Why Does Charles Hate The 'Pretty Little Liars'?

Pretty Little Liars dropped a major A bomb on us in the Season 5 finale "Welcome To The Dollhouse" and nothing will ever be the same on the show again. Charles was revealed as Big A, and from the look of his home movies it's likely that he's Jason's twin as well. That's pretty much the craziest thing since that whole "Ali's not really dead" thing, but who A is might not be nearly as interesting as why he chose to torture the liars in the first place. We still have no clue why Charles hates the Liars so much, or why he's spending all this time and energy torturing them for seemingly no reason. Whatever the reason is, it clearly has something to do with Ali — but what can it be?

As always, the answer is we'll have to wait and watch for more information on why Charles is the way he is, but that doesn't mean that we can't form a few theories of our own. We may not know much about A's true identity (other than that we've likely seen Charles without his mask on, oh my God) but A has given us plenty of clues over the past five years as to what makes him tick. Here are some ideas on why Charles might be torturing the girls:

He's Jealous Of The Girls And Their Friendship With Ali

Charles may torture all five girls, but Ali is his "favorite." Perhaps the reason for torturing Aria, Spencer, Hanna and Emily is simple — he's jealous that they got to hang out with Ali while he was put away in a mental institution away from his beloved sister. Could jealousy over his sister's friends really drive Charles to madness? Probably not — but if he was already unstable, it could send him over the edge.

Ali Sent Him Away From His Family

Charles may profess to love Ali, but what he really loves is torturing her, and is even content with torturing her by proxy. Perhaps the reason for that is because Ali did something terrible to him that completely ruined his life. (Warning: spoilers for the Pretty Little Liars book series ahead.) In Sara Shepard's novels, Ultimate A is Alison DiLaurentis herself, whose own twin sister put her in a mental institution for years due to a very messed up case of mistaken identity. Perhaps the show will borrow from the book series and have Ali put Charles in Radley for something he didn't do, and his stint in Radley eventually causes him to go mad. Hurting the other girls could be another method for torturing Ali.

Ali Killed Bethany

We know little about Bethany, but we do know that she was in Radley and that her father was having an affair with Mrs. DiLaurentis. If Charles really is her son, there's a chance that the reason Mrs. DiLaurentis knows Bethany's father is because they visited their children together. Perhaps Bethany and Charles became friends in Radley, and decided to escape together. On that night, Ali attacked Bethany out of jealousy, and Charles witnessed the entire thing. Whether or not Ali really killed Bethany or simply "let it happen" isn't important — if Charles thinks Ali killed someone he cared about, that would be enough of a reason to torture her and her friends.

Charles Wants To Be Ali

There's a chance that Charles could be transgender, and while I hope the potential storyline is told with as much sensitivity as possible, there are plenty of clues that hint it's the direction the show will be taking with Charles' character. If Charles never felt comfortable as a boy, perhaps he could have seen Ali as the sister he always wanted to be and hated her for it. It would explain why there are so many Ali masks around and the presence of Red Coat — Charles wanted to become Ali. The girls would be the friends Charles was supposed to have and control the way Ali did. Because Charles couldn't be the pack leader Ali was, he took it out on the girls by controlling them via A's torture.

Whatever Charles reason is for torturing the girls, it's pretty clear that this guy needs a hug. Let's hope his reasons for torturing the girls are just as crazy as that big A reveal was.

Images: Eric McCandless/ABC Family; Giphy (4)