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** While he was only using the Record producer for his own ends, even he looked horrified when he saw the Creator/MichealJackson hologram killed him.
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** While he was only using the Record producer for his own ends, even he looked horrified when he saw the Creator/MichealJackson Creator/MichaelJackson hologram killed him.
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** While he was only using the Record producer for his own ends, even he looked horrified when he saw the Creator/MichealJackson hologram killed him.
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* HateSink: As much as he makes us [[LaughablyEvil laugh]] the writers made it abundantly clear that Cartman is a [[SpoiledBrat spoiled,]] [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain anti-semist, racist,]] [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] {{jerkass}} who at one humiliated a kid in public by arranging said kid's parents to be murdered, butchered into chili, and then tricking him into eating such chili, simply because he he stole 16 bucks from him, and is not supposed to viewed as anything beyond that. Its also shown that all the other kids in South Park hate him as well, especially Kyle.
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* HateSink: As much as he makes us [[LaughablyEvil laugh]] the writers made it abundantly clear that Cartman is a [[SpoiledBrat spoiled,]] [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain anti-semist, racist,]] [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] {{jerkass}} who at one humiliated a kid in public by arranging said kid's parents to be murdered, butchered into chili, and then tricking him into eating such chili, simply because he he stole 16 bucks from him, and is not supposed to viewed as anything beyond that. Its also shown that all the other kids in South Park hate him as well, especially Kyle.
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* HateSink: As much as he makes us [[LaughablyEvil laugh]] the writers made it abundantly clear that Cartman is a [[SpoiledBrat spoiled,]] [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain anti-semist, racist,]] [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] {{jerkass}} who humiliated a kid in public by arranging said kid's parents to be murdered, butchered into chili, and then tricking him into eating such chili, simply because he he stole 16 bucks from him, and is not supposed to viewed as anything beyond that. Its also been revealed that all the other kids in South Park hate him, especially Kyle.
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* HateSink: As much as he makes us [[LaughablyEvil laugh]] the writers made it abundantly clear that Cartman is a [[SpoiledBrat spoiled,]] [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain anti-semist, racist,]] [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] {{jerkass}} who at one humiliated a kid in public by arranging said kid's parents to be murdered, butchered into chili, and then tricking him into eating such chili, simply because he he stole 16 bucks from him, and is not supposed to viewed as anything beyond that. Its also been revealed shown that all the other kids in South Park hate him, him as well, especially Kyle.
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* HateSink: As much as he makes us [[LaughablyEvil laugh]] the writers made it abundantly clear that Cartman is a [[SpoiledBrat spoiled,]] [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain anti-semist, racist,]] [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] {{jerkass}} who humiliated a kid in public by arranging said kid's parents to be murdered, butchered into chili, and then tricking him into eating such chili, simply because he he stole 16 bucks from him, and is not supposed to viewed as anything beyond that. Its also been revealed that all the other kids in South Park hate him, especially Kyle. All of this make Cartman getting his [[LaserGuidedKarma comeuppance]] in a semi regular basis absolutely satisfying to watch.
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* HateSink: As much as he makes us [[LaughablyEvil laugh]] the writers made it abundantly clear that Cartman is a [[SpoiledBrat spoiled,]] [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain anti-semist, racist,]] [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] {{jerkass}} who humiliated a kid in public by arranging said kid's parents to be murdered, butchered into chili, and then tricking him into eating such chili, simply because he he stole 16 bucks from him, and is not supposed to viewed as anything beyond that. Its also been revealed that all the other kids in South Park hate him, especially Kyle. All of this make Cartman getting his [[LaserGuidedKarma comeuppance]] in a semi regular basis absolutely satisfying to watch.
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* HateSink: As much as he makes us [[LaughablyEvil laugh]] the writers made it abundantly clear that Cartman is a [[SpoiledBrat spoiled,]] [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain anti-semist, racist,]] [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] {{jerkass}} who humiliated a kid in public by arranging said kid's parents to be murdered, butchered into chili, and then tricking him into eating such chili, simply because he he stole 16 bucks from him, and is not supposed to viewed as anything beyond that. Its also been revealed that all the other kids in South Park hate him, especially Kyle. All of this make Cartman getting his [[LaserGuidedKarma comeuppance]] in a semi regular basis absolutely satisfying to watch.
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Grammar
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* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: In the first four seasons. During the latter half of Season 15, he has veered more towards this, specially in You're Getting Old and Ass burgers (even being friendly to Kyle during these episodes.) Of course, Cartman resumes being a jerk at the end of this two-parter.
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* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: In the first four seasons. During the latter half of Season 15, he has veered more towards toward this, specially specifically in You're Getting Old and Ass burgers (even being uncharacteristically friendly to Kyle during these episodes.) Of course, Cartman resumes being a jerk at the end of this two-parter.
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Incorrect, Cartman hasn't died down specifically after season 15, as in season 17 18 and some of 19 show him malicious and in character 100%
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* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: In the first four seasons. Since the latter half of Season 15, he has veered more towards this, even having moments with Kyle that don't involve arguing or foiling each other's schemes.
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* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: In the first four seasons. Since During the latter half of Season 15, he has veered more towards this, even having moments with specially in You're Getting Old and Ass burgers (even being friendly to Kyle that don't involve arguing or foiling each other's schemes.during these episodes.) Of course, Cartman resumes being a jerk at the end of this two-parter.
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For Smug Alert, it was clearly stated that Cartman saved Kyle because he needed a nemesis to compete with. To say it is left ambiguous what his motive is- is false
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** Cartman risks serious trouble or imprisonment to protect a load of cats in "Major Boobage". He is apparently unaware of the parallels when Kyle asks pointedly whether he noticed the obvious historical parallel, after Cartman had risked arrest by [[ItMakesSenseInContext harboring felines]] in his attic, despite him earlier lampshading it by suggesting his cat could "[[Theatre/TheDiaryOfAnneFrank write a diary]]" while in hiding. There have also have been other times where he did stuff without wanting anything in return. The show seems to be fond of leaving ambiguity as to whether he does potentially noble acts for hidden selfish reasons or out of genuine conscience; "Kenny Dies" and "Smug Alert" for example, either border him further into {{Jerkass}} territory or grant him NobleDemon qualities.
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** Cartman risks serious trouble or imprisonment to protect a load of cats in "Major Boobage". He is apparently unaware of the parallels when Kyle asks pointedly whether he noticed the obvious historical parallel, after Cartman had risked arrest by [[ItMakesSenseInContext harboring felines]] in his attic, despite him earlier lampshading it by suggesting his cat could "[[Theatre/TheDiaryOfAnneFrank write a diary]]" while in hiding. There have also have been other times where he did stuff without wanting anything in return. The show seems to be fond of leaving ambiguity as to whether he does potentially noble acts for hidden selfish reasons or out of genuine conscience; "Kenny Dies" and "Smug Alert" for example, either border him further into {{Jerkass}} territory or grant him NobleDemon qualities.
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* OverarchingVillain: While he is far from the only villain, he is certainly in most iconic one to appear throughout the entire series. He serves as the BigBad for season 10's "Cartoon War's" two parter, season 14's "Coon Trilogy", and season 18's two part finale and many one shot episodes. If he isn't the BigBad he either TheDragon for an even greater evil, a VillainProtagonist, or at the very least a NominalHero. One things is certain however he is staying wether his [[TheFriendNobodyLikes friends like him or not.]]
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* OverarchingVillain: While he is far from the only villain, he is certainly in most iconic one to appear throughout the entire series. He serves as the BigBad for season 10's "Cartoon War's" two parter, season 14's "Coon Trilogy", and season 18's two part finale and many one shot episodes. If he isn't the BigBad he either TheDragon for an even greater evil, the BigBad, a VillainProtagonist, a {{Jerkass}}, or at the very least a NominalHero. One things is certain however he is staying wether his [[TheFriendNobodyLikes friends like him or not.]]
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* OverarchingVillain: While he is far from the only villain, he is certainly in most iconic one to appear throughout the entire series. He serves as the BigBad for season 10's "Cartoon War's" two parter, season 14's "Coon Trilogy", and season 18's two part finale and many one shot episodes. If he isn't the BigBad he either TheDragon for an even greater evil, a VillainProtagonist, or at the very least a NominalHero. One things for sure its very certain he is staying in the show wether his [[TheFriendNobodyLikes friends like him or not.]]
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* OverarchingVillain: While he is far from the only villain, he is certainly in most iconic one to appear throughout the entire series. He serves as the BigBad for season 10's "Cartoon War's" two parter, season 14's "Coon Trilogy", and season 18's two part finale and many one shot episodes. If he isn't the BigBad he either TheDragon for an even greater evil, a VillainProtagonist, or at the very least a NominalHero. One things for sure its very is certain however he is staying in the show wether his [[TheFriendNobodyLikes friends like him or not.]]
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* OverarchingVillain: While he is far from the only villain, he is certainly in most iconic one to appear throughout the entire series. He serves as the BigBad for season 10's "Cartoon War's" two parter, season 14's "Coon Trilogy", and season 18's two part finale and many one shot episodes. If he isn't the BigBad he either TheDragon for an even greater evil, a VillainProtagonist, or at the very least a NominalHero. One things for sure its very certain he is going to stay here for a very long time wether [[FriendNobodyLikes his friends like him or not.]]
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* OverarchingVillain: While he is far from the only villain, he is certainly in most iconic one to appear throughout the entire series. He serves as the BigBad for season 10's "Cartoon War's" two parter, season 14's "Coon Trilogy", and season 18's two part finale and many one shot episodes. If he isn't the BigBad he either TheDragon for an even greater evil, a VillainProtagonist, or at the very least a NominalHero. One things for sure its very certain he is going to stay here for a very long time staying in the show wether [[FriendNobodyLikes his [[TheFriendNobodyLikes friends like him or not.]]
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* OverarchingVillain: While he is far from the only villain, he is certainly in most iconic one to appear throughout the entire series. He serves as the BigBad for season 10's "Cartoon War's" two parter, season 14's "Coon Trilogy", and season 18's two part finale and many one shot episodes. If he isn't the BigBad he either TheDragon for an even greater evil, a VillainProtagonist, or at the very least a NominalHero. One things for sure its very certain he is going to stay here for a very long time wether [[AFriendNobodyLikes his friends like him or not.]]
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* OverarchingVillain: While he is far from the only villain, he is certainly in most iconic one to appear throughout the entire series. He serves as the BigBad for season 10's "Cartoon War's" two parter, season 14's "Coon Trilogy", and season 18's two part finale and many one shot episodes. If he isn't the BigBad he either TheDragon for an even greater evil, a VillainProtagonist, or at the very least a NominalHero. One things for sure its very certain he is going to stay here for a very long time wether [[AFriendNobodyLikes [[FriendNobodyLikes his friends like him or not.]]
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* BigBad: The main antagonist of a few episodes, if not a VillainProtagonist.
* OverarchingVillain: While he is far from the only villain, he is certainly in most iconic one to appear throughout the entire series. He serves as the BigBad for season 10's "Cartoon War's" two parter, season 14's "Coon Trilogy", and season 18's two part finale and many one shot episodes. If he isn't the BigBad he either TheDragon for an even greater evil, a VillainProtagonist, or at the very least a NominalHero. One things for sure its very certain he is going to stay here for a very long time wether [[AFriendNobodyLikes his friends like him or not.]]
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* VillainProtagonist: He either serves as TheDragon for an even greater evil, or IS the BigBad in most episodes. Occasionally though, he functions as a NominalHero.
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* VillainProtagonist: He either serves as TheDragon for an even greater evil, or IS the BigBad in most episodes. Occasionally though, If he isn't this, he functions as a NominalHero.
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* WouldHitAGirl: In his fight with Wendy, not that it helps him that much. He also beats up a little girl for being a fan of The Coon and Friends (of which he is no longer a member) in "Mysterion Rises".
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* WouldHitAGirl: In his fight with Wendy, not that it helps him that much.He beats up Wendy in "Breast Cancer Show Ever", however, Wendy quickly turns the tide of the fight. He also beats up a little girl for being a fan of The Coon and Friends (of which he is no longer a member) in "Mysterion Rises".
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His role in Coon and Friends is The Coon.
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** IronButtMonkey: Usually played for laughs, but keep in mind, this kid has survived getting run over by cars, getting beaten to a bloody pulp more than a few times, falling from buildings, and even survived getting struck by lightning!
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* IronButtMonkey: Usually played for laughs, but keep in mind, this kid has survived getting run over by cars, getting beaten to a bloody pulp more than a few times, falling from buildings, and even survived getting struck by lightning!
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** IronButtMonkey: Occasionally played for laughs, but keep in mind, this kid has survived getting run over by cars, getting beaten to a bloody pulp more than a few times, falling from buildings, and even survived getting struck by lightning!
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** IronButtMonkey: Occasionally Usually played for laughs, but keep in mind, this kid has survived getting run over by cars, getting beaten to a bloody pulp more than a few times, falling from buildings, and even survived getting struck by lightning!
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** IronButtMonkey: Occasionally played for laughs, but keep in mind, this kid has survived getting run over by cars, getting beaten to a bloody pulp more than a few times, falling from buildings, and even survived getting struck by lightning!
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* MadeOfIron: Occasionally played for laughs, but keep in mind, this kid has survived getting run over by cars, getting beaten to a pulp more than a few times, falling from buildings, and even survived getting struck by lightning!
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* YouSayTomato
* WiseBeyondTheirYears
* WiseBeyondTheirYears
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deleted via Ask The Tropers. The trope only applies to Rulers
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* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: Just about ''every'' kid in town hates him, though not without good reason. It's to the extent that in one episode, they all flat-out tell Cartman that they don't like him and couldn't possibly have a lower opinion of him than they already do.
