History SouthPark / TropesAToD

* {{Cloudcuckooland}}: {{Canada|Eh}}. Watch out for Scott!

** Whenever the Oval Office is shown, it is shown to have two giant doors in front of the Resolute Desk, seemingly implying that it is in the middle of the White House, and has a navy blue rug. In real life, the Oval Office is not so imposing. It's actually tucked away in a corner of the West Wing with four regular sized doors to get into it. There is just a simple fireplace where the giant doors are in the show, and the navy blue rug generally associated with it was only there during the Clinton years.

* BloodKnight: How Creator/RussellCrowe is portrayed in "The New Terrance and Phillip Movie Trailer". He has a television show called "[[ShowWithinAShow Fightin' Around the World]]" in which he attacks random bystanders because he thinks they'll give him a good fight.

* BreadEggsMilkSquick: The stuff Trent Boyett had on his person when he first arrived in juvenile hall after being framed by Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman for a fire that horribly injured their pre-school teacher: a pack of crayons, safety scissors, a marble, [[KnifeNut and a knife]] [[OhCrap with "Kill All Betrayers" written on the blade]].

* AuthorAppeal: This is the only reasonable explanation to why a bunch of eight year old boys (in 1997) are gushing over [[Music/TheCure Robert Smith]].

* AbsenteeActor: None of the main boys appear at all in "Not Without My Anus", "Pip", "A Million Little Fibers", "Goth Kids 3: Dawn of the Posers", and "Handicar". There have also been a few episodes were one or some of the boys are absent throughout.

* ArtisticLicenseEducation: Most of the staff at South Park Elementary are extremely incompetent at their jobs. The closest thing the school had to a competent, responsible adult was Chef, a womanizing {{Casanova}} whose advice often caused misunderstandings, but he was eventually KilledOffForReal. Things only get worse when Principal Victoria is replaced by [[PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad PC Principal]], who yells at his students and is willing to ''[[WouldHurtAChild assault them]]'' just for using microaggressions.

* AnimalGenderBender: All cows have udders.

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: From "Imaginationland Part 1": "Say what you want about Creator/MelGibson, but the son-of-a-bitch knows story structure!" (After [[{{Squick}} their]] [[FullFrontalAssault previous]] [[AxCrazy portrayal]] of Mel, very sporting indeed.)

* ContinuityCreep: ''South Park'' has always had fair amount of continuity, but seasons 18 and 19 is where it begins having serialized, ongoing story arcs, with episodes being heavily connected to one another without being part of a multi-episode event. However, after Donald Trump's upset victory in the 2016 election, about half of the planned story line for season 20 had to be thrown out and quickly rewritten. Season 21 reverted back to a more episodic structure, though still more continuity heavy than earlier seasons which were mostly NegativeContinuity.

* AdultFear:
** Sheila has an ''enormous'' meltdown when she (erroneously) suspects her two children, who act perfectly sweet and innocent in person, are Internet trolls who intentionally caused a high-profile suicide in a cyber-bullying incident. Worse, the real troll behind it ''is her husband''. In general, season 20 stokes the fear that even people you know and love may not merely act differently online, but are doing things that would destroy their families if anyone else found out.
** In "Marjorine", Butters' parents have a breakdown when they're tricked into thinking their son committed suicide.
** Stan's grandfather has Alzheimer's and is losing his memory and his grip on reality. Unusually for ''South Park'', it's not PlayedForLaughs when he admits to Stan he can't remember what his beloved Border Collie looked like.

** Butters' parents, [[YouAreGrounded who will ground him]] for ''literally anything'', including looking "silly" in his school pictures, even though he wasn't doing anything wrong. Once he was locked in the basement at the end of "Marjorine" for pretending to be dead in order to have a new identity as a girl, and was tellingly absent from the next episode, suggesting he may have been kept down there for up to a week. He sees his father as a kind of grounding-monster, suggesting that the beatings he has mentioned on occasion are more frequent than he lets on. Oh, and there was that whole bit about his mother [[spoiler: [[MoralEventHorizon attempting to murder him]] ]] in his very own episode. With the reveal that even [[spoiler: his grandmother bullies him]], it appears that child abuse runs in the Stotch family. When the fourth graders are interviewed by police to find out if [[spoiler:Chef]] sexually assaulted them, the investigating officer holds a doll up, [[spoiler:simulates analingus on it]], and Butters shouts out "My Uncle Bud did that to me once!"

