Fanfic / My Super Best Friend

My Super Best Friend is a South Park fan-fiction written by Clown-Face under his fan fiction account Lord Candycane. Taking place after the events of Season 21 it focuses on Stan trying to repair his friendship with Kyle, while Kyle laments about his actions in Season 21. The story can be found here.

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My Super Best Friend provides examples of:

• Abhorrent Admirer: Not only is Heidi standing her ground on not getting back together with Cartman, she also seems to have lost all her feelings for him as she has become completely repulsed by him and his repeated attempts to get back together with her.
• All for Nothing: Kyle realizes that his crusade against Canada resulting in the country getting nuked amounted to this, after Nichole told Kyle the girls decided to ignore his warning and mocked Heidi for dating Cartman anyway and that it was the real reason why Heidi got back together with Cartman and became his Distaff Counterpart.
• All-Loving Hero:
  • Nichole is an unprejudiced Nice Girl who's shown to be willing to help anyone in need, in spite of what they may have done in the past, with Kyle being the most prominent example.
  • Heidi tries to do her best to help everyone in need, even if they don't want her help.
• Amicable Exes:
  • By the end Stan and Wendy have become this. While they don't get back together, they are able to have friendly conversations about mundane things.
  • Downplayed with Heidi and Kyle by the end. While they still aren't on speaking terms, Kyle no longer hates Heidi and is happy to see her chatting with her friends, while Heidi is happy that Kyle was able to forgive her and is being hopeful that they can one day be friends again.
• Armor-Piercing Question: Craig gives one to Butters that makes him realize the follies of pinning Cartman and Kyle against each other.
  Craig: Does [Kyle] look like he's working out his anger in a healthy way?
• Asshole Victim: Deconstructed with Cartman when Kyle gives him a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown before trying to kill him. While Cartman definitely deserve getting that vicious beatdown and probably deserves getting killed more than most, Kyle trying to murder Cartman is viewed as a bad thing by the other kids as it will send Kyle to juvie with Butters and Heidi trying to intervene to prevent Kyle from making that mistake.
• The Atoner: Several characters.
  • Kyle who wants to atone for indirectly causing Canada to get nuked by participating in Stan's fundraiser that would help the country.
  • Stan who feels responsible for Kyle Jumping Off the Slippery Slope tries to help Kyle by becoming student vice council president and start a fundraiser for Canada while also trying to ease tensions between the boys and girls.
  • Heidi also wants to atone for her actions when she was Cartman's Distaff Counterpart, especially in regards to Kyle.
  • Wendy too wishes to atone after being called out by Stan and Kyle for her terrible treatment of Heidi.
  • Nichole admits to Kyle that her reasons for helping Kyle is to atone for not listening to his advice and mocked Heidi anyway resulting her going back to Cartman and becoming his Distaff Counterpart leading to Kyle getting Canada nuked.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: The reason why Kyle warmed up to Nichole first was because she was the only person who never insulted and judged him, took the time to listen to his problems, found ways to help him cope with all the guilt he was feeling gave him suggestions on how he could atone for his actions.
• Be Careful What You Wish For:
  • Cartman who, after spending a the majority amount of time whining how he's the victim, almost ends up becoming an actual murder victim, after his continued torment on Kyle causes him to snap and attack him. To add insult to injury Cartman claims that he'll die unless Heidi takes him back nearly comes true.
  • Butters pins Cartman and Kyle against each other wishing that Kyle will beat up Cartman for his own amusement. Kyle does exactly that and Butters realizes it isn't as cathartic as he hoped and becomes horrified when Kyle tries to kill Cartman.
• Better as Friends: While Heidi does lament that her previous actions against Kyle has made a romantic relationship between the two almost impossible, she does hope that they can at least become friends again.
• Betty and Veronica: Downplayed in terms of both being nice girls but Nichole would be considered the Betty, while Heidi would be the Veronica to Kyle's Archie. Nichole is more patient with Kyle and willing to take her time with him, while Heidi has a more rocky past with Kyle and hopes to mend her relationship with him at a faster pace. In the end however Kyle ends up with neither girl, with Nichole possibly going back with Token and Kyle still choosing to keep his distance from Heidi.
• Beware of Vicious Dog: Nichole and Heidi get attacked by a dog at the abandoned barn. Kyle arrives in time to save them, and the three manage to hold it off until Stan's uncle Jimbo shoots it dead.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Eric Cartman tries to assert himself as an imposing threat, but his attempts just highlights how pathetic he has become after Heidi broke up with him. He is unable to manipulate Heidi to take him back like before and the only thing that he manages to succeed in is pissing off Kyle, which was done as a result of Butters' prodding, which ends with Cartman in the hospital completely battered and having accomplished absolutely nothing.
• Bittersweet Ending: The end features this for multiple plots.
  • Kyle was able to raise awareness about the suffering in Canada through the video he and his friends made and uploaded on the internet for everyone to see, allowing them to donates millions of dollars to the country and convincing America to help Canadians recover while preventing a possible nuclear war between the two countries from happening. However, millions of Canadians are still dead and the President who caused those deaths is still out on the loose, but the fact that Kyle was able to have a positive impact on Canada by undoing the damaged that was caused is enough for him to recover from his trauma and was able to reconcile with Stan and the rest of his friends.
  • The Gender War has also started to end with several boys and girls slowly making up. However some couples remain broken up, such as Stan and Wendy, but they are taking time to talk to each other, while implying that they'll fully reconcile and get back together.
  • Kyle and Heidi's relationship also ends on this note. While the two still aren't on speaking term, the barrier between them is slowly breaking away with the two moving on from their past incidences and becoming better people while suggesting that they'll become friends once more.
  • Eric Cartman himself, manages to snag one of these. He fails to get Heidi to take him back and Kyle gives him a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown that leaves him in the hospital beaten up and broken. However, Butters convinces Cartman to forget about Heidi, allowing him to move on with his life.
• Boisterous Weakling: Cartman challenges Kyle to a fight already attacking him when he's having a breakdown. Then Kyle proceeds to give him a swift yet brutal No-Holds-Barred Beatdown that leaves Cartman in the hospital.
