Tweek x Craig: the Analysis (Bigger, Better, Longer and Uncut)

Part 1: Before 'Tweek x craig'

By this I mean, "Was there any indication that they were gay before Tweek x Craig?" And honestly, it's debatable.

(I should probably clarify that I am going through the seasons and picking out episodes that I think are relevant to Tweek and Craigs sexuality.)

Let's start with Craig. Throughout South parks seasons 1-10 Craig was never portrayed as someone part of the LGBTQ+ (I would mention one particular episode in Season 7, 'South park is gay' but due to the fact everyone was quote on quote "Metrosexual" I don't believe this was an indication to Craig being gay.) However in season 11 we may have had our first taste of it.

In 'Le petit tourette' (S11 E8) we are introduced to Thomas, a boy with Tourettes Syndrome. His Tourettes causes him to shout obscenitys frequently to which Cartman takes great interest in and with his newly found knowledge decides to fake Tourettes, giving him an opening to being able to swear at people without getting in trouble.

The episode is very enjoyable; Craig takes interest in Thomas as he is left in awe that Thomas could say all that to anyone, although it was something he couldn't even help. To a 10 year old Craig (and Cartman it seemed) It looked like it was the coolest thing ever. At the end of the episode Craig approaches Thomas and decides to talk to him. He claims Thomas is the coolest kid in the whole world, puts his arm around him, and asks if he could hang out with him (Or more specifically, "Could I maybe hang out with you sometime? Do your laundry or something?")

This could've been a first insight into Craig's affection and preferation for males, but also could've been a nice gesture. I'll leave it up to your imagination.

It's also worth mentioning Tweek and Craigs disinterest in the girls featuring in (S8 E12) "Stupid spoiled whore video playset". Obviously the girls are taking on the roles of whores and trying to hit on the guys. Craig looks visibly uncomfortable and Tweek just looks scared (I would be too.)

Now onto one of South Parks admittedly best episodes "Butters' bottom bitch"(S13 EP9). It begins with the boys bullying Butters for never having kissed a girl. Craig, although never outright saying anything, goes along with everyone and shames Butters out of disbelief- because who hadn't kissed a girl? At 10? Wow...

I don't think this affects anything, Craig even had a girlfriend at one point (Something I will go more into depth about another time) though didn't seem too interested. I think Craig would've kissed a girl because if he didn't he would end up like Butters, and would've been deemed not cool. Again this doesn't mean he was gay the whole time it just means its very hard to believe Craig-I'll-flip-off-anyone-anytime-Tucker would give a fuck about who he kissed just as long as it was some hot chick to be like the rest of the gang.

'Hobbit' is the last episode of season 17, and we are introduced to yet another character- Lisa Berger. She's the ugly Betty of South park seemingly, so when the other girls start borderline bullying her for her looks Wendy stands up for Lisa and decides to help her with her crush problem.

Lisa's crush happens to be Butters and so with the intention of getting them to go out Wendy tells Butters the news. Butters responds with how he likes women with perfect proportions and skin (Pointing at a picture of Kim Kardashian). Outraged, Wendy calls Kim a Hobbit, claims that in reality she's short and overweight and blames photoshop. After a while, Wendy decides to demonstrate what she means. She takes a picture of Lisa and photoshops her into a beautiful woman. Butters is left in shock and uploads it onto the Internet, preparing to ask her out the following day.

Sorry for the long-ish plot explanation/tangent but I do believe it's necessary. Lisa instead starts going out with Clyde, and here's where Craigs sexuality comes in.

He compliments Clyde for being able to catch such a nice score, and even Tweek says he's a lucky guy. With this information I definitely think Craig and Tweek find girls attractive, it is fully possible to be gay and appreciate the opposite genders looks. For example, you could be a lesbian and have a crush on... let's say Levi Ackerman. I know he's a popular choice haha. He's a fictional man- your sexuality shouldn't rely on fiction.

It's very true that fiction can help you discover yourself but identifying as a lesbian and then proceeding to have a crush on a male fictional character wouldn't necessarily make you bisexual or other. However it can also apply for real people, finding a man attractive as a lesbian does not automatically assume you're attracted to him.

