Homer Simpson

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Homer Simpson

Homer Jay Simpson (voiced by Dan Castellaneta), is one of the main characters in the animated television series; The Simpsons.

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

Contents

1 Overview

2 Past Jobs

2.1 Springfield Nuclear Power Plant
2.2 Other

Overview

In the show, Homer is

son of Abraham and Mona Simpson
married to Marjorie née Bouvier
father of Bartholomew, Lisa, and Margaret
half-brother of Herbert Powell and Abbie

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's mental arithmetic is not necessarily reliable. Various episodes have given his date of birth as May 12 1956, May 10 1955, and even 17-23-1956 [sic]. One episode had Homer and Marge attending a 1974 high school class reunion, which would be appropriate for a person born in 1955 or 1956.

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, 743, and 1094, in addition to 430 Spalding Way.

Homer works in the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, although "working" in this case refers 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 Moe, the bartender.

His hobbies include heavy drinking (especially local favorite, Duff Beer), television, bowling, and whatever he fancies from week to week.

A lifelong resident of Springfield, Homer's essential personality traits presented themselves early on. He was raised solely by his father after the approximate age of 11. 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 his outstanding high school coursework, Homer entered Springfield University and graduated due solely to illicitly changed grades. His education was further buttressed by Clown College, Bodyguard School, Successmanship 101 and mandatory Family Skills courses.

With regard to his health, Homer is incredibly lucky to be alive. He is morbidly obese to begin with and once gained an extra 70 pounds or so to get on disability. He has broken almost every bone in his body and received countless cuts and bruises, both major and minor. He has blown out his knee, had his thumb cut off, undergone coronary artery bypass surgery (performed by Dr. Nick Riviera), had lasik surgery, once stabbed himself in the eye with a switchblade, been in a coma because of an April Fool prank, had his jaw wired shut, donated a kidney, was rendered infertile from radiation exposure, suffered repeated back trauma, been institutionalized, nearly destroyed his stomach with beer & cannon balls, was forced by his cruel boss Mr. Burns to consume radioactive waste with a spoon, suffered four simultaneous heart attacks, had his abdominal area torn open by a rabid badger, been pummled while inside of a robot, crushed by boulders & wrecking balls, been bitten by venomous snakes, has electrocuted himself, has set himself on fire, has fallen off cliffs, down stairs, and off the roof of the house frequently, was in the center of an explosion caused by an overshook beer can; and has been shot multiple times. Furthermore, his brain is cushioned by a unique and eponymous genetic condition: "Homer Simpson's syndrome."

As widely evidenced, Homer's mind is vacuous nearly throughout 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). These bursts are almost always temporary and constantly changing. The nature of this intellect is multi-fold. 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. Also credited is the Simpson Gene, which almost guarantees that male Simpsons become underachievers. His stupidity may be exacerbated further by excessive alcohol consumption, repetitive cranial trauma(such as a giant pipe falling on his head), and exposure to radiation on the job (which has also rendered him virtually impotent). Further, Homer at least once volunteered himself for experimentation by the Army Neurochemical Research Center.

Homer is inclined to fall into mental fantasy, often drifting off into his own world or perceiving reality in a more personally appealing manner. Notable are the odd conversations he has with his own brain, typically in an adversarial tone. Homer is also very suggestible when deprived of sleep.

His minute 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 a week or less. Good examples are when he converted his garage into a bar, just to spite his local bartender Moe Szyslak; spent a whole episode studying and emulating Thomas Edison or when he 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 exampled by his short-lived grease collection business.

Homer is also prone to becoming very emotional, especially when it comes to his neighbors, the Flanders family or to troubles related to his son, Bart. He is also deeply compassionate, if not initially so.

On the food front, Homer is particularly fond of doughnuts and pork chops, but also pie, chili, Krusty Burgers, nachos, pork rinds, bacon, potato chips, and heroes/hoagies/grinders. In his gluttony he has also consumed items that are not necessarily food from time to time. His diet is not a good example to younger viewers and this point is frequently made throughout the series. Homer typically responds to food with drooling and exuberant postures.

While Homer generally enjoys the affection of all Springfield, his mental and emotional nature have garnered him more than a few lasting enemies. Most notably is the deceased Frank "Grimey" Grimes, for the death of whom Homer was indirectly but intensely responsible. This naturally resulted in the rancor of the aforementioned's son, Frank Grimes, Jr. Other adversaries of note include his sisters-in-law Patty and Selma Bouvier, employer C. Montgomery Burns, Springfield University Dean Bobby Peterson, "Professor Know-It-All" the parrot, president George H. W. Bush, the Prime Minister of Japan, New York City, the State of Florida and an inanimate carbon rod. As of late, Homer has turned soft toward his neighbor and longtime enemy Ned Flanders.

Homer has gone by many names and aliases. While in the Witness Relocation Program, the family assumed the surname "Thompson" (which he had a hard time understanding at first). Homer legally changed his name to "Max Power" for a time to escape public ridicule. He has also been known by many nicknames, including "Homey," "Homina," "Home-boy," "Colonel Homer," "Dancin' Homer," "Mr. Plow," "Mr. Sparkle", "Hungry, Hungry 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."

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. Abe and Bart share this middle initial, though not the name.