-->'''Stan''': Dammit, Towelie? Do you remember the passcode or not?\\
'''Towelie''': Maybe if I get high, I'll remember!\\
'''Kyle''': ''[sighs]'' Fine...\\

'''Kyle''': Well, do you remember?\\
'''Towelie''': ''[with bloodshot eyes]'' Remember what?

* AffablyEvil: Satan is portrayed as this. He's certainly less evil than Cartman. Absolutely invoked in "Freemium Isn't Free" as Satan takes time to explain the nature of addiction to Stan, complete with graphs and illustrations and often peppering his speech with terms like "pal" and "buddy". Followed by his appearance in the two-parter "Time to Get Cereal"/"Nobody Got Cereal", in which Satan actually [[spoiler: dies trying to protect the town from Manbearpig and becomes an AscendedDemon]].

-->'''Alien 1''': Oh, that was Carl. He's new.\\
'''Alien 2''': Yeah, my bad.

* AllergicToLove: Stan vomits every time Wendy talks to him. Though when they started dating as the show progressed (after TheMovie), Stan stopped vomiting completely around her. However, in "The List", when [[spoiler: they discover feelings for each other again (after having been broken up for some time)]], Stan vomits in front of her once more [[spoiler: before they can kiss]].

** Oddly invoked in "The Ring" when [[spoiler: Mickey Mouse himself turns into an EldritchAbomination after beating up the Jonas Brothers and calling Christians stupid because "they believe in a talking dead guy" all on live television]].
---> '''Reporter''': "The Disney purity ring venture will now most likely prove a marketing bust, as Mickey returns to Valhalla to slumber and feed."

** In "[[Recap/SouthParkS6E13TheReturnOfTheFellowshipOfTheRingToTheTwoTowers The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to the Two Towers]]", all the boy's fathers are very knowledgeable when it comes to porn, much to their wives' disgust. [[spoiler: Subverted somewhat by Mrs. Broflovski and Mrs. Cartman describing a sexual act from "Backdoor Sluts 9" with unusual accuracy.]]

*** [[spoiler: Cartman's mom really is a drug addict.]]
*** [[spoiler: The Tweaks mix their coffee with meth that's brewed in the [=McCormicks=]' garage.]]
*** [[spoiler: That's not caffeine Tweek Tweak's addicted to; it's the Meth his parents mix in his coffee.]]
*** [[spoiler: Mr. Mackey's hoarding problem hasn't improved much, if his U-Store-It locker is any indication.]]
*** [[spoiler: Kenny's parents have a meth lab in their garage, but it's not them brewing.]]

*** "Cartman in Love" gives us [[spoiler: Cartman telling the new girl, Nicole, that he and Kyle are a gay couple, so that Nicole will be more likely to go out with Token]]. Cartman puts a ton of effort into convincing the town that his lie is true. Averted in just how obsessed and enchanted Cartman is with Nicole and Token- or more specifically, [[NobleBigot blacks belonging with other blacks]].

** Porcupiney's immaculate child, who was supposed to be the woodland critters' lord and savior, [[spoiler: but fortunately this never came to be because Stan [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext taught three talking mountain lion cubs how to perform an abortion.]]]] None of this actually happened though, as it all just came from Cartman's demented imagination. They become terrifyingly real though in the ''Imaginationland'' arc.

--> '''Stan:''' ''[to Kyle]'' Dude, are you thinking what I'm thinking?\\

** Cartman in "Scott Tenorman Must Die", where he [[spoiler: has Scott's parents killed, grinds their corpses into chili which he then feeds to Scott, and causes Scott to cry in front of [[Music/{{Radiohead}} his favorite band]]]], [[NoSympathy who then call him a "crybaby".]]

---> '''Doctor''': "After [[AndIMustScream 14 hours]] of testing, we can conclude that your son (Butters) does suffer from schizophrenia."
** [[spoiler: In "Holiday Special", staffers at [=DNAandMe=] have difficulty analyzing a sample of Randy's DNA taken from a cheek swab, so they personally come to the Marsh home to forcibly take an anal sample.]]

* AttackItsWeakPoint: Invoked in "Grey Dawn", where the elderly have taken over the town and plan to kill anyone under 65. They are defeated when the boys [[spoiler: padlock the front doors of the local Country Kitchen Buffet, causing the elderly to grow too weak from hunger to fight back]].

--> '''Kyle''': (to Robert Smith) ''Disintegration'' was the greatest album ''ever''!!

