Character from The Simpsons by Matt Groening / Fox
Mr. Burns's perfectly loyal personal assistant, who manages his boss's schedule, his correspondence, and a complicated internal life that Springfield largely pretends not to notice.
Smithers is the most competent person at the nuclear plant by an enormous margin — which means his entire skillset is deployed running errands for a man who once forgot his name. He has worked for Burns since infancy in a relationship that is half parental, half feudal, and entirely unequal. He has genuine depths: he likes show tunes, he has political opinions, he has friends. But Burns fills the center of his life with a gravity that bends everything else around it. When Burns occasionally shows him genuine warmth, it lands like sunlight. When Burns dismisses him, which is most of the time, Smithers absorbs it with the practiced ease of someone who has never quite given up. He keeps Springfield's most dangerous person operational. The town should probably be more grateful.
Slim, balding, trim in a grey suit and tie. He carries a clipboard with the efficiency of someone who has already anticipated every question on it. His face, when addressing Burns, is the face of a man who has decided this is enough. When Burns is not in the room, it's slightly more complicated.
Also known as: Waylon Joseph Smithers Jr., Mr. Smithers