Linus van Pelt

  Linus van Pelt first appeared on September 19, 1952, as a baby too young to sit up by himself. He spoke his first words in 1954, the same year he was shown with his security blanket. The best friend of Charlie Brown, Linus is also the younger brother of Lucy van Pelt and the older brother of Rerun van Pelt.

Despite being younger than the rest of the characters, Linus seems to be the smartest of them. He acts as a philosopher and theologian, often quoting the Gospels. In contrast to his advanced intellect, he carries a security blanket. Lucy and also his "blanket-hating" grandmother try to break Linus of his blanket habit. Snoopy often tries to get the blanket for himself. In the earlier strips, Linus experienced physical symptoms if deprived of it even for a short while ("...a person who is deprived of his blanket by a stupid beagle who has it made into a sport coat cannot survive for more than forty-eight hours!"). Linus is able to use the blanket as a whip, which comes in especially handy when other kids tease him about it ("They never tease me more than once"). In later strips, Linus was seen less and less with his blanket. Charles Schulz said in 1989 that Linus had outgrown his blanket and it only appeared in strips that were dependent on it.

Linus famously invented his own quasi-religious being, The Great Pumpkin, who mysteriously appears every year, bringing presents. The Great Pumpkin, however, appears on Halloween and only at the most sincere pumpkin patch, which Linus invariably believes is his own. Linus is the only one who believes in the Great Pumpkin. Though he occasionally convinces other characters the Great Pumpkin is real, they always lose faith, while Linus keeps his.

Linus has a rocky relationship with his older sister, Lucy. She treats him as her personal servant and hits him at times for no reason. However, Linus often defuses Lucy's temper through passive resistance and clever use of his intellect, either logically talking Lucy out of hitting him or confusing her into submission. When Sally Brown was introduced to the strip, Linus initially had a crush on her, but quickly outgrew it. Sally developed a crush, often calling him her "Sweet Babboo". Linus, for his part, resists her advances. However, he developed a crush on his teacher, Miss Othmar ("I never said I worship her, I just said I'm very fond of the ground on which she walks!"). In the 90s, he developed a crush on Lydia, a girl that sat behind him in school.

Linus became a valued member of Charlie Brown's baseball team (possibly the best player on the team). He is usually seen playing second base.

-- wikipedia, Peanuts Wiki


Trivia

• The term security blanket originated from "Peanuts".
• On February 5, 1962, Linus got glasses, but by July his ophthalmologist said he didn't have to wear them full time, and they were soon phased out completely.
• An Italian magazine, publishing "Peanuts" and other comics during the 60s, was named "Linus".