Ruth Powers is the Simpsons' next-door neighbor and the single mother of Laura Powers.
Biography
Ruth is divorced, and she has a daughter named Laura Powers, who no longer lives with her. The circumstances behind Ruth's marriage are not explained, but she has mentioned her ex-husband behaves similar to a hard working and career dedicated but less affable version of Homer Simpson and he was continually stiffing Ruth on child support. Due to his faults that were said to have lead to their messy divorce, Ruth claims he stole her youth and outlook on life, which includes her becoming a near misandrist that she stole his car for revenge. [1]
Ruth and Marge Simpson became fast friends after Ruth moved in next door. One evening, they went to a ballet after Homer, who was originally supposed to go with Marge, literally got stuck at work (with his arms in two vending machines). Later they had a girls' night out where they went line dancing at a country bar called Shotkickers, went raving at an underground club named The Hate Box, did some target shooting (using a farmer's antique cans as targets), and went up to the Springfield sign overlooking the city. They ended up going on the run from the law, however, after Chief Wiggum tried to pull them over because of a broken taillight, and Ruth chose to flee because they were driving the car which she had stolen from her ex-husband.[1] One possibility for she not getting any punishment from stealing the car is that her ex-husband didn't give any money even though the court demanded it. Finally, the auto theft charges against Ruth were dismissed, undoubtedly due to the fact that Lionel Hutz was representing her ex-husband.
Ruth had shown signs of being an alcoholic, since she is seen at an alcoholics anonymous meeting in Simpsons: The Movie, as well as watching a video on the results of drunk driving with a horrified expression on her face in "Duffless". She was also at Moe's Tavern in New Kid on the Block when Moe started calling out for "Ivana Tinkle", with her clutching her mouth in an obvious attempt at restraining her laughter upon his first calling out the name, implying she immediately realized Moe was being duped.
After her appearances of New Kid on the Block and Marge on the Lam, she and Laura had moved out of Evergreen Terrace sometime in the decade of her next appearance and she was was later imprisoned for a short time during this for another offense, which is unspecified. While she was in prison, Ruth built up her muscles and became a bodybuilder, which earned the title "Miss Mexican Mafia" and took steroids to expand her muscles.[2] Noticing her old neighbor while on a jog at Springfield's muscle beach and pier, Marge reunited with Ruth where they shared their interests in bodybuilding and where Ruth introduced her to taking steroids. Later in The Simpsons Movie, Ruth was shown joining the angry mob that attempted to kill Homer, and possibly the other Simpsons, for getting the town sealed in a dome.
Physical appearance
- Ruth Powers has brown hair and typically wears a red bandana, gold hoop earrings, lavender top, brown sandals and blue pants.
- Ruth's facial symmetry is extremely similar to that of Allison Taylor. Though, presumably coincidental, it has been a subject of many fan-made works most of which depict her as being Allison's long-lost mother.
- When bodybuilding at a open-air gym on the beach, she wears a blue bikini.
Trivia
- On June 17 2015, as part of the level 54 update, Ruth was added to The Simpsons: Tapped Out. You first have to build Shotkickers to unlock her.
- In the game, she’s a worker of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant.
Appearances
Note: Many of her appearances are brief background roles. Episodes where she has an actual role are in bold.
The Simpsons: Season Four | ||||
"Kamp Krusty": | "A Streetcar Named Marge": | "Homer the Heretic": | "Lisa the Beauty Queen": | "Treehouse of Horror III": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie": | "Marge Gets a Job": | "New Kid on the Block": | "Mr. Plow": | "Lisa's First Word": |
Absent | Absent | Major | Absent | Absent |
"Homer's Triple Bypass": | "Marge vs. the Monorail": | "Selma's Choice": | "Brother from the Same Planet": | "I Love Lisa": |
Absent | Minor | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Duffless": | "Last Exit to Springfield": | "So It's Come to This: A Simpsons Clip Show": | "The Front": | "Whacking Day": |
Cameo | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Marge in Chains": | "Krusty Gets Kancelled": | |||
Absent | Absent |
The Simpsons: Season Five | ||||
"Homer's Barbershop Quartet": | "Cape Feare": | "Homer Goes to College": | "Rosebud": | "Treehouse of Horror IV": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Marge on the Lam": | "Bart's Inner Child": | "Boy-Scoutz 'n the Hood": | "The Last Temptation of Homer": | "$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)": |
Major | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Homer the Vigilante": | "Bart Gets Famous": | "Homer and Apu": | "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy": | "Deep Space Homer": |
Cameo | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Homer Loves Flanders": | "Bart Gets an Elephant": | "Burns' Heir": | "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song": | "The Boy Who Knew Too Much": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Lady Bouvier's Lover": | "Secrets of a Successful Marriage": | |||
Absent | Absent |
The Simpsons: Season Six | ||||
"Bart of Darkness": | "Lisa's Rival": | "Another Simpsons Clip Show": | "Itchy & Scratchy Land": | "Sideshow Bob Roberts": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Treehouse of Horror V": | "Bart's Girlfriend": | "Lisa on Ice": | "Homer Badman": | "Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Fear of Flying": | "Homer the Great": | "And Maggie Makes Three": | "Bart's Comet": | "Homie the Clown": |
Absent | Absent | Cameo | Absent | Absent |
"Bart vs. Australia": | "Homer vs. Patty and Selma": | "A Star is Burns": | "Lisa's Wedding": | "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"The PTA Disbands": | "'Round Springfield": | "The Springfield Connection": | "Lemon of Troy": | "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)": |
Cameo | Absent | Absent | Absent | Cameo |
The Simpsons: Season Seven | ||||
"Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two)": | "Radioactive Man": | "Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily": | "Bart Sells His Soul": | "Lisa the Vegetarian": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Treehouse of Horror VI": | "King-Size Homer": | "Mother Simpson": | "Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming": | "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Marge Be Not Proud": | "Team Homer": | "Two Bad Neighbors": | "Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield": | "Bart the Fink": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Cameo |
"Lisa The Iconoclast": | "Homer The Smithers": | "The Day The Violence Died": | "A Fish Called Selma": | "Bart on the Road": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"22 Short Films About Springfield": | "Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in "The Curse of the Flying Hellfish"": | "Much Apu About Nothing": | "Homerpalooza": | "Summer of 4 Ft. 2": |
Absent | Absent | Cameo | Cameo | Absent |
The Simpsons: Season Eight | ||||
"Treehouse of Horror VII": | "You Only Move Twice": | "The Homer They Fall": | "Burns, Baby Burns": | "Bart After Dark": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Cameo | Cameo |
"A Milhouse Divided": | "Lisa's Date with Density": | "Hurricane Neddy": | "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer)": | "The Springfield Files": |
Absent | Absent | Cameo | Cameo | Absent |
"The Twisted World of Marge Simpson": | "Mountain of Madness": | "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious": | "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show": | "Homer's Phobia": |
Cameo | Absent | Cameo | Cameo | Absent |
"Brother from Another Series": | "My Sister, My Sitter": | "Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment": | "Grade School Confidential": | "The Canine Mutiny": |
Cameo | Cameo | Cameo | Cameo | Absent |
"The Old Man and the Lisa": | "In Marge We Trust": | "Homer's Enemy": | "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase": | "The Secret War of Lisa Simpson": |
Cameo | Cameo | Absent | Absent | Absent |