History Characters / SouthParkMainCharacters

!Kenneth "Kenny" [=McCormick=]
[[quoteright:320:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kenny-mccormick_5437.jpg]]
->''"All the time! I die all the time! And you assholes NEVER REMEMBER!"''

!!!!!!Voiced by: Matt Stone (normal muffled voice, Mysterion, and Franchise/IronMan costume), Creator/MikeJudge (''WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut''), Eric Stough (unhooded)
!!!!!!Debut: "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe"

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

* AllMenArePerverts: And Kenny is the worst.
* AndIMustScream: Since Kenny dies again and again, only to wake up in bed absolutely fine. He remembers each and every one of his deaths, no matter how painful, and furthermore, no one remembers when he dies, so he could count as this.
* AntiHero: Kenny arguably has the most heroic personality of the four main kids, as evidenced by his {{heroic sacrifice}}s, though is also cynical to go with it. He has a lot of vices too, but not to the extremes of the others, and he doesn't deny it.
* ArchnemesisDad: [[spoiler: He's the spawn of Cthulhu, whom he [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu called a pussy]].]]
* BackFromTheDead: All the time. It's apparently his super power.
* BadassAdorable: Mysterion is hardcore, and his entire story arc shows the true nature of Kenny's character. And he's only ten years old and wears his underwear over his costume!
* BeingGoodSucks: When it comes down to it, he will do the right thing, but due to his immortality, no one remembers his {{Heroic Sacrifice}}s.
* BerserkButton:
** Don't suggest that immortality would be pretty cool. It fucking hurts.
** Don't make NASCAR look like it's only for poor and stupid people, Kenny WILL try to kill you if he has to.
* BewareTheQuietOnes: Kenny, who is normally both TheQuietOne and TheUnintelligible, certainly qualifies as of the "Mysterion" story arc. He says the most he ever does during these few episodes, and his BerserkButton is revealed; do NOT mess with his little sister.
* BigBrotherInstinct: You don't want to mess with Karen [=McCormick=]. Mysterion will come and kick your ass, [[WouldHitAGirl even if you are a girl]]. In ''The City Part of Town'', when his father screams at Karen to get a job if she wants stuff and she runs off in fear, he death stares his dad as he walks off to comfort her. At the end of the episode, Kenny gets her a new doll just to make her happy.
* BigDamnHeroes: Does this a couple of times, most notably in the Cthulhu trilogy and at the end of TheMovie. As of "The Poor Kid", he is this to his little sister.
* BigGood: As Mysterion, he's the unofficial leader of Coon And Friends, despite Cartman thinking that ''he's'' the leader.
* BlessedWithSuck: Either that or CursedWithAwesome. 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.
* BornUnlucky: His repeated, traumatic deaths are almost always PlayedForLaughs.
* BrokenMasquerade: He's the only one (besides his parents) who knows/can remember that [[spoiler: he keeps dying]], and is aware of (and remembers) some of the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s that the cast encounters.
* ButtMonkey: 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.
* CatchPhrase: "Woo-hoo!", usually said after seeing or doing something sexual.
* CerebusRetcon: Season 14 reveals that all of his deaths are indeed canonical, nobody remembers them once he comes back, and that [[ImmortalityHurts his deaths are all excruciatingly painful]].
* CharacterDevelopment: 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 has a superhero alter-ego.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In early seasons Kenny was nothing but a little pervert, a chew-toy of fate and a yes-man for many of Cartman's schemes. While he still does all that, since he's started dying less often he's become slightly more intelligible for regular viewers and will disagree with Cartman's more unpleasant schemes. Since we learned that his superpower is real and not just a continuity reset, he's become slightly more virtuous, more assertive, and more respected by the boys themselves. He still doesn't like dying, though.
* CharacterTics: Pulling on the drawstrings of his hood when he's scared.
* TheChewToy: He has been injured, beheaded, burned, shot, run over, etc. hundreds of times. Recent seasons have toned down Kenny's Chew Toy status and shifted it more towards Butters or even Kyle.
* CoolBigBro: This guy puts on his superhero alter-ego just to cheer his little sis up, and in "City Park of Town" used the money he's earned to buy Karen a new doll. Yeah, hard to get much cooler than that.
* CosmicPlaything: 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 [[spoiler: not liking having the spawn of Cthulhu in it]].
* CreepyChild: As Mysterion. Also is this if you consider his usual obscured face and quietness a bit on the creepy side.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Underneath his [[TheHedonist hedonistic]] exterior, Kenny is hardcore [[spoiler: as Mysterion]].
* DarkIsNotEvil: As Mysterion. He wears black and talks in a (bad) [[Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy Nolan Batman]]-like gravelly voice, but is a legitimate superhero - unlike [[VillainProtagonist the Coon]]. Notably, the Mysterion persona downplays Kenny's hedonistic and perverted qualities.
* DeathSeeker: PlayedWith. He doesn't ''want'' to get killed because dying hurts, but he knows that he would always come back, so better him than anyone else.
* DemotedToExtra: After a few years of resurgence (especially with the Mysterion arc), he eventually ends up as [[LivingProp background decoration]] again, with only [[spoiler: '''''ONE LINE''''']] in Season 20, where even Annie and Red, living props in their own right, have more lines than him. He retains his spot in the opening credits over the much more prominent Butters and Randy, however. In fact, Kenny had more prominence in '''Season 6''' (you know, the time when he stayed dead for a whole season) than he did in Season 20.
* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: Pretty much literally. "Come on, Cthulhu! Kill me, you big pussy!"
* DieLaughing: In "Scott Tenorman Must Die".
* DirtyCoward: Happens often. When he, along with the rest of his friends, does something wrong (or even think that they did), he usually tries to frame it on Butters. He can also be rather cowardly in life-threatening situations, even though he can't actually die.
* DirtyKid: While the other kids suffer from PingPongNaivete, Kenny is dirty though and through!
* DoomMagnet: In addition to inadvertently dooming others along with his friends, he also attracts doom to himself, of course.
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: In the BigDamnMovie, he [[TheReveal drops his hood]] to his friends and says goodbye before setting the world back to the way it was and reviving all the dead.
* {{Expy}}: Becomes one for Batman in the Coon episodes.
* EnfanteTerrible: Becomes this in "Cartman Joins NAMBLA" when he tries every method he can think of to stop his younger sibling from being born.
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: As "anime" Princess Kenny, he can apparently make men fall in love with his cuteness just by [[CutenessProximity being there]], though it's debatable whether the Sony Princess Box turns him into an actual girl.
* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses: [[spoiler: Was made a Japanese princess during the Console Wars.]] Also see WholesomeCrossdresser.
* ExtremeOmnivore: Will eat anything for money.
* TheFaceless: Except for TheMovie, "Good Times with Weapons", "The Losing Edge", "Meet the Jeffersons", and "Major Boobage". Also in "The Coon" and the "Coon and Friends" trilogy. His princess outfit in ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheStickOfTruth'' would apparently [[WhatCouldHaveBeen have been]] [[http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/thq/southpark/cov_225_l.jpg another example]], but was scrapped for the current design that puts the costume over his parka (most likely because the linked design would have made him unrecognizable and, due to the art style, [[WigDressAccent too much like an actual female]]).
* {{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.
* TheGenericGuy: Had little character outside [[OneSceneWonder 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.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: '[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Most Offensive Song Ever]]', good lord. 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.
* GoodIsNotSoft: He may be [[TheHedonist ready to pull out all the 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 being willing to die for people, and has executed a HeroicSacrifice 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.
* GutturalGrowler: As Mysterion.
* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: {{Subverted|Trope}}; see GoodIsNotSoft above. As Princess Kenny he even parodies this trope by using a blonde wig for the outfit, with golden-haired princesses being the most significant examples.
* TheHedonist: Kenny's ''far'' too interested in sex and drugs for his own good and will do ''anything'' to get high. However, it's most likely to cope with the memories of all his painful deaths and the knowledge that he could face more. It's not the ''healthiest'' way of coping, but since he often comes back from the dead regardless of ''how'' he actually dies, he probably wouldn't worry about the "healthy" part at all. It's arguably reached the point that he's so jaded about dying and the pain associated with it that he honestly doesn't care about it any more. Without the fear of pain or death, there is only the pursuit of (momentary) pleasure left in his life.
* HeroAntagonist: In "Poor & Stupid". The episode focuses on [[VillainProtagonist Cartman]] trying to become a NASCAR driver and, in the process, starting to ruin the business's reputation. Kenny goes as far as to risk his own life to end this.
* HeroicSacrifice: He has died this way a few times, including at the end of TheMovie. Subverted in that he is aware of his revivals, so it isn't ''too'' big of a sacrifice for him on those occasions, other than that it "really fucking hurts". Unfortunately, no one else remembers his sacrifices.
* HonoraryPrincess: In "A Song of Ass and Fire", [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyILPbZWCSQ the Japanese make Kenny a princess.]]
* HumanoidAbomination: The source of his immortality has something to do with the Cult of Cthulhu and R'lyeh.
* InnocentBlueEyes: ''Dark'' blue eyes, actually. In "Starvin' Marvin", a turkey clan attacks him and rips one of his eyes out, with a close-up revealing a dark blue iris.
* InTheHood: A defining example. Not counting his time as Mysterion, he's dropped his hood on 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 has also 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 the show and may be wondering, he has blond ShonenHair underneath it.
* IntelligibleUnintelligible: His dialogue in early seasons is made up of muffled grunts, but the other characters respond as if they understand.
* KidsAreCruel: Zigzagged. Despite often being as cynical and profane as the other boys, his heroism has not gone unnoticed -- by the audience at least. The characters are another story, which may well explains his "less-than-heroic" traits.
* KilledOffForReal: Subverted. In the episode "Kenny Dies" he is hospitalized, and nearly the entire episode is taken seriously (at least as seriously as South Park can be taken). He dies at the end of the episode and remains dead throughout the entire next season, showing up only as a ghost or in flashbacks.
* KillTheCutie: The universe loves to break or kill him. And then bring him back again.
* KnightTemplarBigBrother: Don't mess with his little sister Karen, or you WILL face the consequences.
* {{Kawaisa}}: He becomes a parody of this trope when he, as Princess Kenny, gets "anime-fied" by the Sony Princess Box.
* {{Kawaiiko}}: Again as anime Princess Kenny. Apparently he's so cute that his cuteness is his ''superpower''.
* LivingProp: One of the reasons for his eventual replacement. He came back, though.
* LovableSexManiac: Debatable on the lovable part, but he's pretty well received 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".
* LovecraftianSuperpower: Played so straight that Kenny, aka Mysterion, may as well be the first "Lovecraftian superhero".
* MadeOfPlasticine:
** He once died when Cartman hit him in the face with a frying pan (though in real life getting hit in the head with a frying pan is lot more dangerous than you might think).
** Another time Bebe threw a boomerang at him that lodged itself in his face.
** And another time, he [[LiteralMetaphor literally]] died of boredom.
* MauveShirt: Nowadays he tends to only get killed off once a season or so.
* MeaningfulName: Kenny means "born of fire". What do young Mr. [=McCormick=] and the mythological phoenix have in common?
* MundaneUtility: If Kenny ever feels tired, he can just kill himself and wake up after a night of sleep.
* NeverBareheaded: Until the movie.
* NietzscheWannabe: His "superpower" might've made him a borderline case; see his whole [[TheHedonist Hedonist]] entry for more details.
* NotAfraidToDie: Since he knows he will come back. He's afraid of the actual pain involved.
* OnlySaneMan: In his family. He is also this in "The Coon Trilogy".
* OutOfFocus: He gets the least amount of individual spotlight out of all of the four boys (and even some other regulars), especially after his RunningGag deaths were omitted. He tends to get ADayInTheLimelight at least OnceASeason to moderate it, however, and generally does a lot more from the "Coon and Friends" trilogy onwards.
* PutOnTheBus: His death in "Kenny Dies" had a permanent effect for the remainder of Season 5 and Season 6. He was "revived" and [[TheBusCameBack resumed his role]] in "Red Sleigh Down" onwards.
* TheQuietOne: He doesn't speak in several later episodes.
* RunningGag: [[TheyKilledKennyAgain His deaths]]. Originally OncePerEpisode, but have been downplayed more and more post Season 7. Many later episodes also tend to make elaborate gags about [[TheUnintelligible his voice]].
* SealedGoodInACan: Possessed Cartman's body after his ashes were consumed [[HalfArcSeason towards the end of the sixth season]].
* ShonenHair: Under the hood.
* SirSwearsALot: One of the most obscene kids. Just about a majority of his sentences include some form of swearing. It's barely audible due to his muffled voice, so this is a case of GettingCrapPastTheRadar. Interestingly enough, due to the fact that the word's use of hard consonants means it's more intelligible than most in Kenny's muffled voice and that he says it so much long-time viewers are used to hearing it, "fuck" is one of his ''most'' intelligible words.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: At one point, his surname was spelled with a "K".
* StealthHiBye: Kenny is a master of this when he's dressed as Mysterion.
* TheStoner: He doesn't have the "surfer accent", but Kenny has had an entire episode dedicated to him getting high on cat piss, and Cartman once mentioned that he enjoys getting high by paint-sniffing.
* SympathyForTheDevil: It's mentioned in one episode that he's ''only'' friends with Cartman out of pity.
* TakeThatAudience: You know how ''South Park'' [[MostFanficWritersAreFemale fangirls]] often [[SelfFanservice draw the characters in "kawaii" anime styles]]? Well, in the "Black Friday" trilogy, Kenny actually ''becomes'' a character of that type. And he's a super-prissy MagicalGirl too.
* TheyKilledKennyAgain: {{Trope Namer|s}}. He died in nearly every episode during the first five seasons.
* TheUnintelligible:
** Usually Kenny's speech is muffled by his parka, [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar 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. Later episodes tend to get rather creative in using Kenny's voice unmuffled while still maintaining his ambiguity.
** A couple of episodes have people who've known Kenny for a while, such as Kyle, translating Kenny's mumblings for people who've just met him. People who've known Kenny for a long time can often learn to understand what he's saying, even including longtime viewers.
** Oddly enough, even though Kenny still wears his hood as "anime" Princess Kenny (complete with female wig), he can speak intelligible (but purposely mangled) GratuitousJapanese. "PURINSESU KENNI ASSISUTO!" Additionally, when Kenny dressed up as Franchise/IronMan for Halloween, the mask simply added a metallic reverb to his voice rather than muffling it completely (the voice was provided by Matt Stone himself).
** If you watch certain episodes on DVD however, turning on English subtitles can provide translations to most of his dialogue.
* TookALevelInBadass: As Mysterion he went from one of fiction's most (in)famous [[ButtMonkey Butt Monkies]] to the show's equivalent of Batman. Even further, while his fight with Cartman (as The Coon) was a slap fight, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ukip7Gsidlg he kicks some serious bully ass]] later on.
* TrueCompanions: With Butters in "Going Native".
* {{Tuckerization}}: Kenny is named after a childhood friend of Trey Parker's, who was the poorest kid in the neighborhood, always wore an orange hoodie that muffled his speech, and would sometimes disappear for days at a time, leading the other kids to speculate that he'd died.
* UndyingLoyalty: To his friends and his sister.
* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Several episodes indicate that other characters ''are'' in fact aware of Kenny constantly dying and coming back, but it's happened so many times that they don't see it as unusual. In "Cartman's Mom Is Still A Dirty Slut", Kenny magically appears out of nowhere. The only character to react is Stan, and he simply greets Kenny as if Kenny had just walked into the room. "Cartmanland", when Kenny is killed at Cartman's amusement park, Cartman protests a lawsuit that Kenny's family files against him by pointing out that Kenny "dies all the time!".
* WholesomeCrossdresser: Decides to be a princess in the ''Game of Thrones'' episode trilogy and the game "The Stick of Truth". [[spoiler: Not so wholesome in the latter though, considering he betrays the group and ends up being the FinalBoss.]]
* WithFriendsLikeThese: While Cartman has always mocked Kenny for how poor he is, in earlier seasons, Kyle and Stan were just as guilty of this. All three were also very dismissive of his well-being at times. This changed in the later seasons.
* WouldHitAGirl: If you mess with Karen [=McCormick=], Kenny will invoke this one. He's also seen beating on two girls in "Faith Hilling".
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%%Folders for other characters are not to be added here. The only characters in ''South Park'' who qualify as main characters are the four main boys, as they have been important to the series ever since the beginning. Even if several other characters are viewed as main characters by fans, they still technically aren't; the folders for Butters Stotch and Randy Marsh have been moved to the pages "South Park Other Students" and "South Park Family Members" respectively.

