The Simpsons (animation)/Characters: Difference between revisions

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== The Simpson Family ==

** [[Badass Normal]]: They're just your typical everyday sitcom family, yet has established better feats than people in real life had.

** [[Badass Abnormal]]: In [[The Simpsons Game]], they all obtain superpowers that fit their characters while fighting entire corporations, video game characters, alien invasions, and {{spoiler|even '''GOD''' himself!}}

** [[Badass Adorable]]: Admit it, their idiocy can be endearing at times that you'd wish you were a part of them.

* [[Dysfunctional Family]]: Like you wouldn't believe.

* [[Five-Man Band]]: Depending on the plot or episode, the family changes their roles in this trope depending on the situation at hand, Bart and Homer are typically [[The Hero]]es though.

== Immediate Family ==

 

[[File:homer_1042.jpg|frame]]

 

{{quote|"Lord help me, I'm just not that bright."|''Some Enchanted Evening''}}

* [[Abusive Parents|Abusive Dad]]: Granted, even in his [[Jerkass]] characterization, he's less so than [[Family Guy|Peter Griffin]], but still. Though he's always [[Disproportionate Retribution|strangled Bart]].

** And then there's the original shorts, where he's almost as bad as Peter.

* [[Angrish]]: Frequently lapses into this, whether he is justified or not.

* [[The Alcoholic]]: He's the king of this [[Trope]].

* [[Anti-Hero]]: [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes|Type I, IV, or V]], [[Depending on the Writer|depending on the episode]].

* [[Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny]]

* [[Awesome McCoolname]]: He once legally changed his name to Max Power.

* [[Bald of Awesome]]

* [[Big Eater]]

* [[The Big Guy]]

* [[Born Lucky]]

* [[Boisterous Bruiser]]: He is more Falstaff than falstaff.

* [[Bumbling Dad]]

* [[Butt Monkey]]: Even with all his [[Jerkass]] tendencies, you do feel sympathy for what he goes through at times.

"Why, you little...!!!"

"Mmm, [insert food here]..."

"Bo-ring!" }}

* [[Charlie Brown Baldness]]

* [[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.

* [[Comically Missing the Point]]: Falls victim to this a lot.

* [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]]

*** 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 [[The Ace|Ned Flanders]]." It gained a following in Springfield and, when he co-produced with David Byrne, it became hit with many covers.

* [[Functional Addict]]: Depending on the writer

* [[Hair-Trigger Temper]]

* [[Informed Deformity]]: He is considered extremely fat and unfit. Actually he is only 239 lbs, and tall to start.

** [[Family Guy|Peter Griffin's]] got him beat. Even in the same universe, so do Comic Book Guy, Chief Wiggum ([[Hypocritical Humor|who actually had the nerve to call Homer fat]]), and Mayor Joe Quimby, for starters.

* [[Omniglot]]: Has spoken German, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, a little bit of French (describes "Trash Night" as "La Nuit des Poubelles"), and [[Speaks Fluent Animal|penguin]]. No. Really.

{{quote|"I can understand food talk in any language."}}

* [[Papa Wolf]]: Call [[The Protagonist|Homer]] what you want, [[The Protagonist|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 [[Granola Girl|Lisa]].

** [[Abusive Parents|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. Skinner also learns what happens if you [[Break the Haughty| toy with Bart's emotion just to see him broken mentally]] expert Homer to show up to help Bart get even.

* [[Perma-Stubble]]

* [[Super Serum]]: Beer has this effect on him in at least one episode.

* [[Taking Advantage of Generosity]]: Especially when borrowing stuff from Flanders.

* [[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.)

* [[Took a Level in Jerkass]]: post-[[Flanderization]]

* [[Wrong Genre Savvy]]: In the episode "Homer Goes to College," Homer is convinced his college experience will be exactly like the [[Wacky Fratboy Hijinx|party atmosphere]] college is often depicted as in [[Animal House|movies]], not realizing he's in a satire that thoroughly subverts the trope.

