The Simpsons fans forced to explain as people think family has mysterious new character

When a show has been on TV for as long as The Simpsons has, there's bound to be a few characters that slip people's memories.

People will no doubt remind the central five Simpsons themselves - Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie.

But in the cast of thousands of supporting characters, who can honestly say they remember them all?

It's no wonder then that many were convinced that the iconic show had brought in a mysterious new character.

And no, Ned Flanders hadn't married yet another wife.

This supposed new addition was called Gumbly and his existence has caused a stir among many online, forcing die-hard Simpsons fans to set the record straight.

So, for those who aren't in the know, Gumbly is something of an internet myth.

Disney

The character first appeared on an internet forum in 2015 where somebody had edited him into a shot with the rest of the Simpsons clan.

With his big mouth and bizarre humanoid design, Gumbly looked like no other Springfield resident but still had enough of the quirks - yellow skin and bulbous eyes - to fool some people.

It wasn't until 2021 that he went viral on Twitter, however, with many users insisting that he was being added into the show as a new character.

This pushed some to demand that the long-running sitcom be scrapped.

Because you know, fans of the show really needed another reason to complain about the quality of recent seasons.

Twitter

Before long, the whole thing became an ongoing joke for some fans who wanted to fool as many people as possible.

It was essentially one big gas-lighting exercise.

Prankster fans have even taken to photoshopping him into scenes from years ago, discussing his 'impact' on the schow.

One person even wrote: "I used to dislike Gumbly, but after the season finale he became one of my 5 favorite characters. Not to spoil that incredibly emotional moment, but Gumbly is more of a father to Lisa than Homer ever were."

For those keeping score at home, no such scene happened - although topping Homer at parenting skill isn't much of an accomplishment admittedly.

Disney/Twitter

Taking the gag a step further, some fans even claimed that Gumbly had been part of the show all along.

Needless to say, none of this lines up or makes sense.

Because it's not real.

The Simpsons has been on the air since 1989 and has spawned a movie and countless video games - none of which have featured the infamous humanoid.

But there's still time for him to make his debut I suppose...