Homer Simpson

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Homer Jay Simpson (voiced by Dan Castellaneta) is one of the main characters in the animated television series The Simpsons. The father of the Simpson family, Homer is overweight, lazy, and not too bright. His behavior is often absurd, selfish, dangerous, clumsy, idiotic, and insensitive, but he still remains lovable. Over the years, he has evolved into an iconic symbol, recognized and understood by millions of mis-understood fathers across the globe.

Overview

Template:Spoiler Homer works as a safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, in Sector 7G, although "working" in this case refers largely to dozing and eating doughnuts. He spends a great deal of his time at Moe's Tavern with his lifelong friends Barney, Carl, Lenny, and bartender Moe. At home he is often to be found sitting on the sofa mindlessly watching TV while snacking on comfort foods and drinking cans of Duff Beer.

Homer Simpson popularized the annoyed grunt "D'oh!" (made memorable through Dan Castellaneta's distinctive voice work), which began as an abbreviated form of Jimmy Finlayson's "Dooooh" from the films of Laurel and Hardy. This modern interjection has found enough popular acceptance to be included in the Oxford English Dictionary.

Family

Homer was born in Springfield, born and raised (though one episode suggests he was born in Toronto, Canada; see Age below). Homer is:

• the second son of Abraham Simpson and first son of Mona Simpson (sometimes refered to as Penelope Olson);
• the husband of Marjorie Bouvier ("Marge");
• the father of Bart, Lisa and Maggie;
• the half-brother of Herb Powell, whose mother was a carnival worker Abraham had a tryst with while she was passing through Springfield; and
• the half-brother of "Abbie", the daughter of a woman whom Abraham met while stationed in Britain during World War II.

In a more recent episode he even had another man claiming to be his real father.

Age

It has been suggested in the series that Homer is between 36 and 39 years old. In one episode, a quiz indicates he will die at 42 and he wails that he has "only three years to live" (it should be noted that Homer or Marge's mental arithmetic may not be reliable). Various episodes have given his date of birth as 12 January 1956, 12 May 1956, 10 May 1955, and 20 March 1955; and even 17-23-1956 [sic] (the former holiday Whacking Day is also on May 10, which causes Homer's birthday to go uncelebrated—even by Homer; it should also be noted that in a later episode only Homer remembers his birthday, claiming it the same day as Santa's Little Helper's (although there is no evidence that any of the Simpsons were present at Santa's Little Helper's birth). In "Treehouse of Horror XI", Homer claims his astrological sign is Taurus while reading the horoscope section of a newspaper. This sign corresponds to anyone born between April 20th and May 20th, which would make any birthdates not between those dates invalid, thus May 12 is most likely the correct date. But most recently in an episode from Season 17, "Homer's Paternity Coot," it is revealed that the letter from Homer's "real" father was written in 1966, and apparently Homer was still inside his mother's womb whilst this was done, thus meaning Homer was born in 1966, and is currently 40 years old.

Address

Homer and his family probably live at 742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield. Several alternative house numbers on Evergreen Terrace are given in various episodes, including 59, 94, 555, 723, 743, 763, and 1094, in addition to 430 Spalding Way. However, the show itself has repeatedly avoided displaying Springfield on a map of the United States.

In the 299th episode Homer's email address was given to be chunkylover53@aol.com. The show's writer-producer Matt Selman registered the address before the episode aired. He has since replied to fans who emailed in following that episode.

Personality

Homer's essential personality traits presented themselves early on. He was raised solely by his father after the approximate age of 4. Homer slid through his classes and apparently graduated despite not passing Remedial Science until some twenty-plus years later. His senior yearbook reveals a lack of interest in sports and activities, and his quote was "I can't believe I ate the whole thing." In high school, Homer fell in love with Marge Bouvier, whom he would later marry (though both would later learn they had first met while children at summer camp). Following the completion of Remedial Science, Homer entered Springfield Heights Institute of Technology and graduated due solely to illicitly changed grades. His education was further buttressed by Clown College, Bodyguard School, Successmanship 101, Santa training, the Lanley Institute of Monorail Conducting, and mandatory Family Skills courses.

