8 South Park Characters Who Were Killed Off (& Stayed Dead) (2024)

While South Park has killed off countless characters throughout the show’s 26 chaotic seasons, the long-running satirical comedy has only kept a handful of recurring characters dead for good. South Park has never been shy about killing off characters. Since the show’s inception, one of its most infamous running gags is the many gruesome deaths suffered by Kenny, one of its ten-year-old heroes. 2024’s feature-length special South Park: The End of Obesity brought back this gag in its ending, proving that the series is still committed to shocking viewers with gory comedy after all these years.

However, although South Park season 27 may change this, the show hasn’t killed off many recurring characters for good. South Park has undeniably killed off a lot of characters, but almost all of them are one-off characters who died in the same episode where they were introduced. These don’t count as recurring characters and, conversely, a lot of South Park’s supporting characters who died only did so temporarily. South Park gave recurring characters like Jason White, Betsy Donovan, and Gordon Stoltski memorable deaths, but this didn’t stop them from appearing in the background of later episodes looking none the worse for wear.

8 Jack Tenorman

Cartman’s Real Father Was Indirectly Killed by His Son

One of the few South Park recurring characters who was killed off permanently is Jack Tenorman, Scott Tenorman’s father. Unlike most of the characters mentioned here, Jack was killed off in his first appearance on the series when Cartman arranged his shooting in season 5, episode 4, “Scott Tenorman Must Die.” After his son Scott tricked Cartman into paying for his pubic hair, Cartman launched an elaborate revenge scheme that culminated in him getting both of Scott’s parents killed, grinding their bodies into chili, and feeding it to Scott.

Jack returned to the series in season 14, episodes 5 and 5, “200" and “201.” There, it was revealed that he had sex with Cartman’s mother Liane years earlier, meaning Cartman accidentally had his own father killed. In one of South Park’s most hated episodes, the show kept the identity of Cartman’s father a secret. This outing's follow-up revealed Liane was both Cartman’s mother and his father. However, this turned out to be a ruse designed to keep Cartman from discovering the truth.

7 Diane Choksondik

The Gang’s Teacher Died In Season 6

Ms. Choksondik became the South Park gang’s new teacher in season 4, episode 11, “Fourth Grade.” She was a recurring character throughout seasons 4 and 5 until season 6, episode 6, "Professor Chaos,” revealed that an unnamed South Park character would soon die in its cliffhanger ending. The next episode, “The Simpsons Did It,” revealed that Ms. Choksondik died off-screen after the boys put sea monkeys in her coffee as a practical joke.

The exact cause of Ms. Choksondik’s death was never revealed, but her tasteless pun name gives viewers a pretty obvious clue. The supporting star never returned to the show’s later seasons or South Park's feature-length movie specials, meaning viewers can be fairly certain that she is gone for good. Mr. Garrison would later teach the gang after Ms. Choksondik’s death and went on to play a progressively bigger role in subsequent seasons. By South Park season 20, he had become the show’s stand-in for divisive presidential candidate Donald Trump.

6 Veronica Crabtree

South Park's Unhinged School Bus Driver Died In Season 8

Ms. Crabtree was the school bus driver for the show’s first few seasons, and she was usually a tense, angry presence in the series. She spent most of her on-screen appearances yelling at the kids and berating them, meaning the gang was terrified of her. However, season 2, episode 7, “City On The Edge of Forever (Flashbacks)” was a bizarrely poignant moment in the spotlight for her. When the school bus became trapped on a perilous mountain pass, Ms. Crabtree left to get help but instead forgot the children, relaxed her demeanor, and began a romantic relationship and successful standup career.

This was revealed to be a child’s dream in the episode’s tragic ending. In season 8, episode 13, “Cartman’s Incredible Gift,” Ms. Crabtree was brutally murdered by a serial killer. Ms Crabtree’s death was a rare case of South Park breaking the fourth wall, as the police commented on the superfluous status of her character and her lack of screen time in recent outings. The End of Obesity’s Cartman character change was similarly playful, with the characters acknowledging the show’s usual adherence to a reliable plot formula. More broadly, South Park rarely addresses its status as a TV show.

5 Margaret Nelson

Another Teacher Fell Victim To COVID-19

In season 19, episode 3, “The City Part of Town,” South Park took on the topic of gentrification while introducing the gang's new teacher, Ms. Nelson. Ms. Nelson ended up becoming a regular fixture on the series, replacing Mr. Mackey and Ms. Choksondik from season 19 until season 23. She racked up fifteen appearances during her tenure on the series, but the character couldn’t avoid a surprisingly tragic fate in her second feature-length special. In “The Pandemic Special,” Ms. Nelson taught the boys online via Zoom.

