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{{Short description|Fictional character in South Park}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox character
| name = Kenny McCormick
| series = [[South Park]]
| image = [[File:KennyMcCormick.png|150px]]
| first = ''[[The Spirit of Christmas (short films)#1992 film (Jesus vs. Frosty)|Jesus vs. Frosty]]'' (1992) (short)
| creator = [[Trey Parker]]<br />[[Matt Stone]]
| designer = Trey Parker<br />Matt Stone
| voice = Matt Stone<br>[[Eric Stough]] (un-muffled)<br>[[Mike Judge]] (un-muffled in [[South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut|1999 film]])
| full_name = Kenneth McCormick
| aliases = {{ubl|Kenny|Mysterion|El Loco|Lady McCormick|Princess Kenny|Dr. McCormick}}
| gender = Male
| occupation = Student, scientist (future)
| family = {{ubl|[[List of South Park families#Carol McCormick|Stuart McCormick]] (father)|[[List of South Park families#Carol McCormick|Carol McCormick]] (mother)|[[List of South Park families#Kenny McCormick|Kevin McCormick]] (brother)|[[List of South Park families#Kenny McCormick|Karen McCormick]] (sister)}}
| relatives = [[List of South Park families#Grandfather|Grandpa McCormick]]{{Broken anchor|date=2024-10-15|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=List of South Park families#Grandfather|reason= }} (paternal grandfather)
| nationality = American
| lbl23 = Residence
| data23 = South Park, [[Colorado]], U.S.
| lbl24 = Died
| data24 = 127 times (episodes: [[Kenny Dies]]; movies: [[South Park: The End of Obesity]]
[[South Park: Post COVID]]<ref name=indiewire>{{Cite news|title=South Park Jumps to the Future, Kills Off [Spoiler] in Post COVID Special|url=https://tvline.com/2021/11/25/south-park-post-covid-ending-explained-butters-chaos/|last=Swift|first=Andy|date=November 25, 2021|access-date=November 27, 2021|work=TV Line}}</ref>)
| significant_other = Kelly (ex-girlfriend)<br> Tammy Warner (ex-girlfriend)
}}
'''Kenneth''' "'''Kenny'''" '''McCormick'''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://southpark.cc.com/fans/faq/355425 |title=Love South Park. – FAQ |publisher=South Park Studios |access-date=November 8, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120515215429/https://www.southparkstudios.com/fans/faq/355425|archive-date=2012-05-15}}</ref> is a fictional character and one of the four main protagonists in the [[adult animation|adult animated]] sitcom ''[[South Park]]'', alongside [[Stan Marsh]], [[Kyle Broflovski]], and [[Eric Cartman]]. His often muffled and incomprehensible speech—the result of his [[parka]] hood covering his mouth—is provided by co-creator [[Matt Stone]]. After early appearances in ''[[The Spirit of Christmas (short film)|The Spirit of Christmas]]'' shorts in 1992 and 1995, Kenny appeared in ''South Park'' television episodes beginning August 13, 1997, as well as the 1999 feature film ''[[South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut]]'', where his uncovered face and voice were first revealed.


Kenny was a third, later fourth-grade student who commonly has extraordinary experiences not typical of conventional small-town life in his hometown of South Park, [[Colorado]], where he lives with his [[poverty]]-stricken family. Kenny is animated by computer to look as he did in the show's original method of [[cutout animation]].
{{South Park character|
image= [[Image:kenny.png|200px]]|
name=Kenneth "Kenny" McCormick|
gender=[[Male]]|
hair=blonde|
age=9|
job=Student|
religion=[[Roman Catholic]]|
appearance="[[The Spirit of Christmas|The Spirit of Christmas (Jesus vs. Frosty)]]"|
ancestry=Ireland}}


The character gained popularity thanks to a [[running gag]] during the first five seasons of the series, whereby Kenny would routinely suffer an excruciating death before returning alive and well in the next episode with little or no explanation. Stan would frequently use the catchphrase "Oh my god! They killed Kenny!", followed by Kyle exclaiming "You bastard(s)!". Since the [[South Park season 6|sixth season]] in 2002, the practice of killing Kenny has been seldom used by the show's creators. Various episodes have set up the gag, sometimes presenting alternate explanations for Kenny's unacknowledged reappearances.
'''Kenneth "Kenny" McCormick''', voiced by [[Matt Stone]] (and, on one occasion, [[Mike Judge]]), is a [[fictional character]] in the [[animated series]] ''[[South Park]]''. He is one of the four central characters, all of whom are nine-year old boys.


Still, the first, only, and last his voice was heard with his voice unmuffled speaking out loud (and not his thoughts inside his head like in "[[Turd Burglars]]") with his face completely unconcealed was in ''[[South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut|Bigger, Longer & Uncut]]''.
He is well-known for almost always wearing his orange [[parka]], and for being killed in nearly every episode. Due to his hood, which covers his mouth in all but a few scenes in the show's history, his lines are usually, but not always, unintelligible, and [[closed caption]]ing sometimes clarifies his lines. He has only spoken without being muffled on 2 occasions: in the [[South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut|South Park movie]] and in the season 8 episode, "[[The Jeffersons (South Park)|The Jeffersons]]."


==Role in ''South Park''==
== Character ==
Kenny attends South Park Elementary as part of [[Mr. Garrison]]'s fourth-grade class. During the first 58 episodes, Kenny and the other main child characters were in the third grade. Kenny comes from a poor household, presided over by his alcoholic, unemployed father, [[List of South Park families#Carol McCormick|Stuart McCormick]]. His mother [[List of South Park families#Carol McCormick|Carol McCormick]] has a job washing dishes at [[Olive Garden]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://southpark.cc.com/fans/characters/4|title=Kenny McCormick|access-date=March 30, 2008|publisher=South Park Studios}}{{dead link|date=July 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Kenny has an older brother named [[List of South Park families#Kenny McCormick|Kevin]]. He also has a younger sister who is shown with his family in the [[South Park season 9|season nine]] episode "[[Best Friends Forever (South Park)|Best Friends Forever]]", but does not reappear until the [[South Park season 15|15th season]] episode "[[The Poor Kid]]", where her name is revealed to be [[List of South Park families#Kenny McCormick|Karen]], whom he loves unconditionally. Kenny is friends with Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Butters. Kenny is regularly [[Classism|teased for living in poverty]], particularly by Cartman.<ref name=sfrubin>{{cite news|author=Sylvia Rubin|title=TV 's Foul-Mouthed Funnies|work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|date=January 26, 1998|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1998/01/26/DD58819.DTL|access-date=May 3, 2009}}</ref>
Kenny's un-muffled voice sounds like a slightly higher-pitched version of [[Stan Marsh]]. In the [[South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut|movie]] Kenny's voice was performed by [[Mike Judge]], creator of [[Beavis and Butt-head]] and [[King of the Hill]]. In the Season 8 episode '''The Jeffersons''', Kenny's voice was performed by Matt Stone.


Kenny's superhero [[alter ego]], '''Mysterion''', first appeared in the [[South Park season 13|season 13]] episode "[[The Coon]]",<ref>{{cite web |last=Fickett |first=Travis |title=South Park: "The Coon" Review |date=March 19, 2009 |url=http://tv.ign.com/articles/964/964509p1.html |website=IGN |access-date=November 8, 2010}}</ref> as a rival to Eric Cartman's eponymous supervillain alter ego. He unmasks himself at the end of the episode, but his identity is left intentionally ambiguous to the viewer. He is not revealed to be Kenny until the [[South Park season 14|season 14]] episode "[[Mysterion Rises]]", the character's third appearance as part of a three-part story arc.<ref name=mysterion>{{cite news | title = South Park: "Mysterion Rises" Review. Mysterion is not so mysterious anymore. | date = November 4, 2010 | author = Ramsey Isler | url = http://tv.ign.com/articles/113/1132434p1.html | work = [[IGN]] | publisher = [[News Corporation (1980–2013)|News Corporation]] | access-date=November 8, 2010}}</ref>
Kenny's family is extremely poor. His father, Stuart, is an alcoholic, and his friends (especially [[Eric Cartman]]) often tease him about it. Kenny has two siblings: Kevin McCormick, and a little girl who seemingly has no name and apparently didn't exist until the episode "[[Best Friends Forever]]". Since Kenny's family is so poor (they are on welfare, although the officer in "[[Lil' Crime Stoppers]]" says the McCormicks run a [[Methamphetamine|meth]] lab), they eat frozen waffles with no side dishes for dinner and bread sandwiches for breakfast. Despite these problems, Kenny is often portrayed as the hero of the group; indeed, several of his deaths have been acts of heroic self-sacrifice.


==Deaths==
== Visual appearance ==
Prior to [[South Park season 6|season six]], Kenny died in almost every episode. The nature of the deaths were often gruesome and portrayed in a comically absurd fashion,<ref name=cnnleonard>{{cite news|author=Devin Leonard|title='South Park' creators haven't lost their edge|publisher=CNN|date=October 27, 2006|url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/10/30/8391792/index.htm|access-date=May 3, 2009}}</ref> and usually followed by Stan or Kyle respectively yelling "Oh, my God! They killed Kenny!" with the other yelling "You bastard(s)!"<ref name=nypost>{{cite news|author=Don Kaplan|title=South Park Won't Kill Kenny Anymore|work=[[New York Post]]|date=April 8, 2002|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,49748,00.html|access-date=May 5, 2009}}</ref> Shortly afterward, rats would commonly appear and begin picking at his corpse.<ref name=nytimes>{{cite news|author=Bill Carter|title=Comedy Central makes the most of an irreverent, and profitable, new cartoon hit|work=The New York Times|date=November 10, 1997|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE5D61239F933A25752C1A961958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2|access-date=May 5, 2009}}</ref> In a following episode, Kenny would reappear alive and well, usually without any explanation. Most characters appear oblivious or indifferent to the phenomenon, although occasionally one will acknowledge awareness of it.<ref name=avr>{{cite news|author=Abbie Bernstein |title=South Park – Volume 2 |publisher=AVRev.com |date=October 27, 1998 |url=http://www.avrev.com/dvd-movie-disc-reviews/tv-shows/south-park-volume-2.html |access-date=April 30, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515045446/http://www.avrev.com/dvd-movie-disc-reviews/tv-shows/south-park-volume-2.html |archive-date=May 15, 2013 }}</ref> In "[[Cherokee Hair Tampons]]", Kenny gets irritated and offended when Stan laments Kyle's critical condition while utterly ignoring Kenny's past demises. Eric Cartman commented on Kenny's deaths in the episode "[[Cartmanland]]" when he is being sued for unsafe rides insisting to attorneys representing his family that "Kenny? He dies all the time!" In "[[Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo]]", as the episode is about to end, the kids point out that "something feels unfinished", and Kenny celebrates as "The End" sign appears; it is the first episode in the series he survives.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stevens |first1=Jeff |title=The Best Live-Action 'South Park' Commercials |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/best-south-park-fake-commercials_n_6118024 |website=HuffPost |access-date=February 22, 2022 |date=November 7, 2014}}</ref>
[[Image:kennyrevealed02.jpg|thumb|right|Kenny "revealed" from ''South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.]]
Kenny almost always wears an orange hooded [[parka]] with brown gloves (although he does remove it during the movie ''[[South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut]]'' and in episodes #504 "[[Super Best Friends]]",#402 "[[The Tooth Fairy Tats 2000]]", #305 "[[Jakovasaurs]]", #706 "[[Lil' Crime Stoppers]]", #807 "[[The Jeffersons (South Park)|The Jeffersons]]" and #905 "[[The Losing Edge]]".). In these episodes he would usually have some type of accessory accompanying him such as a colourful bird mask in #807 "The Jeffersons" and a red baseball hat in #905 "The Losing Edge". Underneath his hood he has messy blonde hair, which looks very similar to that of [[recurring South Park characters|another ''South Park'' character]], [[Tweek]].


