Stephen and Linda Stotch

South Park character


name=Stephen and Linda Stotch
gender=Male and Female
hair=Brown and blonde
age= 36 (Stephen); 34 (Linda)
job= Unknown and Engineer
religion= Roman Catholic
start= The Wacky Molestation Adventure
voice=Trey Parker (Stephen)
Mona Marshall (Linda)

Stephen (previously Chris) and Linda Stotch are recurring characters in the animated series South Park. They are Butters' parents.

tephen

Stephen is most notable for his harsh treatment of Butters. He seems to also have homosexual tendencies, but suppresses them after nearly losing his family in "Butters' Very Own Episode". He is also shown to be very selfish, considering his needs and ambitions above those of Butters, as seen in the episode "Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset", when he attempts to sell Butters to Paris Hilton. He is a good friend of Randy Marsh and Gerald Broflovski and among the more prominent adults of the town. Two interesting things to note, are that a protester that looked identical, and sounded identical to Stephen can be seen in "Quintuplets 2000", and a reporter who also looked identical to Stephen was seen in "Are You There God? It's Me, Jesus". His name repeatedly switches between Stephen and Chris. In "Raisins", Linda addresses him as Stephen, while in Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset, she calls him Chris. Either one of them could be a middle name.

It is suggested that he is homophobic, which is ironic because in "Butters' Very Own Episode", Butters discovers that Stephen experimented with homosexuality and in "Cartman Sucks", Stephen reveals to Butters that he's bicurious and doesn't mind if his son turns out the same way. It is shown in "Raisins" that he had made a bet with Linda that Butters wouldn't turn out gay (which he won). However, on his part, Herbert Garrison (a former closet homosexual) was homophobic before coming out, and showed homophobia after returning to being a man, so this may be common.

Stephen can also be noted for his unusual, and seemingly phoney or forced, way of crying or weeping.

Linda

Linda Stotch is shown to be a quiet, submissive woman. She is often seen reading or cleaning the house. She is an engineer and also serves on the city council as the treasurer. Linda has also been shown to be much more sympathetic and tender to Butters compared to Stephen. Just like Stephen, however, she can be grossly irrational at times, as she attempted to kill Butters and planned to commit suicide in Butters' Very Own Episode. She is shown to care a lot about Butters as in "Marjorine".

Episodes in which Stephen and/or Linda are prominent

*"The Wacky Molestation Adventure" - First appearance.

*"How to Eat With Your Butt" - Get angry at Butters for making rude faces (though it is actually how Butters looks).

*"Butters' Very Own Episode" - Linda discovers Stephen is bisexual and has been having secret homosexual affairs. She goes insane, nearly killing Butters in the process. She then tries to kill herself, but she and Stephen start up a lie that Butters was killed by 'Puerto Rican guy'. They get into a fight with Stephen until Butters returns alive, angrily confronting them about their lie. They then make amends to each other and Butters and come clean to everyone.

*"Asspen" - They take the Cartmans, Broflovskis and Marshes to Aspen with them.

*"Jared Has Aides" - They ground Butters for getting a liposuction. They also start beating him up offscreen, due to a prank call made by Cartman posing as Butters.

*"Freak Strike" - They ground Butters for putting balls on his chin.

*"My Future Self n' Me" - They realize how bad they've been to Butters after he had his parents' house smeared with feces for lying to him about the whole 'future self' thing.

*"Raisins" - They find out that Butters has got a girlfriend. It is revealed Stephen and Linda had made a bet on whether Butters would turn gay or not. Stephen had won the bet. But while visiting Raisins, Butters and his parents find out that his girlfriend was only flirting with him for money. Dejected, Butters walks away while Stephen and Linda remain at Raisins in shock.

*"Casa Bonita" - They fear for Butters after his disappearance.

*"Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset" - They try to sell Butters to Paris Hilton, but failed after Mr. Slave jams Paris Hilton up his ass.

*"Die, Hippie, Die" - Linda is the engineer on the Hippie Driller 2000.

*The Death of Eric Cartman - They believe Butters is going insane after he says he starts to see ghosts.

*"Marjorine" - They witness Butter's "suicide" (Butters actually faked it). Later, when Butters returns home, they think he's a zombie, and they chain him up downstairs quietly.

*"Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow" - Stephen goes on the expedition with Randy and Gerald, but they all end up collapsing in the street due to heat.

*"Cartoon Wars Part I" - Stephen is the only person in the town who supports free speech, but no one listens to him.

*"Cartman Sucks" - Stephen takes Butters to a reparative therapy camp when he thinks Butters might be "bicurious" although he later states that he himself is bi-curious too (possibly a reference to "Butters' very own episode"). Linda only appears briefly and says only one line ("What's going on?").

*"Imaginationland" - Stephen and Linda visit Stan's house after Butters is left in "Imaginationland", mentioning that they think he has been kidnapped, sodomized repeatedly, killed and had his genitals have been fed to wild animals.

*"Imaginationland III" - They acknowledge Butters' deeds to Imaginationland, yet ground him because of his absence when he's supposed to be helping out in the house's basement.

*"The List" - They agree they shouldn't ground Butters for not being the ugliest kid in the class.