South Park Archives

South Park (Not Suitable For Children) is now streaming on Paramount Plus!

READ MORE

South Park Archives
Register
Advertisement
Liane Cartman


May 2017 Featured Article Winner

Liane Cartman is the mother of Eric Cartman. She makes many appearances throughout the series and is considered to be one of the most prominent out of all the South Park parents. She first appears in the Season One episode "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe".

Background

Personality

Liane is a good-natured individual but with a definite edge to her. Her voice is usually kind and soft and her actions are usually to aid others, particularly her son. She is also a great cook, as implied by Stan and Chef in "Damien".

However, there has been many implications that Ms. Cartman is as racist and anti-Semitic as Eric, who on numerous occasions (at least during the early seasons) quoted his mother on saying offensive and politically incorrect statements regarding black people, gays, and Jews. Despite this, Liane herself has not vocalized these opinions on the show, so it is certainly possible that Eric was lying. An example can be seen in "Good Times with Weapons" when Cartman claimed his mom took him to see the movie The Passion in argument that proves Jews are sneaky liars.

In accordance with her sweet-natured, motherly image, she was originally frequently shown giving people her baking (usually cookies), even in situations where it is inappropriate. For example, in "Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut" she gives a plate of cookies to Officer Barbrady at the Drunken Barn Dance, and behind the Cartmans' couch is a picture of her and Cartman by Mount Rushmore, in which she is holding a plateful of cookies.

She has also been shown numerous times to be extremely promiscuous, being referred to as a "slut" numerous times, making several sexual jokes, having sex tapes of her and Mr. Mackey, etc.

She is also known to host great parties.

She also most recently got a job at South Park Realtors in "City People", but quit because Eric was scared he would have less attention. As a result, they were forced to move to Coney Island Hotdog. However, in "DikinBaus Hot Dogs", they moved back into their old house after making money.

Name Origin

She is named after Liane Adamo, the ex-fiancée of South Park co-creator Trey Parker. The engagement was broken up because she reportedly committed infidelities on Parker during their engagement, hence the promiscuous nature. The character of Liane Cartman is one of the characters (another was the horse Liane from Parker's Cannibal! The Musical) Parker created as a bitter "tribute" to her.

Hermaphrodite and Eric's Parentage

SPCMIADS1

Liane Cartman with Chef and Mr. Garrison in "Cartman's Mom is a Dirty Slut".

In "Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut", it was stated that Liane Cartman was a hermaphrodite, meaning that she had both male and female sexual organs and that years ago during the Drunken Barn Dance, she proceeded to have sex with a series of men and women. After it was revealed that Liane was Cartman's father and mother due to the fact that she was a hermaphrodite.

However, in "200", Eric Cartman and Mitch Conner go to Mr. Garrison and Mr. Hat who revealed that the events of "Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut" were a fabrication and the results for the paternity test were tampered with and that. However the identity of the father was not told until "201", in which Cartman was captured by his arch-foe Scott Tenorman, who then revealed that Liane was not a hermaphrodite and Cartman's real father was Scott's own father, Jack Tenorman, a Ginger who played for the Denver Broncos, and who Cartman had arranged to be killed, made into chili, and fed to his half-brother Scott. It is explained that Liane had questioned whether or not to tell Eric, not because of her own personal feelings, but because the Broncos had been having a really good year, and she along with the rest of the town did not want to distract from the game season.

Sexual Appetite

Despite her sweetness, she is extremely promiscuous. Quite early on, it was stated that Ms. Cartman was actually Eric's father, as she was supposedly born a self-fertilizing hermaphrodite with both female and male genitalia (though Dr. Mephesto implies in "Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut" that she no longer has the latter). However, in "201", it is revealed that she actually is not a hermaphrodite, and that the town of South Park lied in order to protect the Denver Broncos.

In the early seasons, she was very sexually active and regularly pursued this activity. She was reputedly a crack whore, and has taken part in German scheisse movies. She also had no issue with commencing sexual relations with complete strangers, instead usually inviting them to the home as frequent visitors. This appetite is not strictly for men, for it is hinted in "Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut" that she had intercourse with Ms. Crabtree, Mayor McDaniels, and Sheila Broflovski.

