The father, the dope, and more or less the main character of the show. Homer is overweight, almost completely bald, and rather selfish and stupid, but is a good person at heart and has a bright outlook on life. Voiced by Dan Castellaneta.
Chronic Hero Syndrome: For all his flaws, he's the most loyal friend you can have, as he'll always help his friends with the problems of the today's episode they're facing. Hell, you don't even have to be a close friend of him to get his help, he'll surely help you even if he only met you just some moments ago. Even his enemies, like Mr. Burns or Selma, might get his aid if he's on a good mood.
Convenience Store Gift Shopping: Homer has a very bad habit of doing this sort of thing. It was justified in the episode Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire, however, as he really didn't have any other option than to buy his family cheap Christmas gifts (including a dog toy for Maggie) because he really couldn't afford any regular gifts due to Mr. Burns denying his workers a Christmas bonus.
He's also a gifted polyglot, capable of speaking even Penguin.
He's also quite a musician, capable of composing and playing many instruments. He even had two musical careers (when he was a member of the B-Sharps in the 1980s and when he was a member of Sadgasm in the 1990s). He also composed the hit single "Everybody Hates Ned Flanders." It gained a following in Springfield and, when he co-produced with David Byrne, it became hit with many covers.
He's an awful blackjack player, but he's so skilled at poker that he frequently wins without realizing it.
Extreme Omnivore: He'll eat anything from fancy bathroom soaps ("The Front") to plastic lobsters ("New Kid on the Block") to dishwashing liquid ("Marge Gets a Job") to radioactive waste ("E-I-E-I-[Annoyed Grunt]" and "Hello Gutter, Hello, Fadder"), and on two separate occasions, has eaten live fish, and a live seal.
Fat Bastard: Homer's gluttony, depending on the episode, can be taken to extremes. This can range from Homer eating to the point of being bloated and watching his belly bulge out and obscure his view of his feet, to Homer deliberately gaining weight to push past 300 lbs so that he could avoid exercising at work and doing his job at home.
Freudian Excuse: His mother left him as a kid, and his father didn't know how to raise him. It's also implied that his abuse of Bart was stemmed from being abused by his own father. That, and his father's emotional abuse may have at least contributed to his lack of intellect. He also is a glutton due to mental scars of finding Waylon Smithers Sr's corpse clogging a pipe for a lake.
A real-life adult with Homer's height and weight would have a BMI of 32.4. Obese, but not morbidly so.
Word Of God says his weight fluctuates from borderline obese to merely porky.
He is also said to be diabetic (from when he drank too many Starbucks Frappucinos during his stint as lead singer of the band, Sadgasm), but we never visibly see him suffer any diabetic symptoms.
It's the Best Whatever, Ever!: His opinion on the Thanksgiving depicted in "Behind the Laughter" (held during a feud between the family). "I mean, emotionally, it was terrible, but the turkey was so moist!"
Homer has always had moments of being a horrible person and being extremely caring. In later seasons, he recreates his first date with Marge so she'll fall for him all over again, repeatedly turns down sex so he can read to Lisa, gets very involved in making Bart a good student and making Lisa popular, lives in a terribly cramped apartment by himself so his kids can go to a good school, and on and on. There's just a strong bias against the later seasons, whether people watch the episodes or not.
Obfuscating Stupidity: Subverted in an episode when Homer is playing poker with Lenny, Carl and Moe at Lenny's house. He draws four cards and curses his bad hand, before poorly trying to bluff the other players. Lenny and Carl fold, but Moe knows that Homer is bluffing and calls. Homer then reveals that he has a straight flush, and Moe becomes so frustrated at Homer beating him that he ends up choking on his own rage. It looks as though Homer cleverly tricked Moe into playing the hand, but the next morning he tells the family that he didn't even realize he was winning.
Omniglot: Has spoken German, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, a little bit of French (describes "Trash Night" as "La Nuit des Poubelles"), and penguin. No. Really.
"I can understand food talk in any language."
Papa Wolf: Call Homer what you want, Homer still cares about his kids. Willing to become a Helicopter Parent for them, steal chocolate eggs for his baby, throw a pie at a guy mocking Lisa.
In regards to Lisa, he is also such a Papa Wolf that he'll even defend her honor against Marge. A notable of this was in the episode $pringfield, when, thanks to Marge's gambling addiction, she forgot to help Lisa with her costume (Nevada) for a school play despite promising to do so. Suffice to say, Homer was quite angered, to the extent that he drove over to the casino, located Marge, and then started shouting at her in nonsense before he shouts that he's angry because Marge broke a promise she made to her daughter.
Bart, whom he strangulates regularly as a running gag, however, is comparatively SOL. Even then, Homer spearheaded an effort to dig Bart out after Bart fell down a well, took some nasty physical punishment while disguised to be a battle-robot that Bart controlled, and forced crooked T-shirt manufacturer Goose Gladwell, who cheated Bart out of the ideas he'd come up with for T-shirt slogans, by threatening Goose with a portable nuclear fission reactor until Goose paid Bart the money he deserved.
Subverted when Bart accidentally dyed his shirt pink and it indirectly landed him in an insane asylum.
Sarcasm Backfire: Homer had Bart take a sanity test for him. When Bart asks Homer if he hears voices in his head, Homer, who was watching TV at the time, sarcastically says "Yes, while I'm watching TV!" Bart interprets this as a legitimate answer and checks it off. Guess what happens to Homer afterwards.
Stout Strength: He isn't physically fit and he hates working out (he doesn't even know how to pronounce the word "gym"), but he's one of the physically strongest characters.
Super Serum: Beer has this effect on him in at least one episode.
Throw It In: "I am so smart! I am so smart! S-M-R-T! I mean, S-M-A-R-T!" Castelleneta wasn't supposed to do that misspelling, but accidentally did so during the record. As he himself reasoned, though, "Well, I'm stupid."
Took a Level in Dumbass: Homer started out stupid, but not really more so than anyone else. Word Of God admitted that he was made stupider with each passing season to try to outdo what came before and remain fresh. (This trend ended at the start of Season 13, where the writers made a conscious effort to make him smarter.)
Well Done Son Guy: While he definitely neglects Grandpa, its implied its due to his own neglect as a child. Occasionally Homer demonstrates he really does want his father's approval and one occasion when Grandpa angrily called him "a mistake", Homer kicked him out of the car, left him in the middle of nowhere, then completely stopped speaking to him for several weeks.
Well Done Half-Brother Guy: After ruining his successful half-brother's life, the next time Herb appears, now a penniless bum, Homer spends most of the episode desperately trying to make Herb forgive him.
Wrong Genre Savvy: In the episode "Homer Goes to College," Homer is convinced his college experience will be exactly like the party atmosphere college is often depicted as in movies, not realizing he's in a satire that thoroughly subverts the trope.
The mother and typically both The Straight Man and Closer to Earth, Marge is predominantly a homemaker, but does have her wilder side. Loving and supportive, her devotion to her family may be strained at times but is never broken. Voiced by Julie Kavner.
The Comically Serious: Noted for her rather dull and no-risk demeanor, occasionally getting dizzy thrills out of monotonous activities like household chores (she does desire excitment and diversity every once in a while however, which is revealed to be a partial reason she likes Homer).
Education Mama: Especially with Bart, she even home-schools him for a period of time.
Gag Boobs: She briefly had a case of this in "Large Marge" in which she was accidentally given breast implants. Amusingly the first gag about it comes from her, no less, in which she describes that her "maguppies became bazongas!"
The Gambling Addict: In the episode where a casino is built in Springfield, Marge loses quite a fortune at the slots. Since then, her gambling is mostly under control, though it is mentioned every now and then.
Gossipy Hens: She does love her gossip, like when Maggie's baby monitor picks up on phone calls, she becomes addicted to listening to it.
