Eric Cartman

Eric Theodore Cartman, voiced by Trey Parker, is one of the (four then five) central characters of South Park.

Appearance
Eric Cartman wears a red jacket, yellow gloves and a blue hat with a yellow puff ball on top, brown pants, and black shoes. He wears a green T-shirt under his jacket, and other times a tank top. He has light brown hair, which is always black when he is dressed up like Hitler, and has a double chin. Cartman has a weight problem, but always denies it by saying "I'm not fat. Just big boned."

Personality
Eric Cartman is spoiled, foul-mouthed, ill-tempered, insensitive, sociopathic, greedy, racist, hypercritical, homophobic, wildly insecure, sadistic, bigoted, corrupt and manipulative. The very dark, often disturbing undertones to his personality often hint at an extreme mental imbalance. Apart from being portrayed as having a general lack of moral responsibility or social conscience, he also seems to take pleasure from others' misfortune, and is generally unable to show empathy, although there have been exceptions, such as in "How to Eat with Your Butt". This has been also parodied, as well as the cliche of a typical villain becoming benevolent. In these episodes, he usually convinces Kyle that he has good intentions, such as in the episodes "Cartoon Wars", where Cartman appears to Kyle to be concerned of people's safety at the beginning, but it is later shown to only have been acting in his own interests, in the "Do the Handicapped Go to Hell?" two parter, Kyle, and many others, fall for Cartman's apparently "good intentions" for trying to prevent the children of South Park from going to hell, but as we find out later, he only did it so he could get money, and in "Kenny Dies", where he is apparently distraught at Kenny's impending death, leading Kyle to console him, and later when his real motives were revealed, Kyle promptly beats him up in Kenny's defense. In "The Death of Eric Cartman", Kyle brands him a "fat, racist, self-centered, intolerant, manipulative sociopath". Cartman, however, does not consider himself to be a bad person, in fact he seems to disregard good or bad altogether and does whatever he feels is necessary for him to get ahead. Cartman seems to be motivated not so much by personal gain as by asserting superiority over others, usually Kyle. In "Red Hot Catholic Love", he won $20 in a bet with Kyle, but instead of using the money, he simply flaunted it in front of Kyle until Kyle conceded that Cartman was right, ruining his sense of victory and causing him to throw a tantrum. The same thing happens in "Christian Rock Hard". Kyle makes a $10 bet that he can get a platinum album before Cartman, but Cartman makes a successful album and makes millions of dollars and earning the album. But when Cartman discovers that the Christian companies do not give out Platinum albums (they give out Myrrh albums), thus meaning he cannot win the bet, he angrily destroys the album, showing that he did not care how he just made millions of dollars, he just wanted to beat Kyle. Cartman's much quoted line, "Respect my authority" (or as Cartman pronounces it, "authori-tah") highlights his power hungry and dictatorial characteristic.

Ironically, despite (or perhaps because of) these qualities, Cartman also seems to be a natural leader, able to utilize overwhelming charisma and rhetoric to gain the obedience of large groups on a moment's notice (as in "The Passion of the Jew"), appearing to be innately aware of how to take advantage of "mob mentality" and direct it toward accomplishing his personal goals, as has been evidenced in countless episodes throughout the series' history. In situations where the other boys share his goals, Cartman is often the De facto leader (for example, "Make Love, Not Warcraft" and "Marjorine"). Indeed, the others consistently show a willingness to follow him and trust in his leadership when he's using his abilities for "good."

Anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry
"If you had a chance to go back in time right now and stop Hitler, wouldn't you do it? I mean, I personally wouldn't, because he was awesome, but you would, right?" - Cartman in "Make Love, Not Warcraft"

Cartman is extremely anti-Semitic, and a great many of his bigoted actions are directed towards Jews and especially toward his Jewish friend Kyle, who he openly hates and considers sub-human because of his faith. In the episode “The Passion of the Jew,” after seeing The Passion of the Christ, he believes the film was Mel Gibson's way of rallying people against the Jews, and idolizes him for it. He then dresses up as Hitler and manipulates people, who think that they are simply raising awareness for the movie and Christianity, to join him in an anti-Jew march while chanting in mispronounced German: "Es ist Zeit für Rache" (It is time for revenge) and "Wir müssen die Juden ausrotten" (We must eradicate the Jews). When Cartman plans to cheat and win the special olympics by feigning a disability, Kyle attempts to talk him out of it by telling him, regardless of their differences, that Cartman will surely go to Hell for such an act; Cartman replies that Kyle does not understand that Hell is reserved for the Jews, indicating once again his self-righteousness.

In the episode "Pink Eye," Cartman dresses up as Hitler for Halloween (A costume made by his mother even though Cartman himself did not know who Hitler was, showing that his anti-semitsm comes from his mother for some part.). When shown a documentary to demonstrate why dressing like him “isn't cool,” Cartman is enthralled and imagines himself being the one commanding the Nazi troops in the video. Cartman’s admiration for Hitler is further emphasized in episode: “The Entity,” after being offered $40 by Kyle not to tease Kyle's cousin, Kyle Schwartz. Since Cartman has trouble restraining himself from teasing Kyle about his Jewish heritage, when the class teacher (Ms. Choksondik) later tells Kyle's cousin to concentrate, Cartman impulsively blurts out: “Maybe we should send him to concentration camp!”

A contradiction of his idolization of Hitler is seen in "I'm a Little Bit Country" where in this episode Cartman is incapable of pronouncing “Nazi” correctly (pronouncing it "Nay-zee") upon seeing it written, as though he had never come upon the word before. Another contradiction occurs in "Tsst", when Cartman compares his mother – who had been instructed how to treat her rampantly egocentric son by the Dog Whisperer – with Hitler, as a reason why she should be killed.