Although Liane used to constantly have sex, and ignores the presence of anyone around her to sexually persuade men into her bedroom, it is unknown if Cartman knew the full extent to what his mom really did behind closed doors. Eric has come across various numbers of porn sites and so-called "family videos" gone awry, but seems to either ignore the fact that his mom is a slut or looks as it to be just his sweet, loving mother conned out of her own environment, such as when he explains that his mother told him she was young and needed money when she was featured in Crack Whore Magazine in "Pinkeye", to which Stan retorts, "Cartman, those photos were taken a month ago!" Cartman knows not to complain to his mother, probably already figuring out that if he makes her feel bad about hurting her son, she will eventually turn on him and no longer spoil him in the natural way. Even in "Cartman's Mom is a Dirty Slut" and "Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut" where it is revealed to Eric that his mom has had sex with the entire town, he still has no conversations with his mom about her secret life. Also in "Trapper Keeper", she ends up having sex with the cyborg from the future, Bill Cosby. It is implied "The Wacky Molestation Adventure" that she was having a threesome with Chef and an unnamed man.

In later seasons, her character seems to have changed. For instance, her working as a prostitute has only been occasionally referenced since the fourth season. She is now generally shown to be more responsible with Eric, especially in "Tsst" and "Go God Go". However, in "The Death of Eric Cartman", Cartman mistakes his mom's screams of pleasure for cries of sadness, when in reality, she is receiving sex from a plumber whom she invited to her house. Aside that instance, Ms. Cartman's infidelities have remained virtually unmentioned between the fourth season and "200". As mentioned above, whenever Liane has any male guests over, she'll offer to show them "the rest of the rest of the house" which she uses as an excuse to sneak the guest up to her bedroom and have sex with them as she does with Bill Cosby (BSM-471) in "Trapper Keeper".

In South Park: The Stick of Truth, if the New Kid hits Liane with a weapon, she will either yelp or moan in amusement or say "Oh, my!" which reveals Liane's sexual appetite.

She can be seen again in South Park: The Fractured But Whole when she decides to start again her "Tutoring classes" in the town, in which she ask The New Kid to help her spread the tutoring business cards in Skeeter's Wine Bar and giving it to three men.

She also appears in South Park: Phone Destroyer as Sorceress Liane, a fighter under the Fantasy theme, with the ability of turning nearby enemies into cocks upon her death.

Appearance

Screenshot-by-nimbus (1)

Liane's formal black dress

Liane is about average height for an adult female South Park character. She wears a turquoise sweater, and brick red trousers. Her outfit slightly resembles that of Cartman's, in that her sweater is the same color as his toque, and her trousers are like his coat. She has long brown hair which is usually tied back in an old-fashioned bun design, and wears rosy lipstick, and usually has a sweet, motherly expression on her face.

As a teenager or young adult at the 12th annual drunken barn dance, she wore a dark red long-sleeve crop top, a dark black skirt, and dark red shoes to match the shirt. She also had her hair down.

For special occasions, she wears a black dress with gray lining on the top that partially reveals her cleavage and a white necklace. In "Tonsil Trouble", she wears a red version of this dress. When dressed for bed, she wears either a dark cyan nightgown or a pink robe, and often wears a green facial mask.

When outside of the house or re-entering the house, she is often seen wearing a light brown trench coat over her usual outfit, especially in newer episodes from the fourteenth and fifteenth seasons. It is usually buttoned up with a belt around her waist, but sometimes she leaves it open. She wears it most prominently in "HUMANCENTiPAD" where she wears it for nearly the entire episode.

In "Merry Christmas Charlie Manson!", she wore glasses while driving, which implies that she is nearsighted. However, in later episodes such as "Medicinal Fried Chicken" she drives without them.

In South Park: Phone Destroyer, she wears the same black formal outfit as in "Cat Orgy" but with a pointed sorcerer hat and a broom, despite her card artwork showing that she wears a black bodysuit.

In "The Pandemic Special", she wears a yellow face covering over her mouth and nose during the riots. She wears it over her chin while standing on the street outside the school, waiting for Mr. Mackey to make an announcement on the students' conditions.

In South Park: Post Covid, her attire has not really changed much other than her wearing a blue button up cardigan over her regular sweater. She has visible bumps and wrinkles on her face and her hair has darkened due to old age. She also gained a little bit of weight.

To see images of Liane Cartman, visit Liane Cartman/Gallery.

Family

216 cartman family

Some of Liane's relatives.

Liane understood a German-speaking man in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, indicating that she may be of German descent, though it may just be that she learned the language while filming the scheisse films, which are German. According to Eric, she is Dutch-Irish on her mother's side.

