Mr. Garrison

Herbert Garrison, voiced by Trey Parker, is a fictional character in the South Park cartoon series.

For most of the series Mr. Garrison was the third-grade elementary school teacher at South Park Elementary. In the fourth season he was fired, but he was later rehired as the kindergarten teacher. By the end of the sixth season he was promoted to the fourth grade after the death of Ms. Choksondik.

Although acknowledged only sparingly in the series, Mr. Garrison suffers from a wide variety of social problems, the most noticeable of which appears to be schizophrenia. Mr. Garrison constantly holds a puppet known as Mr. Hat which he uses as a sort of second, more aggressive personality, as well as for emoting his internal conflicts. For a period in the third season Mr. Garrison "broke up" with Mr. Hat, and used a different, more subdued puppet named Mr. Twig. Upon moving up to fourth grade, he abandoned the puppet in favor of a human assistant, Mr. Slave. Mr. Slave's name is what it is for a reason; he is quite literally Mr. Garrison's slave (but in the sexual bondage sense). He is forced to wear black leather clothing and restraints, including a ball-gag. His catch phrase is "Jesus Christ", with a heavy, stereotypical lisp. Despite this, no one seems to have a problem with him being Mr. Garrison's classroom assistant.

Another source of problems for Mr. Garrison is his sexual identity. Though he often acts in a very cliched homosexual manner, for a long time Garrison could be seen chasing women and displaying a very homophobic attitude towards gays. However, he would eventually have a change of heart, and "came out" as a homosexual in season 4. However, in a sign of his continuing emotional and psychological problems, he continues to use homophobic language. This, combined with the Mr. Slave issue, seems to indicate that he still has sexual issues that need to be resolved.