Due to it's nature of being a long runner, The Simpsons are not immune to very polarizing characters.
- Marge is this — the negative side is mostly due to her constant meddling and interfering in things that aren't her business (even using emotional warfare) and rarely learning from her mistakes, despite almost every other character on the show rarely learning from their mistakes either. On the other hand, some people think she makes up for this by being an amazing mother and the only thing stopping Homer and Bart from crossing into pure sociopathy and/or being Too Dumb to Live, while her few negative qualities only make her funnier. Her self-righteousness was strongest on the earliest seasons (wrecking Homer's chances of succeeding a number of times because she considered it immoral, although it's easy to see that many of Homer's actions were immoral). Her character being associated with several aspects of the "Karen" (meme slang for Obnoxious Entitled Housewife) stereotype in the late 2010s/early 2020s only made things more divisive.
- Lisa. She's either loved for being a smart, sensitive, progressive-thinking young girl or hated for being a preachy, occasional Author Avatar in Matt Groening's various Wars on Straw who gets everything benefiting her regardless of her words or deeds. Also, her more angsty moments like her trouble keeping friends and her body image issues in "Sleeping with the Enemy" — are they good, or are they just too heavy to watch?
- Some episodes paint her either as a Jerkass Woobie, others as a Jerks Are Worse Than Villains.
- Bart seems to have become this as he became flanderized into an even naughtier kid, who some detractors have even referred to as a "sociopath". He's either considered an unlikable brat or (considering some episodes have him feeling like a failure, especially compared to Lisa) a Jerkass Woobie.
- Homer. Is he a funny oaf or a sociopathic (or at least Jerkassish) monster who constantly physically abuses his son, and is emotionally neglectful to everyone in his life?
- Comic Book Guy, after Flanderization turned him into a Straw Fan. The debate is over whether or not he's actually funny as one.
- Sideshow Bob. While many still enjoy his suave and Evil Is Cool moments, others have grown tired of him and think he's outstayed his welcome. It doesn't help matters that the show giving him such a detailed life and extended family has led to some fans not finding him mysterious or threatening anymore. His severe Motive Decay and subsequent Flanderization haven't helped in this regard either. However, he was genuinely scary in Treehouse of Horror XXVI and the beginning of "Cape Feare".
- Apu has become an extremely divisive character over the years, especially among Indian-Americans. Some say he's an enjoyable character whose stereotypical traits are no worse than any of the other stereotyped characters on the show, especially since he has additional traits than his more stereotypical ones, while others think he's a full-blown Ethnic Scrappy who doesn't even remotely resemble a real Indian person, or who shouldn't be voiced by a white guy, a criticism that has also been applied to the show's other non-white characters such as Judge Roy Snyder or Dr. Nick Riviera.
- Manjula and the octuplets. While she was seen (at first) as being Happily Married to Apu and the babies as impossibly cute (and possibly wasted characters), they also get dislike due to always appearing nagging and complaining, and eventually due to their presence turning Apu from a quirky and lovable character into a miserable sad-sack whose only schtick now is "complain about my family".
- Herb Powell. Some love him for being the Cool Uncle to his nephew and nieces and for being voiced by Danny DeVito. Others dislike him due to him blaming Homer for ruining his company, refusing to acknowledge the fact his company was already falling apart because of his own fault. Those not fond of Herb view his later reconciliation with Homer in "Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?" as undeserved, and his subsequently becoming broke again as Laser-Guided Karma.
- Sideshow Mel. Some like him for being the show's biggest Large Ham and sympathize with him due to the constant mistreatment he endures from Krusty. However, others just find his Large Ham tendencies to be annoying and unfunny and think of him as a completely Flat Character who should have been written off the show a long time ago.
- Francesca and Gino Terwilliger, Sideshow Bob's wife and son. Some people find the idea of Bob settling down and having a family with no hidden secret alternative is extremely out of character for him and made him less threatening as a result, and consider their debut episode, "The Italian Bob", the start of Sideshow Bob's Villain Decay. Others find the idea of Sideshow Bob finding love to be adorable, and feel that him having a family doesn't get in the way of his evil nature, especially considering Francesca and Gino are shown to be just as murderous as Bob. Francesca is also popular as an O.C. Stand-in for those in Sideshow Bob's sizable Estrogen Brigade. Currently, they haven't made an appearance after "Funeral for a Fiend", which some decry as a case of They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character and others consider a sign that even the writers regret making them.
- Kumiko, Comic Book Guy’s Love Interest who was introduced in "Married to the Blob". Fan opinions on her can be divided into three camps. Some love her for being an absolute sweetheart who perfectly contrasts her grump of a husband and who finally put an end to his years of loneliness. Others dislike her for being a cliché Manic Pixie Dream Girl and for being too much of a stereotype of Japanese women (as she’s a Kawaiiko who falls head-over-heels in love with a white guy). Yet others love Kumiko as an individual character, but wish she hadn’t been created to be Comic Book Guy’s wife, as Comic Book Guy is a very divisive character and a lot of people don’t understand how someone could find him attractive.
