The Entire South Park Timeline Explained

Since its debut in 1997, the animated sitcom "South Park" has become one of the most popular and critically acclaimed shows on TV. Per IMDb, the show has been nominated for almost 100 awards and won 18 of them — including 5 Primetime Emmys. Real-life friends Matt Stone and Trey Parker created the irreverent and chaotic show while attending the University of Colorado together in the early '90s.

"South Park" has come to be known by fans for constantly pushing the boundaries of what's acceptable and not, and they have even gone back and apologized for some of their more inflammatory episodes. Still, more than two decades after its debut, it is running stronger than ever.

Due to its long history, new viewers often find it a little confusing to understand everything that has gone on in the show. Even long-time fans probably have a hard time remembering the more than 300 episodes and 25 seasons, particularly since they often incorporate current events and short-lived pop-cultural references. We're here to bring you up to speed on the most important things that have gone on in the "South Park" universe, from Season 1 to Season 25 and the most recent specials. This is the entire "South Park" timeline explained.

The second season of "South Park" starts by announcing that the identity of Cartman's father won't be revealed until the following week. Instead, the first episode, "Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus," revolves around the kidnapping of Canadian comedian Terrance's daughter and his attempts to rescue her. The show returns to the question of Cartman's biological father in the second episode, and the answer turns out to be his intersex parent, Liane, who had been identifying as his mother. Liane explains she previously had impregnated a woman, but had raised Cartman alone as a single parent. When the show starts to then address the question of who Liane may have impregnated, Cartman angrily yells "Ah! Forget it!" and the episode ends.

The season also gives rise to two of the biggest memes in "South Park" history: Cartman as a police officer and Chef selling his "chocolate salty balls" chocolate treats. In the third episode, "Chickenlover," Cartman briefly becomes the town's deputy and demands that its citizens respect his authority. In the ninth episode, "Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls," Robert Redford moves the Sundance Film Festival to South Park, which prompts Chef to sell his confections to the new arrivals.

"South Park's" fourth season is notable for a few major developments for the show. "Timmy 2000" (Episode 3) introduces Timmy, a character with a mental handicap. He was the first character with a disability to be featured on the show, and he ends up fronting a rock band named "Lords of the Underworld." Cartman goes to prison briefly in "Cartman's Silly Hate Crime 2000" (Episode 2) after being mistaken for committing a hate crime against the character Tolkien (AKA Token).

The season also builds upon the fractious relationship between Kyle and Cartman. Cartman gives Kyle one of his kidneys so he can live — though he has to be tricked into doing so ("Cherokee Hair Tampons," Episode 6).

Probably the biggest development in the season is the boy's graduation from third to fourth grade ("Fourth Grade," Episode 11). Not only do the boys become fourth graders and start terrorizing the younger kids, but their teachers undergo several changes, too. The former third-grade teacher, Mr. Garrison, disappears briefly while he comes to terms with his sexuality, which changes his character arc for the remainder of the season when he becomes openly gay. The boys also get a new teacher, Ms. Choksondik, who quickly responds to their antics by standing up to them in class.

The sixth season of "South Park" has the boys continuing to deal with the death of Kenny from the season prior while also confronting puberty for the first time in the series. Butters replaces Kenny as the fourth member in Cartman, Stan, and Kyle's group in "Jared Has Aides" (Episode 1), which also parodies former Subway spokesman Jared Fogle. Butters' alter ego, Professor Chaos, also comes alive for the first time in "Professor Chaos" (Episode 6). During this episode, Butters falls out of favor with the group and they hold tryouts to see who their new friend will be. Butters tries to create a scheme to take over the entire world, but gets discouraged when he realizes all of his ideas have been tried in the show "The Simpsons" before ("The Simpsons Already Did It," Episode 7).