** South Park is saved from hostile takeover by the Jersey Shore by [[spoiler: ''Al-Qaeda'']].

** Kyle isn't [[spoiler: from Series/{{Jersey|Shore}}]]. Don't suggest that he is.

*** Season 19 has PC Principal [[spoiler: as a DiscOneFinalBoss. The true Big Bad is Leslie Meyers, a living advertisement that is planning to take over, with the aid of South Park resident Nathan]].
*** Season 20 is a BigBadEnsemble between the Member Berries, the superfruit that make people hateful using nostalgia and Lennart Bedrager, the CEO of {{Troll}}Trace.com that reveals everyone's Internet history. In due part to an AbortedArc, the finale ends up with Bedrager as the personal antagonist, [[spoiler: and reveals that he is in fact a troll himself who wants to start WorldWarIII ForTheEvulz]].
*** Season 21 has another BigBadEnsemble between Cartman and President Garrison. The former has reverted back to his old self who is emotionally abusing his girlfriend Heidi. He manipulates her into staying with him by feeding her junk food and corrupting her with his anti-Semitic beliefs and eventually turns her into [[spoiler: his DistaffCounterpart]]. Meanwhile, the latter has become a rapist towards his staff. Garrison also tweets challenging North Korea causing kids to either freak out or die, [[spoiler:nukes Canada]] because of tensions caused by Millennials against Canada, and in the finale the [[spoiler:residents hunt him down for Justin Trudeau]], while he lurks around like the creature from IT. Though one can argue that there's actually no true BigBad in Season 21 and the biggest conflict driver is the theme of self-victimization, where everyone has used it as an excuse to act awful.

** Season 20 ends with Troll Trace [[spoiler: being shut down before it could do long term damage]], but now there's no evidence of Gerald [[spoiler: ever trolling, meaning his relationship with Sheila is secure]], although it is implied that Kyle and Ike's relationship with him has become strained, and the Member Berries [[spoiler: remain at large to manipulate Mr. Garrison]].
** Season 21 ends with Kyle and Ike [[spoiler: stopping President Garrison together]], and Heidi [[spoiler: finally breaking up with Cartman for good after [[HeelRealization realizing]] how much her relationship with him has changed her]]. However, [[spoiler: Garrison escapes captivity with people claiming how things will get worse now that he has become more desperate and leaves the season at a {{Cliffhanger}}]].

** The Season 10 finale "Stanley's Cup" was poorly received when it was released. [[SarcasmMode Surprisingly,]] [[DudeNotFunny viewers failed to see the humor in]] a small child with Leukemia [[DeathByDespair dying from a lack of hope]] after watching his 4-6 year old hockey teammates being ''literally'' battered by a team of heavily-built professionals. It's a good example of how black humor can massively blow up in your face.

--->'''Kyle:''' Kenny?... Kenny! Don't worry, Kenny. You didn't die for nothing. We're gonna get Wing back as our client and and make a ton of money, I swear it to you! ''(returns to the other boys)'' They killed Kenny!\\

--->'''Cartman:''' ''(completely covered in ash, amidst a field of dead trees)'' Damn, Ken.

** In "Butterballs", Butters is secretly bullied and beat up by his own grandma. She even follows him to school and bullies him in the bathroom. It's a running gag in the episode where people go to the bathroom to find a bully there waiting there for them. [[spoiler: Even more so when Butters attempts to find inner strength by donning the costume of Professor Chaos, only to have Grandma show up in a costume of her own, complete with black cape.]]

-->'''Estella''': I told you, Pip. I have no heart.
-->'''Pip''': But you do! And I shall prove it to you once and for all! Look at this adorable little bunny.
-->'''Estella''': Oh my. 'E's very cute.
-->'''Pip''': You see that? A heartless person wouldn't care at all about this bunny. They'd just as soon break its neck. ''[Estella breaks its neck]'' ...Oh. But look at ''this'' bunny. There. You see that? You have too big a heart to kill two baby bunnies.''[Estella kills bunny #2]''...Right...

* ButterflyEffect: Very well done in the "Go God, Go!" duology. In the second episode, [[spoiler: Future]] Cartman [[spoiler: calls Present-Day Kyle]] to ask for his help. When Kyle misses his ride because of the phone call, several things [[spoiler:in the future]] change, most of which (if not all of which) are simply cosmetic. Regardless, the fact still remains though that [[spoiler:a seemingly trivial change to the present had a visible, and immediate, effect on the future]].