 

[[File:margesimpson_1431.jpg|frame]]

 

{{quote|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.}}

* [[Action Mom]]

* [[Beehive Hairdo]]

* [[Catch Phrase]]: "Hmmmmmm..."

* [[The Chick]]

* [[Closer to Earth]]: Though admitedly she is only sane ''in comparison'' to [[The Protagonist|Homer]] as seasons progress. In many cases [[Not So Above It All|even he is shocked at some of her actions]].

* [[Education Mama]]: Especially with [[Anti-Hero|Bart]], she even home-schools him for a period of time.

* [[Feminine Women Can Cook]]: [[Action Mom|Marge]] seems to buy into this quite a lot.

* [[Hammerspace Hair]]

* [[Happily Married]]: For most of the show's run.

* [[Hazel Eyes]]

* [[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.

* [[Housewife]]

* [[Impossibly Low Neckline]]: Her regular dress. It's even commented on.

* [[Progressively Prettier]]: Although [[Action Mom|Marge's]] appearance hasn't changed, how attractive she is stated to be has changed from housewife to centerfold.

** Also present in the original Tracy Ulman show shorts. Marge started out as quite dumpy, but quickly began slimming down.

* [[Stepford Smiler]]: More pronounced as of recent, although it's understandable considering [[The Protagonist|Homer's]] increasing [[Jerkass|Jerkassness]].

* [[Talking to Himself|Talking To Herself]]: [[Action Mom|Marge's]] voice actress (Julie Kavner) also voices [[Action Mom|Marge's]] sisters, Patty and Selma, and Marge's mom, Jackie.

* [[Ugly Guy, Hot Wife]]: Hot Wife to Homer's Ugly Guy.

* [[You Gotta Have Blue Hair]]

 

 

=== [[Anti-Hero|Bartholomew "Bart" Jo-Jo Simpson]] ===

 

{{quote|The original [[The Protagonist|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]].}}

{{quote|"Eat my shorts!"

"Don't have a cow, man."

"[[Gratuitous Spanish|¡Ay, caramba!]]" (That last bit was actually his first words, in fact) }}

* [[Class Clown]]

** On that note, he also defended her on at least one occasion. One notable occasion being when [[The Ace|Ned Flanders]] went into a total breakdown in regards to what happened and lashed out at everyone, and tried to defend her telling [[The Ace|Ned]] to back off. Later leads into an [[Even Evil Has Standards]] moment below.

* [[Even Evil Has Standards]]: There are some things that even [[Anti-Hero|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, when [[The Protagonist|Homer]] had him doing a grease racketing job, and [[The Protagonist|Homer]] was shoveling the grease into the back of [[Anti-Hero|Marge's]] car (without any containers), [[Anti-Hero|Bart]] objects and says "Mom's going to kill you!"

** He absolutely hates it when someone severely injures his pet dog, and had [[Big Bad|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 [[Big Bad|Mr. Burns's]] vile behavior.

* [[Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling]]: The foolish to Lisa's responsible.

** [[Abusive Parents|His father could also count.]]

*** Repeatedly being told you were never wanted does that to you

* [[Omniglot]]: Has spoken French, Vietnamese ("Mau! Di di mau!"), Japanese, and Spanish ("[[Catch Phrase|¡Ay, caramba!]]").

** In fact, he once learned fluent Spanish [[Wrong Genre Savvy|during a plane trip to Brazil]].

* [[Pet the Dog]]: At the end of the 500th episode, {{spoiler|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]]: [[Anti-Hero|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.

* [[Taking Advantage of Generosity]]

* [[Totally Radical]]: During the early years of the show. He actually did say "Cowabunga" a couple of times.

* [[Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist]]

* [[Villain Protagonist]]

* [[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.

 

[[File:lisa-simpson_6078.jpg|frame]]

 

* [[All Girls Like Ponies]]: So much

* [[All Girls Want Bad Boys]]: [[Puppy Love|She had a crush on Nelson]] once, [[First Kiss|and he was her first kiss]].

