Aaron Monroe is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Charlie Wernham.

Across his stint, Aaron's storylines have included his relationship with Tiffany Butcher (Maisie Smith), involvement with a far-right terrorist organisation, and his eventual arrest and struggles in prison.

Initially billed as a suave, opinionated, and cocky businessman, Aaron was soon revealed to be involved in an Islamophobic hate group.

Aaron's character was generally disliked by viewers, but Wernham often received supportive messages online for his portrayal.

After his father Harvey Monroe (Ross Boatman) finds a shirt of Aaron's in the bin covered in blood, it is revealed that Aaron and his gang targeted a person of colour, which left the man with a punctured lung, broken ribs and possible blindness, to Harvey's fury.

Despite getting the alibi, Aaron remains a prominent member in the organisation and he spray paints a swastika on the Argee Bhajee restaurant after it is suggested to be converted into a mosque.

After Christmas, Aaron and one of his closest affiliates, Neil Hughes (Thomas Coombes), plan an arson terrorist attack on The Argee Bhajee after Aaron's sister, Dana (Barbara Smith), expresses interest in converting to Islam due to her relationship with Bobby Beale (Clay Milner Russell).

[2] Wernham commented that it was "always a childhood dream" of his to be on EastEnders as it is "constantly on TV in [his] household as [his] family are massive fans", adding that the show was "close to [his] heart".

His character Aaron joins the Monroes, our newest family set to move into the Square with connections to the Beales".

[2] The actor teased viewers could expect "quite a lot of fun scenes" with Aaron at first, where he would try to be the "life and soul" and start "winding people up".

[2] The third and final member of the Monroe family to be introduced, Aaron's backstory states that he was raised by his father in Walford before leaving to pursue his career in finance.

[10] It was later revealed that Aaron was involved in a terrorist attack against a Muslim taxi driver and is affiliated with an Islamophobic gang.

[11][12] In early December 2021, it was announced that the soap would tackle how Aaron's actions impacted the Square over the upcoming Christmas.

[13] Set to involve a bomb plot,[14] the BBC teased: "EastEnders has a huge winter ahead with plenty of drama in store for the viewers".

[13] The show consulted with experts, including Exit UK's founder Nigel Bromage,[14] during production to depict the plot as accurately as possible.

[13] Wernham considered the story to be a "really tough", but necessary one to portray, with the actor admitting he felt "privileged" to play an antagonist.

[28] After a week on the soap, Stephen Patterson of the Metro said the character has "made quite the impression", and that fans were unconvinced that Aaron was "the nice guy" he was pretending to be, with many viewers correctly predicting that he was part of an extremist group.

[31] James Rodger of Birmingham Mail commented fans having "grown frustrated" by Aaron's violent antics and noted calls for the character to be axed from the soap.