Difference between revisions of "Rod Flanders"

Latest revision as of 19:56, October 23, 2024

"Rod" redirects here. For other uses of "Rod", see Rod (disambiguation).

Rod Flanders Artwork of Rod from The Simpsons: Tapped Out

Character Information Gender: Male ♂ Status: Alive Age: 10 Hair: Auburn Occupation: Student at Springfield Elementary School Relatives: Parents: Ned Flanders and Maude Flanders (deceased) Stepmothers: Ginger Flanders and Edna Flanders (deceased) Brother: Todd Flanders Grandparents: Nedward Flanders Sr. and Capri Flanders First appearance: "The Call of the Simpsons" Voiced by: Pamela Hayden Hank Azaria[1] v • d • e • h

Rod Flanders is the elder son of Ned Flanders and Maude Flanders.

Rod often prays, first thing in the morning and last thing before going to bed. He prays for God to watch over him and his little brother, Todd. He prays for the success of his father's business. He also prays for all of the naughty little boys and girls (like Bart), who are too bad to pray for themselves. Aside from praying, Rod enjoys playing wholesomely with Todd and eating lots of "Nachos, Flanders-Style" (cucumbers with cottage cheese).^[2] His one regret is that he can't pray at school.

Rod's favorite songs are "Bringing In The Sheaves" (followed closely by "Noah And The Arky-Arky") and "I've Got The Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down In My Heart."

Rod has diabetes^[3] and has described being quiet during trips as one of his favorite hobbies (including clapping during songs).

Biography[edit]

Rod, like his parents, is very religious. He enjoys attending church, Bible stories, watching religious cartoons, and playing religious-themed board games. These games include Good Samaritan - though they do not use dice because Ned says that dice are wicked. Instead they just move one space at a time - he believes "It's less fun that way",^[4] and Billy Graham's Bible Blaster, a video game in which players try to "convert the heathens" by firing Bibles at them. It cheered him and Todd up when their mother died.^[5]

Rod's character folder from the Hall of Records on The Simpsons website.

Maude and Ned prohibit them consuming foods containing sugar, as they fear it will make them behave badly, in which it does^[6] or send them into diabetic shock. He is also extremely entomophobic (particularly with moths and ladybugs), a behavior probably learned from their father, who considers an insect flying near someone a "bug attack". They enjoy stories about robots named Rod and Todd, though these also frighten them.^[7] He may be a transvestite, because he claims he's jealous of girls because they get to wear dresses.^[8]

Rod obtained new climbing skills and rescued Bart from a gorilla atop a church. Rod thought of Marge as the most fun they've ever had ever since Maude died.^[9]

Non-canon[edit]

The contents of this article or section are considered to be non-canon and therefore may not have actually happened or existed.

Future[edit]

At age 32, Rod, with his brother, Todd, is a crossdressing lounge singer. They live with their father, who uses his pension to pay for their estrogen treatments. At age 40, he and Todd still live with Ned and take care of him because his eyes fell out.^[10]

The Simpsons Game[edit]

Rod appears along with his brother Todd Flanders and Ralph Wiggum as Hobbit-like children who help Homer and Marge defeat the two-headed dragon in order to get the Keycard.^[11]

The Simpsons: Tapped Out[edit]

This section is transcluded from The Simpsons: Tapped Out characters/Flanders Family. To edit it, please edit the transcluded page.