* [[Anti-Hero]]: [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes|Type II]]

* [[Author Avatar]]

* [[Bob Haircut]]: Gets this hairstyle, complete with dyeing her hair {{color|brown|brown}}, in the subplot of "To Surveil With Love".

* [[Catch Phrase]]: [[Granola Girl|Lisa]] didn't have a [[Catch Phrase]] 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 "[[Anti-Hero|Bart]] Gets Famous". [[Granola Girl|Lisa]] also said this in "[[Granola Girl|Lisa]] the Vegetarian", "Grift of the Magi", and "Dude, Where's My Ranch?".

* [[Granola Girl]]

* [[I Can't Dance]]: She eventually mastered jazz dancing, but she's terrible at tap and ballet.

* [[Intelligence Equals Isolation]]

* [[Germans Love David Hasselhoff| Japan Loves Lisa]]: Lisa actually has a fan-based in Japan. Considering that Lisa takes her education very serious, many in Japan can relate to her. She’s also a Buddhist, which it’s the second most common religion in Japan, just behind Shinto.

* [[Kindhearted Cat Lover]]

* [[The Messiah]]: The ''closest'' equivalent the [[Crapsack World]] of Matt Groening has, anyway.

* [[Mouthy Kid]]

* [[Mr. Exposition|Miss Exposition]]

'''[[Granola Girl|Lisa]]:''' Aah, just keep taking pictures. }}

* [[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.

* [[Vague Age]]: In "[[Granola Girl|Lisa]] the Beauty Queen":

{{quote|'''[[The Protagonist|Homer]]:''' [[Granola Girl|Lisa's]] aged 7 to 9!}}

* [[Wise Beyond Their Years]]

 

 

=== [[Brainy Baby|Margaret "Maggie" Simpson]] ===

 

{{quote|The youngest of the children. Typically a marginal figure, but does get her share of scenes. {{spoiler|Most famous for turning out to have accidentally shot Mr. Burns in the series' first two-parter episode.}} Voiced by [[Elizabeth Taylor]], [[Jodie Foster]], [[James Earl Jones]], [[Nancy Cartwright]], and [[Yeardley Smith]].}}

* [[The Speechless]]: {{spoiler|1=Until her [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm6gGgQOD9o first word.]}}

* [[The Voiceless]]

== Extended Family ==

 

 

=== [[Shell Shocked Senior|Grampa Abraham "Abe" Simpson]] ===

 

 

* [[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.

** [["Well Done, Son" Guy|Considering how he raised him, this may be justified.]]

* [[Cloudcuckoolander]]: Partly due to his senile disposition, though he seems on par with most other Simpsons.

* [[Grumpy Old Man]]

* [[I Was Quite a Looker]]: "I was once the handsomest man in Buffalo!"

* [[May-December Romance]]: Is briefly married to [[Looking for Love In All the Wrong Places|Selma]], but they eventually realize it won't work and get divorced.

* [[The Munchausen]]

* [[Senior Sleep Cycle]]

* [[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...."

* [[Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!]]

* [[Shell Shocked Senior]]

** 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.

* [[When I Was Your Age]]: He loves these

 

 

=== [[Cool Old Lady|Grandma Mona Simpson]] ===

 

{{quote|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 ===

 

{{quote|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 {{spoiler|Patty is a lesbian}}), though Selma does want to have a child. Voiced by Julie Kavner.}}

* [[Abuse Is Okay When It Is Female On Male]]: Especially where Homer is concerned.

* [[The Beard]]: Selma is this to Troy McClure for a period of time. {{spoiler|She divorces him when he tries to have a baby with her, saying she couldn't bring a child into a loveless marriage.}}

* [[Covert Pervert]]

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]

* [[Jerkass]]: Both but Patty is by a long shot the most embittered and spiteful of the two.

** They tried [[Moral Event Horizon|to ''murder'' Homer Simpson.]]

* [[Obnoxious In-Laws]]

* [[Maiden Aunt]]: Both embody the "bitter spinster" archetype to a T.

=== Snowball II ===

 

 

* [[Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal]]: She only wears a collar and she doesn't even wear one all the time.

* [[Female Feline, Male Mutt]]: The female cat.

