< South Park

South Park/Characters


The cast of characters from Trey Parker and Matt Stone's long-running animated show, South Park. Come on down and meet some friends of theirs.

Main Characters

Stan Marsh

"Dude, sometimes I think our parents are really stupid."

The straight man out of the original four kids. Is often the one to give An Aesop at the end of each show. Closest thing to a main character of the show, who tends to be the protagonist of many episodes, and probably not coincidentally the most "normal" character.

Kyle Broflovski

Goddammit, Cartman.

"I'm Jewish. I've got some hang-ups about killing Jesus."

Stan's closest friend. He and his parents are Jewish, but his younger brother Ike is actually from Canada. He appears to be the smartest, at least academically, of the original four, but has a tendency to get sucked into the latest fads/problems/social issues sweeping South Park.

  • Anti-Hero: Type IV. He acts like his mother does, though his mother fits the Well-Intentioned Extremist type more.
  • Arch Nemesis: For Cartman (sometimes reaches The Only One Allowed to Defeat You levels).
  • Armoured Closet Gay: Cartman uses this to convince the school that he and Kyle are a couple to keep Kyle from succeeding in wooing Nichole. Kyle's not gay, but his insistence that he's not gay for Cartman only convinces everyone else that he is this trope.
  • Author Avatar: He's a stand-in for Matt Stone.
  • Back from the Dead: In "Imaginationland" he is choked to death by Manbearpig, only for Cartman to resuscitate him.
  • Berserk Button: Don't call his mom a bitch. Enough said.
    • Or make fun of his Jewish heritage.
  • Big Brother Instinct: Ike has become one of Kyle's highest priorities sometime after "Ike's Wee Wee", from following him to Somalia and getting him home safe to worrying about Ike getting circumcised or keeping him from running off with his teacher to Milan. Could arguably be Kyle's biggest drive after his antagonism towards Cartman.
  • Brutal Honesty: Can do this at times.
  • Calling the Old Man Out: Kyle does this to his mom in "Fun With Veal".

Sheila: Kyle, if you don't do as you're told, I'm going to be very angry!

Kyle: Well, you made me eat veal and didn't tell me what it was, so go ahead and be angry, you baby calf-killing bitch!

Sharon: Very persuasive.

  • Catch Phrase: "You bastards!", which is preceded by Stan's "Oh my God, they killed Kenny!".
  • The Chessmaster
  • Chronic Hero Syndrome: This is available only when Cartman has a new, evil plan.
  • Compressed Hair: He easily gets a Jewfro that's larger than his head into a small hat. Justified since it's just the art style exaggerating the size of it.
  • The Conscience: Over the course of the show, he's evolved into this.
  • Designated Monkey
  • Determinator
  • Disney Death: In "Imaginationland Part II", during a scene parodying The Abyss.
  • Dogged Nice Guy: Seldom gets what he wants despite tying to be a decent person. Often due to Cartman.
  • Fiery Redhead: Mixed with his Hot-Blooded tendencies whenever his Chronic Hero Syndrome personality kicks in.
  • Flanderization: His obsession with beating Cartman, to the point of occasionally leaning into Knight Templar territory.
  • Four-Temperament Ensemble: The Melancholic.
  • Genre Savvy: Most notably in "Butt Out", where he knows exactly what is going to happen, notices that those situations have been happening more often lately, and accepts that they won't really learn their lesson..
  • Good Angel, Bad Angel: The voice of morality and plays the "good angel" on Stan's shoulder, prodding him to do the right thing, in direct opposition to Cartman's "bad angel" who will do the wrong thing and take Stan along for the ride.
  • Good Is Not Nice: Seeing some of the conflicts between him and Cartman out of context wouldn't make all that clear that Kyle's supposed to be the good guy.
    • This only happens in "Le Petit Tourette", though, in the perspective of the adults. Cartman fakes Tourette's Syndrome to get what he wants, and Kyle, who's known Cartman all his life, gets annoyed and says that he doesn't have Tourette's, and an authority figure that has it accuses Kyle of being a bully and he is taken to observe various kids with Tourette's (with lack of swearing). He is then forced to apologize to Cartman. However, when Cartman plans to bad-mouth Jews, it's the straw that breaks the camel's back, so Kyle devises an elaborate plan that actually saves Cartman from going in too deep.
    • In the earlier episodes at least, he and the other boys were essentially just lower scale bullies compared to Cartman.
  • Green Eyes / Brown Eyes: This has been argued, but most prefer to give Kyle green eyes.
    • The short live-action adaptation 'The Real South Park' gave him blue eyes.
    • Green Eyed Red Head: Most definitely has this in fanworks.
  • Hair-Trigger Temper
  • Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: After Cartman starts a rumor in "Cartman Finds Love" that he and Kyle are together, Kyle tries his damnedest to express that he is not gay and not gay for Cartman.
  • He Who Fights Monsters: Has shades of this due to his antagonism toward Cartman. In some episodes he thinks nothing of having him dead.
    • Although this also depends on how far Cartman has spent in Complete Monster territory in previous episodes.
  • Heterosexual Life Partners: With Stan.
  • Ho Yay: It's evident in his and Stan's deep friendship, but in his adversarial relationship with Cartman it's Invoked.
  • Hollywood Nerd
  • Hot-Blooded: At least when Cartman's involved.
  • Ill Boy: Not too blatant, but Kyle gets sick much more often than the others boys (unless you count Kenny's constant dying). Suffered kidney failure and mentioned to have Type 1 Diabetes in "Cherokee Hair Tampons", got infected with a hemorrhoid in "Cartmanland" (which turned fatal), was sick throughout the entirety of "The Snuke" and had a quick cold in "Guitar Queer-O". Well, it's either this or plot convenience or for other reasons.
  • Informed Judaism: For all the mentioning of his family's faith, Kyle rarely goes to temple or prays, or even wears a kippah. Plus, his family eats pork products (they had pork for dinner in "Conjoined Fetus Lady" and Kyle threw up bean with bacon soup in "Cherokee Hair Tampons"), which isn't kosher. Partial justification: early on, Kyle's family was the only Jewish family in town, and they're probably not very religious to begin with (as we've mentioned, he's a stand-in for Matt Stone, who is ethnically Jewish but was raised agnostic and is an atheist). Plus, that's part of the joke.
  • Insufferable Genius: Sort of. Kyle, being The Smart Guy, is very intelligent, and, combined with Hot-Blooded and Snark Knight, it becomes something of a subtle version of this trope.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Was this in earlier episodes, but turns into the Only Sane Man in later episodes.
  • Kids Are Cruel: In earlier episodes, despite viewing himself as having much higher moral ground than Cartman, Kyle was essentially a lower scale bully, it was actually him that tormented Pip to the point of earning a broken nose and joined in exploiting and disregarding Butters and Kenny on numerous occasions. There are also subtle hints it was his bullying of Cartman's weight that actually evolved him into the anti-semetic monster he is today. This is toned down in later episodes, though he can still act self righteous or show Jerkass traits on occasion.
  • Knight Templar: See above
  • The Lancer / The Smart Guy
  • Messianic Archetype: Blatantly so in Margaritaville.
  • Mistaken for Gay: With Cartman, in Tonsil Trouble.
    • Again in "Cartman Finds Love" only perpetuated BY Cartman.
  • My Beloved Smother: Kyle on frequent occasions is shown to be submissive if not outright terrified of his overbearing mother. He has been shown to betray every moral ethic he has in fear of provoking her wrath.
  • Nice Hat: He even made a big deal out of it when getting his school picture taken:

Photographer: Take off your hat, please?
Kyle: But I never take off my hat.
Photographer: Come on now, I bet your parents want a picture of you lookin' natural.
Kyle: This is how I look natural.
Ms. Choksondik: Kyle, we're taking pictures without hats today!
Kyle: (taking off hat) Crap!

  • "No Respect" Guy
  • Not So Different: Kyle on occasion can show similar moments of greed or callousness as Cartman. This was highlighted in "Crack Baby Athletic Association" where Kyle agrees to exploiting crack addicted babies for profit, and spends the entire episode obsessively trying to justify himself, beginning to sound more and more like Cartman as Stan nonchalantly points out.
  • Only Sane Man: In "A History Channel Thanksgiving".
    • Has emerged as this more and more in seasons 15 and 16 as Stan has taken levels in jerkass.
  • Out-of-Character Moment: In "Woodland Critter Christmas", he willingly becomes the human host of the Antichrist, just so that the Jews could "take control of Christmas once and for all". He comes to his senses soon after when he feels his soul burning. Of course, it's only a story Cartman wrote.
  • Out of Focus: He gets the short shift of the trio of Stan, him and Cartman.
  • The Paragon (...Or at least he tries to invoke it.)
  • Please Keep Your Hat On: Considers wearing his hat how he 'looks natural' rather than show off his very large Jewfro.
  • Redheaded Hero
  • Rule 63: Fanart of Kyle as a girl isn't hard to find on Deviant ART.
  • He Is Not My Boyfriend: Kyle would like you to know that he and Eric Cartman are not a gay couple, no matter what Cartman says.
  • Snark Knight
  • Straight Man: When Stan is the designated holder of the Idiot Ball. Has become a regular occurrence from season 15 on.
  • Super-Powered Evil Side: His Jersey self is treated as this. While it's not explicitly superpowered, it is the only way to take on people from Jersey on their own terms.
  • Took a Level In Kindness: More or less the same evolution as Stan. He still has occasional self righteous moments, though they are much more rare.
  • Trans Nature: According to "Mr. Garrison's Fancy New Vagina", Kyle felt he was black all his life.

Kyle: I've listened to Hip Hop, I watch UPN, and I love playing Basketball.

    • However, this was never mentioned again. Kyle apparently accepted the way he was born.
  • Tsundere: A common (somewhat fandom) trait, especially in regards to Cartman. Ties into Fiery Redhead above.
  • Wimpification: Well, yeah...
  • What Could Have Been: He was originally going to die near the end of season five due to bearing similarities to Stan, but Trey and Matt decided to keep him and have Kenny bite the dust instead since they were getting sick of killing him off in every episode and were running out of original ways by which to do so.
  • You Have to Have Jews: For Cartman to hate.

Eric Cartman

Kyle: "He's a fat, manipulative, bigoted, intolerant sociopath."

"Screw you guys, I'm going home."


The fat kid of the group. Incredibly selfish and mean, but the other boys keep him around because they know he won't get along well with anyone else. One of the most well-known and polarising characters of the show.

