Cletus Spuckler
3110895
224400840
2008-07-08T18:10:29Z
69.11.210.24
/* Last name */
{{Simpsons character|
image= [[Image:Cletus.gif|82px]]|
name=Cletus Delroy Spuckler|
gender=Male|
hair=Brown, shaved at the back|
age=35|
job=Farmer, Construction worker|
relatives='''Wife:''' [[Brandine Spuckler|Brandine]]<br> '''Sister:''' Brandine<br> '''Cousin:''' Brandine<br> '''Mother:''' Maw<br> '''2nd Mother:''' Brandine<br> '''Cousins:''' Merl and [[Dia-Betty]]<br> '''Children:''' Brandine, Gummy Sue, Tiffany, Andie, Gordon, Lizzie, Jackson, Heather, Cody, Dylan, Dermot, Jordan, Taylor, Brittany, Wesley, Rumer, Scout, Cassidy, Zoe, Chloe, Max, Hunter, Rubella Scabies, Kendall, Caitlin, Noah, Sasha, Morgan, Kyra, Ian, Lauren, Cubert, Condoleezza Marie, Phil, Birthday, Crystal Meth, Dubya, Incest, International Harvester, Jitney, Witney, Mary, Stabbed in Jail|
appearance= ''[[Bart Gets an Elephant]]''|
voiceactor=[[Hank Azaria]]
}}
'''Cletus Delroy Spuckler'''<ref name="FirstAppear">{{cite episode| title = [[Bart Gets an Elephant]] | series = [[The Simpsons]] | credits = John Swartzwelder (writer), Jim Reardon (director) | network = [[Fox Broadcasting Company]] | airdate = 1994-03-31 | season = 5|number = 17}}</ref> also known as '''"Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel"'''<ref name="TwentyTwo">''[[The Simpsons]]'' episode: "[[22 Short Films About Springfield]]"</ref> is a [[fictional character]] in the [[Fox Broadcasting Company|FOX]] animated series, ''[[The Simpsons]]'', and is voiced by [[Hank Azaria]]. Cletus is [[Springfield (The Simpsons)|Springfield]]'s stereotypical hillbilly with a good-natured personality. He is thin and is usually portrayed wearing a white [[sleeveless shirt]] and pair of blue [[jeans]].<ref name="FirstAppear"/> Cletus is portrayed as being the show's dumbest character, and is often acknowledged because of it.<ref>{{cite news | author = Dave West | title = Groening: 'Simpsons Movie' will be emotional | publisher = [[Digital Spy]] | date = [[2007-07-07]] | url = http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/a64419/groening-simpsons-movie-will-be-emotional.html | accessdate=2007-07-10}}</ref>
==Biography==
Cletus was introduced during the fifth season in "[[Bart Gets an Elephant]]". He is shown as one of the "slack-jawed [[yokel]]s" gawking at [[Bart Simpson|Bart]]'s elephant [[List of animals in The Simpsons#Stampy|Stampy]]. Cletus' voice is slightly deeper in this initial appearance than in later episodes. He, like [[the Sea Captain]] before him, was the go-to character for a quick laugh on the show, and is a staff favorite. He was introduced as a character in "[[22 Short Films About Springfield]]". The episode featured [[bluegrass music|bluegrass]] music played on a [[banjo]] accompanied with different taglines stating the abnormal things Cletus has done including eating a [[skunk]] and losing a toe.
Cletus has seemed to be suffering from some sort of illness caused by drinking [[mercury (element)|mercury]] out of a [[thermometer]]. It badly affected his [[memory]]. He "whittles what he sees" into wood with a [[penknife]]. [[Chief Wiggum]] was able to track down Bart and [[List of one-time characters from The Simpsons#Season 15|Gina]] after they escaped from jail through Cletus' wood carving of them. Cletus also possesses a form of [[Precognition|precognitive]] vision through whittling. He predicted that Chief Wiggum would be mauled by a bear later in that episode (which did happen).
Growing up, Cletus developed a loving relationship with his mother, whom he addresses as 'Maw.' (I could call my Maw from up here. Hey, Maw! Get off the danged roof!) He has always been social and hardworking, and isn't bothered by others' opinions of him, demonstrated by his refusal to be ashamed of his marriage to his apparent relative, [[Brandine Spuckler]]<ref>[http://dashdingo.com/index.php?page=/cletus 'Cletus Spuckler] ''Dashdingo.com''. URL accessed on [[14 December]] [[2006]]</ref>. Cletus has several hobbies which include whittling "piney babies" for children, searching for [[roadkill]], digging through garbage, and spending time with everyone in his family except Brandine. In "[[Lost Our Lisa]]" he admits his favorite food is fresh skunk and raccoon. Cletus had a "[[Bloodhound|smell-hound]]" named Geech.