* [[Legacy Character]]: As the name implies, she replaced the original, white [[Posthumous Character|Snowball]], who was run over by a car. {{spoiler|And then she herself was replaced after being run over, with the replacements being run over too. The newest cat(Snowball V) was simply called Snowball II [[Lampshade Hanging|to save money on changing the food bowl]]}}.

 

=== Santa's Little Helper ===

 

 

* [[A Dog Ate My Homework]]: Santa's Little Helper does this once, much to Bart's surprise.

* [[Canine Companion]]

* [[Dogs Are Dumb]]: It varies.

* [[Female Feline, Male Mutt]]: The male dog.

* [[Beware the Nice Ones]]

* [[Catch Phrase]]: "Hidely ho!"

* [[Flanderization]]: [[Trope Namer]].

* [[The Fundamentalist]]

* [[Hippie Parents]]: Or Beatnik, in this case

* [[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...".

* [[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" -- '''c'''lean living, '''c'''hewing thoroughly, and a daily dose of vitamin '''c'''hurch.

{{quote|'''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! }}

** 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.

* [[Parting Words Regret]]: "I can't believe my last words to (Maude) were 'no footlongs.'" [[It Makes Sense in Context]].

{{quote|"OH, HELL, DIDDLY-DING-DONG CRAP! CAN'T YOU MORONS DO ANYTHING RIGHT?!"}}

* [[Rage Breaking Point]]

* [[Screams Like a Little Girl]]: Sings like one, too, [[Squick|which Bart finds very disturbing]].

* [[Sensitive Guy and Manly Man]]: Sensitive Guy to Homer's Manly Man.

* [[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.

* [[Stupid Sexy Flanders]]: [[Trope Namer|Is it any wonder?]]

* [[Verbal Tic|Ver-diddly-erbal Tic]]

 

* [[Nice Guy|Nice Gal]]

* [[The Other Darrin]]: After Roswell left, Marcia Mitzman-Gaven took over for what would be Maude's remaining episodes.

 

=== Rod and Todd Flanders ===

[[File:206708_5386.jpg|frame]]

* [[Ambiguously Gay]]

** Lampshaded by Bart when he got them to tell Ned they were gay.

* [[Cheerful Child]]

* [[Children Are Innocent]]

 

=== Hans Moleman ===

[[File:200px-Hans_Moleman_5269.png|frame]]

 

{{quote|A dwarfish, heavily wrinkled elderly man with thick glasses and terrible luck, who repeatedly shows up in the series. Voiced by: [[Dan Castellaneta]]}}

* [[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.

* [[They Killed Kenny]]

* [[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: {{spoiler|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).

 

* [[Action Girl]]

* [[Hot Mom]]

* [[Looking for Love In All the Wrong Places]]: Implied, at least.

* [[The Ditz]]: Justified, as he's usually drunk.

* [[Fat Best Friend]]

* [[Naked People Are Funny]]: Went streaking at the Springfield High School senior prom in 1974.

* [[Off the Wagon]]

=== Cletus Spuckler ===

* [[Berserk Button]]: In [[The Simpsons Game| the game]], the aliens found this by having him [[Anal Probing| probed]]

'''Homer''': Gross but fair}}

* [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]]

 

=== Mr. Charles Montgomery Burns ===

 

{{quote|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).}}

=== Waylon Smithers, Jr. ===

[[File:smithers_123_2405.jpg|frame| Yes, Mr. Burns.]]

 

{{quote|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]].}}

=== Frank Grimes ===

[[File:Grimey_Franks_622.jpg|frame|Look at me! I'm Homer Simpson!]]

 

{{quote|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]].}}

* [[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.

* [[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.

== Springfield Shopkeepers ==

=== Jeff "Comic Book Guy" Albertson ===

 

* [[Berserk Button]]: See the article on [[Canon]].

* [[Mad Libs Catchphrase]]: ''Worst/Best __ Ever''.

* [[Proud to Be a Geek]]: "[[The Simpsons Movie|Life well spent!]]"

