Michael

Michael
Character Information
Aliases	Tall Goth
Gender	Male
Race	Biracial-mixed (White and Chinese.)
Hair	Black
Age	11
Occupation	Student
Grade	5th grade
Religion	Unconfirmed Formerly: Cult of Cthulhu
Voiced by	Matt Stone
Relatives
Parents	Unnamed
Appearances
First	"Raisins"

For other uses, see Michael (Disambiguation).

Michael is the leader of the Goth Kids, a group consisting of Pete Thelman, Henrietta Biggle and Firkle Smith, often appearing in storylines without featuring the other three members. He first appears in the Season Seven episode, "Raisins". He is the oldest member of the Goth Kids, though Henrietta is still very close in age to him. He is 11 years old.

Background

Michael first appears in the Season 7 episode, "Raisins". He is the second character to be introduced in the lineup of Goth Kids. In his opening lines, he condemns traditional ideals of love and American capitalism and says "Love didn't work for my mom and dad, why should it work for me?" implying that his parents are either divorced or more likely in a loveless relationship.

Throughout the episode, Michael (currently known only as "Tall Goth" within the scripts and South Park Studios) is a gatekeeper to their group of goths, convincing Stan to conform to their ideals in order to ironically become a "non-conformist". He claims that in order to be goth, one has to dress the same as them and listen to the same music- as well as drink coffee, appropriately write about pain, and smoke cigarettes.

Later on in the episode, he invites Butters- heartbroken over his "breakup" to come along with them, but Butters denies his offer. Stan further realizes that he doesn't feel like he truly fits in with the goths and leaves them as well, offending Michael in his renunciation. "Go ahead and go back to your sunshine fairy tail!"

Michael returns in the episode "You Got F'd in the A", deciding to join up with Stan's dance team only after the rest of his group declines, just to be contrary. He suggests going to the arcade, mentioning a kid named Yao who he's always seeing play Dance Dance Revolution. Michael seems to know a lot about Yao- apparently visiting the arcade on his own accord often. He also claims they "need a girl, (for the dance team) or people will think we're f***." Insecure enough about his own sexuality to worry that being in a dance troupe with all boys would make him seem gay. He ends up learning the dance routine and successfully helping the South Park Diggities win the dance competition.

Michael reappears in "The Ungroundable" being mistaken for a Vampire kid. To counter this, he suggests they dress like conformists instead, but end up being called names that made them go goth in the first place (Michael's being "the kid with the big nose") The Goth Kids kidnap Mike Makowski (the head Vampire Kid) and suggest ramming a stake through his heart, but end up sending him to Scottsdale, Arizona instead, believing it to be the lamest place on Earth. To stop the spread of vampires, he and the other Goth Kids burn down the Hot Topic located in the South Park Mall.

In "C*** vs. C*** & Friends", the Goth Kids, including Michael, want Cthulhu to take over the world and are apart of the cult that tries to stop Mysterion from saving the world. This is all in an effort to erase conformists from the world and make things more goth. Once they attain their goal however, they realize things haven't changed a bit since Cthulhu took over and help Mysterion get educated on how to defeat him.

Michael appears in "T.M.I." in the anger management class with several other people. He may have a small penis, as he goes to an anger management class with other people who have anger issues due to their penis size. He goes along with Cartman and Randy's plan to take over all the FedEx's in order to confront the government. He has no demands for the people and probably just wants to fuck shit up for fun. Upon hearing the national penis size average has been lowered to 1.5 inches, Michael is happy and calm, along with the rest of the P*ssed Off and Angry Party.

In "Goth Kids 3: Dawn of the Posers", Michael, Pete, and Firkle hear about Henrietta going to a disciplinary camp that turned her "emo". They go to the CPS agency in an attempt to report Henrietta's parents' child abuse but failed to report the innocence. Later in the episode, he tries to confront Henrietta, who tells him that the emo's will concur with the world, so he should not try to stop them. After returning home, his parents end up sending him to the same camp to help "make him normal". He tries escaping with help twice and is nearly turned into an emo by Firkle, but is saved in the nick of time by Pete Thelman, Mike Makowski and Edgar Allan Poe (a.k.a. Night Pain).