Near the end of the production run of the show's [[South Park season 5|fifth season]], Parker and Stone contemplated having an episode in which Kenny was killed off permanently. The reasoning behind the idea was to genuinely surprise fans, and to allow an opportunity to provide a major role for [[Butters Stotch]], a breakout character whose popularity was growing with the viewers and creators of the show.<ref name=commentary>{{cite video|people=Trey Parker, Matt Stone|date=2005|title=South Park" – The Complete Fifth Season|medium=DVD|publisher=Comedy Central}} Mini-commentary for episode "Kenny Dies"</ref> In the episode "[[Kenny Dies]]", Kenny dies after developing [[Terminal illness|terminal]] [[muscular dystrophy]],<ref name=buzzle>{{cite news|title=South Park's Kenny R.I.P. |publisher=Buzzle.com |date=April 9, 2002 |url=http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/4-9-2002-16245.asp |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130118150829/http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/4-9-2002-16245.asp |url-status=usurped |archive-date=January 18, 2013 |access-date=May 5, 2009 }}</ref> while Parker and Stone claimed that Kenny would not be returning in subsequent episodes. The duo insisted they grew tired of upholding the tradition of having Kenny die in each episode.<ref name=growsup1>{{cite magazine|author=Jaime J. Weinman |title=South Park grows up |magazine=Maclean's |date=March 12, 2008 |url=http://www.macleans.ca/culture/entertainment/article.jsp?content=20080312_115131_115131&page=1 |access-date=April 30, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090719082617/http://www.macleans.ca/culture/entertainment/article.jsp?content=20080312_115131_115131&page=1 |archive-date=July 19, 2009 }}</ref> Stone stated that thinking of humorous ways to kill the character was initially fun, but became more mundane as the series progressed.<ref name=buzzle/> When they determined that it would be too difficult to develop the character because he was too much of a "prop", Parker and Stone finally decided to kill off Kenny permanently.<ref name=nypost/><ref name=page2>{{cite news|author=Page 2 Staff|title=Matt Stone|publisher=[[ESPN]]|date=March 13, 2002|url=https://www.espn.com/espn/print?id=1350858&type=page2Story|access-date=May 5, 2009}}</ref>
Geometrically, the shape of the portion of Kenny's face visible through his hood is almost a lens, although the arcs are either elliptical or parabolic rather than circular. This gives the face a squashed look, as does the use of an ellipse rather than a circle for the lip of the hood. The dark areas to either sides of the face are [[lune]]s.


{{blockquote|["Kenny Dies"] was the one episode where [all the characters] cared [he was dying] for once. After that, we said, "Why doesn't he just stay dead?" And it was like, "Okay, let's just do that." It was that easy of a decision. I think a lot of people probably haven't noticed. I couldn't care less. I am so sick of that character.
It has not been widely noted, but it is possible that he is dressed in this way to make him appear like a [[vulva]] or [[venus (mythology)|venus]] symbol (♀). It has also been noted that his body is very similar in shape to an [[ankh]], which goes along with the theme of [[reincarnation]] that is present in the character - see also [[Minor Discworld concepts#Anorankh|Anorankh]].
:— Matt Stone, from a 2002 article in the ''[[Knoxville News-Sentinel]]''<ref name=buzzle/>}}


For much of season six, Kenny remained dead, though he still appears to possess Cartman's body, and both Stone and Parker entertained the idea of eventually bringing the character back.<ref name=page2/> According to Stone, only a small minority of fans were significantly angered by Kenny's absence to threaten a boycott of the cable channel [[Comedy Central]], on which ''South Park'' is aired.<ref name=nypost/> For most of the season, Stan, Kyle, and Cartman fill the void left by Kenny by allowing the characters Butters Stotch and [[List of South Park characters#Tweek Tweak|Tweek Tweak]] into their group, paving the way for those characters to receive more focus on the show; nevertheless, Kenny returned from the year-long absence in the season six finale "[[Red Sleigh Down]]", has remained a main character since, and has been given larger roles in episodes.<ref name=page2/><ref name=ids>{{cite news|author=Alyson Brodsy and Mark Perlman-Price|title=A season without Kenny|work=[[Indiana Daily Student]]|date=October 20, 2005|url=http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=43709|access-date=May 5, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090718213736/http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=43709|archive-date=July 18, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>Semigram, Aly. [http://popwatch.ew.com/2011/11/17/south-park-penn-state-scandal/ "'South Park' tries to go for laughs with the Penn State scandal"]. ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]''. November 17, 2011</ref>
In episodes "[[Fat Camp (South Park)|Fat Camp]]" and "[[Cripple Fight]]", it is suggested that Kenny's wardrobe plays a role in his many deaths. In "Fat Camp" Kenny is never actually killed, although a boy dressed up as Kenny dies in the end; to which Stan replies, "They killed Kenny!...sort of." In "Cripple Fight" Timmy tried to have Jimmy killed by giving him a parka that resembles one Kenny would wear. Jimmy is seen walking down a street, narrowly escaping death with every step.


The first explanation given for Kenny's deaths and reappearances was given in the 53rd episode "[[Cartman Joins NAMBLA]]", wherein the McCormicks have a baby exactly like Kenny, including the characteristic orange parka, shortly after the former Kenny dies. Mr. McCormick exclaims, "God, this must be the fiftieth time this has happened", to which Mrs. McCormick quickly replies, "Fifty-second". This explanation is expanded upon in the season 14 episodes "[[Coon 2: Hindsight]]", "[[Mysterion Rises]]" and "[[Coon vs. Coon and Friends]]", in which Kenny, while playing superheroes with his friends, claims his "superpower" is [[immortality]]. He actually dies several times during these episodes—even committing suicide more than once—reawakening alive and unharmed in his bed each time. He is frustrated and angry that no one can remember him dying every time he regenerates and longs to know the source of his power, which he views as a curse. Unbeknownst to him, his parents were previously connected to a [[Cthulhu]]-worshipping death cult. After Kenny shoots himself the second time, Mrs. McCormick awakes with a scream, shrieks "It's happening again!", and minutes later, is shown gently placing a newborn Kenny in his bed. "We should never have gone to that stupid cult meeting," she grouses as she and her husband return to bed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/a36403960/south-park-theory-cartman-kenny-deaths/|title=South Park theory solves show's longest-running mystery|date=May 12, 2021|website=DigitalSpy}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2006/10/05/ign-tvs-10-favorite-south-park-episodes|title=IGN TV's 10 Favorite South Park Episodes|first=Dan Iverson & Brian|last=Zoromski|date=4 October 2006|publisher=IGN}}</ref>
== Talents ==
===Music===
Kenny has a very good singing voice (after taking lessons), as seen in [[Quintuplets 2000]].


In "[[Put It Down (South Park)|Put It Down]]", he is killed off-screen by a driver on his phone, as his picture is shown among those of kids killed by a driver on phone texting tribute. In "[[Bike Parade]]", [[Jeff Bezos]] tells [[Amazon Alexa|Alexa]] to kill Kenny, and Cartman hauls his coffin while riding his bike in the parade. "[[The Pandemic Special]]" sees Kenny being gunned down by the police when they are equipped with military weaponry to deal with the children breaking free from [[COVID-19 pandemic|COVID-19 quarantine]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Schedeen|first=Jesse|date=December 12, 2018|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/12/13/south-park-season-22-episode-10-bike-parade-review|title=South Park Season 22 Finale: 'Bike Paade' Review|publisher=[[IGN]]|accessdate=December 14, 2018}}</ref>
===Supernatural Abilities===
Kenny has the power of self-resurrection, although this may be considered more of a 'gift' than an actual 'talent'.


In ''[[South Park: Post Covid]]'', as a millionaire scientist in the future finding the cause of [[COVID-19]], Kenny dies due to a time travel experiment that got him a variant named COVID Delta+ Rewards.<ref name=indiewire/> This death is undone in ''[[South Park: Post Covid: The Return of Covid]]'' after Stan, Kyle, and Cartman time travel to the past.<ref name="Hollywood">{{cite web |last1=Parker |first1=Ryan |title='South Park' Dropping 'Post COVID' Part II Movie Next Week |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/south-park-post-covid-part-2-movie-dec-16-1235059355/ |website=[[Hollywood Reporter]] |access-date=December 8, 2021 |date=December 8, 2021}}</ref>
== Death ==
Kenny is most famous for dying in nearly every episode of the first five seasons, often followed by a cry of "Oh my God, They killed Kenny!" and "You bastards!" from his friends [[Stan Marsh|Stan]] and [[Kyle Broflovski|Kyle]]. In the earlier seasons, usually right after his death, rats show up, start nibbling on the body and carry off body parts. In [[The Succubus]], Kenny even dies twice: first when the boys are waiting for [[Recurring South Park characters#Chef|Chef]] to come play baseball, then the next day when he is squashed by the [[Succubus]] during Chef's wedding. Also in the episode [[Pink Eye (South Park episode)|Pink Eye]] Kenny dies three times. First he is crushed by a satellite. Then he is cut in half as a zombie. Then when trying to come out of his grave an angel statue falls.


In ''[[South Park: The End of Obesity]]'', Kenny was killed by [[Tony the Tiger]] in is his first on-screen death since "[[The Pandemic Special]]".{{ref needed|date=August 2024}}
Matt Stone and Trey Parker tried to kill him off for a year (he died in the "Hell's Pass Hospital" of an ambiguous muscle disease) and replaced him first with [[Butters Stotch|Butters]] and then [[Tweek]]. During the 2002 Christmas episode Kenny returned after being trapped inside Cartman. Cartman had mistakenly made chocolate milk from Kenny's ashes while the boys were searching Kenny's house for tickets, entrusted to Kenny, to a candy shopping spree. Kenny's soul was trapped inside Cartman's body until it was exorcised into a pot roast, which was subsequently eaten by [[Rob Schneider]], who subsequently died. During the following season, he seemed to have lost his bad luck and didn't die anymore. Kenny's lucky streak ended during the 2003 Christmas episode ("[[It's Christmas in Canada]]").


==Character==
Throughout the series, many of Kenny's deaths have been described as "senseless", only serving as cheap amusement until he really died in season five. Contrast that to one of the unwritten rules of Hollywood that children cannot die violently on the screen. The satire is very apparent, considering that [[Assault on Precinct 13 (1976 movie)]] would have been given the politically incorrect X rating if the infamous scene of the little girl being shot was not cut out (although [[John Carpenter]] got around this problem by cutting the scene from the [[MPAA]]'s copy and distributing the film with the death scene intact, a ruse that probably wouldn't be successful today).
===Creation and design===
[[Image:KennyUnhooded.jpg|thumb|left|Kenny's entire face was revealed for the first time in ''[[South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut]]''.]]
When developing the character, the show's creators had observed that most groups of childhood friends in small middle-class towns always included "the one poor kid" and decided to portray Kenny in this light.<ref name=goindown>{{cite video|people=Trey Parker, Matt Stone|title=Goin' Down to South Park|medium=Television documentary|publisher=Comedy Central}}</ref>


In a 2000 interview, Parker said that Kenny was based on a childhood friend of his who was also named Kenny and wore an orange parka that muffled his voice. He was the poorest child in the neighborhood and often skipped school, causing Parker and his friends to jokingly say he died, only for him to return to school later.<ref>{{Citation|title=South Park - The Real-Life Inspiration for Kenny (Paley Center, 2000)| date=September 16, 2010 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL11JnW7pzY |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/xL11JnW7pzY| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|access-date=2021-06-17}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
However, in the [[March 30]], [[2005]] episode, [[Best Friends Forever]], Kenny was the first in South Park to get a [[Sony PSP]] and the first in the world to reach level sixty; he died early in the episode to command Heaven's armies in the final battle against [[Satan]] (in the episode he is frequently likened or referred to as [[Keanu Reeves]]). His death is not permanent, however, and he is revived, but in a [[persistent vegetative state]] with a feeding tube in an almost-serious spoof of the controversy surrounding the [[Terri Schiavo]] case in Florida.