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Clarifying
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* TookALevelInKindness: He starts to show concern for others beginning with the second half of Season 15, even towards Kyle. Especially as of "1%" after [[spoiler: he's told to "grow up" and some of his stuffed animals are killed, then he bids farewell to the last of them. Even Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Token watch as he shoots Polly Prissypants and cries while doing it]]. Even moreso in Season 20, where he makes some sincere effort to try being a better person (even if he's being an idiot about it) and is less antagonistic than before. [[spoiler: He even gets a girlfriend.]]
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* TookALevelInKindness: He starts to show concern for others beginning with the second half of Season 15, episode Your Getting Old, even towards Kyle.Kyle. Although, this is also quickly reverted during the episode Ass Burgers and Cartman resumes his former mentality. Especially as of "1%" after [[spoiler: he's told to "grow up" and some of his stuffed animals are killed, then he bids farewell to the last of them. Even Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Token watch as he shoots Polly Prissypants and cries while doing it]]. Even moreso in Season 20, where he makes some sincere effort to try being a better person (even if he's being an idiot about it) (the sincere part begins after his revelation of looking upon Heidi's vagina- originally, it was to preserve his bullying ways under a PC radar) and is less antagonistic than before. [[spoiler: He even gets a girlfriend.]]
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* KarmaHoudini / KarmaHoudiniWarranty: While he usually ''does'' get some form of comeuppance for his actions, it's only temporary, and is usually (but not always) more of an inconvenience than any real punishment. He never suffers [[StatusQuoIsGod longer than it takes for the next episode to air]].
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* KarmaHoudini / KarmaHoudiniWarranty: KarmaHoudini: While he usually ''does'' get some form of comeuppance for his actions, it's only temporary, and is usually (but not always) more of an inconvenience than any real punishment. He never suffers [[StatusQuoIsGod longer than it takes for the next episode to air]].
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!Eric Theodore Cartman
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[[folder:K-O]]
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* YouSayTomato
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* YouSayTomatoYouSayTomato
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!folder:Eric Theodore Cartman
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!folder:Eric Theodore Cartman
[[quoteright:320:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eric-cartman_380.jpg]]
-> ''"Screw you guys, I'm going home."''
-> '''Kyle:''' ''"He's a fat, manipulative, bigoted, intolerant sociopath."''
!!!!!!Voiced by: Trey Parker
!!!!!!Debut: "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe"
The fat kid of the group. Incredibly selfish and mean, but the other boys keep him around because they know he won't get along well with anyone else. One of the most well-known and polarizing characters of the show. Among other things, he hates hippies, Jews, gingers, Wendy Testaburger's liberal views, people making fun of his weight, and the "random" humor of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''.
See also [[SelfDemonstrating/EricCartman his self-demonstrating page]].
* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: Just about ''every'' kid in town hates him, though not without good reason. It's to the extent that in one episode, they all flat-out tell Cartman that they don't like him and couldn't possibly have a lower opinion of him than they already do.
* {{Acrofatic}}: While usually very out of shape, he proves to be surprisingly athletic as The Coon, scaling buildings and a half-destroyed roller coaster with apparently little effort. Then this trope is subverted majorly in "1%" when his atrocious fitness causes an otherwise average class (and the whole school) to fail a national fitness test, then ''inverted'' in "The New Terrance and Phillip Movie Trailer", in which he is unable to keep up with the rest of the gang as they run throughout the town.
* {{Adorkable}}: He could be this in the first four seasons, surprisingly enough. Especially when playing with his dolls (ie. Clyde Frog, Peter Panda, etc.).
* AllTakeAndNoGive: Cartman demands to have everything handed over to him whenever he wants something and he usually has his friends do the work for whatever he needs or wants done while he doesn't do any of the heavy duty stuff himself. Cartman never gives anyone anything unless it's part of a scheme he has planned and he hardly ever gives words of thanks when it's due, especially to his mother.
* AmbiguousDisorder: Depending on the needs of the episode, he can occasionally be found somewhere at the crossroads between ASPD/sociopathy, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and Schizophrenia.
* AmbiguouslyBi:
** Although he's shown to have feelings for Wendy and Patty Nelson, he has also frequently shown heavily repressed attraction to men, among other strange tendencies. In various episodes, he's been known to dress like Music/BritneySpears and dance with a Music/JustinTimberlake stand-up, joins NAMBLA, takes a picture of Butters' penis in his mouth (then tries to take one of his penis in Butters' mouth), and in "Fat Butt and Pancake Head", his hand puppet Jennifer Lopez has sex with Ben Affleck. However, some of these instances, particularly NAMBLA and the pictures of him and Butters, can be chalked up to him simply being too naive and stupid to understand what he's really doing.
** His hatred for Kyle often leads into sexual humiliation that carries these implications, including going to great lengths to force Kyle to suck his balls in "Imaginationland", his delights in forcing Kyle to stick his finger up his ass (to activate the probe stuck in there, mind you) in "Cancelled", forcing Kyle to literally kiss his ass (and then farting in his face when he gets close enough) in "Fun with Veal", and offering to suck Kyle's balls in "Go God Go". Then there's "Cartman Finds Love", in which he keeps telling people he and Kyle are gay lovers in order to keep Kyle from interfering with Cartman's plans to make Nicole hook up with Token.
** In "Tweek x Craig", it's implied the imaginary Cupid version of himself represents his repressed attraction to guys... or his love for himself. Then, of course, a season after that he actually [[spoiler: gets his first girlfriend]].
* AmbitionIsEvil:
** In "The Red Badge of Gayness", he bets Kyle and Stan that if the Confederacy wins in a Civil War reenactment, Kyle and Stan will have to be his slaves. Stan and Kyle know that this being a reenactment, the Confederacy has no chance of winning. What does Cartman do? He motivates them to fight for real, leads them across America, gets enough manpower to field an actual army along the way ("It's just like the million man march, except that there actually are a million people.") and then marches them to the White House.
** Then there's the time he bets Stan and Kyle that he can produce a platinum album (1 million copies sold) [[ItMakesSenseInContext by taking advantage of Christian rock]] and only fails in the end because they only give out myrrh albums instead of platinum ones.
* {{Angrish}}: His hilariously unique vocal mannerisms lead to this being used a ''lot'', with many instances being outright [[FunnyMoments Crowning Moments of Funny]]. Hell, he'll use his rasped garbles for almost any occasion: one of his most memorable moments involved him delving into this out of dumbfounded ''jubilation'' in "Cartmanland".
* AntiHero: Prior to his [[MoralEventHorizon infamous plot to humiliate Scott Tenorman]]. He then becomes a VillainProtagonist until he goes back to being an AntiHero in the second half of Season 15.
* AntiVillain: Starting with Season 16, his racist intentions and jerkass tendencies are much lighter than in previous seasons. Most of his schemes veer down WellIntentionedExtremist territory.
* AntiRoleModel: He is often made the voice of political views the author disagrees with, and is also a fat, moronic, sociopathic, and all-around-awful person.
* ArbitrarySkepticism: In "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe", Cartman denies that he was abducted by aliens and got an anal probe inserted inside him, even as he farts flames and has the probe protruding from his ass. When aliens blast Kenny into oncoming cattle, thus killing him, Cartman even denies that Kenny is dead, despite having (presumably) seen what happened right before his eyes.
* ArchEnemy: For Kyle.
* TheAtoner:
** Became this in "The Death of Eric Cartman". Not because he felt remorse for his past actions or even cared that he might go to Hell for them, but so that he could stop being a ghost. [[spoiler: He wasn't really a ghost, his friends were just ignoring him.]]
** Of a somewhat self-preserving sort as of Season 20. As he recognizes Political Correctness is here to stay, he tries to integrate himself into it, with varying levels of sincerity and success. Getting together with Heidi has certainly helped.
* AttentionWhore: Interrupts class a lot just to get attention among other things.
* AuthorAvatar: For Trey to a degree. He has mentioned in several communities and interviews that he shares some of the same views as Cartman. Most notably about ''Family Guy'', and [[http://youtu.be/OOJ-Hfyswos gingers]].
* AxCrazy: He is known for infamously chopping up the bodies of two dead parents and feeding them to their own son in the form of chili, in the infamous "Scott Tenorman Must Die" episode. He shows signs of full-blown psychosis at times, and generally has a narcissistic, psychopathic nature.
* BadassBeard: As "The Dawg" in "Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy".
* BadBlackBarf: In one of the creepier moments of the series, coming to the revelation that the world doesn't revolve around him in the episode "Tsst" causes him to ''literally'' puke out his evil in the form of black vomit, and he then goes on to start "glitching" and screaming in a supernatural fashion.
* TheBadGuyWins: The infamous "Scott Tenorman Must Die". Also one of the biggest KarmaHoudini moments ''ever''. Aside from that episode, there are several moments over the show's 20 year run where he's come out on top. However, he loses just as often as he wins.
* BadSamaritan: "Crack Baby Basketball Athletic Association".
* BastardBastard: He's the product of [[spoiler: Jack Tenorman's]] affair with [[ReallyGetsAround his slutty mother]], and a {{Jerkass}} on his best days.
* BatmanGambit: In "Scott Tenorman Must Die", Cartman exploits UnspokenPlanGuarantee by telling a fake plot to humiliate Scott to Stan and Kyle, correctly thinking they'd sabotage it.
* BecomingTheMask: He becomes "Mr. Cartmenez" in "Eek, a Penis!" for his own personal gain, but by the end of the episode he becomes genuinely sincere in wanting to "reeeach these kiiiids" and teach them "the white person way of cheating".
* BelievingTheirOwnLies: "Jewpacabra" in a form of self-administered karma. Subverted in "Fat Butt and Pancake Head", where it appears as if [[spoiler: he legitimately believes that [[ItMakesSenseInContext Jennifer Lopez is a living being residing on his left hand]]]], however at the end of the episode, he reveals that the entire thing was a ploy to get Kyle and Stan to admit that he'd duped them, as Kyle had predicted he would do throughout the entire episode.
* BelligerentSexualTension: With Wendy. Also [[HoYay Ky]][[FoeYay le]], probably.
* BerserkButton:
** He usually just makes a quick rebuttal when he's called fat, but occasionally it falls into this.
** Don't scam him out of his money and refuse to give it back.
** Never, ''ever'' let him think his penis is smaller than any other fourth grader.
** [[GroinAttack Speaking of penis]], [[EvenEvilHasStandards never shoot someone there]].
* BigBad: The main antagonist of a few episodes, if not a VillainProtagonist.
* TheBigGuy: When siding with his friends.
* BigEater: "Yeah, I want cheesy poofs!"
* BigNo: Often combined with LittleNo whenever something is SeriousBusiness.
* BizarreTasteInFood: Among his favorite dishes are "Powdered Donut Pancake Surprise", "Chocolate Chicken Pot Pie", and "Toaster Pastry Chocolate Mix Butter Bar". The last one consists of a stick of butter rolled in chocolate milk flavoring powder and sandwiched between two Pop-Tarts.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Almost any time Cartman does something that's (at least in his mind) purely unselfish in deed or intent, his reasoning can be a bit... out there.
* BookDumb: He refuses to care about anything that does not immediately help him, especially school. He never pays attention in school and remains ignorant. Despite this problem, he forms very detailed plans, considers complex issues and is a brilliant manipulator.
* BoomerangBigot: In "Ginger Kids", Cartman, after picking on and fearing gingers for half the episode, falls prey to a prank that convinces him that ''he'' is a ginger and [[spoiler: forms a Nazi-like cult devoted to exterminating non-gingers. And in "201", it's revealed that he actually is half-ginger.]] Also, in a twisted way, it has been implied on numerous occasions that he is possibly a ChildHater.
* BorrowedCatchPhrase: In "Clubhouses":
-->'''Cartman:''' Oh my God, {{they killed Kenny|Again}}!\\
'''Kyle:''' ''(walking outside Cartman's yard, but suddenly stops and turns towards the clubhouse)'' [[PhraseCatcher You bastards]]! ''(continues walking past the yard like nothing happened)''
* BrattyHalfPint: UpToEleven.
* BreakoutCharacter: Cartman has become the most prominent, iconic and popular character on the show thanks to his sociopathic {{Jerkass}} tendencies (similar to [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy Stewie Griffin]] and [[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} Bender]]).
* TheBully: When not himself the victim of fat jokes, he is usually the most prominent in school. It is implied that he provoked a tirade of abuse on one student (for crapping his pants in public) so much that the student later committed suicide.
* BullyingADragon: Despite his sociopathic and xenophobic traits, Cartman couldn't take a punch in earlier seasons as he would cry after the first punch or when he's in an unfavourable position, which was shown when Kyle pinned him against a tree after he made a comment in "It's a Jersey Thing". His lack of combat skills was also shown when he tried to back out of a fight against Wendy but it turning into a CurbStompBattle with Wendy brutally defeating him. However, he was capable of holding his own against Dr. Nelson in "With Apologies to Jessie Jackson" and make him submit. (Granted, Mr. Nelson was a dwarf, but still a grown-assed man).
* ButtMonkey: He's the character that the other boys make fun of the most. The pilot episode is literally about things going into and coming out of Cartman's ass. Of course he's still a ButtMonkey now, but [[LaserGuidedKarma he actually deserves the bad stuff that happens to him]].
* CainAndAbel: [[spoiler: He's Scott Tenorman's half-brother, whom he fed his own parents.]]
* CantStandThemCantLiveWithoutThem: In a very twisted way, Cartman realized in "Smug Alert" that he needs Kyle around to rip on, otherwise his life just isn't the same.
* CatchPhrase:
** "Screw you guys, I'm going home."
** "Suck my balls."
** "Kickass."
** "I'M NOT FAT! I'M BIG BONED!"
** "Respect my authoritah."
** "BET MEEEAAAHM..."
** "AW, GODDAMMIT!", assisted by a head cock and facial grimace.
** A RunningGag is his literal inability to say any other variation of the word "serious" other than "seriously".
--->'''Cartman:''' You guys, I'm seriously!
