Waylon Joseph Smithers, Sr. was Waylon Smithers, Jr.'s father and Mr. Burns' assistant at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant.
History[]
Waylon Smithers, Sr. died of radiation poisoning due to sacrificing his life to save Springfield, and specifically his son, by going inside the reactor core without wearing a hazmat suit. After his death, his corpse was discarded by being placed down a drainage pipe as Mr. Burns said that cover-ups were all the rage back then instead of getting a proper funeral.
Nearly twenty years later, Smithers' corpse is discovered by a young Homer while swimming in the watering hole as the body blocked the water pipe, which traumatised him for life. Many years later, Homer remembered this incident. This caused him to scream for several days. After investigating it with his family, he discovers the skeleton (the flesh had completely decomposed) which Bart Simpson shows the skull to Mr. Burns. Burns relates the story of his heroic death as he sacrificed himself to prevent the reactor core from having a meltdown for the first time, leading Burns to raise Smithers, Jr. as his own.
Smithers finally finds out the truth as Burns shows the film to the Simpsons and becomes relieved to see his father died as a hero, as Burns had previously told Smithers that his father had been killed by Amazon women (which is implied to have QUITE an effect on Smithers' lifestyle). Afterwards, Homer takes the skull and places it in his memory box despite Marge telling him to give that skull to Mr. Smithers.
Trivia[]
- In "Bart After Dark", Smithers explains to Burns that his parents insisted that he try La Maison Derrière, a strip club in Springfield (probably scared of his homosexuality). This is the first known mention of Smithers' father; however, the sequel of the series expanded on his story and had him die during Smithers' childhood.
- He may have been a Stonecutter since his son was a Stonecutter.
Episode Appearances[]
- Episode – "Bart After Dark" (mentioned)
- Episode – "The Blunder Years" (deceased, alive in flashback)
- Episode – "To Cur, with Love" (flashback)
- Episode – "Walking Big & Tall" (flashback)
- Episode – "Flanders' Ladder" (as a ghost)