Hikikomori: Spends a period like this in "Strong Arms of the Ma". She eventually overcame this after using the weight-lifting set Homer bought from Rainier Wolfcastle.
Hot Mom: Not only are there many references in-universe to her being attractive, but she's actually appeared on the front cover of Play Boy in Real Life.
The original protagonist of the show in early seasons, a self-professed hellion and mischief-making little punk, though not incapable of good things for the right reason. Voiced by Nancy Cartwright.
Attention Whore: Many of his pranks are merely for recognition or approval from his friends.
May stem from the fact that when he started school he was taught by the current lunch lady who constantly told him he was a failure. When this was brought to his parent’s attention they completely ignored it and instead brought Lisa a saxophone.
The reason people think it's a catch phrase is because lots of merchandise has him saying it. This is reflected in the DVD commentaries now and then. In fact, on the commentary for "Bart Gets an F," the writers actually express surprise when he does say it - thinking they never had him say it at all.
Berserk Button: Severely injure Santa's Little Helper, and he certainly would have a good enough reason for wanting to severely injure the person who did it.
Bart puts up with a lot under the appalling conditions at Kamp Krusty, making it through the day with firm belief that "Krusty is coming". When it becomes clear that Krusty isn't coming, Bart channels Colonel Kurtz and takes over the camp.
Bart: All right, that's it! I've been scorched by Krusty before! I got a rapid heartbeat from those Krusty Brand vitamins, my Krusty calculator didn't have a 7 or an 8, and Krusty's autobiography was self-serving withmany glaring omissions... but this time he's gone too far!
Bratty Half-Pint: His first name is an anagram of "brat" after all.
Brilliant, but Lazy: It's hinted at various points in the series that he could actually be very bright, he just isn't interested in schoolwork or applying himself seriously.
This could actually tie in with him being an attention whore. Helping Bart in school would be too much of a hassle so his parents ignore him. You’ll notice that every time his parents show the least bit attention in his school work his grades sky rocket. Even just asking him if he has homework and making sure he does is enough as “The Parent Rap” has shown us.
Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Marge seems to be the only member of the family Bart doesn't drive crazy on a regular basis. Granted, he's a headache for being such a brat, but he doesn't go out of her way to bother her like Homer and Lisa. Many of the times he thinks a prank has gone too far is if it genuinely upsets her.
On that note, he also defended her on at least one occasion. One notable occasion being when Ned Flanders went into a total breakdown in regards to what happened and lashed out at everyone, and tried to defend her telling Ned to back off. Later leads into an Even Evil Has Standards moment below.
Even Evil Has Standards: There are some things that even Bart won't do, such as stealing from church collection plates. One episode has him expressing worry that he's turning into a criminal when all he really wants to be is a petty thug.
Also hurting animals, at least above insects. He genuinely loves and cares for his dog, as well as his once-pet elephant Stampy and at one time a horse he owned. Then there was the time he not only refused to shoot a bird, but when he accidentally did shoot it much to his horror, he raised the bird's eggs by himself. So, Bart can be a jerkass to people, but he will NEVER be one to animals.
Also, after trying to defend Marge from a breaking down Ned Flanders, Flanders eventually started violently tearing him down, and even suggested a new catchphrase when he is an adult: "Hey, buddy! Got a quarter?!". Bart even states that he is "both shocked and apalled" at Ned's statement.
Also, when Homer had him doing a grease racketing job, and Homer was shoveling the grease into the back of Marge's car (without any containers), Bart objects and says "Mom's going to kill you!"
He absolutely hates it when someone severely injures his pet dog, and had Mr. Burns not happened to have brought his gun, he certainly would have attempted to brutally beat him up when he arrived at the town meeting discussing Mr. Burns's vile behavior.
Freudian Excuse: He showed a lot of creavity when he first started school, but was beaten down by the teachers and written off as a failure for not conforming to standards. When he was 5. This is probably why he is Book Dumb and a Class Clown.
Repeatedly being told you were never wanted does that to you
G-Rated Drug: Once went on a "Squishee bender" that greatly resembled an alcoholic binge. Was also put on Ritalin Expy, Focusyn, and then Ritalin itself, for his ADD.
Hidden Depths: Practically prides himself on being Book Dumb, but has consistently managed to outwit Sideshow Bob on several occasions. He's also shown to have latent artistic ability and an untapped intellectual potential almost on par with Lisa's.
Momma's Boy: There is an episode where he briefly flirts with becoming one, but Marge realizes that she doesn't want that kind of relationship with him.
Pet the Dog: At the end of the 500th episode, when Skinner's been forgotten in Springfield, Bart comes to get him on a wooden helicopter bike. Sure, Skinner hits the Jebediah statue and both of the nuclear plant's pylons (or whatever), but it was still pretty nice of Bart.
Screwy Squirrel: Bart enjoys pulling pranks on authority figures ranging from the town priest to his teacher and principal to his own father. That said, he's more interested in driving these same authority figures nuts rather than causing any genuine harm.
Well-Intentioned Extremist / No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Sometimes when he does something with the legitimate intent of helping someone "chill out", it backfires. A notable instance was when he got Mrs. Krabappel fired when he and the other students attempted to get her to become cooled down by spiking her drink with alcohol, because of Bart's experiences with his dad.
The smart one and the middle child, Lisa is both a bookworm and something of the "hippie" of the family. Her intelligence, as seasons roll on, can sometimes make her into an annoying know-it-all. Has trouble fitting in with other kids her age. Voiced by Yeardley Smith.
Parodied in one episode where she reveals her crush on a boy who works at the library. His "bad boy" behavior is pretty much limited to being annoyed at people who confuse the juvenile and young adult sections.
Bi the Way: During Holidays of Future Passed, she's shown in the family picture having been with three different women.
Bratty Half-Pint: In her original form, she was almost as childish and mischieveous as Bart. Toned down as Divergent Character Evolution kicked in, though she still has her moments.
Bob Haircut: Gets this hairstyle, complete with dyeing her hair brown, in the subplot of "To Surveil With Love".
Catch Phrase: Lisa didn't have a catchphrase since the beginning of the show until she said "If anyone wants me, I'll be in my room.", which is said in the end of the episode "Bart Gets Famous". Lisa also said this in "Lisa the Vegetarian", "Grift of the Magi", and "Dude, Where's My Ranch?".
She's also frequently yells out a shrill "MOOOOMMMM!!!" in response to Bart's antics.
Daddy's Girl: She's probably the only one of Homer's kids whom he makes a conscious effort to be a good father to. In addition, if anyone, even his wife, somehow hurts her in some way, he gets intensely angry.
It is implied that Lisa was neglected by Homer as a baby, when Homer observes some old videos of him completely ignoring her early talents, he is driven to tears in guilt.
Dumb Is Good: Averted, as she is easily the nicest character on the show.
She does however have occasional moments of imense arrogance and vindictiveness fueled by her intellect (and her obvious awareness of it) to remind us she's Not so Above It All.
I Can't Dance: She eventually mastered jazz dancing, but she's terrible at tap and ballet.
Innocent Prodigy: Usually rather level headed and one of the most intelligent people in Springfield, however her brattiness and childlike naive perks up many times, especially where her Sibling Rivalry with Bart is involved.
Jerkass: Has moderated but profound moments of this trope. She calls Bart's friend Andy a "loser" even AFTER he gets to write for Krusty.
A lot of the things Lisa does is just so she can be praised which could tie in well with Bart being an Attention Whore. In fact she is a bigger one then Bart. Bart’s problem was difficult so it was ignored yet all they needed to do for Lisa was buy her stuff and praise her success. You’ll notice from "The PTA Disbands" and “The Joy of Sect” that if she is not given constant positive reinforcement she goes insane. "Money BART" has shown us that she is not above taking attention away from Bart himself.
Middle Child Syndrome: She often has trouble fitting in with her family, and they often have trouble understanding her. Several episodes explore this dynamic in detail.