*** Speaking of which, "No! Noooooooooooooooooo!" any time something is [[SeriousBusiness Seriously Business]].
** "Stupid Jew", "Goddamn Jew", and everything that insults Jews.
** "Yeah, I want Cheesy Poofs!" in earlier episodes.
** "No kitty, this is my [food]", followed sometimes by a whined repetition of the phrase, and sometimes concluded with, "NO, KITTEH, THAT'S A BAD KITTEH!!!"
** [[SirSwearsALot Lots and lots of swearing]].
*** "[[SevenDirtyWords Mother]]''fucker''."
*** "The ''fuck''?" Used [[RunningGag repeatedly]] in "Fatbeard".
** "Sweet."
** HOW DO I ''REECH'' THESE ''KEEEDS''?[[note]]Used in "Eek, A Penis!" when in his Mr. Cartmanez persona, teaching troubled kids how to cheat.[[/note]]
** "Tits."
** "Hella."
** "Whateva, I do what I want."
** "[[GroinAttack I'll kick you in the nuts]]!" Sometimes, he'll also say "I'll kick you square (pronounced "squah") in the nuts."
* CelebrityResemblance: WordOfGod says that Cartman is heavily inspired by Archie Bunker, and the funny thing is that both are very similar both physically and psychologically in {{Jerkass}} tendencies.
* CharacterDevelopment: Cartman has generally gotten more intelligent over the years. Originally, his selfish, impulsive behaviour stemmed from his absolute inability to think beyond his momentary desires. Now, however, he's usually running mental circles around Stan and Kyle and his evilness is premeditated, revealing him as an absolute villain. His whining used to only sway his mother and leave everybody else absolutely unmoved, but now he's a master of manipulation and can play huge crowds like a fiddle.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In the early seasons, his main antagonism was with Kenny, whom he constantly made fun of for being poor. From about Season 5 to 15, his anti-Semitism is far, far more prominent than it was previously, and he literally can't speak to Kyle without making fun of him for being Jewish. The poverty jokes come up now and then, but much more rarely.
* TheChessmaster: In some episodes, he can be this. Specifically in "Scott Tenorman Must Die".
* ChildProdigy: Only, and ONLY when motivated by [[EvilGenius evil]].
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Thanks to his over-the-top prejudice and steadfast belief that nothing is ever his fault, he believes some rather... ''odd'' things.
* ClusterFBomb: Describing all the ways and situations in which his mom "fucks" him in "[=HUMANCENTiPAD=]".
* ComedicSociopath: He freely manipulates and uses everybody around him according to whichever whim has him at the moment. As an example: In the episode "Ginger Kids", Cartman freely advocates denying all ginger kids basic human rights. After Stan and Kyle conspire to turn Cartman into a ginger with makeup, convinced that it is the only way he'll learn fairness, Cartman proceeds to instantly convert to the ginger cause and quickly advocates the total genocide of all non-gingers... [[{{Irony}} especially the gingers who are "faking it" with makeup]].
* ConspiracyTheorist: (Supposedly) believes 9/11 was caused by Kyle. Also is the first one to believe that the new Muslim family in town are terrorists.
* TheCorrupter: He's good at getting others to go along with his schemes, usually Butters. Taken to extremes in "Crack Baby Athletic Association", where he manages to serve as this to ''Kyle'' of all people.
* CreepyChild: Ever since the Scott Tenorman incident he's become increasingly psychotic throughout the years, going as far as attempting to kill his mother when he feels she doesn't love him anymore. Even Damien [=McSatan=] thinks there's something wrong with Cartman.
* CreepyCrossdresser: He's worn women's clothing more than once. In his [[http://southpark.wikia.com/wiki/Eric_Cartman article on the South Park Archives]], there is a detailed statement on what could be seen as gender identity issues.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: He's usually portrayed as being a wimp but even from early on he could be a badass if the situation called for it, such as by [[ItMakesSenseInContext shooting multiple electric beams at Saddam Hussein]] (made even more impressive by the fact that it was with a chip [[NoSell designed to hurt him]] [[{{Determinator}} so he was probably in pain while doing it]]) or by creatively knocking out a whole bunch of Mexicans with a small taser and an oil truck.
* DepravedBisexual: He was attracted to Ben Affleck and Michael Jefferson; dressed as Britney Spears in one episode and makes out with a Justin Timberlake cardboard cutout; had a sexual affair with Leonardo [=DiCaprio=] whilst convinced he's a Vietnamese prostitute due to a head injury; is obsessed with and follows Kyle Broflovski around (even going on a cross-country quest just to make him suck his balls in "Imaginationland: The Trilogy"); blew Butters in his sleep after giving him cold medicine, then tried to convince Butters to do the same to him; and asked Clyde to sleep with him once (he was actually quoting "Lady Marmalade"; you know the lyric). But he also experienced attraction toward Wendy, Stan's girlfriend; mentioned that he had a crush on a girl named Patty Nelson; and had a crush on Bebe when she started developing breasts (along with the rest of the male 4th graders). [[spoiler: And currently, Heidi Turner is his first girlfriend.]]
* DespotismJustifiesTheMeans: Can often convince the [[TooDumbToLive citizens of South Park]] of this.
* {{Determinator}}: While usually very lazy and stupid, Cartman is capable of incredible things once he puts his mind to it. Although these things only really benefit him and tend to fall into "evil" territory.
* DidYouJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu: Cartman managed to become friends with the dark lord, Cthulhu. The two of them then flew through the sky while singing to the tune of the ''Anime/MyNeighborTotoro'' theme song.
* DirtyCoward: Of particular note is the episode where he fights Wendy. His grovelling begging to get out of the fight leads to this exchange:
-->'''Wendy:''' I am going to make you eat your own underwear. \\
'''Cartman:''' (scared shitless) There's no need, please! Look, I'm doing it now! (does so) \\
'''Wendy:''' Jesus Christ, do you have no self-respect? \\
'''Cartman:''' No! Unless... will you forgive me if I do?
** Also happens when he, along with the rest of his friends, does something wrong (or even thinks that they did). In that case, he usually tries to frame it on Butters.
* DisabilityAsAnExcuseForJerkassery:
** He fakes [[HollywoodTourettes Tourette's]] in order to get away with swearing and saying racial slurs. He also tries this in "Ass Burgers", but fails due to a very basic misunderstanding of the disease.
** He gains more weight so he can qualify for a mobility scooter in "Raising the Bar".
* DisproportionateRetribution: Frequently, and famously.
-->'''Cartman:''' ''(sarcastically)'' Okay, I'm sorry I handcuffed Billy Turner's ankle to a flagpole and then gave him a hacksaw. And then told him I had poisoned his lunch milk and that the only way he could get to the antidote in time would be to saw through his leg.
-->'''Ms. Cartman:''' Eric, that's very naughty.
-->'''Cartman:''' Well, he called me "chubby!"
* DoesNotLikeSpam: He led Cthulhu on a crusade against Whole Foods. "No more organic crap for America!"
* DragonInChief: Cthulhu.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In the 1992 ''Spirit of Christmas'' short (which ''South Park'' spawned from), he had Kenny's name and was the victim of his TheyKilledKennyAgain RunningGag.
* EliminationCatchPhrase: "Get the fudge out!"
* EnfantTerrible: A racist, bigoted, murderous, self-centered VillainProtagonist. While his attempts at being cute aren't always very successful, he is still without a doubt the most manipulative character in the show and is quite psychopathic.
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Double-subverted, as when he tries to kill her, he suddenly finds he can't go through with it.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: All things considered, he has quite a few -- even if some of them are PlayedForLaughs and are more "petty" standards than anything:
** Since he's evil, Cartman can deliver bits of social commentary that would seem less acceptable if it was Stan or Kyle saying it. Of particular note are his rants on hippies, ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', and the Catholic Church.
** In "Major Boobage", he shows a lot more love to cats than he ever has to a person.
** "My Future Self N' Me" establishes that he hates it when parents don't respect their kids and lie to them, as kids should be able to trust their parents. Because of this, he starts a business where kids can pay him to smear poop on their parents' walls.
** "The China Probrem" shows that of all the evil acts he's willing to do, he draws the line at one: shooting men in the genitals. [[BerserkButton Never]].
** In "Dances with Smurfs" he reacts with horror to Gordon Stolski's murder during the morning announcements.
** By the end of the "Black Friday" trilogy, he seems genuinely horrified and haunted after watching Bill Gates murder the Sony President after he got his XBOX One.
** Even Cartman was creeped out by Shelley's relationship with Skyler, a man ten years her senior.
** "All right all right that does it! [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere Screw you guys I'm going home!]] TalkingPoo is where I draw the line."
** Even Cartman was afraid of Trent Boyett in "Pre-School".
** Even he looks horrified by Captain Hindsight and the fire department letting 14 people die in a fire in "Coon 2: Hindsight".
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Cartman does not understand the difference between being nice and wearing a nice sweater, as seen in "Casa Bonita". "Toilet Paper" shows that he also cannot comprehend the idea of confessing to something because one feels guilty, thinking exclusively in terms of whether or not he'll be punished, and how badly, and he seemed to be in ''physical pain'' trying to [[LackOfEmpathy process the concept of feeling bad for other people]] (i.e. Butters, who was falsely accused and arrested for the boys' T.P.'ing of their art teacher's house). Many attempts to berate him for his callousness have fallen flat since he genuinely doesn't seem to have a clue what empathy is. In Season 20 when he tries to be a better person (mostly due to fear of retribution) he doesn't come out as sincere and only has "women are funny, get over it" as an argument.
* EvilCounterpart: To Kyle and Butters (and, to a lesser extent, Stan).
* EvilGenius: More and more in the later seasons. This is mainly introduced in "Scott Tenorman Must Die".
* EvilGloating:
-->'''Cartman:''' *in sing-songy voice* Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! I made you eat your parents.
* EvilIsHammy: He's known for being an extremely campy character.
* EvilIsPetty: We all know just how large in scale Cartman's schemes can run, but he has no problem doing really petty crimes like toilet papering a teacher's house. And he tied a kid to a flagpole by his ankle and told the kid he poisoned his chocolate milk and then gave him a saw telling him he implanted the poison in the kid's leg, and he needed to cut his leg off to get it ("Well, he called me "chubby"!") Also, some of those elaborate schemes ''are'' for petty reasons. See the entire Scott Tenorman fiasco.
* EvilPlan: Go to Somalia to gain massive profit: done. Tape crack babies fighting over drugs as an internet sensation to profit: done. Convince Cthulu to assist in mass slaughter and show up your friends: done. Cartman thrives on this trope.
* FatBastard: During his family reunion, all of his family members, save for his mother and grandmother who are thin and caring, are fat annoying slobs. In another episode, Eric from the future, who lost weight and became a better person in general (and wealthy to boot), comes to the past to tell Eric to be a good human being. Eric (thinking it's a trick) delivers the generic "screw you" line and says he will stay the way he is. After the other characters are out of view, the future Eric transforms into a dirty obese mechanic as a result of his younger self not "changing for the better".
* FatComicRelief: He is the butt of many jokes about his weight.
* FatIdiot: Though his hatred and spite occasionally give him moments of brilliance.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Cartman's willing to pretend to be nice to get what he wants -- the gloves come off the second he doesn't. Sometimes he isn't even that good at being affable and rely on pity to manipulate. May or may not be [[AffablyEvil subverted]] in Season 20, where it ''does'' appear as though he's trying to be a better person, but it's hard to tell because he still has a way of sounding sarcastic when he's being "nice".
* {{Flanderization}}: In the early seasons, his anti-Semitic streak was relatively mild and was nothing more than making fun of Kyle not celebrating Christmas. Between Seasons 5 and 15, it is FAR more prominent, to the point where, in "The Passion Of The Jew", he tries to instigate his own Holocaust. After Season 15, [[ForgotFlandersCouldDoThat it goes back the other way somewhat]], with his anti-Semitism being much less pronounced. In fact, by Season 19, he no longer makes derogatory remarks about Jews when speaking to Kyle (though they still argue because they don't like each other regardless).
* FluffyTamer: Nothing else qualifies for taming Cthulhu.
* FreudianExcuse: WordOfGod confirms that because his mother almost never bothers to discipline him for his actions and constantly spoils him, Cartman just doesn't know right from wrong.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Not only do his three closest "friends" hate him, insult him behind his back, and actively question why they still hang out with him, but the entire fourth grade class hates him almost as much. Even ''Butters'' occasionally lets it slip that he doesn't truly like Cartman very much, being friendly to him presumably out of goodwill and fear. The boys are often divided on whatever keeps Cartman a part of their group; Kenny personally explains that he pities Cartman as an unfeeling, horrible person and so allows him to stay because he knows he'll have no other friends otherwise, while Stan and Kyle seem to have no idea. Either way, it's rare to see his friends actually ''genuinely'' enjoying his company.
* GeniusBruiser: He has several talents, among which the highlights are: electronics, sumo, music, and even multilingualism, such as fluency in German and Spanish. His strength and intelligence can vary from episode to episode however. His intelligence can be attributed to him being BrilliantButLazy, but his strength varies from strong enough to take down adults ("Chickenlover") to being beaten up by the students in his class (Wendy in "Breast Cancer Show Ever", Kyle in "Kenny Dies" among others, and Token in "Christian Rock Hard").
* GeniusDitz: Can easily manipulate people and appears to be able to speak fluent Spanish and German at age 9, but otherwise completely clueless about a lot of things.
* GodzillaThreshold: Whenever a problem gets too out of hand, he's usually brought in as a last resort to stop it.
* GoodHurtsEvil: In "Tsst", when his long-suppressed conscience starts to surface.
* HairTriggerTemper: Moreso than any of the other main characters (save for Mr. Garrison), and one of his biggest draws.
* HeelFaceDoorSlam: In the first episode of Season 20 it's revealed that he's actually working on his [[{{Jerkass}} behavior]]. However, in the second episode titled "Skank Hunt", the kids start to wrongfully suspect that he's [[{{Troll}} skankhunt]]. That makes them destroy his computer, phone and tablet.
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Cartman has gone from being one of the team to actually being the villain of the episode and back again so many times over the years, he may as well be labeled the poster boy for this trope.
