Tweek Tweak

Tweek Tweak, voiced by Matt Stone, is a fictional character in the animated series South Park. Even though he is not one of the five main characters (Stan, Kyle, Kenny, Cartman and Butters), he used to be in season six from "Professor Chaos" to "Child Abduction is Not Funny" and was the second replacement for Kenny after his "permanent" death.

Character
Tweek Tweak is a jittery ten year old boy, addicted to caffeine and suffers from ADD. He seems to have very bad anxiety caused by constantly drinking so much caffeine - especially at such a young age. He is always seen shaking, twitching and looking around frantically. He constantly feels like he's "under pressure", and freaks out whenever he is asked to do even the simplest tasks and jumps or yells whenever someone comes up to him to talk to him. He tends to scream at the end of his sentences. It should also be noted that he only shakes and twitches after he talks or is the main focus of the scene; when seen in the background he stands still, and is seen talking normally for extended periods of time

Appearance
Tweek has blond hair that is spiky and messy for unknown reasons, and wears an incorrectly-buttoned green shirt with blue jeans. As revealed in "Tweek vs. Craig", he weighs 48 pounds. In "Gnomes", his physical appearance was slightly different than in the more recent episodes. Instead of a green collar, he had a black one, and his jeans were also much darker than in later episodes.

Name
The character's name, "Tweek", is derived from the term "tweeker", a term used to refer to people who recreationally use crystal methamphetamines, or to people who exhibit a high level of stress or anxiety. Originally, Tweek's surname was spelled as "Tweek", implying that, similarly to Eric Cartman, he was called by his last name. However, in later episodes, his surname was changed to "Tweak", though his father's name tag still reads "Richard Tweek". In the official South Park site's FAQ section, it was verified that the character's name is "Tweek Tweak".

Caffeine addiction and ADD
Tweek's parents own a coffee shop, called "Tweek Bros. Coffee", and they continually supply Tweek with coffee. He has become addicted to the beverage, and has high caffeine levels in his system; making him extremely jittery and paranoid.

Tweek's parents are oblivious to the fact that he is overdosed on caffeine, believing his shakiness to be brought on by Attention Deficit Disorder, although ADD would not cause shakiness, but merely a short attention span (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, would cause jitteriness). Interestingly, despite his parent's beliefs, Tweek goes with the other kids to be tested for ADD in "Timmy 2000". Believing his parent's claims, Tweek tries to control his "ADD" with Transcendental meditation, and sees a psychiatrist, Dr. Norris, who tells him to "find his center", as a way of calming himself. However, when he expresses his stress, his parents attempt to calm him with coffee, thereby increasing the level of caffeine in his system and worsening his mental state.

The staff at the official South Park website have stated that together with his addiction to coffee, Tweek does indeed have ADD, along with various learning disabilities. However, coffee is sometimes used as an alternative treatment for ADD/ADHD symptoms, as caffeine, like other stimulants, actually calms those who suffer from ADD/ADHD, which might explain why Tweek's parents constantly supply him with coffee, believing it will help to calm him down.

In the episode "Gnomes", Tweek tells the other boys that he can never get to sleep, presumably brought on by his excessive consumption of coffee, although he is shown sleeping in the episode "Child Abduction is Not Funny".

Tweek's hyperactivity lead one of Steven Spielberg's bodyguards to believe he was addicted to cocaine, in the season six episode "Free Hat".

Tweek has been shown to have other addictions, besides coffee. In "Quest for Ratings", it is revealed that he fell in with a crowd of kids who were excessively consuming cough syrup.

Family
The parents tend either to oversimplify or to overexaggerate large problems, leading their son to frustrated helplessness when he requires aid or to increased paranoia and fear when he's already obsessing about something. Simply put, whatever Tweek's current abnormal and/or neurotic disposition, his parents serve to aggravate it. Even Eric Cartman seems somewhat concerned about Tweek's condition; when Tweek's newest paranoia takes effect (which was being abducted by strangers) Cartman comments "God, what the hell do his parents do to him?" In "Tweek vs. Craig" Tweek even yells that his parents never tell him anything, that he hates it and that he wants it all to end while his parents ignore him. In addition, his parents regularly joke about selling him into slavery, which only adds to his stress levels.

