Jimmy Vulmer

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South Park character
Image:jimmyvulmer.gif
James "Jimmy" Vulmer
Gender: Male
Hair: Brown
Age: 9
Job: Student
Religion: Unknown
First appearance: "Cripple Fight"
Voiced by: Trey Parker

James "Jimmy" Vulmer (formerly Jimmy Swanson) is a fictional character that appears on the cartoon series South Park. Like Timmy, he is handicapped (with muscular dystrophy) but he wears braces and uses crutches to walk. He is able to speak to people (albeit with a severe stutter), although he sometimes inappropriately ends his sentences with "very much", and says "Wow, what a great audience" after telling a joke even to just one person. Voiced by Trey Parker, Jimmy's character is inspired by Tiny Tim Cratchit from Dickens's A Christmas Carol, and Blair's handicapped cousin from "The Facts of Life."[citation needed]

He likes to perform stand-up comedy. His favorite Christmas song is the Twelve Days of Christmas, which he sings (excruciatingly slowly) in front of City Hall in "Red Sleigh Down." In his first appearance in "Cripple Fight" he and another handicapped boy named Timmy engage in a fistfight that is, shot-for-shot, nearly identical to the fistfight scene in They Live. Later, though, they get along very well, playing together in a The Lord of the Rings parody, teaming up against Christopher Reeve in "Krazy Kripples" and competing together in the Special Olympics in "Up the Down Steroid". Jimmy seems to be the only one who can understand Timmy's utterances. Recently, he has started to get erections. He is the only 4th-grader to lose his virginity, having sex with a prostitute named Nut-Gobbler (as well as (allegedly) with his girlfriend after taking hits of ecstasy, as referenced in My Future Self 'n Me).

His last name is uncertain; he was known as "Jim Swanson" in "Krazy Kripples", but "Vulmer" in the episode "Up the Down Steroid", "Mr. Garrison's Fancy New Vagina", and "Erection Day". This was referenced in a recent episode Tsst, in which Jimmy asked Cartman, after he said they were best friends, what his last name was, which Cartman didn't know. It is possible that the creators changed Jimmy's last name because of the similarity to the handicapped character Joe Swanson on Family Guy (which is a show that Matt and Trey have expressed disdain for).

Like Timmy, the humor of Jimmy's character comes from his endless optimism despite his handicap; his disability is not mocked per se, but rather his exaggerated eagerness to be a successful "handi-capable" person is. Jimmy has recently started to expand his role on South Park; it is unknown if he is being eased in as a main character. His crutches seem to hinder his arm use. This is shown in "Something Wall-Mart This Way Comes" as he tries to get someone a shopping cart out of a row.

Jimmy also seems to be eager to be a fourth member—In Professor Chaos he is one of the final ten fourth members, and also becomes a suck-up, which may be why he was declined as a fourth member. He is also criticized for his jokes, which in Cripple Fight, most notably, were considered funny.

In Krazy Kripples, it is revealed that his parents teased people with disabilities when they were teenagers, and thought that God made their son crippled for revenge to teach them a lesson.

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