His short attention span complements his intense (albeit short-lived) passion for hobbies, enterprises or causes. Although by nature an exceedingly lazy man, he is capable of exerting tremendous effort toward something, if only for short periods of time. This is described in his own words: "When I'm passionate about something, I see it through to the end". He has converted his garage into a bar, just to spite his local bartender Moe Szyslak; spent a whole episode studying and emulating Thomas Edison; convinced all of Springfield that the Rapture was imminent; and attempted to uncover a plot to trade Springfield's baseball team interstate by going on a hunger strike. These massively spirited endeavours can be triggered by almost nothing, as evidenced by his short-lived grease collection business.

Health issues

Regarding his health, Homer is incredibly lucky to be alive. He once gained an extra 61 pounds on top of his already obese condition to get on disability. He has broken almost every bone in his body, been shot numerous times, received countless cuts and bruises, both major and minor. Simpson has also encountered many injuries; the whole list of which is available on the talk page. Homer has been rendered sterile from prolonged exposure to toxic materials at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant.

Homer's brain is cushioned by a unique and eponymous genetic condition: "Homer Simpson's syndrome." This allowed him to take several consecutive punches without falling over. Moe even trained Homer for boxing (with hobos), although Homer's boxing career ended when he was nearly killed by Drederick Tatum (who is much stronger than a hobo).

Homer also suffers from several congenital conditions – most obviously male pattern baldness, but also a male "Simpson" stupidity gene, finger stubbiness (abnormally short and thick fingers) and the "Simpson butt" (a rather large rear end, which requires him to wear "balloon seated" pants) – which are genetic and which he has passed on to his children. Homer also appears to have far-sighted vision (on occasion), requiring the use of reading glasses when reading a book or newspaper. He has also been seen putting in contacts which have possibly replaced his glasses.

Homer stands at 6 feet (1.83 meters).

Mental acuity

Homer has strangled Bart on many occasions

As widely evidenced, Homer's mind is vacuous, but sprinkled with occasional dense packets of knowledge. He has shown small bursts of astonishing foresight, memory, creativity, and fluency with language (including Japanese, German, Chinese, Spanish, and penguin). He has once posed the question "How come China is communist, and yet I see rudimentary free markets springing up everywhere?" to a bemused Chinese adoption agent. These bursts are almost always temporary, constantly changing, and frequently self-serving. He knows the name of every Ayatollah that has ruled Iran, for example, but only to persuade Marge to let him keep a vulgar T-shirt bearing the logo "Ayatollah Ass-a-hole-a" that she tried to get rid of at a yard sale. He can name several historical Chief Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, but this may well because one bears the name of a food product (Warren Burger). He once mentioned Frank Lloyd Wright in perfect context while arguing with Lisa, then confessed he has no idea who Wright was. Still another time, while using a knife to pull out a bullet, he identified all the tissue the knife came in contact with. Homer also has a master's degree in nuclear physics (although he only obtained it the second time around, after cheating the first time).

Homer has also displayed a startlingly broad vocabulary, having spent several nights asleep with an "Improve Your Vocabulary" cassette playing. Sadly, the cassette was sent to him in error instead of the "Lose Weight In Your Sleep" cassette he had actually ordered. Bart professed himself frustrated by Homer's subsequent employment of English which included the observation "Now there's a Machiavellian countenance" (on seeing Bart's face) and "Ooh! A sextet of ale!" (on discovering six cans of Duff beer in his refrigerator). After Lisa explained the mix up, Homer threw the offending cassette away exclaiming "Disingenuous mountebanks with their subliminal chicanery! Apox on thee!!"

The nature of this sporadic intellect is multi-fold and largely useless as well as transient. He also has musical talent, being able to play the piano and trombone. He is also able to touch-type. Much of his mental ability is suppressed by the presence of a wax crayon in the frontal lobe of his brain, the result of a bizarre childhood mishap. The crayon was removed and Homer became super-intelligent, to the extent that no one wanted to be around him anymore. The crayon was re-inserted at the end of the episode, as he had seemingly become too smart to be happy (which suggests Lisa lives in utter dispair). Also credited is the Simpson Gene, which almost guarantees that male Simpsons become underachievers. His stupidity may be exacerbated further by excessive alcohol consumption, exposure to radioactive waste, and repetitive cranial trauma. In one episode, Homer acknowledged that his problems with consistency are due to his repeated head injuries (and then went off topic, further proving this).

