Mr. Burns isn’t quite the resident villain in Springfield, but as Waylon Smithers says himself, the townspeople do see him as something of an ogre. Though he sometimes undergoes incredible changes of heart, Mr. Burns is mostly a cruel tyrant who is seriously out of touch with reality and the people in his life.
He’s never really a model boss, but there are a few times throughout the course of the show where Mr. Burns acts in ways that are exceptionally shameless. Keep reading to see our list of the 10 most shameless things the richest man in Springfield has ever done.
Stealing The Bowling Trophy
Mr. Burns definitely isn’t the sort of man that Homer Simpson would want on his bowling team. But, since he unwittingly pays the registration fee for Homer’s Pin Pals bowling team, the other team members have no choice but to allow Mr. Burns to play.
After slowing down their winning streak, Mr. Burns nearly loses them the championship game. It’s only because of Otto, who tips over an arcade game and causes vibrations in the room, that they end up winning the trophy. Even though Mr. Burns did nothing to win the trophy, he takes it for himself, allowing his team members to be chased by the hounds when they come to his mansion to steal it back.
Abandoning His Family For Money
It seems that Mr. Burns’s heartless nature began at a young age. In the episode Rosebud, we learn that he was actually born to humble parents and had a modest but happy childhood. He was launched to a life of privilege only after a billionaire showed up and offered to take him from his family.
Without giving it a second thought, the young Mr. Burns abandoned his family to live a life of wealth with the billionaire. Few of us would say no to a life of wealth and privilege, but not at the cost of our families.
And Then Later Trying To Kill His Own Mother
We see Mr. Burns's maternal mother again in the Season Seven episode entitled Homer the Smithers when Homer takes over Mr. Smithers' duties while he’s away. Smithers explains that Mr. Burns hates talking to his mother, but the two set it up so that Mr. Burns has no choice but to talk to her before Smithers swoops in and saves the day.
After Mr. Burns picks up his mother’s call, we find out that he actually tried to kill her by pulling the plug on her. He even tells her that he didn’t expect her to live for another several decades.
Trying To Murder The Puppies To Make A Tuxedo
Mr. Burns seems to have an affinity with dogs. At least, that’s the way it seems when he sets his hounds on anybody who draws too near his mansion. But it’s clear he doesn’t have a soft spot for canines when a chic new tuxedo is up for grabs.
One of the most shameless things that Mr. Burns has ever done has to be trying to murder a litter of puppies just to make a new tuxedo from their hides. Eventually, he has a change of heart and decides to turn them into racing dogs instead.
Destroying The Environment With Nuclear Waste
It’s clear from several episodes of The Simpsons that Mr. Burns doesn’t have a care in the world for the effects his nuclear power plant has on the surrounding environment. There are countless examples of him brushing off the devastating impact of nuclear power, one of the most famous being the three-eyed fish that is found near the plant.
The fish is first introduced when Burns runs for mayor of Springfield. On TV, he makes it seem as if he’s completely comfortable with the fish his plant indirectly created. It’s only when Marge serves him the fish for dinner and he can’t eat it that we see how he really feels about it.
Not Caring That He Hit Bart With His Car
You have to be a heartless monster to hit a child with a car and not feel any emotion. When he accidentally hits Bart with his car, he doesn’t even bother to wonder if the boy’s all right. Instead, he is angry with Bart for running into him.
Throughout the series, Mr. Burns shows time and time again that he’s incapable of feeling sympathy for other people. He can only think of how any given situation negatively influences him, rather than worrying about the effects his actions have on others.
Kidnapping And Holding The Loch Ness Monster Prisoner
In an attempt to win the love and affection of the public, Mr. Burns travels to Scotland to find the legendary Loch Ness Monster and bring it back to the United States. While he manages to do this and the creature turns out to be friendly, it’s still pretty brazen to take any beast out of its natural habitat and keep it under your control.
Mr. Burns even drains the entire loch to find the monster, which one would think would also leave the local Scottish people feeling quite angry with him.
Hiring An Assassin To Murder Grandpa
In Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in The Curse of the Flying Hellfish, we learn that Grandpa and Mr. Burns fought together in the Second World War. They, along with a few other soldiers, agreed to a deal that said whoever outlived the rest would inherit priceless artwork that they discovered during the war.
Naturally, as Mr. Burns and Grandpa are the only two survivors of the deal, Mr. Burns tries to have Grandpa murdered by hiring an assassin. He also tries to kill Bart and then traps him in a sinking vault.
Harassing Marge At Work
Marge Simpson is one of the world’s most famous homemakers, but there are a few times throughout the series when she gets a job. One of the most memorable is when she works at the nuclear power plant with Homer. When Mr. Burns sees her, he becomes infatuated with her and sexually harasses her by making inappropriate comments and advances.
When Homer stands up for her, Mr. Burns realizes that Homer loves Marge and arranges for her to attend a private concert by Tom Jones.
Trying To Block Out The Sun
Of all the devilish plans that Mr. Burns comes up with, his attempt to block out the sun so that all of Springfield will have to rely on electricity from his power plant for light is the worst. It’s so evil that Mr. Smithers wants no part of it and confronts his boss about he’s finally crossed the line.
As if that weren’t bad enough, Mr. Burns also attempts to steal candy from Maggie Simpson. It takes an evil person to block out the sun and an even eviler person to steal candy from a baby.