South Park is an animated series that is known for its raunchy and outrageous satirical comedy, often intentionally toeing the line between hysterical and offensive. The show follows four main boys, Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman, as they experience life in the zany Colorado town of South Park; each episode sees the boys amid some wild conflict, accompanied by even wilder local townspeople.
Some of these townspeople are only seen in a single episode, never to be seen in the long-running series again. However, there are some locals who have earned their place as definitive side characters, appearing frequently and even having entire episodes dedicated to them. At times, side characters can be as liked if not more liked than the main ensemble. But regardless of how favorable audiences may perceive them to be, South Park’s side characters help add new depth to the fast-paced episodes and inspire new, unique storylines.
From Mr. Hankey to Chef, here are our picks for the best South Park side characters who have impacted the series for the better.
10 Officer Barbrady
Paramount Global Distribution Group
Officer Barbrady is the incompetent main police officer in the town of South Park. Though he is supposed to help the citizens and protect the town from threats, he mainly makes the problems worse and does little to actually amend the situation. However, his dim-wittedness leads to some hilarious altercations with many episodes centering around himself and the rest of the town’s police force.
Donning the traditional blue police uniform, Officer Barbrady is almost always seen on duty. In one episode, however, Barbrady is fired from his job as a policeman after accidentally shooting a young child. Though Barbrady is clearly in the wrong, he is shown here to at least have some empathy for those he has hurt.
9 Liane Cartman
Eric Cartman’s mother, Liane Cartman, is certainly an enabler when it comes to her only child; though she is sweet on the outside, she essentially allows Cartman to do whatever he wants without consequence. However, her interactions with her son make for some of the funniest moments in the show and help flesh out Cartman’s character with some insight into his background and home life.
Liane is also known to be promiscuous and has moments where she is shown to be edgier than her typical mom persona lets on; she is shown with multiple sexual partners, and at one point, is even shown to have a sex tape with the boy’s school counselor, Mr. Mackey. Though she is certainly not mother of the year, Liane Cartman is a welcome addition to any episode.
8 Ike Broflovski
Kyle Broflovski’s younger brother, Ike, is one of the cutest characters in the show, both visually and audibly. Ike is voiced by actual toddlers, one of which was Trey Parker’s own daughter, Betty Parker. Ike speaks in a baby voice that is often hard to fully understand, however, he was shown to be a genius in the fourth season, composing sheet music and reading advanced-level books before making it to grade school.
Ike is the catalyst for many adventures on the show, one of which includes the gang heading to Canada where Ike was originally adopted. Though he is just a baby, Ike partakes in some pretty adult activities that lead to wild antics among the boys and the Broflovski family.
7 Mr. Hankey
Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo, is a holiday figure who is stylized to be a living piece of feces. He is introduced in the first season in the episode aptly titled “Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo” and is seen spreading his holiday magic to Kyle, who must convince the town that Mr. Hankey is real.
Mr. Hankey’s debut episode is considered by many fans to be one of the all-time greatest in the show’s history. He has since been featured in other normal season and holiday episodes. Shown to be very cheerful but also have a dark side, Mr. Hankey is a hilarious satire on political correctness and lends himself to many iconic scenes.
6 Mr. Mackey
Mr. Mackey is the dorky, goofy school counselor who is known for saying “mm-kay” before or after every statement. He is shown to be slightly more level-headed but is well-intentioned in his attempts to educate and help the children of South Park Elementary. His signature calm style of talking is made all the more hysterical when he loses his cool and has an outburst.
Show creator Trey Parker stated in the show’s season one DVD that Mr. Mackey was based on one of his own high school teachers who was known to similarly scold him as a boy and use the phrase “mm-kay.” He is stylized as having a disproportionately large head, which is assumed to be a side effect of his super-tight necktie.
5 Jimmy Valmer
Jimmy Valmer is another one of the students at South Park Elementary. He is shown to be extremely optimistic despite his handicap, going as far as to say he wants to be known as “handi-capable.” His eagerness to prove his abilities and not let his handicap prevent him from living a great life make him a great addition to South Park’s roster.
Jimmy, like most of the characters, is also shown to be flawed; at times, his eagerness to tackle any obstacle in his way leads to obsessive and at times destructive behavior. However, Jimmy is consistently shown to be a good friend and treats every student at South Park Elementary with respect.
4 Mr. Garrison
Mr. Garrison is perhaps one of the most outrageous characters on the show; known for his puppet friend named Mr. Hat, Mr. Garrison is constantly spewing ridiculous ideas and is frequently shown getting into trouble. As the kids’ main teacher, Mr. Garrison is present in many of the episodes that take place in South Park elementary and often adds to the main conflict of the show. From getting and reversing a sex change operation to becoming the President of the United States, Mr. Garrison has some of the wildest storylines of any character to date.
Though Mr. Garrison is far from politically correct and often has some highly questionable ideas, he is one of the defining characters of a show that often looks to overstep the boundaries of what’s deemed acceptable for public television.
3 Timmy Burch
Though Timmy Burch can only say a few certain words of dialogue, his delivery makes it easy to understand exactly what he’s trying to say. Typically, Timmy can only say his own name and strings together sentences composed of only the word “Timmy.” This speech impediment lends itself to many comical moments between Timmy and the people of South Park.
Timmy is the only child at South Park elementary who uses a wheelchair. However, Timmy proves that his disability does not define him; shown to be a loyal friend and driven student, the fourth grader has his fair share of triumphant moments throughout the series. In one episode when he catches Jimmy Valmer doping before the Special Olympics, Timmy urges his friend to do the right thing and compete fairly.
2 Chef
Chef served as a kind of mentor to the boys in the early seasons of the show, providing the kids with helpful insight and songs about making sweet love. As the cook at South Park Elementary, Chef was once a constant role model to the boys, helping them get out of whatever mess they created this time.
Chef’s voice actor, Isaac Hayes, had a notorious falling out with the show’s writers with many speculating that he left the show after airing an episode slandering Scientology, a religion that the actor was actively practicing. Eventually, the character was written out of the show completely and would soon only appear in minor roles. However, his legacy as a character has persisted with many fans deeming him one of the best side characters to date.
1 Butters Scotch
Though he sees a short run as one of the main boys when he takes over Kenny’s place in season 5, Butters has long been a fan-favorite side character since the debut of the show. Shown to be timid and innocent, Butters serves as a staunch contrast when compared to the main cast of characters, who are overtly and hilariously crass, obnoxious, and bratty.
Though he is often the butt of the joke and is often forced into less-than-favorable situations, Butters is typically seen as cheery and optimistic despite the circumstances. Butters gets an entire episode dedicated to him in season 5’s aptly titled “Butters’ Very Own Episode,” where we see Butters survive a murder attempt from his own mother. Yet, no matter what role Butters has in any episode, he is one of the few characters in the town of South Park who truly values doing the right thing and tries his best to be a good friend and person, regardless of how others treat him.