Friendship with Craig's Gang
Although craig's gang only consistantly harbors Craig, Token, and Clyde, there are often occurences in which Craig's group has a fourth member. The fourth member changes, being sometimes Jimmy, once Jason, or most commonly, Tweek. Tweek is shown in Craig's group more then any other member, and for most of his appearances, he is with Craig and his group. It is implied that he is liked by both Clyde and Token, although he is rarely seen with them without Craig, and he has a definete close friendship with Craig Tucker, the two often being shown together, even without the rest of Craig's gang.

Friendship with Craig Tucker
Although in "Tweek vs. Craig", the two had a conflict, the anger between them seems to have been resolved and they are assumed to be very close friends. Tweek is the character who is the fourth friend in Craig's group most often. Tweek and Craig can be seen standing side by side in various episodes including "Ginger Kids" where they are trapped in a cage together, and in "The Wacky Molestation Adventure", where they are on the same side of the town. Tweek and Craig can also be seen sitting together at almost all school assemblies.

They are often seen sitting next to each other in the backround, in episodes like "How To Eat With Your Butt", where Craig stands behind Tweek, at Kenny's window, or "Make Love, Not Warcraft" where they're playing football together along with Token, Clyde and Kevin, Tweek passing the ball to Craig, implying that they're on the same team. Tweek also hides scared behind Craig in "Marjorine", when they are all spying on the girls' house. In "You're Getting Old", they stand next to each other at Stan's birthday table. This suggest that they are close friends, perhaps even best friends, just like Stan and Kyle.

Friendship with main boys
Tweek is shown to consider the main boys as his friends. He seems to willingly take the position of the fourth friend in the 6th season when Kenny dies. He seems to enjoy hanging out with the boys; however, it is shown that Tweek doesn't do the strange, crazy adventures the boys go on (reminiscent of Craig Tucker's attitude towards them) and because of his unnamed absence after Ladder To Heaven it is assumed he drifted back to his old friends. He stays friends with the other boys too, often being invited to help with their latest schemes.

Friendship/One-sided conflict with Eric Cartman
Cartman has nothing against Tweek (even electing to replace Kyle instead of Tweek initially when they wanted to let Bebe in the group in "Bebe's Boobs Destroy Society"), but Tweek seems to dislike Cartman. Presumably because in "Free Hat", Cartman pressured Tweek to make hats and threatened him into trying to shape up or else he would be kicked out of hanging with the boys. Later on in the episode, Kyle, Stan, and Cartman are held hostage by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas - Tweek comes to save them wielding a bazooka, saying, "All I want are my friends!", Cartman seems touched by this until Tweek adds, "Except for Cartman, you can keep him."

Other Friendships/ Popularity with Peers.
After the episode "Gnomes", it can be assumed that Tweek became good friends with the boys, since they choose him above all the other kids to be their fourth friend in the episode "Professor Chaos". In "Bebe's Boobs Destroy Society", when the boys decide they have to make room for Bebe in their group, Kyle and Stan defend Tweek and kick Cartman out instead. Tweek is never kicked out of the group like Butters was, but he slowly shifts back into Craig's group and leaves the boys behind. it is implied that if Tweek hadn't left, and Kenny had never come back, the boys would have been fine with having Tweek as their permanent friend.

When not with the main boys or Craig's group, Tweek is often seen eating with or talking to other characters. Tweek is one of the characters that is rarely seen by himself, almost always with a peer or a group of peers. He also placed in the top 10 on the girls list. In "Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset", Tweek is invited to the big party. This implies that Tweek is popular among his peers, and someone that most of the students would consider a friend.

