10 Prominent ‘South Park’ Characters That Have Faded Into Obscurity

10 Ms. Crabtree

The insanely angry school bus driver was a big part of South Park when most of the episodes began with the four boys at the bus stop, but her one-note screaming made it difficult to grow the character. 

In Season Eight, she died at the hands of a serial killer and the attending police officer offered up this meta joke, saying, “She was considered an ancillary character, one the fans wouldn’t miss much.” 

While that is largely accurate, it doesn’t mean South Park die-hards don’t miss her on occasion.

9 Dr. Mephesto

Dr. Mephesto was based on an obscure Marlon Brando character. The boys of South Park turned to him anytime they had a need for what can be loosely called ‘science’. Most memorably, and in no order: he tried to help the boys make a pig and elephant hybrid, he created a clone of Stan, he unfroze a caveman from 1996, and he conducted Cartman’s paternity test. 

Despite all that and more, it seems that Matt Stone and Trey Parker simply tired of him. While you can still spot the good doctor in the background occasionally, it’s been a long time since Dr. Mephesto made his presence felt.

8 Heidi Turner

Heidi Turner had been a background character since the early seasons of South Park. She took a more prominent role at the beginning of Season 20, becoming Cartman’s girlfriend. The ‘romance’ led to some interesting stories as Heidi transformed from nice into a female version of Cartman. The arc ran its course after two seasons, and they apparently broke up for good in the finale of Season 21.

7 Bob Whites

Unlike the preceding characters, Bob White was not important to South Park’s early days. Instead, he came to prominence in Season 21 as a staunch supporter of  President Donald T. He remained an on-and-off villain until Season 24’s “South ParQ Vaccination Special,” when Bob was turned into a giant penis. He has yet to come back from that, even with the new  President Donald T running all over Seasons 27 and 28.

6 Mr. Hat

Mr. Hat was the felt embodiment of all of Mr. Garrison’s many sexual frustrations, but since Garrison came out of the closet, transitioned to a woman and then transitioned back, Mr. Hat has been replaced by an ever-changing roster of Garrison sidekicks. 

His nice boyfriend Rick holds that spot now, and he has successfully helped Garrison avoid his  President Donald T persona. While no more Garrision-as- President Donald T is definitely a good thing for the show, longtime South Park viewers still hold a special place in their hearts for the hand puppet that once told Kyle “You go to Hell! You go to Hell and you die!”

5 Principal Victoria

Principal Victoria was a fine and occasionally funny character that often moved the plot forward in school-oriented episodes, but in Season 19 she was replaced by PC Principal, who began as a vehicle to skewer political correctness. 

PC Principal has since undergone a heel-turn as “Power Christian Principal” to lampoon a sizable portion of  President Donald T’s base of evangelicals. At the end of the day, PC Principal is a way better, more meaningful character than Principal Victoria ever was.

4 Mr. Hankey

As a character Trey Parker drew in high school, Mr. Hankey existed even before the boys did. He’s even why Fox decided not to move forward with South Park before the show was developed at Comedy Central. 

Beginning with the Season One Christmas episode, Mr. Hankey became a genuine holiday icon that was featured at least every couple of seasons, usually around Christmas time. This remained true up until Season 16, when he rescued the boys from their ziplining adventure. He next appeared in Season 22, where he began drunk tweeting terrible, racist things. At the end of the episode, he leaves town and moves to Springfield, home of The Simpsons. Since then, fans have been clamoring for his return, especially during the holidays.

3 Pip

The kid everybody loved to hate, Pip was integral to the early days of South Park as a fun punching bag for the boys, especially Cartman. But as Kyle and Cartman became the show’s central rivalry and Butters grew in prominence as the town’s lone innocent, Pip just had less to do. He faded into the background for years until he was finally squished and killed by Mecha Streisand in Season 14.

2 Officer Barbrady

While Officer Barbrady is very much alive, he hasn’t been heard from in a while. Besides a few cameos in recent years, he last played a major part in a 2015 episode, when he stood up against Leslie, a sentient ad who looked like a little girl. 

Whenever South Park wants to critique the police these days, it’s the racist, trigger-happy, civil-rights-ignoring Sgt. Yates as the butt of the joke, which is probably wise as he’s far less lovable than Barbrady. However, that does mean Barbrady has fallen far from his days where he was featured several times a season as South Park’s sole law enforcement officer.

1 Chef

There was a time when Chef was considered to be the fifth-biggest South Park character. Famously, after South Park lampooned Scientology in Season Nine, the voice of Chef, Isaac Hayes, issued a letter quitting the show, though his son doubts the validity of the letter, as his father had recently had a stroke. As for his character, Chef was killed off in a gruesome way that still doesn’t sit well with fans. It was a sad end to a great part of the show.