Editing Eric Cartman (section)

==Character==
===Creation and design===
[[Image:CartmanWithoutHat.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Cartman's hair, which is usually hidden underneath his hat]]
A precursor to Cartman first appeared in the first ''The Spirit of Christmas'' short, dubbed ''Jesus vs. Frosty'', created by Parker and Stone in 1992 while they were students at the [[University of Colorado at Boulder|University of Colorado]]. In the short, the character resembling Cartman was named "Kenny", and a variation of the catchphrase "Oh my God, they killed Kenny!" was exclaimed when this character was killed by an evil snowman. The character was composed of [[construction paper]] cutouts and animated through the use of [[stop motion]].<ref name="method">{{cite news | author = Matt Cheplic | title = 'As Crappy As Possible': The Method Behind the Madness of South Park | publisher = [[Penton Media]] | date = May 1, 1998 | url = http://www.creativeplanetnetwork.com/news/news-articles/crappy-possible-method-behind-madness-south-park/382927/ | access-date = April 28, 2009 | archive-date = December 22, 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151222091538/http://www.creativeplanetnetwork.com/news/news-articles/crappy-possible-method-behind-madness-south-park/382927 | url-status = live }}</ref> When commissioned three years later by friend Brian Graden to create another short as a [[video]] [[Christmas card]] that he could send to friends, Parker and Stone created another similarly-animated ''The Spirit of Christmas'' short, dubbed ''Jesus vs. Santa''.<ref name="VH1">{{cite web|url=http://www.vh1.com/press/bios/brian_graden.jhtml |title=Brian Graden's Bio |publisher=VH1.com |access-date=January 10, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080120161058/http://www.vh1.com/press/bios/brian_graden.jhtml |archive-date=January 20, 2008}}</ref> In this short, his character first appears as he does in the series, and is given the name "Cartman", while the character of Kenny appears as the character is depicted today and given Cartman's moniker from the previous short. Cartman next appeared on August 13, 1997, when ''South Park'' debuted on [[Comedy Central]] with the episode "[[Cartman Gets an Anal Probe]]".

In keeping with the show's [[Cutout animation|animation style]], Cartman is composed of simple geometrical shapes and [[primary color]]s.<ref name="method"/><ref name="avr">{{cite news|author=Abbie Bernstein |title=South Park – Volume 2 |publisher=AVRev.com |date=October 27, 1998 |url=http://www.avrev.com/dvd-movie-disc-reviews/tv-shows/south-park-volume-2.html |access-date=April 30, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515045446/http://www.avrev.com/dvd-movie-disc-reviews/tv-shows/south-park-volume-2.html |archive-date=May 15, 2013}}</ref> He is not offered the same free range of motion associated with hand-drawn characters; his character is mostly shown from one direction, and his movements intentionally jerky.<ref name="growsup2"/><ref name="method"/><ref name="avr"/> Ever since the show's second episode, "[[Weight Gain 4000]]" ([[South Park (season 1)|season one]], 1997), Cartman, like all other characters on the show, has been animated with computer software, though he is portrayed to give the impression that the show still utilizes its original technique.<ref name="method"/>

Cartman is usually depicted wearing winter attire which consists of a red coat, brown pants, yellow gloves/mittens, and a yellow-brimmed turquoise [[knit cap]] tapered with a yellow [[pom-pom]]. He has parted brown hair, and he is seen without his hat more often than the other characters with distinctive headwear. As he is overweight, his body is wider and his hands noticeably larger than those of the other children, and his head is more elliptical. An additional curved line on his lower face represents a double chin.

