10 South Park Characters Who Deserved Better
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VOICE OVER: Ryan Wild
WRITTEN BY: Holly Hoyt
Why so mean? Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the “South Park” characters we believe are worthy of more favorable treatment. Warning: Possible spoilers ahead. Our countdown includes characters Pip Pirrip, Chef, Heidi Turner and more!
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the “South Park” characters we believe are worthy of more favorable treatment. Warning: Possible spoilers ahead. Which of these characters do you feel deserves more? Feel free to discuss in the comments.
Apart from a few cameos, Scuzzlebutt hasn’t appeared on the show since one of its earliest episodes. That said, we won’t forget his tragic demise any time soon. When Stan’s Uncle Jimbo takes the boys on a hunting trip, Cartman attempts to frighten them with the legend of Scuzzlebutt, describing him as a bloodthirsty Sasquatch-like monster, albeit one who likes to weave baskets. The next day, during a largely unrelated volcano eruption, Scuzzlebutt is revealed to be quite real and proves himself to be a benevolent beast when he saves them from lava. Unfortunately, Stan - in a failed attempt to impress his uncle - shoots and kills him. Rest in peace, Scuzzlebutt - you are missed… er, at least by diehard “South Park” and Patrick Duffy fans.
Jason White was one of the many South Park Elementary students who primarily served as a background prop. But his doom at the end of Season 23 stands out as one of the grimmest in the history of the series. While playing football with some of his fellow fourth graders, Jason is struck and killed by a police car. To add insult to injury, Jason’s parents promptly replace him with an adopted son from Mexico. Between his untimely death and role in an allegorical political story about the police, Jason certainly got dealt a rough hand.
Season 10’s “Stanley’s Cup” has been called one of “South Park’s” most depressing episodes. While nobody had a cheerful time here, we feel especially bad for pee-wee hockey player Nelson Brown. In this season finale, Stan becomes coach for the county pee-wee hockey team. There he meets Nelson, who is dying of leukemia. Nelson’s final wish is to see Stan bring the team to victory, so, in a parody of every sports film ever made, Stan takes it upon himself to do just that. In the end, not only do Nelson’s teammates not win, but they’re quite literally pummeled by the Detroit Red Wings - just as Nelson takes his last breaths. Not exactly an inspiring story.
For the first 19 seasons of “South Park,” Officer Barbrady essentially served as one of the town’s many useless adults. Still, it’s rough seeing him lose his long-time spot on the force. Especially when he’s then faced with anti-police discrimination, notwithstanding his recent firing. We also watch Barbrady lose his home while caring for his sick dog, before eventually disappearing from the series almost entirely. Is his absence a huge loss compared to that of some other characters? Maybe not. But when you consider that Barbrady is really just a sweet, if stupid, former cop, you can’t help but wish things turned out a little brighter for him.
Despite being around for years, Heidi didn’t get her day in the spotlight until Season 20. And after what she went through, we can’t help but wish that for her own sake, she’d stayed on the sidelines. The season chronicles her toxic relationship with Eric Cartman, which begins when they form an unlikely alliance amidst the “Skankhunt42” chaos. As you’d probably expect, Cartman treats her terribly - lying, manipulating, and eventually turning her into a female version of himself. Heidi’s friends try to intervene, but this only drives her further into Cartman’s arms. Thankfully, she seems to have returned to her former self after finally ending things with Cartman. Let’s just hope their romance is over for good this time.
Long-time watchers of “South Park” probably remember Jerome “Chef” McElroy as the boys’ friend and confidant. In fact, Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman were easily closer with Chef than they were with any other adult in town. As such, we were pretty devastated when his voice actor, Isaac Hayes, had a falling out with the creators and departed the show. Chef returns at the beginning of Season 10, but the boys quickly realize their old friend has been brainwashed by a mysterious cult. Although they attempt to save Chef, it all ends with him dying a brutal, if laughably over-the-top, death. At Chef’s funeral, Kyle offers a touching sentiment that seems to mirror Trey and Matt’s feelings about Hayes.
