Carlton Banks is Will's preppy, conversative cousin. He is the eldest son of Philip and Vivian Banks. He is the second lead character of the series.
Biography
Carlton was born on August 4th, 1974 to Vivian and Philip Banks. He has an older sister, Hilary Banks, a younger sister, Ashley Banks, and a younger brother, Nicky Banks.
Carlton attended Bel-Air Academy and ULA until he transferred to Princeton in the series finale.
The character is based on real-life person, Corey Chambliss.
Personality
Carlton is highly intelligent, but sometimes annoying, naive, and arrogant. He's a conversative Republican and is often at odds with his cousin, Will Smith. He dresses in a preppy style, his favorite singer is Tom Jones, and his idol is Macaulay Culkin.
He is subject to compulsive gambling as seen in the episodes, "You Bet Your Life" and "Viva Lost Wages."
Carlton is famous for his dance to Tom Jones' "It's Not Unusual"
He almost always sides with his father in arguments.
In season 5 episode 15, Will gets shot. This takes an emotional toll on Carlton. He realizes that if it weren't for him, Will would've been fine. When the whole family is visiting Will in the hospital room, Carlton storms out. Philip follows him to see what is wrong. Carlton confronts his father about how they will never catch the suspect. Philip tries to reassure his son, but fails. Carlton comes back the next day with a newly bought revolver. But Will manages to dissuade Carlton from using it.
His siblings tend to get along better with Will than with him as because they usually find their brother awkward and annoying. Despite that, they still love their brother dearly.