Ned Flanders

Ned (short for "Nedward") Flanders is voiced by Harry Shearer. Ned, along with the rest of his family, is a devout Christian, and is often used to satirize the sheer niceness of doggedly upbeat born-again evangelicals. Homer once said that Ned is even holier than Jesus.

Bio
Ned has the habit of attaching "diddly" and other nonsense phrases to sentences ("Hi-diddly-ho"). He quit his earlier career as a pharmacist to open a store in the mall called The Leftorium, which specializes in products for left-handed people. Ned presumably named his sons Rod and  Todd because both names rhyme with God. (An alternate theory on their names is that they are meant to rhyme with Maude, their mother whose name also rhymes with God, whom Ned worships to the point of idolatry.) Despite an outward appearance of exceeding meekness, Ned has an exceptionally well-built physique under his sweater-vest. This is even more impressive upon considering that Ned is actually a very young-looking senior citizen at the age of 60 as evidenced in the season 10 episode Viva Ned Flanders.

Growing Up
Ned was raised by two nihilistic beatniks whose terrible parenting skills made him a childhood terror. He was eventually put on an experimental eight-month spanking therapy program (the University of Minnesota Spankological Protocol) which taught him to suppress all feelings of anger. Also, all of the family's board games contain no dice, as Ned believes that dice are "wicked". Rodd says that they just move one space at a time, as it is "less fun that way".

Religious Beliefs
Despite his firm religious beliefs, Ned is quite timid and often insecure. He is obsessed with following the Bible as literally as possible, "even the stuff that contradicts the other stuff" and is easily shocked when someone challenges his beliefs. This leads to his frequent calls to Reverend Lovejoy ("I... I think I'm coveting my own wife!") who gets increasingly frustrated with Flanders ("Ned, have you tried any of the other major religions? They're pretty much the same"). His sons are very sheltered and raised in an extremely strict climate of Christian morality. Most entertainment enjoyed by the family involves religion in some way. For instance, the family has at least five different Trivial Pursuit sets relating to different versions of the Bible.

Relative
There was a relative of Flanders who served in World War II. He was a superior to Sgt. Abe Simpson. (Note: When Abe threatened to report Pvt. Burns to Flanders, Abe indicates that his rank was commander, which isn't a rank in the United States army)

Name origin
Inspired by the character, Brianists use the term "Ned" to refer to Christians in general and Protestants in particular. A "Head Ned" is a pastor or priest.