South Park is a series that never fails to surprise us even after 22 years on air. It is one of the longest running TV shows of all time and for good reason. That reason being, it never gets old. There is always room for excitement in the quiet mountain town, and we never grow tired of the adventures brought on by Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny.
One of the things South Park does best is that it creates insane twists and turns at every corner that fans of Matt Stone and Trey Parker's series could never say they saw coming. So let's go on down to South Park and have ourselves a time by checking out the show's ten biggest twists!
Cartman And Kyle Become Best Friends
Eric Cartman and Kyle Broflovski are the last two characters on earth that you would ever expect to be civil with one another, but everything changed for them in the season 15 episode titled "You're Getting Old". In the episode, Stan faces severe depression and his cynical outlook on the world takes a toll on his relationship with the boys. Because of this, Stan is isolated from his group of friends and therefore Kyle latches onto Cartman for companionship.
In the last shot of the episode, we see Cartman and Kyle playing video games together while stealing glances at one another as they can't help but smile. They are finally enjoying each others company in a civil manner, and it's one of the most unexpected (and sweetest) moments in the history of South Park. Their warm-hearted connection doesn't last for long though obviously, considering the fact that Cartman represents all things evil and Kyle is the benevolent voice of reason on South Park.
Randy And Sharon Get Divorced
South Park is a series that originally failed to allow much drama amongst the characters unless it served some sort of comedic purpose. This changes pretty drastically in the final episode of season 15 when Randy admits to his wife that he is not happy. In fact, he hasn't been happy for a long time. This blew South Park fans away because, throughout the history of the mountain town series, Randy's sole purpose was to garner laughs. The majority of fans appreciated South Park's willingness to explore darker genres on the series that strayed from taking the safe strictly-comedic approach. It was a risky decision on Matt and Trey's part, but if anything, it saved the show from doing the same thing over and over again.
Tweek And Craig Becoming Canon
Many dedicated South Park fans don't even realize that there is a whole subculture of the series dedicated towards the romantic relationships between the characters on the show, specifically the relationships between the boys on South Park. There is a shocking abundance of fan fiction and fan art that is devoted to fictional pairings from Matt and Trey's masterpiece, most commonly coupling up Stan x Kyle (Style) Cartman x Kyle (Kyman) and Tweek x Craig (Creek).
Matt and Trey were quite aware of these pairings known as "yaoi", and they thought it was incredible that their fans were so imaginative when it came to the series. In order to honor the fandom, they decided to make Tweek x Craig canon all thanks to the creative fans who desperately wanted to see the two paired together. Now Tweek and Craig are easily one of the cutest fictional couples of all time.
Cartman's Father Is Revealed As Jack Tenorman
One of the craziest twists on South Park came from the reveal of Cartman's biological father. Although Cartman originally believed he had no father due to his mother being a "hermaphrodite" (according to an episode from way back in 1998,) it is revealed in the 200th episode of the show that Cartman actually does have a dad... and it is Jack Tenorman. For fans who don't recognize this name, let's refresh your memory.
In the season 5 episode titled "Scott Tenorman Must Die", Cartman decides to get revenge on his bully Scott Tenorman once and for all by killing his parents and then tricking Scott into eating them by putting their remains in his chili. So basically this means Scott Tenorman is Cartman's half brother and that Cartman killed his own father. If Eric Cartman isn't the most messed up character on TV, we don't know who is!
Kenny Is Revealed As Mysterion
Perhaps the coolest twist on South Park came from the long-awaited reveal that Kenny McCormick, the silent muffler who is always hidden behind his orange parka, has been Mysterion the whole time. People loved the idea that Kenny was the sole kid who had the ability to protect the entire town from forces of evil.
Any opportunity to see Kenny in action gets South Park fans excited because he is easily the most mysterious character on the show. This is why the name "Mysterion" is so fitting for him. In South Park Movie: Bigger, Longer, Uncut (1999), it was such a big deal for fans to see Kenny take his hood off as he said his first audible words in the series. With Mysterion we were given the opportunity to hear more from Kenny and it was extremely satisfying to witness.
Gerald Broflovski Is Revealed As Skankhunt42
In a hilarious turn of events, the mysterious internet troll on South Park turned out to be Kyle's dad, Gerald Broflovski. What makes this so funny is the fact that Kyle's dad is a respected lawyer and shows absolutely no signs of immaturity throughout the series that would suggest him to be this crass just for the fun of it. When Gerald was revealed as the internet troll known as Skankhunt42, fans couldn't help but crack up over how random and twisted this decision was. In the words of Sheila Broflovski, "WHAT, WHAT WHAT?!"
It's safe to say that Sheila was not happy with her hubby when she found out.
Jennifer Lopez Is Revealed As Mitch Connor
It was perhaps the most ridiculous twist on South Park, but it was also easily one of the funniest moments on the entire show, and that's saying something. In the episode titled "Fat Butt and Pancake Head", Cartman pretends his hand is Jennifer Lopez, mostly in an effort to bug the hell out of Kyle. He draws eyes on his hand and gives her a little wig as a part of a ridiculous joke. That is until the record labels notice "Ms. Lopez" (Cartman's hand) and they decide to make "her" famous. It's such a strange and outlandish concept, making it all the more hilarious. Turns out, his hand-version of Jennifer Lopez is not Jennifer Lopez at all - his name is Mitch Conner, and he's a con artist with a rich backstory. This further proves that Cartman's imagination is a wild, twisted place and we're somewhat glad we'll never have to enter it (unless of course, we're in Imaginationland.)
Kenny Actually Dies (For Real This Time)
In the episode from season 5 titled "Kenny Dies", South Park decides to take the Soap Opera route by having an entire episode dedicated to a serious matter- Kenny dying. It is the first episode to actually portray Kenny's death as a tragic event despite the fact that he has been killed off so many times over the course of the series. Yet in "Kenny Dies" it is as though these continuous deaths of the character never happened. It is a beautiful little episode all in all and it finally allows the boys to get vulnerable in a way that fans have never witnessed before in the series.
After his death, Kenny leaves the show for nearly an entire season because the creators were sick of the "Oh my god, they killed Kenny!" running gag. Yet eventually Matt and Trey decided to bring him back because they missed his character (and we're so glad they did because South Park wouldn't be the same without him.)
"Scrotie McBoogerballs" Is Considered Art
In a hilarious episode titled "The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs", the boys decide to write the most controversial book of all time. The book is the definition of vile and revolting, even by South Park standards. Their book, "The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs" accidentally becomes exposed to the world, and the boys think they're going to get in huge trouble for their creation, but instead, the opposite is true. People fall in love with "Scrotie McBoogerballs" and classify it as a piece of literary genius despite the fact that the boys made it as one big joke.
Cartman Makes Scott Tenorman Eat His Parents
It was perhaps the most memorable of twists in South Park history because it completely changed the way we considered Cartman as a character. In the first five seasons of the series Cartman was just a harmless fat kid who liked to curse a lot, was obsessed with his pet cat, and was extremely entitled. Yet that all changed after the season 5 episode "Scott Tenorman Must Die" when Cartman literally made a kid eat his parents. One of those parents happened to be Cartman's biological father. It made Cartman go from a total joke of a child to someone people genuinely feared. That was the sole moment when Eric Cartman became truly evil.