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Quote1
I suppose dying's as good an excuse as any to start living.
Quote2
― Charlotte "Chuck" Charles [1]
Performer:
Anna Friel • (Dead Girl)
Sammi Hanratty • (Young Chuck)
Chuck

Charlotte Charles, also known as "Chuck", "The Lonely Tourist" or "Dead Girl" (whenever she is referred to by Emerson Cod), was Ned's childhood sweetheart when the two lived next to each other in Coeur d'Coeurs. After being murdered, Ned brought Chuck back to life and the two resumed a relationship, but the two can never touch again or she will be dead forever.

Chuck joins Ned and Emerson Cod in solving crimes, but she encourages Ned to use his power for helping others instead of simply earning reward money.

Even though Ned tried to keep himself from telling Chuck that he accidentally killed her father when he was younger, in the eighth episode, he finally told her the truth.

Biography

Quote1
Chuck came ready-made from the Play-Doh Fun Factory of Life.
Quote2
- The Narrator [1]

Early life

Wikia Daisies - Chuck - first encounter

Chuck grew up in a bright and colorful home in Coeur d'Coeurs, next-door to Ned. The two were good friends and would often play together.[1]

When Chuck was eight years old, her father suddenly and inexplicably died in the front yard of their home, while Chuck was inside. Unbeknownst to Chuck, his death was caused by Ned bringing his mother back to life and failing to return her to death within one minute, a fact that would be kept secret until twenty years later.[2] During the funerals of their respective parents, Chuck and Ned, who were "dizzy with grief, curiosity and hormones" according to the Narrator, exchanged a kiss, the first for both of them. They were soon separated when Ned was sent off to boarding school.[1]

After she was put into the custody of her aunts, she could not sleep a wink without thinking about Ned. Every night, she would wear her Godzilla costume that she wore on her playdate with Ned before her father died in hope. Unbeknownst to Chuck, at the same time, at the Longborough School for Boys, Ned was also wearing his Rodan costume that he wore at the same playdate.[3]

Chuck was put into the custody of her Aunts Lily and Vivian. Due to their matching personality disorders and social phobias, the two aunts were rarely able to leave the house. Chuck yearned for a different life, but feared that her aunts would not survive without her, and thus she was never able to leave home. She always tried to get her aunts to leave the house, and even threatened to bake antidepressants into the food she routinely cooked for them,[1] which, in her later life, she would actually do.[4]

Chuck served her community by harvesting honey for the homeless, and often "read about people she could never be, on adventures she would never have," according to the Narrator.[1] She also listened to language tapes, presumably mastering French, Swedish, German, Chinese, and Japanese. Due to her aunts' eccentricity and love of fine cheese, she grew up believing a refrigerator to be something only used for cheese, and consequently refers to the device as a "Cheese Box." She also referred to the basement as the "Cheese Floor."[5] She also once served as a stay-at-home juror (calling in on an old-fashioned French phone) for a paraplegic judge.[6]

Death and resurrection

One day, at age 28, Chuck decided she wanted more out of life, and visited Boutique Travel Travel Boutique to make travel plans. To her surprise, she was offered a free Tahitian cruise by Deedee Duffield, the agency owner, in exchange for picking up a suitcase of two plaster monkeys, which she said were of no value except sentimental. Chuck accepted the offer, unaware that the monkeys were made of solid gold and extremely valuable.[1]

On board the cruise ship, Chuck was getting ice for her ginger ale, but she accidentally dropped her room key in the ice machine. Rummaging through the ice, her second-to-final thought was, "That was dumb," before she was attacked from behind and suffocated to death with a plastic bag by the Shiny Shoes Killer a collector seeking the monkeys. Her final thought was, "Why would I go and get ice for my ginger ale?"[7] According to the Narrator, Chuck was 28 years, 24 weeks, three days, 11 hours and 51 minutes old at the time of her death. Her body was dumped overboard; when it was recovered, the ship's captain believed it to be an accident, but it was quickly determined to be a homicide. The press described Chuck as "the lonely tourist." Her funeral was to be arranged at the Schatz Brothers Funeral Home.[1]

Duffield, in fear that the killer would go after her next, offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to his capture. Emerson Cod, a private investigator who worked with Ned to solve crimes for reward money, brought the reward to his attention, thus reuniting Ned and Chuck. Ned brought her back to life by touching her on the cheek. Although Chuck's initial response was to attack Ned, she took her resurrection and the fact that she had to die again within one minute surprisingly well. She offered to share a last kiss with Ned, and giggled when Ned asked her to get back into the coffin.[1]

Reunion with Ned

Still harboring feelings for Chuck, Ned decided not to touch her a second time; her life was inadvertently exchanged for Lawrence Schatz, the grave-robbing funeral home director. While trying to sneak Chuck out of the funeral home, however, her coffin was loaded into a hearse and taken to a cemetery. She was nearly buried alive, but Ned freed her after distracting the gravediggers by setting a truck on fire.[1]

Chuck had often wondered whether Ned would return to her during her life at Coeur d'Coeurs, and the two obviously continued to harbor feelings for each other. However, the two were unable to touch each other, or Chuck would die for a second and final time. Nevertheless, Chuck flirted relentlessly with Ned and repeatedly expressed her desire to kiss him. Ned, however, is unable to confess that he inadvertently killed her father, a fact that weighs heavily on him. [1]

Finding her killer

Upon learning of the $50,000 reward on the news, Chuck confronted Ned about whether the money was his motive for resurrecting her. Satisfied that this was not the case, however, she joined Emerson Cod and Ned in finding her killer and collecting the reward, which she offered to split among the three. The trio quickly realized that since Chuck lost her key on the cruise ship, the killer was unable to get into her room to steal the monkeys and that they had been sent to her next of kin, her Aunts Lily and Vivian.[1]

