Seymour Skinner (real)

The real Seymour Skinner, voiced by Martin Sheen, appeared in "The Principal and the Pauper". He is the original Seymour Skinner - Springfield Elementary School's principal is actually named Armin Tamzarian. The real Skinner and Armin Tamzarian were buddies in the Vietnam War. Skinner took Tamzarian under his wing and turned him from a rebel into a responsible adult. Skinner would later disappear on a mission. Tamzarian, assuming Skinner was dead, decided to report the death to Skinner's mother. However, she thought Tamzarian was Skinner, who not wanting to sadden her, played along. After many years, the real Skinner was released from a POW camp and returned to Springfield, where he took his life back. In the end, the citizens of Springfield rode him out of town on a rail, in favour of Tamzarian, who was then legally renamed Seymour Skinner. The "real" Seymour Skinner has not appeared again.

All the events in this episode were forbidden from being mentioned again, under penalty of torture. The only time this rule has been broken since was in "I, D'oh-Bot", when Lisa refers to Principal Skinner as "Principal Tamzarian". This was a self-referential joke, since "I, D'oh-Bot" used the same plot device of making a major change to the Simpsons' world, then effectively erasing the change within the same episode.