* HeelFaithTurn: "Jewpacabra" induces this as Cartman proclaims to [[spoiler: convert to Judaism]]. Not that Kyle will ever buy it.
* HeelRealization: On occasion. [[AesopAmnesia It doesn't last, though]].
* HeroicComedicSociopath: Even though he is a psychopath, he has done some pretty heroic things, such as saving the world from Saddam's reign in the movie, demolishing [[Recap/SouthParkS5E9OsamaBinLadenHasFartyPants Osama bin Laden's army]] and crippling him, and saving the town from hippies when they got out of control.
* HiddenDepths: "Cartman Sucks" shows signs that Cartman is a rather talented photographer.
* HijackingCthulhu: Cartman manipulates the actual {{Cthulhu|Mythos}} via the RuleOfCute into trampling his enemies, namely the rest of the gang and anyone he suspects to be a hippie.
* HollywoodTourettes: In an attempt to get away with swearing whenever he wants, he faked Tourette's Syndrome. It backfires on him when not watching what he says causes him to [[spoiler: blurt out personal secrets]].
* HypocriticalHumor: He makes a song about how Kyle's mom is a big fat bitch, yet he is an overweight jerkass as well. To hammer this even more, he rips on Kyle and all Jews for being greedy and manipulative when he himself is guilty of this all the time.
* IAmBigBoned
-->'''Stan:''' C'mon, fatass!\\
'''Ms. Cartman:''' Now, now, he's not fat, he's big boned!\\
'''Kyle:''' Then he must have a giant bone in his ass!\\
'''Ms. Cartman:''' ''[[[AccidentalInnuendo hysterical laughter]]]''
* IdenticalStranger: To Marlon Brando ("Cartman Joins NAMBLA") and a bit to Dakota Fanning (the sketch in "Free Willzyx").
* IgnoredEpiphany: In "Mysterion Rises".
-->''Should I just apologize to my friends and ask them to take me back? Tell them that I was being a selfish jerk? [...] Should I admit I was wrong? Ask for everyone's forgiveness and go back to my original team? Nah, screw that, I'm just gonna keep being a dick!''
* InnocentBigot: Cartman doesn't think he's being racist in "Cartman Finds Love" by playing matchmaker between Nichole and Token, the only two black students in the school. He considers what he is doing as helping nature take its course. He spends the whole episode [[{{Determinator}} going to the extreme]] to uphold these views. A rare example of ''[[TheSociopath Cartman]]'' managing to fill a trope with the word "innocent".
* InsaneTrollLogic: Uses this a ''lot'', memorably so in "Mystery of the Urinal Deuce", "Dances with Smurfs", and, to a lesser extent, "I Should Have Never Gone Ziplining".
* ItsAllAboutMe: He is willing to compromise world peace just so he can abuse Kyle for his own amusement. He is even shocked when Mysterion tells him that making the world a better place for oneself exclusively isn't heroic.
* ItAmusedMe: Many of the awful things he does are motivated by boredom.
* IWasBeatenByAGirl: Wendy, to be precise. This is HilariousInHindsight because he once stated that he would never let a woman kick his ass; if she tried anything Cartman would be like "HEY! You get your bitch ass back in the kitchen and make me some pie!"
* {{Jerkass}}: Cartman is one of television's most infamous examples. He currently provides the trope's page image.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: In the first four seasons. Since the latter half of Season 15, he has veered more towards this, even having moments with Kyle that don't involve arguing or foiling each other's schemes.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: Sometimes he does something that seems genuinely generous or selfless, but there's always a selfish reason to it. His friends expect this. His inability to understand what everyone else calls being "good" is brought to light a couple of times. For example, when called out by Mysterion, we get this:
-->'''Cartman (as The Coon)''': I'm making the world a better place.
-->'''[[spoiler:Kenny]] (as Mysterion)''': For ''you!''
-->'''Cartman (as The Coon)''': Right. That's what superheroes do.
* KarmaHoudini / KarmaHoudiniWarranty: While he usually ''does'' get some form of comeuppance for his actions, it's only temporary, and is usually (but not always) more of an inconvenience than any real punishment. He never suffers [[StatusQuoIsGod longer than it takes for the next episode to air]].
* KarmicTransformation: In the episode "Ginger Kids", after Cartman starts a crusade against gingers, the other boys try to stop him by dying his hair red and using makeup to turn his skin pale and freckly. But then Cartman just changes his tune, starts a "ginger power" movement, and tries to wipe out all non-gingers. He stops and begins preaching tolerance after Kyle explains to him that he's not really a ginger.
* KickTheDog: Many times. Beating Token with a rock, trying to kill his mother, and infecting Kyle with HIV just to name a few.
* KidsAreCruel: Cartman takes this trope UpToEleven.
* KindheartedCatLover: Surprisingly, in "Major Boobage", it's shown that he likes cats enough to start hiding strays in his attic and even begin taking in other people's cats for them (not even asking for anything in return) once cats are made illegal in South Park.
* KnightTemplar: He genuinely believes Jews are evil, having apparently been convinced of it by Mel Gibson's films. Also subverted to a degree, as in a deleted scene from "The List" he seems to acknowledge he is a horrible person. This gets taken UpToEleven in the "Coon Saga", where he leads Cthulhu on a mass murdering spree, massacring the entire burning man festival, Justin Bieber and most of his fans, and the whole city of San Francisco, ''all while thinking he's doing good''.
-->'''Cartman''': [Coon and Friends] will continue to fight for good and justice!\\
'''News Reporter''': Good and justice? Justin Bieber and most of his fans have just been massacred!\\
'''Cartman''': Yes, Coon and Friends are glad to help! No need to thank me.
* LackOfEmpathy: The poster boy. He only cares about himself and getting whatever he wants, and is perfectly willing to lie, cheat, manipulate, and commit mass murder to do so. In one episode, when Kyle is in dire need of a kidney transplant and Cartman is the only match, Cartman blatantly refuses to do so unless he's paid $10 million for it, forcing Stan and the other people of South Park to resort to trickery to get said kidney.
* LargeHam: He's known for being an extremely campy character and he disturbs class all the time.
* LaserGuidedKarma: He receives this on a semi-regular basis.
* LastNameBasis: Oddly, all the characters (except Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Wendy) refer to him as Eric, whereas everyone in the real world refers to him as Cartman, including the title of the very first episode. In-universe, he may occasionally be called Cartman by minor characters, though these are probably slip-ups on the writers' parts and occasional leanings on the fourth wall (such as when Randy says "That's our Cartman!").
* LaughablyEvil: His antics can sometimes backfire and lead to his humiliation, but he shows that he's capable of this, for example being able to team up with Cthulhu.
* LikableVillain: Everyone knows Cartman covers about half of the list of Evil Tropes, yet that hasn't stopped the viewing public from laughing at his antics for fifteen years. It helps that he's a bit more tolerable than [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy most]] [[WesternAnimation/AmericanDad jerkass protagonists]] and that the writers have him lose as often as he wins.
* MadeOfIron: Occasionally played for laughs, but keep in mind, this kid has survived getting run over by cars, getting beaten to a pulp more than a few times, falling from buildings, and even survived getting struck by lightning!
* MaliciousSlander: When given the bully pulpit. For example, he writes an entire book dedicated to slandering Wendy.
* ManipulativeBastard: Frequently. [[spoiler: Apparently to the point where he can control ''the dark god Cthulhu''.]] It's gotten to the point where Kyle can instantly tell that Cartman is up to no good and is only scheming to better himself should he start to act differently. Kyle is usually right.
* TheMatchmaker: Cartman and Cupid-Me {{ship|ping}} same-race couples, and he actively works to get them together.
* MinorInjuryOverreaction: Cartman begins wailing over a punch in the arm by Kyle as if he was seriously hurt. Though it's implied that he [[ExploitedTrope purposefully exaggerates]] them to gain sympathy.
* MistakenForGay: Happens a few times, mostly with Kyle or Butters.
* MoralMyopia: In the "Coon and Friends" trilogy, he thinks the rest of Coon and Friends pulled a FaceHeelTurn because they kicked him out. He also states that being a superhero means you're making the world a better place for yourself, not others, and sees him himself as a superhero even though his "heroic" actions consist of having Cthulhu kill thousands of people for no reason other than the fact that he hates them.
* MotorMouth:
** During the "Kyle's Mom's a Bitch" song from the movie.
** Also in "Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut"; once he hears "Come Sail Away" he stops everything to finish it in order to finish in the fastest way possible.
** Invoked when attempting to explain a very long string of fabricated events in "Toilet Paper".
---> '''Cartman:''' Okay. Last night, all four of us were at the bowling alley until about 7:30, at which time we noticed Ally Sheedy, the goth chick from the Breakfast Club, was bowling in the lane next to us, and we asked her for her autograph, but she didn't have a pen, so we followed her out to her car, but on the way we were accosted by five Scientologists who wanted to give us all personality tests, which were administered at the Scientology Center in Denver until 10:45, at which time we accidentally boarded the wrong bus home and ended up in Rancho de Burritos Rojos, south of Castle Rock, and finally got a ride home with a man who was missing his left index finger, named Gary Bushwell, arriving home at 11:46.
* TheMole: Attempted. He pretends to help the other boys take down Wal-mart so he can be TheMillstone for them. He fools no one and they continually call him out on the fact that he's on Wal-Mart's side. [[TheUnreveal He later reveals himself to be a mole]].
* {{Narcissist}}: One episode has him coming to the ([[IgnoredEpiphany rather short-lived]]) epiphany that maybe the world doesn't revolve around him; the mere thought almost causes him to GoMadFromTheRevelation.
* TheNapoleon: "T.M.I." highlights this. Not regarding Cartman's height, but the length of his penis. In "Make Love, Not Warcraft", Cartman is the only character with a dwarf avatar.
* NearVillainVictory: Often. Usually it is undone by his own doing.
* NiceHat: He's usually seen with his trademark blue beanie, although out of the four boys he is also the one most likely to ditch it for whatever reason.
* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: He's the freaking image for ''South Park''[='=]s NightmareFuel page!
* NobleBigot: In "Cartman Finds Love", he seems to really believe that he is doing the right thing in setting Token up with Nichole despite his entire basis being his racism.
* NobleDemon:
** Cartman risks serious trouble or imprisonment to protect a load of cats in "Major Boobage". He is apparently unaware of the parallels when Kyle asks pointedly whether he noticed the obvious historical parallel, after Cartman had risked arrest by [[ItMakesSenseInContext harboring felines]] in his attic, despite him earlier lampshading it by suggesting his cat could "[[Theatre/TheDiaryOfAnneFrank write a diary]]" while in hiding. There have also have been other times where he did stuff without wanting anything in return. The show seems to be fond of leaving ambiguity as to whether he does potentially noble acts for hidden selfish reasons or out of genuine conscience; "Kenny Dies" and "Smug Alert" for example, either border him further into {{Jerkass}} territory or grant him NobleDemon qualities.
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: [[ShoutOut Delivers one to]] Mosquito (Clyde) because [[DisproportionateRetribution Mosquito wanted to help people in the Gulf instead of blackmailing fellow heroes]].
* NominalHero: He'll sometimes do good deeds like save the town from hippies or save some crack babies, or stop a terrorist threat. Don't expect his motivations to have anything in common with the rest of the team.
* NonStandardCharacterDesign: His body and face shape is much more exaggerated compared to the rest of his peers (excluding disabled ones). He also has a notable double chin. Also, rather subtle, but Cartman's eyebrows are actually ''triangular'', as opposed to other characters' more rectangular eyebrows.
* NotMeThisTime: [[spoiler: In a case of DramaticIrony, he is NOT Skankhunt42.]]
* ObfuscatingDisability: In "Up the Down Steroid", he pretends to be retarded so that he can win the Special Olympics. Unfortunately, he doesn't take into account that while not disabled, he's by no means ''athletic'' like the other contestants are.
* ObliviouslyEvil: In the "Coon" arc, he really thinks he is making the world a better place by disposing of the people he doesn't like. Mysterion calls him on this.
* OfficialCouple: In Season 20, he gets with Heidi Turner, in an odd yet very sweet romantic relationship.
* OutOfCharacterMoment: "You're Getting Old" and "Ass Burgers" has Cartman acting ''nice'' towards Kyle and not doing it to manipulate him for anything. The niceness act is due to Stan being a cynical asshole and being unbearable to be around. Naturally, StatusQuoIsGod and Cartman resumes being a jerk to Kyle afterwards.
* {{Patricide}}: [[spoiler: Unknowingly killed his father and turned him into chili.]] When he finds out, [[VillainousBSOD he's horrified]]...[[ComicallyMissingThePoint that his father was ginger]].
* PaperTiger: For all his shit-talking and threats to kick ass, he's a complete coward when threatened. This makes the occasions where he does get effective revenge on someone [[BewareTheSillyOnes even more terrifying]].
** On at least two occasions, Kyle has made him cry from punching him in the ''arm'' and busted/broken his nose with a shovel with no retaliation when Cartman threatened him.
** During one episode, he made several misogynistic comments about Stan's sister when it was revealed that she abuses Stan on a routine basis, and when she's within earshot of one of those comments, he's very quick to pin it on Kenny.
** Stan made him hang up the phone and back away in terror after identifying him as the person trash-talking to him in "The Passion of the Jew".
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Jews, hippies, blacks, Asians, girls... They ''all'' get the hate from Cartman at least once.
* PrecisionFStrike: See CatchPhrase.
* PunctuatedForEmphasis: "This. Is. Bullcrap!"
* RedOniBlueOni: Red Oni to Kyle's Blue.
* RefugeInAudacity: Cartman is so popular with the fans because of his extreme [[HairTriggerTemper tendencies]] and [[LargeHam over-the-top]] [[FatBastard personality]].
* RousseauWasRight: "Tsst" definitely puts this into perspective, suggesting there still is a core of innocence under all of that hate and bile building up in Cartman's psyche, but remains suppressed largely due to his upbringing. [[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89375695 As Trey Parker puts it]], Liane's ineffectual parenting skills molded Cartman into TheSociopath he is today, and so long as she's looking for a friend in her son, he has [[MonsterSobStory no hope of recovery]].
