View source for Walter the Softy

{{Short description|Comic strip character from The Beano}}
{{More citations needed|date=October 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2015}}

{{infobox character
|name = Walter Brown
|series = [[The Beano]]
|image = 
|caption = 
|first_minor = 577
|first_date = 8 August 1953
|last_minor = 
|last_date = 
|full_name = Walter Brown
|alias = Walter the Softy, Softy Walter
}}
'''Walter Brown''' ([[pejorative]]ly nicknamed "'''Walter the Softy'''") is a fictional character that appears in the British comic magazine ''[[The Beano]]''. He is the rival and antagonist to [[Dennis and Gnasher|Dennis the Menace]] who is vilified because of his lack of interest in stereotypically masculine activities and attitudes. From his first appearance in 1953, Walter became the target of Dennis' pranks and misbehaviour but would brush it off. Sometime in the 1980s, Walter's characterisation changed after reader backlash and made him a snobbish rich boy [[Foil (narrative)|foil]] to his enemies.

== Character background ==
Walter Brown first appeared in issue 577 of ''[[The Beano]]'' in ''Dennis the Menace'',<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Dennis the Menace|date=1953-08-15|magazine=The Beano|publisher=D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.|issue=577|others=Illustrated by Davey Law|editor-last=Moonie|editor-first=George}}</ref> two years after the comic strip's debut.<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Dennis the Menace|date=1951-03-17|magazine=The Beano|publisher=D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.|issue=452|others=Illustrated by Davey Law|editor-last=Moonie|editor-first=George}}</ref> He is a seemingly "perfect" child who is adored by his teachers for his hardworking and polite attitude. He enjoys picking flowers, [[ballet]] dancing in a [[tutu (clothing)|tutu]], playing with tea sets and [[Wendy house]]s, [[knitting]] and [[cross-dressing]], with friends that act similar, owning well-behaved pets throughout the years (Fluffy the cat, Foo-Foo the dog, and Clawdius the cat).

Walter has neat black hair and wears round-lensed glasses, a red [[bow tie]] in his shirt collar, a blue jumper and black shorts. His surname was not revealed until 1994.<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=A Beano Christmas Carol|date=1994|magazine=The Beano|publisher=D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.|issue=|editor-last=Kerr|editor-first=Euan}}</ref>

== Characterisation ==
Walter's personality and behaviour fluctuated, depending on the writer: he remained a diligent student and uninterested in playing sports, but would be a spoilt [[mummy's boy]] in one story, then a whiny [[coward]] who was scared of [[rain]] in another. Some stories featured Walter being courageous enough to create pranks and traps to irritate or frame Dennis, and other stories showed Dennis and/or [[Gnasher]] intimidating him for their entertainment, with Walter too scared and startled to fight back.

When the [[Dennis and Gnasher (1996 TV series)|1996 ''Dennis the Menace'' cartoon adaptation]] aired on [[CBBC (TV channel)|CBBC]], Walter became a snob and his friends joined in on the stuck-up attitude towards Dennis' group. The behaviour remained in the comic strips.

== Personal life ==
''The Beano'' had a notable generation jump with the ''Dennis the Menace'' and ''[[Minnie the Minx]]'' series after Dennis' parents changed into new designs,<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Dennis and Gnasher|date=2012-08-25|magazine=The Beano|publisher=D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.|issue=|editor-last=Stirling|editor-first=Michael}}</ref> and his father was revealed as the original Dennis three years later.<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Dennis and Gnasher|date=2015-05-02|magazine=The Beano|publisher=D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.|editor-last=Stirling|editor-first=Michael}}</ref> Despite this, Walter still lives with his mother and father, and his pets. In his original characterisation, a girl named Priscilla made a one-issue appearance and Dennis refers to her as Walter's sister, but she has not appeared since.<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Dennis the Menace and Gnasher|date=10 May 1975|magazine=The Beano|publisher=D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.|issue=1712|editor-last=Cramond|editor-first=Harold}}</ref> The 1996 cartoon revealed he had an uncle who was a barber named Slasher obsessed with Dennis' hair.<ref>{{Cite episode|series=Dennis and Gnasher|title=Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow|series-link=Dennis and Gnasher (1996 TV series)|network=The BBC|date=1996-04-02|number=1|series-no=1}}</ref> Walter's parents were always characterised as a wealthy couple who spoil their son, but Walter's post-2012 reincarnation shows his father, Wilbur, as the prideful, smug mayor of Beanotown, who was once Dennis' father's bullying target when they were children (implying that Wilbur was the original Walter who has now toughened up somewhat).<ref name="Wilbur">{{cite web |title=Who is Wilbur Brown? {{!}} Wilbur Brown {{!}} Profile on Beano.com |url=https://www.beano.com/posts/who-is-wilbur-brown |website=www.beano.com |archive-url=https://archive.today/20211003155706/https://www.beano.com/posts/who-is-wilbur-brown |archive-date=2021-10-03 |date=2017-07-28 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Walter is friends with other schoolboys who are as hardworking and unmanly like him, with similar hobbies. Originally, he had two: Algernon Scott "Scotty" (formerly "Spotty") Perkins and Bertram James "Bertie" Blenkinsop, but the magazine and children's cartoons have also introduced "Sweet" William, Jeremy Snodgrass, "Softy" Matthew and "Nervous" Rex. His girlfriend Matilda was a short-tempered [[redhead]] with a [[lisp]] who notably appeared in the 1996 cartoon; Walter was devoted to her to the point of implications that she bossed him around.