  • Acrofatic: While usually very out of shape, he proves to be surprisingly athletic as "The Coon" scaling buildings and a half destroyed roller coaster with apparently little effort.
    • Then subverted majorly in 1% when his atrocious fitness causes and otherwise average class (and whole school) to fail a national fitness test.
  • A Million Is a Statistic: Cartman's Moral Event Horizon is often viewed as killing Scott Tenorman's parents. In fact, he actually probably caused more deaths in "The Red Badge of Gayness", where he lead a drunken mob in plundering towns across the United States. Okay, no one was explicitly shown getting killed, but come on, they burned at least one city to the ground with molotov cocktails.
    • He can also be seen as partially responsible for dooming all of hu-monity in "Trapper Keeper".
  • Ambiguously Gay: He has frequently shown heavily repressed attraction to men, among other strange tendencies. In various episodes, he's been known to dress like Britney Spears and dance with a Justin Timberlake stand-up, joins NAMBLA, takes a picture of Butters' penis in his mouth (then tries to take one of his penis in Butters' mouth), and in the Imaginationland trilogy he makes a bet with Kyle to suck his balls if he proves leprechauns exist, and when he does he takes it all the way to court to make him go through with it. However, some of these instances, particularly NAMBLA and the pictures of him and Butters, can be chalked up to him simply being too naive and stupid to understand what he's really doing.
  • Anti-Hero: Type IV, prior to his Moral Event Horizon. Became a Type V and then a Villain Protagonist in later episodes, but in recent seasons has gone back to a Type IV and maybe even a Type III.
  • Arch Nemesis: For Kyle.
  • Ax Crazy: He is known for infamously chopping up the bodies of two dead corpses and feeding them to their own son in the form of chili, in the famous "Scott Tenorman Must Die" episode. He shows signs of full-blown psychosis at times, and generally has a narcissistic, psychopathic nature.
  • Badass Beard: As "The Dawg" in Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy.
  • Bad Boss
  • Bad Samaritan: Crack Baby Basketball.
  • Bastard Bastard: He's a son of a bitch. Literally.
  • Becoming the Mask: He becomes "Mr. Cartmenez" in "Eek, a Penis!" for his own personal gain, but by the end of the episode becomes genuinely sincere in wanting to "reeeach these kiiiids" and teach them "the white person way of cheating".
  • Believing Their Own Lies: "Jewpacabra" in a form of self administered Karma.
  • Berserk Button: He usually just makes a quick rebuttal when he's called fat, but occasionally it falls into this.

Cartman: (sarcastically) I'm sorry I handcuffed Billy Turner's ankle to the flagpole and then I gave him a hacksaw, and then I told him I had poisoned his lunch and the only way he could cure himself was by sawing off his leg.
Ms. Cartman: Eric, that's very naughty.
Cartman: Well, he called me "chubby!"

  • Big Bad: The main antagonist of a few episodes, if not a Villain Protagonist.
  • The Big Boned Guy: When siding with his friends.
  • Big Eater: "Yeah I want some cheesy poofs"
  • Boomerang Bigot: Notably in the episode "Ginger Kids", where Cartman (after picking on and fearing gingers for the entire episode) comes to believe he is a ginger and forms a Nazi-like cult devoted to exterminating non-gingers.
  • Borrowed Catchphrase: In "Clubhouses":

Cartman: Oh my God, They Killed Kenny!
Kyle: (walking outside Cartman's yard, but suddenly stops and turns towards the clubhouse) You bastards! (continues walking past the yard like nothing happened)

  • Brown Eyes / Blue Eyes
  • The Bully: When not himself the victim of fat jokes, he is usually the most prominent in school. It is implied he provoked a tirade of abuse on one student (for crapping their pants in public) so much that the latter committed suicide.
  • Catch Phrase: Cartman has had many over the years including "No kitty, this is my [name of food]", "I love cheesy poofs", "suck my balls", "kickass",etc.
    • "Screw you guys, I'm going home", "Stupid Jew", "Goddamn Jew" and everything that insults Jews, "Respect my authoritah" and lots and lots of swearing.
    • "BET MEEEAAAHM..."
    • "AW, GODDAMMIT!", followed by a head cock and facial grimace
    • A Running Gag is his literal inability to say any other variation of the word "serious" other than "seriously".

Cartman:You guys, I'm seriously!

  • Characterization Marches On: In the early seasons, his main antagonism was with Kenny, who he constantly made fun for being poor. These days, his anti-Semitism is far, far more prominent than it used to be, and he literally can't speak to Kyle without making fun of him for being Jewish. The poverty jokes come up now and then, but much more rarely.
  • The Chessmaster: In some episodes, he can be this. Specifically in "Scott Tenorman Must Die."
  • Cluster F-Bomb: Easily the most vulgar character on the show.
  • Comedic Sociopath
  • Conspiracy Theorist: Thinks 9-11 was caused by Kyle. Also is the first one to believe that the new Muslim family in town is a terrorist.
  • The Corrupter: he's good at getting others to go along with his schemes, usually Butters. Taken to extremes in Crack Baby Athletic Association where he manages to serve as this to Kyle of all people.
  • Creepy Child
  • Creepy Crossdresser: He's worn women's clothing more than once. In his article on the South Park Archives, it has a detailed statement on what could be seen as gender identity issues.
  • Dangerously Genre Savvy: In "Scott Tenorman Must Die", Cartman exploits Unspoken Plan Guarantee by telling a fake plot to humiliate Scott to Stan and Kyle, correctly thinking they'd sabotage it.
  • Despotism Justifies the Means: Can often convince the citizens of South Park of this.
  • Dragon-in-Chief: Cthulhu
  • Depraved Bisexual: He has shown attraction to females more than once but as said above he is also Ambiguously Gay.
  • Determinator: While usually very lazy and stupid, Cartman is capable of incredible things once he puts his mind to it.
    • Although these things only really benefit him and tend to fall into "evil" territory.
  • Did You Just Have Tea With Cthulhu: Cartman managed to become friends with the dark lord, Cthulhu. The two of them then flew through the sky while singing to the tune of the My Neighbor Totoro theme song.
  • Dirty Coward
  • Disability as an Excuse For Jerkassery: He fakes Tourettes in order to get away with saying racial slurs and the like.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: Frequently, and famously.
  • Does Not Like Spam: He led Cthulhu on a crusade against Whole Foods. "No more organic crap for America!"
  • Elimination Catchphrase: "Get the fudge out!"
  • Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Double-subverted, as when he tries to kill her, he suddenly finds he can't go through with it.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Because he's evil, Cartman can deliver bits of social commentary that would seem less acceptable if it was Stan or Kyle saying it. Of particular note are his rants on hippies, Family Guy, and the Catholic Church. He also plays the trope absolutely straight in "Major Boobage," in which he shows a lot more love to cats than he ever has to a person.
    • Oh, and of all the evil acts he's willing to do, he draws the line at one: shooting men in the genitals. (We're looking at you, BUTTERS.)
  • Evil Counterpart: To Kyle and Butters (and to a lesser extent, Stan).
  • Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Cartman does not understand the difference between being nice and wearing a nice sweater, as seen in Casa Bonita. He also cannot comprehend the idea of confessing to something because one feels guilty, thinking exclusively in terms of whether or not he'll be punished, and how badly. Many attempts to berate him for his callousness have fell flat since he genuinely doesn't seem to have a clue what empathy is.
  • Evil Gloating

Cartman: Hahahahaha I made you eat your parents.

  • Evil Is Petty: We all know just how large in scale Cartman's schemes can run, but he has no problem doing really petty crimes like toilet papering a teacher's house.
  • Evil Plan: Go to Somalia to gain massive profit: done. Tape crack babies fighting over drugs as an internet sensation to profit: done. Convince Cthulu to assist in mass slaughter and show up your friends: done. Oh hell, Cartman thrives on this trope.
  • Fat Bastard: In most episodes.
  • Faux Affably Evil
  • Flanderization: Inverted. Initially he was just a spoiled brat. Now he's incredibly intelligent, calculating, and actually has motivations for some of his actions. He's actually become more manipulative than ever to Kyle of all people; the Black Friday Trilogy shows him "warming up" to Kyle yet talking about having him taken care of as soon as he gets alone with Kenny. It's beyond eerie how Cartman is willing to put hatred aside to achieve a selfish goal and drop it at the turn of a dime when suiting him, illustrating just how sociopathic he can be.
  • Fluffy Tamer: Nothing else qualifies for taming Cthulhu.
  • Four-Temperament Ensemble: The Choleric.
  • Freudian Excuse: It's heavily implied that his friends' constant cruelty towards him and his mother's (unintentional) abuse is what drove him to become the sociopath that he is today.
  • The Friend Nobody Likes
  • Genius Ditz: Can easily manipulate people and appears to be able to speak fluent Spanish at age 9, but otherwise completely clueless about a lot of things.
    • In Funnybot, he also speaks and understands German fluently.
  • Heel Realization: On occasion. It doesn't last, though.
  • Heroic Comedic Sociopath: Even though he is a psychopath he has done some pretty heroic things such as saving the world from Saddam's reign in the movie, demolishing Osama bin Laden's army and crippling him, and saving the town from hippies when they got out of control.
  • I Am Big Boned
  • Identical Stranger: To Marlon Brando (Cartman joins NAMBLA) and a bit to Dakota Fanning (The Sketch).
  • Ignored Epiphany: In "Mysterion Rises".

Should I just apologize to my friends and ask them to take me back? Tell then that I was being a selfish jerk? [...] Should I admit I was wrong? Ask for everyone's forgiveness and go back to my original team? Apparently not.

  • Innocent Bigot: Cartman doesn't think he's being racist in "Cartman Finds Love" by playing matchmaker between Nichole and Token, the only two black students in the school. He considers what he is doing as helping nature take its course. Boy does he go to the extreme in defending his views there. And now somehow Cartman managed to fill a trope with the word 'innocent'.
  • Insane Troll Logic: Uses this a lot, memorably so in "Mystery of the Urinal Deuce", "Dancing With Smurfs" and "I Should Have Never Gone Ziplining".
  • It's All About Me
  • I Was Beaten by a Girl: And how!
  • Jerkass: More and more after each season.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Being The Sociopath that he is, he frequently lulls other characters (and the audience) into thinking he is this. He was actually this in seasons 1-4, and in season five became a Jerkass, growing worse and worse by the day. He's only civil when it suits him; putting his hatred aside with Kyle for instance when it benefits him but willing to turn on it in any given moment once said benefitting runs out.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: When finally appearing to do some good for a change, Cartman always has a hidden selfish or malicious reason for doing so.
  • Karma Houdini: While he usually does get some form of comeuppance, it's only temporary, usually(but not always) more of an inconvenience than any real punishment. He never suffers from any setback for longer than it takes for the next episode to air.
  • Knight Templar: He genuinely believes Jews are evil, apparently having had been convinced of it by Mel Gibson's films. Also subverted to a degree, as in a deleted scene from "The List" he seems to acknowledge he is a horrible person. This gets taken Up to Eleven in the new "Coon Saga", where he leads Cthulhu on a mass murdering spree, massacring the entire burning man festival, Justin Bieber and most of his fans, and the whole city of San Fransisco, all while thinking he's doing good.

Cartman: [Coon and Friends] will continue to fight for good and justice!
News Reporter: Good and justice? Justin Bieber and most of his fans have just been massacred.
Cartman: Yes, Coon and Friends are glad to help! No need to thank me.

