The first African American character to appear in the strip, Franklin was introduced in 1968 as a kid Charlie Brown met at the beach. Franklin originally attented a different school than Charlie and the rest of the gang, but then one day he appeared in class and on the baseball field. Unlike the rest of the characters, Franklin appears rather normal, "posessing the fewest anxieties and obsessions."

Much has been made of the symbolism behind Franklin, but Schulz's official website insists that Franklin was intended as "just another character, not a political statement." Opinions are left to the reader, though his appearance did spark lots of controversy when the strip was run.