Difference between revisions of "Herman Hermann"

Revision as of 11:32, March 6, 2011

"The key to Springfield has always been Elm Street. The Greeks knew it. The Carthaginians knew it. Now you know it."

―Herman, Bart the General

Herman, voiced by Harry Shearer, is the owner of Herman's Military Antiques. He dresses in military fatigues.

Arm

He has only one arm. He told Bart that the other arm was lost by sticking it out of the window of a moving bus. It was also implied when on a bus Ms. Krabappel said not to do it because a kid once lost an arm that way.

Role in The Simpsons

Herman is not a very important and known person in Springfield, but he will often participate in large mobs and crowds.

Talents

He is a brilliant military tactician, though his sanity is somewhat questionable (Bart considered him "a little crazy", while Abraham Simpson actually said he was "out of his mind"). Herman was instrumental in Bart’s victory in water balloon combat against Nelson, and the negotiation of the peace treaty between the two combatants.

Friends

He is friends with Abraham Simpson, to whom he sold a fez hat, claiming it was previously owned by Napoleon. He also claimed that he owned "the hat McKinley was shot in". He also has a mysterious friend called Zed, who presumably is the same Zed as in the movie Pulp Fiction; a bisexual rapist. Herman was a member of The Stonecutters, and possibly the "No Homers" club. He was also a poker buddy of Homer Simpson.

Criminal Activities

He once sold counterfeit jeans out of the Simpsons' garage, and held Homer hostage when he stumbled upon his job. He was foiled by Marge Simpson, though he was not put in jail because the evidence was stolen by the Springfield PD.

He once captured Chief Wiggum and Snake and held them hostage , but was thwarted (accidentally) by Milhouse wielding a flail.

Behind the Laughter

Harry Shearer does an impression of George H. W. Bush for Herman's voice. Herman's facial design is modeled after the show's most prolific writer John Swartzwelder, who created the character. The writers had originally planned for Herman to give a new explanation for how he lost his arm every time he appeared. However, the second joke, involving Herman having stuck his arm in a ball return at a bowling alley, got cut, and the writers never pursued the idea thereafter.

Appearances