Criminal Record

Michael and the Goth Kids burning down "Hot Topic".

The Goth Kids have collectively and individually engaged in numerous criminal offenses.

• Arson: In "The Ungroundable", Michael and the other Goth Kids set fire to Hot Topic, burning it to the ground.
• Attempted Murder / Kidnapping: In "The Ungroundable", he, along with the other Goth Kids, kidnap Mike Makowski, the leader of the South Park Vampire Society, with the intent of murdering him. However, they change their minds after he admits he is not a vampire and ship him off to Scottsdale, Arizona instead.
• Drug Abuse / Underage Smoking: Michael is frequently seen smoking cigarettes despite being underage as well as abusing cough syrup to hallucinate.
• Hostage-Taking / Terrorism: In "T.M.I.", Michael participates in the Pissed Off and Angry Party's taking of hostages at the Fed-Ex offices.
• Treason / Sedition: In the Superhero Arc, they are shown to be part of the Cthulhu cult and supporting the eponymous monster's reign of terror. They later leave the cult, though, expressing dissatisfaction with the outcome.

Talents

Music

Michael is the vocalist in the Goth Kids' band. Their only known song was "Talent Shows are for ****", which was played ironically at the South Park Elementary Talent Show in the episode "Erection Day".

Dancing

In "You Got F'd in the A", Michael joins The South Park Diggities along with Stan, Mercedes, Yao, Jeffy and later Butters. The Diggities win the dance-off against the Orange County Crew, mainly due to Butters killing them accidentally.

Poetry

In "Raisins", Michael, along with the other Goth Kids, get Stan into writing gothic poetry about his pain and suffering. He critiques Stan's emotionally charged writing, telling him he can't write "I miss you so much, babe, I want to hold you in my arms again, girl.". He specializes in poetry about pain.

Appearance

Being half Caucasian and half Chinese, he has half-round, half almond-shaped eyes, or rather a rounded-almond-shaped hybrid of eyes. He walks with a brown stiff walking stick, with the fact he is an Edwardian Goth; however, sometimes he is seen walking without it, even once giving it to Stan in "Raisins" and tossing it aside while running in "Goth Kids 3: Dawn of the Posers". He is taller than the other kids and has curly black hair parted with a side bang. He has a large nose that is visible along with his ears, unlike most children in the South Park franchise/series, and has black eyeliner under his eyes, slightly concealing the Asian look or almond-shape look. He wears a long black jacket with a white dress shirt underneath, black pants, and tall black boots. He also has a gold cross earring hanging on his left ear. He also has a large nose and large ears with attached lobes rather than detached earlobes. The combination of his White-person genetics and his eyeliner might be what make his eyes look slightly rounded and slightly wider or bigger.

When the vampire trend slowly grows, he temporarily dresses up as a conformist to not confuse others with them being vampires. He wears a brown uniform with a white stripe around, long gray pants, along with brown shoes.

In South Park: The Stick of Truth, he wears a Viking helmet, a brown fur scarf, and holds an ax on his current outfit.

In South Park: Post Covid, Michael appears as an adult man. He is the least visibly aged of the goth kids as he has no wrinkles. Although he still wears the same earrings and a black jacket, he now wears a striped navy shirt, dons glasses, and has a stubble.

In "Pajama Day", he is seen wearing a dark-grey, button-up nightgown, a sleeping cap, and black slippers. He also holds a black pillow with a skull and a candle.

Personality

Being more of the "leader" figure for the Goth Kids, Michael is typically the one to make calls on what is and isn't goth- keeping their group more tight knit and getting angry when others seem to copy their style inauthentically. All of the goth kids are relatively angry, but he has notably been singled out and sent to anger management. He is also a lot more comfortable with murder than Pete. Michael notably also has somewhat of a funny side, wearing traditional Victorian Dickens-like pajamas and riding a penny farthing in the bike parade.