Honor Before Reason: Lisa is willing to bend the rules, but only if she comes to that conclusion by herself. If someone tells her to lie, cheat, or even just conceal the truth, she will refuse, even if lying, cheating or concealing the truth would be to everyone's advantage.
Not so Above It All: Though often priding herself on her intelligence and stoicism, she is still a kid and enjoys some of the same things as Bart (such as Itchy & Scratchy or prank-calling Moe). And as noted above, she is not above bending the rules completely.
The Stool Pigeon: Lisa is this in "Bart the Daredevil", "My Pods and Broomsticks", and in "22 Short Films About Springfield" when she told the Tall Guy who drove his car where Nelson is hiding after his "HA-HA" backfired on him.
Too Clever by Half: Frequently done. Lisa is a genius, but occasionally arrogant and misguided about it, not to mention lives in quite the Crapsack World.
Took a Level in Jerkass: For a while in the later seasons Lisa could be quite rude and pushy about her beliefs. Recent seasons have mostly fixed this by having Lisa focus on self-improvement and making friends instead of political activism.
Brainy Baby: Numerous episodes have implied she's very smart for her age. She may be more intelligent than the rest of the family. Yes, even Lisa, as demonstrated when two-year-old Maggie effortlessly played her sax.
Little Miss Badass: For an infant, she sure knows her way around a firearm. And then there was the time she knocked Homer unconscious by bonking him on the head with a mallet.
Suddenly Voiced: By Elizabeth Taylor, James Earl Jones, Jodie Foster, Nancy Cartwright (who usually does vocal effects, like Maggie's cooing and crying), and even Meg Ryan.
Homer's eldery, cranky, senile father, a seargent in WW 2. For all Homer's failures as a father-figure, his father has proven he was worse. Voiced by Dan Castellaneta.
Abusive Parents: There's at least one flashback that shows him strangling young Homer just like Homer now does to Bart.
Badass Grandpa: It turns out he's a World War II veteran and his stories about his fighting days are generally true. It resurfaces when Burns threatens Bart.
Butt Monkey: Is often ignored, treated with contempt, and otherwise left to rot at the nursing home by his own son.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: At times, particularly in his younger days, despite being a gruff, uniterested father figure, he did dress up as Santa Claus for Christmas to cheer up Homer, and sold his house in order to allow Homer and Marge to buy a place of their own.
May-December Romance: Is briefly married to Selma, but they eventually realize it won't work and get divorced.
Although there is the occasional implication that his rambling and nonsensical stories are actually true. There is also at least one implication that he is actually aware that he is rambling nonsense, but does it anyways because he thinks his grandkids don't actually pay attention to his stories anyways.
"You mean I have to think of an ending to this nonsense?!"
Rambling Old Man Monologue: "So I tied an onion to my belt. Which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on 'em. Gimme five bees for a quarter, you'd say. Now where was I... Oh yeah. The important thing was that I had an onion tied to my belt, which was the style at the time. You couldn't get white onions...."
Actually parodied twice: The first was in Double, Double, Boy In Trouble, where in the middle of Grampa's ramble, "Bart" (actually Simon Woosterfield) exclaims shock and pride that Grampa shot a buffalo. Grampa then turns around and expresses shock that "Bart" was even listening to his ramble, and complains about now having to find an ending to his nonsense. The second is after Homer saves his life from an ax-crazy humanitarian journalist trying to kill him, and rewards Homer with the opportunity to have his "first ramble," indicating that its a family tradition to have the Simpson Male's do rambling.
To make it especially confusing, in one episode, Mayor Quimby is trying to determine the oldest person in town by having everyone stand up and then sit down when Quimby calls out a number greater than their age. At about eighty, Grampa sits down, and then at ninety, he stands up again.
One episode says he's 83.
Well Done Son Guy: Homer is suggested to be scarred by Abe'sAbusive Parenting (which is portrayed as eeringly similar to Homer's own treatment of Bart). In turn Homer stuffed him in a nursing home at the first call and often attempts to ignore his existence. They do get genuine moments of bonding at times however.
A militant hippie in her youth, she had to leave Homer and her husband alike when Homer was young because she made an enemy of Mr. Burns and fled into the hippy underground. Sincerely loves her family, and desperately wants to be with them. Dies in her third appearance. Voiced by Glenn Close, Maggie Roswell, Tress MacNeille and Pamela Hayden.
What Happened to the Mouse?: A meta example. "Mother Simpson" aired during the seventh season and averting the trope was the initial impetus to producing the episode. Showrunners Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein admitted surprise that in all those years the status of Homer's mother had never been given on-screen.
Patricia "Patty" and Selma Bouvier
Marge's twin sisters, addicted to smoking and notoriously crabby. Both dislike Homer intensely, and neither of them is interested in the male gender itself much (so much so that it is eventually revealed that Patty is a lesbian), though Selma does want to have a child. Voiced by Julie Kavner.
The Beard: Selma is this to Troy McClure for a period of time. She divorces him when he tries to have a baby with her, saying she couldn't bring a child into a loveless marriage.
Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places: Selma has about 4 or 5 failed marriages under her belt. Patty is a subversion in that, while she occasionally laments being the only single girl left in the family, when she sees Homer stuffing his face full of hors d'oeuvres she realizes that it could be worse.
Maiden Aunt: Both embody the "bitter spinster" archetype to a T.
The Mistress: Selma becomes this to Fat Tony for an episode, although she has been led to believe she's actually his wife. She is heartbroken and angry with Fat Tony when she finds out...but then gets into a Cat Fight with another woman who also claims to be Fat Tony's wife.
Pet the Dog: Selma, who is shown to be much more likely to do this than Patty due to her craving for someone to love, which she eventually achieves by adopting Ling. She's also the one most able to act in kind towards Homer, even though such a thing is very rare.
Promotion to Parent: With some help from Homer (and a sympathetic Chinese bureaucrat), Selma adopts a baby girl named Ling. (Patty does help take care of Ling, too.)
Legacy Character: As the name implies, she replaced the original, white Snowball, who was run over by a car. And then she herself was replaced after being run over, with the replacements being run over too. The newest cat was simply called Snowball II to save money on changing the food bowl.
Santa's Little Helper
Bart's pet, a grayhound abandoned one christmas due to his never winning any races. Though Homer had just lost a bundle betting on him instead of the dog that Barney tipped him off to bet on, Bart took such a shine to him that Homer brought him home and the family adopted him. Once ran away and was taken in as Mr Burns' new guard dog, while another prominent interact with Mr. Burns was when he ended up purchasing the 22 pups he had fathered on a champion racing female greyhound, which all turned out to be world champions. As a result, Mr Burns can remember Santa's Little Helper, but not Homer.
A Dog Ate My Homework: Santa's Little Helper does this once, much to Bart's surprise.
Go Fetch: He can be distracted by sausages, along with Homer.
Heroic Dog: From time to time, especially when Bart is concerned.
Subverted, where the Simpson house is on fire, and Homer is asleep on the couch, it appears that Santa's Little Helper is trying to rouse Homer, but rather he is getting a candy bar from Homer's pocket. Once the candy bar is out, Santa's Little Helper leaves Homer to his fate.
Kick the Dog: Gets treated pretty bad often (usually by Homer). He actually runs away in "Dog of Death" when the entire family condemns him due to the financial burden caused by a needed operation.
The nice guy next door neighbor to the Simpson family. Originally, Ned was just a "better American" than Homer, being affable, polite, intellectual, friendly, and sincerely religious. As the seasons went on, his "sweetness" and his religiosity grew until he became a byword for fanatical religious faith and doormat-like pleasantry. His being a doormat in the name of being nice to others faded. The religious zeal, however, remains. Voiced by Harry Shearer.
