Nelson Muntz
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Nelson Muntz (voiced by Nancy Cartwright) is a character from The Simpsons.
Nelson Muntz is arguably one of the darkest and most complex characters in the show. His appalling home life mirrors that of poor children from broken families in much of the USA, with an absent father and a less than caring mother. His obvious delinquency, which has stretched from an interest in firearms to actual arson (as well as countless unprovoked assaults) is tempered by a surprising wit and a cynicism beyond his years. Indeed, there are strong hints in the show that Nelson is in fact a bright and sensitive boy, strangled by the hopelessness of his life, and his highly unpromising future. As such, he serves as a symbol of youth denied its potential by economic strife and social rejection. Both Marge Simpson and Lisa Simpson have picked up on this, Marge adopting him as a surrogate son, and Lisa dating him briefly, until discovering that he lied to her.
According to the DVD commentary on the Simpsons episode Lady Bouvier's Lover, Nelson's first name comes from the wrestling hold the 'Full Nelson'.
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Nelson is notorious for his unabashed displays of schadenfreude, invariably accompanied by his trademark "Ha ha!" laugh; often times, he makes his victim inflict punishment on himself or herself ("Stop hitting yourself!" "Stop butlering yourself!" "Stop endangering yourself!" "Why you throwin' tomatoes at yourself?") He lives with his mom, who got fired from Hooters, and is very poor, living in a dilapidated house. Nelson's dad appeared to have left after saying that he was going to the store to buy cigarettes. As a result, Nelson has hallucinated that his father has come back to him. In some episodes, however, Nelson's father is still around to raise him: in one episode, he is Nelson's soccer coach. Nelson's dad returned in the 16th season.
As it turned out, his dad took a bite out of a chocolate bar, not knowing it had peanuts and had an allergic reaction. He ran out of the store and ran into a circus, who mistook him for a freak, taking him along for years, dressed in a burlap sack with the word "corn" printed on it. Scared by his appearance, circus attendees threw peanuts at him, which again and again caused the reaction, never allowing him to return to normal. When the circus came through Springfield, Bart recognized him and brought him home to reunite him with Nelson.
Image:Simp nelson2.gif Although in the first season, Nelson seemed to be Bart's antagonist, he seems to be Bart's friend in later episodes. Although still prone to violence, he seems to actually hang out with Bart and some of his outcast friends such as Milhouse Van Houten and even common bullying target Martin Prince a lot more than Jimbo, Dolph, and Kearney. Many have noted that past around season 6, Nelson is not seen with the bully trio very often, hinting that his friendship with them is only skin-deep and not genuine. Nelson also has many other moments where he displays his deeply buried good nature, such as his brief 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. Another curious example 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 could even potentially be friendly with him. In the episode, I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can, both Nelson and Martin had attended Space Camp and it is implied that Martin had helped Nelson quite a bit and the two may have been very friendly to each other. Due to the pressure of maintaining his bad-boy image at school however, he goes back to his tormenting much to Martin's dismay. Whether this is willingly or not is unknown although the former is implied.
As mentioned, another notable aspect of Nelson is that in various episodes, he seems to give 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 onto. Another instance of this is a running joke where Nelson will do a class assignment and it is implied that he has produced something to a high standard. However, he is always brushed off by the teachers before he gets a chance to show them his work.
As well as Nelson's potential competency at school work, Nelson is also a naturally highly gifted athlete. As well as being quite physically tough, helping maintain his bully status, Nelson also plays a variety of sports throughout the series. Although he lacks the great dexterity of Bart, his natural prowess more than makes up for this on multiple occasions. In the episode Bart Star, Nelson almost singlehandedly carries the entire Springfield Pee-wee football team. As the team quarterback, he also on one occasion intercepts 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 the movie Snow White. In the end, Nelson has come a long way from merely being a generic bully terrorizing Bart, to becoming the rather complex character he is now.
Nelson laugh mythos
Many people have long suggested that sports teams play the Nelson Muntz laugh when their opponent makes a mistake and some have even been sadistic enough to suggest that the Nelson Muntz laugh be played when an opposing player is injured. It is an idea at which thousands of people have independently arrived, but there have been no reported instances until the Dallas Cowboys played the Nelson laugh during the 2005 Thanksgiving football game against the Denver Broncos when the Broncos jumped offsides. Coincidentally, the Cowboys are Homer Simpson's favorite NFL team, and he is the owner of the Denver Broncos, or was once. Most recently in NHL, Dallas Stars played the Nelson laugh after Goalie Marty Turco failed to block Detroit Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk's shot during the shootout on January 28, 2006. Other than the Cowboys, some people think that Homer likes all 4 respective major sport teams in Dallas-Ft. Worth area including the Cowboys: Rangers (MLB), Stars (NHL), and Mavericks (NBA).[1]it:Nelson Muntz sv:Nelson Muntz