Parker adduced that he came up with the voice of Cartman while he and Stone were in film class, where they would speak in high-pitched childish voices, which was quite irksome to their film teachers. They would naturally reproduce these voices in the initial seasons of ''South Park''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Making Fun Of Everyone On 'South Park'|url=https://www.wbur.org/npr/127210540/story.php|access-date=April 6, 2021|website=wbur.org|archive-date=September 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210928161934/https://www.wbur.org/npr/127210540/story.php|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=South Park - Season 24 - TV Series|url=https://southpark.cc.com/seasons/south-park|access-date=April 6, 2021|archive-date=June 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627175917/https://southpark.cc.com/seasons/south-park|url-status=live}}</ref> Although he had originally voiced Cartman without any computer manipulation, Parker now does so by speaking within his normal vocal range with a childlike inflection. The recorded audio is then edited with [[Pro Tools]], and the pitch is altered to make the voice sound like that of a fourth grader.<ref name="digizine">{{cite web|author=Stephanie Jorgl |title=South Park: Where The Sound Ain't No Joke! |publisher=Digizine |year=2005 |url=http://www2.digidesign.com/digizine/dz_Q105/features/cover_story/index.cfm?pagenum=2 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20131130070727/http://www2.digidesign.com/digizine/dz_Q105/features/cover_story/index.cfm?pagenum=2 |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 30, 2013 |access-date=April 30, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = South Park FAQ | url = http://www.southparkstudios.com/fans/faq/archives.php?month=2&year=2009 | date = February 10, 2009 | publisher = South Park Studios | access-date = April 30, 2009 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090511145241/http://www.southparkstudios.com/fans/faq/archives.php?month=2&year=2009 | archive-date = May 11, 2009}}</ref><ref name="sps40">{{cite web|title=40 Questions |url=http://treyparker.info/archives_spstudios.htm |date=October 4, 2001 |publisher=South Park Studios |access-date=January 30, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129004417/http://treyparker.info/archives_spstudios.htm |archive-date=November 29, 2010}}</ref> Parker says to achieve the effect of Cartman's voice, he simply uses the same technique when voicing Stan while "adding a lot of fat to it".<ref>{{cite news|title=Yahoo! Internet Life |publisher=treyparker.info (transcribed from yahoo.com) |year=1998 |url=http://treyparker.info/archives_yahoo_98.htm |access-date=May 9, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129005316/http://treyparker.info/archives_yahoo_98.htm |archive-date=November 29, 2010}}</ref>

===Development===
[[File:TreyParkerHWOFApr2013.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Cartman is voiced by series co-creator [[Trey Parker]].]]
Cartman is partially named after and based on Matt Karpman, a high school classmate of Parker who remains a friend of both Parker and Stone.<ref name=karpmancartman>{{cite web|url=https://southpark.cc.com/fans/faq/archives.php?id=11264|title=FAQ Archives|access-date=May 9, 2009|publisher=South Park Studios|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408072434/http://www.southparkstudios.com/fans/faq/archives.php?id=11264|archive-date=April 8, 2008}}</ref> Cartman is also inspired to some degree by ''[[All in the Family]]'' patriarch [[Archie Bunker]], who is himself inspired by [[Alf Garnett]] from ''[[Till Death Us Do Part]]'', the original British version of ''All in the Family''. Parker and Stone are reportedly big fans of ''All in the Family''. They alleged in 2008 that creating Cartman as a "little eight-year-old fat kid" made it easier for the two to portray a Bunker-like character after the introduction of [[political correctness]] to late-20th century television.<ref name="NPR">{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89375695 |title=Eric Cartman: America's Favorite Little $@#&*% |access-date=October 25, 2008 |last=Rovner |first=Julie |date=April 5, 2008 |work=[[National Public Radio|NPR]] |archive-date=May 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220524070427/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89375695 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite interview|url=http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/about.aspx?id=12881 |title=Matt Stone, Trey Parker, Larry Divney 'Speaking Freely' transcript |access-date=February 8, 2007 |date=March 1, 2002 |subject=Trey Parker |subject2=Matt Stone |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209001855/http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/about.aspx?id=12881 |archive-date=February 9, 2010}}</ref> While developing the character, Parker noted that everyone either remembers "an annoying fat kid in their pasts", or "they were the annoying fat kid".<ref>{{cite web|title=Yahoo! Chat |publisher=treyparker.info (transcribed from yahoo.com) |date=June 28, 1999 |url=http://treyparker.info/archives_transcripts_yahoo_28jun99.htm |access-date=May 9, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129011634/http://treyparker.info/archives_transcripts_yahoo_28jun99.htm |archive-date=November 29, 2010}}</ref> Stone has observed that "kids are not nice, innocent, flower-loving little rainbow children&nbsp;... they don't have any kind of social tact or etiquette, they're just complete little raging bastards".<ref name="lowbrow"/>

