Clyde Donovan (formerly known as Clyde Goodman and Clyde Harris) is a fictional character in the
adult
An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a "minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of ...
animated television series ''
South Park''. He is voiced by series co-creator
Trey Parker
Randolph Severn "Trey" Parker III (born October 19, 1969) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, and composer. He is known for co-creating ''South Park'' (since 1997) and ''The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his creative partner Matt Stone. P ...
. Clyde is a student at South Park
Elementary School
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...
, and is a member of
Craig's Gang. He debuted as an unnamed background character in the series premiere "
Cartman Gets an Anal Probe
"Cartman Gets an Anal Probe" is the series premiere of the American animated television series '' South Park''. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on August 13, 1997. The episode introduces child protagonists Eric Cartman, Kyle ...
" on August 13, 1997, and first spoke in the next episode "
Weight Gain 4000
"Weight Gain 4000" is the third episode of the first season of the American animated television series '' South Park''. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on August 27, 1997. In the episode, the residents of South Park excited ...
".
Biography
Clyde attends South Park Elementary School as a third, eventually fourth-grade student of
Mr. Garrison's class. The latter took the position of the 45th
President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...
and was replaced by
Ms. Nelson in
season 19. Clyde resides in South Park, Colorado, and lives with his father, Roger, and an unnamed sister. His mother, Betsy, died in the events "
Reverse Cowgirl" after Clyde left the toilet seat up. Though his name was 'Clyde Goodman' in the merchandise of the first few seasons, it was never used on the show. In "
Quest for Ratings
"Quest for Ratings" is the eleventh episode in the eighth season of the American animated television series ''South Park''. The 122nd episode of the series overall, it originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on November 17, 2004.
...
", he was named 'Clyde Donovan' during a news segment, but in "
Lice Capades", he was referred to 'Clyde Harris' by the nurse. Eventually, his name later reverted back to 'Clyde Donovan' on his Facebook page in "
You Have 0 Friends". He is a member of Craig's Gang, and consists of him,
Craig Tucker
Craig Tucker is a fictional character in the adult animated television series '' South Park''. One of the main characters' fourth-grade classmates, he debuted in the season one episode "Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo" singing "We Wish You a Merry ...
,
Tolkien Black, and
Jimmy Valmer
James "Jimmy" Valmer () is a fictional character from the American animated television series '' South Park''. He is voiced by Trey Parker. He is physically disabled, requiring forearm crutches in order to walk.
Character biography
In season 7 e ...
.
In ''
South Park: Post Covid'' is shown to be assisting for
Kenny McCormick
Kenneth "Kenny" McCormick is a fictional character and one of the four main characters in the adult animation, adult animated television series ''South Park'' along with Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Eric Cartman. His often muffled and incompr ...
's death. But, he is also an anti-vaxxer, as "out of shellfishness", refuses to get
vaccinated.
Character
Creation and design
In the series premiere, "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe", Clyde is composed with
construction paper
Construction paper, also known as sugar paper, is coloured cardstock paper. The texture is slightly rough, and the surface is unfinished. Due to the source material, mainly wood pulp, small particles are visible on the paper's surface. It is used ...
and is animated through
stop motion
Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames ...
. In subsequent episodes, beginning with "Weight Gain 4000", he is animated via computer software, though his appearance is rendered to mimic the style of construction paper used in the first episode. Clyde is composed of primary colors and simple geometrical shapes but isn't offered free range associated with hand-drawn characters; he is usually shown one angle and animated in an intentionally jerky fashion.
Clyde has medium brown hair and wears a burgundy coat with blue trim and dark-gray pants. He occasionally wears blue mittens. He is also shown wearing a green t-shirt with a cow's face on it. On some occasions, Clyde can wear a red and white sports jacket resembling his coat. Trey Parker speaks in his normal vocal range, and is edited with
ProTools
Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-producti ...
as the pitch is altered to make the sound like that of a fourth grader.
Personality and traits
Clyde is shown to have low intelligence in some subjects, notably, math, such as in ''
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut'', where, in solving five times two, he answers twelve, and Mr. Garrison refers to him as "a complete retard". On most things upsetting, he would sob uncontrollably, like in the episodes "
Fourth Grade
Fourth grade (also called grade four, equivalent to Year 5 in England and Wales, and Year 4 in Australia) is a year of Elementary education in some countries. In North America, the fourth grade is the fifth school year of elementary school. St ...
", "
Fatbeard", and "
It's Christmas in Canada
"It's Christmas in Canada" (sometimes called "Christmas in Canada") is the fifteenth and final episode of the seventh season of the American animated series ''South Park'' and the 111th episode of the series. The episode originally aired on Decem ...
". He also shows little to no interest when occasionally the show gets surreal.
In some episodes, such as "
The List" and "
Sarcastaball
"Sarcastaball" is the eighth episode of the sixteenth season of the American animated television series ''South Park'', and the 231st episode of the series overall. It premiered on Comedy Central in the United States on September 26, 2012, and is ...
", Clyde is shown to be a jock who is interested in sports, and has a high opinion of himself.
Reception
Clyde was ranked at #22 by Looper on a list entitled "25 Popular South Park Characters Ranked Worst to Best".
In other media
Clyde appears in numerous ''South Park''-related media, such as appearing in the 1999 musical comedy adaption ''South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut'', and video games like ''
South Park: The Stick of Truth'' and ''
South Park: The Fractured but Whole''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donovan, Clyde
American male characters in television
Animated human characters
Child characters in animated television series
Comedy film characters
South Park characters
Television characters introduced in 1997
Animated characters introduced in 1997
Fictional characters from Colorado
Fictional elementary school students