Eric Theodore Cartman, wears a light blue and yellow toque, a red jacket, yellow gloves, and brown pants. He has light brown hair, which has been regularly seen since late in Season 5 (his hair magically turns black whenever he wears his Adolf Hitler outfit). He has a double chin, and is often made fun of because of his obvious weight problem.
According to creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, when they were creating South Park, they were upset that "nowadays, it would be impossible to put a character like Archie Bunker on TV." But they thought that if he was an animated eight-year-old boy, it might just be allowed. Thus, Cartman was born.
Cartman's personality has changed significantly over the series. While always being self-centered and bigoted, it seems that in the first two seasons of the show he was portrayed as a juvenile, stupid and immature bully with a much raspier voice. It seems that since then he has matured a lot more, with a more aggressive personality and a smoother, slightly deeper voice. His manipulative skills when it comes to getting other people to do what he wants have improved tremendously, along with his overall intelligence; traits particularly espoused in the episode Scott Tenorman Must Die. He is also much more well-informed and far less naïve on political and social aspects of the world, all things that the earlier Cartman would never be aware of.
Cartman's Family
Cartman is the only boy in the series who does not have a father shown at any time. This is because of his hermaphrodite mother, who actually had sex with a woman, thereby fathering him, then apparently took him after his birth and lied about having given birth to him. This shocking twist is revealed at the end of the two-part story arc, "Cartman's Mom is a Dirty Slut" and "Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut."
Cartman has two pets: Mister Kitty (who is actually female) and Fluffy the Pig (also female), both of whom Cartman often chastizes and hits with sticks. He also has a stuffed toy that he keeps with him sometimes, "Clyde Frog" (referred to as "Artemis Clyde Frog" in a "Wild Wild West" parody, referring to the Artemis Gordon character), and other dolls and stuffed animals which he plays with in secret. "Clyde Frog" appears to be Eric's closest and most beloved inanimate companion, which became pathetically obvious during the episode "Die Hippie, Die". Before the mission to the stage during the hippie jam fest, Mrs. Stotch painfully says goodbye to Mr. Stotch, Mr. Marsh and Mrs. Marsh share a tearful farewell, and Chef comforts two distraught hookers, Eric dramatically, soap-opera-esquely says goodbye to Clyde Frog. Eric apparently made up lines Clyde Frog would say, and responded in a one-sided conversation, as confused onlookers observed.
Cartman's extended family is shown in the episode "Merry Christmas Charlie Manson!", where Cartman and the others go on a trip to see them for Christmas. All of his relatives seem to be the same as he is, all fat and even having the same unusual accent and catchphrases. Actually, the only question raised by that episode is why Liane Cartman isn't fat, whiny or selfish (though Parker and Stone have hinted that because she is a hermaphrodite, she does not have the full Cartman gene from either sex, making her immune).
Cartman's Personality and Impact
Cartman, who is usually only addressed by his last name or weight-related pejorative nicknames ("fat ass" being the most common; only 'Butters', his mother, and his teacher, Mr./Mrs. Garrison address him as Eric), is spoiled, foul-mouthed, ill-tempered, insensitive, racist, and openly contemptuous of the few who can tolerate his behavior. Generally speaking, every negative trait that can be found in a human being, Cartman has exhibited at one time or another.
A recurring joke throughout the series is that despite the seeming sweetness and surface wholesome appearance of his 'mother', she is, in fact, a promiscuous, hermaphroditic, crack-smoking porn queen, prostitute, and overall degenerate. Typically, Cartman's mother dotes on her son endlessly, beyond simply spoiling him. Cartman can almost always get what he wants simply by whining.
As the fat anti-hero of the four lads, he was never intended to be the focus of the series, but within the first season he captured the popular imagination more than his three friends Stan, Kyle Broflovski, and Kenny McCormick. The more outrageous and shocking his behavior, the more audiences seem to love him.
The show's writers do seem to be careful to treat the many unfavorable aspects of Cartman's behavior with contempt and Cartman is often shown receiving the brunt of consequences generated by his behavior. For example, although Cartman frequently insults and taunts his "friends", especially Kyle, Kenny, and Butters, he sometimes appears to be more cowardly than they are when it comes to physical confrontation. For instance, in "Christian Rock Hard", he provokes Token with racial jibes and Token easily beats him up, and in several episodes he is unable to overpower Kenny.
It has been repeatedly hinted that Cartman has serious behavioral and emotional problems and/or gender issues. He exhibits several compulsive behaviors, including the need to complete singing the Styx song "Come Sail Away" if someone sings the start, and humming other prog-rock songs (including singing Asia's "Heat of the Moment" during a Congressional hearing on stem cell research). He occasionally has tea parties with stuffed dolls, pretending they're talking about how cool he is, and on one occasion was seen re-enacting a scene from The Silence of the Lambs as Buffalo Bill with a doll he named Polly Prissypants trapped down a well.
Although often wildly misinformed, and frequently characterized as a "fat retard", Cartman has been known to formulate complex plans that have succeeded. In "I'm a Little Bit Country", instead of studying, Cartman records various documentaries on the American Revolution on a TiVo and then electrocutes himself with it in a tub, which sends him on a flashback/time travel experience to 1776.
A defining character trait of Cartman is his single-mindedness when pursuing his life long goal of making $10 million. The schemes he has tried include starting a church and collecting donation money and starting a boy band called "Fingerbang". He also appears to be driven by a desire to outdo Stan, Kyle, and Kenny, and often lays down challenges and bets to them, such as building a bigger tree house and recording a platinum album.
Cartman is extremely racist, in particular anti-Semitic. He frequently appears to be determined to eradicate Jews (though Kyle is, of course, Jewish). In the episode "The Passion of the Jew", he sees The Passion of the Christ and thinks it is Mel Gibson's way to rally people against the Jews.
Cartman's bêtes noires throughout the show have been hippies, whom he despises for a variety of reasons, maybe the biggest reason being because of his Conservative views. The show drops frequent hints that Cartman gets many of his attitudes from his mother.
Cartman has some redeeming qualities: though not always intentionally. He has saved the boys, the town, and the entire world on a few occasions. In the full-length movie, South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut, his filthy mouth, coupled with the experimental V-chip implanted in his brain to stop him from swearing, saves the world from Saddam Hussein.
Top Cartman Episodes
On October 14-October 16 2005, Comedy Central aired a series episodes based on viewer votes for their "favorite episodes related to Cartman". The list was as follows:
- Episode 501 - Scott Tenorman Must Die
- Episode 101 - Cartman Gets an Anal Probe
- Episode 803 - Up the Down Steroid
- Episode 902 - Die, Hippie, Die
- Episode 107 - Pink Eye
- Episode 709 - Christian Rock Hard
- Episode 802 - AWESOM-O
- Episode 705 - Fat Butt and Pancake Head
- Episode 113 - Cartman's Mom is a Dirty Slut
- Episode 906 - The Death of Eric Cartman
- Episode 213 - Cow Days
- Episode 102 - Weight Gain 4000
- Episode 804 - Passion of the Jew
- Episode 109 - Starvin' Marvin
- Episode 807 - The Jeffersons
- Episode 711 - Casa Bonita
- Episode 601 - Freak Strike
- Episode 617 - Red Sleigh Down
- Episode 302 - Spontaneous Combustion
- Episode 314 - The Red Badge of Gayness
- Episode 506 - Cartmanland
- Episode 607 - Simpsons Already Did It
- Episode 406 - Cartman Joins NAMBLA
- Episode 303 - The Succubus
- Episode 608 - Red Hot Catholic Love
