Flanderization is the process through which a single element of a character's personality, often an originally mild element, is inflated in importance over the course of a work until it becomes their primary defining characteristic.[1] The term was coined by TV Tropes, a wiki focused on popular culture, in reference to the character of Ned Flanders.[2] Flanders himself is a complex example of flanderization, having undergone the process in the middle seasons of the show before once again returning to a similar portrayal to his original one.[3] Originating as "perhaps the only genuinely well-meaning, good-natured person in Springfield", Flanders was originally intended to be an ideal ("annoyingly perfect"[4]) neighbor who served as a contrast and foil for Homer Simpson.