Maude Flanders

"I don't judge Homer or Marge. That's for a vengeful God to do."

- Maude Flanders

"Neddy doesn't believe in insurance. He considers it a form of gambling."

- Maude Flanders

"In many ways, Maude Flanders was a supporting player in our lives. She didn't grab our attention with memorable catchphrases, or comical accents. But, whether you noticed her or not, Maude was always there ... and we thought she always would be."

- Reverend Timothy Lovejoy at Maude's funeral

Maude Flanders was the wife of Ned Flanders, and the mother of Rod and Todd. Maude was a woman with many positive qualities: faith, kindness, and charity. She loved to draw, which was found out after her death. She had a thick Midwestern (Minnesotan) accent.



Maude Flanders was a devout Christian who once attended a Bible camp to learn how to be more judgmental. She campaigned strongly against Itchy and Scratchy with Marge. She is often partnered with Helen Lovejoy as they protest against the "evils" in Springfield. Maude died by falling off a grandstand, after being hit with several shirts from a t-shirt cannon at the Springfield Speedway. Homer used to have a crush on her.

Biography
Maude was a busy homemaker and a tireless advocate for the children, whose innocence is so often sullied by the "evils" of cartoon violence, liberal education, and the insidious influences of popular culture.

Even though she spent much of her free time in prayer and reading the Bible, Maude was known to let her hair (and her neckline) down for the occasional dinner party at the home of her neighbors, the Simpsons. Homer often made statements insinuating his attraction to Maude, thereby literally coveting his neighbor's wife. Once, Homer ogled at Maude's very low-cut dress at a dinner party which ended up with him and Marge going to marriage camp.

She held a deep love for ficus plants, unflavored nonfat ice milk, and Newsweek magazine.

Death
In "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily", Maude died after being knocked off a grandstand by a shirt cannon at the Springfield Speedway, because Homer had made the Fan-demonium girls shoot right directly at him all at once. When this happened, Homer ducked down to pick up a bobby pin, causing Maude to get hit. According to Homer, he had parked in the ambulance zone, preventing any quick resuscitation. Her death crushed Ned Flanders as well as Todd and Rod Flanders, who, though used to some measure of hardship (their house getting destroyed and car crashes among them), assumed that they would always be together some day.

Apparently, Homer fell in her grave, which Ned mentioned. Reverend Lovejoy eulogized her as follows: "In many ways, Maude Flanders was a supporting player in our lives. She didn't grab our attention with memorable catchphrases, or comical accents. But, whether you noticed her or not, Maude was always there ... and we thought she always would be."

Praiseland
After her death, the grieving Ned Flanders and the Simpsons saw in her sketchbook a series of drawings that outlined a plan for a Christian-themed amusement park named "Praiseland." Realizing this park to be her final dream, Ned acquired the defunct amusement park "Storytime Village" from Colonel Antoine "Tex" O'Hara ("The Rich Texan") and, with the assistance of Homer and other townspeople, built and opened Praiseland. He memorialized Maude there with a statue of her, and placed on its base a plaque bearing the phrase "She taught us the joy of shame and the shame of joy." Praiseland sold Maude memorial items such as masks. Praiseland gained popularity among the residents of Springfield when they erroneously attributed to the statue of Maude the performance of miracles providing religious experiences. The religious experiences were actually hallucinations, caused by gas that was leaking from a gas line near the base of the statue (it is revealed that Springfield natural gas is actually deadlier and more poisonus in area with good ventilation). Feeling that profiting off the memory of his dead wife was wrong, and even more so after candles near the gas leak nearly caused an explosion, Ned closed down Praiseland. Though the episode aired in February 2000, the events appeared to take place before the winter meaning the events probably took place before Winter 1999 and 2000.

Post Death Appearances in the Simpsons

 * At the start of The Simpsons Halloween Special XIII originally broadcast in the USA November 3rd, 2002.The Simpsons and Ned Flanders held a seance and summon Maude's ghost, who proceeds to tell them three horror stories.
 * The regular episode "Bart Has Two Mommies," which aired March the 19th 2006,she showed her looking down on her sons from heaven, saying "My little boys are growing up, Neddy" Maggie Roswell voiced her, but was uncredited in the premiere airing. When it re-aired, the credits were amended to include her name.
 * Maude is also shown to be alive in Season 6 in the episode Lisa's Wedding which was set in the future after the Simpson children had grown up, but written before Season eleven when Maude was killed. However, it should be noted that this was a vision by a possibly illegitimate psychic, and might not be considered canonical.
 * Any time the full (second) opening sequence is played, she can still be seen in the quick fly-by leading to when Bart lands on top of Homer's car.
 * She appeared in flashbacks in the Season 20 episode Dangerous Curves and the Season 21 episode Postcards From the Wedge.
 * There is a house in the final level of The Simpsons Game with a huge sign with Maude's name, which may imply that she's literally "living with God."
 * Goofingly, she was seen with Ned, Rod and Todd when an overview of the crowd is seen in Take My Life, Please, even though she was supposed to be dead.
 * She was mentioned in Kill the Alligator and Run and A Star is Torn.
 * There are still pictures of her in the Flanders home.
 * In The Simpsons Road Rage game, if you play as Ned and go airborne, he'll eventually yell out, "AAGH, I'm coming to join ya, Maude!"
 * In Treehouse of Horror XXII, she appeared as a devil married to Satan.
 * In How I Wet Your Mother, she appears in Homer's dream as a member of a crowd of women who support drunk driving.
 * In The Simpsons: Tapped Out, her ghost could have been unlocked in the Treehouse of Horror XXIV Event in 2013.

Friends

 * Helen Lovejoy
 * Timothy Lovejoy
 * Jessica Lovejoy
 * Luann Van Houten
 * Marge Simpson
 * Agnes Skinner
 * Edna Krabappel (deceased)
 * Sarah Wiggum
 * Bernice Hibbert
 * Lyle Lanley
 * Bella
 * Bart Simpson
 * Elizabeth Hoover
 * Patty Bouvier
 * Selma Bouvier