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Lisa Simpson

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“Bart!”
―Lisa's first word[src]
“Trust in yourself and you can achieve anything.”
―Lisa Simpson, via Lisa Lionheart[src]
“Embrace nothingness.”
―Lisa Simpson[src]
“If anyone wants me, I'll be in my room.”
―Lisa's "catchphrase"[src]
“BAAAAART!”
―Lisa's catchphrase
“Mommy.”
―Lisa's second word[src]
“David Hasselhoff.”
―Lisa's third word(s)[src]
“Homer.”
―Lisa's fourth word[src]
“Having never received encouragement, I'm not sure how it should sound, but here goes: I believe in you.”
―Lisa to Bart[src]
“The truth must be told.”
―Lisa Simpson[src]
“I hope these are recyclable.”
―Lisa Simpson[src]

Lisa Marie Simpson (Born May 9, 1981[8]) is the elder daughter and middle child of the Simpson family and one of the two tritagonists (alongside Marge) of The Simpsons franchise.

Lisa was named after a train called Lil' Lisa on her parents' 1st anniversary. She is a charismatic 8-year-old girl, who exceeds the standard achievement of the intelligence level of children her age. Not to everyone's surprise, she is also the moral center of her family. In her upbringing, Lisa lacks parental involvement of Homer and Marge, which leads to hobbies such as playing saxophone and guitar, riding and caring for horses, and interest in advanced studies. In school, Lisa's popularity is affected by those who view her as a geeky overachiever, which leaves her with only a few friends. She focuses on her goals and strives to reach her potential, and at the age of eight, she is already a member of Mensa with an IQ of 159.

Appearance

Lisa has yellow skin, blue eyes (although the pupils look like 2 black dots like the other characters), and blonde, "starfish" hair that is styled into points and matches the color of her skin. She is usually seen wearing a short, strapless red dress with a zigzag hem, matching red Mary-Jane shoes, and a white pearl necklace (given to her by Marge).

She has had two different outfits for church and family outings: a magenta long-sleeved dress with a ruffled collar and magenta pumps for church, and a baby pink short-sleeved tutu dress with a darker pink belt and collar, and pink Mary-Jane shoes, and she occasionally wears a wide-brimmed hat with the same color scheme with it. At night, she dresses in a turquoise nightgown with a frilly white collar and matching cuffs, as well as turquoise slippers. When Lisa swims, she wears a magenta or red swimsuit.

Her hair has been styled out of its star shape a few times, such as in "The President Wore Pearls", "22 Short Films About Springfield ", and "Teenage Mutant Milk-caused Hurdles ", and it is shown to be about chin or sometimes shoulder length. In future appearances as an adult and teenager, her hair "points" are usually worn in a styled back fashion.

Despite her thin weight, she inherited her father's chubby fingers, which somewhat affects her dexterity.

Lisa with normal hair

Lisa with a normal haircut in "22 Short Films About Springfield"

Biography

Young Lisa

Younger Lisa

Lisa is quite eclectic in her knowledge and is notably more concerned with world affairs and problems than her cohorts, which has led her to alienate herself from her peers. Lisa also deeply values her integrity, sometimes at the expense of others' needs and happiness, as demonstrated when she cheats on a test in The Wind in the Willows to attain her highest grade of A plus, but later admits her dishonesty to an unreceptive Principal Skinner despite the fact that such a grade allowed the school to gain the extra income it 'desperately' needs. (She later regrades the test as an F.[9]) Also, Lisa was willing to tell everyone about Bart faking his kidnapping attempt to go to a concert, despite the fact that absolutely everybody involved in the case was better off just because she could. Despite her intellect, Lisa has received detention, like her brother Bart, quite a number of times, often because of her rebellious and sometimes bitter attitude and antisocial behavior that is capable of deeply embarrassing authority figures. Although her rebellion against social norms is usually constructive, Lisa can be crazy, cruel, and rebellious at times. When she believes herself to be right she won't admit that others could be as well, and will often force her beliefs onto people. Notably, her increasing sense of moral righteousness regarding her vegetarianism leads her to proselytize, culminating in her spiteful disruption of a "meat-based" barbecue prepared by Homer (an act she comes to rue).[10] At times, Lisa appears to resist certain situations merely for the sake of resisting them, not because of any genuine ideological opposition. She appears to enjoy breaking the norm for its own sake; in one time, she triumphantly declares that she, a girl, would like to join the football team. When it is revealed that there are already girls on the team, she declares her distaste for a sport that would use a pig's skin to make its ball. When it is revealed that the ball is actually synthetic and the proceeds of buying it go in part to charity, she is at a loss for words and runs off visibly upset.[11] She also seems to dislike having her intellect challenged, which is evident on occasions such as when she was temporarily promoted to the third grade or when Miss Hoover gave her a B+ on her final grade for conduct and actually caused her physical harm because of it. Lisa's first word was Bart at two years of age. Despite her high IQ, cuteness and beauty, Lisa does have typical childhood issues, sometimes requiring adult intervention. She once tricked Homer into allowing her to ride the bus alone, only to become hopelessly lost. After his coworkers Lenny and Carl point out that he allowed his daughter to ride a bus by herself, Homer comes to her rescue.[12] Lisa has a Jewish imaginary friend named Rachel Cohen who "just got into Brandeis University." Even with a high intellect, Lisa displays personality traits typical for her age, including obsessing over getting a pony, being addicted to TV, and fighting with Bart. Lisa once got addicted to secondhand smoke to maintain an impressive level of ballet competence; Homer tries to prevent the addiction unsuccessfully, and in the end Lisa overcomes the addiction herself through means of "Hello Kitty" nicotine patches.[13] She also displays a surprising amount of skill in driving, especially for her age, sometimes even taking the wheel whenever Homer ended up distracted from driving.[14] In "The Girl Who Slept Too Little", she struggled with nightmares after a cemetery was moved next to the Simpsons' house. She overcame her fear after spending a night in the cemetery and realized that it was acceptable to suffer from fear despite her intelligence. It was revealed in this episode that Lisa largely had to raise herself due to Homer and Marge dealing with Bart's antics thus ensuring a lack of nurturing for her. Lisa has been known in earlier seasons to have a bit of a sassy attitude. Like Bart and most siblings in families, Lisa has been known to tease Bart herself, examples such as; crushes Bart has developed, or advice on writing to someone (in this one case, his teacher), even just plain sassing him for attention. Deep down inside, Lisa loves her brother deeply.