  • Kids Are Cruel... but Cartman is evil.
  • Lack of Empathy: The Posterboy.
  • Large Ham: He's known for being an extremely campy character.
  • Last-Name Basis: Oddly, all the characters (except Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Wendy) refer to him as Eric, whereas everyone in the real world refers to him as Cartman, including the title of the very first episode. In-universe, he may be occasionally called Cartman by minor characters, though these are probably slip-ups on the writers' parts and occasional leanings on the fourth wall (such as when Randy says "That's our Cartman!").
  • Likable Villain: Everyone knows Cartman covers about half of the list of Evil Tropes, we've laugh at his antics for sixteen years.
  • Malicious Slander: When given the bully pullpit. Writes an entire book dedicated to slandering Wendy.
  • Manipulative Bastard: Frequently. Apparently to the point where he can control the dark god Cthulhu.
  • The Matchmaker: Cartman and Cupid-Me ship same-race couples, and he actively works to get them together.
  • Mistaken for Gay: Happens a few times, mostly with Kyle or Butters.
  • Motor Mouth: During the "Kyle's Mom's a Bitch" song from the movie.
    • Also in "Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut" once he hears "Come Sail Away" he stops everything to finish it in order to finish in the fastest way possible.
    • Invoked when attempting to explain a very long string of fabricated events in "Toilet Paper".

Cartman: Okay. Last night, all four of us were at the bowling alley until about 7:30, at which time we noticed Ally Sheedy, the Goth chick from the Breakfast Club, was bowling in the lane next to us, and we asked her for her autograph, but she didn't have a pen, so we followed her out to her car, but on the way we were accosted by five Scientologists who wanted to give us all personality tests, which were administered at the Scientology Center in Denver until 10:45, at which time we accidentally boarded the wrong bus home and ended up in Rancho de Burritos Rojos, south of Castle Rock, and finally got a ride home with a man who was missing his left index finger, named Gary Bushwell, arriving home at 11:46.

  • Eucatastrophe: Often. Usually is undone by his own doing.
  • Noble Bigot: In "Cartman Finds Love" he seems to really believe he is doing the right thing in setting Token up with Nichole despite his entire basis is his racism.
  • Noble Demon: Cartman risks serious trouble or imprisonment to protect a load of cats in "Major Boobage". There have also have been other times where he did stuff without wanting anything in return.
    • The show seems to be fond of leaving ambiguity as to whether Cartman does potentially noble acts for hidden selfish reasons or out of genuine conscience, "Kenny Dies" for example, either border him further into Jerkass territory or grant him Noble Demon qualities. Although knowing Cartman, this is most likely the former.
    • Cartman is apparently unaware of the parallels when Kyle asks pointedly whether he noticed the obvious historical parallel, after Cartman had risked arrest by harboring felines in his attic, despite Cartman earlier Hanging a Lampshade on it by suggesting his cat could "write a diary" while in hiding.
    • However, it should be noted that he only does anything "nice" if it will benefit him in some way, or will appeal to what warped sense of morality he has. His inability to understand what everyone else calls being "good" is brought to light a couple of times. For example, when called out by Kenny, we get this:

Cartman: I'm making the world a better place.
Kenny: For you!
Cartman: Right. That's what superheroes do.

  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Delivers one to Mosquito (Clyde) because Mosquito wanted to help people in the Gulf instead of framing blackmailing fellow heroes.
  • Nominal Hero: He'll sometimes do good deeds like save the town from hippies or save some crack babies, or stop a terrorist threat. Don't expect his motivations to have anything in common with the rest of the team. See the quote for Noble Demon
  • Obliviously Evil: In Coon arc, he really thinks he is making the world a better place by disposing of the people he don't like. Mysterion calls him on this.
  • Pet The Kitty and Cthulhu (literally).
  • Politically-Incorrect Villain Protagonist: Especially when it comes to Jews.
  • Refuge in Audacity: Cartman is so popular with the fans because of his extreme tendencies.
  • Shipper on Deck: For Token/Nichole. He goes to ridiculous amounts to get them together.
  • Shock and Awe: He temporarily gets the ability to shoot lightning out of his hands near the ending of South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut using the V-Chip in his head.
  • Sir Swearsalot: This trope applies to his friends as well, but to him more than anyone else.
  • Sissy Villain: Cartman likes to think he's imposing and dangerous but has basically no defense from being actually attacked. In one case, Kenny is able to easily stall him by lightly slapping at him.
    • In a later episode, he's perfectly willing to antagonize Wendy right up until she'll fight him, then spends the entire episode trying to avoid the conflict he willfully spawned.
  • Smug Snake: Usually alternates between this and Magnificent Bastard.
  • The Sociopath A given.
  • Sociopathic Hero: On occasion.
  • Son of a Whore: His mother had slept with the entire named adult population of South Park.
  • Spoiled Brat
  • Stealth Pun: He's literally a son of a bitch.
  • Ted Baxter
  • Tell Me About My Father: His mother is actually his father. OR NOT!
  • Token Evil Teammate: He puts Kenny (who is himself lecherous) to shame.
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: In season 5. He was already a Jerkass, but the evolution transformed from an obnoxious bully to an outright sociopath.
  • Tourette's Shitcock Syndrome: In an attempt to get away with swearing whenever he wants, he faked Tourette's Syndrome. It backfires on him when not watching what he says causes him to blurt out personal secrets.
  • Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: While Stan and Kyle have both shown moments of being wise beyond their years, Eric Cartman has shown himself to be unchildlike on an entirely different level. A more horrifying level.
  • The Unfettered: To comedic and sometimes horrific extents.
  • Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: And that's putting it lightly.
  • Verbal Tic: You guys... seriousleh...
  • Villain Protagonist: Emphasis on the villain part.
  • Villainous Glutton: As you can tell by looking at him.
  • Vocal Evolution: He had a higher and more grating voice in earlier seasons.
  • With Friends Like These...: His relationship with the other kids.
  • Would Hit a Girl: In his fight with Wendy, not that it helps him that much. He also beats up a little girl for being a fan of The Coon and Friends (of which he is no longer a member) in "Mysterion Rises."
  • You Are What You Hate: In the 200th episode, Cartman is agonized to learn that Scott Tenorman's dad, the guy he murdered and force-fed to Scott--is Cartman's own father...but not out of any guilt for what he did to him. Cartman's only upset because this means that he's "half-ginger."

Kenny McCormick

"All the time! I die all the time! And you assholes NEVER REMEMBER!"

The one with the orange parka. Lives with a very poor family, and often has to struggle to survive. Used to get killed off Once an Episode, but that's not the case anymore...usually, since Parker and Stone were getting tired of killing him off in every episiode and running out of original ways to kill him. Almost always speaks with a muffled voice, with various levels of intelligibility.