-->'''Parker''': Cartman's basically doomed.
* RunningGag: People have mistaken him for Bruce Vilanch multiple times.
* {{Sadist}}: Just look at the ending for "Scott Tenorman Must Die".
* SelfMadeOrphan: Halfway there, having arranged the death of his father [[spoiler: Jack Tenorman]]. Came close to fully becoming one in "Tsst".
* SelfServingMemory: Especially prominent in "Fishsticks" and the "Coon and Friends" trilogy.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Manly Man to Butters' and Stan's Sensitive Guy.
* SeriousBusiness: Anything involving food, stuffed animals, or cartoons. And that's just the more well-known examples...
* ShipperOnDeck: For [[TokenMinorityCouple Token/Nichole]]. He goes to ridiculous feats to get them together.
* ShockAndAwe: He temporarily gets the ability to [[spoiler: shoot lightning out of his hands near the ending of ''[[TheMovie Bigger, Longer, and Uncut]]'' using the V-Chip in his head]].
* SickeninglySweethearts: With [[AscendedExtra Heidi Turner]]. Even the other students think it TastesLikeDiabetes.
* SirSwearsALot: This trope applies to his friends as well, but to him more than anyone else.
* SissyVillain: Cartman likes to think he's imposing and dangerous but has basically no defense from being actually attacked. In "Something Wal-Mart This Way Comes", Kenny is able to easily stall him by lightly slapping at him, and at the end of "Christmas in Canada", he cries out for his mommy when Kyle gives him a [[CherryTapping tiny jab on the shoulder]]. In "Breast Cancer Show Ever", he's perfectly willing to antagonize Wendy right up until she'll fight him, then spends the entire episode trying to avoid the conflict he willfully spawned. Wendy quickly [[CurbStompBattle wipes the floor with him]].
* SmallNameBigEgo: The walking personification of the trope. Cartman acts like he is better than everyone else and knows more than anyone else, but when people actually start fighting back by hitting him (even if it's a weak tap), he starts bawling like a baby. "Breast Cancer Show Ever" has the trope in spades where Cartman pushes Wendy's buttons too far and she vows to beat him up, causing Cartman to plead with her to not fight him while at the same time, he acts tough in front of the school to keep up his image.
* SmugSnake: Usually alternates between this and MagnificentBastard.
* TheSociopath: In Seasons 1-4 he was just a BrattyHalfPint. Then he became a perfect example of a sociopath with particularly poor impulse control. First of all, he displays zero empathy for any living person, nor has he ever shown any feelings of guilt for anything. His list of crimes is vast, but he has committed them frequently just to alleviate boredom, or for an immature personal gain.
* SociopathicHero: When he is on the good side he'll still insult and suggest violent methods.
* SonOfAWhore: His mother had slept with the entire named adult population of South Park.
* SpoiledBrat: Here's one of his milder examples:
-->'''Cartman:''' Mom, can you get me some Weight Gain 4000?\\
'''Cartman's Mom:''' Okay Eric. I'll get you some at the store tomorrow.\\
'''Cartman:''' But mom, I need it for tomorrow!\\
'''Cartman's Mom:''' But, tomorrow is grocery day, Eric.\\
'''Cartman:''' ''Mooooooom!'' *whines incoherently*\\
'''Cartman's Mom:''' Okay, okay. Well, I guess I'll be going to the store now, then.\\
'''Cartman:''' *smiles* Sweet.
* SuddenNameChange: The 1992 short ''The Spirit of Christmas: Jesus vs. Frosty'' made him to have Kenny's, but it would later be changed to his current name in the following short.
* TeenyWeenie: Cartman has the smallest (presumably flaccid) penis in his class as revealed in "T.M.I.". He's very defensive and easily angered about it (it's 1.4 inches for the curious).
* TellMeAboutMyFather: [[{{Hermaphrodite}} His mother is actually his father]]. [[spoiler: OR NOT!]]
* ThatsWhatIWouldDo: Uses his skills in getting out of trouble by making up some huge lie to figure out that a kid teaching the parents of South Park how to play Minecraft is lying.
* TokenEvilTeammate: In the main group, because he's a sociopathic and racist bully. Even at their worst, his friends aren't as bad as him.
* TookALevelInBadass: As The Coon in the "Coon & Friends" trilogy. However, even in his normal persona, he does admittedly have moments where his cunning and manipulativeness come off as genuinely badass.
* TookALevelInJerkass: In Season 5. He was a stupid SpoiledBrat {{Jerkass}} from the beginning, but on several occasions his friends came off even worse. However, from Season 5 onwards he's become a [[LackOfEmpathy cold]], [[MagnificentBastard calculating]], [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] {{Jerkass}}.
* TookALevelInKindness: He starts to show concern for others beginning with the second half of Season 15, even towards Kyle. Especially as of "1%" after [[spoiler: he's told to "grow up" and some of his stuffed animals are killed, then he bids farewell to the last of them. Even Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Token watch as he shoots Polly Prissypants and cries while doing it]]. Even moreso in Season 20, where he makes some sincere effort to try being a better person (even if he's being an idiot about it) and is less antagonistic than before. [[spoiler: He even gets a girlfriend.]]
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Pot Pie and Cheesy Poofs in the earlier seasons.
* {{Troll}}: With a large degree of blur with ManipulativeBastard. He does seem to thoroughly and sadistically enjoy the suffering his actions cause. However, in Season 20, it's revealed that [[spoiler: he is [[NotMeThisTime NOT]] Skankhunt42]].
* UnderstandingBoyfriend: Parodied. His attempts at being this to [[spoiler: Heidi]] consist entirely of repeating "You're smart and funny" over and over again. Sort of deconstructed now that we're getting more and more hints that he hasn't really changed.
* TheUnfettered: To [[RuleOfFunny comedic]] and sometimes [[VillainProtagonist horrific]] extents.
* UnsportsmanlikeGloating: Whenever he wins a bet with Kyle (such as crapping out his mouth or getting a platinum album in a music band), he'll take ''every possible opportunity'' he can to rub it in Kyle's face. In fact, it's shown that he actually likes gloating about the win ''more'' than the reward itself; for example, in "Christian Rock Hard", when he discovers that Christian rock bands only give out myrrh albums and not platinum ones, thus meaning he won't be able to win the bet, he flies into a rage in public and ruins the band's success.
* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: He is willing to do things like feed a kid his own parents or even cause the end of the world to get revenge for minor wrongdoings against him.
* VerbalTic:
** "You guys... seriousleh..."
** Lots of blithering {{Angrish}}.
* VillainBall: He probably would've been successful in getting the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode pulled in "Cartoon Wars" if he hadn't confessed to Kyle (whom he had already managed to convince of his good intentions) that he was doing it to get the show cancelled.
* VillainousGlutton: In one episode, it is shown that making him thin would actually make him a nicer person.
* VillainProtagonist: He either serves as TheDragon for an even greater evil, or IS the BigBad in most episodes. Occasionally though, he functions as a NominalHero.
* VitriolicBestBuds: With everyone, especially Kyle.
* VocalEvolution: He had a higher and more grating, raspy voice in earlier seasons.
* WithFriendsLikeThese: His relationship with the other kids.
* WouldHitAGirl: In his fight with Wendy, not that it helps him that much. He also beats up a little girl for being a fan of The Coon and Friends (of which he is no longer a member) in "Mysterion Rises".
* YouAreFat: No matter what absolutely atrocious things Cartman does, "fatass" or variations of which are nearly always the key insult dished at him.
* YouAreWhatYouHate: In the 200th episode, Cartman is agonized to learn that [[spoiler: Scott Tenorman's dad, the guy he murdered and force-fed to Scott -- is Cartman's own father]]... but not out of any guilt for what he did to him. Cartman's only upset because this means that he's "half-ginger".
* YouSayTomato
[[quoteright:320:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eric-cartman_380.jpg]]
-> ''"Screw you guys, I'm going home."''
-> '''Kyle:''' ''"He's a fat, manipulative, bigoted, intolerant sociopath."''
!!!!!!Voiced by: Trey Parker
!!!!!!Debut: "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe"
The fat kid of the group. Incredibly selfish and mean, but the other boys keep him around because they know he won't get along well with anyone else. One of the most well-known and polarizing characters of the show. Among other things, he hates hippies, Jews, gingers, Wendy Testaburger's liberal views, people making fun of his weight, and the "random" humor of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''.
See also [[SelfDemonstrating/EricCartman his self-demonstrating page]].
* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: Just about ''every'' kid in town hates him, though not without good reason. It's to the extent that in one episode, they all flat-out tell Cartman that they don't like him and couldn't possibly have a lower opinion of him than they already do.
* {{Acrofatic}}: While usually very out of shape, he proves to be surprisingly athletic as The Coon, scaling buildings and a half-destroyed roller coaster with apparently little effort. Then this trope is subverted majorly in "1%" when his atrocious fitness causes an otherwise average class (and the whole school) to fail a national fitness test, then ''inverted'' in "The New Terrance and Phillip Movie Trailer", in which he is unable to keep up with the rest of the gang as they run throughout the town.
* {{Adorkable}}: He could be this in the first four seasons, surprisingly enough. Especially when playing with his dolls (ie. Clyde Frog, Peter Panda, etc.).
* AllTakeAndNoGive: Cartman demands to have everything handed over to him whenever he wants something and he usually has his friends do the work for whatever he needs or wants done while he doesn't do any of the heavy duty stuff himself. Cartman never gives anyone anything unless it's part of a scheme he has planned and he hardly ever gives words of thanks when it's due, especially to his mother.
* AmbiguousDisorder: Depending on the needs of the episode, he can occasionally be found somewhere at the crossroads between ASPD/sociopathy, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and Schizophrenia.
* AmbiguouslyBi:
** Although he's shown to have feelings for Wendy and Patty Nelson, he has also frequently shown heavily repressed attraction to men, among other strange tendencies. In various episodes, he's been known to dress like Music/BritneySpears and dance with a Music/JustinTimberlake stand-up, joins NAMBLA, takes a picture of Butters' penis in his mouth (then tries to take one of his penis in Butters' mouth), and in "Fat Butt and Pancake Head", his hand puppet Jennifer Lopez has sex with Ben Affleck. However, some of these instances, particularly NAMBLA and the pictures of him and Butters, can be chalked up to him simply being too naive and stupid to understand what he's really doing.
** His hatred for Kyle often leads into sexual humiliation that carries these implications, including going to great lengths to force Kyle to suck his balls in "Imaginationland", his delights in forcing Kyle to stick his finger up his ass (to activate the probe stuck in there, mind you) in "Cancelled", forcing Kyle to literally kiss his ass (and then farting in his face when he gets close enough) in "Fun with Veal", and offering to suck Kyle's balls in "Go God Go". Then there's "Cartman Finds Love", in which he keeps telling people he and Kyle are gay lovers in order to keep Kyle from interfering with Cartman's plans to make Nicole hook up with Token.
** In "Tweek x Craig", it's implied the imaginary Cupid version of himself represents his repressed attraction to guys... or his love for himself. Then, of course, a season after that he actually [[spoiler: gets his first girlfriend]].
* AmbitionIsEvil:
** In "The Red Badge of Gayness", he bets Kyle and Stan that if the Confederacy wins in a Civil War reenactment, Kyle and Stan will have to be his slaves. Stan and Kyle know that this being a reenactment, the Confederacy has no chance of winning. What does Cartman do? He motivates them to fight for real, leads them across America, gets enough manpower to field an actual army along the way ("It's just like the million man march, except that there actually are a million people.") and then marches them to the White House.
** Then there's the time he bets Stan and Kyle that he can produce a platinum album (1 million copies sold) [[ItMakesSenseInContext by taking advantage of Christian rock]] and only fails in the end because they only give out myrrh albums instead of platinum ones.
* {{Angrish}}: His hilariously unique vocal mannerisms lead to this being used a ''lot'', with many instances being outright [[FunnyMoments Crowning Moments of Funny]]. Hell, he'll use his rasped garbles for almost any occasion: one of his most memorable moments involved him delving into this out of dumbfounded ''jubilation'' in "Cartmanland".
* AntiHero: Prior to his [[MoralEventHorizon infamous plot to humiliate Scott Tenorman]]. He then becomes a VillainProtagonist until he goes back to being an AntiHero in the second half of Season 15.
* AntiVillain: Starting with Season 16, his racist intentions and jerkass tendencies are much lighter than in previous seasons. Most of his schemes veer down WellIntentionedExtremist territory.
* AntiRoleModel: He is often made the voice of political views the author disagrees with, and is also a fat, moronic, sociopathic, and all-around-awful person.
* ArbitrarySkepticism: In "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe", Cartman denies that he was abducted by aliens and got an anal probe inserted inside him, even as he farts flames and has the probe protruding from his ass. When aliens blast Kenny into oncoming cattle, thus killing him, Cartman even denies that Kenny is dead, despite having (presumably) seen what happened right before his eyes.
* ArchEnemy: For Kyle.
* TheAtoner:
** Became this in "The Death of Eric Cartman". Not because he felt remorse for his past actions or even cared that he might go to Hell for them, but so that he could stop being a ghost. [[spoiler: He wasn't really a ghost, his friends were just ignoring him.]]
** Of a somewhat self-preserving sort as of Season 20. As he recognizes Political Correctness is here to stay, he tries to integrate himself into it, with varying levels of sincerity and success. Getting together with Heidi has certainly helped.
* AttentionWhore: Interrupts class a lot just to get attention among other things.
* AuthorAvatar: For Trey to a degree. He has mentioned in several communities and interviews that he shares some of the same views as Cartman. Most notably about ''Family Guy'', and [[http://youtu.be/OOJ-Hfyswos gingers]].