Personality

Lisa is an innovative, insightful and extremely intelligent girl, far exceeding the standards of a third grader especially in Springfield. Part of her intelligence is due to being so dissociated from her idiotic father whilst growing up and it was strongly implied that her brains were a result of her grandmother; Homer could never keep up with his daughter's startling intelligence due to his slow wit and stupidly, his laziness and their contradicting vices and opinions caused a strained relationship and she practically grew up without a father figure, specifically not a model one (although Homer probably wouldn't have been much help even if he was involved in Lisa's life). As intelligent as she is, her family never encouraged her gifts and her school lacked the resources to blossom her IQ further but overall Lisa has the most promising future. Since she was a baby, Lisa has displayed intellectual independence from changing her own diapers and solving mathematical solutions when she was only an infant. She could be classified as a child prodigy.

Lisa also developed PTSD during a Halloween party at an amusement park. As she walks around by herself, she notices several people dressed as zombies and serial killers, which causes her to go into an extreme panic attack. She cries so much that the park employees sound the alarm and call her a baby. The next day, she refuses to wear her Frida Kahlo costume to school, despite it not being scary. She begins to hallucinate that the Halloween decorations in the school hallway are the theme park monsters and reluctantly goes to her locker. Later, Marge tries to take down the Halloween decorations so Lisa won't be afraid, much to Bart's anger. Marge agrees to take Bart trick-or-treating instead, but they leave the house too late and witness the adults drinking and partying in skimpy costumes. As they return home to check on Lisa, the residents wonder where she is. Lisa then pops out of a coffin to scare them and is wearing her costume, and is now coping with her PTSD. Everyone laughs.

Her overall role in the Simpson family is depicted as the voice of reason. Despite her young age, Lisa is a good girl and has a strong sense of right, wrong and morality and she is always there to contradict Homer, Bart and on one occasion Marge whenever they do something reckless, idiotic or illegal, doing her very best to sway them to the path of the righteous due to fearing greatly for her father and brother's immortal soul but her standing as an outsider in her own family cause her to be ignored despite her best intentions. In an argument, Lisa's ethical and logical viewpoint almost always gives her the moral high ground, her family also realize that Lisa is usually right whenever they do something immoral but Homer's tendency to ignore her, uses the excuse of age to send her to her room when they realize that they are in the wrong. In earlier seasons, however, Lisa has been depicted as intelligent yet not as mature due to her squabbling and physical fights with Bart but she has developed into a more practical being yet her young age also makes her sense of right and wrong slightly malleable at times as she has shown to engage in childish and reckless behavior, proving herself to be like any other Simpson but more grounded and mature. Despite her above average intelligence, she displays "average people" tendencies such as obsessing over ponies and teen heartthrobs.

IMG 6091

Lisa the vegetarian

Despite her young age, Lisa is extremely passionate about ideologies and other social movements. She supports PETA (although she eats eggs and dairy) and the Free Tibetan movement, is highly against animal cruelty and has adopted a diet of vegetarianism from Season 7 and keeping this dietary regime onward. She encourages the idea of feminism, women's rights and the crusade against objectification and stereotypes of women. Lisa's role models and ideals are based on Mohandas Gandhi's enforcement of nonviolent pacifism and Emmeline Pankhurst. 

Whilst her social movements are generally considered to be heroic, Lisa's reasoning is not solely to make the world a better place. A life of being shunned out and ignored by her family has developed attention-seeking traits and a desire to be heard, once going to a dig site solely for the basis to complain about it, an area where she is usually ignored further. She used to force her beliefs on others due to a sense of self-righteousness and moral superiority specifically her vegetarianism but Apu also taught her a degree of tolerance for others beliefs. Lisa is against the ignorance on others behalf, believing the truth is the truth and is unable to be dissuaded no matter what it was, which she learned from Marge. Without anyone else caring she continued to pester that the town founder, Jebediah Springfield was in actuality a murderous pirate and only refrained herself from revealing the truth when she realized how it brought the town together. 

At her school, Lisa is considered to be a nerd because of her bookish and quiet nature. A teacher's pet and proud of it, she is depicted as an introvert with few friends and those she does have are as much as a nerd as she is. Her lack of popularity is generally purposeful yet her lack of social skills and different hobbies to what is considered fun to the rest of the girls leads her to want more friends. On one example she changed her personality to fit a more rebellious nature like Bart and actually gained an entourage of friends at the Flanders beach house but when her true academic nature was revealed, they continued to befriend her due to viewing her as a kind, gentle person rather than just a nerd. Lisa has had a number of boyfriends despite her status of a geek such as Nelson Muntz, Ralph Wiggum, Luke Stetson and Colin.

