The Simpsons Addresses Major Ralph Theory After All These Years

The Simpsons has finally addressed a major Ralph theory after all these years of fans (and the show itself) poking fun at the idea that Chief Wiggum isn’t his real father. The Wiggum family is a peculiar one introduced over the course of the series as while the characters had been seen in the series before, it wasn’t until around the fourth season that Ralph was even teased to be related to Chief Wiggum. Then it was further confirmed later with fuller episodes exploring this father and son dynamic, and years’ worth of jokes exploded from that perfect pairing. But fans have always wondered if Ralph was actually Wiggum’s son.

This idea spawned from the fact that Ralph always seemed to resemble Clancy Wiggum’s partner, Eddie, even more than Wiggum himself. Although Wiggum had been seen in the past raising a young version of Ralph (and even revealing Ralph getting dropped on his head as a baby), The Simpsons‘ newest Season 36 episode had Wiggum officially address this theory in the canon with hilarious results as he notes that while he and his wife are trying for “more Ralphies,” that the possibilities include “a big one, a girl one, one that even looks more like Eddie.” To which Eddie does a shifty eyed look.

Is Chief Wiggum Really Ralph’s Father?

The idea of Ralph resembling Eddie more so than Chief Wiggum has sparked some major fan theories over the years as to whether or not Eddie was Ralph’s real father. This has been previously noted in the series’ non-canon episodes revealing not only looks into the future (as Ralph’s hair fills in to blue when he’s an adult to more resemble Chief Wiggum), but even more recently in “Lisa’s the Boy Scout,” which featured a ton of joking “unreleased storylines” that included a moment where Sarah Wiggum confesses to Eddie being Ralph’s real father.

But in The Simpsons Season 36 Episode 13, “The Last Man Expanding” this is the first real time that it has been addressed within the canonical timeline of the series. Chief Wiggum’s offhand reference to the idea hilariously hints that he’s aware of this coincidence, and Eddie’s shifty look after helps the joke further hit home as it implies that it even could be true. Because The Simpsons fans will likely remember Homer noting that shifty eyes means a character is hiding something and they are suspcious.

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What Does This Mean for Ralph?

The Simpsons likely won’t take this any further than this offhand comment. It’s likely more the team further highlighting that major Ralph fan theory that has popped up in the last few years, and it won’t disrupt the pairing of Ralph and Chief Wiggum. It’s already been fully explored in “Lisa’s the Boy Scout” as an “unused storyline,” and this joke within the official canon is likely going to be the final statement made. Ralph and Chief Wiggum are just too funny of a pair to break up in this way after all these years.

The two of them are just happy and simply life folks within Springfield, and there are fewer and fewer of those with each passing year. As The Simpsons prepares to go for four more seasons, we’re likely going to get even more fun ideas and theories addressed in this matter. The Simpsons‘ later seasons have begun to examine the franchise as a whole in a much different way, and it’s lead to great jokes like this. Now it’s just a matter of waiting for the next fan theory to pop up.