History Characters / ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphiaCharlieKelly

* HatesBeingTouched: Downplayed, as AllThereInTheScript portrays him as essentially demisexual, thinking sex as icky unless it’s something to do with the Waitress. He also thinks kissing is gross and sticky.

* ObsessedWithFood: His main concern when the Gang are informed about a suicidal man on their roof is “we’re not going to get our fish and chips”.

* LimitedWardrobe: Charlie is the only main cast member seen wearing the same clothes over and over, emphasizing his poverty. In one episode he states that he repairs his old clothes rather than buy anything new. Notable favorites include his black and red horse t-shirt, green army jacket and long thermal underwear. He also wears the same undersized brown-and-black necktie when a situation calls for formal attire. Some of these clothes are Charlie Day's actual property.

* LukeIMightBeYourFather: In the finale of Season 2, it is revealed that Frank may very well be Charlie's father. Season 10 reveals that the Gang didn't care enough to have it definitively tested. [[spoiler:Season 15 reveals that Frank is actually ''not'' Charlie's father, but in a rare moment of sweetness, Frank states that he still thinks of himself and Charlie as more like a father and son.]]
* MadeOfIron: It is almost canon that Charlie cannot be killed or permanently hurt.

* TrademarkFavoriteFood: The mysterious "milk steak". His addiction to cheese is also a RunningGag. It's also led to many fans to assume that "milk steak" is actually his terminology for cheese.

* RapeAsBackstory: Very strongly implied to have been molested by his uncle. He’ll deny it when the Gang calls him out on it, but he’s deeply uneasy around Uncle Jack, calls the nightman his greatest fear and considers his mom a UselessBystanderParent.

* RapeLeadsToInsanity: It’s not the only reason, huffing glue definitely helps, but as detailed by his musical a lot of his unpredictable and entitled-stalker behaviour is down to being sexually abused by Uncle Jack, with his mom turning a blind eye.

* ObsessedWithFood: His main concern when they’re told a suicidal man is on their roof is “we’re not going to get our fish and chips”.

* NeverMyFault: When faced with a hypothetical scenario involving a waitress being stalked by a customer, he says the blame goes to ''her'' because she doesn't realise "true love is in front of her stupid face" (clearly projecting his feelings about his relationship with the Waitress). He then tries to downplay his behavior by claiming that he gets a pass because he was molested in the past - denying completely the assumption that it was Uncle Jack - but instead revealing he's talking about Dee, which is terrible but still doesn’t excuse his stalking.

* NeverMyFault: When feeling the pressure on a hypothetical scenario involving a waitress being stalked, he says the blame goes to her because she doesn't realise "true love is in front of her stupid face" (clearly projecting his feelings about his relationship with the Waitress). He then tries to downplay his behavior by claiming that he gets a pass because he was molested in the past - denying completely the assumption that it was Uncle Jack - but instead revealing he's talking about Dee, which is terrible but still doesn’t excuse his stalking.

* LovingAShadow: Implied to be the root of his attraction to the Waitress. He doesn't really ''like'' her or ever make any attempt to truly to get to know her as a person (he never even bothers to learn her ''name''!). He's just idealized her and assumed getting together with her will fix all his problems.

* ForHappiness: While Mac, Dee and Dennis do things mostly out of need for control and shoring up their desperately low self esteem, Charlie usually doesn't care what people think of him and shares with Frank in just wanting to have fun. Of course, his idea of having fun includes stalking the Waitress, so he’s not exactly better than them. Dennis gets pissy with him in “Waiting For Big Mo” when his ControlFreak mentality clashes with Charlie stating the simple solution of just enjoying laser tag.

* NeverMyFault: When feeling the pressure on a hypothetical scenario involving a waitress being stalked, he says the blame goes to her because she doesn't realise "true love is in front of her stupid face" (clearly projecting his feelings about his relationship with the Waitress). He then tries to blame his StalkerWithACrush behavior on getting molested in the past - denying completely the assumption that it was Uncle Jack - but instead revealing he's talking about Dee, which is terrible but still doesn’t excuse his stalking.

* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: He and Frank get frequent jokes on behaving and arguing like a married couple, to the point where they ''do'' actually get married for a couple of days in Season 6 (for the health benefits). It says a lot that Frank is probably Charlie’s healthiest relationship.

* LovingAShadow: Implied to be the root of his attraction to the Waitress. He doesn't really ''like'' her or ever make any attempt to truly to get to know her as a person. He's just idealized her and assumed getting together with her will fix all his problems.

* StalkerWithACrush: Has been obsessed with the Waitress for years, to the point where he often has to live off of cat food because he spends all of his money paying spies to follow her. He even wrote and staged a musical to propose to her. She has multiple restraining orders against him. Ironically, the actress who plays the Waitress is Charlie Day's wife.

