Kenny’s Best Deaths on South Park

One of the most iconic elements of South Park‘s nearly 30-year run is its tendency to kill off Kenny. It’s something that is inextricably linked to the show, even if, in reality, it was mostly just a common occurrence in the early years. Even still, Kenny has died a lot of times, and, more often than not, his departures are pretty elaborate (and, yes, hilarious). Just missing the cut were his death by monkey assault in Season 3’s “Hooked on Monkey Fonics,” his spontaneous combustion in the same season’s “Spontaneous Combustion,” his mid-sledding crushing by bricks in Season 4’s “Cartman’s Silly Hate Crime 2000,” his random abduction by a giant bird in Season 5’s “Cripple Fight,” his The Road Warrior-referencing death in the fifth season’s “Proper Condom Use,” and his getting thrown through the ceiling by Michael Jac— Jefferson in Season 8’s “The Jeffersons.”

It’s hard to narrow it down, considering the majority of the first five seasons had Kenny depart before the credits rolled. But some are definitely more memorable than others, and the most memorable are the ones that follow.

“Weight Gain 4000” (Season 1, Episode 2)

Made second but aired third. “Weight Gain 4000” is a hilarious episode with one of Chef’s better songs. It also arguably kills Kenny twice, first with a falling prop during the school play rehearsal. But it’s the second one that stands as the first truly iconic Kenny death.

When Mr. Garrison tries to shoot Kathie Lee Gifford, he accidentally hits Kenny, who flies through the air and has his head impaled on a flagpole. He then slides down the flagpole, leaving a thick blood streak behind him.

“Pinkeye” (Season 1, Episode 7)

Season 1’s terrific “Pinkeye” holds the record for the quickest Kenny death, as he’s crushed by a satellite mere moments after the boys are shown at the bus stop. But that’s not the only time he dies, as once he’s zombified by the Worcestershire sauce, he’s eventually revealed to be the cure for the whole town’s zombification.

He’s the first to be turned, so he’s the only one who needs to die. Thus, Kyle takes a chainsaw and slices him in half from top to bottom. Kenny then once more rises from the grave (with stitches all throughout the area where the chainsaw sliced him), but is then crushed by an angel statue. He just can’t catch a break in “Pinkeye.”

“Sexual Harassment Panda” (Season 3, Episode 6)

A one-off South Park character who should come back, Petey the Sexual Harassment Panda, is nonetheless not the best part of his eponymous episode. It’s in this episode that Kenny gets his first great death in a while (Season 2 is pretty light on memorable Kenny deaths outside death-by-dodgeball and having his head impaled by a charging bull).

When the boys go to the Island of Misfit Mascots to visit Petey, they also run into Jimmy, the “Don’t Hold Onto a Large Magnet While Someone Uses a Fan Nearby” Falcon. To demonstrate why he exists, Jimmy gives Kenny a magnet, which immediately sends him flying into a massive nearby metal fan.

“Are You There God? It’s Me, Jesus” (Season 3, Episode 16)

The early South Park seasons had a very specific charm: the core four boys not understanding something rather simplistic. In the case of Season 3’s “Are You There God? It’s Me, Jesus,” they’ve come to believe that having one’s period is the sign of maturity, regardless of the individual’s gender. Why do they come to believe this? A colon infection that’s been spreading amongst young people.

Cartman is the first one to come to this generalized conclusion after he sees some blood in the toilet. Then, Kenny, with Kyle faking it and Stan beating himself up for not getting his period (aka not having the colon infection). But, pretty soon, Kenny spurts blood out of not just his anus, but his mouth, chiefly because he’s joined his peers in shoving a tampon up his butt, which has put a great deal of pressure on his insides and caused him to “burst like a ruptured septic tank.”

“Chef Goes Nanners” (Season 4, Episode 7)

Like with “Spontaneous Combustion” and “Are You There God? It’s Me, Jesus,” Kenny dies from an internal malady in “Chef Goes Nanners.” It’s a scene that works very well for multiple reasons, one of which is that it comes out of nowhere.