IMG 6090

Lisa as a hockey player

Extremely nonathletic, she fails at sport completely, that and her liberal stance and high intelligence gives her little bonding ground with her peers and Homer who is also passionate about sports and connects with Bart more for this reason. Lisa is so weak that she could barely through a piece of paper into a rubbish can that was one away. However, she also displayed an uncharacteristic level of hand-eye coordination when she caught an incoming hockey puck from Apu and proved herself to be an extremely hockey player when she was a goalie. 

Similar to Bart, Lisa's high academic intelligence and her desire to go far in life is greatly driven by her future goals. Bart never focused on his book work as he and basically everyone else knew that he would amount to very little when he grew up whereas this is the opposite for Lisa who saw the potential in her life to achieve fantastic goals. When her career aptitude test came back that she would likely become a homebody when she grew up and her music teacher told her she could never achieve her dream of a jazz musician on account of "stubby fingers", crushed her dreams. After this, the quality of Lisa's work and behavior declined drastically as Bart's improved exponentially after his career aptitude came back that he would become a police officer, such as refusing to go to band practice, encouraging the bad girls to deface Skinner's puma statue and being rude to her teachers. She went as far to steal everybody's Teacher's Editions, a line that even Bart Simpson would not cross. Lisa would have undoubtedly become as an even worse rebel than that of her brother if Bart had not taken the blame for her crime. That said the prospect of a dull future also encourages Lisa to study further rather than immediately omit defeat as she did her very best to not become a housewife like Marge when their paths became very similar.

Overall though, Lisa's tendency to lash out towards her family is based on the beliefs that they don't understand her rather than actual spite. This proves to be true as jazz is the only thing that expresses her inner thoughts and how she is feeling whilst her family only silence her creativity further due to their great annoyance of her saxophone. She often embraces relationships with other paternal figures that encourage her to embrace her passions to fill the void that her real lazy and uninterested father left. When she became depressed in the second season and none of her family seemed to understand the reason behind this, opened up more to the troubled jazz musician, Bleeding Gums Murphy who told her to sing what she felt helped her emotional state greatly. She became deeply close to her substitute teacher, Mister Bergstrom who again noticed and encouraged her intelligence to blossom. Over time, Lisa, although embarrassed by her family, is no longer ashamed to be a Simpson. 

IMG 6089

One of her negative traits would be her penchant for narcissism. In one of her daydreams, she envisioned herself as bringing about world peace and being revered by world-famous scientists, chanting in her presence "we're not worthy". She prides herself on her intelligence and integrity but if her ego is at risk, displays a willingness to breach her morals such as sabotaging her rival Alison's diorama at the school fair, humiliating her in front of her peers. Even so, Lisa's conscience is too strong to commit an unethical act and not punish herself such as giving herself an F for her test which she cheated in and apologizing to Alison for her act of sabotage. 

She is one of the few characters in Springfield without a signature trademark or catchphrase, shown specifically at the end of Bart Gets Famous when Marge, Bart, Homer, Nelson, Ned Flanders, Mr. Burns, and Barney all do their trademarks of the characters and wait for her to do anything, Lisa dryly replies "if anyone needs me, I'll be in my room", leading Homer to state "what kind of catchphrase is that?"

Intelligence

Smartlisa

It is mentioned that Lisa has an IQ of 159.[15] She is a high-ranking member of Mensa Springfield. Lisa demonstrates an early intelligence by changing her own diaper as an infant. When unable to attend school due to a teachers' strike, she suffered a sort of "school withdrawal" as she has an emergency box in case of a teacher strike. She begins to panic when she can only think of two synonyms to the word "stop". She constantly wants people to "grade her" as Marge gave her an "A" just to make her stop whining, and invents a perpetual motion machine that Homer describes that it just "keeps going faster and faster". He goes on to chastise her, saying, "In this house, we obey the laws of thermodynamics!" [16] Like the rest of her paternal family she can pick up language fairly quickly, she was able to learn fluent Italian from Milhouse in a fairly short amount of time. Lisa also has a pathological compulsion to show off how smart she is and to always be the best. One example is when she tried to answer a question for Principal Skinner the "smarty pants" way he told her he wanted a different answer. Lisa requested finishing the "smarty pants answer" with notable panic in her tone. Skinner refused but she finished it anyway. Furthermore, this was during a meeting in which Lisa was demanding she gets a better grade for an assignment, which also included her insulting her teacher. Another example showed her hyperventilating when Allison Taylor demonstrated being superior to her and when she insulted/downplayed Meg Griffin when the latter demonstrated talent with a saxophone. Also, when Homer suffered several simultaneous heart attacks due to Lisa refusing $12,000,000, he incorrectly thinks it was a mere $12,000. Lisa again chose to show off her smarts by correcting this, seemingly not caring it would cause Homer even more severe heart attacks (which it did). Since Lisa doesn't suffer from insecurity and is not subjected to misogyny, this could be attributed to a tendency towards narcissism.