Gag Penis: Shown in a dating tape Homer made to show Ned off to women. Ned was also upset with Homer for doing so (as well as publically displaying his social security number)
Heroic BSOD: The episode Hurricane Neddy shows exactly what happens when Ned Flanders' breaking point is reached in terms of his sanity, as well as what caused his mannerisms.
Also, in the episode Home Away from Homer, as soon as he realizes that not only were two college girls taking advantage of his kindness by renting out one of his rooms for them by making a softcore webcam series, but also that the entirety of Springfield mocked him behind his back and took advantage of his kindness despite his attempts at being a very kind neighbor to them, he undergoes a very deep depression, to the extent that he actually decides to go to a place in Pennsylvania that made Humble Figurines despite earlier having a belief that he shouldn't move to places based on logos.
Knight Templar: When it involves something he takes a religious stance about, he is unshakable in pursuing his goal.
Limited Wardrobe: Lampshaded by Homer: "I'm a big four eyed lame-o and I wear the same stupid sweater everyday...".
The Messiah / Only Sane Man: Alongside Lisa Simpson, he is probably one of the few Springfielders who is not amoral or terrible.
Nice Guy: Well before his Christian background was established, Ned was simply the nice guy that lived next door.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: He does attempt to follow the Christian faith and be a kind neighbor, even renting out his room to people who need it. Unfortunately for him, many of the people of Springfield have a tendency to take advantage of his kindness and make it even worse. This eventually reached a breaking point when, after he allowed some college girls to rent out one of the guest rooms in his house, they ended up repaying his kindness by filming a softcore webcam video called "sexy slumber party" without Ned's knowledge, and Homer also leaked this to every single person in the town, to the extent that, when Ned Flanders ousts the college girls out of the room upon finding out about this, they cheer the girls on, thus shocking him about how all this time, the townspeople actually mock him behind his back.
Older than They Look: Ned looks around Homer's age, but he's actually sixty years old.
How does he retain his youthful appearance? By following the "three Cs" — clean living, chewing thoroughly, and a daily dose of vitamin church.
Homer: Networks like animation 'cause they don't have to pay the actors squat! Ned:(voiced by Karl Wiedergott) Plus, they can replace them, and no one can tell the diddley-ifference!
Overprotective Dad: Orders satellite TV, only to have ALL the channels locked out.
It's Justified, however, when one remembers when, after Bart, Lisa, and Maggie were placed in the Flanders home and watched an Itchy and Scratchy cartoon, even seeing the cartoon was more than enough to mentally scar Rod and Todd.
Another episode deals with Marge babysitting them repeatedly and seeing how ridiculously over-protective he is, with Ned admitting that he's afraid of losing them because they're all he has after Maude's death.
That said, he was willing to hire Lisa, even after or maybe because Her disastrous job looking after Bart.
Pals With Jesus: Even though his religious zeal didn't develop until later seasons, even the early seasons had Ned being in obvious favor with God, to the point that politely stating skyward "It's me, Ned" had his golfball suddenly jolt forward to give him a hole-in-one and he once called down a lightning bolt with a prayer to God to save Todd, after which God gave him the "OK" hand sign and told him it was no problem.
Ridiculous Procrastinator: Inverted: He manages to start, and finish, his tax returns as early as New Years Day, which is exactly 105-106 days (depending on whether the year is a leap year or not) before the last day of taxes (April 15th). It should also be noted that he is the only one, or at least one of the few, Springfielders to actually deliver their taxes before the deadline, as the episode that revealed this also had what is implied to be everyone in Springfield rushing to the Post Office to get their Tax Returns in at the last possible moment.
Sex God: He has sex once with a movie star who is in town to shoot a film. He tells her that the first one's free, but if she wants any more she'll have to marry him. She almost does.
Strawman Political: In later episodes. It's justified, however, when you take into account that a few times, his attempts at being a good neighbor often result in his good nature being exploited.
McLeaned: Maggie Roswell left over pay disputes, as her pay wasn't covering the travel expenses to get to the recording studio (she lived out of state). Maude was killed off in response.
The Other Darrin: After Roswell left, Marcia Mitzman-Gaven took over for what would be Maude's remaining episodes.
Out-of-Character Moment: She's not all that nice when she's not around her family. Why, when Marge made her own franchise around pretzels (with Homer's indirect help by hiring Fat Tony and his croneys to stop all other businesses behind her back), she and the other women hired Yakuza to stop her. It didn't work, apparently, and everything was forgotten about that incident.
Rod and Todd Flanders
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 Nancy Cartwright.
Off Model: Some episodes have Moleman with yellow skin; others with brown
Shout Out: In his first appearance in season 2's "Principal Charming", Moleman was actually called Ralph Melish (as seen on his driver license). The latter is a reference to Monty Python.
Younger than They Look: In season four's "Duffless," Moleman reveals that he's 31 years old, despite looking like an old man. The reason: Moleman's an alcoholic. Thanks to Canon Discontinuity, Moleman's age has been projected to be at least in the ballpark of 80 and above (although one episode still hinted at the younger than they look trope when Moleman was doing a wheelbarrow race with his Dad at the Springfield Retirement Castle).
Singing Voice Dissonance: Although he has an odd-sounding conversational voice, Barney has a beautiful singing voice (much like Jim Nabors).
The Smart Guy: Was studying for the S.A.T exam, hoping to go to Harvard, when Homer introduced him to beer. He started drinking more as a result of his high school girlfriend Chloe leaving him to pursue her journalism career.
Status Quo Is God: In a rare subversion on the show, Barney sobered up in season 11 and stays that way for several seasons.
Too Dumb to Live: Once charged a tab to Mr. Burns. He later woke up in a landfill.
"Yeah, but it was worth it."
Trash of the Titans: His apartment is such a mess that he can't find his dog.
"He's in here somewhere."
Springfield Nuclear Power Plant
Mr. Charles Montgomery Burns
An extremely elderly man (over one hundred years ago by the more recent seasons, though in the earliest seasons he was only in his eighties) and the corrupt, malevolent owner of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. Always has his eyes on the greatest profit to himself. Voiced by Christopher Collins [aka Chris Latta] (1989-90); Harry Shearer (1990-present).
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He may be senile, but he is a brilliant businessman.
The Caligula: Mr. Burns usually treats his workers, and even his own workplace, far too shabbily to even be considered a sane boss, never mind a good one.
Caligula's Horse: He has a canary act as the owner of the Power Plant (meaning, even Mr. Burns is at a lower level than the canary), namely as a way to avoid responibility if someone tries to investigate anything within the plant thats against the law. This tendency was also implied in earlier episodes when he made a Dog vice president (even after nominating a far more eligable person Vice President), and made a carbon rod Employee of the Month above Homer.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: His moral compass is so far off kilter that when he's actually trying to do something good, he's even more evil than when he's trying to be evil.
Up to Eleven: His villainy goes into this level when he does things like block out the sun.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: The episode "Last Exit to Springfield" implies that the reason why he wanted to end the Nuclear Worker's Union was because they were getting corrupt, based on something an atom worker said when he was with his grandfather.
Waylon Smithers, Jr.
Yes, Mr. Burns.
The second-in-command and most competent minion of Mr. Burns, Smithers is fanatically devoted to his master (fortunately for Burns, who is so physically feeble and out of touch with the modern age he depends on Smithers to do everything for him), which is eventually revealed to be due to him being in love with him. Voiced by Harry Shearer.
Flanderization: Smithers was originally just the Yes Man to Burns, though after a couple seasons, the writers began playing the idea that he was attracted to him. Al Jean has referred to this as Smithers being "Burns-sexual" and this was pretty consistent for years. Recently, however, throwaway jokes have portrayed him as more openly gay and not interested in just Burns.
The Dragon / The Lancer: It varies if Burns is, in the episode, in the good side or the bad side.
