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South Park: 10 Saddest Episodes, Ranked

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4 weeks ago

October 26, 2024

South Park is well-known for its unique humor in the controversial episodes about everything and everyone. However, writers Trey Parker and Matt Stone created some of South Park’s saddest episodes that caught viewers by surprise.

South Park: Kenny’s Most Unforgettable Deaths, Ranked

Table of Contents

The fact that Kenny dies a lot in South Park isn’t surprising to longtime fans, but how do the character’s many fatalities stack up?

According to the fans, the majority of the saddest episodes on South Park included Kenny and Stan, covering topics such as grief, body shaming, mental health, and divorce.

*Spoilers included*

This article addresses sensitive topics such as grief, poverty, loneliness, body shaming, family dysfunction, and religious beliefs.

10 Oh My God, They Killed Kenny! For Real This Time

Kenny Gets A Terminal Disease, Leaving His Friends Emotionally Destroyed

Name of the episode: Kenny Dies
Season: 5

South Park fans following this animated series for a long time know that Kenny dying is nothing new. However, in season 5, episode 13, the creators decided to kill Kenny for real.

Now, every character in the series processes the loss of Kenny differently. Kyle, for instance, is always by Kenny’s side while he fights for his life in the hospital. Cartman cries a little, but he ends up taking advantage of the situation.

The saddest part comes with Stan’s reaction. He enters a state of denial and can’t even get himself to visit his friend at the hospital. And, when he finally does, it’s too late. Stan talks with his friend Kyle and asks where Kenny is, to which Kyle responds that Kenny is gone, and his last words were “Where’s Stan?” This is considered by many one of the saddest episodes of South Park, as Stan doesn’t get to say goodbye to his best friend.

9 Kenny Is No Longer The Poorest Kid In School

Kenny And His Siblings Are Transferred To A Foster Home

Name of the episode: The Poor Kid
Season: 15

Kenny’s parents got arrested for possession of drugs, leaving him and his siblings in an abusive foster home and a new school. Following that, an episode from season 15 comes with devastating news for Cartman, who made a hobby of making fun of Kenny. With Butters’ help, he discovers through the student records that he is the new poor kid.

Cartman, not happy with this, tries to frame his mother to get sent to a foster home too (Cartman being Cartman). But, this is not the saddest part.

At the foster home, Kenny is passing for a bad moment because the foster parents are cruel, and his little sister is scared. Kenny, who’s always been a protector, comes up with the idea of dressing up as a superhero to show the sister that she’s always being looked after, even if the parents are not there. And it’s exactly here that the viewers shed one or two tears. Kenny’s empathy with his sister is everything.

8 Eric Cartman Gets Body-Shamed

Name of the episode: Safe Space
Season: 19

Anyone who’s been watching South Park knows that Cartman is constantly making fun of everyone. In episode 5 of season 19, the tables got turned. Cartman has the idea of posting himself lifting weights on social media because he is proud of his achievements. However, things don’t go as planned.

Cartman starts to receive hate comments on his social media because of his large appearance. This is one of his biggest insecurities, and viewers rarely see Cartman getting emotional, so when this happens, it touches everyone’s heart. It all ended up well when the school’s principal arranged a safe space movement where people talked about fat shaming and their own experiences.

7 Kip Drordy Has 0 Friends On Facebook

Kyle Helps Kip But Unfriends Him Again When He Starts Losing His Own Friends

Name of the episode: You Have 0 Friends
Season: 14

Social media can have a negative impact on people’s lives, especially on the younger generation. In episode 4 of season 14, the creators portray exactly that. Kip Drordy is a friendless kid who spends his days in front of the PC, monitoring if he has new friend requests. When Kyle came across his situation, he decided to befriend him, changing his life.

However, the saddest part comes when Kyle decides to unfriend the kid because everyone is mocking him. As a result, Kip’s world falls apart as he is now depressed. Kyle, upset about this, decides to transfer all his friends (over a thousand) to Kip, leaving him once again overjoyed. It all ends up well.

6 Craig And Tweek Break Up

The Town’s Gay Couple Breaks Up, Leaving Everyone Sad

Name of the episode: Tweek x Craig
Season: 19

It’s celebration time in the town of South Park. Craig and Tweek announced their (fake) relationship, and everyone embraces the idea. Galleries are open with their portraits; the school is painted with their faces on the wall; it’s a big thing going on. However, with all this attention, they decide to stage a breakup because the lie was taken too far and is getting very overwhelming to keep up with.

