10 Best South Park Characters Besides the Main 4 Kids, Ranked

With South Park began, it was almost exclusively about the main four kids, one teacher, the cafeteria Chef, and the parents and siblings appearing occasionally. However, things have changed a lot in the 28 seasons it has been on the air. More kids became popular, and some have even joined Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny in lead roles on the show. There are also some minor supporting characters who have become as beloved and iconic as the four main kids, making their appearances just as iconic as anyone else on the show. While there are countless entertaining characters, including Kyle’s mom, PC Principal, and Timmy, there are others who have surpassed almost everyone in the series.

Here is a look at the 10 best South Park characters who aren’t the main four kids.

10) Tolkien Black

For a long time, most fans thought his name was Token Black, making a joke about him being the only Black child in South Park. However, there was an episode four years ago that made him even betterwhen fans learned his name was actually Tolkien Black, and he was named after J. R. R. Tolkien. Even Stan thought his name was “Token.” However, what makes him such a great character is that he gives Matt Stone and Trey Parker a nice character to shine a light on racism and bigotry in America. The name-change episode was one that really showed how racism is rampant, even to those who don’t realize it.

9) Satan

While it might seem strange, Satan remains one of the best characters on South Park for several reasons. He was a huge part of the movie, South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut, and the funniest thing about Satan is that he was never as bad as Saddam Hussein, who was his lover in the episode. In recent episodes, Satan is now the lover of the current U.S. President, and once again, he is portrayed as someone not as bad as the country’s ruler, who loves him. Satan is there to shine a light on the worst characters on the show, and making him sympathetic compared to others is a brilliant tactic by Stone and Parker.

8) Terrance and Phillip

Terrance and Phillip were the catalyst for South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut, and it made them better than ever. They appeared on the regular TV show as Canadian comic actors who star on a show that the four main kids love to watch. However, since the show had them doing bad things, Kyle’s mother wanted them banned, and it started a war between the uptight United States and Canada. They are a meta show within South Park, going even further than this animated series, and it gives Parker and Stone a chance to poke fun at their own critics.

7) Wendy Testaburger

One of the most hated characters in South Park history is Wendy Testaburger. However, in reality, she is one of the best for this very reason. The main reason most people hate Wendy is that South Park has a large male fanbase, and Wendy has always been seen as someone who wants to stop the four boys from having fun. This makes her the antagonist to the fans who live vicariously through these boys doing bad things. She, however, is the voice of reason in a town that is full of stupidity and ignorance. Wendy is the character who almost always knows best, and it is her strong-willed determination that shows how ridiculous her friends, teachers, and fellow townspeople really are.

6) Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo

If Wendy is the voice of reason to show why everything in South Park is so stupid, then Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo is the symbol of everything wrong with the town. Yes, he is a magical turd that offers filthy joy on the holidays to all the kids, from the ones celebrating Christmas to the Jewish ones celebrating Hanukkah. However, if it were just about his debut appearance, he would be a one-and-done and forgotten. His return later solidified him as a brilliant character when he introduced his family and revealed he had a severe drinking problem and marital problems. When the town turned on him, Mr. Hankey became so much more, and he remains one of the best non-human characters on the show, ranking above Towelie.

5) Jimmy

Timmy appeared first, in the Season 4 episode “The Tooth Fairy’s Tats 2000,” as the first child with disabilities on the show, as he moves around in a wheelchair and only says his name in an exaggerated manner. Sadly, that made him mostly a one-note character. However, his best moment came in the Season 5 episode, “Cri**le Fight,” where he got into a brawl with another “handi-capable” child named Jimmy. The best part here was that the fight paid homage to the long fight in They Live, and it was brilliantly executed. Since that time, though, it was Jimmy who became the better character. He has a lot more depth, as he is a kid who holds a grudge and has no problem scheming to get revenge for even the smallest of slights.

4) Chef

The fact that he has been gone for 18 seasons, but people still point to him as a favorite, shows how great Chef was as a South Park character. Voiced by singer Isaac Hayes, Chef was the cafeteria chef who offered up the best advice for the four main kids, as well as treats like his chocolate salty balls. From his great advice to his soothing deep voice to his sly innuendos, there wasn’t anyone better than Chef on South Park for several seasons. Sadly, Chef (and Isaac Hayes) left South Park amidst controversy surrounding the show making fun of the Church of Scientology, and then Isaac Hayes himself died in 2008, two years after Chef’s final appearance.

3) Randy Marsh

For many years, the four main South Park kids’ parents were mostly just there to bounce jokes off of. It was Kyle’s mother who stood out as the most interesting, since she protested everything and was someone whom all the other kids hated. However, something happened in later seasons. Randy Maesh, Stan’s dad, became one of the lead characters of the series thanks to his decision to start his own pot farm after marijuana was legalized in Colorado. While some of the Tegridy Farms storylines annoyed fans by getting too far from the four main kids, it was popular enough to give Randy a lead role, and he is now the most popular of the kids’ parents.

2) Butters

When South Park introduced a weird little kid named Pip, fans hated him instantly. It seemed like Matt Stone and Trey Parker learned from that, and when they tried again, they opted for a jittery and nervous kid whose parents seemed oblivious to his tics, and Butters was introduced. It didn’t take long for Butters to become a massive fan favorite, and if there is anyone who could be seen as a lead alongside the main four kids, it is Butters. He has led his own storylines, and he is just as important as the other kids, and in most cases, more important than Kenny in the storylines. Some might argue that Butters is the best kid on the show, even surpassing Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny.

1) Mr. Garrison

Mr./Mrs. Garrison has had some highs and lows on South Park. When the show started, Mr. Gardison was the kids’ teacher, someone who used a hand puppet to allow him to lash out at the kids and say things that are considered highly inappropriate for elementary school teachers. It quickly made him one of the show’s most popular characters. However, he then started to morph, including when he had gender reassignment surgery to become Mrs. Garrison, and then had it again to return to Mr. Garrison. He also ran for President and painted his face orange while complaining about illegal immigrants from Canada. Mr. Garrison is the one person that Matt Stone and Trey Parker used to take aim at everything they hated at the time.

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