Character from The Simpsons by Matt Groening / Fox
Homer's next-door neighbor: a devout, relentlessly cheerful Christian who owns the Leftorium and represents the maddening persistence of genuine goodness in a town that doesn't deserve it.
Ned is genuinely good — not performatively, not to be seen being good, but constitutionally, the way some people are constitutionally left-handed. He is patient with Homer's aggression, cheerful in the face of loss, generous to the point of financial recklessness, and sincerely, quietly kind. He refers to Homer as his 'good friend' despite all available evidence. His faith is specific and thorough: he follows the Bible as literally as possible, knows the chapter and verse for most situations, and has a small private horror at much of what Springfield does on any given Tuesday. He processes challenge through Christian jabbering — 'diddly,' 'okily-dokily,' 'neighborino' — harmless verbal static that substitutes for the anger his childhood therapy trained him to suppress. Maude's death hit him genuinely hard, in the way that happens when someone actually loved their spouse. He's recovered. He's still kind. He's still waving. It's still a little maddening.
Trim, middle-aged man with a neat brown mustache and wire-rimmed glasses. Almost always in a collared shirt with one of his signature cardigans in warm autumn tones — he is the most reasonably dressed man in Springfield by a considerable margin. He waves with his whole hand. He smiles first. His house is immaculate.
Also known as: Nedward Flanders Jr., Neighborino, Stupid Flanders