* [[Take That]]: The writers of the Simpsons sometimes use Comic Book Guy to lampoon the show's [[Unpleasable Fanbase]].

{{quote|'''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.

'''Comic Book Guy''': Worst. Episode. Ever. }}

* [[Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness]]/[[Canis Latinicus]]:

'''Comic Book Guy:''' Perhaps because you are ''prepubescent ignoramus''. }}

* [[Straw Fan]]

=== Apu Nahasapeemapetilon ===

 

 

* [[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 [[Day in The Limelight|several focus episodes]].

{{quote|"Thank you, come again!"

"I can't believe you don't shut up!" }}

* [[Funny Foreigner]]

* [[Henpecked Husband]]

* [[Immigrant Patriotism]]

* [[Your Cheating Heart]]: Cheats on Manjula with the Squishee lady.

 

* [[Deep-Fried Whatever]]: Uncle Moe's Family Feedbag

* [[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.

* [[Flanderization]]

* [[Friend to All Children]]: He is probably the nicest guy to ever babysit Maggie.

* [[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.

* [[Punny Name]]: Not Moe himself, but he's always being asked for Al Koholik, Ivana Tinkel, and Hugh Jass.

* [[Stalker with a Crush]]: On Midge... er, Marge.

=== Kent Brockman ===

 

 

{{quote|The primary reporter for the local TV News channel. 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.

* [[Chewing the Scenery]]: Inverted. He's almost hilariously deadpan and monotonal in most of his appearances. Perhaps as an [[Enforced Trope|enforced]] case of [[Bad Bad Acting]].

* [[Goggles Do Nothing]]: The [[Trope Namer]]

* [[I Am Not Shazam]]: He is sometimes called McBain by those not too familiar with this character. ([[In-Universe]] similarly.) See [[Show Within a Show]].

 

=== Troy McClure ===

** In "Das Bus", he only appears in-character on a TV movie based on [[The Bible|the story of Noah's Ark]]. When Marge walks in and tells the family to get to bed, Lisa had this line:

{{quote|'''Lisa:''' You let us stay up to watch Troy McClure in such other bible epics as ''David vs. Super-Goliath'' and ''Suddenly Last Supper''!}}

{{quote|'''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).

=== Principal W. Seymour Skinner {{spoiler|a.k.a. Armin Tamzarian}} ===

 

 

 

* [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]]: You don't believe that a momma's boy like him can beat up two of Disney Corporation's goons.

* [[Former Teen Rebel]]: Was a worse prankster than Bart in his youth.

* [[Malaproper]]: He was quite prone to these in his early appearances:

* [[Momma's Boy]]: Which leads to...

* [[My Beloved Smother]]: [[Trope Namer]]; he lives with, and is co-dependent with, his mom.

[[File:200px-Edna_Krabappel_1859.png|frame]]

 

 

* [[Belligerent Sexual Tension]]: With Seymour

* [[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.

* [[Mrs. Robinson]]: Also [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] to hell and back.

* [[The Snark Knight]]

* {{spoiler|[[They Do]] and [[Official Couple]]: [[Portmanteau Couple Name|Nedna]] wins.}}

 

=== Groundskeeper William "Willie" MacDougal ===

{{quote|Cantankerous Scottish groundskeeper of Springfield Elementary. Voiced by [[Dan Castellaneta]].}}

 

** 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.

* [[Mexicans Love Speedy Gonzales| Scotland Loves Willie]]: Despite being a mockery, Willie is well liked in Scotland and has a huge fan-base.

* [[Unwitting Pawn]]: After he finds out Skinner made up Scotchtoberfest as a sting for Bart.

{{quote|"Ya used me Skinner! YA USED ME!"}}

=== Superintendent Gary Chalmers ===

 

 

* [[Big Word Shout]]

* [[Defictionalization]]: Otto's ''Bus Man'' comic from "Three Men and a Comic Book" was later made into a back-up story in ''[[Simpsons Comics]]''

* [[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.

* [[Military Brat]]: Otto's father is an Admiral in the United States Navy who disapproves of his lazy, pot-smoking son.

