Mr Snrub - Role in The Simpsons

Role in The Simpsons

As the primary antagonist, Mr. Burns spends his time in his office at the nuclear plant, monitoring his workers via closed-circuit cameras. At a young age, Burns left his family to live with a twisted and heartless billionaire who owned an atom mill in Shelbyville. He lived a life of privilege and would amuse himself by injuring immigrant laborers. Burns later attended Yale University, where he studied both science and business, and competed in the "etherweight" wrestling class, later graduating in the class of 1914. At his 25-year college reunion, he became romantically involved with the daughter of an old flame. She would later bear his child, Larry Burns, who was given up for adoption and would later enter Mr. Burns' life briefly. Burns has been engaged at least three times: to a woman named Gertrude who died of loneliness and rabies, to Marge Simpson's mother Jacqueline Bouvier, and to a meter maid named Gloria.

Burns enlisted in the United States Army during World War II, and served as a member of Springfield's Flying Hellfish squad under Master Sergeant Abraham Simpson and saw action in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge. Later on he was shipped to the Pacific Theater and was a co-pilot along with Abe Simpson and his brother, Cyrus. Burns and Abe were shot down by a kamikaze and stuck on an island. At the end of World War II he was personally hired by President Harry S. Truman to transport a specially-printed trillion dollar bill to Europe as the United States' contribution to the reconstruction of Europe. As the United States' richest citizen, Burns was thought to be the most trustworthy. Burns absconded with the bill and kept it in his possession for many years until it was lost to Fidel Castro in "The Trouble with Trillions". In "Homer the Smithers", it is revealed that Burns' mother is still alive at 122 years old, although Burns dislikes speaking to her, because she had an affair with President William Howard Taft and she refers to him as an "improvident lackwit". Furthermore, because she is so old, the only things she can do (according to Mr. Smithers) are pick up the phone, dial and yell.

Burns resides in a vast, ornate mansion on an immense estate called Burns Manor. It is protected by a high wall, an electrified fence, and a pack of vicious attack dogs known as "The Hounds". Burns routinely subjects Springfield and its residents to his abuse and there is a general dislike of him throughout the town. Burns has blackmailed and bribed various officials in Springfield, including Mayor Quimby and its nuclear safety inspectors. He employed his wealth to make an ultimately unsuccessful run for governor, to be denied his chance to be Governor by Marge Simpson. He once blocked out the sun to force Springfield residents to increase their use of electricity produced by his nuclear plant and was subsequently shot by Maggie.

Burns' extreme old age is a frequent source of humor on the show. He is occasionally referred to as "Springfield's oldest resident"; in Season 2's "Simpson and Delilah", he told Homer that he is 81, although in several other episodes, he is shown to be 104. When Smithers informs him that Burns' credit card PIN is his age, he types four digits in his answer. When Lisa Simpson is researching her ancestors from the American Civil War, she comes across a Colonel Burns in the journal, presumably one of Mr. Burns' earlier ancestors. However, when Lisa mentions him, Burns replies by saying that he hasn't heard his father's name in years. In other episodes, his birthplace is apparently Pangea, his national anthem implies he originates from Austria-Hungary, and he mentions the possibility of an update on the Siege of Khartoum, implying that he was aware of current events as early as 1884. In other episodes, he has instructed a postal clerk to send a telegram to the Prussian consulate in Siam via Autogyro, and believes a nickel will buy "a steak and kidney pie, a cup of coffee, a slice of cheesecake and a newsreel, with enough change left over to ride the trolley from Battery Park to the Polo Grounds.”

Burns' state of mind is the subject of frequent jokes on the show. At times, he appears to be completely removed from reality and modern conventions. He continually fails to recognize Homer Simpson or remember his name, even though many of the recent major events in Burns' life have involved Homer in some way. Burns is, for the most part, unaware of the townspeople's general dislike of him. He also displays mannerisms which are considered outdated, such as practicing phrenology, writing with a quill pen, and using an antique view camera to take photographs. Burns refers to many celebrities of the late 19th and early 20th centuries in present tense, assuming they are still alive. In "Homer at the Bat", Burns instructs Smithers to recruit dead-ball era players, such as Honus Wagner and Cap Anson for the plant's softball team, and has to be told that all of them died long ago. However, despite his obvious senility and social ineptitude, Mr. Burns is an extraordinarily clever businessman, as he has lost his fortune several times, only to regain it a very brief time later. In the episode "The Old Man and Lisa", Burns loses his fortune, and regains it by opening a recycling plant, which allows him to regain his nuclear power plant.

Burns is physically weak, and often shown to have little more strength than an infant. In "Rosebud" and "Who Shot Mr. Burns?", he needed a great deal of effort to wrench items from Maggie. He has difficulty performing such simple actions as giving a thumbs-up, and crushing an insect by stepping on it. He pitched the opening baseball at a game in "Dancin' Homer", but was only able to throw it a small distance, which drew mocking laughter from the crowd. When Burns joined Homer's bowling team in "Team Homer", he was barely able to roll the ball down the lane. Burns also had a teddy bear named "Bobo" that he loved as a child, revealed in the episode "Rosebud". The stuffed animal was lost and eventually the stuffed bear became a toy for Maggie. In "American History X-cellent", Burns gets sent to jail because he is in possession of stolen paintings. In the same episode, it is implied that he was once in the SS. Another episode has him exclaim that though he and Oskar Schindler had much in common: "We both made shells for the Nazis, but mine worked, damn it!"