Back to [[Characters/SouthPark Main]]. '''Beware of spoilers!'''
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[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Eric Theodore Cartman]]
[[quoteright:320:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eric-cartman_380.jpg]]
-> ''"Screw you guys, I'm going home."''

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

!!!!!!Voiced by: Trey Parker

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 polarizing characters of the show. Among other things, he hates hippies, Jews, gingers, Wendy Testaburger's liberal views, people making fun of his weight, and the "random" humor of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''.

See also [[SelfDemonstrating/EricCartman his self-demonstrating page]].

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: Just about ''every'' kid in town hates him, though not without good reason. It's to the extent that in one episode, they all flat-out tell Cartman that they don't like him and couldn't possibly have a lower opinion of him than they already do.
* {{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 this trope is subverted majorly in "1%" when his atrocious fitness causes an otherwise average class (and the whole school) to fail a national fitness test, then ''inverted'' in "The New Terrance and Phillip Movie Trailer", in which he is unable to keep up with the rest of the gang as they run throughout the town.
* {{Adorkable}}: He could be this in the first four seasons, surprisingly enough. Especially when playing with his dolls (ie. Clyde Frog, Peter Panda, etc.).
* AllTakeAndNoGive: Cartman demands to have everything handed over to him whenever he wants something and he usually has his friends do the work for whatever he needs or wants done while he doesn't do any of the heavy duty stuff himself. Cartman never gives anyone anything unless it's part of a scheme he has planned and he hardly ever gives words of thanks when it's due, especially to his mother.
* AmbiguousDisorder: Depending on the needs of the episode, he can occasionally be found somewhere at the crossroads between ASPD/sociopathy, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and Schizophrenia.
* AmbiguouslyBi:
** Although he's shown to have feelings for Wendy and Patty Nelson, he has also frequently shown heavily repressed attraction to men, among other strange tendencies. In various episodes, he's been known to dress like Music/BritneySpears and dance with a Music/JustinTimberlake 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 "Fat Butt and Pancake Head", his hand puppet Jennifer Lopez has sex with Ben Affleck. 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.
** His hatred for Kyle often leads into sexual humiliation that carries these implications, including going to great lengths to force Kyle to suck his balls in "Imaginationland", his delights in forcing Kyle to stick his finger up his ass (to activate the probe stuck in there, mind you) in "Cancelled", forcing Kyle to literally kiss his ass (and then farting in his face when he gets close enough) in "Fun with Veal", and offering to suck Kyle's balls in "Go God Go". Then there's "Cartman Finds Love", in which he keeps telling people he and Kyle are gay lovers in order to keep Kyle from interfering with Cartman's plans to make Nicole hook up with Token.
** In "Tweek x Craig", it's implied the imaginary Cupid version of himself represents his repressed attraction to guys... or his love for himself. Then, of course, a season after that he actually [[spoiler: gets his first girlfriend]].
* AmbitionIsEvil:
** In "The Red Badge of Gayness", he bets Kyle and Stan that if the Confederacy wins in a Civil War reenactment, Kyle and Stan will have to be his slaves. Stan and Kyle know that this being a reenactment, the Confederacy has no chance of winning. What does Cartman do? He motivates them to fight for real, leads them across America, gets enough manpower to field an actual army along the way ("It's just like the million man march, except that there actually are a million people.") and then marches them to the White House.
** Then there's the time he bets Stan and Kyle that he can produce a platinum album (1 million copies sold) [[ItMakesSenseInContext by taking advantage of Christian rock]] and only fails in the end because they only give out myrrh albums instead of platinum ones.
* {{Angrish}}: His hilariously unique vocal mannerisms lead to this being used a ''lot'', with many instances being outright [[FunnyMoments Crowning Moments of Funny]]. Hell, he'll use his rasped garbles for almost any occasion: one of his most memorable moments involved him delving into this out of dumbfounded ''jubilation'' in "Cartmanland".
* AntiHero: Prior to his [[MoralEventHorizon infamous plot to humiliate Scott Tenorman]]. He then becomes a VillainProtagonist until he goes back to being an AntiHero in the second half of Season 15.
* AntiVillain: Starting with Season 16, his racist intentions and jerkass tendencies are much lighter than in previous seasons. Most of his schemes veer down WellIntentionedExtremist territory.
* AntiRoleModel: He is often made the voice of political views the author disagrees with, and is also a fat, moronic, sociopathic, and all-around-awful person.
* ArbitrarySkepticism: In "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe", Cartman denies that he was abducted by aliens and got an anal probe inserted inside him, even as he farts flames and has the probe protruding from his ass. When aliens blast Kenny into oncoming cattle, thus killing him, Cartman even denies that Kenny is dead, despite having (presumably) seen what happened right before his eyes.
* ArchEnemy: For Kyle.
* TheAtoner:
** Became this in "The Death of Eric Cartman". Not because he felt remorse for his past actions or even cared that he might go to Hell for them, but so that he could stop being a ghost. [[spoiler: He wasn't really a ghost, his friends were just ignoring him.]]
** Of a somewhat self-preserving sort as of Season 20. As he recognizes Political Correctness is here to stay, he tries to integrate himself into it, with varying levels of sincerity and success. Getting together with Heidi has certainly helped.
* AttentionWhore: Interrupts class a lot just to get attention among other things.
* AuthorAvatar: For Trey to a degree. He has mentioned in several communities and interviews that he shares some of the same views as Cartman. Most notably about ''Family Guy'', and [[http://youtu.be/OOJ-Hfyswos gingers]].
* AxCrazy: He is known for infamously chopping up the bodies of two dead parents and feeding them to their own son in the form of chili, in the infamous "Scott Tenorman Must Die" episode. He shows signs of full-blown psychosis at times, and generally has a narcissistic, psychopathic nature.
* BadassBeard: As "The Dawg" in "Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy".
* BadBlackBarf: In one of the creepier moments of the series, coming to the revelation that the world doesn't revolve around him in the episode "Tsst" causes him to ''literally'' puke out his evil in the form of black vomit, and he then goes on to start "glitching" and screaming in a supernatural fashion.
* TheBadGuyWins: The infamous "Scott Tenorman Must Die". Also one of the biggest KarmaHoudini moments ''ever''. Aside from that episode, there are several moments over the show's 20 year run where he's come out on top. However, he loses just as often as he wins.
* BadSamaritan: "Crack Baby Basketball Athletic Association".
* BastardBastard: He's the product of [[spoiler: Jack Tenorman's]] affair with [[ReallyGetsAround his slutty mother]], and a {{Jerkass}} on his best days.
* BatmanGambit: In "Scott Tenorman Must Die", Cartman exploits UnspokenPlanGuarantee by telling a fake plot to humiliate Scott to Stan and Kyle, correctly thinking they'd sabotage it.
* BecomingTheMask: He becomes "Mr. Cartmenez" in "Eek, a Penis!" for his own personal gain, but by the end of the episode he becomes genuinely sincere in wanting to "reeeach these kiiiids" and teach them "the white person way of cheating".
* BelievingTheirOwnLies: "Jewpacabra" in a form of self-administered karma. Subverted in "Fat Butt and Pancake Head", where it appears as if [[spoiler: he legitimately believes that [[ItMakesSenseInContext Jennifer Lopez is a living being residing on his left hand]]]], however at the end of the episode, he reveals that the entire thing was a ploy to get Kyle and Stan to admit that he'd duped them, as Kyle had predicted he would do throughout the entire episode.
* BelligerentSexualTension: With Wendy. Also [[HoYay Ky]][[FoeYay le]], probably.

