Bart Simpson

Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a main character and the tritagonist of The Simpsons animated series.

Bart is the mischievous, rebellious, misunderstood and "potentially dangerous" eldest child of Homer and Marge Simpson, and the older brother of Lisa and Maggie. He also has been nicknamed "Cosmo", after discovering a comet in "Bart's Comet". Bart has also been on the cover on numerous comics, such as "Critical Hit", "Simpsons Treasure Trove #11", and "Winter Wingding". Bart also has a 100-issue comic series entitled the Simpson Comics Presents Bart Simpson. Bart is loosely based on Matt Groeningand his older brother, Mark Groening.

Even at a young age, Bart has accomplished many feats. He has won an award for his Angry Dad web series, he has discovered a new comet which was named after himself, and he also has performed in a successful band with Milhouse Van Houten, Nelson Muntz and Ralph Wiggum.

Appearance
Bart has yellow skin and blonde spiky hair that matches the color of his skin (similar to his sisters - on one occasion, this caused distress in all three of the siblings and had them wonder where their heads end and their hair actually starts), sports, and, like the other characters of The Simpsons, has blue eyes (although the pupils look like 2 black dots). He wears an orange shirt (salmon in "Bart Gets an "F"", blue short-sleeved shirt on early merchandise), blue shorts and blue sneakers with white socks. He sometimes wears his "lucky" red baseball cap and carries around his skateboard or a slingshot.

Personality
Bart is considerably a prankster at Springfield Elementary, and his pranks are often elaborately complex but can lead to unfortunate consequences. Bart's overall intelligence, like his mother's, has been shown to fluctuate slightly over the course of the series. It has been shown anywhere from being just above his father's level, to being just below, or (on the rare occasion that he shows interest or is willing to pay attention) exceeding that of his sister. Despite his behavior, Bart is also extremely good at science, art and even sports like skateboarding. His actions and speech frequently show considerable mental agility, street-smarts, and understanding. When Bart became a hall monitor for Springfield Elementary, his grades went up, showing that he only struggles because he does not pay any attention. Bart has ADHD. This has been exaggerated to the point he is willing to do Algebra, so long as it is a distraction from his actual homework.

On the other hand, Bart often seems to have trouble understanding even the simplest concepts, such as the word "irony," what the equator is and that the logo on his globe ("Rand McNally") is not actually a country. It was also once implied that his mischievous behavior may have been a result of Marge accidentally ingesting a droplet of champagne while pregnant with him. Also as an infant, one night he wandered into the master bedroom and witnessed Homer and Marge having sex with each other.

Abilities
Bart is a polyglot and can speak several languages with varying degrees of fluency. Though he has not demonstrated the ability since his exchange trip to France as an exchange student (other than in the "Butterfinger Group" Simpsons Butterfinger commercial), he speaks near-perfect French. He also learned Spanish in a matter of hours in preparation for the family's trip to Brazil. Upon learning that Brazilians speak Portuguese and not Spanish, Homer orders his son to forget what he learned, prompting Bart to strike himself over the head until he forgot the language. Bart also speaks Japanese (which he also learned in a couple of hours in prison along with his father, Homer, who is also shown speaking Japanese), Cantonese and Latin. His advanced linguistic skills may be inherited from Homer, who also speaks advanced languages, including penguin.

Another skill Bart inherited from Homer was his musical ability, he was shown to be a skilled drummer [43] at least until an injury destroyed this talent.

He was a player in the Mighty Pigs Peewee Hockey League Team and their main scorer. He is also quite capable of firing advanced firearms with a frightening accuracy, as evidenced when, while at military school as a result of a prank involving electric megahorns, he was given an RGB6 Grenade Launcher by the firing range instructor due to his belief that Bart knew how to operate handguns, and he managed to destroy four out of five targets before one of his shots missed and ended up hitting Principal Skinner's car just as he was about to unlock it, to which Bart implied that he deliberately missed the fifth target and was actually aiming for Skinner's car that time. His killing teacher describes him as "a natural" in this same episode. He later displayed a similar proficiency towards weapons when he managed to hijack a tank by stealing the keys, drive it over to the park, and shoot down an MLB satellite with surprising accuracy all by himself, although at that point, he was also under the effects of an experimental drug that was supposed to suppress Bart's Attention Deficit Disorder.

