| Ned Flanders | |
|---|---|
| The Simpsons character | |
 Flanders waving | |
| First appearance | "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" (1989) |
| Created by | Matt Groening |
| Designed by | Matt Groening |
| Voiced by | Harry Shearer |
| In-universe information | |
| Full name | Nedward Flanders Jr. |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Pharmaceutical company clerk (former, until he openedthe Leftorium), owner of the Leftorium (former, until it closed), fourth grade teacher atSpringfield Elementary School (former, he was fired) |
| Family | Nedward Flanders, Sr. (father) Nediana Flanders (sister) |
| Spouses | |
| Children | Rod Flanders Todd Flanders |
| Religion | Evangelical Christian |
| Nationality | American |
| Born | June 7, 1959S36E12 |
Nedward "Ned"Flanders Jr.,[1] commonly referred to by his surname, is a recurring character in the animated television seriesThe Simpsons, voiced byHarry Shearer[2] and first appearing in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire." He is the good-natured, cheery next-door neighbor to theSimpson family and is generally loathed byHomer Simpson, though there are numerous instances where the two are portrayed as good friends. A scrupulous and devoutEvangelical Christian, he is among the friendliest and most compassionate of Springfield's residents and is generally considered a pillar of theSpringfield community.
He was one of the first characters outside the immediate Simpson family to appear on the show, and has since been central to several episodes, the first beingseason two's "Dead Putting Society". As the series progressed, Flanders'sreligious fanaticism increased immensely, prompting the coining of the term "Flanderization". His last name comes fromFlanders Street inPortland, Oregon, the hometown ofSimpsons creatorMatt Groening.
Ned Flanders, who was designed byRich Moore, first appeared in theseason one episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". The episode was the series premiere, but not the first episode produced.[3] The first episode in which Flanders and his family were prominent isseason two's "Dead Putting Society", which also contained the first appearance of Maude and Rod Flanders.[4] The character was named after Flanders Street inPortland, Oregon, the hometown ofSimpsons creatorMatt Groening.[5] Groening described the inspiration for Flanders as "just a guy who was truly nice, that Homer had no justifiable reason to loathe, but then did". It was not until after the first few episodes that it was decided Flanders would be a faithful Christian.[6]Mike Scully noted that Flanders is "everything Homer would love to be, although he'll never admit it".[6] Flanders had been meant to be just a neighbor that Homer was jealous of, but Harry Shearer used "such a sweet voice" and Flanders was broadened to become a Christian and a sweet guy that someone would prefer to live next to over Homer.[7] Flanders is known for his nonsensical jabbering,[8] such as "Hi-diddly-ho, neighborino" as a greeting. His first use of the word "diddly" was in "The Call of the Simpsons".[9]
Ned Flanders' religion was not mentioned in his first few appearances and in the first few seasons he was only mildly religious and his primary role was to be so "cloyingly perfect as to annoy and shame the Simpsons", whereasHomer Simpson has always hated Ned Flanders and always tries to undermine him.[10] There has been a consistent effort among the show's writers to make him not just a "goody good and an unsympathetic person".[4] In the later seasons, Flanders has become more of a caricature of theChristian right, and his role as a "perfect neighbor" has been lessened.[11] For example, in some recent episodes Flanders has appeared to show rather prejudiced attitudes towards women, non-whites, homosexuals and people of religions other than Christianity.[12] Though he only ever showed homophobic signs innon-canon episodes, notably "Frinkenstein" where he says "I'm running to find a cure for homosexuality".[13]
Ned's store the Leftorium first appeared in "When Flanders Failed".[7] It was suggested byGeorge Meyer,[14] who had had a friend who had owned a left-handed specialty store which failed.[15]
There have been at least two occasions where Ned was not voiced byHarry Shearer. In "Bart of Darkness", Flanders's high pitched scream was performed byTress MacNeille[16] and in "Homer to the Max", Flanders comments about cartoons being easily able to change voice actors and on that occasion he was voiced byKarl Wiedergott.[17]
The Adventures of Ned Flanders was a "series" ofshorts starring Flanders, but only one episode, "Love that God", was produced. It appears at the end of thefourth season episode "The Front"[18] because the episode was too short and the producers had already tried "every trick in the book" to lengthen it.[19] Although the episode was scripted byAdam I. Lapidus, "Love That God" was written byMike Reiss,Al Jean andSam Simon.[20] In the 34-second-long segment, which comes complete with its own theme song, Ned walks into Rod and Todd's room as they are praying and tells them it is time for church. He is upset when Todd replies that they are not going, until Todd reminds him it is Saturday, and Ned laughs at his mistake.[21]
Most fans were confused by the short,[19] butBill Oakley and several other writers loved it so much that they wanted to do more. Later, Oakley andJosh Weinstein decided to produce an entire episode that was nothing but loosely associated shorts, which became theseason seven episode "22 Short Films About Springfield".[22] The Flanders/Lovejoy segment of that episode was written byDavid X. Cohen. "22 Short Films about Springfield" in turn inspired theFuturama episode "Three Hundred Big Boys".[23]
Ned is very honest and sincere in carrying out the Christian doctrines of charity, kindness, and compassion. He is frequently shown doing volunteer work, and is rigorously honest and upright, even going so far as to spend an entire day tracking down aLeftorium customer in order to give him the extra change that he had forgotten to hand over.[21]
In "Homer's Triple Bypass", he donates a kidney and a lung out of the goodness of his heart to whoever needs them first. He also is a good neighbor to the Simpsons, regularly offering his assistance.[24] Ned's dogged friendship inspires the loyalty of others; when his Leftorium shop appeared on the verge of bankruptcy shortly after it opened, Homer arranged a bailout with the help of many people in Springfield.[25] Despite a meek outward appearance, Ned hides an exceptionally well-toned physique.
