10 Times The Simpsons Broke Its Own Rules
6. The Personal History Of C. Montgomery Burns
You'd think a character as rich and powerful as Mr. Burns could afford a bit more control over his own backstory.
His age, place of birth, and countless other personal details are flimsy as the man's anatomy. However, we're turning our attention specifically to his childhood.
In Season 5's Rosebud (one of the show's best ever episodes, by the way), we see in a flashback that Burns actually grew up dirt poor. One day, a mysterious rich man arrived and promised to adopt young Monty. Naturally, he accepts without second thought.
The future owner of the Springfield power plant is young in this scene, but not as young as a scene in the episode Burns' Heir.
In another flashback, this time triggered when the magnate begins to drown in his bathtub, we see Burns as a baby in a fancy nursery firing his nanny. This would imply that he was born into a wealthy family.
Of course, it could be the case that Burns himself is an unreliable narrator. He is older than The Sun and has been known to dabble in fantasy in the past. However, it's more likely that the show decided to tweak his biography to make a better Citizen Kane parody.