Cletus and Brandine have a happy relationship; however, they are often shown having disagreements. In "[[Stop, Or My Dog Will Shoot!]]" Brandine pointed a shotgun at him for giving their pig "a day of beauty and make-up" instead of herself. In the episode "[[Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife]]", both Cletus and Brandine decide not to come to [[Lenny Leonard|Lenny's]] party after they are both afraid to use the "uppity box" (an [[elevator]]).
Cletus is shown, despite not being very intelligent, to try and make himself look less like a hillbilly, for example in episode [[Marge Gamer]], Homer states that he won't receive soccer tips from "no dumb hillbilly," Cletus responds "That's hill-William to you, sir!"
Cletus works as a fifth generation dirt farmer. He also owns a successful chain of [[moonshine]] stills, and was delighted when it was decided that his drink would be used to flavor the latest version of Southern Cracker<ref>[http://dashdingo.com/index.php?page=/cletus 'Cletus Spuckler] ''Dashdingo.com''. URL accessed on [[14 December]] [[2006]]</ref>. As seen in "[[A Star Is Torn]]", he and Brandine operate a vegetable shack near the Kwik-E-Mart. He is currently in the process of opening a family business that sells miscellaneous animal parts. In "[[Yokel Chords]]" Cletus took advantage of the money his children were making and used it to his own personal satisfaction, but was stopped when Brandine came back from the Iraq War and revealed he was only the father of two of the children, leaving him with no right to control them.
Cletus is known to be a quite ditzy idiot of Springfield. In [[The Simpsons Movie]], [[Mayor Quimby]] wants to prove that the lake's barrier is "idiot-proof" and asks Cletus to try to drop something in the lake. Cletus walks towards the lake holding a large rat and bounces off the concrete defenses. Cletus, clearly bewildered, says "I can't. I-I simply can't". Later in the movie, other characters note that they need to find someone stupid enough to take on the very risky task of distracting Russ Cargill while the town escapes from the dome. Upon the request for a stupid person, Cletus appears from off-screen and proudly announces, "My time to shine!" He then distracts Cargill by faking pulling his thumb off.
In the Season 19 episode "[[Apocalypse Cow]]" one of his many daughters, Mary, received a cow from Bart, whom Bart wanted Mary to care for. Cletus mistook this for a proposal, and almost married the two.
==Relationships==
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Brandine Spuckler.png|left|thumb|Brandine]] -->
Cletus has an ongoing relationship with [[List of recurring characters from The Simpsons#Brandine Spuckler|Brandine]], who is generally represented as his wife, although the nature of their exact relationship is somewhat vague. It is often implied that the two are siblings. In "[[Alone Again, Natura-Diddily]]" at an auto racing event, Brandine remarks "Dang, Cletus! Why'd you have to park so close to my parents?" to which Cletus responds, "Now honey, they's mah parents too!". This plays into the stereotype that [[incest]] is prevalent among [[hillbilly|hillbillies]].
In the Season 16 episode, "[[There's Something About Marrying]]", Homer, who was ordained over the Internet as a [[minister of religion|minister]], is preparing to marry Cletus and Brandine. Looking at a form, he asks "Wait a minute… are you two brother and sister?" Brandine replies, "We's all kindsa thangs." To complicate the issue further, Brandine remarks to Cletus in another episode ("[[The Italian Bob]]") "Yer tha best husband – and son – I've ever had." Further confusing matters, the episode "[[Little Big Girl]]" features a hand-drawn family tree created by one of Cletus' sons. According to this diagram, Brandine is the child of Cletus and an alien. It is clearly impossible for Brandine to be Cletus' mother and Cletus to be her father, so the complicated relationship between them cannot be reconciled with everything stated on the show. One possible explanation is that Brandine had intercourse with her father, making Cletus her son and brother, then Cletus married Brandine's mother, making him her father.
Cletus and Brandine have thirty-nine children, which include a sheep and a walking hot dog.