Homer is inclined to fall into fantasy, often drifting off into his own world (such as riding the nuclear bomb à la Slim Pickens in Dr. Strangelove, fantasizing about primitive black and white cartoon characters dancing to the tune of "Turkey in the Straw", and the infamous land of chocolate daydream) or perceiving reality in a more personally appealing manner. Some of his dreams appear to be violent parodies of Hanna-Barbera cartoons, including Yogi Bear with Ranger Ned and Bart-Bart ("Gee, Homie, it's not very nice to maul Ranger Ned") and Magilla Gorilla. Other bizarre dreams include being an unborn baby and conversations with God (while asleep in church). Notable are the odd conversations he has with his own brain, typically in an adversarial tone. For example, once he began a conversation with his own mind by declaring "Okay brain, you don't like me and I don't like you...". His liver once spoke to him too, cheering "Yay!" when Homer had been banned from Moe's bar and thus (briefly) depriving him of the ability to drink.

Homer is also prone to becoming very emotional, especially when it comes to his neighbors, the Flanders family, or troubles related to his son, Bart. He has rage issues and has been physically and violently abusive, often towards his son, whom he has strangled and fought with on numerous occasions.

Homer also has an IQ of 55, which makes him mentally retarded. This was established in the episode "HOMЯ", where Homer says his IQ was raised 50 points, and later on in the episode, he asks if there's any place for a man with a 105 IQ (which is only average). Since this was Smart Homer talking, it makes no sense. Some people have suggested the laughably absurd idea that both numbers were rounded, which makes no sense either.

It has also been suggested that Homer may suffer from at least a mild form of autism. In the episode "$pringfield," Homer—in a spoof of the movie, Rain Man—tries to restrain an autistic man from leaving a Blackjack table at Mr. Burns' casino, but winds up beating his hands against his head when the man begins to panic. In the episode "Burns' Heir," an actor playing Homer who resembles Michael Caine—after flubbing a line—complains to Burns that he cannot play the role credibly, contending that Homer may suffer from the same neurological disorders as the characters in Rain Man and Awakenings.

Homer's mental ability is best summed up by this conversation, held with Marge:

Homer: Every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain! Remember when I took that home wine-making course and I forgot how to drive?

Marge: That's because you were drunk!
Homer: And how!

Diet

On the food front, Homer is particularly fond of doughnuts (especially LardLad Brand) and pork chops, but also pie, bacon, Krusty Burgers, pizza, seafood, American cheese, and especially salt doodles and pork rinds and most of all Duff Beer. He once spent weeks eating a gigantic hoagie long after it went bad, making him deathly ill.

In his gluttony, he has aquired more exotic tastes, such as flowers, Play-Doh, Vaseline, dirt, Lego, pure flour, some novelty plastic lobsters from a salad bar, toxic waste, buttered up bacon, a badly rotted 12-foot sandwich, dishwashing liquid, the decorative bride and groom from a wedding cake (which he mistook for candy), a lubricated rubber stopper that had been inserted into his mouth just before receiving electroshock, fancy soaps, a package of dry gravy mix he found in a parking lot, men's slacks and as a bet for 50 dollars with Bart, baking soda from the family refrigerator, that according to Marge, "came with the house". He also once was forced to eat all of the memorabilia attributed to his biker gang, the Hell's Satans. That included a jacket, a hat, frisbees, and Pogs. When Homer needed to get a present for mother's day for Marge, he got a carnival candy maker and made a life size ball of pure cotton candy smothered with caramel and deep fried and ate for weeks while it was rotting.

The poor example of his diet is frequently noted the series. Homer typically responds to food with copious drool and exuberant postures, or saying "mmm... ______" of whatever food he's about to eat or thinking about (not always necessarily food though). He also has his own experiment called "out of this world moon waffles:" consisting of waffle batter, caramel candy and liquid smoke baked and wrapped around an entire stick of butter.

Homer drinks large quantities of Duff brand beer, both at Moe's Tavern and at home. He has occasionally experimented with Fudd Beer too, when no Duff is available. In his youth Homer apparently drank a brand called Billy Beer. In one episode he finds a years-old can in the pocket of an old jacket and, of course, drinks it.