In addition to taking regular jabs at racial, ethnic and religious minorities, as well as people of lower income, Cartman is also prejudicial against redhaired, light skinned, freckled people, or ‘Gingers’. This particular prejudice most probably originated from the notorious incident with Scott Tenorman, who had red hair and freckles, although it may also be partially due to the fact that Kyle has red hair. During the episode "Ginger Kids", when the other three boys lead him to believe he has become a redhead himself, he is horrified. Later, he organizes a cult of homicidal ginger children bent on world conquest known as the ‘Ginger Separatist Movement,’ remarking: “I'm not going to live my life as a Goddamn minority!”

Cartman’s most passionate abhorrence is aimed at hippies, though he seems to use this term for liberals in general. In episode: “Die, Hippie, Die,” he believes that hippies will destroy the town, and while the rest of the town is initially skeptical, his fears are eventually borne out. When too close to liberals, he suffers what could be called an allergic reaction. He also wore a bio-suit upon entering San Francisco.

Cartman's bigotry and anti-semitism seem to come in second next to his personal needs, however; despite his hate for the Jews, Cartman saves Kyle in the episode "Smug Alert" because he can find no one else to pick on. In Le Petit Tourette, he is not above thanking Kyle for stopping him from possible public humiliation. Also, he saved the life of Kyle, (who had been killed by Manbearpig) in the episode Imaginationland Episode II, but only because Kyle would not be able to suck his balls if he died.

Eccentricities
It has been repeatedly shown that Cartman has serious behavioral and emotional problems. He has extremely exaggerated anger issues and violent tendencies when upset: in season 5, he ground the parents of a teen he was angry with into chili and fed it to him, causing a horrified Kyle to say that he and Stan should never make Cartman angry again (this has since been regarded as Cartman's defining moment and has been brought up again numerous times during the series, such as Cartoon Wars Part II).

He also has displayed traits of gender confusion, as he occasionally has tea parties with stuffed dolls (pretending they are talking about how cool he is), owns a female cat named "Mr. Kitty", and in the episode "Bebe's Boobs Destroy Society", he was seen re-enacting a scene from The Silence of the Lambs as Buffalo Bill with a rag doll he named Polly Prissy Pants trapped down a well. In episode 601, "Freak Strike", Cartman goes on the Maury Povich Show to be a panelist during a discussion on out-of-control kids. In an attempt to win the assumed prize, he dresses up as a promiscuous teenage girl.

In episode: "AWESOM-O", Butters reveals to the residents of South Park a video of Cartman dressed as Britney Spears, while dancing around a cardboard cut-out of Justin Timberlake, which he apparently later had made out with. Cartman's possible gender confusion is most apparent in the episode "Cartman Sucks", in which Cartman takes pictures of himself with Butter's penis in his mouth to make Butters look homosexual. However, Kyle, Stan and Kenny explain that such actions actually make Cartman look gay, which results in Cartman trying to get a picture taken of his own penis in Butter's mouth.

This is not the first time Cartman has performed oral sex on another man. In episode 607, "Simpsons Already Did It", Cartman comes home with so called Sea Men which he adds to his aquarium. He apparently got the Sea Men from a man named Ralph, quoting "He just made me close my eyes and suck it out of a hose". The kids did not understand the difference between semen and Sea Men. He has also notably given Ben Affleck a hand job in the episode "Fat Butt and Pancake Head" in season 7.

Cartman also confuses English people with French people. In the early seasons, he often teased Pip and called him a "French piece of crap". On the other extreme, in the movie, he called The Mole a "British piece of shit", despite The Mole being supposedly French. Additionally, in "The Jeffersons", he alludes to despising Austrians, apparently failing to note the irony of this: he admires Hitler, who was an Austrian.

He also speaks with a very strange but geographically indeterminate accent, which has shown to be a dominant trait in the extended Cartman family. Aside from the sheer volume of expletives in his dialogue, he also uses words in different (and often grammatically incorrect) context (e.g. instead of saying 'I'm serious' he will say 'I'm seriously').

Greed
A defining arc during the show’s fourth season was Cartman’s single-minded quest to make 10 million dollars. The schemes he has tried include becoming a part of the Denver "tooth racket" and stealing Tooth Fairy money from kids, starting a boy band called “Fingerbang,” and culminating in forming his own church and embezzling the church’s collection money. He also tried at it in the episode "Cherokee Hair Tampons" when Kyle's kidneys were failing and Cartman, being the only one with Kyle's blood type, demanded a payment of 10 million dollars when Stan begged him to let Kyle have his kidney. He has also tried to sell a crashed truck-load of aborted fetuses to the highest-bidding stem cell research center, and even to a restaurant as food. In the episode "Up The Down Steroid", Cartman had also pretended he was retarded to compete in the Special Olympics and win $1000. The reasons for this are never fully explained, although in one episode Cartmanland, after inheriting a million dollars from his grandmother, he reveals that he wishes to buy his own amusement park so he won't have to wait in lines for the rides. He also stated that it has been his dream to own a million dollars since he was two years old. In one episode, he threatens Kyle with a gun for his "Jew gold" and in the episode Manbearpig Cartman stumbles upon a pile of treasure while the boys are trapped in a system of caves. Afraid that the others might find the treasure and demand a share, Cartman decides to swallow as much of the coins and jewels as he can, causing him to become extremely bloated and unable to walk or swim on his own. Later in the episode it is revealed that the treasure is fake and used for photographs for tourists at the caves. He is extremely miserly, determined not to give up the slightest amount of money, such as refusing to give a dollar to Afghan children: "I'm not giving a dollar to those towel-heads!".

