The internet has created a new Simpsons character

in 1997, The Simpsons gave us the character of poochiea cynical addition to the in-universe Itchy and scratchy show intended to appease its fictional producers by introducing a focus-tested new element to the flagship cartoon. Decades later, Poochie…whose episode was made in response to executives who suggested the show would bring a new member to the Simpson family – has manifested itself in a roundabout way with Graggle, a new character summoned by the internet and placed in old episodes through image and video edits.

Gruggle, the idea goes, has always existed, but the same defects in collective memory that caused us to forget they were always called The Berenstain Bears (or if Seann ever played William Scott) “Karate Master” Vincey Masters) has caused us to forget him.

To support this theory, people have made clips of Simpsons episodes showing the jaundiced alien hanging out with the family. Some of this are not all so convincing† others record Graggle more natural† There’s even fake Griggle merchandise† VHS covers† Wiki itemsand screenshots†

Shame watched griggle being born in a recent article, the path back from this current incarnation to its origins in 2015 as a 2chan joke. Graggle, we learn, was originally edited into a screenshot by an anonymous user and was later picked up by 4chan to be called “Yellow Matt”, contextualized as Matt Groening’s “self-insert character”.

A YouTuber going by Simian Jimmy then picked up the baton, renamed Yellow Matt to ‘Gumbly’ and, Shame writes, suggested that the character was actually a cast member on The Simpsons that demonstrated “concrete evidence that the show had jumped the shark.”

Gumbly continued to spread from there, picked up by Facebook user Yeliab Ressap and rebranded as “Graggle” in an image that took Simian Jimmy’s claim a step further.

Since then, Graggle has spread across social media, appear in TikTok videos and, in one of the more exceptional examples, adapted in early 00s video game, The Simpsons: Hit & Run† Graggle seems unstoppable now – a character who made the internet a reality through the undeniable power of just wanting to run as far as possible with a stupid joke.

At this point, maybe The Simpsons should give in, acknowledge this creature’s existence, apply a defibrillator jolt to its shambling bulkand just introduce Graggle to the actual show.

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