Chuck Billy 'n' Folks
Encyclopedia
Chuck Billy 'n' Folks are a group of fictional characters appearing at the Monica's Gang
comic book series. The stories are centered on Chuck Billy (originally named Chico Bento) and his friends and parents, who are all caipiras
and live in the small Vila Abobrinha (Zucchini
’s Village), a fictional location on the countryside of Brazil. The only characters who don't live on the countryside are Chuck's cousin, Zeca, and his parents, who live on the city. A distinct feature of this part of the characters is that they go to school, different from Monica and her friends.
Monica's Gang
Monica's Gang is a popular Brazilian comic book series. The series was created by Mauricio de Sousa, who signs his work as "Mauricio". Plots are centered on the adventures of a group of seven-year-old friends in the fictional neighborhood of "Limoeiro" in São Paulo...
comic book series. The stories are centered on Chuck Billy (originally named Chico Bento) and his friends and parents, who are all caipiras
Caipira
Caipira is a Brazilian Portuguese term used to designate inhabitants of rural, remote areas of some Brazilian states—it refers to the people of lesser schooling. It can be considered pejorative when used to describe others, but it can also be used as a self-identifier without negative connotations...
and live in the small Vila Abobrinha (Zucchini
Zucchini
The zucchini is a summer squash which often grows to nearly a meter in length, but which is usually harvested at half that size or less. It is a hybrid of the cucumber. Along with certain other squashes, it belongs to the species Cucurbita pepo. Zucchini can be dark or light green...
’s Village), a fictional location on the countryside of Brazil. The only characters who don't live on the countryside are Chuck's cousin, Zeca, and his parents, who live on the city. A distinct feature of this part of the characters is that they go to school, different from Monica and her friends.
Main characters
- Chuck Billy (Chico Bento)
- Cousin Benny (Zé da Roça) - Originally called Zé da Roça, which literally means "Joe from the farm", Benny is one of Chuck's best friends. He is the top student of his class one of the few characters who don't speak with a caipira accent.
- Rosie Lee (Rosinha) - Rosie Lee is Chuck's girlfriend. She mostly appears in the stories dating Chuck or just showing her jealousy of him. They are commonly drawn together sitting on a fallen TrunkTrunk (botany)In botany, trunk refers to the main wooden axis of a tree that supports the branches and is supported by and directly attached to the roots. The trunk is covered by the bark, which is an important diagnostic feature in tree identification, and which often differs markedly from the bottom of the...
.
- Granny Mae (Vó Dita) - Granny Mae is Chuck's grandmother. She is famous for the stories she tells to Chuck and his friends. The stories are mostly based on life stories of people she knows, and are sometimes dosed with some folkloric elements.
- Taka (Hiro) - Taka is a Japanese descendent. He also speaks correct Portuguese, and lives in a typical Japanese house, adopting some habits from Japan, like BonsaiBonsaiis a Japanese art form using miniature trees grown in containers. Similar practices exist in other cultures, including the Chinese tradition of penjing from which the art originated, and the miniature living landscapes of Vietnamese hòn non bộ...
, Ofuro, etc.
- Zeke (Zé Lelé) - His name in Portuguese means something like "Joe Nuts". He is the country cousin of Chuck Billy, and is very distracted and is a student as bad as Chuck.
- Zeca (Zeca) - His name is hardly mentioned, as people would call him simply "Cousin of Chuck". Sometimes he is named Zeca, but he once introduced himself as Osvalderson. Zeca lives in the city with his parents. In most of the stories featuring him, the main issues are the differences between life in the city and in the farm. When Zeca comes to visit Chuck, he suffers because of the lack of technology and modern equipments. On the other hand, when Chuck visits Zeca, he finds himself lost in the middle of so many technological things and things he doesn't understand very much.
Minor characters
- Animals - Beyond living on a farm, Chuck is very friendly with animals. Because of this, he holds close relationships with his "pets", which are typical farm animals. The most famous are his chicken, his cow, and his pig, which are called Ma Megg (Giserda), Malhada and Torresmo. He also owns an unnamed dunce, a dog named Fido and several other animals which appear occasionally. There's also the Jaguar (Onça), a wild felineFelidaeFelidae is the biological family of the cats; a member of this family is called a felid. Felids are the strictest carnivores of the thirteen terrestrial families in the order Carnivora, although the three families of marine mammals comprising the superfamily pinnipedia are as carnivorous as the...
that is mostly a threat to Chuck and his friends, but would sometimes be treated like a friend. As a wild animal, she lives in the local jungle.
- Teacher Marocas - She is the teacher of the local school. she doesn't teach an specific subject, her classes are mostly about basic grammar, literature, history, geography and sciences. She faces a daily challenge when it comes to teach Chico, because of his poor grades and the fact that he never does his homework.
- Mr. Lau (Nhô Lau) - Mr. Lau owns an orchard filled with Apple GuavasPsidium guajavaThe apple guava or common guava is an evergreen shrub or small tree native to Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America...
, which are frequently "visited" by Chuck and his friends, who steal his fruits. Mr. Lau would respond to these constant attacks by shooting them with his Rifle, which is not charged with true bullets, but with leadLeadLead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
, the fruits of the castor oil plantCastor oil plantThe castor oil plant, Ricinus communis, is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. It belongs to a monotypic genus, Ricinus, and subtribe, Ricininae. The evolution of castor and its relation to other species are currently being studied.Its seed is the castor bean which,...
, or even saltSaltIn chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
.
- Genesinho – Genesinho is the son of the local Colonel, and is a rival to Chuck Billy, because of his attempts to date Rosie Lee. As Genesinho is much richer, well-dressed and cleaner than Chuck, Rosie Lee tends to have a crush on him, but in the end she always comes back to Chuck.
- Mariana – Mariana is Chuck's little sister, who appeared only in a special story, titled "Uma estrelinha chamada Mariana" (A little star called Mariana). She died just after she was born and became a star then, visiting Chuck on this story.