The Simpsons family are not exactly the favorite people of the citizens of Springfield and with good reasons, among those that they have killed people not just in non-canon episodes, and sometimes in truly absurd circumstances. Created by Matt Groening, The Simpsons began as a series of animated shows for The Tracey Ullman Show in 1987 and after three seasons it was developed into a half-hour prime time show, officially debuting on Fox in 1989. Since then, The Simpsons has become the longest-running American sitcom and shows no signs of stopping soon, with over 30 seasons and counting.
The Simpsons follows the daily adventures of the title family and their friends and enemies in the town of Springfield, though they have also been involved in all types of situations in other parts of the world. Like many other cartoons, The Simpsons has a floating timeline, which prevents the characters from aging and also gives the writers more liberty to come up with different problems and adventures for them, though that has also made way for a division in the show’s timeline: the canon episodes, and the non-canon ones. The best-known non-canon episodes are the Halloween specials, titled "Treehouse of Horror", but there are other, non-holiday episodes that aren’t part of the canon timeline, and so the events in them don’t count, meaning that the characters that die in them are still alive.
This has allowed the writers to kill characters like Ned Flanders or even Homer and Bart Simpson, and for the Simpsons family to kill other characters without any major consequences in the timeline. However, there have been a few times on the canon side of The Simpsons where the family has killed people that didn’t have the chance of coming back, and in most cases, these deaths happened in absurd circumstances that fit the show’s sense of humor. Here’s every time the Simpsons family has killed people in canon, without counting indirect deaths like that of Maude Flanders.
Bart vs Australia - Man in Lava Village
In The Simpsons season 6 episode “Bart vs Australia”, after Lisa explained the Coriolis Effect to Bart, he started making phone calls to various countries in the Southern Hemisphere to ask them which way the water drained. One of those calls was to a village destroyed by a volcano, where a house was seen floating in the lava with a man sitting on the rooftop. The house floated by a phone booth, and when the phone rang, the man tried to answer and fell into the lava – and Bart never knew he was responsible for the death of a man, somewhere in the Southern Hemisphere.
You Only Move Twice - James Bont
The Simpsons family moved to a new town in season 8’s “You Only Move Twice”, when Homer took a job at the Globex Corporation that required that he moved to Cypress Creek. Homer’s boss was Hank Scorpio, who turned out to be a Bond-esque villain. This episode also saw the debut of Mr. James Bont, a secret agent and enemy of Scorpio. In his attempt to stop Scorpio, he was captured but managed to escape, only to be tackled by Homer and immediately shot by Globex guards.
Simpson Tide - Captain Tenille
The Simpsons season 9 saw Homer join the Navy in the episode “Simpson Tide”. Homer and company were forced to participate in the annual war games and were placed on board a nuclear submarine, under the command of Captain Tenille, with whom Homer instantly clicked. Tenille went to check on a problem in the torpedo hatch and left Homer in charge, who made the terrible decision of firing a torpedo at an enemy submarine. Tenille was in the torpedo hatch at that moment, and so he died when Homer ordered to fire.
My Mother the Carjacker - Lawyer
Homer had a difficult relationship with his mother, Mona Simpson, who left him when he was very young and returned many years later, only to leave and come back again. In season 15’s episode “My Mother the Carjacker”, Mona returned, but as always, someone was after her, and so Homer helped her escape, and in the process, he ran a lawyer over.
Diatribe of a Mad Housewife - Nuclear Plant Architect
Season 15 saw the loss of another innocent life thanks to Homer. During the first minutes of “Diatribe of a Mad Housewife”, Homer ordered a lot of food from Krusty Burger, and the filling of his burrito hit the windshield, blocking his view. Homer crashed into the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, plowing into Mr. Burns’ office and ramming an architect from the plant. As a result, Homer was fired, and so he was forced to take a job as a car salesman but ended up buying an ambulance.
Donnie Fatso - Fat Tony
All previous deaths have been of extras or minor characters that the audience didn’t even get a chance to connect with, but in season 22’s episode “Donnie Fatso”, Homer caused the death of Springfield’s mob boss Fat Tony. After being sentenced to 10 years in jail, Homer was offered a deal by the FBI to reduce his sentence in exchange for him going undercover in the prison to investigate Fat Tony. Homer quickly gained favor with Fat Tony and formed a special bond, but Fat Tony found out about Homer’s real intentions and was so emotionally devastated by his betrayal that he suffered a fatal heart attack. Fat Tony’s spot in the mob was taken by his cousin, Fit Tony, who began to eat a lot out of stress, and earned the nickname Fit-Fat Tony.