An unnamed precursor to Kenny first appeared in the first ''The Spirit of Christmas'' short, dubbed ''Jesus vs. Frosty'', created by Parker and Stone in 1992 while they were students at the [[University of Colorado at Boulder|University of Colorado]]. The character was composed of [[construction paper]] cutouts and animated through the use of [[stop motion]].<ref name=method>{{cite news|author=Matt Cheplic |title='As Crappy As Possible': The Method Behind the Madness of South Park |publisher=[[Penton Media]] |date=May 1, 1998 |url=http://digitalcontentproducer.com/mag/video_crappy_possible_method/ |access-date=April 28, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090329014416/http://digitalcontentproducer.com/mag/video_crappy_possible_method/ |archive-date=March 29, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> When tasked three years later by friend Brian Graden to create another short as a video [[Christmas card]] that he could send to friends, Parker and Stone created another similarly-animated ''The Spirit of Christmas'' short, dubbed ''Jesus vs. Santa''.<ref name=VH1>{{cite web|url=http://www.vh1.com/press/bios/brian_graden.jhtml |title=Brian Graden's Bio |publisher=VH1.com |access-date=January 10, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080120161058/http://www.vh1.com/press/bios/brian_graden.jhtml |archive-date=January 20, 2008 }}</ref><ref name=NotableBiographies>{{cite web|url=http://www.notablebiographies.com/news/Ge-La/Graden-Brian.html|title=Brian Graden Biography|publisher=Advameg, Inc|access-date=January 10, 2008}}</ref> In this short, Kenny is given his first name, and first appears as he does in the series.
Kenny's frequent deaths may be inspired by the [[Republic of Ireland|Irish]] county of [[Kilkenny]] (kill Kenny), as Kenny's family is presumably of [[Irish people|Irish]] descent (this is furthered by his last name '''McCormick''', which is of Irish origin).
Kenny next appeared on August 13, 1997, when ''South Park'' debuted on [[Comedy Central]] with the episode "[[Cartman Gets an Anal Probe]]".<ref>Frederic M. Biddle, "'South Park' wickedly makes the grade", ''[[The Boston Globe]]'' (August 13, 1997). [[LexisNexis]] {{subscription required}}. Retrieved April 30, 2009.</ref>


In tradition with the show's [[Cutout animation|animation style]], Kenny is composed of simple geometrical shapes and [[primary color]]s.<ref name=avr/><ref name=method/> He is not offered the same free range of motion associated with hand-drawn characters; his character is mostly shown from only one angle, and his movements are animated in an intentionally jerky fashion.<ref name=avr/><ref name=method/><ref name=growsup2>{{cite news|author=Jaime J. Weinman |title=South Park grows up |publisher=Mac leans.ca |date=March 12, 2008 |url=http://www.macleans.ca/culture/entertainment/article.jsp?content=20080312_115131_115131&page=2 |access-date=April 30, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090802210052/http://www.macleans.ca/culture/entertainment/article.jsp?content=20080312_115131_115131&page=2 |archive-date=August 2, 2009 }}</ref> Ever since the show's second episode, "[[Weight Gain 4000]]" ([[South Park season 1|season one]], 1997), Kenny, like all other characters on the show, has been animated with computer software, though he is portrayed to give the impression that the show still utilizes its original technique.<ref name=method/>
==Kenny's deaths and series canon==
While the series usually maintains an expanding continuity, it is a running joke that Kenny's deaths from episode to episode are treated in a highly inconsistent fashion.


[[File:MysterionUnmasked1.png|thumb|Mysterion unmasked at the end of "[[The Coon]]". Originally intended to have been a generic, unnamed classmate of the main characters, he was revealed to be Kenny in "[[Mysterion Rises]]".<ref name=mysterion/>]]
Early-season deaths are usually treated as "non-[[canon (fiction)|canon]]", in that they are not acknowledged as having happened at all. In the clip episode "[[City on the Edge of Forever (South Park episode)|City on the Edge of Forever]]", while relating stories of previous episodes, Cartman mentions how Kenny died in one such incident, to which Stan and Kyle protest, "That doesn't make any sense; Kenny died a few hours ago, how could he have died then?"


The effect of Kenny's speech is achieved by Stone mumbling into his own hand as he provides Kenny's lines.<ref name=method/> While he originally voiced Kenny without any computer manipulation, Stone now does so by speaking in his normal vocal range and then adding a childlike inflection. The recorded audio is then edited with [[Pro Tools]], and the pitch is altered to make the voice sound more like that of a fourth-grader.<ref>{{cite web|title=South Park FAQ|url=https://southpark.cc.com/fans/faq/archives.php?month=2&year=2009|date=February 10, 2009|publisher=South Park Studios|access-date=April 30, 2009|archive-date=May 11, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090511145241/http://www.southparkstudios.com/fans/faq/archives.php?month=2&year=2009|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=sps40>{{cite web|title=40 Questions |url=http://treyparker.info/archives_spstudios.htm |date=October 4, 2001 |publisher=South Park Studios |access-date=January 30, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129004417/http://treyparker.info/archives_spstudios.htm |archive-date=November 29, 2010 }}</ref> As the technique of Kenny's muzzled enunciation frequently implies, many of his lines are indeed profane and sexually explicit, the lengthier of which are mostly improvised by Stone.<ref name=method/>
In later seasons, the other characters do occasionally seem aware of Kenny's many fatalities. In "[[Cartmanland]]", the McCormick family sues [[Eric Cartman]] for Kenny's wrongful death, to which Cartman protests " Kenny?!?! Kenny dies all the time!" In "[[Cherokee Hair Tampons]]", Kyle is suffering potentially fatal kidney troubles and Stan tells Kenny several times that he's worried his friend might die. Kenny's irritated response to this (including a parody of Cartman's catchphrase: "screw you guys! I'm going home!") implies strongly that he's aware of the other kids' apathy towards his own deaths.


He first appeared unobscured by his hood in ''[[South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut]]'', where it was revealed that he had messy blonde hair. [[Mike Judge]] provided the voice for Kenny's one line of uninsulated dialogue: "Goodbye, you guys."<ref name="voiceactors">{{cite web |url=https://southpark.cc.com/fans/faq/355463 |title=FAQ: In 'Meet the Jeffersons' and in BLU Kenny's voice can be heard without it being muffled by his hood. But the voice in the movie sounds different from the episode!! Was it done by two different people?? If so why and who did the voice? |publisher=South Park Studios |date=June 24, 2010 |access-date=December 4, 2011 |archive-date=November 29, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129121524/http://www.southparkstudios.com/fans/faq/355463 |url-status=dead }}</ref> On a few occasions during episodes that have originally aired since the film's release, he has been seen without the parka;<ref group=note>Including "[[The Tooth Fairy Tats 2000]]", "[[Super Best Friends]]", "[[Lil' Crime Stoppers]]", "[[The Jeffersons (South Park episode)|The Jeffersons]]", "[[Good Times with Weapons]]", "[[The Losing Edge]]", "[[South Park Is Gay!]]", "[[Lice Capades]]", "[[Margaritaville (South Park)|Margaritaville]]", "[[W.T.F. (South Park)|W.T.F.]]", "[[Pee (South Park)|Pee]]", "[[You're Getting Old]]", and "[[DikinBaus Hot Dogs]]".</ref> however, unlike in ''Bigger, Longer & Uncut'' his entire face has been only seen four times in the television series without being partially obscured or otherwise altered, this being in "[[The Losing Edge]]", "[[The Jeffersons (South Park episode)|The Jeffersons]]", "[[You're Getting Old]]", and "[[DikinBaus Hot Dogs]]" (except in DikiniBaus Hot Dogs, his face is slightly concealed by a pair of sunglasses shades). He also speaks unmuffled during some of these instances, in which case co-producer [[Eric Stough]] provides Kenny's voice.<ref name="voiceactors" /> During "[[The Coon]]" episodes of seasons 13 and 14, Kenny has his first major speaking role as the character Mysterion.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbr.com/south-park-best-kenny-quotes-ranked/|title=Kenny's 6 Best Quotes From South Park, Ranked|date=March 3, 2022|website=CBR}}</ref>
In "[[Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut]]", the second part of a two-part episode, Kenny materializes next to Stan, who merely acknowledges him with "Oh hey, Kenny." In "[[The Succubus]]", Kenny also dies and is brought back without explanation. These events suggest that Kenny has the supernatural ability of self-[[resurrection]], and that mostly everyone is aware of it.


===Personality and traits===
Kenny himself seems to be somewhat aware of his own recurring death. In the first season's Christmas special, he cheers when he realizes he hasn't died at the end. In "Tweek vs. Craig", Kenny avoided shop class fearing the dangers of the many hazardous tools.
While most child characters on the show are foul-mouthed, Kenny is often even more risqué with his dialogue.<ref name=bbc>{{cite news|title=Cartman top with kids|publisher=BBC|date=August 26, 1999|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/entertainment/430977.stm|access-date=May 5, 2009}}</ref> Parker and Stone state that they depict Kenny and his friends in this manner in order to display how young boys really talk when they are alone.<ref name=avr/><ref name=abc4>{{cite web|author=Jake Trapper and Dan Morris|title=Secrets of 'South Park'|publisher=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|date=September 22, 2006| url=https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/Entertainment/Story?id=2479197&page=4| access-date=April 18, 2009}}</ref> While Kenny is often cynical and profane, Parker notes that there nonetheless is an "underlying sweetness" aspect to the character,<ref name=loudlewd>{{cite news|author=Frazier Moore|title=Loud and lewd but sweet underneath|work=[[The Age]]|date=December 14, 2006|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/tv--radio/loud-and-lewd-but-sweet-underneath/2006/12/13/1165685687176.html?page=2|access-date=May 9, 2009}}</ref> and ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine described Kenny and his friends as "sometimes cruel but with a core of innocence".<ref name=time/> He is amused by [[toilet humor]] and bodily functions,<ref name=time/> and his favorite television personalities are [[Terrance and Phillip]], a Canadian duo whose comedy routines on their show-within-the-show revolve substantially around fart jokes. Kenny is shown to desire intercourse in the episode "The Ring", when Kenny gets a girlfriend and is overjoyed to find out that she has a reputation as a slut. Kenny is also lecherous,<ref name=sfrubin/> and often portrayed as being eager to do and say disgusting things in an attempt to impress others or earn money.<ref name=goindown/> Conversely, his alter-ego Mysterion is seemingly mature, principled, and serious-minded, the only exception being one instance in "Mysterion Rises" in which he takes delight in irritating Cartman. As Mysterion, he convinces his parents to take better care of themselves and their children, as seen by their reaction when he questions them about the cult of Cthulhu. He also uses his disguise to protect his sister Karen (who refers to Mysterion as her "guardian angel"), as revealed in "[[The Poor Kid]]"; however, in all of his guises, Kenny is depicted as being uncommonly [[Altruism|selfless]], dying for the sake of others and spending all of his time working so he could buy his little sister a doll.<ref>{{cite web |author=Isler, Ramsey |url=http://m.ie.ign.com/articles/1212761 |title=South Park: 'The Poor Kid' Review |work=[[IGN]] |date=November 17, 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120502182657/http://m.ign.com/articles/2011/11/17/south-park-the-poor-kid-review |archivedate=2012-05-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite episode|title=Trey Parker & Matt Stone|series=[[The Daily Show with Jon Stewart]]|airdate=June 15, 2011|network=[[Comedy Central]]|url=http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-june-15-2011/trey-parker---matt-stone}}</ref>


