With 728 episodes and 33 seasons (at the time of writing), it's impossible to remember everything that happened in The Simpsons since its official debut. In fact, many fans have talked about pilots and lost games, when in reality they were well documented. However, in 2015 something different happened: the Internet invented a character. Since then, the Web has done nothing but share images and videos of the mysterious Gumbly, also known as Yellow Matt, and finally, Graggle Simpson…
Let's start with the basics: The Simpson family. Homer J., father. Marge, Marjorie Jacqueline, maiden name Bouvier, mother. Bart, the eldest son. Lisa, "the middle one". Maggie, the baby. And of course, Graggle Simpson… no, wait a moment. That's not right.
Who is Graggle? Where did he come from? The micro-universes of the series on Twitter, Reddit, and TikTok have not stopped sharing material about a lost character that was deleted by magic. But before falling into a labyrinth of conspiracies, we must make one thing clear: Graggle Simpson is fake. He doesn't exist, and never existed… at least until the creators of the series decide to make a joke and inject him into some episode.
The origins of Graggle Simpson
It all began on October 4, 2015, when an anonymous user of the Japanese imageboard 2chan posted a photo of the character next to the rest of the family on the couch. Apparently, his design is inspired by Nan-j min, one of 2chan's mascots that dates back to 2011. Fast forward to January 28, 2021, and this time it was a 4chan user who revived 'Yellow Matt', supposedly a self-insert of Matt Groening that was going to become Bart's new best friend, replacing Milhouse. A day later, Twitter user SimianJimmy planted the seed on that social network.
From there, other fans and Twitter users began inserting Gumbly into different episodes, and remembering special situations (all false, obviously). Someone even took the trouble to make him the main character of the game Hit and Run. However, Gumbly was quickly put away in the big drawer of memes… until someone pulled him out again last May. A Facebook user named Yeliab Ressap shared "Graggle Simpson" as part of the Mandela Effect. Thousands of shares later, the mysterious Graggle arrived on TikTok, where it finally exploded.
Today, that social network offers us things like found footage, and a dedicated Graggle account with more than 12,000 followers. Maybe Graggle will find a way to live a little longer in this popularity cycle, but even if he goes back to sleep the dream of memes, it's not so crazy to imagine him back in a year or two.
More info: Vice, Know your Meme