  • All Men Are Perverts: And Kenny is the worst.
  • Anti-Hero: Type I or Type II normally due to his more or less quiet indifference to joining in his friends insanity and distinctly more heroic personality, but he's only a type II during episodes where his "nasty" side comes out.
  • Back from the Dead: All the time. It's apparently his super power.
  • Badass: Mysterion is hardcore.
  • Blessed with Suck: Either that or Cursed with Awesome. His super power is being unable to die, and people don't remember that he died. He does, however and when Kyle remarks that being immortal would be cool, Kenny snaps that it's not cool, because he remembers every single one of his deaths.
  • Being Good Sucks: When it comes down to it, he will do the right thing, but due to his immortality no one remembers his Heroic Sacrifices.
  • Berserk Button: Do NOT mess with his sister. Mysterion will appear and tear you a new one if you do.
  • Big Brother Instinct: You don't want to mess with Karen McCormick. Mysterion will come and kick your ass, even if you are a girl.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Does this a couple of times, most notably in the Cthulhu trilogy and at the end of the Movie.
    • As of "The Poor Kid" is this to his little sister.
  • Big Good: As Mysterion, he's the unofficial leader of Coon And Friends, despite Cartman thinking that he's the leader.
  • Blue Eyes
  • Broken Masquerade: He's the only one (besides his parents) who knows/can remember that he keeps dying, and is aware of (and remembers) some of the Eldritch Abominations that the cast encounters.
  • Butt Monkey: For the early seasons, this was passed on to Butters later on, though like the other four boys he is still made to suffer at times.
  • Break the Cutie / Kill the Cutie: The universe loves to break or kill him. And then bring him back again.
  • Catch Phrase: WOOOO-HOOOO!!!, usually said after seeing or doing something sexual.
  • Cerebus Retcon: In season 14 (to awesome effect).
  • Character Development: He starts off as the most bland one of the four, and merely a prop. Nowadays he has a fully fleshed out character and even a superhero alter-ego.
  • The Chew Toy
  • Cosmic Plaything: The universe really hates him. Taken to extremes in "The List": Wendy and Bebe are fighting over a gun, then it accidentally discharges. Everyone in the vicinity checks themselves, and none have been shot. Cut to Kenny in his house miles away, where the bullet suddenly comes through the window and strikes him in the head.
    • It may be due to the universe not liking the spawn of Cthulhu in it.
  • Death Seeker: See the spoiler immediately below
  • Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Pretty much literally. Come on Cthulhu! Kill me you big pussy!
  • Die Laughing: In "Scott Tenorman Must Die".
  • Dying Moment of Awesome: In the Big Damn Movie, he dies dropping his hood to his friends and saying goodbye before setting the world back to the way it was and reviving all the dead.
  • Enfante Terrible: Becomes this in "Cartman Joins NAMBLA" when he tries every method he can think of to stop his younger sibling from being born.
  • Extreme Omnivore: Will eat anything for money.
  • The Faceless: Except for The Movie, "Good Times with Weapons", "The Losing Edge", "Meet the Jeffersons" and "Major Boobage". Also in "The Coon" and the "Coon and Friends" trilogy.
  • Flanderization: Think about how poor he is or how he's ignored. His perverted nature has also been exaggerated, though granted this has arguably broadened his character as well.
  • Four-Temperament Ensemble: The Sanguine.
  • The Generic Guy: Had little character outside dying once per episode, when this recurring gag ended, he had even less involvement in the show. He has gained more development in later episodes, but still has the least involvement of the other four main boys.
    • Until seasons 12 onwards, then his character is slowly fleshed out until we get Mysterion where Crazy Awesome starts to kick in.
  • Getting Crap Past the Radar: 'The Most Offensive Song Ever', good lord.
    • His muffled speech also.
    • In the opening credits for the first five seasons, Kenny's muffled dialogue is "I like girls with big vaginas, I like girls with big fat titties". This remains intact in all reruns, because you can't really hear it.
  • Good Is Not Nice: He may be ready to pull out all stops to get high or get laid but he's an honestly nice guy who cares about his friends (well... Stan and Kyle anyway), and when it comes to other people he will do the right thing (including willing to die for people, and has executed a Heroic Sacrifice on more than one occasion), even if he hates having to do it. But if he gets the chance to take revenge on some bastard who pissed him off or did the wrong thing (mostly Cartman) he will take it.
  • Guttural Growler: As Mysterion.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: He died this way 2 or 3 times, including the end of The Movie. Subverted in that he has often been shown to be aware of his constant coming Back from the Dead, so it probably wasn't a too big sacrifice for him on those occasions. Turns out he is aware of his revivals, and it really fucking hurts. Unfortunately no one else is aware of his sacrifice.
  • The Hedonist: Far too interested in sex and drugs for his own good. And he will do anything to get high.
    • Fridge Brilliance: He's trying to cope with the memories of all his painful deaths and the knowledge that he could face more. Granted, not the healthiest way of coping, but still...
    • Kenny keeps coming back from the dead. Why the heck would he worry about using "healthy" coping at all?
    • He's probably more concerned about how to lessen the SUCK of dying all the time.
    • It probably gotten to the point that he is so jaded about dying and the pain associated with it that he honestly doesn't care about it any more, and without the fear of pain or death, there is only the pursuit of (momentary?) pleasure left in his life.
  • Humanoid Abomination: The source of his immortality has something to do with the Cult of Cthulhu and R'lyeh.
  • In the Hood: A defining example. Not counting his time as Mysterion, he's dropped his hood less than 10 occasions, and when asked by a nurse while he was dying this one time why he insisted on wearing it, he only shrugged. His hood also has been suggested to attract bad luck to him, and although he has died without it, you really have to wonder why he's insistent on keeping it on. Also, for those who are new to South Park and may be wondering, he has Blond Shonen Hair underneath it.
  • Kids Are Cruel: Like Stan and Kyle, to some extent, though much more subdued later on.
    • See Good Is Not Nice
    • Though he's much more of a Jerkass than Stan and Kyle, due to the fact that he sides with Cartman a lot. An example is "Whale Whores", where he and Cartman join Stan, just because they both want to appear on tv, not because they intend to help Stan. Plus, he's not really interested in doing good most of the time (except for "The Coon And Friends" Trilogy), his primary interests being sex and drugs. He's also much more foul-mouthed than the rest of the kids.
  • Knight Templar Big Brother: Don't mess with his little sister Karen, or you WILL face the consequences.
  • Living Prop: One of the reasons for his eventual replacement. He came back, though.
  • Lovecraftian Superpower: Played so straight that Kenny aka. Mysterion may as well be the first "lovecraftian superhero"
  • Lovable Sex Maniac: YMMV on the lovable part, but he's pretty well recieved amongst the fandom and he is definitely a sex maniac. As a matter of fact, one episode even medically diagnosed him as a "Sex Addict"
  • Mauve Shirt: Nowadays he tends to only get killed off once a season or so.
  • Meaningful Name: Kenny means "born of fire". What does young Mr. McCormick and the mythological phoenix have in common?
  • Mundane Utility: If Kenny ever feels tired, he can just kill himself and wake up after a night of sleep.
  • Nietzsche Wannabe: His "superpower" might've made him a borderline case, see his whole Hedonist entry for more details
  • One-Scene Wonder: Did very little except die once per episode. Has gained Character Development in later episodes. Arguably still has little involvement outside a single memorable gag per episode, though at least it has actual character involvement now.
  • Only Sane Man: In his family.
  • The Other Darrin: His unmuffled voice in the movie was provided by Mike Judge (the man behind Beavis and Butthead, King of the Hill, Idiocracy, and Office Space); on the show, it's provided by Eric Stough. His muffled voice is provided by Matt Stone.
  • Out of Focus
  • Shonen Hair: Under the hood
  • The Stoner: He doesn't have the "surfer accent", but Kenny has had an entire episode dedicated to him getting high on catpiss and Cartman once mentioned that he enjoys getting high by paint-sniffing.
  • The Quiet One: He doesn't speak in several later episodes.
  • They Killed Kenny: Trope Namer.
  • The Unintelligible: Usually Kenny's speech is muffled by his parka, allowing his dialogue to be far more profane than the other characters' at times. However, there have been a few occasions where he has taken off the hood and been able to speak intelligibly, such as the end of the movie, "The Jeffersons", and whenever he appears as Mysterion.
  • Would Hit a Girl: If you mess with Karen McCormick, Kenny will invoke this one.

Leopold "Butters" Stotch

Who's the boy who can laugh at a storm cloud?
Turn a frown into a smile for free?
Who's the kid with the heart full of magic?

Everyone knows it's Butters!
—Butters: Th-That's me!

One of the kids at South Park Elementary. Became a main character shortly after "Kenny Dies" (and actually temporarily stayed dead). A wide eyed idealist who should be commended for remaining so after the world tries its hardest to give him reasons not to be.

  • Abusive Parents: And how. They ground him for pretty much everything short of breathing, try to sell him to Paris Hilton, beat the crap out of him after Cartman cusses them out on the phone, even try to murder him in one episode, and chain him in the basement for a week at the end of another.
    • They are saints compare to his Grandma, who bullies him constantly.
  • Aerith and Bob
  • A Man Is Not a Virgin / Sex as Rite-of-Passage: "Becoming a man" after getting his first kiss in "Butters' Bottom Bitch" is an obvious metaphor for these tropes.
  • Apologises a Lot: Please refer to Abusive Parents and Butt Monkey
  • Ascended Extra
  • Badass: Of all people, he becomes this in The Last of the Meheecans. Him crossing the border was definitely his Crowning Moment of Awesome.
  • Badass Unintentional: Last of the Meheecans has him turn into this outright.
  • Bumbling Sidekick: From Cartman's perspective, since they are usually portrayed as equally bumbling.
  • Butt Monkey
  • Camp Straight: Butters is probably the straightest kid in the show - he's been clearly attracted to at least two girls and has never displayed any Ho-Yay, but he has a lot of interest in the things the other boys think of as gay, such as dancing, music and art.
  • Characterization Marches On: Butters seems to be getting more Genre Savvy throughout the seasons. Examples include "The Ungroundable," "Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs," and "The Human CentiPad"
  • Cheerful Child: despite being the Butt Monkey by everyone, including his own parents.
  • Children Are Innocent: The closest thing the show has; however Butters-centric episodes often subvert this, such as "Butters' Bottom Bitch".
  • Cute Shotaro Boy
  • The Ditz
  • Enfant Terrible: P-professor Chaos!
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Although he rages against the world as Professor Chaos, he just doesn't want to blow up a hospital because "it just seems mean." Of course, he's not exactly that evil to begin with.
  • Evil Is Petty: His evil deeds as Professor Chaos are mostly limited to stealing chalkboard erasers, switching restaurant orders, and trying to flood the earth with a garden hose.
  • Four-Temperament Ensemble: The Supine.
  • Girls Have Cooties: The nearest Butters has to a vindictive trait is his childish disgust of girls, though he is still rather friendly to certain female characters at times.
  • Gosh Dang It to Heck: Uses phrases like "Aw, hamburgers!", "fiddlesticks." and "Son of a biscuit!" The few times he does curse are usually Crowning Moments of Awesome.
  • Got Volunteered: Happens all the time even now.
  • Harmless Villain: Professor Chaos. His plots range from really idiotic to merely not very well thought out (as seen on the episodes "Professor Chaos" and "The Simpsons Already Did It"). Doesn't seem to understand the concept of bacteria (the mayonnaise plot) infecting disease though as he thought it would just be annoying.
  • Kiddie Kid: While the other kids are based on how they act when adults aren't around, (which can be very much Truth in Television) Butters is based on the belief adults hold about kids, being way more innocent and friendly than his classmates.
  • Kindhearted Simpleton
  • Lethal Klutz: In a flashback, the last time Butters tap-danced in "The Tap Tragedy", he accidentally killed eight people.
  • The Messiah: In the Imaginationland trilogy.
  • Mistaken for Gay: Zig-zagged - the other boys often call Butters a fag, but this seems to be more of a slur directed at his more innocent interests. However in "Cartman Sucks", Butters is sent to a Sexual Correction Camp and in "Raisins," after Butters tells his parents about falling for a Raisins girl, it's revealed that Butters' parents bet on their son's sexuality.
  • Mr. Imagination: Pretty much The Chosen One in the Imaginationland trilogy.
    • And if you think of the kids' ninja battles as being between their residual self images, his imagination's powerful enough for him to steamroll Stan and Kyle at the same time, and they acknowledge it in their game.
  • Naive Newcomer
  • Nice Guy
  • Pollyanna
  • Punny Name: Butters Stotch ===> Butterscotch
  • The Renfield: Though he does let out feelings of contempt toward Cartman every now and then.
  • Running Gag: Pulling his pants all the way down to pee.
    • Getting grounded.
  • Sixth Ranger: Up until after the events of "Kenny Dies".
  • Token Wholesome
  • Too Dumb to Live: He keeps believing that Cartman is a friend, when really Cartman just wants to either embarrass him, or get him in trouble.
  • Wholesome Crossdresser: So far, he disguised himself as a girl named Marjorine to steal a device that assumedly sees into the future from the girls (he even got a makeover during this), and dressed up as Courtney Love as part of Cartman's plot to force Captain Hindsight into joining his superhero team. In "Douche Vs Turd" Cartman gets Butters to dress up as a Luau dancer.
  • You Are Grounded: Butters fears this more than any other punishment in the world.

Randy Marsh

"Stan? Staaan?"

Stan's dad, a geologist (and thus the only non-mad scientist in South Park; sometimes). Deficient in common sense, but makes up for it with great passion and enthusiasm for... well, whatever happens to be the focus of the episode. The de facto leader of the town whenever they face a threat.

I don't know, and even if I did know then... I'd probably just tell you because I don't want to be here anymore.

  • Flanderization: He used to be fairly intelligent until season 6. Now he's growing increasingly more stupid.
  • Foil: Stan, the sanest kid, has the craziest parent.
  • Giving the Sword to A Noob: The nominal noob.
  • Hypocrite: Randy is frequently the most hypocritical character in the show.
  • Jerkass
  • Karma Houdini: Thus far Randy doesn't seem to have learned any real lessons from being an idiot.
  • Large Ham: Randy pretty much embodies this trope.
  • Man Child
  • Old Shame: He joined a boy band before finishing high school.
  • Porn Stache
  • Running Gag: His pants falling when he gets drunk.
  • Serious Business: Whatever the focus of the episode is, he's taking it waaaay too seriously.
  • Snap Back: Quits/gets fired at least 4 times.
  • Stage Names: He performed his interpretation of Tween Wave music as "Steamy Ray Vaughn".
  • Too Dumb to Live: Oh, yeah...
    • For example, he thought Tween Wave music actually involves crapping your pants in a song.
  • Took a Level In Dumbass: Takes a level every episode he appears in, and probably the ones where he doesn't appear, too.
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: Starting in "My Future Self 'n Me."
  • Tuckerization: Parker named Randy after his own father.
  • Write Who You Know: Out of all the characters loosely based on real people, Randy is the least loose, as both are geologists, that is how Trey draws his father, that is Trey doing an impression of his father's voice (especially in the earlier seasons), and Randy Parker's stepfather's surname was Marsh, meaning he grew up known as Randy Marsh.

