The cast of characters from Trey Parker and Matt Stone's long-running animated show, South Park. Come on down and meet some friends of theirs.
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Main Characters
Stan Marsh
"Dude, sometimes I think our parents are really stupid."
The straight man out of the original four kids. Is often the one to give An Aesop at the end of each show. Closest thing to a main character of the show, who tends to be the protagonist of many episodes, and probably not coincidentally the most 'normal' character.
Blue Eyes: He's one of the only characters with a settled eye color.
Borrowed Catch Phrase: At the end of "Raisins" Stan says "Screw you guys, I'm going home," (Cartman's old catchphrase) to the Goths.
Catch Phrase: "Aw- awww!", "ooooo," and "Goddammit!" 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."
Starting with seasons 15 and 16, he has started to ease back a bit, having more obnoxious or immature moments. He is still much more toned down from how he began however.
Liz Lemon Job: Except that he doesn't even get paid for his tireless efforts to prevent the entire town of South Park from getting themselves killed.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: When the woodland critters order him to kill a mother lion in "Woodland Critter Christmas", allowing them to spawn the Anti Christ.
Took a Level in Kindness: Starting from season seven, he becomes more level headed and sympathetic, his bratty moments less frequent. Oddly prior to season six where he Took a Level in Jerkass, becoming as manipulative and apathetic as Cartman towards the gang's new fourth friend.
What the Hell, Hero?: On a disturbingly frequent basis. "Mystery of the Urinal Deuce", "Butterballs" and "I Should Have Never Gone Ziplining" for starters.
Kyle Broflovski
"I'm Jewish. I've got some hang-ups about killing Jesus."
Stan's closest friend. He and his parents are Jewish, but his younger brother Ike is actually from Canada. He appears to be the smartest, at least academically, of the original four, but has a tendency to get sucked into the latest fads/problems/social issues sweeping South Park.
Armoured Closet Gay: Cartman uses this to convince the school that he and Kyle are a couple to keep Kyle from succeeding in wooing Nichole. Kyle's not gay, but his insistence that he's not gay for Cartman only convinces everyone else that he is this trope.
Back from the Dead: In "Imaginationland" he is choked to death by Manbearpig, only for Cartman to resuscitate him.
Berserk Button: Don't call his mom a bitch. Enough said.
Or make fun of his Jewish heritage.
Big Brother Instinct: Ike has become one of Kyle's highest priorities sometime after "Ike's Wee Wee", from following him to Somalia and getting him home safe to worrying about Ike getting circumcised or keeping him from running off with his teacher to Milan. Could arguably be Kyle's biggest drive after his antagonism towards Cartman.
Sheila: Kyle, if you don't do as you're told, I'm going to be very angry! Kyle: Well, you made me eat veal and didn't tell me what it was, so go ahead and be angry, you baby calf-killing bitch! Sharon:Very persuasive.
Catch Phrase: "You bastards!", after Stan's "Oh my God, they killed Kenny!".
Compressed Hair: He easily gets a Jewfro that's larger than his head into a small hat. Justified since it's just the art style exaggerating the size of it.
The Conscience: Over the course of the show, he's evolved into this.
Genre Savvy: Most notably in "Butt Out", where he knows exactly what is going to happen, notices that those situations have been happening more often lately, and accepts that they won't really learn their lesson..
Good Angel, Bad Angel: The voice of morality and plays the "good angel" on Stan's shoulder, prodding him to do the right thing, in direct opposition to Cartman's "bad angel" who will do the wrong thing and take Stan along for the ride.
Good Is Not Nice: Seeing some of the conflicts between him and Cartman out of context wouldn't make all that clear that Kyle's supposed to be the good guy.
This only happens in "Le Petit Tourette", though, in the perspective of the adults. Cartman fakes Tourette's Syndrome to get what he wants, and Kyle, who's known Cartman all his life, gets annoyed and says that he doesn't have Tourette's, and an authority figure that has it accuses Kyle of being a bully and he is taken to observe various kids with Tourette's (with lack of swearing). He is then forced to apologize to Cartman. However, when Cartman plans to bad-mouth Jews, it's the straw that breaks the camel's back, so Kyle devises an elaborate plan that actually saves Cartman from going in too deep.
In the earlier episodes at least, he and the other boys were essentially just lower scale bullies compared to Cartman.
Green Eyes / Brown Eyes: This has been argued, but most prefer to give Kyle green eyes.
The short live-action adaptation 'The Real South Park' gave him blue eyes.
Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: After Cartman starts a rumor in "Cartman Finds Love" that he and Kyle are together, Kyle tries his damnedest to express that he is not gay and not gay for Cartman.
He Who Fights Monsters: Has shades of this due to his antagonism toward Cartman. In some episodes he thinks nothing of having him dead.
Although this also depends on how far Cartman has spent in Complete Monster territory in previous episodes.
Ill Boy: Not too blatant, but Kyle gets sick much more often than the others boys (unless you count Kenny's constant dying). Suffered kidney failure and mentioned to have Type 1 Diabetes in "Cherokee Hair Tampons", got infected with a hemorrhoid in "Cartmanland" (which turned fatal), was sick throughout the entirety of "The Snuke" and had a quick cold in "Guitar Queer-O". Well, it's either this or plot convenience or for other reasons.
Informed Judaism: For all the mentioning of his family's faith, Kyle rarely goes to temple or prays, or even wears a kippah. Plus, his family eats pork products (they had pork for dinner in "Conjoined Fetus Lady" and Kyle threw up bean with bacon soup in "Cherokee Hair Tampons"), which isn't kosher. Partial justification: early on, Kyle's family was the only Jewish family in town, and they're probably not very religious to begin with (as we've mentioned, he's a stand-in for Matt Stone, who is ethnically Jewish but was raised agnostic and is an atheist). Plus, that's part of the joke.
Again in "Cartman Finds Love" only perpetuated BY Cartman.
My Beloved Smother: Kyle on frequent occasions is shown to be submissive if not outright terrified of his overbearing mother. He has been shown to betray every moral ethic he has in fear of provoking her wrath.
Nice Hat: He even made a big deal out of it when getting his school picture taken:
Photographer: Take off your hat, please? Kyle: But I never take off my hat. Photographer: Come on now, I bet your parents want a picture of you lookin' natural. Kyle: This is how I look natural. Ms. Choksondik: Kyle, we're taking pictures without hats today! Kyle:(taking off hat) Crap!
Not so Different: Kyle on occasion can show similar moments of greed or callousness as Cartman. This was highlighted in "Crack Baby Athletic Association" where Kyle agrees to exploiting crack addicted babies for profit, and spends the entire episode obsessively trying to justify himself, beginning to sound more and more like Cartman as Stan nonchalantly points out.
Out-of-Character Moment: In "Woodland Critter Christmas", he willingly becomes the human host of the Antichrist, just so that the Jews could "take control of Christmas once and for all". He comes to his senses soon after when he feels his soul burning. Of course, it's only a story Cartman wrote.
Out of Focus: He gets the short shift of the trio of Stan, him and Cartman.
The Paragon (...Or at least he tries to invoke it.)
Superpowered Evil Side: His Jersey self is treated as this. While it's not explicitly superpowered, it is the only way to take on people from Jersey on their own terms.
Took a Level in Kindness: More or less the same evolution as Stan. He still has occasional self righteous moments, though they are much more rare.
Trans Nature: According to "Mr. Garrison's Fancy New Vagina", Kyle felt he was black all his life.
What Could Have Been: He was originally going to die near the end of season five due to bearing similarities to Stan, but Trey and Matt decided to keep him and have Kenny bite the dust instead since they were getting sick of killing him off in every episode and were running out of original ways by which to do so.
Kyle:"He's a fat, manipulative, bigoted, intolerant sociopath."
The fat[[potip:*:big-boned]] kid of the group. Incredibly selfish and mean, but the other boys keep him around because they know he won't get along well with anyone else. One of the most well-known and polarising characters of the show.
Acrofatic: While usually very out of shape, he proves to be surprisingly athletic as "The Coon" scaling buildings and a half destroyed roller coaster with apparently little effort.
Then subverted majorly in 1% when his atrocious fitness causes and otherwise average class (and whole school) to fail a national fitness test.