• Broken Bird:
  • The events in Season 21 turned Kyle into one. The immense guilt that Kyle has received for indirectly getting Canada nuked has caused him to become an anti-social recluse who has isolated himself from his peers. He does get better by the end, but Kyle comments that he'll never be completely fixed.
  • Heidi use to have been this but managed to grow out of it after breaking up with Cartman, reuniting with her friends, losing most of her excessive fat, and becoming a Nice Girl again. She also wished to help Kyle grow out of it as well.
• Bullying a Dragon: All those times Cartman has tormented Kyle, including goading him into fighting him here, backfires on him hard, as Kyle gives Cartman a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown that nearly kills Cartman.
• Butt-Monkey: Nothing goes right for Cartman here. Heidi broke up with him and Cartman can no longer manipulate her into taking him back. Instead Cartman himself is manipulated by Butters into fighting Kyle, which ends up with Cartman getting the shit beaten out of him and is left in intensive care. Though given what he's done, he completely deserves all the bad luck he receives here.
• Bystander Syndrome: Actually discussed by Kyle when everyone did nothing about Cartman and Heidi's relationship and ridiculed Kyle when he tried to intervene despite them all hating the couple. Stan admitted that he and everyone else wanted things to change, but didn't think that it will actually happened so they just watched the unfortunate events occur.
• Call-Back: Like in Season 21 Cartman calls Heidi and begs her to take him back while crying. Unlike before, Heidi doesn't give in to Cartman's pleas and refuses to get back together with him.
• Character Development:
  • Heidi strives to become a better person, deciding to abandon the victimhood-mindset, forgoing her jerkass, bigoted, and self-pitying tendencies, and trying to make amends with the people that she has wronged. Not only that, Heidi is completely determined not to let Cartman's attempts to get back together with her succeed like they did in season 21.
  • Stan also receives some as well going from an apathetic friend to Kyle who didn't support him when he was being mocked by Cartman and Heidi, to doing everything he can to repair his friendship with Kyle and learning to understand Kyle's peril and support him when he needs it.
  • Likewise, Kyle learns to become forgiving and open-minded with people, learning to express his problems with other people and forgiving those who might have wronged him.
• The Chew Toy: Given all that Cartman has done, it is extremely cathartic to see Cartman suffer throughout the story, whether it be by getting constantly rejected by Heidi, getting tricked by Butters into doing something stupid, and getting the shit beaten out of him by Kyle.
• The Confidant: Nichole serves as this to Kyle where he explains all of his problems to her.
• Continuation: This story takes place after the Season 21 finale and ties up various looses ends left off, such as that of the Gender War, the crisis in Canada, Kyle guilt for causing said crisis, and Heidi's character arc.
• Crazy Jealous Guy:
  • Cartman becomes this again when he believes that Kyle is trying to hook up with Heidi.
  • Stan also grows jealous of Kyle's newfound friendship with Nichole, which lead to him trying to sabotage it and inadvertably putting Nichole in danger.
• Cry Laughing: Kyle has this reaction when Heidi confesses that she and Stan tried to sabotage his friendship with Nichole.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: The fight between Kyle and Cartman, where Kyle just beats the absolute tar out of Cartman.
• Curb Stomp Cushion: While the fight was mainly a one-sided one for Kyle, Cartman does get a few good jabs at Kyle by hitting him with a rock.
• Cute Bruiser: Kyle is considered physically attractive by Heidi and the other girls, and he's also shown to be a downright brutal combatant, clearly demonstrated in his near-fatal beating of Cartman.
• Defrosting Ice King: Initially acting cold and distant to his friends at the beginning of the story, Kyle slowly begins to warm up and regain some of his former idealism after befriending Nichole.
• Despair Event Horizon: Kyle admits to Nichole and Heidi that he crossed this after inadvertently causing Canada to get nuked and killing millions living there. Thankfully Kyle gets pulled out of it with Nichole’s companionship, Heidi's You Are Better Than You Think You Are speech and Stan determination to make things right with Kyle and repair their friendship.
• Did Not Get the Girl:
  • Gender-Inverted with Heidi and Kyle. Despite Heidi trying her best to make amends with Kyle and repair her relationship with him, Kyle still chooses to keep his distance from Heidi in the end. That said Heidi remains hopeful that they could at least become friends again.
  • Likewise, Cartman's attempts to get Heidi to take him back all fail this time, though by the end he is convinced by Butters to get over Heidi.
• Didn't Think This Through: Several characters:
  • When Heidi and Stan trap Nichole in the barn for the former to rescue, they didn't think that a dog would show up and try killing them.
  • When Cartman attacks Kyle while he's in the middle of a breakdown, Cartman didn't think that Kyle would snap and retaliate by giving Cartman a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.
  • When Butters intentionally set up Cartman to get beaten by of Kyle, Butters never thought that Kyle would take things too far and try killing him.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Deconstructed with Cartman. While Cartman is famous for dishing out this trope in the show, it's shown here that this trope has cost him everything. Not only did his attempted murder of Heidi for making him miss the pumpkin patch end up a major reason why Heidi broke up with him, but his continued torment of Kyle and eventual attack on him due to believing Kyle's trying to hook up with Heidi results in Kyle, who has put up with Cartman's actions for far too long, snapping and beating up Cartman until he nearly dies. In the end, Kyle and Heidi have completely moved on from Cartman, reuniting with their friends and becoming happy people again, while Cartman is left in the hospital alone, broken, deluded, and with nothing at all because of his need to get back at others over petty slights.
• The Dog Bites Back: Kyle gives Cartman one of the most brutal beatdowns ever, after being subjected to his torment for years.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: When Heidi tries to place a comforting hand on Stan's shoulder when she learns that he blames her for the rift between his and Kyle's friendship, Stan immediately shrugs her off, becoming even more angry with Heidi, and tells her to stay away from him and Kyle before walking away from Heidi.
• Downer Beginning: The story starts with Kyle in despair over the events that caused him to get Canada nuked, while Stan is feeling guilty for how he treated Kyle and severely it strained his friendship his him. The only upside to this otherwise depressing beginning is that Heidi had broke up with Cartman and is said to be recovering from the relationship.
