Liam Hoofe gives us his take on the 21 greatest characters in the history of South Park…
South Park is 21 years old! While that may seem depressing to people of a certain age, the show’s success and colourful history should be celebrated. South Park has been one of the most consistent animations in the history of television, rivalled only by The Simpsons.
The show has shifted and changed to survive over the course of the last two decades and its biting satire and often ridiculous characters are one of the keys to its longevity. Season 21 has, thus far, been quite a success largely because it has shifted its focus back to the shenanigans of its key characters, instead of focusing on bigger narratives.
To celebrate South Park turning 21 years old this year, let’s take a look back at the 21 best characters to ever grace that quiet little mountain town.
21: Ms Cartman
Cartman’s Mom is the town’s resident whore. It’s something that everyone in the town seems to know, except of course, for Eric himself. Liane’s sexual escapades have led to several hilarious encounters and of course, the season 1 cliffhanger surrounding the identity of Cartman’s dad.
This is a mystery that would go unsolved until the show’s 201st episode where it was revealed that Mr Tenorman was in fact Cartman’s father.
Liane is also one of the main reasons Cartman is such a great character. Her naivety and her general belief that her son is an angel often enable him to get away with the terrible atrocities he commits.
20: Ike
‘Don’t kick the baby!’
Ike is one South Park’s less frequent characters, but when he is on-screen, he is often the star of the show. His presence in season 20 was one of the better things about the season and his appearances in the earlier episodes, where he basically just got kicked out of a window, were always a treat. His letter about Susan Boyle in the Somalian Pirates episode is also one of his best moments as was the episode where he had an affair with his school teacher.
19: Mr Mackey
‘Drugs are bad, mmmmkay’
Mr Mackey is basically that really boring teacher you had at school. You know, the prudish one who has never really done anything all that interesting in his life but preaches to the students about sex and drugs. His deadpan delivery and his often ridiculous solutions to problems are what make him such a great character though.
Of course, like that teacher at school, Mr Mackey has a breaking point, and when he reaches it, it’s often quite hilarious to watch.
18: Sheila Broflovski
The perfect example of an over-protective mother. Sheila is arguably one of the show’s most annoying characters but her contributions to the group’s adventure and her involvement as one the main antagonists of the South Park movie mean that she couldn’t be left off this list.
Any episode where she is involved is often pretty hilarious, she even managed to help out a lot in season 20, with her crazed outbursts over her husband’s private life provided the season with some of its funnier moments. She is also the reason that ‘Kyle’s Mom’s a Bitch’ exists, so she definitely deserves a mention for that.
17: Towelie
Towelie is one of the show’s surrealist inventions and a fine example of Parker and Stone’s twisted sense of humour. Towelie, as his name would suggest, is a towel, but he’s no ordinary towel. Towelie enjoys spending his time getting high with the kids
Towelie has only appeared in two episodes, with his most notable one being one of the show’s most divisive of all time – an Oprah Winfrey based episode which explores the life and times of Towelie, explaining how he come to be and exploring his drug-fuelled past.
16: Officer Barbrady
Officer Barbrady is not really a regular on the show today and his absence is very much noted. The town’s only cop (at least in the first few seasons) the guy is the perfect parody of the bumbling police force that exists in a lot of America. An out and out fool, who is also completely illiterate, Barbrady provides the show with plenty of great laughs in the early season, because, well, police incompetence is often pretty amusing.
The show, which is looking to go back to its roots this season, needs to bring back characters like Barbrady to remind fans what made the show so excellent in the first place.
15: Satan
Only South Park could make the devil into a sympathetic character. Satan has only made several appearances in the show and has not been seen for quite a long time now but whenever he does show up, you can guarantee the show is going to be at its most controversial.
His most famous appearance is in the movie South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, where he is having a love affair with Saddam Hussein and is convinced to invade Earth following the execution of Terrence and Phillip. His musical number- ‘Up There’ is also one of the movie’s best songs.
SEE ALSO: South Park’s 25 Greatest Episodes Of All Time
14: PC Principal
PC Principal is still a fairly new addition to the show, but his arrival a few seasons back set in motion some of the key changes that have taken place in South Park over the last couple of years.
One of Parker and Stone’s more ingenious inventions, the character allows them to address topical issues while also poking fun at the more liberally inclined and over-sensitive in society. South Park is the last bastion of a certain type of humour and PC Principal allows them to still poke fun at certain people that other shows wouldn’t dare to. His exchanges with the boys and his often ridiculous campaigns are also a highlight in most episodes.
13: Timmy
Timmy made his debut on the show all the way back in season 4 and has been a fan favourite ever since. The show’s first ever disabled character, Timmy, who can literally only say his own name, has grown into one of the show’s most lovable characters.
His endless enthusiasm and often perfect comical timing have seen him develop a huge following on the show and there have been very episodes that have been poor when he has been involved. His most famous episode – ‘Up the Down Steroid’ sees him go head to head with Jimmy, the show’s other disabled character in the Special Olympics during a steroid scandal rocking the sport.
12: Mr Hankey The Christmas Poo
One of the show’s most iconic creations, Mr Hankey the Christmas Poo is exactly what his name suggests – a poo who loves celebrating Christmas.
His role is to pop out of the toilet at Christmas time, spread the Christmas spirit, and leave poo-stains wherever he goes. He is easily one of the show’s most surreal inventions but for some reason, he really works. The episode where we get to meet his family is also one of my favourites. With the show returning back to its roots, let’s hope we see more of him in the coming years.
11: Token Black
Token is an important character in South Park. His family are, notably, the only black family in South Park and the fact that they are perhaps the richest family in the town as well shows South Park’s willingness to defy all types of racial stereotypes.
