Walter Brown, formerly nicknamed Walter the Softy, or Softy Walter, is the archenemy of Dennis the Menace.
Like Dennis has Gnasher and other pets, Walter also has had pets, such as his poodle Foo Foo, cat Claudius and cat Clawdia.
Walter's family includes his father, his mother and other relatives.
Walter has many other friends who are also Softies. The two most other frequently seen Softies are Bertie Blenkinsop and Spotty Perkins, which Walter usually appears in a trio with them, in contrast to the Menaces' trio of Dennis, Curly and Pie Face. Another prominent Softy is Dudley Nightshirt, who while appearing in the 1970s, he replaced Spotty Perkins in the main Softy trio in the 2009 Dennis and Gnasher television series and the relaunch of the Dennis and Gnasher comic strip the same year to coincide with the show. Starting from the 2017 relaunch with the Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed! television series, Bertie is the only friend Walter is seen with. Other Softies have included Bennie Benry, Sweet William, Jeremy Snodgrass, Timothy Sopwith, Softy Matthew, Softy Pal Erasmus, Lisping Lester and Nervous Rex. In the 1996 Dennis and Gnasher television series, Walter had a girlfriend named Matilda.
Personality[]
Originally, Walter was depicted as a well-behaved, polite and studious boy, the opposite of how Dennis was. As time went on, he became more effeminate, being labelled as a "softy". He loved picking flowers, playing with dolls, and some other activities. Dennis was vilified because of his lack of interest in stereotypically masculine activities and attitudes. Because of it, he became the target of Dennis's pranks and misbehaviour but Walter would brush it off. As a spoiled boy, Walter would take revenge on Dennis, but his punishment was getting slipped by his father, who would do bad things to Dennis and the others.
In the late 1980s, Walter's characterisation changed, after reader backlash and made him a snobbish rich boy foil to his enemies. However, he would later become a softy again, but was given his snobbish rich boy personality in the 1996 Dennis and Gnasher TV series.
In the current strips, Walter is now a spoiled, intelligent but arrogant boy. He strongly dislikes when others "have fun without his permission". He is deeply involved in his father's business schemes.
Physical appearance[]
Walter is a young boy with fair skin, neat tidy hair and round-lensed glass. He wears a blue shirt with a red or pink bow tie in his collar, black shorts, and black shoes.
In the 2017 television series Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed!, he wears a blue V-neck jumper with a pink tie, grey trousers, and black shoes.[3]
Trivia[]
- In the 1996 television series Dennis and Gnasher, Matilda was introduced as Walter's girlfriend to show that he was not gay and that therefore Dennis picking on him does not count as homophobic bullying.
- Despite this, there still was some controversy about Dennis being homophobic to Walter in 2008.[4]
- Walter's most prized possession is his briefcase, because it makes him feel so grown-up. All the other kids at Bash Street School are jealous because they do not have one.[2]
- Walter's motto is "Fun is for failures!".[2]
- Walter's super skill is that he can take the fun out of anything.[2]
- Walter only listens to classical music. He does not really like it, but he thinks it makes him clever and grown up.[2] However, he was seen listening to rap music in The Beano Videostars and Dennis the Menace and Gnasher series 2 episode "Menace's Seven".
References[]
External links[]
- Walter the Softy (Wikipedia)