Carly Shay

Carly Shay (born on July 24, 1994, age 17) is the main protagonist of the iCarly television series, and the second youngest member (older than Gibby) of the iCarly gang. She is the younger sister of Spencer Shay and the daughter of Colonel Shay and Mrs. Shay. She lives with her older brother, Spencer, in Apartment 8-C at Bushwell Plaza in Seattle, Washington, while their father, Colonel Stephen Shay is stationed on an Navy submarine; their mother has never been mentioned. She is the best friend of Sam Puckett and former best friend of Missy Robinson, whom she was friends with since her childhood. She is also the best friend and ex-girlfriend of Freddie Benson who lives across the hallway in Apartment 8-D. She is portrayed by Miranda Cosgrove as a teenager, and Jadin Gould as an eight-year-old in a flashback (iDon't Wanna Fight).

Personality
Carly is kind, easy-going, and a very caring person who would do anything for her friends. She usually hates getting into trouble and follows the rules, but sometimes, she has been shown to be a bit spoiled when Spencer doesn't let her do something. For example, in iLook Alike, when Spencer refuses to let her go to a wrestling match she gets upset, which is out of character for the usually sweet, polite and rule-obeying girl.

Occasionally, she has to get between her best friends, Sam and Freddie, when the two argue too much. She gets good grades and usually stays out of trouble, except for when she takes the blame for Sam's wrongdoing. It was also revealed in iWanna Stay With Spencer, that she needed a tutor because she was having trouble in science.

Carly has been described as "sassy" on a promo for a fight in iFight Shelby Marx, and in iHave a Lovesick Teacher, Lauren Ackerman calls her sassy for commenting on her teaching.

She is easily grossed out by vermin, the gross videos Sam likes (except in iStage an Intervention, when she wanted to see a guy who could pull his lip down over his chin), or even when Spencer says "bowels" (iTake on Dingo). In iMake Sam Girlier, Sam tells Carly that she is "soft and girly and weak." and in iTake on Dingo, Sam called her "prissy." Carly agreed with this, referring to herself as "the prissiest."

It was shown in iSpace Out and confirmed in iSam's Mom that Carly suffers from claustrophobia and freaks out if she is locked in a small space for a long time; however, in iPsycho, she seems only mildly distressed when Nora locks her, Sam and Freddie in her dad's recording studio. But that could be because it's a relatively large space and she has enough room to move around, lie down or take walks to calm herself down if she does start feeling distressed. In her blog "My Christmas Gift Dilemma," Carly indicated that she also has a fear of birds (ornithophobia), although it is not known how deeply this runs.

She takes really long showers when she is depressed or needs to think, as mentioned in iGive Away a Car. She once took a chair in with her when she was the shower for a very long time.

In iWanna Stay With Spencer, it was implied Carly used to be a sick child. According to Spencer, she has to take vitamins every day and suffers from allergies and asthma. She had her last asthma attack when she was seven years old. She likes to drink coffee, but Spencer gives her decaffeinated coffee although she is not aware of this.

One of Carly's most defining personality traits is her determination.

Possibly her most prominent trait is that Carly, unlike Sam, is not tough (Sam once called her "weak and girly"), and even when furious, she has never physically attacked anyone on-screen (but tried to tackle Freddie in an angry manner in iThink They Kissed). However, on occasion, she will confront someone, even bullies and teachers, for her friends when it is needed, as shown in iHave a Lovesick Teacher and iMake Sam Girlier. She was also part of a girl mob (Sam and Shelby Marx) that beat up Nevel in iFight Shelby Marx although Nevel said he wasn't scared of her.

Carly shows singing ability in iDo, when she sings Shakespeare, and in iPie, when she tries to get people at a funeral to sing Amazing Grace' and also in iParty With Victorious when she sings, Leave it all to Shine, with the cast of iCarly and Victorious.

Sam Puckett
Carly and Sam met when they were about eight years old, and Sam wanted to steal Carly's tuna sandwich. When Carly fought back, Sam was impressed and the two eventually became friends. To this day, they share a close friendship that some fans even think of as romantic, to a certain degree (see Cam Relationship).

Carly acts as a moral guardian to Sam, trying to keep her out of trouble and occasionally taking the blame for her pranks. Although Sam frequently causes Carly trouble, she likes her for being "creative, smart, fun and awesome". In iChristmas, it was shown that Carly's life would be very different without Sam; iCarly would never have existed and Carly would be dating Nevel Papperman. At times, Carly and Sam's fights are extremely bad, such as in iDon't Want to Fight and iSaw Him First. In iQuit iCarly, one of their fights even lead to a near-death situation for both of them. But their fights have always ended with their friendship becoming ultimately stronger, and they seem to be close as sisters as they look out for each other (see Cam Friendship).