• Dude, Not Funny!: Cartman pulls off several pranks on Kyle in front of Heidi during their time working at the set. However since Heidi is no longer Cartman's Distaff Counterpart, Heidi doesn't find them funny and it just makes Cartman look more repulsive in her eyes.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Several characters go through a lot of grief before they receive there happy ending.
  • Kyle is able to find solace that his actions helped Canada recover and has return to his circle of friends, while also gaining a new friend in Nichole.
  • Stan is able to repair his friendship with Kyle, while starting to be on friendlier terms with his ex Wendy
  • Heidi is able to earn Kyle's forgiveness and Cartman is no longer harassing her while also earning the apologies of all her girlfriends who insulted her and is last seen happily laughing and chatting with all of her friends.
  • The girls have decided to end The Gender Wars at Heidi's request, which leads to various girls starting hanging out with the boys, with some couples slowly getting back together.
  • Inverted with Cartman who is probably the only person who doesn't receive a happy ending, thanks to his toxic and selfish behaviour. That said, he is convinced by Butters to move on from Heidi.
• Easily Forgiven:
  • Played with for Heidi. Heidi’s friends seem to have forgiven her after she broke up with Cartman as they allow her to have lunch with them in the cafeteria, though Nichole tells Kyle that they were initially unsure if Heidi's attempts to change were genuine. However, Kyle averts this still holding Heidi in contempt for her past actions when she was a female Cartman, much to Heidi's dismay.
  • Played straight with Butters whom Kyle forgives for the events that lead to him inflicting a Curb-Stomp Battle on Cartman.
• Enemy Within: Kyle seems to have one within himself, goading him to kill Cartman and his own friends.
• Even the Loving Hero Has Hated Ones: While Heidi is back to being a Nice Girl who wants to help people and make amends for her past behavior, she makes it clear Cartman is the one exception, as he has become the one person she truly hates due to being a terrible boyfriend towards her, always acting in revulsion when Cartman tries to get her to take him back, and later threatens to beat up Cartman when he attacks Kyle.
• Evil Is Petty: Cartman's reasons for continuing to torment Kyle throughout the story, ruin his attempts to help Canada recover, and eventually challenging him to a fight is simply to spite Kyle, thinking that Kyle is trying to hook up with Heidi.
• Fatal Flaw:
  • Kyle admits that his anger is this to him, as it resulted in him getting Canada nuked and he is trying his best to reign it in as best as he can. Unfortunately, it unleashes again after Cartman pushes Kyle too far, resulting in Kyle being blinded by rage as he nearly kills Cartman and attacks Heidi when she intervenes.
  • Likewise, Cartman's refusal to listen to Kyle out of a belief that Kyle is trying to take everything from him. Unlike Kyle, Cartman never acknowledges this flaw and continues to torment him causing Kyle to brutalize Cartman and ironically Cartman indeed looses everything because of this flaw.
• Foil:
  • Heidi and Nichole serve as this to each other:
    • Both were nice girls that Kyle had a crush on at some point whose attempt to start a relationship with either of them failed due to Cartman's interference, and both of them offered to help Kyle recover from his trauma. However, Kyle holds Heidi in contempt due to Heidi's past mistreatment of him and rejects her help when she offered it, while Kyle didn't hold anything against Nichole when she hooked up with Token, was on neutral terms with her a while and accepts her help when she offers it.
    • Both Heidi and Nichole decided to comfort a boy, Cartman and Kyle respectively, when they found themselves isolated from their peers which resulted in an Odd Friendship between them. However Heidi's friendship with Cartman would become a romantic relationship which becomes toxic as a result of Cartman being dishonest and manipulative to Heidi, leading to her to break up with Cartman and cutting all ties with him. In contrast, Nichole's relationship with Kyle never goes beyond friendship, but it's nonetheless a healthy one due to Kyle being honest and open to Nichole, and the two remain in close contact even after Nichole gets back together with Token.
    • Both Heidi and Nichole also broke up with their boyfriends, Cartman and Token respectively, by the time the story takes place. However, Heidi and Cartman stay broken up throughout the whole story while the ending implies that Nichole and Token have gotten back together.
  • Heidi also serves as this to Cartman, as Heidi use to been just like Cartman and both have tormented Kyle resulting in Kyle holding contempt for both of them. However, Heidi would feel awful for how she treated Kyle, wanting to make amends with him and become a better person, which eventually leads to Kyle forgiving her in the end, while Cartman doesn't and stays a jerkass who continues to torment Kyle, resulting in Kyle giving Cartman a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown. Also, by taking personal responsibility for her previous actions and atone for them, Heidi is a able to improve her life and become happy again, while Cartman grows more miserable and eventually ends up with nothing, as a result of him still blaming others for his problems and play the victim.
  • Nichole herself basically serves as Cartman's polar opposite. Nichole is an unbiased Nice Girl whose positive influence brings out the best in people, while Cartman is an intolerant jerkass whose unhealthy influence brings out the worst in people. Nichole is willing to help people without expecting anything in return, while Cartman expects people to do anything for him, yet isn't willing to return the favor. In terms of their relationship with Kyle, Nichole becomes one of Kyle's closest friends while Cartman continues to be his Arch-Enemy.
• Forgiven, but Not Forgotten: By the end Kyle does decide to forgive Heidi after she snaps him out of his Rage Breaking Point and gives him a You Are Better Than You Think You Are speech, finally recognizing her attempts to make amends with him. However, Kyle still keeps his distance from her, as his memory's of their past complications are still very much intact. That being said, the ending does suggest that, after some time, Kyle will be able to fully reconcile with Heidi and the two may become friends again.
• Former Bigot: As part of Heidi taking a level in kindness, she is no longer a bigot. However, her previously expressions of bigotry is one of the reasons Kyle is reluctant to trust her, as he has no way of knowing if she was merely imitating Cartman or if all the things she said were how she truly felt about everything and everyone she insulted.
• Formerly Fat: While the story says that Heidi still has a somewhat pudgy appearance, it also says that she lost a tremendous amount of fat after going back to her vegan diet.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Kyle says that even if Heidi was influenced by Cartman during the time she was still with him, it did not justify her becoming a jerkass as it was still her own choice to mistreat others. Heidi already realizes, as she doesn't use her past relationship with Cartman to excuse her previous behavior, merely admitting she was a selfish person back then and wants to make amends with the people that she had mistreated.
