>>2995054Fandom's portrayal of him comes from the early season where Kyle was fucking helpless without Stan rescuing him all the time. See: Cherokee Hair Tampons, Cartmanland, Super Best Friends
It makes a lot of sense to me, and I think a lot of people's image of the characters comes from the old episodes since, let's face it, the older episodes were better..
That still doesn't explain why the fanbase always portrays Kyle as the one pining after oblivious Stan when it should probably be the other way around, whether you're basing it on the older or newer episodes.