In “South ParQ Vaccination Special,” Ms. Nelson died of COVID-19 before a vaccine became available, in a rare death that the series didn’t play for comedy. While Kenny's many South Park deaths have always been treated as a joke by the series, this fate was handled with more tact due to the ongoing pandemic. Ms. Nelson's first name was revealed to be “Margaret” in the special, and she has not appeared in the series since that 2021 outing.

4 Leslie Meyers

South Park’s Sentient Ad Was Killed In Season 19’s Ending

By all metrics, Leslie Meyers seemed to be a normal fourth grader when she was first introduced in season 9, episode 11, “Ginger Kids.” The unassuming little girl appeared in the background of many episodes before she played a major role in season 19, the first South Park season that committed to an entirely serialized storyline. Season 19 mostly focused on PC Principal, but the pushy educator had a particular gripe with Leslie. PC Principal repeatedly told her to stop chatting before assemblies, a throwaway running gag that later proved to be prescient foreshadowing for the twist ending of season 19.

Leslie Meyers was revealed to be a sentient advertisem*nt in episode 8, "Sponsored Content.” In an inspired parody of native advertising, Leslie was seemingly only partially aware of her true nature. PC Principal killed Leslie in South Park’s season 19 finale when he punched through her head, revealing she wasn’t human. While some of South Park’s problematic jokes have aged terribly, Leslie’s character arc remains a funny, clever satirical takedown of cynical media companies manufacturing authenticity to sell products. Leslie’s storyline proves that South Park’s later seasons have moments of razor-sharp satire, despite how uneven they might be.

3 Satan

ManBearPig Finally Killed Off Satan In Season 22

Satan was a recurring character throughout South Park’s long history, as befits a show that constantly found itself in trouble for sacrilegious and profane jokes. Despite his status as the lord of hell, Satan could be surprisingly sweet at times and even had a heroic role at the end of the show’s theatrical movie debut, South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut. Outside that major supporting role, Satan appeared in ten South Park episodes, including the controversial season 10, episode 11, “Hell On Earth 2006.”

His final appearance came in season 22, episode 7, “Nobody Got Cereal?” In this belated follow-up to ManBearPig’s first appearance, South Park effectively apologized to Al Gore for mocking the politician's warnings about climate change. ManBearPig killed Satan when the pair fought, proving that the monster was a bigger threat than the series made him out to be in earlier episodes.

2 Pip

South Park’s Recurring Character Was Killed Off For Good

One of South Park’s most unfairly hated episodes centered on Pip the English kid’s backstory. Pip Pirrip was a fastidiously polite English child who served as the show’s punching bag for its first few seasons. Pip played a surprisingly major role in this era, appearing as early as the show’s pilot “Cartman Gets An Anal Probe.” Outdoing most of the recurring charters listed here, Pip appeared in over 70 episodes of South Park before he was killed off permanently.

Gradually, Pip fell out of favor with the show’s creators, and his role was taken over by Butters. Pip died in “201” when he was crushed by Mecha-Streisand, which was arguably a fitting end for the character. Like Mecha-Steisand, Pip was an artifact from the show’s first three seasons, when its writing was less interested in topical satire and more focused on random humor. Thus, his death underlined the show’s changing tone.

1 Chef

Isaac Hayes’s Supporting Star Got A Bitter South Park End

Of all the characters South Park has killed off throughout its 27 years on the air, Chef is undoubtedly the most controversial. Played by the late screen legend Isaac Hayes, Chef was a reliable source of well-meaning but utterly inappropriate advice for the boys. A soul singer and veritable lothario, Chef was both an absurd figure and a beloved supporting star throughout the show’s early years.

However, Hayes left the show in a haze of confusion and controversy after an episode mocked Scientology. Hayes was a Scientologist, but his ill health led some commentators to speculate that the decision to leave the series wasn’t his own. His son confirmed this to The Hollywood Reporter in 2016. Season 10, episode 1, “The Return of Chef,” portrayed Chef being brainwashed by child molesters before being stuck by lightning and falling into a ravine where he was attacked by a mountain lion and a bear. South Park’s Chef death was permanent, with Hayes himself dying in 2008 at the age of 65.

South Park

Comedy

Sitcom

Where to Watch

*Availability in US

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Cast

Trey Parker , Matt Stone

Release Date

August 13, 1997

Seasons

26

Streaming Service(s)

Netflix

Franchise(s)

South Park

Writers

Trey Parker