Chief Clancy Wiggum is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life perso ...

from the animated television series ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...

'', voiced by

Hank Azaria Henry Albert Azaria ( ; born April 25, 1964) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is known for voicing many characters in the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), most notably Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Comic Book Guy, ...

. He is the

chief of police Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the b ...

in the show's setting of Springfield, and is the father of

Ralph Wiggum Ralph Wiggum is a recurring character on the animated series, ''The Simpsons.'' He is voiced by Nancy Cartwright. Ralph, The son of Police Chief Wiggum, is a classmate of Lisa Simpson and is noted for his frequent non-sequiturs and humorous beh ...

and the husband of Sarah Wiggum. Gluttonous, irresponsible, and immature, Wiggum is often too lazy, cowardly, and corrupt to bother fighting crime. His more responsible subordinate officers

Eddie Eddie or Eddy may refer to: Science and technology *Eddy (fluid dynamics), the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle * Eddie (text editor), a text editor originally for BeOS and now ported to Lin ...

and Lou play the straight men to his shenanigans.

Character development

His surname "Wiggum" is

Matt Groening Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is the creator of the comic strip ''Life in Hell'' (1977–2012) and the television series ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), ''Fut ...

's mother's maiden name. As "a conscious pun", Wiggum was designed to look like a

pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus ...

first based his voice for Wiggum on

David Brinkley David McClure Brinkley (July 10, 1920 – June 11, 2003) was an American newscaster for NBC and ABC in a career lasting from 1943 to 1997. From 1956 through 1970, he co-anchored NBC's top-rated nightly news program, '' The Huntley–Brinkl ...

, but it was too slow and he switched it to an Edward G. Robinson impression.

Biography

Chief Wiggum is of Irish descent. Per the episode "

Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in 'The Curse of the Flying Hellfish' "Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in 'The Curse of the Flying Hellfish is the twenty-second episode of the seventh season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the Unite ...

, Wiggum's father Iggy served in Abe Simpson's infantry squad, implying the Wiggums emigrated to America by the early 1940s at the latest. In the episode "

Mother Simpson "Mother Simpson" is the eighth episode of the seventh season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 19, 1995. After faking his own death to get a day off wo ...

", a teenaged Wiggum was a trainee security guard at Springfield University when Homer's mother Mona sabotaged the University's laboratory, which Mr. Burns was using for

biological weapons A biological agent (also called bio-agent, biological threat agent, biological warfare agent, biological weapon, or bioweapon) is a bacterium, virus, protozoan, parasite, fungus, or toxin that can be used purposefully as a weapon in bioterrorism ...

. Antibiotics used to kill the weapons cured Wiggum's

asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, co ...

, allowing him to join the police force. Many episodes have dealt with the back story of how Wiggum, despite his incompetence, occupies such a high rank in the police force. As with those of most supporting characters on the show, they are jokes for one episode and contradict each other. Wiggum was temporarily promoted to Commissioner of Police for Springfield's state in the 2005 episode "

Pranksta Rap "Pranksta Rap" is the ninth episode of the sixteenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 13, 2005. It guest stars 50 Cent as himself, and Dan ...

". He also appeared on Halloween novel depicting '' Stranger Things'' as chief Jim Hopper.

Positive qualities

Despite his severe incompetence at his occupation, Wiggum on occasion has helped various other characters, such as helping Homer find his wife in "

Marge on the Lam "Marge on the Lam" is the sixth episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 4, 1993. After Marge invites her neighbor Ruth Powers ...

". He rescued

Maggie Simpson Margaret Evelyn Lenny "Maggie" Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons'' and a part of the Simpson family, notably the youngest member. She first appeared on television in the '' Tracey Ullman Show'' s ...

when she ran away from home to look for Marge in "

Homer Alone "Homer Alone" is the fifteenth episode of the third season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'', and the fiftieth episode overall. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 6, 1992. In the epis ...

", by helping

Lisa Simpson Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. She is the middle child and most accomplished of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa was born as a character in '' The Tracey Ullman ...

find Mr. Burns's assailant in " Who Shot Mr. Burns?" as well as helping backing her up in a school protest on one occasion in " The President Wore Pearls". In the episode "

" he manages to find the presumed kidnapped Bart Simpson in Kirk Van Houten's apartment. He also arrived just in time during crucial moments such as the various times

Sideshow Bob Robert Underdunk Terwilliger Jr., PhD, better known as Sideshow Bob, is a recurring character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Kelsey Grammer and first appeared in the episode " The Telltale Head". Bob is a se ...

had attempted to kill Bart Simpson. Wiggum is also shown to be a loving father of his son Ralph. Perhaps the best example of this is the episode "

", where he leads the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

astray in their search for Mona Simpson, allowing her to escape in gratitude for curing his asthma. Although Wiggum can often antagonize others as well, it is heavily implied that it is not out of malice but merely because he is doing his job or because he is ignorant of the situation. He also showed a great deal of insight during the episode "Chief of Hearts", where he and Homer become friends; when Homer asks him why he's willing to show Homer his favorite parts of Springfield, Wiggum tells him "Cops don't have many friends. Civilians are afraid of us, and other cops...they just remind us of things we want to forget."

References

External links

Chief Wiggum
on

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiggum, Chief Fictional American municipal police officers Fictional police officers in television Television characters introduced in 1990 Animated characters introduced in 1990 Fictional police commissioners Male characters in animated series The Simpsons characters Cultural depictions of Edward G. Robinson Characters created by Matt Groening