Obesity
In spite of his insistence that he is just "big-boned", Cartman is obese. It is normally shown that Cartman has no self-consciousness or even realization of his obesity. He is often depicted as overeating and is shown to have a preference for fatty and sweet food items. His favorite snack is Cheesy Poofs, a take on Cheetos. In Fat Camp, he makes a snack that includes a melted stick of butter coated in chocolate milk mix and stuck between two toaster pastries. His mother's spoiling plays the main role in his overeating, although at the end of "Fat Camp" it is indicated that depression may be a major factor. In some episodes Cartman's obesity is aggravated or reduced, but it always returns to normal in the next episode. Cartman has also attributed his weight to: being 'buff', having a sweet hockey body and the usual big bone excuse. Cartman stated in the episode "Weight Gain 4000" that he weighed 90 pounds .

Ignorance
Although Cartman can at times be worldly, he is often wildly misinformed; he once believed that dolphins lived in igloos. Cartman has also been known to formulate schemes that are insane and complex in nature; some of his plans have achieved success on occasion. In episode, "I'm a Little Bit Country", instead of studying, Cartman records various documentaries on the American Revolution from The History Channel on a TiVo and then electrocutes himself with it in a tub, which sends him on a flashback to 1776, and ultimately helps him stop the riots going on in present-day South Park between pro and anti-Iraq War activists after waking from a coma. Cartman also appears to know very little about the female anatomy. One time, he threatened a woman with "Bitch I'll twist your nuts off". Also, in the episode Chickenpox, when he was told that his mother sent him to Kenny's house so he would catch chickenpox, he claimed that he would "kick her in the nuts", which is an intriguing threat since Cartman's mother is an hermaphrodite. Cartman's ignorance is best demonstrated in the episode The List when he made a plan to steal a list the girls made of who was the cutest boys in the class. The plan involved Butters kicking one of the girls in the "nuts", which failed of course, forcing Cartman (and the rest of the boys) to conclude that "Apparently girls have no balls". Whether or not he has finally learned this fact remains to be seen. In "Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy" it is shown that Cartman's idea of intercourse is to "Stick it inside her and pee. If you don't want to get her pregnant you pull it out and pee on her leg." In the pilot episode "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe", Cartman complains "Mom! Kitty's being a dildo!", showing ignorance of the context in which "dildo" is used and, possibly, what a dildo is. However, it is possible he is using it as a generic insult, such as calling someone a "dick."

Impatience
Cartman shows a pathological degree of impatience when forced to do something he doesn't want to do or when he has to wait for something he wants. An example of the former is seen in "I'm a Little Bit Country," in which Cartman electrocutes himself in an attempt to create a flashback and avoid studying; the latter is evidenced in the episode “Go God Go”, where Cartman freezes himself so that he won't have to wait three weeks for the Wii console to be released, which shows irony in the end, as Cartman eventually ends up two months before the Wii's release.

Manipulation and leadership ability
Although having his origins as little more than a comic foil, Cartman has evolved into a character of stunningly articulate manipulative talents. His abilities are deeply Machiavellian in nature, and his character follows closely in the footsteps of other famous manipulators such as the character Iago from William Shakespeare's Othello. In several episodes throughout the series, he employs this skill to get what he wants. His most frequent targets are adults in general, and Butters Stotch, though he often targets other children for more personal purposes, including convincing Butters to "take one for the team" and be anally gang-raped by men from NAMBLA in Cartman Joins NAMBLA, and repeatedly convincing Kyle that he is doing good, only to exploit Kyle's help later on. He was able to get Congress to lift the ban on stem-cell research in the episode Kenny Dies and talked the ginger kids out of killing all non-gingers after Kyle told him that they had played a trick on him in "Ginger Kids". Earlier in that episode he had rallied all the gingers to exterminate all non-gingers in a Hitler-esque way. Along the same line, in "The Passion of the Jew", he is able to rally all the members of the Mel Gibson fan club to march through the town while yelling "Wir müssen die Juden ausrotten!" (The Jews must be exterminated!). However it should probably be noted that they were ignorant of the true meaning of this phrase, mistaking it for Aramaic. In the episode "Tsst", Cartman was able to drive several nannies from his house with insults and insinuation (even causing one to be put in a mental hospital and eat her own feces from a toilet).

Cartman's perceived stupidity by his friends can be attributed to his sometimes naive behavior, however his uncanny skill at manipulation, bilingualism, and ability to create elaborate schemes which are often effective imply a surprisingly high intellect. Cartman seems to have no problem talking to people and speaking in general. He has an uncanny way with words and uses that to his advantage whenever he plots an idea. For example, in Kenny Dies, Cartman delivers a speech to the United States House of Representatives convincing them to vote in favor of stem cell research. He also appears to be multilingual (though not very well). He claims to be able to speak Spanish in Rainforest Schmainforest when he tells a Costa Rican freedom fighter that he wants burritos, and in My Future Self n' Me, he actually speaks Spanish to the Mexican workers hired to smear Butter's home with excrement. In D-Yikes Eric Cartman again demonstrates his proficiency in Spanish when hiring Mexicans to write an "essay" (which the immigrants mistake for the Spanish informal word for a friend, ese) on The Old Man and the Sea. In The Passion of the Jew, Cartman speaks German (but most of his words are mispronounced).

In "Cartoon Wars", he exploited a controversy involving the appearance of Muhammad on FOX's Family Guy to try to get the show off the air; he pretended to be the hapless victim of an Islamic terrorist attack to try to discourage the FOX president and the Family Guy staff writers from airing the Muhammad episode. On another occasion he was able to convince the majority of the adults of South Park to nearly take over the U.S. via an out-of-hand re-enactment of the Civil War, as long as he kept them drunk so they wouldn't realize what they were doing.