A Million is a Statistic: Cartman's Moral Event Horizon is often viewed as killing Scott Tenorman's parents. In fact, he actually probably caused more deaths in "The Red Badge of Gayness", where he lead a drunken mob in plundering towns across the United States. Okay, no one was explicitly shown getting killed, but come on, they burned at least one city to the ground with molotov cocktails.
He can also be seen as partially responsible for dooming all of hu-monity in "Trapper Keeper".
Ambiguously Gay: He has frequently shown heavily repressed attraction to men, among other strange tendencies. In various episodes, he's been known to dress like Britney Spears and dance with a Justin Timberlake stand-up, joins NAMBLA, takes a picture of Butters' penis in his mouth (then tries to take one of his penis in Butters' mouth), and in the Imaginationland trilogy he makes a bet with Kyle to suck his balls if he proves leprechauns exist, and when he does he takes it all the way to court to make him go through with it. However, some of these instances, particularly NAMBLA and the pictures of him and Butters, can be chalked up to him simply being too naive and stupid to understand what he's really doing.
His proclaiming his love for Kyle in Cartman Finds Love is certainly debatable as to whether or not he actually has feelings for him.
Ax Crazy: He is known for infamously chopping up the bodies of two dead corpses and feeding them to their own son in the form of chili, in the famous "Scott Tenorman Must Die" episode. He shows signs of full-blown psychosis at times, and generally has a narcissistic, psychopathic nature.
Badass Beard: As "The Dawg" in Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy.
Becoming the Mask: He becomes "Mr. Cartmenez" in "Eek, a Penis!" for his own personal gain, but by the end of the episode becomes genuinely sincere in wanting to "reeeach these kiiiids" and teach them "the white person way of cheating".
Berserk Button: He usually just makes a quick rebuttal when he's called fat, but occasionally it falls into this.
Cartman:(sarcastically) I'm sorry I handcuffed Billy Turner's ankle to the flagpole and then I gave him a hacksaw, and then I told him I had poisoned his lunch and the only way he could cure himself was by sawing off his leg.
Boomerang Bigot: Notably in the episode "Ginger Kids", where Cartman (after picking on and fearing gingers for the entire episode) comes to believe he is a ginger and forms a Nazi-like cult devoted to exterminating non-gingers.
Cartman: Oh my God, They Killed Kenny! Kyle:(walking outside Cartman's yard, but suddenly stops and turns towards the clubhouse)You bastards!(continues walking past the yard like nothing happened)
The Bully: When not himself the victim of fat jokes, he is usually the most prominent in school. It is implied he provoked a tirade of abuse on one student (for crapping their pants in public) so much that the latter committed suicide.
Catch Phrase: Cartman has had many over the years including "No kitty, this is my [name of food]", "I love cheesy poofs", "suck my balls", "kickass",etc.
"Screw you guys, I'm going home", "Stupid Jew", "Goddamn Jew" and everything that insults Jews, "Respect my authoritah" and lots and lots of swearing.
"BET MEEEAAAHM..."
"AW, GODDAMMIT!", followed by a head cock and facial grimace
A Running Gag is his literal inability to say any other variation of the word "serious" other than "seriously".
Cartman:You guys, I'm seriously!
Characterization Marches On: In the early seasons, his main antagonism was with Kenny, who he constantly made fun for being poor. These days, his anti-Semitism is far, far more prominent than it used to be, and he literally can't speak to Kyle without making fun of him for being Jewish. The poverty jokes come up now and then, but much more rarely.
The Chessmaster: In some episodes, he can be this. Specifically in "Scott Tenorman Must Die."
Cluster F-Bomb: Easily the most vulgar character on the show.
The Corrupter: he's good at getting others to go along with his schemes, usually Butters. Taken to extremes in Crack Baby Athletic Association where he manages to serve as this to Kyle of all things.
Dangerously Genre Savvy: In "Scott Tenorman Must Die", Cartman exploits Unspoken Plan Guarantee by telling a fake plot to humiliate Scott to Stan and Kyle, correctly thinking they'd sabotage it.
Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Double-subverted, as when he tries to kill her, he suddenly finds he can't go through with it.
Even Evil Has Standards: Because he's evil, Cartman can deliver bits of social commentary that would seem less acceptable if it was Stan or Kyle saying it. Of particular note are his rants on hippies, Family Guy, and the Catholic Church. He also plays the trope absolutely straight in "Major Boobage," in which he shows a lot more love to cats than he ever has to a person.
Oh, and of all the evil acts he's willing to do, he draws the line at one: shooting men in the genitals. (We're looking at you, BUTTERS.)
Evil Counterpart: To Kyle and Butters (and to a lesser extent, Stan).
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Cartman does not understand the difference between being nice and wearing a nice sweater, as seen in Casa Bonita. He also cannot comprehend the idea of confessing to something because one feels guilty, thinking exclusively in terms of whether or not he'll be punished, and how badly. Many attempts to berate him for his callousness have fell flat since he genuinely doesn't seem to have a clue what empathy is.
Evil Is Petty: We all know just how large in scale Cartman's schemes can run, but he has no problem doing really petty crimes like toilet papering a teacher's house.
Evil Plan: Go to Somalia to gain massive profit: done. Tape crack babies fighting over drugs as an internet sensation to profit: done. Convince Cthulu to assist in mass slaughter and show up your friends: done. Oh hell, Cartman thrives on this trope.
Flanderization: Inverted. Initially he was just a spoiled brat. Now he's incredibly intelligent, calculating, and actually has motivations for some of his actions. However, in the later half of season 15(with the last episode of him showing sociopathic tendencies, being "Bass to Mouth", but this was spoken about a past event, in which Cartman was a sociopath) and season 16, he has gone from being a sociopath that we know today to being back to his old personna where he was a Jerk with a Heart of Gold and is often seeing hanging out with Kyle, pretty much, despite their occasional rivalry, they're pretty much on better terms than they were for a long time.
Fluffy Tamer: Nothing else qualifies for taming Cthulhu.
Freudian Excuse: It's heavily implied that his friends' constant cruelty towards him and his mother's (unintentional) abuse is what drove him to become the sociopath that he is today.
Genius Ditz: Can easily manipulate people and appears to be able to speak fluent Spanish at age 9, but otherwise completely clueless about a lot of things.
In Funnybot, he also speaks and understands German fluently.
Sociopathic Hero: Even though he is a psychopath he has done some pretty heroic things such as saving the world from Saddam's reign in the movie, demolishing Osama bin Laden's army and crippling him, and saving the town from hippies when they got out of control
Should I just apologize to my friends and ask them to take me back? Tell then that I was being a selfish jerk? [...] Should I admit I was wrong? Ask for everyone's forgiveness and go back to my original team? Apparently not.
Innocent Bigot: Cartman doesn't think he's being racist in "Cartman Finds Love" by playing matchmaker between Nichole and Token, the only two black students in the school. He considers what he is doing as helping nature take its course. Boy does he go to the extreme in defending his views there. And now somehow Cartman managed to fill a trope with the word 'innocent'.
Insane Troll Logic: Uses this a lot, memorably so in "Mystery of the Urinal Deuce", "Dancing With Smurfs" and "I Should Have Never Gone Ziplining".
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Being The Sociopath that he is, he frequently lulls other characters (and the audience) into thinking he is this. He was actually this in seasons 1-4, and in season five became a Jerkass, but in the later half of season 15 and season 16, he goes back to his old characterization, even having moments with Kyle that don't involve arguing or plots to foil each other's plots.
Knight Templar: He genuinely believes Jews are evil, apparently having had been convinced of it by Mel Gibson's films. Also subverted to a degree, as in a deleted scene from "The List" he seems to acknowledge he is a horrible person. This gets taken Up to Eleven in the new "Coon Saga", where he leads Cthulhu on a mass murdering spree, massacring the entire burning man festival, Justin Bieber and most of his fans, and the whole city of San Fransisco, all while thinking he's doing good.
Cartman: [Coon and Friends] will continue to fight for good and justice!
News Reporter: Good and justice? Justin Bieber and most of his fans have just been massacred.
Cartman: Yes, Coon and Friends are glad to help! No need to thank me.
Large Ham: He's known for being an extremely campy character.