Her family is shown for the first time in "Merry Christmas Charlie Manson!", where she, her son, and the rest of the main four, go on a trip to Nebraska to visit them for Christmas. Most of her relatives appear to be similar in matter to her son; all fat, with the same speech impediment and catchphrases such as "Kickass!" and "RESPECT MY AUTHORITAH!!" "No, (Pet's name), that's my pot pie. No, (Pet's Name), that's a bad (Pet's Name)!". The family is seen again in the beginning of "Cartmanland" at her mother'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.

  • Her parent's names are Harold and Mabel (deceased).
  • Her brothers are named Howard and Stinky.
  • Her sister-in-law is named Lisa.
  • Her two nephews are named Fred and Elvin
  • She has a teenage niece named Alexandra
  • And she has a grandmother named Florence.

Various other unnamed members of the Cartman clan were shown in the episode, as well as in "Cartmanland".

Eric Cartman

Liane shows great deference to her overweight son Eric, and has been seen on numerous occasions bowing to his will, constantly spoiling him rotten. She also ignores his obesity (often saying that he is "just big-boned") and will usually give him some normal food smothered in junk food, as seen in the pilot episode "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe", giving Cartman a, "chocolate chicken pot pie with icing on top". Of course, Eric's obesity is at least partly genetic. It is seen that Eric and his mother have a great bond with each other. However, since "Tsst", she has begun to grow resistant to his whining and his demands — seen in "Go God Go" and "Go God Go XII", where she is quite stern with him when he shows great impatience regarding the release date of the Nintendo Wii console. She shows further resolve in "Coon 2: Hindsight", "Mysterion Rises" and "Coon vs. Coon & Friends", during which she punishes Cartman for his behavior and violent actions against his friends, particularly Clyde and Bradley. She also shows further resolve in "HUMANCENTiPAD", where she refused to buy Cartman an iPad because it was way too expensive and then refused to head back to Best Buy to get a Toshiba Handibook due to Cartman's unacceptable behavior at the store.

Liane rarely raises her voice (the most prominent occasion being in "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe", in which she suggests he go out and play with his friends and then shouts "don't be difficult Eric!" when he protests, and in "Shots!!!", during a school meeting when Sheila insinuates that Liane does not love Cartman enough to vaccinate him, Liane yells at her and the rest of the protesting parents that none of them have had to hold Eric down and go through what she goes through), and the only discipline she dispenses is a very rare slap on the head when Eric embarrasses her in public (in "Do the Handicapped Go to Hell?" and "Quintuplets 2000") and infrequent grounding such as when he tried to exterminate the Jews, or when he saw the Terrance and Phillip movie two times then accidentally made Kenny set himself on fire. She has shown admonishing him not to pick his nose (to which he insists he was only scratching it). In "Coon 2: Hindsight", Liane not only punishes Eric for being bad, every time he talks back to her, she would raise her voice. In "HUMANCENTiPAD", Liane again shows a strong stance against her son, as she is seen yelling at Cartman for loudly implying that she was "fucking him" (leading others to believe he means sexually, when in truth he means figuratively). She seems to have no issue yelling at him in public anymore as she berates Cartman's misbehavior on the Dr. Phil show. In "Shots!!!", although initially allowing Eric to get away with not receiving his shots and receiving a toy after every visit, she decided not to force her child to get shots, although when he asked to get a toy, she firmly yelled that he would not be allowed to get a toy since he did not receive his shots, demonstrating she is no longer willing to reward Eric when he does not deserve it.

Liane has also supposedly instilled in Cartman some of his bigoted behavior towards the Jews, gingers, and black people. Cartman was often heard to quote his mother's supposed beliefs, much to the surprise of his friends and the towns people. Liane however has never vocalized these opinions on camera, leading to questions of whether or not she really said them or if Cartman misquoted her or made it up. However, in Pinkeye, Liane created for Cartman an Adolf Hitler costume for Halloween, which at the time Cartman had no idea who Hitler was. In "Cherokee Hair Tampons", she told her her son to stay away from Kyle because he had AIDS, when Kyle actually had kidney failure. Also, in "Merry Christmas Charlie Manson!", she had Kyle hold Florence Cartman's catheter bag. This implies some sort of bigotry or at least ignorance on Liane's behalf. In "Ginger Kids" she screamed when she realized that Cartman turned ginger (though Kyle, Stan, and Kenny dyed his hair and whitened his skin to make him look ginger). However, Lisa Cartman and Jack Tenorman are both ginger.

