Laser-Guided Karma in South Park.
Eric Cartman
- Cartman gets bitten in the ass by this every so often. Because he is frequently shown as a Spoiled Brat or seemingly kind but really every bit as petty and shallow as he acts, Cartman will frequently find himself on the tail end of karmic retribution.
- Cartman feigns Tourettes syndrome (mental disorder that strips people of control over their behavior and speech) so he could use curse words and racial slurs to his heart's content without reprimand, his ultimate goal being to go on Dateline and use Tourettes as an excuse to make anti-Semitic statements on national television. As Cartman stops filtering what he says, he loses control of his unspoken thoughts and starts spilling out all his embarrassing secrets, unable to stop himself from saying whatever pops into his head.
- To balance this, however, he is often thrown a bone on the rare occasions those he plots against are presented with similar cruel intentions (e.g. bumbling terrorists or immoral anti-tobacco companies). In recent episodes, odd occasions have shown the other boys turn on Cartman without provocation or go to similar ruthless measures in their Escalating War with him (especially Kyle, who has an exceptional hatred of him) only for it to fall flat on them (e.g. "Fatbeard"). That said, this doesn't prevent Cartman from taking his retaliation completely overboard at times.
- "Humancentipad" is possibly the ultimate case of Cartman getting an episode of this trope. His mother finally stands up to him for once, and just as he's about to be rewarded for humiliating her on national television, his reward is taken away. So he starts yelling insults and accusations at God, and gets struck down by lightning.
- Cartman gets his with this again in "Splatty Tomato". Throughout Season 21, he does everything to keep Heidi in a dysfunctional relationship with him all while he still thinks of himself as "the victim of her abuse". Not only does Heidi learn of Cartman's deception and malicious intentions, but realizes how his victim mindset changed her, which causes her to break up with Cartman for good. To make it even more ironic, the only reason Cartman keeps the relationship going is because of the attention Heidi gives him. By the time they break up, however, everyone is too focus on The President and the Whites to pay attention to their breakup and his suicide bluffs.
- Cartman gets his biggest and most permanent case of karma in "The Return Of Covid"; his horrible and toxic behavior has drove everyone who knew and at least tolerated him away, leaving Cartman a drunk, lonely and miserable homeless man who can only watch as everyone else gets to live their lives while having moved on from Cartman's influence.
- Cartman himself dishes it out to Osama Bin Laden in an episode where the boys end up in the Middle East, treating the terrorist leader like the antagonist on a Looney Tunes cartoon.
- In the Season 25 episode "City People":
- Cartman and Liane are forced to live in an old hot dog stand after he makes her quit the real estate agency. When Cartman tries to deflect the tension away from himself, he is sprayed by a condiments dispenser, shutting him up.
- Throughout the series Cartman has mocked Kenny for being poor and living in a crappy home, only for Cartman himself to end up living in an even worse home and is now arguably considered to be poorer than Kenny, especially since his mother is now unemployed.
- Then there's his aforementioned fate in South Park: Post Covid: The Return of Covid where Cartman becomes homeless, and his actions here brings him one step closer to that future. The fact that he's all alone in the future heavily implies that this caused his relationship with Liane to disintegrate. This is evidenced when she refuses to talk to Cartman in their new "home", showing he may no longer get the attention he so craves from her.
- In one episode, Cartman fakes being mentally handicapped so he can compete in the Special Olympics, under the assumption that, since he's the only non handicapped person there, he'll cruise to a series of easy gold metals. He proceeds to come in last in every single event.
Other Characters
- Also discussed with Jimmy and his parents, who nonchalantly believe that Jimmy's disabilities are punishment for their making fun of the handicapped in the past.
- Randy Marsh gets this In "Holiday Special". Throughout the episode, Randy bullies a Native American man and forcibly kisses him in order to falsify a cheek-swab DNA test and justify his playing the "victimized minority" card and getting Columbus Day removed from the list of school holidays. When the test proves inconclusive, representatives from the genealogy company show up to personally take an anal DNA sample from Randy.