In the [[South Park (season 5)|season five]] (2001) episode "[[Scott Tenorman Must Die]]", Cartman is tricked into buying the [[pubic hair]] of a local ninth-grader named Scott Tenorman for $16.12. He then successfully executes an elaborate scheme to publicly humiliate Scott in front of his favorite band [[Radiohead]], by getting Scott's parents killed and then tricking Scott into eating them.<ref name="mcfarland2">{{cite news|author=Melanie McFarland|title=Social satire keeps 'South Park' fans coming back for a gasp, and a laugh|work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer|date=October 2, 2006|url=http://www.seattlepi.com/tv/287050_tv02.html|access-date=May 12, 2009|archive-date=September 15, 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120915113720/http://www.seattlepi.com/tv/287050_tv02.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The show's writers debated during production of the episode whether the incident would be "a step too far, even for Cartman".<ref name="NPR"/> Parker felt that the act could sufficiently be the culmination of Cartman's [[sociopath]]ic behavior, and would "[set] a new bar" by portraying Cartman as being capable of performing anything short of murder.<ref name="NPR"/><ref name="hitscommentary">{{cite AV media|last1=Parker|first1=Trey|last2=Stone|first2=Matt|title=Audio commentary for "Scott Tenorman Must Die"|work=South Park – The Hits: Volume 1|year=2006|medium=DVD|publisher=Paramount Home Entertainment}}</ref><ref name="60minutes_cartman">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rKIFr-2CaU| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211107/1rKIFr-2CaU| archive-date=November 7, 2021 | url-status=live|title=Creating the incorrigible Cartman|work=[[60 Minutes]]|publisher=[[CBS News]]|date=September 25, 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="commentary">{{cite AV media|last1=Parker|first1=Trey|last2=Stone|first2=Matt|title= Audio commentary for "Scott Tenorman Must Die"|work=South Park – The Complete Fifth Season|year=2005|medium=DVD|publisher=Paramount Home Entertainment}}</ref> Fans reacted by ranking it as Cartman's "greatest moment" in a 2005 poll on [[Comedy Central]]'s website.<ref name="cartman25">{{cite web|url=http://www.comedycentral.com/events/south_park/cartman_25/index.jhtml|title=Comedy Central voting page for Cartman's 25 Greatest South Park Moments|access-date=December 20, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211024032/http://www.comedycentral.com/events/south_park/cartman_25/index.jhtml|archive-date=December 11, 2007}}</ref> It is later revealed in the [[South Park (season 14)|season fourteen]] episode "[[201 (South Park)|201]]" that Jack Tenorman, Scott's father, was a [[American football|football]] player for the [[Denver Broncos]] who impregnated Cartman's mom, therefore making him Cartman's father too.<ref>{{cite episode|title=[[201 (South Park)|201]]|series=[[South Park]]|date=April 21, 2010|network=[[Comedy Central]]}}</ref>

Parker and Stone, despite being the basis for Stan and Kyle, insist that Cartman is their favorite character, and the one with whom they identify the most.<ref name="NPR"/><ref name="goin down">{{cite AV media|last1=Parker|first1=Trey|last2=Stone|first2=Matt|title=Goin' Down to South Park|medium=Television documentary|publisher=Comedy Central}}</ref>

===Personality and traits===
{{Quote box
| quote = There's a big part of me that's Eric Cartman. He's both of our dark sides, the things we'd never say.
| source = &nbsp;[[Trey Parker]]<ref>[https://huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/25/matt-stone-trey-parker-ar_n_475744.html Matt Stone & Trey Parker Are Not Your Political Allies (No Matter What You Believe)] by Alex Leo, ''[[The Huffington Post]]'', February 25, 2010</ref>
 | width = 30%
 | align = right
}}

Cartman uses profanity (as do his friends) to provide a means for Parker and Stone to portray how they believe young boys really talk when they are alone.<ref name="avr"/><ref name="abc4">{{cite web| author=Jake Trapper and Dan Morris| title=Secrets of 'South Park'| work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]| date=September 22, 2006| url=https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/Entertainment/Story?id=2479197&page=4| access-date=April 18, 2009| archive-date=March 19, 2022| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319073834/https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/Entertainment/Story?id=2479197&page=4| url-status=live}}</ref> According to Parker, Cartman does not possess the "underlying sweetness" of the show's other child characters. Cartman is shown at times to be completely amoral and remorseless. Cartman, as with [[Stan Marsh]] and [[Kyle Broflovski]], is amused by bodily functions and [[toilet humor]],<ref name="time">{{cite news|author1=Jeffrey Ressner|author2=James Collins| title = Gross And Grosser | magazine = [[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date = March 23, 1998 | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,988028,00.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090821033347/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,988028,00.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = August 21, 2009 | access-date = April 28, 2009}}</ref> and his favorite television personalities are [[Terrance and Phillip]], a Canadian duo whose comedy routines on their show-within-the-show revolve substantially around fart jokes.

