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Officer Barbrady

Officer Barbrady

Gender Male
Hair Color Brown
Occupation Unemployed; Police Officer (formerly)
Aliases Officer Buttbaby
Religion Roman Catholic
Voiced by Trey Parker
First Appearance Cartman Gets an Anal Probe
Last Appearance PC Principal Final Justice

About

Once South Park's most prominent officer of the law and arguably its most trusted authority figure, Officer Barbrady may not be intelligent, or even literate, but he's always friendly and willing to lend a hand... when you can find him. He may seem clueless and incompetent but there are hints he may be more aware and intelligent than he may seen, such as questioning the tactics of the ATF Agents, covering up the appearance of black CIA helicopters in the town, and occasionally providing the kids with useful information such as... where to find prostitutes. Despite his oafish behavior, he can take his job seriously when he's on a case he feels is of tantamount importance to public safety.

He was the only member of the South Park Police for quite some time, sending the town into chaos when he briefly resigned, but since he began taking reading classes he was joined by the Park County Police force, boasting a much-expanded department. Barbrady was also been promoted to Acting Chief-of-Police, a role he rarely asserted. (Because he didn't want to.) He still patrolled the town and makes arrests however, and even occasionally found the time to masturbate to Game of Thrones while on duty.

During an investigation into toilet papering, he revealed to Josh Myers that he underwent physical and sexual abuse as a child, perpetrated by his uncles. His father often forced him to dress up as a girl and sit on his uncles' laps during poker nights, and his Uncle Charles would often beat him with a belt. Myers surmises that Barbrady became a police officer because he wanted a sense of control over his life and those around him, though Tom the Newsman suggested he had a genuine desire to protect his town.

Off-duty, Officer Barbrady has a lonely life, living only in a small apartment with his elderly dog, who requires medication, a framed newspaper of saving the town from the Chickenlover, and framed photographs of a woman who resembles him (possibly his wife or mother) and one of himself with Harrison Yates. He has mentioned having a wife at one point, but she has never been seen and does not appear to live with him anymore. He has twice been caught in compromising positions with Mayor McDaniels, who is either his lover or perhaps secretly his wife.

After PC Principal called the police department over Leslie's interference with his assemblies, Barbrady panicked and accidentally shot an unarmed six-year-old Latino-American child and was fired from the Police Department, and his comeback attempt was sadly ruined by Randy Marsh's interference. Since then, he's given up shooting people, though he still joined in on the gun craze for a bit. He's not been seen since.

Memorable Quotes

  • "Okay move along, move along people, there's nothing to see here!"
  • "Cows turn themselves inside out all the time." (Cartman Gets An Anal Probe)
  • "Well, being an officer of the peace means a lot of things. It's a hard job, but then I'm a hard man." (Chickenlover)
  • "Whoever TP'ed your house is still out there roaming the streets. It's only a matter of time before another house and another family is victimized! I have to stop that from happening." (Toliet Paper)
  • "Well, Jimmy, the girls here are young and pure. They're not like the ladies down at Colfax Point." (Erection Day)
  • "Mr. Marsh, you have to move it isn't safe here." (Pandemic)
  • "Okay, people, try to disperse in an orderly fashion, gee whiz." (200)
  • "I know it was wrong to masturbate... and it was especially wrong to masturbate while on duty." (Let Go, Let Gov)
  • "Remember to support any suspicious activity to the police - that's what I do!" (South Park: The Stick of Truth)
  • "This is all I know. I used to be the only policeman in this town, remember? Bob, I used to chase away the sixth graders for you!" (Naughty Ninjas)
  • "I'm no good as a policeman. I'm a... bumbling old fool." (Naughty Ninjas)
  • "I understand you feeling angry at this town. I'm getting pretty angry too. But we can't give up on it. Please boys, don't make it end violently." (Naughty Ninjas)
  • "No! I'm not shooting any more people! Not for you, not for anybody!" (Truth and Advertising)

Life Lessons

  • "Yes, at first, I was happy to be learning how to read. It seemed exciting and magical. But then I read this: Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand. I read every last word of this garbage, and because of this piece of sh-shit, I'm never reading again!"

Costume Gallery

Officer Barbrady has rarely been seen outside of his unique, trademark police officer uniforn, but he does occasionally step into other roles, whether it's the victim of hypnosis by Alien Visitors or removing his cap to confess his sins.


Officer Barbrady (hypnotized)

Officer Barbrady (out of uniform)

Officer Barbrady (cap removed)

Family

As of "Naughty Ninjas", Barbrady seems to live alone, his only company being an elderly female dog who needs medication, which he has paid for with his police salary. He has alluded to having a wife before, but her whereabouts are unknown. He also has a photograph of a female relative who closely resembles him.


Barbrady Family

Barbrady's Dog

Close Friends

Officer Barbrady's circle of friends has been largely unknown, but early on in the series he as shown to have a good relationship with Mayor McDaniels, often appearing alongside her at City Hall - and even during his firing, she seemed to maintain a fondness for him, reminding him he used to be the lone police officer and motivating him to return to the force again. They also spent some time with Jimbo Kern, Ned Gerblanski and Herbert Garrison, and Barbrady interacted with all of them when they tried to discover who Cartman's father was. Barbrady also gets his daily cat-in-the-face from Richard Tweak and has had multiple interactions with Randy Marsh, though it is Randy's actions that lead to his second firing. He's also friendly with fellow officer Harrison Yates (see below)

He has a good relationship with the boys and Jimmy Valmer and has expressed a personal concern for their well-being on multiple occasions and tried to comfort Jimmy when he was down outside the school. He also deputized the main boys during the Chickenlover crisis and they helped him learn to read. Nonetheless, he accidentally shoots two children in front of them, including their friend David Rodriguez, so these relationships may not be as lasting as they seem. Only time will tell.