** He usually just makes a quick rebuttal when he's called fat, but occasionally it falls into this.
** Don't scam him out of his money and refuse to give it back.
** Never, ''ever'' let him think his penis is smaller than any other fourth grader.
** [[GroinAttack Speaking of penis]], [[EvenEvilHasStandards never shoot someone there]].
* BigBad: The main antagonist of a few episodes, if not a VillainProtagonist.
* TheBigGuy: When siding with his friends.
* BigEater: "Yeah, I want cheesy poofs!"
* BigNo: Often combined with LittleNo whenever something is SeriousBusiness.
* BizarreTasteInFood: Among his favorite dishes are "Powdered Donut Pancake Surprise", "Chocolate Chicken Pot Pie", and "Toaster Pastry Chocolate Mix Butter Bar". The last one consists of a stick of butter rolled in chocolate milk flavoring powder and sandwiched between two Pop-Tarts.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Almost any time Cartman does something that's (at least in his mind) purely unselfish in deed or intent, his reasoning can be a bit... out there.
* BookDumb: He refuses to care about anything that does not immediately help him, especially school. He never pays attention in school and remains ignorant. Despite this problem, he forms very detailed plans, considers complex issues and is a brilliant manipulator.
* BoomerangBigot: In "Ginger Kids", Cartman, after picking on and fearing gingers for half the episode, falls prey to a prank that convinces him that ''he'' is a ginger and [[spoiler: forms a Nazi-like cult devoted to exterminating non-gingers. And in "201", it's revealed that he actually is half-ginger.]] Also, in a twisted way, it has been implied on numerous occasions that he is possibly a ChildHater.
* BorrowedCatchPhrase: In "Clubhouses":
-->'''Cartman:''' Oh my God, {{they killed Kenny|Again}}!\\
'''Kyle:''' ''(walking outside Cartman's yard, but suddenly stops and turns towards the clubhouse)'' [[PhraseCatcher You bastards]]! ''(continues walking past the yard like nothing happened)''
* BrattyHalfPint: UpToEleven.
* BreakoutCharacter: Cartman has become the most prominent, iconic and popular character on the show thanks to his sociopathic {{Jerkass}} tendencies (similar to [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy Stewie Griffin]] and [[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} Bender]]).
* TheBully: When not himself the victim of fat jokes, he is usually the most prominent in school. It is implied that he provoked a tirade of abuse on one student (for crapping his pants in public) so much that the student later committed suicide.
* BullyingADragon: Despite his sociopathic and xenophobic traits, Cartman couldn't take a punch in earlier seasons as he would cry after the first punch or when he's in an unfavourable position, which was shown when Kyle pinned him against a tree after he made a comment in "It's a Jersey Thing". His lack of combat skills was also shown when he tried to back out of a fight against Wendy but it turning into a CurbStompBattle with Wendy brutally defeating him. However, he was capable of holding his own against Dr. Nelson in "With Apologies to Jessie Jackson" and make him submit. (Granted, Mr. Nelson was a dwarf, but still a grown-assed man).
* ButtMonkey: He's the character that the other boys make fun of the most. The pilot episode is literally about things going into and coming out of Cartman's ass. Of course he's still a ButtMonkey now, but [[LaserGuidedKarma he actually deserves the bad stuff that happens to him]].
* CainAndAbel: [[spoiler: He's Scott Tenorman's half-brother, whom he fed his own parents.]]
* CantStandThemCantLiveWithoutThem: In a very twisted way, Cartman realized in "Smug Alert" that he needs Kyle around to rip on, otherwise his life just isn't the same.
* CatchPhrase:
** "Screw you guys, I'm going home."
** "Suck my balls."
** "Kickass."
** "I'M NOT FAT! I'M BIG BONED!"
** "Respect my authoritah."
** "BET MEEEAAAHM..."
** "AW, GODDAMMIT!", assisted by a head cock and facial grimace.
** A RunningGag is his literal inability to say any other variation of the word "serious" other than "seriously".
--->'''Cartman:''' You guys, I'm seriously!
*** Speaking of which, "No! Noooooooooooooooooo!" any time something is [[SeriousBusiness Seriously Business]].
** "Stupid Jew", "Goddamn Jew", and everything that insults Jews.
** "Yeah, I want Cheesy Poofs!" in earlier episodes.
** "No kitty, this is my [food]", followed sometimes by a whined repetition of the phrase, and sometimes concluded with, "NO, KITTEH, THAT'S A BAD KITTEH!!!"
** [[SirSwearsALot Lots and lots of swearing]].
*** "[[SevenDirtyWords Mother]]''fucker''."
*** "The ''fuck''?" Used [[RunningGag repeatedly]] in "Fatbeard".
** "Sweet."
** HOW DO I ''REECH'' THESE ''KEEEDS''?[[note]]Used in "Eek, A Penis!" when in his Mr. Cartmanez persona, teaching troubled kids how to cheat.[[/note]]
** "Tits."
** "Hella."
** "Whateva, I do what I want."
** "[[GroinAttack I'll kick you in the nuts]]!" Sometimes, he'll also say "I'll kick you square (pronounced "squah") in the nuts."
* CelebrityResemblance: WordOfGod says that Cartman is heavily inspired by Archie Bunker, and the funny thing is that both are very similar both physically and psychologically in {{Jerkass}} tendencies.
* CharacterDevelopment: Cartman has generally gotten more intelligent over the years. Originally, his selfish, impulsive behaviour stemmed from his absolute inability to think beyond his momentary desires. Now, however, he's usually running mental circles around Stan and Kyle and his evilness is premeditated, revealing him as an absolute villain. His whining used to only sway his mother and leave everybody else absolutely unmoved, but now he's a master of manipulation and can play huge crowds like a fiddle.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In the early seasons, his main antagonism was with Kenny, whom he constantly made fun of for being poor. From about Season 5 to 15, his anti-Semitism is far, far more prominent than it was previously, 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.
* TheChessmaster: In some episodes, he can be this. Specifically in "Scott Tenorman Must Die".
* ChildProdigy: Only, and ONLY when motivated by [[EvilGenius evil]].
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Thanks to his over-the-top prejudice and steadfast belief that nothing is ever his fault, he believes some rather... ''odd'' things.
* ClusterFBomb: Describing all the ways and situations in which his mom "fucks" him in "[=HUMANCENTiPAD=]".
* ComedicSociopath: He freely manipulates and uses everybody around him according to whichever whim has him at the moment. As an example: In the episode "Ginger Kids", Cartman freely advocates denying all ginger kids basic human rights. After Stan and Kyle conspire to turn Cartman into a ginger with makeup, convinced that it is the only way he'll learn fairness, Cartman proceeds to instantly convert to the ginger cause and quickly advocates the total genocide of all non-gingers... [[{{Irony}} especially the gingers who are "faking it" with makeup]].
* ConspiracyTheorist: (Supposedly) believes 9/11 was caused by Kyle. Also is the first one to believe that the new Muslim family in town are terrorists.
* TheCorrupter: 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.
* CreepyChild: Ever since the Scott Tenorman incident he's become increasingly psychotic throughout the years, going as far as attempting to kill his mother when he feels she doesn't love him anymore. Even Damien [=McSatan=] thinks there's something wrong with Cartman.
* CreepyCrossdresser: He's worn women's clothing more than once. In his [[http://southpark.wikia.com/wiki/Eric_Cartman article on the South Park Archives]], there is a detailed statement on what could be seen as gender identity issues.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: He's usually portrayed as being a wimp but even from early on he could be a badass if the situation called for it, such as by [[ItMakesSenseInContext shooting multiple electric beams at Saddam Hussein]] (made even more impressive by the fact that it was with a chip [[NoSell designed to hurt him]] [[{{Determinator}} so he was probably in pain while doing it]]) or by creatively knocking out a whole bunch of Mexicans with a small taser and an oil truck.
* DepravedBisexual: He was attracted to Ben Affleck and Michael Jefferson; dressed as Britney Spears in one episode and makes out with a Justin Timberlake cardboard cutout; had a sexual affair with Leonardo [=DiCaprio=] whilst convinced he's a Vietnamese prostitute due to a head injury; is obsessed with and follows Kyle Broflovski around (even going on a cross-country quest just to make him suck his balls in "Imaginationland: The Trilogy"); blew Butters in his sleep after giving him cold medicine, then tried to convince Butters to do the same to him; and asked Clyde to sleep with him once (he was actually quoting "Lady Marmalade"; you know the lyric). But he also experienced attraction toward Wendy, Stan's girlfriend; mentioned that he had a crush on a girl named Patty Nelson; and had a crush on Bebe when she started developing breasts (along with the rest of the male 4th graders). [[spoiler: And currently, Heidi Turner is his first girlfriend.]]
* DespotismJustifiesTheMeans: Can often convince the [[TooDumbToLive citizens of South Park]] of this.
* {{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.
* DidYouJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu: 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 ''Anime/MyNeighborTotoro'' theme song.
* DirtyCoward: Of particular note is the episode where he fights Wendy. His grovelling begging to get out of the fight leads to this exchange:
-->'''Wendy:''' I am going to make you eat your own underwear. \\
'''Cartman:''' (scared shitless) There's no need, please! Look, I'm doing it now! (does so) \\
'''Wendy:''' Jesus Christ, do you have no self-respect? \\
'''Cartman:''' No! Unless... will you forgive me if I do?
** Also happens when he, along with the rest of his friends, does something wrong (or even thinks that they did). In that case, he usually tries to frame it on Butters.
* DisabilityAsAnExcuseForJerkassery:
** He fakes [[HollywoodTourettes Tourette's]] in order to get away with swearing and saying racial slurs. He also tries this in "Ass Burgers", but fails due to a very basic misunderstanding of the disease.
** He gains more weight so he can qualify for a mobility scooter in "Raising the Bar".
* DisproportionateRetribution: Frequently, and famously.
-->'''Cartman:''' ''(sarcastically)'' Okay, I'm sorry I handcuffed Billy Turner's ankle to a flagpole and then gave him a hacksaw. And then told him I had poisoned his lunch milk and that the only way he could get to the antidote in time would be to saw through his leg.
-->'''Ms. Cartman:''' Eric, that's very naughty.
-->'''Cartman:''' Well, he called me "chubby!"
* DoesNotLikeSpam: He led Cthulhu on a crusade against Whole Foods. "No more organic crap for America!"
* DragonInChief: Cthulhu.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In the 1992 ''Spirit of Christmas'' short (which ''South Park'' spawned from), he had Kenny's name and was the victim of his TheyKilledKennyAgain RunningGag.
* EliminationCatchPhrase: "Get the fudge out!"
* EnfantTerrible: A racist, bigoted, murderous, self-centered VillainProtagonist. While his attempts at being cute aren't always very successful, he is still without a doubt the most manipulative character in the show and is quite psychopathic.
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Double-subverted, as when he tries to kill her, he suddenly finds he can't go through with it.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: All things considered, he has quite a few -- even if some of them are PlayedForLaughs and are more "petty" standards than anything:
** Since 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, ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', and the Catholic Church.
** In "Major Boobage", he shows a lot more love to cats than he ever has to a person.
** "My Future Self N' Me" establishes that he hates it when parents don't respect their kids and lie to them, as kids should be able to trust their parents. Because of this, he starts a business where kids can pay him to smear poop on their parents' walls.
** "The China Probrem" shows that of all the evil acts he's willing to do, he draws the line at one: shooting men in the genitals. [[BerserkButton Never]].
** In "Dances with Smurfs" he reacts with horror to Gordon Stolski's murder during the morning announcements.
** By the end of the "Black Friday" trilogy, he seems genuinely horrified and haunted after watching Bill Gates murder the Sony President after he got his XBOX One.
** Even Cartman was creeped out by Shelley's relationship with Skyler, a man ten years her senior.
** "All right all right that does it! [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere Screw you guys I'm going home!]] TalkingPoo is where I draw the line."
** Even Cartman was afraid of Trent Boyett in "Pre-School".
** Even he looks horrified by Captain Hindsight and the fire department letting 14 people die in a fire in "Coon 2: Hindsight".
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Cartman does not understand the difference between being nice and wearing a nice sweater, as seen in "Casa Bonita". "Toilet Paper" shows that 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, and he seemed to be in ''physical pain'' trying to [[LackOfEmpathy process the concept of feeling bad for other people]] (i.e. Butters, who was falsely accused and arrested for the boys' T.P.'ing of their art teacher's house). Many attempts to berate him for his callousness have fallen flat since he genuinely doesn't seem to have a clue what empathy is. In Season 20 when he tries to be a better person (mostly due to fear of retribution) he doesn't come out as sincere and only has "women are funny, get over it" as an argument.
* EvilCounterpart: To Kyle and Butters (and, to a lesser extent, Stan).
* EvilGenius: More and more in the later seasons. This is mainly introduced in "Scott Tenorman Must Die".
* EvilGloating:
-->'''Cartman:''' *in sing-songy voice* Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! I made you eat your parents.
* EvilIsHammy: He's known for being an extremely campy character.
* EvilIsPetty: 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. And he tied a kid to a flagpole by his ankle and told the kid he poisoned his chocolate milk and then gave him a saw telling him he implanted the poison in the kid's leg, and he needed to cut his leg off to get it ("Well, he called me "chubby"!") Also, some of those elaborate schemes ''are'' for petty reasons. See the entire Scott Tenorman fiasco.
* EvilPlan: 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. Cartman thrives on this trope.
* FatBastard: During his family reunion, all of his family members, save for his mother and grandmother who are thin and caring, are fat annoying slobs. In another episode, Eric from the future, who lost weight and became a better person in general (and wealthy to boot), comes to the past to tell Eric to be a good human being. Eric (thinking it's a trick) delivers the generic "screw you" line and says he will stay the way he is. After the other characters are out of view, the future Eric transforms into a dirty obese mechanic as a result of his younger self not "changing for the better".
* FatComicRelief: He is the butt of many jokes about his weight.
* FatIdiot: Though his hatred and spite occasionally give him moments of brilliance.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Cartman's willing to pretend to be nice to get what he wants -- the gloves come off the second he doesn't. Sometimes he isn't even that good at being affable and rely on pity to manipulate. May or may not be [[AffablyEvil subverted]] in Season 20, where it ''does'' appear as though he's trying to be a better person, but it's hard to tell because he still has a way of sounding sarcastic when he's being "nice".
* {{Flanderization}}: In the early seasons, his anti-Semitic streak was relatively mild and was nothing more than making fun of Kyle not celebrating Christmas. Between Seasons 5 and 15, it is FAR more prominent, to the point where, in "The Passion Of The Jew", he tries to instigate his own Holocaust. After Season 15, [[ForgotFlandersCouldDoThat it goes back the other way somewhat]], with his anti-Semitism being much less pronounced. In fact, by Season 19, he no longer makes derogatory remarks about Jews when speaking to Kyle (though they still argue because they don't like each other regardless).
* FluffyTamer: Nothing else qualifies for taming Cthulhu.
* FreudianExcuse: WordOfGod confirms that because his mother almost never bothers to discipline him for his actions and constantly spoils him, Cartman just doesn't know right from wrong.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Not only do his three closest "friends" hate him, insult him behind his back, and actively question why they still hang out with him, but the entire fourth grade class hates him almost as much. Even ''Butters'' occasionally lets it slip that he doesn't truly like Cartman very much, being friendly to him presumably out of goodwill and fear. The boys are often divided on whatever keeps Cartman a part of their group; Kenny personally explains that he pities Cartman as an unfeeling, horrible person and so allows him to stay because he knows he'll have no other friends otherwise, while Stan and Kyle seem to have no idea. Either way, it's rare to see his friends actually ''genuinely'' enjoying his company.
* GeniusBruiser: He has several talents, among which the highlights are: electronics, sumo, music, and even multilingualism, such as fluency in German and Spanish. His strength and intelligence can vary from episode to episode however. His intelligence can be attributed to him being BrilliantButLazy, but his strength varies from strong enough to take down adults ("Chickenlover") to being beaten up by the students in his class (Wendy in "Breast Cancer Show Ever", Kyle in "Kenny Dies" among others, and Token in "Christian Rock Hard").
* GeniusDitz: Can easily manipulate people and appears to be able to speak fluent Spanish and German at age 9, but otherwise completely clueless about a lot of things.
* GodzillaThreshold: Whenever a problem gets too out of hand, he's usually brought in as a last resort to stop it.
* GoodHurtsEvil: In "Tsst", when his long-suppressed conscience starts to surface.
* HairTriggerTemper: Moreso than any of the other main characters (save for Mr. Garrison), and one of his biggest draws.
* HeelFaceDoorSlam: In the first episode of Season 20 it's revealed that he's actually working on his [[{{Jerkass}} behavior]]. However, in the second episode titled "Skank Hunt", the kids start to wrongfully suspect that he's [[{{Troll}} skankhunt]]. That makes them destroy his computer, phone and tablet.
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Cartman has gone from being one of the team to actually being the villain of the episode and back again so many times over the years, he may as well be labeled the poster boy for this trope.
* HeelFaithTurn: "Jewpacabra" induces this as Cartman proclaims to [[spoiler: convert to Judaism]]. Not that Kyle will ever buy it.
* HeelRealization: On occasion. [[AesopAmnesia It doesn't last, though]].
* HeroicComedicSociopath: 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 [[Recap/SouthParkS5E9OsamaBinLadenHasFartyPants Osama bin Laden's army]] and crippling him, and saving the town from hippies when they got out of control.
* HiddenDepths: "Cartman Sucks" shows signs that Cartman is a rather talented photographer.
* HijackingCthulhu: Cartman manipulates the actual {{Cthulhu|Mythos}} via the RuleOfCute into trampling his enemies, namely the rest of the gang and anyone he suspects to be a hippie.
* HollywoodTourettes: 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 [[spoiler: blurt out personal secrets]].
* HypocriticalHumor: He makes a song about how Kyle's mom is a big fat bitch, yet he is an overweight jerkass as well. To hammer this even more, he rips on Kyle and all Jews for being greedy and manipulative when he himself is guilty of this all the time.
* IAmBigBoned
-->'''Stan:''' C'mon, fatass!\\
'''Ms. Cartman:''' Now, now, he's not fat, he's big boned!\\
'''Kyle:''' Then he must have a giant bone in his ass!\\
'''Ms. Cartman:''' ''[[[AccidentalInnuendo hysterical laughter]]]''
* IdenticalStranger: To Marlon Brando ("Cartman Joins NAMBLA") and a bit to Dakota Fanning (the sketch in "Free Willzyx").
* IgnoredEpiphany: In "Mysterion Rises".
-->''Should I just apologize to my friends and ask them to take me back? Tell them 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? Nah, screw that, I'm just gonna keep being a dick!''
* InnocentBigot: 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. He spends the whole episode [[{{Determinator}} going to the extreme]] to uphold these views. A rare example of ''[[TheSociopath Cartman]]'' managing to fill a trope with the word "innocent".
* InsaneTrollLogic: Uses this a ''lot'', memorably so in "Mystery of the Urinal Deuce", "Dances with Smurfs", and, to a lesser extent, "I Should Have Never Gone Ziplining".
* ItsAllAboutMe: He is willing to compromise world peace just so he can abuse Kyle for his own amusement. He is even shocked when Mysterion tells him that making the world a better place for oneself exclusively isn't heroic.
* ItAmusedMe: Many of the awful things he does are motivated by boredom.
* IWasBeatenByAGirl: Wendy, to be precise. This is HilariousInHindsight because he once stated that he would never let a woman kick his ass; if she tried anything Cartman would be like "HEY! You get your bitch ass back in the kitchen and make me some pie!"
* {{Jerkass}}: Cartman is one of television's most infamous examples. He currently provides the trope's page image.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: In the first four seasons. Since the latter half of Season 15, he has veered more towards this, even having moments with Kyle that don't involve arguing or foiling each other's schemes.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: Sometimes he does something that seems genuinely generous or selfless, but there's always a selfish reason to it. His friends expect this. His inability to understand what everyone else calls being "good" is brought to light a couple of times. For example, when called out by Mysterion, we get this:
-->'''Cartman (as The Coon)''': I'm making the world a better place.
-->'''[[spoiler:Kenny]] (as Mysterion)''': For ''you!''
-->'''Cartman (as The Coon)''': Right. That's what superheroes do.
* KarmaHoudini / KarmaHoudiniWarranty: While he usually ''does'' get some form of comeuppance for his actions, it's only temporary, and is usually (but not always) more of an inconvenience than any real punishment. He never suffers [[StatusQuoIsGod longer than it takes for the next episode to air]].
* KarmicTransformation: In the episode "Ginger Kids", after Cartman starts a crusade against gingers, the other boys try to stop him by dying his hair red and using makeup to turn his skin pale and freckly. But then Cartman just changes his tune, starts a "ginger power" movement, and tries to wipe out all non-gingers. He stops and begins preaching tolerance after Kyle explains to him that he's not really a ginger.
* KickTheDog: Many times. Beating Token with a rock, trying to kill his mother, and infecting Kyle with HIV just to name a few.
* KidsAreCruel: Cartman takes this trope UpToEleven.
* KindheartedCatLover: Surprisingly, in "Major Boobage", it's shown that he likes cats enough to start hiding strays in his attic and even begin taking in other people's cats for them (not even asking for anything in return) once cats are made illegal in South Park.
* KnightTemplar: He genuinely believes Jews are evil, having apparently 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 UpToEleven in the "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 Francisco, ''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.
* LackOfEmpathy: The poster boy. He only cares about himself and getting whatever he wants, and is perfectly willing to lie, cheat, manipulate, and commit mass murder to do so. In one episode, when Kyle is in dire need of a kidney transplant and Cartman is the only match, Cartman blatantly refuses to do so unless he's paid $10 million for it, forcing Stan and the other people of South Park to resort to trickery to get said kidney.
* LargeHam: He's known for being an extremely campy character and he disturbs class all the time.
* LaserGuidedKarma: He receives this on a semi-regular basis.
* LastNameBasis: 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 occasionally be 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!").
* LaughablyEvil: His antics can sometimes backfire and lead to his humiliation, but he shows that he's capable of this, for example being able to team up with Cthulhu.
* LikableVillain: Everyone knows Cartman covers about half of the list of Evil Tropes, yet that hasn't stopped the viewing public from laughing at his antics for fifteen years. It helps that he's a bit more tolerable than [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy most]] [[WesternAnimation/AmericanDad jerkass protagonists]] and that the writers have him lose as often as he wins.
* MadeOfIron: Occasionally played for laughs, but keep in mind, this kid has survived getting run over by cars, getting beaten to a pulp more than a few times, falling from buildings, and even survived getting struck by lightning!
* MaliciousSlander: When given the bully pulpit. For example, he writes an entire book dedicated to slandering Wendy.
* ManipulativeBastard: Frequently. [[spoiler: Apparently to the point where he can control ''the dark god Cthulhu''.]] It's gotten to the point where Kyle can instantly tell that Cartman is up to no good and is only scheming to better himself should he start to act differently. Kyle is usually right.
* TheMatchmaker: Cartman and Cupid-Me {{ship|ping}} same-race couples, and he actively works to get them together.
* MinorInjuryOverreaction: Cartman begins wailing over a punch in the arm by Kyle as if he was seriously hurt. Though it's implied that he [[ExploitedTrope purposefully exaggerates]] them to gain sympathy.
* MistakenForGay: Happens a few times, mostly with Kyle or Butters.
* MoralMyopia: In the "Coon and Friends" trilogy, he thinks the rest of Coon and Friends pulled a FaceHeelTurn because they kicked him out. He also states that being a superhero means you're making the world a better place for yourself, not others, and sees him himself as a superhero even though his "heroic" actions consist of having Cthulhu kill thousands of people for no reason other than the fact that he hates them.
* MotorMouth:
** 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.
* TheMole: Attempted. He pretends to help the other boys take down Wal-mart so he can be TheMillstone for them. He fools no one and they continually call him out on the fact that he's on Wal-Mart's side. [[TheUnreveal He later reveals himself to be a mole]].
* {{Narcissist}}: One episode has him coming to the ([[IgnoredEpiphany rather short-lived]]) epiphany that maybe the world doesn't revolve around him; the mere thought almost causes him to GoMadFromTheRevelation.
* TheNapoleon: "T.M.I." highlights this. Not regarding Cartman's height, but the length of his penis. In "Make Love, Not Warcraft", Cartman is the only character with a dwarf avatar.
* NearVillainVictory: Often. Usually it is undone by his own doing.
* NiceHat: He's usually seen with his trademark blue beanie, although out of the four boys he is also the one most likely to ditch it for whatever reason.
* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: He's the freaking image for ''South Park''[='=]s NightmareFuel page!
* NobleBigot: In "Cartman Finds Love", he seems to really believe that he is doing the right thing in setting Token up with Nichole despite his entire basis being his racism.
* NobleDemon:
** Cartman risks serious trouble or imprisonment to protect a load of cats in "Major Boobage". He is apparently unaware of the parallels when Kyle asks pointedly whether he noticed the obvious historical parallel, after Cartman had risked arrest by [[ItMakesSenseInContext harboring felines]] in his attic, despite him earlier lampshading it by suggesting his cat could "[[Theatre/TheDiaryOfAnneFrank write a diary]]" while in hiding. 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 he does potentially noble acts for hidden selfish reasons or out of genuine conscience; "Kenny Dies" and "Smug Alert" for example, either border him further into {{Jerkass}} territory or grant him NobleDemon qualities.
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: [[ShoutOut Delivers one to]] Mosquito (Clyde) because [[DisproportionateRetribution Mosquito wanted to help people in the Gulf instead of blackmailing fellow heroes]].
* NominalHero: 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.
* NonStandardCharacterDesign: His body and face shape is much more exaggerated compared to the rest of his peers (excluding disabled ones). He also has a notable double chin. Also, rather subtle, but Cartman's eyebrows are actually ''triangular'', as opposed to other characters' more rectangular eyebrows.
* NotMeThisTime: [[spoiler: In a case of DramaticIrony, he is NOT Skankhunt42.]]
* ObfuscatingDisability: In "Up the Down Steroid", he pretends to be retarded so that he can win the Special Olympics. Unfortunately, he doesn't take into account that while not disabled, he's by no means ''athletic'' like the other contestants are.
* ObliviouslyEvil: In the "Coon" arc, he really thinks he is making the world a better place by disposing of the people he doesn't like. Mysterion calls him on this.
* OfficialCouple: In Season 20, he gets with Heidi Turner, in an odd yet very sweet romantic relationship.
* OutOfCharacterMoment: "You're Getting Old" and "Ass Burgers" has Cartman acting ''nice'' towards Kyle and not doing it to manipulate him for anything. The niceness act is due to Stan being a cynical asshole and being unbearable to be around. Naturally, StatusQuoIsGod and Cartman resumes being a jerk to Kyle afterwards.
* {{Patricide}}: [[spoiler: Unknowingly killed his father and turned him into chili.]] When he finds out, [[VillainousBSOD he's horrified]]...[[ComicallyMissingThePoint that his father was ginger]].
* PaperTiger: For all his shit-talking and threats to kick ass, he's a complete coward when threatened. This makes the occasions where he does get effective revenge on someone [[BewareTheSillyOnes even more terrifying]].
** On at least two occasions, Kyle has made him cry from punching him in the ''arm'' and busted/broken his nose with a shovel with no retaliation when Cartman threatened him.
** During one episode, he made several misogynistic comments about Stan's sister when it was revealed that she abuses Stan on a routine basis, and when she's within earshot of one of those comments, he's very quick to pin it on Kenny.
** Stan made him hang up the phone and back away in terror after identifying him as the person trash-talking to him in "The Passion of the Jew".
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Jews, hippies, blacks, Asians, girls... They ''all'' get the hate from Cartman at least once.
* PrecisionFStrike: See CatchPhrase.
* PunctuatedForEmphasis: "This. Is. Bullcrap!"
* RedOniBlueOni: Red Oni to Kyle's Blue.
* RefugeInAudacity: Cartman is so popular with the fans because of his extreme [[HairTriggerTemper tendencies]] and [[LargeHam over-the-top]] [[FatBastard personality]].
* RousseauWasRight: "Tsst" definitely puts this into perspective, suggesting there still is a core of innocence under all of that hate and bile building up in Cartman's psyche, but remains suppressed largely due to his upbringing. [[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89375695 As Trey Parker puts it]], Liane's ineffectual parenting skills molded Cartman into TheSociopath he is today, and so long as she's looking for a friend in her son, he has [[MonsterSobStory no hope of recovery]].
-->'''Parker''': Cartman's basically doomed.
* RunningGag: People have mistaken him for Bruce Vilanch multiple times.
* {{Sadist}}: Just look at the ending for "Scott Tenorman Must Die".
* SelfMadeOrphan: Halfway there, having arranged the death of his father [[spoiler: Jack Tenorman]]. Came close to fully becoming one in "Tsst".
* SelfServingMemory: Especially prominent in "Fishsticks" and the "Coon and Friends" trilogy.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Manly Man to Butters' and Stan's Sensitive Guy.
* SeriousBusiness: Anything involving food, stuffed animals, or cartoons. And that's just the more well-known examples...
* ShipperOnDeck: For [[TokenMinorityCouple Token/Nichole]]. He goes to ridiculous feats to get them together.
* ShockAndAwe: He temporarily gets the ability to [[spoiler: shoot lightning out of his hands near the ending of ''[[TheMovie Bigger, Longer, and Uncut]]'' using the V-Chip in his head]].
* SickeninglySweethearts: With [[AscendedExtra Heidi Turner]]. Even the other students think it TastesLikeDiabetes.
* SirSwearsALot: This trope applies to his friends as well, but to him more than anyone else.
* SissyVillain: Cartman likes to think he's imposing and dangerous but has basically no defense from being actually attacked. In "Something Wal-Mart This Way Comes", Kenny is able to easily stall him by lightly slapping at him, and at the end of "Christmas in Canada", he cries out for his mommy when Kyle gives him a [[CherryTapping tiny jab on the shoulder]]. In "Breast Cancer Show Ever", 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. Wendy quickly [[CurbStompBattle wipes the floor with him]].
* SmallNameBigEgo: The walking personification of the trope. Cartman acts like he is better than everyone else and knows more than anyone else, but when people actually start fighting back by hitting him (even if it's a weak tap), he starts bawling like a baby. "Breast Cancer Show Ever" has the trope in spades where Cartman pushes Wendy's buttons too far and she vows to beat him up, causing Cartman to plead with her to not fight him while at the same time, he acts tough in front of the school to keep up his image.
* SmugSnake: Usually alternates between this and MagnificentBastard.
* TheSociopath: In Seasons 1-4 he was just a BrattyHalfPint. Then he became a perfect example of a sociopath with particularly poor impulse control. First of all, he displays zero empathy for any living person, nor has he ever shown any feelings of guilt for anything. His list of crimes is vast, but he has committed them frequently just to alleviate boredom, or for an immature personal gain.
* SociopathicHero: When he is on the good side he'll still insult and suggest violent methods.
* SonOfAWhore: His mother had slept with the entire named adult population of South Park.
* SpoiledBrat: Here's one of his milder examples:
-->'''Cartman:''' Mom, can you get me some Weight Gain 4000?\\
'''Cartman's Mom:''' Okay Eric. I'll get you some at the store tomorrow.\\
'''Cartman:''' But mom, I need it for tomorrow!\\
'''Cartman's Mom:''' But, tomorrow is grocery day, Eric.\\
'''Cartman:''' ''Mooooooom!'' *whines incoherently*\\
'''Cartman's Mom:''' Okay, okay. Well, I guess I'll be going to the store now, then.\\
'''Cartman:''' *smiles* Sweet.
* SuddenNameChange: The 1992 short ''The Spirit of Christmas: Jesus vs. Frosty'' made him to have Kenny's, but it would later be changed to his current name in the following short.
* TeenyWeenie: Cartman has the smallest (presumably flaccid) penis in his class as revealed in "T.M.I.". He's very defensive and easily angered about it (it's 1.4 inches for the curious).
* TellMeAboutMyFather: [[{{Hermaphrodite}} His mother is actually his father]]. [[spoiler: OR NOT!]]
* ThatsWhatIWouldDo: Uses his skills in getting out of trouble by making up some huge lie to figure out that a kid teaching the parents of South Park how to play Minecraft is lying.
* TokenEvilTeammate: In the main group, because he's a sociopathic and racist bully. Even at their worst, his friends aren't as bad as him.
* TookALevelInBadass: As The Coon in the "Coon & Friends" trilogy. However, even in his normal persona, he does admittedly have moments where his cunning and manipulativeness come off as genuinely badass.
* TookALevelInJerkass: In Season 5. He was a stupid SpoiledBrat {{Jerkass}} from the beginning, but on several occasions his friends came off even worse. However, from Season 5 onwards he's become a [[LackOfEmpathy cold]], [[MagnificentBastard calculating]], [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] {{Jerkass}}.
* TookALevelInKindness: He starts to show concern for others beginning with the second half of Season 15, even towards Kyle. Especially as of "1%" after [[spoiler: he's told to "grow up" and some of his stuffed animals are killed, then he bids farewell to the last of them. Even Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Token watch as he shoots Polly Prissypants and cries while doing it]]. Even moreso in Season 20, where he makes some sincere effort to try being a better person (even if he's being an idiot about it) and is less antagonistic than before. [[spoiler: He even gets a girlfriend.]]
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Pot Pie and Cheesy Poofs in the earlier seasons.
* {{Troll}}: With a large degree of blur with ManipulativeBastard. He does seem to thoroughly and sadistically enjoy the suffering his actions cause. However, in Season 20, it's revealed that [[spoiler: he is [[NotMeThisTime NOT]] Skankhunt42]].
* UnderstandingBoyfriend: Parodied. His attempts at being this to [[spoiler: Heidi]] consist entirely of repeating "You're smart and funny" over and over again. Sort of deconstructed now that we're getting more and more hints that he hasn't really changed.
* TheUnfettered: To [[RuleOfFunny comedic]] and sometimes [[VillainProtagonist horrific]] extents.
* UnsportsmanlikeGloating: Whenever he wins a bet with Kyle (such as crapping out his mouth or getting a platinum album in a music band), he'll take ''every possible opportunity'' he can to rub it in Kyle's face. In fact, it's shown that he actually likes gloating about the win ''more'' than the reward itself; for example, in "Christian Rock Hard", when he discovers that Christian rock bands only give out myrrh albums and not platinum ones, thus meaning he won't be able to win the bet, he flies into a rage in public and ruins the band's success.
* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: He is willing to do things like feed a kid his own parents or even cause the end of the world to get revenge for minor wrongdoings against him.
* VerbalTic:
** "You guys... seriousleh..."
** Lots of blithering {{Angrish}}.
* VillainBall: He probably would've been successful in getting the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode pulled in "Cartoon Wars" if he hadn't confessed to Kyle (whom he had already managed to convince of his good intentions) that he was doing it to get the show cancelled.
* VillainousGlutton: In one episode, it is shown that making him thin would actually make him a nicer person.
* VillainProtagonist: He either serves as TheDragon for an even greater evil, or IS the BigBad in most episodes. Occasionally though, he functions as a NominalHero.
* VitriolicBestBuds: With everyone, especially Kyle.
* VocalEvolution: He had a higher and more grating, raspy voice in earlier seasons.
* WithFriendsLikeThese: His relationship with the other kids.
* WouldHitAGirl: 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".
* YouAreFat: No matter what absolutely atrocious things Cartman does, "fatass" or variations of which are nearly always the key insult dished at him.
* YouAreWhatYouHate: In the 200th episode, Cartman is agonized to learn that [[spoiler: 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".
* YouSayTomato
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Kenneth "Kenny" [=McCormick=]]]
[[quoteright:320:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kenny-mccormick_5437.jpg]]
->''"All the time! I die all the time! And you assholes NEVER REMEMBER!"''

