Charlie Spring

Charlie Spring is a primary character in the Alice Oseman graphic novel series Heartstopper as well as its 2022 Netflix adaptation, where he is portrayed by Joe Locke. His first appearance was in the 2014 novel Solitaire.

Character overview
Charlie Spring is the boyfriend of Nick Nelson (Kit Connor) in the graphic novel series Heartstopper and its 2022 Netflix adaptation. In the franchise, Charlie is gay, a skilled drummer, and a book lover. Charlie loves Nick deeply and aspires for him to be happy. Charlie's character is quiet and insecure but fond of animals. He is fairly tall, with dark, curly hair and blue eyes. Outside of the Heartstopper franchise, he also appears in other works by Alice Oseman.

Character history
Charlie was born on 27 April to Julio and Jane Spring. He is Tori Spring's younger brother and Oliver Spring's older brother. His father is of Spanish descent, and his mother is British. Charlie was accidentally outed as gay to his entire school by his best friend, Tao Xu. Due to frequent bullying, being outed, and the toxic relationship with his ex-boyfriend Ben Hope, he suffers from multiple mental illnesses, primarily anxiety, anorexia, depression and OCD.

Personality
Charlie is uptight, shy, sensitive and insecure. He is also empathetic and hates seeing other people cry, especially Nick. Charlie is fond of reading, dogs, and playing the drums. He also enjoys Ancient Greek classical literature and Keith Haring's work. Charlie's MBTI type is ISTP/The Adventurer. Tori describes him as being nice, a characteristic she believes is underrated and can be taken advantage of.

Literature

 * Solitaire (2014)
 * Nick and Charlie (2015)
 * This Winter (2015)
 * Radio Silence (2016) (cameo)
 * Heartstopper (2019–present)
 * Heartstopper: Volume 1 (2019)
 * Heartstopper: Volume 2 (2019)
 * Heartstopper: Volume 3 (2020)
 * Heartstopper: Volume 4 (2021)
 * Heartstopper: Volume 5 (2023)

Television

 * Heartstopper (2022–present)

Reception
He was ranked 1st in a 2023 ranking of the 10 Best Heartstopper Characters, Ranked by Likability by Collider.