In the trilogy of episodes "[[Black Friday (South Park)|Black Friday]]", "[[A Song of Ass and Fire]]" and "[[Titties and Dragons]]", in which the boys play-act characters from the TV series ''[[Game of Thrones]]'', Kenny [[Cross-dressing|cross-dresses]] as a fantasy-style princess with a wig and dress similar to the video game character [[Princess Zelda]], and becomes a Japanese-speaking [[Moe (slang)|moe]] [[anime]] character at one point. When Cartman complains, "You're never going to be a real [[princess]]", Princess Kenny responds (via her translator, Stan) angrily to Cartman, calling him a "ball-licking [[lesbian]]".<ref>{{cite web|last=McGee|first=Ryan|title=Black Friday|url=https://www.avclub.com/south-park-black-friday-1798178674|publisher=[[The A.V. Club]]|date=November 13, 2013|access-date=June 21, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite video |people=[[Trey Parker|Parker, Trey]]; [[Matt Stone|Stone, Matt]] |date=2014 |title=South Park season 17 DVD commentary for the episode "A Song of Ass and Fire" |medium=DVD |publisher=[[Comedy Central]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Nicholson|first=Max|title=Let the Red (Robin) Wedding commence|url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/12/05/south-park-titties-and-dragons-review|website=[[IGN]]|date=December 5, 2013|accessdate=December 5, 2013}}</ref>
In "[[Cartman Joins NAMBLA]]", Kenny spends most of the episode upset that his mother is having another child, and continually tries to find ways to abort the fetus. Near the end of the episode, Kenny is unexpectedly killed by being backed over by an ambulance. In the final scene, Kenny's mother and father fawn over the infant she has just given birth to. Kenny's father, struck by how much the new child resembles their deceased son Kenny (including orange parka), decides to name the new baby boy Kenny in his brother's memory, to which Kenny's mother declares "Yes! A brand-new Kenny!" The final punch line of this gag comes when Kenny's father says "God, this must be like the 50th time this has happened," to which his mother corrects, "52nd." (Arguably, this is indeed the 52nd incarnation of Kenny). These events suggest that all the Kennys are different children, but that the other boys are unaware of it and treat them all as the same person. This does not explain how and why the Kennys gestate and age so quickly, or why they all have the same personality; it is possible that Kenny's soul is reincarnated into each new body. However Kenny's mother's explanation is likely not canon and just there for the humor.


This portrayal continues in the video game ''[[South Park: The Stick of Truth]]'' where Cartman notes that playing a "chick" is "just how [Kenny] seems to be rolling right now". Kenny's sister also refers to Kenny as a girl, if you talk to her in the McCormick house. Throughout the game, Kenny posts 'status updates' referring to herself as "the cutest of them all".<ref name=DailyTelegraph>{{cite news |first=Hannah |last=Dwan |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gaming/reviews/south-park-fractured-whole-review-round-critics-saying/ |title=South Park: The Fractured But Whole review round up – What the critics are saying |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=October 16, 2017 |access-date=November 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20171104122020/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gaming/reviews/south-park-fractured-whole-review-round-critics-saying/ |archive-date=November 4, 2017 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all}}</ref>
The gag of Kenny dying in almost every episode is dropped as of "[[Kenny Dies]]", in which Kenny's death is treated with more weight; in particular, the other boys are somehow able to sense that it would be more permanent (though it should be noted that in a few episodes---for example "[[Pink Eye (South Park episode)|Pink Eye]]"---they treat his death as if permanent [ironically, since Kenny comes back to life twice in that episode]). Since then, Kenny has usually only died when the plot of an episode requires it.


==Season 7-Present==
==In other media==
Kenny had a major role in ''[[South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://film.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/Critic_Review/Guardian_review/0,,77038,00.html|title=South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut|work=The Guardian|location=London|date=August 27, 1999 |access-date=July 24, 2009|last=Pulver|first=Andrew}}</ref> the full-length film based on the series, and appeared on the [[South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (soundtrack)|film's soundtrack]] singing (albeit muffled) several lines of the song "Mountain Town" from the film.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/Various-Music-From-And-Inspired-By-The-Motion-Picture-South-Park-Bigger-Longer-Uncut/release/1396078|title=Various – Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut|year=1999 |publisher=www.discogs.com|access-date=July 24, 2009}}</ref> As a tribute to the [[Dead Parrot sketch]], a short that features Kenny as a "dead friend" being returned by Cartman to a shop run by Kyle aired during a 1999 [[BBC]] television special commemorating the 30th anniversary of ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?sf=3&set_id=1&click_id=3&art_id=qw939324300430R131|title=News – Pythons cut train crash from funny show|publisher=www.iol.co.za|access-date=August 1, 2009}}</ref> Kenny was also featured in the [[documentary film]] ''[[The Aristocrats (film)|The Aristocrats]]'', listening to Cartman tell his version of the film's titular joke,<ref name=aristocrats>{{cite web|title=HBO Documentary Films: The Aristocrats|url=http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/aristocrats/synopsis.html|publisher=[[HBO]]|access-date=March 27, 2009|archive-date=April 26, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090426054948/http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/aristocrats/synopsis.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> and in "The Gauntlet", a short spoofing both ''[[Gladiator (2000 film)|Gladiator]]'' and ''[[Battlefield Earth (film)|Battlefield Earth]]'' that aired during the [[2000 MTV Movie Awards]].<ref name=ortega>{{cite news|last=Ortega|first=Tony|title=Sympathy For The Devil: Tory Bezazian was a veteran Scientologist who loved going after church critics. Until she met the darkest detractor of all.|work=New Times Los Angeles|date=September 27, 2001}}</ref><ref name=mtvshort>{{cite video|people=Trey Parker, Matt Stone|date=2000|title=The Gauntlet|medium=Television special|publisher=MTV, Comedy Central}} Short that aired during the [[2000 MTV Movie Awards]]</ref>
Some fans have noted that since being brought back to life in "[[Red Sleigh Down]]," Kenny's role on the show has been greatly diminished. This is most notable in the 9th and 10th seasons, where in some episodes---for example, "[[Smug Alert!]]"---he is completely absent with no explanation. Another episode, "[[Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow]]," showed him in the TV preview of the episode, but in the same scene from the episode---and the whole episode, as a matter of fact---he was not to be found.


Kenny also appears in six ''South Park''-related video games: In ''[[South Park (video game)|South Park]]'', Kenny is controlled by the player through the [[first-person shooter]] mode who attempts to ward off enemies from terrorizing the town of South Park.<ref>{{cite web|first=Christopher Michael|last=Baker|title=South Park – Overview|url=http://allgame.com/game.php?id=19249|work=[[Allgame]]|access-date=July 16, 2009|archive-date=December 10, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141210201415/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=19249|url-status=dead}}</ref> In ''[[South Park: Chef's Luv Shack]]'', a user has the option of playing as Kenny when participating in the game's several "minigames" based on other popular arcade games.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=2100 |title=Review: South Park: Chef's Luv Shack |publisher=ComputerAndVideoGames.com |access-date=July 19, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070330000425/http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=2100 |archive-date=March 30, 2007 }}</ref> In the racing game ''[[South Park Rally]]'', a user can race as Kenny against other users playing as other characters, while choosing to place him in any of a variety of vehicles.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uk.dreamcast.ign.com/articles/133/133474p1.html|title=South Park Rally Preview|website=IGN|access-date=July 19, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713004750/http://uk.dreamcast.ign.com/articles/133/133474p1.html|archive-date=July 13, 2011}}</ref> In ''[[South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play!]]'', Kenny can be selected as a playable character used to establish a [[tower defense]] against the game's antagonists.<ref name=igntower>{{cite web|url=http://uk.xboxlive.ign.com/articles/103/1031444p1.html|title=South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play Review|last=Brudvig|first=Erik|date=October 6, 2009|publisher=IGN Entertainment|access-date=October 10, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091010182058/http://uk.xboxlive.ign.com/articles/103/1031444p1.html|archive-date=October 10, 2009}}</ref> In ''[[South Park: The Stick of Truth]]'', Kenny (as Princess Kenny) can be selected as a companion over the course of much of the game.<ref>{{cite web |last=Martin |first=Liam |date=March 4, 2014 |url=http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/review/a554938/south-park-the-stick-of-truth-review-360-captures-the-shows-humour/ |title=South Park: The Stick of Truth review (360) Captures the show's humour |website=[[Digital Spy]] |access-date=January 26, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160404014140/http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/review/a554938/south-park-the-stick-of-truth-review-360-captures-the-shows-humour/ |archive-date=April 4, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In ''[[South Park: The Fractured but Whole]]'', Kenny is seen as his alter-ego Mysterion.<ref name=DailyTelegraph/>
This downsizing is somewhat understandable, one could say, as what can probably called the biggest facet of his character---that is, his constant dying---is no longer regular and occurs in only a few episodes. It can also be noted that, with his inability to be easily understood, he was the main protagonist of only a few episodes, usually just accompanying his friends in episodes where they did most of the action. Another reason for his decline as a character may be because [[Butters Stotch|Butters]], the first of his two replacements, grew as a character after his death---though he was only an "official fourth friend" for about eight episodes, his personality---and fan base---grew enough that Butters still appears and stars in many episodes, even while not being one of the main four. It could even be argued that Butters---who has starred in such recent episodes as "[[Marjorine]]" and "[[The Death of Eric Cartman]]"---is now a bigger character that Kenny is. (Interestingly, the Butters Phenomenon did not occur with Kenny's second replacement, [[Tweek]].)


==Ways Kenny Dies==
==Cultural impact==
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:KennyInHospital.jpg|thumb|left|Kenny, in a [[vegetative state]] in the season nine episode "[[Best Friends Forever (South Park)|Best Friends Forever]]", which addressed the [[Terri Schiavo]] controversy.]] -->
Kenny has died 78 times since Season 1 through Season 9.
Kenny's deaths are well-known in popular culture,<ref name=nypost/> and was one of the things viewers most commonly associated with ''South Park'' during its earlier seasons.<ref name=wired>{{cite web|title=Word, Charged Find a Savior|website=Wired.com|date=April 27, 1998|url=https://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/1998/04/11925|access-date=May 14, 2009}}</ref> ''[[IGN]]'' ranked Kenny at #6 on their "The Top 25 South Park Characters" list.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Top 25 South Park Characters|work=[[IGN]]|date=October 21, 2018|url=https://uk.ign.com/articles/2014/03/01/top-25-south-park-characters?page=4}}</ref> The exclamation of "Oh my God! They killed Kenny!" quickly became a popular [[catchphrase]],<ref name=buzzle/><ref name=time>{{cite magazine|author=Jeffrey Ressner and James Collins|title=Gross And Grosser|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=March 23, 1998|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,988028,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090821033347/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,988028,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 21, 2009|access-date=April 28, 2009}}</ref> while both Kenny and the phrase have appeared on some of the more popular pieces of ''South Park'' merchandise,<ref name=nypost/> including shirts, bumper stickers, calendars and baseball caps,<ref name=sfrubin/> and inspired the rap song "Kenny's Dead" by [[Master P]], which was featured on ''[[Chef Aid: The South Park Album]]''.<ref name=nypost/>
The following is a list of Kenny's deaths in [[list of South Park episodes|each episode]]:


