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Big Nate
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Website
www.bignatebooks.com
Followed by
Big Nate: First Class
Syndicate
United Media
Genre(s)
Humor, school life
Author
Lincoln Peirce
Current status / schedule
Ongoing, published online every day
Launch date
January 7, 1991 (dailies), February 10, 1991 (Sundays)
Similar
Pearls Before Swine, Luann, Arlo and Janis, Get Fuzzy, Frazz
Big nate world s longest comic strip
Big Nate is an American comic strip written and illustrated by Lincoln Peirce. Originally launched on January 7, 1991, the comic has since inspired book collections and theatrical performances.
Big nate and friends the tools of the trade and francis
Synopsis
Big Nate follows the adventures and misadventures of Nate Wright, a spirited and rebellious sixth-grader, along with his classmates and teachers. He is portrayed as a boy with little interest in studies or conforming to standards. The lack of interest leads him into several conflicts with his social studies teacher Mrs. Godfrey, whom he considers his nemesis. Peirce also focuses on Nate's home life and friendships with his best friends, Francis and Teddy. Answering questions from fans in the Washington Post, Peirce revealed the following about the creation of the strip:
Big Nate started out as more of a "domestic humor" strip than it is now. It was my intention to feature a lot of stories about Nate's single dad, and all the comic possibilities inherent in that. But before too long, I realized that the part of the strip that I enjoyed most was the school humor. I'd been a teacher myself, and schools can be very funny places.
Wright family
Nate Wright: The comic strip's main character. Nate is 11 years old, an aspiring cartoonist, drummer, underachiever and prankster, and plays funny yet overdone pranks on Prank Day (the second last day of school). He is somewhat self-absorbed, believing himself to be irresistible to women despite repeated rejection (especially Jenny; see under Friends and Classmates), a brilliant sports player despite his poor performance, and a genius despite his poor grades. He spends much of his time in detention, in the art room drawing comics, or playing drums for his band, Enslave the Mollusk, which also comprises his friends Francis and Teddy. He is desperate to own a dog, and loves Cheez Doodles, his favorite snack, with a passion. He is additionally terrified of cats because of ailurophobia, hates figure-skating and egg salad. Surprisingly, he is a naturally gifted chess-player, to the complete confusion of his friends and family.
Martin Wright: Nate's father, a balding, slightly overweight divorcee who lost his job in the eighth novel of the series (eventually getting another one). Like his son, he is somewhat clueless about his own failings, and considers himself an athlete despite his inherent laziness, and an expert golfer, though he constantly cheats or loses his ball. He is a health-nut and always tries to hand out healthy alternatives to candy on Halloween (raisins, prunes etc.), which are always rejected by trick-or-treaters. His first name was first stated on April 6, 2013.
Ellen Wright: Nate's Fifteen-year-old sister. Unlike Nate, Ellen is responsible and hardworking, and loves cats and figure-skating. She is Nate's constant rival, and he enjoys playing pranks on her. Ellen also dates Gordie on and off, who works at the comic book store, Klassic Komix. They briefly broke up before reconciling.
Marge Wright: Nate's grandmother. She and her husband, Vern, have a slightly tense relationship, as she sometimes nags him about giving up her career for married life and for generally being lazy and perverted.
Vern Wright: Nate's grandfather. He enjoys stating his opinion without consideration, using his age to show off. He is shown to have a tattoo, and he also likes Junior Mints.
Ted Wright: Nate's lazy uncle, an overweight, unemployed man-child who lives in Nate's grandparent's basement. He dropped out of college and since then has never held down a job. He is oblivious to his family's hints that he move out and find work, and spouts sci-fi and musical trivia at the drop of a hat.
Nate's friends and classmates
Francis Butthurst Pope: First appeared January 17, 1991. Nate's number #1 friend, Francis is very intelligent, and this upsets his friends from time to time. Nate and Francis frequently make fun of each other, but he states that this is how they operate. Contrary to Nate's feelings for them, Francis is friendly with both Mrs. Godfrey and Artur. Francis participates in the band Enslave the Mollusk and dates Sheila.
Teddy Ortiz : First appeared January 27, 1994. Nate's number "1A" best friend, Teddy is a comedic character who frequently cracks jokes and annoys Nate. Like Francis, Teddy likes Artur and is a member of Enslave the Mollusk. His middle name is the square root symbol since his parents are math teachers. In Big Nate: Flips Out, it is revealed that he speaks Spanish.