In the early years ofThe Simpsons, Homer Simpson generally loathed Ned, because Ned's family, job, health and self-discipline are of higher quality than he could ever hope to attain himself.[26] Homer is often shown "borrowing" (stealing) items from Flanders, such as aweather vane, acamcorder, a diploma, atoothbrush and anair conditioning unit. Even the Simpsons' couch came from "the curb outside Flanders' house".Homer has since come to have alove-hate relationship with Ned, sometimes being his best friend, partly due to Ned's selfless tolerance of him, and other times treating Ned with complete disregard.[27] Homer seems to genuinely care for Ned, despite still expressing and often acting on feelings of loathing.[28] Nowadays, Homer seems to regard Ned as more of his best friend. An early running joke was thatMarge considers Flanders to be a perfect neighbor,[25] and usually sides with him instead of her husband, which alwaysenrages Homer.[29] In "Left Behind," Homer succinctly states, "[Flanders] makes me feel so damn guilty!"
Ned Flanders is genuinely well-meaning and good-natured, one of the few such people in Springfield. Firmly religious, sometimes even being portrayed as an overly friendly people person. He can be timid and something of a pushover. He is aRepublican[30] and a devoutEvangelical Christian who strictly follows theBibleliterally and is easily shocked when challenged on any point of dogma. This causes frequent calls toReverend Lovejoy, even over minuscule things, to the point that Lovejoy has stopped caring[31] and has even suggested that Flanders try a different religion.[32] This was a running joke in the early seasons, but has been used less in the later episodes.[29] In theeighth season, the episode "In Marge We Trust" would examine the relationship between Lovejoy and Flanders, and shows the history of their relationship and how Lovejoy became increasingly uninterested in Flanders' problems.[31] Flanders is shown to have a room in his house filled with memorabilia ofThe Beatles. He claims that this is because they were "bigger than Jesus".[33]
Ned is a widower, having been married to the equally religiousMaude. They had two children together, the sheltered and naïveRod andTodd Flanders. In theeleventh season episode "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily", Maude died an untimely death in a freak accident involving aT-shirt cannon, leaving Flanders alone and grieving.[28] While still married to Maude, Ned married Ginger, while on a drunken bender inLas Vegas.[34] Ginger came to live with Ned and his sons for a brief period following Maude's death in a later episode, but she quickly grew tired of the Flanders' sickly-sweet personalities and fled. Despite his outward nerdishness, Flanders has also been connected romantically with a beautifulChristian-rock singer,Rachel Jordan,[28] movie star Sara Sloane and eventually marrying local teacherEdna Krabappel until she died as well.[35]
Ned got his diploma fromOral Roberts University in an unspecified field and worked as a salesman in thepharmaceuticals industry for the bulk of his adult life. Having saved much of his earnings, Flanders decided to quit his job and invested his family's life savings into a store in the Springfield mall called the Leftorium specializing in products for left-handed people.[25] In the fifth season episode, "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song", Superintendent Chalmers fires Ned Flanders, who has become principal after Skinner being sacked, only because he freely expresses his religious views in the school. However in the Season 29 episode "Left Behind", owing to declining sales, the Leftorium had been downsized from an outlet to a kiosk, eventually going out of business alongside theSears outlet at Springfield Mall. Left unemployed, Flanders returned to Springfield Elementary School, finding a new job as Bart Simpson's new teacher and substituting the void left by his deceased second wife Edna Krabappel, as well as honoring her life dream.[36][37] Flanders remained Bart's teacher until the Season 33 episode "My Octopus and a Teacher", at which point the role was assumed by Rayshelle Peyton.[38]
In the episode "Hurricane Neddy" a flashback to 30 years earlier shows Ned as a young child, despite the fact that in the episode "Viva Ned Flanders" he says to the church congregation that he was actually 60 years old, attributing his youthful appearance to his conformity to the "three Cs"—"clean living, chewing thoroughly, and a daily dose of vitamin church".[34] Ned grew up inNew York City and was the son of "freakybeatniks" who did not discipline Ned (as they did not think it was right) and let him run wild. Eventually they took him to Dr. Foster, a psychiatrist, who put the young Ned through theUniversity of Minnesota Spankalogical Protocol, which involved eight months of continuous spanking. The treatment worked so well that it rendered Flanders unable to express any anger at all and resulted in his trademark nonsensical jabbering at moments when he was particularly close to losing his temper, causing Ned to unknowingly repress his anger.[39]