Token’s role in the show allows the series to explore racism in modern-day America, often incredibly effectively. He is also one of the most underrated comedians in the show, and his exchanges with Cartman are always a treat. He will always have a place in my heart for his hilarious role in ‘Faith +1’.
10: Wendy Testaburger
Starting the show off simply as Stan’s girlfriend, Wendy has developed over the years into one of the most thoughtful and politically motivated children in South Park.
Her early appearances are mostly forgettable and basically just involve Stan throwing up on her, but her clashes in later episodes with Eric Cartman are one of the main reasons she is so high on this list. The episode ‘Breast-Cancer Show Ever’ which sees her call Cartman out for a fight still remains one of the show’s funniest of all time, and the scene at the end where she finally gets a chance to fight Eric is one of her finest moments.
9: Jimmy Valmer
The inventor of the world’s funniest joke, Jimmy Valmer has, especially in recent years, surpassed Timmy as the show’s most lovable handi-capable character. What makes Jimmy such an excellent character is that the show doesn’t just rely on his disability for visual gags, in fact, his funniest attribute is his terrible comic timing and his unbelievably positive attitude about everything.
Episodes based around Jimmy are few and far between, but ones that have been, like Up the Down Steroid and Cripple Fight are often season highlights.
8: Chef
The treatment of Issac Hayes at the hands of Trey Parker and Matt Stone still remains a sour point in the history of South Park, especially considering what an excellent character he provided them with Chef.
Chef, during his time in the show, often acted as the voice of wisdom for the boys, offering them advice on how to deal with all the crazy situations they got themselves in. He was also a hilariously smooth talker when it came to the ladies and had one hell of a singing voice to boot. Chef was an integral part of the show during the first decade of its run and his presence is still missed today.
7: Mr Garrison
From Ms Garrison to President of the United States, Mr Garrison has had one hell of a crazy ride during the first 21 years of South Park.
The class’s main teacher, in the early seasons, at least, Mr Garrison is never far away from some sort of controversy. His lessons in the first few seasons were often funny little side gags but his character’s development, from a man who talks to his hand puppet, to a man who was convinced he was supposed to be a woman and finally to the President of the United States has been a joy to watch. He is the show’s chameleon, a character who has adapted to survive over the years and is arguably funnier than he has ever been right now.
6: Kenny
The first of the four main characters to appear on this list, Kenny is the quietest member of the group, with his voice being muffled by his iconic orange hoody. Aside from his hoody, Kenny is perhaps most famous for his ability to die and be resurrected again, with seemingly nobody remembering his deaths.
The show did stop killing Kenny fairly early in its run, but it revived the storyline for the Mysterion trilogy a few years ago, giving us a storyline reason for his abilities. Kenny is definitely the most sexually awakened of the young boys, and his obsession with boobs and sex has made for some great comedy moments in the later seasons.
5: Kyle
Kyle is the sensible one of the original group of friends and his ‘You know, I’ve learned something today’ speeches at the end of an episode are one of the show’s most iconic features.
Kyle tends to be the one of the group with the best intentions and it is often these that lead him to come to blows with Cartman. Confrontations between the two often allow Parker and Stone to present different sides of an argument, though, of course, Cartman’s view is often horrifically skewed while Kyle’s are logic and caring. It’s the chemistry between these two that really excels the series at times and it has also provided some classic episodes, like season 7’s ‘Casa Bonita.’
4: Stan
The oldest of the four boys, Stan is often seen as the mature boy of the original group of friends and while there are some stinkers that have featured him as the lead character, there are also some classics as well. The most notable of these was the episode ‘You’re Getting Old’. The episode, which was about Stan having a crisis when he turned ten and realised that everything around him kinda sucked, was a super-meta exploration of where the show was at and remains one of South Park’s finest episodes to date.
3: Randy Marsh
Stan is a great character, but unfortunately for him, he is not as amusing as his father. In the early few seasons, Randy is nothing more than a background character, piping up with the odd remark here and there. Once the show started to deviate away from the main 4 boys, though, Randy become a prominent character in the show and it is rare that a season goes by without him having an episode based around him.
Randy works so well because he is so utterly ridiculous. His quest to restart the internet is still one of the most memed episodes of all time, and his celebrations when Obama won the election still remain as one of the most memorable pieces of pop culture from 2008. The episode where he microwaves his balls to give himself cancer, just so he can buy some weed still remains one of his most popular though. One of the show’s best ever episodes ‘With Apologies to Jesse Jackson’, also has Randy as its main character.
2: Butters
So a lot of people might disagree with Butters’ placement on this list, the character is not as loved by everyone as he is by me. When I take a look back at the greatest South Park episodes of all time, nearly all of them have Butters in some sort of central role.
He is often the butt of everyone’s jokes and whenever he tries to stand up for himself, the results are often hilarious. Butters becoming a pimp still remains one of his funniest moments, but he has so many great episodes that there was no way he was going to be in contention for the top spot on this list.
1: Eric Cartman
Come on, you all knew who number 1 was going to be. Eric Cartman is not only the show’s most recognisable character but also Matt Stone and Trey Parker’s finest invention.
Easily the show’s most twisted character, Cartman is misogynistic, manipulative, racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic and pretty much anything else terrible you can think of. He’s also absolutely hilarious. Whether it’s starting a neo-nazi uprising, convincing Butters that the world has ended, or starting a Christian rock band just to win a bet, Cartman is never far away from some sort of controversy, and seeing him getting his comeuppance never gets tiresome.
Who are your favourite South Park Characters of all time? Let us know in the comments below, and let Liam know on Twitter here @liamhoofe