Enemies

Being "a people person who drinks," Homer has garnered more than a few lasting enemies. His next-door neighbor, Christian fundamentalist and super-nice-guy Ned Flanders, has long provoked Homer's seemingly endless rage and hostility, apparently innocuously. Most notable is deceased co-worker Frank "Grimey" Grimes, whose death was caused, albeit indirectly, by Homer's antics. This naturally resulted in the rancor of the aforementioned's illegitimate son, Frank Grimes, Jr.

Other adversaries of note include:

• Sisters-in-law Patty and Selma Bouvier, whom reciprocate Homer's dislike.
• Society of No Homers
• Employer C. Montgomery Burns
• Mobster "Fat Tony."
• Artie Ziff
• Nerds
• Ned Flanders
• Springfield University Dean Bobby Peterson (Homer disliked all college deans, thanks to his misconceptions that such administrators are evil, as portrayed in college movies).
• Former president George H. W. Bush (the two disagreed on Homer's methods of rearing a naughty Bart).
• The Emperor of Japan.
• "the fat little Dixie Chick."
• New York City.
• Springfield Candy Convention
• Springfield A & M
• Shelbyville
• PBS, because Homer failed to make good on his $10,000 pledge, just for the sake of ending the drive.
• The State of Florida.
• Sean Hannity.
• Homer Clones in "Clones" from one of the treehouse of horros
• The Hell Santans bike gang
• An "Inanimate Carbon Rod" (from "Deep Space Homer," because the stick of carbon, not Homer, was credited for saving a space mission Homer was participating in from disaster.
• A Krusty the Clown killer doll (in the "Treehouse of Horror III" segment "Clown Without Pity," where a Krusty talking doll murderously stalks Homer, but acts normally when anyone else is around. The segment itself was a parody of a "Twilight Zone" episode, "Living Doll.").
• Frank "Grimey" Grimes
• Frank Grimes Jr.
• The Plow King (friend/temporary business adversary Barney Gumble)
• Waylan Smithers
• Rod and Tod Flanders
• The Queen of England after crashing her coach.
• England as Homer attacked the Queen.

Along with the rest of his family, he is banned from every state in the United States, except North Dakota and Arizona, rejecting the latter because of its perceived funny smell.

Sexuality

He has been kissed by at least two other men (his brief personal assistant Karl, and his openly gay temporary housemate in one episode) and has later wondered whether Marge's kiss is the best he has had that day. During his brief career as an artist he paints Lenny and Carl in the showers, unconvincingly claiming that it is for "art." That said, Homer has also displayed mild homophobia complaining that homosexuals have taken all the toughest American names such as "Julian" and attempting to ensure Bart grows up "straight" by taking him on an unsuccessful deer hunt. He has once expressed an unwillingness to enter one gay bar, but only out of self-consciousness for his appearance. In another episode Homer finds Bart and Milhouse dressing up in girls' clothes, angrily demands the "non-gay answer", and is delighted to discover that it is because they are drunk, rather than gay or transvestite. He becomes violent when Bart mentions being "a little attracted to Milhouse." On the other hand, he has also disco danced at another gay bar with his two gay housemates, enjoying it so much that he has taken his shirt off and waved it around his head in rhythm with the music, as well as been found in a lesbian bar (which he left due to its lack of fire exit) and another time when he was banned from moe's tavern. In the episode "Last Exit to Springfield", Homer, who mistakenly believes that Mr. Burns is making sexual advances at him, rejects this by stating: "Sorry, Mr Burns. I don't go in for these backdoor shenanigans. Sure I'm flattered, maybe even a little curious. But the answer is no!" Homer has also fantasised about marrying himself, or replacing Marge by wearing a wig that looks like her hair. In another episode Homer is skiing and tries to remember his lessons but all he remembers is Flanders shaking his butt wearing his skin tight suit and saying "It feels like nothing at all" then Homer says "Stupid Sexy Flanders".