Cartman is sensitive and in denial about his [[obesity]]. He often reasserts Liane's notion by exclaiming "I'm not fat, I'm big-boned!" and will just as often either threaten to bring harm to anyone who mocks his weight or curse them out in aggravation.<ref name="NPR"/> He has also had people killed due to his insecurity; for example, after his psychiatrist mocked his weight, Cartman framed the man as a [[pedophilia|pedophile]] to his wife, causing her to commit [[suicide]].<ref>{{Cite episode |title=T.M.I. |episode-link=T.M.I. (South Park) |series=South Park |series-link=South Park |last=Parker |first=Trey |author-link=Trey Parker |network=[[Comedy Central]] |date=2011-05-18 |season=15 |number=4}}</ref> He views himself as more mature than his fellow friends and classmates, and often grows impatient with their company; despite claiming to be more mature, he will often break down crying childishly and pathetically whenever he feels defeated. This often leads to loud arguments, which in earlier seasons typically end with Cartman peevishly saying "Screw you guys&nbsp;... I'm going home!" and then leaving.<ref name="NPR"/> In an action [[King's College (Pennsylvania)|King's College]] [[philosophy]] professor [[David Kyle Johnson]] describes as "directed either toward accomplishing his own happiness or the unhappiness of others", Cartman often feigns actual friendship with his classmates when needing a favor.<ref name="philo2"/> The lack of a true father figure in his life, and Liane's promiscuity and drug use have caused repressed [[psychology|psychological]] hardship in Cartman's life. As a parent, Liane often spoils Cartman,<ref name="salon">{{cite news|author=David Horowitz |title=Why Gore would censor "South Park" |work=Salon.com |date=July 19, 1999 |url=http://www.salon.com/news/col/horo/1999/07/19/south_park/index2.html |access-date=May 12, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091121035850/http://www.salon.com/news/col/horo/1999/07/19/south_park/index2.html |archive-date=November 21, 2009}}</ref><ref name="bw">{{cite news|author=Joan Oleck |title='South Park': Canny bait-and-switch |work=[[BusinessWeek]] |date=April 27, 1998 |url=http://www.businessweek.com/archives/1998/b3575069.arc.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130118183134/http://www.businessweek.com/archives/1998/b3575069.arc.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 18, 2013 |access-date=May 12, 2009}}</ref> and is largely ineffectual as a disciplinarian.<ref name="nytimesmorals">{{cite news|author=Virginia Heffernan |title=What? Morals in 'South Park'? |newspaper=The New York Times |date=April 28, 2004 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/28/arts/television/28SOUT.html?ei=5007&en=9cf4a2bb20610253&ex=1398484800&partner=USERLAND&pagewanted=all&position |access-date=July 8, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090803023224/http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/28/arts/television/28SOUT.html?ei=5007&en=9cf4a2bb20610253&ex=1398484800&partner=USERLAND&pagewanted=all&position |archive-date=August 3, 2009}}</ref> Cartman sometimes commands his mom to do tasks for him, but more often resorts to pleading with her in an ingratiating tone. When neither method works, he resorts to excessive and indecipherable whining, to which Liane usually succumbs.<ref name="lezard">{{cite news| author= Nick Lezard| author-link= Nicholas Lezard| title= Cartman, a true hero of our age| newspaper= independent.co.uk| date= August 27, 1999| url= https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/cartman-a-true-hero-of-our-age-1115522.html| access-date= May 9, 2009| archive-date= June 7, 2009| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090607100430/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/cartman-a-true-hero-of-our-age-1115522.html| url-status= live}}</ref> Parker has noted that this is the primary cause for Cartman's behavior, stating that Cartman is "just a product of his environment".<ref name="NPR"/>

{{blockquote|We always had this thing where Cartman's mother was so sweet—she was always so sweet to him and giving him whatever he wanted. And I don't know if it's worse in L.A. than most places in the country—I hope so—but [we've met] so many parents who were just so desperately trying to be friends to their kids. And it was the thing we really picked up on. And it was just like, 'These [people] are making these really evil kids'.<br />– Trey Parker, discussing Liane's role in shaping Cartman's personality in an interview with [[NPR]]<ref name="NPR"/>}}
Cartman thrives on achieving ascendancy over others,<ref name="philo4">Arp and White, pp. 66–76</ref> and exerts his will by [[demagoguery]] and by demanding that others "Respect my authoritah!"<ref name="NPR"/> Cartman has several times declared that his dream is getting "Ten million dollars", and that if he got it he would be "so happy". He has shown initiative in taking a businesslike approach to earning money, starting his own "[[hippie]] control" and "parental revenge" operations, as well as a [[Christian Rock]] and a [[boy band]], a basketball team of [[crack babies]] (parody of the [[NCAA]]) and his own church.<ref name="crm">{{cite news|author=Amber Conrad |title=25 Things I Learned About Business from "South Park" |publisher=InsideCRM |date=June 3, 2008|url=http://www.insidecrm.com/features/south-park-business-lessons-060308/ |access-date=May 5, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090318170003/http://www.insidecrm.com/features/south-park-business-lessons-060308/ |archive-date=March 18, 2009}}</ref>