• Gone Horribly Right: Butters reveals he purposely set up Cartman and Kyle's fight, knowing the latter would easily beat the former, thinking it would serve as a positive outlet for Kyle's pent-up anger issues. Craig has to point out to Butters that Kyle doesn't like fighting, and forcing him into a situation where he had to would only make him angrier. Butters realizes his mistake and tries to put an end to the fight, but by that point, Kyle is too consumed by rage to listen.
• Good Is Not Soft:
  • Nichole is a Nice Girl, but that doesn't mean she's afraid to call people out for their mistakes, especially to Stan and Heidi after their actions nearly get her killed.
  • Despite Heidi going back to being a Nice Girl, she isn't as naive as she was before. She immediately sees right through Cartman attempts to manipulate her into taking him back by threatening to kill himself if she doesn't. When he joins the set for the Canada video she makes it explicitly clear to Cartman that their relationship is over and she wants nothing to do with him. She later threatens to beat up Cartman when he attacks Kyle.
  • Kyle is the biggest example of this trope as Cartman's continued harassment causes Kyle to snap and nearly kill him.
• Greater-Scope Villain: President Garrison serves as this. While he doesn't appear here, his decision to nuke Canada in Season 21 is what drives the plot and character arcs throughout the story.
• Guile Hero: Butters shows this. He manipulates Cartman into starting an altercation that lands him in the hospital. He also succeeds in doing what nobody else is able to do-getting Cartman to get over Heidi-by using Cartman's own ego to get him to "realize" he can do better than Heidi.
• Hated by All: While this was already established in the show for Eric Cartman, its made clear here that everyone hates Cartman, as Kyle pointed out in the end. Even his ex-girlfriend, Heidi, has come to despise Cartman like everyone else, and while they were all horrified at Kyle nearly killing Cartman, they were more concern that Kyle will end up in juvie rather than Cartman nearly dying. Case in point while all of Kyle and Heidi’s friends come to visit them in the hospital, the only person who comes to visit Cartman is Butters, which is done out of guilt for setting Cartman up to be brutalized and not out of genuinely liking him. In fact, Butters set Cartman up to get beaten in the first place because he knows that everyone hates Cartman and will enjoy watching him suffer.
• Hate Sink: As in Season 21, Eric Cartman is made to be as unlikable as possible not only for being such a petty and bigoted jerkass making the lives of his fellow peers very difficult, but also for his past abuse of Heidi when he was still in a relationship with her, which ended up affecting other people, namely Kyle. Unlike Stan and Heidi, Cartman shows no remorse for his role that led to Kyle indirectly getting Canada nuked, and attempts to hinder Kyle's attempt to help Canada recover just to spite him. This makes the fact that Kyle brutalizes Cartman as payback for all the torment Cartman has subjected on him all the more satisfying.
• The Heavy: Out of everyone in the story, Eric Cartman is the one who drives the conflict the most, even if he manipulated to do so by Butters. Not only did his actions from season 21 play a major role in getting Kyle to indirectly nuke Canada, but he furthermore continues to be the biggest obstacle that Kyle has to face. This includes Cartman continuing to torment Kyle, trying to hinder all of Kyle's attempts to help Canada recover, and eventually challenging Kyle to a fight, causing him to snap.
• His Own Worst Enemy: Eric Cartman's is ultimately his own worst enemy. Not only does his toxic behavior drive Heidi away but his decision to attack Kyle out of an assumption that he is trying to hook up Heidi ends up causing Kyle to retaliate by giving him the most brutal No-Holds-Barred Beatdown. Even if Butters was lying to Cartman to fuel his assumption, Cartman could easily not believe Butters and ask to Kyle about the subject instead of just tormenting him throughout, which would have avoid Cartman from facing the aforementioned beatdown.
• Humiliation Conga: Eric Cartman gets hit with this big time. To summarize, Heidi just broke up with Cartman, his attempts to get Heidi to take him back all fail this time, Cartman gets manipulated by Butters into picking a fight with Kyle resulting in Kyle giving Cartman a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown, Cartman nearly dies, and is in last seen in the hospital in critical condition, all while Heidi still refuses to get back together with him. That said he absolutely deserves it for all the hardships that he put Butters, Heidi, and Kyle through and how he's still a jerkass here.
• Hurt/Comfort Fic: This fic focuses on Stan, Heidi, Nichole, and the boys trying their best to comfort Kyle and help him recover from his trauma of indirectly getting Canada nuked.
• I Am a Monster: Kyle believes himself to be this after his actions led to Canada being nuked and the deaths of the millions of Canadians living there. He even says to Nichole and Heidi that he is this.
• Imaginary Love Triangle: There's one between Cartman, Kyle, and Heidi, where Cartman believes that Kyle is trying to hook up with Heidi after Heidi dumped Cartman, just like he did before. However Kyle has no interest in hooking up with her again, which he had told Cartman on numerous occasions.
• Interquel: This story was published in June 30, 2019 and it takes place after Season 21 (2017) but before Season 22 (2018).
• It's All About Me:
  • Cartman, as usual. Unlike everyone else, Cartman doesn't even care that his actions led to Kyle indirectly getting Canada nuked and is only feeling sorry for himself that Heidi dumped him. He spends most of his appearances in the story tormenting Kyle and eventually attacks him because he thinks Kyle is trying to hook up with Heidi again, refusing to listen to Kyle when he says otherwise.
  • Stan also displays this behaviour for the majority of the story, growing jealous of Nichole for actually managing to help Kyle feel better. There are times when he comes off as being more concerned with things between him and Kyle going back to normal than actually acknowledging how badly Kyle has fallen into the Despair Event Horizon or admitting the role he played in the creation of the rift between him and Kyle, which causes him to be unable to realise or acknowledge just why Nichole is able to succeed where he failed.
  • The same can apply for the rest of the boys, who don't realise just how badly they'd treated Kyle until he calls them out for their past actions, and briefly turning on Kyle for seemingly not appreciating all they had done to try and make him feel better, when he thanks Nichole for helping him by declaring that her to be his second closest friend.
• It's All My Fault:
  • Kyle completely blames himself for Canada nuked. However, Nichole tells Kyle that everyone has to take blame for that incident for not helping Kyle, which leads to them all to work together in putting the effort to help the country recover.