Beliefs

Lisa's political convictions are generally leftist and rather liberal. She is a vegetarian and a supporter of the Free Tibet movement. Lisa yells "Free Tibet!" after winning the school spelling bee. An "End Apartheid" poster can be seen in her bedroom in episodes from the early 1990s. She, like her mother, supported Democrat Mary Bailey over Right-Winged Mr. Burns; the duo revealed that Mr. Burns was a liar and Mary Bailey wins in a landslide, the only known supporters being Waylon Smithers, Bart, and Homer. While still supportive of the Christian church she was raised in, Lisa is now a practicing Buddhist following her decision to follow the Noble Eightfold Path.[17] Though apparently not an adherent, she mentions that she considers Wicca "very empowering".[18] She also appears to be a big believer in science, even stating in one episode when she was scared of the graveyard outside her bedroom, that she only believed in science.

Vegetarianism

Lisa turned ovo-lacto vegetarian due to ethical reasons.[10] This was also hinted in a flash forward in which we see Lisa as a vegetarian in the future.[19] On Paul McCartney's demand, she has stayed vegetarian still. According to the episode, "The Real Housewives of Fat Tony," Lisa occasionally has trouble adhering to the lifestyle and has been shown eating things such as gummy candy and marshmallows which are made from animal marrow and gelatin, although some vegetarians do eat gelatin products on occasion. She also finds the foods to taste bland, she is desperate enough for tasty vegetarian foods she would force Bart to locate highly valuable truffles so she could eat them instead of selling them for a lot of money.

Music

Lisa playing the Sax

Lisa's musical abilities are extensive: she sings with a powerful voice (she once entered a singing competition and won) and has been seen playing the acoustic six-string,[20] electric bass guitar, accordion and piano proficiently. But her great love is playing jazz on her baritone saxophone. Her musical inclinations were nurtured by her relationship with the late jazz musician Bleeding Gums Murphy. She most likely inherited her musical ability from Homer, who is also musically inclined. She can also play the trumpet.

Independent Learning

She is fluent in Italian (learned from Milhouse Van Houten before going to Italy), as well as some French and German verbs (with the help of a German verb wheel [21]), as well as Spanish. In 'The Great Simpsina' she studied under the great Raymondo to become a skilled magician.

Life as a student

Lisa attends Springfield Elementary School alongside students such as Bart Simpson and Milhouse Van Houten And alongside other gifted pupils, like Martin Prince and Database, she is one of the most academically advanced students at the school and is often praised by staff members for her achievement. She is well behaved but despite this, she has received detention twice, from Dewey Largo and an unnamed teacher, in Grift of the Magi and Lisa's Date with Density, respectively.

Romantic Relationships

Corey

Lisa had a dream crush on a heartthrob from local teen magazines named Corey Masterson.

Langdon Alger

Lisa admitted to Homer that she liked a boy from school, Langdon Alger, but later professed she didn't like him anymore. (The episode never actually shows Langdon, which leads one to believe he may be someone Lisa made up rather than a real person, but Langdon's appearances in the comics prove he's an actual person.)

Colin

Before the Trappuccino incident, Lisa fell in love with an Irish environmental boy named Colin. He can play the piano, guitar, trumpet, drums and bass guitar. Lisa tells Marge that the best part about him is that he's not imaginary and Marge says back that the most important thing is that he listens to Lisa.

Nelson Muntz

Nelson and Lisa

Lisa's first boyfriend is the less-than-stellar schoolmate, Nelson Muntz. Lisa developed a crush on him, whilst in Music and detention (after school) after she found herself strangely attracted to his grungy lifestyle enough to ask him out. After Nelson lied to Lisa about something, she chose to break up with him. However, since then their romantic relationship has been referred to several times throughout the series, most notably in the Season 22 episode, Loan-a Lisa, in which Lisa invests in Nelson's business venture. The episode finishes with Nelson taking Lisa rollerblading and the pair holding hands. It is shown in The Spy Who Learned Me that Lisa no longer has feelings for Nelson; however non-canon episodes set in the future suggest otherwise.

In Tapped Out, in "The Krustiest Place On Earth" quest-line, Lisa asks Nelson if he doesn't think making animals perform tricks is cruel, and he points out that's probably what makes it so much fun. She admits that the eight-year-old in her agrees, and asks him to go and watch the water stunt show with her and they go together.

Luke Stetson

Luke Stetson[22] was also an object of Lisa's affection; it was short-lived after Lisa misled Luke's sister to a dance.

Ralph Wiggum

Ralph Wiggum once had a crush on Lisa after she sent the boy a Valentine's Day card when nobody else would. Ralph gave her tickets to the 25th anniversary Krusty the Clown Show, but his heart was broken after Lisa admitted on TV that she was not in love with him. They are now currently just friends.

Milhouse Van Houten

Lisaitaly

Milhouse is Lisa's Italian tutor

Of all the boys Lisa has encountered, the most desperate and most prominent one is Milhouse Van Houten, who always makes attempts to win Lisa's heart. Unfortunately Lisa is put off by how weak he is both physically and emotionally. On one occasion, in order to go on a school trip to Italy, Lisa was forced to learn Italian from Milhouse, who has been to Italy countless times. This nearly caused Lisa to develop a crush on him until she finds out that Milhouse is with another girl,[23] prompting her to chase Milhouse angrily with an olive branch. Also in the episode "Homer Scissorhands" Lisa is so frustrated she kisses Milhouse. Lisa once tried to bring him to a school dance but finds out that he's been taken.[24] When Milhouse's parents were presumed lost at sea and Milhouse became a loner, Lisa and several other girls became attracted to his new personality. In Lisa's Wedding, it is hinted that she may have lost her virginity to Milhouse. While picking out a wedding dress she asks if "is white still okay", to which Marge replies, "Milhouse doesn't count!" to which they both laugh. In Holidays of Future Passed, Lisa marries Milhouse, and they have a daughter named Zia together, but their marriage is described as being "dead and unfulfilled" by Nelson Muntz.

