Marvin "Grandpa" Marsh is a character in South Park. He is Stan Marsh's suicidal grandfather and is voiced by Trey Parker, who also provides the voices for both his son and his grandson.
Appearance
Marvin wears a dark red sweater and black trousers. He is wrinkly and has age spots here and there, and his hair is gray. He is also confined to a wheel-chair.
Occupations
In the episode "Grey Dawn", Marvin Marsh revealed that he worked 55 years in a steel mill. In World War II, he flew a Spitfire over Germany, probably a reference to one of the four groups of United States Army Air Forces stationed in England and the Mediterranean equipped with the Supermarine Spitfire, a British single-seat fighter.
Family
Born in 1895, he has been referred to as both Stan's maternal and paternal grandfather. As the series progressed, though, he was more heavily implied to be Randy's father, sharing his surname as well. This is backed up even further in "Fantastic Easter Special", where Randy says his family has been in a society which guards a secret about Easter for generations, and Grampa is shown to be a member. However, in the episode, "Something Wall-Mart This Way Comes", Sheila asks Sharon (looking at Marvin, who is an employee at the store) "Sharon, isn't that your father?", to which Sharon replies "Yes." This could be a simple continuity error, or it could mean that Sharon see's Marvin to be as close to her as her own father.
In episode "Death", he is revealed to have just turned 102 years of age. If Randy is only 38 years old, as has been mentioned, then this would have made Grandpa 63-64 years old when Randy was born. We have yet to learn why he was so old at the time of his son's birth.
He often addresses Stan as "Billy", to which Stan will angrily tell him that he is not named Billy, his name is Stan. This name confusion appears to be genetic, as the ghost of Stan's great-great-grandfather called his grandson "Billy" instead of "Marvin" in the episode "Death". He also has been shown on multiple occasions calling people a "pompous son-of-a-whore" in various situations, like if he tells someone to do something, such as in "Death" when he called Death that after he went after the boys (or more specifically, Kenny) and not Grandpa Marsh.
Grandma Marsh was introduced in "You have 0 Friends". Due to the fact that Grandpa Marsh does not live with Grandma Marsh, and because he once had a sexual encounter with a contortionist in "Quintuplets 2000", this would imply that he and Grandma are divorced. Also due to the fact that Jimbo Kern is 51 and Randy Marsh is 38 and it's confirmed they have separate fathers, this would imply that Marvin is Grandma Marsh' second husband, assuming that she did indeed marry their fathers. Grandpa Marsh is listed at being 102 years old, however Grandma Marsh looks considerable younger than him. Due to the fact that Randy is 38, Grandpa must have been roughly 64 when he impregnated Grandma. She was most likely considerably younger.
Randy tried to videotape him in the bathtub in "Pandemic" during his obsession with the video camera, but had not put any film in.
Suicide attempts
In his first appearance, "Death", Grampa Marsh desperately wants to die because he is bored with life. After his own failed attempt at suicide, he turns to Stan to do the job for him. Stan approaches various people for advice on the matter but all are unwilling to answer. When Grampa Marsh eventually does convince Stan to kill him, Death's sudden appearance foils the plan (although Death was actually looking for Kenny). Death points into the light where Grampa Marsh's own grandfather (who refers to Marvin as "Billy"), whom he had killed when he was a boy, convinces him to wait for natural causes. For several following episodes such as "Cartman's Mom Is a Dirty Slut", Grampa is seen carrying around a noose, imply that he still wants to die.
Driver's License
In the episode "Grey Dawn", Grampa and the rest of South Park's elderly residents were angered when their driving licenses are taken away after their bad driving killed a number of people. He started a movement to let the elderly keep their licenses, but it ultimately failed. He was later caught driving without his license (which had been taken away) and he was arrested. However, he was soon rescued by the AARP, whom he teamed up with to start randomly killing any non-senior citizen they came across. After a brief period of complete control of South Park, and plans to overtake the entire country, maybe even the world, his group was thwarted when the four boys locked them out of the Country Kitchen Buffet (their only source of food). The group eventually surrendered, and life returned to normal.
Episodes in which he is prominent
- Death - Marvin's first appearance. He tries in various ways to get Stan to kill him.
- The Red Badge of Gayness - Marvin participates in the war reenactment. He also says Kyle's usual line after Kenny gets killed.
- Quintuplets 2000 - Marvin disapproves of the boys going to the Cirque de Cheville. Later, he has a one-night-stand with the grandmother of the quintuplets (which is, ironically, her last-night-stand). Marvin also tries to get one of the soldiers to kill him.
- Grey Dawn - Marvin has his driving license taken away as part of a program to strip senior citizens of their driver's licenses. Marvin later participates in the revolt of senior citizens being led by the AARP.
- Something Wall-Mart This Way Comes - Marvin is employed as a greeter at Wall-Mart.
- Fantastic Easter Special - Marvin is shown to be a member of the Hare Club for Men, as all the male members of the Marsh family have been for generations.
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