One of the most consistent running gags in South Park is that the series regularly kills Kenny (Matt Stone), one of the series’ main characters. He stands out from his peers because he wears a parka that covers his face and makes his speech sound muffled. Kenny’s closest friends are Stan (Trey Parker), Cartman (Trey Parker), and Kyle (Matt Stone). A key part of any Kenny death is Stan shouting the catchphrase “Oh my god! They killed Kenny!”, followed by Kyle exclaiming “You bastard(s)!”
While Kenny’s deaths are often bizarre and played for comedy, there are several that are uniquely brutal. Some of these deaths are particularly violent, and Kenny dies in gruesome ways. Other deaths are brutal because of the implications for Kenny and everyone around him. The most brutal Kenny deaths are memorable, and stand out among the hundreds of times that this character has met an untimely end.
South Park
- Release Date
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August 13, 1997
- Network
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Comedy Central
10
Death by Syphilis
“The Ring” (Season 13, Episode 1)
In the South Park Season 13 premiere, Kenny starts dating Tammy (Mickey Ramos), a fifth grader. The rumor is that she gave another boy sexual favors in the parking lot of a T.J.I. Friday. Kenny is excited to experiment with his new girlfriend in this way. However, he’s quickly disappointed when he learns that Tammy has started wearing a purity ring after being inspired by a Jonas Brothers concert. The end of the episode cuts to Kenny’s funeral, and it’s revealed he died of syphilis when the two decided to engage in sexual acts anyway.
While this may not seem like one of Kenny’s most graphic deaths, it’s one of the most brutal because it comes after Kenny waited so patiently to experiment with his girlfriend. It’s devastating to watch Kenny go from being so eager to connect with his new girlfriend to joining her in wearing a purity ring to immediately dying of a sexually transmitted infection. Kenny just wanted to connect with Tammy, and it ended horrifically.
9
Killed by Michael Jackson
“The Jeffersons” (Season 8, Episode 6)
The boys meet one of their new neighbors, the Jeffersons. The son, Blanket (Dante Alexander), is around their age, and they befriend him. Mr. Jefferson (Trey Parker), Blanket’s father, is an unusual man who tells the boys that he moved to South Park to escape the city. Mr. Jefferson is really Michael Jackson, and he has a hard time connecting with adults. When the boys try to help him escape, and disguise Kenny as Blanket, Mr. Jefferson picks Kenny up and throws him through the ceiling, which kills him.
This is one of Kenny’s most brutal deaths because it shows just how disturbed Mr. Jefferson is emotionally. The fact that he doesn’t know his own strength, and is capable of harming a child (even if accidentally), is horrifying. This death is a reminder that Kenny is a small child who has no way to defend himself against adults who would do him harm. Kenny is only trying to help his new friend in this episode, which makes this death all the more brutal.
8
Decapitated by Ozzy Osbourne
“Chef Aid” (Season 2, Episode 14)
When Chef (Isaac Hayes) discovers that Alanis Morissette stole a song he wrote when he was younger, he contacts a record company for help, only for them to sue him for harassment. The boys organize a benefit concert to support him and are able to get multiple artists to perform, including Ozzy Osbourne. During Ozzy’s performance, he reaches down and decapitates Kenny by biting off his head.
This is one of the most brutal Kenny deaths because it’s so shocking. This moment is a reference to the fact that Ozzy Osbourne has been accused of biting the heads off animals during his performance. Seeing Kenny get caught up in this is horrifying, and this version of Ozzy Osbourne clearly has no problem upping the ante by killing members of his audience. Although Kenny appears put back together in the audience moments later, it’s hard to forget the image of his head being bitten off.
7
Death by Recorder
“World Wide Recorder Concert” (Season 3, Episode 17)
The boys and their classmates get recruited to participate in a worldwide recorder concert. They immediately find themselves in conflict with their counterparts from New York City. Cartman wants to find the “brown note”, the legendary sound that makes anyone who hears it lose control of their bowels. When the boys fail to trick the New York students, Kenny is among many others who defecate themselves to death after hearing this brown note played by millions of recorders.
The fact that Kenny is among many people who die like this makes it uniquely brutal. The idea of defecating to death is horrifying on its own. Watching Kenny be among a group of people who never had a chance against this low-frequency note when played by millions of children. South Park has always come up with bizarre ways to kill Kenny, but this one stands out because of how viscerally disgusting it is.
6
Weight Gain
“Weight Gain 4000” (Season 1, Episode 3)
South Park made Kenny the subject of horrific deaths from the beginning of the series. In its third episode, the citizens of South Park prepare for a visit from Kathie Lee Gifford. The boys find out that their teacher plans to assassinate Gifford because of a grudge from his childhood. The teacher’s plan fails, and the bullet he uses ricochets off Giffords’ protective casing and hits Kenny, who is then impaled on a flag pole after flying through the air.