The running gag of Kenny's deaths in earlier seasons was incorporated into the [[South Park season 9|season 9]] (2005) episode "[[Best Friends Forever (South Park)|Best Friends Forever]]" when Kenny, in a [[vegetative state]], is kept alive by a [[feeding tube]] while a media circus erupted over whether the tube should be removed and allow Kenny to die. The episode received much attention as it served to provide commentary on the [[Terri Schiavo case]],<ref name="nytimessatire">{{cite news|author=Wyatt Mason|title=My Satirical Self|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=September 17, 2006|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/17/magazine/17satire.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all|access-date=May 5, 2009}}</ref><ref name=mcfarland2>{{cite news|author=Melanie McFarland|title=Social satire keeps 'South Park' fans coming back for a gasp, and a laugh|work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]|date=October 2, 2006|url=http://www.seattlepi.com/tv/287050_tv02.html|access-date=May 12, 2009}}</ref> originally airing just one day before Schiavo died.<ref name=nytimesarts>{{cite news|author=Kate Aurthur|title='South Park' Echoes the Schiavo Case|work=The New York Times|date=April 2, 2005|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9501EFDA113FF931A35757C0A9639C8B63|access-date=May 5, 2009}}</ref> The episode earned ''South Park'' its first [[Emmy Award]] for [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour)|Outstanding Animated Program]].<ref name=nashua>{{cite news|author=Terry Morrow|title='South Park' outlives creators' expectations|publisher=[[Scripps Howard News Service]]|date=October 23, 2005|url=http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051023/ENTERTAINMENT/110230107/-1/news|access-date=May 5, 2009}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
[[Image:SouthPark406.gif|thumbnail|150px|Kenny born for the 52nd time in [[Cartman Joins NAMBLA]]]]


Kenny's deaths have been subject to much critical analysis in the media and literary world. In the book ''[[South Park and Philosophy: Bigger, Longer, and More Penetrating]]'', an essay by [[Southern Illinois University]] philosophy professor [[Randall Auxier]], entitled "Killing Kenny: Our Daily Dose of Death", suggests that the fashion of the recurring gag serves to help the viewer become more comfortable with the inevitability of their own death.<ref name=green>{{cite news|last=Staff|title=Philosophy Speaker Presents "Killing Kenny: Our Daily Dose of Death"|work=GMC Journal|publisher=[[Green Mountain College]]|date=February 5, 2007|url=http://www.greenmtn.edu/gmcjournal/journal020507.asp|access-date=February 8, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080219061104/http://www.greenmtn.edu/gmcjournal/journal020507.asp|archive-date=February 19, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ffwdweekly.com/article/life-style/books/just-killing-kenny-or-ontological-boredom/ |title=Just killing Kenny or ontological boredom? |access-date=March 5, 2009 |last=Marchetto |first=Sean |date=December 6, 2007 |work=Fast Forward Weekly |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081119082531/http://www.ffwdweekly.com/article/life-style/books/just-killing-kenny-or-ontological-boredom |archive-date=November 19, 2008 }}</ref> In the book ''South Park and Philosophy: You Know, I Learned Something Today'', [[University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point]] professor Karin Fry wrote an essay concerning the parallels between Kenny's role in the show and the different concepts of [[existentialism]].<ref name=philo4>{{cite book|editor-last=Arp|editor-first=Robert |author=Fry, Karin |title=South Park and Philosophy: You Know, I Learned Something Today|url=https://archive.org/details/southparkphiloso00arpr_339|url-access=limited|publisher=Blackwell Publishing (The Blackwell Philosophy & Pop Culture Series)|date=December 1, 2006|pages=[https://archive.org/details/southparkphiloso00arpr_339/page/n88 77]–86|isbn=978-1-4051-6160-2}}</ref>
===Season 1===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! # !! Episode !! Description
|-
| 101
| [[Cartman Gets an Anal Probe]]
|
*Hit by Officer Barbrady in police cruiser chasing cows
|-
| 102
| [[Weight Gain 4000]]
|
*Shot by Mr. Garrison when trying to shoot [[Kathie Lee Gifford]], which launches him into the air and is [[impalement|impaled]] on a flag pole.
|-
| 103
| [[Volcano (South Park episode)|Volcano]]
|
*Shot by Ned when he drops his gun on the ground
|-
| 104
| [[Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride]]
|
*[[decapitation|Decapitated]] and dismembered by three Middle Park Cowboy [[football]] players
|-
| 105
| [[An Elephant Makes Love to a Pig]]
|
*Knocked into [[microwave oven]] with a chair and cooked by Big Stan
|-
| 106
| [[Death (South Park episode)|Death]]
|
*Touched by [[Death (personification)|Death]]
|-
| 107
| [[Pink Eye (South Park episode)|Pink Eye]]
|
*Crushed by [[Mir]] at the beginning of the episode. Revived as a [[zombie]] via [[Worcestershire sauce]] embalming
*Cut in half with a chainsaw by Kyle to end zombie curse
*Rises from his grave again at the end of the episode, but is immediately crushed by a falling angel statue and then by a crashing [[aeroplane]]. If killing a zombie counts as "death," this would make "Pink Eye" the most fatal of all of Kenny's episodes.
|-
| 109
| [[Starvin' Marvin]]
|
*Attacked by mutant turkeys; loses an eye in the attack
|-
| 110
| [[Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo (South Park episode)|Mr. Hankey, The Christmas Poo]]
|
*Doesn't die. Cheers when he sees "The End" appear onscreen with him still alive
|-
| 108
| [[Damien (South Park episode)|Damien]]
|
*Turned into a duckbilled [[platypus]] by the antichrist and then shot by Uncle Jimbo
|-
| 111
| [[Tom's Rhinoplasty]]
|
*Pierced by an [[Iraq]]i sword carelessly swung by Miss Ellen
|-
| 112
| [[Mecha-Streisand]]
|
*[[Asphyxiation|Asphyxiates]] himself by accident with [[tetherball]] string while fleeing Mecha Streisand
|-
| 113
| [[Cartman's Mom is a Dirty Slut]]
|
*Dragged onto train tracks by a [[go kart]] and crushed by a [[train]]
|}


When Sophie Rutschmann of the [[University of Strasbourg]] discovered a mutated gene that causes an adult [[Drosophila melanogaster|fruit fly]] to die within two days after it is infected with certain bacteria, she named the gene "Kenny" in honor of the character.<ref name=fruitfly>
===Season 2===
{{cite news|author=Thomas H. Maugh II|title=Playing the Name Game|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=August 5, 2002|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-aug-05-sci-genes5-story.html|access-date=May 5, 2009}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! # !! Episode !! Description
|-
| 201
| [[Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus]]
| (doesn't appear)
|-
| 202
| [[Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut]]
|
*Self-sacrificial [[electrocution]] while turning on a hospital generator
|-
| 203
| [[Chickenlover]]
|
*Car tipped upside-down and crushes him, but the [[sunroof]] was open and he steps out; Flies off swing into brick wall, but survives; Gun misfires and shoots Kenny's arm, but narrowly misses him and gets his sleeve; During the [[parade]] in the credits, a tree falls and crushes Kenny, killing him
|-
| 204
| [[Ike's Wee Wee]]
|
*Falls into an open grave and is crushed by a gravestone
|-
| 205
| [[Conjoined Fetus Lady]]
|
*Killed by an overpowered [[dodgeball]] throw from a Chinese opponent
|-
| 206
| [[The Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka]]
|
*Torn apart by two audience members of Jesus and Pals
|-
| 207
| [[City on the Edge of Forever (South Park episode)|City on the Edge of Forever]]
|
*Does not die in this episode, but died twice in the dream. Once he was taken away and eaten by a big black scary monster. Then he was killed by Fonzie's motorcycle.
|-
| 208
| [[Summer Sucks]]
|
*In a flashback to when he was in preschool, blown up by a firecracker he held for too long
*Crushed by giant carbon pyrotechnic snake
|-
| 209
| [[Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls]]
|
*Trampled by a crowd leaving a theater
|-
| 210
| [[Chickenpox (South Park episode)|Chickenpox]]
|
*Contracted a fatal case of [[chickenpox]]
|-
| 211
| [[Roger Ebert Should Lay off the Fatty Foods]]
|
*Exploded due to the intensity of a [[planetarium]] demonstration
|-
| 212
| [[Clubhouses (South Park episode)|Clubhouses]]
|
*Trampled in a [[mosh pit]] in Cartman's [[tree house]]. In a special twist, Cartman was the one who said the first part of the trademark post-Kenny-death catchphrase, then Kyle passed by the same treehouse, stopping only to say the second part before moving along.
|-
| 213
| [[Cow Days]]
|
*Pierced by the horns of the bull Cartman was riding
|-
| 214
| [[Chef Aid]]
|
*[[Ozzy Ozborne]] bit his head off
|-
| 215
| [[Spookyfish]]
|
*Drowned by Stan's evil goldfish
|-
| 216
| [[Merry Christmas Charlie Manson!]]
|
*Shot dead by police while attempting to surrender
|-
| 217
| [[Underpants Gnomes]]
|
*Killed (squashed "like a bug") by a derailed mining cart containing underpants. Amusingly, the boys don't seem very saddened by his death, saying "It happens all the time".
|-
| 218
| [[Prehistoric Ice Man]]
|
*Caught in the conveyor belt in front of the prehistoric man exhibit
|}


===Season 3===
==See also==
{{portal|United States|Colorado|Television|Animation|Comedy}}
[[Image:301 dead kenny21.gif|thumb|225px|Kenny struck by Lightning in "Rainforest Schmainforest".]]
*[[South Park (Park County, Colorado)]]
{| class="wikitable"
*[[South Park City]]
|-
{{clear}}
! # !! Episode !! Description
|-
| 301
| [[Rainforest Schmainforest]]
|
*Struck by lightning & nearly dies but is revived by his "girlfriend" Kelly. This is one of the only instances in the entire series where a character on the show actually attempts to help Kenny after he has died instead of simply standing and watching. In another amusing twist, before Kenny is revived, Stan and Kyle say their trademark post-Kenny-death line (''"Oh my God! They killed Kenny!" "You Bastards!"''). Kelly, confused, asks, "Who?" (since he was struck by lightning). They sheepishly reply, "You know... ''they...they're bastards."'' The lead singer of [[Papa Roach]] and [[Mike Dirnt]] gave Kelly a [[Game Boy Color]] for reviving Kenny.
|-
| 302
| [[Spontaneous Combustion]]
|
*[[Spontaneous human combustion|Spontaneously combusts]] at the beginning of the show due to withheld flatulance
|-
| 303
| [[The Succubus]]
|
* Dies in an unknown manner while waiting for Chef at the bus stop, but miraculously revives at dawn
* Smashed to death by succubus
|-
| 304
| [[Tweek vs. Craig]]
|
*Caught on a [[Circular saw]] and lands in a pile of rusty [[nail (engineering)|nail]]s in crafts class, though he said "I'm okay."
|-
| 305
| [[Jakovasaurs]]
|
*Killed by a [[bear]] while impersonating a [[deer]], distracting Cartman
|-
| 306
| [[Sexual Harassment Panda]]
|
*Pulled by a [[magnet]] into a giant fan.
|-
| 307
| [[Cat Orgy]]
| (he doesn't die/appear in this episode)
|-
| 308
| [[Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub]]
| (he doesn't die/appear in this episode)
|-
| 309
| [[Jewbilee]]
|
*Sacrifices himself to open the [[conch shell]] [[Moses]] is trapped in, saving the Jews.
|-
| 310
| [[Chinpokomon]]
|
*Gets a seizure from the Chinpokomon [[video game]] and spends most of the episode catatonic; explodes at the end, revealing that he was filled with rats
|-
| 311
| [[Starvin' Marvin in Space]]
|
*Frozen in [[carbonite]], but isn't actually shown to die ([[Han Solo]] didn't die when frozen; it can be assumed Kenny didn't either). [[Billie Joe Armstrong]] and [[50 Cent]] invent a spaceship for free and they catch up with the CIA and arrest them.
|-
| 312
| [[Korn's Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery]]
|
* (In the credits) Destroyed by a [[snowspeeder]] while wearing an [[ED-209]] costume
|-
| 313
| [[Hooked on Monkey Phonics]]
|
*Beaten against everything in Cartman's bedroom by Phonics Monkey
|-
| 314
| [[The Red Badge of Gayness]]
|
*Burned to death by a [[United States National Guard|US National Guard]] warning flare
|-
| 315
| [[Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics]]
|
*Crushed by a [[chandelier]]
|-
| 316
| [[Are You There God? It's Me, Jesus]]
|
*Exploded due to the pressure buildup from a [[tampon]] stuck in his anus
|-
| 317
| [[World Wide Recorder Concert]]
|
*Died from massive defecation after playing "the brown note"
|}