Later on in the episode the girls are inspired to photoshop themselves prettier. The boys gather around Craigs phone and look at the girls photoshopped pictures, pointing out who they think looks hot. Craig takes interest in Nichole and comments with "Wowww" to all of them.

I mentioned before that I believe Craig and Tweek find girls pretty, but I also wouldn't be surprised if the reason for it was because, well, they were both straight. At least Craig was.

Now I'm not saying that they are, let's not forget that Tweek and Craig are 100% gay/LGBTQ+ and that this is just going into depth about it, BUT. This was 2013. 2 years before our famous Tweek x Craig episode, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that Matt and Trey decided that Tweek and Craig would be gay only in season 19 and on.

As the creators of South Park they wouldn't have been able to avoid the ships their fandom created (Especially Style, Kyman and Creek) Hence how they got the idea for Tweek and Craig and quite possibly, 'Cartman find love'. So again I wouldn't be surprised if Trey and Matt had the idea of Tweek and Craig being gay for a long time and therefore dropped hints but might have let it slip. I guess we'll never know?

Its all very confusing, but this could also add onto the bisexual Craig theory.

At last, we are finished with Craig. Tweek is an easier topic.

I mentioned Tweek a few times when talking about Craig, how he was disinterested in the girls in the whore episode, how he commented on Lisa Berger... but apart from that, Tweek has never shown interest in girls.

Sure, in 'Bebes boobs destroy society'(S6 EP10) all the boys are equally as perplexed when Bebe gets boobs- but if there was anything to back up Tweek and more so Craig being gay I'd say Trey and Matt weren't bothered at that time, no particular attention to detail with disinterest, just... any of the boys (it didn't matter who) being (straight) boys. The boys were simply interested in what this new phenomenon was, it made Bebe seem so much more mature and cool so every boy wanted to hang out with her. A valid argument, but one that doesn't affect the conclusion of Tweek and Craig.

Though I did capture something interesting when rewatching that episode. Tweek barely seemed as interested as the others, even giving a bit of a delayed reaction at one scene. It's not too noticeable, but Tweek doesn't comment on Bebe at all. He doesn't even agree with Cartman when he rambles about how cool Bebe was even though Stan and Kyle agreed.

Keep in mind Tweek was a main character at the time, replacing Kenny and Butters. It would've been easy to have Tweek say "Yeah!" Or something, but he just stays silent? Intentional, but was there a reason? Maybe- and that maybe could be one of the links to his sexuality.

Now, shall we step into the territory of the so called, beginning of Creek?

Tweek VS Craig (S3 E5):

Tweek VS Craigs plot revolved around an argument between the main 4, who would win in a fight? Craig? Or Tweek? To test this out the boys manipulate Tweek and Craig into fighting by spreading false accusations, ending up in Tweek and Craig being pissed off at eachother.

The episode is a funny one, and it's sub-plot is not half bad either, but what I'd like to focus on is how perfect this set everything up. First of all, we now knew that Tweek and Craig knew eachother. Second of all, they were most likely rivals therefore setting up a popular ship trope, "Rivals to lovers".

It's obvious 'Tweek x Craig' is not only referencing the ship, but the Season 3 episode they had together. Without it would it be canon? Probably not. The aftermath of this episode seems to be pretty chill, Tweek can be seen hanging out with Craigs gang a lot and they seem to be friends. This was definitely the beginning of Tweek x Craig, and boy am I thankful for it.

So, were Tweek and Craig portrayed as gay before Season 19? I don't think it's impossible. Tweek is definitely more likely to have been homosexual the whole time, Craig less unlikely but with his interest towards Thomas and his grudge against girls it could've also been very, very possible.

(I missed this out, but I'll also add in that 3 episodes before 'Tweek x Craig' Craig is referred to as the towns "beloved homosexual". Craig looks at the mayor quite angrily but ultimately doesn't say anything. Due to the fact this was 3 episodes before it I believe it was planned well- a preparation even.)