Jenny Jenkins: Nate's classmate since grade one. She is his biggest crush, however, she despises Nate (though Nate is absolutely oblivious, believing Jenny is hiding her true feelings). She briefly moved to Seattle, but moved back on June 8, 2013. She is blonde with blue eyes and dates Artur. She has no feelings for Nate and barely considers him as a friend. She tends to go berserk when something embarrassing is done to her (e.g. when Nate tripped and spilled egg salad on her). In older comics, it mentions that she and Sheila Stapleton were best friends.
Artur Pashkov: A very intelligent and well-liked exchange student from Belarus. He is in Nate's class, and is Jenny Jenkins' boyfriend. Jenny's liking for Artur, and Artur's ability to beat Nate at chess (and almost anything else) gives him a one-sided rivalry with Nate. Artur was the Boys' Age-Group Chess Champion of Belarus before moving to the United States. Artur speaks somewhat broken English as a second language. He is very innocent, gentle, kind, and (most of the time) unassuming. He regards Nate as his friend, and is generally unaware of Nate's dislike of him. He went with his father, a college professor, to Turkey, during which time Nate tried to start going out with Jenny. Artur is a nice boy who is trying to please Nate, including letting Nate beat him at chess at one point. While Nate somewhat views Artur as a friend, he is quite jealous of Artur's talent and better luck. His first appearance on the comic strip was on May 7, 2001.
Gina Hemphill-Toms: One of Nate's schoolmates and rivals. Gina is P.S. 38's resident know-it-all and overachiever and often finds herself in academic competition with fellow overachiever Francis. Nate and Gina tend to despise each other with a passion, viewing each other's personalities and work ethics as terrible. However, Francis and Teddy have mentioned that Nate and Gina have a love-hate relationship. Gina is the secondary antagonist in Big Nate Strikes Again. Nate listed Gina as number 1 on his list of worst potential project partners, but eventually get paired together. She first appeared on March 27, 1997. Mrs. Godfrey and Mrs. Hickson are the only ones who have sent Gina to detention. Mrs. Godfrey gave her detention once because she pointed out a mistake on Nate's test, and Mrs. Hickson gave her detention because she was shouting in the library. It was revealed that she has a crush on Chad.
Chad Applewhite: Chad is one of Nate's good friends. He is a chubby kid with red hair and freckles. He is obsessed with eating and food. In Big Nate: In a Class By Himself; Nate mistakes him for Todd. He is willing to help Nate with all his schemes. When he is selling things with Nate, because he is so cute, the customers end up buying all the things he is selling. Chad has appeared in the comics around 2010.
Dee Dee Dorcas Holloway: A friend of Nate mentioned in Big Nate Strikes Again and also reappeared in Big Nate Goes For Broke and Big Nate Flips Out. She is a member of the drama club and is considered by Nate to be a drama queen. Nate did not like her much at first, but she has gradually become a part of Nate's friend group and a major character. Dee Dee and Nate are now friends, and are comfortable with each other. She is a very good artist and cartoonist, and had once hosted a large party.
Randy Betancourt: One of Nate's other rivals. Randy once got Nate into detention in the chess club bake sale by using Nate as a scapegoat. He is the main antagonist in Big Nate Strikes Again, in which he creates a fleeceball team called the Raptors and gets revenge on Nate by injuring him after Nate accidentally hurts Randy's nose. His first appearance in the comic strip was on 25 April 2010. Usually, Nate tries to avoid confrontation with Randy, but once when Randy was bullying Francis, Nate jumped on Randy "like a rabid wolverine." They became friends in peer counseling after a Jefferson student shoved Nate on his butt in Big Nate Blasts Off. Their new friendship was strengthened when the two boys were in the PS 38 Ultimate Frisbee team in the Mud Bowl. Randy and Nate discovered they were very effective playing together. From rivals they went to become great buddies. However, in the comic strip, they still remain as rivals. In one comic, it is revealed that his mom writes him a note in his lunch bag and calls him "Lil Dumpling". He once dislocated his arm while trying to attack Nate.
Chester Budrick: The school bully, whose face is never shown. Almost any conversation leads him to violent and aggressive behavior( like throwing Nate into a trash can when he asked to borrow a pencil). In Big Nate: From The Top it is said that he is 6 foot 6. He is the baseball pitcher. Very recently, however, he was put on a different team and pitched against them. He is usually shown as an arm, leg, or body, or not at all, but he appears briefly when Nate talks about losing in dodgeball.
Sheila Stapleton: Is a friend of Nate, Francis, Teddy, and Jenny. She goes out with Francis. In the older comics, it states that she is the captain of the cheerleaders and is Jenny's best friend.
Kim Cressly: A very big girl who at one point decided Nate was her boyfriend and refused to take "no" for an answer. Nate spent much of his time trying to avoid her before she started dating Chester.