Names and aliases

Homer has gone by many names and aliases. While in the Witness Protection Program, the family assumed the surname "Thompson" (which he had a hard time understanding at first). After a crooked PI framed Lisa for a crime, Homer took the alias "Rock Strongo". When he tried to rent a room, the desk clerk asked for his real name, so Homer instead called himself "Lance Uppercut". Homer legally changed his name to "Max Power", which he got off of a hair dryer, for a time to escape public ridicule. He also attempted to change his name to Hercules Rockefeller. He has also been known by many nicknames, including "Homey", "Homina", "Home-boy", "Ho", "Chad Sexington", "Colonel Homer", "Captain Cool", "Dancin' Homer", "Mr. Plow", "Mr. Sparkle", "Hungry, Hungry Homer", "El Homo" (a resemblance of Bart's graffiti "El Barto"), "HomeRun Homer", the "Brick Hit House", the "Southern Dandy", and "Bottomless Pete, Nature's Cruelest Mistake", among others. He once ran a gossip website under the alias "Mr. X." and briefly became a pie-touting super hero called "The Pie Man," and once owned a false driver's license which stated that he was Brian McGee. "Angry Dad", which was based on Homer, was the name of a internet comic character that was created by Bart. Homer's lack of creativity is on display at the Kwik-E-Mart, where a list of banned check-writers includes the names Homer J. Simpson, Homer S. Simpson, H. J. Simpson, Homor Simpson, and Homer J. Fong. Also known for a time as the "Beer Baron".

Homer's middle name, "Jay," is a tribute by Simpsons creator Matt Groening to the work of cartoon producer Jay Ward, creator of Bullwinkle J. Moose and Rocket J. Squirrel. At one time Homer knew that his middle initial was "J", but did not know what it stood for. The meaning was revealed to him on a mural that had been painted by his hippy mother when he was a child—the joke being that, in speech, "J" is indistinguishable from "Jay". Abe, Homer and Bart all share this middle initial, though not the name. Groening has stated that he named the core of the Simpsons family (except Bart) after members of his own family (Homer was his father's name). He also acknowledges that Homer Simpson happens to be a character in Nathanael West's The Day of the Locust.

Homer also went by the name Elvis Jagger Abdul-Jabbar when he first met Marge, fearing she would lose interest in him if she were to find out his real name.

PIN

Homer Simpson's PIN is 7431. He shouted it out once (in "The Girl Who Slept Too Little"), and realized too late, then asked everyone to forget it (causing everyone to grab a pen and paper and write it down).

Religion

When it comes to religion Homer can’t seem to make up his mind. He’s presumably been a Protestant (Presbylutheran), hedonist, born-again Protestant, Stonecutter, Movementarian (a very thinly-veiled play on Scientology) and Catholic — and that was just in his late thirties.

At one point, he was the founder and sole adherent of his own religion, albeit only as a stratagem to avoid going to church on Sundays. This also allowed him to avoid going to work on "religious festivals" such as "The Feast of Maximum Occupancy". However, his new religion was short lived; the Simpson house caught fire and he recanted in fear of an angry God.

He also briefly became a minister after registering on the internet, in order to perform gay marriages for $200 each.

Once, he even proclaimed, "Jesus, Allah, Buddha — I love you all!" and "Save me Jebus!" Furthermore, Homer has had many interactions with God himself, and while developing a flat tax proposal, even accidentally proving God doesn't exist. Furthermore, Homer has extensive knowledge of Iranian theocratic politics and has strong faith in the existence of both Batman and Superman.

After seeing the movie Left Below, a parody of the novel "Left Behind," Homer tried twice to correctly predict the time and place of the Rapture. The first time, after getting all the citizens of Springfield to believe him, his prediciton fell flat. The second time he is right; unfortunately, no one believed him. Homer goes up alone, leaving the rest of his family behind to suffer. When Homer realizes that he was going to have to spend the rest of eternity without his family, he began causing problems by kicking over trashcans in Heaven and interupting games of tennis, until God finally promised to delay the Rapture in order to get Homer to stop.

Homer also knows that karma can only be portioned out by the Cosmos, and has demonstrated knowledge of Buddhism (if only to elsewhere display ignorance of the first two noble truths of the Buddha).

