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View Full Version : 3.5 Need some opinions: Does Cartman have high Cha/low Wis, or high Int low Cha



Kobold_Love
2009-03-15, 09:56 PM
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/5d/Eric.svg/200px-Eric.svg.png


I want to know what the other members here think about this.

Cartman is able to rally and manipulate entire countries and ethnic groups to his cause, and even war. Often within the span of a day or two. But is this due to him being a very charismatic character, or due to his intelligence?

At first I thought Cha, but in the show he is simultaneously depicted as both someone who can instantly get people to love him, and someone hated by nearly everyone he knows.


Your thoughts?

The Glyphstone
2009-03-15, 10:00 PM
Cartman is definitely some flavor of Evil, but what does that have to do with his mental ability scores?

darkriku2000
2009-03-15, 10:05 PM
I'd say High charisma and wisdom, and low intelligence


He's charismatic enough to fool anybody, and wise enough to get what he wants. Unfortunately for him, he's an idiot

Kobold_Love
2009-03-15, 10:05 PM
Cartman is definitely some flavor of Evil, but what does that have to do with his mental ability scores?

Oops. My bad.

I messed up in the OP title.

Assassin89
2009-03-15, 10:07 PM
I think high charisma/low wisdom would be more accurate, as charisma is the necessary stat skills for bluff, not to mention that Cartman doesn't apply common sense that much. The people who hate him usually have high sense motive, which opposes bluff.

Human Paragon 3
2009-03-15, 10:10 PM
I think Cartman has a high CHA with low WIS.

On numerous occasions he has led movements, cults and similar, bent people to his will, convinced adults of his lies and in general manipulated his friends, including those with no reason to trust him. High CHA does not necessarily equal liked by everybody, especially if you're evil and your associates are neutral or good, like Cartman.

His middling to high INT give him the ability to devise bizarre and brilliant schemes, but unfortunately his true weakness, Wisdom, is his downfall. All of Cartman's failings have to do with woeful misunderstandings, underestimations or miscommunications about how the world works, common sense things like being unable to relate to others or not realizing that the gold in a treasure chest is prop.

theMycon
2009-03-15, 10:11 PM
People that hate him are still convinced to follow his will, even knowing that the outcome won't be great.. To me, that says "his sheer force of personality overwhelms their better senses", or high Charisma.

Plus, he does seem to have cataclysmically low Wisdom, as he cannot be convinced of anything he does not want to believe.

The Neoclassic
2009-03-15, 10:14 PM
I think high charisma/low wisdom would be a more accurate, as the necessary stat skills for bluff. The people who hate him usually have high sense motive, which opposes bluff.

Agreed.

Also, if you're despicable enough, even a high charisma score won't save you. Charisma is force of will and the ability to convince people to listen to you, not just people being fond of you. So, Cartman has a fairly high charisma in being an inspiring speaker and good at talking people into short-term things, but he's a pretty terrible person and so everyone who knows him doesn't like him despite his persuasiveness.

Also, South Park is ridiculously unrealistic; there's no way he could actually get people to do things with how he acts if it were real life. Obvious, of course, but it does mean that discussing his mental ability scores will be kind of difficult to do with any sort of consistency.

Dacia Brabant
2009-03-15, 10:24 PM
Another vote for the high Cha/low Wis, with an above average Int. He's extremely devious and clever enough to be dangerous, at least to all the people on the show with massive Int/Wis penalties (pretty much everyone not Stan and Kyle), but he has no common sense and even less willpower so he ends up defeating himself most of the time.

He's also Evil Evil. That's right, not Lawful/Neutral/Chaotic, just Evil.

chiasaur11
2009-03-15, 10:25 PM
I figure high int high Cha low wis would probably be Ash from Evil Dead.

Leader of men, can turn a couple of high school textbooks into instructions for steampunk war machines, yet is still... dense.

Saph
2009-03-15, 10:37 PM
I agree with the others. Very high Cha, very low Wis, and a pretty good Int score as well.

Cartman can convince pretty much anybody of anything . . . provided they don't know him. The people that do know him don't trust him because they know what a horrible little monster he is, not because he's uncharismatic. :)

- Saph

Kurald Galain
2009-03-16, 06:39 AM
Oh, he definitely has a high charisma, because he can repeatedly manipulate pretty much everyone into doing his bidding, in spite of their better judgment.

He also definitely has a low intelligence considering he's an idiot. Wisdom? Meh, that stat is too nebulously defined to mean anything.

KillianHawkeye
2009-03-16, 07:49 AM
Another vote for the high Cha/low Wis, with an above average Int. He's extremely devious and clever enough to be dangerous, at least to all the people on the show with massive Int/Wis penalties (pretty much everyone not Stan and Kyle), but he has no common sense and even less willpower so he ends up defeating himself most of the time.

He's also Evil Evil. That's right, not Lawful/Neutral/Chaotic, just Evil.

I agree.

Also, Evil Evil would definitely be the best alignment for him. :smallamused:

Sergeantbrother
2009-03-16, 08:07 AM
I would have to second the idea that Cartman has a high Charisma and Intelligence along with a very low Wisdom. High intelligence because he does show an extensive amount of knowledge and ability to devise complicated plans, sometimes they even work.

I'd say he's probably Neutral Evil, in that he seems to show no concern for his friends they are merely tools for his own pleasure or to help him in his schemes. The rare few principles he does have seem to be a dislike for hippies, Jews, and gingers - so he might be pushing Chaotic Evil. The fact that his friends still hang out with him shows Cartman's high Charisma, considering by now they know that he is only out to use them.

Greenfaun
2009-03-16, 09:27 AM
I'm going to cast my vote for seriously low scores in Charisma, Intelligence, and Wisdom, but with lots of ranks in Craft(Sadistic Cunning Plan) and Perform (Rabblerousing.) Also, sometimes his player cheats on his dicerolls. :)

Now, in oWoD terms, Cartman is a textbook case of a low Appearance, low Charisma, high Manipulation character.

Of course the real answer is Cartman succeeds when it's funny for him to succeed, and fails when it's funny for him to fail. He's not so much a character as a mythic archetype of the selfish hateful greedy brat.

Prime32
2009-03-16, 10:17 AM
High Charisma - he is persusasive
High Intelligence - he can devise complex plans
Low Wisdom - he has no common sense

MickJay
2009-03-16, 11:55 AM
Not to repeat exactly what others said, I'd just suggest a very high (not just high) intelligence. He can be brilliant at times, not just clever.

Also, "just evil" = NE :smallwink: He uses any means available to further his goals (most often evil in themselves), and that's as close to NE as you can get.

Mr.Shmatt
2009-03-16, 01:36 PM
i'd add another vote to the high cha, high int and low wis...

Xuincherguixe
2009-03-16, 03:32 PM
I think it's more that while he has low everything, in the South Park Universe everyone is an idiot except the main characters.