Do we like them?

Do we like Charlie Brown?

A character from Peanuts (1950–2000)

Our score: 8 out of 10. Absolutely. He loses at nearly everything, but he's decent, he never quits, and he's an easy person to root for. We'd back him even when the football gets pulled away.

Charlie Brown is the central figure of Charles Schulz's Peanuts, which ran from 1950. Britannica describes him as an indecisive, likable, easily embarrassed elementary-school boy who stands for the everyman. Schulz considered him his alter ego. He lives among a gang of blunt, funny kids and his beagle, Snoopy.

His life is a string of well-known running gags. He tries to fly a kite, but a kite-eating tree gets it. He tries to kick a football, but Lucy always pulls it away at the last moment. His baseball team keeps losing, and he gets "Good grief!" and "blockhead" for his trouble. Lucy, his frequent tormentor, dispenses five-cent psychiatric advice at him along the way.

What makes him worth backing is that he isn't purely a loser. He is nervous and lacks confidence, but he is still hopeful enough to think he can earn some self-worth. He keeps showing up, keeps managing the team, and keeps trusting people one more time. He's no hero in the usual sense, but he is a good kid. That's why he gets an 8.