Potential Bisexuality

The end of Season 29 episode "Mr. Lisa's Opus" shows Lisa at Harvard with her roommate having fun, before her roommate starts holding her hands tighter. Lisa believes that her relationship with her new roommate might be "more than friendship," indicating Lisa may not just be heterosexual. This is however a future episode and therefore is to be considered non-canon, but it still may be an indication of her overall sexuality.

Family

Bothwork

Bart and Lisa

Lisa's relationship with her father is labored. The two occasionally got into arguments,[10][25][26] though they also have had moments where they really connect.[27][28][29] Their relationship has usually been one where Homer ignores Lisa, and Lisa avoids Homer. Being siblings, Lisa and Bart constantly get into brawls, one time after Bart destroys Lisa's centerpiece for Thanksgiving.[30] The two once competed against each other in hockey and tried to win over Homer's love.[31] However, the two have teamed up together many times, and they genuinely love each other. This is shown when the two were placed in the third grade in the same class (Lisa was moved up from Second Grade and Bart was moved down). The two got lost in a field trip in Capital City, forcing them to work together to survive.[32] When Milhouse temporarily left Springfield, Bart spent more time with Lisa and the two developed a stronger bond.[33] When Milhouse returned, Bart tried to keep their new bond intact by promising to do her chores and giving her a hug. In one episode, Lisa almost tells two college girls that she thinks Bart is cute but takes back the statement after remembering that she is talking about her brother. While Bart and Lisa have had their share of rivalry, Lisa has been shown to be less than a good sister to him on several occasions, such as boasting about how she and Maggie have a sisterly bond that Bart will never have (due to not having a brother of his own),[34] leaving him in a chasm instead when he needed medical attention after the bullies chased him,[35] treating Bart poorly at the school's medieval festival and blaming him for a prank he didn't commit,[36] and kicking him down twice in Season 21.[37][38] Despite treating Bart poorly on several occasions, she has shown several times that she really does care about him and his well-being.[39] She often gives Bart advice when he needs it and will help him with any situation he's put in.[40][41][42] Also, as a baby her first word was "Bart" after hearing it so many times.

Non-Canon Appearances

Ssi 5 The contents of this article or section are considered to be non-canon and therefore may not have actually happened/existed.

Future

Lisa and Hugh

Due to the shows floating timeline, there is no definite future for Lisa and has been shown to have several different possible futures in various episodes.

Lisa's future as with the rest of the series follows no defined pattern and changes depending on the episode.

In "Future-Drama", at the age of 12, Lisa is saved from a house fire by Milhouse, which she later discovers was caused by him. At age 16, she is graduating from Springfield High School two years early and is about to go to Yale on a scholarship provided by Mr. Burns. She is dating Milhouse whom she dumps after a prom. She becomes furious at Bart for taking her Yale scholarship. She gets back together with Milhouse, but Bart saves her and gives her back her scholarship.

In "Lisa's Wedding", at age 16, Lisa, after it’s implied she lost her virginity to him, tells Milhouse she doesn't ever intend to ever get married, breaking his heart. At age 23, Lisa is at Yale and falls in love with a British man named Hugh Parkfield who she then is about to marry. She is embarrassed by her family and Hugh wants to take her back to England because he hates her family. Lisa dumps him since she would rather have her family.

At the age of 38, with Bart needing a digestive tract transplant, she tries to solve the mystery of 'fish logs'. She asks townspeople who tell her the story which takes place when she was still 8. She then finds out that fish logs brought Bart into the hospital in the first place.

In "Bart to the Future", at age 38, Lisa becomes the first straight female President of the United States of America. The country is broke and is forced to bring a tax hike but things get worse when Bart interrupts everything. The leaders of the other countries are about to beat her until Bart saves her. To make it up to him, she legalizes the use of cannabis.

In "Future-Drama", a future vision shows Lisa, now in her 60s, is married to Milhouse. She wants to take a poetry class but they are broke and Milhouse had to sell his bone marrow just to pay the electricity bill, which wasn't enough (though this future was prevented by Bart by giving her back her scholarship, as mentioned above).

In "Holidays of Future Passed", Lisa, now 38, is married to Milhouse and has a rebellious teenage daughter named Zia. However, Lisa is apparently unhappy in her marriage, as she apparently has an affair with Nelson Muntz.

"Days of Future Future", a sequel to Holidays of Future Passed, confirms this, as Milhouse says except for the squirrel that eats their bird food, he and Lisa have nothing to talk about. However, he gets bit by a zombie at a zombie soup kitchen that Lisa is volunteering at, and Lisa ends up finding him more attractive after he fights off bullies trying to mug them. Dr. Hibbert tells her he can reverse him, although Lisa wishes to keep Milhouse the way he is, although she decides it isn’t the right thing to do and has Milhouse changed back to normal. However, it is revealed this part was only part of Bart's dream, and Milhouse is permanently a zombie, to the delight of Lisa.