Bart once threw a waffle up at the ceiling of the Simpsons' home, and as it was covered in maple syrup it stuck to the ceiling for a considerable period of time. Homer was known to stare upwards at the waffle and shout at "God" as he was looking at it. Marge then explained to him that it wasn't "God", just an old waffle, and pulled it down. Homer then proceeded to commit deicide by eating "God", which—to his credit—he admitted to be "sacrilicious".

Rap sheet

Homer has been arrested several times in the duration of the series. Offences range from, speeding, drunk driving, triple-parking in a handicap space and removing an officer's hat, attempted murder of Mr. Burns, bootlegging, tax fraud, kicking a can five times (illegal transportation of litter), bad parenting and grand theft auto. He has also managed to be incarcerated in three different continents. Homer had also framed Marge for a DUI by sliding her over to the driver's seat.

"Pulling a Homer"

The phrase "pulling a Homer" describes "the act of succeeding despite idiocy", created after Homer, with the push of a button, averted a nuclear meltdown that would have destroyed all of Springfield. However, he didn't actually know which button to push, and picked one randomly using 'eenie, meenie, meinie, moe.'

Musical predilection

Homer became a Grammy Award-winning singer as a member of the Be Sharps, as depicted in the episode Homer's Barbershop Quartet (but Homer does not consider the Grammy to be a prestigious music award at all, as shown in many episodes).

Homer is a great fan of The Who, Grand Funk Railroad, Jefferson Airplane, Iron Maiden, Jefferson Starship and The Alan Parsons Project (which he believes is type of hovercraft) and is usually aghast at others who either don't know or like them. He was once a great fan of Starland Vocal Band, going so far as to get a tattoo to commemorate them, but years later he holds the belief that "they suck!" Homer also appears to enjoy BTO, though only ever wants to hear their hit single Takin' Care of Business. Homer also wrote a highly popular hate-song about Ned Flanders, during the creation of which, he demonstrates his talent for playing the Piano. And once used the last batteries in their blacked-out house to play a Spice Girls song on his boombox.

Fears

Homer's greatest fear is of sock puppets. He also has frequent night terrors in which he dreams he's being attacked by cobras. He is also scared of Turkish snowcones.

Past jobs

Further information: List of Homer Simpson's jobs

Awards and honors

• First Annual Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence, 1992 (after sterilization)
• Springfield Nuclear Power Plant Toxic Waste Handler of the Month, 1990
• Springfield Nuclear Power Plant Employee of the Month, 1991 (after saving Springfield from a nuclear meltdown)
• Springfield Nuclear Power Plant Medal for Bravery, 1995 (after physically plugging a radioactive gas leak)
• Springfield Nuclear Power Plant Belching Contest Winner, 1995 (award later yielded to Jay Sherman)
• Springfield Nuclear Power Plant Children's Model-Building Contest, 1997
• Grammy Award for Outstanding Soul, Spoken Word, or Barbershop Album of the Year, 1987 (Be Sharps)
• Greaser's Café Dance Contest, 1999
• Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, (Dr. Haing S. Ngor or Don Ameche)
• Springfield Bowling Championship, 1996 (PinPals)
• P.J. O'Harrigan's "Sir Drinks-A-Lot," 1999
• Pulitzer Prize for Journalism, 2000 (as "Mr. X")
• Springfield Olympic Mascot Contest, 1999 (Springy)
• High school reunion awards: "most weight gained," "most hair lost," "most improved odor," "oldest car," "lowest paying job," and for "travelling the least distance to get to the reunion," among others, 1993 (awards later withdrawn, then presumably re-obtained after Homer received his high school diploma at the end of the episode)
• Ate the world's largest hoagie at a county fair in 1991 (this experience is mentioned in the Season 3 episode "Colonel Homer" but never actually shown)
• In a 2003 poll by the BBC, Homer was voted the "Greatest American Ever".
• In a 2005 poll of "Men's Health" magazine, Homer Simpson was voted top in one of the ten categories of award offered, Philosopher of the Decade.
• First person to climb the Murderhorn mountain
• Once won some pie-eating contest in episode where he makes his right arm very strong.

See also

• Other Simpsons characters
• Recurring Simpsons characters
• One-time Simpsons characters
• List of Homer Simpson's Jobs

External links

• The Simpsons Archive
• Homerisms
• Is Homer Simpson a Communist?
• Homer Simpson at Neowin.net - Very violent