[1] El Chavo is an orphaned, poor and malnourished boy who spends most of his time in a barrel located in the front yard of a lower-middle-class Mexican vecindad owned by Señor Barriga.

Although it is true that El Chavo is clumsy and not very bright, on some occasions he has very ingenious and comical outings, he earns his living running errands, sometimes recycling empty cans and bottles, saving money from his piggy bank for the Red Cross, Christmas, the weekend of the year, the Holy Kings (according to him), selling newspapers and magazines, fresh waters, working as a shoeshiner, as a waiter and others.

It has many characteristic phrases such as "Fue sin querer queriendo" (I did it on purpose, but I didn’t mean to); "Bueno, pero no se enoje" (Well, but don't get mad); "Es que no me tienen paciencia" (You’re just not patient enough with me); "Se me chispoteó" (It Just slipped out), "Vas a ver a la salida" (You are going to see the exit) and his classic "Eso, eso, eso" (That's True That's True That's True), when he is happy he stomps his feet as if he were dancing and when he is angry he kicks the ground violently and furiously, he commonly plays with a broom that he tries to keep balanced on his foot, he creates his toys in a simple way using cans, cardboard and playing yoyos, ball bearings and more, but these are overshadowed by Quico's, when he brings the same kind of toy but more modern.

In December 2016, a rumor began to circulate on the Internet, according to which in the book El Diario del Chavo del Ocho, written by Gómez Bolaños in 1995, his real name is revealed: Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaelo Guglielmi,[3] however said rumor was denied by official sources[4] since, on the contrary, said book emphasizes on several occasions that it lacks a name.

But not even this is necessary, since his nickname, «El Chavo del Ocho», will be heard and repeated weekly by more than 300 million viewers.According to the same character narrated in the book, this condition regarding his identity seems to originate from the fact that he was the product of a one-night stand of his mother, who had so little interest in taking care of her son that she took the child away.