Rod Image Cost Unlock method Unlock message 67,200 Level 32 Rod And Todd Prelude (with Sir Putt-A-Lot's and Todd) Technical Information ID Groups Internal Name 2200 Regular Characters, Regular Male, Youngster, Saint, Kook, Normal Springfielders Rod Permanent Tasks Task Time Reward Requires Quest with the task Animated? Go Skating 10m 17, 5 Simpsons' Skating Rink Set a High Score at Whack a Real Mole 10m 26, 7 Whack A Real Mole Sneak an Ice Cream 30m 60, 15 Ice Cream Truck The Ice Cream Man Cometh Pt. 1 Overload on Sugar 30m 60, 15 The Candy Shoppe Pray 60m 70, 17 Flanders House Rod And Todd Pt. 9 Go on a Field Trip 60m 105, 26 Cypress Creek Elementary Catch a Movie 2h 110, 27 Big T Theatre Ride the Carousel 2h 110, 27 Boardwalk Carousel Play On The See-Saw with Todd 4h 350, 90 See-Saw Todd Rod And Todd Pt. 3 Memorize Scripture 4h 175, 45 Flanders House Learn by Fun 4h 175, 45 Childrarium Put Coins on the Rails 4h 175, 45 Springfield Union Station Get Fit and Educated 4h 175, 45 Springfield Gymdandee Split a Fancy Mac and Cheese 4h 175, 45 Le Petite Appétit Play With Interactive Exhibits 4h 175, 45 KidZone Elite Attend Parenting Seminars 4h 260, 70 Universal Panacea Look for Rats 4h 260, 70 Mt. Swartzwelder Historic Cider Mill Go to School 6h 225, 55 Springfield Elementary Rod And Todd Pt. 5 Seeking A Friend For The End Of This Update Pt. 1 Play Bible Blaster 8h 275, 70 Flanders House Rod And Todd Pt. 8 Attend Wizarding School 8h 275, 70 Magic Academy Get Brainfreeze 8h 275, 70 Pinkbeardy Yogurt Get Caught in Webs 8h 420, 105 Big Bug House Go To Sunday School 12h 420, 100 First Church of Springfield Rod And Todd Pt. 6 Enjoy a Night at the Theater 12h 420, 100 Springfield Playhouse Complain About Electric Buzzing 12h 420, 100 The Buzzing Sign Diner Visit Daddy's Cabin 12h 600, 150 Flanders' Cabin Swing on the Monkey Bars 24h 600, 150 Monkey Bars Rod And Todd Pt. 7 Buy Groceries at a Kindling Store 24h 600, 150 Kevin's Kindling

Behind the Laughter[edit]

Age discrepancy[edit]

There is also some controversy as to which of the two is the elder. In "Dead Putting Society" the commentator at the golf tournament states that Todd is 10. In "Homer Badman", one of the corrections that the TV-magazine show Rock Bottom makes is to their claim that "the older Flanders boy is Todd, not Rod". (although this could have been included purely to stir up fans). Later, in "Bart Sells His Soul", the Flanders family eat out for Rod's "big ten-oh", suggesting the two are of similar age (however, the present time in at least one other Simpsons episode has been set two years before that of others, as shown by "All's Fair in Oven War"). However, in "My Sister, My Sitter" Lisa, when babysitting Rod and Todd, tells a story about a robot named Todd who "had a brother named Rod, who was two space years older than him". Todd responds by saying, "I don't like this story!"

As Rod is shown to be quite a bit bigger and taller than Todd, the claim that Todd is the older brother is disputed. Rod and Todd were both born before Lisa (who is eight), Todd appearing a younger age than Bart (who is 10) in the episode "Lisa's First Word" (when Bart was entering "the terrible twos").

Despite these discrepancies, the Simpsons official website states that "Todd is the youngest and most impressionable member of the happy Flanders clan". This seems to trump any inconsistency concerning age seen in the episodes. On the other hand, the character profile for Rod Flanders in the book "The Simpsons: A Complete Guide To Our Favorite Family" describes him as the "youngest of the Springfield Flanders.", but they have made some mistakes in that book. Another possible reason for the variation is that, in the DVD commentaries for the show, the writers have stated that they are never sure which Flanders sibling is Rod and which one is Todd and are often forced to check character models to be sure. According to the commentary, early show writers used two different mnemonics to identify the taller brother; first that Todd started with T and was Taller, or that Rod was long like a rod and hence taller.

Appearances[edit]