Tolkien Black

Tolkien Black, formerly known as Token Black, and Token Williams, is a fictional character in the adult animated television series South Park. He was originally voiced by Trey Parker, later changed to series art director, storyboard artist and producer Adrien Beard. The original name "Token" was a play on the politically-correct ideas of tokenism, but in "The Big Fix" it was retconned that his name was "Tolkien", not "Token", despite his Facebook profile using the name "Token" in "You Have 0 Friends" and him writing his name the same way in “Raising the Bar”.[1]

"Token Black" redirects here. For the general use of a Black token character, see Tokenism.
Tolkien Black
South Park character
First appearance"Cartman Gets an Anal Probe" (1997)
Created byTrey Parker
Matt Stone
Designed byTrey Parker
Matt Stone
Voiced byTrey Parker (1999)
Adrien Beard (2000–present)
Lou Rawls (singing voice; "Wing")
In-universe information
GenderMale
OccupationElementary school student
Police officer (future)
FamilyLinda Black (mother)
Steve Black (father)
ReligionRoman Catholic
EducationSouth Park Elementary
ResidenceSouth Park, Colorado, United States

Biography

Tolkien attends South Park Elementary, who is a third-then fourth-grade student of Mr. Garrison's class, who was replaced by Mrs. Nelson in season 19. He was originally the only African American student attending the school until Nichole Daniels was introduced in "Cartman Finds Love". Residing in South Park, he is the only child of Linda and Steve Black, who were originally the only African American family in the town until the Daniels family first appeared. Tolkien is a member of a 4-part group that works against the main four characters (Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny) in multiple plotlines, which consists of him, Craig Tucker, Clyde Donovan and Jimmy Valmer.

From season 1 to season 25 he was originally named Token, as a play on the politically-correct idea of the "token black guy" in TV shows; but it was retconned in "The Big Fix", where his name is actually "Tolkien", named after his father's favorite author, J. R. R. Tolkien.

Character

Creation and design

Tolkien debuted in the series' first episode, "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe", though having no spoken line. He was composed with construction paper and animated through stop motion. From "Weight Gain 4000" onward he is animated with computers, though is rendered to mimic that of the construction paper used in the first episode. Tolkien is not offered the same free-ranged motion as hand-drawn characters, as he is shown on one angle, and is animated with a jerky fashion.[2][3]

Tolkien is African-American, with dark brown skin and short black hair, and usually wears a light purple long sleeve shirt with a yellow letter "T" on it, and dark blue jeans. Adrien Beard speaks with his normal vocal range and is edited with Pro Tools, which alters the pitch to that of a fourth grader.[4]

Personality and traits

Tolkien is known for being rational and intelligent. He is also known for standing up for himself and his rights, such as in "With Apologies to Jesse Jackson", where he was upset by Randy Marsh saying the n-word on Wheel of Fortune, in which he did not forgive Stan until later in the episode, as well as in "Christian Rock Hard" where he was annoyed with Eric Cartman, where he was fed up with him, and physically assaulted him in front of many Christian fans.

In "Christian Rock Hard" he is shown to be a skilled bass guitar, despite never having learned to play it, a confirmation that comes, much to his annoyance, of the Black stereotype promulgated by Cartman Black people can play the bass. He is also shown to be a talented singer in the episodes "Wing" and "Here Comes the Neighborhood".

Reception

Paste magazine ranked him at #17 on a list entitled "The Top 20 Best South Park Characters".[5] Tolkien was also ranked at #19 by Looper on a list entitled "25 Popular South Park Characters Ranked Worst to Best".[6]

References
  1. Kipling, Ella (10 February 2022). "Twitter Reacts as South Park Reveal Token is Actually Tolkien/". HITC. HITC. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  2. Matt Cheplic (1998-05-01). "'As Crappy As Possible': The Method Behind the Madness of South Park". Penton Media. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
  3. Abbie Bernstein (1998-10-27). "South Park – Volume 2". AVRev.com. Archived from the original on 2013-05-15. Retrieved 2008-04-30.
  4. "40 Questions". South Park Studios. 2001-10-04. Archived from the original on 2010-11-29. Retrieved 2009-01-30.
  5. "The 20 Best South Park Characters". PasteMagazine. 7 September 2016.
  6. Levitt, Barry (March 10, 2022). "25 Popular South Park Characters Ranked Worst to Best". looper.com. Looper. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
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