Cartman's shining accomplishment (according to Comedy Central's list of "Cartman's 25 Greatest Moments") came in the episode "Scott Tenorman Must Die.", a testimony to Cartmans hidden ingenuity and cunning, as well as the full extent of his evilness. Scott Tenorman continually defeats Cartman's attempts at retrieving a sum of money Scott tricked him out of throughout the episode, humiliating Cartman and elevating his hatred and desire for revenge. Finally, Cartman gets the last laugh, as he indirectly coerces Scott's parents into a situation where they are trespassing, and are consequently shot and killed. Cartman then steals the bodies and makes them into a chili which he promptly feeds to Scott. Cartman then cooly tells Scott how his parents died, hints at what happened to their remains, and inquires about his chili: "Do you like it? Do you like it Scott?". Scott is traumatized and horror-stricken, and Cartman gloats and laughs hysterically at the inconsolable Tenorman, while licking Scott's "tears of unfathomable sadness" off his face with intense pleasure.

Physical confrontations
Although Cartman frequently insults and taunts his friends, he sometimes appears to be more cowardly than they are when it comes to physical confrontation. In "It's Christmas in Canada," Kyle punches Cartman and he immediately bursts into tears, thus showing that Cartman is not pain tolerant; a similar instance was during Cartman Sucks, although Kyle only punched Cartman in the arm. Also in “Goobacks” Cartman threatens Kyle and it leads to Kyle giving Cartman a bloody nose; in “Christian Rock Hard,” Cartman is beaten up by Token after provoking him with racial jibes, and in several episodes, he is seen unable to overpower Kenny. However, in such earlier episodes as “Damien,” “Spookyfish,” and “Tweek vs. Craig,” Cartman has no problem with fighting the other boys back physically (and it is revealed that Sumo is his martial art of choice). In "I'm A Little Bit Country" he smiles and sings the Dawson's Creek theme while he kills the Official Messenger Boy with a piece of wood then drags the body off-screen. Most recently, in episode “Cartoon Wars Part II,” he did not back down from fisticuffs with Kyle, and in the episode "With Apologies to Jesse Jackson", he was dominant in a physical fight against a midget (who supposedly had a black belt in karate).

Sexual Abuse
Cartman has also had brushes with sexual abuse. In the episode "Cartman joins NAMBLA", his attempt to find older friends winds up with him almost being raped by members of the North American Man/Boy Love Association. In the episode, "Simpsons Already Did It", after discovering that semen will fertilize his Sea-People, he goes to a sperm bank to collect more. At the sperm bank, he pretends to test a semen sample by smearing it on his fingers. When Cartman later empties a bowl of semen into the tank, he tells Stan and Kyle that he got some of it from a man named Ralph in an alley, who told him to "close his eyes and suck it out of a hose". In episode AWESOM-O, a movie producer asks Cartman (who’s disguised as a robot) if he is a pleasure model. Cartman does not understand him until he takes his pants off, at which point, he runs out screaming. Also, in the episode "Fat Butt and Pancake Head", Cartman convinces Ben Affleck (among others) that his left hand is an actual woman named Jennifer Lopez; Affleck later has a sexual encounter with "Miss Lopez", leaving Cartman’s hand covered with his semen. In the episode Pre-School, Cartman moons Trent while still having nipples painted on, a photo of which the kids had sold as boobs to the sixth graders previously. The sixth graders are so overwhelmed that they take Cartman with them, apparently to abuse the "boobs". Also, in the episode "Cow Days" Cartman suffers a head trauma and thinks he is a Vietnamese prostitute named Ming Li. At the end of the episode, after he is back to normal, Cartman says he had had a weird dream where Leonardo DiCaprio had spanked him for several hours. Right after this, a man drove by and said "Bye, Ming Li, thanks again". In the episode "Fun with Veal", Cartman is awakened by the other boys and blurts out "No, uncle Jesse! No!" before realizing where he is. In Cartman Sucks he tries to prank Butters by putting Butters penis in his mouth and taking a picture, which of course goes horribly wrong, resulting in the picture being seen on a projector during Show and Tell by the entire class. In Le Petit Tourette, he accidentally blurted out to Butters that he and his cousin "touched weiners".

Sexual Tendencies
Cartman sometimes shows less interest in sexuality than the other boys. This seems intentional on the writer's parts, and fits with his self-absorption, immaturity and gender confusion. An example for this would be seen in the episode "Raisins", where the boys end up in a Hooters-like restaurant, and all Cartman shows interest in is the food, rather than all the skimpily-dressed waitresses.

Cartman also displays a lack of knowledge about sex, despite the fact that his mom is frequently having sexual relations with other people in South Park. When Kyle says that Ike is too young to understand sex in "Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy," Cartman replies, "What's there to understand? You get a boner, slap her titties around some then stick it inside her and pee." Cartman's lack of knowledge is also displayed in "Sexual Harassment Panda" when he tells Mr. Garrison that sexual harassment is "when you're trying to have intercourse with a lady friend, and some other guy comes up and tickles your balls from behind." However, the other children (except for Kenny) do not seem to have more knowledge of sex than Cartman, probably because they are only eight years old...

In the episode "Cartman Sucks" Cartman seeks to humiliate Butters by taking a picture of himself with Butters' "wiener" in his mouth. After being told that being photographed that way is humiliating him rather than Butters, Cartman then seeks to make Butters put his (Cartman's) penis in his mouth, though is not quite successful. Also, in the episode "Imaginationland" Cartman makes a bet with Kyle that requires Kyle to suck Cartman's balls if Cartman can prove that Leprechauns are real. Cartman wins the bet, and his single-minded quest to force Kyle to suck his balls subsequently becomes a significant subplot of the Imaginationland trilogy. Cartman goes to the federal government in order to get legal backing for the contract, he dreams about the issue, he breaks into the Pentagon in order to find Kyle (twice) - he even saves Kyle's life, against all odds. Although he does not get Kyle to suck his balls in reality, he does imagine Kyle sucking the balls of an imaginary Cartman with much enthusiasm at the end of "Imaginationland Episode III." This entire incident takes place for all of Imaginationland to see. Since Kyle previously stated that imaginary things are real (in an effort to dissuade the government from launching a nuclear missile), Cartman declares that Kyle is "really" sucking his balls. The other creatures all agree, and ridicule Kyle, to Cartman's delight.