Last Name Basis: Oddly, all the characters (except Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Wendy) refer to him as Eric, whereas everyone in the real world refers to him as Cartman, including the title of the very first episode. In-universe, he may be occasionally called Cartman by minor characters, though these are probably slip-ups on the writers' parts and occasional leanings on the fourth wall (such as when Randy says "That's our Cartman!").
Likable Villain: Everyone knows Cartman covers about half of the list of Evil Tropes, we've laugh at his antics for sixteen years.
Malicious Slander: When given the bully pullpit. Writes an entire book dedicated to slandering Wendy.
Manipulative Bastard: Frequently. Apparently to the point where he can control the dark god Cthulhu.
The Matchmaker: Cartman and Cupid-Me ship same-race couples, and he actively works to get them together.
Mistaken for Gay: Happens a few times, mostly with Kyle or Butters.
Motor Mouth: During the "Kyle's Mom's a Bitch" song from the movie.
Also in "Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut" once he hears "Come Sail Away" he stops everything to finish it in order to finish in the fastest way possible.
Invoked when attempting to explain a very long string of fabricated events in "Toilet Paper".
Cartman: Okay. Last night, all four of us were at the bowling alley until about 7:30, at which time we noticed Ally Sheedy, the Goth chick from the Breakfast Club, was bowling in the lane next to us, and we asked her for her autograph, but she didn't have a pen, so we followed her out to her car, but on the way we were accosted by five Scientologists who wanted to give us all personality tests, which were administered at the Scientology Center in Denver until 10:45, at which time we accidentally boarded the wrong bus home and ended up in Rancho de Burritos Rojos, south of Castle Rock, and finally got a ride home with a man who was missing his left index finger, named Gary Bushwell, arriving home at 11:46.
Noble Bigot: In "Cartman Finds Love" he seems to really believe he is doing the right thing in setting Token up with Nichole despite his entire basis is his racism.
Noble Demon: Cartman risks serious trouble or imprisonment to protect a load of cats in "Major Boobage". There have also have been other times where he did stuff without wanting anything in return.
The show seems to be fond of leaving ambiguity as to whether Cartman does potentially noble acts for hidden selfish reasons or out of genuine conscience, "Kenny Dies" and "Smug Alert" for example, either border him further into Jerkass territory or grant him Noble Demon qualities.
Cartman is apparently unaware of the parallels when Kyle asks pointedly whether he noticed the obvious historical parallel, after Cartman had risked arrest by harboring felines in his attic, despite Cartman earlier Hanging A Lampshade on it by suggesting his cat could "write a diary" while in hiding.
However, it should be noted that he only does anything "nice" if it will benefit him in some way, or will appeal to what warped sense of morality he has. His inability to understand what everyone else calls being "good" is brought to light a couple of times. For example, when called out by Kenny, we get this:
Obliviously Evil: In Coon arc, he really thinks he is making the world a better place by disposing of the people he don't like. Mysterion calls him on this.
Shock and Awe: He temporarily gets the ability to shoot lightning out of his hands near the ending of South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut using the V-Chip in his head.
Sir Swearsalot: This trope applies to his friends as well, but to him more than anyone else.
Sissy Villain: Cartman likes to think he's imposing and dangerous but has basically no defense from being actually attacked. In one case, Kenny is able to easily stall him by lightly slapping at him.
In a later episode, he's perfectly willing to antagonize Wendy right up until she'll fight him, then spends the entire episode trying to avoid the conflict he willfully spawned.
Tourettes Shitcock Syndrome: In an attempt to get away with swearing whenever he wants, he faked Tourette's Syndrome. It backfires on him when not watching what he says causes him to blurt out personal secrets.
Would Hit a Girl: In his fight with Wendy, not that it helps him that much. He also beats up a little girl for being a fan of The Coon and Friends (of which he is no longer a member) in "Mysterion Rises."
You Are What You Hate: In the 200th episode, Cartman is agonized to learn that Scott Tenorman's dad, the guy he murdered and force-fed to Scott—is Cartman's own father...but not out of any guilt for what he did to him. Cartman's only upset because this means that he's "half-ginger."
Kenny McCormick
"All the time! I die all the time! And you assholes NEVER REMEMBER!"
The one with the orange parka. Lives with a very poor family, and often has to struggle to survive. Used to get killed off Once an Episode, but that's not the case anymore...usually, since Parker and Stone were getting tired of killing him off in every episiode and running out of original ways to kill him. Almost always speaks with a muffled voice, with various levels of intelligibility.
Anti-Hero: Type I or Type II normally due to his more or less quiet indifference to joining in his friends insanity and distinctly more heroic personality, but he's only a type II during episodes where his "nasty" side comes out.
Blessed with Suck: Either that or Cursed with Awesome. His super power is being unable to die, and people don't remember that he died. He does, however and when Kyle remarks that being immortal would be cool, Kenny snaps that it's not cool, because he remembers every single one of his deaths.
Broken Masquerade: He's the only one (besides his parents) who knows/can remember that he keeps dying, and is aware of (and remembers) some of the Eldritch Abominations that the cast encounters.
Butt Monkey: For the early seasons, this was passed on to Butters later on, though like the other four boys he is still made to suffer at times.
Character Development: He starts off as the most bland one of the four, and merely a prop. Nowadays he has a fully fleshed out character and even a superhero alter-ego.
Cosmic Plaything: The universe really hates him. Taken to extremes in "The List": Wendy and Bebe are fighting over a gun, then it accidentally discharges. Everyone in the vicinity checks themselves, and none have been shot. Cut to Kenny in his house miles away, where the bullet suddenly comes through the window and strikes him in the head.
It may be due to the universe not liking the spawn of Cthulhu in it.
The Faceless: Except for The Movie, "Good Times with Weapons", "The Losing Edge", "Meet the Jeffersons" and "Major Boobage". Also in "The Coon" and the "Coon and Friends" trilogy.
Flanderization: Think about how poor he is or how he's ignored. His perverted nature has also been exaggerated, though granted this has arguably broadened his character as well.
The Generic Guy: Had little character outside dying once per episode, when this recurring gag ended, he had even less involvement in the show. He has gained more development in later episodes, but still has the least involvement of the other four main boys.
Until seasons 12 onwards, then his character is slowly fleshed out until we get Mysterion where Crazy Awesome starts to kick in.
In the opening credits for the first five seasons, Kenny's muffled dialogue is "I like girls with big vaginas, I like girls with big fat titties". This remains intact in all reruns, because you can't really hear it.
Good Is Not Nice: He may be ready to pull out all stops to get high or get laid but he's an honestly nice guy who cares about his friends (well... Stan and Kyle anyway), and when it comes to other people he will do the right thing (including willing to die for people, and has executed a Heroic Sacrifice on more than one occasion), even if he hates having to do it. But if he gets the chance to take revenge on some bastard who pissed him off or did the wrong thing (mostly Cartman) he will take it.
Heroic Sacrifice: He died this way 2 or 3 times, including the end of The Movie. Subverted in that he has often been shown to be aware of his constant coming Back from the Dead, so it probably wasn't a too big sacrifice for him on those occasions. Turns out he is aware of his revivals, and it really fucking hurts. Unfortunately no one else is aware of his sacrifice.
The Hedonist: Far too interested in sex and drugs for his own good. And he will do anything to get high.
Fridge Brilliance: He's trying to cope with the memories of all his painful deaths and the knowledge that he could face more. Granted, not the healthiest way of coping, but still...
Kenny keeps coming back from the dead. Why the heck would he worry about using "healthy" coping at all?
He's probably more concerned about how to lessen the SUCK of dying all the time.
It probably gotten to the point that he is so jaded about dying and the pain associated with it that he honestly doesn't care about it any more, and without the fear of pain or death, there is only the pursuit of (momentary?) pleasure left in his life.
Humanoid Abomination: The source of his immortality has something to do with the Cult of Cthulhu and R'lyeh.
In the Hood: A defining example. Not counting his time as Mysterion, he's dropped his hood less than 10 occasions, and when asked by a nurse while he was dying this one time why he insisted on wearing it, he only shrugged. His hood also has been suggested to attract bad luck to him, and although he has died without it, you really have to wonder why he's insistent on keeping it on. Also, for those who are new to South Park and may be wondering, he has Blond Shonen Hair underneath it.
