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Eric Cartman is not just one of the kids on South Park. He is the one who constantly hijacks the story and pulls all kinds of ridiculous moves to get his way. He does not care who gets hurt as long as he wins.
Whether it's tricking a kid into eating his own parents or starting a campaign against redheads, Cartman always finds a way to take things too far. He thrives on chaos and never backs down once he sets his mind on something.
Some South Park episodes showcase how cold and calculating he can be. Others let him fall apart—yet he always remains funny and utterly unhinged. Every time he shows up, the energy shifts. People around him try to stop him, but they usually fail. He finds a loophole or makes the situation worse until everyone else gives up.
The ten episodes listed below show how one kid with no filter and no shame becomes the core of the entire show. Cartman does not wait for a spotlight. He creates one and makes sure no one else gets to stand in it. This list is not about his worst moments. It is about the ones that make him unforgettable.
South Park: 10 episodes that made Eric Cartman a legend
1. Scott Tenorman Must Die (Season 5, Episode 4)
Cartman gets humiliated by Scott Tenorman and decides to get revenge in a way no one expects. He tricks Scott into eating chili made from the bodies of his murdered parents during a fake chili cook-off.
What makes this episode iconic is how far Cartman takes the plan without any hesitation. He manipulates adults, uses a radio host to draw a crowd, and watches Scott break down in horror as he explains the whole thing. This is the moment Cartman stops being a brat and becomes something much darker. The show was never the same again.
2. The Death of Eric Cartman (Season 9, Episode 6)
Cartman eats all the skin off a bucket of KFC, and the boys finally decide they have had enough. They completely ignore him and refuse to speak to him for days.
Cartman assumes he has died and is now a ghost trapped in limbo. He recruits Butters to help him cross over by doing good deeds, including helping an old woman shoplift. The joke works because it shows how Cartman is not capable of understanding real guilt. He believes he is doing good, but each of his "good" acts still revolves around his own ego and total confusion.
3. Casa Bonita (Season 7, Episode 11)
When Kyle invites Butters to his birthday at Casa Bonita instead of Cartman, Cartman loses it and hatches a plan to get Butters out of the way.
He tricks Butters into hiding in a bomb shelter by convincing him that the world has ended. Cartman then takes his place at the party and enjoys every moment like nothing happened. This episode works because it shows that he doesn't need a big motivation to make an elaborate scheme. Cartman just wants sopapillas, but ends up becoming the source of a major crisis that gets him arrested. That balance of petty goal and extreme action defines him.
4. Tsst (Season 10, Episode 7)
Cartman’s behavior becomes unmanageable, so his mother decides to bring in dog trainers to help. After several failures, Cesar Millan arrives and uses his calm assertiveness to challenge Cartman’s dominance.
Cartman cannot handle someone who does not yell or get emotional. Cesar stays completely still and breaks Cartman down slowly. It is one of the only times in South Park when Cartman is shown to be truly scared. He loses control of the household and has no idea how to win it back. That total loss of power makes this episode one of his most revealing moments.
5. Imaginationland Trilogy (Season 11, Episodes 10–12)
Cartman wants Kyle to suck his balls after losing a bet. Kyle refuses, and Cartman takes him to court. At the same time, a terrorist attack on Imaginationland unleashes a full fantasy war.
Cartman stays focused on his bet even as the world collapses around him. He risks his life to chase Kyle across war-torn dream landscapes. His need to win is so extreme that it makes everything else look small. This trilogy shows how Cartman ignores real danger when something personal is on the line. That stubborn focus is what makes him funny and dangerous at the same time.
6. Cartmanland (Season 5, Episode 6)
Cartman inherits one million dollars and buys an amusement park. He wants to enjoy every ride without standing in line or dealing with other people.
To keep people out, he hires security and refuses entry to everyone. But slowly, he starts letting people in to cover costs. That opens the park to lawsuits and maintenance problems. His dream crumbles under business pressure, and he loses everything. The final insult is that Kyle’s hemorrhoid disappears just as Cartman suffers total defeat. It is a rare moment where Cartman’s selfish plan blows up in his face, and it feels earned.
7. Ginger Kids (Season 9, Episode 11)
Cartman gives a school presentation claiming that kids with red hair have no souls. His rant kicks off a hate campaign that spreads fast across the school.
But then the boys dye his hair red and give him fake freckles while he sleeps. He wakes up believing he is a ginger and panics. He completely reverses his opinion and becomes the leader of the new Ginger Resistance. He uses the same energy to spread unity. The episode shows how quickly Cartman flips and changes sides when he feels threatened.
8. 200/201 (Season 14, Episodes 5–6)
Cartman is obsessed with finding out who his father is. His side plot runs parallel to a larger story about censorship, free speech, and the Prophet Muhammad, which sparked controversy at the time.
In a moment of shocking revelation, he learns his mother is also his father due to a rare condition. Cartman breaks down and cannot process the truth. It is one of the few times he genuinely breaks down. His identity and ego take a hit that no rival ever managed to land. This reveal pushes Cartman into new emotional territory and gives the episode a lasting impact despite being banned.
9. Fishsticks (Season 13, Episode 5)
A simple joke—“Do you like fishsticks?”—spreads across the country. Everyone laughs except Kanye West, who takes it literally and gets angry.
Cartman slowly convinces himself that he helped write the joke, even though it was Jimmy who had come up with it. He retells the story so many times that he eventually believes it. This episode shows how stubborn he becomes about getting credit for something he had nothing to do with. His hunger for fame outweighs any sense of logic and truth.
10. The Pandemic Special (Season 24, Episode 1)
During the COVID-19 outbreak, Cartman finds happiness in staying home. He enjoys not going to school and sings about how much he loves the new way of life.
As people try to reopen schools, he fakes exposures and fights to keep things closed. For once, his selfishness lines up with public health, but only because isolation makes his life easier. He exploits the system for personal comfort and views a global crisis as an excuse for relaxing. It is a perfect example of Cartman benefiting from a global disaster and doing everything possible to keep the world broken as long as it suits him.
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