Francis Butthurst Pope (or simply Francis), is Nate's #1 friend (despite his #1A friend, Teddy), although he is a bit of a nerdy geek, and the deuteragonist of "Big Nate," according to Nate, placing him as his number one friend. He was the electric guitarist for Nate's garage band, Enslave the Mollusk. Francis is very intelligent and always excels in school. Francis even owns a cat named Pickles, whom Spitsy, the dog of Nate's neighbor is engaged to. Although Nate and Francis make fun of each other, making fun of each other is how their friendship works, as said in Big Nate Strikes Again.