* BuxomIsBetter: Parodied in "Bebe's Boobs Destroy Society". Being an early blooming third-grader, her "breasts" are practically nonexistent (she first mistakes them for mosquito bites), but even they're enough to first make every boy in her grade fall head-over-heels for her and eventually transform into lustful, breast obsessed cavemen. [[spoiler: They all grow out of it just in time for Wendy, who's spend the entire episode jealous of Bebe's newfound popularity, to get ridiculously large breast implants, which of course immediately turn her into a subject of mockery instead of adoration.]]

* TheCanKickedHim: The fate of [[spoiler: Clyde's mom]] in "Reverse Cowgirl."

--->'''Kyle''': Big corporations are good! ...Without big corporations, we wouldn't have things like cars, and computers, and canned soup.

* CarMeetsHouse: Played with in the episode that covered the dangers of elderly drivers. Said old people chase the boys through the house serial-killer style, using their cars. Lampshaded when [[spoiler: the boys and Randy take cover on the ''second'' story of a house, only to flip on the lights and reveal another car with elderly drivers. Cue driver: "How the hell did we get up here?"]]

---> '''Chef''': "Hello there, children!"\\
'''Boys''': [in unison] "Hey, Chef."\\
'''Chef''': "How's it goin'?"\\
'''Boys''': [one or all] "Bad."\\
'''Chef''': "Why bad?"

* CaughtWithYourPantsDown: In "Overlogging", Randy has gone for weeks without masturbating to Internet porn, (which he needs, as normal porn is now too tame) eventually near the end he sneaks into the camp's computer room, looks at a bunch of perverted things, and [[spoiler: in a moment of Squick ejaculates all over the room and himself. He tells the people who come to investigate the strange noises that "a ghost was attacking him and slimed him with ectoplasm". He asks several times if anyone else "saw the ghost."]]

* CerebusRetcon: [[spoiler: Kenny's recurring deaths]] and [[spoiler: the explanation behind the subsequent {{Snap Back}}s given in "Cartman Joins NAMBLA"]] are given a '''dark''' twist in "Mysterion Rises".

** It might have always been there but "Cash for Gold" revealed that [[spoiler: Stan's grandpa has Alzheimer's disease, making him calling Stan "Billy" all those times a little less funny]]. Still, Stan's grandpa turns out to have had a dog called Billy who he loved very much, and Stan correctly associates that as his grandpa loving him too, even if he doesn't really remember day-to-day events.

--> '''Cartman:''' ''Zookeeper 2: Zookeepier''!

* ChekhovsGunman: In the "Coon and Friends" saga: who'd have thunk that [[spoiler: Mint-Berry Crunch, who came out of nowhere, had no real significance to the plot, and was [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway a noticeably lame superhero]], would wind up being the one to fix everything]]? Even Cartman's surprised.
--> '''Cartman:''' (in disbelief) [[spoiler:[[DidntSeeThatComing Fucking Mint-Berry fucking Crunch]]...]]

---> '''Lou:''' I owe it to that victim over there! I know she hadn't been in any recent episodes, but DAMMIT, she deserved better than this!

* ClicheStorm: Invoked in "About Last Night..." is intentionally full of HeistFilm cliches.

--> "Now that's what I call [[{{Pun}} a sticky situation]]!"

--->''(the monster, instead of running away like in the real scene, pulls out some ice cream)''\\

''(the monster tears a hole in the roof of the bus -- just like when he killed Kenny in a scene elsewhere in the episode -- and gives ice cream to the kids)''

-->'''Cartman''': But ya know, we've all learned something, you guys. We can never persecute living beings and force them into hiding. It's wrong.\\
'''Kyle''': And you don't see any parallel between that and anything else in history?\\
'''Cartman''': Hmmm, nope. I have no idea what you're talking about, Kyle.

** In episode 201: [[spoiler:Scott Tenorman's father was Cartman's father. Cartman killed his own father and ''fed him to his half-brother'']]. Cartman has a Heroic--well, a [[HeroicBSOD BSOD of some other character alignment]] over the fact that this means he [[spoiler:is half-ginger]], which he is more upset over than [[spoiler: the fact that he killed his own father]].

---> '''Liane:''' Eric, dear? I just got a call from your friend Kyle's mother. She said that this show is naughty, and might make you a potty mouth.\\

--> '''President Obama:''' We watched... as sex addiction ran rampant through our country. It devastated families. But once again, our great country has risen up as one. The wizard alien... is dead. Sex addiction is no more. And if a rich celebrity is caught again trying to screw lots of women, we will know [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial it isn't because men are just like that]], it's because a wizard alien has cast his mighty spell.