Freddie Benson
Carly is very aware of Freddie's crush on her, and sometimes exploits that he would do anything for her if she says "Please? For me?" in a sweet, cute voice. Freddie has liked her ever sice they met. They keep up a good friendship, and they know that they can rely on each other when things get hard. Freddie and Carly have in common, among other things, that they can maintain pretty good grades, don't like getting in trouble, and both live in Bushwell Plaza. Freddie can easily walk over to Carly's house anytime. They are best friends (See Creddie Friendship), and once shared a slow dance alone together after both their dates didn't work out. They were a couple once, after Freddie saved her life (see iSaved Your Life), but Freddie broke up with her because he wanted to wait until he could be sure her feelings weren't just a result of the "hero thing", and that and he wasn't taking advantage of her. Carly has shown jealousy over girls that Freddie has been attracted to (iBeat the Heat, iHire an Idiot) Carly has also been seen flirting with Freddie (iSaved Your Life, iSam's Mom, and many more). Carly and Freddie agreed to retry their relationship if Carly wanted to once the "hero thing" wore off in iSaved Your Life, but it hasn't been used as a plotline since. Whether or not they still harbor feelings for each other is currently unknown.

(For more on their relationship, See: Creddie)

Spencer Shay
Carly and her brother usually have a very strong relationship and often have fun hanging out together. Carly acts as the voice of reason or as an emotional support when needed. This is shown in iGet Pranky when she tries to get Spencer to stop pranking people. She can also rely on him when she has trouble. She is so used to him letting her have a lot of freedom that she gets irritated when he doesn't give her what she wants, as shown in iLook Alike. Their brother/sister relationship is very important to the show, (See Sparly).

Gibby Gibson
Carly and Gibby have known each other for four years. She has shown a little attraction to Gibby, and Gibby may be attracted to Carly. They are very good friends, and he's a recurring guest on her webshow. Carly once mentioned that Gibby was "sweet, cute, and fun". (See Cibby).

Boyfriends/Dates/Crushes
Freddie Benson (2005-present; Best Friend; Former Admirer; Former Love Interest; Ex-Boyfriend)

Freddie has had a crush on Carly since he first met her. They briefly dated in "iSaved Your Life", but Freddie broke up with her at the end of the episode, because he wanted to make sure that he wasn't taking advantage of Carly by dating her when she was only interested because he had saved her life. They agreed to try dating again when the whole "hero thing" was over, but they have not yet mentioned this since that episode.

It currently remains unknown if either of them are harboring romantic feelings for each other.

(Also see: Creddie).

Gibby Gibson (2008-present; Friend, Date, Possible Admirer)

In iWin a Date Gibby and Carly went on a triple date to The Cheesecake Warehouse together with Sam and Reuben, and Freddie and Shannon. Carly tried to prove Shannon that Gibby is the right guy for her. Even if that didn't work out, after that, Carly and Gibby became good friends. In iEnrage Gibby, Carly calls Gibby "sweet, and cute, and fun." A promo states that Gibby has his eyes on Carly. In season 5, Gibby and Carly hang out more. (Also, see Cibby).

Ben Huebscher (First Kiss)

In iKiss, Carly tells Sam and Freddie that her first kiss was with a boy named Ben Huebscher, who she kissed under a kumquat tree and he tasted like potato salad. It is unknown whether they dated or not. He is named after an iCarly writer. Poor guy!

Jake Crandle (2007; Former Crush)

In "iLike Jake", she had a crush on Jake and he liked her back. After Jake saw Carly kiss Freddie on the nose (for helping to make Jake's singing voice sound good for the web show), he believed falsely that they were a couple. Because of this, Jake decided to get back together with his ex-girlfriend, leaving Carly single. Carly later strongly objects when she sees him kissing and shows she still cares a lot for him, even following him to class, saying she had no romantic interest in Freddie whatsoever and only felt for him. She said "It was strictly nasal." Jake seemed upset because of their mutual encounter.

Shane (2008; Former Crush, Date)

She went out with him for a brief time in "iSaw Him First," but since Sam was also dating him at the same time, the two of them fight and decide that the one who kisses him first gets to date him. Shane broke up with them when he found out about their competition for him but when he was in the hospital Carly kissed him while he was unconcious. Sam wasn't sure what happened.

Nevel Papperman (2008-2011; Alternate Reality Boyfriend, Enemy; Admirer)

Nevel kissed Carly on the cheek in iNevel, and has tried to get kisses from her ever since, but Carly constantly refuses. In the episode iChristmas, if Spencer was born normal, Nevel was going to be Carly's boyfriend.

Griffin (2009; Ex-Boyfriend; Former Crush)

She dated him in "iDate a Bad Boy" until she found out he collected PeeWee Babies. She tried to make the relationship work, but then Griffin overheard Carly and Sam making fun of his PeeWee Babies and then broke up with her. He comes back in "iBeat the Heat" and tries to kiss her, but she rebuffs him. (Also see Criffin)

Austin (2009; Date)

Carly chose him as her date in "iSpeed Date." At the end of the episode, she dumped him because he kept interrupting her with random sentences whenever she wanted to say something.

Adam (2010; Former Crush)

Carly loved Adam in IStart a Fanwar. He seemed to be interested in her, too, but in the end, he was attacked by Creddie fans and Carly just left after Sam said “he belongs to them now". (Also, see Cadam)

Steven (2011; Ex-Boyfriend; Former Crush) Carly loves Steven in iParty with Victorious. She says his nose goes pink when he gets embarrassed, and she thinks its adorable. He seemed to be interested in her, too, but he also has a liking for Tori Vega, which leads to him cheating on her. Carly then, together with Tori, humilitates him live on the webshow and eventually breaks up with him.

