“My name is Hans. Drinking has ruined my life. I'm 31 years old!” ―Hans Moleman[src] “Hello, this is Moleman in the Morning. Good Moleman to you. Today, part four of our series of the agonizing pain in which I live every daaaay.” ―Hans Moleman[src] “A poem by Hans Moleman. I think that I shall never see, my cataracts are blinding me.” ―Hans Moleman[src] “No one's gay for Moleman.” ―Hans Moleman[src]

Hans Moleman (also known as Ralph Melish) is a mole-like man with extremely bad luck. He is best known for his 10-second short film Man Getting Hit by Football in "A Star Is Burns". There is a running gag in the series of him getting killed by various accidents, yet returning unharmed later on. Because of this, some fans refer to him as The Simpsons version of South Park’s Kenny McCormick, or "The Kenny of Springfield".

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Biography

Moleman first appeared in the Tracy Ullman short "Scary Movie" without glasses sleeping in the cinema, but wakes up when Bart screams. He was silent then. He looked different in that short, showing a prototype version of him. He was officially introduced as a speaking, unlucky character in the episode "Principal Charming"; however, his driver's license listed his name as "Ralph Melish".

He has cataracts and is almost entirely blind (which has severely impaired his reading ability). He carries a brown cane with him everywhere, which was once shown to contain a hidden sword.

Hans was once mistaken for Bart and accidentally had his brain "re-programmed" (Homer and Marge had hired a cult re-programmer, hoping to convince Bart to move out of Mr. Burns' mansion and back in with them), apparently leading him to believe he is the son of Homer and Marge.[2]

Homer once stumbled across Hans Moleman as the leader of a race of Mole People in an underground fortress complete with earthquake machines.[3] In the opening credits for The Simpsons, Marge strikes Moleman with her car. He has some jobs such as a mailman and a janitor (in the episode where Homer gets good luck).

His home address is 920 Oak Grove, Springfield.

Like most of Springfield's residents, Hans Moleman is of the Protestant Christian faith and is frequently seen at church. In "The Springfield Connection", he is seen with Reverend Lovejoy before his execution.

Hans Moleman once attended Springfield University for a short time, only so that he could have somewhere to sit. It is unknown how long he attended the school and whether he gained any credits.[4]

Deaths

Trivia

Tributes

In 2015, nerdcore rapper MC Lars created a song and music video as a tribute to Hans Moleman titled "The Ballad of Hans Moleman".

In 2019, Vulture published an article titled "The Enigma of The Simpsons’ Hans Moleman".

Gallery

The full image gallery for Hans Moleman may be viewed at Hans Moleman/Gallery.

Appearances