Lisa Simpson

"Quit it! Quit it! Quit it! Quit it! Mom!"

- Lisa's early "catchphrase"

"I'm going to my room."

- Lisa's uncommon "catchphrase"

Lisa Marie Simpson (born May 9 or April 2 ) is a charismatic 8-year-old girl, who exceeds the standard achievement level of children her age. Not to everyone's surprise, she's also the moral center of her family. In her upbringing, Lisa lacks parental involvement of Homer and Marge, which leads to hobbies like playing saxophone and guitar, riding and caring for horses, and interest in advanced studies. In school, Lisa's popularity's affected by those who view her as a geeky overachiever, which leaves her with only a few friends. Lisa Simpson's a smart, witty, independent girl who focuses on her goals and strives to reach her potential, and at age 8 she's already a member of MENSA with an IQ of 159.

Biography
Lisa's quite eclectic in her knowledge and is notably more concerned with world affairs and problems than her cohorts. Lisa shares her intellect and overachieving personality traits with other female members of the Simpson family (revealed Simpson males inherit a gene on the Y chromosome preventing them from channeling their intellect), such traits aren't seen within the Bouvier family. Lisa also deeply values her integrity, as demonstrated when she cheats on a test in The Wind in the Willows to attain her highest grade of A+++, but later admits her dishonesty to an unreceptive Principal Skinner. (She later re-grades the test as an F. ) Despite her intellect, Lisa received detention, like her brother Bart, quite a number of times, often because of her rebellious and sometimes bitter attitude and anti-social behavior capable of deeply embarrassing authority figures. Although her rebellion against social norms is usually constructive, Lisa can be whiny, cruel and self-righteous at times. When she believes herself to be right, she won't admit others may be as well, and will force her beliefs on people. Notably, her increasing sense of moral righteousness regarding her vegetarianism leads her to proselytize, culminating in her spiteful disruption of a "meat-based" barbecue prepared by Homer (an act she comes to rue). At times, Lisa appears to resist certain situations merely for the sake of resisting them, not because of any genuine ideological opposition. She appears to enjoy breaking the norm for its own sake; in one time, she triumphantly declared she, a girl, will like to join the football team. When it's revealed there are already girls on the team, she declares her distaste for a sport that will use a pig's skin to make its ball. When it's revealed the ball's actually synthetic, she's at a loss for words and runs off visibly upset.

Despite her high IQ, Lisa does have typical childhood issues, sometimes requiring adult intervention. She once tricked Homer into allowing her to ride the bus alone, only to become hopelessly lost. After his coworkers Lenny and Carl point out he allowed his 8 year old daughter to ride a bus by herself, Homer comes to her rescue. Lisa has a Jewish imaginary friend named Rachel Cohen who "just got into Brandeis University." Even with a high intellect, Lisa displays more personality traits of an eight-year old, including obsessing over getting a pony, being addicted to TV, and fighting with Bart. Lisa once got addicted to second hand smoke to maintain an impressive level of ballet competence; Homer tries to prevent the addiction unsuccessfully, and in the end, Lisa overcomes the addiction herself through means of "Hello Kitty" nicotine patches. She also displays a surprising amount of skill in driving, especially for her age, sometimes even taking the wheel whenever Homer ends up distracted from driving.

Appearance
Lisa's an eight year old girl who seems to have a problem with her weight. Sherri and Terri used to make fun of her and her 'big butt'. Most of Lisa's physical appearances comes from her father's side of the family, so does her stubby fingers which blocks her from her dream of becoming a jazz musician. Lisa's always shown wearing an orange strapless dress and a white pearl necklace. She occasionally wears a pink dress with a dress hat or a hair bow for church and formal activities. She has a 'starfish' like hairstyle in the same style as her younger sister, Maggie. Lisa's hairstyle's also a challenge for the animators to draw. Lisa's actually wearing invisible braces from Calvin Klein.