Lisa the simpson
Lisa simpson in hammock

In "Lisa the Simpson", Lisa worries that she has “The Simpsons gene”, which could gradually decrease her intelligence as she gets older. She imagines herself obese and inside a hammock with eight children who continuously poke her with a stick. A grown-up Ralph then comes in from his hot dog vending job and Lisa gets one of the kids to pry her out of the hammock with an oar. The end of the episode reveals that the gene only affects male Simpsons, however.

In "The Marge-ian Chronicles", Lisa at age 43 lives with Marge on Mars and Lisa wants to leave Mars for Venus.

In "Barthood", Lisa is shown in five different ages, four of them are in the future: At 10 years old, she has glasses and mentions that she's the student of the month at Springfield Elementary for 48 consecutive months, which angers her brother at his own birthday. At 13 years old, she goes to the Mayo Clinic Pre-Medical Summer Camp with Marge, where she learns chest compressions. Because of that, she's able to revive Bart after he blacks-out after one of his BMX tricks at a competition, once again angering him. At 16 years old, she goes to Milhouse's graduation party, where Bart gets angry because she's always overshadowing him. She confronts her brother, saying she's sick and tired of him blaming her for every setback in his life, and confesses that she thinks Bart is a great artist, but he doesn't use his talent for anything. At 18, she's dating Nelson and they visit Bart in his shop, only to discover a giant drawing on her homage.

In "Mr. Lisa's Opus", she is shown applying to Harvard University and having difficulty writing her admission essay, and so begins recounting previous birthdays, starting with her 7th birthday and her entire family and classroom forgot. It then jumps to her 14th birthday where Bart and Leon Kompowsky sing new verses of her birthday song and Homer brings a cake reading "Happy 12th Birthday." It then cuts back to the present where Lisa discovers Marge is planning to leave Homer, prompting her to run to Moe's where she successfully convinces Homer to give up drinking. Impressed by her essay, Harvard immediately accepts her, sending a drone to deliver her acceptance letter and shoot down the drones of other university's. She accepts, but quickly becomes overwhelmed after her roommate outclasses her in every field. She feels ready to give up, until Bart - who is there making out with girls to infuriate their parents - inspires her to stay. Afterward, she goes back to her room, where she meets her second roommate who also feels overwhelmed. Lisa discovers she also plays jazz and they jam before becoming close, with Lisa suspecting a potential romantic relationship blooming. The scenes then jump backward in time throughout Lisa's life, ending with her first words and song with Homer and Marge.

In "Flanders' Ladder", Lisa dies at age 98 from natural causes after realizing that she wasted her entire life.

Video Games

The Simpsons Arcade

Lisa is one of the playable characters in the game.

Bart vs. the Space Mutants

She has small cameos in the game, though she is prominently featured in level 3 where she optionally aids Bart by dropping bowling balls on Sideshow Bob depending on whether the player managed to spell Lisa's name after defeating disguised aliens.

Bart vs. the World

Lisa has cameos in the game.

Bart Simpson Escapes Camp Deadly

Lisa accompanies Bart after they were tricked into going to the infamous Camp Deadly. She aids Bart via supplying him with boomerangs and various outfits during both rounds of Capture the Flag, and also plans with Bart to escape Camp Deadly by scaling Mt. Deadly. She eventually ended up captured by the camp's head, Warden Burns, although she took advantage of a blackout caused by Bart to escape her chains.

Bart's Nightmare

A fairy-like version of Lisa appears in the dream sequence. Aside from this, she also appears in the ending, where she sneers at Bart in anger if he got a bad grade. If the player gets the highest possible grade, however, she expresses surprise and constantly looks at Bart and the grade in shock.

The Simpsons Bowling

Lisa, or rather, her likeness was a playable character in The Simpsons Bowling. Winning a game with her will have her reveal that she's actually a Rigellian in disguise.

The Simpsons Road Rage

In "The Simpsons Road Rage", Lisa drives the Elec-Taurus car and is one of the default characters. You may also pick her up off the streets when not playing as her.

The Simpsons Hit & Run

Lisa is playable in the third level of "The Simpsons: Hit and Run" as she looks for Bart after his disappearance. However, she makes an appearance in the first level in Springfield Elementary School, where Homer has to give her the science project she forgot. By the time the seventh level has come around, Lisa is back in the Simpson house and tells her father to go out and stock up on supplies. However, by the fourth mission, Lisa is back at the school, where she suggests that Homer goes to Mr.Burns to buy nuclear waste, which is the aliens’ weakness. When characters use the Malibu Stacy car or the Electaurus in levels four, five and six Lisa appears in the car.

The Simpsons Game

In "The Simpsons Game", Lisa's powers are playing her saxophone to stun enemies, which is upgraded to force enemies to attack each other. She can also use the "Hand of Buddha" to pick up and drop big things telekinetically. This power is later upgraded, enabling her to attack with lightning and ice as well. She is the third character to unlock, in Lisa the Tree Hugger, after Homer and Bart and before Marge who carries Maggie around on her back.

