Top Ten South Park Characters

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Unlike most animated shows, South Park admittedly does have fewer characters, but that works in its favor as it leads to a much better development of those who are there. On this list you aren’t going to see those serious characters so no Kyle or Stan either as I focused on humor and listed those who are the funniest and most memorable. A lot of these are supporting and do not appear as much, but all of them left a lasting impression. So here we are.

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10. Satan

Satan had to be on this list because he is one of the most original and crazy characters here. His relationship with Saddam Hussein is ridiculous as is his entire personality, but that makes him all the funnier. He is a needy teenage girl at heart and nobody ever depicted this figure as such and that’s what makes him an unforgettable, funny character who stole the show whenever he appeared and his defining hour definitely came in the South Park movie.

9. Kenny McCormick

He doesn’t say much and he only mutters through his hood, but that alone leads to a lot of the humor where we guess what he’s saying. Now the running gag throughout the first half of the series’ run was him dying and although they scraped that later on, they still gave us an explanation for that in the great Coon trilogy. But he is an amusing character thanks to his obsession with sex and in particular titties and every episode with that was a winner.

8. Mr. Mackey

One of the best South Park teachers, Mr. Mackey is consistently funny and we’ve seen him grow in many episodes throughout the seasons, even learning about his troubled past in Insheeption. Yes, he doesn’t appear all that much, but he is always welcome in an episode as he brings not only the humor, but a lot of heart as well. And of course his signature, unforgettable catchphrase – “Mmkay”.

7. Al Gore

Yes, I cheated here a bit as he isn’t an original South Park creation, but a celebrity parody, but I just had to include him as he is the best celebrity work in the series without any doubt. They depicted him brutally, but watching him run around in that cape, all lonely and talking about the imaginary ManBearPig was hilarious and his nasal speech was so funny. He is the character who should have been much more used as he consistently delivered.

6. Sergeant Yates

This crazy lunatic did not appear until the second half of the show, but he cemented his status very quickly as one of South Park’s funniest residents. His humor is twofold. One of them is sexual and his role in Butters’ Bottom Bitch is absolutely hysterical. But his other role is even better as this very ignorant racist who always wants to frame black people. He is the character who works best in small doses and that is what we got and whenever he appears on the screen, he is bound to get some big laughs.

5. Stephen Stotch

As the craziest and most strict member of the Stotch family, Stephen’s rigorous parenting methods are highly questionable, but very entertaining with his signature “You are grounded, mister!” being consistently hilarious. A lot can be explained about Butters when you look at his crazy father who is not only terrible to Butters, but also a closeted gay man and there is a lot of the humor to be had there along with his always present sense of paranoia.

4. Randy Marsh

Randy is your typical dumb character that all of these shows have in common, but he lifts that to a whole new level as he truly is very amusing to follow. He got a bit repetitive during the last couple of seasons, but all of his earlier episodes were classics and some of the best of the series. And he is the most cartoony character here with very crazy, ridiculous antics, albeit done in a typically brutal and mature South Park fashion.

3. Mr. Garrison

It was a toss-up between these two, but Garrison ended up being higher on the list just for the reason that he was consistently great which Randy wasn’t. Unfortunately they didn’t use him a lot recently if you don’t count the twentieth season, but he was the highlight of the first half of the series and the sole character that had a progression and history going from a closeted to open gay man to a trans woman to a lesbian and then again to a gay man. His ridiculous sexual/gender history is fun to follow, but his ignorant and redneck personality shined throughout all of those phases bringing a lot of the humor in the process.

2. Butters Stotch

Butters is a character whom I didn’t particularly like at first as I found him to be a typical nerd, but he grew on me later as he became much better developed. He is a nerd, but he is also an outcast and his naive personality led to a lot of the humor as he is surrounded by kids acting as adults and he is the only true kid among them giving us a great clash between personalities. He is also quite a womanizer which is also a funny mix and his episodes with Cartman were some of the best in the show’s history. He has a lot of funny catchphrases and he is a bright, childlike sunshine in an otherwise bleak, adult world.

1. Eric Cartman

Was there ever any doubt? Cartman is the king of South Park and the only character who consistently delivered and was always present from beginning to end. His narcissistic, even sociopath and psychopath behavior is very admirable and he goes to some extremes during the series’ run, but always with hilarious results. His relationship with all of the other characters is terrific, he is nuanced and very well developed and acted and he has a plethora of funny catchphrases too. The highlights include his anti-Semitic attitude toward Kyle, his racist remarks to Token and his relationship with Butters whom he humiliated many times. He is not only South Park’s finest, but also one of the most memorable and best TV characters ever created.

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Honorable Mentions:

Lu Kim – A great cartoony character with an excellent backstory, he is amusing and welcome whenever he appears, whether trying to retain customers or fighting Mongolians.

Jesus – A funny walking satire, but a great character in his own right, Jesus is not only hilarious, but also always arriving when needed and having a great mythology to himself.

Chef – He isn’t as funny as the rest on this list are, but still an important part of the earlier seasons and such a great friend to the boys’ with a lot of heart.

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