The Simpsons is one of the shows that everyone knows about. It is rare to find anyone who hasn't seen at least one episode of the popular animated show. With over 750 episodes and its recent renewal, The Simpsons isn't ending anytime soon. One reason for the show’s success would be how it managed to remain an important mark in the history of pop culture; doing so isn’t easy. The Simpsons has probably covered most of the important events that took place since it started airing. Not only does it cover important events and people, but it also made parodies about popular shows.
With the many seasons that the show has, it is only reasonable that they would have many characters. There are main characters like Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. Then we have major characters who appeared many times throughout the show, like Ned Flanders, Charles Montgomery Burns, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, and Moe Szyslak.
In addition to this, we have characters with really long names like Joey Jo-Jo Junior Shabadoo, who is probably the character with the longest name, and then there are characters with really short names like John. Yes, his name is just John and nothing else. The diverse, and usually funny, characters’ names make us love The Simpsons even more. However, there are characters that deserve more recognition whether they appeared for one episode or more. To fully appreciate them, here are the most underrated characters in the series.
15 Mary Wrestlemania Spuckler
Mary Wrestlemania Spuckler is one of the most underrated characters in The Simpsons. She was voiced by Zooey Deschanel in the few episodes she appeared in. We first got to see her in the episode titled “Apocalypse Cow” and despite the fact that she appeared a few times, she is a unique character that deserves a mention.
When it comes to her family, Mary is one of Cletus’ children, and she is probably the only one in her family who can speak proper English. Not only she seems to be more educated, but she is also a singer and songwriter. She even runs away to New York to follow her dream, but she returns home again after her career fails.
In the first episode Mary appeared in, she was almost forced to marry Bart. However, the marriage doesn't happen but a romance of some sort develops between the two; it doesn't last for long. It would have been interesting to see more of Mary as she deserved to appear more.
We can consider her Bart’s first true love and what a love it was. In a way, she was the perfect girl for Bart since she was kind, calm, and even willing to help Bart save his cow from being sent to the slaughterhouse. Mary also didn't have any bad traits.
14 Lionel Hutz
Lionel Hutz was voiced by the late Phil Hartman in earlier seasons of the show. Sadly, after Hartman’s passing Hutz didn't appear in the show again, and honestly this was probably for the best as people got used to hearing Hartman. The first episode we got to see Hutz in was “Bart Gets Hit by a Car.” When it comes to Hutz’s job, he has many, but he is mainly known for being a lawyer; an incompetent one though.
Other than being a lawyer, Hutz also sold real estate and Homer even hired him to babysit the kids. Another proof that he wasn't a good lawyer at all is how Hutz worked as a cobbler even inside the court. You may also know Hutz through his different names since we see him burning all his personal papers and changing his identity to Miguel Sanchez. He then changed his name again to Dr. Nguyen Van Phuoc.
The many jobs that Hutz took added to the comedy of his character. While working as a lawyer, Hutz won very few cases and was mostly hired by the Simpsons family because his fees were low. He was also extremely poor which made him doesn't care about how he gained money.
13 Don Brodka
Don Brodka, his full name is Donald T. Brodka, is one of The Simpsons’ most underrated characters especially since we only saw him once. He worked at the Try-N-Save department store as a security guard, and we see him catching Bart as he attempted to steal a copy of the video game called Bonestorm. Brodka is mostly remembered for the message he left on the Simpsons’ answering machine telling them about Bart trying to shoplift.
Brodka may have appeared in only one episode, but we would have loved to see more of him. One of the reasons why Brodka didn’t appear in future episodes was because he was voiced by the late actor Lawrence Tierney. After Tierney’s death, the show’s writers decided against giving Brodka more episodes. Still, Brodka left a mark on the audience as he is remembered even today.
12 Sideshow Bob
Sideshow Bob, also known as Dr. Robert Underdunk Terwilliger Jr. is another underrated character in The Simpsons even if he appeared in several episodes. He still doesn’t get the credit he deserves. He has a lot more character depth than just being Bart’s nemesis.
He was voiced by Kelsey Grammer who did a brilliant job. Slideshow Bob first appeared in the episode titled “The Telltale Head,” and at first, we knew him as Krusty the Clown’s sidekick. While he is considered one of the show’s antagonists, he still had his reasons for his crimes. For starters, he was mistreated by Krusty the Clown which led him to commit his first crime. He framed him for armed robbery at Kwik-E-Mart.
The beginning of Sideshow Bob’s hate toward Bart was when Bart exposed Bob for framing Krusty. This led to Bob being sent to prison for the robbery and since then he swore to seek revenge against Bart. We can at least admit that Sideshow Bob is dedicated since he has a tattoo that says “Die Bart, Die.”
We should also look past his criminal behavior since Sideshow Bob is actually quite intelligent. He is very passionate about Shakespeare and theater in general. So he is not just an evil criminal, but also an intelligent person at the same time.
