South Park characters
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[edit] Major characters
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 Cartman commonly acts against the other boys. He frequently derides Kyle for being Jewish, Stan for being "a pussy"; and Kenny for being poor. His rude attitude often causes conflict with the other boys. At times, he proves himself a remarkably capable businessman and leader, and proves to be exceptionally cunning. Cartman sometimes serves as a mouthpiece for some of Parker and Stone's more extreme social commentary (three times he has dressed as Adolf Hitler). It has been stated by Parker in interview that Eric Cartman is largely based in the character of Archie Bunker from the tv series "All in the Family."[1] He is thoroughly evil, bigoted, egoistic, and self-indulgent, rarely acting good when it does not serve his own interests. He most often plays the role of villain or antihero, and is one of the more complex characters of the show. He loathes hippies above all else ("Die Hippie, Die" depicted his career as a 'hippie exterminator' ). Cartman is often referred to as a "fatass" by his friends, especially Kyle. In the earlier episodes, Cartman would respond by saying, "I'm not fat! I'm big-boned!", "Don't call me fat, god damn it!", or, "Don't call me fat, you fucking Jew!" Cartman's erratic and divisive behavior is perhaps explained by his unorthodox upbringing: he lacks a father-figure, and his mother (Liane Cartman) is an intersexual and an acknowledged "crack whore". Liane spoils her only child with gifts and food, always conceding into his many irrational demands; she is one of the only people with whom Eric shares a mutually affectionate and loving relationship. He is voiced by Trey Parker. |
 Easy-going, a Jew (but not particularly religious), skeptical and intelligent. Kyle is always accompanied by his signature green ear-flap hat, and orange jacket. On the rare occasion that his hat is removed, a large head of curly red hair is revealed. He hates Cartman because Cartman constantly ridicules his religion. Kyle is effectively the alter-ego of co-creator Matt Stone. Along with Stan, Kyle often provides a reasonable perspective on the whiny, selfish and crazy behavior of the adult world around them. Kyle is often depicted as the most moral member of the four. He is voiced by Matt Stone. |
 Often the "straight man". Generally, Stan is good-natured, clear-thinking and a bit over-sensitive at times, but usually tries to come up with logical solutions to their outrageous situations. Designed as the alter-ego for co-creator Trey Parker, Stan often attempts to summarize the message or moral of the episode, though sometimes without success. His best friend is Kyle and their relationship is central to several episodes, such as when he saves Kyle's life in "Cherokee Hair Tampons", "Cartmanland" and "Super Best Friends". He is voiced by Trey Parker. |
 Kenny comes from a poverty-stricken family and the four boys, who often turn to him when encountering an unfamiliar sexual term. He can be seen reading porn in a few episodes, causing many to believe he has a perverted side. The parka hood closed around his face renders his speech nearly incomprehensible, but all of his lines are real dialog and Stan, Kyle and Cartman can understand him. In some episodes Kenny's dialog is accompanied by subtitles. Two of his lines in The Jeffersons In which Kenny says "Yeah sure whatever, but you guys owe me for this." and "but wait I'm not blanket!" right before Michael Jackson throws him through the ceiling, and the phrase "Goodbye, you guys" from the South Park movie are not muffled because his hood is removed. During the first five seasons Kenny played the eternal victim, routinely killed in each episode, only to inexplicably reappear in the next, creating a plethora of shockingly grotesque deaths. The show's oldest gimmick (a carryover from the initial cardboard concept video) was Stan's cry of "Oh my God, they killed Kenny!" in response to his death, with Kyle adding, "You bastards!" whenever Kenny is killed. This is sometimes parodied, being applied to other characters (such as Chef in "The Return of Chef") or by a variation on the theme. At the end of the fifth season, Kenny died again and remained dead for the entire sixth season, ultimately returning at the end of the season's last episode, "Red Sleigh Down" (the other boys ask him where he's been, to which he replies in his muffled tone, "Oh I was just over there"). Parker and Stone explained this was due to their feeling creatively boxed-in by the requirement to kill Kenny in each episode.[2] During Kenny's absence in Season 6, he was replaced by Butters, and later Tweek as the boys' "fourth friend". He did appear in one episode when his soul became trapped in Cartman's body after Cartman drank Kenny's ashes (believing them to be chocolate milk mix); Kenny returned permanently in the seventh season and his deaths have since been much more rare. He is voiced by Matt Stone. |
[edit] Other Prominent Characters
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The blonde haired, infantile character named Butters had appeared in early episodes, but only became a regular character upon Kenny’s departure in Season 6, as a “fourth friend” or somewhat of a replacement for Kenny. He has since been nearly as present as the main four boys. Butters is nervous, naïve, easily manipulated, and repressed, while at the same time remaining surprisingly optimistic and occasionally insightful. He is often punished by his overbearing parents, and exploited by his peers. Butters parents almost always ground Butters in every confrontation they have onscreen, and often for ridiculous reasons. One can often hear him utter the words "I'm gonna get grounded" as well as “Hey fellas” or “ Oh, Hamburgers”. Eric Cartman especially takes pride in manipulating the gullible Butters into doing what Cartman wants him to do. Butters will go to any extent in falling for Cartman’s words and traps. In the episode “Casa Bonita”, Cartman tricks Butters into believing there is a meteor destroying Earth in order to lock Butters down in a bomb shelter. In the episode “The Death of Eric Cartman”, Butters is the only character who mistakenly believes that Cartman is a ghost, and therefore makes a fool of himself by assisting Cartman in “making things right”. In "The List" he was No. 11 on the corrupted list. Epitomizing the tragedy of his character, his birthday is September 11. He is voiced by Matt Stone. |
