| “ | Your new duties will include answering Mr. Burns' phone, preparing his tax return, moistening his eyeballs, assisting with his chewing and swallowing, lying to Congress, and some light typing. | „ |
| ~ Smithers |
Waylon J. Smithers, Jr. often shortened to just "Smithers" is the tertiary antagonist of The Simpsons. He is the assistant of Mr. Burns and although normally not that bad a person he is obscenely loyal to Mr. Burns (to the point it is heavily implied he is gay) - although it is worth noting that Smithers is often the subject of abuse rather than malice on his own part: he is shown to have a jealous streak and can be rude and even (on occasions) physically violent towards those he dislikes and can be sneaky, in general though Waylon Smithers is somewhat a recurring antagonist as well as a toadie rather than a fully-fledged evil-doer. He did rather rudely turn down a job prospect at one point.
However he does do several evil things in his career, such as always being the one to release the hounds for Mr Burns. One time when Burns came home and found the Simpsons living in his palace he got infuriated and told Smithers to release the hounds. This got Smithers to drive all the way back to the kennels and back again, saying he came as fast as he could. He is always eager to release the hounds for his boss.
One time in an episode set in the future, Smithers is ordered to release the hounds but he upturns a box of canine bones instead.
He is however a common villain and boss in The Simpsons video-game universe, appearing in many of the "Bart" games as well as The Simpsons Wrestling (where he is often surprisingly powerful).
Alignment: Neutral.
Trivia
- Smithers is voiced by Harry Shearer in The Simpsons, who also voices Mr. Burns, Scratchy, Principal Skinner, Otto, Reverend Lovejoy, Kent Brockman, Ned Flanders and George Bush.
- A running-joke in the series is Smither's blatant homosexuality (which Mr. Burns seems oblivious to).
- Another running joke is Smithers being Mr Burns' memory, always reminding him of who Homer Simpson is and improving his geography or political knowledge.