Race Lift: In his earliest appearance ("There's No Disgrace Like Home"), Waylon is black. The creators then worried that the role of Yes Man to a rich white man falling to a black man could have Unfortunate Implications, and so the next time around, they drew him as white instead.
Lampshade Hanging: Production later joked that Smithers had just returned from vacation and still had a tan.
Single Issue Psychology: It was implied in one episode that Smithers' sexuality was caused by Mr. Burns telling him, when he was young, that his father died in the Amazon, killed by a tribe of savage women.
Ascended Extra: They were initially just background characters that appeared at the plant. Over time, they became some of Homer's most frequently seen friends.
Bad Boss: Parodied when Mr. Burns lost his fortune, the bank took over the Nuclear Plant and put Lenny in charge. We never really see what goes on, but Homer gets sent home early to think about a bad mistake he made and Smithers describes him as "a real bear on tardiness." Even Mr. Burns takes notice, and the whole thing is referred to as "Lenny's reign of terror."
Vitriolic Best Buds: Not seen that often, but whenever it does come up (like in "Mountain of Madness", Type 2.
Frank Grimes
Look at me! I'm Homer Simpson!
A new employee at the plant who is annoyed by Homer's behaviour. Goes insane because of this and ends up killing himself. Not very well received by the fans. Voiced by Hank Azaria.
Berserk Button: Homer is a big fat button. Also Grimey doesn't like to be called Grimey. Or Stretch.
Giving Up On Logic: Angrily did this after his Sanity Slippage and began imitating Homer's stupid antics. It took him about a minute to get himself killed.
Killed Off for Real: "I don't need safety gloves, because i'm Homer Simp..." (electric shocks)
Knight of Cerebus: His lone episode "Homer's Enemy" is considered to be one of the darkest episodes in the entire run of the show.
Expy / Shout Out: Frank is based on Michael Douglas' character Bill Foster from "Falling Down". They both wear glasses, white shirt, black tie, black pants. They both even have the same haircut.
Only Sane Man: He's the only person to point that Homer shouldn't be half as successful, popular, or even alive given his behaviour and is driven mad when no-one else cares. Even the universe is against him, as he's trying to apply real-world logic to a cartoon world.
Oakley and Weinstein summed it up best by referring to Grimes as what would happen if someone from the real world met Homer.
What Could Have Been: The writers originally saw Grimey as an ex-mariner with a crew cut. Also Hank Azaria based Frank's voice on that William H Macy before changing to Michael Douglas.
Azaria was actually in favor of Macy doing the voice. Though it was considered, showrunners Oakley and Weinstein thought someone with a better understanding of the show would do a better job.
Springfield Shopkeepers
Jeff "Comic Book Guy" Albertson
Overweight and extremely nerdy owner & proprietor of the local shop, "The Android's Dungeon", which sells comics and similar paraphenalia. Legendary for his sarcastic, cynical outlook on life. Voiced by Hank Azaria.
Deadpan Snarker: And how! Comic Book Guy seems to live by the philosophy "If you can't say something snarky or sarcastic, don't say anything at all."
Everyone Calls Him Barkeep: For over a decade, he was just known as "Comic Book Guy" until he gave his real name out in random conversation in "Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass." (Word Of God says that episode was chosen for the task because it was post-Super Bowl and thus would have such a large audience.)
Freudian Excuse: It is heavily implied, if not outright stated, that the reason why Jeff Albertson often is sarcastic and insulting to people is because he himself is a victim of it in regards to his obesity.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm heading back to my own store, where I dispense the insults rather than absorb them".
Comic Book Guy: Last night's Itchy & Scratchy was, without a doubt, the worst episode ever. Rest assured I was on the Internet within minutes registering my disgust throughout the world.
Bart: Hey, I know it wasn’t great, but what right do you have to complain?
Comic Book Guy: As a loyal viewer, I feel they owe me.
Bart: For what? They’ve given you thousands of hours of entertainment for free. What could they possibly owe you? If anything, you owe them.
"You're Not My Type": Was ultimately on the receiving end of this from Mrs. Krabappel in "My Big Fat Geek Wedding." He was oddly okay with it.
"There are a million valid reasons. Which one did you choose?"
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
Owner of the local convience store, "The Kwik-E-Mart", which is open 24/7 and cheap and so attracts plenty of customers despite its rather lacking standards of quality. Renowned as a workaholic, he is eventually partnered off with an arranged marriage and ends up the father of octuplets. Voiced by Hank Azaria.
Ascended Extra: Was simply the convenience store clerk that only knew the family cause they shopped there. Over time, his screentime grew and he got several focus episodes.
Determinator: In one early episode, Apu says that the town government should hire more police officers, since he'd be shot 8 times that year. As a result, he almost missed work. Almost.
And then there was the time when he managed to work a 96-hour shift without having a break. It ended when he started thinking he was a hummmingbird and tried to drink nectar out of his brother's head.
Famously ugly, surly and hateful owner of Moe's Tavern, the Local Hangout that Homer, Carl, Lenny and Barney frequent. Has a softer side under his crustiness. Voiced by Hank Azaria.
Driven to Suicide: Not quite, but later episodes do have Moe trying to kill himself so much that Suicide Prevention has blocked his number. It is also implied at least once that the only reason why he constantly attempts to commit suicide is because Reverend Lovejoy keeps on telling him that he has nothing to live for.
I Was Quite a Looker: Then he started boxing, which is the explanation for why he became so ugly that women find him repulsive.
"They called me Kid Gorgeous. Then I was Kid Presentable. Then Kid Gruesome. Then finally, Kid Moe."
Informed Deformity: While Moe is quite odd-looking compared to other characters, people act like he's hideous and even inhuman.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite his somewhat angry attitude at times, he does show a soft spot towards children and his close friends and customers.
The Other Marty: Originally voiced in his first appearance by Christopher Collins, but Azaria dubbed over all his lines as Moe.
Parental Neglect: Implied with, "Oh Papa, why didn't you ever hug me? I've seen you hug everbody - even the mailman!"
Punny Name: Not Moe himself, but he's always being asked for Al Koholik, Ivana Tinkel, and Hugh Jass.
The Quisling: One memorable episode where he, for one, "welcome(d) our new insect overlords".
Herschel "Krusty the Klown" Krustofsky
The most famous celebrity in Springfield, due to being the host of the city's favorite children's entertainment program, "The Krusty the Klown Show". Born an Orthodox Jew, he was estranged from his Rabbi father due to his wanting to be a clown instead of following in his father's footsteps. Originally an optimistic fellow who just wanted to help people laugh, years in the ugly reality of showbusiness have left him grizzled, sarcastic, jaded and indifferent, striving only to make as much money as possible. Voiced by Dan Castellaneta.
Krusty's sidekick on his TV show, a replacement for Sideshow Bob, Melvin Van Horne plays the part of an inarticulate caveman on stage, but is actually a very refined, dignified intellectual in his private life. Voiced by Dan Castellaneta.
Butt Monkey: He gets his moments, mainly with Krusty and the Krusty show. He doesn't learn to give up though and look for the good things in life.
Genre Savvy: In the "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" episodes:
Smithers: Mr. Burns was the closest thing I ever had to...a friend. But he fired me! And now I spend my days drinking cheap scotch and watching Comedy Central! (later) Sideshow Mel: Hmm...at the town meeting, [Mr. Smithers] mentioned that he watched Comedy Central. I made sure to note that, as it seemed quite unusual.
The Voiceless: When he first showed up in Season 2, he only communicated with his horn. He starts speaking in Season 3, with his first voice-over being triumphantly singing in "Radio Bart."
A German who moved to Springfield and became an action movie star, Rainier Wolfcastle is legendary for the over-the-top nature of his movies and his bad acting. Voiced by Harry Shearer.
The Ahnold: Of the man the trope is named after no less. He is one of the best known examples and currently the image on the trope page.