Marcus Goode: Marcus is "the popular kid" in school, though it is difficult to understand why. He is a narcissistic bully. Two members of his gang are Andy and Dennis. In Big Nate: Say Good-Bye To Dork City, Nate joins his posse, but then realizes that it isn't that fun. He is the main antagonist of the sixth book.
Gertrude, "Trudy": Nate's most recent girlfriend, who first appeared in Summer 2015 on a ride with Nate at the state fair, on which Nate develops a crush for Trudy. Nate couldn't find her after the ride, and tries to find her. Eventually, he finds her at the same school as him. She is in 7th grade, while Nate is in the 6th grade. After an initial misunderstanding, they started dating in October 2015. They dated from October 10, 2015 to March 25, 2016.
Angie: Nate's first girlfriend. They dated from July 14, 1997 to February 12, 1998. She appeared twice more: once at the school dance, where Nate consoles her, and again when she runs against Nate for school president. Nate and Angie met at summer school.
Kelly: Nate's ex-girlfriend whom he met at soccer camp. She goes to Jefferson Middle School, and is the goalie on the girls' soccer team. Not seen since Nate broke up with her to try to start going with Jenny after Jenny broke up with her boyfriend. (Kelly was angry, with good reason, because Nate broke up with her using a note written on the back of a detention slip.) They dated from July 10, 2001 to April 11, 2002. Nate regretted everything after seeing that Jenny was dating Greg Proxmire moments after.
T.J.: Jenny's boyfriend from January 9, 1997 to March 23, 1998
Ronnie Dwyer: Jenny's boyfriend from March 31, 2000 to March 25, 2002
Greg Proxmire: Jenny's boyfriend from April 13, 2002 to November 29, 2004
Paige: Teddy's girlfriend from April 18, 2011 to November 2, 2016
Nick Blonsky: Nick is mentioned in the first two books. In the first, Nate says even Nick was raising his hand along with everyone else but he had a pencil up his nose. In the second, Nate says he is a horrible project partner because he is usually 'digging for gold'. He makes his first major appearance in the fifth book as the main antagonist. He steals a camera that Nate borrowed from Mrs. Godfrey, which results in Francis getting in trouble. Nick says he stole the camera just because he wanted to see Nate and Francis fight. Dee Dee records the conversation and Nick gets suspended from school for a week. Nick is also a known liar. He has never appeared in a comic strip.
Breckenridge Puffington III: Nate's most recent met student. He's somewhat shy and is a huge fanatic of plants. Teddy is constantly messing up his first name. He considered Nate his "buddy," but Nate thinks the opposite about him. Nate said to his friends once that Breckenridge is a stiff, boring, has an annoying voice, and is a wuss. Nate was constantly wondering if he had met Breckenridge before. Apparently, his name was Bobby at the Honey Hive 7 years ago,and he used to bully Nate when they were toddlers. He was a contributing member of Nate's Non-Stoppers winning the scavenger hunt, and even found the Granny Peppers Mural. He has only appeared once in 2015 and in a drawing in Big Nate Blasts Off.
Ruby Dinsmore: Ruby is Nate's latest crush in Big Nate Blasts Off. Randy also has a crush on her. She kissed Nate when she found out he wasn't moving. She was Nate's teammate on P.S. 38's Mud Bowl team. There is no possibility that she might move to the comics.
Ghengis: Mrs. Godfrey's blonde puppy. Only appeared once when Francis and Nate were having an argument that every single dog likes Nate.
Daisy: Nate's current lover who he is pursuing.
Abby Wilson: Nate's girlfriend for 5 minutes and 10 seconds on 4/24/97
P.S. 38 school staff
Mrs. Clara Godfrey: First appeared January 28, 1991. Nate's ultimate hated teacher, his social studies teacher. Nate spends much of his time trying to avoid her outside of class and antagonizing her in class, making up several nicknames for her, like Venus de Silo, Godzilla, Dark Side Of the Moon, etc.. Nate has been known to exaggerate her physical features in his comics. Additionally, he frequently draws her as a parody of The Devil. Nate also thinks that 6th grade would have been much easier for him if his older sister Ellen had not been there first. The relations between Mrs. Godfrey and Nate are not entirely negative, though. She allows Nate to create reports in cartoon form, giving him an outlet for his creativity and energy. She has two kids, and her maiden name is Lessard.
Mr. Ken Rosa: First appeared January 24, 1991. Nate's art teacher, Mr. Rosa is a soft-spoken and mild-mannered man but somewhat overworked and embittered about his career. As a result, Nate enjoys a lot of freedom in art class. He also enjoys sketching pictures of his teachers. Mr. Rosa has a master's degree, but he has to work at an ice cream shop called Sweet Licks all summer long to make ends meet.
