About

(The Boys may have dissolved their bro-ship at least for now at the end of the Vaccination Special) Often known by most of the adults around them as "the boys", these four lifelong friends meet each and every morning at the same old bus stop and wait for their ride to elementary school, and whatever else is happening in the world around them. Cartman, Stan, Kyle and Kenny may rip on each other nearly constantly, and fight pretty often, they still do almost everything together. Despite their differences, they can coordinate seamlessly and accomplish almost anything when united by a common cause, whether it's saving the town or making ten million dollars.

Though they do often hang out separately, and sometimes work together with other circles of classmates, the boys still recognize the importance of their unit of four, and made an effort to locate a permanent fourth friend when Kenny was absent. Such absences have often been filled temporarily by Butters Stotch, but the boys have never seen him as a permanent member. When Kenny was deceased, his position was filled ably by Tweek Tweak, and very briefly once, by Bebe Stevens. Though fate often draws these four apart, sometimes for months at a time, they always end up coming back together to face new challenges.

Their adventures have become at least something of local legend, known even around juvenile hall. Whether its extracting anal probes, spending the holidays with talking poo, saving their town from mechanical celebrities, going on accidental trips to Afghanistan, sending a whale home to the moon,, or just picking on Butters and limey Europeans, these four boys are always prepared to deal with the supernatural, the extraordinary, and the insane. For them, it's all part of growing up in South Park.

Memorable Quotes

Though each of the boys has their own catchphrases and quotes, sometimes they have interactions that only work as a group:

• Cartman: "Is this really what it's come down to, you guys? Whatever happened to *us*?"
• Kyle: "What do you mean?"
• Cartman: "It used to always be the four of us. Always. Now Stan's moved to a farm. I have anxiety. Kenny? Nobody really talks to Kenny. And then there's just... Kyle. We used to do everything together. What if we did this like the old days?" (Unfulfilled)

Members

Stan Marsh

Kyle Broflovski

Eric Cartman

Kenny McCormick

Former Members

• All three characters were only depicted as official members of the group during the sixth season, while Kenny was "permanently" deceased.

Butters Stotch

Tweek Tweak

Bebe Stevens

Close Friends

The boys are frequently accompanied in their misadventures by their classmates Butters and Jimmy, though they are not part of the unit. They also often sought advice from their neighbor Chef whenever they were in trouble, although since his unfortunate passing they lack a trusted adult authority figure.

Butters Stotch

Jimmy Valmer

Chef

Friendly Rivalry

Though they generally see each other as rivals, the main boys and Craig's friends frequently sit together at lunch and are often happy to work together as classmates, with Jimmy in particular on friendly terms with both groups. Though it seems that Craig and his friends may be more popular at school, when the times are their darkest, the two groups have no second thoughts about trusting each other.

Craig and Those Guys

Rivals

Though the boys have many small rivals, there are only a few people who can consistently strike anger or fear into the hearts of all four of them at once.

Trent Boyett

Mrs. Streibel

Bonus Factoids

• The group is only identified in-universe as "the boys" and somewhat informally once as Stan and Kyle and Those Guys, but has had many nicknames, often identified as 'the Main Four' among fans and materials, and in older seasons sometimes known affectionately as "the scamps".
• A member of the boys can be spotted in every episode (and game) of the series (though sometimes silent or hidden) except for "Pip" in season 4, "A Million Little Fibers" in season 10, and in "Handicar" in season 18.
• All four characters to occupy the fourth official slot in the group - Kenny, Butters, Tweek, and Bebe - have blonde hair.
• Butters Stotch has appeared in replacement for Kyle in "Cripple Fight", for Kenny in early season 6 episodes such as "Freak Strike", for Cartman in "Tsst", and for Stan in "Ass Burgers", having filled in for all four boys.
• Though the official unit is only four boys, Butters and Jimmy Valmer accompany them frequently in newer episodes, with Tolkien appearing less often as a seventh informal member. In earlier seasons, Wendy appeared alongside the four boys as a friend relatively often, but this has ceased.
  • Notable episodes featuring the six characters include "Raisins", the "Imaginationland" trilogy, "Super Fun Time", "Pee" and "Band in China", with Butters and Jimmy sharing a roughly equal spotlight with the boys in "South Park: The Stick of Truth" as playable characters.