Ranking the 18 best characters on South Park on its 18th anniversary

An incredible show with even better characters.

South Park made its debut on Comedy Central 18 years ago today and I'm certain that at the time, Trey Parker and Matt Stone were completely unaware that the crude, insane and razor-sharp stories involving Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman would become the best piece of satire in the modern era. Yes, it's bonkers, fecked up and full of dick and fart jokes but for my money, South Park has consistently been the smartest show on TV for the best part of a decade.

Impressive stuff considering it has a Queen spider as a religious leader, ghosts of human kindness breaking into bedrooms all over town and Bono acting out as the world's biggest piece of shit. The world of South Park is filled with some wonderful characters and here are our favourites. 18) God I could have opted for Saddam Hussein, Moses, Satan, Jesus, Mrs Crabtree or a host of others but I love how ballsy Stone and Parker are here. Those lads just don't give a feck.

17) Craig Doesn't everyone wish that they could just flip people off whenever they feel like it? Cartman's punchline here is gold. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZcJpcLUiDM Clip via - UglyPumpkinz 16) Liane Cartman Is she a doting mam with the patience of a saint or a cover girl for crack whore magazine? The truth, she's a little from column A and B. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxJL_fi5teo Clip via - 15) Tweek Eek! Have some coffee, be grand.

14) Jimmy Wow what a wonderful audience. Just don't get him 'excited' before a performance though. This is still one of the most brutal fights that you'll ever see. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfgHVSvxZUA Clip via - jayden stephen 13) Detective Harrison So what do you have to say to that? Mr scientist! Niiiiiiiice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xR-EU_l_pKA Clip via - Shane Collins 12) Chef Three fiddy! We all know the words to this one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIl-6UnlGVs Clip via - MusicVideoStudiosTas 11) Stan's Grandpa God damnit Billy! Yes he may only have one recurring gag in the show but there's something wonderful about seeing an elderly man hurl abuse at an 8-year-old psychotic boy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukd3nFuh5Xw Clip via - yourmomxxpp 10) Kenny We didn't have to understand what he said. All we needed was this. Oh my god.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwm9DvF24Ag 9) Terence & Philip Move over Celine Dion, Bryan Adams and Ugly Bob because Canada belongs to these two. 'Asses of Fire' and 'Not Without My Anus' are classics.

8) Towelie He's happy to be known as the worst character of all-time but he also knows the melody of Funky Town inside and out. Wanna get high? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EPURKWo2vU Clip via - Barry Reeves 7) Timmy Best frontman since Mick Jagger. He probably upstaged Phil Collins also. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib5jjguEiHs Clip via - Theresa Trevino 6) Mr Garrison Mr Hat, Mr Slave, Lemmywinks, scissors, pigeons and the whole molestation thing. He's a teacher. A TEACHER. This reply to Clyde's answer still cracks me up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fkx8Jyrf6bk 5) Kyle Matt Stone's alter ego is probably the main voice of reason in the show. Then again, his dad is a dolphin. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=045mSyJTlqY Clip via - Jiri Starek 4) Stan Trey Parker's alter-ego is the smartest person in the show. Then again, he pukes anytime that he sees his girlfriend. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpfM5Hn9Rto 3) Butters Hamburgers! The episode involving the breakdown of his parents' marriage is one of the most insane and uncomfortably funny episodes of TV that you'll ever see. Yes he's bi-curious and has some killer tap-dancing skills but you have to admire someone that managed to cover every inch of his house in shit just to get revenge on his parents. Paris Hilton will testify to his brilliance although he's a grounded bear. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maD1XGMHjzk 2) Cartman We all have our favourite Cartman moment but for me it's the sheer lunacy of this one. He doesn't care that a man just died, all he's focused on is proving Kyle wrong. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDj94GM6Wt0 1) Randy Marsh To quote the man himself 'I'm the best' and I've already written a piece as to why he's a TV great but this clip has taken on a life of itself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuvLUhuo52w So what do you think? Is there anyone that we left out?