In more recent episodes, Liane seems to have grown tired of Cartman's behavior. This was seen in "Shots" where she gets embarrassed and upset after Eric freaked out when the doctor attempted to give him his shot despite Eric promising her that he would let the doctor do so moments earlier. She reluctantly lets Eric pick out a toy he was not deserving of. At the end of the episode, though she would not force Cartman to get shots, she refused to let him pick out a toy that he did not deserve in the first place. In "Pajama Day", after Cartman tells Liane that she got his demands of what to say to PC Principal on the phone wrong, Liane responds with an annoyed expression. At the end of "City People", Cartman's actions not only caused Liane to lose her job but also caused the both of them to move out of their home and into Coney Island Hotdog. Liane blames Cartman for making her lose her job, clearly upset of the situation and even ignores him who tries to make light of it and acts oblivious of what he caused. In South Park: The Streaming Wars, Liane kept blaming Cartman for causing her to quit her job and the both of their current living state. Cartman, on the other hand, devises a plan to coerce Liane into getting a breast implant, which escalated all the way up to a legal issue in South Park: The Streaming Wars Part 2, further angering Liane. In "DikinBaus Hot Dogs", she once again blame Cartman for getting her fired from her job while gets annoyed when he pleads to get a job and starts making renovations to Coney Island Hotdog. Later on, the two move back into their old home much to Cartman's chargin. Despite Cartman's pleads to go back to the hotdog stand, Liane simply ignores her son's begging.

Relationships

In terms of friends, she seems integrated into the circle of parents around the town often seen interacting with Sharon Marsh, Sheila Broflovski, Carol McCormick and the other parents when they congregate. However, "Tsst" seems to imply that Liane has few or no friends, and that her servitude to her son is a psychological attempt to make up for that. Given how rarely she is seen alone with the other mothers - usually while the children are playing or as a group - it is possible that she does not consider them friends due to their relationships being more related to their children. Her loneliness could also be a reason for her promiscuity.

Video Games

South Park Rally

Liane appears as a secret playable character in the game. To unlock her, the player must win the Pink Lemonade race while being the only player to deliver pink lemonade to the tables. However, she is not available on the Nintendo 64 version.

South Park: The Stick of Truth

She can be seen sweeping in her kitchen the first time the New Kid joins Kupa Keep and after the Elves' first attack when the player leaves. On the player's first night, she tells Cartman and his "little druid friends" to go get ready for bed. She can be talked to and friended on Facebook. She also attends the PTA meeting in the quest PTA Problems.

South Park: The Fractured but Whole

Liane gives the player a side mission in the game titled Vigilante Marketing. Here, she will ask the player to give out tickets for an adult tutoring class she is hosting. After this is done, she will award the player with some special hand-cooked brownies, which are needed to make the Chocolate Memberito item to unlock the Summon TimeFart.

Later on The Big Beatdown, the player must fight a pimp who has invaded her house. After he has been defeated, Liane will ask the player to take a selfie with the pimp's two prostitutes as part of their new "family", and she will even start to refer to the player as "Daddy". After this is done, The Coon arrives to the scene and notices the situation, but Liane just tells him there are some snacks in the kitchen.

South Park: Phone Destroyer

Sorceress Liane is a 5-Cost Epic Fighter of the Fantasy theme that sees Liane dressed up as a witch. While her card art shows her in a very provocative outfit, her in-game sprite shows her in a simple witch hat and dress. When she dies in battle, any enemies or allies near her turn into Cocks, and the number of targets from her spell increases depending on her level.

Prominence

Liane had a major role early on in the series and was the most prominent of the boys' parents, but over time she gained less spotlight as Randy took on that role. She has had a speaking role in every season to date, as well as in the movie and several video games.

Movies

Trivia

  • In the episode "Jakovasaurs", she is seen smoking crack, which is stated by Cartman to be "an old joke". In Season 15's "The Poor Kid", she tells police she has not done drugs in a long time.
  • It has been said that "Liane" is the name of the longtime lover and ex-fiancée of Trey Parker. When he found of her repeated infidelities on him, he was inspired to create this character; who is promiscuous and a drug addict, not to mention also an inept mother.
  • Other characters sometimes call her "Mrs.", despite the fact that she has never married onscreen.

See Also

References

Cartman Family
Alexandra Cartman | Cartman's Unnamed Relatives | Elvin Cartman | Eric Cartman | Fat Bob | Florence Cartman | Fluffy | Fred Cartman | Harold Cartman | Howard Cartman | Liane Cartman | Lisa Cartman | Mabel Cartman | Mr. Kitty | Uncle Stinky
Advertisement