0081 - Police Chief Clancy Wiggum (Patreon)

Wiggum is a character that enters the show more or less fully formed. His design has changed very little between his first appearance and now, to my eye.

The biggest difference I would say is how he is used. Early on his importance as the chief of police is maintained - he is a public speaker at the town hall here, not a beat cop investigating every minor crime vaguely adjacent to the Simpsons as he later does.

He is one of those characters that largely is used as an overall commentary on a larger issue - Wiggum is representative of cops in general, or rather the show's perception of them. Law enforcement is seen as incompetent at best, corrupt at worst, which is in line with the show's overall views on authority figures.

In opposition to later depictions of law enforcement though, Clancy is friendly and cuddly, for the most part. He's a lovable buffoon, much like his son Ralph*, and much of his comedy comes from his inability to fight crime effectively, not and kind of malicious intent towards the public he is meant to protect and serve. I honestly believe that if the LA writers had designed this character after things like the LA race riots, only two years later, things might have been different.

When Wiggum comes up in conversation, I've noticed that most of his fans point towards his relationship with his son as being one of their favourite aspects, and it's hard to argue with this. Unlike a lot of apathetic or uncaring parental figures, Wiggum clearly adores Ralph and supports him, and this gives viewers the warm fuzzies.

*Ralph is not yet established as Clancy's son, this is not established until season 4's "I Love Lisa", which feels crazily late!

This post is part of my "Every Simpsons Character Ever" series. For a list of my rules in this project, click here.