Kids Are Cruel: Like Stan and Kyle, to some extent, though much more subdued later on.
Though he's much more of a Jerkass than Stan and Kyle, due to the fact that he sides with Cartman a lot. An example is "Whale Whores", where he and Cartman join Stan, just because they both want to appear on tv, not because they intend to help Stan. Plus, he's not really interested in doing good most of the time (except for "The Coon And Friends" Trilogy), his primary interests being sex and drugs. He's also much more foul-mouthed than the rest of the kids.
Living Prop: One of the reasons for his eventual replacement. He came back, though.
Lovecraftian Superpower: Played so straight that Kenny aka. Mysterion may as well be the first "lovecraftian superhero"
Lovable Sex Maniac: YMMV on the lovable part, but he's pretty well recieved amongst the fandom and he is definitely a sex maniac. As a matter of fact, one episode even medically diagnosed him as a "Sex Addict"
Mauve Shirt: Nowadays he tends to only get killed off once a season or so.
Meaningful Name: Kenny means "born of fire". What does young Mr. McCormick and the mythological phoenix have in common?
Mundane Utility: If Kenny ever feels tired, he can just kill himself and wake up after a night of sleep.
One-Scene Wonder: Did very little except die once per episode. Has gained Character Development in later episodes. Arguably still has little involvement outside a single memorable gag per episode, though at least it has actual character involvement now.
The Stoner: He doesn't have the "surfer accent", but Kenny has had an entire episode dedicated to him getting high on catpiss and Cartman once mentioned that he enjoys getting high by paint-sniffing.
The Quiet One: He doesn't speak in several later episodes.
Would Hit a Girl: If you mess with Karen McCormick, Kenny will invoke this one.
Leopold "Butters" Stotch
Who's the boy who can laugh at a storm cloud?
Turn a frown into a smile for free?
Who's the kid with the heart full of magic?
Everyone knows it's Butters!
Butters: Th-That's me!
One of the kids at South Park Elementary. Became a main character shortly after "Kenny Dies" (and actually temporarily stayed dead). A wide eyed idealist who should be commended for remaining so after the world tries its hardest to give him reasons not to be.
Abusive Parents: And how. They ground him for pretty much everything short of breathing, try to sell him to Paris Hilton, beat the crap out of him after Cartman cusses them out on the phone, even try to murder him in one episode, and chain him in the basement for a week at the end of another.
They are saints compare to his Grandma who bullies him constantly.
Camp Straight: Butters is probably the straightest kid in the show - he's been clearly attracted to at least two girls and has never displayed any Ho-Yay, but he has a lot of interest in the things the other boys think of as gay, such as dancing, music and art.
Characterization Marches On: Butters seems to be getting more Genre Savvy throughout the seasons. Examples include "The Ungroundable," "Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs," and "The Human CentiPad"
Even Evil Has Standards: Although he rages against the world as Professor Chaos, he just doesn't want to blow up a hospital because "it just seems mean." Of course, he's not exactly that evil to begin with.
Evil Is Petty: His evil deeds as Professor Chaos are mostly limited to stealing chalkboard erasers, switching restaurant orders, and trying to flood the earth with a garden hose.
Girls Have Cooties: The nearest Butters has to a vindictive trait is his childish disgust of girls, though he is still rather friendly to certain female characters at times.
Harmless Villain: Professor Chaos. His plots range from really idiotic to merely not very well thought out (as seen on the episodes "Professor Chaos" and "The Simpsons Already Did It"). Doesn't seem to understand the concept of bacteria (the mayonnaise plot) infecting disease though as he thought it would just be annoying.
Kiddie Kid: While the other kids are based on how they act when adults aren't around, (which can be very much Truth in Television) Butters is based on the belief adults hold about kids, being way more innocent and friendly than his classmates.
Mistaken for Gay: Zig-zagged - the other boys often call Butters a fag, but this seems to be more of a slur directed at his more innocent interests. However in "Cartman Sucks", Butters is sent to a Sexual Correction Camp and in "Raisins," after Butters tells his parents about falling for a Raisins girl, it's revealed that Butters' parents bet on their son's sexuality.
And if you think of the kids' ninja battles as being between their residual self images, his imagination's powerful enough for him to steamroll Stan and Kyle at the same time, and they acknowledge it in their game.
Too Dumb to Live: He keeps believing that Cartman is a friend, when really Cartman just wants to either embarrass him, or get him in trouble.
Wholesome Crossdresser: So far, he disguised himself as a girl named Marjorine to steal a device that assumedly sees into the future from the girls (he even got a makeover during this), and dressed up as Courtney Love as part of Cartman's plot to force Captain Hindsight into joining his superhero team. In "Douche Vs Turd" Cartman gets Butters to dress up as a Luau dancer.
You Are Grounded: Butters fears this more than any other punishment in the world.
Randy Marsh
"Stan? Staaan?"
Stan's dad, a geologist (and thus the only non-mad scientist in South Park; sometimes). Deficient in common sense, but makes up for it with great passion and enthusiasm for... well, whatever happens to be the focus of the episode. The de facto leader of the town whenever they face a threat.
Tuckerization: Parker named Randy after his own father.
Write Who You Know: Out of all the characters loosely based on real people, Randy is the least loose, as both are geologists, that is how Trey draws his father, that is Trey doing an impression of his father's voice (especially in the earlier seasons), and Randy Parker's stepfather's surname was Marsh, meaning he grew up known as Randy Marsh.
Other Students
Jimmy Valmer
"Wow, what a terrific audience."
A crippled boy with a speech impediment and a stutter. Also a fantastic stand-up comedian.
Badass Adorable: Just about every episode he stars in has him do something awesome, from fighting with a pimp to joining the Crips, all while maintaining his childish innocence throughout the whole affair.
Sixth Ranger: Whenever the main group gets bigger than 5 or one of the main characters is preoccupied with a different subplot, he is the usual sixth member, though Clyde and Token are not uncommon.
Fan Of The Underdog: Surprisingly, he's one of the few people who support Cartman in some of his plans.
Fanon: Clyde having a one testicle seems to be seen as an actual in-universe rumor, despite the fact that Cartman explicitly says they should just make stories up.
The Generic Guy: Though he has been played out as the wimpiest kid who isn't blonde and the second-most submissive to Cartman (even moreso than Liane these days), it's hard to describe Clyde as anything other than "the Boy who isn't black/rich/deadpan/crippled/twitchy/a main character/a prop/Mintberry Crunch/a Star Wars fan/dirty/dead."
Informed Attribute / Informed Flaw: His status as the second fattest kid in the class is not in any way visible due to the animation.
Kids Are Cruel: May be a subversion. He appears to be one of the nicer kids in the class (just watch "Lice Capades"), and the few times he is cruel is either by an accident or when he really does not know he is being cruel (like in "The List").
Though he is also the only kid shown to be unfazed by the murder during the morning announcements, although it's possible he simply didn't understand what was happening.
"There's no one in town I can relate to I play with autographed baseball bats while everyone else just plays with sticks and pine cones Has a boy ever felt so alone?"
The Generic Guy: Even moreso than Stan and Clyde. Possibly intentional; he has two traits (rich and black) which make him stand out from the rest of the town, but neither of these traits affect his personality.
Meaningful Name: He's the token black kid at school. Ties into...
When the kids dress up as Lord of the Rings style characters, he's a paladin. (Don't get started on that.)
Craig Tucker
"Do you guys know why nobody else at school likes hanging out with you? Because you're always doing stuff like this. You're always coming up with some stupid idea to do something, and then it backfires, and then you end up in some foreign country, or in outer space or something. That's why no one likes hanging out with you guys."
One of the 4th graders who attends South Park Elementary. He is implied to have bad behaviour, and is referred to as "the biggest trouble-maker" in his class by Eric Cartman in "Tweek vs. Craig". Craig has a habit of flipping people off, whether to express disdain toward them or not.
Anti-Hero: Type IV. Although all the children have negative traits, Craig stands out as being distinctly assertive and a complete bully, leading his classmates into the beating of defenseless kids.
In recent episodes however he is much more passive aggressive and stoic, not as attentive to bullying others as before (though still gets the odd laugh out of it).
Bad Boss: In episode "South Park Is Gay!", when the main characters are first shown viewing Craig's gang as rivals.
