Summary
The Simpsonsis an animated show that has been running since 1989, and with over seven-hundred episodes aired, the main characters of the series have been on many adventures. However, it is the father of the family, Homer, who seems to have done the most damage to those around him. Homer Simpson is a dim-witted and impulsive cartoon character. As such, the writers of the show have caused this character to act in some unruly ways to push the story forward on more than one occasion.
In the many years thatThe Simpsonshas been on the air, Homer Simpson has done some truly horrible things. Some of these acts have been in the elseworld stories in the Halloween specials and don’t count, yet others are too horrid to ignore.
7Willingly Bankrupting Ned Flanders
S3 Ep 3 ‘When Flanders Failed’
Homer has never been too fond of his neighbor, Ned Flanders, butthe first three seasons ofThe Simpsonsgo by without much direct conflict between the two. However, when Ned announces at a family barbecue that he is planning on opening up a new business to sell items to left-handed people, The Leftorium, Homer can’t help but hope that this new venture fails.
There is nothing wrong with silently wishing that someone else fails, but Homer is given plenty of opportunities to help out his neighbor with the new business, and simply ignores them. . As a result, Flanders' business struggles so much that he and his family are forced to live in their car. Homer continues to gloat about Ned’s misfortune, but is given a slight morality pass when he gathers enough people at the end to save The Leftorium and Ned from bankruptcy. Homer is awful in this episode, but he does save himself and his neighbor at the last minute.
6Punching Mr Burns
S7 Ep 17 ‘Homer the Smithers’
Mr Burns is Homer’s boss at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, and he is followed everywhere by his assistant, Smithers. In the season 7 episode, ‘Homer the Smithers’, viewers get to see just how much the assistant does for his rich, cruel boss, before snapping and needing a vacation. This prompts him to hire Homer as a replacement assistant, but things do not go to plan.
True to his character,Mr Burns is unfairly cruel to Homer in his new position, so much so that Homer finally snaps and punches his boss. While Mr Burns turns out to be OK after the altercation, the man is 104 years old and could have easily died. In fact, Mr Burns becomes so terrified of Homer that he is forced to become self-reliant, putting Smithers out of a job when he returns.
5Causing All Of Springfield To Live Under A Dome For Months
The Simpsons Movie (2007)
The Simpsons Moviewas a long time in the making, but it finally released in the summer of 2007. The plot sees the entire town of Springfield encased in a giant dome, and the Simpson family fleeing their home to Alaska. However, the dome is only put in place when Homer commits one reckless act.
After Springfield Lake becomes polluted, the residents are all warned not to dump waste in the water anymore or the town could become an environmental hazard. As expected, Homer ignores this warning and dumps an entire silo full of pig waste in the lake when on his way to get some free donuts. The town is then put under a giant dome, wherethe people of Springfieldare forced to live in misery because of Homer’s actions. Once again, Homer does return to save the day, but he does need some serious coercing beforehand to do the right thing.
4Blaming His Wife For His DUI
S15 Ep 15, ‘Co-Dependents Day’
‘Co-Dependents Day’ from season 15 starts out as a sweet story about Marge and Homer bonding over their shared love of drinking after they visit a vineyard. Sadly, this story is quickly derailed when the pair’s drinking gets too much for Marge. She is shown to constantly feel hungover, and only visits the local beer festival to spend more time with her husband.
At the beer festival, both Homer and Marge have too much to drink again,causing Homer to crash the car on the way home.Marge is unaware of what happened, and so Homer puts her in the driver’s seat to avoid losing his license. Marge is arrested and forced to partake in AA meetings after Homer’s betrayal, and this selfish act has angered fans for years after the episode aired. However, Homer has still done worse things.
3Destroying Springfield With Trash
S9 Ep22, ‘Trash of the Titans’
The 200th episode ofThe Simpsonsstarts with Homer impulsively arguing with his trash collectors, so they stop picking up his garbage. Rather than apologize and fix the mess, though, Homer decides to run for sanitation commissioner to gain control of Springfield’s entire trash service.
After making some false promises, Homer is elected and proceeds to blow through the city’s entire sanitation budget in a very short amount of time. This causes Homer to cut corners to keep his position, and the town’s trash is hastily buried. Unfortunately, the trash escapes, ruining the town, and forcing everyone in Springfield to move up the road. At least, Homer tried to fix his mess in the movie. Now, the original Springfield is forever destroyed.
2Accidentally Killing Maude Flanders
S11 Ep14,‘Alone Again, Natra-diddly’
In a move that shocked viewers,The Simpsonswriters decided to kill Maude Flanders after her voice actress, Maggie Roswell, left the show due to a pay dispute. Rather than handling this situation in a less chaotic way, Homer Simpson is placed in a position where he inadvertently kills off his neighbor’s wife.
At a track race, Ned and Maude are sitting at the top of the bleachers behind the Simpson family. After coaxing the people with t-shirt canons to fire at him, Homer is overwhelmed by t-shirts heading in his direction. He instinctively ducks, causing one of the t-shirts to hit Maude and knock her off the bleachers to her death. It was only an accident, but this is still an arrogant act that led to the death of one of the show’s longest surviving characters.
1Leaving His Father To Die
S10 Ep 8.,' Homer Simpson in: Kidney Trouble'
Homer Simpson starts this episode by neglecting his father’s wishes to go to the bathroom, an act that causes both of his kidneys to explode. He is not off to a great start, but things turn around when Homer offers to donate one of his kidneys to keep his father alive.
Unfortunately, Homer gets scared about the surgery, and so abandons his dad, who will not live long without a kidney. After being rejected by a ship’s crew of other people who think they have done wrong in the past, Homer eventually returns to give his dad a kidney. However, the pressure gets to Homer again and he runs away. In the end,Homer is drugged and one of his kidneys is given to Grandpa by force.It is not a morally great ending, but it curbs some of the awful behavior on display and allows Grandpa Simpson to live. This act is a hard one to justify, and leaving someone else to die in hospital after causing their medical problems is both neglectful and selfish.
