Patty is a fictional character featured in the long-running syndicated daily and Sunday comic strip Peanuts, created by Charles M. Schulz. Patty was formerly a major character whose role was reduced in later years; she never developed a distinct personality like Lucy, or Sally. She is sometimes confused with Peppermint Patty, a different and later character with a similar name. Patty appeared in the first Peanuts strip, with Shermy and Charlie Brown, on October 2, 1950. Patty is best known as a girl who thinks highly of herself, and because of her self-opinion, she often torments the hapless Charlie Brown. She usually accompanies her best friend Violet and sometimes the abrasive Lucy. Patty has appeared in numerous Peanuts television specials, cinematic films, theatrical plays, and video games. In the 2015 film The Peanuts Movie, her last name is given as Swanson. This name never appeared in the comic strip or in any official Peanuts media during Schulz's lifetime and is thus not canon. (Patty Swanson was in fact the name of the real person who partially inspired Peppermint Patty and had also served as the inspiration for the earlier Patty's name.) History An early conception of the character was created by Schulz for his comic strip Li'l Folks (a precursor to Peanuts). Schulz then reused the character for Peanuts, and there he named her Patty. Patty was featured in the first Peanuts comic strip, on October 2, 1950. In subsequent strips, Patty's character developed and she appeared regularly, but she eventually became less and less prominent until her succeeding appearances were reduced to mere cameos. By 1966, Schulz recycled the Patty name for a new character: "Peppermint" Patty Reichardt. Although the original Patty would make cameo appearances throughout the run of Peanuts, she had ceased being a featured character by about 1975. She continued to make cameo or background appearances until the early 1990s. Her last appearance was a rerun of a 1992 strip which was republished on November 27, 1997. Schulz claimed he drew Patty in the March 2, 1994 strip in which she wants Snoopy to chase rabbits with her (a role previously usually taken by Frieda), although some fans have stated that the girl in the strip in question does not resemble Patty. Both before and after she receded into the background, Patty usually appeared either with her best friend Violet or with the rest of Charlie