Blue Eyes: As shown when they pretend to be warriors, in the anime-styled episode.
Butt Monkey: To a lesser extent, in "Tweek vs. Craig." Cartman, Kyle, Stan and Kenny fool him and Tweek into fighting.
Catch Phrase: "If I could [random thing that involves swearing or insulting someone] I would be sooooo happy."
Earlier in the show he has a habit of flipping people off.
Characterization Marches On: Prior to the "Pandemic" two-parter, he was an egotisticalrival for the other boys, as opposed to an extremely stoic passive aggressive Deadpan Snarker. He was also shown to be just as willing to do crazy things as the Boys.
The Chosen One: In "Pandemic 2". He's not happy about it.
Genre Savvy: In "Pandemic" he knows Stan and his friends have gotten involved in another insane adventure and wants no part of it.
Good Is Not Nice: The fact that he is actually good is arguable.
Jerkass: He's probably the most violent kid in his class (or second, after Cartman), as he's seen being the primary leader in every bullying that occurs at school. Not to mention that he enjoys tormenting other kids, this being one of the few reasons he smiles. In early episodes, he was always shown going to the counselor, due to his cynicism and disrespect towards the other characters.
How stoic he seems to be a case of Depending on the Writer, going back and forth between being a completely emotionless snarker and an excitable brat from episode to episode.
Tall, Dark and Handsome: Implied in the show. The fact that he is definitely taller than the rest of kids is obvious in "South Park Is Gay!", where Craig and three other classmates wear identical clothes and Craig's pants are drawn much longer than the others'. Plus, the creators draw him taller most of the time, as he wears high-waisted, dark pants that make his legs appear longer, especially in latter episodes, probably to accentuate the fact that he's older. To top all this, in "T.M.I", it's mentioned that Craig has grown the most from all the boys, gaining 2.4 inches, which implies that Craig is perhaps the tallest boy in his class. Also, the Fandom sees him as this.
Tourettes Shitcock Syndrome: Averted in the earlier seasons with his uncontrollable flipping of the bird; wishes he had the stereotype.
"[Cartman]'s the luckiest kid in the world. If I could say "shitballs" to the principal I would be so happy."
"If I could say/yell "asspussy"/"tampon dick-shit"/"titty sprinkles" to the counselor/in the classroom/on national television I would be so happy."
"Wow, you're [the boy with Tourette's] the coolest kid in the world. If I could call Chris Hanson an "asshole licking dick-fart" to his face I would be so happy."
You Can't Fight Fate: In "Pandemic 2: The Startling," he accidentally defeats the Guinea pirate despite trying to leave and go home.
Tweek Tweak
"GAH! That is way too much pressure!"
A constantly nervous and paranoid boy with wild blond hair. Constantly twitching because of all the coffee he drinks.
Keet: Even though his hyperactiveness comes from the fact that he's paranoid and scared, not happy. Still, he can have serious badass moments, when he gets angry.
Must Have Caffeine: His parents own a coffee shop, and give him a bit too much. A large chain bought them out in one episode, but they took over as management for it.
Be a Whore to Get Your Man: Tries this when Stan developed a crush on Ms. Ellen, only for Ms. Ellen to coincidentally show up wearing leather, thus stealing Stan's attention away from Wendy again.
She also gets huge tits to get the attention of the boys in "Bebe's Boobs Destroy Society", but ends up arriving after everyone learns their lesson.
Flanderization: Started out as a pretty everyday token female with the occasional... episodic quirk (see: "Tom's Rhinoplasty). Later on she pretty much became the Lisa Simpson of the show, a walkingliberal mouthpiece for Stone & Parker.
Gag Boobs: Once got breast implants after Bebe's breasts started developing. Let's just say they didn't trigger Aesop Amnesia.
Karma Houdini: She never got any kind of punishment for having an innocent woman killed, as mentioned above.
Women Are Wiser: Though she is still somewhat shrill at times, she actually comes off as more level headed than Stan in most of their recent interactions (which is saying something considering Stan's own personality). Played with in earlier episodes where both of them were near equally childish and obnoxious.
Demoted to Extra: After being built up to be a major secondary character, he was ultimately replaced by the easier-to-write-for Jimmy.
Inspirationally Disadvantaged: Parodied: he's often used to parody various social issues relating to the disabled. Otherwise, he and Jimmy are far more inspirationally treated as just another couple of students by their classmates and everyone else.
Pokémon Speak: "Timmy!" is the only word he can say somewhat intelligently. Bizarrely, both of his parents are also like this.
Bebe Stevens
"Having boobs sucks."
One of Wendy's friends. Hates her boobs and thinks Kyle has a sweet ass.
Jerk With A Heartof Gold: Usually she's harsh towards some of her fellow classmates, when not being Wendy's Lancer. In fact, her harshness becomes a prominent issue in "The List" and "Lice-scapades" (Guess what Clyde's reaction to some of her commentary is). Despite this, her Jerkass behavior actually turns out to be a charade, especially when she doesn't like how her boobs manipulate every boy in her class to include her.
Lovable Alpha Bitch: While hinted in the show, this seem to be a common characterization on fanworks. That is, when she's not a full-on Alpha Bitch or plain evil.
Wangst: Intentional. Henrietta constantly complains about the horrible things her parents do to her, such as...refusing to let her go to a concert because her aunt is coming over...and complaining about the clothes she wears. Her mother is shown as wonderfully loving, which suggests that her reasons for being goth are slightly whinier than the others.
The Sixth Graders
"BOOBS!"
The Boys' bullies, led by a kid whose shirt has a picture of his face on it.
One Steve Limit: Averted. Kevin is also the name of Kenny's brother, and Mephesto's sidekick, both of whom are even more prop-like.
Phrase Catcher: "Kevin... goddamn it" said by Cartman when Kevin shows his love for Star Wars at an inappropriate times (such as carrying a toy lightsaber to Cartman's pirate club).
Retcon: Introduced as a Chinese-American. Also, his last name was Brooks in "My Future Self n' Me."
Dougie
"What evil plot do you have this time, Professor Chaos?"
Younger nerdier friend of Butters. Joins the latter in his quest to destroy the world after being rejected by the other kids, under the alias of Professor Chaos' minion; General Disarray.
Butt Monkey: Was rejected and labeled a "Melvin" similar to Butters.
Who's Laughing Now?: Downplayed and Played for Laughs. While banishing Cthulhu back to R'Lyeh and rescuing his friends, he briefly returned home to flip off his sister and say, "Fuck you! I have powers you fat bitch!"
Stan's Uncle (Jimbo) and his old Vietnam war buddy who lost his arm due to a grenade explosion and speaks with a voice box thanks to a laryngectomy he had to have for his throat cancer. They own the local gun store and love to go hunting.
Badass: In ''South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut" they prove that they still have some fight in them when they take on the Canadian army.
Out of Focus: Neither have had much focus in the recent seasons, usually appearing in crowd scenes. Ned has not had a speaking role since Here Comes the Neighborhood.
Refugee from Time: Possibly the reason they are Out of Focus. They're Vietnamn vets which means that realistically they'd be in their early 60's by now.
Trrrilling Rrrs: In "Summer Sucks", Ned can somehow do this despite speaking through his voice box.
Word Of God: Jimbo is Randy's half-brother ( even though he was supposed to be Sharon's brother).
Shelley Marsh
"Shut up, turd!"
Stan's older sister, who cruelly bullies him to ridiculous levels.
The Artifact: Only a few later appearances refer to her original sociopath persona (eg. "Over Logging") with her usually acting as merely a generic sister character.
Amoral Attorney: Once exploited the town, who was on a suing spree for sexual harassment, to make enough money to get a bigger house.
Closer to Earth: A rare male example. He does do some stuff of questionable morality, but by and large, it's his wife leading the mass suicides and starting wars over trivial things.
Though after The Movie, the relationship seems to have reversed.
Mean Character, Nice Actor: Mary Kay Bergman, who voiced her in the film, was very nice in her life, even giving close friend Tara Strong a dog for her 26th birthday (the last one Bergman was actually around for). *
Three guesses where Tara Strong is from.
Karma Houdini: One might say she got off way too easily for instigating a Canadian holocaust, killing Terrence and Phillip despite Kyle's warnings and nearly causing The End of the World as We Know It.
