Linus van Pelt is Charlie Brown's younger best friend in Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts. Though very young, Linus is very wise, and he acts as the strip's philosopher and theologian, often quoting the Gospels. He also invented his own quasi-religious being, The Great Pumpkin, who, like Santa Claus mysteriously appears every year, bringing presents. The Great Pumpkin, however, appears on Halloween and only at the most sincere pumpkin patch, which Linus invariably believes is his own. Linus is the only one who believes in the Great Pumpkin. Though he occasionally convinces other characters the Great Pumpkin is real, they always change their mind with the lack of results.

Linus is almost never without his blue blanket (or one of several), which he holds over his shoulder while sucking his thumb. It was in fact he who coined the term "security blanket". Charlie Brown's little sister, Sally, is in love with Linus and calls him her "sweet babboo". Linus in turn has an innocent crush on his teacher, Miss Othmar (later Mrs. Hagemeyer). In recent strips he developed some kind of interest in the girl who sits behind him and keeps changing her name. He also fell for several different girls in various TV specials.

Linus is meekly dominated by his older sister Lucy, who has been known to clobber him at the drop of a hat. Later in the strip, they got a younger brother "Rerun", who looks nearly identical to Linus, but smaller.

Linus generally plays second base on Charlie Brown's Little League team. Sometimes, when for some reason Charlie Brown can't pitch, Linus takes the mound and is unhittable to the opposition. Charlie Brown's team always wins games when Linus pitches.

The character was shown with a security blanket for the first time on June 1, 1954. [1]