11 Otto Mann
Another underrated character is Otto Mann, voiced by Harry Shearer, who drives the Springfield school bus. We can’t consider him to be good at his job since he had several accidents. It was revealed in one episode that he crashed the bus 15 times. While this is enough to declare him a terrible driver, Otto Mann was quite lucky since no one died in any of those accidents.
He first appeared in “Homer's Odyssey” and he is mostly known for his love for heavy metal music and playing the guitar; he even canceled his wedding because his fiancée, Becky, hated this kind of music. In addition to this, he dreams of starting his own rock band.
His music taste fits his personality since he admits liking Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and Metallica. He even likes Led Zeppelin enough for him to yell “Zeppelin rules” when he was close to drowning after another bus accident. One more thing that he loves other than music is smoking pot, which played a huge role in his life as it affected him on several levels.
From liking comics to having tattoos and playing the guitar, we can understand why Bart likes Otto that much. He is this cool character who cares deeply about his music even if it would cost him a possible marriage.
10 Kent Brockman
Kent Brockman is another character voiced by Harry Shearer and his first appearance was in “Krusty Gets Busted.” Brockman is a Springfield news anchor who we can't really describe to be good at his job at Channel 6. He has this tendency to exaggerate trivial matters and then ignore important events as he decides to talk about unimportant events instead.
For example, he once talked about the assassination of a squirrel who looks like Abraham Lincoln instead of acknowledging or covering a boy trapped in a well. We can easily tell that he cares about his ratings even if he will get them through exaggeration. So he is not the best of reporters, but he is definitely funny, and we don’t appreciate him enough.
Brockman also has a unique character in a way because only he would refuse to say the news because Bart ate his danish. He is not the best reporter, which is not surprising since he once won the lottery and then proceeded to leave the news desk while he was still on air. Most of what he tells you will probably be lies since he does have the tendency to lie a lot. He also swears a lot too and has no problem with offensive language because even when Channel 6 fires him, they hire him again; he is just that powerful.
9 Edna Krabappel
Who isn't at least familiar with Edna Krabappel who was voiced by the late Marcia Wallace? We knew her as Bart’s teacher for many years and what a few years they were! Imagine having to deal with Bart’s antics and pranks for years. The heavy-smoker teacher loved teaching, but her life went downhill after her husband left her for their marriage counselor.
When she started working at Springfield Elementary School, she didn't really care if the kids loved her subjects or not. She also made it her job to remind them that they won’t go far in their life nor would they have good jobs. Despite all of this, Bart cared for Mrs. K in a way as we saw how he nominated her for the Teacher of the Year award.
Other than being known for her sarcastic replies, she was also portrayed as a lonely woman. One important aspect of her character was her entertaining and to her disappointing, dating life. After her divorce, Edna made it very clear that she wants a relationship. Her dating life included several names like Principal Seymour Skinner, Comic Book Guy whom she almost married, and even Sideshow Bob himself.
Edna Krabappel is one of the many characters we loved. No one could have imagined anyone playing her other than the amazing Marcia Wallace, therefore the character died in 2013. The show’s creators gave her a warming goodbye as we once saw Bart writing on a chalkboard “We'll really miss you Mrs. K” during the opening credits.
8 Waylon Smithers, Jr.
Waylon Smithers, Jr., who is mostly known as Mr. Smithers, is another character that Shearer voiced. We know him to be the loyal assistant to Mr. Burns who he later had a crush on him. He cared about Mr. Burns to the point where he talks to Marge about him saying, “Actually, I value every second we're together: from the moment I squeeze his orange juice in the morning, till I... tuck him in at night. He's not just my boss, he's my best friend, too.” Smithers was a caring character who didn't let any bad people around him influence him. He adopted pets which is enough for us to love him.
There were no questions about his sexuality since when he came out in "The Burns Cage." We can describe him as a nerd, which isn't a bad thing, and he even had the largest collection of Malibu Stacy dolls. Smithers is also ready to do anything for Mr. Burns even if it meant that he ignores his terrible actions. However, Smithers finally got over Mr. Burns who didn’t care about him at all. He got married to Michael de Graaf, voiced by Victor Gerber, but the two of them separated.
7 Duffman
Duffman first appeared in “The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson” and he was voiced by Hank Azaria. His most famous characteristic is the repeated shouts of his catchphrase “Oh yeah!,” which makes him quite funny at times. He is the mascot for the beer brand, Duff Beer. Since he is associated with beer, it is not surprising that Homer sees him as his idol.
Other characteristics about him include him being very passionate and enthusiastic about doing his job. It would be interesting to know more about him since we aren’t even sure of his real name. The uncertainty surrounding his name is divided between him either being called Barry Duffman or Barry Huffman.