  • Likewise, Heidi blames herself for all the things that she has done when she Took a Level in Jerkass, even if she was influence by Cartman at the time. It doesn't help that Stan blames her for straining his friendship with Kyle and the latter has become contemptuous to Heidi.
• I Hate Past Me: Heidi seems to have this view on herself when she was Cartman's Distaff Counterpart, showing contempt for everything that she has done, admitting that she was a selfish person back then, and doing her best not to become that person again.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: While Heidi does lament that she won't be as close to Kyle like Nichole, she is still happy that Nichole is making Kyle feel better about himself, admitting that Nichole is better for Kyle than she could ever hope to be. That said, Heidi was willing to put Nichole in danger so that she could rescue her and earn Kyle's forgiveness.
• Jerkass Realization:
  • Stan realizes how badly he took Kyle's friendship for granted by joining Cartman and Heidi's teasing of Kyle which led to Kyle Jumping Off the Slippery Slope, and later trying to sabotage Kyle's newfound friendship with Nichole out of jealousy. This leads to Stan trying to make things right with Kyle.
  • Wendy also realizes that she was a terrible friend to Heidi when she and the other girls relentlessly mocked Heidi for dating Cartman, which resulted in her going back to Cartman and becoming his Distaff Counterpart. This leads to Wendy and the other girls apologising to Heidi for their behavior and complying to Heidi's wishes to end the Gender War and make up with the boys.
  • All of the kids also realize just how bad they made things for Kyle after he gives them "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
• Jerkass to One: While Kyle has definitely distanced himself from his peers, he noticeably acts much more antagonistic and hostile towards Heidi Turner than to anyone else (with the exception of Cartman), despite Heidi being a Nice Girl that just wants to help him. Though this is understandable due to how Heidi previously treated Kyle when she was a female Cartman, and what it led to him doing.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: As if getting dumped by Heidi wasn't enough, karma comes to completely get back at Cartman here for all the things he's done when he suffers a truly horrendous No-Holds-Barred Beatdown from Kyle as retaliation for all the torment that he subjected Kyle to the point that Cartman ends up in critical condition as a result.
• Karmic Butt-Monkey: As punishment for the actions Cartman committed in season 21, he is made to suffer throughout this story. His ex-girlfriend, Heidi, has come to hate him for the emotional abuse he put her through and constantly rejects him every time he tries to take her back. Butters, of all people, manages to manipulate him into doing exactly what he wants, which could be seen a retribution for all the times Cartman manipulated Butters. Finally, his torment on Kyle completely backfires resulting in Kyle giving Cartman the No-Holds-Barred Beatdown that puts him in the hospital. It all accumulates in the end where Cartman is the only character not to receive a happy ending.
• Karmic Death: Narrowly avoided, but Cartman would have died at the hands of Kyle, the very person Cartman has tormented throughout his life, had Heidi not saved him.
• Knight of Cerebus: While the story wasn't exactly lighthearted to begin with, it still had many heartwarming and funny moments. That all changes in chapter 21 when a vicious dog arrives and nearly kills Kyle, Heidi, and Nichole. Not only is the dog completely bereft of any humorous qualities, but it also puts more damage on Kyle's already strained friendship with Stan and Kyle's already abysmal opinion on Heidi upon learning of their actions that led to that predicament in the first place, actions which plagues the rest of the story until it gets resolved in the end.
• Laser-Guided Karma:
  • Eric Cartman gets hit with a lot. Not only does he get constantly rejected by Heidi, but his constant torment of Kyle cause him to snap, leading to Kyle nearly killing him in a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown. Bonus points in that the person who manipulates Cartman into tormenting Kyle throughout the story is Butters, a victim of Cartman's numerous manipulations.
  • Though Heidi is back to being a Nice Girl, her current predicament could be seen at this for her past actions in regards to Kyle. Having rejecting Kyle's help and joining Cartman in tormenting him, Kyle would come to reject Heidi's help and treat her with distain.
• Living Emotional Crutch: Nichole becomes this to Kyle. Being the only person to have never insulted nor judge Kyle and trying her best to make him feel better, Nichole becomes an extremely important person for Kyle, to the point where he prays that nothing bad will happen to Nichole, and falls into despair when he hears that Nichole was put in danger by Stan and Heidi.
• Loving a Shadow: When Nicole asked Kyle if he really did like Heidi back then, Kyle tell Nicole that he honestly doesn't know and that he might have just liked the idea of saving someone from Cartman rather than truly liking Heidi.
• Mama Bear: Only briefly shown, but Sheila's reaction to finding out about Heidi's involvement in Nichole's near death-experience, (in the process revealing that she had previously demanded that Heidi's parents keep their daughter away from Kyle) shows that finding about everything that Heidi had previously put Kyle through did not give her a good impression of the girl.
• Man Behind the Man: It turns out that Butters was this to Cartman as he was the person who manipulated Cartman into continuing his torment of Kyle, hinder Kyle's efforts to atone, and challenge Kyle in a fight, by convincing Cartman that Kyle wants to hook up with Heidi.
• Maybe Ever After: The ending has this for several characters
  • Stan and Wendy seem to be repairing their relationship, with them currently just having friendly conversations, while suggesting that they will eventually get back together.
  • Likewise with Heidi and Kyle, after the two sort out their problems, the story does end with the possibility of the two eventually becoming friends again.
  • The ending also implies that Token and Nichole will get back together.
• Mirror Character: Heidi could be considered one to Stan. Both have shown great remorse for how they treated Kyle resulting in his reclusive state and would try to gain Kyle's forgiveness. At the same time, their desire for Kyle's forgiveness is arguably built on a selfish nature, with both wanting to be the one who puts Kyle back together. These similarities would lead to both of them conspiring to sabotage Kyle's newfound friendship with Nichole in a desperate attempt to achieve Kyle's forgiveness.
• Misery Builds Character: Ultimately the hardships Kyle, Stan, and Heidi have gone through shaped them to become better people. Kyle learns to better control his anger and seek help when he needs it, Stan learns to become more supportive and not take his friendships for granted, and Heidi learns to have a strong will, not be so easily fooled, never forgoing her kindness no matter what has happened to her.