Principal Wesley Nichols: The principal of P.S. 38. Nate and the other students are very friendly towards him, but do not really treat him as an authority figure; he is bewildered by the students. On the rare occasion he goes out of his office, he soon retreats. He is sometimes snappy to Nate and Nate is taken aback by this, but of all the teachers (besides Mr. Rosa, Mrs. Shipulski, and Mrs. Czerwicki) he is probably the one Nate gets along best with; he sometimes helps the cartooning club and treats Nate's antics with good humor most of the time. He has a niece named Noelle, who is one of Nate's classmates and never gets in trouble. His first name was revealed when he was interviewed on the news in Big Nate Lives it Up. He is usually the victim in the worst prank on each Prank Day.
Mrs. Geraldine Shipulski: Principal Nichols' secretary. She prides herself on her 18.5 BMI. Nate flatters her by calling her a "cougar," among other things. She has 22 million Twitter followers as shown in the recent comics in which one of them revealed her first name. It is mentioned that she is 62. Nate once gave her a box of Snowcaps on Secretary's Day.
Mrs. Czerwicki: She is a school volunteer who supervises the students in detention. She is friendly with Nate. She reads romance novels while sitting in detention. In one strip it is revealed that she wears a wig and was once an actress. She first appeared on February 16, 1997.
Mr. Galvin: Nate's science teacher. He has a crush on Greta Van Susteren. He has almost no visible sense of humor and conducts a very boring class.
"School Picture Guy": Not only showing up every year as the school picture photographer, this character often shows up in unexpected places doing odd jobs such as a birthday clown, DJ or a school board meeting reporter. "School Picture Guy" often has some amusing nuggets of wisdom about the job he is doing, or for whatever is on Nate's mind at the moment. He is known to be a fan of Star Trek. His actual name has never been revealed.
Coach Calhoun: Nate's main PE teacher. He is also Nate's friends' baseball, soccer, and basketball coach. First Appeared May 7, 2001.
Coach John: He is a substitute of Coach Calhoun. He is a soccer coach of Nate. He is a former coach (now substitute coach) who is known to use "tough love" speech tactics with his pupils and likes to make them do wind sprints, even when they are in a classroom. In Big Nate Flips Out, it is revealed that Coach John wears a toupee. In Big Nate Flips Out, it shows Coach John's toupee blow off in the wind. He is bad with names (although he knows Nate's last name well). He usually comes up with nicknames for Nate like "Porcupine," "Speedy," and "Cactus Head". First appeared on July 5, 2001.
Mr. Staples: The math teacher. He likes to tell corny knock-knock jokes. First appeared on January 5, 1997.
Mrs. Clarke: Nate's English teacher who first appeared on September 12, 1991.
Mrs. "Hickey" Hickson: The school librarian. She is a middle-aged woman who does not tolerate insolence from anyone. She is the first person to ever send Gina Hemphill-Toms to detention in Big Nate: Strikes Again.
Ms. La Chance: Nate's French teacher.
Mrs. Lumley: A cafeteria worker who is mostly very unfriendly.
Mrs. Corzini: A lunch aide.
Mrs. Colletti: Appears in Big Nate Blasts Off and appears as a mean lunch aide.
Mrs. Brindle: The Life skills teacher. In 'Big Nate In the Zone', Nate describes her as "the nicest teacher in the whole school."
Mr. Aldridge: The Computer Lab teacher. He has only appeared in a teacher rating comic strip drawn by Nate.
Other characters
Chief Meteorologist Wink Summers: He is never seen or heard from, but Nate constantly calls him and complains whenever any part of the weather is not to his liking or if Wink's forecast is wrong. He was replaced by Chip Cavendish and transferred to weekend meteorologist in August 2011. His real name is Dick Schipp. Has a blog called chipcavendishruinedmycareer.blogspot.com. In 2013, it has been revealed that Wink Summers came back as the chief meteorologist.
Spitsy: The neighborhood dog owned by Mr. Eustis, who lives next door to Nate. Nate likes to hang out with Spitsy. He is "the ultimate dog nerd", for he is afraid of mailmen and he had to go to the vet when he swallowed a tennis ball to get his stomach pumped. He has a crush on Francis' cat Pickles, went to a cat tea party, and even knitted a sweater like his own bone once for a cat. He likes figure skating as much as Ellen, and gets his tongue stuck on metal poles in the winter frequently. He also gets bullied by squirrels, as shown in Big Nate On A Roll.