* AxCrazy: He is known for infamously chopping up the bodies of two dead parents and feeding them to their own son in the form of chili, in the infamous "Scott Tenorman Must Die" episode. He shows signs of full-blown psychosis at times, and generally has a narcissistic, psychopathic nature.
* BadassBeard: As "The Dawg" in "Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy".
* BadBlackBarf: In one of the creepier moments of the series, coming to the revelation that the world doesn't revolve around him in the episode "Tsst" causes him to ''literally'' puke out his evil in the form of black vomit, and he then goes on to start "glitching" and screaming in a supernatural fashion.
* TheBadGuyWins: The infamous "Scott Tenorman Must Die". Also one of the biggest KarmaHoudini moments ''ever''. Aside from that episode, there are several moments over the show's 20 year run where he's come out on top. However, he loses just as often as he wins.
* BadSamaritan: "Crack Baby Basketball Athletic Association".
* BastardBastard: He's the product of [[spoiler: Jack Tenorman's]] affair with [[ReallyGetsAround his slutty mother]], and a {{Jerkass}} on his best days.
* BatmanGambit: In "Scott Tenorman Must Die", Cartman exploits UnspokenPlanGuarantee by telling a fake plot to humiliate Scott to Stan and Kyle, correctly thinking they'd sabotage it.
* BecomingTheMask: He becomes "Mr. Cartmenez" in "Eek, a Penis!" for his own personal gain, but by the end of the episode he becomes genuinely sincere in wanting to "reeeach these kiiiids" and teach them "the white person way of cheating".
* BelievingTheirOwnLies: "Jewpacabra" in a form of self-administered karma. Subverted in "Fat Butt and Pancake Head", where it appears as if [[spoiler: he legitimately believes that [[ItMakesSenseInContext Jennifer Lopez is a living being residing on his left hand]]]], however at the end of the episode, he reveals that the entire thing was a ploy to get Kyle and Stan to admit that he'd duped them, as Kyle had predicted he would do throughout the entire episode.
* BelligerentSexualTension: With Wendy. Also [[HoYay Ky]][[FoeYay le]], probably.
* BerserkButton:
** He usually just makes a quick rebuttal when he's called fat, but occasionally it falls into this.
** Don't scam him out of his money and refuse to give it back.
** Never, ''ever'' let him think his penis is smaller than any other fourth grader.
** [[GroinAttack Speaking of penis]], [[EvenEvilHasStandards never shoot someone there]].
* BigBad: The main antagonist of a few episodes, if not a VillainProtagonist.
* TheBigGuy: When siding with his friends.
* BigEater: "Yeah, I want cheesy poofs!"
* BigNo: Often combined with LittleNo whenever something is SeriousBusiness.
* BizarreTasteInFood: Among his favorite dishes are "Powdered Donut Pancake Surprise", "Chocolate Chicken Pot Pie", and "Toaster Pastry Chocolate Mix Butter Bar". The last one consists of a stick of butter rolled in chocolate milk flavoring powder and sandwiched between two Pop-Tarts.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Almost any time Cartman does something that's (at least in his mind) purely unselfish in deed or intent, his reasoning can be a bit... out there.
* BookDumb: He refuses to care about anything that does not immediately help him, especially school. He never pays attention in school and remains ignorant. Despite this problem, he forms very detailed plans, considers complex issues and is a brilliant manipulator.
* BoomerangBigot: In "Ginger Kids", Cartman, after picking on and fearing gingers for half the episode, falls prey to a prank that convinces him that ''he'' is a ginger and [[spoiler: forms a Nazi-like cult devoted to exterminating non-gingers. And in "201", it's revealed that he actually is half-ginger.]] Also, in a twisted way, it has been implied on numerous occasions that he is possibly a ChildHater.
* BorrowedCatchPhrase: In "Clubhouses":
-->'''Cartman:''' Oh my God, {{they killed Kenny|Again}}!\\
'''Kyle:''' ''(walking outside Cartman's yard, but suddenly stops and turns towards the clubhouse)'' [[PhraseCatcher You bastards]]! ''(continues walking past the yard like nothing happened)''
* BrattyHalfPint: UpToEleven.
* BreakoutCharacter: Cartman has become the most prominent, iconic and popular character on the show thanks to his sociopathic {{Jerkass}} tendencies (similar to [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy Stewie Griffin]] and [[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} Bender]]).
* TheBully: When not himself the victim of fat jokes, he is usually the most prominent in school. It is implied that he provoked a tirade of abuse on one student (for crapping his pants in public) so much that the student later committed suicide.
* BullyingADragon: Despite his sociopathic and xenophobic traits, Cartman couldn't take a punch in earlier seasons as he would cry after the first punch or when he's in an unfavourable position, which was shown when Kyle pinned him against a tree after he made a comment in "It's a Jersey Thing". His lack of combat skills was also shown when he tried to back out of a fight against Wendy but it turning into a CurbStompBattle with Wendy brutally defeating him. However, he was capable of holding his own against Dr. Nelson in "With Apologies to Jessie Jackson" and make him submit. (Granted, Mr. Nelson was a dwarf, but still a grown-assed man).
* ButtMonkey: He's the character that the other boys make fun of the most. The pilot episode is literally about things going into and coming out of Cartman's ass. Of course he's still a ButtMonkey now, but [[LaserGuidedKarma he actually deserves the bad stuff that happens to him]].
* CainAndAbel: [[spoiler: He's Scott Tenorman's half-brother, whom he fed his own parents.]]
* CantStandThemCantLiveWithoutThem: In a very twisted way, Cartman realized in "Smug Alert" that he needs Kyle around to rip on, otherwise his life just isn't the same.
* CatchPhrase:
** "Screw you guys, I'm going home."
** "Suck my balls."
** "Kickass."
** "I'M NOT FAT! I'M BIG BONED!"
** "Respect my authoritah."
** "BET MEEEAAAHM..."
** "AW, GODDAMMIT!", assisted by a head cock and facial grimace.
** A RunningGag is his literal inability to say any other variation of the word "serious" other than "seriously".
--->'''Cartman:''' You guys, I'm seriously!
*** Speaking of which, "No! Noooooooooooooooooo!" any time something is [[SeriousBusiness Seriously Business]].
** "Stupid Jew", "Goddamn Jew", and everything that insults Jews.
** "Yeah, I want Cheesy Poofs!" in earlier episodes.
** "No kitty, this is my [food]", followed sometimes by a whined repetition of the phrase, and sometimes concluded with, "NO, KITTEH, THAT'S A BAD KITTEH!!!"
** [[SirSwearsALot Lots and lots of swearing]].
*** "[[SevenDirtyWords Mother]]''fucker''."
*** "The ''fuck''?" Used [[RunningGag repeatedly]] in "Fatbeard".
** "Sweet."
** HOW DO I ''REECH'' THESE ''KEEEDS''?[[note]]Used in "Eek, A Penis!" when in his Mr. Cartmanez persona, teaching troubled kids how to cheat.[[/note]]
** "Tits."
** "Hella."
** "Whateva, I do what I want."
** "[[GroinAttack I'll kick you in the nuts]]!" Sometimes, he'll also say "I'll kick you square (pronounced "squah") in the nuts."
* CelebrityResemblance: WordOfGod says that Cartman is heavily inspired by Archie Bunker, and the funny thing is that both are very similar both physically and psychologically in {{Jerkass}} tendencies.
* CharacterDevelopment: Cartman has generally gotten more intelligent over the years. Originally, his selfish, impulsive behaviour stemmed from his absolute inability to think beyond his momentary desires. Now, however, he's usually running mental circles around Stan and Kyle and his evilness is premeditated, revealing him as an absolute villain. His whining used to only sway his mother and leave everybody else absolutely unmoved, but now he's a master of manipulation and can play huge crowds like a fiddle.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In the early seasons, his main antagonism was with Kenny, whom he constantly made fun of for being poor. From about Season 5 to 15, his anti-Semitism is far, far more prominent than it was previously, and he literally can't speak to Kyle without making fun of him for being Jewish. The poverty jokes come up now and then, but much more rarely.
* TheChessmaster: In some episodes, he can be this. Specifically in "Scott Tenorman Must Die".
* ChildProdigy: Only, and ONLY when motivated by [[EvilGenius evil]].
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Thanks to his over-the-top prejudice and steadfast belief that nothing is ever his fault, he believes some rather... ''odd'' things.
* ClusterFBomb: Describing all the ways and situations in which his mom "fucks" him in "[=HUMANCENTiPAD=]".
* ComedicSociopath: He freely manipulates and uses everybody around him according to whichever whim has him at the moment. As an example: In the episode "Ginger Kids", Cartman freely advocates denying all ginger kids basic human rights. After Stan and Kyle conspire to turn Cartman into a ginger with makeup, convinced that it is the only way he'll learn fairness, Cartman proceeds to instantly convert to the ginger cause and quickly advocates the total genocide of all non-gingers... [[{{Irony}} especially the gingers who are "faking it" with makeup]].
* ConspiracyTheorist: (Supposedly) believes 9/11 was caused by Kyle. Also is the first one to believe that the new Muslim family in town are terrorists.
* TheCorrupter: He's good at getting others to go along with his schemes, usually Butters. Taken to extremes in "Crack Baby Athletic Association", where he manages to serve as this to ''Kyle'' of all people.
* CreepyChild: Ever since the Scott Tenorman incident he's become increasingly psychotic throughout the years, going as far as attempting to kill his mother when he feels she doesn't love him anymore. Even Damien [=McSatan=] thinks there's something wrong with Cartman.
* CreepyCrossdresser: He's worn women's clothing more than once. In his [[http://southpark.wikia.com/wiki/Eric_Cartman article on the South Park Archives]], there is a detailed statement on what could be seen as gender identity issues.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: He's usually portrayed as being a wimp but even from early on he could be a badass if the situation called for it, such as by [[ItMakesSenseInContext shooting multiple electric beams at Saddam Hussein]] (made even more impressive by the fact that it was with a chip [[NoSell designed to hurt him]] [[{{Determinator}} so he was probably in pain while doing it]]) or by creatively knocking out a whole bunch of Mexicans with a small taser and an oil truck.
* DepravedBisexual: He was attracted to Ben Affleck and Michael Jefferson; dressed as Britney Spears in one episode and makes out with a Justin Timberlake cardboard cutout; had a sexual affair with Leonardo [=DiCaprio=] whilst convinced he's a Vietnamese prostitute due to a head injury; is obsessed with and follows Kyle Broflovski around (even going on a cross-country quest just to make him suck his balls in "Imaginationland: The Trilogy"); blew Butters in his sleep after giving him cold medicine, then tried to convince Butters to do the same to him; and asked Clyde to sleep with him once (he was actually quoting "Lady Marmalade"; you know the lyric). But he also experienced attraction toward Wendy, Stan's girlfriend; mentioned that he had a crush on a girl named Patty Nelson; and had a crush on Bebe when she started developing breasts (along with the rest of the male 4th graders). [[spoiler: And currently, Heidi Turner is his first girlfriend.]]
* DespotismJustifiesTheMeans: Can often convince the [[TooDumbToLive citizens of South Park]] of this.
* {{Determinator}}: While usually very lazy and stupid, Cartman is capable of incredible things once he puts his mind to it. Although these things only really benefit him and tend to fall into "evil" territory.
* DidYouJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu: Cartman managed to become friends with the dark lord, Cthulhu. The two of them then flew through the sky while singing to the tune of the ''Anime/MyNeighborTotoro'' theme song.
* DirtyCoward: Of particular note is the episode where he fights Wendy. His grovelling begging to get out of the fight leads to this exchange:
-->'''Wendy:''' I am going to make you eat your own underwear. \\
'''Cartman:''' (scared shitless) There's no need, please! Look, I'm doing it now! (does so) \\
'''Wendy:''' Jesus Christ, do you have no self-respect? \\
'''Cartman:''' No! Unless... will you forgive me if I do?
** Also happens when he, along with the rest of his friends, does something wrong (or even thinks that they did). In that case, he usually tries to frame it on Butters.
* DisabilityAsAnExcuseForJerkassery:
** He fakes [[HollywoodTourettes Tourette's]] in order to get away with swearing and saying racial slurs. He also tries this in "Ass Burgers", but fails due to a very basic misunderstanding of the disease.
** He gains more weight so he can qualify for a mobility scooter in "Raising the Bar".
* DisproportionateRetribution: Frequently, and famously.
-->'''Cartman:''' ''(sarcastically)'' Okay, I'm sorry I handcuffed Billy Turner's ankle to a flagpole and then gave him a hacksaw. And then told him I had poisoned his lunch milk and that the only way he could get to the antidote in time would be to saw through his leg.
-->'''Ms. Cartman:''' Eric, that's very naughty.
-->'''Cartman:''' Well, he called me "chubby!"
* DoesNotLikeSpam: He led Cthulhu on a crusade against Whole Foods. "No more organic crap for America!"
* DragonInChief: Cthulhu.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In the 1992 ''Spirit of Christmas'' short (which ''South Park'' spawned from), he had Kenny's name and was the victim of his TheyKilledKennyAgain RunningGag.
* EliminationCatchPhrase: "Get the fudge out!"
* EnfantTerrible: A racist, bigoted, murderous, self-centered VillainProtagonist. While his attempts at being cute aren't always very successful, he is still without a doubt the most manipulative character in the show and is quite psychopathic.
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Double-subverted, as when he tries to kill her, he suddenly finds he can't go through with it.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: All things considered, he has quite a few -- even if some of them are PlayedForLaughs and are more "petty" standards than anything:
** Since he's evil, Cartman can deliver bits of social commentary that would seem less acceptable if it was Stan or Kyle saying it. Of particular note are his rants on hippies, ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', and the Catholic Church.
** In "Major Boobage", he shows a lot more love to cats than he ever has to a person.
** "My Future Self N' Me" establishes that he hates it when parents don't respect their kids and lie to them, as kids should be able to trust their parents. Because of this, he starts a business where kids can pay him to smear poop on their parents' walls.
** "The China Probrem" shows that of all the evil acts he's willing to do, he draws the line at one: shooting men in the genitals. [[BerserkButton Never]].