An aging actor who starred in an incredibly wide variety of B-movies and short-lived serials, who frequently reminds people of the flicks he has starred in as a way to try and cling to a sense of still being a bigshot actor. Voiced by Phil Hartman.
Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: All of Hartman's characters were retired after his death, as production thought it would be in poor taste to simply replace him. (The fact that his children would be watching was often cited.) There is the very rare occasion where they will turn up in the background, though.
Mad Libs Catch Phrase: "Hi, I'm Troy McClure! You may remember me from such [genre he's currently appearing in]s as [title X] and [title Y]." A few episodes play with this:
In "Das Bus", he only appears in-character on a TV movie based on the story of Noah's Ark. When Marge walks in and tells the family to get to bed, Lisa had this line:
Lisa: You let us stay up to watch Troy McClure in such other bible epics as David vs. Super-Goliath and Suddenly Last Supper!
In "Treehouse of Horror IX", he was supposed to host a special on executions. When he was replaced with guest star Ed Mc Mahon after Phil Hartman died, we get this greeting:
McMahon: Hi, I'm Ed McMahon! Tonight on Fox, from the producers of When Skirts Fall Off, and Secrets of National Security Revealed, it's World's Deadliest Executions!
The Other Darrin: In an early episode, Dan Castellaneta did a line of dialogue for him (presumably because Hartman was unavailable or the cost to just have him do one line).
Why Do You Keep Changing Jobs?: Because he's an actor. A number of his appearances are simply different projects he's done.
Badass: He manages to stop a prison riot by politely asking that everyone quiet down. (Even the guards back away out of fear.) In a later episode, Homer breaks his jaw getting punched in the face by a statue of him.
Principal W. Seymour Skinner a.k.a. Armin Tamzarian
"Elementary school is where I wound up, and it's too late to do anything about that!"
Lisa's Rival
The highly put upon principal of Springfield Elementary School, a former Army officer and Vietnam survivor, harrassed by Bart Simpson, put upon by his Superintendent, challenged by his groundskeeper, and under the thumb of his domineering, overbearing mother. It's eventually revealed that the real Seymour Skinner went missing in action in Vietnam and he is actually a boy who Skinner saved, who took up Skinner's identity and came back to America. This revelation is not popular, and is even ignored in-series. To the point where when the real Seymour Skinner returns, he's put on a train and everyone agrees to keep calling Armin Tamzarian, Seymour Skinner. Voiced by Harry Shearer.
Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: You don't believe that a momma's boy like him can beat up two of Disney Corporation's goons.
Skinner: I've been hoping I could find something that would be named after me. Bart: And you've never found anything? Skinner: Once. But by the time I got to the phone, my discovery had already been reported by Principal Kohoutek. I got back at him, though... him and that little boy of his.
He also mentions in one episode that he's an ex-Green Beret (US Army Special Forces).
Shell-Shocked Veteran: Parodied. Frequently has flashbacks to his experiences in Vietnam.
Stern Teacher: He has it in for Bart Simpson, but it's hard to blame him when you realize just what Bart's put him through for so long. He's generally a lot nicer to the other students, and can even be civil to Bart when the latter isn't pranking him.
That Came Out Wrong: "This is our last chance to bone up. And bone we will!"
After the kids trap him in the dodgeball sack and the class hamster Nibbles helps rescue them. "Good work Nibbles! Now, chew through my ballsack!" The hamster gives him a squicked expression, then runs away.
Edna Krabappel
The emotionally scarred, bitterly sarcastic teacher unfortunate enough to teach the very class that Bart Simpson attends. The two are fierce enemies, but their relationship is not totally hostile, and Bart has tried to help her on a few occasions. She even receives an award and recognition amongst the education circles when Bart reveals he is not merely some urban myth and that Mrs. Krabappel has survived being his teacher. Voiced by Marcia Wallace.
Hot Teacher: Arguably. She was presented this way mostly in seasons 2 and 3, but eventually this characterization faded, as she became more sarcastic and bitter.
Meaningful Name: "Krabappel" is clearly a reference to "crab apple", a species of apple notorious for its bitter, sour taste — and which is also used in America to denote a person who is extremely bitter, sour, cranky or generally bad-tempered.
Dispassionate teacher of the class that houses both Lisa Simpson and Ralph Wiggum. Voiced by Maggie Roswell (1991-1999; 2002-present); Marcia Mitzman-Gaven (1999-2002).
The Alcoholic: Once graded the kids' "Wind in the Willows" tests with flavored liqueurs (Kahlua and Drambuie).
Ascended Extra: Thought to be a one-shot character for "Principal Charming," but Dan Castellaneta's performance led to him coming back and becoming a fixture in the recurring cast.
The Caligula: Was implied to have tendencies of this when he decides to run for Mayor in one episode (don't ask). During his election speech, he admits that the very first thing he's going to do when he is elected Mayor is kill everyone in Springfield and then torch the town itself to the ground. And yes, he definitely was aware that the mic was still on, so he was honestly promising this to the public and not just joking.
Covert Pervert: Was revealed in the season six episode "Homer Badman" (the episode where Homer is accused of sexually harassing a babysitter by grabbing her butt and calling her "Precious Venus") to be a camera-toting Peeping Tom. ("But every Scotsman does it!")
Willie: Brothers and sisters are natural enemies like Englishmen and Scots, or Welshmen and Scots, or Japanese and Scots, or Scots and other Scots! Damn Scots! They ruined Scotland!
Skinner: You Scots sure are a cantankerous bunch.
Willie: Ya just made an enemy for life!
Multiple Choice Past He hails from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Loch Ness, and North Kilt-Town.
Once while recounting a miner's strike and cave-in: "Nobody made it out alive, not even Willie!"
He also claimed his father was hung for stealing a pig, but his father is shown to be very much alive in a later episode.
The Board of Education superior to Principal Skinners, and thusly the man who has to show up at Springfield Elementary to investigate the goings on there. Voiced by Hank Azaria.
Genre Savvy: He calls out virtually every single trick or excuse that Skinner tries to pull on him.
Only Sane Man: The writers have noted unlike other characters, Chalmers is above the zaniness of the other characters and is a (relatively) normal guy, aside from his pathological habit of bellowing any word that sounds even remotely like 'SKI-NEEER!.
Genius Ditz: Although he's not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer, it is shown from time to time that Otto has artistic talent. He is a very skilled guitar player, and he even created his own comic book called "Bus Man" about a bus driver who fights vampires in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. He's also an excellent bowler. And he almost got tenure at Brown.
Metal Head: Otto is passionate about Heavy Metal and Classic Rock music, to the point where he actually left his bride at the altar because she tried to make him give up Heavy Metal.
Military Brat: Otto's father is an Admiral in the United States Navy who disapproves of his lazy, pot-smoking son.
The Stoner: When viewed under a microscope, Otto's urine sample contains so many illegal drugs that it resembles a scene from The Beatles film Yellow Submarine.
Students:
Nelson Muntz
Originally the worst bully in Springfield Elementary, the closest thing Bart had to an archnemesis of his own age and the leader of Jimbo, Kerney and Dorf. As the seasons passed, though, he became more sympathetic and eventually began to clean up his act. As a result, his broken home started mending itself. Voiced by Nancy Cartwright.
Character Development: Though it lead to Menace Decay, Nelson has become softer and is often one of Bart's friends now, while the position of bullying tormentor have been passed onto Jimbo, Kerney and Dorf. Nelson's mother meanwhile cleaned up her act, and his Disappeared Dad came back.
Enemy Mine: A couple of times has had to work with Martin - much to his chagrin.
Freudian Excuse: The main reason why Nelson is the way he is is because he is from a poor neighborhood, is neglected by his mother, has a Disappeared Dad, and is looked down upon by his peers and teachers even though he is implied to have high potential.
Genius Bruiser: He is large, and noted above, he is implied to have high potential (although the school fails to recognize it). He also was once shown to be very good at planning, actually giving Marge some tips on how to organize a method to get rid of a sport when she decided to get rid of mixed wrestling.
