Ralph Wiggum

Ralph Wiggum is a fictional character on the animated series The Simpsons, voiced by Nancy Cartwright. He is best known as the show's resident oddball, and has been immortalized for his non sequiturs and erratic behavior. His lines range from nonsensical, or bizarre interpretations of a current event, to surprisingly profound statements that go over people's heads. For this, Ralph is somewhat of an outcast among his peers, although he seems to be on good terms with a fair number of the major child characters on the show such as Bart, Lisa, and Milhouse.

The son of Chief Wiggum and Sarah Wiggum, Ralph is a good-hearted and generally well-meaning boy who suffers from either severe learning and social disabilities, or some other form of childhood psychiatric disorder. The nature of his mentality is kept rather ambiguous, much like many of the signature traits of much of the show's cast. Like almost every other character on the show, he may not be quite as simple as he first seems, as evidenced by his hinted immense potential as a performer. He is creator Matt Groening's favorite character.

Role in The Simpsons
Ralph is quite an enigma of a child. Upon first glance, one might mistake him for a child with dementia; or perhaps they might even look at him as a mentally challenged child. Throughout the course of the show however, there have been many hints dropped over the true nature of his character. What is definite however, is that he suffers from learning disabilities of some sort, as evidenced by his apparently slow grasp of things in the world around him, his difficulty in studying, and his sporadic speech impediments. His unique manner of speech is often the source of the character's trademark random quotes, where Ralph may make a comment such as "What's a battle?", "It tastes like...burning!", or "Mr. Flanders, you're blindeded!," as well as his tendency to call his teacher "School Mommy" and on one occasion calling Superintendent Chalmers "Super Nintendo Chalmers." However, Ralph is also able to speak in a normal manner much of the time, which only adds to the question of his condition and character. He also appears to have several talents. He is an incredible tap dancer and played the role of George Washington in the school play. As Washington, he not only recited his lines perfectly but also managed to play the role so well that he brought the audience to tears.

Ralph is often seen in very awkward situations such as eating paste, crayons, worms, knobs, and other such erratic forms of behavior that have since become a staple of the character. Ralph has a rather immense imagination, and is seemingly oblivious to the world around him. As such, he is generally a cheerful boy. However, Ralph also has a hint of tragedy and dark satire to him, like almost every other character on the show. Throughout the show's history, Ralph is eternally the odd one out among his peers at school.

Ralph seems to generally get along with many people, as well as occasionally irritate and baffle them. After Lisa gave him a Valentine out of pity, Ralph developed a crush on her. Lisa publicly breaks up with him and Ralph is left devastated. The pair eventually become friends and Lisa has generally been nice toward him since. Bart is rather long suffering of Ralph. On one occasion, Bart is forced by Marge to play with Ralph. He is at first bored with Ralph but ends up having fun after they steal Clancey Wiggum's master key to the city. Bart eventually admits that Ralph is a friend. Ralph's father is the police chief of Springfield, Clancy Wiggum and his mother is Sarah Wiggum. Ralph's relationship with his parents seems to be loving and affectionate. Clancy, in particular, rather adores his son as the two do much together, such as various road trips or Ralph's first trip to a major league baseball game as depicted in the comic If you can't Wiggum, join 'em!. Ralph can be quite a handful, however, and there are times where Clancy can be neglectful of his son as well.

Ralph has a multitude of imaginary friends such as Wiggle Puppy and a pyromaniacal leprechaun being particularly well known among viewers. Ralph's teacher, Ms. Hoover, is indifferent to his personality and his imagination. Though she will often correct him in a dull, condescending manner, ("The children are right to laugh at you, Ralph," she tells him at one point) she has yet to outright scold him.

The typical Ralph moment
Ralph's signature use as a character in the show is to deliver either an odd bit of behavior, or dialogue which either perplexes others or merely gives the audience a quick laugh. During class, Ralph's teacher Ms. Hoover will stop lecturing the class for a moment to question Ralph's actions such as eating something he shouldn't, or saying something bizarre or oblivious. Another common 'Ralph' moment is that Ralph will be at a major event in the episode's story, and will say something to either perplex everyone present or point out something so glaringly obvious it's funny. Ralph has quite a knack for getting himself into sticky situations as well, which is another type of scene he is often used for. Examples of scenes with Ralph include gorging himself with chocolate in "Bart the Murderer", being profiled by a scary dentist in "Last Exit to Springfield", pretending to be a firetruck in "Fraudcast News," and proclaiming that he will attend "Bovine University" (an abattoir) in "Lisa the Vegetarian". There is criticism that as the show has gone on, Ralph has become less of a merely clueless and eccentric child to more of a dim-witted one liner character with little subtlety, (for example "Me fail English, that's unpossible!"). In later seasons in particular, Ralph is depicted showing mentally challenged behavior a little more often. In "Little Girl in the Big Ten", he is shown wetting himself in public. Similarly, in "Future-Drama", he is seen talking to a classmate by the punchbowl, saying "I can use the potty now.". Also, in the episode "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song", Skinner looks at the building sadly and remembers touching moments with kids saying things like "I know how to read" and "Thank you, Principal Skinner". You hear Ralph's distinctive voice saying "Principal Skinner, I got carsick in your office". This seems to have subsided a little recently, although appearances by Ralph himself have been lighter. Ralph also made an appearance in The Simpsons Movie when Bart was skateboarding naked, he said "I like men now".

Creation
In Ralph's first credited appearance in the show was the episode "Moaning Lisa", he was considerably different in both appearance and behavior from his later appearance. Originally intended to be a "Mini-Homer", Ralph eventually took on a life of his own. The staff figured that he'd also fit perfectly as the son of Chief Wiggum, a fact made canon in "I Love Lisa", (although he is referred to by his last name of Wiggum in "Kamp Krusty" before). Ralph was named after comedian Jackie Gleason's character on The Honeymooners Ralph Kramden. Matt Groening considers any lines for Ralph "really hard to write."

Nancy Cartwright raises her eyebrows whenever she performs Ralph's voice.

The original Ralph design makes a cameo appearance in the episodes Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song and Bart's Comet as well as in Simpsons Comics #59.

Popular culture
With a combination of his hilarious commentary and his endearingly innocent character, Ralph eventually became one of the show's most popular characters. Ralph's popularity as a character has even spread so far that the rock band The Bloodhound Gang made a song called "Ralph Wiggum," dedicated to the character and comprised solely of some of his most famous quotes for lyrics. The song can be found on their album Hefty Fine. Another band, Trillium Circle has a member named Ralph Wiggum, presumably a pseudonym. Show creator Matt Groening has stated that Ralph is one of his personal favorite characters on the Simpsons, and whenever someone asks who writes specific characters (a common misconception about the writing process), writers will most likely take credit for writing for Ralph.