History Characters / TheSimpsonsFriendsNeighborsFamilies

%%* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Is this to Homer, which is why Homer doesn't like him (add to the fact that Flanders has a prettier wife -- [[KilledOffForReal or used to]] -- and kids that aren't a pain in the ass to him). Was played up a lot more in the early seasons.

%%* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Sings like one, too, which Bart finds very disturbing.

%%* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Among the Springfield wives due to what they think is her flat personality.

* StatusQuoIsGod: In a rare subversion on the show, Barney sobered up in Season 11 and stayed that way for nearly three years.

* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Among the Springfield wives due to what they think is her flat personality.

[[Characters/TheSimpsonsTheSimpsonFamily Simpson Family]] ([[Characters/TheSimpsonsHomerSimpson Homer Simpson]], [[Characters/TheSimpsonsMargeSimpson Marge Simpson]], [[Characters/TheSimpsonsBartSimpson Bart Simpson]], [[Characters/TheSimpsonsLisaSimpson Lisa Simpson]]) | [[Characters/TheSimpsonsExtendedFamily The Simpsons Extended Family]] | [[Characters/TheSimpsonsElementarySchool Springfield Elementary School]] | [[Characters/TheSimpsonsGovernmentJudgesLawyersPoliceCriminals Government, Judges and Lawyers, Police and Criminals]] | [[Characters/TheSimpsonsNuclearPowerPlantShopkeepers Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, Springfield Shopkeepers]] | [[Characters/TheSimpsonsChurchDoctorsCelebrities First Church of Springfield, Doctors, Celebrities]] | '''Friends and Neighbors, Families''' | [[Characters/TheSimpsonsOtherRecurringCharacters Other Recurring Characters]] | [[Characters/TheSimpsonsItchyAndScratchyCharacters Itchy & Scratchy Characters]] | [[Characters/TheSimpsonsOneTimeCharacters One-time Characters]]]]-]]]

[[Characters/TheSimpsonsTheSimpsonFamily Simpson Family]] ([[Characters/TheSimpsonsHomerSimpson Homer Simpson]], [[Characters/TheSimpsonsMargeSimpson Marge Simpson]], [[Characters/TheSimpsonsBartSimpson Bart Simpson]], [[Characters/TheSimpsonsLisaSimpson Lisa Simpson]]) | [[Characters/TheSimpsonsExtendedFamily The Simpsons Extended Family]] | [[Characters/TheSimpsonsElementarySchool Springfield Elementary School]] | [[Characters/TheSimpsonsGovernmentJudgesLawyersPoliceCriminals Government, Judges and Lawyers, Police and Criminals]] | [[Characters/TheSimpsonsNuclearPowerPlantShopkeepers Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, Springfield Shopkeepers]] ([[Characters/TheSimpsonsCharlesMontgomeryBurns Charles Montgomery "Monty" Burns]]) | [[Characters/TheSimpsonsChurchDoctorsCelebrities First Church of Springfield, Doctors, Celebrities]] | '''Friends and Neighbors, Families''' | [[Characters/TheSimpsonsOtherRecurringCharacters Other Recurring Characters]] | [[Characters/TheSimpsonsItchyAndScratchyCharacters Itchy & Scratchy Characters]] | [[Characters/TheSimpsonsOneTimeCharacters One-time Characters]]]]-]]]

* StrawLoser: He is such a hard-core example of this after the divorce that it's been a plot point in at least two occasions: when Bart faked being kidnapped Kirk agreed to be part of the cover-up because living in prison was an actual improvement over his regular lifestyle, and when Luanne tried to move to Capital City and take Milhouse away, [[StatusQuoIsGod Kirk was able to maintain shared custody rights (thus keeping Milhouse in Springfield)]] because the judge [[InUniverse felt]] ''[[TheWoobie that]]'' sorry for him. Even then, there's an awful lot of jokes done at his expense, such as the only home he can afford being a place for deadbeat depressed divorced dads that sees suicides on an ''hourly'' basis.

* TookALevelIntoJerkass: While Kirk and Luann weren't presented as the nicest people, the episodes under Matt Selman's tenure as showrunner pushed them into outright HateSink antagonists on multiple occasions, with Kirk displaying many alt-right beliefs and tendencies.

%%* CheerfulChild: Who see the light side of the Bible.

* TheDividual: The Syndividual type, the two look and sound the same with the only difference being their height. The writers and voice actress have admitted that they have had trouble telling the two apart in the past.

The Simpsons' elderly next-door neighbors, Sylvia Winfield and Mr. Winfield. They are very grumpy and can't stand Homer. They moved to Florida in "New Kid on the Block" and have not appeared again. Ruth Powers moved into their house.

* OneSteveLimit: An interesting variation with the recurring "Barney's Bowlarama". Originally Barney ''was'' to be the proprietor, but the creators couldn't plausibly visualise someone like Barney being able to run the business. As something of a MythologyGag, the Bowlarama ''is'' run by his Uncle Al Gumble in later episodes.

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: When we first see Agnes in "The Crepes of Wrath", she is the stereotypically sweet, frail old lady who embarrasses her son by calling him "Spanky". Afterwards, she was rewritten into a cruel matriarch who controls every aspect of her son's life. It's implied that reason of her cruelty is likely because of Bart's cherry bomb prank during her debut episode.