The boys start to deal with the onset of puberty in the 10th episode, "Bebe's Boobs Destroy Society." One of their classmates, Bebe, starts to develop breasts, which the boys quickly notice. During Episode 12, "A Ladder to Heaven," Cartman inadvertently drinks Kenny's ashes, thinking they were chocolate milk mix. For a few episodes, Cartman becomes partly possessed by Kenny's spirit, until it is excised in Episode 15, "The Biggest Douche in the Universe," and Kenny's spirit is transferred to a pot roast. Kenny returns to the show in the Season Finale "Red Sleigh Dawn," though no one seems to acknowledge it.

By the eighth season of "South Park," the boys had pretty well established themselves as troublemakers, and the season saw some of their most outlandish antics. In the second episode of the season, "Up the Down Steroid," Jimmy starts using steroids in an effort to win the upcoming Special Olympics. Cartman, shocked at the idea of a Special Olympics in the first place, pretends to be handicapped himself in order to be allowed to participate. He thinks it will be easy for him to win since he is only faking his disabilities, but he quickly becomes outmatched and is easily the worst participant in the entire event.

The show introduces their parody of Mel Gibson in "The Passion of the Jew" (Episode 4) when Stan and Kenny demand he give them a refund after hating his movie "The Passion of the Christ." In another celebrity appearance, Michael Jackson briefly moves to South Park to escape the media and paparazzi, disguising himself with a mustache and going by the name Michael Jefferson ("The Jeffersons," Episode 6).

In the ninth episode, "Something Wall-Mart Comes This Way," the town is briefly taken over by a Walmart store that becomes sentient in a parody of "The Matrix." In the season finale, "Woodland Critter Christmas," the Woodland Critters are introduced as a sadistic and murderous cabal of wild animals.

Season 10 of "South Park" sees the end of a longtime character as well as the introduction of a new villain. In the first episode, "The Return of Chef," Chef's character leaves South Park for a short period to join the illustrious Super Adventure Club. But upon his return, he has a strange new voice and strange new tendencies. After realizing he's under the hypnosis of the Club, the boys successfully wake him up — only for him to fall to his apparent death. The club resurrects him as "Darth Chef" and he leaves South Park forever.

In "Cartoon Wars I and II" (Episodes 3 and 4), the town is thrown into chaos when everyone learns that the show "Family Guy" is planning on airing an uncensored image of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad in one of their episodes. Cartman and Kyle fight over the censorship, with Cartman pretending to be offended in order to get "Family Guy" canceled and taken off the air. Muhammad's image ends up getting shown and the town is retaliated against by extremists.

The ManBearPig character is also introduced in Season 10 in a parody of former Vice President Al Gore ("ManBearPig," Episode 6). ManBearPig is a metaphor for climate change, which the episode ridicules. Ms. Garrison also enters a short relationship with scientist Richard Dawkins ("Go God Go," Episode 12).

Season 12 starts off with Cartman being inadvertently infected with HIV when he's having his tonsils removed ("Tonsil Trouble"). He ends up infecting Kyle with the disease too out of revenge. Luckily, the boys find the cure: excessive amounts of money. After being injected with $180,000 directly into their bloodstream, both boys are cured of the infection. In the second episode, "Britney's New Look," Britney Spears comes to South Park and is immediately targeted by the paparazzi. The town ends up killing her when they photograph her to death during their frenzy. Ms. Garrison's character has their sex change from the ninth season reversed and goes back to being Mr. Garrison again in "Eek, a Penis!" (Episode 5).

The world also deals with an international pandemic: Peruvian pan flute bands ("Pandemic" and "Pandemic II: The Startling, Episodes 10-11). Peruvian flute bands start popping up everywhere, which ends up being a giant conspiracy involving Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. The pandemic eventually ends, only for a new Mariachi band pandemic to potentially start.

In Episode 12, "About Last Night...," Barack Obama's 2012 Presidential victory is parodied, with Obama and his opponent John McCain secretly using the election as a cover for the biggest diamond theft in history.