** Then we finally have Mysterion's identity and ''actual'' power explained. [[spoiler: Mysterion is Kenny, who ''can't die''. On top of that, the conclusion to the Coon/Mysterion saga showed Kenny's mother giving birth again, sans pregnancy, and regretting going to any of the Cult's meetings. This is a direct nod to the episode when she gave birth to a Kenny look-alike, ''after'' Kenny had died trying to prevent the new kid from being born.]]

** Again in "Creme Fraiche", which pits Randy against various reality TV cooking stars, such as Guy Ferrera and Chef Ramsey [[spoiler: which is actually a disguised Cartman]].

* CrapsackWorld: Especially after the (relatively) [[LighterAndSofter tamer]] and [[CrapsaccharineWorld sillier]] early seasons. Gets a [[LiteralMetaphor literal]] treatment with "You're Getting Old"/"Ass Burgers": [[spoiler: Poor Stan watches his life fall apart around him; and after it all, right as he finally regains his enthusiasm in life, he's dragged back into the status quo against his will, turning to alcoholism just to go on living normally]].

* CreepyGood: [[spoiler: [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]]]].

* DarkerAndEdgier: Pre-Season 5, the show was really silly and amusing. But once we get to the season of uncensored cursing, Cartman [[spoiler: killing two people and grinding them up into chili]], brainwashing Earth Day cults, life-threatening hemorrhoids, genetically-engineered towels, and butt-faced people, sooner or later, you'll realize that the show has gotten a near-complete overhaul.

* DeadpanSnarker: Stan and Craig. ''Especially'' Craig.
-->'''Craig:''' This is fun. Let's walk for miles through a spooky jungle. It just keeps getting better and better.

--> '''Cartman''': [[LampshadeHanging Oh, come on! Kenny dies all the time!]]

'''Goodell:''' ''(voice obviously sampled)'' I will get it right, and do whatever is necessary to accomplish that.\\

'''Goodell:''' We can add... and we will [[BrokenRecord do more... do more... do more...]] ''(breaks down)''\\

** Also in the "Coon and Friends" trilogy, Kenny [[spoiler: as Mysterion]] finally decides to speak to his friends about the matter without the muffle, and completely seriously. It turns out that [[WeirdnessCensor no one has the ability to remember]] the deaths, and Kenny reappears in his bed, or occasionally somewhere else.

** Jesus as well. He used to be featured a lot more in the earlier seasons and had his own talk show. In fact, he used to be the star of the early shorts. Although he still appears occasionally from time to time, he isn't as prominent as before and his talk show disappeared. Satan also became less prominent. Lately, however, Kenny HAS been getting more appearances, even getting his own episode with Butters in "Going Native" [[spoiler: AND NOT DYING]]!

* DestructiveRomance: Though initially starting out [[SickeninglySweethearts very sweet and loving]] in Season 20, [[FatBastard Cartman's]] relationship with [[AscendedExtra Heidi Turner]], became this in Season 21. Cartman becomes miserable in his relationship with Heidi but doesn't want to end it because of his [[AttentionWhore constant need for attention]] and is emotionally manipulating her into staying with him. Likewise the only reason Heidi is still with him is because [[HonorBeforeReason she doesn't want to admit to her friends she made a bad decision]], even if [[TheCorrupter his influence]] turns her into his DistaffCounterpart. The relationship has also affected other people as well, especially Kyle, who was upset that he wasn't able to convince Heidi to leave Cartman blaming Canada for this,[[spoiler: which resulted in him getting the country nuked]]. Eventually [[HeelRealization Heidi realizes]] how much of a negative impact her relationship with Cartman had and how they only [[PlayingTheVictimCard saw themselves as the victim of other spouses' emotional abuse]] and decides to end the relationship herself, not letting Cartman's emotional manipulation affect her anymore.

-->'''Stan''': Alright, that does it! [[TropeNamers Brake]] [[BrakeAngrily angrily]], Kenny!

** "Pandemic". The Department of Homeland Security takes every Peruvian flute band they can find and takes them away to Miami where they plan to make them spend the rest of their lives. Why? For the sole reason that they find them annoying. [[spoiler: That is what it seems like, until Part 2, when we find out that the Peruvian flute bands were the key to keeping some monstrous guinea pigs from causing massive destruction. The DHS did that ''knowing full well what would happen''.]]
** In "T.M.I.", a psychiatrist tries to purposely antagonize Cartman by hurling fat jokes and insults at him to test how he deals with anger. Cartman does not respond with the usual emotional reaction one might expect. Rather, he [[spoiler: uses an iPhone to produce fake evidence that the psychiatrist was involved with a teenager online. The psychiatrist's wife calls the psychiatrist and kills herself over the phone]].
** In "1%", Cartman responds to being teased about "crying to his stuffed animals" every time he is persecuted by [[spoiler: trashing all of his stuffed animals one by one and blaming it on his friends]]. Also known as, [[TheTysonZone Cartman's interpretation of "growing up"]].

