Nelson is a 12-year-old student and bully at Springfield Elementary School. He is known to have terrorized virtually every kid in Springfield at one point or another. Most often, however, it is the school nerds and less popular students, such as Milhouse and Martin, who are the subject of his cruelty. Nelson shows the occasional glimpse of humanity, though, and other characters have occasionally warmed to him; Lisa dates him briefly in "Lisa's Date with Density", Marge informally adopts him in "Sleeping with the Enemy", and Bart is shown as a friend to him several times, such as in "The Haw-Hawed Couple".