Peanuts Once Had a Female Charlie Brown Before She Got Killed Off, Seriously

Charlie Brown and the entire Peanuts gang are some of the most iconic comic strip characters in history, with a grip on popular culture that’s still incredibly influential to this day. However, not every Peanuts character is as popular as the likes of Linus, Lucy, Sally, Snoopy, and Charlie Brown himself, especially one character in particular: Charlotte Braun - or, as many fans remember her, the ‘female Charlie Brown’. Not only has Charlotte become a forgotten member of the Peanuts gang, but Charles M. Schulz actually killed her off (no, seriously).

Charlotte Braun made her first appearance in the Peanuts strip published November 30, 1954, and right from the start, it was clear what her role was in the comic strip. Charlotte Braun was meant to be the female counterpart to Charlie Brown, something that was made immediately apparent when she introduced herself as “Good ol’ Charlotte Braun”, not to mention the obvious similarities between her name and Charlie Brown’s. Interestingly, however, Charlotte also seemed to act as the tonal opposite of Charlie Brown, as she was loud and brazen, while Charlie Brown is usually quiet and reserved.

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Most of the comic strips starring Charlotte featured jokes that highlighted her loud personality, with the joke usually being that the other Peanuts characters couldn’t stand her - including and especially Charlie Brown. In fact, the Peanuts gang weren’t the only ones who didn’t like Charlotte, as readers couldn’t stand her either. Charles M. Schulz actually received fan mail begging him to remove Charlotte Braun from the strip, and eventually, Schulz did just that. Indeed, Peanuts' Charlotte Braun got the ax… literally.

Charles M. Schulz Killed Charlotte Braun with an Ax to the Head (No, Really)

Charlotte Braun’s Fate was Revealed in Schulz’s Response to a Fan Letter

In a letter that is now in the United States Library of Congress, Charles M. Schulz responded to a fan who wanted him to get rid of Charlotte Braun. Schulz assured the fan that they’d never see Charlotte again, and if they did, it would be as a result of comic strips he’d already completed being published following his decision to never draw her again. Schulz then offered a rather grim note, telling the fan that they had “the death of an innocent child” on their conscience, before asking them, “Are you prepared to accept such responsibility?”.

The full letter reads as follows:

“Dear Miss Swaim, I am taking your suggestion regarding Charlotte Braun and will eventually discard her. If she appears anymore it will be in strips that were already completed before I got your letter or because someone writes in saying that they like her. Remember, however, that you and your friends will have the death of an innocent child on your conscience. Are you prepared to accept such responsibility? Thanks for writing, and I hope that future releases will please you. Sincerely, Charles M. Schulz.”

What’s more striking than the words Schulz used in this letter was the illustration depicting just how serious he was that no one would ever be seeing Charlotte Braun again. In the bottom left corner is an image of Charlotte with an ax driven into her skull, which is a clever visual pun indicating that Schulz literally gave her ‘the ax’. However, the fact that she never appears again in Peanuts comic strips implies that this quick sketch in a fan letter is actually Peanuts canon, and that Charlotte really was killed by an ax to the head.

Related Snoopy's Brother Has a Surprisingly Tragic Backstory Snoopy has a number of family members that make regular appearances in Peanuts canon, including a brother, one whose backstory is shockingly tragic.

That’s kind of a fun idea (in the most morbid way possible), as it implies that someone murdered Charlotte Braun with an ax - and that person was never caught. Could the Peanuts universe have a literal child-killing ax-murderer? It wouldn’t be the only time a light-hearted comic strip got uncharacteristically dark (see Garfield: His 9 Lives), and it would explain why Charlotte was never seen again, while also making Schulz’s drawing canon. Plus, it adds a layer of eerie mystery to the Peanuts world, as if an ax murderer is lurking behind every classic comic strip.

Charlotte Braun is Actually Resurrected 60 Years After Her Death

Snoopy’s Town Tale

While Charles Schulz effectively killed Charlotte Braun with an ax, she didn’t actually stay dead when considering the larger world of Peanuts - one that exists beyond the comic strip alone. In the mobile video game Snoopy’s Town Tale, Charlotte Braun is featured as one of the characters players can interact with as they traverse the town in Peanuts. That means Charlotte wasn’t killed after all, and she even still lived in town. It seems the Peanuts gang just stopped hanging out with her, and that Schulz’s morbid drawing was nothing more than a non-canonical sketch.

However, just because Charlotte Braun made an appearance in a 2015 video game doesn’t mean her comic strip fate was any less sealed the moment Charles M. Schulz wrote that letter. Maybe an in-world ax-murderer didn’t get her, but Charles M. Schulz certainly did, as he effectively killed off Peanuts’ ‘female Charlie Brown’.