Top 20 Worst Things Mr. Burns Has Done

“$pringfield (or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)” It’s clearly established throughout “The Simpsons” that Burns has always been evil. Even as a child, the diabolical businessman displayed sociopathic tendencies which foreshadowed the depravity to come. In this Season 5 episode, Burns recollects a time from his childhood when he ran into an Irish laborer with a bumper car. He doesn’t just do it once - he repeatedly runs into the man until his legs are broken, cackling all the while. And speaking of cackling, the memory clearly tickles Burns, as he has a prolonged laughing fit while fondly recollecting the event. He even laughs in church. Why Burns is attending church is beyond us.

“Bart vs. Thanksgiving” We’re going all the way back to Season 2 for this infuriating infraction. “Bart vs. Thanksgiving” contains a scene inside Burns’s mansion as the business magnate eats a tiny slice of turkey. He tells Smithers that he is full and orders that the rest of the food be thrown away. The camera then comically reveals the rest of the table, which resembles a feast at Hogwarts. It’s adorned with delicious Thanksgiving fare, including a whole untouched turkey and numerous pies. When it comes to symbolic visuals, it’s hard to beat Burns sitting all by himself at a table adorned with expensive shareables.

“Rosebud” “Rosebud” is a classic half-hour of “The Simpsons” that vaguely manages to humanize Mr. Burns. He attempts to retrieve his childhood teddy bear from Maggie, who got the bear from Bart after he found it in a bag of ice. Homer refuses to give it up, prompting Burns to take drastic action. He hijacks all 78 channels that are broadcasted to Springfield, even interrupting the baby show that Homer was clearly enjoying. Burns holds the city’s TV hostage until Homer gives up the bear, which seems like a serious breach of broadcasting laws. But hey, at least he was nice enough to make a sitcom with Smithers!

“Last Exit to Springfield” “Last Exit to Springfield” is arguably the greatest episode of “The Simpsons,” and it features one of the most diabolical actions from Mr. Burns. Coincidence? We think not. The episode opens in hilarious, if surprisingly dark, fashion, with a great bit of meta-humor. Bart and Homer are watching an action movie when Bart comments on the evil nature of the villain. Homer reassures him that evil like that doesn’t actually exist in real life. Cut immediately to Mr. Burns, who is sitting in his chair and gleefully watching a window cleaner dangling from his platform. As if that wasn't bad enough, he then closes the blinds and ignores the screams as the cleaner falls to his death. Boss of the year, right there.

“Fraudcast News” Hijacking television to coerce Homer into giving him a teddy bear was bad enough. But now he’s threatening the Simpsons directly, and that’s crossing a line. The episode is Season 15’s “Fraudcast News,” and it sees Burns acquiring every media outlet in the city except for Lisa’s Red Dress Press. He does many deplorable things in his effort to buy her out, like cutting the house’s power and even drugging Homer with a truth serum. This causes him to slander Lisa in the press, and she is so humiliated by the news that she gives up the fight and closes her newspaper. The episode has a happy ending, but it was rather shocking to see Mr. Burns actually winning this particular battle.

“Lisa the Vegetarian” It’s no secret that Mr. Burns is stingy with his money, so his lack of charitable donations doesn’t come as a big surprise. But it’s the method of his refusal that makes this particular instance so cruel. Burns mentions to Smithers that he will “donate one million dollars to the local orphanage when pigs fly.” The comment alone is horrendous, as Burns could easily just donate that money and do a world of good to children in need. But just then, Homer’s roast pig flies by the window (it’s a long story). Despite seeing a pig fly firsthand, Burns still refuses to donate the money. It’s not even that he can’t; it’s that he would “prefer” not to. That’s a whole new level of evil.

