South Park is one of the most popular and beloved series of all time. The long-running comedy series hasn't shied away from tackling more controversial topics and has amassed a sizable reputation as a result of this bold nature. The show's peak might have passed a while back, but South Park has still consistently delivered genuinely funny material over the course of its run, which is a testament to Trey Parker and Matt Stone's natural talent and commitment to this legendary series.
With the 25th anniversary season of this series coming sooner rather than later, there's no better time to look at the history of this series and get familiar with its legendary characters once again. Cartman is especially notable in this regard since he's a fan favorite who is consistently entertaining when he takes over the plot. Here are some of the best episodes in the show featuring this character.
Updated on March 24, 2023 by Ritwik Mitra: The fact that South Park is still going strong is a testament to how popular and beloved the show really is. A huge part of why this adult animated sitcom is still enjoying this time in the spotlight is because of a strong cast of characters who haven't really lost their edge over the span of decades. One such character, who is arguably the best part of the show, is Eric Cartman, who has several highlights over the course of the series. The best of the bunch are mentioned below.
20 Christian Rock Hard
A hilarious episode that parodies the music industry's outcry against illegal downloads, Christian Rock Hard is a classic South Park episode that fans love. In this episode, the gang tries to form a Christian rock band, only to face several creative differences.
This leads to Cartman leaving the group following a hissy fit and forming "Faith + 1," with the claim that he would get a Platinum record in no time at all. It doesn't take long for Cartman's dreams to be dashed, prompting an explicit rant that makes him lose all his fans.
19 Go God Go
In a bid to get the Wii quickly, Cartman decides to freeze himself and wait until the console is out. This backfires and leads to Cartman awakening in 2546, where the world has adopted atheism.
This episode is a scathing piece of commentary on the hypocrisy and belittling nature of atheists, making for a great watch. It helps that Cartman's humor is at its A-game, making the episode all the more memorable.
18 Cartman's Silly Hate Crime 2000
Just before a major race in a sledding competition, Cartman ends up throwing a rock at Token for calling him a fatass, prompting a massive media outcry. The resulting fallout is that Cartman ends up in a juvenile penitentiary and has to escape at all costs.
This episode is a riot, with Cartman's escape and the struggle of the boys to win the sledding race being hilarious. By the end of the episode, Token forgives Cartman (after some insistence from the rest of the gang) and he manages to enter the race at the final moment, winning it in resounding fashion.
17 Cartmanland
After getting a ton of money, Cartman decides to use it all up to buy an amusement park instead of investing it like he was supposed to. This leads to Kyle becoming jealous of Cartman's success, losing his faith in God for giving this gift of endless funds to such a horrible person.
However, it turns out that Cartman doesn't really know how to manage an amusement park and ends up losing all his money in no time. Seeing his nemesis loaded with debt and misery causes Kyle to become normal again, making for a classic South Park episode.
16 Cartman Sucks
Cartman loves to torture Butters, and he crosses another line by harassing his friend while he's asleep to spread false rumors. However, this backfires on Cartman, as it tends to do.
In a bid to hide this picture, Cartman goes to great lengths and even reveals the secret so that Kyle and his other friends wouldn't be able to blackmail him. This doesn't work out at all, and Cartman ends up humiliating himself at the very end of the episode.
15 Ginger Kids
In this episode, both Stan and Kyle play a prank on Cartman and turn him into a ginger. It's a hilarious joke that turns into something massive after Cartman gets fed up with the constant discrimination he faces from contracting 'gingivitis'.
As a result, he rounds up the gingers of the world and implores them to fight against discrimination. This leads to a hilarious chain of events that ends with Cartman finding out about the truth of his 'condition'.
14 Medicinal Fried Chicken
Cartman's fried chicken is his bread and butter. So, when his favorite KFC outlet is replaced by a medical marijuana dispenser, he is understandably displeased.
He decides to do everything in his power to satisfy this addiction, which leads to some hilarious moments. The idea of treating friend chicken like an illegal commodity is a hilarious notion that never ceases to be funny.
13 The Coon
With superhero movies becoming all the rage in modern times, it was only a matter of time before South Park would have their own unique take on this concept. This leads to several main characters taking on the role of powerful heroes, with Cartman becoming The Coon.
The episodes focusing on his so-called 'heroics' are pretty hilarious. Butters also plays a pivotal role in these scenes as Professor Chaos and shows once again with his partnership with Cartman is so perfect.
12 Cartman Finds Love
This episode plays on Cartman's tendency to display casual racism at a moment's notice. After a black girl joins South Park Elementary, Cartman decides to play cupid and pair her up with the only other black boy in school, Token.
