Craig and Those Guys

Craig and Those Guys (often Craig's Gang or Team Craig among fans) is a clique of kids in the main boys' class who act as both bitter rivals and supportive friends in different episodes, and are one of the most popular focuses in fan works based on South Park. 
The group generally consists of Craig Tucker, Clyde Donovan , Tolkien Black and, occupying the fourth slot, either Jimmy Valmer or Tweek Tweak. In the season 7 episode "South Park is Gay!", Jason White was a member of the group as well, and he occasionally ate lunch with them in later seasons.
Though the group was only acknowledged as such in the episodes "South Park Is Gay!" and "Good Times With Weapons" (referred to in both episodes as Craig and Those Guys), originally as a rival clique, several episodes depict any four of the six characters together, such as joking with Clyde in "The Magic Bush" or unamed but present in "The Problem With a Poo". As the time went on, they increasingly acted to supplement Eric Cartman, Kyle Broflovski, Stan Marsh, Kenny McCormick and Butters Stotch, often as friends, though the lineup often changed.
Some fans believe that that the cohesive unit does not canonically exist and is purely a fan creation."#yes and i'll do you one better: craig's gang doesn't exist."
Please visit their article on the South Park Archives for more information.
==Popularity==
Though the group has only appeared occasionally as an official unit in the show, the group is extremely popular in fan works, especially on websites like Tumblr and Archive of Our Own. This was initially due to the popularity of Creek, with Clyde and Tolkien often acting in smaller roles as supporting characters. As the show continued and Clyde and Tolkien were developed furthers, the fandom by extension continued to develop them, and the group dynamic continued to evolve, resulting in a significant growth in popularity.
Though for many years, fans excluded Jimmy from the unit in favor of Tweek, who his own separate development over the show eventually spurned a creative interest in him as well, and he was soon developed by fans into part of the group as well. Today most fans recognize five core members of the group instead of four, similar to how Butters has been accepted as part of the main boys' unit.
Since "Tweek x Craig" aired in the nineteenth season, the group is seen less often and less consistently, with Tolkien and Jimmy increasingly depicted as friends of the main boys, and Craig and Tweek depicted spending time together separately. In season 22's "The Problem With a Poo", the fan favorite unit of Craig, Tolkien, Clyde and Tweek can be seen together, while season 22's "The Scoots" features Tolkien, Clyde, and Jimmy hanging out with Butters instead. Jason was not depicted with any of the characters again before his death in "Season Finale".
It is a common refrain for fans to ask for an episode based around this group instead of the main boys but no such episode has come to fruition.
==References==
Category:Groups
Category:Characters
Category:School Children
Category:Canon Characters
Category:Male Characters