There’s no shortage of memes featuring Charlie Kelly from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, with some of them capturing his unique personality.
Content Warning: The following article contains spoilers for the FXX show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Fans continue to eagerly wait for the 16th season of FXX’s It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, with the long-running sitcom’s new episodes set to be released sometime this December. In the meantime, hilarious memes about the gang and their antics continue to be uploaded on platforms like Reddit, with some of them perfectly capturing the fan-favorite character Charlie Kelly’s personality.
From his insistence on eating stickers to his profound moment with his dad’s corpse, the memes that reflect Charlie’s character show the traits that make it easy to like him. They also often feature his iconic moments on the series, which there are a lot of, thanks to his wild persona and unique brand of humor.
It’s no secret that Charlie isn’t the brightest member of the gang, as he has made several funny mistakes in IASIP that have resulted in meme-worthy moments. One of these takes place when Mac buys him a pear, which Charlie has apparently never eaten before in his life.
Mac’s disgusted reaction to Charlie eating the whole pear – stems, stickers, and all – prompts an even more hilarious response from the character. Charlie’s declaration that he eats stickers all the time has become a legendary moment from the show, with every die-hard fan likely knowing the line.
Despite clearly having no idea what he’s talking about sometimes, Charlie uses overconfidence to compensate for his lack of knowledge. This is exactly what happens when the gang joins the TV game show, Family Fight, and Charlie is asked to name an animal that people eat, but doesn’t eat people.
Charlie’s absurd answer and the nonsensical explanation that follows are made even funnier by the way the board indicates he has selected a correct answer. It’s likely a meta moment that highlights the absurd things Charlie (and the rest of the gang) get away with on the sitcom.
Charlie is arguably the hardest working character in Paddy’s Pub, which is why when he gets an opportunity to relax and tailgate with Frank, he understandably wants to be left alone. The humorous moment has become a meme template and features Charlie’s few moments of relaxation on his folding chair.
These moments are of course interrupted by the arrival of the McPoyles and an unexpected acid trip, which complicates Charlie’s plans of “relaxing” and “getting blackout drunk.” The overworked character just wants the occasional break, but the ones he does get often turn out to be disastrous.
In one of the best episodes that happen outside Paddy’s Pub, Charlie makes it all the way to California to beat Wade Boggs' unbelievable record of downing more than seventy beers in a single cross-country flight. What’s more, he manages to bat the baseball Mac throws at him, which makes him the official winner of the contest the gang has.
It’s Charlie’s drunken and confused question – “what do now?” – that completes the scene, as his gut-busting question underscores the pointlessness of the entire endeavor. Charlie has to be subtitled at this point, but he still happily moves on to the next activity with Mac. It’s just like him to shrug off something supposedly monumental for the next best thing.
One of Charlie’s most iconic scenes happens when Dee uncharacteristically takes him to a spa to be nice, which doesn’t turn out the way she expected. Charlie’s illiteracy is a running gag in the series and it makes the sequence in the spa comical, as he insists that it’s “spaghetti day” and asks the employees there what their “spaghetti policy” is.
It’s a meme-worthy moment that has been used to illustrate how oblivious library visitors can be to rules about eating and drinking. Not only does it highlight how dim-witted Charlie can be, but it also shows how confidently wrong he is about the strangest things.
When Charlie commits to doing something, he goes all in, which is one of the few reasons he manages to pull off the sidesplitting production of The Nightman Cometh. A meme captures the moment Charlie sees “daylight” for the first time in a while since obsessively working on the main song in the musical, Dayman.
It’s a relatable aspect of Charlie’s personality, which is also seen when he busies himself over “Charlie work.” He tends to take these activities too far, often compromising his own health in the process. That said, the legendary Dayman song wouldn’t have been possible without Charlie’s dedication and wackiness.
Charlie doesn’t have a great relationship with his high school classmates in IASIP, which is why he is extremely stressed out during the reunion. A funny moment depicts the way he hides in the bathroom and attempts to “get high” and “get sad” away from everyone else.
A simple overlay of an indie rock band’s name – Bright Eyes – results in a hilarious meme, with Charlie’s frustrated lines perfectly fitting the angry and dark mood of most of that band’s songs. Charlie doesn’t fit in and at that point in his adult life, he doesn’t want to anymore.
The illogical “lawyerings” and “bird law” have become synonymous with Charlie’s character, as he uses his supposed expertise in the matter to go against the Lawyer more than once. An old meme format describes how bird law is “not governed by reason,” which sums up every scene where Charlie practices it.
The entire gag is further proof of Charlie’s need to prove to others that he’s smarter than he looks, especially when compared to someone antagonistic like the Lawyer. It’s not clear where Charlie gets his fascination with bird law, but it has come in handy during an actual trial once.
Even those who don’t watch the sitcom will likely recognize the Pepe Silvia meme, which shows the peak of Charlie’s explanation of a conspiracy theory about the person who doesn’t exist. This is the situation Charlie finds himself in after he tries to hold down a regular job in the mail room, but soon becomes obsessed with the idea that the company he works for is full of ghost employees.
It’s more likely that Charlie just has no idea what he’s doing, but it’s just like him to go down a rabbit hole and make bizarre connections between events and objects. His wild look at that moment convinces Mac that they’ve had enough of working there, and it’s a good thing they leave soon after.
It’s Always Sunny may be a funny show most of the time, but it does have its heartfelt and even profound moments. One of these storylines is featured in a meme that expresses how emotional the scene with Charlie’s dad’s corpse really is, as it’s one that can make any fan shed a tear.
After Charlie is left alone on the side of a mountain carrying his dad’s corpse, the rain begins to pour as he cries and recounts how he needed his father. He sobs as he says his father was never there to pick him up from school or read him bedtime stories. It’s a heartbreaking moment that emphasizes Charlie’s more vulnerable side.
Saab has been a freelance writer for Screen Rant since 2021. Before SR, she worked as an editor for a digital marketing company. She’s based out of Metro Manila, Philippines, where she lives with her partner, two fat cats, and two hundred houseplants. She’s passionate about all things pop culture and design. When she’s not typing, she’s tending to her indoor garden or watching true crime stories on Netflix.