!!!!!!Voiced by: Matt Stone (normal muffled voice, Mysterion, and Franchise/IronMan costume), Creator/MikeJudge (''WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut''), Eric Stough (unhooded)
!!!!!!Debut: "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe"

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

* AllMenArePerverts: And Kenny is the worst.
* AndIMustScream: Since Kenny dies again and again, only to wake up in bed absolutely fine. He remembers each and every one of his deaths, no matter how painful, and furthermore, no one remembers when he dies, so he could count as this.
* AntiHero: Kenny arguably has the most heroic personality of the four main kids, as evidenced by his {{heroic sacrifice}}s, though is also cynical to go with it. He has a lot of vices too, but not to the extremes of the others, and he doesn't deny it.
* ArchnemesisDad: [[spoiler: He's the spawn of Cthulhu, whom he [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu called a pussy]].]]
* BackFromTheDead: All the time. It's apparently his super power.
* BadassAdorable: Mysterion is hardcore, and his entire story arc shows the true nature of Kenny's character. And he's only ten years old and wears his underwear over his costume!
* BeingGoodSucks: When it comes down to it, he will do the right thing, but due to his immortality, no one remembers his {{Heroic Sacrifice}}s.
* BerserkButton:

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Kyle Broflovski]]
[[quoteright:320:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kyle-broflovski_8836.jpg]]
->''"I'm Jewish. I've got some hang-ups about killing Jesus."''

!!!!!!Voiced by: Matt Stone

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.

* AcademicAthlete: A young version. He's noted in-series as loving football and basketball while also demonstrating high intelligence (his [[JewishAndNerdy wimpy cousin]] Kyle even calls him a "redneck jock stereotype" in one episode).
* {{Adorkable}}: A number of fans see him as this.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: In earlier seasons, Kyle would often feel left out by his friends around the holidays, him being a Jew and all. He even gets an AntiChristmasSong, "The Lonely Jew at Christmas".
* ArchEnemy: For Cartman (sometimes reaches TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou levels).
* AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Briefly, in "The Tooth Fairy Tats 2000".
* AuthorAvatar: He's a stand-in for Matt Stone.
* BackFromTheDead: In "Imaginationland", he is choked to death by [=ManBearPig=], only for Cartman to resuscitate him.
* BadassBookworm: On the outside, a potty-mouth, angry nine-year old who's also the smart one of the group, but the movie demonstrated that he can hack into top secret military databases. He has also been shown to be fairly athletic at points of the show and fully capable of kicking Cartman's ass when necessary.
* BeingGoodSucks: Kyle always tries to do the right thing, even if it doesn't get him rewarded or gain happiness. It becomes more apparent when Cartman, a sociopath at the age of 10, is involved because despite Kyle hating him with all his heart, he could never let Cartman suffer from his own stupid actions and wants to at least see him do the right thing once in his life.
* BerserkButton: Don't call his mom a bitch. Or make fun of his Jewish heritage. Or be Eric Cartman and do pretty much anything. At this point in the series, it's more the third thing than the first two.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Kyle is usually very kind, but you might not want to anger him if you know what's good for you. See BerserkButton above.
* BigBrotherBully: To Ike in the first season. "[[CatchPhrase Kick the baby]]!"
* BigBrotherInstinct:
** 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.
** He briefly played this role to Blanket in "Jeffersons" due to his father neglecting him. He goes from giving him a band-aid to try to take away Jefferson's custody of him.
* BreakTheCutie: Most notably in "Cartmanland". It's one thing being pushed into denouncing the existence of a God (or in this case a righteous God). It's another to be pushed to the point of giving up on life due to Cartman's constant KarmaHoudini instances. It takes one major case of divine intervention to rectify.
* BrutalHonesty: Can do this at times.
* ButtMonkey: Mostly having to do with being the center of Cartman's torment around him being a Jew.
* CallingTheOldManOut: Kyle does this to his mom in "Fun with Veal" and in TheMovie.
--> '''Sheila:''' Kyle, if you don't do as you're told, [[ThatMakesMeFeelAngry 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 [[ThisIsForEmphasisBitch bitch]]!\\
'''Sharon:''' [[DeadpanSnarker Very persuasive]].