== Relationship with Dennis ==
From Walter's debut, he and Dennis the Menace have been enemies. Walter's [[nerd]]iness, as well as his hobbies, led to his nickname "Walter the Softy" (and his friends collectively dubbed "The Softies"), and often offends Dennis and Gnasher by his presence alone. Despite the tension and violence, Dennis has turned to Walter in desperation, such as when Gnasher disappeared for six issues in 1986, finding [[Gnipper]]'s long-lost sisters when the puppy had been poisoned, helping [[Rasher (comics)|Rasher]] win a pig race, and trying to save Dennis's favourite tree. They once find out the two are distant cousins, but it has only been mentioned once.

==Controversy==
For an unspecified time, some former readers have assumed Walter was an [[Queer coding|unconfirmed-but-implied]] [[gay]] character for ''The Beano''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Price |first1=John |last2=Nicholas |first2=Joe |title=AS Media Studies |date=2003 |publisher=[[Nelson Thornes]] |isbn=0748768408 |page=115}}</ref> The magazine's readership historically being young boys looking for masculine role models through characters that were superheroes, military personnel and brave adventurers automatically made male characters like Walter an ideal antagonist for the rebellious, school-hating, [[association football|football]]-loving Dennis, but Dennis' violence towards Walter when Walter was not paying attention to him led to concerns that it would encourage children into [[homophobic bullying]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-13668.html|title=Dennis the Menace to stop bullying 'gay' Walter|date=13 August 2009 |publisher=[[PinkNews]]}}</ref> Dennis' aggression towards Walter softened, and Walter's antagonism increased, his post-2012 version wanting to rid Beanotown of all its fun, as well as his heterosexual relationship with Matilda.<ref>{{cite news |title=Congratulations to the Beano! – 4,000 issues and still going |url=https://www.theoldie.co.uk/blog/congratulations-to-the-beano-4000-issues-and-still-going |work=The Oldie |language=en-gb}}</ref> ''Beano'' spokesman Mike Stirling later said in 2013 that Walter's post-2012 version would hopefully be "dramatically satisfying" reason for readers if Dennis turned violent because "[Walter Brown] doesn't want to be a kid, he wants to be a grownup and is always snitching on kids who are having fun."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jul/20/beano-75-year-anniversary|title=The Beano – a happy 75th anniversary|first=Stuart|last=Jeffries|date=20 July 2013|work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>

==Parodies==
* Walter is parodied in some editions of the adult comic [[Viz (comic)|Viz]] as "Cedric Soft" in the strip about popular character [[Biffa Bacon]]. Their relationship is in a similar vein to Walter's with Dennis, with extreme comic violence added.
* In the ''[[Judge Dredd]]'' story ''[[Judgement Day (Judge Dredd)|Judgement Day]]'', the villain's origin was a pastiche of the ''Beano'': Soppi Walter, routinely terrorised and attacked by the bully Big Den (surname shown as "Mennis"). Soppi turned out to be a [[Psychopathy#Sociopathy|sociopath]] and learned necromancy in order to kill, resurrect, and torture his bully.<ref>''2000 AD'' issue 797: Judgement Day Part 17</ref>
* In April 2018, Beano Studios issued a [[cease and desist]] letter to [[Jacob Rees-Mogg]], a prominent British [[right-wing politics|right-wing]] [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] MP with upper middle-class mannerisms, asserting that Rees-Mogg was imitating Walter.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/04/04/jacob-rees-mogg-told-stop-impersonating-walter-softy-beano-threatens/|title=Jacob Rees-Mogg told to stop impersonating Walter the Softy as Beano 'threatens legal action'|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=4 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/beano-accuses-jacob-rees-mogg-of-impersonating-walter-the-softy-1-4718271|title=Beano accuses Jacob Rees-Mogg of impersonating Walter the Softy}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==

{{D. C. Thomson Comics}}
{{Beano}}

[[Category:DC Thomson Comics characters]]
[[Category:Child characters in comics]]
[[Category:Male characters in comics]]
[[Category:Comics characters introduced in 1953]]
[[Category:British comics characters]]
[[Category:Dennis the Menace and Gnasher]]
[[Category:Effeminacy]]
[[Category:Fictional cross-dressers]]