** In "Dances with Smurfs" he reacts with horror to Gordon Stolski's murder during the morning announcements.
** By the end of the "Black Friday" trilogy, he seems genuinely horrified and haunted after watching Bill Gates murder the Sony President after he got his XBOX One.
** Even Cartman was creeped out by Shelley's relationship with Skyler, a man ten years her senior.
** "All right all right that does it! [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere Screw you guys I'm going home!]] TalkingPoo is where I draw the line."
** Even Cartman was afraid of Trent Boyett in "Pre-School".
** Even he looks horrified by Captain Hindsight and the fire department letting 14 people die in a fire in "Coon 2: Hindsight".
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Cartman does not understand the difference between being nice and wearing a nice sweater, as seen in "Casa Bonita". "Toilet Paper" shows that he also cannot comprehend the idea of confessing to something because one feels guilty, thinking exclusively in terms of whether or not he'll be punished, and how badly, and he seemed to be in ''physical pain'' trying to [[LackOfEmpathy process the concept of feeling bad for other people]] (i.e. Butters, who was falsely accused and arrested for the boys' T.P.'ing of their art teacher's house). Many attempts to berate him for his callousness have fallen flat since he genuinely doesn't seem to have a clue what empathy is. In Season 20 when he tries to be a better person (mostly due to fear of retribution) he doesn't come out as sincere and only has "women are funny, get over it" as an argument.
* EvilCounterpart: To Kyle and Butters (and, to a lesser extent, Stan).
* EvilGenius: More and more in the later seasons. This is mainly introduced in "Scott Tenorman Must Die".
* EvilGloating:
-->'''Cartman:''' *in sing-songy voice* Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! I made you eat your parents.
* EvilIsHammy: He's known for being an extremely campy character.
* EvilIsPetty: We all know just how large in scale Cartman's schemes can run, but he has no problem doing really petty crimes like toilet papering a teacher's house. And he tied a kid to a flagpole by his ankle and told the kid he poisoned his chocolate milk and then gave him a saw telling him he implanted the poison in the kid's leg, and he needed to cut his leg off to get it ("Well, he called me "chubby"!") Also, some of those elaborate schemes ''are'' for petty reasons. See the entire Scott Tenorman fiasco.
* EvilPlan: Go to Somalia to gain massive profit: done. Tape crack babies fighting over drugs as an internet sensation to profit: done. Convince Cthulu to assist in mass slaughter and show up your friends: done. Cartman thrives on this trope.
* FatBastard: During his family reunion, all of his family members, save for his mother and grandmother who are thin and caring, are fat annoying slobs. In another episode, Eric from the future, who lost weight and became a better person in general (and wealthy to boot), comes to the past to tell Eric to be a good human being. Eric (thinking it's a trick) delivers the generic "screw you" line and says he will stay the way he is. After the other characters are out of view, the future Eric transforms into a dirty obese mechanic as a result of his younger self not "changing for the better".
* FatComicRelief: He is the butt of many jokes about his weight.
* FatIdiot: Though his hatred and spite occasionally give him moments of brilliance.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Cartman's willing to pretend to be nice to get what he wants -- the gloves come off the second he doesn't. Sometimes he isn't even that good at being affable and rely on pity to manipulate. May or may not be [[AffablyEvil subverted]] in Season 20, where it ''does'' appear as though he's trying to be a better person, but it's hard to tell because he still has a way of sounding sarcastic when he's being "nice".
* {{Flanderization}}: In the early seasons, his anti-Semitic streak was relatively mild and was nothing more than making fun of Kyle not celebrating Christmas. Between Seasons 5 and 15, it is FAR more prominent, to the point where, in "The Passion Of The Jew", he tries to instigate his own Holocaust. After Season 15, [[ForgotFlandersCouldDoThat it goes back the other way somewhat]], with his anti-Semitism being much less pronounced. In fact, by Season 19, he no longer makes derogatory remarks about Jews when speaking to Kyle (though they still argue because they don't like each other regardless).
* FluffyTamer: Nothing else qualifies for taming Cthulhu.
* FreudianExcuse: WordOfGod confirms that because his mother almost never bothers to discipline him for his actions and constantly spoils him, Cartman just doesn't know right from wrong.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Not only do his three closest "friends" hate him, insult him behind his back, and actively question why they still hang out with him, but the entire fourth grade class hates him almost as much. Even ''Butters'' occasionally lets it slip that he doesn't truly like Cartman very much, being friendly to him presumably out of goodwill and fear. The boys are often divided on whatever keeps Cartman a part of their group; Kenny personally explains that he pities Cartman as an unfeeling, horrible person and so allows him to stay because he knows he'll have no other friends otherwise, while Stan and Kyle seem to have no idea. Either way, it's rare to see his friends actually ''genuinely'' enjoying his company.
* GeniusBruiser: He has several talents, among which the highlights are: electronics, sumo, music, and even multilingualism, such as fluency in German and Spanish. His strength and intelligence can vary from episode to episode however. His intelligence can be attributed to him being BrilliantButLazy, but his strength varies from strong enough to take down adults ("Chickenlover") to being beaten up by the students in his class (Wendy in "Breast Cancer Show Ever", Kyle in "Kenny Dies" among others, and Token in "Christian Rock Hard").
* GeniusDitz: Can easily manipulate people and appears to be able to speak fluent Spanish and German at age 9, but otherwise completely clueless about a lot of things.
* GodzillaThreshold: Whenever a problem gets too out of hand, he's usually brought in as a last resort to stop it.
* GoodHurtsEvil: In "Tsst", when his long-suppressed conscience starts to surface.
* HairTriggerTemper: Moreso than any of the other main characters (save for Mr. Garrison), and one of his biggest draws.
* HeelFaceDoorSlam: In the first episode of Season 20 it's revealed that he's actually working on his [[{{Jerkass}} behavior]]. However, in the second episode titled "Skank Hunt", the kids start to wrongfully suspect that he's [[{{Troll}} skankhunt]]. That makes them destroy his computer, phone and tablet.
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Cartman has gone from being one of the team to actually being the villain of the episode and back again so many times over the years, he may as well be labeled the poster boy for this trope.
* HeelFaithTurn: "Jewpacabra" induces this as Cartman proclaims to [[spoiler: convert to Judaism]]. Not that Kyle will ever buy it.
* HeelRealization: On occasion. [[AesopAmnesia It doesn't last, though]].
* HeroicComedicSociopath: Even though he is a psychopath, he has done some pretty heroic things, such as saving the world from Saddam's reign in the movie, demolishing [[Recap/SouthParkS5E9OsamaBinLadenHasFartyPants Osama bin Laden's army]] and crippling him, and saving the town from hippies when they got out of control.
* HiddenDepths: "Cartman Sucks" shows signs that Cartman is a rather talented photographer.
* HijackingCthulhu: Cartman manipulates the actual {{Cthulhu|Mythos}} via the RuleOfCute into trampling his enemies, namely the rest of the gang and anyone he suspects to be a hippie.
* HollywoodTourettes: In an attempt to get away with swearing whenever he wants, he faked Tourette's Syndrome. It backfires on him when not watching what he says causes him to [[spoiler: blurt out personal secrets]].
* HypocriticalHumor: He makes a song about how Kyle's mom is a big fat bitch, yet he is an overweight jerkass as well. To hammer this even more, he rips on Kyle and all Jews for being greedy and manipulative when he himself is guilty of this all the time.
* IAmBigBoned
-->'''Stan:''' C'mon, fatass!\\
'''Ms. Cartman:''' Now, now, he's not fat, he's big boned!\\
'''Kyle:''' Then he must have a giant bone in his ass!\\
'''Ms. Cartman:''' ''[[[AccidentalInnuendo hysterical laughter]]]''
* IdenticalStranger: To Marlon Brando ("Cartman Joins NAMBLA") and a bit to Dakota Fanning (the sketch in "Free Willzyx").
* IgnoredEpiphany: In "Mysterion Rises".
-->''Should I just apologize to my friends and ask them to take me back? Tell them that I was being a selfish jerk? [...] Should I admit I was wrong? Ask for everyone's forgiveness and go back to my original team? Nah, screw that, I'm just gonna keep being a dick!''
* InnocentBigot: Cartman doesn't think he's being racist in "Cartman Finds Love" by playing matchmaker between Nichole and Token, the only two black students in the school. He considers what he is doing as helping nature take its course. He spends the whole episode [[{{Determinator}} going to the extreme]] to uphold these views. A rare example of ''[[TheSociopath Cartman]]'' managing to fill a trope with the word "innocent".
* InsaneTrollLogic: Uses this a ''lot'', memorably so in "Mystery of the Urinal Deuce", "Dances with Smurfs", and, to a lesser extent, "I Should Have Never Gone Ziplining".
* ItsAllAboutMe: He is willing to compromise world peace just so he can abuse Kyle for his own amusement. He is even shocked when Mysterion tells him that making the world a better place for oneself exclusively isn't heroic.
* ItAmusedMe: Many of the awful things he does are motivated by boredom.
* IWasBeatenByAGirl: Wendy, to be precise. This is HilariousInHindsight because he once stated that he would never let a woman kick his ass; if she tried anything Cartman would be like "HEY! You get your bitch ass back in the kitchen and make me some pie!"
* {{Jerkass}}: Cartman is one of television's most infamous examples. He currently provides the trope's page image.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: In the first four seasons. Since the latter half of Season 15, he has veered more towards this, even having moments with Kyle that don't involve arguing or foiling each other's schemes.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: Sometimes he does something that seems genuinely generous or selfless, but there's always a selfish reason to it. His friends expect this. His inability to understand what everyone else calls being "good" is brought to light a couple of times. For example, when called out by Mysterion, we get this:
-->'''Cartman (as The Coon)''': I'm making the world a better place.
-->'''[[spoiler:Kenny]] (as Mysterion)''': For ''you!''
-->'''Cartman (as The Coon)''': Right. That's what superheroes do.
* KarmaHoudini / KarmaHoudiniWarranty: While he usually ''does'' get some form of comeuppance for his actions, it's only temporary, and is usually (but not always) more of an inconvenience than any real punishment. He never suffers [[StatusQuoIsGod longer than it takes for the next episode to air]].
* KarmicTransformation: In the episode "Ginger Kids", after Cartman starts a crusade against gingers, the other boys try to stop him by dying his hair red and using makeup to turn his skin pale and freckly. But then Cartman just changes his tune, starts a "ginger power" movement, and tries to wipe out all non-gingers. He stops and begins preaching tolerance after Kyle explains to him that he's not really a ginger.
* KickTheDog: Many times. Beating Token with a rock, trying to kill his mother, and infecting Kyle with HIV just to name a few.
* KidsAreCruel: Cartman takes this trope UpToEleven.
* KindheartedCatLover: Surprisingly, in "Major Boobage", it's shown that he likes cats enough to start hiding strays in his attic and even begin taking in other people's cats for them (not even asking for anything in return) once cats are made illegal in South Park.
* KnightTemplar: He genuinely believes Jews are evil, having apparently been convinced of it by Mel Gibson's films. Also subverted to a degree, as in a deleted scene from "The List" he seems to acknowledge he is a horrible person. This gets taken UpToEleven in the "Coon Saga", where he leads Cthulhu on a mass murdering spree, massacring the entire burning man festival, Justin Bieber and most of his fans, and the whole city of San Francisco, ''all while thinking he's doing good''.
-->'''Cartman''': [Coon and Friends] will continue to fight for good and justice!\\
'''News Reporter''': Good and justice? Justin Bieber and most of his fans have just been massacred!\\
'''Cartman''': Yes, Coon and Friends are glad to help! No need to thank me.
* LackOfEmpathy: The poster boy. He only cares about himself and getting whatever he wants, and is perfectly willing to lie, cheat, manipulate, and commit mass murder to do so. In one episode, when Kyle is in dire need of a kidney transplant and Cartman is the only match, Cartman blatantly refuses to do so unless he's paid $10 million for it, forcing Stan and the other people of South Park to resort to trickery to get said kidney.
* LargeHam: He's known for being an extremely campy character and he disturbs class all the time.
* LaserGuidedKarma: He receives this on a semi-regular basis.
* LastNameBasis: Oddly, all the characters (except Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Wendy) refer to him as Eric, whereas everyone in the real world refers to him as Cartman, including the title of the very first episode. In-universe, he may occasionally be called Cartman by minor characters, though these are probably slip-ups on the writers' parts and occasional leanings on the fourth wall (such as when Randy says "That's our Cartman!").
* LaughablyEvil: His antics can sometimes backfire and lead to his humiliation, but he shows that he's capable of this, for example being able to team up with Cthulhu.
* LikableVillain: Everyone knows Cartman covers about half of the list of Evil Tropes, yet that hasn't stopped the viewing public from laughing at his antics for fifteen years. It helps that he's a bit more tolerable than [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy most]] [[WesternAnimation/AmericanDad jerkass protagonists]] and that the writers have him lose as often as he wins.
* MadeOfIron: Occasionally played for laughs, but keep in mind, this kid has survived getting run over by cars, getting beaten to a pulp more than a few times, falling from buildings, and even survived getting struck by lightning!
* MaliciousSlander: When given the bully pulpit. For example, he writes an entire book dedicated to slandering Wendy.
* ManipulativeBastard: Frequently. [[spoiler: Apparently to the point where he can control ''the dark god Cthulhu''.]] It's gotten to the point where Kyle can instantly tell that Cartman is up to no good and is only scheming to better himself should he start to act differently. Kyle is usually right.
* TheMatchmaker: Cartman and Cupid-Me {{ship|ping}} same-race couples, and he actively works to get them together.
* MinorInjuryOverreaction: Cartman begins wailing over a punch in the arm by Kyle as if he was seriously hurt. Though it's implied that he [[ExploitedTrope purposefully exaggerates]] them to gain sympathy.
* MistakenForGay: Happens a few times, mostly with Kyle or Butters.