#14: Turning Mona Into a Criminal

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“Mother Simpson” One action from Mr. Burns changed the course of many lives. “Mother Simpson” is a wonderful episode of the show, blending the usual hilarity with an incredibly emotional and intricately-woven story. Mona broke into Burns’s laboratory as a political activist and he in turn notified the police, turning her into a wanted criminal and forcing her to flee Springfield. This in turn left Homer without a mother. He is eventually reunited with Mona, but Burns strikes again and notifies the FBI of her whereabouts. But in one of the show’s best endings, Chief Wiggum helps her escape and Homer contemplates his life by staring at the stars. Burns is often satirically evil, but this time, we actually just hate him.

“The Last Temptation of Homer” Mr. Burns is a terrible boss who treats his employees like dirt. Maybe even less than dirt. But as we learn in Season 5’s “The Last Temptation of Homer,” those paid employees are the lucky ones. The Department of Labor visits Burns’ power plant and finds countless infractions, including a missing Brazilian soccer team working in the reactor core. As Burns explains, the soccer team’s plane crashed on his property. So, rather than helping them, he simply kidnapped the team and forced them to work, undocumented and very likely unpaid, inside a highly dangerous environment. Ain’t that just like Mr. Burns?

#12: Keeping a Trillion Dollars in Aid Money (Then Financing a Dictatorship)

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“The Trouble with Trillions” Season 9’s “The Trouble with Trillions” has a great one-two punch when it comes to Burns’s wickedness. Back in 1945, President Harry Truman had a one trillion dollar bill printed in an effort to fund the reconstruction of war-torn Europe. It was up to Burns to personally deliver the bill, but wouldn’t you know it, he just kept it for himself. We know Burns is greedy, but leaving an entire continent decimated simply to boost his net worth takes that greediness to unfathomable levels. But that’s not all. Burns then attempts to buy Cuba from Fidel Castro, but Castro simply steals the bill and banishes Burns. So, not only did he prevent much-needed aid from reaching Europe, he indirectly financed a dictatorship with the money.

“Marge vs. the Monorail” Now, we’re not experts or anything, but we’re pretty sure there are some very stringent rules when it comes to disposing of nuclear waste. We don’t think you can just, say, take it to the local park and stuff it in a tree. But that doesn’t stop our old pal Burns! In the classic “Marge vs. the Monorail,” it’s revealed that Smithers and Burns have been dumping waste at local playgrounds and getting children sick. It’s probably one of the darkest jokes in the entire series, and it speaks to how low Burns is willing to go to avoid the law. They then take the waste to a park and stuff the barrels inside various trees, turning both the trees and some squirrels radioactive.

Various It’s no secret that the megalomaniacal, greedy, and incredibly selfish Mr. Burns isn’t the greatest employer in Springfield. Sure, there are the relatively little things like intentionally spying on his employees through security cameras and not bothering to learn their names. But then there’s the fact that he callously cuts their dental plans, wilfully ignores even basic safety regulations, and regularly drops them down a secret trap door in his office with the full intention of killing them. Next time you whine about your boss, just remember that they don’t have a secret trap door in their office. At least, we hope they don’t.

#9: Li’l Lisa’s Patented Animal Slurry

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“The Old Man and the Lisa” If you thought that Mr. Burns was redeemable, your hopes were crushed when he unveiled Li’l Lisa’s Patented Animal Slurry. Throughout the episode “The Old Man and the Lisa,” Lisa tries to steer Burns away from his evil ways by teaching him the value of recycling. He even opens his own recycling plant but earns the ire of Lisa when he shows her “the best part” of the factory – one million plastic beer holders netted to catch sea life and turn them into an edible slurry. Yeah, that’s not how recycling works, at least for not-evil people.

“Who Shot Mr. Burns?” Once he discovers that there is oil underneath Springfield Elementary, Burns immediately begins a slant drilling operation and steals the oil from the school. Not only is stealing the school’s wealth despicable, but his actions result in consequences throughout Springfield. Nearby Moe’s Tavern is closed because of dangerous fumes, some school staff is laid off, the Springfield Retirement Castle is destroyed, and Santa’s Little Helper is injured when an oil stream annihilates Bart’s treehouse. It’s all a brilliant commentary on the total disregard of greedy oil tycoons and business magnates, and it shows that Burns will do anything, including destroying Springfield, for a profit.