Other Students

Jimmy Valmer

"Wow, what a terrific audience."

A crippled boy with a speech impediment and a stutter. Also a fantastic stand-up comedian.

Clyde Donovan

"You, sir, mocked Cartman before, yet you two sit here demanding answers! Now, damn you, let him speak!"

A boy in Stan's class. Second fattest after Cartman. Had a colostomy at age 5.

  • All Men Are Perverts: Not nearly as much as Kenny, though.
  • Bi the Way: He went out with Bebe, but he also had some sort of attraction toward Butters, when he was dressed as Marjorine.
  • Book Dumb
  • Butt Monkey
  • Character Development: Started off as simply the first/only kid to talk once all the primary students had been used. Is eventually retooled as a wimp.
  • A Day in the Limelight: "Lice Capades" and "Reversed Cowgirl".
  • The Ditz
  • Fan of the Underdog: Surprisingly, he's one of the few people who support Cartman in some of his plans.
  • Fanon: Clyde having a one testicle seems to be seen as an actual in-universe rumor, despite the fact that Cartman explicitly says they should just make stories up.
  • The Generic Guy: Though he has been played out as the wimpiest kid who isn't blonde and the second-most submissive to Cartman (even moreso than Liane these days), it's hard to describe Clyde as anything other than "the Boy who isn't black/rich/deadpan/crippled/twitchy/a main character/a prop/Mintberry Crunch/a Star Wars fan/dirty/dead."
  • Informed Attribute / Informed Flaw: His status as the second fattest kid in the class is not in any way visible due to the animation.
  • Kids Are Cruel: May be a subversion. He appears to be one of the nicer kids in the class (just watch "Lice Capades"), and the few times he is cruel is either by an accident or when he really does not know he is being cruel (like in "The List").
    • Though he is also the only kid shown to be unfazed by the murder during the morning announcements, although it's possible he simply didn't understand what was happening.
  • Nice Guy
  • Self-Made Orphan: Poor guy just kept forgetting to put the toilet seat down.

Token Black

"There's no one in town I can relate to
I play with autographed baseball bats

while everyone else just plays with sticks and pine cones

Has a boy ever felt so alone?"

The only black kid in South Park. Extremely rich.

Craig Tucker

"Do you guys know why nobody else at school likes hanging out with you? Because you're always doing stuff like this. You're always coming up with some stupid idea to do something, and then it backfires, and then you end up in some foreign country, or in outer space or something. That's why no one likes hanging out with you guys."

One of the 4th graders who attends South Park Elementary. He is implied to have bad behaviour, and is referred to as "the biggest trouble-maker" in his class by Eric Cartman in "Tweek vs. Craig". Craig has a habit of flipping people off, whether to express disdain toward them or not.

  • Anti-Hero: Type IV. Although all the children have negative traits, Craig stands out as being distinctly assertive and a complete bully, leading his classmates into the beating of defenseless kids.
    • In recent episodes however he is much more passive aggressive and stoic, not as attentive to bullying others as before (though still gets the odd laugh out of it).
  • Bad Boss: In episode "South Park Is Gay!", when the main characters are first shown viewing Craig's gang as rivals.
  • Blue Eyes: As shown when they pretend to be warriors, in the anime-styled episode.
  • The Bully: See Anti-Hero above.
  • Butt Monkey: To a lesser extent, in "Tweek vs. Craig." Cartman, Kyle, Stan and Kenny fool him and Tweek into fighting.
  • Catch Phrase: "If I could [random thing that involves swearing or insulting someone] I would be sooooo happy."
    • Earlier in the show he has a habit of flipping people off.
  • Characterization Marches On: Prior to the "Pandemic" two-parter, he was an egotistical rival for the other boys, as opposed to an extremely stoic passive aggressive Deadpan Snarker. He was also shown to be just as willing to do crazy things as the Boys.
  • The Chosen One: In "Pandemic 2". He's not happy about it.
  • A Day in the Limelight: "Pandemic" and "Pandemic 2: The Startling"
  • Deadpan Snarker: Probably the biggest Deadpan Snarker on this show.

Craig: This is fun. Let's walk for miles through a spooky jungle. It just keeps getting better and better.

  • The Drag Along
  • Dysfunctional Family: No, really, have you seen his family's habit?
  • Flipping the Bird
  • Genre Savvy: In "Pandemic" he knows Stan and his friends have gotten involved in another insane adventure and wants no part of it.
  • Good Is Not Nice: The fact that he is actually good is arguable.
  • Jerkass: He's probably the most violent kid in his class (or second, after Cartman), as he's seen being the primary leader in every bullying that occurs at school. Not to mention that he enjoys tormenting other kids, this being one of the few reasons he smiles. In early episodes, he was always shown going to the counselor, due to his cynicism and disrespect towards the other characters.
  • Kids Are Cruel
  • Not Good with People: In the early episodes, it didn't matter who talked to him. He gave the finger.
  • Perpetual Frowner: If he isn't stoical, he's this.
  • The Rival: To the Boys
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Delivers his above quote to the 4 boys to explain to them why nobody else at school consistently hangs out with them.
  • The Stoic: In the early seasons, he has a blank face, most of the time, even when he flips people off.
    • Not So Stoic: Especially in the latter episodes, after his development. He is occasionally seen smirking or laughing, usually when he mocks someone.
    • How stoic he seems to be a case of Depending on the Writer, going back and forth between being a completely emotionless snarker and an excitable brat from episode to episode.
  • Tall, Dark and Handsome: Implied in the show. The fact that he is definitely taller than the rest of kids is obvious in "South Park Is Gay!", where Craig and three other classmates wear identical clothes and Craig's pants are drawn much longer than the others'. Plus, the creators draw him taller most of the time, as he wears high-waisted, dark pants that make his legs appear longer, especially in latter episodes, probably to accentuate the fact that he's older. To top all this, in "T.M.I", it's mentioned that Craig has grown the most from all the boys, gaining 2.4 inches, which implies that Craig is perhaps the tallest boy in his class. Also, the Fandom sees him as this.
  • Tall, Dark and Snarky
  • Tourette's Shitcock Syndrome: Averted in the earlier seasons with his uncontrollable flipping of the bird; wishes he had the stereotype.

"[Cartman]'s the luckiest kid in the world. If I could say "shitballs" to the principal I would be so happy."

"If I could say/yell "asspussy"/"tampon dick-shit"/"titty sprinkles" to the counselor/in the classroom/on national television I would be so happy."

"Wow, you're [the boy with Tourette's] the coolest kid in the world. If I could call Chris Hanson an "asshole licking dick-fart" to his face I would be so happy."

Tweek Tweak

"GAH! That is way too much pressure!"

A constantly nervous and paranoid boy with wild blond hair. Constantly twitching because of all the coffee he drinks.

Wendy Testaburger

"Will somebody do something? Every week he gets worse and nobody does anything!"

A girl in Stan's class, and his primary love interest. Broke up with him in season 7, got back together at the end of season 11.

"Don't fuck with me."

Fuck Gregory! Fuck him right in the ear!

Timmy Burch

"TIMMEH!"

A boy in a wheelchair who can only say his name. Friends with Jimmy.

  • Breakout Character
  • Demoted to Extra: After being built up to be a major secondary character, he was ultimately replaced by the easier-to-write-for Jimmy.
  • Handicapped Badass: His wheelchair doesn’t stop him, even if he’s going to fight.
  • Inspirationally Disadvantaged: Parodied: he's often used to parody various social issues relating to the disabled. Otherwise, he and Jimmy are far more inspirationally treated as just another couple of students by their classmates and everyone else.
  • Pokémon-Speak: "Timmy!" is the only word he can say somewhat intelligently. Bizarrely, both of his parents are also like this.

Bebe Stevens

"Having boobs sucks."

One of Wendy's friends. Hates her boobs and thinks Kyle has a sweet ass.


Pip Pirrup

"Cheeri-o! My name is Pip. I would like to see if you wouldn't mind not smashing our little town to bits."

British. Constantly called "Frenchie". Everyone hates him.

Everyone: Shut up, Pip!

The Goth Kids

"If you wanna be one of the non-conformists, all you have to do is dress just like us and listen to the same music we do."

Four kids who hang out behind the school smoking and talking about how life is full of pain. They hate Twilight.

The names of each as follow from left to right: Pete, Henrietta Biggle, Firkle, and Michael.

  • Angst: Part of their character, but mostly Henrietta, and to a lesser extent, the tall Goth.
  • Ax Crazy: The smallest goth (Firkle), who worships Cthulhu and carries around a switchblade.

Firkle: No one will stop Cthulhu now. All will be sadness. Life will become death, and I will watch the crimson blood leak from your neck!
Michael: Dude, that little kid is hardcore goth!
Pete: Hardcore goth!

  • A Day in the Limelight: "The Ungroundable", "Goth Kids 3: Dawn of the Posers"
  • Character Tic: Pete often flips it in between sentences.
  • Enfante Terrible: Firkle.
  • Hypocritical Humor: Most of their humour comes from being rebellious and talking about breaking norms, while being cookie-cutter stereotypes.
  • Smoking Is Cool
  • Smurfette Principle
  • Wangst: Intentional. Henrietta constantly complains about the horrible things her parents do to her, such as...refusing to let her go to a concert because her aunt is coming over...and complaining about the clothes she wears. Her mother is shown as wonderfully loving, which suggests that her reasons for being goth are slightly whinier than the others.

The Sixth Graders

"BOOBS!"

The Boys' bullies, led by a kid whose shirt has a picture of his face on it.

Kevin Stoley

"Perhaps we could use it to strengthen our star cruisers."

Minor background character in the Boys' class and a Star Wars fan. Usually unimportant, but joined Cartman's pirate crew in "Fatbeard."

  • Asian and Nerdy: While we don't know about his grades, definitely qualifies as a geek.
  • Geek
  • Living Prop
  • One Steve Limit: Averted. Kevin is also the name of Kenny's brother, and Mephesto's sidekick, both of whom are even more prop-like.
  • Phrase Catcher: "Kevin... goddamn it" said by Cartman when Kevin shows his love for Star Wars at an inappropriate times (such as carrying a toy lightsaber to Cartman's pirate club).
  • Retcon: Introduced as a Chinese-American. Also, his last name was Brooks in "My Future Self n' Me."

Dougie

"What evil plot do you have this time, Professor Chaos?"

Younger nerdier friend of Butters. Joins the latter in his quest to destroy the world after being rejected by the other kids, under the alias of Professor Chaos' minion; General Disarray.

