Dolphin "Dolph" Starbeam is one of the school bullies of Springfield Elementary, with Kearney Zzyzwicz, Jimbo Jones, Nelson Muntz, and the Weasels. He is of Jewish origin and can speak Hebrew. Bart Simpson later became friends with him. He is a 6th grader. [2]
Despite being the only one with a teenage voice among Jimbo and Kearney, Dolph is the youngest of the three. Dolph is the "softest" of all the bullies and has sometimes been seen running away once overpowered by the enemy. He is also the smartest education-wise, as he shows knowledge of words and things usually only nerds share an interest for.
Biography
The son of aging, die-hard hippies, Dolph had taken all the flower power he could stomach by the age of six. He had given peace a chance, but decided that hitting other kids was more fun. Dolph drinks alcohol and smokes cigarettes with Jimbo. So he traded in his Birkenstocks for a pair of Doc Martens. Dolph's brutish behavior and distaste for authority eventually led him to kindred souls Kearney, Jimbo, and Nelson. Dolph can frequently be seen in the Springfield Elementary restroom, flushing the toilet while someone's head is in it[3].
Dolph is recognized by his asymmetrical haircut, which covers one eye and a dolphinlike mouth. He wears cutoff shorts and Chuck Taylor All-Stars style basketball shoes. Dolph is 14 years old. He is also left-handed. Dolph's hair can appear either reddish (like Jimbo's) or dark brown. He has an unnamed father, a mother named Starla, and a sister, who is constantly watched by the police ( via surveillance camera ).
Getting held back a couple years, Dolph is a 6th grade student at Springfield Elementary. Dolph once attended Hebrew school[4], and according to a school profile in 24 Minutes, he speaks "Spanish, German, Hebrew, Arabic, Korean, Latin, Old English, Klingon, Esperanto", he is "friends with: Jackie Chan (unverified)" and his "special skills" include "horse riding, tap dancing, British accent, stage fighting."[5]. Dolph has two fathers: one of them has an eye patch and the same haircut as Dolph. [6]
Dolph is a player in the Mighty Pigs Pee Wee Hockey League Team. Dolph's hobbies are horse riding, swimming, and stage fighting. His best friends are Jimbo and Kearney.
Despite having appeared since the first season of the show, Dolph's name is not mentioned on screen until the fourth season episode Kamp Krusty. In the episode he's a counselor at Kamp Krusty with the other bullies. He serves the kids gruel and went across the lake to "catch some tail"
It is implied that Dolph may have suffered from child abuse. In Black-eyed Please, after getting a detention from Ms. Cantwell, Lisa asks Jimbo, Dolph, Kearney and Nelson why one becomes a bully, and Dolph's response is "abuse".
Dolph is not a virgin. in Kamp Krusty , he and Jimbo were going across the lake to "go get with some tail". He had a fancy dinner with the other bullies and the camp counselor Mr. Black and they were smoking cigars and made a toast to evil. When the campers rebel Mr. Black and the rest of the bullies escaped Kamp Krusty (location).
Non-Canon Appearances
The Simpsons Game
Dolph appears as one of the three museum thieves that Bart and Homer must defeat[7].
DS: Bart has to shoot targets in the dark three times before stopping him.
All others: Bart has fire a crystal at a target on a skeleton of a dinosaur, thus trapping him.
Behind the Laughter
Dolph was named after one of Matt Groening's classmates from Lincoln High School named Dolph Timmerman. Groening stated that Timmerman was not a bully but just a real cool guy.
During much of the series, Dolph was generally regarded as the most mysterious of the bullies and never really had a big part. He is also Jewish as shown in "Lisa the Drama Queen" (in a fantasy sequence). Dolph is also known as the best looking out of them. He's starting to have more speaking parts and he could be the softest out of the group, however we have seen he is not as soft as Nelson Muntz. Some fans have offered criticism for the show's writers, citing that in The Simpsons' nearly twenty year run, Dolph is one of very few characters to have been almost completely ignored. Dolph was also a very minor character compared to Jimbo and Kearney and he didn't speak as much as them. However in newer seasons he tends to be speak more regularly than in the earlier episodes. In the episode "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot", when Bart moons the bullies on his collapsing 10-speed bike, Jimbo and Kearney say "That is really gay!" and then Jimbo, Dolph, and Kearney beat him to pieces, but Dolph says nothing, a possible reference to him becoming less of a main character.
Family name
Dolph's family name was revealed in Simpsons Comics #75. However, in the Simpsons World episode guide, Dolph is listed only by his first name along with Kearney (page 156) although in Season 25 Episode 7 "Yellow Subterfuge" his name is shown as Dolph Shapiro.
Appearances
- Episode – "The Telltale Head"
- Episode – "Bart Gets an "F""
- Episode – "Dead Putting Society"
- Episode – "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment"
- Episode – "The War of the Simpsons"
- Episode – "Kamp Krusty"
- Episode – "Selma's Choice"
- Episode – "Whacking Day"
- Episode – "Bart of Darkness"
- Episode – "Marge Be Not Proud"
- Episode – "Lisa's Date with Density"
- Episode – "The Joy of Sect"
- Episode – "Skinner's Sense of Snow"
- Episode – "Helter Shelter"
- Episode – "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot"
- Episode – "The Wandering Juvie"
- Episode – "Marge's Son Poisoning"
- Episode – "Marge Gamer"
- Episode – "24 Minutes"
- Episode – "Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind"
- Episode – "The Debarted"
- Episode – "O Brother, Where Bart Thou?"
- Episode – "The Blue and the Gray"
- Episode – "Bart Stops to Smell the Roosevelts"
- Episode – "The D'oh-cial Network"
- Episode – "Beware My Cheating Bart"
- Episode – "Whiskey Business"
- Episode – "The Fabulous Faker Boy"
- Episode – "Dangers on a Train"
- THOH – "Treehouse of Horror XXIV"
- Episode – "The Kid is All Right"
- Episode – "Yellow Subterfuge"
- Episode – "Specs and the City"
- Episode – "Diggs"
- Episode – "The Man Who Grew Too Much"
- Episode – "The Winter of His Content"
- Episode – "Days of Future Future"
- Episode – "What to Expect When Bart's Expecting"
- Episode – "Pay Pal"
- Comic book – Comic Fan No More
Video game – The Simpsons Game
Video game – The Simpsons: Tapped Out (unlockable)
Citations
- ↑ 24 Minutes
- ↑ 24 Minutes
- ↑ Simpsons Mania!
- ↑ See Homer Run
- ↑ 24 Minutes
- ↑ The Homer They Fall
- ↑ Bartman Begins
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