Menace Decay: The Nelson of today is whimpy and pathetic compared to the Nelson of the earlier episodes. In a very early episode he was so fearsome Bart had to band together an army to stand up to him because the school was so terrified of him, and before that he regularly beat Bart bloody after school.
Pet the Dog: Usually towards Lisa. When he goes to live with the Simpsons for a time, he sees that Sherri and Terri's constant teasing has really affected her, so he proceeds to bully/prank them.
Ralph Wiggum
Police Chief Wiggum's only son, heavily implied to be mentally disabled to some degree. Voiced by Nancy Cartwright.
A Day in the Limelight: "I Love Lisa", "This Little Wiggy", and, to an extent, "E. Pluribus Wiggum".
Ambiguously Gay: "I like men now!". Though he did love Lisa...
Determinator: Ralph is too scared to enter the abandoned prison in "This Little Wiggy", until the bullies steal the police master key and throw it in. Ralph ignores his fear and enters the prison to get the key. Bart congratulates him for it.
Flanderization: Ralph actually had an intelligent side in the early seasons but this disappeared in later episodes.
Genius Ditz: Despite being...well...The Ditz, Ralph is an amazingly talented actor (I Love Lisa), tap dancer (Last Tap Dance in Springfield) and nose flutist (Round Springfield).
Throw the Dog a Bone: At the end of "This Little Wiggy," Bart, Homer and Marge congratulate Ralph for saving the day, even though it was Lisa's plan. Lisa goes along with it after Bart says, "C'mon, let him have this one, Lis. After all, it's Ralph."
Vague Age: In "The Simpsons Spinoff Showcase", Chief Wiggum describes him as "between the ages of six and ten".
The school's biggest nerd, regarded as being even more of a geek and a teacher's pet than Lisa Simpson. Voiced by Russi Taylor.
Bi the Way: In an Imagine Spot, he sees himself as the star basketball player, with a female cheerleader on one arm and a male cheerleader on the other.
Bart's closest friend, who acquires a bit of protection from his nerdy nature by being so close to the class clown and mayhem expert. Voiced by Pamela Hayden.
Butt Monkey: Milhouse has suffered everything from inheriting Bart's permanent record (which will disqualify him from all but the hottest and noisiest jobs) to being beaten into a coma by Nelson after he mistakes a love note Milhouse passes him from Lisa as coming from Milhouse himself, to having his manliness insulted in an episode set in the future when an adult Lisa is about to get married:
Lisa: I feel kind of weird wearing white, Mom. You know, Milhouse...
Forced Meme: Was one on 4chan for a while, leading to the meme "Milhouse is not a meme."
Future Badass: First subverted but then straight. "Bart to the Future" reveals that he'll look just as his father in his adult years. Then the episode "Future-Drama" reveals that Milhouse'll become a muscular, shorter version of He-Man in his teens.
The preacher at the church that the Simpsons family and the Flanders family attend. He really doesn't care much about his job or his "flock" at all, and can even be read as not actually being that religious, is often no more reasonable on religious matters then Springfield's other religious characters — he just usually has ulterior motives, typically relating to increasing the money he gets from the church. It's revealed that his original caring nature and sincere drive to help his congregation was basically eroded by coming into contact with Ned Flanders and his fixation on being a "proper" Christian. Voiced by Harry Shearer.
Badass Preacher: Has saved Homer's life on at least one occasion, as well as Flanders in another occasion.
Christianity is Catholic: Averted. Although he wears a clerical collar, the church the Simpsons belong to is a weird pastiche of Protestantism*
though the Roman Collar is most associated with the Catholic Church, priests/leaders/preachers of Protestant denoinations sometimes will elect to wear the collar or similar garments.
.
In fact, he does get into a nasty brawl with an Irish Priest after the two quarrel about the subject of Catholic vs. Protestant practices.
Jade-Colored Glasses: After Ned's constant whining got to him, he just stopped caring.
Let's Get Dangerous: His description of his fight with the baboons at the zoo.
And that's when I got mad.
Parental Neglect: Apparently the reason why Jessica Lovejoy was not a good girl.
Playing with Fire: It is implied throughout the show that he has pyromaniacal tendencies: Namely, he is overly enthusiastic about burnings (such as burning Krusty merchandise when Krusty was framed, or when he got a van that was used solely for burning books besides the obvious use of actually driving it), and was also hinted to have set gasoline in the church and set it on fire possibly to get the insurance covered on it at least once beforehand.
Reverend Lovejoy's snooping, interfering, gossipy busy-body of a wife. Voiced by Maggie Roswell and Marcia Mitzman Gaven.
Bifauxen: The Pastor, when visiting Reverend Lovejoy to break the bad news that he was, for three months, acting as Minister without a license, implies that Helen Lovejoy may have been a transsexual. Of course, this is contradicted with her giving birth to Jessica, not to mention her being a girl at age 10.
Reverend and Helen Lovejoy's daughter, who feigns being as sweet and pleasant a girl as one would expect of a Reverend's daughter, but who is actually such a bad girl she unnerves Bart. Voiced by Meryl Streep.
The psychotic mouse member of the cartoon duo, a clear expy-cum-parody of Jerry at his most Jerkass. He is usually the antagonist, and always brutally slaughters Scratchy in the show, no matter how little Scratchy may have done to deserve it.
The cat member of the Tom and Jerry parodying Show Within a Show, Scratchy is almost never a bad person in his depictions, but invariably suffers nightmarish deaths at Itchy's hands.
But played straight in the "Grand Theft Scratchy" segment of The Simpsons Game. The orange female prostitute cats look more humanoid than Scratchy.
Offscreen Moment of Awesome: There was an episode where he finally got even with Itchy, featured in "Homer Goes to College". Unfortunately, Bart and Lisa, and consequently the viewer, don't get to see it as the television is unplugged by one of the nerds currently living with the Simpsons (they needed the outlet for their rock tumbler). Once they got the TV plugged back in, the short is over and Krusty excitedly claims, "They'll never let us show that again! Not in a million years!"
Homer's attempt at designing a new character to boost interest in the Itchy & Scratchy Show, who became loathed by the fanbase and was promptly removed with all speed.
A man cursed to have both huge feet (standard floppy clown shoes fit him perfectly) and a natural hairstyle like a palm tree while also having the mind of a keen intellectual, he was, while originally not interested in becoming a performer, coaxed into joining the Krusty The Clown Show with the prospect of appealing to a huge audience of children with his own brand of edutainment. To his horror, though, his ideas were all ignored and he became the abused straight-man for Krusty's lowbrow slapstick. Jealousy and resentment eventually led to him framing Krusty and then assuming control over the show while Krusty was imprisoned, but Bart Simpson exposed him and sent him to prison. As a result, he carries a murderous grudge against both his former "partner" and the Simpson boy. Voiced by Kelsey Grammer.
When hired as school announcer, he claims to have always had an interest in a radio career.
In "The Bob Next Door," Homer and Marge note that Sideshow Bob sounds like "Frasier on Cheers" and "Frasier on ''Frasier''" and "Tom Dodge in Down Periscope".
Butt Monkey: Many of his appearances involve some physical or mental suffering. "Cape Feare" may be the best example, given what he goes through under the car or when a parade (complete with several elephants) tramples him.
Expy: Some viewers see Sideshow Bob as an awful lot like Frasier Crane. Only he doesn't have a radio show, he's more successful at romance, and he's a crazy maniac (albeit one with very good manners) who wants to kill Bart.
Hates the Job, Loves the Limelight: This trope is what led to Bob's Start of Darkness. He accepted Krusty's job offer because he originally wanted to do a show that would be both entertaining and enlightening to the children who watched it, but his talents were utterly wasted on Krusty's lowbrow slapstick. Finally having enough, he framed Krusty for armed robbery so he could take over the show and remold it into what he wanted to do. Bob had finally realized his dream, and his show was earning great ratings...and then Bart exposed him for framing Krusty. Ouch.