However, during the episode "Chef Goes Nanners", Cartman briefly became an object of affection for Wendy Testaburger. After being passionately kissed by Wendy at the end of the episode (something she has never done with Stan because he vomits on her everytime they try to kiss), he is disappointed at the end when she says that she no longer has any feelings for him. In "Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset", while all the other boys seem scared at the prospect, Cartman is the only one who shows a desire to be invited to the fourth grade girl's "Stupid Spoiled Whore party", and is angered when they reject him. He later gets a hip make-over and attempts to crash the party. The only other time Cartman was attracted to someone of the opposite sex was Bebe's Boobs Destroy Society, in which he and the other boys were hypnotized by Bebe's newly-grown breasts (much to her chagrin). In a deleted scene from "The List", it is revealed that the fourth-grade girls voted him to be the ugliest boy in the class, leading Cartman to lose self-esteem and hang out with the "ugly" kids in school (as Kyle did earlier). In Le Petit Tourette, Cartman blurts out that he fantasizes about making out with a girl named Pattie Nelson - however, he also blurts out that he once "touched weiners" with his male cousin. His behavior implies that he is bisexual or just horribly confused.

Sporting Abilities
Cartman seems to lack any sporting ability, however he has been seen on the dodge ball team in the episode "Conjoined Fetus Lady" and playing center in "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride". In later episodes ("ManBearPig" and "Guitar Queer-o" Cartman is seen to be playing basketball with the other boys, however he isn't nearly as talented as he seems to think. He often cries out 'Stop cheating you black asshole!' when an opponent beats him, or 'You tricked me!' as if this was illegal.

Cartman also made a special appearance at the Nebraska and Colorado college football game on November 23, 2007. Cartman introduced Colorado's offensive and defensive players.

Catchphrases

 * "Goddammit!"
 * "I'm not fat, I'm big-boned!"
 * "Respect my authoritah!
 * "Screw you guys, I'm going home!"
 * "But meeeem!" ("mom")
 * "Ay!" (Hey!)
 * "I'm seriously"
 * "You guys! You guys!"
 * "Sweeeeet"
 * "Me hyeah, you nyeah" (Me here, you there)
 * "Sweet"
 * "Weak"
 * "Lame"
 * "You're breaking my balls"
 * "Son of a bitch! "
 * "That was totally tits!"
 * "This is bullcrap!" (or "bullshit")
 * "Hella- (in one episode)

Miscellaneous mannerisms
Cartman has a disturbing habit of appearing in other peoples’ homes in the middle of the night. He has a preoccupation with becoming “mature,” or at least more so than his friends, which frequently ends in him doing something that is anything but. Cartman also appears to be driven by a desire to surpass Kyle (especially), Stan, and Kenny. Knowing that his satisfaction chiefly comes with seeing other people unhappy, Kyle once deliberately congratulated Cartman on winning a bet. This, of course, ruined Cartman’s egotistical satisfaction at having humiliated him.

Cartman apparently sees scenes of sickening and/or disturbing imagery every time he closes his eyes, but thinks nothing of it. He also occasionally has milk come out of his nose when he laughs, even when he was not drinking any. This milk-sneezing problem is due to a malfunctioning kidney, which Cartman is tricked into donating for transplant, benefiting his friend Kyle, who receives the malfunctioning organ as seen in the episode "Cherokee Hair Tampons". Many of Cartman’s mannerisms were revealed to be inherited in "Merry Christmas Charlie Manson!", in which most of the Cartman family were depicted in a similar manner.

Popularity
When South Park first premiered, his outrageous and shocking behavior made him instantly popular with viewers. Another reason Cartman tends to stand out is because he is generally the most pro-active of the four main characters. Cartman is frequently the one to come up with new ideas and plans, usually told excitedly to an often unimpressed Stan, Kyle, and Kenny. Cartman frequently comes up with ideas that are ridiculous or offensive, and while he may appear to have the upper hand, his antics tend to inevitably turn on him. He is often shown receiving the brunt of consequences generated by his behavior by the end of the episode, although on certain occasions, Cartman is shrewd enough to either earn himself a pyrrhic victory ("Toilet Paper", for example), or allowing Stan and Kyle only such a gain (most notably "The Red Badge of Gayness").

Family
Cartman's mother understood a German-speaking man in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, indicating that he may be of German descent.

Cartman is the only boy in the series who does not have a father. The only time a father is ever shown is in the first episode where a brief scene is shown of the Cartman family eating dinner. It shows a father and a sister, although they are never shown in further episodes. This is because of his hermaphroditic mother (Liane Cartman), who fathered him herself with another woman, possibly one of the female residents of South Park. 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", though the identity of Cartmans other mother is never revealed. In Le Petit Tourette, he accidentally revealed that he cries at night because he does not have a father.

A recurring joke throughout the series is that, despite his mother's sweetness and wholesome demeanor, Liane Cartman is in fact a promiscuous, oversexed, crack-smoking, Scheisse porn queen and prostitute. If a girl was ever beating me up I'd be like, AY! Why don't you stop dressing me up like a mailman, and making me dance for you, while you go and smoke crack in your bedroom and have sex with some guy I don't even know, on my dad's bed! Cartman's extended family is shown in episode: Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson! where he and the others go on a trip to Nebraska to visit them for Christmas. Most of his relatives appear to be similar in manner to him; all fat, with the same speech accent and catchphrases. The family is seen again in the episode "Cartmanland," at his grandmother's funeral — where she leaves her estate (valued at $1,000,000) to Eric, citing that all the other family members would have spent it all on crack.