** "You bastards!", after Stan's "Oh my God, they killed Kenny!".
** "You know, I've learned something today," although this is sometimes said by Stan, and other characters as well.
** "Fatass" is something he says to Cartman every episode they interact in. Stan sometimes calls him that, too.
* CelibateHero: Well he's not actively celibate or anything (keep in mind he's only 10 years old) but, regardless, he pays the least amount of attention to girls out of the boys (even compared to [[AmbiguouslyBi Cartman]]). The only three girls that he had any interest in were Rebecca Cotswald (from Season 3), Nichole (from Season 16), and Leslie (from Season 19) yet nothing came out of it. There was also some ShipTease with Bebe earlier in the show's run, but that hasn't been revisited.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Early in the show's run, his personality was more similar to Stan's; he was more childish, bratty, indifferent and a BigBrotherBully to Ike on a larger scale. As the series went on, his character got more fleshed out and unique to Stan's, and he also became much more kind-hearted (if you aren't Cartman, that is), and his love for Ike is a lot more manifested. On the other hand, he can be more overly-dramatic about social values (almost bordering on SoapboxSadie in seasons 19-20) and will move mountains to prove Cartman wrong about the silliest of things, something his earlier self wouldn't have done due to apathy.
* TheChewToy: In recent seasons, though the Season 18 episodes don't feature him often.
* ChildProdigy: He's regularly portrayed as the top student in his class, has the highest capabilities with the computer, including photoshopping a photo to fool the Japanese government to stop whaling and get his best friend out of trouble and single-handedly thwarting a terrorist attack with some inspired Google-fu. He's also shown more than a slight capability with philosophy and managed to remove himself from reality.
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: This is available only when Cartman has a new, evil plan.
* CompressedHair: He easily gets a Jewfro that's larger than his head into a small hat. {{Justified|Trope}} since it's just the art style exaggerating the size of it.
* TheConscience: Over the course of the show, he's evolved into this, as he's often stuck playing the voice of reason as well as the conscience in a show featuring Eric Cartman.
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: He never stops reminding everyone that Cartman's fat.
* {{Deuteragonist}}: Strictly speaking, though he and [[TheProtagonist Stan]] can switch roles from time to time.
* DirtyCoward: Happens often. When he, along with the rest of his friends, does something wrong (or even thinks that they did), he usually tries to frame it on Butters.
* DisneyDeath: In "Imaginationland Part II", [[spoiler: during a scene parodying ''Film/TheAbyss'']].
* DoggedNiceGuy: Seldom gets what he wants despite trying to be a decent person. Often due to Cartman.
* FieryRedhead: Mixed with his HotBlooded tendencies whenever his ChronicHeroSyndrome [[CharacterizationMarchesOn personality kicks in]].
* TheFinickyOne: He has shades of this at times, though his foil, and more or less the entire world he lives in, is so immoral he doesn't really need that high standards to get wound up over it.
* {{Flanderization}}: His obsession with beating Cartman, to the point of occasionally leaning into KnightTemplar territory.
* GoodAngelBadAngel: 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.
* GoodIsNotNice: Seeing some of the conflicts between him and Cartman [[ItMakesSenseInContext out of context]] wouldn't make all that clear that Kyle's supposed to be the good guy. One example is in "Le Petit Tourette", though, in the perspective of the adults. Cartman fakes Tourette's Syndrome to get what he wants, and Kyle, [[CaptainObvious 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. His method involved having [[KickTheSonOfABitch tons of pedophiles committing suicide]] to stop the show and is angry when Cartman thanks him for it.
* HairTriggerTemper: He is quite easily pissed off, usually because of something Cartman says or does.
* HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday: 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 ''really'' does not like the idea of [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything drinking pee or eating bananas]].
* TheHero: Either swaps this role with Stan semi-frequently or works with Stan (and sometimes the other boys) as a duo/team of sorts in undermining the numerous insane and evil plots they often (unwillingly) discover. Also, in keeping with his "hero" status, he is the only one out of the five main boys who doesn't have an extensive criminal record.
* HeroicSacrifice: Without death involved. "Margaritaville" has Kyle use his new credit card without a spending limit to pay for the town's debts, even if it means he will be in debt himself for the rest of his life.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Stan.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: 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 monster territory in previous episodes.
* HotBlooded: At least when Cartman's involved.
* {{Hypocrite}}:
** In ''Tonsil Trouble'' he complains about Cartman making fun of HIV despite laughing at his condition earlier. Even if he was laughing at the irony of the situation based on previous episodes, this episode alone frames him as this trope.
** In ''The Stick of Truth'', he requests a group of elves to kidnap your character and threatens to blackmail your character, even though you're already a member of Kupa Keep. Ironically, Cartman recruited your character in a much more polite manner. This example is more benign than the former though as the characters were playing a game and he puts his grudge towards Cartman aside to stop Clyde.
* TheIdealist: Very much so in the later seasons, and serves as a good counterbalance to [[TheCynic Stan's]] [[CharacterizationMarchesOn later cynicism]].
* IllBoy: Not too blatant, but Kyle gets sick ''much'' more often than the others boys ([[TheyKilledKennyAgain 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 ''[[YouFailBiologyForever 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 [[TheWoobie other reasons]].
* InformedJudaism: 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, [[DontExplainTheJoke that's part of the joke]].
* InsufferableGenius: Sort of. Kyle, being TheSmartGuy, is very intelligent, and when this is combined with HotBlooded and SnarkKnight, it becomes something of a subtle version of this trope. [[MoralityChain He believes himself to be on a moral ground high above others]], [[EvilCounterpart especially]] [[ArchEnemy Cartman]].
* JerkassBall: He and Stan are usually [[OnlySaneMan Only Sane Men]] to the craziness of the world around them, and act as more moralistic foils to Cartman. At times however, often when Cartman is not in a starring role, they can act rather selfish or immoral, having nothing against using similar bullying or conniving tactics to Cartman to get what they want. This is more toned down in later seasons, though still pops up every now and then.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He can be HotBlooded on occasion, mostly due to Cartman's behavior, and in earlier seasons he wasn't much better than Cartman himself. However, despite his intense hatred and resentment towards Cartman he's still a NiceJewishBoy, especially in later episodes.
* JewishAndNerdy: Subverted. He's Jewish and the smartest kid in the group, but he's cool enough to avert the trope. He also hates his cousin's stereotypical nerdiness.
* KidsAreCruel: 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 [[BreakTheCutie 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 [[CreateYourOwnVillain that his bullying turned Cartman into the anti-Semitic monster he is today]]. This is toned down in later episodes, though he can still act self righteous or show {{Jerkass}} traits on occasion. He often calls Cartman "fatass" even when Cartman hasn't done anything wrong in that episode towards anyone.
* KnightTemplar: He is gradually leaning towards this trope in his rivalry with Cartman; some of their conflicts have shown his willingness to outright kill him. In "Fatbeard" for example, he attempts to convince Cartman to travel to Somalia in his ill-defined plan to become a pirate, and he is later seen gloating about assisting in Cartman's supposed death, unfazed by the fact that Butters, Clyde and Kevin went along with him. Ike joining, however, is enough to change his mind.
* TheLancer: Often, to Stan's TheHero.
* MessianicArchetype: Blatantly so in ''Margaritaville''.
* MistakenForGay:
** With Cartman in "Tonsil Trouble", whenever he exclaims that he's the one who [[spoiler: gave him AIDS]].
** In "Cartman Finds Love" only perpetuated ''by'' Cartman.
* MyBelovedSmother: 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.
* MommyIssues: In earlier seasons, ''especially'' in TheMovie.
* MoralityChain: Tries to be this to Cartman.
* NiceGuy: Kyle is one of the nicest characters you'll ever meet. He becomes one of the nicest characters later on in the series.
* NiceHat: 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!
* NiceJewishBoy: Probably the best modern version of the stereotype. Although he borders on JerkWithAHeartOfGold at times due to his short temper, he is well known for being a moral and compassionate boy who tries to do the right thing.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Near the end of "Stunning and Brave", Cartman utilizes a plan for getting rid of PC Principal and his friends ([[PetTheDog and shockingly doing so for Kyle's benefit no less]]!), so what does Kyle do? He intervenes by saying he changed his mind about Caitlyn Jenner, which foiled the plan and allowed the PC Frats to be able to stay. {{Subverted}} when you realize that if Kyle ''hadn't'' done that, PC Principal would've never gone through a HeelFaceTurn.
* NotSoDifferent: Kyle on occasion can show similar moments of greed or callousness as Cartman. This is 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.
* NoRespectGuy: He usually gets this treatment from Cartman.
* OnlySaneMan: Often trades this role with Stan.
* OutOfCharacterMoment:
** In "Woodland Critter Christmas", he [[spoiler: 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, [[spoiler:[[CrackFic it's only a story Cartman wrote]]]].
** In "South Park is Gay", he gets so upset about his classmates making fun of him for not being metrosexual that he takes a train to New York City with intent to ''[[MurderIsTheBestSolution kill]]'' the cast of ''Series/QueerEyeForTheStraightGuy''. This is before it's revealed that [[spoiler:the show is actually a plot by the Crab People to destroy humanity]], so that does not excuse him.
* TheParagon: ...Or at least he tries to invoke it. He would succeed... [[SurroundedByIdiots if the town wasn't so stupid]].
* PleaseKeepYourHatOn: Considers wearing his hat to be how he "looks natural" rather than showing off his very large Jewfro.
* PragmaticHero: How he deals with Cartman's schemes most of the time. In some cases however, he is fueled more out of personal hatred for Cartman, making him more a case of HeWhoFightsMonsters.
* RedOniBlueOni: Weirdly enough both. He's the Red Oni to Stan's Blue and the Blue Oni to Cartman's Red.
* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend: Kyle would like you to know that he and Eric Cartman are not a gay couple, no matter what Cartman says.
* TheSmartGuy: The smartest of the group, at least academically.
* TheSnarkKnight: One of the most sarcastic characters this series has.
* StraightMan: When Stan is the designated holder of the IdiotBall. Has become a regular occurrence from Season 15 on.
* SuperpoweredEvilSide: 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.
* StupidestThingIveEverHeard: Kyle's given many variations of this over the years, usually in response to something Cartman says.
* TookALevelInJerkass: Occasionally. Particularly in the episode "Tonsil Trouble" when he makes fun of Cartman when he contracts HIV. This happens in the later seasons a lot more frequently.
* TookALevelInKindness: More or less the same evolution as Stan. He still has occasional self-righteous moments, though they are much more rare. Subverted in Season 16 from time to time.
* TransNature: According to "Mr. Garrison's Fancy New Vagina", Kyle felt he was black all his life. However, this was never mentioned again. Kyle apparently accepted the way he was born.
-->'''Kyle:''' I've listened to HipHop, I watch {{UPN}}, and I love playing UsefulNotes/{{basketball}}.
* UnfortunateNames: You probably shouldn't name yourself "The Human Kite" [[AskingForIt when you're Jewish and Eric Cartman is around]].
* UnwittingPawn: Cartman's final revenge gambit in "Scott Tenorman Must Die" hinges on him and Stan backstabbing him.
* YouHaveToHaveJews: For Cartman to hate.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Eric Theodore Cartman]]
[[quoteright:320:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eric-cartman_380.jpg]]
-> ''"Screw you guys, I'm going home."''

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

!!!!!!Voiced by: Trey Parker
!!!!!!Debut: "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe"
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 polarizing characters of the show. Among other things, he hates hippies, Jews, gingers, Wendy Testaburger's liberal views, people making fun of his weight, and the "random" humor of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''.

See also [[SelfDemonstrating/EricCartman his self-demonstrating page]].

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: Just about ''every'' kid in town hates him, though not without good reason. It's to the extent that in one episode, they all flat-out tell Cartman that they don't like him and couldn't possibly have a lower opinion of him than they already do.
* {{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 this trope is subverted majorly in "1%" when his atrocious fitness causes an otherwise average class (and the whole school) to fail a national fitness test, then ''inverted'' in "The New Terrance and Phillip Movie Trailer", in which he is unable to keep up with the rest of the gang as they run throughout the town.
* {{Adorkable}}: He could be this in the first four seasons, surprisingly enough. Especially when playing with his dolls (ie. Clyde Frog, Peter Panda, etc.).
* AllTakeAndNoGive: Cartman demands to have everything handed over to him whenever he wants something and he usually has his friends do the work for whatever he needs or wants done while he doesn't do any of the heavy duty stuff himself. Cartman never gives anyone anything unless it's part of a scheme he has planned and he hardly ever gives words of thanks when it's due, especially to his mother.
* AmbiguousDisorder: Depending on the needs of the episode, he can occasionally be found somewhere at the crossroads between ASPD/sociopathy, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and Schizophrenia.
* AmbiguouslyBi:
** Although he's shown to have feelings for Wendy and Patty Nelson, he has also frequently shown heavily repressed attraction to men, among other strange tendencies. In various episodes, he's been known to dress like Music/BritneySpears and dance with a Music/JustinTimberlake 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 "Fat Butt and Pancake Head", his hand puppet Jennifer Lopez has sex with Ben Affleck. 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.
** His hatred for Kyle often leads into sexual humiliation that carries these implications, including going to great lengths to force Kyle to suck his balls in "Imaginationland", his delights in forcing Kyle to stick his finger up his ass (to activate the probe stuck in there, mind you) in "Cancelled", forcing Kyle to literally kiss his ass (and then farting in his face when he gets close enough) in "Fun with Veal", and offering to suck Kyle's balls in "Go God Go". Then there's "Cartman Finds Love", in which he keeps telling people he and Kyle are gay lovers in order to keep Kyle from interfering with Cartman's plans to make Nicole hook up with Token.
** In "Tweek x Craig", it's implied the imaginary Cupid version of himself represents his repressed attraction to guys... or his love for himself. Then, of course, a season after that he actually [[spoiler: gets his first girlfriend]].
* AmbitionIsEvil:
** In "The Red Badge of Gayness", he bets Kyle and Stan that if the Confederacy wins in a Civil War reenactment, Kyle and Stan will have to be his slaves. Stan and Kyle know that this being a reenactment, the Confederacy has no chance of winning. What does Cartman do? He motivates them to fight for real, leads them across America, gets enough manpower to field an actual army along the way ("It's just like the million man march, except that there actually are a million people.") and then marches them to the White House.
** Then there's the time he bets Stan and Kyle that he can produce a platinum album (1 million copies sold) [[ItMakesSenseInContext by taking advantage of Christian rock]] and only fails in the end because they only give out myrrh albums instead of platinum ones.
* {{Angrish}}: His hilariously unique vocal mannerisms lead to this being used a ''lot'', with many instances being outright [[FunnyMoments Crowning Moments of Funny]]. Hell, he'll use his rasped garbles for almost any occasion: one of his most memorable moments involved him delving into this out of dumbfounded ''jubilation'' in "Cartmanland".
* AntiHero: Prior to his [[MoralEventHorizon infamous plot to humiliate Scott Tenorman]]. He then becomes a VillainProtagonist until he goes back to being an AntiHero in the second half of Season 15.
* AntiVillain: Starting with Season 16, his racist intentions and jerkass tendencies are much lighter than in previous seasons. Most of his schemes veer down WellIntentionedExtremist territory.
* AntiRoleModel: He is often made the voice of political views the author disagrees with, and is also a fat, moronic, sociopathic, and all-around-awful person.
* ArbitrarySkepticism: In "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe", Cartman denies that he was abducted by aliens and got an anal probe inserted inside him, even as he farts flames and has the probe protruding from his ass. When aliens blast Kenny into oncoming cattle, thus killing him, Cartman even denies that Kenny is dead, despite having (presumably) seen what happened right before his eyes.
* ArchEnemy: For Kyle.
* TheAtoner:
** Became this in "The Death of Eric Cartman". Not because he felt remorse for his past actions or even cared that he might go to Hell for them, but so that he could stop being a ghost. [[spoiler: He wasn't really a ghost, his friends were just ignoring him.]]
** Of a somewhat self-preserving sort as of Season 20. As he recognizes Political Correctness is here to stay, he tries to integrate himself into it, with varying levels of sincerity and success. Getting together with Heidi has certainly helped.
* AttentionWhore: Interrupts class a lot just to get attention among other things.
* AuthorAvatar: For Trey to a degree. He has mentioned in several communities and interviews that he shares some of the same views as Cartman. Most notably about ''Family Guy'', and [[http://youtu.be/OOJ-Hfyswos gingers]].
* AxCrazy: He is known for infamously chopping up the bodies of two dead parents and feeding them to their own son in the form of chili, in the infamous "Scott Tenorman Must Die" episode. He shows signs of full-blown psychosis at times, and generally has a narcissistic, psychopathic nature.
* BadassBeard: As "The Dawg" in "Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy".
* BadBlackBarf: In one of the creepier moments of the series, coming to the revelation that the world doesn't revolve around him in the episode "Tsst" causes him to ''literally'' puke out his evil in the form of black vomit, and he then goes on to start "glitching" and screaming in a supernatural fashion.
* TheBadGuyWins: The infamous "Scott Tenorman Must Die". Also one of the biggest KarmaHoudini moments ''ever''. Aside from that episode, there are several moments over the show's 20 year run where he's come out on top. However, he loses just as often as he wins.
* BadSamaritan: "Crack Baby Basketball Athletic Association".
* BastardBastard: He's the product of [[spoiler: Jack Tenorman's]] affair with [[ReallyGetsAround his slutty mother]], and a {{Jerkass}} on his best days.
* BatmanGambit: In "Scott Tenorman Must Die", Cartman exploits UnspokenPlanGuarantee by telling a fake plot to humiliate Scott to Stan and Kyle, correctly thinking they'd sabotage it.
* BecomingTheMask: He becomes "Mr. Cartmenez" in "Eek, a Penis!" for his own personal gain, but by the end of the episode he becomes genuinely sincere in wanting to "reeeach these kiiiids" and teach them "the white person way of cheating".
* BelievingTheirOwnLies: "Jewpacabra" in a form of self-administered karma. Subverted in "Fat Butt and Pancake Head", where it appears as if [[spoiler: he legitimately believes that [[ItMakesSenseInContext Jennifer Lopez is a living being residing on his left hand]]]], however at the end of the episode, he reveals that the entire thing was a ploy to get Kyle and Stan to admit that he'd duped them, as Kyle had predicted he would do throughout the entire episode.
* BelligerentSexualTension: With Wendy. Also [[HoYay Ky]][[FoeYay le]], probably.
* BerserkButton:
** He usually just makes a quick rebuttal when he's called fat, but occasionally it falls into this.
** Don't scam him out of his money and refuse to give it back.
** Never, ''ever'' let him think his penis is smaller than any other fourth grader.
** [[GroinAttack Speaking of penis]], [[EvenEvilHasStandards never shoot someone there]].
* BigBad: The main antagonist of a few episodes, if not a VillainProtagonist.
* TheBigGuy: When siding with his friends.
* BigEater: "Yeah, I want cheesy poofs!"
* BigNo: Often combined with LittleNo whenever something is SeriousBusiness.
* BizarreTasteInFood: Among his favorite dishes are "Powdered Donut Pancake Surprise", "Chocolate Chicken Pot Pie", and "Toaster Pastry Chocolate Mix Butter Bar". The last one consists of a stick of butter rolled in chocolate milk flavoring powder and sandwiched between two Pop-Tarts.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Almost any time Cartman does something that's (at least in his mind) purely unselfish in deed or intent, his reasoning can be a bit... out there.
* BookDumb: He refuses to care about anything that does not immediately help him, especially school. He never pays attention in school and remains ignorant. Despite this problem, he forms very detailed plans, considers complex issues and is a brilliant manipulator.
* BoomerangBigot: In "Ginger Kids", Cartman, after picking on and fearing gingers for half the episode, falls prey to a prank that convinces him that ''he'' is a ginger and [[spoiler: forms a Nazi-like cult devoted to exterminating non-gingers. And in "201", it's revealed that he actually is half-ginger.]] Also, in a twisted way, it has been implied on numerous occasions that he is possibly a ChildHater.
* BorrowedCatchPhrase: In "Clubhouses":
-->'''Cartman:''' Oh my God, {{they killed Kenny|Again}}!\\
'''Kyle:''' ''(walking outside Cartman's yard, but suddenly stops and turns towards the clubhouse)'' [[PhraseCatcher You bastards]]! ''(continues walking past the yard like nothing happened)''
* BrattyHalfPint: UpToEleven.
* BreakoutCharacter: Cartman has become the most prominent, iconic and popular character on the show thanks to his sociopathic {{Jerkass}} tendencies (similar to [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy Stewie Griffin]] and [[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} Bender]]).
* TheBully: When not himself the victim of fat jokes, he is usually the most prominent in school. It is implied that he provoked a tirade of abuse on one student (for crapping his pants in public) so much that the student later committed suicide.
* BullyingADragon: Despite his sociopathic and xenophobic traits, Cartman couldn't take a punch in earlier seasons as he would cry after the first punch or when he's in an unfavourable position, which was shown when Kyle pinned him against a tree after he made a comment in "It's a Jersey Thing". His lack of combat skills was also shown when he tried to back out of a fight against Wendy but it turning into a CurbStompBattle with Wendy brutally defeating him. However, he was capable of holding his own against Dr. Nelson in "With Apologies to Jessie Jackson" and make him submit. (Granted, Mr. Nelson was a dwarf, but still a grown-assed man).
* ButtMonkey: He's the character that the other boys make fun of the most. The pilot episode is literally about things going into and coming out of Cartman's ass. Of course he's still a ButtMonkey now, but [[LaserGuidedKarma he actually deserves the bad stuff that happens to him]].
* CainAndAbel: [[spoiler: He's Scott Tenorman's half-brother, whom he fed his own parents.]]
* CantStandThemCantLiveWithoutThem: In a very twisted way, Cartman realized in "Smug Alert" that he needs Kyle around to rip on, otherwise his life just isn't the same.
* CatchPhrase:

[[folder:Stanley "Stan" Marsh]]
[[quoteright:320:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stan-marsh_541.jpg]]
->''"Dude, sometimes I think our parents are really stupid."''
!!!!!!Voiced by: Trey Parker

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

* AcquiredSituationalNarcissism: In the episode "Guitar Queer-O". Becomes a regular character trait in later seasons where even when well intentioned, he ends up preferring glory and money over his original message.
* TheAlcoholic: [[spoiler: Had intakes of whiskey in "Ass Burgers". The ending of the episode implies he may stay that way, [[SnapBack though it hasn't been mentioned again since]]. One could argue this was foreshadowed in "Trapped in the Closet", when he asks, "What if I become an alcoholic, like Grandpa?"]]
* AllergicToLove: He always barfed whenever Wendy got close to him in the early episodes. As of now, he no longer does this.
* {{Angst}}: The closest thing to the series' poster boy. Parodied in "Raisins" (to the point where he becomes a {{Goth}}) and "[[TwoPartEpisode You're Getting Old"/"Ass Burgers]]", played straight in other episodes.
* AntiHero: [[PragmaticHero Type 3]] in the early episodes, turns into a [[KnightInSourArmor Type 2]] later on. "Ass Burgers" and onwards shows traits of a [[UnscrupulousHero Type 4]]. Since the release of ''[[VideoGame/SouthParkTheStickOfTruth The Stick of Truth]]'', he seems to be showing more heroic qualities, going back to being a [[KnightInSourArmor Type 2]].
* AuthorAvatar: He's a stand-in for Trey Parker, which probably explains why he's the most prominent character.
* BerserkButton: Do ''not'' swindle his grandfather. He will call your phone number and actually tell you to kill yourself.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Usually a friendly and pleasant boy, but the second you cross the line, you'll regret it.
* BigBrotherInstinct: To Butters, to an extent.
* BigOMG: "Oh my God, {{they killed Kenny|Again}}!"
* BorrowedCatchPhrase: At the end of "Raisins", Stan says "Screw you guys, I'm going home" (which was Cartman's old catchphrase) to the Goths.
* BreakTheCutie: It's pretty rare for him, but it happens. The most notable was when Wendy broke up with him and when he became cynical after his 10th birthday.
* ButtMonkey: In the earlier episodes, he was constantly bullied by his older sister, and now has to deal with embarrassing moments from his father ([[CharacterizationMarchesOn and in earlier seasons, his mother too]]). Also, while not as much of a target as Kyle or Kenny, he isn't spared from being insulted by Cartman.
* CannotTalkToWomen: Without puking on them if he likes them. This trait has disappeared in recent seasons.
* CatchPhrase: "Aw- '''''awww'''''!", "Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no!", and "God damn it!" In the earlier seasons, he had "Oh my God, they killed Kenny!" and "Dude, this is pretty fucked up right here!" He also has the simpler "Dude."
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Was more [[BrattyHalfPint childish]] and [[{{Jerkass}} mean-spirited]] in earlier episodes. More the OnlySaneMan in later seasons. Starting with seasons 15 and 16, he has started to ease back a bit, having more [[NotSoAboveItAll obnoxious or immature moments]]. He is still much more toned down from how he began however.
* TheCutie: In the first season character commercials, Cartman was known for being fat, Kenny as lucky, and Kyle as smart. Stan was known for being cute.
* DeadpanSnarker: In the later episodes, Stan has a habit of pinching the bridge of his nose and sigh when another character does something stupid. He often exclaims "Dude, this is pretty fucked up right here", and in "Child Abduction is Not Funny", he remarks to Kyle, "Dude, sometimes I think our parents are really stupid", and as they rejoin their families at the conclusion of the episode, "Jesus Christ, dude, they've done some stupid crap before, but, Jesus Christ...".
* {{Determinator}}: Once Stan sets his mind to something, it's pretty hard to get him to stop.
* DirtyCoward: Happens often. When he, along with the rest of his friends, does something wrong (or even think that they did), he usually tries to frame it on Butters. The most notable instance was the Trent Boyett pre-school incident.
* DrowningMySorrows: [[spoiler: Often involuntarily throughout "Ass Burgers".]]
* TheEveryman: As the leader of the group, and the most "normal" character.
* ExtremeDoormat:
** It's pretty subtle, but he can be seen as this to an extent in his relationship with Wendy. Any episodes with scenes that focus on their relationship show that Wendy is always the one to suggest an idea for a date, and Stan (even if he detested the idea at first) goes along without objection. Examples of this are in "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe", "Tom's Rhinoplasty", "Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls", and it is hinted near the end of "Ass Burgers". Other examples of hints for the trope include:
** In "Elementary School Musical", rather than discussing how he felt about Wendy and Bridon, Stan simply tells her that she should be with him, and he doesn't want to hold her back.
** In "Raisins", Wendy is the one to break up the relationship, and from then on Stan never once tries talking to her about wanting to get back together. Even in "The List", they don't get back together until Wendy mentions that she liked how Stan changed over time.
** Wendy is also always the one to initiate their kisses, as shown in "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe", "Tom's Rhinoplasty", TheMovie, and "The List".
** The only time Stan ''averts'' this trope is if he sees somebody insulting his girlfriend, but in those instances Wendy doesn't seem bothered, except possibly for "Butters' Bottom Bitch". When Wendy does stand up for herself, Stan never intervenes and lets her take care of things on her own.
* {{Facepalm}}: Pinching the bridge of his own nose (or the space where the bridge of his nose would be, as the kids don't have visible noses) isn't uncommon.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: The other three start avoiding Stan after he [[spoiler: becomes cynical]].
* FriendToAllLivingThings: A more jaded and snarky example, but he still qualifies. He refused to shoot a rabbit as early as Season 1, gave up entirely on meat for baby cows, and was the only one determined to stop the Japanese from killing whales and dolphins. ''The Stick of Truth'' calls back on this with his dog Sparky accompanying him in battle, and he feels guilty when he decapitates a zombified version of Princess Kenny's unicorn.
* {{Goth}}: In "Raisins".
* GrowingUpSucks: The show has "You're Getting Old", where Stan turns 10 and realizes how shitty things are progressively getting to the point of seeing and hearing nothing but shit, a disorder called by a doctor "Being a cynical asshole". This leads to an end of his friendships and with his mother divorcing Randy after not being able to take his shenanigans anymore, moving away from South Park. Of course humorously, Status Quo fixes everything by the next episodes end. Though Stan need a little "[[DrowningMySorrows help]]" to get through the days now.
* TheHero: Usually.
* HeroicBSOD: Stan's had two. The first one is when Wendy dumps him to the point that he becomes Goth. Butters' speech about loving life helps him out of it. The second starts in "You're Getting Old" and ends in "Ass Burgers" due to StatusQuoIsGod. One could argue that it's still going.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Kyle.
* HeyYou: Shelly almost never calls him by name. Poor Stan. His grandpa always calls him Billy instead of his real name as well.
* InnocentBlueEyes: In "A Very Crappy Christmas", when Butters draws the boys' cartoon forms for their short film, Kyle (who notes that he has a sharper nose) notes that Stan has blue eyes while explaining that their drawings kind of look like them.
* ItRunsInTheFamily: Some of his {{Catch Phrase}}s are also used by his father.
* JerkassBall: He and Kyle are usually [[OnlySaneMan Only Sane Men]] to the craziness of the world around them, and act as more moralistic foils to Cartman. At times however, often when Cartman is not in a starring role, they can act rather selfish or immoral, having nothing against using similar bullying or conniving tactics to Cartman to get what they want. This is more toned down in later seasons, though still pops up every now and then.
* KidsAreCruel: Although not as much as Cartman, Kenny or even Kyle.
* KnightInSourArmor: Frequently hates doing the right thing because BeingGoodSucks and he always [[BreakTheCutie gets screwed over]], but he will still make the right choice every time... eventually.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: In "I Should Have Never Gone Ziplining".
* NiceGuy: While a bit cynical, he's a sensitive animal lover, and usually one of the most moral characters. On occasion, however, [[KidsAreCruel not]] [[NotSoAboveItAll so]] much....
* NiceHat: A blue one.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero:
** When the woodland critters order him to kill a mother lion in "Woodland Critter Christmas", allowing them to spawn the AntiChrist.
** In "Ginger Cow", he inadvertently destroys peace in the Middle East by telling the world that he saw the red heifer descend from heaven, unaware that the prophecy actually states that [[TheCuckoolanderWasRight a fat kid with a small penis would paint a cow red to fool his friends]].
* NoRespectGuy: Stan would usually get no respect from his father at the very least.
* NotSoAboveItAll: Every now and then.
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Feminine Boy to Shelley and Wendy's Masculine Girl.
* OnlySaneMan: Most of the time, save for the episodes where he gets thrown the IdiotBall, leaving the role to Kyle.
* OutOfFocus: He gets the short shift of the trio of him, Kyle, and Cartman.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: In "Whale Whores".
* RedOniBlueOni: Blue Oni to Kyle's Red.
* RightForTheWrongReasons: His [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone tearful remorse]] in "I Should Have Never Gone Ziplining" is induced by [[spoiler: his inability to trade the 5th generation iPod Nano that he sold his friends out for]].
* SatelliteCharacter: In Season 19. He gets very little screen time, and he's not used to advance the main plotlines. This is true to an even greater degree in Season 20, as despite the fact that he is directly affected by the girls' LysistrataGambit, he is completely absent from several episodes.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Not quite as much as Cartman, but when something happens that he doesn't like or doesn't want to see the outcome of he's usually the first (second if Cartman goes first) to bail.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Sensitive Guy to Cartman's Manly Man.
* SellOut: Several times in Season 16.
* StraightMan: The Straight Man to the WHOLE town in later seasons.
* StrawNihilist: Played with in later seasons, particularly after "You're Getting Old". Of all the main boys, Stan's certainly [[TheCynic the most cynical of them all]]. Lampshaded in "Member Berries".
* SymbioticPossession: Used as a vessel for Satan towards the end of "Freemium Isn't Free".
* TallDarkAndHandsome: A subtle example. Subtle, because he's a piece of crappy cartoon. Stan is the calm, collected one in his group, has dark hair, and even joins the Goth kids in one episode. Plus, he's the only one who has had a stable girlfriend for a very long time. It helps that he is South Park's best example of an AdorablyPrecociousChild.
* TookALevelInCynic: In ''You're Getting Old''.
* TookALevelInDumbass: Along with TookALevelInJerkass below, his fears of becoming his father are beginning to catch up to him.
* TookALevelInJerkass: In Seasons 15 and 16.
* TookALevelInKindness: Starting from Season 7, he becomes more level headed and sympathetic, his bratty moments less frequent. Oddly prior to Season 6 where he TookALevelInJerkass, becoming as manipulative and apathetic as Cartman towards the gang's new fourth friend.
* TrashOfTheTitans: Apparently he has a hoarding problem. He gets over it, though. [[spoiler: [[TheUnreveal Or does he?!]]]]
* {{Tuckerization}}: His surname is [[http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/Entertainment/Story?id=2479197&page=3 derived from the surname of Trey Parker's paternal step-grandfather]].
* UnfazedEveryman: Having SeenItAll in the face of South Park's (and his dad's) WeirdnessMagnet has made him immune to reacting to the craziness surrounding him.
* UnwittingPawn: Cartman's final revenge gambit in "Scott Tenorman Must Die" hinges on him and Kyle backstabbing him.
* WhatTheHellHero: On a disturbingly frequent basis. "Mystery of the Urinal Deuce", "Butterballs" and "I Should Have Never Gone Ziplining" for starters.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Kyle Broflovski]]
[[quoteright:320:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kyle-broflovski_8836.jpg]]
->''"I'm Jewish. I've got some hang-ups about killing Jesus."''

!!!!!!Voiced by: Matt Stone
!!!!!!Debut: "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe"

* TheyKilledKennyAgain: {{Trope Namer|s}}. He died in nearly every episode in the first five seasons.