Although to be fair, Kenny's wish at the end of the film restores everything to they way it was in the beginning, and during the closing number, she pats Terrance and Phillip on the shoulder, calling them "super sweet."
Mama Bear: Taken way too far, as she is willing to literally start wars to protect her children against things they really don't need protecting against.
Tuckerization: Even if it's kinda unflattering to Sheila Stone.
Took a Level in Kindness: After the movie. See "A Very Crappy Christmas" and "Mr. Garrison's Fancy New Vagina".
Villain Decay: Not nearly as abrasive in later appearances. If anything, Randy Marsh has taken the mantle of "parent who overreacts to things and causes problems".
Villainous BSOD / Heroic BSOD: Gets one at the end of the movie, where she realized that she brought enough intolerance to the world to allow the second coming of Satan (and his boyfriend Saddam).
Ike (season 1):Zeeponanner. Ike (season 13):I feel like an asshole.
Kyle's baby brother, very smart for his age.
Annoying Younger Sibling: Played with. Originally, he was this, following Kyle and inevitably going through the "kick the baby!" routine. However, as time went on, the two became much closer as Ike's intelligence increased, and now Ike serves as one of Kyle's biggest priorities whenever he gets into trouble.
Character Development: He is the only character to age, he started out as a babbling toddler who spouted nonsense, he is now four years old, he's very intelligent, and speak more coherently.
Child Prodigy: While the other Jew Scouts at Jewbilee made macaroni art looking like they were actually made by children, Ike created an exact replica of The Last Supper with the same materials.
Happily Adopted: With the Broflovskis, Ike is fairly content; his real hindrance is with the monotony of middle-class life, the fact that his peers are f*cking idiots, and constantly having to hear about Susan Boyle's performance of Les Misérables on Britian's Got Talent.
Somewhat subverted in Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy, in which he tells Kyle that he is "dead to him" and runs away from home to go to Milan with his teacher. He eventually learns the error of his ways, however, and is very upset about leaving his new family in It's Christmas in Canada.
Took a Level in Badass: In "Royal Pudding" and "About Last Night". Seriously, the kid's four and he's a knight in Canada and a skilled computer hacker.
Kyle Schwartz
"I'm back!"
Kyle's cousin Kyle, called "Kyle 1" by Sheila. Became a millionaire.
Dope Slap: Believe it or not, there are a handful of episodes where she whacks Cartman after he says something offensive.
Extreme Doormat: It turns out in one episode that she spoils Cartman for his attention, because she doesn't have any real friends.
In "Coon 2: Hindsight", she actually grounds Cartman for beating up his friends and cursing. She quickly falls before the LeBron James Technique however.
Flanderization: Inverted since the show has rather seldom shown her doing anything promiscuous in recent seasons, in favor of playing out her submissive traits.
Hermaphrodite: Revealed in the season 1 finale/season 2 premiere two-part episode "Cartman's Mom Is (Still) a Dirty Slut."
In "201", its revealed that Liane is indeed Cartman's mother, she's not a hermaphrodite, and his father was Jack Tenorman.
In the Blood: In one episode where she takes the kids to visit her relatives, almost all of them act like Cartman, except his grandmother, who acts like Liane.
Really Gets Around: She's a prostitute who's slept with the entire adult population of South Park.
Stephen and Linda Stotch
Linda:Oh, Stephen, I don't know if we should ground him or call a doctor.
Stephen:No, I think you'd better call a doctor. I'll ground him.
Butters' authoritarian parents. Extremely strict, especially Stephen, and it's debated over how mentally stable either of them are. Close friends of the Marshes and Broflovskis, but not well-developed.
Abusive Parents: Both physically and emotionally. It's just that no attention has been drawn to it yet (which can be Truth in Television).
All Crimes Are Equal: Ground Butters for any punishment, no matter how petty, or occasionally, extreme the actual crime is.
All Men Are Perverts: Stephen, along with every other man in the town, in "The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to the Two Towers."
Characterization Marches On: Linda's personality in seasons 5 and 6 can be quite jarring, most notably trying to drown Butters in "Butters's Very Own Episode" and both of them physically beating him in "Jared Has Aides." In contrast Linda is played as the more gentle and submissive of the two in later seasons, usually only going along with punishing Butters under Stephen's influence.
Pet the Dog: Despite his authoritarian attitude to parenting and his questionable attitude to discipline, he seems to show genuine love and concern for Butters on a regular basis. At the very least he seems to be a more devoted parent than Randy as of recently.
Jerkass: They were willing to sell their son to Paris Hilton. She offered $200 million. They haggled for $250 million.
The Alcoholic: Both of them, but Stuart seems to be the town alcoholic.
The Chew Toy: Stuart in "Cartman Joins NAMBLA." In his words, he's had his "nuts broken..." (from Kenny hurling a baseball at his crotch), "body poisoned..." (when Kenny tried to give his mom a chocolate milk and vodka cocktail spiked with morning-after abortion pills, and Stuart drank it after Carol declined), "...and have been made love to in the ass by three dozen 40-year-old men" (which was actually his fault, as he was looking for Kenny and walked into the wrong hotel room). He also broke his nose and got violently ill on North Park Funland's "John Denver Experience" ride.
Domestic Abuse: On the season two episode, "Chicken Lover," Stuart and Carol appeared on an episode of COPS where Stuart is being beaten up by Carol for being a lazy alcoholic who can't hold down a job.
Dialogue seems to indicate that they both beat on each other a lot, but it's true that on-screen we only ever see it go one way.
Further applied in "Make Love Not Warcraft". The teaser depicted a shot of Stuart just about to slug his wife, but cuts off just beforehand. The finished episode has this altered to Carol actually shown beating Stuart up onscreen.
Groin Attack: Stuart becomes the victim of this in "Cartman Joins NAMBLA."
Noodle Incident: Apparently, Mysterion (really Kenny) did something really brutal to them, as they cower at the sight of him.
Parental Neglect: Cartman pointed out in "The Wacky Molestation Adventure" that Kenny never tells his parents where he is because "they're alcoholics and they don't care."
Stoners Are Funny: More like "Drunks are Funny," but the principle's the same.
What Happened to the Mouse?: Kenny was mentioned to have a sister even back in season 1 press releases, though she seemed more like Ike's age back then, and was supposed to pop up in Starvin Marvin but never did. She made one appearance in a season 9 episode but didn't pop up ever again until season fifteen.
South Park Elementary School Staff
Chef (Jerome McElroy)
"Hello there, children!"
The school chef and token minority of the early seasons (Seasons 1-9). The former go-to guy for advice for the boys, which was often dispensed in R-rated song about making love to women.
Magical Negro: In fact, while he was on the show he seemed to be the only adult with any kind of common sense.
Subverted when he sometimes decides that helping the boys would be more trouble than it's worth (in "Simpsons Already Did It", for example, he starts singing a song when he realizes the boys just told him that they killed their teacher and the autopsy found their "sea men" in her stomach, and he starts preparing to send them to Thailand instead). And when Chef goes crazy, he really goes crazy.
In the episode "Red Hot Catholic Love", when the confused boys asked Chef why and what the priest want to put something on their butts, he walks away.
Of course, the boys don't even know what it means.(Although Cartman does later on, as he says to Stan: "Token is gonna want to kick your cracker teeth in!)
Until the time of his death when he was brainwashed into becoming a child molester.
Pluralses: While brainwashed by the Super Adventure Club, he at one point tells Kyle, "I specializes in your asshole."
Take Our Word for It: Whenever the children ask about something he really doesn't want to tell them.
Token Minority: The only non-white adult in the town in the early seasons.
Verbal Tic: Always greets the kids with "Hello there, children.", even if there's only one of them.
His father has also been heard using "children" when referring to one child. Although it was Cartman, so it could have been a fat joke.
What Could Have Been: Barry White was supposed to be the voice of Chef, but due to White's Christian upbringing, turned down the role. Kinda funny, considering that Isaac Hayes was a Scientologist and quit doing South Park because the show offended his religion.
Where Da White Women At?: He has had sex with white women (cf. "An Elephant Makes Love to a Pig," where, while watching Kyle's elephant make love to Cartman's pig, Chef realizes that it's similar to the many times he's made it with a white woman), but really, he's not picky.