===Season 4===
==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}
[[Image:Kenny dies-again.jpg|right|frame|Kenny crushed by piano in [[Cherokee Hair Tampons]].]]
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! # !! Episode !! Description
|-
| 402
| [[The Tooth Fairy Tats 2000]]
|
*Drowned with [[Cement shoes]] in river during credits
|-
| 401
| [[Cartman's Silly Hate Crime 2000]]
|
*Crushed by bricks, meant to be a Cartman test dummy, after flying off a sled
|-
| 403
| [[Quintuplets 2000]]
|
*Shot accidentally by police in [[Elián González]]-style raid in [[Romania]].
|-
| 404
| [[Timmy 2000]]
|
*Bashed in the face with a frying pan by Cartman due to Cartman's [[Christina Aguilera]] hallucinations
|-
| 405
| [[Pip (South Park episode)|Pip]]
| (he doesn't appear in this episode)
|-
| 406
| [[Cartman Joins NAMBLA]]
|
*Crushed by an ambulance after Mr. McCormick is loaded therein
*He is also killed in a dream by his newborn [[Xenomorph (Alien)|alien]]-like brother.
*His parents have another child just before the credits and name him Kenny (in honour of his 'dead' brother); His father comments that this must be the 50th time this has happened and his mother specifies that it's the 52nd
|-
| 407
| [[Cherokee Hair Tampons]]
|
*Crushed by a [[piano]] just after angrily leaving for home while Stan is very upset and sobbing because Kyle may die of kidney failure unless he gets one of Cartman's kidneys.
|-
| 408
| [[Chef Goes Nanners]]
|
*Explodes from gas buildup when a massive dose of antacid tablets (thought to be mints) is exposed to water. Everybody laughs, and Stan says,"That was a good one".
|-
| 409
| [[Something You Can Do With Your Finger]]
|
*Flattened by an elevator just prior to performance in the [[shopping mall]]
|-
| 410
| [[Do the Handicapped Go to Hell?]]
|
*Appearing to have been run over by a bus before he was able to attend [[confession]], he is revealed to have survived in next episode
|-
| 411
| [[Probably (South Park)|Probably]]
|
*Revealed to be alive and well in [[Mexico]]; he and Cartman are left there
|-
| 412
| [[4th Grade (South Park)|4th Grade]]
|
*Dragged to death by Timmy's wheelchair while attempting to fix it à la [[Speed (movie)|Speed]]. Stan: "Well, who didn't see ''that'' coming?"
|-
| 413
| [[Trapper Keeper (South Park)|Trapper Keeper]]
|
*Smashed against a wall by Cartman's bedroom door when Cartman bursts out of his bedroom. Kyle is unable to say, "You bastard" before he flees the Cartman house
|-
| 414
| [[Helen Keller! The Musical]]
|
*Crushed by a fallen stage light meant to kill Timmy's dysfunctional turkey, Gobbles
|-
| 415
| [[Fat Camp]]
|
*Kenny does not die because he is in prison for prostitution (whored himself to [[Howard Stern]] for $10); Cartman's replacement at fat camp takes Kenny's place and suffocates in Mrs. Crabtree's [[uterus]]. Stan: "Oh my God, they killed Kenny, sort of..."
|-
| 416
| [[The Wacky Molestation Adventure]]
|
*Sacrificed at "Carousel"; not shown on screen
|-
| 417
| [[A Very Crappy Christmas]]
|
*Run over by car. Kenny's death occurs while the boys are in the middle of producing ''[[The Spirit of Christmas]]'', so Stan decides to have Kenny's character die in the film so they won't have to reshoot anything
|}


===Season 5===
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! # !! Episode !! Description
|-
| 501
| [[Scott Tenorman Must Die]]
|
*Laughs himself to death after seeing Cartman's "I'm a little piggy" video
|-
| 502
| [[It Hits The Fan]]
|
*Vomits his intestines out just before credits. Stan: "Holy sh... poo"
|-
| 503
| [[Cripple Fight]]
|
*Carried off by an eagle
|-
| 504
| [[Super Best Friends]]
|
*Drowns himself in the [[Reflecting Pool]] in front of the [[Lincoln Memorial]] as part of a cult's mass suicide. Stan says his catch phrase 3 times, using it to try and find Kyle in a massive crowd a la the game [[Marco Polo (game)|Marco Polo]]. Kyle replies twice.
|-
| 505
| [[Terrance and Phillip: Behind The Blow]]
|
*His arms and legs were sliced off by insane [[Earth Day]] promoters, but he doesn't die (although interpretation means he could have bled to death)
|-
| 506
| [[Cartmanland]]
|
*Impaled through the face with a loose beam while riding a faulty roller coaster
|-
| 507
| [[Proper Condom Use]]
|
*His face was sliced in half with a boomerang by Bebe. Cartman: "Ooh, bitch!"
|-
| 508
| [[Towelie (South Park episode)|Towelie]]
|
*Falls into a vat of [[lava]] while trying to save the boys' Gamesphere (a parody of the [[Nintendo Gamecube]]). Kyle: "Oh my God, our Gamesphere"
|-
| 509
| [[Osama Bin Laden Has Farty Pants]]
|
*Explosion kills Kenny and his [[Afghanistan|Afghan]] counterpart. Stan and Kyle's Afghan counterparts say "Oh, Allah, They Killed Keyvan! You bastards!" in [[Dari (Afghanistan)|Dari]]
|-
| 510
| [[How to Eat with Your Butt]]
|
*Gets run over by a motorcycle. Cartman laughs at his death
|-
| 511
| [[The Entity (South Park)|The Entity]]
|
*Shot to death by airport security for trying to board a plane with toenail clippers
|-
| 512
| [[Here Comes the Neighborhood]]
|
*He is seen dead in this episode, but it's never shown how he died.
|-
| 513
| [[Kenny Dies]]
|
*Permanently dies of a "terminal disease" (until [[Red Sleigh Down]] (617)).
|}


===Season 6===
==External links==
{{sister project links|South Park|auto=yes}}
Since Kenny's death in [[Kenny Dies]] (513), he does not reappear until [[Red Sleigh Down]] (617) (in which he is not killed), but "dies" at least once this season in:
* [https://southpark.cc.com/guide/characters/kenny-mccormick Kenny McCormick]{{dead link|date=November 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} on SouthParkStudios.com


*[[The Biggest Douche in the Universe]], where [[Rob Schneider]] eats a roast beef joint containing Kenny's recently-excorcised soul (Kenny possessed Cartman's body for a few episodes this season) and dies when Rob Schneider gets impaled by a flagpole in a movie trailer (in reference to one of Kenny's death in [[Weight Gain 4000]])

===Season 7===
Since his reappearance in [[Red Sleigh Down]] (617), he hasn't been subjected to dying in each episode and only dies once in season 7. Stan is the first to notice him: "Oh hey Kenny. Where've you been?" To which Kenny replied: (muffled) "Here and there."

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! # !! Episode !! Description
|-
| 715
| [[It's Christmas in Canada]]
|
*Shot by [[Saddam Hussein]], posing as [[Prime Minister of Canada]], with a [[ray gun]]
|}

===Season 8===
Since his reappearance in 617, he hasn't been subjected to dying in each episode and only dies once in season 8.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! # !! Episode !! Description
|-
| 807
| [[The Jeffersons (South Park)|The Jeffersons]]
|
*[[Michael Jackson|"Mr. Jefferson"]] tosses him into the ceiling.
|}

===Season 9===
Since his reappearance in 617, he hasn't been subjected to dying in each episode and only dies twice in season 9. But he also dies in the opening theme:

*''Opening Theme:'' When the man builds Kenny with the bits of paper, he cuts his head off with some scissors (no blood shows)
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! # !! Episode !! Description
|-
| 903
| [[Wing (South Park)|Wing]]
|
*Shot by the [[Triad|Chinese mafia]]
|-
| 904
| [[Best Friends Forever]]
|
*He is hit by a truck and brought to heaven but is resuscitated and kept alive on a feeding tube (i.e., [[Terri Schiavo]]), which is removed and he finally dies. It's worthy to note that this is one of the very few times (including the movie) that Kenny continues to appear on-screen and play a significant part even after he was killed.
|}

===Season 10===
Kenny has been in the background for the first four episodes so far.

===''South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut'' (Movie)===
Suffers [[burn (injury)|third degree burn]]s when he attempts to [[Fart lighting|light his fart]] on fire, but is ultimately killed by the [[ER (TV series)|ER]] doctors who replace his heart with a [[baked potato]], which explodes and splatters some of his remains across the hospital room.

It has been noted that he perhaps "dies again" when he makes his unselfish wish that sends him temporarily back to hell, before he is sent to heaven. However, this is questionable, because it is unclear in what form he appears when he climbs out of Hell after Satan invades earth. It isn't treated as a true "resurrection," and he may have only appeared in "spirit form." The fact that he fades away may in fact back up that he was an apparition, and was not truly "alive" again.

===Trivia===
*According to http://www.spscriptorium.com/SPinfo/TheSouthParkCalendar.htm, Kenny McCormick's birthday is [[March 22]].

==External links==
*[http://www.spscriptorium.com/Kennysays.htm Repository of translated Kenny-isms]
{{South Park}}
{{South Park}}
{{Trey Parker and Matt Stone}}
{{Wikiquotepar|South Park}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Good article}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mccormick, Kenny}}
[[Category:Fictional Catholics|McCormick, Kenny]]
[[Category:Fictional Irish-Americans|McCormick, Kenny]]
[[Category:Child characters in television]]
[[Category:Fictional children|McCormick, Kenny]]
[[Category:Child characters in animated films]]
[[Category:South Park characters|McCormick, Kenny]]
[[Category:Television characters introduced in 1992]]
[[Category:Running gags]]
[[Category:Fictional characters from Colorado]]
[[Category:South Park characters]]

[[Category:Fictional characters with death or rebirth abilities]]
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[[Category:Fictional immortals]]
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[[Category:Fictional child deaths]]
[[Category:Fictional ghosts]]
[[Category:Fictional murdered children]]
[[Category:Fictional resurrected characters]]
[[Category:Fictional scientists in television]]
[[Category:Fictional suicides]]
[[Category:Fictional vigilantes]]
[[Category:Fictional zombies]]
[[Category:Video game bosses]]
[[Category:Comedy film characters]]
[[Category:Male characters in animated television series]]
[[Category:Male characters in film]]
[[Category:Child superheroes]]
[[Category:Television superheroes]]
[[Category:Animated characters introduced in 1992]]
[[Category:Fictional Catholics]]

Latest revision as of 00:16, 20 November 2024

Kenny McCormick
South Park character
First appearanceJesus vs. Frosty (1992) (short)
Created byTrey Parker
Matt Stone
Designed byTrey Parker
Matt Stone
Voiced byMatt Stone
Eric Stough (un-muffled)
Mike Judge (un-muffled in 1999 film)
In-universe information
Full nameKenneth McCormick
Aliases
  • Kenny
  • Mysterion
  • El Loco
  • Lady McCormick
  • Princess Kenny
  • Dr. McCormick
GenderMale
OccupationStudent, scientist (future)
Family
Significant otherKelly (ex-girlfriend)
Tammy Warner (ex-girlfriend)
RelativesGrandpa McCormick[broken anchor] (paternal grandfather)
NationalityAmerican
ResidenceSouth Park, Colorado, U.S.
Died127 times (episodes: Kenny Dies; movies: South Park: The End of Obesity South Park: Post COVID[1])

Kenneth "Kenny" McCormick[2] is a fictional character and one of the four main protagonists in the adult animated sitcom South Park, alongside Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Eric Cartman. His often muffled and incomprehensible speech—the result of his parka hood covering his mouth—is provided by co-creator Matt Stone. After early appearances in The Spirit of Christmas shorts in 1992 and 1995, Kenny appeared in South Park television episodes beginning August 13, 1997, as well as the 1999 feature film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, where his uncovered face and voice were first revealed.