Gallery

An official image of Michael and his adult self, along with Firkle Smith.

Family

Michael is half Chinese-half-White. In "Goth Kids 3: Dawn of the Posers", it is revealed that he has a Chinese mother and a White father. However, she could be his stepmother because in the episode "Raisins", he states out "Love didn't work out for my mom and dad, so why should it work out for me?", suggesting that his biological parents were divorced. However, it could be an angsty exaggeration, similar to how Henrietta claims that her mother "abuses" her. Though, Michael is shown to have a level of respect for her, referring to her as his mother, which he likely wouldn't do to his stepmother.

Video Games

South Park: The Stick of Truth

Michael appears with the rest of the Goth kids behind South Park Elementary. When the Stick of Truth is believed to be stolen by the Drow Elves, Cartman enlists The New Kid to recruit the goths, with Michael acting as the spokesperson for the group. He dismisses The New Kid for not dressing goth or being goth for that matter, but when Firkle coaxes him into giving them a chance, he caves and tells them that the only way they'll join the KKK is if The New Kid can prove that they are goth.

Once The New Kid returns dressed in gothic clothes and with coffee and cigarettes on hand, Michael is still unconvinced. He challenges them to dance like a goth, and once they prove they can do that he gives them one last challenge: put up a 'Fuck the Conformists' sign during a PTA meeting about the new Taco Bell.

Upon returning with photo evidence, Michael agrees to join whoever The New Kid wants them to. No matter who you choose, the goths seem both embarrassed and enthralled with the roleplaying, and actually get quite into it, even changing their profile pictures on Facebook to their Kupa Keep variants. They prove helpful too, by beating up a bunch of the enemies located behind the school and unlocking the back door if you're with Cartman. After this event they recognize The New Kid as a true goth, and Michael is pretty chill around them.

He even seems to have rubbed off on The New Kid, as at the end of the game, they tell the other boys "Screw you guys, I'm going home.", which could be an attitude picked up from the goths.

South Park: The Fractured But Whole

Michael and the other Goth Kids can be found in Henrietta's Bedroom. The New Kid is required to complete a ritual in the room before they can take a selfie. Michael still seems pretty friendly with The New Kid, even smiling in his selfie when many other characters in game will not. He doesn't seem to like doing it, though.

South Park: Phone Destroyer

Michael

Trivia

• His conformist outfit in the show has no eyeliner, though official merchandise of it does.
• Michael is likely right handed.
• Michael's trench coat has a back vent, though none of his merchandise reflects this.
• Michael is meant to represent the stereotype of a mopey goth.
• Michael's estimated height is 3'7.
• He is likely disabled, as he is shown in his child and adult version's side profiles to be hunched over, whilst using a cane.
• Michael is confirmed to be Chinese, as in "The China Problem", the family from his family photos are shown, speaking Chinese. This is also shown as his mother is shown portraying the same stereotype as Tuong Lu Kim, along with other Chinese characters.
• Michael is the only member of his group of goth clique members whose last name is unrevealed.
  • Furthermore, you can tell that Michael is East Asian by the clear stereotype hinted out about his heritage having small penises as East Asian men are stereotyped this in the episode "T.M.I.", though hes likely just insecure for no reason, as he's 11.
• Michael was the leader singer of the goth band as a faux-mock to talent shows in the school talent show in the episode "Erection Day", saying that talent shows are "for f***", and at the end of their performance, he said that that'll show them and Pete followed up that he (Pete) hopes they win (the talent show).
• He showed non-conformity even more than his Goth clique by not following in their way of not joining Stan's dance troupe by joining it in the episode "You Got F'd in the A". He also had the title for the second dancer for Stan to pick besides himself and even had the idea to have a female dancer so that they do not appear homosexual, Stan having the idea for a Raisins girl.
• He is one of the very few child characters on the show or in the series in general to look like to be animated with a visible nose and a visible pair of ears, the latter which is taken advantage of by giving him an earring or piercing as a Goth look, unlike with Stan as a Goth who always looks to be animated without ears, but was animated with a Goth earring or Goth piercing slash Goth ear piercing as well, along with not having a nose also.
• Michael seems to have the most dissatisfaction in Kenny's Mysterion super identity or alter ego out of all of the members of his goth clique as he sarcastically retorted "Oh, joy, it's Underwear Boy again" when Mysterion came to him and his clique on how to stop Cthulhu and save his friends from the Dark Sunken City of Menissiah and return things back to normal.
• He is possibly the only member of his goth clique who is not monoracial white.
• A made-up boy character with his first name was made up by Tweek Tweak as a part of acting as a staged breakup between him and Craig in the episode "Tweek x Craig", though this is not him.
• In "You Got F'd In The A", it mentions a dancer who plays with a dance machine in a video-game arcade being East Asian, but it is not yet fully revealed the he, Michael, himself, is Chinese.
• His visible ears with detached earlobes are even more shown visible that he has ears when he cupped his pierced ear to listen to Mike pleading and begging him and his clique by revealing that he is not really a vampire, which they do believe.
• Even though he is technically the only goth kid animated with showing ears inside and outside his clique, most of the other goth kids, most particularly Henrietta and Firkle, have ear that covers the sides of their heads where ears would be shown.