Intelligence
It's mentioned Lisa has an IQ of 159. She's a high-ranking member of Mensa Springfield. Lisa demonstrates an early intelligence by changing her own diaper as an infant. When unable to attend school due to a teachers strike, she suffered a sort of "school withdrawal" because she has an emergency box in case of a teacher strike. She begins to panic when she can only think of two synonyms to the word "stop". She constantly wants people to "grade her" because Marge gave her an "A" just to make her stop whining, and invents a perpetual motion machine Homer describes as it just "keeps going faster and faster". He goes on to chastise her, saying, "In this house, we obey the laws of !"

Beliefs
Lisa's political convictions are generally leftist and rather liberal. She's a vegetarian, and a supporter of the Free Tibet movement. Lisa yells "Free Tibet!" after winning the school spelling bee. She, like her mom, supported Democrat Mary Bailey over Right-Winged Mr. Burns; the twosome revealed Mr. Burns was a liar, and Mary Bailey wins in a landslide, the only known supporters being Smithers, Bart, and Homer.

While still supportive of the Christian church she was raised in, Lisa's now a practicing Buddhist following her decision to follow the. Though apparently not an adherent, she mentions she considers Wicca "very empowering"

Vegetarianism
Lisa turned vegetarian due to ethical reasons. This was also hinted in a flash forward where we see Lisa as a vegetarian in the future. On Paul McCartney's demand, she stayed vegetarian still.

Music
Her musical abilities are extensive: she sings with a powerful voice, and was seen playing the acoustic six-string, electric bass guitar, accordion and piano proficiently. Her greatest love's playing jazz on her baritone saxophone. Her musical inclinations were nurtured by her relationship with the late jazz musician Bleeding Gums Murphy. She most likely inherited her musical ability from Homer, also musically inclined.

Independent learning
She's fluent in Italian (learned from Milhouse Van Houten before going to Italy), as well as some French and German verbs (with the help of a German verbwheel ), as well as Spanish.

Romantic Relationships
Lisa met countless boys during the course of her life. Her dream crush is a heartthrob from local teen magazines, Corey. Lisa admitted to Homer she liked a boy from school Langdon Alger but she was only joking. Before Trappuccino, Lisa fell in love with an Irish environmental boy named Colin. Colin can play the piano, guitar, trumpet, drums, and the bass guitar. Lisa tells Marge the best part about him is he's not imaginary.

Nelson Muntz
Lisa's first boyfriend is a less-than-stellar schoolmate, Nelson Muntz. Lisa once had a crush on him after she found herself strangely attracted to his grungy lifestyle enough to ask him out. After Nelson lied to Lisa about something, she decided to break up with him. However, since then, their romantic relationship is referred to several times throughout the series, most notably in the Season 22 episode, Loan-a Lisa, where Lisa invests in Nelson's business venture. The episode ends with Nelson taking Lisa rollerblading and the pair holding hands, hinting at a possible future romance.

Luke Stetson
Luke Stetson, was also an object of Lisa's affection, short-lived after Lisa mislead Luke's sister to a dance.

Ralph Wiggum
Ralph Wiggum once had a crush on Lisa after Lisa sent him a Valentine's Day card, but his heart was broken after Lisa admitted on the Krusty the Klown Show she wasn't in love with him. They're currently just friends.

Milhouse Van Houten
Of all of the boys Lisa encountered, the most desperate and most prominent one was Milhouse Van Houten, who always makes attempts to win Lisa's heart. On one occasion, in order to go on a school trip to Italy, Lisa was forced to learn Italian from Milhouse, who went to Italy countless times. This nearly caused Lisa to develop a crush on him, until she finds out Milhouse is with another girl, prompting her to chase Milhouse angrily with a broom. Lisa once tried to bring Milhouse to a school dance in Springfield Elementary but finds out he was taken. When Milhouse's parents were reported lost at sea, and Milhouse became a loner, Lisa and several other girls became attracted to his new personality. One time, when Milhouse fell in love with a new girl named Taffy, Lisa got them to break up, and Lisa kissed him for the first time, and at the same time, she said she isn't sure if she loves him.

