The Simpsons: Fictional Characters

By Wikipedia

Although The Simpsons is itself a show populated by fictional characters, there are also several characters within the show's universe who are fictional to the Simpsons characters themselves.

These include characters from TV and movies, as well as characters who appear on Halloween Treehouse of Horror episodes, which do not follow the show's continuity.

Duffman

See Duffman from the list of recurring characters article

Duffman is the advertising mascot and spokesman for the Duff Beer company. Likely inspired by the Anheuser-Busch Budweiser mascot Bud Man, a character introduced by the company in 1969 and reintroduced in 1989. His voice is provided by Hank Azaria.

The Grim Reaper (Doug)

In the "Reaper Madness" segment of Treehouse of Horror XIV, Death comes for Bart. Homer kills Death (in revenge for "Snowball I and JFK"), but is forced to becomes the Grim Reaper himself as a replacement. Jasper, one of the residents of the Springfield Retirement Castle, later asks Homer "Where's the regular guy? Where's Doug?"

Happy Little Elves

The Happy Little Elves were an animated cartoon within the fictional Simpsons universe. They were crudely animated green elves in simplistic plots aimed at very young children. They starred in several direct-to-video movies. Both Lisa and Maggie were fans of the Elves, much to the disgust of Bart. They were referenced in the early seasons of the show but dropped in later seasons. They were likely intended as parodies of kids' cartoons such as The Smurfs.

Appearances:

• The Return of the Happy Little Elves — The Tracey Ullman Show short
• unnamed Christmas special — "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" (December 17, 1989)
• The Happy Little Elves Meet the Curious Bear Cub — "Some Enchanted Evening" (May 13, 1990)
• The Happy Little Elves in Tinkly-Winkly Town — "Saturdays of Thunder" (November 14, 1991)
• The Happy Little Elves Meet Fuzzy Snuggleduck — "Homer Alone" (February 6, 1992)

Hugo

In the "Treehouse of Horror VII" episode (original airdate October 27, 1996), Bart discovers he was separated at birth from a conjoined twin by Dr. Hibbert. His "evil twin", Hugo, has been consigned to living in the attic of the Simpson home, but escapes to plot revenge. Ultimately, Dr. Hibbert discovers Bart is the evil twin (his surgical scar was on the right side, making him the left twin), and Hugo had been isolated injustly. The episode ends with the Simpsons enjoying dinner with Hugo, while Bart asks for food through the venting grille. Marge tells Bart to eat his bucket of fish-heads (which Hugo had been fed for years). Note that according to Dr. Hibbert (the evil twin is always the one on the left), Hugo actually WAS the evil twin. This is considered a mistake in the animation.

Itchy & Scratchy

See main article The Itchy & Scratchy Show.

Itchy and Scratchy are a super-violent cartoon cat and mouse duo in the style of Tom and Jerry featured on the Krusty the Klown Show. Homer provided the voice for a cartoon dog named Poochie, who costarred with Itchy and Scratchy for a few cartoons (see entry below for Poochie). Bart refers in one episode to several characters from "the short-lived Itchy & Scratchy and Friends Hour": Uncle Ant, Disgruntled Goat, and Ku Klux Klam. In yet another episode, Itchy and Scratchy were substituted with "Eastern Europe's favorite cat and mouse team, Worker and Parasite." Itchy and Scratchy were originally intended only to parody Tom and Jerry, but their cartoon shorts proved very popular and became a regular part of the show.

Kang and Kodos

Kang and Kodos are two green, seven-foot tall, continually drooling octopus-like cyclopian aliens from Rigel 4 who claim to be brother and sister. Their primary appearances are in the various "Treehouse of Horror" episodes, but they (or others of their race) have several cameos. Their overall appearance is most likely derived from the aliens appearing in the 1959 B-movie The Atomic Submarine, which are almost identical in every major way to the cartoon characters.

Kang is voiced by Harry Shearer, while Kodos is voiced by Dan Castellaneta. Another Rigellian, "Serak the Preparer", was voiced by James Earl Jones.

Kang and Kodos are named after two characters from Star Trek; Kang was a Klingon captain, and Kodos the Executioner was a human villain.

Kang and Kodos do not speak English, but actually speak Rigellian (which, by a staggering coincidence, is exactly the same as English). They are Quantum Presbyterians.

