The South Park AI filter is a TikTok trend, not one app: you can do it with a CapCut template, with a prompt in ChatGPT or Gemini, or on a photo filter page. Whichever route you take, the part most likely to go wrong is your hair colour. In our own test on 5 October 2026, two of the first three single-person runs turned red curls brown, and one sentence in the prompt fixed it.
What it is: a real photo of you redrawn as a flat, construction-paper cartoon kid in a snowy mountain town, posted on TikTok as before and after.
Four ways to do it: a CapCut template, ChatGPT or Gemini with a prompt, a filter page like Kavel's South Park AI filter, or a build-it-yourself maker such as SP-Studio.
Six copy-paste prompts below: bus stop, classroom, flap-head, two friends building a snowman, two friends on the couch, and a dog.
Why it doesn't look like you: the model drifts on hair colour and small details. Name the exact hair colour and anything you would be recognised by.
What the South Park AI filter actually is
The South Park AI filter is the trend of turning a real photo into a crude paper-cutout cartoon: a big round head, white oval eyes with dot pupils, a one-line mouth, mitten hands, and a snowy small-town background. People post the plain photo first and the cartoon second.
The tutorials we found on TikTok point to CapCut templates. The videos that teach it are titled things like "south park ai filter tutorial" and "how to do the south park filter", and they point viewers to a template link in the corner of the video. Our trend tracker picked up two of those tutorials on 2 and 4 October 2026; by 5 October they had passed 1.1 million plays between them.
It is worth separating the South Park AI filter from two older tools with similar names:
- The official South Park avatar creator on the show's website and SP-Studio are character makers. You build a character by picking hair, eyes, clothes and accessories from menus. No photo goes in.
- The AI filter starts from your photo. The likeness comes from the picture, so it is quicker, and it is the reason the reveal works on TikTok.
None of the routes in this guide are official. The prompts here draw an original character in the style; they do not put you next to the show's characters. The prompts in this guide describe the style in plain words (construction paper, round head, dot eyes) instead of naming the show, and they ask for no text, signs or logos.
Four ways to do the South Park AI filter, compared
Short version: for the exact TikTok look, use the CapCut template; for your own photo in a different scene, with friends or with your dog, use a prompt or a filter page. Facts below were read on 5 October 2026.
| You want | Use | What you need | Where it stops |
|---|---|---|---|
| The exact TikTok template | The CapCut template linked from a tutorial video | The CapCut app | You get that one template's look and scene |
| One picture in an app you already use | ChatGPT or Gemini with your photo attached and a prompt from this guide | An account in that app | One prompt at a time; you add the hair-colour line yourself |
| Six ready scenes, one tap each | Kavel's South Park AI filter | A browser and a Kavel account (it starts with free credits) | After the free credits, runs use credits |
| Full control, no photo | SP-Studio or the official avatar creator | A browser | It only looks like you if you pick every part to match |
If you only want the same clip everyone else is posting, the CapCut template is the honest answer. If you want a different scene, a group photo or your dog, a prompt gives you more room: the six below cover one person, two people and a pet.
Six South Park AI filter prompts to copy and paste
Copy a prompt, then paste it into ChatGPT or Gemini with your photo attached. Use prompt 1, 2 or 3 for one person, 4 or 5 for two people, and 6 for a dog. Each one has the same core: the style description, then a keep sentence that tells the model what must survive from your photo. We ran all six with GPT Image 2 on 5 October 2026, on three fictional photos: a woman with red curls and glasses, two friends in a park, and a corgi.
The six prompts on three fictional photos, GPT Image 2, run 5 October 2026.
1. The bus stop (the classic South Park AI filter look)
Turn the person in this photo into a cartoon character drawn in the style of a crude construction-paper cutout TV cartoon: flat paper-cutout shapes with a faint paper texture, a big round head wider than the shoulders, large white oval eyes with small black dot pupils, a short simple mouth line, a small boxy body with stubby mitten hands and little feet, flat bright colours, no shading and no outlines, like a frame from a stop-motion paper animation. Keep the person recognisable as the same person: the exact hair colour from the photo (never darker or a different shade), the same hair length and texture, the same skin tone, glasses and clothing colours, simplified into the cutout shapes. They stand with their hands at their sides at a small mountain-town bus stop in winter: snowy ground, snow-covered pine trees, a few little wooden houses and white mountains behind under a pale blue sky. Full body, facing the viewer, a blank deadpan expression. Original character design, not any existing cartoon character. No text, no signs, no logos, no watermark.