And while he hated the indignity of being the put-upon sidekick, when Krusty accidentally erased all those old episodes, Sideshow Bob vowed revenge for him erasing his past.
Motive Decay: While he's almost always intended to kill Bart out of revenge for foiling his schemes, he goes so far as to side with his brother against him, even though his brother tried to kill him, embezzle a lot of money, destroy the town, and frame Bob for the latter two. Meanwhile, Bob and Bart seemingly made up during that period. If anything, he should want revenge on Cecil.
"Oh, please children. We've known each other so long, just call me Bob."
AAAGH! Bob!
Reformed, But Rejected: Sideshow Bob really tried to live a honest life in "Brother from Another Series", but Chief Wiggum stubbornly refused to believe him to be innocent regarding Cecil's plot in that episode.
Status Quo Is God: He will always have a venomous hatred of Bart and Krusty, despite having made up with each of them at least once. He interestingly holds nothing against the rest of the Simpson family despite a increasingly similar amount of suffering they have caused (Lisa has arguably became more pivotal in foiling his plans than Bart), and even publicly states his desire to kill Bart and only Bart. He's even sided with his brother Cecil against Bart, even though Cecil tried to frame and murder him and Bart saved Bob's life from Cecil.
Too Dumb to Live: In one episode, while on a houseboat, he honors Bart's last request to sing the entire score to the H.M.S. Pinafore. During this time, they pass the cops.
Villain Decay: Averted, but lampshaded. Bob is always devious and brilliant, but Bart has foiled his plans so often he isn't as afraid of him as he was in his first few appearances.
Bart: "Oh, it's you Bob. How ya doin'?" Bob: "No scream? Not even an 'eep'?" Bart: "Hey I'm not afraid of you, every time we tango you end up in jail, I'm 6-0."
Ascended Extra: Ol' Gil was expected to be a one-shot character in "Realty Bites." However, Dan Castellaneta was reportedly so funny at that episode's table read, the writers wanted to keep bringing the character back.
Expy: In his original appearances, he was a parody of Shelly "The Machine" Levene from Glengarry Glen Ross.
Straw Loser: Say what you will about Moe or Comic Book Guy, but at least they have a steady income and a roof over their heads. Gil will never have the former, and he's lucky whenever he gets the latter. He really seems to be at the bottom of the social ladder nearly all the time.
Gil: Oh, Ol' Gil's gonna collect big from insurance. I'll be eating food tonight!
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Since Phil Hartman's death, the Simpson family has been hiring Gil as their lawyer instead of Lionel Hutz.
Local mad scientist and nerdy genius. Voiced by Hank Azaria.
Expy: Of Jerry Lewis' character in The Nutty Professor. To the point where Lewis himself voiced Frink's father, John Frink Sr., in "Treehouse of Horror XIV".
Background Character: Is usually this, except for the "Homer's Night Out" episode
Belly Dancer: She's dressed as a belly dancer for a bachelor party on the season one episode, "Homer's Night Out" and has often appeared in her belly dancer garb in other episodes.
Hidden Depths: Homer introduces Bart to her (at Marge's request), to show him that women are not mindless sex objects.
What, Exactly, Is His Job?: Works at every gentlemen's club in Springfield, under several different stage names.
Kang and Kodos
Cyclopian aliens resembling giant green heads on writhing octopus tentacles, these two aliens from Rigel IV make guest appearances in some episodes but are most prominent in the "Simpson's Halloween" episodes, which are non-canonical horror analogies.
Halloween Episode: Traditionally, they've appeared in every installment, whether cameo appearence or part of the plot in a Halloween story(TOH I: "Hungry are they Dammed", TOH VI: "Citizen Kang", TOH IX: "Starship Poopers").
Naughty Tentacles: Averted. They impregnate Marge by zapping her with a special ray gun instead of actually having sex with her.
What Could Have Been: Interviews revealed that they were originally going to be regulars and only Homer could see them, but that proved "too weird," so they were moved to the Halloween specials. This is occasionally alluded to when they express bitterness at only showing up on Halloween, and eagerly accept a contract to do a commercial for Old Navy clothing when they decide that "work is work".
Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: In one of the first episodes he appeared in, he was representing a group of oil tycoons who make foolish purchases. Some of their past "investments" included a stained-glass bathrobe, and the world's fattest racehorse.
How much he is one is debatable, as he did once mention that he's going to tell his gay son that he loves him.
Truth in Television: Dick Cheney (one of the most conservative Republicans around) loves his gay daughter dearly and is a big supporter of gay marriage as a result.
Chief Clancy Wiggum
Chief of Springfield Police Department, Chief Wiggum is portrayed as lazy, gluttonous, out of shape, incompetent (if not mildly corrupt) and dim-witted. Voiced by Hank Azaria.
Doting Parent / Good Parents: Which trope depends on the episode. His saving grace is his interactions with Ralph: Wiggum is very encouraging of his son, and they have a very close and healthy releationship. Arguably, they're the most well-adjusted parental relationship on the show.
I Owe You My Life: In "Mother Simpson," flashbacks reveal Wiggum had asthma, but Mona and her group's releasing Burns' germs cured him - allowing him to join the police academy. Years later, he repaid the favor by tipping Homer off about the authorities coming for Mona.
You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Earlier in the show, he had black hair. Became blue as the show evolved in later seasons.
Joseph "Diamond Joe" Quimby
Springfield's mayor and head of a rich and politically influential clan. Known for his womanizing, general corruption and for changing his political stance at the drop of a hat if he thinks it will increase his popularity with the voters. Voiced by Dan Castellaneta.
American Accents: Joe Quimby and his family speak in a broad Boston (Kennedese) accent, humorously picked up on by Jon Stewart whenever he's discussing the Kennedys.
I Take Offense to That Last One: Diamond Joe would have you know that though he is a tax-cheat, a wife-swapper and a pot-smoker, he is no longer illiterate.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: The Quimby clan displays many of the hallmarks of the seamier sides of the Kennedys, although Diamond Joe in some stories also resembles other Democratic politicians, most notably Dukakis in Sideshow Bob Roberts. Mrs. Quimby dresses like Jacqueline Kennedy.
Strawman Political: As the series' most prominent recurring Democratic politician, he serves as primary target for TakeThats aimed at Democrats/Liberals.
Your Cheating Heart: Has a wife, but has had several gazillion different mistresses throughout the series.
Fat Tony
Head of the Springfield Mafia. Voiced by Joe Mantegna.
Exact Words: Fat Tony loves invoking these tropes: One instance is when, after Homer lost some money he borrowed from him in a football bet, Fat Tony, who learned of this, stated that Homer shouldn't worry, as he's sure that they'll "hammer out a payment plan." When he said "hammer out" a payment plan, he meant this literally, and certainly wasn't kidding, as he meant that he was going to have his goons restrain Homer and whack his right hand with a hammer multiple times.
Unholy Matrimony: Is often seen with his girlfriend, Gloria, who left him for Mr. Burns, but then came back when she saw that Mr. Burns was truly evil, not just a bad boy like Snake.
The Alcoholic: As implied in "Marge in Chains." He even argued his case before the court and was then informed he wasn't wearing any pants.
He's also seen drinking scotch at nine-thirty in the morning. In front of clients, no less.
Ambulance Chaser: In "Bart Gets Hit By a Car," Homer says upon meeting him, "You were the guy chasing Bart's ambulance."
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Averted. He's eccentric, odd and sleazy. And really, really bad at his job.
Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: All of Hartman's characters were retired after his death, as production thought it would be in poor taste to simply replace him. (The fact that his children would be watching was often cited.) There is the very rare occasion where they will turn up in the background, though.
