Personality & Traits
Cartman is foul-mouthed (as are his friends) as a means for Parker and Stone to portray how they believe young boys really talk when they are alone. According to Parker, Cartman does not possess the "underlying sweetness" of the show's other child characters Cartman is amused by bodily functions and toilet humor,and his favorite television personalities are Terrance and Philip, a Canadian duo whose comedy routines on their show-within-the-show revolve substantially around fart jokes.
Cartman is in denial about his obesity, often reasserting Liane's notion by exclaiming "I'm not fat, I'm big-boned!". He views
himself as more mature than his fellow friends and classmates, and often grows impatient with their company. This often leads to loud arguments, which in earlier seasons typically end with Cartman peevishly saying "Screw you guys... I'm going home!" upon leaving. In an action 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 fellow classmates when needing a favor. The lack of a true father figure in his life, and Liane's promiscuity and drug use have caused repressed psychological hardship in Cartman's life. As a parent, Liane spoils Cartman, and is largely ineffectual as a disciplinarian. 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, with Liane usually succumbing. Parker has noted that this is the primary cause for
Cartman's behavior, stating that Cartman is "just a product of his environment Cartman thrives on achieving ascendancy over others, and exerts his will by demagogy and by demanding that others "Respect my authoritah!", accentuating the last syllable of "authority" and pronouncing it /ɔːˈθɒrɨteɪ/. Cartman has several times declared that his dream is getting "Ten million dollars". 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.
Cartman's anti-Semitism, while mostly limited to mocking Kyle, culminates in the season eight (2004) episode "The Passion of the Jew". In the episode, Cartman, after watching The Passion of Christ numerous times, 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". 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.In the season 10 (2006) 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. And in
"Coon vs. Coon and Friends" (season 14, 2010), Cartman directs the "evil god" Cthulhu to destroy "most of the synagogues".
himself as more mature than his fellow friends and classmates, and often grows impatient with their company. This often leads to loud arguments, which in earlier seasons typically end with Cartman peevishly saying "Screw you guys... I'm going home!" upon leaving. In an action 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 fellow classmates when needing a favor. The lack of a true father figure in his life, and Liane's promiscuity and drug use have caused repressed psychological hardship in Cartman's life. As a parent, Liane spoils Cartman, and is largely ineffectual as a disciplinarian. 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, with Liane usually succumbing. Parker has noted that this is the primary cause for
Cartman's behavior, stating that Cartman is "just a product of his environment Cartman thrives on achieving ascendancy over others, and exerts his will by demagogy and by demanding that others "Respect my authoritah!", accentuating the last syllable of "authority" and pronouncing it /ɔːˈθɒrɨteɪ/. Cartman has several times declared that his dream is getting "Ten million dollars". 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.
Cartman's anti-Semitism, while mostly limited to mocking Kyle, culminates in the season eight (2004) episode "The Passion of the Jew". In the episode, Cartman, after watching The Passion of Christ numerous times, 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". 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.In the season 10 (2006) 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. And in
"Coon vs. Coon and Friends" (season 14, 2010), Cartman directs the "evil god" Cthulhu to destroy "most of the synagogues".