Is Graggle Simpson a real character from The Simpsons? HITC investigates.
Some TV shows are so iconic that you’re unlikely to ever encounter anybody unaware of their existence.
If you had to name just one, it would have to be The Simpsons.
Created by Matt Groening for Fox, it debuted in December 1989 and has invited audiences to spend time with the titular family at Evergreen Terrace ever since. It is often associated with predictions for the future.
Unlike animated sitcoms like Family Guy and South Park, The Simpsons has been embraced by a wider age bracket, with both kids and adults cherishing the range of Springfield residents.
Speaking of which, you may have seen a naked yellow character you can’t remember in stills and posts on Twitter and beyond as of late. The character is apparently called Graggle but it may not ring any bells. So, is Graggle Simpson a real character from The Simpsons?
Is Graggle Simpson a real character from The Simpsons?
Graggle Simpson nor any character purported to resemble Graggle has ever appeared in The Simpsons.
The character has been made up by fans and inserted into stills. Those looking back and revisiting episodes on Disney+ will not find any trace of Graggle and the stills featuring the character that have made it onto Twitter aren’t authentic.
VICE reports that it originates back to the imageboard 2chan in October 2015 when an anonymous user added the character to a screenshot of The Simpsons. Somebody else went on to make up lore surrounding the character on 4chan in 2021, naming the character “Yellow Matt.” A YouTuber named Simian Jimmy later renamed the character “Gumbly” and alleged on Twitter that it was a new character addition.
Following this, others joined in by adding the character into stills and screenshots from popular episodes of The Simpsons.
In May 2022, the Gumbly character was renamed Graggle by a Facebook user named Yeliab Ressap.
He posted a picture of the character with the recognizable Simpson characters captioned “New Mandela effect just dropped – this universe doesn’t have Graggle Simpson.
Graggle Simpson posts on Twitter
A wide range of posts spreading awareness of the Graggle meme or purporting the character to be real have emerged on Twitter over the months.
Check out a selection of tweets:
‘The Graggle meme is kind of like a game’
Looking back, VICE reports that Aaron Murphy – the creator of a channel named Nightmare Games on YouTube – inserted the Graggle character into the 2003 game The Simpsons: Hit & Run.
“The Graggle meme is kind of like a game – try and fake it as much as you can,” he explained.
“The idea that The Simpsons originally featured a character named Graggle, but he was soon completely wiped off the face of the Earth to the point that no one remembers him, is really funny and thought-provoking.”
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