2. The classroom South Park AI filter prompt
Turn the person in this photo into a cartoon character drawn in the style of a crude construction-paper cutout TV cartoon: flat paper-cutout shapes with a faint paper texture, a big round head wider than the shoulders, large white oval eyes with small black dot pupils, a short simple mouth line, a small boxy body with stubby mitten hands and little feet, flat bright colours, no shading and no outlines, like a frame from a stop-motion paper animation. Keep the person recognisable as the same person: the exact hair colour from the photo (never darker or a different shade), the same hair length and texture, the same skin tone, glasses and clothing colours, simplified into the cutout shapes. They sit at a small wooden school desk in a plain elementary-school classroom, a blank green chalkboard and a clock on the wall behind, looking at the viewer with a raised eyebrow and a tiny smirk. Original character design, not any existing cartoon character. No text, no signs, no logos, no watermark.
3. The flap-head South Park AI filter prompt
Turn the person in this photo into an even simpler cartoon character in a crude flat construction-paper cutout style: a round head drawn as two halves split by a straight mouth line, so the top of the head looks like a lid that flaps open when they talk, two small black bead eyes, no nose, a tiny rectangular body with stick-like arms and legs, flat bright colours, no shading and no outlines. Keep the person recognisable as the same person: the exact hair colour from the photo (never darker or a different shade), the same hair length and texture, the same skin tone, glasses and clothing colours, simplified into the cutout shapes. The head is shown mid-laugh with the top half tilted open, standing in a snowy field with pine trees behind. Original character design, not any existing cartoon character. No text, no signs, no logos, no watermark.
4. Two friends building a snowman: South Park AI filter for two
Replace the two descriptions after "Keep each one recognisable" with each person's hair, one accessory and their outfit.
Turn both people in this photo into cartoon characters drawn in the style of a crude construction-paper cutout TV cartoon: flat paper-cutout shapes with a faint paper texture, a big round head wider than the shoulders, large white oval eyes with small black dot pupils, a short simple mouth line, a small boxy body with stubby mitten hands and little feet, flat bright colours, no shading and no outlines, like a frame from a stop-motion paper animation. Keep each one recognisable: the young man with short twists, a small gold stud earring and a white hoodie; the young woman with a straight black bob with bangs, a light-blue denim jacket and a red striped top. They stand side by side building a lopsided snowman on a snowy small-town street, little wooden houses and snow-covered pine trees behind, both grinning at the viewer. Original character design, not any existing cartoon character. No text, no signs, no logos, no watermark.
5. Two friends on the couch, South Park AI filter style
Turn both people in this photo into cartoon characters drawn in the style of a crude construction-paper cutout TV cartoon: flat paper-cutout shapes with a faint paper texture, a big round head wider than the shoulders, large white oval eyes with small black dot pupils, a short simple mouth line, a small boxy body with stubby mitten hands and little feet, flat bright colours, no shading and no outlines, like a frame from a stop-motion paper animation. Keep each one recognisable: the young man with short twists, a small gold stud earring and a white hoodie; the young woman with a straight black bob with bangs, a light-blue denim jacket and a red striped top. They sit side by side on a brown living-room couch staring at a television just out of frame, a bowl of popcorn between them, a lamp and a window with snow falling outside behind them. Original character design, not any existing cartoon character. No text, no signs, no logos, no watermark.
6. The South Park AI filter for your dog
Turn the dog in this photo into a cartoon dog drawn in the style of a crude construction-paper cutout TV cartoon: flat paper-cutout shapes with a faint paper texture, a big round head wider than the shoulders, large white oval eyes with small black dot pupils, a short simple mouth line, a small boxy body with stubby mitten hands and little feet, flat bright colours, no shading and no outlines, like a frame from a stop-motion paper animation. Keep it recognisable as the same corgi: tan-and-white coat, big upright ears, short legs and the red bandana. It sits in the snow wagging its tail with its tongue out, snow-covered pine trees and a little wooden house behind. Original character design, not any existing cartoon character. No text, no signs, no logos, no watermark.
Why your South Park AI filter result doesn't look like you
The cutout style throws away almost everything: no nose, dot eyes, a circle for a face. What is left to make it you is your hair, your glasses, your skin tone and your clothes. If the model gets one of those wrong, the result reads as a stranger.
