Since the show began, The Simpsons has revealed plenty of dark secrets hiding under the surface of their quaint American town, with numerous characters having far darker sides than anyone else would expect, but one of them might basically be a horror villain in hiding. With his experience, as well as his tendency to rob graves, Dr. Nick could be The Simpsons version of Dr. Frankenstein, which could explain how he survived his otherwise deadly cameo in The Simpsons Movie.

Dr. Nick was introduced in Season 2, Episode 10,"Bart Gets Hit by a Car," and he quickly became one of the shadier physicians within Springfield, often providing cheaper surgeries than other professionals, like Dr. Hibbert. The trade-off is that Dr. Nick is far less intelligent and skilled than Hibbert, resulting in many of his patients either dying or surviving by sheer luck.

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One of the more disturbing elements of the character is his tendency to experiment with body parts, such as when he swapped a man's leg with his arm in Season 4, Episode 11, "Homer's Triple Bypass-Surgery." Season 17, Episode 2, "The Girl Who Slept Too Little," even revealed that Dr. Nick robs graves for supplies.

It's a frightening prospect on its own, and that's before realizing how this hints at how Dr. Nick could have survived his greatest injury. Like the rest of Springfield, Dr. Nick was trapped under a giant glass dome in The Simpsons Movie. At the conclusion of the film, Homer and Bart are able to use a bomb to destroy the dome, freeing the town. For the most part, the glass shattered into dust and sprinkled down harmlessly; however, one large chunk fell directly on Dr. Nick, seemingly killing him. While The Simpsons Movie is regarded as canon, episodes after the film have shown Dr. Nick alive.

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It's never been explained how Nick survived, but it could be that Nick used his Frankenstein-style practices to keep himself alive. Perhaps that's how he survived what should have been a lethal injury. It would also make Nick one of the scariest characters in the show, someone who has quietly become their own Dr. Frankenstein, and the town doesn't even realize it.

It would also place Dr. Nick more as a contemporary of someone like Professor Frink, whose experiments can frequently endanger lives, but he at least has good intentions behind his inventions. Nick, on the other hand, cares less about others, making his twisted medical acts even more terrifying.

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