Behind the Laughter

Creation

Matt Groening first conceived the Simpson family in the lobby of James L. Brooks' office. He had been called in to pitch a series of animated shorts and had intended to present his Life in Hell series. When he realized that animating Life in Hell would require him to rescind publication rights for his life's work, Groening decided to go in another direction.[43] He hurriedly sketched out his version of a dysfunctional family, and named the characters after various members of his own family, and Lisa is the name of one of his sisters.[43] Lisa then made her debut with the rest of the Simpsons clan on March 18, 1987, in the Tracey Ullman short "Good Night".[44] Nancy Cartwright, originally auditioned for the role of Lisa, but was soon told that her voice would be better suited voicing Bart.[45] Yeardley Smith had initially been asked to audition for the role of Bart but casting director Bonita Pietila believed her voice was too high, so Smith was given the role of Lisa instead. In order to perform the voice, Smith lifts her voice up a little.[46]

Development

In the Tracey Ullman Show shorts, Lisa was more of a "female Bart" and was as equally mischievous as her brother.[47] As the series progressed, Lisa began to develop into a more intelligent and more emotional character with "Krusty Gets Busted" being one of the first episodes where her true intelligence is fully shown.[48] Many episodes focusing on Lisa have an emotional nature, the first one being "Moaning Lisa". The idea for the episode was pitched by James L. Brooks, who had wanted to do an emotional episode where Lisa is sad because the show had done a lot of "jokey episodes".[49] In fact, over the years, there were many episodes where Lisa played the main role.

Cultural influence

In 2003 Lisa received a special "Board of Directors Ongoing Commitment Award" at the Environmental Media Awards.[50] "Lisa the Vegetarian", an episode from the seventh season, won both an Environmental Media Award for "Best Television Episodic Comedy"[51] and a Genesis Award for "Best Television Comedy Series, Ongoing Commitment". Lisa was also listed at number 11 in TV Guide's "Top 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time." In Japan, the broadcasters of the series found they were able to turn the apparent viewer dislike of the series around by focusing marketing attention on Lisa. Lisa's well-intended but ill-fated struggles to be a voice of reason and a force of good in her family and city struck a chord with the Japanese.

Trivia

  • If you look at a picture of the Simpsons, Lisa is the only person in her family who does not have blue in her design, which helps her stand out from her family.
  • Like Bart Simpson is of Argentine descent and of Brazilian descent, Lisa is of Argentine descent and of Brazilian descent.
  • For a long time, Lisa's saxophone solos were provided by jazz baritone saxophonist Terry Harrington.
  • Milhouse Van Houten is Lisa's far cousin because Eliza Simpson married with Milford Van Houten.
  • According to Milhouse, Lisa's eyes are said to be gray. However, according to Spud in "Bart Carny", Lisa's eyes are said to be blue. So that means that Milhouse is probably color-blind or just plain wrong.
  • Although she is always desperate for a boy, she never seems to remember that she has been in a relationship with Colin and several others.
  • In a couple of episodes, her underwear is barely shown.
  • Her romantic relationship with Nelson has been mentioned or referred to throughout the series, evident in "Lisa's Date with Density", "Love, Springfieldian Style", "Simpsons Tall Tales," "Sleeping with the Enemy", "Wild Barts Can't Be Broken", and "Gorgeous Grampa", as well as mentioned in several Future episodes.
  • She speaks Italian, with the help of Milhouse. She also seems to understand and know Swedish to a certain degree, as seen when Professor Frink won the Nobel Prize in Treehouse of Horror XIV, however, this is only a non-canon source.
  • Her IQ is different in several episodes. It is 156 ("Homer's Enemy"), 159 ("Smart and Smarter"), 167 ("They Saved Lisa's Brain").
  • Lisa is a member of Mensa and PETA.
  • In "To Surveil With Love", she dyed her hair brown to prove that the judges were biased against blondes.
  • Like her siblings, she is of French, Scandinavian, and Native American descent.
    I am brown-haired now!

    Lisa with brown hair

  • In the "My Sister, My Sitter" episode it is stated that Lisa is 2 years and 38 days younger than Bart. Bart was born on April 1, so Lisa's birthday would fall on May 9.
  • Her email is revealed in "The President Wore Pearls" to be smartgirl63_\@yahoo.com.
  • Lisa was the first identified Simpson in the series, being the only character whose name is mentioned in Good Night.
  • In Lisa's Wedding, it is hinted that she may lose her virginity to Milhouse. While picking out a wedding dress she asks if "white is still okay", to which Marge replies "Milhouse doesn't count!" to which they both laugh.
  • In Treehouse of Horror XX, it is revealed that her godmother is Helen Lovejoy.
  • In Holidays of Future Passed, Lisa is shown with three different women, holding their hands. It is heavily implied they are her girlfriends.
  • In No Loan Again, Naturally, Bart jokes that Lisa is gay. Instead of rebutting that claim, she sarcastically remarks "I'd hate to be gay like my heroes."
  • Lisa is allergic to pollen, especially from plants in Cypress Creek.
  • Lisa once became an insectivore.
  • Until Lisa became a vegetarian, fried shrimp was implied as her favorite food.
  • Even in episodes after she becomes a vegetarian, there are rare instances where her plate has meat. She does not eat it though.
  • Lisa is the only Simpson child to appear in every episode.
  • Lisa has been shown on several occasions to have an interest in Native American culture. According to the Simpson family tree, she does have Native American heritage. This is confirmed again in Little Big Girl.
  • A running theme in some episodes centered on Lisa is that Lisa becomes jealous of people who have been able to upstage her on the levels of intelligence or skills resulting in antisocial behavior. A notable example of jealousy would be in "Smart and Smarter" where Lisa tried to teach Maggie the wrong answer when it's revealed that Maggie is more intelligent than her then she chose to run away from home when she feared that there is nothing to benefit from not being the smartest in the family. A notable example of her being envious would be in "Jazzy and the Pussycats" where she felt cheated and believed that Bart shouldn't have his fame and popularity because of his drumming skills after he upstages her and becomes a celebrity at a jazz concert.
  • Along with Marge, Lisa was present in every episode, but only had nonspeaking roles in two episodes.
  • Her voice actress Yeardley Smith is one of the only main actors on the show to only voice one character, the other one was Marcia Wallace who voiced Edna Krabappel.
  • Throughout the Ullman Shorts and most of the first season, she is a rude and disrespectful troublemaker and not particularly bright, much like her brother. This might have been changed to have more variety in the Simpsons' personalities or to have someone for Bart to almost always be at odds with like many typical brothers and sisters.
  • In "How Lisa Got Her Marge Back", her pearls were revealed to be a gift from Marge when she was first able to read at a twelfth-grade level.
  • Lisa named her pony Princess, after Homer was working two jobs just to get it.
  • Lisa is right-handed.
  • Lisa‘s religion has changed three times throughout the series, first from Christianity to Paganism in the Ullman short ‘The Pagans’, back to Christianity in ‘The Telltale Head‘ and Buddhism since ’She of Little Faith‘.

