Difference between revisions of "Nelson Muntz"

Revision as of 22:22, September 27, 2009

Nelson Muntz is Springfield Elementary's main bully, and Bart Simpson's arch-nemesis (later, his friend). Nelson's main catchphrase is a sing-song "Ha-ha!" (also spelled as "Haw-haw!"). He is voiced by Nancy Cartwright.

Appearance

Nelson has light brown hair, and wears a short-sleeved light pink shirt with a light blue dirty, torn vest. As revealed in "Girls Just Want To Have Sums", Nelson's front teeth are false, and on a removable plate.

Catchphrases

Nelson's catch phrases are "Ha-ha!" (also spelled as "Haw-haw!"), "Aw, crud!", "Smell ya later!", and "Stop hitting yourself!". The last phrase can be modified to suit the current situation/method of beating, resulting in phrases such as "Stop butlering yourself!", "Stop zapping yourself!" and "Stop endangering yourself!".

Biography

A chubby, mean, and selfish young boy, Nelson was introduced in Season 1 episode "Bart the General", as a bully and arch-nemesis of Bart, best identified by his trademark laugh ("Ha-ha!"). Over the years, Nelson has terrorized virtually everyone in Springfield, and regularly points and laughs at people's misfortune. Nelson shows the occasional glimpse of humanity however, and other characters have occasionally warmed to him; Lisa dates him briefly in the episode, "Lisa's Date with Density," Marge informally adopts him in "Sleeping with the Enemy," and Bart befriends him in "The Haw-Hawed Couple."

In "Das Bus", Nelson represents Japan in the school's Model UN club. In various episodes, he gives off the impression that he is a lot smarter than he may first appear. Nelson often points out painfully obvious things to adults and kids alike that take them longer to grasp. Another example is a running joke where Nelson does a class assignment which is implied to be of high quality; Sadly he is always brushed off by the teachers before he gets to show them his work. Nelson is also a natural athlete: In the episode "Bart Star", he almost singlehandedly carries the entire Springfield Pee-Wee football team. As the team quarterback, Nelson also on one occasion catches his own pass and plows through the opposing team with extreme ease.

Nelson is also a fan of many unexpected things, such as Andy Williams and Snow White. He is also an expert in the proper preparation of Huckleberries. According to the episode "The Monkey Suit", Nelson is apparently a master of disguise, fooling even Bart and Ned Flanders. His lunch (technically, brunch) are tadpoles, as revealed in the episode "Sleeping with the Enemy."

Nelson has been known to beat people up (usually Bart) for arguably noble reasons. In "Bart Gets Famous" Bart (truthfully) claimed to have been Krusty the Clown's assistant; Nelson punched him in the stomach, saying "That's for taking credit for other people's work!". Nelson also hurt him after Bart wrecked Hitler's vehicle at a carnival ("You wrecked Hitler's car! What did he ever do to you?!"). Bart also got beaten for "Wasting teacher's valuable time!", after constantly raised his hand with the wrong answer to answer a question Mrs. Krabappel asked, and received pain for "Besmirching an innocent girl's name!" after trying to flaunt his relationship with Jessica Lovejoy to the other kids.

In contrast to the above noble attacks, when Milhouse claims to care about the environment in order to impress Lisa in The Simpsons Movie, Nelson stands over him with a fist raised and demands he "Say global warming is a myth!" Milhouse does so, but mentions that further study is needed, and Nelson punches him telling him "That's for selling out your beliefs!"

He's shown to have at least one other redeeming quality: A segment in "Treehouse of Horror XIX" shows him to be against racism. While confronting the orange Grand Pumpkin, he sees the Pumpkins indifference to Nelsons holding a yellow pumpkin hostage. The Grand Pumpkin promptly swallows him up, but only after Nelson declares "I'd rather die than hate!".

In the episode "Little Big Girl", it is revealed that Nelson is of German descent. However in the episode "Much Apu About Nothing", Nelson picks on Üter Zörker for being German, during a time when the town was in an anti-illegal immigrant hysteria.

At times Nelson is depicted as having master answer sheets to various tests and assignments at school. In one episode he has an "office" located in a toilet stall where he has the answer sheets hidden in the toilet cistern. He also has a framed picture of himself mounted on the cubicle wall with "Employee Of The Month" stenciled below it.

Family

Nelson's parents are Mr. Muntz and Mrs. Muntz. As revealed in "Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in "The Curse of the Flying Hellfish"", his grandfather is a Judge.

While some early episodes offer inconsistent histories, the canon story that has evolved is that he lives in a dilapidated house with his mother. The negligent Mrs. Muntz (who Nelson inherited his trademark laugh from) works on the fringes of the sex industry, either as a waitress at Hooters or in a topless bar. The character design and voice portrayal of both parents has varied throughout the course of the series.