• Mook Horror Show: Cartman bares witness first hand to Kyle's terrifying Unstoppable Rage.
• Must Make Amends: As mentioned in The Atoner, several characters want to do this. This includes Kyle who wants to make amends for indirectly getting Canada nuked, Stan who wants to make amends for not supporting Kyle during the time Cartman and Heidi kept on teasing him, Heidi who wants to make amends for how she treated Kyle, and Wendy who wants to make amends after realizing how her neglectful treatment of Heidi led to her getting back together with Cartman.
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • Both Stan and Heidi has this reaction when their actions nearly got Nichole killed.
  • Heidi herself receives another one of these when Kyle reveals how much her mistreatment negatively affected him and what it led him to do.
  • Butters basically says this when he realizes that manipulating Cartman into tormenting Kyle would drive Kyle to nearly kill him.
  • Kyle himself has this reaction after he nearly kills Cartman and hurts Heidi.
• Never My Fault:
  • Upon finding out that Kyle no longer trusts him, Stan is shown blaming Heidi for the creation of the rift that exists between him and Kyle, refusing to acknowledge the fact that no one forced him to mistreat Kyle. This is arguably downplayed, however, as Stan does indeed acknowledge that he handled the situation with Kyle and Heidi poorly.
  • Cartman, likewise, refuses to acknowledge that the reason Heidi dumped him was because their relationship had become toxic as a result of him emotionally abusing her, instead choosing to continue playing the victim, and later deluding himself into believing that Kyle had manipulated Heidi to break up with him so he could once again date her himself. Even when he is persuaded by Butters to forget about Heidi, Cartman chooses to believe that she was the one who mistreated him, instead of the other way around.
    • This is ultimately deconstructed in the end as while everyone else is able to move on and be happy again after admitting their mistakes and atoning for them (including Stan mentioned above), Cartman's refusal to follow suit ensures that he'll only be hurting himself far more than anyone else and remain miserable.
• Nice Girl:
  • Nichole Daniels is nothing but kind to Kyle, helping him throughout his ordeal.
  • Heidi Turner returns to being a kind person who also wants to help Kyle. However Heidi has a much harder time due to her past actions against him.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero
  • Stan and Heidi wound end up making things worse for Kyle when they try to sabotage his and Nichole's friendship in a desperate attempt to gain Kyle's forgiveness. This results in Nichole nearly getting killed, which damages Kyle's opinion of the two, and causes him to become reclusive once more.
  • Likewise, Butters arranging for Cartman to fight Kyle results in Kyle nearly killing Cartman and hurting Heidi when she tries to intervene.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Kyle contemplates about how trying to help Heidi during her relationship with Cartman and trying to make things better for his school in general made him a laughing stock amongst his peer, which led him to indirectly convinced the president to nuke Canada.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Kyle gives a brutal one to Cartman that nearly kills him.
• No-Sell: All of Cartman’s manipulative tactics fail to get Heidi to take him back this time, with Heidi even making a point in saying that their relationship is truly over and is done listening to Cartman just to get him to stop harassing her.
• The Not-Love Interest: Nichole serves as this to Kyle. Kyle use to have a crush on Nichole and she would become Kyle's closest female confidant in the story. Aside from a few Ship Tease moments however, the two never become anything beyond close friends, suggesting that Nichole still has romantic feelings for Token and it's implied that she got back together with Token by the story's end.
• "Not So Different" Remark:
  • Despite holding Heidi in contempt for her previous behavior, Kyle does comment that they aren’t so different from each other as they both feel immensely guilty for letting their emotions drive their actions and want to atone as a result.
  • Both Stan and Wendy discuss how they aren't so different from each other, both having been callous to their respective friends' situations and as a result allowed them degenerate to the degree that they ended up hurting others. This leads to the two of them apologising for their previous behaviour and trying make things right.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The normally stoic Craig becomes absolutely furious when he learns that Butters set up the fight between Cartman and Kyle, since he knows that Kyle doesn't like fighting and that he would be unleashing all his rage in an unhealthy manner. He also becomes just as panicked as the rest of the kids when Kyle tries to literally strangle Cartman.
• Odd Friendship: Kyle forms one with his former crush Nichole after explaining his hardships to Nichole when she takes the time to listen to him.
• Oh, Crap!: Cartman has this reaction when he realises that he pushed Kyle too far.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: Kyle brutally beats up Cartman and attempts to kill him as retribution for all the things Cartman has done to him and others.
• Positive Friend Influence:
  • Nichole is this to Kyle as her friendship with Kyle has allowed him to become more happier and positive throughout the story and it is her influences that pulls him out of the Despair Event Horizon and reconcile with Stan.
  • Nichole herself says that Kyle was this to Heidi explaining that Kyle's influence convinced Heidi to break up with Cartman and change back into her healthy Nice Girl self.
• Pyrrhic Victory: The story starts with Kyle having achieved what he had set out to do in Season 21. He was able to reach through to Heidi, get her to finally break up with Cartman, and Heidi is back to her old Nice Girl self. Kyle can't enjoy his victory, however, because during his efforts he inadvertently got Canada nuked, leading to the deaths of millions of people, something that Kyle feels immensely guilty for causing.
• Rage Breaking Point: After putting up with Cartman's torment and finding out Stan, at Heidi's prodding, tried to sabotage his friendship with Nichole out of jealousy, Kyle finally reaches his breaking point when Cartman attacks him while he's in the midst of a breakdown, causing him to snap and beat him to near death, even attacking Butters and Heidi when they intervene.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Kyle gives out an epic one to all of the kids that makes them realise how poorly they handled both the Gender War and Heidi & Cartman's toxic relationship.
  Kyle: "All you ever do is make things worse! When that fiasco with the internet troll came about, you just turned on each other like fucking animals instead of trying to make things better! Your stupidity drove a nice girl, a girl half of you claimed to be friends with, into the hands of a creep! And when I tried to help her, you went and did the very thing I told you not to do, undoing all of my efforts! And now, you bait my worst enemy into attacking me just for your own fucking amusement!"
• Redemption Quest: Several people who want to atone go through this:
  • Kyle's quest has him leading the support for Canada's recovery to atone for accidentally getting the country nuked in the first place.
