Top 10 Worst Things Bart Simpson Has Done
He can indeed be a bad, bad boy. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the top ten worst things Bart Simpson has done.
For this list, we’ll be looking at the ten most morally reprehensible things Bart Simpson has done in both the show and movie.
#10: Making Prank Calls
Various Episodes
One of Bart’s distinguishing pranks are his calls to Moe’s Tavern, even though this hasn’t been a regular thing since the fourth season. For the few who may not be aware, the joke goes like this – Bart calls Moe’s and asks for a silly fake name like Seymour Butz. Moe then calls out the fake rude name in the bar before realizing it’s a prank and getting VERY heated about it. Yes, the pranks are fundamentally harmless (and really, who hasn’t taken part in a good prank call?), but poor Moe just wants to run his establishment in peace without some snot-nosed kid making him feel “Stu Pitt”.
#9: Exposing Himself
“The Simpsons Movie”
Talk about letting it all hang out. In “The Simpsons Movie,” Homer dares Bart to skateboard completely naked to Krusty Burger and back. Despite initially showing reluctance because girls might see him totes nude, Bart takes off after Homer calls him a chicken. He proceeds to shock the entire town with his antics before we are treated to a full-on, uncensored view of his dingle as well. As funny as the censorship joke is, did we really need to see . . everything? Mind you, a little nudity doesn’t really hurt anyone.
#8: Giving Cigarettes to Santa’s Little Helper
“Duffless”
By the show’s fourth season, Bart had graduated from harmless prank calls to giving cigarettes to the family dog. Lisa and Bart are tasked with that school classic: science fair projects. Lisa creates a massive steroid-enhanced tomato in the hopes of ending world hunger. So responsible! Meanwhile, Bart decides to . . . study the effects of cigarette smoking on dogs. Right on cue, Santa’s Little Helper enters the kitchen with a cigarette dangling from his lips while hacking up a lung. Nothing like giving a dog lung cancer in the name of Science! But then again, we didn’t expect much more from Bart.
#7: Burning Lisa’s Centerpiece
“Bart vs. Thanksgiving”
It’s not a Simpsons holiday without one member of the family ruining everything! And this time, Bart…well, ruins Thanksgiving. To celebrate the festivities, Lisa slaves over an elaborate centerpiece, which she proudly displays once everyone is sat around the table. Enter Bart bearing the turkey, who decides that Lisa’s centerpiece is taking up valuable real estate on the table. A tussle ensues, and the centerpiece is thrown into the fire. Yes, it was an accident, but Bart was still being petty and rude about it and showed no remorse for what he had done, even calling it “bitchin’” and ordering his food to go once he was sent up to his room. Booo.
#6: Upending Australia’s Ecology
“Bart vs. Australia”
If he’s not ruining Thanksgiving, he’s ruining an entire country’s ecology. Bart is forced to travel to Australia to personally apologize for being irresponsible and sticking a boy down under with a huge phone bill. But then he brings a bullfrog on his journey; when he leaves it at Australian customs, it escapes and happily makes its way into the country. The bullfrog then reproduces at an alarming rate, and the army of bullfrogs proceed to destroy the local crops. Of course, Bart and company just laugh about it, detached from the fact that they just single-handedly ruined an entire country.
#5: Trying to Destroy Springfield Elementary
“Postcards from the Wedge”
Springfield Elementary is no stranger to abuse from Bart. If he’s not using a firehose to flood the school gym, he’s trying to destroy the entire building. While hiding from Principal Skinner, Bart and Milhouse discover that the old trains in the subway system still work. They race down the tracks and cause a tremor, which damages the school’s foundation. Wanting attention from his parents (who decided to just ignore his behavior), Bart decides to drive the train directly underneath the school in the hopes of crippling the entire building. And he damn near succeeds, too. Of course, the school is destroyed anyway once the flag pole falls on it, so mission accomplished, we suppose.
#4: Destroying Springfield with a Sonic Boom
“The Secret War of Lisa Simpson”
Leave it to Bart to destroy an entire city with a megaphone. While visiting the police station on a field trip, Bart finds the megaphone collection and proceeds to stack them, with the hope of creating a mega-amplified sound. And succeed he does. After saying “testing” into the mega-megaphone, the station wall is obliterated and a massive shockwave proceeds to shatter every piece of glass in the city. It also leaves the entire population of Springfield deaf and causes a released octopus to attack Professor Frink. This is the prank that finally sent Homer over the edge, and Bart was sent to military school as punishment. You know it’s bad when even Homer is pissed.
#3: Decapitating the Jebediah Springfield Statue
“The Telltale Head”
For this prank, we’re going all the way back to season one. Wanting to impress his new buddies Jimbo, Dolph, and Kearney, Bart uses a hack saw to decapitate the statue of Jebediah Springfield. The entire town naturally grows resentful of the perpetrator, and Bart finds that even his new, rebellious role models are upset. Petty vandalism is one thing, but cutting the head off a town statue is so out of line and despicable that even the local bullies detest the act. With this, Bart crossed a dangerous line and went from bratty child to criminal. Well, at least for this episode.
#2: Exploiting Skinner’s Peanut Allergy
“Please Homer, Don’t Hammer ‘Em”
Bart is usually a sympathetic character, even when he’s at his most rambunctious. But this was truly a new low. After the school is notified that peanuts will no longer be allowed on the premises, an annoyed Bart discovers that it is not a student with the debilitating allergy, but Skinner. Naturally, Bart uses this knowledge to his advantage and exploit Skinner via a peanut on a stick. He uses his peanut stick to torture Skinner by hurling soda cans at him and making him eat literal garbage. This is malicious, through and through.
Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few dishonorable mentions.
Breaking Skinner’s Brain
“I Love Lisa”
Vandalising
“Exit Through the Kwik-E-Mart”
Drowning a Grasshopper in Paint
“What to Expect When Bart’s Expecting”
#1: Nearly Killing Martin
“Dial “N” for Nerder”
Yeah, it doesn’t get any worse than killing someone. While Bart and Lisa are riding their bikes, they come across poor Martin, who only wants to excavate arrowheads in peace. While Lisa shows enthusiasm and joins him, Bart decides to pull a prank by burying Sideshow Mel’s bone and pretending that it’s an important artifact. He pulls the bone and smacks Martin, who, in turn, topples over the cliff. And while it was Lisa who accidentally pushes him off with the stick, this is all on Bart. If it wasn’t for Martin’s durable, wedgie-proof waistband, Bart would likely have found himself facing charges of manslaughter. And all for a stupid prank.