Other children and classmates are alienated by Cartman's insensitive, sexist, racist, homophobic, anti-semitic, lazy, misogynistic, self-righteous, and wildly insecure behavior,[6][7][8][9][10] but are occasionally influenced by his obtrusive, manipulative, and propagandist antics.
Kyle, who is Jewish, is often the recipient of the slander and anti-Semitic insults expressed by Cartman. The two have shared an enmity since the show's beginnings, and their rivalry has become significantly more pronounced as the series has progressed, with Cartman even routinely exposing Kyle to physical endangerment.
Cartman's motivation in this regard is not merely monetary gain, but an obsession with scoring a victory over Kyle,
Cartman is also inspired by All in the Family patriarch Archie Bunker, of whom Parker and Stone are fans. They state that creating Cartman as a "little eight-year-old fat kid" made it easier for the two to portray a Bunker-like character after the introduction of political correctness to late-20th century television.
Cartman is amused by bodily functions and toilet humor,[38] and his favorite television personalities are Terrance and Phillip, a Canadian duo whose comedy routines on their show-within-the-show revolve substantially around fart jokes.
Cartman is in denial of his obesity, often reasserting Liane's notion by exclaiming "I'm not fat, I'm big-boned!".[5] He views himself as more mature than his fellow friends and classmates, and often grows impatient with their company. This would often lead to loud arguments, which in earlier seasons typically ended with Cartman peevishly saying "Screw you guys... I'm going home!" upon leaving.[5] In an action King's College philosophy professor David Kyle Johnson describes as "directed either toward accomplishing his own happiness or the unhappiness of others", Cartman often feigns actual friendship with his fellow classmates when needing a favor.[11] The lack of a true father figure in his life, and Liane's promiscuity and drug use have caused repressed psychological hardship in Cartman's life.[39] As a parent, Liane spoils Cartman,[40][41] and is largely ineffectual as a disciplinarian.[42] Cartman sometimes authoritatively commands his mom to do tasks for him, but more often employs the means of speaking in an ingratiating tone when pleading with her. When neither method works, he resorts to excessive and indecipherable whining, with Liane usually succumbing.[43] Parker has noted that this is the primary cause for Cartman's behavior, stating that Cartman is "just a product of his environment".[5]
Cartman thrives on being granted ascendancy over others,[44] and exerts his will by demagogy and by demanding that others "Respect my authoritah!",[5] accentuating the last syllable of "authority" and pronouncing it /ɔːˈθɒrɨtɑ/.[42] He has shown an initiative in taking a businesslike approach to earning money, starting his own "hippie control" and "parental revenge" operations.[45]
Cartman's anti-Semitism, while mostly limited to mocking Kyle, culminated in the season eight (2004) episode "The Passion of the Jew". In the episode, Cartman, after watching The Passion of the Christ numerous times, deifies the film's director, Mel Gibson, and starts an official Gibson fan club, praising Gibson for "trying to express—through cinema—the horror and filthiness of the common Jew".[46] Cartman's interpretation of the film influences him to dress up as Adolf Hitler and lead other fan club members (who are clueless as to Cartman's actual intentions) in a failed effort to engage in a systematic genocide of the Jews similar to that of the Final Solution.[46] In the season 10 (2006) episode "Smug Alert!", Cartman anonymously saved Kyle's life in an effort to get him and his family to return to South Park from San Francisco, revealing that he craves the animosity shared between the two.[47]
Upon hearing his classmates tell him that they hold him in the lowest regard possible, a stubborn Cartman misinterpreted this act as their attempt to make him feel better, and obstinately convinced himself that everyone thought he was the "coolest kid in school". In the season 13 (2009) episode "Fishsticks", Cartman subconsciously believes that he solely created a joke that quickly becomes a nationwide sensation, despite the fact that the character Jimmy Valmer wrote the joke without any assistance. Carlos Delgado of If Magazine noted this as "Cartman being so egotistical that he manipulates the past to serve his own purposes".[48] In the season 14 saga that culminates with "Coon vs. Coon and Friends", Cartman joins forces with the dark lord Cthulhu (whom he insists upon crediting as merely "Coon's friend") and destroys everything he hates (synagogues, Whole Foods Market outlets, hippies at the Burning Man festival, and Justin Bieber) because he apparently believes he is making the world a better place.