As Stan’s primary love interest, Wendy is arguably the most prominent female character on “South Park.” In nearly all her appearances, she’s portrayed as an intelligent, sweet, and multi-talented girl. So how come she’s subjected to torture almost every time she gets her own storyline? Far from getting the respect she’s long been owed, Wendy has been humiliated, belittled, degraded, and worse since day one. Remember the episode when Cartman booed her every time she tried to speak? What about when she was forced to create a photoshopped image of herself? And let’s not forget her role as Stan’s designated puke target. We can only hope Wendy moves far, far away from South Park when she grows up.
For those of you who may not remember Pip, he was the show’s original “punching bag,” a role that Butters would come to fill starting in Season 4. As a naive Dickensian child who attended a school full of modern kids, Pip brought out the jerk in just about every character he encountered - even the nicer ones like Stan and Kyle. He was given his own episode in Season 4 - a comedic retelling of “Great Expectations.” However, the episode was not only disliked by fans, but deemed a “failed experiment” by the series’ creators. This led them to write Pip out of the show and eventually have him be crushed to death by Mecha-Streisand. Poor little French boy!
As we mentioned before, Butters took over for Pip as the series’ designated misfortune magnet. Comparatively, though, Pip only had to endure a few seasons’ worth of torment, whereas Butters has had to face it for decades at this point. Between his parents, his grandma, his classmates, and just about everyone else, Butters seems to attract emotional and physical abuse from all directions, despite his everlasting optimism and sweetness. He does attempt to get revenge as the masked supervillain Professor Chaos, but these quote-unquote “misdeeds” can’t really be called retribution for all he’s gone through. Let’s all hold out hope that Butters one day gets back the goodness he constantly puts out to the world.
Of all the South Park citizens, none is worthier of a happy ending than Kenny. That being said, his existence is pretty miserable. As finally revealed in Season 14’s “Mysterion Rises,” Kenny’s deaths aren’t just a ridiculously drawn-out gag, Rather, he was cursed with immortality. It doesn’t help that when he IS revived, he’s stuck in the city’s poorest and most dysfunctional family. But that hasn’t stopped Kenny from showing a heroic side on several occasions. Look at the way he takes care of his sister Karen, not to mention the entire town under the guise of Mysterion. And how can we forget his ultimate sacrifice at the end of the movie? Stay gold, Kenny. We love you.
#10: Scuzzlebutt
Apart from a few cameos, Scuzzlebutt hasn’t appeared on the show since one of its earliest episodes. That said, we won’t forget his tragic demise any time soon. When Stan’s Uncle Jimbo takes the boys on a hunting trip, Cartman attempts to frighten them with the legend of Scuzzlebutt, describing him as a bloodthirsty Sasquatch-like monster, albeit one who likes to weave baskets. The next day, during a largely unrelated volcano eruption, Scuzzlebutt is revealed to be quite real and proves himself to be a benevolent beast when he saves them from lava. Unfortunately, Stan - in a failed attempt to impress his uncle - shoots and kills him. Rest in peace, Scuzzlebutt - you are missed… er, at least by diehard “South Park” and Patrick Duffy fans.
#9: Jason White
Jason White was one of the many South Park Elementary students who primarily served as a background prop. But his doom at the end of Season 23 stands out as one of the grimmest in the history of the series. While playing football with some of his fellow fourth graders, Jason is struck and killed by a police car. To add insult to injury, Jason’s parents promptly replace him with an adopted son from Mexico. Between his untimely death and role in an allegorical political story about the police, Jason certainly got dealt a rough hand.
#8: Nelson Brown
Season 10’s “Stanley’s Cup” has been called one of “South Park’s” most depressing episodes. While nobody had a cheerful time here, we feel especially bad for pee-wee hockey player Nelson Brown. In this season finale, Stan becomes coach for the county pee-wee hockey team. There he meets Nelson, who is dying of leukemia. Nelson’s final wish is to see Stan bring the team to victory, so, in a parody of every sports film ever made, Stan takes it upon himself to do just that. In the end, not only do Nelson’s teammates not win, but they’re quite literally pummeled by the Detroit Red Wings - just as Nelson takes his last breaths. Not exactly an inspiring story.
