After 29 Years, This Is Still the Funniest Character in South Park’s History

The longevity of South Park is one of the most remarkable things in television history. Any show that can last three decades and is coming up on Season 29 is incredible , but it’s especially impressive for a raunchy animated series aimed at adults that never fails to cover some of the most controversial and topical subjects in the world. It seems like South Park is in the news at least a few times every year for something they pulled off relating to the world’s current events. The show works because of how funny it is, with each major character bringing the laughs. Eric Cartman is a vicious bully who does horrible things, Kenny’s constant deaths are wild, and even going beyond the kids on the show, characters like Randy Marsh have become downright hilarious and outlandish over the years. Trying to pick out the funniest character from the show’s lengthy history is difficult, yet there’s one who stands out.

Something that often works in the world of comedy is having a supporting player whose personality is the opposite of the main characters. That’s where Butters comes into play . The main kids are foul-mouthed and known to do some ridiculous (and sometimes heinous) things. Butters is the exact opposite, as he’s an endlessly innocent and polite soul. Even when awful things are happening to him, Butters remains sweet in the face of it all. His optimism while coming up against some truly terrible things makes him endearing, and his demeanor is just funny.

Even his name, Butters Stotch, is a goofy play on words. His timid nature, always fidgeting with his hands and looking down at his feet, is oddly something that makes the audience laugh. His parents tend to be strict and they punish him despite his being well-behaved, while his horribly behaved counterparts rarely get punished. Butters’ innocence as he accepts his punishment is weirdly funny. Take the episode where he gets in trouble for making a goofy face in his school photo. He retorts to his mom, “No, that’s just what I look like,” and his line delivery is perfect.

There’s also the time when Butters explained that he uses the bathroom facing the tank so he can put his coloring books on top of it. It’s the kind of absurd thing that doesn’t make sense for most people, yet works when it comes from Butters and his known oddities. Even when Butters is mean, like when he told off his grandma for bullying him, the fact that he ends a dark statement with a cheerful, “Night grandma!” is just too good. Butters’ reaction to the horrible situations he ends up in, from getting hit in the eye with a ninja star to his mother trying to kill him, remain oddly positive and that contrast is funny.

In the early days of South Park , Butters was just an unnamed background character. His role increased over time and by the start of Season 3, he was popping up all over. Eventually, Butters hit the point of basically being the fifth main character . That’s all because of just how funny his personality is. His true breakout came in Season 5 with “Butters’ Very Own Episode”, an entire installment dedicated to him. Season 6 marked the debut of Professor Chaos, his supervillain alter ego that he brings out after temporarily replacing Kenny in the main group.

“Casa Bonita” and “AWESOM-O” are two later episodes focused on Butters that are among the show’s most memorable. Butters is always ending up in some ridiculous scenario, with a highlight being an episode where he starts a kissing company at school that’s meant to be wholesome, only for him to turn into a pimp. Watching the innocent Butters use swear words and be mean is one of the funniest things in South Park history. Butters might not always be at the center of the main South Park stories, but he’s always stealing every scene that he’s in.

Lines like “Oh, hamburgers,” and “My name is Butters. I’m eight years old, I’m blood type O, and I’m bi-curious,” only work as well as they do because of Butters’ delivery. Situations like him being the only kid playing a Hello Kitty game while everyone else is enjoying World of Warcraft are even funnier because of who Butters is. It almost doesn’t matter what Trey Parker and Matt Stone do with Butters, because it’s always going to be hilarious.

You can see all of Butters’ misadventures by streaming South Park on Paramount+.