Walter Brown, formerly pejoratively nicknamed Walter the Softy, or Softy Walter, is a 10-year-old classy boy who is the archenemy of Dennis the Menace. Walter was originally introduced as a well behaved boy, the opposite to how Dennis was a very naughty boy. Walter was later changed to a softy, and was an effeminate boy, which Dennis was vilified because of his lack on interest in stereotypically masculine activities and attitudes. Because of it, he became the target of Dennis' pranks and misbehaviour but would brush it off. Sometime in the 1980s, Walter's characterisation changed after reader backlash and made him a snobbish rich boy foil to his enemies. However, he would later become a softy again, but was given his snobbish rich boy personality in the 1996 Dennis and Gnasher TV series