Bart can also drive vehicles with surprising skill for his age. He has his own drivers license, given to him after saving Springfield from a fire (shown in 'Little Big Girl'), although he has been seen driving before with a fake license at times. He still possesses it, using it to steal Principal Skinner's car to get to Jimbo's house.

Bart is also a skilled chef. He cooked a three-course meal for his parents and made a dessert.

When he was made hall monitor, he also had a great degree of skill in enforcing the law and rules. This trait was later exemplified when he, in a similar fashion to a bouncer, removed Homer from the premises of the La Maison Derrière after he continuously heckled Marge's ventriloquist performance.

Additionally, Bart has a natural inclination to dance, and was a ballet star in his dance class for a brief period at school. Likely, he inherited this ability from his father, who had been a talented gymnast during his years in high school.

Although he frequently gets bad grades in school, Bart consistently shows levels of high intelligence with his witty social commentary and clever thinking. Bart's intelligence does fluctuate episode from episode, however, as Lisa was able to prove that he was "dumber than a hamster," yet he managed to outsmart her in that same episode with a similar project. In addition, Bart has consistently bested the genius of Sideshow Bob (figuring out his plan to kill Selma and tricking him by stalling just long enough to enable him to be arrested). While Lisa is more "book smart" and of superb literary intelligence, Bart is street smart and of remarkable social intelligence, as he naturally assumes the position of undisputed leader in any situation thrust upon him, such as when he led many children to the park to play when expressing his exasperation over being constantly followed by adults, when he led a pack of children to infiltrate Shelbyville in order to retrieve their stolen lemon tree, or when he led his fellow campers in a takeover of Kamp Krusty. Bart has also shown considerable leadership prowess when he took charge of his fellow students (although only briefly) when they were stranded on an island, when he amassed an army of children to combat Nelson (ultimately managing to defeat him), led the takeover of Springfield Elementary during a snowstorm, when he orchestrated a curfew break and subsequent plot to expose the adults' secrets, and when he led a hostage-like situation as part of a plot to get Chalmers reinstated as superintendent. Bart's skill with people is also evidenced when Bart becomes the most successful news anchor on Kidz Newz, but in doing so steals the spotlight from Lisa. When Lisa voices her disapproval, it is explained to her that Bart was being promoted because he has "zazz." It is implied in one episode that the reason he doesn't apply himself in his studies is that he does not wish to be like his sister.

Bart is also highly skilled at manipulation and extortion. At one point, he successfully instigated a divide between Skinner and Krabappel in order to begin a Teacher's strike and extended the period by stirring up unrest at the local bank. He also at one point manipulated the townsfolk into controversy by spilling secrets of the adults over the radio and also manipulated his entire school into believing the myth of Dark Stanley (which, as it turns out, wasn't actually a myth). Other examples of manipulation was when he tricked many Springfieldians into coming to a phony wedding with gifts, when he attracted media attention by falsifying the concept of a boy being trapped in a well, and when he caused Homer to have a burst of anger in Boston over his refusal to wear a hat. Bart also has skill in extortion, as he managed to coerce his parents into doing whatever he wanted while pretending to be a sociopath and also extorted a U.S. Senator into following through with a key portion of a plan meant to get an air traffic bill passed. Bart has also extorted Skinner on a number of occasions, such as forcing him to do and say demeaning things via the threat of activating his peanut allergy and by making him either remain still or perform difficult tasks when he (Bart) and his fellow students took over the school.

Bart is also very talented at craftsmanship. He once made a replica of himself to take his place in class and also one of Lisa so that he and the rest of his school could fool the state's comptroller.

Bart has also demonstrated skill in regards to fighting prowess despite every now and then being beaten himself. At one point, after graduating from military school, he remarked that he is now a master of different forms of unarmed combat. He managed to hold his own in a fight with a girl highly-trained in Krav Maga and actually managed to get the better of Nelson on at least a couple of occasions (during a fight on the school playground and when he was working with his sister to stop the bullies from pulling a serious prank). At another instance, after challenging the fifth graders to a rumble, he easily caught a punch from the much-larger fifth-grade leader before noticing a scar on his hand. Though in a dream-like sequence and during a treehouse of horror segment, Bart showed exceptional combat skill when he effortlessly pummeled 10 and 20-year-old versions of his father and when he easily overpowered an onslaught of Springfieldians while working for Moe as a secret agent. Bart has also shown rather admirable skill in armed combat, as he fought roughly on par with Skinner, a trained and experienced former Green Beret, in a stick fight that spilled throughout Springfield.