* [[Species Surname]]: Rare human example.

 

== Students: ==

* [[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.

* [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]]

* [[Kids Are Cruel]]: Initially.

* [[Parental Abandonment]]

 

=== Ralph Wiggum ===

* [[The Ditz]]

* [[Flanderization]]: Ralph actually had an intelligent side in the early seasons but this disappeared in later episodes.

* [[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".

''They both laugh'' }}

* [[Dogged Nice Guy]]: Towards Lisa.

* [[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.

* [[Hollywood Nerd]]

=== Jimbo Jones, Dolph Starbeam, and Kearney Zzyzwicz ===

 

 

* [[Ambiguously Jewish]]: In “24 Minutes”, we learn Dolph is a Jew.

 

* [[Badass Preacher]]: Has saved Homer's life on at least one occasion, as well as Flanders in another occasion.

** 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.

* [[Hiding Behind Religion]]

{{quote|And that's when I got ''mad.''}}

* [[Parental Neglect]]: Apparently the reason why Jessica Lovejoy was not a good girl.

* [[Preacher Man]]

* [[Rail Enthusiast]]

{{quote|Reverend Lovejoy's snooping, interfering, gossipy busy-body of a wife. Voiced by Maggie Roswell and Marcia Mitzman Gaven.}}

 

* [[Think of the Children]]: [[Trope Namer]]

* [[Gossipy Hens]]

* [[Smug Snake]]

* [[The Cobbler's Children Have No Shoes]]

 

== The Itchy and Scratchy Show ==

 

=== Itchy ===

* [[Amazing Technicolor Wildlife]]

* [[Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal]]

 

=== Scratchy ===

* [[Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal]]: He only wears [[White Gloves]]

* [[Cruel and Unusual Death]]: He suffers one [[Once Per Episode]]

** 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!"

 

=== Poochie ===

* [[Barefoot Cartoon Animal]]: When he is not wearing shoes.

* [[Fully-Dressed Cartoon Animal]]: When he is wearing shoes.

* [[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.

{{quote|'''Bart''': "Oh, it's you Bob. How ya doin'?"

'''Bob''': "No scream? Not even an 'eep'?"

* [[Wicked Cultured]]

* [[You Meddling Kids]]: "Krusty Gets Busted".

* [[Bungling Inventor]]: Several of his inventions have malfunctioned, with [[Hilarity Ensues|hilarious]] results.

* [[Depending on the Writer]]: Sometimes Professor Frink's inventions malfunction, and other times they work perfectly well, depending on the needs of the plot. The self-tapping dance shoes he invented for Lisa ended up going out of control, but the auto-dialling machine that Homer used in his electric panhandling scheme worked just fine.

* [[Hollywood Nerd]]

* [[Mad Scientist]]

* [[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 ===

 

* [[Aliens Speaking English]]: Rigellian coincidentally sounds just like English

* [[Naughty Tentacles]]: Averted. They impregnate Marge by zapping her with a special ray gun instead of actually having sex with her.

* [[Starfish Aliens]]

* [[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".

 

* [[Reckless Gun Usage]]

* [[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.

 

* [[Anti-Hero]]: Type I

* [[Dirty Cop]]

* [[Fat Idiot]]

* [[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.

* [[Mayor Pain]]: [[Trope Namer]] for Type B.

* [[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.

* [[Your Cheating Heart]]: Has a wife, but has had ''several gazillion'' different mistresses throughout the series.

 

** "Goodbye, student loan payments!"

* [[Catch Phrase]]: "Bye!"

* [[Known Only By Their Nickname]]: He's has been called Snake Jailbird since he was a teenager, first by Clancy Wiggum.

** [[Embarrassing First Name]]: His real name is Chester, but he's likely got used to being called Snake.

* [[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.

* [[Frivolous Lawsuit]]: His usual thing. Heck, he once sued the makers of ''[[The Neverending Story (film)|The Neverending Story]]'' for false advertising.

* [[Make the Dog Testify]]: Does this occasionally

 

 

[[Category:Characters (animation)]]