The most recent season of South Park has come to a close and what a ride it's been. This year
the residents of South Park had to deal with everything from TikTok videos to privacy tours
to... new toilets. As with any batch of episodes, we watched a wide variety of characters partake in
these misadventures with some of them keeping their "tegridy" in tact better than others. Which
members of the cast have remained the most moral and which ones leaned closer to the dark side?
I'm _________ with WickedBinge and this is South Park Season 26 Characters: Good to Evil.
As usual, we’re starting out with the most moral members
of the cast this season. This section is the Good.
Butters takes the Gold Medal of Good as usual. Butters is almost always portrayed
as one of the nicest kids in South Park and season 26 is no exception.
We really see this when he’s portrayed as a hard worker when selling both ice cream and hotdogs,
even when Cartman is clearly taking advantage of him. He also has moments where he demonstrates
selflessness as when he tries to help Kyle out by introducing him to a brand management
company. This certainly is done with noble intentions but Butters takes it too far when
he randomly insults Bebe, resulting in her beating him up. Still, that was obviously a
misunderstanding on Butters part rather than out of malicious intent. The only time where
Butters is even slightly malicious is when he makes fun of Stan for being “rich.” When that’s
the worst of Butters’ sins, we can definitely say he ranks at the top of the Good category.
The Silver Medal of Good is going to Liane Cartman. Recently we’ve seen a lot of growth
from Liane as a character, mostly in regards to the way she mothers Eric. When it comes to her
child, Liane has been known to be a pushover and enabler even though she has stuck up for herself
on occasion. She’s been doing that a lot more lately due to having to live in a hotdog because
of Eric’s actions. When Cartman takes advantage of Butters’ hard earned money, Liane strikes a
deal to get their old house back if the sell the business. This absolutely destroys Cartman who had
gotten so used to reaping the rewards he didn’t earn. It feels so cathartic to see Liane put
Eric in his place, especially given how much he’s screwed her over in recent seasons. This grants
Liane the Silver Medal as well as mother of the year as far as South Park’s parents are concerned.
The Bronze Medal of Good is going to Rick. First appearing in the season 25 episode Pajama Day,
Rick is Mr. Garrison’s boyfriend ever since the former president returned to South Park. This
season saw more development for his character, especially in the season finale which focused
on their relationship. Rick is very loving and supporting toward Garrison, even when the latter
is slipping back into his rallying tendencies. For someone as crazy and off the wall as Garrison,
Rick surprisingly is a good match for the teacher. Rick’s only possible mistake was using ChatGPT to
respond to Garrison’s texts but Garrison was also using it for unethical reasons so it’s not like
he didn’t deserve it. Rick proves to be one of the more grounded additions to South Park’s cast
in recent years giving him a surprisingly strong presence among the show’s roster.
Coming in next, we have Sharon. While Randy isn’t quite as hyper fixated on Tegridy Farms as he used
to be, Sharon still unfortunately has to put up with a lot of his rambunctious behavior. When
Randy admits he blew an extraordinary amount of money on a Japanese toilet,
Sharon was the first one point out that it was a bad investment. Sharon is also quick
to realize that Randy is showing off the toilet to everyone and stroking his own
ego. Sharon also comes home early on Spring Break to clean up the mess that Randy created,
which apparently is a regular occurrence for her. It’s a good thing Stan has such a
responsible mother because the Marsh family would be a lot worse off without Sharon’s contributions.
Up next, we have Jimmy Valmer. Jimmy plays a prominent role in the episode Japanese Toilets.
Here, he tries to warn Stan, albeit indirectly, about the dangers of Randy exposing toilet paper
companies. Stan ignores this plea initially but presses Jimmy for information once Randy
is almost assassinated. Jimmy reveals that he wrote a story for the school paper in the
past which led to him getting threatened into silence by toilet paper companies. As usual,
Jimmy demonstrates a lot of integrity in this episode. He obviously cares about Stan's well
being even if he's not being entirely transparent with him. Stan does condemn Jimmy for not
wanting to speak up but considering Randy was nearly killed, we understand why he wouldn't.