#7: Officer Barbrady
For the first 19 seasons of “South Park,” Officer Barbrady essentially served as one of the town’s many useless adults. Still, it’s rough seeing him lose his long-time spot on the force. Especially when he’s then faced with anti-police discrimination, notwithstanding his recent firing. We also watch Barbrady lose his home while caring for his sick dog, before eventually disappearing from the series almost entirely. Is his absence a huge loss compared to that of some other characters? Maybe not. But when you consider that Barbrady is really just a sweet, if stupid, former cop, you can’t help but wish things turned out a little brighter for him.
#6: Heidi Turner
Despite being around for years, Heidi didn’t get her day in the spotlight until Season 20. And after what she went through, we can’t help but wish that for her own sake, she’d stayed on the sidelines. The season chronicles her toxic relationship with Eric Cartman, which begins when they form an unlikely alliance amidst the “Skankhunt42” chaos. As you’d probably expect, Cartman treats her terribly - lying, manipulating, and eventually turning her into a female version of himself. Heidi’s friends try to intervene, but this only drives her further into Cartman’s arms. Thankfully, she seems to have returned to her former self after finally ending things with Cartman. Let’s just hope their romance is over for good this time.
#5: Chef
Long-time watchers of “South Park” probably remember Jerome “Chef” McElroy as the boys’ friend and confidant. In fact, Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman were easily closer with Chef than they were with any other adult in town. As such, we were pretty devastated when his voice actor, Isaac Hayes, had a falling out with the creators and departed the show. Chef returns at the beginning of Season 10, but the boys quickly realize their old friend has been brainwashed by a mysterious cult. Although they attempt to save Chef, it all ends with him dying a brutal, if laughably over-the-top, death. At Chef’s funeral, Kyle offers a touching sentiment that seems to mirror Trey and Matt’s feelings about Hayes.
#4: Wendy Testaburger
As Stan’s primary love interest, Wendy is arguably the most prominent female character on “South Park.” In nearly all her appearances, she’s portrayed as an intelligent, sweet, and multi-talented girl. So how come she’s subjected to torture almost every time she gets her own storyline? Far from getting the respect she’s long been owed, Wendy has been humiliated, belittled, degraded, and worse since day one. Remember the episode when Cartman booed her every time she tried to speak? What about when she was forced to create a photoshopped image of herself? And let’s not forget her role as Stan’s designated puke target. We can only hope Wendy moves far, far away from South Park when she grows up.
#3: Pip Pirrip
For those of you who may not remember Pip, he was the show’s original “punching bag,” a role that Butters would come to fill starting in Season 4. As a naive Dickensian child who attended a school full of modern kids, Pip brought out the jerk in just about every character he encountered - even the nicer ones like Stan and Kyle. He was given his own episode in Season 4 - a comedic retelling of “Great Expectations.” However, the episode was not only disliked by fans, but deemed a “failed experiment” by the series’ creators. This led them to write Pip out of the show and eventually have him be crushed to death by Mecha-Streisand. Poor little French boy!
#2: Butters Scotch
As we mentioned before, Butters took over for Pip as the series’ designated misfortune magnet. Comparatively, though, Pip only had to endure a few seasons’ worth of torment, whereas Butters has had to face it for decades at this point. Between his parents, his grandma, his classmates, and just about everyone else, Butters seems to attract emotional and physical abuse from all directions, despite his everlasting optimism and sweetness. He does attempt to get revenge as the masked supervillain Professor Chaos, but these quote-unquote “misdeeds” can’t really be called retribution for all he’s gone through. Let’s all hold out hope that Butters one day gets back the goodness he constantly puts out to the world.
#1: Kenny McCormick
Of all the South Park citizens, none is worthier of a happy ending than Kenny. That being said, his existence is pretty miserable. As finally revealed in Season 14’s “Mysterion Rises,” Kenny’s deaths aren’t just a ridiculously drawn-out gag, Rather, he was cursed with immortality. It doesn’t help that when he IS revived, he’s stuck in the city’s poorest and most dysfunctional family. But that hasn’t stopped Kenny from showing a heroic side on several occasions. Look at the way he takes care of his sister Karen, not to mention the entire town under the guise of Mysterion. And how can we forget his ultimate sacrifice at the end of the movie? Stay gold, Kenny. We love you.
