Timmy Burch

Timmy is a character from South Park, voiced by Trey Parker. He is handicapped, and uses a wheelchair to get around, although he can actually stand and walk somewhat without it, as seen in "Probably."

Speech capabilities
He usually only says his own name and the slurred phrase "livin' a lie." In some episodes, he says some other basic words: He can say "Jimmy" (referring to Jimmy Vulmer, who is the other handicapped character in South Park). In a Thanksgiving school play where Timmy plays the part of Helen Keller, he could say Gobbles, the name of a disabled turkey the children bought to act in the play (Helen Keller! The Musical). In one episode, in which the boys attempt to go back in time, (4th Grade) he successfully yells, "Please help me!" a few times as he rolls down the highway. In another (The Tooth Fairy Tats 2000), when his wheelchair is hooked via string to Kenny's tooth, he incorrectly interprets the word "go", and yells "Go! Timmy! Go!" before driving. He can also say "Lords of the Underworld" (the name of his band) and "shit" (in It Hits the Fan), and "Bebe" (in Bebe's Boobs Destroy Society)

Appearance
He wears a red sweater and black trousers. His head is abnormally large at the top. He has strawberry-blond hair. He is almost always seen sitting in a black wheelchair.

Character history and development
Timmy first appears in the episode The Tooth Fairy Tats 2000. His three scenes from that episode have little importance to the central plot, and Comedy Central originally wanted to cut Timmy out, due to the controversial nature of having including a mentally retarded character. Creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, pushed hard for his inclusion however; their basis of Timmy was to show that, though Timmy was different, the other South Park children treated him normally. Originally intended for only one episode, Timmy proved so popular he was given his own episode, Timmy 2000.

In it, he is part of a successful band, singing lead for Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld, despite his limited vocabulary. During the episode, people complain that he is being exploited, even though he achieves extreme popularity. The message at the end of the episode, however, was that since Timmy enjoyed playing music, and people enjoyed him playing, there was nothing wrong with it. In the same episode, his parents were shown to have the same condition as him, revealing that his condition may be genetic.

Timmy was originally described as being mentally retarded, but over time his character has become described less as such and more often as "disabled." In various episodes (such as Up the Down Steroid) he appears to be quite cognizant, intelligent and principled. In Cripple Fight and Make Love, Not Warcraft, he appears to have no trouble operating a computer. He appears to have hydrocephalus, as well as involuntary movements.

Timmy is friends with South Park's other disabled character, Jimmy, who can actually understand what Timmy is saying. In the first episode in which Jimmy appears, Cripple Fight, Timmy is intensely jealous of him and even tries to have him killed (by giving him a parka that made him look like Kenny McCormick). Later on, however, the two are shown as being friends.

Family


Timmy has parents named Richard and Helen. Their surname is unknown and they have the same syndrome as Timmy, in that they can mainly only say their own names, and they are confined to wheelchairs. They also have swollen heads. All of this implies that Timmy's disorder is hereditary.

Appearance
Richard wears an old fashioned red jacket with a white shirt underneath, and blue jeans. He has a crop of brown hair on top of his head. His head seems to slump down, a little. Helen wears a turquoise jacket and a lilac/grey skirt. Her hair is orange and shoulder length.

Trivia

 * Due to the popularity of South Park, Timmy's exclamation "TIMMEH!" soon entered into pop culture as an outburst used to describe, chide, or respond to moments of extreme un-coordination, lack of concentration or other losses of logic, sense or reason. There are many other ways in which the exclamation is referenced, such as:
 * The popular MMORPG World of Warcraft features the character Timmy the Cruel in the Stratholme instance (who yells "TIMMY!" when he appears).
 * On ESPN's Sports Center, anchors yell "TIMMY" whenever a Tim Duncan highlight is shown.
 * During the intro to 'Sailor' by The Brian Jonestown Massacre, members of the band can be heard doing 'Timmy' impressions.
 * Buffalo Sabres fans often refer to center Tim Connolly, known for his prolonged absences due to injury, as "Timmah," a reference to the character.
 * Rapper Ludacris referenced Timmy, in a guest verse on Missy Elliot's song Gossip Folks ("I'm Ludacris, living loud like Timmy").
 * In the episode Die Hippie, Die a joint-smoking man who eerily resembles Timmy rolls by in a wheelchair during Randy Marsh and Sharon Marsh's Woodstock flashback - perhaps Timmy's father, or another, older male relative.
 * In January 2007, British metal band Siren Lake named their van Timmy, in homage to the character. This has gained them a huge amount of media coverage including an appearance on Peter Snow's, Newsnight.
 * In the 2007 music video game "Rock Band", one of the unlockable bonus tracks is "Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld".

Episodes in which he is prominent

 * The Tooth Fairy Tats 2000- Helps Stan, Cartman and Kyle try to pull Kenny's tooth out. Is then later seen driving his wheelchair over the bridge Kenny was thrown down from during the end credits.
 * Timmy 2000- Unnecessarily diagnosed with A.D.D and joins the band The Lords of the Underworld, which becomes nationally famous.
 * Do the Handicapped Go to Hell?- Makes the fellow Christian fourth graders fearful, due to the fact that he can't confess his sins.
 * Probably- Is "healed" by Cartman.
 * 4th Grade- Helps his fellow fourth graders by strapping a time traveling device to his wheelchair, which ends up going terribly wrong. He ends up in prehistoric times, but returns later on.
 * Helen Keller! The Musical- Gets the lead part in the Thanksgiving musical play and finds a crippled pet turkey, which he names Gobbles and learns to say his name. Timmy greatly admires Gobbles. He even goes far enough to jump in front of a bullet aiming for Gobbles.
 * Cripple Fight- Becomes envious of Jimmy's popularity at scouts and fights him in an alley. After the fight, which was a tie, Timmy uses his computer to make a photo with Jimmys head atop a nude mans body, embracing another nude man. This causes Jimmy to be kicked out of the scouts due to it's no homosexual law.
 * Professor Chaos- Auditions to be the new "fourth kid". He is suggested by Kyle because he doesn't tell lame jokes, is quiet and takes direction well making him the perfect friend. Cartman argues with this saying that Timmy is really self-centered. Tweek Tweak becomes the fourth kid instead.
 * Simpsons Already Did It- One of the many "Simpsonized" residents.
 * Krazy Kripples- Becomes part of The Krips with Jimmy.
 * Up the Down Steroid- Participates in the Special Olympics and tries to get Jimmy of steroids