--> '''Butters:''' You said you like to put fish sticks [[note]]"fish dicks"[[/note]] in your mouth, [[spoiler: that makes you a gay fish]]!

---> Eric always has been a bit... dramatic... (Uneasy laugh)

** Pip in "201" [[spoiler: gets stepped on by [[InstantAwesomeJustAddMecha Barbara Streisand]] for no reason]].

** In "Coon Vs Coon and Friends", [[spoiler:Kenny/Mysterion]] attempts to goad Cthulhu into either removing his [[CursedWithAwesome curse of immortality]] or simply killing him once and for all. After a particularly irksome situation where a mysterious stranger behind a CGI portal gives a speech about powers, destiny, an extraterrestrial origin etc. only to find out [[spoiler:he's talking about Mint-Berry Crunch]], who then disappears along with Cthulhu and Cartman, Mysterion goes back to headquarters/Cartman's basement after [[spoiler:Mint-Berry Crunch saves the world]]. There, he tells his gleeful superhero buddies that he wants to "go to bed" [[spoiler:then promptly shoots himself. For the third time in the trilogy]]. The punchline is that he probably really meant it since [[spoiler: he'd just wake up in bed a little later anyway]].

** Taken seriously in "Cartman Sucks" where [[spoiler: the gay children in the camp see themselves as evil and unable to change the way they think]].

* AnAesop: Many episodes end with a character delivering an Aesop. Often this is Kyle or Stan starting with, "I learned something today..." Often times the Aesop delivery is subverted in some way.
** In "Chinpokomon", Stan delivers an Aesop to Kyle to stop him from bombing Pearl Harbor, saying he shouldn't conform. Kyle uses said Aesop to justify going ahead with the bombing, so Stan delivers a second Aesop completely contradicting his earlier speech.
** Another subversion is "The Entity", where the kids try to pull their usual "I've learned something today..." Aesop speech, only for it to die out several times when they realize that, no, they actually haven't learned anything this time.
** {{Defied|Trope}} in RealLife in "201" when the entire Aesop, spoken by three people, was bleeped out by the network prior to airing, which may be some of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/201_%28South_Park%29#Response_to_censorship saddest irony in the history of the show]]. This is particularly confusing, as the subject of this controversy (the portrayal of the prophet Muhammad drawing death threats) was absolutely moot. The show depicted this person in an episode five years earlier, "Super Best Friends".
** Intentionally rose to the same level of irony when Stan began with the usual opening, only for Kyle to interrupt with "No, no we didn't," and walk away.
** In "Cartman Joins NAMBLA", the president of NAMBLA launches into a speech about the hypocritical lack of freedom in America, and how he and the other members of NAMBLA didn't choose to be attracted to young boys, all over the same piano music from every other Aesop in the show. He is then interrupted by Kyle, who responds with "[[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse Dude. You have sex with children]]."
** A meta example in "Cartoon Wars 2", in which Kyle attempts to [[spoiler: convince the network head of Fox to air an episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' that intended to have a joke involving the prophet Mohammed]]. This was in response to the death threats received by the French publication ''Charlie Hebdo''. This was a heavy ideal for a show known for fart jokes.
---> '''Kyle''': "If you don't show Mohammad, then you've made a distinction what is okay to poke fun at, and what isn't. Either it's all okay, or '''none''' of it is."

** Eric Cartman is ''the'' most famous and iconic Deadpan Snarker in cartoon history.

* AesopAmnesia: At the end of "Jewpacabra", Cartman had finally decided to get over his Antisemitism. Six episodes later, he becomes half-traumatized when Kyle tells him the Jewish population is growing.

* AllegedlyFreeGame: The WesternAnimation/TerranceAndPhilip game app in "Freemium Isn't Free" is a mindless smartphone app that just consists of buying houses for a simulated Canada. Stan becomes addicted to it and spends several thousand dollars on in-game currency.

* AccidentalArt: In "The Tale of Scrotie [=McBoogerballs=]," the four boys write the most disgusting book possible as a joke after learning that ''Literature/CatcherInTheRye'' isn't nearly as dirty as they thought it was. Once the adults find it, the boys blame it on Butters, but the books becomes a smash hit because everybody reads it as deep, moving literature with important political messages.