Kenny was a third, later fourth-grade student who commonly has extraordinary experiences not typical of conventional small-town life in his hometown of South Park, Colorado, where he lives with his poverty-stricken family. Kenny is animated by computer to look as he did in the show's original method of cutout animation.

The character gained popularity thanks to a running gag during the first five seasons of the series, whereby Kenny would routinely suffer an excruciating death before returning alive and well in the next episode with little or no explanation. Stan would frequently use the catchphrase "Oh my god! They killed Kenny!", followed by Kyle exclaiming "You bastard(s)!". Since the sixth season in 2002, the practice of killing Kenny has been seldom used by the show's creators. Various episodes have set up the gag, sometimes presenting alternate explanations for Kenny's unacknowledged reappearances.

Still, the first, only, and last his voice was heard with his voice unmuffled speaking out loud (and not his thoughts inside his head like in "Turd Burglars") with his face completely unconcealed was in Bigger, Longer & Uncut.

Role in South Park

[edit]

Kenny attends South Park Elementary as part of Mr. Garrison's fourth-grade class. During the first 58 episodes, Kenny and the other main child characters were in the third grade. Kenny comes from a poor household, presided over by his alcoholic, unemployed father, Stuart McCormick. His mother Carol McCormick has a job washing dishes at Olive Garden.[3] Kenny has an older brother named Kevin. He also has a younger sister who is shown with his family in the season nine episode "Best Friends Forever", but does not reappear until the 15th season episode "The Poor Kid", where her name is revealed to be Karen, whom he loves unconditionally. Kenny is friends with Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Butters. Kenny is regularly teased for living in poverty, particularly by Cartman.[4]

Kenny's superhero alter ego, Mysterion, first appeared in the season 13 episode "The Coon",[5] as a rival to Eric Cartman's eponymous supervillain alter ego. He unmasks himself at the end of the episode, but his identity is left intentionally ambiguous to the viewer. He is not revealed to be Kenny until the season 14 episode "Mysterion Rises", the character's third appearance as part of a three-part story arc.[6]

Deaths

[edit]

Prior to season six, Kenny died in almost every episode. The nature of the deaths were often gruesome and portrayed in a comically absurd fashion,[7] and usually followed by Stan or Kyle respectively yelling "Oh, my God! They killed Kenny!" with the other yelling "You bastard(s)!"[8] Shortly afterward, rats would commonly appear and begin picking at his corpse.[9] In a following episode, Kenny would reappear alive and well, usually without any explanation. Most characters appear oblivious or indifferent to the phenomenon, although occasionally one will acknowledge awareness of it.[10] In "Cherokee Hair Tampons", Kenny gets irritated and offended when Stan laments Kyle's critical condition while utterly ignoring Kenny's past demises. Eric Cartman commented on Kenny's deaths in the episode "Cartmanland" when he is being sued for unsafe rides insisting to attorneys representing his family that "Kenny? He dies all the time!" In "Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo", as the episode is about to end, the kids point out that "something feels unfinished", and Kenny celebrates as "The End" sign appears; it is the first episode in the series he survives.[11]

Near the end of the production run of the show's fifth season, Parker and Stone contemplated having an episode in which Kenny was killed off permanently. The reasoning behind the idea was to genuinely surprise fans, and to allow an opportunity to provide a major role for Butters Stotch, a breakout character whose popularity was growing with the viewers and creators of the show.[12] In the episode "Kenny Dies", Kenny dies after developing terminal muscular dystrophy,[13] while Parker and Stone claimed that Kenny would not be returning in subsequent episodes. The duo insisted they grew tired of upholding the tradition of having Kenny die in each episode.[14] Stone stated that thinking of humorous ways to kill the character was initially fun, but became more mundane as the series progressed.[13] When they determined that it would be too difficult to develop the character because he was too much of a "prop", Parker and Stone finally decided to kill off Kenny permanently.[8][15]

["Kenny Dies"] was the one episode where [all the characters] cared [he was dying] for once. After that, we said, "Why doesn't he just stay dead?" And it was like, "Okay, let's just do that." It was that easy of a decision. I think a lot of people probably haven't noticed. I couldn't care less. I am so sick of that character.

— Matt Stone, from a 2002 article in the Knoxville News-Sentinel[13]

For much of season six, Kenny remained dead, though he still appears to possess Cartman's body, and both Stone and Parker entertained the idea of eventually bringing the character back.[15] According to Stone, only a small minority of fans were significantly angered by Kenny's absence to threaten a boycott of the cable channel Comedy Central, on which South Park is aired.[8] For most of the season, Stan, Kyle, and Cartman fill the void left by Kenny by allowing the characters Butters Stotch and Tweek Tweak into their group, paving the way for those characters to receive more focus on the show; nevertheless, Kenny returned from the year-long absence in the season six finale "Red Sleigh Down", has remained a main character since, and has been given larger roles in episodes.[15][16][17]

The first explanation given for Kenny's deaths and reappearances was given in the 53rd episode "Cartman Joins NAMBLA", wherein the McCormicks have a baby exactly like Kenny, including the characteristic orange parka, shortly after the former Kenny dies. Mr. McCormick exclaims, "God, this must be the fiftieth time this has happened", to which Mrs. McCormick quickly replies, "Fifty-second". This explanation is expanded upon in the season 14 episodes "Coon 2: Hindsight", "Mysterion Rises" and "Coon vs. Coon and Friends", in which Kenny, while playing superheroes with his friends, claims his "superpower" is immortality. He actually dies several times during these episodes—even committing suicide more than once—reawakening alive and unharmed in his bed each time. He is frustrated and angry that no one can remember him dying every time he regenerates and longs to know the source of his power, which he views as a curse. Unbeknownst to him, his parents were previously connected to a Cthulhu-worshipping death cult. After Kenny shoots himself the second time, Mrs. McCormick awakes with a scream, shrieks "It's happening again!", and minutes later, is shown gently placing a newborn Kenny in his bed. "We should never have gone to that stupid cult meeting," she grouses as she and her husband return to bed.[18][19]

In "Put It Down", he is killed off-screen by a driver on his phone, as his picture is shown among those of kids killed by a driver on phone texting tribute. In "Bike Parade", Jeff Bezos tells Alexa to kill Kenny, and Cartman hauls his coffin while riding his bike in the parade. "The Pandemic Special" sees Kenny being gunned down by the police when they are equipped with military weaponry to deal with the children breaking free from COVID-19 quarantine.[20]

In South Park: Post Covid, as a millionaire scientist in the future finding the cause of COVID-19, Kenny dies due to a time travel experiment that got him a variant named COVID Delta+ Rewards.[1] This death is undone in South Park: Post Covid: The Return of Covid after Stan, Kyle, and Cartman time travel to the past.[21]

In South Park: The End of Obesity, Kenny was killed by Tony the Tiger in is his first on-screen death since "The Pandemic Special".[citation needed]

Character

[edit]

Creation and design

[edit]
Kenny's entire face was revealed for the first time in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.

When developing the character, the show's creators had observed that most groups of childhood friends in small middle-class towns always included "the one poor kid" and decided to portray Kenny in this light.[22]

In a 2000 interview, Parker said that Kenny was based on a childhood friend of his who was also named Kenny and wore an orange parka that muffled his voice. He was the poorest child in the neighborhood and often skipped school, causing Parker and his friends to jokingly say he died, only for him to return to school later.[23]

An unnamed precursor to Kenny first appeared in the first The Spirit of Christmas short, dubbed Jesus vs. Frosty, created by Parker and Stone in 1992 while they were students at the University of Colorado. The character was composed of construction paper cutouts and animated through the use of stop motion.[24] When tasked three years later by friend Brian Graden to create another short as a video Christmas card that he could send to friends, Parker and Stone created another similarly-animated The Spirit of Christmas short, dubbed Jesus vs. Santa.[25][26] In this short, Kenny is given his first name, and first appears as he does in the series. Kenny next appeared on August 13, 1997, when South Park debuted on Comedy Central with the episode "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe".[27]

In tradition with the show's animation style, Kenny is composed of simple geometrical shapes and primary colors.[10][24] He is not offered the same free range of motion associated with hand-drawn characters; his character is mostly shown from only one angle, and his movements are animated in an intentionally jerky fashion.[10][24][28] Ever since the show's second episode, "Weight Gain 4000" (season one, 1997), Kenny, like all other characters on the show, has been animated with computer software, though he is portrayed to give the impression that the show still utilizes its original technique.[24]

Mysterion unmasked at the end of "The Coon". Originally intended to have been a generic, unnamed classmate of the main characters, he was revealed to be Kenny in "Mysterion Rises".[6]

The effect of Kenny's speech is achieved by Stone mumbling into his own hand as he provides Kenny's lines.[24] While he originally voiced Kenny without any computer manipulation, Stone now does so by speaking in his normal vocal range and then adding a childlike inflection. The recorded audio is then edited with Pro Tools, and the pitch is altered to make the voice sound more like that of a fourth-grader.[29][30] As the technique of Kenny's muzzled enunciation frequently implies, many of his lines are indeed profane and sexually explicit, the lengthier of which are mostly improvised by Stone.[24]

He first appeared unobscured by his hood in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, where it was revealed that he had messy blonde hair. Mike Judge provided the voice for Kenny's one line of uninsulated dialogue: "Goodbye, you guys."[31] On a few occasions during episodes that have originally aired since the film's release, he has been seen without the parka;[note 1] however, unlike in Bigger, Longer & Uncut his entire face has been only seen four times in the television series without being partially obscured or otherwise altered, this being in "The Losing Edge", "The Jeffersons", "You're Getting Old", and "DikinBaus Hot Dogs" (except in DikiniBaus Hot Dogs, his face is slightly concealed by a pair of sunglasses shades). He also speaks unmuffled during some of these instances, in which case co-producer Eric Stough provides Kenny's voice.[31] During "The Coon" episodes of seasons 13 and 14, Kenny has his first major speaking role as the character Mysterion.[32]

Personality and traits

[edit]

While most child characters on the show are foul-mouthed, Kenny is often even more risqué with his dialogue.[33] Parker and Stone state that they depict Kenny and his friends in this manner in order to display how young boys really talk when they are alone.[10][34] While Kenny is often cynical and profane, Parker notes that there nonetheless is an "underlying sweetness" aspect to the character,[35] and Time magazine described Kenny and his friends as "sometimes cruel but with a core of innocence".[36] He is amused by toilet humor and bodily functions,[36] and his favorite television personalities are Terrance and Phillip, a Canadian duo whose comedy routines on their show-within-the-show revolve substantially around fart jokes. Kenny is shown to desire intercourse in the episode "The Ring", when Kenny gets a girlfriend and is overjoyed to find out that she has a reputation as a slut. Kenny is also lecherous,[4] and often portrayed as being eager to do and say disgusting things in an attempt to impress others or earn money.[22] Conversely, his alter-ego Mysterion is seemingly mature, principled, and serious-minded, the only exception being one instance in "Mysterion Rises" in which he takes delight in irritating Cartman. As Mysterion, he convinces his parents to take better care of themselves and their children, as seen by their reaction when he questions them about the cult of Cthulhu. He also uses his disguise to protect his sister Karen (who refers to Mysterion as her "guardian angel"), as revealed in "The Poor Kid"; however, in all of his guises, Kenny is depicted as being uncommonly selfless, dying for the sake of others and spending all of his time working so he could buy his little sister a doll.[37][38]