It is shown in many episodes that Nelson's father abandoned him and his mother at an early age when he "went to pick up some Poptarts" (Although later on in the series this was Retconned to a pack of cigarettes). This may or may not be a reference to Stephen King's childhood, as King's father also left for a pack of cigarettes and never returned. In the fourth season episode "Brother from the Same Planet", Nelson's father appears as the children's soccer coach and awards Nelson with a free trip to Pele's Soccer and Acting School.

Nelson's father returns in the 16th season episode, "Sleeping with the Enemy". It turns out that he did not leave Nelson deliberately; he bit into a chocolate bar, not knowing it had peanuts and had an allergic reaction. Looking like the Elephant Man, he ran out of the store and encountered a circus that made him a part of its freak show. At performances, circus attendees threw peanuts at him, which perpetuated his reaction, never allowing him to return to normal. When the circus came through Springfield, Bart recognized him and brought him home to rid himself of Nelson (who had been taken into the Simpson home by Marge).

Relationships with other characters

Fellow Bullies

At first having two cronies he called The Weasels, Nelson teamed up with Jimbo, Dolph and Kearney. Many have noted that around season 6, Nelson is not seen with the bully trio very often, hinting that his friendship with them is superficial. Nelson himself was subjected to a beating at the hands of Kearney and Jimbo at the racetrack when he used the word "guff" instead of shit in the Season 11 episode "Saddlesore Galactica".

Victims

Although in the first season, Nelson seemed to be Bart's antagonist, he gradually moves through grudging respect (after the events of "Bart the General") to become Bart's friend in later episodes, having become his "other best friend" in "The Debarted". Nelson once described Bart as having "spikey hair, soft kidneys, and always hitting himself". Although still prone to violence, he occasionally hangs out with Bart and his outcast friends such as Milhouse Van Houten and even common bullying target Martin Prince, more often than the bullies. In the episode "24 Minutes", Bart is shown to be capable enough of beating Nelson up.

Lisa Simpson

Nelson has many other moments where he displays his hidden good nature, such as his brief amorous relationship with Lisa. Although he cannot control his delinquent tendencies, he treats her with respect and even tries to change for her, although both of them realize that he is not being true to himself by doing so. In "Lisa's Date With Density", Nelson kisses Lisa, only to be berated by Jimbo, Kearney, and Dolph, who believe that kissing girls is gay (despite the fact that Jimbo kissed Laura Powers in "New Kid on the Block"). He also helps Lisa punish Sherri and Terri for tormenting Lisa about her butt.

The idea of Nelson dating Lisa Simpson had been around for a while, and by season 8 the writers had begun to explore the show's secondary characters. "Lisa's Date with Density" was the first episode to center on Nelson, and it was used to explain why he acts the way he does.

Martin Prince

Another curious example of his "good side" is with Martin, a boy whom Nelson picks on perhaps more so than any other kid in town. Despite the utter cruelty, there are occasional hints that Nelson does not harbor any hate towards Martin, and only bullies him to maintain his 'tough guy' reputation. In the episode I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can, both Nelson and Martin attend Space Camp and it is implied that Martin had helped Nelson quite a bit and the two may have been very friendly. In "Dial 'N' for Nerder", when it is believed that Martin has died, Nelson seeks out to learn the truth and find Martin's killers. When it is revealed that Martin is alive, Nelson mocks and punches him, but also states that he is glad Martin is not dead. In this same episode however, when Lisa tries to bribe him to not rat her out by offering to get back together with him, he denies it. In "Lemon of Troy", Nelson saves Martin from getting beaten up by a Shelbyville kid, even though he is clearly embarrassed by doing it.

Future

The episode Future-Drama depicts Nelson to have dated and impregnated identical twin sisters Sherri and Terri, becoming the father to two sets of twins. He then claims to be going out to the store for a pack of cigarettes, and then flees, later explaining himself in a similar manner to his father.

In "Bart to the Future" Nelson is shown to be a rich, powerful businessman (or mob boss) who owns a bar - a reference to the alternate Biff Tannen of the Back to the Future movie series.

At the end of "Barting Over", an elderly Nelson is seen laughing at Homer Simpson's grave.

Name

According to the DVD commentary on the season five The Simpsons episode "Lady Bouvier's Lover", Nelson's first name comes from the wrestling hold, the full nelson. However, others stated that it was named after actor Judd Nelson, who portrayed John Bender. Both Bender and Nelson have a similar appearance, personality and delinquencies.

Appearances