Liane Cartman is the mother of Eric Cartman.
Appearance
Liane on the SP-site.
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. Her hair color may also be compared to his pants. She has long brown hair which is usually tied back in an old-fashioned design, and wears a rosy lipstick, and usually has a sweet, motherly expression on her face.
For special occasions, she wears a black dress with gray lining on the top and large cleavage window. 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.
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.
Character
Liane Cartman's Debut.
Liane is a good-natured individual but with a definite edge to her. Her voice is usually kind and soft (and sounded more sweet in the 4th through 7th seasons when she was voiced by Eliza Schneider, and her actions are usually to aid others, particularly her son.)
There has been however, many implications that Ms. Cartman is as racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic as Cartman, who on numerous occasions (at least during the early seasons), quoted his mother as saying offensive and politically incorrect statements regarding black people, gays, and Jews. Liane herself however, has not vocalized these opinions on camera. Apparently she's also a great cook (as implied by Stan in Damien).
The photo behind Cartman's couch which shows Liane handing out cookies at Mount Rushmore
Before the episode "The Passion of the Jew" Liane is usually seen driving a generic family sedan just like everyone else in South Park, but in that episode, the boys are seen playing 'ShuttleCraft' in her brand-new silver minivan, a 1st-generation Mazda MPV.
In accordance with her sweet-natured, motherly image, she is 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.
Cartman's Abuse
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 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 the episode 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 Wii console. She shows further resolve in The Coon, 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 the episode 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 Handbook due to Cartman's unacceptable behavior at the store.
Liane rarely raises her voice (the most prominent occassion being in Cartman Gets an Anal Probe, in which she suggests he go out and play with his friends and then shouts "stop being difficult Eric!" when he protests), and the only discipline she dispenses is a very rare slap on the head when Eric embarrasses her in public; and infrequent grounding such as when he tried to exterminate the Jews, or when he saw the Terrence 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's only scratching it). In Coon 2: Hindsight, Liane not only punishes Eric for being bad, everytime 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.
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 Hilter costume for Halloween, which at the time Cartman had no idea who Hitler was. This implies some sort of bigotry or at least ignorance on Liane's behalf.
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 hermaphrodite with both female and male genitalia (though Dr. Mephisto implies in "Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut" that she no longer has the latter). However, in the episode 201, it is revealed that she actually isn't 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.
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 the episode "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 the episode "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.
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 recieving 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".
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 & Eric's Parentage
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, speculation rose as to who his mother was.
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. 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 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 chilli, and fed to his half-brother Scott. It is explained that Liane had questioned whether or not 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.
Family and relations
Here are 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.
Her family is shown for the first time in the episode "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 the episode "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 (maybe deceased) and Mabel (deceased).
- Her brother is named Howard.
- Her sister 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".
Friends
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, the episode "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 or playing or as a group - it's possible that she does not consider them friends due to their relationships being more related to their children.
Episodes In Which She Is Prominent
- Cartman's Mom is a Dirty Slut - Liane starts a chain of stories involving the occurrences of a party in which someone supposedly impregnated her with Cartman.
- Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut - Liane finally decides to admit to Cartman that she is not really his mother, but actually is his father.
- Cow Days - Was One Of the citizens in the running of the cows and starts Rioting In The Canival After Kyle Declares Shenanigans.
- Cartman Joins NAMBLA - Liane Was One Of The Women Reunited With Their Sons At The South Park Inn.
- Cherokee Hair Tampons - Liane is one of the women buying into Miss Information's herbal medications.
- Fat Camp - Liane has Cartman sent away to a fat camp, in an effort to make him lose weight. Later, is overjoyed by the "results" the camp had on him.
- Freak Strike - Liane helps Cartman lie to get on the Maury Povich Show.
- Up the Down Steroid - Liane helps Cartman lie to get into the Special Olympics.
- Tsst - Liane tries to control Eric Cartman's bad behavior by getting the help of several nannies, before finally turning to Cesar Milllan for help.
- 201 - Scott Tenorman reveals to Cartman, that his father is not Liane, but rather Jack Tenorman, Scott's own father.
- Coon 2: Hindsight - Gives Cartman the beat-down about beating up friends, also drives Coon and friends to burning building.
- Coon vs. Coon and Friends - Tells Cartman the he's grounded, only to get confused by him asking "What Should I Do?"
- HUMANCENTiPAD - Cartman makes everyone believe that she regularly molests him.
She has had various other brief appearances with and without speaking lines in other episodes.
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