Mr. Hat

Mr. Hat is a puppet worn on Herbert Garrison's hand and Mr. Garrison appears to converse with it. Mr. Hat was used by Mr. Garrison from "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe" until "Summer Sucks", (Where he was replaced with Mr. Twig), and then from the end of "Chef Aid" to his last regular appearance in "A Ladder to Heaven". He was replaced by Mr. Slave in the episode "The Death Camp of Tolerance" and since he has only made one cameo appearance in the episode "Pre-School" in a flashback. He returned to the show in the episode "200" because Cartman knew he could know the truth behind his father.

Background
Mr. Garrison appears to have had Mr. Hat since he was a child as seen in the episode "Weight Gain 4000". Mr. Garrison uses Mr. Hat to channel his homosexual emotions and thoughts through even when he accepted he was gay. Mr. Garrison often blames Mr. Hat for something unethical such as being a racist and appearing with the KKK protesters in "Chef Goes Nanners" and chasing Principal Victoria's butt in "Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub". When Garrison came out as gay, he continued to use Mr. Hat as his teaching assistant while working as the kindergarten teacher. However, when he was promoted to the 4th grade teacher, he replaced Mr. Hat with Mr. Slave.

Recently in the episode "200", Mr. Garrison is forced by Eric Cartman and his hand-turned-con-artist-puppet Mitch Conner to pull Mr. Hat out of storage, so as to reveal the truth about his father who until recently was believed to be Cartman's mother, Liane Cartman. Garrison is initially dismissive of using the old puppet, saying he no longer needed it. However, as the conversation between Mr. Garrison, Cartman and Mitch progresses, Garrisons seems to regress back to talk with and to Mr. Hat as if the puppet is alive.

In South Park: The Stick of Truth, Mr. Hat can be found inside Mr. Slave's butt, as an object that the player must climb up.

Real or Not?
Some people remain undecided whether Mr. Hat is a real living character or merely a puppet. Below is a list of reasons and key moments in the series where Mr. Hat shows sentience:
 * Manages to jailbreak Chef and Mr. Garrison by ramming an SUV into the jail wall in "Chef Aid" and the only thing Chef wonders is how he reached the pedals, not how he drove a car.
 * Attempts to destroy Mr. Twig by boiling him and snapping him, also in "Chef Aid". However, this could have been Mr. Garrison's unconscious behavior.
 * When Mr. Garrison refuses to take Mr. Hat to the KKK rally, he disappears off Garrison's hand and appears at the meeting anyway in "Chef Goes Nanners".
 * His eyes begin to glow and his head rotates in "Weight Gain 4000" although it may have been a nightmare that Mr. Garrison was having.
 * In "World Wide Recorder Concert", Mr. Hat gets into a fight with Mr. Mackey (during which he is separated from Mr. Garrison) and wins.
 * In the Season 2 episode "Summer Sucks" Mr. Hat appears in a sauna room with Brett Favre and he blinks and looks at Brett without anyone holding him. Favre meanwhile seems to treat Mr. Hat as an actual person, greeting him warmly.
 * At the end of the episode "Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut" his mouth can be seen if you look closely.
 * In "200", he and Mitch Conner (Cartman's own personal Mr. Hat), knows the truth of Cartman's true father.
 * In "Cherokee Hair Tampons", he jerks off Mr. Garrison.
 * After climbing up him in The Stick of Truth, the player immediately receives a friend request from him afterwards.

Appearance
Mr. Hat is a puppet who resembles a person's torso and head with the puppet wearing a purple shirt, a brown beard and mustache with a tall red and white hat which his eyes are placed on. In "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe" Mr. Hat doesn't have eyes. His mustache looks the slightest bit like Zebedee's, and they are both puppets.

Trivia

 * Despite being gay, Mr. Hat is a KKK member.
 * Mr. Hat was a boss in the South Park video game for the N64. He operated a robot vehicle, without Mr. Garrison anywhere near.
 * Mr. Hat is based on a puppet used by Trey Parker's kindergarten teacher, most likely "High-Hat", a puppet that bears a striking resemblance to Mr Hat and is used as a teaching aid used by early childhood educators to teach basic language skills.
 * Mr. Hat was able to drive a car through a prison building to bust out Mr. Garrison and Chef, prompting Chef to ask how he reached the pedals.
 * Mr. Hat had no eyes in his first appearance, "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe".
 * Mr. Hat makes a reappearance in "200", when Cartman has Mr. Garrison take him out of a dresser drawer.
 * Mr. Hat wears a red and white hat resembling the Cat in the Hat's hat.
 * Mr. Hat can sometimes be seen blinking.
 * As a show of the program's occasional (and perhaps purposeful) lack of continuity, Mr. Hat is taken by Satan as his new friend at the end of "South Park: Bigger, Longer, And Uncut", but appears in South Park in later episodes as if this never happened.

Prominence

 * "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe"
 * "Volcano"
 * "Weight Gain 4000"
 * "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride"
 * "An Elephant Makes Love to a Pig "
 * "Death"
 * "Pinkeye"
 * "Starvin' Marvin"
 * "Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo"
 * "Damien"
 * "Tom's Rhinoplasty"
 * "Mecha-Streisand"
 * "Cartman's Mom is a Dirty Slut"
 * "Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut"
 * "Chickenlover"
 * "Ike's Wee Wee"
 * "The Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka"
 * "Summer Sucks"
 * "Chef Aid"
 * "Gnomes"
 * "Rainforest Shmainforest"
 * "Jakovasaurs"
 * "Sexual Harassment Panda"
 * "Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub"
 * "Chinpokomon"
 * "World Wide Recorder Concert"
 * "Cherokee Hair Tampons"
 * "Chef Goes Nanners"
 * "Fourth Grade"
 * "Trapper Keeper"
 * "Fat Camp"
 * "It Hits the Fan"
 * "Cripple Fight"
 * "Towelie"
 * "The Entity"
 * "The Simpsons Already Did It"
 * "A Ladder to Heaven"
 * "The Death Camp of Tolerance"
 * "Pre-School"
 * "200"