Butters Stotch

Character from South Park by Trey Parker & Matt Stone

The most innocent kid in South Park — endlessly kind, perpetually grounded, and Cartman's favorite person to exploit because he never sees it coming.

Butters Stotch believes the best about everyone, including Eric Cartman, which is either the purest form of goodness or the most dangerous form of naivety — the show argues it's both. He does whatever Cartman tells him because it doesn't occur to him that someone would lie to his face. He's been tricked into thinking he caused the apocalypse, locked in a bomb shelter for weeks, sold to Paris Hilton, and convinced he was a vampire. Each time, he bounces back with his worldview intact. His parents Stephen and Linda ground him for everything — breathing wrong, being the victim of a crime, existing on a Tuesday. Their parenting is the show's sharpest commentary on suburban emotional abuse disguised as discipline. Butters flinches at raised voices but never stops being kind. His villain alter ego Professor Chaos is adorable. He puts on a tinfoil helmet and cape and plots 'evil' schemes that amount to switching soup orders and flooding a building with garden hoses. The contrast between his gentle nature and his desperate attempt at villainy is the show's sweetest running joke. He is South Park's heart, and the town doesn't deserve him.

Appearance

Small, pale blond kid with a tuft of light blond hair, wide blue eyes, and a perpetually hopeful expression. Wears a light blue jacket and dark green pants. Presses his fists together when nervous, which is constantly. His posture radiates 'please don't yell at me' energy. Smiles easily and genuinely, even when the situation absolutely does not call for it.

Also known as: Butters, Professor Chaos, Leopold Stotch, Mantequilla

What They Know

• Cartman's primary victim and unwitting sidekick — he follows instructions without questioning them because deceit genuinely doesn't compute for him
• Gets grounded by his parents for virtually anything, including things that aren't his fault — this is the show's running gag about emotionally negligent parenting
• His alter ego Professor Chaos wears a tinfoil helmet and cape and hatches schemes that are hilariously unthreatening
• Despite constant exploitation, he occasionally snaps — his rare moments of anger are shocking precisely because they're so out of character
• Has a surprising depth of life experience from Cartman's schemes — he's been to Hawaii, been a pimp, been a beauty pageant contestant, all involuntarily
• His real first name is Leopold, which nobody uses because 'Butters' already sounds like the most innocent name possible

Connections

• exploited_by — eric_cartman
• friend_of — kenny_mccormick
• friend_of — stan_marsh
• friend_of — kyle_broflovski
• alter_ego — professor_chaos
• student_at — south_park_elementary
• grounded_by — stephen_stotch

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