Bradley Biggle

"Sometimes, when everything seems hopeless, that's when you need to bring it all. That's when you need...TO BRING THE CRUNCH!"

A mild-mannered, attractive fourth grader, younger adopted brother of Henrietta the goth, and America's favorite superhero, Mintberry Crunch.

Family Members

Sharon Marsh

"It's like, the same shit just happens over and over and then in a week it just all resets until it happens again. Every week it's kind of the same story in a different way, but it just keeps getting more and more ridiculous!"

Stan's mom. Much saner than her husband. Not that that says much.

  • Closer to Earth: Duh.
  • A Day in the Limelight: Although it is only the B-story, "Crème Fraiche" is the only time we follow Sharon without Stan or Randy.
  • Hot Mom: According to the Sixth Graders, who go through great efforts to gain a picture of her breasts.
    • After days of trying, Butters managed to get a semen sample after thinking about them.
    • They stand out more when she's in her undergarments or a tight dress.
  • Informed Attribute: See "Hot Mom" above and the picture at right.
  • Only Sane Woman: She's really the only one of the boys' parents who is semi-normal.
  • The Other Darrin: After Wendy, she has the most noticeable change in voices.
  • Tuckerization: She's named after Parker's mom, too.

Jimbo and Ned

"It's coming right for us!"

Stan's Uncle (Jimbo) and his old Vietnam war buddy who lost his arm due to a grenade explosion and speaks with a voice box thanks to a laryngectomy he had to have for his throat cancer. They own the local gun store and love to go hunting.

Jimbo: Whoo! Let's go kill some god damn Australians!
Ned: I think we are actually fighting Canadians.
Jimbo: Canadians, Australians, what the hell's the difference?

Shelley Marsh

"Shut up, turd!"

Stan's older sister, who cruelly bullies him to ridiculous levels.

Marvin Marsh

"I killed my grandpa when I was your age."

Stan and Shelley's grandfather and Randy's father. Calls Stan, "Billy," and has been suicidal since he turned 102.

Gerald Broflovski

"So call me, Kyle's dad. Because it's not about money, it's about… wait, what am I saying? Call me!"

Kyle's dad, and a wealthy lawyer.

  • All Men Are Perverts
  • Amoral Attorney: Once exploited the town, who was on a suing spree for sexual harassment, to make enough money to get a bigger house.
  • Closer to Earth: A rare male example. He does do some stuff of questionable morality, but by and large, it's his wife leading the mass suicides and starting wars over trivial things.
    • Though after The Movie, the relationship seems to have reversed.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: In recent seasons, coinciding with Depending on the Writer.
  • Tuckerization: Continuing the pattern, he's named after Stone's father.

Sheila Broflovski

"Whatwhatwhaaaat?!"

Kyle's mom. A "big fat bitch", according to Cartman.

Remember what the MPAA says. Horrific, deplorable violence is okay, as long as people don't say any naughty words or there's no explicit sex/nudity shown!

Ike Broflovski

Ike (season 1): Zeeponanner.
Ike (season 13): I feel like an asshole.

Kyle's baby brother, very smart for his age.

Kyle Schwartz

"I'm back!"

Kyle's cousin Kyle, called "Kyle 1" by Sheila. Became a millionaire.

Liane Cartman

"Yes, darling. You can have whatever you want."

Cartman's mom and[2] dad, who lets him get away with anything.

  • Dope Slap: Believe it or not, there are a handful of episodes where she whacks Cartman after he says something offensive.
  • Extreme Doormat: It turns out in one episode that she spoils Cartman for his attention, because she doesn't have any real friends.
    • In "Coon 2: Hindsight", she actually grounds Cartman for beating up his friends and cursing. She quickly falls before the LeBron James Technique however.
  • Flanderization: Inverted since the show has rather seldom shown her doing anything promiscuous in recent seasons, in favor of playing out her submissive traits.
  • Hermaphrodite: Revealed in the season 1 finale/season 2 premiere two-part episode "Cartman's Mom Is (Still) a Dirty Slut."
    • In "201", its revealed that Liane is indeed Cartman's mother, she's not a hermaphrodite, and his father was Jack Tenorman.
  • Hooker with a Heart of Gold: One of the few truly decent people in South Park.
  • In the Blood: In one episode where she takes the kids to visit her relatives, almost all of them act like Cartman, except his grandmother, who acts like Liane.
  • Really Gets Around: She's a prostitute who's slept with the entire adult population of South Park.

Stephen and Linda Stotch

Linda: Oh, Stephen, I don't know if we should ground him or call a doctor.
Stephen: No, I think you'd better call a doctor. I'll ground him.

Butters' authoritarian parents. Extremely strict, especially Stephen, and it's debated over how mentally stable either of them are. Close friends of the Marshes and Broflovskis, but not well-developed.

  • Abusive Parents: Both physically and emotionally. It's just that no attention has been drawn to it yet (which can be Truth in Television).
  • All Crimes Are Equal: Ground Butters for any punishment, no matter how petty, or occasionally, extreme the actual crime is.
  • All Men Are Perverts: Stephen, along with every other man in the town, in "The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to the Two Towers."
  • Catch Phrase: You Are Grounded (in various ways).
  • Characterization Marches On: Linda's personality in seasons 5 and 6 can be quite jarring, most notably trying to drown Butters in "Butters's Very Own Episode" and both of them physically beating him in "Jared Has Aides." In contrast Linda is played as the more gentle and submissive of the two in later seasons, usually only going along with punishing Butters under Stephen's influence.
  • Depraved Bisexual: Stephen.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Stephen and Linda.
    • Pet the Dog: Despite his authoritarian attitude to parenting and his questionable attitude to discipline, he seems to show genuine love and concern for Butters on a regular basis. At the very least he seems to be a more devoted parent than Randy as of recently.
  • Jerkass: They were willing to sell their son to Paris Hilton. She offered $200 million. They haggled for $250 million.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: Stephen is portrayed as the Only Sane Man when it comes to the Muhammad controversy.
  • Karma Houdini: They have yet to get any real comeuppance for their treatment of Butters.
  • Retcon: In earlier episodes, Stephen's name was Chris. For a while they jumped back and forth until settling on Stephen.

Stuart and Carol McCormick

Carol: Yes. Kenny's such a great name. My little Kenny, a brand-new Kenny.
Stuart: God, this must be the fiftieth time this has happened.

Carol: Fifty-second.

Kenny's unemployed, neglectful, drug-addicted parents.

  • The Alcoholic: Both of them, but Stuart seems to be the town alcoholic.
  • The Chew Toy: Stuart in "Cartman Joins NAMBLA." In his words, he's had his "nuts broken..." (from Kenny hurling a baseball at his crotch), "body poisoned..." (when Kenny tried to give his mom a chocolate milk and vodka cocktail spiked with morning-after abortion pills, and Stuart drank it after Carol declined), "...and have been made love to in the ass by three dozen 40-year-old men" (which was actually his fault, as he was looking for Kenny and walked into the wrong hotel room). He also broke his nose and got violently ill on North Park Funland's "John Denver Experience" ride.
  • Domestic Abuse: On the season two episode, "Chicken Lover," Stuart and Carol appeared on an episode of COPS where Stuart is being beaten up by Carol for being a lazy alcoholic who can't hold down a job.
    • Dialogue seems to indicate that they both beat on each other a lot, but it's true that on-screen we only ever see it go one way.
      • Further applied in "Make Love Not Warcraft". The teaser depicted a shot of Stuart just about to slug his wife, but cuts off just beforehand. The finished episode has this altered to Carol actually shown beating Stuart up onscreen.
  • Groin Attack: Stuart becomes the victim of this in "Cartman Joins NAMBLA."
  • Noodle Incident: Apparently, Mysterion (really Kenny) did something really brutal to them, as they cower at the sight of him.
  • Parental Neglect: Cartman pointed out in "The Wacky Molestation Adventure" that Kenny never tells his parents where he is because "they're alcoholics and they don't care."
  • Stoners Are Funny: More like "Drunks are Funny," but the principle's the same.

Karen McCormick

Kenny's adorable little sister.

  • Children Are Innocent
  • Fragile Flower: Karen's pretty sensitive; she cries at the drop of a hat.
  • Shrinking Violet
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: Kenny was mentioned to have a sister even back in season 1 press releases, though she seemed more like Ike's age back then, and was supposed to pop up in Starvin Marvin but never did. She made one appearance in a season 9 episode but didn't pop up ever again until season fifteen.

South Park Elementary School Staff

Chef (Jerome McElroy)

"Hello there, children!"

The school chef and token minority of the early seasons (Seasons 1-9). The former go-to guy for advice for the boys, which was often dispensed in R-rated song about making love to women.

  • Dropped a Bridge on Him: And then they pulled him out from the rubble and rebuilt him as Darth Chef. This was because Real Life Writes the Plot.
  • Hey, It's That Voice!: Darth Chef was voiced by Peter Serafinowicz, a British Telly actor famous across The Pond as the voice of Darth Maul and a role in Shaun of the Dead.
    • Not to mention Isaac freakin' Hayes.
  • Killed Off for Real: Or maybe not.
  • Magical Negro: In fact, while he was on the show he seemed to be the only adult with any kind of common sense.
    • Subverted when he sometimes decides that helping the boys would be more trouble than it's worth (in "Simpsons Already Did It", for example, he starts singing a song when he realizes the boys just told him that they killed their teacher and the autopsy found their "sea men" in her stomach, and he starts preparing to send them to Thailand instead). And when Chef goes crazy, he really goes crazy.
    • In the episode "Red Hot Catholic Love", when the confused boys asked Chef why and what the priest want to put something on their butts, he walks away.
  • Mentor Occupational Hazard: Although this is really just because his voice actor quit (and later died).
  • N-Word Privileges, subverted: He calls the boys "Crackers."
    • Of course, the boys don't even know what it means.(Although Cartman does later on, as he says to Stan: "Token is gonna want to kick your cracker teeth in!)
  • Only Sane Man: At least among the other adults.
    • Until the time of his death when he was brainwashed into becoming a child molester.
  • Pluralses: While brainwashed by the Super Adventure Club, he at one point tells Kyle, "I specializes in your asshole."
  • Take Our Word for It: Whenever the children ask about something he really doesn't want to tell them.
  • Token Minority: The only non-white adult in the town in the early seasons.
  • Verbal Tic: Always greets the kids with "Hello there, children.", even if there's only one of them.
    • His father has also been heard using "children" when referring to one child. Although it was Cartman, so it could have been a fat joke.
  • What Could Have Been: Barry White was supposed to be the voice of Chef, but due to White's Christian upbringing, turned down the role. Kinda funny, considering that Isaac Hayes was a Scientologist and quit doing South Park because the show offended his religion.
  • Where Da White Women At?: He has had sex with white women (cf. "An Elephant Makes Love to a Pig," where, while watching Kyle's elephant make love to Cartman's pig, Chef realizes that it's similar to the many times he's made it with a white woman), but really, he's not picky.