“Bart Gets Hit by a Car” While he’s skateboarding around Springfield, Bart is hit by Mr. Burns and suffers a near-death experience. While accidents certainly happen, it’s Burns’ callous disregard for Bart’s well-being that earns this a spot on our list. While Smithers checks on Bart and shows some concern for his health, Burns just wants to give him a nickel and drive away. Later in the episode, he offers the Simpsons $100 in compensation, which Homer refuses. We first see Mr. Burns’ penchant for evil, and with that revelation, a classic TV villain was truly born.

“Two Dozen and One Greyhounds” The sixth season episode “Two Dozen and One Greyhounds” was clearly influenced by “One Hundred and One Dalmatians,” not just in its title, but in the way Mr. Burns mirrors Cruella de Vil throughout the episode. When Santa’s Little Helper fathers a couple of dozen puppies with a race dog, Burns and Smithers kidnap the young doggos so Burns can make a fancy “greyhound fur tuxedo” out of them. To be fair, he ultimately doesn’t go through with the plan. On the other hand: he does bust out these lyrics: See my vest, see my vest/Made from real gorilla chest/ Feel this sweater, there's no better/Than authentic Irish setter.

“Marge Gets a Job” After the Simpsons are faced with an expensive house repair, Marge gets a job at the plant to pay for the work. Burns immediately takes a liking to Marge, but she refuses his advances. Burns instantly fires her in response; and when she threatens to sue, he makes an inappropriate sexual remark and, uh, a purring noise. He’s not only a disgusting boss, but a disgusting person in general. While much of Burns’ evil is outlandishly exaggerated for comedic effect, this scene is uncomfortably realistic, especially when you take the modern #MeToo movement into account.

“C.E.D'oh” Aaaand, if he’s not sexually harassing Marge, he’s trying to immure her husband inside a crypt. In the fourteenth season episode “C.E. D’oh,” Homer takes a course on “successmanship,” overthrows Burns, and becomes the head of the power plant. To take back power, Burns drugs Homer and attempts to bury him alive in the Burns Family Mausoleum. However, his plan is foiled when Homer simply walks over the tiny wall he has painstakingly erected. We get wanting to take back power, but sealing a person alive inside a tomb? Good thing he was too old and out-of-shape to build a proper wall.

#3: Trying to Kill Grampa & Bart

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“Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in 'The Curse of the Flying Hellfish'” In a seventh season episode, Burns and Grampa become the only surviving members of a WWII infantry squad: The Flying Hellfish. The Flying Hellfish stole priceless paintings during the war, locked them away, and made a pact that the last surviving member would inherit the expensive artifacts. To become the last surviving member, Burns hires a hitman to kill Grampa; and then, when Grampa and Bart actually locate the paintings, Burns kicks Bart into a strongbox, which in turn falls into the water. Burns clearly values money over everything else. Including human lives.

“The Mansion Family” There’s not a whole lot of love between Burns and his mother. First, he abandoned her for a billionaire when he was just a child. We later learn that Burns holds a grudge against his mother for having had an affair with President Taft, and he eventually attempted to murder her by unplugging her life support system. However, the plan didn’t work, and his mother tormented him for five more decades. That’s bad enough, but in one episode, Burns references eliminating his mother for “getting in his way.” That said, he has also stated that a lack of indoor plumbing caused her death, so we don’t really know what to believe.

“Who Shot Mr. Burns?” Burns isn’t afraid to put the entirety of Springfield at risk to get what he wants. To discourage a strike, he once shut off the entire town’s power supply. And in “Who Shot Mr. Burns?,” he unveiled his most nefarious, James Bond-ian scheme – blocking out the sun with a giant disc so the residents of Springfield would be forced to use his nuclear power. While Burns has always been evil, this is the scheme that finally pushed Smithers over the edge. After voicing his displeasure with Burns, Burns fires him for “insubordination.” When even Smithers calls Burns “insane,” you get a feeling for just how truly evil the man can be.