Unnamed Crush (2011) As referenced [http://m.ocregister.com/entertainment/says-304079-mccurdy-icarly.html? here] Carly falls for a super-smart cute boy in an upcoming episode still untitled episode in Season 5.

Enemies/Rivals

 * Nevel Papperman until (iPity the Nevel)
 * Tasha (iNevel)
 * Valerie (iWill Date Freddie)
 * Ms. Briggs (iSpy a Mean Teacher, iHave My Principals)
 * Mr. Devlin (iPromise Not to Tell)
 * Jonah (iHate Sam's Boyfriend, after Jonah tried to kiss her)
 * Amber Tate (iCarly Saves TV)
 * Zebo (iCarly Saves TV)
 * Kyoko and Yuki (iGo To Japan)
 * Wade Collins (iRocked the Vote) - Enemy of David Archuleta.
 * Missy Robinson (IReunite with Missy, after she found out Missy was trying to get rid of Sam)
 * Chuck Chambers (iTwins)
 * Mr. Howard (especially in iHave My Principals)
 * The Petographers (iMove Out)
 * Nora Dirshlitt (iPsycho)
 * Aspartamay (iStart a Fanwar)
 * Jocelyn (iMake Sam Girlier)
 * Steven (iParty with Victorious)
 * Paul (iDate Sam & Freddie)

Gallery
Click here to view Carly's Gallery

Trivia

 * Carly has had multiple near-death experiences: in iWanna Stay with Spencer (nearly getting hit in theCarlyintrouble.jpg head with a hammer); in iQuit iCarly (almost falling off a window washer platform, along with Sam); and in iSaved Your Life (almost getting hit by a taco truck, but rescued by Freddie, off-screen).
 * Carly's head has nearly been hit twice: in iWanna Stay with Spencer (nearly getting hit with a hammer) and iStart a Fanwar (a fan threw a chair at Carly at Webicon).71336_2997072613.jpg
 * She and Sam had been friends five years before the episode iDon't Want to Fight. Carly and Sam have now been best friends for eight years.
 * She and Sam have broken up as best friends twice in the series. Once in iDon't Want to Fight, and again in iQuit iCarly.
 * Carly is fond of Build-A-Bra and Glitter Gloss which are both stores at the Crown Ridge Mall.
 * Carly has a bikini with a floral design, skirt bikini bottom, and a g-string in the back. (iHatch Chicks)
 * Carly has shown her midsection the most out of any female on the show, due to her wearing a bikini (iHatch Chicks), a hula skirt with a coconut bikini top (iSaw Him First), and a two-piece mixed martial arts outfit (iFight Shelby Marx).
 * She is an avid believer in Bigfoot (iBelieve in Bigfoot).
 * Her great-grandmother gave her a heavily insured diamond incrusted watch when she died, although it seems Spencer and Carly did not go to her funeral. It came in handy when her room was destroyed in a fire and her heavily insured diamond incrusted watch was destroyed in the fire. It was insured for $82,000. (iGot a Hot Room)
 * She appears to really like bad boys, like Griffin, possibly because they are like her best friend Sam.
 * Despite the fact that Carly's birthday is on July 24, in iScream on Halloween, she says she's a Capricorn (which would place her birthday in early January or late December). On iCarly.com, her birthday originally was said to be January 14, but it was changed shortly before the finale of Season 3, probably to make it closer to the airdate of iGot a Hot Room.
 * Carly cries 4 times in the series; iGot a Hot Room because her room burned down, iChristmas because she wanted things back to the way they were, iQuit iCarly because she and Sam almost fell to their deaths off of a window washer, and also because she was sorry for getting in a fight with Sam, and iTake on Dingo because the hobo pulled her hair and kept trying to climb into the hotel room.
 * Carly is the youngest of the iCarly trio (Sam, Freddie and herself), as her birthday is in July and Freddie and Sam's birthdays are in February and April, respectively. Though again it is thought that her birthday may be in January, so her age as opposed to that of her friends is debatable.
 * She loves the band Cuttlefish.
 * Carly's only younger counterpart was presented on iDon't Want to Fight, in a flashback showing when Carly and Sam met.
 * In iOwe You, Spencer says Carly used to be a Sunshine Girl.
 * Although Carly is the main character in the series, she no longer appears in new iCarly.com segments due Carly_in_studio.jpg Miranda Cosgrove's busy schedule. The gang only say she's on camera.
 * Carly sometimes pokes people when she wants to get them to focus (iPromise Not To Tell).
 * She apparently loves asking people to have a bath.
 * Caleb said that she would be the Vice President of the United States
 * In iLost My Mind, Carly grabs a set of keys on the way out of the door on the way to Troubled Waters. This poses the possibility that Carly can drive.I-carly2.jpg
 * Carly's star sign is a Leo.
 * As of August 2010, carly has only been the featured character once.
 * Carly is the only main character who never ended an episode dating someone.