Cartman's anti-Semitism, while mostly limited to mocking Kyle, culminates in the [[South Park (season 8)|season eight]] episode "[[The Passion of the Jew]]". In the episode, Cartman, after watching ''[[The Passion of the Christ]]'' numerous times, [[Apotheosis|deifies]] the film's director, [[Mel Gibson]], and starts an official Gibson fan club, praising Gibson for "trying to express—through cinema—the horror and filthiness of the common Jew".<ref name="gross">{{cite news| author = Max Gross| title = 'The Passion of the Christ' Fuels Antisemitism—on 'South Park'| work = [[The Jewish Daily Forward]]| date = April 9, 2004| url = http://www.forward.com/articles/5445/| access-date = May 9, 2009| archive-date = June 6, 2011| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110606013626/http://www.forward.com/articles/5445/| url-status = live}}</ref> Cartman's interpretation of the film influences him to dress up as [[Adolf Hitler]] and lead other fan club members (who are oblivious of Cartman's actual intentions) in a failed effort to engage in a systematic [[genocide]] of the Jews similar to that of the [[Final Solution]].<ref name="gross"/> In the [[South Park (season 10)|season 10]] episode "[[Smug Alert!]]", Cartman anonymously saves Kyle's life in an effort to get him and his family to return to South Park from [[San Francisco]], revealing that he craves the animosity shared between the two.<ref name="smug">{{cite web|author=Eric Goldman |title=TV Review: This week's target? Hybrid drivers. |website=IGN |date=March 30, 2006 |url=http://movies.ign.com/articles/699/699373p1.html |access-date=May 3, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100426025359/http://movies.ign.com/articles/699/699373p1.html |archive-date=April 26, 2010}}</ref> Cartman later directs the "evil god" [[Cthulhu]] to destroy "most of the synagogues" during the [[South Park (season 14)|season 14]] episode "[[Coon vs. Coon and Friends]]".<ref>{{cite episode|title=Coon vs. Coon and Friends|series=South Park|author=Trey Parker|network=Comedy Central|airdate=November 10, 2010|season=14}}</ref>

Upon hearing his classmates tell him that they hold him in the lowest regard possible and that they could not possibly think any worse of him, a stubborn Cartman misinterprets this act as their attempt to make him feel better, and convinces himself that everyone thinks he is the "coolest kid in school". In the [[South Park (season 13)|season 13]] (2009) episode "[[Fishsticks (South Park)|Fishsticks]]", Cartman subconsciously believes that he helped in creating a joke that quickly becomes a nationwide sensation, despite the fact that the character [[Jimmy Valmer]] writes the joke without any assistance. Carlos Delgado of ''If Magazine'' noted this as "Cartman being so egotistical that he manipulates the past to serve his own purposes".<ref>{{cite news|last=Delgado |first=Carlos |title=TV Review: South Park – Season 13 – 'Fishsticks' |work=If Magazine |date=April 9, 2009 |url=http://www.ifmagazine.com/review.asp?article=3168 |access-date=April 10, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091015113520/http://www.ifmagazine.com/review.asp?article=3168 |archive-date=October 15, 2009}}</ref>

Though he is commonly portrayed as having a chauvinist disrespect for foreign cultures, Cartman is shown at least twice ("[[My Future Self n' Me]]" and "[[Pandemic (South Park)|Pandemic]]") to be able to speak fluent Spanish (and German).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://southpark.cc.com/episodes/xfaqzg/south-park-my-future-self-n-me-season-6-ep-16|title=South Park - My Future Self n' Me|date=December 4, 2002|website=South Park United States|access-date=March 10, 2022|archive-date=March 19, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319073835/https://southpark.cc.com/episodes/xfaqzg/south-park-my-future-self-n-me-season-6-ep-16|url-status=live}}</ref>