South Park episodes with the most unexpected plot twists, ranked

South Park, the popular animated sitcom, has often made headlines for its unrelenting, boundary-pushing episodes where the apparently simple adventures of young boys in a snowy Colorado town descend into surreal madness at any time.

This genre-bending show by Parker and Matt Stone has maintained its reputation as a powerhouse in animation for nearly three decades. But it has earned fan admiration and a lot of theories for its exciting twists at the end of each episode.

These twists make this animated sitcom a surprisingly complex show while also delivering salient commentary on culture, politics, and human interaction. Despite celebrating many years on air, South Park characters, Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny, always find fresh chaos to run the show, or let us just say, chaos finds them.

Prepare yourself for a fun ride to South Park and decode the best of its storytelling twists, one major episode at a time.

Disclaimer: This article contains the writer's opinion. Readers’ discretion is advised.

South Park episodes with the most unexpected plot twists, ranked

10. Fan fiction becomes official canon (Tweek x Craig, Season 19 Episode 6)

South Park creators take a different leap this time by including the yaoi subculture. Unbeknownst to the canon, there remains fan-created artwork and fiction dedicated to the romantic South Park boys pairings: Tweek and Craig, known as "Creek".

Matt and Trey recognised the magnitude of the ‘Creek’ fandom in a clever, meta-textual twist. This created one of the series's cutest and most celebrated, wholly unexpected relationships with the non-canonical couple becoming canon.

9. Randy Marsh's mid-life meltdown (You're Getting Old, Season 15 Episode 7)

The bizarre drama involving South Park's hilarious characters added comedic flair to the episodes. In Season 15, the most glaring twist comes from Randy and Sharon in a moment of never-before-seen seriousness. Randy lets Sharon know that he wants to separate, tearing fan expectations into shreds.

Such seriousness was unforeseen and therefore unexpected from Randy, as he mostly garnered laughs. This twist is a testament to South Park’s commitment to bringing the darkest angles to the most laugh-inducing characters.

South Park (Image via Amazon Prime Video)

8. The Unholy Alliance (You're Getting Old, Season 15 Episode 7)

When it comes to South Park duos who can’t stand each other, Eric Cartman and Kyle Broflovski earn the most mentions. Viewers of this much-celebrated show know how evil Cartman can become. On the contrary, Kyle is the benevolent voice of reason in the show.

But, a mighty twist comes when, under certain circumstances coerce they are coerced together. When Stan slips away towards severe depression and mental isolation, Kyle depends greatly on Cartman for company. In an unexpected scene, Cartman and Kyle are observed playing video games together, finally co-existing civilly.

7. When the joke stops being funny (Kenny Dies, Season 5 Episode 13)

One of the show’s popular gags was Kenny dying repeatedly. The show makers took the gag to a more critical direction when they decided to get rid of Kenny, once and for all.

The constant joke gets reversed in a Season 5 episode. Interestingly, the show took an entire episode to deal with Kenny’s death. This marks a great tonal shift: The casual deaths of Kenny were just funny gags until they were not.

6. Scrotie McBoogerballs gets accepted (The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs, Season 14 Episode 2)

In 'The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs,' the boys take it upon themselves to write the world's most controversial book, something that would give even South Park a tough competition. The boys’ book gets exposed to the public, and the boys brace themselves for severe punishment due to the shocking nature of the content.

However, the plot incorporates a shocking twist: Instead of being ostracized, the book is gladly accepted. People start admiring the titular Scrotie McBoogerballs and classifying the deliberately crude text, a literary masterpiece.

5. The hand with a past (Fat Butt and Pancake Head, Season 7 Episode 5)

What starts as Cartman pretending his hand is Jennifer Lopez to annoy Kyle slowly spirals into one of the funniest, laugh-inducing twists in the show. The funny prank is soon noticed by Record labels, who inexplicably decide to make fake "Ms. Lopez" famous.

The ultimate twist is when it is revealed at the end of the show that the now-popular hand belongs to Mitch Conner. Like his name suggests, he is a con artist with a penchant for irritating Kyle.

4. Scott ate his parents (Scott Tenorman Must Die, Season 5 Episode 4)

Undoubtedly, one of the most jaw-dropping twists in South Park comes in Season 5, episode 4. The twist is so raw that it resets and redefines Eric's character forever. Initially, Cartmen are seen as vulnerable, always-cursing, swear-word-using kids. But he was barely perceived as harmful.

That perception was subverted in the episode titled 'Scott Tenorman Must Die,' where Cartman notoriously made a boy eat his own parents. The sickening twist stood as a testament to South Park's daring moments of dark humor.

3. The internet troll is related to Kyle (Member Berries, Season 20, Episode 1)

What can be more shocking than a boy realizing an internet troll is his own father? Initially, in the episode, the mysterious internet troll terrorizing the school and the town was suspected to be Eric.

Later, he is identified as Kyle's respected lawyer father, Gerald Broflovski. He is known as "Skankhunt42" online. The idea that a respected person like him would engage in trolling and chaos-making is shocking, subverting Gerald's established persona.

2. Mysterion’s identity reveal (Mysterion Rises, Season 14 Episode 12)

When it comes to delivering wild twists, South Park owns the department. In an episode titled Mysterion Rises, the superheroes' teased identity reveal (through episodes titled 'The Coon') finally happens.

We learn that the boy behind the orange parka and muffled voice, Kenny McCormick, was Mysterion all along. It is a refreshing twist to see that Kenny was able to protect the entire town from the forces of evil.

1. The Special Olympics Scheme backfires (Up The Down Steroid, Season 8 Episode 2)

This South Park episode is so brazen that it could only come from Eric Cartman’s evil mind. When the Special Olympics come to town, Cartman churns out a bad scheme seeking to seize the opportunity.

In a shocking moment, he poses as a mentally challenged competitor and hopes he will grab the winner’s prize (the gold at that!). But he soon realizes it was a bad idea and leaves empty-handed without even getting his prize (even after lying his brains out).