Pets and toys
Cartman has a cat named Mr. Kitty (who despite the name is actually female), and a pot bellied pig named Fluffy (Mr.Kitty and Fluffy have never been seen together in the series thus far). He also has a stuffed frog toy named "Clyde Frog." Other beloved stuffed animals include Wellington Bear (a take on Paddington Bear), Polly Prissy Pants the rag doll, purple lizard Rumpertumskin (a take on Rumpelstiltskin), and Peter Panda. Cartman nearly always plays with these toys by himself, perhaps out of embarrassment or (just as likely) mean-spiritedness. Occasionally others are allowed to play with him, such as Bebe in Bebe's boobs destroy society. Not surprisingly, Cartman's games with these toys can demonstrate his vindictive and cruel nature; one of his games, as seen in "Bebe's boobs destroy society," is "Lambs", in which Cartman reenacts scenes from Silence of the Lambs with his dolls, such as placing a doll in a pit in his basement and then voicing the doll begging to be released while the doll holding it prisoner threatens the pit-bound doll. Often Cartman's games involve the toys telling him how cool and smart he is, and he directs towards them an affection which is not seen towards any other person except his mom. In Die Hippie, Die, when a group leaves to conduct a rescue mission, all the group members say goodbye to a person close to each of them, except Cartman who bids farewell to Clyde Frog.

Cartman: "I...don't want you to worry about me, Clyde Frog."

(Clyde Frog just sits there)

Cartman: "Hey, you're the best stuffed animal I ever had."

Liane Cartman
Liane dotes on her son endlessly, beyond simply spoiling him. Cartman usually gets whatever he wants simply by whining in his signature style. He also frequently insults her in her presence, which she accepts without question. Although Liane possesses a social and moral conscience, Cartman is usually able to manipulate her into doing even morally reprehensible things for him. In Up the Down Steroid Cartman is able to have his mother sign him up for the Special Olympics, even though Cartman was not disabled. It appears that Liane appears convinced of her son's goodness and accepts any excuses or stories he makes up, no matter how improbable. The relationship between the two has shown a significant change in Tsst. To manage Cartman's behavioral issues, she hires Cesar Milan. Cesar's methods work, and Cartman becomes a normal, good natured, well behaved boy. Liane tries to form a relationship with Cesar, but he turns her down as she is just a client, and she soon begins to spoil Cartman again.

Kyle
The rivalry between Cartman and Kyle has been a recurring theme from the beginning, but has become significantly stronger since Season 4. Cartman appears to have a very strong hatred for Kyle, and shows that he has no tolerance for Kyle's Jewish faith. Kyle hates him in turn. However, neither one of them seem to realize the effects of their almost poisonous relationship, and continue to live in close contact with each other.

Kyle is often put in the shoes of the protagonist to Eric Cartman's antagonist. For Example, in Cartoon Wars, the two of them work against each other; when Cartman tries to get Family Guy cancelled, Kyle tries to stop him. The two of them often have arguments about morals, like in Up The Down Steroid, where Cartman decides to pretend to be mentally handicapped so he can win the prize money.

In South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, when they were facing certain death, Cartman tried to atone for all the times he called Kyle "A big dumb Jew", telling him "I didn't mean it. You're not a Jew". Bewildered, Kyle replies that he is indeed a Jew, and Cartman tells him not to be so hard on himself (implying that Jew was an insult rather than a religion). Cartman also has attempted to murder Kyle more than once, the most significant incident being in a scene from Toilet Paper, in which he lures Kyle into going rowing with him to the middle of Stark's Pond, and then, when Kyle's back is turned, attempts to bludgeon him to death with a wiffle bat, without comprehending the stupidity of the plan.

However, in Smug Alert Cartman saves Kyle and his family when a large storm is about to go towards their house in San Francisco. Cartman finds Butters as too boring a nemesis since he will simply accept anything Cartman directs at him, and realizes that in order to have someone with which to argue incessantly again he must get Kyle back. At the end of the episode he hides the fact that he was the savior of Kyle's whole family, opting to insult Kyle again instead; Kyle replies angrily and storms off, to Cartman's satisfaction. In the episode Le Petit Tourette when Kyle (unintentionally) saves Cartman from shouting out all his secrets on TV, Cartman hugs Kyle and thanks him, even saying "I love you, man." In the episode Imaginationland Cartman wins a bet with Kyle which requires Kyle to suck his balls, and goes to various extreme measures throughout the Imaginationland trilogy to make Kyle do so, including going to the Supreme Court and breaking into the Pentagon (twice). In the end of the trilogy's first part, Cartman is seen with a photo of an innocent looking Kyle. The scene ends with Cartman dragging his finger slowly across Kyle's mouth in the photo, which could be interpreted as an act of lust. At the end of the trilogy's third part, Cartman conjures up an imaginary Kyle to suck the balls of an imaginary Cartman. Cartman also, in the episode Go God Go XII, offers to suck Kyle's balls (after Kyle said "Suck my balls, Cartman"), in exchange for Kyle's help in getting Cartman back from the distant future. Cartman also seems to have no qualms about seriously invading Kyle's personal space, as shown in a scene from Manbearpig wherein Cartman, whilst contemplating his hatred for Kyle, looms a mere inch or two from Kyle's face as he sleeps; soon Kyle wakes up and yells "Dude,get away from me!" In any case, considering all of this it is quite conceivable that Cartman is in some perverse way sexually attracted to him (rather sadistically), as he seems to get an intense, almost sexual pleasure out of Kyle's misery or humiliation. It may, however, not be Kyle himself that Cartman is "attracted" to at all: Cartman may simply be a sexual sadist, aroused by dominating and humiliating others - things which coincide with his goals concerning Kyle, as he hates Kyle more than anyone else.

