Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

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"Apu" redirects here. For the film series, see Apu trilogy. For similarly spelled abbreviations, see APU.

The Simpsons character

Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
Age	42
Gender	Male
Hair color	Black
Job	Owner of the Kwik-e-Mart
Relatives	Wife: Manjula Father: Apugh Nahasapeemapetilon (Deceased) Mother: Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilon Children: Anoop, Uma, Nabendu, Poonam, Priya, Sandeep, Sashi, and Gheet (octuplets) Brother: Sanjay Niece: (unnamed)
First appearance	The Telltale Head
Voice actor	Hank Azaria

Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Ph.D. (briefly known legally as Slime Q. Slimedog; see The Sweetest Apu) is a fictional character featured on The Simpsons television series. Voiced by Hank Azaria.

He is proprietor of the Springfield Kwik-E-Mart (a subsidiary of Nordyne Defense Dynamics), a local convenience store. An immigrant from India, he is, like most Simpsons characters, a caricature of a common stereotype — in his case, that of the South Asian convenience-store owner; this stereotype in Britain, although usually offensive, is sometimes called a "Paki shop". His most defining characteristics are his exaggerated Indian English, and his indefatigable immigrant work ethic. His catchphrase is "Thank you, come again!" — cheerfully and dutifully repeated to customers (no matter how unpleasant) after each transaction, even after a robbery.

His first name is an homage to the main character in the Apu trilogy directed by Satyajit Ray. Many of his mannerisms, his intelligence, and even the appearance of his parents mirror this character. His surname, Nahasapeemapetilon, is a morphophonological blend of the name Pahasadee Napetilon, the full name of a schoolmate of Simpsons writer Jeff Martin.^[1]

1 Apu's family and background
2 Kwik-E-Mart
3 References
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Apu's family and background

Apu is married to Manjula, who bore Octuplets: Anoop, Uma, Nabendu, Poonam, Pria, Sandeep, Sashi and Gheet.

For more on Apu's family, see Characters from The Simpsons.

Apu and Manjula were wed through an arranged marriage. Despite trying to wriggle out of the arrangement at first, Apu was won over soon after meeting Manjula and the two actually did fall in love. Later, Manjula gave birth (in the episode Eight Misbehavin') to octuplets after receiving too many doses of fertility drugs from the well-meaning, but non-synchronized, Simpsons.

Apu and Manjula have a mostly happy marriage despite understandable marital problems caused by Apu's workaholic nature and long hours, the strain of caring for eight children, and two instances of infidelity by Apu. He and his family are devotees of the Hindu gods Shiva, Ganesha and Vishnu. Homer, in a misguided attempt to play on the bride and groom's families' fear of the gods, arrived at Apu's wedding dressed as the Hindu god Ganesh. The impersonation was called out by one of Apu's relatives, who exclaimed, "You are not Ganesh! Ganesh is graceful!" Before his marriage, Apu became known as the leading ladies' man in Springfield, because he holds a PhD and runs his own business. His sex appeal was enhanced when he admitted, "I'm not much of a talker, but I love to listen. I also like to design and build furniture and then to have a discussion about where it could be placed in a room."

During the 1960s, while still living in India, Apu spent some time as a student of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, when he befriended Paul and Linda McCartney. Apu's friendship with the McCartneys resulted in him being dubbed by some (mainly himself) as The Fifth Beatle. They visited Apu in Springfield around the time he became naturalized. Apu is a U.S. citizen and holds a Ph.D. in computer science. He graduated first in his class of seven million at 'Caltech' — the Calcutta Institute of Technology — going on to earn his doctorate at the (S)pringfield (H)eights (I)nstitute of (T)echnology.

His doctoral dissertation was the world's first computer program to play perfect tic-tac-toe. (Years later, Apu trashed the program after Bart Simpson pulled out a random punch card and messed up the whole program.) Apu began working at the Kwik-E-Mart during his college years to pay off his student loan but never left. He remained an illegal immigrant until Mayor Quimby proposed a municipal law to expel all undocumented aliens. Apu responded by purchasing a forged birth certificate from the Springfield Mafia, which listed his parents as U.S. citizens George and Martha Nahasapeemapetilon, but when this failed, he successfully managed to pass his citizenship test with help from Lisa and Homer Simpson.

During the early 1980s, Apu was a member of the barbershop quartet The Be Sharps, along with Homer Simpson, Barney Gumble and Seymour Skinner. Upon the advice of the band manager Nigel, Apu took the stage name Apu du Beaumarchais (a reference to French author Beaumarchais). During a press conference, a reporter asked if Apu was actually Hindu, to which Apu responds, "By the many arms of Vishnu, I swear it is a lie."

When Apu was unfaithful to Manjula, one of his punishments was to legally change his name to Slime Q. Slimedog. This does not appear to have been permanent.

Sanjay, Apu's brother, helped run the Kwik-E-Mart. Sanjay's daughter is Pahasatira, and his son is Jamshed. They all shared the Nahasapeemapetilon surname. Apu has another younger brother, who is only mentioned in The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons. When Apu's and Manjula's parents were first arranging their marriage, Apu was shown as the oldest of three as shown on a chart. Apu also has a cousin living in India named Kavi, who helped Homer while he was in India. He works for several American companies taking service calls using American, cowboy and Jamaican accents. Kavi appeared in the episode Kiss Kiss Bang Bangalore, which is set in Bangalore, strengthening the notion that Apu is South Indian.

Apu is the only non-Simpson playable character in the video game The Simpsons Hit & Run, and his standard vehicle is a yellow version of his Pontiac Trans Am called "Longhorn".

A trait of Apu is being repeatedly robbed and shot. In an episode where Marge befriends an artistic inmate at Springfield Penitentiary, the man explains that he was incarcerated for shooting Apu. Marge's response was that "Lots of people shoot Apu. These days, it's just a $100 fine". Apu himself later vouched for the man, claiming that unlike other attackers, he stayed with Apu until the ambulance arrived. Apu has also been heard to express relief at being tied with nylon rope at another robbery as it was much more comfortable, almost sensuous.