Colin
The relationship between Lisa and Colin, an environmentalist immigrant from Ireland, makes Milhouse jealous.

Nick
Lisa briefly fell in love with a boy, Nick, when meeting him at a lunch she attended with her mom for Valentine's Day. They continued to meet up, but when they met for the last time, Lisa decided she didn't really want to be with him, and he admits he isn't good as he says, commonly lying to girls to gain their affection.

Family
Lisa's relationship with her father's labored. The two occasionally get into arguments, but they also have moments where they really connect. Their relationship is usually one where Homer ignores Lisa, and Lisa avoids Homer. Lisa seems to be on good terms with her mother,Marge, and the two have a good relationship with each other. Lisa also gets along pretty well with her baby sister, Maggie. Being siblings, Lisa and her brother Bart constantly get into brawls. Their major brawl was after Bart destroyed Lisa's centerpiece for a Thanksgiving Dinner. The two once competed against each other in hockey and tried to win over Homer's love. However, the two teamed up together many times, and they genuinely love each other. This is shown when the two were placed in third grade in the same class (Lisa was moved up from second grade while Bart was moved down). The two got lost in a field trip in Capital City, forcing them to work together to survive. When Milhouse temporarily left Springfield, Bart spent more time with Lisa, and the two developed a stronger bond. When Milhouse returned, Bart tried to keep their new bond intact by promising to do her chores and giving her a hug. In one episode, Lisa almost told two college girls she thinks Bart's cute, but takes back the statement after remembering she's talking about her brother.

Future
At the age of 12, Lisa's saved from a house fire by Milhouse, which she later discovers was caused by him. At age 16, she's graduating from Springfield High School two years early and is about to go to on a scholarship provided by Mr. Burns. She's dating Milhouse she dumps after prom. Bart nearly takes her Yale scholarship but he returns it when he realizes she's more deserving. He also prevents her from getting back together with Milhouse because he thinks it'll ruin her life.

A few years later, Lisa rejects Milhouse's offer to marry him saying she doesn't intend to ever get married. At age 23, Lisa's in college and falls in love with a British man named Hugh Parkfield she becomes engaged to. When she introduces Hugh to her family, they embarrass her, and he quickly grows to hate them. Hugh plans to take her back to England where Lisa will lose all of her contact with them; however, she dumps him since she'll rather have her family.

At an unknown point in adulthood, Bart's in need of a digestive tract transplant, somehow related to the mystery of 'Fish Logs'. She asks townspeople who tell her the 'Fish Log' story which took place when she was still 8. She finds out Fish Logs brought Bart into the hospital in the first place when he ate them on a binge.

At age 38, Lisa becomes the first heterosexual female President of the United States. The country's broke and is forced to bring a tax hike, but things get worse when Bart interrupts everything. The leaders of the other countries are about to beat her until Bart saves her. To make it up to him, she legalizes the use of cannabis. Sh'is also married to Milhouse and the two have a teenage daughter, Zia Simpson.

In old age, Lisa's married to Milhouse. She wants to take a poetry class, but they are broke and Milhouse spent all of the money on the electricity which wasn't enough. When Bart's younger, he finds out about this future and tries to prevent it.

Lisa also imagined herself married to Ralph Wiggum in the future.

The Simpsons Road Rage
In "The Simpsons Road Rage", Lisa drives the Elec-Taurus car and is one of the default characters. You may also pick her up off the streets when not playing as her.

The Simpsons Hit & Run
Lisa is playable in the of "The Simpsons: Hit & Run" as she looks for Bart after his disappearance. However, she makes an appearance in the first level in Springfield Elementary School, where Homer has to give her the science project she forgot. By the time the seventh level has come around, Lisa is back in the Simpson house, and tells her father to go out and stock up on supplies. However, by the fourth mission, Lisa is back at the school, where she suggests that Homer goes to Mr Burns to buy nuclear waste, which is the aliens' weakness. When characters use the Malibu Stacy car in levels four, five, six,and seven Lisa appears in the car.