Appearances

As one of the five major title characters of the series, Lisa appears in every episode, as well as The Simpsons Movie. She had no lines in "Chief of Hearts" and "Moho House", and only one line in "The Simpsons Spin-off Showcase", "My Fare Lady", and "Dad Behavior".

Joystick Video game – The Simpsons Wrestling

Joystick Video game – The Simpsons Tapped Out

Joystick Video game – Virtual Springfield

Joystick Video game – The Simpsons Skateboarding

Joystick Video game – The Simpsons Road Rage

Joystick Video game – The Simpsons: Hit and Run

Joystick Video game – The Simpsons Game

Joystick Video game – The Simpsons: Minutes to Meltdown

Joystick Video game – The Simpsons Ride

Gallery

Lisa Every Simpsons Ever
The full image gallery for Lisa Simpson may be viewed at Lisa Simpson/Gallery.

External links

Citations

  1. ↑ "Girls Just Want To Have Sums"
  2. ↑ "The Dad Who Knew Too Little"
  3. ↑ "Boy Meets Curl"
  4. ↑ "Wild Barts Can't Be Broken"
  5. ↑ "Fland Canyon"
  6. ↑ "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two)"
  7. ↑ "Girly Edition"
  8. ↑ In the episode "My Sister, My Sitter" it's stated Lisa's 2 years and 38 days younger than Bart: Bart was born April 1, so Lisa's birthday will fall on May 9.
  9. ↑ Lisa Gets an "A"
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Lisa the Vegetarian
  11. ↑ Bart Star
  12. ↑ Lost Our Lisa
  13. ↑ Smoke on the Daughter
  14. ↑ Bart Star
  15. ↑ Homer's Enemy
  16. ↑ The PTA Disbands
  17. ↑ She of Little Faith
  18. ↑ Rednecks and Broomsticks
  19. ↑ Lisa's Wedding
  20. ↑ Last Exit to Springfield
  21. ↑ The Canine Mutiny
  22. ↑ Dude, Where's My Ranch?
  23. ↑ The Last of the Red Hat Mamas
  24. ↑ Lard of the Dance
  25. ↑ Lisa's Substitute
  26. ↑ Lisa's Pony
  27. ↑ Lisa's First Word
  28. ↑ Make Room for Lisa
  29. ↑ Summer of 4 Ft. 2
  30. ↑ Bart vs. Thanksgiving
  31. ↑ Lisa on Ice
  32. ↑ Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade
  33. ↑ Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore
  34. ↑ O Brother, Where Bart Thou?
  35. ↑ Homer vs. Patty and Selma
  36. ↑ The Father, the Son and the Holy Guest Star
  37. ↑ The Great Wife Hope
  38. ↑ The Greatest Story Ever D'ohed
  39. ↑ The Boys of Bummer
  40. ↑ Special Edna
  41. ↑ A Test Before Trying
  42. ↑ Dark Knight Court
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 BBC. (2000). 'The Simpsons': America's First Family (6 minute edit for the season 1 DVD) (DVD). UK: 20th Century Fox.
  44. ↑ Richmond, Ray; Antonia Coffman (1997). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to our Favorite Family. Harper Collins Publishers, pg. 14. ISBN 0-00-638898-1
  45. ↑ Bart's voice tells all. BBC News (2000-11-10). Retrieved on 2007-05-16.
  46. ↑ Charles Miranda. "She who laughs last", The Daily Telegraph,, p. 8E. Retrieved on 2008-02-09. 
  47. ↑ Mirkin, David. (2004). The Simpsons season 5 DVD commentary for the episode "Boy-Scoutz 'n the Hood" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  48. ↑ Reiss, Mike. (2001). The Simpsons season 1 DVD commentary for the episode "Krusty Gets Busted" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  49. ↑ Reiss, Mike. (2001). The Simpsons season 1 DVD commentary for the episode "Moaning Lisa" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  50. ↑ W. Reed Moran. "Lisa Simpson animates environmental awards", USA Today,. Retrieved on 2007-10-17. 
  51. ↑ "Awards for "The Simpsons"", Internet Movie Database{{{date}}}. Retrieved on 2007-10-17. 
Characters voiced by Yeardley Smith
Lisa Simpson | Maggie Simpson | Zia Simpson | Lisa, Jr.
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