  • Stan's quest has him trying to make amends and repair his friendship with Kyle as atonement for not supporting Kyle when he needed it.
  • Heidi's quest has her trying to make amends with Kyle and earn his forgiveness to atone for her past actions against him.
• Reformed Bully: Heidi returns to being a Nice Girl and is trying to make amends with those she had previously mistreated, especially Kyle. Though it does get Deconstructed on Kyle's part as he refuses to forgive Heidi and rejects her offers to help him. Thankfully, it becomes a Reconstruction when Heidi still tries to make amends with him anyways, leading to Kyle to eventually forgive her.
• Reformed, but Rejected: Even though Heidi is back to being a Nice Girl and is trying to make amends with Kyle, Kyle won't forgive her for her past actions.
• Rejected Apology: Played With. When Kyle and Heidi are in Mr. Mackey's office, Kyle is forced by Mackey to accept Heidi's apology. However once Kyle and Heidi leaves Mackey's office, Kyle makes it clear to Heidi that he refuses to forgive Heidi for everything that she put him through.
• Save the Villain:
  • Heidi saves Cartman, her ex-boyfriend, from being killed by a rage driven Kyle.
  • Likewise after Heidi snaps Kyle out from his Unstoppable Rage and Stan saves Kyle from drowning, Kyle has Token call an ambulance for Cartman.
• Shadow Archetype: Eric Cartman represents the person Heidi Turner once was at her lowest point and would continue to be if she didn't learn to take responsibly for herself - a Fat Jerkass who would play the victim to justify being awful.
• Ship Sinking:
  • This story makes it clear from the beginning that Cartman and Heidi's romance has been completely destroyed, with Heidi losing all her feelings for Cartman after breaking up with him and Cartman eventually being convinced by Butters to move on from Heidi.
  • The story also makes it clear that, though they may one day become friends again, any chance of a romance between Kyle and Heidi happening was completely destroyed as a result of her mistreatment of him, and what it led to him doing.
• Ship Tease: There are some moments of this between Kyle and Nichole, to the point that several of their friends question if they’re dating, though Kyle insists they’re not. It ultimately doesn’t go anywhere and Nichole is implied to have gotten back together with Token in the final chapter.
• Small Role, Big Impact: The dog only appears in one chapter before it gets killed by Jimbo, but it leaves a lasting impact throughout the rest of the story. Because of the dog, Kyle would learn that Stan and Heidi had trapped Nichole in the barn, further straining his relationships with them and causing him to run away from home, causing Stan, Nichole and Heidi to search for him. Butters would tell Cartman about the incident with the dog, causing Cartman to attack Kyle, leading to the latter snapping before nearly killing Cartman and attacking Heidi, leading Stan arriving to save Kyle after he fell from the bridge trying to save Heidi.
• Spanner in the Works: The dog is this for Stan and Heidi's plan. They wanted to trap Nichole in the barn for Heidi to later save in their effort to look good in front of Kyle, but they never wanted Nichole to get hurt or killed. Thus when the dog arrives when Heidi "saves" Nichole and Kyle tries to rescue them, Stan and Heidi are forced to confess their plan to Kyle, causing Kyle to lose even more trust in them.
• Spared, but Not Forgiven: Heidi prevents Kyle from strangling Cartman to death so that Cartman won't get killed and Kyle won’t go to juvie for murder. That said, Heidi never forgave Cartman for everything he put her through when they were still in a relationship and has come to hate Cartman like everyone else.
• Swapped Roles:
  • Kyle and Heidi's roles from Season 21 are switched here, with Heidi being the one trying to reach out to and help Kyle, and Kyle being antagonistic towards Heidi and rejecting her help.
  • Likewise, it's Butters that tries to manipulate Cartman here and Cartman actually falling for it which also counts as Laser-Guided Karma for Cartman as he suffers because of Butters's manipulations.
• Sympathetic Murderer: The story starts off with Kyle coping with his guilt for accidentally getting millions of Canadians killed. He later tries to murder Cartman himself when gets pushed too far by him.
• A Taste of Their Own Medicine: After spending the series manipulating and screwing people for his own benefit, especially Butters, Cartman himself gets manipulated by Butters into doing something Butters wants and Cartman suffers immensely for it.
• Too Dumb to Live: Cartman tries to antagonize Kyle, who has proven himself capable of knocking out Cartman with a single punch, while Kyle is in the midst of a breakdown. The result is that Kyle gives Cartman a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown and Cartman nearly dies from it.
• Took a Level in Badass:
  • Heidi seems to have gained a level after breaking up with Cartman as she's no longer fooled by his attempts to manipulate her into taking him back, and even threatens to beat him up when he attacks Kyle.
  • While it also apply to taking a level in jerkass as mentioned below, the fact that Butters, who was portrayed as a gullible simpleton before, was able to manipulate Cartman of all people into getting a Laser-Guided Karma is nothing short of impressive.
• Took a Level in Cheerfulness:
  • Heidi becomes much more happy and cheerful after breaking up with Cartman. However she still harbors some angst over her strained relationship with Kyle but was able to earn Kyle's forgiveness, ridding her remaining angst in the process and is last seen happily chatting and laughing with her friends as if nothing bad happened.
  • Kyle starts off anti-social and depressed but after befriending Nichole, her presence allows him to become more happy and open with people. After succeeding in atoning for his actions against Canada, Kyle more or less returns to his old self happily socializing with his group of friends.
  • Stan also gains a level of this after he was able to repair his friendship with Kyle.
• Took a Level in Cynic: Kyle has become depressed and cynical after accidentally getting Canada nuke having alienated himself from his peers. Luckily, he grows it after he befriends Nichole and reconciles with Stan.
• Took a Level in Idealism:
  • Stan's reasons for not helping Kyle when he was trying to change things and instead mocked him for it is because Stan didn't really think anything was going to change. However, Stan start to develop a more idealistic view during his efforts to repair his friendship with Kyle, where he does try to bring change, while also striving to become better himself.