Malibu Stacy

Malibu Stacy is a doll for young girls, comparable to a Barbie doll. Waylon Smithers of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant owns the largest collection of Malibu Stacy dolls in the world; he also took a leave of absence from the power plant to produce and star in "Sold Separately," a musical based on Malibu Stacy.

The doll was originally designed to be edible: "Kids didn't much like the taste of dried onion meal, but they loved the doll. A second, plastic Malibu Stacy took America by storm." Older Malibu Stacy dolls featured breasts that were so large and pointy that they could poke children's eyes out, and were recalled.

When "Talking Malibu Stacy" dolls were introduced, pushing a button on the doll's back provided a typically vapid catchphrase (such as "Don't ask me, I'm just a girl, hee hee hee"). Lisa fronted an effort to produce a competing doll called "Lisa Lionheart", which would be less stereotypically sexist and more of a positive role model; its sales were disappointingly low, however, because of the simultaneous release of "Malibu Stacy With A New Hat."

McBain

See main article Rainier Wolfcastle.

McBain is a movie action hero played by Rainier Wolfcastle (a thinly veiled parody of Arnold Schwarzenegger). McBain movies typically feature many standard action movie clichés, such as a policeman being gunned down just before retirement (see "retirony" in Made-up words in The Simpsons) and lame one-liners before dispatching enemies. The character's name may be a reference to Ed McBain, the pseudonym under which Evan Hunter wrote his famous 87th Precinct crime novels.

McGarnagle

McGarnagle is the main character of a movie (or series of movies) that parody the "hard-boiled cop" stereotype of action movies. McGarnagle is similar in appearance, voice, and behavior to Clint Eastwood's character of Harry Callahan from the Dirty Harry films.

Menthol Moose

Menthol Moose is the cartoon mascot for Laramie Cigarettes, a parody of Camel cigarettes' use of Joe Camel to lure children into smoking cigarettes.

Poochie

When network executives decided that The Itchy and Scratchy Show needed an "update" to keep the interest of its audience, they devised Poochie, a cartoon dog "with an attitude". After widespread auditions, Homer was chosen to provide Poochie's voice. The character debuted to an unreceptive audience following a massive publicity campaign; he only served to interfere with the well-oiled machine of hyperviolent slapstick that Itchy and Scratchy had perfected over the years. When dissatisfied viewers flooded the network with letters crying for Poochie's immediate removal, if not death, the executives quickly decided to get rid of the character. Homer begged for another chance, insisting that Poochie would grow on the audience; this argument held little weight until the actress who performed voices for both Itchy and Scratchy declared her support for Poochie as well. Homer was shocked, however, when the next cartoon aired: it contained a hastily-animated segment stating that Poochie had decided to return to his "home planet", and that he died when his spaceship crashed.

Bongo Comics! The Simpsons made their TV debut on he Tracey Ullman Show in 1987. Courtesy FOX

Radioactive Man

Radioactive Man is a comic book comic book of whom Bart and Milhouse are particular fans. He is a comic book superhero who acquired his powers after surviving an atomic bomb explosion. He looks and sounds suspiciously like a muscular Homer Simpson. His sidekick is Fallout Boy, and his catchphrase is "Up and Atom!"

Within the Simpsons universe, Radioactive Man has been portrayed in many media since his debut in "Radioactive Man" #1 in 1952. In addition to comic books, he was featured in at least one 1940s or 1950s era black-and-white serial, sponsored by Laramie Cigarettes. Dirk Richter, reportedly born 1922 (he was said to be 73 years old (and dead) in 1995), played Radioactive Man and Buddy Hodges played Fallout Boy. Dirk Richter was apparently shot to death in a bordello sometime in the 1960s (a reference to the mysterious death of George Reeves, the first actor to portray Superman on screen).

The Seven Duffs

The Seven Duffs are characters at the Duff Gardens theme park. The "Duffs" are a reference to Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, although Duff Gardens is an obvious parody of Busch Gardens. The SevenDuffs are named Tipsy, Queasy, Surly, Sleazy, Edgy, Dizzy and Remorseful. The only one that has spoken so far is Surly: "Hey, Surly only looks out for one guy...Surly!"

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