Charlie Morningstar

Lore & Background

Charlie was created by Medrano during her time at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Although the original steampunk-inspired design has been described as an "entirely distinct entity", Medrano liked the name Charlie and transferred it to a new character intended for her webcomic series ZooPhobia. Her original plotline intended for her to be a mortal soul who died in the 1830s, who became the "den mother" of the "Misfit Demon Gang" in ZooPhobia; the members of this gang would later become the main cast of Hazbin Hotel.

In the pilot, Charlie's surname was "Magne", as a pun on the name "Charlemagne". Before season 1, her last name was changed to Morningstar, coming from the concept of the devil's family name being "Morningstar" (the Latin translation of "Lucifer"), popularized by Neil Gaiman in a comic in 1989. She was confirmed to be bisexual by Medrano on her Twitter account. Medrano said she related to Charlie, calling her "plucky...determined and energetic", saying Charlie was a "very aspirational character" to her.

Voice actress Erika Henningsen said: "Life is lived in the gray. That's the journey that Charlie comes to over the season. She's always for forgiveness, but I do think she sometimes sees the world in black and white and the real world is not that."

Reader's Guide

Charlie's character in the animated series, which began in January 2024, was received positively. Hope Mullinax of Collider praised her "joyous" showstopping musical numbers, while Screen Rant complimented her "high energy pop beats" and "go-getter attitude", calling her "the heart and soul of Hazbin Hotel" without whom "the show would be very grim and somewhat pointless". Dais Johnston of Inverse lauded her as "the Leslie Knope of Hell" due to her "bright-eyed and always positive" attitude.

Rendy Jones of RogerEbert.com called her "the sunny-side-up princess" with a "happy-go-lucky charm". Rachel Leishman of The Mary Sue argued that the series is "charming" because of Charlie's hopeful nature, which inspires her girlfriend Vaggie. Jenna Scherer of The A.V. Club described Charlie as "bright-eyed" and "strangely naive", while Kristy Puchko of Mashable called Charlie the "most childish and cheery of the crew". Brian Kitson of The Cosmic Circus complimented Henningsen's "light-hearted energy" as Charlie, while Sayantan Gayen of CBR praised Henningsen's "exemplary job of voicing a person cheery by nature but brought down by the massive weight of responsibilities on her shoulder".

Did You Know?

• In the 2019 pilot, Jill Harris was cast as Charlie's speaking voice and Elsie Lovelock as her singing voice; in the 2024 series, she is voiced by Erika Henningsen.
• Charlie was originally intended to be a mortal soul who died in the 1830s, serving as the 'den mother' of the 'Misfit Demon Gang' in Medrano's webcomic ZooPhobia.
• Charlie makes a cameo appearance in the 2019 Helluva Boss pilot, where Loona watches her broadcast pitch on a computer.