This leads to some hilarious moments, with Cartman manifesting a cupid version of himself too! The episode ends with Cartman getting screwed over, which is the perfect icing on top of a hilarious cake.
11 Awesom-O
Another episode that features the partnership of Butters and Cartman, Awesome-O is one of the better episodes in the series. It also seems Cartman getting his just desserts for playing a horrible prank, which is always satisfying.
In a bid to mess with Butters, Cartman decides to dress up like a robot to figure out his deepest and darkest secrets. However, this backfires, with Cartman having to pretend to be a robot for an extended period of time and being unable to perform all the actions that a human needs to perform.
10 HUMANCENTiPAD
In an episode that parodies the popularity of Apple products and how manic people get over them, it was clear that Cartman would be the best part of this episode. After all, his needy and overbearing nature makes him the perfect candidate to show the spoiled nature of users with Apple products.
The fact that the episode took such a dark and disgusting turn is still hilarious to this day. Cartman's total apathy to the situation makes things even more hilarious!
9 World War Zimmerman
Given how dismissive Cartman is when it comes to minorities, this episode becomes even funnier. After getting worried that Token would try to kill him, Cartman goes full World War Z and kills a bunch of people in his misguided quest to survive.
The show takes a scathing look at the racism hidden beneath America's foundations that is still prevalent to this day. Of course, comedy is still the first priority of South Park and that is quite prevalent in this amazing episode.
8 T.M.I.
Cartman's insecurities are on full display in this episode, where he unwittingly lets everyone know about the size of his small penis. This leads to his frustrations culminating in an all-out riot along with other citizens with the same problems.
The ending of this episode is particularly hilarious, with everyone but Cartman being satisfied with the conclusion. It's a typical way for South Park to end its proceedings and a rather hilarious one at that.
7 Le Petit Tourette
South Park's humor always tries to push a line, with Le Petit Tourette being a great example of the same. It's a hilarious episode that further shows just how despicable Cartman really is.
He uses the excuse of Tourettes to abuse whoever he wants without a care in the world. Of course, this backfires on him over the course of the episode, leading to a rather hilarious conclusion.
6 The Death Of Eric Cartman
Cartman's inflated ego is here for everyone to see in The Death of Eric Cartman. After committing a particularly egregious act, Cartman is ignored by his entire class. This leads him to believe that he's actually dead, instead of repenting for his actions.
He ropes Butters into this notion, convincing the child that he's a ghost. The series of events that follows is truly hilarious, with Butters facing dire consequences for associating with Cartman.
5 Fat Butt And Pancake Head
To this day, Cartman pulling off a Jennifer Lopez impersonation is still one of the most hilarious things to happen in the show. The fact that everyone buys it — barring the usual suspects — makes for a great time.
The ending of this episode is especially clever, with Cartman's responses feeling almost surreal. Fat Butt and Pancake Head is a great episode that any fan of South Park needs to check out.
4 Casa Bonita
The spoiled nature of Cartman takes center stage once again in the episode Casa Bonita. He tries to force his way into Kyle's birthday plans to visit Casa Bonita, taking some extreme measures in the process.
He pretty much forces Butters to live underground and hide away so that he can take his place instead for the birthday party. It's a hilarious turn of events that backfires in Cartman's face when his ruse is revealed.
3 Tsst
Cartman has always been a problem child, although his mother is partly to blame for the child being the way he is. However, even she has her limits, and these are ultimately crossed when Cartman becomes too much to handle.
A series of reality show treatments ensue, which are all pretty hilarious in their own right. Ultimately, it takes the efforts of a dog trainer to calm Cartman down, although he goes back to normal by the end of the episode anyway.
2 Ginger Cow
After a prophecy related to Cartman's lies that finally lead to peace in the Middle East is uncovered, Kyle goes to great lengths to prevent Cartman from destroying this sense of peace. This gives Cartman a great amount of control over Kyle.
This leads to some rather disgusting scenes as Cartman essentially forces Kyle to "eat his farts" and become his slave. Ultimately, all of this blows up in Kyle's face when he ends up inadvertently ruining this newfound peace after misinterpreting the prophecy.
1 Scott Tenorman Must Die
One of the most legendary South Park episodes of all time features Cartman at his very best. Scott Tenorman might be a despicable bully, but that still doesn't make what happened to him justifiable in the slightest.
After Cartman is duped by Tenorman time and time again, he concocts a revenge plan where he ends up feeding his parents to him as chili. It's one of the most over-the-top punishments in any show ever and a masterful episode where Cartman shines the brightest.