==Children==
Cletus seems to be the father of a large number of children, 44 to be exact. When he presents [[Marge Simpson|Marge]] with 300 coupons for free [[pretzels]] from her pretzel business, he calls out to Tiffany, Heather, Cody, Dylan, Dermot, Jordan, Taylor, Brittany, Wesley, Rumer, Scout, Cassidy, Zoe, Chloe, Max, Hunter, Kendall, Caitlin, Noah, Sasha, Morgan, Kyra, Ian, Lauren, Cubert, and Phil. Cletus and Brandine also have a daughter named Condoleezza Marie, who was somehow switched with a bag of [[sugar]] that Homer was carrying as part of a parenting exercise, and a daughter named [[Rubella]] [[Scabies]], whose middle name was inspired by a word spelled by Lisa in her audition for the annual [[spelling bee]]. They have another daughter, Gummy Sue, introduced in "[[Helter Shelter]]". In the episode "[[Lost Our Lisa]]", Lisa encounters Cletus gathering up roadkill for a [[hillbilly]] wedding feast. In the short dialogue that ensues, Brandine is implied to be giving birth to a new child in the truck's cab. In [[The Simpsons Game]] another child also features under the name of Carl Durant, the long lost son of Cletus and Brandine who was put up for adoption at birth. He shares similar personality traits as Cletus, such as a difficulty in communicating with other characters, as well as a markable similarity in appearance.
In a "Treehouse of Horror" issue of ''Simpsons Comics'', Brandine (off-panel) is attempting to give birth to a child to completely fill out a set of [[Seven Dwarfs]] costumes. The episode "[[Yokel Chords]]" features seven Spuckler children, named Birthday, [[Crystal Meth]], Dubya, [[Incest]], International Harvester, Jitney, and Witney, as central characters. However, Brandine reveals that Cletus is the father of only two of these children (casting doubt on the paternity of the other children of the Spuckler household). In one episode Brandine was seen to give birth in a car, apparently with very little pain, and asking Cletus to cut the "[[Umbilical cord|Umbrellical cord]]."
In "[[Marge Gamer]]", after one of his children, Carl, is accused by Homer of cheating at [[soccer]], Cletus says of his children, "I have sired a dumb-dumb, a mush-head, a whatsit, a dogboy, and something with a human face and fish body what we called Kevin. But my young'uns is not dirty players!"
In "[[Apocalypse Cow]]" they introduce Mary Wrestlemania Spuckler who is supposed to be married to Bart. Cletus mentions that they "name all their kids after what they think is gonna happen to them. Ain't that right, 'Stabbed In Jail'?" to which Stabbed In Jail Spuckler (who is seen sharpening a wooden stick) replies, "We'll see who stabs who."
==Last name==
[[Image:Cletus Mark.png|thumb|right|150px|Cletus's "[[Signature|mark]]".]]
His last name was given as "Del Roy" in the episode "[[Behind the Laughter]]"; however, in "[[Yokel Chords]]", Brandine refers to him as Cletus Del Roy Spuckler, implying that Del Roy is his [[middle name]] and Spuckler is his last name. He signs his full name in "[[Weekend at Burnsie's]]" indicating support for [[Ned Flanders]]'s petition to recriminalize [[medicinal marijuana]]. He also does this in"[[Sweets and Sour Marge]]", for Marge's [[petition]] to ban sugar from Springfield<ref>[http://www.snpp.com/episodes/DABF03 SNPP DABF03] SNPP.com URL Accessed [[October 23]], [[2007]]</ref>. In "[[Marge vs. Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples and Teens, and Gays]]" his name is given as "Cletus Spuckler" in a news report. A mailbox standing outside Cletus' shack in the [[video game]] ''[[The Simpsons Hit & Run]]'' reads "Spuckler". In "[[All's Fair in Oven War]]", Brandine's surname is said to be "Nolastnamegiven", although this may be simply because she did not write down a last name on the entry form. As well, in "[[Yokel Chords]]" [[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]] referred to him as "Mr. Spuckler" throughout the whole episode; as well [[Krusty the Clown]] calls his kids "The Spuckler Family Kids".
== Reception ==
He is named the 7th (out of 25) of [[IGN]]'s Top 25 Peripheral Characters.<ref>[http://tv.ign.com/articles/730/730957p4.html IGN: Top 25 Simpsons Peripheral Characters<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
== References ==
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== External links ==
* {{imdb character|0002983}}
{{Simpsons characters}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spuckler, Cletus}}
[[Category:Fictional farmers]]
[[Category:The Simpsons characters]]
[[Category:Fictional hillbillies]]
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[[pt:Cletus Caipira]]
[[ru:Клетус Спаклер]]
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