The Simpsons Game
In The Simpsons Game, Lisa's powers are playing her saxophone to stun enemies and use the "Hand of Buddha" to pick up and drop big things. This power is later upgraded, enabling her to attack with lightning as well.

Trivia

 * According to Milhouse, Lisa's eyes are gray, but according to Spud Cooder in "Bart Carny", Lisa's eyes are blue. This may indicated Milhouse is color-blind, though this may just be an inconsistency.
 * Although she's always desperate for a boy (saying she'll never have a love life), she never seems to remember she was in a relationship with Colin and several others.
 * Her romantic relationship with Nelson Muntz is mentioned or referred to throughout the series, evident in "Lisa's Date with Density", "Love, Springfieldian Style", "Dial "N" for Nerder", "Simpsons Tall Tales", "Sleeping with the Enemy", "Wild Barts Can't Be Broken" and "Elementary School Musical".
 * In Chief Wiggum's records on the Springfield Mafia, Lisa's listed as a "possible romantic link" to Fat Tony's son Michael, whom she was friends with in "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer".
 * She speaks Italian, due to the help of Milhouse Van Houten.
 * She has an IQ of 156.
 * Lisa's a member of MENSA and PETA.
 * In "To Surveil with Love", she dyed her hair brown to prove the judges were biased against blondes.
 * Her email's revealed in "The President Wore Pearls" as smartgirl63@yahoo.com.
 * Not many realized Lisa's still wearing her braces, it can't be seen since it was created almost invisible by Calvin Klein.
 * Early on, before she became a vegetarian, fried shrimp was indicated as her favorite food.
 * She, along with her sister Maggie, are obsessed with The Happy Little Elves television show, much to Bart's dismay and disapproval. She usually responds to his thoughts by saying he's just like Gloomy and Chilly.

Creation
Matt Groening first conceived the Simpson family in the lobby of James L. Brooks' office. He had been called in to pitch a series of animated shorts, and had intended to present his Life in Hell series. When he realized that animating Life in Hell would require him to rescind publication rights for his life's work, Groening decided to go in another direction. He hurriedly sketched out his version of a dysfunctional family, and named the characters after various members of his own family, and Lisa is the name of one of his sisters. Lisa then made her debut with the rest of the Simpsons clan on 19 April 1987 in the Tracey Ullman short "Good Night". Nancy Cartwright, originally auditioned for the role of Lisa, but was soon told that her voice would be better suited voicing Bart. Yeardley Smith had initially been asked to audition for the role of Bart but casting director Bonita Pietila believed her voice was too high, so Smith was given the role of Lisa instead. In order to perform the voice, Smith lifts her voice up a little.

Development
In the Tracey Ullman Show shorts, Lisa was more of a "female Bart" and was as equally mischievous as her brother. As the series progressed, Lisa began to develop into a more intelligent and more emotional character with "Krusty Gets Busted" being one of the first episodes where her true intelligence is fully shown. Many episodes focusing on Lisa have an emotional nature, the first one being "Moaning Lisa". The idea for the episode was pitched by James L. Brooks, who had wanted to do an emotional episode where Lisa is sad because the show had done a lot of "jokey episodes".

For a long time, Lisa's saxophone solos were provided by jazz baritone saxophonist Terry Harrington.

Cultural influence
In 2001 Lisa received a special "Board of Directors Ongoing Commitment Award" at the Environmental Media Awards. "Lisa the Vegetarian", an episode from the seventh season, won both an Environmental Media Award for "Best Television Episodic Comedy" and a Genesis Award for "Best Television Comedy Series, Ongoing Commitment". Lisa was also listed at number 11 in TV Guide's "Top 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time." In Japan, the broadcasters of the series found they were able to turn the apparent viewer dislike of the series around by focusing marketing attention on Lisa. Lisa's well-intended but ill-fated struggles to be a voice of reason and a force of good in her family and city struck a chord with the Japanese.