Season 14 of "South Park" begins with the show lampooning Tiger Woods and other celebrities' extramarital affairs in "Sexual Healing." Later, in "Medicinal Fried Chicken" (Episode 3), South Park gets its first dispensary. Many of the adult men in town immediately get medical marijuana cards to take advantage, but they have to give themselves testicular cancer to be eligible. In a call back to previous episodes in the series, many of the celebrities that "South Park" had lampooned over the years return to the town to file a class-action lawsuit against them ("200" and "201," Episodes 5-6). It is also revealed in "201" that Cartman's real father is former Bronco Jack Tenorman, who he unknowingly killed in Season 5 and fed to his half-brother, Scott.

Season 14 also saw a continuation of The Coon and Mysterion feud from the prior season. The Coon creates a new team of superheroes, "Coon and Friends," but ends up getting kicked out of his own group after angering everyone else. He then harnesses the powers of H.P. Lovecraft's character Cthulhu and tries to take over the town. It is finally revealed to the audience that Mysterion is Kenny and he actually does have a super power — he can't be permanently killed. Cartman and Cthulhu are eventually quelled and South Park returns to normal, and it is revealed that's Kenny's superpowers are the result of his parents involvement in a cult while his mother was pregnant. 

Cartman's character is one of the big drivers of Season 16, with many plots revolving around him. In the second episode, "Cash for Gold," he sets up a business exchanging cash for gold and quickly starts making infomercials. He ends up creating a massive business, only to realize the entire industry is just one big scam that survives largely by preying on the elderly. In "Jewpacabra" (Episode 4), he lies about a mythical beast that is hiding in the forest, and his inability to be truthful leads to him being tranquilized.

A new girl, Nichole, comes to town later in the season and Cartman immediately tries to get her and Token/Tolkien into a relationship ("Cartman Finds Love," Episode 7). He mistakenly thinks they'll get along because they're the same skin color, but it turns out Nichole actually likes Kyle instead — which infuriates Cartman. Eventually, Tolkien and Nichole do end up together, which ends up being Tolkien's first relationship.

In Episode 12, "A Nightmare on Facetime," Stan's dad Randy buys a Blockbuster Video store that's on sale for cheap. However, the store soon turns into a nightmare in a parody of Stephen King's "The Shining." In the season finale "Obama Wins!," Cartman rigs the 2012 election in favor of Obama after being hired by the Chinese government so they can make new sequels to the "Star Wars" franchise.

Season 18 of "South Park" was the first to feature partially serialized storylines with consistently recurring plots and themes between episodes. The boys start the season by creating a new company, but they have difficulty coming up with an original name until the Washington Redskins football team's trademark expires and they're able to use it ("Go Fund Yourself"). The episode goes on to ridicule the NFL, the Washington Redskins, and their owner Daniel Snyder over the real-life loss of their trademark. Their antics upset everyone at school.

In the third episode, "The Cissy," Randy reveals that he is secretly the New Zealand pop star Lorde in disguise and has been creating all of Lorde's music in the bathroom at his work. This becomes the most prominent plot of the season, as people start to become suspicious of him and investigate his connection with Lorde.

In the sixth episode, "Freemium Isn't Free," Stan starts to develop an obsession with mobile video games and spends all of Randy's money buying content for the game. This forces Randy to perform a concert as Lorde, which goes disastrously, as he can't sing without the studio's autotune ("#REHASH," Episode 8). The season ends with Randy quitting his music career and the boys becoming disillusioned with online gaming ("#HappyHolograms," Episode 10).

The linear and serialized plotlines continued through Season 20, with the most prominent themes being Mr. Garrison's 2016 Presidential campaign and victory, the new internet troll "Skankhunt42," and the complete transformation of Cartman's character from selfish to caring. The other boys initially believe that Cartman is the internet troll. They take Cartman to the woods, where they destroy his computer and other electronics ("Skank Hunt," Episode 2). However, once the troll continues to post, the guys realize their mistake, and it turns out that Kyle's dad Gerald is the actual culprit. 

Cartman's exile from social media and electronics actually ends up benefitting him, as he starts a relationship with fellow classmate Heidi Turner and becomes a more selfless and caring individual ("The Damned," Episode 3). Meanwhile, the rest of the town is still trying to identify the person behind "Skankhunt42" after his posts lead to the death of a Danish Olympian. This prompts the Dutch to create "TrollTrace," a program to track down the identity behind internet trolls ("Douche and a Danish," Episode 5).

