Satan (South Park)

South Park character


name=Satan
gender=Male
hair=Black
age=4012
job=Supreme Ruler of Hell
religion=Satanism
start="Damien"
voice=Trey Parker

Satan is a fictional character in the animated series "South Park" voiced by Trey Parker and based on the Judeo-Christian Satan. He presides over Hell and is constantly at war with God, but far from being merciless and innately evil as Satan is often portrayed in other media, he is depicted in "South Park" as a soft-hearted, misunderstood anti-hero capable of compassion and genuine emotional attachment.

Many of Satan's appearances on "South Park" (as well as his role in the film "") focus on his romantic attachments, all of which so far have been homosexual. In the beginning of the story, Satan is romantically involved with Saddam Hussein. As the plot of "South Park" progresses, Satan exiles Saddam after Saddam becomes too domineering. Satan has since had two other partners, Chris and Kevin (see "Romantic Attachments", below). Satan also has a rarely seen son named Damien, who, while never specifically labeled as the Antichrist, is obviously based on the character from "The Omen."

Origins

According to the audio commentary for the episode "Damien", "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone came up with the idea of Satan and Saddam Hussein being lovers on the set of "BASEketball", where they would attempt to impress girls by improvising scenes between the two characters, one assuming the role of Satan and one of Saddam. Parker also mentions on the same commentary track that he and Stone were inspired to make Satan a wimp by the character of Pinhead in "Hellraiser 3".

World domination

Satan has tried three times so far in the course of "South Park"'s run to take over Earth: in the episodes "Damien" and "Best Friends Forever", and also in the feature film "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut". All three attempts failed, with the last also leading to Satan's breakup and out-of-anger murder of his then-boyfriend Saddam Hussein, although his attempt in "Damien" was fake - the real reason he did it was to get rich on the money that the townsfolk had bet on him.

Romantic attachments

Though presently single, Satan has had three romantic relationships so far. His most significant relationship was with Saddam Hussein in "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut." However, Saddam was emotionally abusive to the comparatively-meek and ineffectual Satan, and seemed more interested in Satan for sex and world domination than out of love. With some prompting from Kenny, Satan finally got the nerve to break up with Saddam by throwing him onto a giant rocky spike and killing him.

Saddam returned to Hell in "Do the Handicapped Go to Hell?" (with the explanation that, since he was killed, he was just going to wind up right back there). By this time Satan had a new boyfriend, a man named Chris. Chris was a nutritionist, was kind to everyone, and while Satan liked this, he also found Chris to be somewhat of a "pussy" and was not sexually attracted to him. After getting drunk and spending a night with Saddam, Chris and Saddam began to kill each other over and over again—appearing alive in Hell the next day—until Satan sought the advice of the one thing wise enough to aid him—God. God told Satan that neither boyfriend was right for him, that his dependence on a relationship had made him wimpy, and that he should spend some time to find himself before devoting himself to a relationship, while also revealing that He's Buddhist. With that in mind Satan thanks God and dumps both men. Chris manages to leave, but Saddam refuses to leave, saying he won't let Satan leave him. With that in mind, Satan asks God to let Saddam live in Heaven forever much to Saddam's dismay, as Heaven is shown to be populated entirely by Mormons.

In the 2005 episode Best Friends Forever, Satan has a demonic advisor who seems to be based on Gríma Wormtongue (or quite possibly Emperor Palpatine), who urges Satan in his attempts to conquer the universe; however, when it is clear the battle is lost for them and the figure continues to press him, Satan yells at him "No, Kevin! I'm breaking up with you!" and shoots bolts at him, killing him. This had been the first indication in the episode that the two were a couple, which would seem to be the most straightforward implication; whether Satan "found himself" or merely did not properly take God's advice is unknown.

Halloween

Satan regards Halloween as his special holiday and in the episode "Hell on Earth 2006" celebrates the occasion by throwing a "Sweet Sixteen"-style party for the residents of Hell at the W Hotel in Los Angeles. In this episode, he is seen to behave in a manner similar to the spoiled teenage girls featured in the reality television show "My Super Sweet 16", insisting that he be the best-dressed one at the party and throwing tantrums when his advisors tell him he cannot have everything exactly as he wants. In the end, he realizes Halloween is for everyone, not just himself, and that he does not want to be as bad as spoiled rich American teenage girls.