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The saddest part of the episode starts when Say Something by A Great Big World starts playing, the town turns gray, and everyone is struggling to get over their breakup. It’s all very sad and dramatic until Tweek and Craig reconnect again (for real this time) because they feel a genuine connection with each other. The episode ends with them walking away while holding hands.

5 It’s The Landslide

Stan’s Parents Got Divorced And Everything Turns Into… Rubbish

Name of the episode: You’re Getting Old
Season: 15

Stan turns 10 and his life changes – not for the better. His parents are going through a rough patch and have decided that it’s time for them to go their separate ways. When they break up, Stan reacts badly to the news. Stan gets depressed and isolates himself from family and friends.

Everything that he looks at—the sun and flowers—turns into rubbish. His father tries to talk with him to explain but without success. Landslide by Fleetwood Mac starts playing during a montage of sad moments.

4 Cartman Doesn’t Have A Dad To Play Airsoft

Cartman Wishes He Had A Present Dad…and That He Didn’t Live in A Hotdog

Name of the episode: Help, My Teenager Hates Me!
Season: 25

Many fans see the episode Help, My Teenager Hates Me as a masterpiece. It covers so many adult topics. This episode from season 25 shows a moment where all four friends—Kyle, Stan, Kenny, and Cartman—are upset because they hate to play with the “bruh” teenagers. After they share the discontentment with their parents, they come up with the greatest idea. When the four friends are playing airsoft, the fathers of Kyle, Stan, and Kenny arrive with their loaded airsoft weapons.

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They then announce that they have new partners to play with, leaving Cartman feeling lonely. Cartman leaves everyone sad by saying, “I wish I had a dad.” Then he went and ruined it all by saying something stupid like “I Wish I Didn’t Live In A HotDog.” However, it all ends up well when Uncle Jimbo arrives to partner with Cartman.

3 Randy Is An Alcoholic

Stan Gets Embarrassed By His Father After Drunk Driving

Name of the episode: Bloody Mary
Season: 9

In the Bloody Mary episode from season 9, Stan’s father is an alcoholic. Randy can’t control himself, and after embarrassing his son while drunk driving, he decides to go to rehab. However, at the rehab, he’s made aware that one of the first steps toward recovery is to admit that he has a disease. Randy interprets it the completely wrong way and starts drinking because he has a disease over which he has no control.

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Meanwhile, there is a statue of the Virgin Mary on TV, and people claim he can cure any disease. Stan decides to go there, waiting in line for his turn so he can get cured. He then stops drinking. However, later, he discovers that it wasn’t the statue that cured him but his willingness to recover. He doesn’t like this idea so he starts to drink again, leaving Stan very sad.

2 Aquarium Workers Prank Kyle

Kyle Thinks He Can Talk With Jambu, A Whale

Name of the episode: Free Willzyx
Season: 9

Kyle, during his visit to the aquarium, gets attracted by a large whale named Jambu. He starts to talk with her, and the employees of the aquarium decide to prank Kyle by talking back at him like they were a whale. “The Whale” shares with him her dreams about going to the moon to reconnect with his family.

Kyle reunites with his friends and tells them about what just happened at the aquarium; they believe him and decide to arrange a plan to free the whale. They then steal the whale during the night and put her onto a rocket ship to go to the moon. The four friends leave triumphantly, thinking Jambu is now with her family. Kyle proceeds to give a speech (typical Kyle) about all the good work they’ve done, unaware of the whale’s death.

1 Kenny Works To Buy A Doll For His Sister

Kenny’s Poverty Situation Is Put Into Contrast With A Fancy Restaurant Next Door

Name of the episode: The City Part Of Town
Season: 19

Many viewers think that Kenny – present in several of the saddest episodes of South Park – is the most underrated character in the series. In the episode The City Part of Town, a new fancy restaurant is open, leaving all southern residents unable to buy anything. Kenny’s family is the most affected by this since the restaurant stands right next to their house.

Kenny now needs to work. He finds a job at the City Wok restaurant cleaning the floors while his parents stay at home, sitting on the couch and drinking beers. One day, Kenny returns home, and the parents ask if he made some money, to which Kenny nods by saying no. However, Kenny made some money. He used the little money he made to buy a doll for his little sister, in a moving moment. The episode concludes with Kenny returning to his room, where viewers can see through his window the view of an expensive restaurant, showing the brutal contrast of his life.

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