Butters
Butters has become Cartman's most frequent victim. Cartman finds Butters extremely easy to manipulate and convert to his point of view, or get him to do what he wants. In "Douche and Turd" Cartman easily gets Butters to vote for his idea of a "turd sandwich" simply by describing the candidates in a certain way. In "Go God Go" he gets Butters to bury him in snow so that he can be unfrozen three weeks later in time for the release of the Wii video game console.

In many episodes entire plots are centered around Cartman's antics against Butters. In "Casa Bonita", Cartman faked an apocalypse so Butters would hide in a bomb shelter for over a week, so Cartman could go with Kyle, Stan, and Kenny to Casa Bonita instead of Butters. In "AWESOM-O" he dressed as a robot to trick Butters, but in the end this failed miserably and Butters showed a tape of him dressing like Britney Spears in front of everyone. In "The Death of Eric Cartman" all of the people in South Park decide to ignore Cartman because they feel he is a "son of a bitch". Unlike the other boys, Butters isn't aware of the plan and Cartman believes that Butters is the only one who can see him now that he is dead. In "Cartman Sucks" he repeatedly invited Butters over to spend the night to play pranks on him, until it backfired on him and he made an inappropriate picture which featured him putting Butter's penis in his mouth, and which ended up being showed to the entire fourth grade class.

Kenny
Cartman and Kenny occasionally make "best friend" pacts with one another. This is mostly in response to Stan and Kyle being best friends, which sometimes leaves the other two boys alone with each other. They're also shown to share a sense of humor, as can be seen in the episode "How to Eat with Your Butt" when Kenny and Cartman continue an elaborate joke despite Stan and Kyle's objections.

However, Cartman has at times displayed a special dislike for Kenny, often without any reason; most often, he shows contempt for Kenny's family living in poverty. In two separate episodes, Chickenpox and A Ladder to Heaven, Cartman is heard singing the song "In The Ghetto" in order to tease Kenny. In "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut" Kenny and Cartman are alone in the scene, and Cartman blurts out "I hate you, Kenny" out of nowhere. In the episode, “Jakovasaurs,” Cartman makes up a song called "I Hate You Guys" where he sings: "I hate you guys / you guys are assholes / especially Kenny / I hate him the most." In the episode Lice Capades he attempts make Kenny a scapegoat for the class's lice problem, and upon "proving" Kenny's guilt with an elaborate, phony experiment, Cartman then organizes a cruel "sock bath" for Kenny. It is possible that Kenny is Cartman's only real friend and he does not understand how to react to having such a friend. In the episode, "Kenny Dies", Cartman proclaims that Kenny is his best friend among the three boys, but at the end of the episode it is implied that Cartman is Kenny's "worst friend" since he exploited Kenny's illness for personal gain. In the episode "Best Friends Forever", Kenny states in his will that he felt sorry for Cartman because of his inability to feel compassion and show decency. Also, Cartman proves that he is Kenny's BFF or best friend forever by combining his half of his necklace with Kenny's. Also, in the episode "Cherokee Hair Tampons", the two are shown playing with spaceships without Stan or Kyle. And in the episode, "A Ladder To Heaven", when Kenny is found to be ashes from the urn, Cartman drinks Kenny's soul mistaking it for chocolate milk.

Stan
Although Cartman and Stan have a tense relationship, it is still noticed that Cartman's hatred toward Stan is not nearly as strong as his hatred toward Kyle. In fact, when Kyle and Kenny aren't around, he and Stan often even show a close friendship with each other. In Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow, Stan and Cartman hang out at the boating rack, just the two of them, and Cartman even comments that it is great that they are hanging out with each other without Kyle. In Fat Butt and Pancake Head, while Kyle is immediately distrustful of Cartman's truthfulness in his claim that he cannot control the actions of his hand (which has seemed to take on a life of its own), Stan gives Cartman the benefit of the doubt and admits that, with all the stuff that happens in South Park, Cartman could be telling the truth. In Woodland Critter Christmas, Cartman made Stan the protagonist of his Christmas story (he is described as 'the boy in a red poof-ball hat'). Everyone but Kyle likes the story. To Kyle's disgust, Stan likes the story also. In Douche and Turd, Stan votes for Cartman's mascot instead of Kyle's, much to Kyle's dismay. However, in Osama Bin Laden Has Farty Pants, Cartman declares that he hates Stan because Stan loves animals. Even so, In the episode Trapped in the Closet, all three boys de-friend Stan after he becomes the leader of Scientology. As the boys leave, Cartman turns to Stan and says, "I still hate Kyle more than you." Although Stan is much more tolerant of Cartman than Kyle is, he often holds Cartman in very high contempt for his unacceptable behavior.

Music
Cartman appears to be very musically talented. He plays the piano quite well in the episode "Christian Rock Hard" (although the piano plays by itself whilst he is singing), the violin in "Something Wal-Mart This Way Comes," the French horn in "Summer Sucks," the drums in "The Red Badge of Gayness," the harmonica in "Jakovasaurs," the recorder in "World Wide Recorder Concert," and the acoustic guitar in "Chinpokomon." His Christian rock group "Faith + 1" sold 1,000,000 copies of its album in the episode "Christian Rock Hard." In the film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, Cartman is shown singing in mock versions of Chinese, French, Dutch and an unidentified African language by singing "Kyle's mom is a Bitch". In "Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics", Cartman sings, "O, Holy Night" (despite several interruptions). In Chef Aid, he sings and does a German dance to raise money for Chef's legal fees. He also leads a boy band in the episode "Something You Can Do With Your Finger"

Cartman's musical tastes run toward progressive and arena rock in general and maudlin power ballads in particular. "Cartman's Mom Is Still a Dirty Slut" shows for the first time that Cartman has the uncontrollable urge to finish singing Styx's "Come Sail Away" whenever he hears any part of the song, which he can do, under pressure, in 27 seconds (possibly a sign that he has a very minor case of OCD based on the fact that he mentioned it was not only songs he had to finish). In Kenny Dies, Cartman sings "Heat of the Moment" to the United States House of Representatives convincing them to vote in favor of stem cell research. Cartman also appears to enjoy teen pop, as demonstrated in his Britney Spears dance sequence in "AWESOM-O". He also quotes, "Haha charade you are" from Pink Floyd's song, Pigs (Three Different Ones).

