Butters is the most naive and gullible of South Park‘s main characters, meaning that he’s frequently anxious and easily tricked into nasty situations. He’s been around since the very beginning of the show, but he was a peripheral character until Season 3. His role has continued to expand, to the point that he is now the de facto fifth member of the group, along with Kyle, Kenny, Stan, and Cartman.
While Butters may be sweet, he also harbors a lot of resentment, which manifests itself in his evil alter ego Professor Chaos. This makes him an especially great foil for Cartman, and some of the show’s funniest storylines revolve around the two of them. Showrunners Trey Parker and Matt Stone have created numerous episodes revolving around the fan-favorite character, Butters.
10 “Professor Chaos”
Season 6, Episode 6 (2002)
After the other boys fire Butters from his position as the new Kenny, he takes on the persona of “Professor Chaos,” a supervillain bent on causing mayhem and destruction. As Kyle, Stan, and Cartman hold auditions for a new friend, Butters wreaks havoc in typically inept Butters fashion, stealing erasers and spraying aerosol cans to damage the atmosphere.
The episode expertly skewers the conventions of superhero storytelling, poking fun at the tropes of secret identities, elaborate villainous schemes, and the idea of absolute power corrupting absolutely. As always, the humor is edgy and irreverent, with plenty of sharp social commentary woven in.
9 “Marjorine”
Season 9, Episode 9 (2005)
“You don’t know how hard it is being me!” In this episode, Butters is convinced by his friends to dress up as a girl named Marjorine and infiltrate a sleepover party to uncover a supposed spy. It’s a zany exploration of gender roles and the absurdity of social norms, with Butters at the center of the chaos.
As always, Butters’ innocent and naive personality is played for maximum comedic effect, with his attempts to fit in with the girls at the sleepover leading to some of the episode’s funniest moments. But underneath the humor, the rewatchable South Park episode also has a deeper message about the pressure to conform to societal expectations and the importance of being true to oneself.
8 “Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to the Two Towers”
Season 6, Episode 13 (2002)
Butters convinces his friends to let him join their Lord of the Rings role-playing game, but when he accidentally watches a pornographic movie instead of the actual film, the kids become convinced that a copy of the “one ring” is in possession of Butters’ parents.
The boys exclude Butters from their game, and he slowly starts losing his grip on reality, to the point that he begins resembling Gollum. Butters has the most entertaining subplot of the episode, and some of the funniest moments, like the closing shot of him inside a video store drop box clutching his “precious.”
7 “Casa Bonita”
Season 7, Episode 11 (2003)
Kyle is set to host his birthday party at the Mexican restaurant Casa Bonita but refuses to invite Cartman. He says Cartman can only come if Butters can’t make it, so Cartman hatches a scheme to get rid of the little blonde twerp. He tells Butters that a meteor is headed for Earth and orders him to hide inside Stan’s uncle’s bomb shelter.
The plot keeps escalating from there, as the residents of South Park launch a manhunt for Butters. Butters ends up in a garbage dump, which he mistakes for post-apocalyptic Earth, and sets about attempting to rebuild civilization.
6 “AWESOM-O”
Season 8, Episode 5 (2004)
Cartman disguises himself as a robot in order to spy on Butters and find out all his embarrassing secrets. However, everything quickly goes south for Cartman. He ends up in Hollywood pitching ideas to producers who think he really is a robot, but Butters gives away the money he earns. To make matters even worse, the US army kidnaps Cartman, believing him to be a weapon.
This episode is also unusual in that Butters has the last laugh: he shows a humiliating video of Cartman to the whole town. It’s a truly wild episode, with a ridiculous plot but some clever commentary on the entertainment industry. In particular, it mocks Hollywood’s obsession with sequels and remakes.
5 “Good Times With Weapons”
Season 8, Episode 1 (2004)
The boys purchase ninja weapons at a local flea market and transform into warriors. They engage in a series of epic battles against Butters as his alter ego, Professor Chaos. The episode cleverly switches between the usual animation and a rotoscoped anime style. It also features one of the best South Park songs ever made, “Let’s Fighting Love.”
However, their play-fighting goes wrong when a shuriken ends up lodged in Butters’s eye. Too afraid to reveal the wound to his parents, Cartman, and co. dress Butters up as a dog and take him to the local vet for treatment.
4 “The Death of Eric Cartman”
Season 9, Episode 6 (2005)
Cartman and Butters are the stars of this episode. The other boys ignore Cartman, leading him to believe that he has died and become a ghost. He convinces Butters of this as well and enlists his help to atone for all his bad deeds so that he can get into heaven.
This leads Butters’s family to think that he’s disturbed, and they send him to a mental health facility. Cartman busts him out, and the pair of them try to foil a hostage situation at a nearby Red Cross Center. It’s a pretty absurd episode, but it has some laugh-out-loud moments, like the scene where somebody eats the skin off all the KFC.
3 “Butters’ Very Own Episode”
Season 5, Episode 14 (2001)
With their wedding anniversary coming up, Butters’s mom tasks him with spying on his dad to find out what gift he got her for the occasion. However, in the process, Butters sees his father entering a gay bathhouse. On hearing the news, Butter’s mom is distraught, going so far as to try to drown Butters by driving the car into a river.
Adding to the humor is Butters’s reaction to all this chaos. He takes it in his stride, brushing off his mom’s murder attempt and making light of the whole thing. At the end of the episode, Butters is closer to Stan, Kyle, and Cartman, paving the way for his greater role in the following seasons.
2 “Cartman Sucks”
Season 11, Episode 2 (2007)
Cartman takes sexually explicit photos of himself and Butters while the latter is sleeping, intending to use them to mock Butters. However, the other boys point out that these pictures call Cartman’s own sexual orientation into question as well. Cartman tries to rectify the situation, leading Butters’s dad to conclude that Butters is bi-curious and send him to a Christian conversion therapy camp.
The episode features some sidesplitting moments, like when Cartman shows the graphic photos in class during show and tell, claiming that they are an artistic statement against the War in Iraq. Beneath the crudity, though, South Park uses this controversial storyline to explore real-world issues of stigma and homophobia.
1 “Butters’ Bottom B***h”
Season 13, Episode 9 (2009)
After paying $5 for a kiss, Butters becomes a pimp, running a “kissing business” out of the playground. He approaches his new role with a surprising level of professionalism and efficiency, impressing even the seasoned pimps of the city. He even starts offering health care and other benefits to his employees.
However, the business starts changing Butters. He gets tougher and begins using pimp jargon and foul language, and the boys try to bring him back to his senses. Meanwhile, an undercover detective seeks to bust the whole operation. The episode demonstrates yet again South Park‘s delight in smashing taboos, reveling in topics that most other shows wouldn’t touch.
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