Mr./Ms. Herbert/Janet Garrison

(During the sex-change operation)

"I tell you, there's some crazy stuff going on in this town."

The boys' eccentric homeroom teacher throughout most of the series. He used to carry a sarcastic hand puppet with him (two, actually - Mr. Hat and Mr. Twig), but later left them behind. His gender and sexual preferences have been in constant flux.

Please, don't take me. Take the children, they're worth more for you!

  • Depraved Homosexual: To quote Chef: "Children, there's a difference between gay people, and Mr. Garrison."
    • Then again, he's been a Depraved Heterosexual too.
      • He's a depraved whatever-his-orientation-is-at-the-moment.
  • Dynamic Character
  • First Law of Gender Bending: Subverted in Season 12 when his female- to- male sex change operation turns out to be a success.
  • Freudian Excuse: Inverted. He has been deeply tormented all his life because his father didn't molest him as a child.
  • Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: He was this way before coming out of the closet.
  • Jerkass
  • Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Whenever he tries to teach children. From the first episode alone: "Christopher Columbus discovered America and was the Indians' best friend. He helped the Indians win their war against Frederick Douglass, and freed the Hebrews from Napoleon, and discovered France."
  • Rape Is Love: Believed that his father didn't love him because he was never molested by him as a child. Strangely, his mother feels the same way and is shocked to find out it never happened.
  • Sadist Teacher: His emotional imbalances cause him to be this sometimes.
  • Straw Misogynist:

Well I'm sorry, I just don't trust something that bleeds for five days and doesn't die.

Mr. Mackey

"Drugs are bad, mkay?"

SPE's guidance counselor with a very large head. Incredibly mellow, mkay?

  • Clueless Aesop: Often tries to deliver messages to the kids with no logic or knowledge behind them. At one point he fails at teaching sex ed because he's forgotten how it works.
  • Drugs Are Bad: The Trope Namer, heavily parodied. When Mr. Mackey gave an anti-drug speech to the class, he got hopped up on marijuana himself for a while.
  • Flanderization: Seemed to go through one since "Insheeption"(season 14 episode).
  • Hair-Trigger Temper: He seems to have developed quite a nasty one recently, for example "Insheeption" and "Royal Pudding".
  • Stern Teacher
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: In "Royal Pudding", overlapping with No Indoor Voice and Out-of-Character Moment, and all because of a play about tooth decay. The reason? Tooth decay took his father's life.
  • Verbal Tic: Mr. Mackey ends most of his sentences with "mkay?"
    • The Movie reveals he uses "mkay?" as a replacement for the word "fuck."

Diane Choksondik

A grossly big-breasted woman who temporarily teaches the 4th graders until her death in Season 6.


Principal Victoria

"Oo my, what an exciting day!"

The principal of South Park Elementary, constantly trying to please everyone and failing.

  • Benevolent Boss: Sometimes.
  • Berserk Button: She has zero tolerance for jokes about breast cancer because she's a survivor of it.
    • To the point where she not only allowed, but ENCOURAGED Wendy to beat up Cartman for making fun of it.
  • Just a Stupid Accent: For some reason, she has a Minnesotan accent.
  • Meaningful Name: A Spoonerism of Dallas actress' Victoria Principal's name.
  • Moral Dissonance: In "Breast Cancer Show Ever", she specifically advises Wendy to beat up classmate Eric Cartman for making jokes about breast cancer. While some see this as her Crowning Moment of Awesome, Fridge Logic kicks in when you realize that a school staff member specifically told someone to use violence to solve their problems.
    • Violence against Cartman. She didn't specifically say anything about beating up Cartman. Just implied it heavily.
    • In Sexual Harassment Panda, she claims she killed somebody and tried to burn the body.
    • She's also pretty blatantly homophobic, firing Mr. Garrison for being gay. Which was a pretty blatant Retcon since Mr. Garrison was actually fired for trying to solicit sex from a minor not just for being gay.
      • She also fires the wrestling instructor because of "all the gay porn on your iPhone" (actually, olympic wrestling matches), though that could just be a case Rule of Funny.
  • Pointy-Haired Boss
  • Stoners Are Funny: In "Helen Keller! The Musical."

Other Recurring Characters

Jesus Christ

"My children, you should know something. I'm packing."

Son of God and host of his own talk show, "Jesus and Pals."

  • Back from the Dead: "Fantastic Easter Special."
  • Badass
  • Big Good: He's a member of Imaginationland's Council of Nine.
  • Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting: After coming back from the dead, he kills Bill Donohue with a glaive (this was his Moment of Awesome).
  • Flight, Strength, Heart: Jesus is an excellent Bare-Fisted Monk and Multi Melee Master. He is also a superb carpenter.
  • I Cannot Self-Terminate: In one episode, "Fantastic Easter Special", Jesus and Kyle have been imprisoned in the Vatican. Jesus realises that if he dies, he can resurrect himself outside the bars. He's unable to kill himself, as suicide is a sin, so he asks Kyle to do it. After initially refusing ("I'm a Jew. I have a few hang-ups about killing Jesus."), he reluctantly agrees, on the condition that "Eric Cartman can never know about this."

Jesus: I understand. And Kyle, Happy Easter.
Kyle: Happy Easter, Jesus.

Satan

God: You got kicked out of here for being a headstrong rebel. And now you're a whiny little bitch.

The King of Hell and Jesus' opposite number.

  • Affably Evil: He's certainly less evil than Saddam.
  • Anti-Villain
  • Art Evolution: Since season 9, Satan appears to be older and more muscular.
  • Batman Gambit: Pull this one during his boxing fight against Jesus. While betting his money on Jesus while the rest of the city bet on Satan, he beat up Jesus big time until he pretended to be KO'ed by Jesus's weak punch. When Jesus was declared victorious, Satan became several millions dollars richer and went back to Hell taunting the rest for their stupidity. Satan's totally Crowning Moment of Awesome of the century.
  • A Day in the Limelight: "Hell on Earth 2006"
  • The Devil Is a Loser: God complains that Satan went from a headstrong rebel to a "whiny little bitch."
  • The Dog Bites Back: At the climax of The Movie.
  • God Karting with Beelzebub: Though he and God hadn't spoken in millennia, in "Probably" he goes to ask him for romantic advice.
  • Punch Clock Villain: A borderline example, if not an outright one. He only seems to torture truly bad people and even then is usually chanting pleasantly with them otherwise.
  • Satan Is Good: Or at least, he's kind of a big softie.
  • Invisible to Gaydar: Satan has had two lovers—Saddam Hussein, and a guy named Chris.
  • Villain Song: "Up There" from The Movie. Also a subversion, since he is actually singing about how lonely he is down in hell, where his only real company is Saddam, and how he wants to live up on earth. Thus doubles as his "I Want" Song.

Mayor McDaniels

"My geologist? Now? Tell him the infection is fine and I don't need another check-up."

Corrupt and idiotic mayor of South Park.

Father Maxi

"Sister, the Jews crucified our Lord and Savior. I mean, if you don't go to hell for crucifying the Savior, then what the hell do you go to hell for?"

South Park's resident Catholic priest.

  • Ambiguously Gay: Claims in one episode to be an ex-homosexual.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Father Maxi murdered the Catholic Clean Up Crew so they wouldn't replace him with a priest that could harm the kids.
  • Characterization Marches On: Following “Red Hot Catholic Love”, he is portrayed as a Good Shepherd.
  • The Fundamentalist: He believes that Jews and the handicapped will end up in hell. He's right, but what he doesn't know is that so will Catholics, since only Mormons go to heaven.
  • Good Shepherd: After “Red Hot Catholic Love”, he becomes this. He almost always has the kids' best interest in mind, and is one of the vanishingly few adults in South Park to be sane.
  • Only Sane Man: In "Red Hot Catholic Love", we find out that he's the only Catholic priest in the world that doesn't molest children.
  • Pedophile Priest: He averts this, but Randy and the other adults are firmly convinced he is.

Officer Barbrady

"Okay, people, move along. Nothing to see here."

The town cop, incredibly stupid and unhelpful. His squad car says "To Patronise And Annoy".

Sergeant Harrison Yates

"JESUS CHRIST MONKEY BALLS!!! We could have made an innocent man go to jail who wasn't black!"

An incompetent and corrupt police officer who hates rich black people. Works under the Park County Police Department.

"We've got another rich black guy. I want him humiliated and dragged through the dirt, and I want it done by the books!"

  • Clueless Detective: Partially subverted; he does figure out the culprit behind the left-hand murders using his own police work, but it was unnecessary police work because the evidence was screaming right in his face. He also would have never seen said evidence had it not been for Kyle.
  • The Commissioner Gordon: In "The Coon," he is this to Mysterion and the Coon wants him to be it for him.
  • Custom Uniform: He and his partner Mitch Murphy are plainclothes detectives.
  • Dirty Cop
  • Fake Irish
  • Jerkass: He snubs Kyle more than anyone else.
    • Regarding Stan:

Dammit Marsh, why couldn't you have just kept your stupid ugly kid in line?!

Terrance and Phillip

Phillip: "Terrance, I-"
Terrance: "No. No, Phillip, don't say it. I was an asshole, and this is mostly my fault."
Phillip: "That's what I was gonna say: You were an asshole, and this is mostly your fault."

A comedy duo from Canada who host a show that seems to consist entirely of fart jokes, and is a favorite of the four main boys.

Terrance: Why do you think Scott hates us so much Phillip?
Phillip: Maybe he's homophobic.
Terrance: (Beat) But we're not gay, Phillip.
Phillip: We're not?!

  • Retcon: Their show was originally referred to as a cartoon, and the whole intent was that the animation was even worse than South Park's. However, it was later established that the "crappy animation" is how all of Canada (and Saddam Hussein) looks. Lampshaded with the fact that they had an Saturday morning cartoon, which "started to breed confusion over whether Terrance and Phillip were animated characters or real people."
  • Self-Deprecation: They were originally created in response to criticisms that South Park (in season 1 mostly) was a badly animated and vulgar show filled to the brim with fart jokes and foul language. So Trey and Matt created an in-universe show with even worse animation that is nothing but fart jokes.
  • Sir Swearsalot: In The Movie.
  • Spell My Name with an "S": Is it Terrance or Terrence?
  • Toilet Humor: Every joke on their show seems to have the same punchline: One of them farts in the other's face.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Kraft Dinna.

Towelie

"Don't forget to bring a towel."

A talking, drug-addicted towel made in a lab. Intentionally a flat "ancillary character with a few amusing catchphrases."

  • Animate Inanimate Object
  • Breather Episode: "A Million Little Fibers" and "Crippled Summer", two Towelie-centric episodes, aired immediately after "Cartoon Wars" and "200/201", which were controversial even by South Park standards.
  • Catch Phrase: "Don't forget to bring a towel" and "wanna get high?"
  • A Day in the Limelight: "A Million Little Fibers". (Although, in all fairness, the few times Towelie does appear he is usually the focus of the episode.)
  • No, You: "You're a towel!"
  • The Scrappy: In-universe, though "A Million Little Fibers" didn't help in real life.
  • Stoners Are Funny
  • Vague Age: He's 17 in towel years. Whatever those are.