Although in more recent seasons Flanders has become a caricature of theChristian right, he is still a favorite of many Christian viewers.[4]Rowan Williams, a formerarchbishop of Canterbury, is a confessedSimpsons fan,[40] and is reportedly a Flanders fan.[41] Ned's "unbearable piousness" has been described asThe Simpsons' sharpest critique oforganized religion: "The show's implicit argument seems to be that humorless obsessives like Ned have hijacked religious institutions, removing them from the center of society to a place where only those who know their brides of Beth Chedruharazzeb from their wells of Zohassadar can seek solace."[11] Steve Goddard of the websiteShip of Fools said, "Ned is an innocent abroad in a world of cynicism and compromise. We love him because we know what it's like to be classed as a nerd – and to come out smiling at the end of it."[42] The February 5, 2001 edition ofBilly Graham'sChristianity Today, titledSaint Flanders, featured Flanders, along with Homer and Marge, on the cover and described him as "the most visible evangelical to many Americans."[43]
Flanders has been described as "The United States' most well-known evangelical".[41] According toChristianity Today in 2001, "on American college and high school campuses, the name most associated with the word Christian—other than Jesus—is not thePope orMother Teresa or evenBilly Graham. Instead, it's a goofy-looking guy named Ned Flanders on the animated sitcom known asThe Simpsons. The mustache, thick glasses, green sweater, and irrepressibly cheerful demeanor of Ned Flanders, Homer Simpson's next-door neighbor, have made him an indelible figure, the evangelical known most intimately to nonevangelicals."[44] In 2001 and 2002, theGreenbelt Festival, a British Christian music and arts fest, held a special "Ned Flanders Night". The 2001 event featured a look-alike contest, as well as the tribute band "Ned Zeppelin". It was held in a 500-seat venue that was filled to capacity, and an extra 1500 people were turned away at the door.[45] A second event was held in 2002, with Ned Zeppelin reappearing.[42]
In 2017, after presidentDonald Trump insulted television hostMika Brzezinski onTwitter,Orrin Hatch responded and said, "Every once in a while you get a dipsy-doodle," as Ned Flanders' term.[46] In 2019,Trevor Noah onThe Daily Show comparedMike Pence to Flanders when discussing the Ukraine scandal.[47]Aaron Stonehouse,Western Australia's first Liberal Democrat MP, made a comparison between theMcGowan government and Ned Flanders' wife, Maude Flanders, a devout Christian who died after being knocked off a grandstand in aT-shirt cannon accident onThe Simpsons.[48] In 2022,Relevant claimed that Flanders was "unapologetically not cool" as a Christian, but overall "decent".[49]
Professional ice hockey goaltenderPeter Budaj was known for having Ned Flanders painted on his mask during his hockey career.[50] Another tribute band,Okilly Dokilly, plays heavy metal music.[51] In 2018,MadeinTYO released a rap song about Flanders.[52] TheNed Flanders Crossing, a pedestrian and bicycle bridge overInterstate 405 inPortland, Oregon, was named for the character in 2021. It connects two sections of Northwest Flanders Street, for whom the character is named.[53]
Flanders makes an appearance in the video gameFortnite xSimpsons mini season that was released in November 2025. He appears as a skin for players to purchase.[54]
Flanders' significant evolution of his Christian fanaticism has led to the term dubbed "Flanderization", which refers to the increasingly exaggerated characterization of any character throughout a TV or a film series.[55][56] The specific case of Flanders attracts special attention. Debate exists over whether Flanders is a consistently flanderized character or whether he later returned to a more complex, dynamic portrayal.[55][57] The appropriateness of the term "flanderization" has also been disputed, as many characters inThe Simpsons have undergone the caricaturizing process, and Flanders himself may not be the most extreme case.[58] Flanders' shifting portrayal has also been controversial as representative of a shift in media portrayals of religious people. As both the primary representative of Christianity onThe Simpsons and as one of the most significant Christian fictional characters in the real world,[59] the simplification of Flanders as a character has been the subject of criticism, study, and reinterpretation.[60]
Flanders has been included inThe Simpsons merchandise. In 2008, theFlanders' Book of Faith, part of the Simpsons Library of Wisdom, was released byHarperCollins. The book takes a look at Flanders' life and his ever enduring faith.[61] In 2021, Flanders got a sneaker line fromAdidas.[62]
