In a town like Springfield, there are all kinds of people. From really big to downright bad, there’s a person for every possible storyline, something The Simpsons has proven time and time again, from recurring characters to little one-offs. For every longtime Ned Flanders fan, there’s the elusive, blue-skinned Doctor Colossus. While Doctor Hibbert has been the family doctor for decades, Joey Jo-Jo Junior Shabadoo can only be seen once at Moe’s Tavern. It’s the broad DNA and rich history that The Simpsons has earned, that even one-second characters can make an impact (and there have been enough of them – over 3,650).
For this list of the best unique Simpsons characters, we’re not counting those who appear in a Treehouse of Horror, or cameos from people who play themselves (eg Mark Hamill, Barry White, etc.). Ironically, since The Simpsons is such a vast universe with so many seasons and episodes, most of these characters come back in a heartbeat and you’ll miss them through Easter eggs, which seems inevitable considering from the depth of fandom. going and how long it’s been on the air.
10/10 Handsome Pete (“Bart the Fink” Season 7, Episode 15)
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In the search for a presumed dead Krusty the Clown, Bart stumbles upon the sea captain’s bait shop. Inside, when shown a distorted image of Krusty on a balloon, the captain thinks that it’s about handsome Pete – standing as tall as Bart and Lisa, Pete is a green-haired dwarf who dances for nickels with an accordion.
9/10 Ian the Tall Man (“22 Shorts About Springfield” Season 7, Episode 22)
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In the now much-loved 22-short Springfield episode of The Simpsons (which includes the ubiquitous Steamed Hams segment), Nelson Munts finally gets a taste of his own medicine when he pokes fun at a very tall man. for driving a Beetle. Simpsons Wiki reveals a bit more, even giving the Tall Man a name: “Ian is a man who teaches bullies a lesson because he was bullied from sophomore in high school. When he was 18 he was 8’4″ but currently he is 8’2.” They go on to say that he is a caricature of Simpsons writer Ian Maxtone-Graham.
Again, we’re cheating, because the big man also appears in the episode where the Simpsons go to New York, and Ian’s legs from the back seat on the bus are confused with the row in front.
8/10 Jacques (“Life in the Fast Lane” Season 1, Episode 9)
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A fan of brunch (not quite breakfast, not quite lunch), Jacques is the mysterious French-accented Lothaire more than willing to give self-doubting Marge a drink or two. private bowling lessons. At the very start of The Simpsons, a mere nine episodes in, it was the first real hint of the quality and scale of the series with its drama and day-to-day family politics. Once again we cheat, as Jacques shows in the blink of an eye and you’ll miss it in Pin Pals’ fantastic episode, Singin’ in the Lane.
7/10 Jay Sherman (“A Star is Burns” Season 6, Episode 18)
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Jay Sherman is voiced by Jon Lovitz (who would cover several characters on the show, most notably in Artie Ziff, who appears too often to count on this list). In this brilliant crossover with the much lesser-known animated series The Critic, Sherman arrives as a guest judge in town for a Springfield film festival. Megalomaniac Elon Musk recently paraphrased “Boo or Boo-urns? by Mr. Burns. quote from this episode in his tweet (now deleted) about the percentages of boos to cheers when on stage with controversial comedian Dave Chappelle.
6/10 Mulder & Scully (“The Springfield Files” Season 8, Episode 10)
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In perhaps the best crossover ever, a strange creature has infiltrated Springfield. With a green tint and promises to bring love, FBI agents Mulder & Scully from The X-Files are sent to investigate. Not just fantastic marketing and a time capsule of 1990s TV quality (The Simpsons and X-Files would brag they aired on the same Fox channel back then), this is a truly fantastic episode who manages to poke fun with often ridiculous X-Files. Real stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson of course voiced their own characters, and he even featured Mr. Spock himself in Leonard Nimoy.
5/10 Poochie (“The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show” Season 8, Episode 14)
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While Homer makes a brief stint in the world of voice acting for the fictional series Itchy & Scratchy, his debut as Poochie The Dog is universally reviled (with the exception of Flanders, who says it was the best episode of “Impy & Jimpy” he’s ever seen). Loud and obnoxious and totally in your face, Poochie with his surfboard and backwards cap is just a product of what’s thought to be “cool” and falls completely flat with the public.
Literally killed off in the show’s next episode, with a binding contract to ensure he never returns, Poochie was made for a list like this, and an ironic sign of things to come for pride and popularity. of the Simpsons. You can also see Poochie getting run over in the Stay Tuned parody featured in Treehouse of Horror IX.
4/10 Frank Grimes (“Homer’s Enemy” Season 8, Episode 23)
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Frank Grimes (or “Griley” as he liked to call himself) is the upright version of Homer Simpson. Wearing nearly the same attire, Grimes has worked hard to get to where he is today and is only repeatedly knocked down by the life around him, eventually breaking down and being accidentally killed. Voice actor Hank Azaria said he modeled his performance on Falling Down’s Michael Douglass. His son Frank Grimes Jr. (also voiced by Azaria) would attempt revenge on Homer in a later episode.
3/10 Lyle Lanley (“Margin Against the Monorail” Season 4, Episode 12)
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As Springfield’s demented residents are seduced by the lure of a new mode of transportation in a high-speed monorail, The Music Man is a pyramid-like figure hiding behind a catchy melody. With the promise of creating new jobs and bringing tourism to the city, the monorail itself turns out to have cut corners wherever possible and made it immediately unsafe. Conan O’Brien, who wrote the episode, performed the song live at the Hollywood Bowl in 2014.
2/10 Hank Scorpio (“You Only Move Twice” Season 8, Episode 2)
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Trading an evil corporate villain from one boss for another, Homer moves to Cypress Creek to work under the Globex Corporation, Mr. Hank Scorpio. Suddenly good at his job, Homer is completely unaware that he’s working for a literal supervillain. Despite this, Scorpio is still the most generous and caring boss Homer has ever had in his long and varied careers, urging Homer to support his family’s wishes to come back rather than stay and go play. bowling together. Scorpio is voiced by Albert Brooks, who would also voice the villain in The Simpsons Movie.
1/10 Mr Bergstrom (“Lisa’s Substitute” Season 2, Episode 19)
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When Miss Hoover takes time off, she is replaced by Mr. Bergstrom. Smart and kind, he takes an immediate shine to Lisa Simpson, seeing her raw intelligence. Voiced so softly by Dustin Hoffman, Mr. Bergstrom is the father figure Lisa dreams of in her life at the time and shows a complete mirror opposite of the Homer she has. The note given to Lisa as the man leaves her life forever, simply reading “You are Lisa Simpson”, remains the simplest heartbreaker for ages. One of the best episodes of the whole damn series.