Prominence

• "Raisins" - First introduced when a depressed Stan starts hanging out with them.
• "You Got F'd in the A" - Joins Stan's dance crew, claiming that he is so non-conformist that he would not conform with the goths.
• "Goobacks" - Seen cleaning up garbage with others at the near end.
• "Quest for Ratings" - Seen abusing cough medicine at the end of Sexy Action News's broadcast.
• "Best Friends Forever" - Seen waiting in line for the PSP behind Kenny. Cartman attempts to cut in front of them.
• "Erection Day" - Performs "Talent Shows are for ****".
• "Breast Cancer Show Ever" - Talks to Stan in the hall and watches the fight between Wendy and Cartman.
• "The Ungroundable" - Gets angry when the vampire trend takes over the school and their style is appropriated.
• "Mysterion Rises" - A part of the Cult of Cthulhu and confronted by Mysterion.
• "C*** vs. C*** & Friends" - Helps Mysterion in learning Cthulhu's weakness.
• "T.M.I." - Attends anger management. It is revealed that he has a small penis.
• "Butterballs" - Seen sitting on the stairs during Stan's anti-bullying video.
• "Goth Kids 3: Dawn of the Posers" - Featured heavily in the episode, he attempts to save Henrietta from the camp for troubled children, only to end up being captured himself.
• "Black Friday" - Joins the group that wants to get PS4s on Black Friday.
• "A Song of Ass and Fire" - Seen briefly on Stan's side.
• "Titties and Dragons" - Seen at Red Robin.
• "Stunning and Brave" - Seen in the cafeteria during the introduction of PC Principal.
• "Fort Collins" - Seen in a photograph on the wall of Heidi's bedroom.
• "Oh, Jeez" - Seen in a photograph on the wall of Heidi's bedroom.
• "Hummels & Heroin" - Rallies with Marcus Preston after witnessing his presentation in the school cafeteria.
• "The Scoots" - Seen trick or treating on an E-Scooter.
• "Bike Parade" - Seen at the bike parade riding a penny farthing.
• "Basic Cable" - Called a poser by Pete after he learns Michael also introduced himself to Sophie Gray offscreen.
• "South ParQ Vaccination Special" - Seen taking the COVID-19 vaccine with Henrietta, Pete, and Firkle.
• "Pajama Day" - Wears pajamas with Henrietta in school on Pajama Day.

Movies

• South Park: Post Covid - Appears in Kenny's memorial service. Is also seen sleeping at the school.
• South Park: Post Covid: The Return of Covid - Seen attending a party at Denny's Applebee's Max.