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Tweek Tweak is introduced in the episode "Gnomes", where he was put in a study group with the four boys. His name is taken from a slang term referring to recreational users of methamphetamine, as well as hyperactive or dysfunctional people in general. After Kenny was killed off, Butters replaced Kenny as the fourth friend of Stan, Kyle, and Cartman, but was considered too lame. In "Professor Chaos", Tweek was chosen as the fourth friend of the main characters during a reality television spoof in which Kyle, Stan, and Cartman remove Butters from their group. He was a member of the group for five episodes in the middle of the sixth season (Simpsons Already Did It, Red Hot Catholic Love, Free Hat, Bebe's Boobs Destroy Society, Child Abduction Is Not Funny), after which he returned to his previous minor-character role after the return of Kenny. He is sometimes seen as part of Craig's "gang", even after fighting him in "Tweek vs. Craig". He is portrayed as a hyperactive boy who has messy blonde hair, generally wears a grey-green shirt buttoned incorrectly, and dark blue jeans. Tweek is noted for his quirky mannerisms; he is always nervous and jittery and usually overdosed on caffeine, leading to extreme paranoia and hyperactivity. In addition, he claims that he "can't sleep...ever" (though he was seen sleeping in "Child Abduction Is Not Funny"). His voice is usually strained, and he tends to scream, "Oh God!", "GAH!", "Too much pressure!", or some variation of these. Tweek's parents run a coffee shop, and attempt to calm him using coffee; this has the effect of increasing his caffeine levels and worsening his mental state. However, no one ever makes the connection because Tweek, like Timmy, has been incorrectly diagnosed with ADD. In the episode "Free Hat", he appears to practice fatalism, and ironically, all events in this episode caused Tweek to be put in very stressful situations. In the same episode, one of Steven Spielberg's agents referred to him as "the one with the cocaine problem". In "The List", Tweek was ranked as Number 8 on the corrupted list. |
[edit] Secondary Characters
[edit] Family members
South Park has a number of different families, who are a recurring theme of many episodes. There are six main families, who are distinguished from the rest of the townsfolk: the Marshes, the Broflovskis, the Tweeks, the Cartmans, the McCormicks, and the Stotches.
[edit] Students
Most characters are the children at South Park because the main characters are children. They range in ages from kindergarteners to 6th Graders. Some of the most prominent students in the main characters' class are Wendy, Bebe, the handicapped boys Timmy and Jimmy, the hyper-caffeinated Tweek, and other children such as Token, Craig, and Clyde, the english student Pip (only in the first few seasons), Kyle's baby brother Ike, and many more.
[edit] School staff
South Park Elementary is a main location in the show. The boys' teacher, Mr. Garrison, is the most frequently-seen member of the staff. Originally known for speaking and expressing himself (most notably his repressed sexual orientation) through his hand puppet, Mr. Hat, Mr. Garrison eventually gave up on Mr. Hat and came out of the closet. Soon after this he found a new teaching partner, the flamboyant Mr. Slave. He had a sex change in the episode "Mr. Garrison's Fancy New Vagina", and went by the name Mrs. Janet Garrison. During the episode "D-Yikes!", Mrs. Garrison again discovers she is a gay, although this time a lesbian. He became a man again in Eek! A Penis. The boys' school counselor is Mr. Mackey, who has a habit of saying "M'kay?" at the end of his sentences. The school's principal is Principal Victoria. Several past characters who worked at the school were killed off, including Ms. Choksondik (the kids' teacher during Mr. Garrison's brief hiatus) and Ms. Crabtree (the school bus driver). The school's cafeteria cook, Chef, was also killed off, after the real life voice of Chef, Isaac Hayes, left the show due to one episode in which his religion, Scientology, was mocked. After dying, Chef was seen being placed in a Darth Vader like suit, leaving a return possible.
[edit] South Park Residents
Other residents of South Park. They range from Big Gay Al to Towelie, a talking towel who enjoys smoking pot. There are also many religious characters who are occasional characters such as Jesus and Satan, satan's son Damian (also appearing briefly in SP:bigger, longer & uncut) and Father Maxie, the local priest. If called for by the storyline proprietors of various shops will also make their appearance. Like Tom, from Tom's Rhinoplasty, the undertakers from the South Park Morgue, and dr. Lautz, the town's optometrist. Early episodes often featured dr. Faustus, a crazed scientist and his nameless monkey-dwarf-thing. Other important figures are policeofficer Barbrady and the Mayor, as of yet unnamed. Of special interest are Stan's uncle Jimbo and his war-buddy Ned, a differently-abled Vietnam veteran who had a trachyectomy as a result of smoking and speaks with a voice box. They are the stereotypically intolerant, dumb, gun-crazed rednecks, although it has been suggested Jimbo is actually gay.
[edit] Minor characters
Minor characters are characters that have appeared in at least one episode. Minor characters range from Jesus to the temporary substitute teacher from the fourth season, Mr. Wyland. Rarely seen is Kenny's brother Kevin, who has been seen in scenes taking place in Kenny's home.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Trey Parker & Matt Stone. Interview. Matt Stone, Trey Parker, Larry Divney 'Speaking Freely' transcript. 2002-03-01. Retrieved on 2007-02-08.
- ^ "South Park depicts the Queen's suicide after plot to conquer US fails". Retrieved on 2007-12-27.
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