Bart can also play a great game of putt-putt. He once almost won a miniature golf tournament against Todd Flanders. At the eighteenth hole, both boys decided the stress that each other's father was putting on them wasn't worth it and decided to take a tie and split the fifty dollar prize. Other recreational activities in which he shows talent: skateboarding, jockeying, lassoing, and tennis.

Bart also knows how to hot-wire a car.

He also has the ability to find truffles by smell.

Recently, Bart has demonstrated remarkable adeptness at chemistry.

Trivia

 * Matt Groening designed Bart to act like himself as a child.
 * Like his sisters, he is of French, Native American, and Scandinavian descent.
 * In the Tracy Ullman Shorts, the number of Bart's spikes on his hair kept changing. When the actual show began, they settled on 9 spikes.
 * If Bart was born in 1985 and had aged with the show, in 2018, Bart would be 43.
 * Bart is a member of the NRA and is a libertarian.
 * It is implied that in the episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", Bart was a fan of Tiny Tim, Charlie Brown and The Smurfs.
 * In "Bart the Mother", Marge says that it took 53 hours for Bart to be born.
 * His locker combination is 36-24-36, the idealized measurements of a "perfect woman" (36"-24"-36").
 * The name Bart is an anagram for the word "brat".
 * In "There's No Disgrace Like Home", Mr. Burns mistakenly reads Bart's name as "Brat".
 * Bart got his first tattoo (but was halfway finished when Marge came into the tattoo shop and saw him) in "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire".
 * Bart's blood type is O-Negative, as revealed in "Blood Feud", making him a universal donor, meaning that he can give blood to anyone.
 * Since Homer's blood type is A-Positive, it means he must've had an O-Negative blood type hidden due to the fact that they're both recessive traits and only shows up if both parents must be carriers. Marge must have the hidden O and negative traits as well, despite them being unknown.
 * Bart seems to be the only person in his school with his name, as explained in "Principal Charming", where Bart tries to claim that another Bart spelled out his name on the school lawn by pouring sodium tetra sulfate on the grass.
 * Bart has a stamp collection, as he explains when it got stolen in "Homer the Vigilante".
 * Bart's favorite food is a Krusty Burger from the restaurant of the same name.
 * Because of Marge's father Clancy Bouvier, Bart and his sisters, Lisa and Maggie, are of French descent. Not only that, Bart can speak in French, thanks to his exchange trip to France in "The Crepes of Wrath", as well as Japanese in "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo" and Spanish while flying to Brazil for a trip in "Blame It on Lisa", despite Portuguese being the official language there.
 * In "The Real Housewives of Fat Tony", it was discovered that Bart has a strong sense of smell, being able to detect truffles. He possibly got it from Homer, who uses his strong sense of smell in "Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner?".
 * Bart once had a job on Kidz Newz, along with Lisa, Milhouse, and Nelson.
 * In "Summer of 4 Ft. 2", it is revealed that Bart is officially the most popular kid in his school.
 * In "Bart's Comet", he is nicknamed "Cosmo" by the Superfriends.
 * Bart died temporarily in "Bart Gets Hit by a Car", but was chose to come back to Earth after being told by the Devil he had the choice to stay.
 * He is allergic to butterscotch, imitation butterscotch, glow-in-the-dark monster make-up, and shrimp, although the shrimp allergy wasn't identified until later seasons (In "The Frying Game", at the end of the episode, Bart says that he was at the shrimp bar). He also is allergic to cauliflower as shown in "The Heartbroke Kid".
 * Bart is the only character to appear in all of The Tracey Ullman Show shorts.
 * Bart's original name was planned to be "Matt Simpson", which is the name of creator Matt Groening.
 * In the Season 1 opening sequence, while Bart is skateboarding through Main Street, a man at the bus stop seems to resemble him. This is most likely because of the first season using a lot of unknown and unnamed background characters before more major characters were made for Season 2 onwards.
 * He has shoplifted multiple times, including in the Tracey Ullman short "Shoplifting" and in the episode "Marge Be Not Proud".
 * He is the only member of the Simpson family (excluding Maggie) who has been absent for a full episode.
 * The article for Bart Simpson was chosen as the Article of the Day on Wikipedia on April 19, 2015.
 * Bart is left-handed, though sometimes he is seen using his right hand.
 * Bart has appeared in two Doctor Who comics. See more at Bart Simpson on the Doctor Who wiki.
 * Bart is the only character to have his privates fully exposed.