Billy Bunter

Billy Bunter
Billy Bunter as depicted by The Magnet artist C. H. Chapman
First appearance	The Magnet No. 1 "The Making of Harry Wharton" (1908)
Last appearance	Bunter's Last Fling (1965)
Created by	Charles Hamilton writing as Frank Richards[1]
Portrayed by	Gerald Campion (BBC TV series 1952–1961
In-universe information
Full name	William George Bunter
Nickname	"The Owl of the Remove"
Occupation	Schoolboy
Relatives	Bessie Bunter (sister); Sammy Bunter (brother); Mr. Samuel Bunter (father); Mrs Amelia Bunter (mother)
Religion	Church of England
Nationality	British
School	Greyfriars School

William George Bunter is a fictional schoolboy created by Charles Hamilton using the pen name Frank Richards. He features in stories set at Greyfriars School, a fictional English public school in Kent, originally published in the boys' weekly story paper The Magnet from 1908 to 1940. The character has appeared in novels, on television, in stage plays and in comic strips.

He is in the Lower Fourth form of Greyfriars School, known as the Remove, whose members are 14–15 years of age. Time is frozen in the Greyfriars stories; although the reader sees the passing of the seasons, the characters' ages do not change and they remain in the same year groups. Originally a minor character, Bunter's role was expanded over the years with his antics being heavily used in the stories for comic relief and to advance the plots.

Bunter's defining characteristics are his naive greed, self-indulgence, and overweight appearance.^[2] He is in many respects an obnoxious anti-hero. Besides his gluttony, he is obtuse, lazy, racist, nosy, deceitful, pompous, and conceited, but he is blissfully unaware of his defects. In his own mind, he is a handsome, talented, and naturally aristocratic young man surrounded by uncouth "beasts". His vices are offset by several redeeming features, including a sporadic but genuine courage in aid of others; his ability to be generous during his rare occasions of prosperity; and above all his very real love and concern for his mother. All these, along with Bunter's irrepressible optimism, and his comically transparent untruthfulness and inept attempts to conceal his antics from his schoolmasters and schoolfellows, combine to make the character highly entertaining, though hardly sympathetic.