Mr./Ms. Herbert/Janet Garrison
(During the sex-change operation)
"I tell you, there's some crazy stuff going on in this town."
The boys' eccentric homeroom teacher throughout most of the series. He used to carry a sarcastic hand puppet with him (two, actually - Mr. Hat and Mr. Twig), but later left them behind. His gender and sexual preferences have been in constant flux.
Anything That Moves: He's been anything that moves and back again at this point.
Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Whenever he tries to teach children. From the first episode alone: "Christopher Columbus discovered America and was the Indians' best friend. He helped the Indians win their war against Frederick Douglass, and freed the Hebrews from Napoleon, and discovered France."
Rape Is Love: Believed that his father didn't love him because he was never molested by him as a child. Strangely, his mother feels the same way and is shocked to find out it never happened.
Sadist Teacher: His emotional imbalances cause him to be this sometimes.
SPE's guidance counselor with a very large head. Incredibly mellow, mkay?
Clueless Aesop: Often tries to deliver messages to the kids with no logic or knowledge behind them. At one point he fails at teaching sex ed because he's forgotten how it works.
Drugs Are Bad: The Trope Namer, heavily parodied. When Mr. Mackey gave an anti-drug speech to the class, he got hopped up on marijuana himself for a while.
Flanderization: Seemed to go through one since "Insheeption"(season 14 episode).
Hair-Trigger Temper: He seems to have developed quite a nasty one recently, for example "Insheeption" and "Royal Pudding".
Moral Dissonance: In "Breast Cancer Show Ever", she specifically advises Wendy to beat up classmate Eric Cartman for making jokes about breast cancer. While some see this as her Crowning Moment of Awesome, Fridge Logic kicks in when you realize that a school staff member specifically told someone to use violence to solve their problems.
Violence against Cartman. She didn't specifically say anything about beating up Cartman. Just implied it heavily.
In Sexual Harassment Panda, she claims she killed somebody and tried to burn the body.
She's also pretty blatantly homophobic, firing Mr. Garrison for being gay. Which was a pretty blatant Retcon since Mr. Garrison was actually fired for trying to solicit sex from a minor not just for being gay.
She also fires the wrestling instructor because of "all the gay porn on your iPhone" (actually, olympic wrestling matches), though that could just be a case Rule of Funny.
I Cannot Self-Terminate: In one episode, "Fantastic Easter Special", Jesus and Kyle have been imprisoned in the Vatican. Jesus realises that if he dies, he can resurrect himself outside the bars. He's unable to kill himself, as suicide is a sin, so he asks Kyle to do it. After initially refusing ("I'm a Jew. I have a few hang-ups about killing Jesus."), he reluctantly agrees, on the condition that "Eric Cartman can never know about this."
Jesus: I understand. And Kyle, Happy Easter. Kyle: Happy Easter, Jesus.
Art Evolution: Since season 9, Satan appears to be older and more muscular.
Batman Gambit: Pull this one during his boxing fight against Jesus. While betting his money on Jesus while the rest of the city bet on Satan, he beat up Jesus big time until he pretended to be KO'ed by Jesus's weak punch. When Jesus was declared victorious, Satan became several millions dollars richer and went back to Hell taunting the rest for their stupidity. Satan's totally Crowning Moment of Awesome of the century.
God Karting With Beelzebub: Though he and God hadn't spoken in millennia, in "Probably" he goes to ask him for romantic advice.
Punch Clock Villain: A borderline example, if not an outright one. He only seems to torture truly bad people and even then is usually chanting pleasantly with them otherwise.
Satan Is Good: Or at least, he's kind of a big softie.
Straight Gay: Satan has had two lovers — Saddam Hussein, and a guy named Chris.
Villain Song: "Up There" from The Movie. Also a subversion, since he is actually singing about how lonely he is down in hell, where his only real company is Saddam, and how he wants to live up on earth. Thus doubles as his "I Want" Song.
Mayor McDaniels
"My geologist? Now? Tell him the infection is fine and I don't need another check-up."
Corrupt and idiotic mayor of South Park.
Characterization Marches On: Originally she was a lot stupider than most of the other South Park adults, but as they got dumber she's generally become smarter; modern episodes tend to vary on whether she's just as dumb as them or the Only Sane Adult in town.
Surrounded by Idiots: Is perfectly aware of the absurd hijinks that occur in the town and has little respect for the idiocy of its citizens, though she rarely comes off as much smarter.
"Sister, the Jews crucified our Lord and Savior. I mean, if you don't go to hell for crucifying the Savior, then what the hell do you go to hell for?"
South Park's resident Catholic priest.
Ambiguously Gay: Claims in one episode to be an ex-homosexual.
The Fundamentalist: He believes that Jews and the handicapped will end up in hell. He's right, but what he doesn't know is that so will Catholics, since only Mormons go to heaven.
Only Sane Man: In "Red Hot Catholic Love", we find out that he's the only Catholic priest in the world that doesn't molest children.
Officer Barbrady
"Okay, people, move along. Nothing to see here."
The town cop, incredibly stupid and unhelpful. His squad car says "To Patronise And Annoy".
Alternative Character Interpretation: He requires one hundred percent evidence that they really were going through with the prostitution. And his 1-year marriage to the pimp was to gather evidence of every crime he had committed.
"We've got another rich black guy. I want him humiliated and dragged through the dirt, and I want it done by the books!"
Clueless Detective: Partially subverted; he does figure out the culprit behind the left-hand murders using his own police work, but it was unnecessary police work because the evidence was screaming right in his face. He also would have never seen said evidence had it not been for Kyle.
The Commissioner Gordon: In "The Coon," he is this to Mysterion and the Coon wants him to be it for him.
Custom Uniform: He and his partner Mitch Murphy are plainclothes detectives.
Villain Protagonist: In "The Jeffersons" and arguably "Butters' Bottom Bitch," seeing as how the first 2 men he arrested were portrayed sympathetically.
Terrance and Phillip
Phillip:"Terrance, I-"
Terrance:"No. No, Phillip, don't say it. I was an asshole, and this is mostly my fault."
Phillip:"That's what I was gonna say: You were an asshole, and this is mostly your fault."
A comedy duo from Canada who host a show that seems to consist entirely of fart jokes, and is a favorite of the four main boys.
Retcon: Their show was originally referred to as a cartoon, and the whole intent was that the animation was even worse than South Park's. However, it was later established that the "crappy animation" is how all of Canada (and Saddam Hussein) looks. Lampshaded with the fact that they had an Saturday morningcartoon, which "started to breed confusion over whether Terrance and Phillip were animated characters or real people."
Self-Deprecation: They were originally created in response to criticisms that South Park (in season 1 mostly) was a badly animated and vulgar show filled to the brim with fart jokes and foul language. So Trey and Matt created an in-universe show with even worse animation that is nothing but fart jokes.
Breather Episode: "A Million Little Fibers" and "Crippled Summer", two Towelie-centric episodes, aired immediately after "Cartoon Wars" and "200/201", which were controversial even by South Park standards.
Catch Phrase: "Don't forget to bring a towel" and "wanna get high?"
A Day in the Limelight: "A Million Little Fibers". (Although, in all fairness, the few times Towelie does appear he is usually the focus of the episode.)
Charles Atlas Superpower: How else to describe his ability to insert an entire Paris Hilton into himself?
Depraved Homosexual: A Subversion. Sure, he does dip into it with him killing small animals by shoving them up his ass, but despite that and his choice in clothing, with humans he only engages in mutually consensual acts and emphasizes that whores like himself and Paris Hilton are not good role models for children.
"Well, we don't take kindly to folks that don't take kindly around here."
A man who gets pissed off about a lot of things, often seen in the bar or passionately leading inane movements. Usually depicted as more of a redneck than the main fathers (who are just whatever the plot calls for), but still considered one of the Guys.
"I've done it, Kevin. I've successfully spliced this chipmunk with a piece of provolone cheese. Do you know what this means, Kevin? No more will the world have to look in two different places for squirrels and provolone cheese."
The proprietor of the South Park Genetic Engineering Ranch. In addition to traditional Mix-and-Match Critters, he likes to create multi-assed creatures.