* TraumaButton: After what happened with Dee raping him and it all coming out in the open, especially with her making him kiss Dennis for Dee Day, he doesn’t want to be left alone with her. He’s notably pleased in “The Gang Solves Global Warming” when he exposes her being nasty to everyone on instagram.

* YouAreWhatYouHate: Has a whole musical about the fear of becoming like Uncle Jack, and while he’s not to the point of sexual abuse, he’s stalked the Waitress for fifteen years and ignored each and every no from her.

* AchievementsInIgnorance: [[spoiler:Charlie is illiterate in English, but is fully capable of speaking and reading Irish Gaelic without even knowing he could.]]

* TheBabyOfTheBunch: While still the ButtMonkey who is taken advantage of, he’s the closest thing to a MoralityPet the other members of the Gang have, and is constantly referred to as a "kid" despite being the same age as most of them. [[note]]For reference, Charlie Day is actually older than both Glenn Howerton and Rob [=McElhenney=].]]

* DumpsterDive: Multiple times, mostly going through the Waitress’s trash as he thinks that’s a way to get to know her.

* ForHappiness: While Mac, Dee and Dennis do things mostly out of need for control and shoring up their desperately low self esteem, he shares with Frank wanting to just have fun. Of course his having fun includes stalking the Waitress, so he’s not exactly better than them. Dennis gets pissy with him in “Waiting For Big Mo” when his ControlFreak clashes with Charlie stating the simple solution of just enjoying laser tag.

* {{Hypocrite}}: When he complains that the Waitress won’t leave him alone after he baby traps her, Dee angrily points out that he’s been stalking her for fifteen years.

* IJustWantToBeLoved: Deconstructed, as he’s so desperate to be loved that he’ll go rifling through the Waitress’s garbage and ignore any and all her telling him to leave her alone.

* InelegantBlubbering: In a genuinely tragic scene, he sobs in the rain at his actual dad’s corpse, and how Charlie has to carry the guy up a hill per tradition but he was never looked after as a child.

* LovingAShadow: He doesn’t like or really know the Waitress, he’s just idealized her and assumed she will fix all his problems.

** In the series 15 finale, the Gang all comes back at Charlie’s lowest moment, apologise for abandoning him, and help him throw his dad’s corpse off the cliff.
** In season two, after he gets stabbed by the [=McPoyles=], the other three angrily tell them to get out. While they yell at Charlie after too, Dee actually tends to his wounds.

* NeverMyFault: When feeling the pressure on a “hypothetical” scenario involving a waitress being stalked, he says the blame goes to her “because she doesn’t realise true love is in front of her stupid face”. He then tries to blame it on getting molested - denying completely the assumption that it was Uncle Jack - but instead revealing about Dee, which is terrible but still doesn’t excuse his stalking.

* ParentalSexualitySquick: He takes a bite of a Santa thanks to thinking he’s one of the clients his mom had, and when she shares too much about a spitroast, he has a rant about not needing to know any of this.

* TheBabyOfTheBunch: While still the ButtMonkey who is taken advantage of, he’s the closest thing to a MoralityPet the other members of the Gang have, and is constantly referred to as a "kid" despite being the same age as most of them.

* SingleTargetSexuality: The Waitress, obviously. In thirteen seasons, Charlie has dated exactly one other woman, with the sole intention of using her to make the Waitress jealous. When the Gang tries group dating, Charlie explicitly says multiple times that he's only doing it to improve his game with the Waitress. Despite this, he has also made out and slept with [[spoiler:Dee (though the sex is later revealed to have been non-consensual on Charlie's end)]] in "The Gang Misses the Boat", as well as had ''very'' explicit sex with a prostitute named Tatiana while on a ski trip. The latter instance can at least be explained by the episode's central mantra of "things are different on the mountain". After Charlie's relationship with [[spoiler:The Waitress]] falls apart, he and Frank end up having sex with two co-eds they meet through Airbnb in "The Gang Gets Romantic".

* Been There, Shaped History: He and Dee gave the Jan 6 rioters their iconic costumes, after making them.

* ManBitesMan: Charlie realizes that his mother was a prostitute who slept with men at Christmas, and those men often dressed (sometimes shabbily) as Santa Claus to fool Charlie. He has something of a freak-out, and winds up sinking his teeth into the throat of a mall Santa.

* TheCaretaker: To his mom, which he has marked resentment about. In “Frank Shoots Every Member Of The Gang”, he complains he’s the one who stayed and looks after her, but his sisters got the inheritance of the teeth instead.

* RapeAsBackstory: Very strongly implied to have been molested by his uncle.

* TokenGoodTeammate: Charlie is the closest thing the Gang has to a moral compass and genuinely seems to have a good heart under his rage and idiocy.

* HiddenDepths: "The Gang Goes to Ireland" reveals he can speak Gaelic thanks to years of communicating with his Irish pen-pal (actually his [[spoiler:father]]), Shelley.