Across the course of The Simpsons, the series has evolved in numerous unique and unexpected ways. For instance, Homer has become radically different from his original incarnation, evolving into one of the goofiest and stupidest characters in modern fiction. The Simpsons has even made in-universe jokes about how Homer’s intelligence has dropped over the years, but one fan theory has a perfectly tragic explanation for it, and ties it into the countless slapstick antics the character has gotten into.
As explained in the WMG section of the TVTropes entry on The Simpsons, Homer’s earliest appearances had the patriarch of the family as fairly well-rounded. While he wasn’t the brightest bulb in the world, he was far more down to Earth and rational than he would be in later seasons.
However, Season 2’s “Bart the Daredevil” and “Marge vs. Itchy & Scratchy” saw Homer suffer serious injuries. Specifically, Homer’s fall down Springfield Gorge in the former and Maggie hitting him with a mallet in the latter were both serious head injuries in a world that was still largely defined by physical limitations. Thanks to the nature of animation, Homer was back on his feet by the following episode, but these comedic moments might have a far more tragic long-lasting repercussion.
The theory suggests that these kinds of repeated injuries to the head explain why Homer gets “stupider every year.” While the natural strength of his skull (as revealed in Season 8’s “The Homer They Fall”) means Homer can survive serious head trauma with little overt physical damage, it doesn’t mean his brain won’t be affected by the blows, and Homer may suffer from serious mental distress and change because of his injuries.
The theory argues that with each subsequent head injury, Homer becomes less and less aware of himself and his surroundings. This is partly why he’s become such a man of simple pleasures and impulses over the course of the series because he’s lost the ability to think too far ahead of any given moment.
The theory even addresses other in-canon reasons for Homer’s diminishing intellect, such as the Simpsons Gene established in Season 9’s “Lisa the Simpson” and the crayon lodged in his brain from Season 12’s “HOMR.” Those elements might have had an impact on his mind, and combined, they take someone who’s shown multiple aptitudes and fathered geniuses and turn him into a self-described idiot.
There’s even in-universe precedent for this, albeit in the medium-breaking Season 12 episode, “Behind the Laughter.” The episode is played as a behind-the-scenes documentary about The Simpsons, treating the characters like real people playing fictionalized versions of themselves.
The episode openly addresses the severity of Homer’s injuries over the course of the series, and he’s shown in painful physical therapy. The episode even suggests that Homer developed an addiction to pain medication to help soothe the severity of his injuries, including head trauma. All of this could easily contribute to the in-universe evolution of Homer over the years from his initially restrained self to the more short sighted and impulsive Homer of later seasons.
It’s a genuinely tragic way to perceive Homer, giving the character a more realistic kind of condition. Homer’s injuries might explain how he became a more buffoonish and goofy character, but only by applying a painful real world element to the often somber animated world of The Simpsons.
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