Kyle comes in next. Poor Kyle has gone through a lot this season. On top of everyone turning on him
due to believing he runs Hollywood, Kyle also had to deal with annoying members of Canadian royalty
who move in across the street from him. Kyle does have moments where he misses social cues,
such as when he can't help himself complaining to his friends about his new neighbors. Still,
he is dedicated to self improvement, such as when he tries to rebrand himself. Kyle does realize
when people are being taken advantage of and tries to put a stop to it, such as when he takes
Butters to confront the brand management company CumHammers. Kyle is prone to anger as always,
but even so, he remains one of the most moral kids in South Park year after year.
Rounding out the Good category, we have Wendy. When Bebe receives very loving
messages from Clyde, Wendy becomes insecure that Stan isn’t paying enough attention to
her feelings. When Stan confronts Clyde and finds out he’s been using ChatGPT,
he starts to do the same for Wendy’s texts. This improves Stan and Wendy’s relationship
quite a bit as she believes these messages are coming from Stan’s heart. We do feel a
lot of sympathy for Wendy in this situation, especially when she tries to confide in Stan
in real life, only for Stan to not understand what she’s talking about.
With the Good characters covered, let’s work
our way into murkier territory. We’re delving into the Gray Area.
We’re starting off the Gray Area with Stan. The focus of many episodes, Stan has gone through
many emotional rollercoasters this season. In many instances, Stan seems to demonstrate a
lot of frustration with everyone around him. This includes becoming pouty when Kyle makes
TikTok videos with Tolkien and becoming annoyed with both Kyle and Wendy for having to listen
to their problems. We can't hold that against him too much as Stan more often than not does
learn the error of his ways in these situations. This is except when he uses ChatGPT to cheat on
essays and respond to Wendy's texts as he just uses it again to resolve the situation. Still,
there have been other moments where Stan has been quite heroic such as when he refuses
to back down from toilet paper companies. Of course, this doesn’t go very far since
Randy stops him immediately afterward but at least he tried to be heroic… almost. Stan
is still a good kid but his frequent moments of selfishness land him at the top of the Gray Area.
A surprising entry in the Gray Area this time around is Kenny. This is mostly because
while Kenny is a good kid, he sometimes acts questionably under the influence of Cartman.
This is shown when the two open up Dikinbaus using Butters’ money and blow all of it irresponsibly.
While Butters’ anger is rightfully directed at Cartman in this situation, it doesn’t mean Kenny
wasn’t complicit in this behavior. Due to Kenny being poor, he doesn’t get the opportunity to
treat himself like this very often but he should know better than to treat Butters like this,
even if he’s being manipulated by Cartman. We’re putting Kenny in the Gray Area because we don’t
think he was as irresponsible as Cartman in this situation even if he does deserve some scrutiny.
Now we’re getting to the darker side of the coin as we take a look at the Bad to Evil category!
Touring into the next spot are The Prince and Princess of Canada. After getting fed up with news
journalists and being so famous, the Prince and Princess of Canada become fed up with their lives
and desire to be treated like normal people. To accomplish this goal, they appear on talk shows,
write a book, go on a worldwide tour and make their presence known wherever
they go. The Prince and Princess of Canada’s shenanigans seem somewhat similar to the recent
actions of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle but we’re sure that’s just a coincidence.
