Jesus (South Park)

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South Park character
Image:SPJesus.gif
Jesus
Age: Between 1999 and 2008
Gender: Male
Hair color: Brown
Job: Host of Jesus and Pals, savior of all mankind
Religion: Christian
First appearance: The Spirit of Christmas (Jesus vs. Frosty), "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride" (TV series)
Voiced by: Matt Stone

Jesus is the Messiah who lives in the town of South Park, in his house at 80122 South Park avenue(in many episodes can be seen his address), on the animated television program of the same name. On South Park, Jesus had his own public access television show called Jesus and Pals. He was killed while fighting Iraqis during an attempt to rescue Santa on Christmas Eve in the episode "Red Sleigh Down." This was his last prolific role on the show until he was resurrected five years later in the eleventh season episode "Fantastic Easter Special". He is voiced by Matt Stone.

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[edit] Characteristics

Based on the historical and religious figure of the same name, he is portrayed as represented in Christian thought-i.e., he is the Son of God, has numerous miraculous powers, including prophecy, healing and resurrection, as well as the ability to fly and expert carpentry skills. The exact nature of his abilities varies from episode to episode---for example, "Super Best Friends" portrays some of his most famous miracles as farces, despite still having basic powers, while in "Fantastic Easter Special" he only claims to have powers after being killed.

Jesus is usually portrayed as being calm and self-assured, being kind and peaceable to everyone; nevertheless, he often acts more typical of South Park characters. He is often seen, for example, fighting villains, and while inept at it in "Damien" he later is shown ("Red Sleigh Down," "Fantastic Easter Special" and "Imaginationland Episode III") as being very skilled with guns and a glaive. He is a soldier in the US army, as seen in South Park Bigger Longer and Uncut. He is also the member of the Super Best Friends, a group of religious figures who fight against the forces of evil (except for Buddha, who doesn't really believe in evil).

[edit] Jesus and Pals

Main article: Jesus and Pals
Jesus on Jesus and Pals
Jesus on Jesus and Pals


Before his second death, Jesus had a television talk show called Jesus and Pals on South Park Public Access. In the episode "The Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka", Jesus' show entered a ratings war with Jimbo Kern and Ned Gerblansky's hunting program Huntin' and Killin'. Jesus' producer then tried to revamp the show and use the trick Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny used on Jimbo and Ned as a talk topic with them as guests to increase ratings. It led to a huge fight until Jesus discovered what happened, and sent his producer to Hell.






[edit] The Spirit of Christmas

[edit] Jesus vs. Frosty

In this early short which started South Park, the boys make a snowman which comes to life after they put a hat on him. The snowman kills Cartman and Kenny and even poses as Santa. Stan and Kyle are the only ones left and seek help from a baby Jesus who comes alive from a Nativity Scene and knocks Frosty's hat off.

[edit] Jesus vs. Santa

In this second short, Jesus arrives from Heaven to seek retribution. He wants to get rid of Santa once and for all since people don't see Christmas as Jesus's birthday anymore. With help from Brian Boitano, the boys tell Jesus that Santa is keeping his birthday alive and they tell Santa if it wasn't for Jesus there wouldn't be a Christmas. At that point, both Santa and Jesus apologized to each other, and Jesus decided to offer Santa an orange smoothie, which Santa likes. Some footage from this short was used in the episode "A Very Crappy Christmas".