Mayor McDaniels

Randy Marsh

Herbert Garrison

Jerome "Chef" McElroy

Jimbo Kern

Ned Gerblanski

Richard Tweak

Liane Cartman

Harrison Yates

Stan Marsh

Kyle Broflovski

Eric Cartman

Kenny McCormick

Jimmy Valmer

Alter Egos


Visitor Hypnotized Officer Barbrady

Officer Barbrady (cap removed)

Affiliations

For most of the show's run, Barbrady was a trained member of the Park County Police Force in South Park, and for the first few seasons, the only policeman in the town. Even as additional officers joined and the roster expanded with new police officers and detectives, Barbrady emained under the employ of the town as a police officer until "Naughty Ninjas", when he accidentally shot an unarmed Latino-American child and was discharged from the police force.

Though he's been fired, he's still known as 'Officer Barbrady' to all, and debatably retains a very loose affiliation with the department as a result.


Park County Police

Workplace

While he was also often content to spend time at City Hall with Mayor McDaniels, where he was held accountable directly to her for a period, the original South Park Police Station is the main location where we've seen Barbrady hard at work, taking phone calls and watching over jail cells for most of his tenure on the force. A newer Police Station exists but we've never seen Barbrady at work there officially. He's now unemployed, but it remains to be seen if he'll return to work there or elsewhere.


City Hall

South Park Police Station

Park County Police Station

Permanent Residence

His home is seen, briefly, in "Naughty Ninas" and seems to be a small condo/apartment with a living room and kitchen, adorned with many photos. He is rendered homeless by the end of the episode.

Featured Episodes

Behind the Scenes

Officer Barbrady is voiced by series co-creator Trey Parker, and based on syndicated radio talk show host Dennis Prager, who they enjoyed parodying due to his "big, bombastic, stupid voice", as mentioned in the commentary track for "Weight Gain 4000".

The character's gradual fade from prominence was noted among fans, but it wasn't until season 19 that Matt and Trey discussed it. Feeling that the "comedy line" had shifted in regards to police, Matt and Trey felt the "big, dumb" Barbrady had been rendered an obsolete character who was very "nineties", and thus began to gradually introduce "a real police force" and Detective Yates into the show as a replacement.

They finally decided to "get rid of him" over the course of Season Nineteen, but not before giving him a key role in the final four episodes as an instrument in South Park's struggle against PC culture.

Video Games

South Park: Let's Go Tower Defense Play!

During the final Downtown level, at the second part of the stage, Barbrady's police car can be triggered to drive down the street, and is capable of damaging and/or killing enemies in it's path.

South Park: The Stick of Truth

Officer Barbrady has a small role, standing in front of Tom's Rhinoplasty, greeting and adding the player on Facebook, leaving a disjointed message (due to his illiteracy) and asking about cat pictures. He plays no role in the main storyline, though additional voice clips can be found suggesting a larger role in an earlier version of the game.

South Park: The Fractured But Whole

Bonus Factoids

  • Barbrady wears a hearing aide, which is why his voice is loud and somewhat obnoxious. He also has a Long Island accent at times, especially in the ninth season.
  • Although he is depicted with some subconscious racism, he is not depicted with the levels of open, admitted racism that Sgt. Yates and the other officers display.
  • His first name has never been revealed, but fans have speculated names like George Barbrady, Frank Barbrady, and Bill Barbrady.
  • According to Tom, Barbrady has been in this town longer than almost anyone. This is likely an allusion to him making his debut in "Cartan Gets An Anal Probe", the series' first episode.
  • His character design, like Liane Cartman who also debuted in the Pilot, was not "touched up" and remained un-altered until nineteen years later in "Naughty Ninjas".

Myths & Legends

Officer Barbrady and Detective Yates

For years, Officer Barbrady and Sergeant Yates very rarely, if ever appeared in the same episode, leading to confusion over their relationship and positions. While Yates is known as a Sergeant, "Fun With Veal" suggested Barbrady was South Park's Chief-of-Police, which would place him above Yates... however, episodes and games have contradicted the relationship between Barbrady's South Park Police and Yates' Park County Police. In South Park: The Stick of Truth, they seemed to be a single 'South Park County Police' unit, or SPCD, but for many years, Barbrady and Yates seemed to be in separate stations and departments.

Barbrady has also never been seen inside the new Park County Police Station, only ever appearing in the old South Park Police Station, last seen in "The Snuke". The older station is depicted was part of the larger one in South Park: The Stick of Truth, implying the new one was built directly over the original, though they seemed to co-exist from Seasons 7 to 11.

Barbrady and Yates are seen together in "Casa Bonita", "The Coon", "Medicinal Fried Chicken", "200" and "201", but do not interact directly in these episodes -- the two were finally seen together properly in season 19's "The City Part of Town", dining together in SoDoSoPa, and are first seen working in the field together a few episodes later in "Naughty Ninjas". It was also shown that Barbrady has a photo of himself and Detective Yates in his apartment, although Yates does not allude to Barbrady's absence directly.

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