* TheyKilledKennyAgain: {{Trope Namer|s}}. Though this was toned down during Season 7 onward and usually only occurs as a throwback, the reason being that Matt and Trey were tired of killing him every episode and thus decided to abandon that RunningGag.
** Subverted in "Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo" and "Rainforest Schmainforest", one of the many few early episodes where he manages to survive.

* ButtMonkey: He's the character that the other boys make fun of the most. The pilot episode is literally about things going into and coming out of Cartman's ass. Of course he's still a ButtMonkey now, but he actually deserves the bad stuff that happens to him.

* ButtMonkey: He's the character that the other boys make fun of the most. The pilot episode is literally about things going into and coming out of Cartman's ass. Of course he's still a ButtMonkey now, but [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty he actually deserves the bad stuff that happens to him]].

* ButtMonkey: He's the character that the other boys make fun of the most. The pilot episode is literally about things going into and coming out of Cartman's ass. Of course he's still a ButtMonkey now, but [[AssholeVictim he actually deserves a lot of the bad stuff that happens to him]].

* ButtMonkey: He's the character that the other boys make fun of the most. The pilot episode is literally about things going into and coming out of Cartman's ass. Of course he's still a ButtMonkey now, but [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty he actually deserves a lot of the bad stuff that happens to him]].

* UnexplainedRecovery: His head explodes in "Medicinal Fried Chicken", however, later in the episode, he is shown to be okay.

'''[[spoiler:Kenny]] (as Mysterion)''': For ''you!''
'''Cartman (as The Coon)''': Right. That's what superheroes do.

* NiceGuy: After years of jerkassery, he's definitely one in Season 20, oddly enough.

* ButtMonkey: He's the character that the other boys make fun of the most. The pilot episode is literally about things going into and coming out of Cartman's ass. Of course he's still a ButtMonkey now, but [[KickTheSonOfABitch he actually deserves a lot of the bad stuff that happens to him]].

* KarmaHoudini: While he usually ''does'' get some form of comeuppance for his actions, it's only temporary, and is usually (but not always) more of an inconvenience than any real punishment. He never suffers [[StatusQuoIsGod longer than it takes for the next episode to air]].

* GeniusBruiser: Yes, he's very aggressive, but he also has high enough intelligence to successfully plan and execute his revenge on Scott Tenorman in "Scott Tenorman Must Die". Also, he has several talents, among which the highlights are: electronics, music, and even multilingualism, such as fluency in German and Spanish. His strength and intelligence can vary from episode to episode however. His intelligence can be attributed to him being BrilliantButLazy, but his strength varies from strong enough to take down adults ("Chickenlover") to being beaten up by the students in his class (Wendy in "Breast Cancer Show Ever", Kyle in "Kenny Dies" among others, and Token in "Christian Rock Hard").

* KnightOfCerebus: Yes, he's PlayedForLaughs all the time, but compared to the lighthearted standards the series had in the first few seasons, Cartman himself can be seen like this. Cartman's CharacterDevelopment from a mostly harmless BrattyHalfPint to a callous EnfantTerrible raised the bar for villainy in the series; his infamous (and dark, but played for laughs) crime in the episode "Scott Tenorman Must Die" was the single most sadistic act in the series up to that point (Stan: Dude, I think it might be best for us to never piss Cartman off again. Kyle: Good call.). Basically, Cartman was the pioneer of the more awful villains that would come later in subsequent seasons. It's gotten to the point that most of the old episodes, which were once rated TV-MA, are now rated TV-14 since they appear downright tame compared to what's been allowed on the show. Cartman as The Coon is played much more seriously in the "Coon & Friends" trilogy.

[[/folder]]

* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Cartman does not understand the difference between being nice and wearing a nice sweater, as seen in "Casa Bonita". "Toilet Paper" shows that 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, and he seemed to be in ''physical pain'' trying to [[LackOfEmpathy process the concept of feeling bad for other people]] (i.e. Butters, who was falsely accused and arrested for the boys' T.P.'ing of their art teacher's house). Many attempts to berate him for his callousness have fallen flat since he genuinely doesn't seem to have a clue what empathy is. In Season 20 when he tries to be a better person (mostly due to fear of retribution) he doesn't come out as sincere and only has "women are funny, get over it" as argument.

--> '''Cartman (as The Coon)''': I'm making the world a better place.
--> '''[[spoiler:Kenny]] (as Mysterion)''': For ''you!''
--> '''Cartman (as The Coon)''': Right. That's what superheroes do.

* KnightTemplar: He genuinely believes Jews are evil, having apparently 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 UpToEleven 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 Francisco, ''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.

%%* NiceHat

-->'''Parker''': "Cartman's basically doomed."

-->'''Cartman:''' Mom, can you get me some Weight Gain 4000?
-->'''Cartman's Mom:''' Okay Eric. I'll get you some at the store tomorrow.
-->'''Cartman:''' But mom, I need it for tomorrow!
-->'''Cartman's Mom:''' But, tomorrow is grocery day, Eric.
-->'''Cartman:''' ''Mooooooom'' *whines incoherently*
-->'''Cartman's Mom:''' Okay, okay. Well, I guess I'll be going to the store now, then.
-->'''Cartman:''' *smiles* Sweet.

* TheyKilledKennyAgain: His head explodes in "Medicinal Fried Chicken", however, later in the episode, [[UnexplainedRecovery he is shown to be okay]].

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Leopold "Butters" Stotch]]
[[quoteright:320:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/leopard-butters-stotch_6508.jpg]]
->''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!

!!!!!!Voiced by: Matt Stone
!!!!!!Debut: "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe"
One of the kids at South Park Elementary. He used to be a background character with little importance, but he became a main character shortly after "Kenny Dies" (and actually temporarily stayed dead). He's a WideEyedIdealist who should be commended for remaining so after the world tries its hardest to give him reasons not to be.

* AbusiveParents: And how. They [[YouAreGrounded ground him]] for pretty much everything short of breathing, try to sell him to Paris Hilton, beat the crap out of him after it was actually Cartman (imitating Butters) who cussed them out on the phone, even try to murder him by abandoning the car he's in and letting it drown into the river in his own episode, and chain him in the basement for a week at the end of "Marjorine" (where he faked his death in order to have a new identity as a girl). And they are saints compared to his Grandma, who bullies him constantly.
* ADayInTheLimelight: Several episodes, but "Butters' Very Own Episode" deserves an honorable mention, as it is the first time he is given his own spotlight, with the boys DemotedToExtra, thus preparing the audience for his role as Kenny's replacement he would come to play in the sixth season.
* AdorablyPrecociousChild: Comes with the territory of being the only kid in the shows who represents adults' views of children.
* {{Adorkable}}: He's hopelessly naive and innocent, and very endearing.
* AerithAndBob: He's always called "Butters". Even his never-used first name "Leopold" is not as common as Stan, Kyle, Eric or Kenny.
* AllLovingHero: In a world known for [[TooDumbToLive Idiotic Sociopaths]], [[AntiHero Cynical Anti Heroes]], and [[VillainProtagonist Villain Protagonists]], Butters gets to serve as the most enduring NiceGuy in the series helping and saving the people he cares for and even people who hate him and want him to suffer.
* AntiVillain: As Professor Chaos. Also, when he assists Cartman in his schemes -- he's not ''trying'' to be actively malevolent, he's just too naive to realise/understand the consequences of his actions.
* ApologisesALot: Sometimes he'll even apologize for things that aren't his fault.
* AscendedExtra: Has been around since the beginning, though initially as a background character lucky to get even speaking roles (and [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness even had a woman's voice]] when he first screamed in "Damien"). Starting with Season 3 onwards, Butters' personality is established and he slowly gains larger and larger roles as the series progresses. While still absent from the boys' iconic bus stop scenes, he's essentially an official member of their group these days.
* BadassAdorable: He is, without a doubt, the sweetest, cutest and most innocent of the South Park boys. He has also sunk an ocean liner with a golf ball, burned down the school gym, become a professional pimp, led a Mexican revolution, recreated Imaginationland from scratch, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking punched his father in the balls]].
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Stan's [[WhatTheHellHero exploiting]] of [[spoiler:his grandmother]]'s [[TheBully bullying]] of him in "Butterballs" eventually causes him to [[spoiler:punch out Dr. Oz on national television]]. He also got swift revenge on Cartman (both intentionally and not) in "AWESOME-O".
* BiggerIsBetterInBed: In "T.M.I.", Cartman measures Butters' penis while doing so for the rest of the male 4th graders. [[ItMakesSenseInContext It's a long story.]] Butters' penis size is revealed to be 2.4 inches, which Cartman compliments on, and Butters even proclaims that he's hung like a horse. Out of the known 4th graders, it's the biggest size.
* BornUnlucky: His birthday is on September 11th (although it could've been before 2001 since he has been around in prior episodes; even his breakout episode "Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub" aired two years before the tragic events) and is constantly grounded for little to no reason.
* BreakoutCharacter: Initially a background character, now the de facto fifth lead star.
* BreakTheCutie: Butters is a naive, wide-eyed, sweet-hearted little boy who Matt and Trey exhaust their imaginations thinking of new torments to inflict upon, including beatings, attempted murder by his mother, a ninja star in the eye (which was ignored in favor of everyone being outraged over Cartman being naked in public), etc.
* BumblingSidekick: From Cartman's perspective, since they are usually portrayed as equally bumbling.
* ButtMonkey: More like '''[[IncrediblyLamePun Butters]]''' [[ButtMonkey Monkey]]. His character has effectively replaced Kenny, who was also a prime example of this in early seasons.
* CaptainOblivious: At one point his mother tried to kill him by driving the car into a river. He assumes it was a water park ride until it crashes into a rock, at which point he says that now that the car has come to a complete stop, he can undo his seat belt, which he does, then goes off on his way.
* {{Catchphrase}}: "Neat-o" and a few of the GoshDangItToHeck variety (ie. "Aw hamburgers!").
* CharacterTics: Rubbing his knuckles together.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn:
** Butters seems to be getting smarter throughout the seasons. Examples include "The Ungroundable," "Tale of Scrotie [=McBoogerballs,=]" and "The Human [=CentiPad=]".
** In terms of his once incorruptible morals and timidness, the other four boys (particularly Cartman) have been rubbing off on him lately beginning around season 12; he has been slowly becoming more hardened as the show goes on and becoming more opinionated and bold. But, in the end, he'll usually lose whatever spine he grew over the course of the episode, or put his values back in check.
** When he was formally introduced in "Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub", he was portrayed as an innocent yet geeky kid labeled as a "Melvin" by Stan, yet his later appearances in "Hooked on Monkey Phonics" and "Cartman's Silly Hate Crime 2000" portrayed him as much more of a {{Jerkass}} bully alongside most of the other kids.
** He has become somewhat more hyperactive and kooky as time passed, bordering somewhat as a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}.
* CheerfulChild: Despite being the ButtMonkey by everyone, including his own parents.
* ChildrenAreInnocent: The closest thing the show has; however, Butters-centric episodes often subvert this, such as "Butters' Bottom Bitch" and "The Tale of Scrotie [=McBoogerballs=]".
* ClassicalAntiHero: He fails at being a traditional hero because he's a bit... pathetic and ineffective.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: He gets a surprisingly high number of these moments.
* TheCutie: A sweet, naive CheerfulChild and by far the most innocent character on the show.
* TheDeterminator: In "Super Fun Time", he spends the ''entire'' episode holding Cartman's hand because he was ''ordered'' to by the teacher, despite being caught in the middle of a [[DieHardOnAnX hostage crisis]] and a large gunfight. Culminating in Butters dragging the unconscious Cartman back onto the bus at the end, before ''finally'' letting go of his hand.
--> '''Butters''': Teacher? My partner is back on the bus!
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Just look at how his parents treat him.
* TheDitz: The most oblivious character. He tends to believe anything told to him by others.
* DumbBlonde: He's not really ''dumb'', just painfully naive and gullible.
* EmbarrassingFirstName: It's unclear if he finds it embarrassing, but for whatever reason he goes by "Butters" instead of "Leopold".
* EnfantTerrible: Subverted as Professor Chaos. His evil schemes, despite being CartoonishSupervillainy, are utterly pathetic in execution.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Although he rages against the world as Professor Chaos, he just doesn't want to [[EvilIsNotAToy blow up a hospital]] because "it just seems mean." Of course, he's not exactly that evil to begin with.
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Somewhat implied, Clyde is shown having an attraction toward him while [[SweetOnPollyOliver he's disguised as Marjorine]] and in "Cartman Sucks", Bradley is shown being attracted to him.
* EvilIsPetty: 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.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Initially when acting as a replacement for Kenny. After being thrown out of the main team, he actually gained a softer relationship with the boys (at least compared to Cartman). This was more prominent in the earlier seasons and in a different way from Cartman, at that point. The other boys never actively ''hated'' him per se, but they always either refused to let him play with them, often calling him "too gay and lame", or only let him join when they wanted to use him. But, out of the four other boys, the only one who actively bullies him nowadays is Cartman. Stan often takes advantage of him, though, Kyle only rarely sticks up for him, and Kenny generally ignored him up until recently.
* TheFriendsWhoNeverHang: Butters interacts regularly with all of the boys except Kenny. This amusingly came into play in "Going Native" where it's revealed Kenny is actually his favorite friend and the two finally share an entire plot together. It's especially odd seeing how [[spoiler: their alter egos, Mysterion and Professor Chaos, are supposedly mortal enemies]].
* GeniusDitz: There are little hints that he may be fairly book-smart despite his general naivite. In "Christian Hard Rock" he is able to solve a complicated math problem instantly, and in "My Future Self and Me" Stan asked him for help with homework. In "Crack Baby Athletic Association", Cartman specifically mentions that Butters was the one who does the group's computer work.
* GirlsHaveCooties: 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. He does get over this in Season 19 when he gains a girlfriend in the form of Charlotte, but when they break up in Season 20, he becomes a straight-up misogynist.
* GoodCannotComprehendEvil: Which is why Cartman can usually lure him into helping him with schemes more easily than with the others.
* GoodWithNumbers: He falls into this trope, multiplying two large numbers almost instantaneously in one episode.
* GoshdangItToHeck: Uses phrases like "Aw, hamburgers!", "fiddlesticks.", and "Son of a biscuit!" The few times he does curse are usually [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Crowning Moments of Awesome]].
* GotVolunteered: Happens all the time even now.
* GroinAttack:
** Butters punches his father in the balls in "Grounded Vindaloop". [[KickTheSonOfABitch It was a long-time coming]].
** In "The List", he hits a girl named Nelly between her legs in order to receive the 'Cutest Boys' list from her.
* GullibleLemmings: He frequently (and blindly) goes along with Cartman's schemes without ever stopping to question Cartman's integrity.
* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: He's a very nice kid and he's way more innocent, naive, and friendly than his classmates.
* HarmlessVillain: Professor Chaos. His plots range from really idiotic to merely not very well thought out (as seen in 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.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Zig-zagged with Kenny. In earlier seasons they had been shown to be incredibly close friends, and "Going Native" displayed this the most while still showing their interest in girls. However, in "The Stick of Truth", Butters confesses to having a crush on Kenny during the final battle.
** Played much straighter with the New Kid in "The Stick of Truth". In fact, The game all but states that the New Kid considers Butters his best friend out of the [[MagneticHero several]] he's made throughout his adventure.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: He keeps believing that Cartman is a friend, when really Cartman just wants to either embarrass him, use him as a pawn in his latest scheme, or get him in trouble.
* IncorruptiblePurePureness:
** For the most part at least. He's becoming less pure as the show continues, but, to his credit, some of his more outrageous actions lately (becoming a pimp in "Butters' Bottom Bitch", helping Cartman hold a PF Chang's hostage at gunpoint in "The China Probrem", attacking a boy with diabetes in "Going Native", etc.) have been due to either naivety or stress.
** "Butters' Bottom Bitch" is something of a {{Reconstruction}} since while he becomes a pimp, he does so through the innocent belief it's nothing more than a "kissing club". He ends up obliviously hiring real prostitutes who were drawn in by how nicely and respectfully he treats his employees, and he eventually retires and lets them run their own business.
** Subverted in Season 20, where he snaps and begins to despise women the way Cartman despised Judaism.
* JerkassBall: In Season 20, Butters acts significantly more antagonistic than before, especially after [[spoiler:losing Charlotte]].
* KiddieKid: While the other kids are based on how they act when adults aren't around (which can be very much TruthInTelevision), Butters is based on the belief adults hold about kids, being way more innocent and friendly than his classmates.
* KindheartedSimpleton: His occasionally tragic innocence and positive outlook stands out like a sore thumb in the CrapsackWorld of ''South Park''.
* LethalKlutz: A flashback in "You Got F'd in the A" shows that the last time Butters tap-danced, he accidentally [[spoiler:killed eight people.]] Also in "Going Native" where he [[spoiler: sinks a cruise ship, killing everyone on it, ''with a golf swing''.]]
* MistakenForGay:
** 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, after it was revealed in "Butters' Very Own Episode" that [[spoiler:Stephen was a DepravedHomosexual.]]
** Cartman interprets Kenny and Butters' close relationship as less than straight: "You guys gonna make out, Kenny?"
** In "My Future Self n' Me", Butters tries to reveal to Stan that he is Professor Chaos, but Stan thinks that he's coming out of the closet.
--> '''Butters:''' Maybe I used a little too much silver.
* MrImagination: Pretty much TheChosenOne in the Imaginationland trilogy. And if you think of the kids' [[ArtShift ninja battles]] as being between their [[Film/TheMatrix 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.
* NaiveNewcomer: For the Gang.
* NiceGuy: He has the odd JerkassBall moment, but is usually too ineffectual about it even then.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: No one ever calls him by his real name "Leopold". Not teachers, his own parents, or even himself.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: The episode "Going Native" has Butters [[spoiler:attacking Scott Malkinson at school, complaining about Kyle and Stan's personalities, and snapping at his parents (who actually deserve it)]]. It's so serious that he gets sent to Hawaii.
* ThePollyanna: As well as being the most innocent of the kids, he's easily the most cheerful too, despite being the ButtMonkey by everyone, including his own parents.
* PrecisionFStrike: In "Christian Rock Hard" and "Breast Cancer Show Ever", among other examples. Made all the more potent in the context of his otherwise [[GoshDangItToHeck squeaky clean tongue]].
* PunnyName:
** Butters Stotch ==> Butterscotch
** Marjorine (see WholesomeCrossdresser below). [[DontExplainTheJoke Marjorine is a substitute for Butters.]]
** In "Last of the Meheecans", Butters is known as Mantequilla, [[BilingualBonus which is Spanish for butter.]]
* RunningGag:
** Pulling his pants all the way down to pee.
** Getting grounded.
* SarcasmBlind: To the extent that he genuinely doesn't know what sarcasm is.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Sensitive Guy to Cartman's Manly Man.
* SixthRanger: Became the ReplacementGoldfish after "Kenny Dies", but was eventually fired from the role. Rather than disappearing back into obscurity (like his own replacement, Tweek), Butters continues to hold a prominent place in the show, operating as the unofficial "fifth friend" (and, since Kenny is often OutOfFocus, probably should count higher).
* StealthPun: Has a literal GirlfriendInCanada for about a season and a half. Now when one remembers that he's picked on for not being manly...
* StepfordSmiler: "Super Best Friends" reveals that he wakes up to the sound of his own screams.
* StupidGood: Due to his naïveté, Butters can teeter anywhere from mildly oblivious and gullible to TooDumbToLive. This happens especially in "Butters' Very Own Episode".
* SuddenNameChange: Was originally called "Swanson" in Season 2's "Conjoined Fetus Lady" (Stan refers to him by this name in the opening dodgeball scene), as well as "Puff Puff" in storyboards and scripts, but was renamed "Butters" in "Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub".
* SuperPoweredEvilSide: Inverted. His evil side is even less effectual than he is.
* SycophanticServant: Though he does let out feelings of contempt toward Cartman every now and then.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Delivers one to the other four main characters in "The Tale of Scrotie [=McBoogerballs=]". He even delivers more to his male classmates, except Kenny, in the "Going Native" episode.
* ThrowTheDogABone:
** "Sarcastaball" allowed him to shine when Football is replaced with a sport in which the premise is being very kind. Butters excels at this due to his NiceGuy personality, but... [[YankTheDogsChain he gets grounded at the end of the episode]] because of unknowingly [[MakesAsMuchSenseInContext giving many people his semen to drink]] to boost performance in Sarcastaball.
** He does still get some genuine redeeming moments. He got sweet revenge on Cartman in "AWESOME-O" for example and pretty much becomes an icon to the entire Mexican state by the end of "Last of the Meheecans".
** There's also his relationship with Charlotte, in contrast to Lexus, Charlotte and Butters have formed a mutually loving relationship and even after she had to return to Canada, she left while stilling be on good terms with Butters and even promised to Skype him, implying that he gets to have a long-distance relationship with her. [[spoiler:Too bad a protest split them apart.]]
* TinyGuyHugeGirl: He's the Tiny Guy to Charlotte's Huge Girl (who's visibly taller than him).
* TokenGoodTeammate: He was the only kid in the main cast not to fall into the KidsAreCruel territory.
* TokenReligiousTeammate: Not a huge part of his character, but comes up a few times, like in "The Death of Eric Cartman."
* TokenWholesome: However, he's NotSoAboveItAll.
* TookALevelInBadass: On numerous occasions ''[[BadAssUnintentional without even trying]]'', though he still retains his timid personality most of the time.
* TookALevelInCynic: The last few seasons. He's become less blind to the world's imperfections.
* TookALevelInJerkass: In Season 20, he takes one after losing [[spoiler: Charlotte. Downplayed prior, however, and exaggerated after Cartman tries to help him cover for him.]]
* {{Tuckerization}}: His naive personality and nickname were derived from the crew member Eric "Butters" Stough (who would later contribute some minor voice roles).
* UnexplainedAccent: Neither of his parents share the Southern accent he speaks with.
* VocalEvolution: He lacked his Southern accent in his early appearances.
* WetDream: Has one in "Sarcastaball" involving Wendy and Red kissing him, which causes him to sell a "drink" entitled "Butters' Creamy Goo" (which is, in reality, his semen from the nocturnal emission).
* WholesomeCrossdresser: So far, he [[DisguisedInDrag 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 and Turd", Cartman gets Butters to dress up as a Luau dancer.
* WideEyedIdealist: Butters is very idealistic.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: His alter-ego Professor Chaos was created after he was rejected as Stan, Kyle, & Cartman's new friend.
* WouldHitAGirl: He kicks a girl named Nelly in the groin in order to receive the 'Cutest Boys' list from her in "Thr List".
* YouAreGrounded: Butters fears this more than any other punishment in the world, [[AbusiveParents with good reason]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Randy Marsh]]
[[quoteright:320:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/randy-marsh_8649.jpg]]
->''"Stan? '''Staaan?'''"''