Cartman frequently bursts into song spontaneously, sometimes with melodies and topical lyrics of his own devising. This penchant for ad hoc songs was specifically mentioned in "Ginger Kids". This also happened in the episode "Cherokee Hair Tampons" when Stan asks Cartman to donate a kidney to a very sickly Kyle, Cartman replies by singing "No no no no no no no no no no!" to the tune of "Comedy tonight" from "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum"

In a mean-spirited feeling, Cartman begins singing an Elvis version of "In The Ghetto" When in Kenny's neighborhood, namely, the ghetto.

For Rush's Snakes and Arrows tour, a short animated clip was made to introduce the song "Tom Sawyer," featuring the boys from South Park as a band attempting to perform the song. Cartman is featured as the lead singer.

Cartman has also been featured on several tracks on all three South Park albums.

Photography
Cartman knows a lot about Photography, as shown in a few episodes. In Cartman Sucks, Cartman takes up his hobby of inviting Butters over, just to take embarrassing photos of him. He is also shown presenting a slideshow in class, and comments about them skillfully. Also, in Imaginationland II and III he is talking about how he should take his picture of Kyle sucking his balls. He even has professional help with his photo shoot in Part III. Also he is good at photoshop,(though his art skills are very first grade like) as we can see from Mystery of the Urinal Deuce, when he is framing Kyle.

Quotes
"Screw you guys, I'm going home."

"Respect my authoritah (authority)!"

"Damn Hippies!" (Used in a variation of ways)

"I'm not fat, I'm big boned."

"No kitty this is my pot pie!"

"Hella cool."

"I'm not fat! I'm festively plump!"

"But, MOOOOOOM!"

"Sweeeet."

"Mom, Kitty's being a dildo!"

"Okay, that does it! Why has everything today involved things either going in or coming out of my ass?"

"Weak."

"Kenny's family is so poor that yesterday they had to put their cardboard box up for a second mortgage."

"Yeah I want Cheesy Poofs!"

"French people piss me off."

"You're breaking my balls."

"Kyle, you're being a Negative Nancy. Stop it."

"Okay, old people need to be quiet now."

"You seem a little irritable, Kyle. You got some sand in your vagina?"

"Seriously, I'm getting pissed off right nah (now)!"

"I hate you guys so very, very much."

"Sticks and stones may break my bones but I’m Jesus."

"Too bad drinking Scotch isn’t a paying job or Kenny’s dad would be a Millionaire!"

"Remind me to cut your balls off when we get back."

"I'll roshambo you for it."

"Naw dude, Independent films are those black and white Hippie movies. They’re always about gay cowboys eating pudding."

"Kick ass."

"GOD DAMN IT!"

"I was just layin’ down some rhymes, with the G-folk, you know, kickin’ it on the west siy-eede."

"Son of a Bitch!"

"Anyway Kenny, Yellow MegaMan is only $8.95, so maybe your mom can put it on layaway and make payments for a year or two."

"Yeah, if some girl tried to kick my ass, I'd be like, 'Hey, why don't you stop dressin' me up like a mailman, and making me dance for you while you go and smoke crack in your bedroom and have sex with some guy I don't even know, on my dad's bed!'"

"My mom says if you want to become a lesbian, you have to lick carpet."

"It's a man's obligation to stick his boneration in a women's separation; this sort of penetration will increase the population of the younger generation."

"Kyles mom is a big fat fucking bitch!"

"Yeah, well I sneaked around my mom's closet too and saw what I'm getting. The Ultravibe Pleasure 2000."

"Beefcake!"

"I don't want to be friends with midgets. Midgets piss me off."

"Kenny said in Hell people speak Spanish and the water there gives you diarrhea."

"Do British people count as an ethnicity for hate crimes?"

"Hmm. Work for you, have my penis cut off. Work for you, have my penis cut off. Hmm, let's see…"

"Jesus was made... of crackers?"

"When I get down from here, I'm gonna kick you square in the nuts!"

"Whateva! Whateva! I do what I want!"

"Lame!"

Heroic Moments

 * In Weight Gain 4000 Cartman got so fat that he saved Kathie Lee Gifford from being shot by a bullet.
 * In the episode “Die Hippie, Die,” his intolerance of hippies saves South Park from a drug-filled hippie music festival.
 * In the full-length feature film, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, his frequent use of vulgarity, after getting electrocuted by a power box, coupled with the experimental V-chip implanted in his brain to stop him swearing (which gave him temporary electrostatic powers), deliberately helps save the world from Saddam Hussein.
 * Episode 100 by filling his Tivo with the history channel and dropping it and himself into a pool he able to travel back in time to 1776, where he is able to institute the American tradition of Ice Cream Thursdays and return to South Park with a special 100th episode message about war and peace.
 * In the episode Snuke Cartman's intolerance against Muslims and his use of racial profiling save the day!
 * In episode #710, Grey Dawn, Cartman is the boy that figures out that by shutting down Country Kitchen Buffet the Elderly won't have anywhere to get food.
 * In episode #906, The Death of Eric Cartman, Cartman is under the belief that he was a ghost trapped on Earth until things where made right. He distracts three escaped convicts who were holding ten people hostage at the Red Cross while Butters lets them escape.

Links

Links

 * Cartman's Quotes
 * South Park Biography