6 Awesomely Crazy Charles 'PLL' Theories

You know what? There are a lot of great, well-thought out Pretty Little Liars Charles theories out there. I'm especially fond of Bustle writer Kaitlin Reilly's idea that Wren was a foster child of the DiLaurentis family, and Charles is his alter ego (it definitely helps explain his sketchiness, at any rate). Oh, and as an Ezria anti-'shipper, the Ezra/Charles idea is another favorite of mine (after all, Ezra is super creepy, and in the right age/wealth range to be Charles). But for every high-probability Charles theory out there, there are a dozen crazy ones — I. Marlene King has proven to us time and time again that anything is possible in a town like Rosewood, so it only makes sense that some of the theories are totally unexpected.

That said, crack theories are a huge part of what makes Pretty Little Liars so great — because where would the show be without them? Really, where would fans be if we weren't out there burning the midnight oil obsessively re-watching the pilot for the 300th time, whilst scrolling through IMK's ultra-dishy Twitter account? So, in honor of all of the hard work we PLL superfans have put into discovering Charles/A's identity over the years, here are six of the craziest Charles DiLaurentis theories currently found on the web.

Charles Is A DiLaurentis... By Marriage

The whole confirming Charles is indeed a DiLaurentis, only to reveal that he's a DiLaurentis by marriage, as suggested by juliannael on Reddit, is totally a PLL-worthy bait-and-switch, and I could definitely see the writers going that direction. The only thing is, who would he be married to? A random aunt or cousin? Unless he's Jessica DiLaurentis' secret husband (which would be kind of epic), there's no way this particular theory could offer enough catharsis and satisfaction to PLL fans.

Charles Is Actually A Baby

Of course, we've seen that "Charles" is a full grown man, but what if the name is symbolic, rather than literal? PLL theorizers have cooked up every possibility, from Reddit's opp0rtunist theorizing that Ali actually was pregnant when she went missing and gave birth to Charles, to Reddit user Baby-Blue-Lily's idea that he could be Melissa and Jason's secret incestuous love child.

See? I told you these theories were cray-cray.

Charles Is Ted

Why would Ashley's pastor/fiancé be A? It may sound like something straight out of left field, but the dude has been kind of low-key suspicious— where, for instance, did he come up with all that bail money? And when you think about it, a lot of the show's key moments have taken place at his church (you know, about a gajillion funerals, and a handful of attempted murders)... oh, and there's also the tiny fact that the famous "Chandelier's rituals" anagrams that gave us "Charles DiLaurentis," also happen to spell out "Run Ali, Ted is Charles."

Ooh. I just got chills.

Charles Has Paranoid Schizophrenia

The multiple personality theory has been popular for a while, but it got a resurgence when King cryptically tweeted, "'A' finally knows 'A' is 'A.'" Some fans, like Tumblr user tremolux, took the revelation as clue, possibly hinting at the fact that A could have a mental illness like schizophrenia that causes disassociation. It's also worth pointing out that this all ties in nicely with the whole Wren/Charles theory (Wren's father had a disorder that caused him to be placed in a mental institution). The idea is interesting, sure, but I'm choosing to take King's tweet at face value: Some lucky PLL cast member gets to know who A is weeks before the rest of us.

Charles Is Ali's Cousin, By Means Of Jessica DiLaurentis' Secret Twin

A lot of fans out there have concocted the idea that Jessica DiLaurentis had a secret identical twin, which is discussed at length in a Reddit thread. Sounds crazy, sure, but it would explain why there are so many people running around that happen to look like Ali (and maybe even Jason, if the Campbell farm home video is to be believed). Plus, the twin storyline from the books is so integral to the original plot, that a lot of fans reason that it will factor into the show somehow —after all, doppelgängers definitely run amok all over the show... could it be time for a bona fide twin?

Of course, this wouldn't make Charles technically a DiLaurentis (he'd have his mother's last name, not his aunt's married name), but Charles' DiLaurentis status has always been up for debate.

Charles Is Caleb

HAHA, NOPE.

I went on record and called all of these theories crazy — but anything can happen on a show like Pretty Little Liars. How rad would it be if one of these (except for Caleb, of course) actually turned out to be true?

For more PLL theories, check out Bustle's PLL podcast below.

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