While Ned and Emerson visited the aunts and questioned them about the monkeys, Chuck climbed a lattice to the second story of the house and found the suitcase. The Shiny Shoes Killer, however, had also broken into the house, and nearly suffocated both Lily and Ned while trying to obtain the monkeys. Chuck saved Ned from the killer, who was then shot and killed by Lily, who failed to see Chuck was still alive because she was outside of the one-eyed woman's peripheral vision.[1]

Lily and Vivian, still unaware of Chuck's resurrection, were given the $50,000 reward, while Ned and Chuck received the monkeys, which they soon learned were made of solid gold. As per their arrangement, they agreed to split the wealth from the monkeys with Emerson Cod.[1]

Partnership with Ned

Bzzzz0776

Chuck in "Bzzzzzzzz!"

Chuck not only starts working with Ned and Emerson Cod in solving their mysteries, but she also brings a new, friendlier element to the relationship. When Ned resurrects Matthew Miltenberger, the first victim Chuck accompanies them to help, she asks whether he has any final words or requests, something that Ned admits he had never considered in the past. [1]

Chuck proved to be a nuisance to Emerson Cod, who did not appreciate Ned bringing her along on their investigations; she especially bothered Emerson when she used up a victim's minute by asking if they had any final requests or wishes, but this proved to be beneficial when the question resulted in clues that led to solving Bernard Slaybeck's murder.[5]

Chuck missed her aunts desperately, but was repeatedly told by Ned that she could not visit them. She started secretly baking antidepressant-laced pies for them with a sample pack given to her by travelling salesman Alfredo Aldarisio.[4] It would become a secret no more when Ned came to visit Lily and Vivian and he tasted a strawberry pie and the strawberry became rotten at the touch of his tongue. But Ned would finally let Chuck see them, dressed as a ghost for trick-or-treating.[8] As of the fifth episode, Chuck has not told Ned about the antidepressants.

She enjoyed her time with Ned and put her cooking abilities to good use by working with Ned in the kitchen of the Pie Hole, but she hated keeping the secret of her death. She also began to grow restless when Ned hesitated to get to know her better, based on a fear of intimacy stemming from his mother's death. A near death experience at the hands of Mark Chase, however, helped Ned move past these emotional barriers with Chuck.[5]

Independence

A month after she found out how her father passed on, Chuck became a "Bee Girl" at Betty's Bees. This was her first job and her first job interview ever.[9] She and Olive would also apply to work at My Best Friend, Inc. They were both hired on the spot.[10] However, as these were both undercover operations, Chuck's only true work experience has been as a backup waitress at the Pie Hole, and working with Emerson on investigations.

After Olive moved out of her apartment and quit the Pie Hole, she moved out of Ned's room and into Olive's. Shortly after her move, she would express the joys of a good night sleep and living alone for the first time. She would remain living in this apartment even after Olive's return, having grown used to having all of her old things (which had been moved into her new place by Ned) around her. While getting off to a rough start as roommate, the two were able to work through some of their issues together and have been living comfortably together ever since.

As her independence has grown, Chuck less frequently has to hide herself in public and has begun using the cover name of Katherine "Kitty" Pimms when greeting new people. She has used this name when applying at Betty's Bees, My Best Friend Inc, and when meeting new people, such as Dwight Dixon.[11]

Personality and traits

Chuck is an extremely kind-hearted woman, as demonstrated by her service to the homeless, devotion toward her aunts and the help and comfort she offers to murder victims resurrected by Ned. She has an adventurous spirit, desperate for an exciting life after her responsibilities kept her home for most of her life.[1] That spirit later served her well in her partnership with Ned and Emerson; she demonstrated more willingness to break into the Dandy Lion Worldwide Industries headquarters than Ned did.[5]

Chuck is an intelligent woman. She proves herself observant by detecting Jeanine's eating disorder when Ned and Emerson do not, and she proves herself cunning by obtaining a security card and gaining access to the Dandy Lion Worldwide Industries headquarters. Chuck also has a strong sense of humor and takes even incredible developments in stride, including her death and subsequent resurrection. She also has a love of learning, as demonstrated by her study of various languages during her life with Aunts Lily and Vivian.[5] According to her Aunt Vivian, she is also a good cook.[1]

Alternative forms of affection with Ned

Although Chuck and Ned are unable to touch, the two have developed several alternative ways to demonstrate their affection toward each other. While Ned is unable to hug Chuck, he once had Emerson Cod hug her and said it was from him. During one night in which they slept in different rooms, the two both touched the same spot on their respective walls, as a way of holding hands. They have held their own hands together behind their backs, pretending to be holding each other's hands.[1] They have kissed each other through plastic.[4]

At first, Ned prevented Chuck from riding in the front passenger seat of his car for her own good. Later, when they were abducted by Mark Chase, they were put next to each other in the front of the Dandy Lion SX, but fortunately, they were in body bags and were able to have a second kiss. The experience taught the couple various ways to show their affection in the future. They frequently kissed with plastic-wrap between their lips, and Ned later installed a window with small holes between the driver's seat and the passenger's seat of his car as well as a green glove so that Chuck could hold onto him.[5] In the episode Circus, Circus , Ned also mentions to Emerson that he's built "contraptions" to accomodate the lack of physical contact in their relationship.[7]

Chuck and Ned recently danced and hugged in beekeeper suits.[6]

Known Family

Behind the scenes

The eight-year-old Chuck is played by Sammi Hanratty.

Sources

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