  • Kyle also regains some of his former idealism. Prior to befriend Nichole Kyle was depressed that he can never undo the damage that he indirectly caused on Canada, but after Nichole convinces Kyle to help the country regardless, he decides that he should at least make an effort anyway and in the end he is satisfied with what he has done to help Canada,
• Took a Level in Jerkass:
  • Butters is notably much more of a dick here than he was in the show, deliberately manipulating Cartman and Kyle into fighting each other for his own amusement.
  • Kyle, in his way of trying to cope with his trauma in the beginning, acts antagonistic and hostile towards other people, especially to Heidi. It takes Nichole reaching through to Kyle to get him to snap out of it.
• Took a Level in Kindness:
  • After her stint as a female Cartman, Heidi goes back to being a Nice Girl and tries being kind to Kyle. However, Kyle refuses to forgive her due to how much of a jerk she was towards him during her stint, though Heidi's determination to show Kyle that she has indeed become a better person allows her to succeed in reaching out to him and earn his forgiveness.
  • Stan tries to be much more supportive and understanding to Kyle compared to his apathy towards him during Season 21, in an attempt to repair their friendship. It takes time, but it finally fully sets in when he realises how selfish he had previously acted after he and Heidi nearly got Nichole killed.
  • Kyle starts become less harsh and more open with his peers as time goes on, eventually repairing his relationship with Stan, while deciding forgive Heidi and part on better terms with her.
• Toxic Friend Influence:
  • Heidi's reason for breaking up with Cartman was because his influence turned her into his Distaff Counterpart, and without his influence corrupting her here, Heidi reverts back to her old self.
  • Kyle actually says that Heidi herself is this to him explaining that her presence brings out the worst in him and citing that as the reason why he wants to stay away from her.
  • Cartman's influence has also affected Butters as a result of Butters hanging out with Cartman a lot, causing Butters to adopt Cartman's manipulative behavior and uses that to manipulate Cartman into fighting Kyle leading to Cartman getting the shit beaten out of him and nearly dying.
• True Companions:
  • By the end Kyle declares, his brother Ike, Stan, the others boys (excluding Cartman), and Nichole to be his super best friends.
  • The girls have also established this relationship with Heidi. They were the first ones to accepts her back after she broke up with Cartman and when they learned that they indirectly drove Heidi to Cartman in the first place, they immediately apologized and begged Heidi for forgiveness. Likewise, Heidi doesn't hold it against them and accepts their apologies, merely asking them to be nicer to the boys, and is last seen happily hanging out with them.
• Unrequited Love Switcheroo: Between Kyle and Heidi. Kyle use to like Heidi and while Heidi seemed have reciprocated this to some degree she mostly ignored it and rejected Kyle. After breaking up with Cartman, Heidi seems to have regained her feelings for Kyle but by then he no longer likes Heidi and instead treats her with utter contempt, even rejecting Heidi when she offered to help him.
• Unstoppable Rage: Kyle flies into one when Cartman picks a fight with him while he's in the midst of a breakdown, compounded by the knowledge that Butters had intentionally pit them against each other. He proceeds to go utterly ballistic, beating Cartman to a bloody pulp, and the other kids are too terrified to intervene, and the ones that do (Butters and Heidi) fail to actually stop him. He only snaps out of it when he attacks Heidi and realizes, to his horror, what he's just done.
• Unwitting Pawn: Cartman was this to Butters of all people. Butters convinced Cartman to continue tormenting Kyle, setting Cartman up to get beaten up by Kyle in Butters misguided belief Kyle venting his anger on Cartman will rid Kyle of his negative emotions.
• We Used to Be Friends:
  • Since Stan didn't support Kyle when he was Jumping Off the Slippery Slope, their friendship has become severely strained. The story revolves around Stan doing his best to mend his friendship with Kyle so that they don't completely become this trope.
  • Kyle and Heidi were also friends before she got back together with Cartman, becoming his Distaff Counterpart, and joining him in mocking Kyle. Even after Heidi broke up with Cartman and returned to her old self, her relationship with Kyle is still very strained, though by the end Heidi does hope that they can eventually become friends again now that she has earned Kyle's forgiveness.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Butters genuinely means well when he intentionally sets up Cartman to be beaten up by Kyle so that Kyle can find a way to vent out all of his negative emotions, and tries to intervene when Kyle tries to kill Cartman.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Both Stan and Kyle flat out tell Wendy that she was a horrible friend to Heidi, and that her and the other's girls', terrible treatment of her played a large role in Heidi becoming Cartman's Distaff Counterpart.
  • Both Stan and Heidi receive this from various characters after their attempt to sabotage Kyle and Nichole's bond result in the latter nearly getting killed.
  • Craig Tucker chews Butters out for orchestrating Cartman and Kyle's fight in a misguided attempt to help Kyle let out his anger.
  • While holding on for his life after falling off the bridge, Kyle refuses to let the other kids save him, and snaps at them for how badly they'd handled both the Gender War and the Cartman and Heidi's toxic relationship.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Kyle's actions leading to Canada getting nuked was a result of the bullying received from his peers. While he tries his best to reign in his anger so that nothing like this ever happens again, learning that his Living Emotional Crutch was nearly killed by his best friend and Cartman's repeated torment causes Kyle to snap again, resulting in him trying to kill Cartman and attacking anyone who gets in his way.
• Would Hit a Girl: When Heidi tries to get a rage induced Kyle to stop his fight with Cartman, Kyle proceeds to redirect his anger at her. He fortunately realizes what he's doing before he could do anything worse.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: While at the bridge, Kyle contemplates that whenever he receives some sort of happiness, it gets taken from him making him feel even worse. It first happened when he liked Leslie Meyers only to learn that she's an evil ad who gets destroyed by PC Principal, and again when he liked Heidi only to reject him and return to Cartman becoming his Distaff Counterpart, and it happens once more when he becomes friends with Nichole only to learn that Stan was jealous of their bond and with the help of Heidi tried to sabotage it, nearly getting her killed. It does get subverted when Kyle reconciles with Stan, keeps his friendship with Nichole, sees Heidi move forward with her life, and helps Canada recover, all without Kyle's happy ending getting taken from him.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: When Kyle believes himself to be weak for letting his emotions drive him to nearly kill Cartman and hurt Heidi and Butters, Heidi tells Kyle that he is stronger than he thinks and that even strong people can make mistakes, but they learn from them and allowing people like her to help him won't make him weak.