Mr. Garrison's campaign takes place during all of this. He's elected President with the help of member berries — which are small berries uttering nostalgic phrases ("Oh Jeez," Episode 7). The world realizes the implications for TrollTrace on their own internet histories, and the boys stop the program from destroying everything. Gerald's identity is never discovered and the internet is shut down in the season finale "The End of Serialization as We Know It."

Season 22 continues the format of the preceding season and the theme of political correctness. Mr. Hankey's character returns for the third episode, "The Problem With a Poo," but the town turns on him after he keeps tweeting politically incorrect things, destroying his reputation in South Park forever.

In "Tegridy Farms" (Episode 4), Randy gets fed up with the new vaping craze and decides to move his family out of the city and onto a marijuana farm. He names the farm "Tegridy Farms," short for integrity, which he claims he's getting back by becoming a farmer. Throughout the season, Tegridy becomes more and more successful as the townspeople purchase increasing amounts of marijuana when things become more chaotic. ManBearPig also makes another appearance as a metaphor for climate change, but this time the townspeople realize that he (and climate change) is real ("Time to Get Cereal," Episode 6).

PC Principal and Strong Woman end up having quintuplets as a result of their liaison in Season 21, which they struggle to deal with due to the babies' political incorrectness ("Buddha Box," Episode 8). An Amazon fulfillment center also comes to South Park, but it is ousted when everyone realizes their Tegridy is more important ("Bike Parade," Episode 10).

Season 24 of "South Park" is much different from the rest. It consists of two different two-part specials that take place during the COVID-19 pandemic. "The Pandemic Special" and the "South ParQ Vaccination Special" both focus on the town's initial response to the outbreak of the virus. It is revealed that Randy is responsible for creating the entire pandemic when he had sex with a pangolin while in China trying to sell his Tegridy weed. The entire town fights increasing restrictions and outbreaks, and Mr. Garrison returns to teaching after his Presidency ends. The Vaccination Special ends with the town getting the vaccine and going back to normal.

However, it's revealed in "South Park: Post-COVID" that, just a short time later, the boys' friendship crumbles apart when they argue over the vaccine. The timeline then flashes forward 40 years into the future, with the pandemic still going on and the boys all distant. Cartman's character has become a rabbi and is raising a family, Kenny has become a scientist but dies, Stan has become a whiskey consultant, and Kyle has become a guidance counselor. Meanwhile, Butters has changed his name to Victor Chaos and is peddling NFTs to the town, which gets him sent to a mental health facility. In the end, the boys travel back in time to stop their friendship from crumbling, which ends up stopping the pandemic from lasting as long. A final scene reveals the new future of the South Park gang, where they are all friends — except Cartman, who's bitter and homeless.

"The Streaming Wars" is a two-part special that takes place directly following the events of Season 25. Randy and Steve are still locked in their war for the most successful marijuana farm in town. However, Randy's character slowly starts turning into a Karen. He soon breaks the fourth wall and starts to lament that marijuana and Tegridy farms ruined his character on the show. He returns to his former profession of being a geologist by the episode's end.

Meanwhile, Denver is experiencing a major drought due to ManBearPig, which prompts them to look to South Park as a supply of new water. Randy and Steve learn that their properties both have water reserves they aren't using, which they convert into large streams that flow all the way into Denver. The competing marijuana farms in South Park all start selling their water streams to Denver, which ends up causing a drought in South Park, too.

In the second episode of the special, it is revealed that water park owner Pi Pi is exploiting ManBearPig's son and wife, Chuck Chuck and PigBearGirl, to deliberately disrupt the water supply. He wants to replace the city's entire water supply with urine, and he gets celebrities who participated in cryptocurrency ads to also appear in his campaign promoting urine over water. In the end, ManBearPig turns on Pi Pi with the boys' help, and everyone's water supply is restored.