Groening has stated that he named the core of the Simpsons family after members of his own family (Homer, after his father in this case). He also acknowledges that Homer Simpson happens to be a character in Nathanael West's The Day of the Locust.

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

Past Jobs

Assuming compensation (such as money, Powersauce Bars, etc.), but excluding Halloween episodes and passing bets (grave digger, panda, etc.).

Springfield Nuclear Power Plant

Technical Supervisor, Sector 7G
Safety Inspector, Sector 7G
Executive (with bathroom privileges and an assistant, Karl)
Executive Assistant/aka Smithers
Executive Vice-President
Owner (current position, he never gave the plant back to Mr. Burns)

Other

Plant Supervisor/Executive (Globex Corp., Cypress Creek)
Junior Vice-President (CompuGlobalHyperMegaNet)
Owner (ZiffCorp)
Petty Officer Third Class, Naval Reserve (USS Jebediah)
Mayoral bodyguard
Mayor (New Springfield)
Sanitation Commissioner
Guard (Springfield Juvenile Correctional Facility)
Chief of Police
Owner, private security firm (SpringShield)
Telemarketer (Happy Dude/Sorry Dude)
Carnival worker/Carny
Con artist/Grifter
Bartender (Moe's Tavern)
Bartender (Homer's Hunting Club)
Bootlegger/Beer-Baron
Sugar smuggler (Motherloving Sugar Corp.)
Sugar salesman (Farmer Homer's Sweet Sweet Sugar)
Farmer
ToMacco salesman
Traveling salesman (Simpson & Son, Revitalizing Tonic)
Grease collections/sales
Door-to-door spring salesman
Door-to-door knife salesman (Slash-Co.)
Candle maker (Ye Olde Candlemaker, Olde Springfield Towne)
Attack-dog trainer (Pitiless Pup Attack Dog School)
Service Trainee (Gulp 'n' Blow Drive-thru)
Inventor (eg. automatic hammer, 6-legged chair,makeup shotgun, lazy-bowl, as well as building several robots and being the creator of the alcoholic drinks The Flaming Homer and Skittlebrau)
Oil-rig worker
Astronaut (NASA)
Celebrity assistant (Basinger/Baldwin)
Sports club owner (Denver Broncos)
Sports mascot (Springfield Isotopes)
Boxer (Association of Springfield Semi-Pro Boxers)
Mountain climber (Murderhorn)
League bowler (Pin-Pals)
Bowling alley assistant/Pin monkey (Bowl-o-rama)
Mini-golf assistant (Sir Putts-A-Lot)
Blackjack dealer (Monty's Casino)
Convenience store night-clerk (Kwik-E-Mart)
Missionary
Safety protester
Baby proofer (Wee Care)
Union Boss (Intl. Union of Pastry Chefs, Jazz Dancers, and Nuclear Technicians)
Car designer (Powell Motors)
Used Car salesman
Chauffeur/Limo driver (Classy Joe's)
Truck Driver/Trucker
Snowplow proprietor and driver (Mr. Plow)
Freelance ambulance driver
Monorail conductor
Actor (SAG name, "Homer Jay Simpson")
Talk Show Host (Homer Simpson Show)
Cartoon voice (Poochie)
Drug Spokesman (Viagrogain)
Instructor, "How to keep a successful marriage" (Adult Education Annex)
Fortune Cookie fortune-writer
Food critic (Springfield Shopper)
Movie Producer (Mr. Smith Goes To Washington remake)
Entertainment manager - Animal (Suds McDuff)
Entertainment manager - Country/Western artist (Lurleen Lumpkin)
Musician (Be Sharps)
Musician (Everybody Hates Ned Flanders)
Street musician (one-man-band)
Performance artist/Freak (Hullapalooza)
Authorized Krusty impersonator
Personal entertainer/Prank monkey
Conceptual artist (Louvre: American Style)
Mall Santa Claus
Superhero (the Pie Man)
Mr. X
Ambulance Driver
Grim Reaper

Awards & 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, 1985 (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
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)

External links

Quotes

"D'oh!"
"Woo-Hoo!"
"Mmm...(something)"
"Why you little!!!" (usually goes with choking Bart)
"Have you ever heard of jet lag. JET LAG?!
"I may occasionally kill out of anger; or to illustrate a point, but I'm no Grim Reaper!"
"If it's about laying off the Guatemalan insanity peppers im way ahead of ya!"
"Hmm...I don't support his Bart-killing policy....but I definitely support his Selma-killing policy" (subsequently votes for Sideshow Bob).
"Bart can kiss my hairy, yellow butt."
"...and then our kids will become FREAKS! They'll have tan skin, no overbites, & FIVE fingers on each hand! (Imagines the kids as real humans) AAAH!"
"I'm somewhere where I don't know where I am!"
"For you, I'll be as dull as Dilbert."
"Kids, you tried hard and failed miserably. The moral is: never try."
"Marge, I'd kill for you! Please ask me to kill for you."
"I'm going act how America acts best....unilaterally!"
"Operator! Give me the number for 911!"

Homer Simpson is also a name of a character in the 1938 novel The Day of the Locust.

de:Homer Simpson es:Homer Simpson fr:Homer J. Simpson pl:Homer Simpson he:הומר_סימפסון