This death stands out because it shows Kenny literally getting caught in the crossfire. It’s uniquely brutal since it’s so exaggerated. Kenny could have been shot by the bullet that was meant for Gifford. Instead, he’s thrown high in the air before meeting a painful and untimely end. This death seems particularly egregious, since Kenny was in no way involved in planning this botched assassination attempt.
5
“Mints” from Kyle’s Dad
“Chef Goes Nanners” (Season 4, Episode 7)
This episode mainly revolves around Chef confronting the citizens of South Park over what he thinks is a racist flag. The kids are divided, with some of them agreeing with Chef and others opposing him. When a group of them meet to discuss what to do next, Kenny starts eating what he thinks are mints. Kyle warns Kenny not to eat his dad’s mints, but Kenny doesn’t listen. It turns out that Kenny consumes 60 antacids before exploding.
What makes this death so brutal is the fact that Kenny’s friends barely react to it. They just sit around and laugh as Kenny meets his violent demise. It would make sense if the group devolved into nervous laughter. However, this group seems to find it genuinely funny that their friend just blew up in front of them, leaving body parts everywhere. Seeing Kenny expand before exploding into oblivion only adds to the horror.
4
Riding a Bull
“Cow Days” (Season 2, Episode 13)
This episode follows a couple who win a trip to South Park for the local “Cow Days” festival. The boys decide to go to the festival as well, but find themselves significantly underwhelmed. They decide to enter Cartman into the bull-riding competition, which comes with a $5,000 reward. When Cartman’s bull starts going wild, Kenny initially refuses to help because he’s afraid of getting hurt. He’s subsequently killed when the bull gores him.
This is one of Kenny’s most brutal deaths because he shows how scared he is of what ultimately kills him. Many of Kenny’s deaths are random and take everyone by surprise. However, this one sees Kenny experience a sense of foreboding, which makes it all the more horrifying. Being gored by a bull is a uniquely terrible way to die, and it’s made worse by the fact that Kenny knows that interacting with the bull at all won’t end well.
3
Potato Heart
‘South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut’ (1999)
In South Park‘s landmark movie, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, Kenny and Cartman get into an argument about whether-or-not they can actually set their farts on fire. When they start testing this, it would make sense to assume that Kenny’s either going to light himself on fire or blow himself up. Instead, after burning himself and being rushed to the hospital, Kenny is informed that the doctors who operated on him accidentally replaced his heart with a potato.
This is one of Kenny’s most brutal deaths because it sets off a story where Kenny is sent to hell. In addition to Kenny’s heart being replaced by a potato, the rest of his organs are sliced up and heated up with a baked potato that one of the medical staff left in the lounge. This botched surgery is so horrifying because it involves Kenny’s entire body before his soul is violently ripped into the afterlife for a terrifying adventure.
2
Permanent Death
“Kenny Dies” (Season 5, Episode 13)
In a shocking turn of events, Kenny is diagnosed with a terminal illness just before the end of South Park‘s season finale. Everyone does their best to be there for Kenny during his last few days. Stan, however, is too overcome by his grief to visit Kenny while he’s dying. Each character has to do their best to come to terms with the fact that they are losing someone so close to them. Instead of being brought back immediately, Kenny remains dead until the end of the show’s sixth season.
While this death isn’t particularly violent, it’s still uniquely brutal. The fact that Kenny stays dead for an extended period of time adds a seriousness that Kenny’s other deaths don’t have. Watching each character take in the fact that this might be permanent is sobering. This death is one of Kenny’s most brutal because it highlights how fragile life is, even in this fictional world that has no problem resurrecting this character.
1
Zombie Death
“Pinkeye” (Season 1, Episode 7)
In another early episode of South Park, the series shows just how brutal Kenny’s deaths can be. The episode begins with Kenny being hit by a bus and killed when the Mir Space Station crashes down to Earth. He’s then transferred to the morgue, where one of the employees leaves a bottle of Worcestershire sauce open, which gets mixed in with embalming fluid. Kenny becomes a zombie after coming into contact with this fluid, and terrorizes the town.
This is Kenny’s most brutal death because of the sheer number of times he dies in a single episode. Kenny’s death here is made more gruesome by the fact that it’s eventually revealed that to end the zombie outbreak, the original zombie needs to be killed. Kyle eventually takes a chainsaw and slices his friend clean in half. This death is over the top, which sets the tone for all of Kenny’s brutal deaths throughout the series.
