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