Seymour Skinner
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Seymour Skinner / Armin Tamzarian
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Character Information
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Introduction
Seymour Skinner is the principal of Springfield Elementary School. He almost always is seen wearing a blue suit with a purple shirt and pink tie. He is a Vietnam War veteran, having obtained the rank of sargeant, and frequently refers/has flashbacks to his experiences in the military as well as being held captive in a Vietcong POW camp. He considers Bart to be his archnemesis.
In The Principal and the Pauper, it is revealed that Skinner is actually Armin Tanzarian, a no-good street thug from Capital City who met and befriended the real Seymour Skinner in the military. Believing the real Skinner to have been killed in combat in Vietnam, Tanzarian assumes the role of "Seymour Skinner" when he goes to Springfield to inform Seymour's mother Agnes Skinner of Seymour's death. In the course of the episode it is revealed that Agnes knew all along that Armin was not her son, but for whatever reason played along and encouraged the charade. By the end of the episode, everyone decides they like Armin Tanzarian more than the real Seymour Skinner, so they tie the real Skinner up to a departing railroad car and declare they will never speak of "Armin Tanzarian" again. This episode is a parody of the famous Martin Guerre impostor case.
Skinner is at once an authority figure and a meek and powerless paper-pusher. While he attempts to exercise authority over the children and teachers at Springfield Elementary, one shout of his name by his boss Superintendent Chalmers (Skin-NER!) is enough to make him practically wet his pants. He is similarly cowed into submission by his domineering mother Anges Skinner, whom he lives with. Anges frequently embarrasses Skinner in public, undercutting his attempts to wield authority. Seymour mostly represses his frustration, but sometimes expresses it, as in Bart's Inner Child where he beats up and tears limb from limb a stuffed effigy of his mother (in front of her). He also desparately seeks the approval of Superintendent Chalmers, who tries to "reassure" him by telling him that he is "the best [principal] we could find with the funds at our disposal." (My Big Fat Geek Wedding)
Charaterizations by Other Characters
- Superintendent Chalmers: "The rod up that man's ass has a rod up its ass!"
- Bart Simpson (at different times): "Skinfish" "Skinman" "Skinny"
- Groundskeeper Willie (at different times): "Croquet-Playin' Mint-Muncher!" "Bath-taking, underpants-wearing, lily-hugger!"
- Moe Syzlak: "perfect posture and store-bought hair"
Vehicles
Love Life
Skinner's major love interest is Edna Krabappel, Bart's third-grade teacher. However, he and Edna broke up soon after Edna left him at the altar when she discovered Skinner had cold feet. She soon had a rebound fling with Comic Book Guy. (My Big Fat Geek Wedding)
Links
The Simpsons Archive, Seymour Skinner File