The reason they rank in the Bad category on our countdown is due to how much stress they cause
everyone around them, especially Kyle when they move in across the street from him. To be fair,
when Kyle tells them they’ve turned into a product, the Prince of Canada does realize
the error of his ways. The princess… well, we’re not really sure considering she’s
completely empty inside. Again, we’re sure all parallels with British royalty are coincidental…
Next up is Randy. Randy buys a Japanese toilet and shows it off to all of his friends. He also starts
a cause to inform the residents of South Park of the use of Japanese toilets, calling out toilet
paper companies in the process. This is a noble act on the surface but the rest of his family
members see through this facade, knowing Randy is just doing this to show off the toilet that he
owns. When Randy is shot and rendered unconscious, immediately changes his opinion. This is partially
out of fear but also due to the fact that Randy was never really committed to this cause in the
first place and actually did use it as an excuse to show off his toilet. In the season finale,
Randy is even worse. While Stan and Tolkien simply want to play Warhammer together,
Randy throws a spring break party hoping to get them excited. This results in a shootout
with cops and gangsters and Randy becoming badly injured and damaging his house. Randy
was definitely being shallow, destructive and self-absorbed this season which is why he ranks
in the bad category this year. Seems to us like he could use a little more teg... well, you know.
The Bronze Medal of Evil is awarded to Mr. Garrison. Mr. Garrison is the same irresponsible
hypocrite he’s always been. Terrible to be around but hilarious to watch from an audience’s
perspective. Thanks to his boyfriend Rick, Mr. Garrison finds out that several of his students
have been using ChatGPT to write essays. Instead of confronting them about it like a responsible
adult, Mr. Garrison realizes he can also use AI technology to grade paperwork, thus taking the
easier route. However, once Mr. Garrison realizes Rick has been using ChatGPT to form text messages,
he immediately begins condemning it. Mr. Garrison goes from bad to worse when he travels with Rick
to South Carolina for Spring Break. While he presents this as a guise to take Rick
on a romantic vacation, he’s really doing this to vent his inner desire to visit MAGA stores
and start rallying again. This causes friction between the two as Garrison continually tries
to rally behind Rick’s back, nearly ending their relationship. He does come back to Rick in the
end but only time will tell if Garrison will stay true to his word. One thing for sure is that Mr.
Garrison’s deceitful and hypocritical nature lands him the Bronze Medal of Evil for sure.
Cartman is bringing home the Silver Medal of Evil. We all know Cartman's history so let's cut
to the chase and talk about what he did this time. Surprisingly, Cartman tried to do a not so selfish
act this time when he saw Stan becoming jealous over Kyle's friendship with Tolkien. How does
Cartman tried to rectify this? By turning Kyle against Tolkien via the use of stereotypes. This
is somewhat similar to the episode Cartman Finds Love, where he's uncharacteristically attempting
to bring two characters together, though for all the wrong reasons and through the use of
deplorable methods. When Cupid Ye starts to go to far, Cartman does realize this and tries to stop
the angel. This is one of the few times where Cartman has shown restraint, which is odd given
this is the same kid who dressed up as Hitler and tried to start a rally in Passion of the
Christ. Cartman’s bad behavior is made worse when he takes advantage of Butters’ money and tries to
start a business while doing as little work as possible. All in all, this is the same bigoted,
manipulative Eric Cartman we’ve come to know which lands him a very solid spot in the Evil category.
Fluttering in for the Gold Medal is Cupid Ye. Cupid Ye has been a minor recurring character
on South Park for a while but in this season's premiere we were introduced to a different side
to the angel. Spawning a new look and changing his name to resemble a certain rapper who likes fish
sticks, Cupid Ye aims to help Cartman create a rift between Tolkien and Kyle. To do this, Cartman
starts spreading antisemitic rumors at Cupid Ye's request. Cartman gets want he wants but is
shocked when Cupid Ye takes things even further, hijacking cars and aiming to create a regime.
After turning everyone in the school against Jewish people, Cartman finally gets Cupid Ye to
take his meds. This transforms the angel back into the love spreading Cupid Me. That's great
but we have to take Cupid Ye's actions as a whole into account, most of which were abhorrent. We're
glad to see Cupid Me back to normal but let's make sure he never goes off his meds again.
But let us know in the comment section who you think the most moral character
of South Park Season 26 was, as well as what we should cover next. Make sure to hit
that notification bell and binge our other videos. But most importantly, stay wicked.