Mr. Don Eustis: Spitsy's owner, who is depicted as a heavy man and a bachelor, not to mention the next-door neighbor of the Wrights. Nate has an autumn job raking leaves for Mr. Eustis.
Peter: A six-year-old boy who Nate sometimes babysits and serves as a 'Book Buddy.' He speaks with a lateral lisp, has an above-average IQ and reads at a college level. Nate tutors him by introducing him to Femme Fatality comics.
Gordie: Ellen's boyfriend. He shares Nate's love for the comic book Femme Fatality, and works at a nearby comic shop called Klassic Komix. He has a boss named Wayne, who communicates by mumbling.
Chief Meteorologist Chip Cavendish: The weatherman who replaced Wink Summers as chief meteorologist. He appeared on 05-03-2012 in a science class to talk to Nate and his classmates, where Nate accused him of ruining Wink Summers' career.
Rusty Sienna: A character in the earlier years of Big Nate, host of Oil Painting with Rusty television show and Nate's inspiration to be an artist. A graduate of the Art Institute of P.O. Box 73, he is a parody of Bob Ross and his public television art show. Rusty Sienna returns in July/August 2007, only to reveal that he died in 1996.
Cap'n Salty: A fisherman who enjoys talking like a pirate. He catches lobsters under the sea. Cap'n Salty is a character Lincoln Peirce created exclusively for the children's website Poptropica.com, where Big Nate Island is one of the features. However, the only mention of Cap'n Salty in the strip itself is the restaurant Cap'n Salty's by the beach.
Enslave the Mollusk
Enslave the Mollusk (ETM) is a garage band featured in Big Nate. It features Nate as backing vocalist and drummer, with best friends Francis on electric guitar and Teddy on keyboard, as well as Arthur as lead vocalist. Enslave the Mollusk had a big role in Big Nate the Musical. They performed twice: once during the In The Zone novel when P.S 38 was starting a fitness zone, and also at one of the school dances.
Femme Fatality
Femme Fatality is Nate's favorite super-hero comic. The images are never shown, but the character is highly suggestive, judging from the reaction of Nate and most of the other male characters. Some of the girls show exasperation over Nate's obsession with the comic, but Nate insists he only reads it for the stories. One of Nate's previous comic book crushes was Red Sonja.
Nate's comic strip creations
Some earlier strips would show the weekly adventures of Nate's own comic strip creations, drawn on notebook paper in a more childlike drawing style. Few of these characters have appeared in more recent strips.Nate's characters include -
Dr. Cesspool: an inept surgeon whose mistakes in the operating room tend to be either fatal or debilitating. He has an assisant named Maureen Biology.
Chip Chipson and Biff Biffwell: Two inept TV reporters who sometimes appear in other strips interviewing the characters. Nate also has them interview characters like Santa Claus, Mother Nature, the Sandman and sometimes Mrs. Godfrey or his own father.
Ken Doolittle: A talent TV show host. Ellen is often drawn on his show failing at some activity or making a fool of herself.
Dan Cupid: A cupid who sometimes neglects or messes up his job to bring happy couples together.
Superdad: Nate's parody of his own father as 'The world's only balding superhero with a slight paunch,' who sometimes appears with Ellen as his 'dimwitted sidekick.' Superdad usually avoids fighting crime or facing danger, preferring to lie on the couch or delegate his job to 'Chore Boy' (Nate himself.)
The Snuggles Family: A parody of a saccharine, wholesome middle-class family, consisting of husband Bob, wife Honey, son Timmy, daughter Punkin and dog Fluffy. Haven't been seen since 2001.
Moe Mentum: A Hollywood stuntman stuck doing dangerous stunts in badly directed action or horror flicks.
Slim Stubby: A country-western singer struggling with being a second-rate celebrity, who is a possible parody of Slim Dusty.
The Pilgrims of Plymouth: These strips would appear the week of Thanksgiving. Instead of showing the traditional 'First Thanksgiving,' the strip would show the Pilgrims having a wild party, complete with dunk-tanks and bikini mud-wrestling. Haven't been seen since 2004
Leo Tard: Dance Instructor for the totally hopeless. Series of strips mocking Nate's sister Ellen's dancing abilities.
Ultra-Nate: Nate's parody of himself, but a superhero with super strength, flying, and super suction.
Mega-Chad: Appears in Big Nate in the Zone and Big Nate Lives it Up as Ultra Nate's sidekick. This was never seen in a comic strip, and thus is not very well known.
Action Cat: A comic about a cat getting run over by vehicles. There were a few Action Cat comics in 1993, but there haven't been any of them ever since, probably due to some complaints about those strips being too violent.