** In the "Coon and Friends" trilogy, this is done twice between Cartman and Cthulhu: one, a tribute to ''Anime/MyNeighborTotoro'', and the other is a nod to the Creator/ChuckJones cartoon ''WesternAnimation/FeedTheKitty''. The original "Coon" episode also parodies ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' in the beginning.

* AllElectionsAreSeriousBusiness: Shown in how serious the kindergarten elections are taken in "Trapper Keeper" and taken [[UpToEleven to the extreme]] in "Douche vs. Turd" over the school mascot election, when Stan gets exiled simply for abstaining from voting.

* AmbiguouslyBi: Butters has some fairly feminine interests, like dancing, singing and art, but has repeatedly been affectionate with girls and women - probably more than any of the other boys have been seen. He's got a bad habit of getting into situations that are pretty gay, but most of the time it's peer pressure (like the boys making him dress up in "Marjorine") or his naivete (like in "Butters' Creamy Goo"). There's no denying he's got a few quirks but he's got nothing on Cartman.
** In "Le Petit Tourette" when [[spoiler:Cartman is unable to filter what he says and what he thinks, he admitted that he and his cousin touched each others wieners together]]. He also publicly admits to having a crush on schoolmate Patty Nelson, right in front of her, and fantasises kissing her, much to her disgust.
* AnalProbing: Eric Cartman was probed by TheGreys in the {{Pilot}} episode, appropriately titled [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "Cartman Gets An Anal Probe."]] By "Anal Probe", we mean he eventually grows a satellite out of his bum.

** This is pretty much Cartman's reaction to arranging Scott Tenorman's parents to be killed and ground into chili to get even for being swindled out of $16.12

** "The Death of Eric Cartman": Cartman (who think he's dead) trashes Butters' room, which gets Butters sent to an insane asylum where he's examined by a questionable doctor whose methods included having a machine anally probe him for hours on end ([[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/southpark/images/d/d9/DeathofEricCartman07.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20100310171553 the probe itself]] was about the size of a football and rotated).

** Inverted when the boys bring in [[JewishAndNerdy Kyle's cousin]], [[OneSteveLimit Kyle]] as a ringer to make sure they lose and thus no longer have to play baseball.

* BackForTheDead: [[spoiler:Pip is crushed to death]] in "201".

** Part 2 of [episode title]... WILL NOT BE SHOWN TODAY to bring you this special showing of [[StylisticSuck Terrance And Philip!]]

** In TheMovie, the boys use the promise of [[IWasToldThereWouldBeCake punch and pie]] to get other kids to join LaResistance. Way later, in "Super Best Friends", a Blainetologist hands out pamphlets for the Blainetology cult during a David Blaine performance. [[https://southparkwillie.com/Season5/BlaineWorkshop.jpg Guess what the pamphlet promises?]]

** ''The Tale of Scrotie [=McBoogerballs=]'' makes people throw up if they read just two seconds of it. Though this varies from person to person. Most cannot make the first ''sentence'' without yakking. This becomes the basis for a game show: "How Long Can You Read ''Scrotie [=McBoogerballs=]''" in which contestants make money by how many seconds they can read the book out loud. The book is translated into 60 languages, and it has the same effect to the reader in any language.

** Mr Garrison and Mr. Mackey. However the fuck they keep their jobs despite at LEAST [[ObfuscatingStupidity appearing]] completely stupid and acting like fools, they somehow keep their jobs. Subverted briefly for Mr Garrison since he was fired but that was quickly remedied and he was brought back on.

** Saying a certain N-word on national television. (He was on Wheel of Fortune, the clue was "annoying people", and the board was showing "n[[spoiler:a]]ggers".)

** Played straight in the two-part finale of season 22 centered around Amazon. They don't shy away from the corporation's [[NoOSHACompliance less-than-humane working conditions]] or the stronghold it's developed over the American market, and the plot revolves around the town overcoming their Amazon addiction when the workers begin to strike. Jeff Bezos is portrayed as an amoral telepathic figure who spies on families and orders hits on his opposition through Alexa. However, like the Wal-Mart episode, part of the blame is on the consumers for becoming so irresponsibly dependent on Amazon deliveries to begin with.

** Kyle went from your average [[PetTheDog occasionally-caring-occasionally-kind]] young boy to a cross between TheParagon and TheConscience (except when it comes to [[ArchEnemy Cartman]]). Much of his initial childish traits, such as in "Are you there God? It's Me, Jesus" seemed to be transferred over to Butters.