In the trilogy of episodes "Black Friday", "A Song of Ass and Fire" and "Titties and Dragons", in which the boys play-act characters from the TV series Game of Thrones, Kenny cross-dresses as a fantasy-style princess with a wig and dress similar to the video game character Princess Zelda, and becomes a Japanese-speaking moe anime character at one point. When Cartman complains, "You're never going to be a real princess", Princess Kenny responds (via her translator, Stan) angrily to Cartman, calling him a "ball-licking lesbian".[39][40][41]

This portrayal continues in the video game South Park: The Stick of Truth where Cartman notes that playing a "chick" is "just how [Kenny] seems to be rolling right now". Kenny's sister also refers to Kenny as a girl, if you talk to her in the McCormick house. Throughout the game, Kenny posts 'status updates' referring to herself as "the cutest of them all".[42]

In other media

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Kenny had a major role in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut,[43] the full-length film based on the series, and appeared on the film's soundtrack singing (albeit muffled) several lines of the song "Mountain Town" from the film.[44] As a tribute to the Dead Parrot sketch, a short that features Kenny as a "dead friend" being returned by Cartman to a shop run by Kyle aired during a 1999 BBC television special commemorating the 30th anniversary of Monty Python's Flying Circus.[45] Kenny was also featured in the documentary film The Aristocrats, listening to Cartman tell his version of the film's titular joke,[46] and in "The Gauntlet", a short spoofing both Gladiator and Battlefield Earth that aired during the 2000 MTV Movie Awards.[47][48]

Kenny also appears in six South Park-related video games: In South Park, Kenny is controlled by the player through the first-person shooter mode who attempts to ward off enemies from terrorizing the town of South Park.[49] In South Park: Chef's Luv Shack, a user has the option of playing as Kenny when participating in the game's several "minigames" based on other popular arcade games.[50] In the racing game South Park Rally, a user can race as Kenny against other users playing as other characters, while choosing to place him in any of a variety of vehicles.[51] In South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play!, Kenny can be selected as a playable character used to establish a tower defense against the game's antagonists.[52] In South Park: The Stick of Truth, Kenny (as Princess Kenny) can be selected as a companion over the course of much of the game.[53] In South Park: The Fractured but Whole, Kenny is seen as his alter-ego Mysterion.[42]

Cultural impact

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Kenny's deaths are well-known in popular culture,[8] and was one of the things viewers most commonly associated with South Park during its earlier seasons.[54] IGN ranked Kenny at #6 on their "The Top 25 South Park Characters" list.[55] The exclamation of "Oh my God! They killed Kenny!" quickly became a popular catchphrase,[13][36] while both Kenny and the phrase have appeared on some of the more popular pieces of South Park merchandise,[8] including shirts, bumper stickers, calendars and baseball caps,[4] and inspired the rap song "Kenny's Dead" by Master P, which was featured on Chef Aid: The South Park Album.[8]

The running gag of Kenny's deaths in earlier seasons was incorporated into the season 9 (2005) episode "Best Friends Forever" when Kenny, in a vegetative state, is kept alive by a feeding tube while a media circus erupted over whether the tube should be removed and allow Kenny to die. The episode received much attention as it served to provide commentary on the Terri Schiavo case,[56][57] originally airing just one day before Schiavo died.[58] The episode earned South Park its first Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program.[59]

Kenny's deaths have been subject to much critical analysis in the media and literary world. In the book South Park and Philosophy: Bigger, Longer, and More Penetrating, an essay by Southern Illinois University philosophy professor Randall Auxier, entitled "Killing Kenny: Our Daily Dose of Death", suggests that the fashion of the recurring gag serves to help the viewer become more comfortable with the inevitability of their own death.[60][61] In the book South Park and Philosophy: You Know, I Learned Something Today, University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point professor Karin Fry wrote an essay concerning the parallels between Kenny's role in the show and the different concepts of existentialism.[62]

When Sophie Rutschmann of the University of Strasbourg discovered a mutated gene that causes an adult fruit fly to die within two days after it is infected with certain bacteria, she named the gene "Kenny" in honor of the character.[63]

See also

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Notes

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Swift, Andy (November 25, 2021). "South Park Jumps to the Future, Kills Off [Spoiler] in Post COVID Special". TV Line. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
  2. ^ "Love South Park. – FAQ". South Park Studios. Archived from the original on May 15, 2012. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  3. ^ "Kenny McCormick". South Park Studios. Retrieved March 30, 2008.[dead link]
  4. ^ a b c Sylvia Rubin (January 26, 1998). "TV 's Foul-Mouthed Funnies". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved May 3, 2009.
  5. ^ Fickett, Travis (March 19, 2009). "South Park: "The Coon" Review". IGN. Retrieved November 8, 2010.
  6. ^ a b Ramsey Isler (November 4, 2010). "South Park: "Mysterion Rises" Review. Mysterion is not so mysterious anymore". IGN. News Corporation. Retrieved November 8, 2010.
  7. ^ Devin Leonard (October 27, 2006). "'South Park' creators haven't lost their edge". CNN. Retrieved May 3, 2009.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Don Kaplan (April 8, 2002). "South Park Won't Kill Kenny Anymore". New York Post. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
  9. ^ Bill Carter (November 10, 1997). "Comedy Central makes the most of an irreverent, and profitable, new cartoon hit". The New York Times. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
  10. ^ a b c d Abbie Bernstein (October 27, 1998). "South Park – Volume 2". AVRev.com. Archived from the original on May 15, 2013. Retrieved April 30, 2008.
  11. ^ Stevens, Jeff (November 7, 2014). "The Best Live-Action 'South Park' Commercials". HuffPost. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  12. ^ Trey Parker, Matt Stone (2005). South Park" – The Complete Fifth Season (DVD). Comedy Central. Mini-commentary for episode "Kenny Dies"
  13. ^ a b c d "South Park's Kenny R.I.P." Buzzle.com. April 9, 2002. Archived from the original on January 18, 2013. Retrieved May 5, 2009.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  14. ^ Jaime J. Weinman (March 12, 2008). "South Park grows up". Maclean's. Archived from the original on July 19, 2009. Retrieved April 30, 2009.
  15. ^ a b c Page 2 Staff (March 13, 2002). "Matt Stone". ESPN. Retrieved May 5, 2009.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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  17. ^ Semigram, Aly. "'South Park' tries to go for laughs with the Penn State scandal". Entertainment Weekly. November 17, 2011
  18. ^ "South Park theory solves show's longest-running mystery". DigitalSpy. May 12, 2021.
  19. ^ Zoromski, Dan Iverson & Brian (October 4, 2006). "IGN TV's 10 Favorite South Park Episodes". IGN.
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  22. ^ a b Trey Parker, Matt Stone. Goin' Down to South Park (Television documentary). Comedy Central.
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  25. ^ "Brian Graden's Bio". VH1.com. Archived from the original on January 20, 2008. Retrieved January 10, 2008.
  26. ^ "Brian Graden Biography". Advameg, Inc. Retrieved January 10, 2008.
  27. ^ Frederic M. Biddle, "'South Park' wickedly makes the grade", The Boston Globe (August 13, 1997). LexisNexis (subscription required). Retrieved April 30, 2009.
  28. ^ Jaime J. Weinman (March 12, 2008). "South Park grows up". Mac leans.ca. Archived from the original on August 2, 2009. Retrieved April 30, 2009.
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  30. ^ "40 Questions". South Park Studios. October 4, 2001. Archived from the original on November 29, 2010. Retrieved January 30, 2009.
  31. ^ a b "FAQ: In 'Meet the Jeffersons' and in BLU Kenny's voice can be heard without it being muffled by his hood. But the voice in the movie sounds different from the episode!! Was it done by two different people?? If so why and who did the voice?". South Park Studios. June 24, 2010. Archived from the original on November 29, 2010. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
  32. ^ "Kenny's 6 Best Quotes From South Park, Ranked". CBR. March 3, 2022.
  33. ^ "Cartman top with kids". BBC. August 26, 1999. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
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  37. ^ Isler, Ramsey (November 17, 2011). "South Park: 'The Poor Kid' Review". IGN. Archived from the original on May 2, 2012.
  38. ^ "Trey Parker & Matt Stone". The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. June 15, 2011. Comedy Central.
  39. ^ McGee, Ryan (November 13, 2013). "Black Friday". The A.V. Club. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  40. ^ Parker, Trey; Stone, Matt (2014). South Park season 17 DVD commentary for the episode "A Song of Ass and Fire" (DVD). Comedy Central.
  41. ^ Nicholson, Max (December 5, 2013). "Let the Red (Robin) Wedding commence". IGN. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
  42. ^ a b Dwan, Hannah (October 16, 2017). "South Park: The Fractured But Whole review round up – What the critics are saying". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on November 4, 2017. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  43. ^ Pulver, Andrew (August 27, 1999). "South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut". The Guardian. London. Retrieved July 24, 2009.
  44. ^ "Various – Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut". www.discogs.com. 1999. Retrieved July 24, 2009.
  45. ^ "News – Pythons cut train crash from funny show". www.iol.co.za. Retrieved August 1, 2009.
  46. ^ "HBO Documentary Films: The Aristocrats". HBO. Archived from the original on April 26, 2009. Retrieved March 27, 2009.
  47. ^ Ortega, Tony (September 27, 2001). "Sympathy For The Devil: Tory Bezazian was a veteran Scientologist who loved going after church critics. Until she met the darkest detractor of all". New Times Los Angeles.
  48. ^ Trey Parker, Matt Stone (2000). The Gauntlet (Television special). MTV, Comedy Central. Short that aired during the 2000 MTV Movie Awards
  49. ^ Baker, Christopher Michael. "South Park – Overview". Allgame. Archived from the original on December 10, 2014. Retrieved July 16, 2009.
  50. ^ "Review: South Park: Chef's Luv Shack". ComputerAndVideoGames.com. Archived from the original on March 30, 2007. Retrieved July 19, 2009.
  51. ^ "South Park Rally Preview". IGN. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved July 19, 2009.
  52. ^ Brudvig, Erik (October 6, 2009). "South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play Review". IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on October 10, 2009. Retrieved October 10, 2009.
  53. ^ Martin, Liam (March 4, 2014). "South Park: The Stick of Truth review (360) Captures the show's humour". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on April 4, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  54. ^ "Word, Charged Find a Savior". Wired.com. April 27, 1998. Retrieved May 14, 2009.
  55. ^ "The Top 25 South Park Characters". IGN. October 21, 2018.
  56. ^ Wyatt Mason (September 17, 2006). "My Satirical Self". The New York Times. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
  57. ^ Melanie McFarland (October 2, 2006). "Social satire keeps 'South Park' fans coming back for a gasp, and a laugh". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved May 12, 2009.
  58. ^ Kate Aurthur (April 2, 2005). "'South Park' Echoes the Schiavo Case". The New York Times. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
  59. ^ Terry Morrow (October 23, 2005). "'South Park' outlives creators' expectations". Scripps Howard News Service. Retrieved May 5, 2009.[permanent dead link]
  60. ^ Staff (February 5, 2007). "Philosophy Speaker Presents "Killing Kenny: Our Daily Dose of Death"". GMC Journal. Green Mountain College. Archived from the original on February 19, 2008. Retrieved February 8, 2008.
  61. ^ Marchetto, Sean (December 6, 2007). "Just killing Kenny or ontological boredom?". Fast Forward Weekly. Archived from the original on November 19, 2008. Retrieved March 5, 2009.
  62. ^ Fry, Karin (December 1, 2006). Arp, Robert (ed.). South Park and Philosophy: You Know, I Learned Something Today. Blackwell Publishing (The Blackwell Philosophy & Pop Culture Series). pp. 77–86. ISBN 978-1-4051-6160-2.
  63. ^ Thomas H. Maugh II (August 5, 2002). "Playing the Name Game". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
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