Mr. Slave

"Ooh, Jethuth Chritht!"

Mr. Garrison's former lover and current husband of Big Gay Al.

  • Catch Phrase: "Ooooooh! Jethuth Crhitht!"
  • Charles Atlas Superpower: How else to describe his ability to insert an entire Paris Hilton into himself?
  • Depraved Homosexual: A Subversion. Sure, he does dip into it with him killing small animals by shoving them up his ass, but despite that and his choice in clothing, with humans he only engages in mutually consensual acts and emphasizes that whores like himself and Paris Hilton are not good role models for children.
  • Happily Married: To Big Gay Al.
  • Leather Man
  • Only Sane Man: When you go beyond his self-admitted depravity, he is one of the few adults to give good advice and generally not be useless.

Big Gay Al

"I'm super, thanks for asking!"

Skeeter

"Well, we don't take kindly to folks that don't take kindly around here."

A man who gets pissed off about a lot of things, often seen in the bar or passionately leading inane movements. Usually depicted as more of a redneck than the main fathers (who are just whatever the plot calls for), but still considered one of the Guys.

Dr. Alphonse Mephesto

"I've done it, Kevin. I've successfully spliced this chipmunk with a piece of provolone cheese. Do you know what this means, Kevin? No more will the world have to look in two different places for squirrels and provolone cheese."

The proprietor of the South Park Genetic Engineering Ranch. In addition to traditional Mix-and-Match Critters, he likes to create multi-assed creatures.

  • Aesop Amnesia: In his first appearance, he learns that it's best to "just leave nature alone, to its simple one assed schematics." In his second appearance, he genetically engineered ill-tempered turkeys for Thanksgiving. At the end of the episode, he even starts saying the exact same aesop he learned in his first appearance until Chef interrupts him with a "yeah, yeah, yeah."
  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: He hasn't been seen much for a while.
  • Internal Retcon: He falsely revealed Cartman's father to be his mother for the sake of the Denver Broncos, who were among the people suspected to have fathered Cartman at the time.
  • Mad Scientist
  • Satellite Character: Kevin, a midget who follows Mephesto almost wherever he goes. In season one's "Starvin' Marvin," Chef interrupts an important speech to ask Dr. Mephisto what the hell Kevin is supposed to be.
  • Shout-Out: To The Island of Doctor Moreau (the film version starring Marlon Brando). Lampshaded in "Cartman Joins NAMBLA", where he has a completely different NAMBLA of his own—the North American Marlon Brando Look-Alikes (filled with men who look like Marlon Brando—most of which are Brando as Don Vito Corelone from The Godfather).
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: Until season 14, he hadn't been seen in ten years bar a few background cameos. Trey and Matt mentioned in the commentary for his season 14 episode that they "stopped finding him funny" and wish they'd permanently taken him off the show in the NAMBLA episode.

Saddam Hussein

"Hey! Relax, guy!"
(smacks Satan's ass) "Shut it, bitch. You're better seen than heard!"

Satan's abusive gay boyfriend. Initially the dictator if Iraq, he was killed either by wild boars or in a Canadian "gas attack" after attempting to invade the country, he was sent to hell after he died. He was the main antagonist of "South Park: Bigger Longer and Uncut". While technically deceased after The Movie, was a recurring character until season 7, where he was captured by Canadian soldiers. He is arguably even worse than Cartman.

"Hey buddy, relax, take a load off, I'm not hiding any bombs".

  • For the Evulz: Frequently, perhaps the best example being when posing as the Canadian Prime Minister and establishing all manner of seemingly trivial but surprisingly effective and life destroying laws.
  • Freudian Excuse: He explains that his parents were abusive in The Movie. He might be telling the truth, but it is much more likely he was just lying to Satan so he'll forgive him (which was kind of the entire point of his song...)
  • Jerkass: Even more so than Cartman!
  • Killed Off for Real: It's never really specified what happened after the Canadians arrested him, but he hasn't been seen since.
    • Truth in Television: Subverted. While Saddam Hussein really was an evil, manipulative dictator, pretty much everything else about his personality is made up, such as being gay and speaking in a high whiny voice.
  • Manipulative Bastard
  • Murder the Hypotenuse: He stabs Satan's "pussy" boyfriend Chris in order to get back with Satan. Not that it makes much difference - after all, where was Chris going to go, Detroit?
  • Non-Standard Character Design: Not only is he animated in the same style as the Canadians (which kinda made sense since he first appeared an episode starring Terrance and Phillip), but he's one of the few characters with a photo head (some others include Mr. Garrison after his nose job, Ben Affleck in "How to Eat With Your Butt", and the little pink Christina Aguilera monsters from "Timmy 2000").
  • Seme: In his relationship with Satan.
  • Villain Song: "I Can Change" from The Movie
  • Yandere: In "Probably" he stabs Satan's new boyfriend to death. (He came back the next day back in hell. Where was he supposed to go? Detroit?)

Mr. Hankey

Flush him down, but he's never gone!
His smell and his spirit ling-er on!

Christmas-themed sapient poo. Based on a character made up by Trey Parker's father, who told him when he he was a kid that if he did not flush the toilet after going, Mr. Hankey would jump out and bite him.

Santa Claus

Santa: "Her name is Rio and she dances on the sand
 just like that river twistin' through the dusty land"
 Jesus: "Uh, Santa, Santa, Santa. That's not a Christmas song, bud."
Santa: "I know, but there's, like, 300 Jesus Christmas songs and only four fucking Santa ones!"

Santa Claus Claus. Jesus' best friend.

The Super Best Friends

Narrator: In the great hall of the Super Best Friends there are assembled the leaders of the world's biggest religions. Jesus! Buddha! Krishna! Muhammad! Lao Tse and Joseph Smith! And the mighty Semen.
Sea-Man: It's not Semen, it's Sea-Man!

Announcer: And their mission, to right that which is wrong and to serve all mankind!

An organization of religious superheroes and Sea-Man, seemingly led by Jesus.

God

"You will hit puberty when the time is right. But you will never have a period, because you are a man — with titties. Thus spaketh the Lord. And now I return to heaven."

Jesus' father and a Buddhist, even though only Mormons, Kenny (sometimes), and Saddam are allowed into Heaven.

Saddam: (ordering around people on what is clearly a chemical weapons plant complete with working missiles) Get those nitrogen capsules over there by the warheads. Chop chop, come on! (a light shines on him from the sky)
God: (from offscreen) Saddam, I've been hearing rumors that you're secretly building weapons of mass destruction up here.
Saddam: Weapons of mass destruction? Nooooo! This is just a chocolate chip factory, see? (gestures to a logo on on of the silos that reads "Saddam's Heavenly Chocolate Chips)
God: It looks like a chemical weapons plant.
Saddam: Look guy, if I was gonna secretly build a chemical weapons plant I wouldn't make it look like a chemical weapons plant would I? I'd make it look like a chocolate chip factory or something.

God:...Alright, just checking. (leaves)

Saddam: (chuckles) Stupid asshole.

Woodland Christmas Critters

"Haaaail Satan!"

The twisted products of Cartman's imagination. They were part of his christmas story in the christmas special, then later were reincarnated in Imaginationland with the evil characters.

ManBearPig

Al Gore: "ManBearPig doesn't care who you are or what you've done, ManBearPig simply wants to get you! I'm super-serial!"

ManBearPig is a creature that Al Gore campaigned against. According to Gore, it threatens our very existence and may be the end of the human race as we know it. Despite Gore's claims, however, it simply doesn't exist. ManBearPig itself later made an actual appearance in the Imaginationland trilogy, briefly entering the Pentagon in the real world and attacking everyone.

Scott Tenorman

"Revenge is a dish best served... chili."

A teenager who tricked Cartman into forking over ten dollars. He manages to get his way out of all of Cartman's revenge schemes until Cartman finally has his parents killed. And tricked Scott into eating them. Scott reappears as the Big Bad of the two part "200/201" story, which reveals him as the new leader of the Ginger Separatist Movement and Cartman's half-brother.

  • Anti-Villain: Type I (debut) --> Type II (post-debut), he starts out as a more restrained anti-villain (as seen at the end of "Scott Tenorman Must Die"), but in "201", we see how he turned insane after Cartman tricked him into eating his parents.
  • Asshole Victim: Inverted since it is his parents that suffer instead, it still hits him hard however.
  • Big No and Big OMG: When he realises he just ate his own parents and when Radiohead saw him crying.
  • The Bully: You almost start to feel sorry for Cartman for what Scott puts him through solely For the Lulz, but course with what Cartman does next...
  • The Cameo: Appeared briefly in "The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to the Two Towers" and "The Death of Eric Cartman."
  • Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: See below.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: A manipulate bully of the highest order, though obviously pretty mortified by his parents' murder which seems to make him a more redeemable character than Cartman given his reaction later on.
  • Evil Laugh
  • Eviler Than Thou: Subverted. It seems this way throughout "Scott Tenorman Must Die" with Scott constantly outdoing Cartman in schemes and sheer Jerkass antics, then Cartman takes a far more monstrous step...
  • Evil Redhead
  • Hot Mom: There were various men hidden in the Tenormans' yard watching Scott's mom taking off her bra.

Jimbo: Dear God, they're bigger than I ever imagined!

Scott: You really care that much about sixteen measly dollars? I mean, what can you buy with $16? My parents give me a $50-a-week allowance. This pittance means nothing to me.

Scott the Dick

"Awrah! I hate you more than ever, Terrance and Phillip! I absolutely abhor you both!"

A grumpy television critic from Canada. Everyone hates him. He REALLY hates Terrance and Phillip.

Tuong Lu Kim/Dr. Janus

"Herro, wercome to Shitty Wok, tay your order pree?"

A stereotypical Chinese man who is the owner of the City Wok restaurant, and the dissociative alter ego of Caucasian therapist, Dr. Janus.

  • Asian Speekee Engrish
  • Clasp Your Hands If You Deceive: The episode "City Sushi" turns this into a sort of tic for him.
  • Japanese Ranguage: Though he's Chinese. Or at least thinks he is.
  • Jerkass: Acts like this to the Japanese. Dr. Janus is like this to Butters.
    • Janus is arguable since, despite being an incompetant quack who misdiagnoses Butters, he is rather soft spoken and understanding to Butters' "condition" and genuinely believes he is helping him. One of his other personalities on the other hand...
  • Meaningful Name: Dr. Janus is a reference to the Roman God Janus which is normally depicted with two or more faces; a clear reference to his multiple personality disorder.
  • Split Personality

Mr. Kitty

Eric Cartman's pet cat.

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  1. ↑ Three guesses where Tara Strong is from.
  2. ↑ not
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