[edit] Episodes in which Jesus is prominent

With his show, Jesus and Pals (see above), Jesus is a prominent character in the early two seasons of South Park. Later on, he appears less frequently, though he is a key character in the following episodes:

  • "Damien" - Damien (Satan's son) demands to see him so that Satan can challenge him to the final showdown between good and evil. He has a boxing match with Satan which he wins only due to the fact that Satan throws the match to win all the money in the bet on the match.
  • "Are You There God? It's Me, Jesus" - At the millennium Jesus' followers wanted to see God. God wouldn't agree to showing himself so Jesus put on a special show with Rod Stewart in Vegas. The show went horribly wrong and just as Jesus was about to be crucified again God appeared, thus saving Jesus.
  • "Super Best Friends" - In this season five episode, Jesus tries to stop Blainetology after Stan tells him it has taken control of Kyle's life. Jesus is shown to be a member of the Super Best Friends (a group of religious founders). David Blaine tries to get rid of them by using a huge living statue of Abraham Lincoln but the Super Best Friends make a giant living John Wilkes Booth statue which wins the fight.In this episode is shown the civical number of Jesus house.Is 80122.
  • "Red Sleigh Down" - In this episode Stan, Kyle, Cartman, Mr. Hankey and Jesus try to save Santa from the Iraqis. After they free him, they still have to fight off many guards, and one soldier killed Jesus. Stan and Kyle replied with:
Stan: "Oh my God, the Iraqis killed Jesus!"
Kyle: "You bastards!"

Eventually, luckily for Jesus, a shocked Santa kills the soldier, and after heading back to South Park, Santa declares that, every Christmas, everyone should remember Jesus. In the end, Kenny, who has temporarily died in Kenny Dies, suddenly reappears. The South Park FAQ states that Jesus's death at this point is somehow connected to Kenny's revival.

  • "Fantastic Easter Special" - In this Easter-themed spoof of The Da Vinci Code, Jesus is resurrected. He returns in order to prevent members of the Catholic Church killing a descendant of St. Peter, the first pope. In doing so, Jesus confirms that Peter was in fact a rabbit ("Peter Rabbit"), and that he had intended for all popes to be rabbits, knowing that they're incorruptible. Pope Benedict XVI agrees with him, but Bill Donohue refuses and places Benedict, Jesus, and Kyle under custody while trying to execute the rabbit Snowball. This was thwarted when Jesus escapes after being killed by Kyle (in order for Jesus's superpowers to activate), and at that point, Jesus kills Donohue, saving Snowball, who becomes the new Pope.
  • "Imaginationland" - Jesus is one of the Council of Nine in Episodes II and III of this three-part arc in Season 11. He is seen leading the charge of the remaining good imaginary characters to ward off the evil characters in Episode III. Jesus is later aided by Butters, who imagines an M60 machine gun into existence for Jesus to use. It is notable that Jesus is shown, along with various other deities, to be imaginary and presumably made up by other people, despite being shown as a real person and living in the real world in other episodes, indicating that either he can travel between the "real" world and Imaginationland, a loose continuity, or an existence of both a "real" Jesus and an "imaginary" Jesus.

[edit] Other episodes

  • "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride" - Jesus' first appearance in the series, in which Stan calls to ask if his gay dog will go to hell and Jesus is about to answer, the show is cut off by Morty's Movie Reviews.
  • "Death" - Tells Stan he is not going to touch the assisted suicide issue with a 60 foot pole. When Stan yells "God dammit!" immediately afterwards, Jesus replies, "I heard that."
  • "Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo" - Shown during the closing credits sitting by himself at Christmas, sadly singing "Happy Birthday to me".
  • "Mecha-Streisand He appears cheering with the boys for Robert Smith, who has defeated a mechanized Barbara Streisand from destroying South Park. He hails Smith as a 'Savior'.
  • "The Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka" - Jesus and Pals enters a ratings war.
  • "Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics" - Sings a duet with Santa.
  • "Probably" - Successfully manages to get the kids to not worry about Hell and going back to school, saying that God wants them to help others and live good happy lives. He then angrily sends Cartman (who forced the kids to stop going to school and built his own church) to Mexico as punishment for conning the kids out for money rather than religious fervor.
  • "Fat Camp" - Kenny goes on Jesus and Pals.
  • "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut" - He is first seen marching with several U.S. soldiers, implying that he's on the American side, and he is last seen singing a happy song with everyone else.
  • "Chickenlover" - Truck driver when Officer Barbrady is giving his speech.