Trivia

 * In episode "Gnomes", his parents' coffee shop went out of business because 'Harbucks', a parody of the Starbucks coffee shop chain, opened a shop in South Park, though his father was hired to manage Harbucks.
 * Whenever Tweek is told to do something, he responds by saying, "Aaagh! Way too much pressure!" Tweek seemed to practice fatalism in episode "Free Hat".
 * Tweek was worshipped as a deity in the episode "Simpsons Already Did It", though he wasn't pleased about it. All his followers were quickly killed in conflict with Cartman's followers.
 * Tweek speaks fluent Mongolian (as do Stan and Cartman) which he puts to use when he talks to the Mongolian warriors he lives with for a short time in "Child Abduction is Not Funny."
 * Tweek is an unlockable character in South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play. His special ability is him running faster and killing anything he runs into for 5 secs.
 * At IGN.com, Tweek is ranked #8 in Dan Iverson & Brian Zoromski's "Top 10 South Park Peripheral Characters".
 * Although Tweek rarely speaks in-series, he's been popular with fans since his debut, and became part of the boys' group partially due to fan popularity - there was a movement for Tweek to replace Butters before "Professor Chaos" even aired. As a result, despite the temporary "fourth friend" slot normally being associated with Butters, Tweek actually filled it for longer.
 * In the game "South Park Let´s Go Tower Defense Play!" you can see that Tweek was ejected from the group of not paying enough attention to their friends to be nervous and be hunting gnomes.
 * It is revealed in T.M.I. that his full name is actually Tweek Tweak. However, his dad's last name is spelled "Tweek" instead of "Tweak".
 * Tweek has the second most small penis in the class, as it is 0.05 inches longer than Cartman's
 * Tweek has been shown to pull out his own hair out of stress.
 * Tweek goes to a " Happy Place ": when he wants to calm down in " Free Hat ".
 * Tweek did not appear in South Park: Bigger,Longer &amp; Uncut.

Website
At www.southparkstudios.com, Tweek can be selected from the character profiles. From there, the various features - such as popularity and number of appearances - can be accessed.

Quotes

 * "Oh man, this/that is way too much pressure!"
 * "Gah!"
 * "Oh Jesus!"
 * "Ahhh!"
 * "They're going to get me!"
 * "I'm not a chicken!"
 * "I'm not a team player!"
 * "They're taking my underpants!"
 * "They took my underpants, soon they'll want my blood!"
 * "I pulled out my hair!"
 * "Maybe they wanna kill us!"
 * "Eeek!"
 * "Hammertime!!"
 * "Jesus Christ, dude, im going insane!"
 * "I'm freaking out man, I'm freaking out!"

Prominence and Speaking Appearances
Although Tweek doesn't have as much speaking roles in an average episode as other secondary characters such as Craig and Clyde, in most of the episodes in which he is prominent, he is a major character. In the episodes "Simpsons Already Did It", "Red Hot Catholic Love", "Free Hat", "Bebe's Boobs Destroy Society", and "Child Abduction is Not Funny", he replaces Kenny as the fourth friend. Following the episode "Child Abduction is Not Funny", Tweek stopped appearing as the fourth friend, due primarily to Kenny's re-introduction, first as a spirit sharing Cartman's body, and later when he inexplicably just showed up again.

Speaking Appearances

 * "Gnomes"
 * "Tweek vs. Craig"
 * "Sexual Harassment Panda"
 * "4th Grade "
 * "Proper Condom Use "
 * "Osama Bin Laden Has Farty Pants "
 * "Professor Chaos"
 * "Simpsons Already Did It"
 * "Red Hot Catholic Love"
 * "Free Hat"
 * "Bebe's Boobs Destroy Society"
 * "Child Abduction is Not Funny"
 * "The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to the Two Towers "
 * "Red Man's Greed "
 * "Quest For Ratings"
 * "Free Willzyx "
 * "Make Love, Not Warcraft"
 * "Hell on Earth 2006"
 * "Eat, Pray, Queef "