The boys are working on their debate about the South Park flag in Gerald Broflovski’s office when Kenny starts scarfing down antacid tablets, thinking they are mints. It’s his lunch. Gerald enters the room as Kenny walks over to get some water. Gerald reveals that they’re not mints, at which point Kenny begins to puff up to a ridiculous level thanks to a surplus of carbon dioxide gas and explodes, leaving entrails and foam everywhere. It’s a creative way to go, which is something Stan points out by saying “That was a good one.” Stan’s line is another reason this Kenny death is great — it’s an acknowledgement that all those around Kenny are fully aware he’s died numerous times. What’s funnier is the fact that this knowledge seems to come and go.

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“Fourth Grade” (Season 4, Episode 11)

In a reference to the ’90s action classic Speed, Kenny is sent by the police on a dolly to try and fix Timmy’s malfunctioning wheelchair. Unfortunately, the dolly doesn’t stop at the wheelchair, flying past it until it hits a pothole, forcing it to flip over.

It’s not that impact that kills Kenny, though, but rather his being dragged across the pavement for about a quarter mile, leaving blood and bone in its wake. Stan replies with “Well now who didn’t see that coming?”

“The List” (Season 11, Episode 14)

An underrated South Park episode, “The List” is one of the few to give Bebe Stevens plenty of time in the spotlight. But that’s not the most unexpected aspect of the episode.

That would be Kenny’s death, which occurs when Bebe fires a gun from miles away, only for the bullet to go through the McCormick residence’s kitchen window and through Kenny’s head. Of all the places it could have gone, of course, it hit Kenny. This was Kenny’s only death in Season 11 (he also only died once in Season 7, once in Season 8, three times in Season 9, and once in Season 10), which gives it a jolt of a funny surprise element.

“The Ring” (Season 13, Episode 1)

After not dying at all in Season 12, Kenny got three send-offs in Season 13. The best of them occurred at the end of the season’s debut episode, the Jonas Brothers-skewering “The Ring.”

Kenny spends the beginning of the episode trying to hook up with his first official girlfriend, Tammy Warner. The other boys warn him about the dangers of this. As Cartman says, without a shred of research on the subject, “Statistically speaking, the most bacteria-ridden place on the planet is the mouth of an American woman!” Turns out he’s right because once Kenny and Tammy have put celibacy behind them and go to the parking lot of TGI Fridays, Kenny immediately dies of syphilis. The best part has to be his innocent-looking picture at the funeral.

“Sexual Healing” (Season 14, Episode 1)

Just as Season 13 opened with a sex-related death for Kenny, so too did Season 14. On the whole, “Sexual Healing” is kind of a lame episode, but Kenny’s death is laugh-out-loud funny.

After hearing that autoerotic asphyxiation heightens the intensity of orgasms, he discards the warnings about the dangers surrounding the act and tries it. It results in his death. Worse yet, he took the part of the warning that included wearing a Batman costume to heart. What an embarrassing way to go.

“The Poor Kid” (Season 15, Episode 14)

Kenny dies exactly once in Season 15, and it’s hysterical. He nearly even makes it through the majority of that one episode, “The Poor Kid.”

After returning to South Park Elementary alongside Cartman and his two siblings, Kenny has to endure Cartman singing his song about no longer being the poor kid in school. All of a sudden, a “gigantic reptilian bird” breaks through the school’s roof, grabs Kenny in its beak, smashes him against a few lockers, and rips him through the hole in the ceiling and out of sight. Cartman is, once again, the poor kid in school.

Honorable Mention: “Kenny Dies” (Season 5, Episode 13)

This was the one. The final death for young Mr. McCormick. Well, at least for a season. That said, once he did come back in Season 6’s final moments, his deaths became far less frequent.

Of course, it’s a great thing that Parker and Stone brought Kenny back. He was too integral to the show even before expansions to his character, like his proclivity for addiction and, of course, his time as Mysterion. But for a while there, it certainly seemed like he was gone for good, and Season 6 survived well without him. “Kenny Dies” is an important episode and a sad one.

What are your favorite Kenny deaths in South Park? Let us know in the comments below!