!!!!!!Voiced by: Trey Parker
!!!!!!Debut: "Volcano"

Stan's dad, a geologist (and thus the only non-[[MadScientist 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. He tends to be the main character in storylines involving the adults of South Park, and thus is the adult figure that most interacts with the boys in the main plot.

* TheAlcoholic: The plot of "Bloody Mary" focuses on him going to A.A., though he's less an "alcoholic who needs to drink constantly" as "an idiot who also drinks too much." Since then he's slightly better and doesn't drink drive but he does often make excuses for his drinking and is shown drunk on several occasions.
* AllMenArePerverts: He's very into porn, masturbating and has some very disturbing fetishes.
* AscendedExtra: Originally he was just Stan's dad, but nowadays it's not unheard of to have entire episodes focused on Randy with the boys relegated to background characters.
* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: The show's crowning example of this trope, when accounting for the other degrees of uselessness of the adults.
* TheAtoner: Near the end of Season 19, when he finally came to realize that South Park's gentrification was doing more harm than good (with some help from a beatdown courtesy of Caitlyn Jenner, he pledged to help undo the damage he helped cause).
* AuthorAvatar: Trey Parker has said that Randy has become more prominent, due to the fact that he has started to get older and identifies with the character more.
* AxCrazy: In "T.M.I." he goes insane and is the spearhead of the movement to take over the Federal Express.
* BecomingTheMask: In "Sarcastaball." he loses control over his ability to be sarcastic and can't stop doing it. Music/{{Lorde}} was originally just an excuse to use the girls bathroom.
* BigNo: Does [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJAeD1f2YnI Picard's]] and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGI1IHuNy2Y Vader's]], with the sound taken directly from ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'' and ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith''.
* BigOMG: He gets two separate Big [=OMGs=] when he realizes every senior citizen in town is driving at the same time.
* BreakoutCharacter: Randy has become increasingly more important lately due to a mix of popularity and Trey Parker's identifying with Randy more as he gets older.
* BumblingDad: The king of this trope.
* CatchPhrase: "Stan? ''Staaan''?", "Hey, Sharon," "(Oh my) Gawl!", "Well, ''that'' sucks", "Score!", [[LamarckWasRight and a few of his son's]].
* CaughtWithYourPantsDown: In the episode "Overlogging" Randy has gone for weeks without masturbating to internet porn, eventually near the end he sneaks into the camp's computer room, looks at a bunch of perverted things, and eventually ejaculates all over the room, everyone comes in thinking he was grunting in pain and with his pants down, he tells them that he was doing that because "a ghost was attacking him and left his ectoplasm everywhere".
* CerebusRetcon: "You're Getting Old" sheds some very harsh light on Randy's zany moments. It turns out the reason he's been acting increasingly bizarre is because he's suffering depression and wants to distract himself from his humdrum extistence.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: He used to be the more laid back of the Marshes earlier on, and one of the saner adults overall. Now...not so much...
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Especially during the obsession phases.
* ADateWithRosiePalms: A major part of "Overlogging" is the fact that he wants to masturbate, but can't without Internet porn. In Cream Freiche, he masturbates to cooking shows. ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext.
* DeadpanSnarker: Speeds UpTo11 in Sarcastaball faster than a jet.
* DirtyCoward: In "Fantastic Easter Special", he [[ItMakesSenseInContext gets captured and interrogated by the American Catholic League's ninjas over the location of a rabbit, which he gave to his son to hide in a good place]]. When they ask him where it is, he responds:
-->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.
* DotingParent: Even at some of his least sane moments, he absolutely adores both his kids and often goes to outrageous lengths whenever he thinks they need help, [[UnwantedAssistance even if they'd disagree,]] [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} usually for good reason.]]
* {{Fetish}}: Randy has some really odd fetishes like Japanese girls puking on each other, bestiality and so forth. Oh, and murder porn, but every adult in South Park seems to be into that.
* {{Flanderization}}:
** Randy started out as one of the smartest characters on the show. His 'wild side' stemmed from a desire to connect with his son, and he simply failed to grasp the idea of fads changing rapidly, a frequent plot point in ''South Park''. As the series progresses, he evolves into a hyperactive, extremely paranoid and idiotic ManChild.
** Even within his earlier stupid bouts, he was still usually a KnightTemplarParent, genuinely having the best intentions for Stan and only spearheading the same hysteria the other parents succumbed to. From about Season Nine onwards however, Randy's motives became more selfish and childish, having his family in collateral damage for whatever fad he takes to and leaving even the other brain dead residents of South Park dumbfounded by his behavior.
* {{Foil}}:
** Stan, the sanest kid, has the craziest parent.
** To his CloserToEarth wife Sharon, see MarsAndVenusGenderContrast.
* GeniusDitz: He is a brilliant scientist and is capable of alot of amazing feats like being a talented musician, songwriter and being Lorde, but otherwise he's an alcoholic idiot.
* GivingTheSwordToANoob: The [[TropeNamer nominal]] noob.
* HiddenDepths: His talent as a musician is impressive as he writes and edits his own song as Lorde and is a [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY0P6o_FLEk very competent guitar player]], as seen in "Guitar Queer-O".
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: His idea to make the town more PC and get wholesale foods ended up making everything so expensive that it's no longer possible for the Marshes to live in South Park. As usual Randy blames [[NeverMyFault someone else]] until Caitlyn Jenner beats him up.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Randy is frequently the most hypocritical character in the show.
* IdiotHoudini: Thus far, Randy doesn't seem to have learned any real lessons from being an idiot.
* ItsAllAboutMe: In newer episodes, Randy is far more likely to be self obsessed and selfish, stubbornly refusing to listen to anyone else.
* JadedWashout: He was once in a boyband and got fired because he turned 19 and was mocked by the town once he returned and has had dreams of being a proper rock star that never went anywhere.
* {{Jerkass}}: At his worst, he can be a spoilt, irrational ManChild who often disregards his son to erupt into chaos over everything.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Occasionally, such as in "Something You Can Do With Your Finger". He also has moments that show that he cares for his family and friends.
* LargeHam: Randy pretty much embodies this trope.
* LethallyStupid: He even accidentally killed his daughter’s boyfriend!
* ManChild: He has become this in recent years. "You're Getting Old" outright states that this is a response to him being unhappy with his life in middle-age.
* MarsAndVenusGenderContrast: With his wife, Sharon. Sharon is generally far more levelheaded and less impulsive than her husband, with a much more restrained wild side. Increasingly, she becomes the only real adult in the house, with Randy devolving more and more into a man-child.
* NeverLiveItDown: An InUniverse example happens to him in the episode "With Apologies to Jesse Jackson," when he is forever known as "The 'Nigger' Guy" when he says the n-word on the game show "The Wheel Of Fortune" on ''National TV.''
* NeverMyFault: While he shares this with the other adults, he's by far the worst offender. He almost NEVER acknowledges his fault in anything, and childishly clings to his own delusions.
* OldShame: {{In-Universe}}. He joined a boy band before finishing high school.
* OmnidisciplinaryScientist: {{Parodied}} or {{Subverted}}. A few episodes ("Spontaneous Combustion," "T.M.I.") have him take on non-geology jobs on the ground that he is a "scientist." In the first case it's {{Lampshaded}}, though he actually turns out to be competent; in the latter it's not, but he does poorly. "Die Hippie, Die" has him volunteering in Cartman's plan to dig through the hippies because he is the only scientist the city has.
* PapaWolf: In "Die Hippie, Die", "Pee", and "Broadway Bro Down".
* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: Randy is supposed to be a geologist, but rare is the time we actually see him doing any geological work. Instead, we see him trying to set the world's record for taking the biggest crap, aiming to become a TV chef, giving himself testicular cancer so he can smoke medical marijuana, etc.
* PornStache: He has a mustache.
* RunningGag: His pants falling when he gets drunk.
* SarcasmMode: In "Sarcastaball", he is diagnosed with a mental condition that causes everything he says to be a sarcastic comment.
* SanitySlippage: "A Nightmare on Facetime" makes it very clear he's lost it.
* SeriousBusiness: Whatever the focus of the episode is, he's taking it waaaay too seriously.
* SnapBack: Quits/gets fired at least 4 times.
* StageNames: He performed his interpretation of Tween Wave music as "Steamy Ray Vaughn".
* SupremeChef: In "Crème Fraiche", he's shown to be a very talented chef, being capable of replicating dishes he sees on cooking shows. Much to the chagrin of his family, who have to clean up the resulting massive pile of dishes. However, its implied that his food still doesnt ''taste'' very good, and he's just imitating the flashy "gourmet" style popular on cooking shows without really understanding it.
* TooDumbToLive: Has become this post {{Flanderization}}, but his biggest moment comes in "Medicinal Fried Chicken" where he gives himself testicular cancer just to be legally qualified to have medical marijuana.
* TookALevelInDumbass: Takes a level every episode he appears in, and probably the ones where he doesn't appear, too.
* TookALevelInJerkass: Starting in "My Future Self 'n Me."
* ToxicFriendInfluence: He's an alcoholic and none of his friends try to keep him from getting drunk (even encouraging him on occasion).
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: His preferred beer brand is Pabst Blue Ribbon, and ever since [[Recap/SouthParkS18E2GlutenFreeEbola the gluten scare]], he has been exclusively drinking gluten-free beer.
* {{Tuckerization}}: Parker named Randy after his own father.
* WackyParentSeriousChild: To Stan.
* WholesomeCrossdresser: As revealed in "[[Recap/SouthParkS18E2GlutenFreeEbola Gluten-Free Ebola]]" and "[[Recap/SouthParkS18E3TheCissy The Cissy]]", he has a double life as Music/{{Lorde}}, using AutoTune to make himself sound like a teenage girl.
-->'''Clyde:''' Lorde sucks.\\
'''Jimmy:''' Yeah, she isn't as hot in person.