In our test, the one it got wrong was hair colour. We first ran the single-person prompts with a softer keep line, "the same hair colour and hairstyle". Of those three first runs, the bus stop kept her red curls, but the classroom and the flap-head both came back with brown hair. We then changed the line to "the exact hair colour from the photo (never darker or a different shade), the same hair length and texture" and ran those two again. Both came back red.
Left: the photo. Middle: two first drafts with the softer line, hair turned brown. Right: the same scene rerun with the exact hair colour line. GPT Image 2, 5 October 2026.
Her glasses, by contrast, survived in all five single-person runs with nothing more than the plain word "glasses" in the keep sentence. The hair needed the stronger line; the glasses did not. If a detail matters to you, name it explicitly in the prompt.
| If this goes missing | Add this to the keep sentence |
|---|---|
| Hair colour | "the exact hair colour from the photo, never darker or a different shade" |
| Curls, braids, twists | "the same hair length and texture" plus the style by name |
| Freckles, beard, moustache | name it: "light freckles across the nose", "a short dark beard" |
| Earrings, piercings, a hat | name the item and where it is |
| The wrong outfit | "the same clothing colours" plus the main item ("an olive-green parka") |
The prompts above also say where the character is and what they are doing (standing at a bus stop, sitting at a desk, full body), so you decide the pose and framing instead of leaving it to the model.
The South Park AI filter with friends, couples and pets
Group photos work, but the keep sentence has to name everyone. In our two-friend photo, the prompt described each person in one line: short twists, a gold stud earring and a white hoodie for him; a black bob with bangs, a denim jacket and a red striped top for her. Both scenes kept all of it, down to the stud earring and the stripes.
The two-friend photo and the snowman prompt, GPT Image 2, 5 October 2026: the twists, the stud earring, the bangs and the striped top all carried over.
For groups, write one line per person in the order they stand: hair, one accessory and the main clothing colour was enough for both people in our test. Then give them one scene to share, such as building a snowman or sitting on the couch.
For a girl or woman version, use the same prompts and name what you want kept: long hair, earrings, makeup or a particular outfit go in the keep sentence like any other detail. The bus stop example in this guide is a woman with red curls and glasses.
Pets work the same way as people: name the breed and the one thing your pet is known for. Our corgi kept its big ears and red bandana because the prompt named both.
Other cartoon versions of your photo
If the South Park AI filter is not quite the look you are after, these start from the same kind of photo:
| You want | Try |
|---|---|
| A hand-drawn caricature with a big head | AI caricature generator |
| A glossy 3D animated-film version of you | Pixar filter for photos |
| Several versions at once: the cartoon, the kid, the older you | Multiaverso AI filter |
| Your selfie with a hand-drawn cartoon boyfriend | Disney boyfriend filter |
| An anime character of your own | Demon Slayer OC maker |
| A collectible doll with glass eyes | Blythe doll AI generator |
South Park AI filter FAQ
Is the South Park AI filter free?
CapCut templates run inside the CapCut app under CapCut's own terms. ChatGPT and Gemini depend on your plan and their image limits. On Kavel, a new account starts with free credits, enough to try the filter on your own photo, and weekly check-ins add more; after that, runs use credits from the packs and plans on the pricing page.
Is the South Park AI filter from an episode?
No. The AI filter is a social media trend made with photo templates and image editors, not a feature from an episode of the show. If you are looking for an episode, that is a separate search.
Can I do the South Park AI filter without CapCut?
Yes. Attach your photo in ChatGPT or Gemini and paste one of the prompts above, or upload it on Kavel's South Park AI filter, where the six scenes in this guide are one-tap templates.
Is there a website to make yourself as a South Park character?
Yes, two kinds. SP-Studio and the official South Park avatar creator let you build a character by hand from menus, with no photo. AI filter pages, Kavel's included, start from your photo instead.
Is it the official South Park filter?
No. None of the AI filters are made by the show, and Kavel is not affiliated with South Park or its makers. The prompts draw an original character in a construction-paper cutout style.
Try it on your own photo
Two of our first three runs got the hair wrong; with one extra sentence, the reruns got it right two out of two. That sentence is already in every prompt above, and in the six templates on Kavel's South Park AI filter: upload one photo, tap a scene, and post the before and after.