Adding to his superhero appearance, we see Duffman wearing blue and red tights with Duff Beer’s logo on his chest. We can be sure that we will always have Duffman with us since he once said “Duffman can never die! Only the actors who play him!” We have a lot of time to start appreciating him more as long as the show doesn't end.
6 Gil Gunderson
Gilbert Gunderson, who is also known as Gil or Ol’ Gil, is one of Springfield’s saddest characters. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta, and we first saw him in the episode titled “Realty Bites.” Gil proved himself to be a very unsuccessful businessman since he can’t even keep a job. He worked many jobs including a used car dealer, a farmer, and a mall Santa. He was also divorced and always had marriage problems. We first saw him as Marge’s co-worker at the real estate agency she worked at.
Adding to his misery, we usually see Gil right before something horrible happens to him like getting shot. He also lived at the Simpsons’ house for a long time before they kicked him out. One thing admirable about Ol’ Gil is that he remains optimistic no matter what happens to him, but his optimism is always followed by another terrible accident that doesn’t fail to make us laugh.
Only someone like Gil Gunderson would get shot on his first day working as a security guard at a bank. While he can’t keep a job, he surely can stand up and try again at another job… only to fail.
5 Dr. Nick Riviera
Dr. Nick Riviera is another character voiced by Hank Azaria, and though he didn't appear a lot, he still deserves to be mentioned. We first saw him in “Bart Gets Hit by a Car.” Like Duffman, Dr. Nick Riviera has his own catchphrase which is “Hi everybody!” Don’t let the “Dr.” in his name fool you because he isn’t a good doctor at all. Homer probably has medical knowledge more than Dr. Nick Riviera.
His lack of medical knowledge was apparent when he was operating on Homer when he needed a heart bypass and ended up needing help from Lisa who told him what he should do. Not to mention that he also stole corpses. He has no moral ethics, and it is a miracle that none of his patients sued him yet. If we were to remember one thing about him, it would be that you don’t want him to be your doctor.
4 Jasper Beardsley
Jasper Beardsley may be a character who doesn’t talk a lot, but the fact that he is voiced by Harry Shearer makes us love seeing him either way. One look at his face, and you would understand why his last name is Beardsley. While he doesn’t have a lot of terrible incidents, he is still considered funny. For example, he once locked himself inside Kwik-E-Mart’s freezer, so he could be brought out in the future.
We even got to see him being a teacher at Springfield’s school, but he did nothing related to teaching. Instead of telling the kids about their school subjects, Jasper held a paddle in his hand and used it to threaten those who behaved badly. Definitely not a great teacher. At least we can consider him to be a decent friend since we see him hanging out with Grampa Simpson.
3 Kirk Van Houten
Kirk Van Houten is another underrated character whom we first got to see in “Bart's Friend Falls in Love” and is voiced by Hank Azaria. Kirk could easily be given the title of the saddest man in all of Springfield. He got fired and divorced in only one episode, so you can imagine what the rest of his life looks like. Other sad events in his life include being fired from his job and also sleeping in a race car bed. He definitely deserves more recognition as most people only know him because of his son and Bart’s best friend, Milhouse Van Houten.
The show makes fun of him many times as he is ridiculed by the town’s residents. His ex-wife also said that he didn’t provide for them which led her to borrow money from her sister. Unfortunately for him, he only had visitation rights after the divorce, which made Milhouse call him “Weekend Dad.” With all of Kirk’s attempts at getting a job being a failure and his misery being funny most of the time, you can’t help but sympathize with him.
2 Sideshow Mel
Sideshow Mel, also known as Melvin Van Horne, was voiced by Dan Castellaneta and his first appearance was in “Itchy & Scratchy & Marge.” He is often ignored and forgotten about as he is overshadowed by Sideshow Bob. However, he is still an interesting character that deserves the spotlight. He became Krusty the Clown’s sidekick after Sideshow Bob left Krusty. Just like Sideshow Bob, he was mistreated and ridiculed by Krusty the Clown even off camera and away from the audience’s eyes.
He is known for having a Shakespearean accent and the bone in his hair which got stuck there after he tried to get gum out of his hair. Other than seeing him with Krusty the Clown, we also see him in the town hall meetings where he isn’t afraid to voice his opinion.
1 Hans Moleman
The most underrated Simpsons character would be Hans Moleman who was also voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared in “Scary Movie.” One unique thing about him is the fact that he was killed several times, but he always returns alive and well, only to be killed again. One of the unfortunate events that Moleman had to go through was when he was kissed repeatedly by Homer who claimed he tasted like peanuts. He also was buried alive due to social embarrassment.
You may be deceived by his looks since he has many wrinkles and may appear to be an old man, but in reality, he is only 31 years old. He admits that he looks like that because of drinking. Some of the jobs he took included being Springfield’s mayor, a truck driver, and a janitor at Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. We will rarely see him without his brown cane just like we won’t see him remain alive for a long time since he had over 30 deaths. We would definitely love to see how many more deaths he can go through.