** Kenny went from TheWorldsExpertOnGettingKilled to TheHedonist

** There's even a flashback of the kids in a ''Series/HappyDays'' scenario watching Fonzie jump over buses on his bike, and that's treated like it was from an actual episode -- the joke being that kids say that the flashback was wrong because if Kenny died eight hours ago, how could he have died back then as well? And then they turn things UpToEleven by bringing up a flashback from ''earlier in the episode!'' "Remember that time that that kid in the RedShirt decided to go off on his own?" Things play out just like that earlier scene, up until after the monster ate the kid:

** The theme song animation for [[EvolvingCredits each respective season]] shows nods to various episodes that happened or [[{{Foreshadowing}} have yet to happen that season.]] For example, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMeiySIf5VA Season 1-4's openings]] had Mecha-Streisand, the erupting Mount South Park volcano, mutated Cartman, Mr. Hankey flying at the town's sign, Scuzzlebutt, and Death briefly touching Kenny for starters]]. The Continuity Nods only pile on from there.

** [[spoiler:MickeyMouse]] in "The Ring". And, to tease Disney and mock its legalistic ways that result in lawsuits, [[spoiler:Mickey Mouse turns into a giant monster that breathes fire all over South Park]].

* CoyGirlishFlirtPose: Creator/NataliePortman when she demurely turns down requests to [[ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext open her wormhole]].

* CutLexLuthorACheck: That Hippie Drill Cartman came up with in "Die, Hippie, Die"; it could have been used for so much more; and yet they only use it to disperse a hippie festival. (Sure, it could've consumed the the town like a giant, pot-smoking amoeba, but still, you would think that Cartman would've sold it to the government or something for a massive profit.)

** In "Probably", Satan deconstructs the entire BettyAndVeronica love dynamic idea by presenting his kind and supportive boyfriend Chris as the Betty and Saddam Hussein as the Veronica. Satan can't choose between the two since he loves Chris' kindness but doesn't find him personally attractive and is deeply attracted to Saddam's wild side but hates his abusive nature. He goes to God for answers but God gives him a stern ReasonYouSuckSpeech for being so pathetic over two parties he doesn't want to be with faithfully and how he needs to address his own issues and not date either one until he gets himself settled. The episode presents the trope as a toxic relationship dynamic and that the "Archie" in the middle is better off single until they can make up their minds.
-->'''God:''' You've become dependent on relationships, so haven't even considered the option of not being with either of them. If you're not sexually attracted to someone, you're not ever going to be. But Saddam isn't right either. He's the other extreme. You need to spend time alone to find the balance. The middle ground.

** "Crème Fraiche" has a meta-example with the Shake Weight, only taken UpToEleven.
** "Major Boobage" has a [[PlotThreads B Plot]] about Cartman protecting cats from a WitchHunt by hiding them in his attic and imploring them to be quiet. Kyle gets progressively more annoyed and incredulous that the anti-Semitic Cartman can't "[[LampshadeHanging see any parallel]] between that and [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII anything else in history]]."

--> Eric always has been a bit... dramatic... (Uneasy laugh)

* AllegedlyFreeGame: The Terrance and Phillip game app in "Freemium Isn't Free" is a mindless smartphone app that just consists of buying houses for a simulated Canada. Stan becomes addicted to it and spends several thousand dollars on in-game currency.

*** In "Le Petit Tourette" when [[spoiler:Cartman is unable to filter what he says and what he thinks, he admitted that he and his cousin touched each others wieners together]].

** A much bigger example happens in the StoryArc of Season 20, with nostalgia-powered sentient fruit called Member Berries threatening a conspiracy that Randy Marsh eventually finds out about and teams up with Presidential nominee Mr. Garrison to stop. Unfortunately, the conclusion to this arc relied on [[DeweyDefeatsTruman the presumption that Hillary Clinton would win the current election]]. [[RealLifeWritesThePlot When Donald Trump, whom Garrison was serving as a proxy for, won instead]], the plot is abruptly stopped by Garrison and Randy getting brainwashed by the Member Berries. The Member Berries then get to stay in the White House and [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse nothing is done about them in the end]].

* DeweyDefeatsTruman: As seen above in "AbortedArc" the Season 20 "Member Berries" plot hinged entirely on Hillary Clinton winning the Electoral College in the 2016 election. [[ForegoneConclusion She did not.]] With the election being won by Trump, the Member Berries plot is wrapped up in the most minimal way possible and dropped right afterwards.

* DeconstructiveParody: "Crippled Summer" has one of ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' and its AmusingInjuries.