".
  • Charlie eats cat food in order to pass out and sleep through the noise of fifty cats howling outside his window every night.[4x9]
  • Charlie doesn't own a toothbrush.[3x9]
    • The fact that Charlie doesn’t brush his teeth may be why they come out so easily.[4x5]
  • Charlie appears to possess perfect pitch: he identifies the note on the carbon monoxide detector as a G# without any reference pitch.[10x4] In promotional material for Season 14, perfect pitch is also listed as one of his strengths.[1]
  • Charlie has been known to drink, huff, and eat unusual things. For example, Charlie enjoys drinking paint, which has resulted in him seeing hallucinations, such as leprechauns and sports stars.[11x8][13x8] He also eats stickers,[5x2] wants to eat an eraser[6x8] and eats chalk because he claims that it settles his stomach.[11x4] He also sometimes chews and swallows bouncy balls to "test" if they're edible.[14x10] Additionally, he has on many occasions huffed glue and spraypaint in order to become high or to calm him down.
  • Charlie's favorite board game is "Hungry Hungry Hippos".[7x7]
  • Charlie considers violent movies to be the best movies.[9x2]
  • Charlie's most cherished possession in his apartment is his hot plate.[3x11] He and Frank argued over which of them should get it during their divorce.[6x2]
  • In contrast to Charlie’s passion of cheese in the show, as stated on the first episode of “The Always Sunny Podcast”, the consumption of cheese triggers stomach issues for Charlie Day, the actor who plays him. [2]
  • Charlie speaks and reads in Gaelic through the teaching of his 'imaginary' pen pal, who was later revealed to be Shelley Kelly , Charlie's biological father.

Gallery[]

See also: Category:Images of Charlie Kelly

See Also[]