Aesop Amnesia: In his first appearance, he learns that it's best to "just leave nature alone, to its simple one assed schematics." In his second appearance, he genetically engineered ill-tempered turkeys for Thanksgiving. At the end of the episode, he even starts saying the exact same aesop he learned in his first appearance until Chef interrupts him with a "yeah, yeah, yeah."
Internal Retcon: He falsely revealed Cartman's father to be his mother for the sake of the Denver Broncos, who were among the people suspected to have fathered Cartman at the time.
Satellite Character: Kevin, a midget who follows Mephesto almost wherever he goes. In season one's "Starvin' Marvin," Chef interrupts an important speech to ask Dr. Mephisto what the hell Kevin is supposed to be.
What Happened to the Mouse?: Until season 14, he hadn't been seen in ten years bar a few background cameos. Trey and Matt mentioned in the commentary for his season 14 episode that they "stopped finding him funny" and wish they'd permanently taken him off the show in the NAMBLA episode.
Saddam Hussein
"Hey! Relax, guy!"
(smacks Satan's ass) "Shut it, bitch. You're better seen than heard!"
Satan's abusive gay boyfriend. Initially the dictator if Iraq, he was killed either by wild boars or in a Canadian "gas attack" after attempting to invade the country, he was sent to hell after he died. He was the main antagonist of "South Park: Bigger Longer and Uncut". While technically deceased after The Movie, was a recurring character until season 7, where he was captured by Canadian soldiers. He is arguably even worse than Cartman.
Back from the Dead: After "Bigger Longer and Uncut", he went back to hell. Where was he supposed to go, Detroit? Played more straight later, where he somehow comes back from Heaven (where he was last seen building chemical weapons) to attend Christopher Reeve's Legion of Doom meeting, then (even later) become Prime Minister of Canada.
Evil Plan: Many. He's taken over Canada by sneaking his troops in through the airlines, manipulated Satan into invading earth with his demons so Saddam could push him aside and take control, built chemical weapons plants in HEAVEN (even fooling God), and fooled all of Canada into electing him Prime Minister.
Freudian Excuse: He explains that his parents were abusive in The Movie. He might be telling the truth, but it is much more likely he was just lying to Satan so he'll forgive him (which was kind of the entire point of his song...)
Killed Off for Real: It's never really specified what happened after the Canadians arrested him, but he hasn't been seen since.
Truth in Television: Subverted. While Saddam Hussein really was an evil, manipulative dictator, pretty much everything else about his personality is made up, such as being gay and speaking in a high whiny voice.
Murder the Hypotenuse: He stabs Satan's "pussy" boyfriend Chris in order to get back with Satan. Not that it makes much difference - after all, where was Chris going to go, Detroit?
Non-Standard Character Design: Not only is he animated in the same style as the Canadians (which kinda made sense since he first appeared an episode starring Terrance and Phillip), but he's one of the few characters with a photo head (some others include Mr. Garrison after his nose job, Ben Affleck in "How to Eat With Your Butt", and the little pink Christina Aguilera monsters from "Timmy 2000").
Yandere: In "Probably" he stabs Satan's new boyfriend to death. (He came back the next day back in hell. Where was he supposed to go? Detroit?)
Mr. Hankey
Flush him down, but he's never gone!
His smell and his spirit ling-er on!
Christmas-themed sapient poo. Based on a character made up by Trey Parker's father, who told him when he he was a kid that if he did not flush the toilet after going, Mr. Hankey would jump out and bite him.
Narrator:In the great hall of the Super Best Friends there are assembled the leaders of the world's biggest religions. Jesus! Buddha! Krishna! Muhammad! Lao Tse and Joseph Smith! And the mighty Semen.
Continuity Nod: Moses is the same as he was in "Jewbilee," Joseph Smith is the same in "All About Mormons," most of the team appears in the Imaginationland trilogy, and the whole crew is brought back for "200"/"201."
"You will hit puberty when the time is right. But you will never have a period, because you are a man — with titties. Thus spaketh the Lord. And now I return to heaven."
Jesus' father and a Buddhist, even though only Mormons, Kenny (sometimes), and Saddam are allowed into Heaven.
Too Dumb to Live: In "A Ladder To Heaven," he's been hearing rumors that Saddam Hussein has been constructing chemical weapons (in heaven). God confronts him about it...:
Saddam: (ordering around people on what is clearly a chemical weapons plant complete with working missiles) Get those nitrogen capsules over there by the warheads. Chop chop, come on! (a light shines on him from the sky)
God: (from offscreen) Saddam, I've been hearing rumors that you're secretly building weapons of mass destruction up here.
Saddam: Weapons of mass destruction? Nooooo! This is just a chocolate chip factory, see? (gestures to a logo on on of the silos that reads "Saddam's Heavenly Chocolate Chips)
The twisted products of Cartman's imagination. They were part of his christmas story in the christmas special, then later were reincarnated in Imaginationland with the evil characters.
Affably Evil: They are quite cheerful and polite, when they're not trying to summon the Anti Christ or creating walls of fire to try to kill 8 year old kids.
Big Bad Duumvirate: They pretty much become the de facto leaders of the evil imaginary characters in the Imaginationland trilogy.
A Dog Named Dog: There's Squirrely the squirrel, Rabbity the rabbit, Beavery the beaver, Beary the bear, Porcupiney the porcupine, Skunky the skunk, Foxy the fox, Deery the deer, Woodpeckery the woodpecker, Mousey the mouse, and Chickadee-y the chickadee. The raccoon's name is not mentioned, but he's presumably named Racoony.
Al Gore:"ManBearPig doesn't care who you are or what you've done, ManBearPig simply wants to get you! I'm super-serial!"
ManBearPig is a creature that Al Gore campaigned against. According to Gore, it threatens our very existence and may be the end of the human race as we know it. Despite Gore's claims, however, it simply doesn't exist. ManBearPig itself later made an actual appearance in the Imaginationland trilogy, briefly entering the Pentagon in the real world and attacking everyone.
Not So Imaginary Friend: Played With; his eponymous episode makes it clear he's just a delusion of Gore's, but that means he can appear as a monster in the "Imaginationland" saga.
A teenager who tricked Cartman into forking over ten dollars. He manages to get his way out of all of Cartman's revenge schemes until Cartman finally has his parents killed. And tricked Scott into eating them. Scott reappears as the Big Bad of the two part "200/201" story, which reveals him as the new leader of the Ginger Separatist Movement and Cartman's half-brother.
Anti-Villain: Type I (debut) —> Type II (post-debut), he starts out as a more restrained anti-villain (as seen at the end of "Scott Tenorman Must Die"), but in "201", we see how he turned insane after Cartman tricked him into eating his parents.
Asshole Victim: Inverted since it is his parents that suffer instead, it still hits him hard however.
Big "NO!" and Big OMG: When he realises he just ate his own parents and when Radiohead saw him crying.
Even Evil Has Standards: A manipulate bully of the highest order, though obviously pretty mortified by his parents' murder which seems to make him a more redeemable character than Cartman given his reaction later on.
Eviler than Thou: Subverted. It seems this way throughout "Scott Tenorman Must Die" with Scott constantly outdoing Cartman in schemes and sheer Jerkass antics, then Cartman takes a far more monstrous step...
Scott: You really care that much about sixteen measly dollars? I mean, what can you buy with $16? My parents give me a $50-a-week allowance. This pittance means nothing to me.
Villain Exit Stage Left: Done in "201." The only response by anyone is Jesus asking, "Who's the creepy ginger kid?"
Scott the Dick
"Awrah! I hate you more than ever, Terrance and Phillip! I absolutely abhor you both!"
A grumpy television critic from Canada. Everyone hates him. He REALLY hates Terrance and Phillip.
Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: "You're a dick, Scott! You've always been a dick! And then you got radiation poisoning in Ottawa and now you're a giant dick!"
Jerkass: Acts like this to the Japanese. Dr. Janus is like this to Butters.
Janus is arguable since, despite being an incompetant quack who misdiagnoses Butters, he is rather soft spoken and understanding to Butters' "condition" and genuinely believes he is helping him. One of his other personalities on the other hand...
Meaningful Name: Dr. Janus is a reference to the Roman God Janus which is normally depicted with two or more faces; a clear reference to his multiple personality disorder.
