Krusty the Clown was originally created to be Homer’s secret identity.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Groening explained his original plan for Krusty: The original idea behind Krusty the Clown was that he was Homer in disguise, but Homer still couldn’t get any respect from his son, who worshipped Krusty. If you look at Krusty, it’s just Homer with extended hair and a tuft on his head.