Charlie

"Charlie, you're a comedian, not an artist."

(Gordon, The Suggestion Box)

Charlie

First Appearance: Munitions (cameo), Samson, BoCo, and the Man in the Hills Friends: Everyone (except enemies) Enemies: Diesel, 'Arry and Bert Voice Actors: AFewGoodFilms (Samson, BoCo, and the Man in the Hills-The Suggestion Box), Upsidenow (Ice Breaker onwards)

Charlie is an enthusiastic purple tank engine who takes goods to the branch lines and likes to tell jokes. He is Billy's brother.

Bio

Charlie came to Sodor to work at Brendam Docks and in the freight yard. He has been known to tell jokes and even before he arrived it was rumoured by Percy that Charlie was the "most fun engine ever." Thomas was sceptical, but when the playful purple engine arrived, Thomas tried to prove that he was just as fun! Charlie then tried to prove that Edward was old and not fun, but the kind blue engine soon showed him that there is a time and place for everything, and being "fun" is not always a priority when there is work to be done.

More recently, Charlie saw an elephant on the line that escaped from the Sodor Zoo, but nobody believed him. After he proved that his statement was true, Charlie decided to only joke sometimes, for if he did all the time, nobody would take him seriously!

Charlie has been seen recently working at Crovan's Gate Works with Victor, and on Edward's Branch Line.

When he visited the Crovan's Gate Mine, Charlie added to BoCo's ribbing of Samson by joking about Samson being the 'smartest' engine in the world.

When Richard Hatt introduced a suggestion box, Charlie used the moment as segue for some of his zingers. While supposedly making his case for being the Knapford Station Pilot, he made fun of Henry for his chronic pantophobia and spoke out against "the crimes of the British Loading Gauge in recent years."In addition, he say a lot of potential in Kevin as a slapstick comedian and clarified to Gordon that being an artist and a comedian may not be different things. He was especially enthused by the concept of a Crovan's Gate Netflix account and saw Diesel's "Galloping Sausage" suggestion as comic gold before leaving.

Near the end of the winter months, Charlie became enraptured with his comedy routine concerning the trucks, which resulted in the train that he needed to prepare for James being late. As punishment, Charlie was sent to help repair Flora's tram line. Unfortunately, the so-called "playful purple engine" was more focused on making Molly laugh rather than do his job, resulted in his jokes becoming more desperate and pathetic, culminating in Bear telling him that Charlie's jokes had all of the charm of a gluten-free muffin. Edward warned Charlie about Sudrian karma, only for Charlie to rebuff the older engine's advice until Molly had an accident caused by her frustration over Charlie's attitude. This finally got Charlie to clean up his act, and he apologised profusely to Molly after a prior failed attempt. A bit of self-depreciation styled humour finally allowed him to break the ice with the yellow tender engine.

Persona

Charlie is a joker by heart, acting as a stand-up comedian. However, this can get in the way of his work, and it can result in the other engines not taking him seriously whenever he attempts to warn them of hazards. He is one of the few engines on the island to have a good relationship with the Troublesome Trucks due to his personality however.

He has a tendency to take his jokes too far, which only irritates the other engines, and believes that he is above the so-called "standard conventions" of Sodor. This last trait of his thankfully, fell due to the fact that while he is indeed a joker, he understands that there are limits to his humour and he can be quite apologetic once he realises that he has crossed a line.