* ObliviousToHatred: He is always friendly to Homer, despite all the times he tells him to shut up or go away and borrows his stuff without returning them, and in "When Flanders Failed" interprets Homer's mocking of the Leftorium as a sincere attempt to warn him about gambling his family's future on the idea. However, if Flanders is truly oblivious varies DependingOnTheWriter since there are some episodes that show Ned is fully aware of how much Homer dislikes him, but puts up with it for the sake of being a good Christian.

-->'''Homer:''' Aw that's it! You just can't insult this guy! You call him a moron and he just sits there, [[BuffySpeak grinning moronly]].
-->'''Flanders:''' [[NotHelpingYourCase Hi, neighbor!]]

* TheFundamentalist: In the early days, he was just a religious man who was so nice (and a bit boring) that Homer couldn't stand it. Later, it is implied by Rodd and Todd in one episode that his reckless zeal is the direct result of "Daddy needing a new Mommy".

* LackOfEmpathy: Will often annoy people by being relentlessly cheerful during stressful times in their lives, mostly Homer though other characters aren't immune to this. In particular it never seems to occur to him that Reverend Lovejoy may not want to frequently receive phone calls from him during his downtime about whatever sin he seems to think he's commited.

* OutOfCharacterMoment: In ''[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E6ItchyAndScratchyTheMovie Itchy And Scratchy The Movie]]'', Flanders is seen first in line for the titular movie. Even before Ned's {{Flanderization}} into a aggressively Christian fundnamentalist killjoy, he was shown to dislike the show due to its [[SadistShow mean spirited nature]] as early as [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS2E9ItchyAndScratchyAndMarge season 2]].

* TurnTheOtherCheek: Since he's a parody of the overly religious man, he's insanely nice and forgiving even when Homer is openly antagonistic towards him for no reason. Downplayed in later episodes (like "Bull-E") where he's not always willing to forgive that easiely.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Consistently shown to be much meaner, judgemental and spiteful than her husband is, particularly when around Marge. Hiring {{Yakuza}} to stop Marge's pretzel business should tell you how much.

* MsFanservice: She is one of the more eye-catching women drawn in the show with makeup to accenuate her good looks and poufy red hair and a shapely figure that captured Homer's attention.
* ObnoxiousEntitledHousewife: Often with Helen Lovejoy, she is seen protesting anything that is indecent or offensive to her fundamentalist view and even went to Bible camp to learn how to be more judgemental and has an AlphaBitch streak when it comes to Marge.

* FreudianExcuse: Their judgemental side and naivety stems from the death of their mother, Maude Flanders. Ned became overprotective of Rod and Todd out of fear of losing them too and his sons became highly sheltered and unprepared for adulthood. According to Todd, he and Rod only have each other as they have no friends of their own.

* VagueAge: In earlier seasons, their ages were inconsistant with Todd being the eldest brother, while Rod is the youngest. Sometimes this would switch around until they were confirmed to be 8 and 10 years old, with Rod being 10 and Todd being 8. Season 32's "Manger Things" {{Retcon}}s Todd to six years old, four years younger than his brother and two years younger than Lisa (in "Lisa's First Word," he was already alive when she was born).

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: When we first see Agnes in "The Crepes of Wrath", she is the stereotypically sweet, frail old lady who embarrasses her son by calling him "Spanky". Afterwards, she was rewritten into a cruel matriarch who controls every aspect of her son's life. It's impiled that reason of her cruelty is likely because of Bart's cherry bomb prank during her debut episode.

* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: Responsible one, since her brother Chester is slacker and doesn't appearantly have a job.
* HiddenDepths: Who knew that Bernice is an expert when it comes to running a succesful charity?

* IronicAllergy: She loves gardening, but The Simpsons: Tapped Out reveals that she is severly allergic to roses.

* AddledAddict: He's an alcoholic and is living a dysfunctional life apparenly brought on by said alcoholism.

-->Voiced by: Pamela Hayden (Poonam, Uma, Nabendu), Creator/NancyCartwright (Pria, Sandeep), and Creator/TressMacNeille (Sashi, Anoop, Gheet)

The Simpsons' next-door neighbor and a single mother. Voiced by Pamela Reed

Ned's two children, innocent to the point of being naive due to their upbringing and easily misled by the more worldly Bart. Voiced by Pamela Hayden and Creator/NancyCartwright.

* ReallyGetsAround: She is able to get her kids back from Krusty,who made Cletus sign a contract where he can exploit them as kid actors, by bringing up only two of the kids are Cletus' ("The one who can't sing and the one who can't adlib"). She was also married four times and may or may not be Cletus mother if some gags are to be believed.

* TurnTheOtherCheek: Since he's a parody of the overly religious man, he's insanely nice and forgiving even when Homer is openly antagonistic towards him for no reason. Downplayed in later episodes (like "Bull-E") where he's not always willing to forgive that eashin.

* TurnTheOtherCheek: Since he's a parody of the overly religious man, he's insanely nice and forgiving even when Homer is openly antagonistic towards him for no reason. Downplayed in later episodes (like "Bull-E") where he's not always willing to forgive that easily.

* HeroesWantRedheads: The mild-mannered Ned often performs heroic feats (like saving Homer from a house fire) and started as the heroic counterpart to Homer and he was HappilyMarried to the redhaired Maude Flanders.