* MoralMyopia: In the "Coon and Friends" trilogy, he thinks the rest of Coon and Friends pulled a FaceHeelTurn because they kicked him out. He also states that being a superhero means you're making the world a better place for yourself, not others, and sees him himself as a superhero even though his "heroic" actions consist of having Cthulhu kill thousands of people for no reason other than the fact that he hates them.
* MotorMouth:
** During the "Kyle's Mom's a Bitch" song from the movie.
** Also in "Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut"; once he hears "Come Sail Away" he stops everything to finish it in order to finish in the fastest way possible.
** Invoked when attempting to explain a very long string of fabricated events in "Toilet Paper".
---> '''Cartman:''' Okay. Last night, all four of us were at the bowling alley until about 7:30, at which time we noticed Ally Sheedy, the goth chick from the Breakfast Club, was bowling in the lane next to us, and we asked her for her autograph, but she didn't have a pen, so we followed her out to her car, but on the way we were accosted by five Scientologists who wanted to give us all personality tests, which were administered at the Scientology Center in Denver until 10:45, at which time we accidentally boarded the wrong bus home and ended up in Rancho de Burritos Rojos, south of Castle Rock, and finally got a ride home with a man who was missing his left index finger, named Gary Bushwell, arriving home at 11:46.
* TheMole: Attempted. He pretends to help the other boys take down Wal-mart so he can be TheMillstone for them. He fools no one and they continually call him out on the fact that he's on Wal-Mart's side. [[TheUnreveal He later reveals himself to be a mole]].
* {{Narcissist}}: One episode has him coming to the ([[IgnoredEpiphany rather short-lived]]) epiphany that maybe the world doesn't revolve around him; the mere thought almost causes him to GoMadFromTheRevelation.
* TheNapoleon: "T.M.I." highlights this. Not regarding Cartman's height, but the length of his penis. In "Make Love, Not Warcraft", Cartman is the only character with a dwarf avatar.
* NearVillainVictory: Often. Usually it is undone by his own doing.
* NiceHat: He's usually seen with his trademark blue beanie, although out of the four boys he is also the one most likely to ditch it for whatever reason.
* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: He's the freaking image for ''South Park''[='=]s NightmareFuel page!
* NobleBigot: In "Cartman Finds Love", he seems to really believe that he is doing the right thing in setting Token up with Nichole despite his entire basis being his racism.
* NobleDemon:
** Cartman risks serious trouble or imprisonment to protect a load of cats in "Major Boobage". He is apparently unaware of the parallels when Kyle asks pointedly whether he noticed the obvious historical parallel, after Cartman had risked arrest by [[ItMakesSenseInContext harboring felines]] in his attic, despite him earlier lampshading it by suggesting his cat could "[[Theatre/TheDiaryOfAnneFrank write a diary]]" while in hiding. There have also have been other times where he did stuff without wanting anything in return. The show seems to be fond of leaving ambiguity as to whether he does potentially noble acts for hidden selfish reasons or out of genuine conscience; "Kenny Dies" and "Smug Alert" for example, either border him further into {{Jerkass}} territory or grant him NobleDemon qualities.
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: [[ShoutOut Delivers one to]] Mosquito (Clyde) because [[DisproportionateRetribution Mosquito wanted to help people in the Gulf instead of blackmailing fellow heroes]].
* NominalHero: He'll sometimes do good deeds like save the town from hippies or save some crack babies, or stop a terrorist threat. Don't expect his motivations to have anything in common with the rest of the team.
* NonStandardCharacterDesign: His body and face shape is much more exaggerated compared to the rest of his peers (excluding disabled ones). He also has a notable double chin. Also, rather subtle, but Cartman's eyebrows are actually ''triangular'', as opposed to other characters' more rectangular eyebrows.
* NotMeThisTime: [[spoiler: In a case of DramaticIrony, he is NOT Skankhunt42.]]
* ObfuscatingDisability: In "Up the Down Steroid", he pretends to be retarded so that he can win the Special Olympics. Unfortunately, he doesn't take into account that while not disabled, he's by no means ''athletic'' like the other contestants are.
* ObliviouslyEvil: In the "Coon" arc, he really thinks he is making the world a better place by disposing of the people he doesn't like. Mysterion calls him on this.
* OfficialCouple: In Season 20, he gets with Heidi Turner, in an odd yet very sweet romantic relationship.
* OutOfCharacterMoment: "You're Getting Old" and "Ass Burgers" has Cartman acting ''nice'' towards Kyle and not doing it to manipulate him for anything. The niceness act is due to Stan being a cynical asshole and being unbearable to be around. Naturally, StatusQuoIsGod and Cartman resumes being a jerk to Kyle afterwards.
* {{Patricide}}: [[spoiler: Unknowingly killed his father and turned him into chili.]] When he finds out, [[VillainousBSOD he's horrified]]...[[ComicallyMissingThePoint that his father was ginger]].
* PaperTiger: For all his shit-talking and threats to kick ass, he's a complete coward when threatened. This makes the occasions where he does get effective revenge on someone [[BewareTheSillyOnes even more terrifying]].
** On at least two occasions, Kyle has made him cry from punching him in the ''arm'' and busted/broken his nose with a shovel with no retaliation when Cartman threatened him.
** During one episode, he made several misogynistic comments about Stan's sister when it was revealed that she abuses Stan on a routine basis, and when she's within earshot of one of those comments, he's very quick to pin it on Kenny.
** Stan made him hang up the phone and back away in terror after identifying him as the person trash-talking to him in "The Passion of the Jew".
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Jews, hippies, blacks, Asians, girls... They ''all'' get the hate from Cartman at least once.
* PrecisionFStrike: See CatchPhrase.
* PunctuatedForEmphasis: "This. Is. Bullcrap!"
* RedOniBlueOni: Red Oni to Kyle's Blue.
* RefugeInAudacity: Cartman is so popular with the fans because of his extreme [[HairTriggerTemper tendencies]] and [[LargeHam over-the-top]] [[FatBastard personality]].
* RousseauWasRight: "Tsst" definitely puts this into perspective, suggesting there still is a core of innocence under all of that hate and bile building up in Cartman's psyche, but remains suppressed largely due to his upbringing. [[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89375695 As Trey Parker puts it]], Liane's ineffectual parenting skills molded Cartman into TheSociopath he is today, and so long as she's looking for a friend in her son, he has [[MonsterSobStory no hope of recovery]].
-->'''Parker''': Cartman's basically doomed.
* RunningGag: People have mistaken him for Bruce Vilanch multiple times.
* {{Sadist}}: Just look at the ending for "Scott Tenorman Must Die".
* SelfMadeOrphan: Halfway there, having arranged the death of his father [[spoiler: Jack Tenorman]]. Came close to fully becoming one in "Tsst".
* SelfServingMemory: Especially prominent in "Fishsticks" and the "Coon and Friends" trilogy.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Manly Man to Butters' and Stan's Sensitive Guy.
* SeriousBusiness: Anything involving food, stuffed animals, or cartoons. And that's just the more well-known examples...
* ShipperOnDeck: For [[TokenMinorityCouple Token/Nichole]]. He goes to ridiculous feats to get them together.
* ShockAndAwe: He temporarily gets the ability to [[spoiler: shoot lightning out of his hands near the ending of ''[[TheMovie Bigger, Longer, and Uncut]]'' using the V-Chip in his head]].
* SickeninglySweethearts: With [[AscendedExtra Heidi Turner]]. Even the other students think it TastesLikeDiabetes.
* SirSwearsALot: This trope applies to his friends as well, but to him more than anyone else.
* SissyVillain: Cartman likes to think he's imposing and dangerous but has basically no defense from being actually attacked. In "Something Wal-Mart This Way Comes", Kenny is able to easily stall him by lightly slapping at him, and at the end of "Christmas in Canada", he cries out for his mommy when Kyle gives him a [[CherryTapping tiny jab on the shoulder]]. In "Breast Cancer Show Ever", he's perfectly willing to antagonize Wendy right up until she'll fight him, then spends the entire episode trying to avoid the conflict he willfully spawned. Wendy quickly [[CurbStompBattle wipes the floor with him]].
* SmallNameBigEgo: The walking personification of the trope. Cartman acts like he is better than everyone else and knows more than anyone else, but when people actually start fighting back by hitting him (even if it's a weak tap), he starts bawling like a baby. "Breast Cancer Show Ever" has the trope in spades where Cartman pushes Wendy's buttons too far and she vows to beat him up, causing Cartman to plead with her to not fight him while at the same time, he acts tough in front of the school to keep up his image.
* SmugSnake: Usually alternates between this and MagnificentBastard.
* TheSociopath: In Seasons 1-4 he was just a BrattyHalfPint. Then he became a perfect example of a sociopath with particularly poor impulse control. First of all, he displays zero empathy for any living person, nor has he ever shown any feelings of guilt for anything. His list of crimes is vast, but he has committed them frequently just to alleviate boredom, or for an immature personal gain.
* SociopathicHero: When he is on the good side he'll still insult and suggest violent methods.
* SonOfAWhore: His mother had slept with the entire named adult population of South Park.
* SpoiledBrat: Here's one of his milder examples:
-->'''Cartman:''' Mom, can you get me some Weight Gain 4000?\\
'''Cartman's Mom:''' Okay Eric. I'll get you some at the store tomorrow.\\
'''Cartman:''' But mom, I need it for tomorrow!\\
'''Cartman's Mom:''' But, tomorrow is grocery day, Eric.\\
'''Cartman:''' ''Mooooooom!'' *whines incoherently*\\
'''Cartman's Mom:''' Okay, okay. Well, I guess I'll be going to the store now, then.\\
'''Cartman:''' *smiles* Sweet.
* SuddenNameChange: The 1992 short ''The Spirit of Christmas: Jesus vs. Frosty'' made him to have Kenny's, but it would later be changed to his current name in the following short.
* TeenyWeenie: Cartman has the smallest (presumably flaccid) penis in his class as revealed in "T.M.I.". He's very defensive and easily angered about it (it's 1.4 inches for the curious).
* TellMeAboutMyFather: [[{{Hermaphrodite}} His mother is actually his father]]. [[spoiler: OR NOT!]]
* ThatsWhatIWouldDo: Uses his skills in getting out of trouble by making up some huge lie to figure out that a kid teaching the parents of South Park how to play Minecraft is lying.
* TokenEvilTeammate: In the main group, because he's a sociopathic and racist bully. Even at their worst, his friends aren't as bad as him.
* TookALevelInBadass: As The Coon in the "Coon & Friends" trilogy. However, even in his normal persona, he does admittedly have moments where his cunning and manipulativeness come off as genuinely badass.
* TookALevelInJerkass: In Season 5. He was a stupid SpoiledBrat {{Jerkass}} from the beginning, but on several occasions his friends came off even worse. However, from Season 5 onwards he's become a [[LackOfEmpathy cold]], [[MagnificentBastard calculating]], [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] {{Jerkass}}.
* TookALevelInKindness: He starts to show concern for others beginning with the second half of Season 15, even towards Kyle. Especially as of "1%" after [[spoiler: he's told to "grow up" and some of his stuffed animals are killed, then he bids farewell to the last of them. Even Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Token watch as he shoots Polly Prissypants and cries while doing it]]. Even moreso in Season 20, where he makes some sincere effort to try being a better person (even if he's being an idiot about it) and is less antagonistic than before. [[spoiler: He even gets a girlfriend.]]
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Pot Pie and Cheesy Poofs in the earlier seasons.
* {{Troll}}: With a large degree of blur with ManipulativeBastard. He does seem to thoroughly and sadistically enjoy the suffering his actions cause. However, in Season 20, it's revealed that [[spoiler: he is [[NotMeThisTime NOT]] Skankhunt42]].
* UnderstandingBoyfriend: Parodied. His attempts at being this to [[spoiler: Heidi]] consist entirely of repeating "You're smart and funny" over and over again. Sort of deconstructed now that we're getting more and more hints that he hasn't really changed.
* TheUnfettered: To [[RuleOfFunny comedic]] and sometimes [[VillainProtagonist horrific]] extents.
* UnsportsmanlikeGloating: Whenever he wins a bet with Kyle (such as crapping out his mouth or getting a platinum album in a music band), he'll take ''every possible opportunity'' he can to rub it in Kyle's face. In fact, it's shown that he actually likes gloating about the win ''more'' than the reward itself; for example, in "Christian Rock Hard", when he discovers that Christian rock bands only give out myrrh albums and not platinum ones, thus meaning he won't be able to win the bet, he flies into a rage in public and ruins the band's success.
* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: He is willing to do things like feed a kid his own parents or even cause the end of the world to get revenge for minor wrongdoings against him.
* VerbalTic:
** "You guys... seriousleh..."
** Lots of blithering {{Angrish}}.
* VillainBall: He probably would've been successful in getting the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode pulled in "Cartoon Wars" if he hadn't confessed to Kyle (whom he had already managed to convince of his good intentions) that he was doing it to get the show cancelled.
* VillainousGlutton: In one episode, it is shown that making him thin would actually make him a nicer person.
* VillainProtagonist: He either serves as TheDragon for an even greater evil, or IS the BigBad in most episodes. Occasionally though, he functions as a NominalHero.
* VitriolicBestBuds: With everyone, especially Kyle.
* VocalEvolution: He had a higher and more grating, raspy voice in earlier seasons.
* WithFriendsLikeThese: His relationship with the other kids.
* WouldHitAGirl: In his fight with Wendy, not that it helps him that much. He also beats up a little girl for being a fan of The Coon and Friends (of which he is no longer a member) in "Mysterion Rises".
* YouAreFat: No matter what absolutely atrocious things Cartman does, "fatass" or variations of which are nearly always the key insult dished at him.
* YouAreWhatYouHate: In the 200th episode, Cartman is agonized to learn that [[spoiler: Scott Tenorman's dad, the guy he murdered and force-fed to Scott -- is Cartman's own father]]... but not out of any guilt for what he did to him. Cartman's only upset because this means that he's "half-ginger".
* YouSayTomato
