Herb Powell
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Herbert Powell
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Character Information
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Herbert "Herb" Powell (née Simpson), voiced by Danny DeVito, is Homer's half-brother. He resembles Homer, though a lot slimmer and boasting a full head of hair.
Contents
Role in The Simpsons
First Appearance
His first appearance was in "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?", in which Homer discovered he had a previously unknown half-brother (as his mother Mona insisted on concealing his existence). The product of a short-lived affair between Homer's father, Abraham Simpson, and a female carnival worker, Herb was adopted by Edward Powell and Mililani Osler. He put himself through college by working odd jobs, then founded Powell Motors, a car company based in Detroit. Herb was overjoyed to learn that he had a birth family and bonded with his nieces and nephew, and - in his role as CEO - allowed Homer to design a car. However, the miserable failure of Homer's car bankrupted the company, and Herb became a street vagrant. He worked his way through Harvard by washing dishes and scrubbing toilets. He prefers to be called Unky Herb by nieces and nephews.
Second Appearance
He re-appeared in the episode "Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?", and briefly settled in the Simpson household, despite his intense continuing antipathy toward Homer. Homer loaned Herb $2000 (from the power plant, as compensation for making him sterile from radiation), which Herb used to build an invention that translated infantile speech into comprehensible English, based on observations he made of Maggie Simpson. He proceeded to mass-produce his new product and regained his fortune. He then proceeded to pay back the Simpson family the $2,000, but also bought Homer a vibrating chair, Marge a new washer and dryer set, Bart a life membership in a Second Amendment organization, Lisa a monthly set of classic novels, and a promise that he will buy something nice for Maggie. (It is also believed Herb did something for the Flanders family to show his gratitude for them giving him a suit and not making look like a hobo anymore). Most of all, Herb ends his antipathy towards Homer and is happy to call him his brother once again. He exhibits a drive uncommon for anyone with Simpson blood in his veins.
Third Appearance
Herb has not been seen since the end of Season 3, although he appeared in a picture when Homer listed of family members who need to lose weight in the episode "The Heartbroke Kid", which was 14 years later. Homer calls him "my seldom seen half-brother Herb". He considers wealth in terms of love and family, not money.
Non-canon Appearance
Many would not call it an appearance. however, in Simpsons Comics: Battle For The Barks Billions Herbert sells his rights as uncle of Bart, Lisa and Maggie to Charles Montgomery Burns. Simpsons comics and Treehouse of Horror storylines are largely agreed to be non-canon in the Simpsons universe.
Family
Original Parents
Herb's original parents were Grandpa and a carnival worker. Abe first met the attractive female carnie at a traveling carnival, where they were taken with each other. One year later Abe met the same woman again at the carnival to find out he had fathered an illegitimate son with her (Herb). The baby was then taken to the Shelbyville Orphanage and would be later adopted by the Powell family. A year later Abe married Mona and Abe told Mona about the carnival incident. When Homer was born Mona told Abe to never tell Homer about the out-of-wedlock birth, which Abe decided he ought to reveal it to Homer when he suffers a mild heart attack.
Possible Half-Sister
Unknown to Herb, he may actually have an older half-sister named Abbie; Grampa also had an affair with a woman he met in England. Homer met this woman's daughter during the events of "The Regina Monologues", and while she is never explicitly called a Simpson, she looks and acts just like a female version of Homer.
Adoptive Family
Herb was adopted by Mr Edward Powell and Mrs Mililani Osler. The Names are revealed in The Simpsons Uncensored Family Album. Mililani gave birth to Coco Powell, Wanda Powell, Carla Powell. They couldn't get any boys so they adopted Herbert Powell, from the Shelbyville Orphanage.
