"As more and more people turn to crime and violence, the town becomes gripped in fear. Dark times. The city needs protection. There is an animal that lives by night, searches the trashcans and cleans out the garbage. To clean out the trashcan of society I've chosen to become more than a man. I'm the hero this town needs. I am... The Coon!"
— Eric Cartman (as The Coon)
Original air date: 3/18/2009
Cartman tries to become a superhero, only to have another fourth grader steal his thunder by becoming one too and becoming more popular.
This episode contains examples of:
- Armor-Piercing Question: The Coon thinks Mysterion is actually Kyle and he's doing this because he hates him. Mysterion points out that Kyle hates Eric Cartman and so asks if The Coon is Eric Cartman.
- Attention Whore: Cartman's sole motivation for being a superhero is to get people talking about himself.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Cartman is successful in exposing Mysterion's true identity and getting him arrested for vigilantism so he can be the only hero again.
- Berserk Button: Any time someone doesn't speak highly of The Coon to Cartman, and vice versa, Cartman gets incredibly loud and antagonistic, even for him.
- …But He Sounds Handsome:
- Cartman tells Kyle that someone dressing up as a vigilante is not a fag.
- The Coon tells Mysterion that Cartman is not fat.
- Call-Back: The Hilton employee recalls Cartman's ginger pride rally and AIDs benefit when the Coon claims that he's not said kid.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Cartman all throughout the episode. Case in point, after he finishes describing The Coon to the guys:Kyle: Sounds kind of faggy.Cartman: YOU'RE A FAG, KYLE! FUCK YOU!
- Enemy Mine/Villain Team-Up: The Coon has "no choice" but to team up with Professor Chaos.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Professor Chaos has reservations about blowing up a hospital.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Ultimately it's The Coon who has bullied Chaos into blowing up a hospital if Mysterion doesn't give himself up. Mysterion even comments that it isn't Chaos' usual MO.
- Green-Eyed Monster: The Coon to Mysterion.
- Hypocritical Humor: The Coon tells Professor Chaos that he doesn't betray people as he's the good guy.
- Innocuously Important Episode: The characters of The Coon and Mysterion would appear again, with Mysterion's identity being revealed this time.
- It's All About Me: Cartman plots to get rid of Mysterion because Cartman thinks he is the only hero the town needs.
- Jerkass: This is one of Cartman's nastier episodes - he bullies Butters into trying to blow up a hospital to get Mysterion to show up, and continues to push him into doing it. He sneaks away before Mysterion can show, leaving Butters alone, and it isn't until Butters gives up to Mysterion and General Disarray has run away that Cartman even 'helps' in the fight, adding a final vicious hit from behind. Then he hints that if Mysterion doesn't give himself up, it'll happen again.
- Only Six Faces: When Mysterion finally removes his mask, he is... completely indistinguishable from almost every other boy in the show. Professor Chaos' identity list for Mysterion only has Cartman, Token, Timmy, and Jimmy crossed off. The only suspected character we know is not Mysterion is Kyle, and in a deleted scene, Kyle faked being Mysterion when he unmasked.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: Yates orders his sniper not to take the shot against a small child, not because he's a stupid kid who doesn't know any better, but because he thinks Professor Chaos is Immune to Bullets.
- Running Gag: People comparing The Coon to Bruce Vilanch.
- Serious Business: The cops seem to take this even more seriously than the kids do. As Mysterion and Professor Chaos begin their climactic battle on the roof of the hospital, a SWAT Sniper prepares to get in a shot at Chaos - you know, Butters. Yates stays the gun, but it's got nothing to do with it being a kid in a tinfoil hat...Sniper: (aiming at Chaos) I think I can get in a shot at Chaos, sir.Yates: (grabs rifle) Do you think your bullets can hurt him?!
- Shout-Out:
- The opening shot moving up from something in the gutter to someone looking down from a tall building references the opening page of Watchmen. The Coon's internal monologue is also referencing/paraphrasing Rorschach's journal entries.
- The threat to blow up a hospital if Mysterion doesn't give himself up resembles The Joker's threats in The Dark Knight.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Cartman thinks The Coon is this amazing savior deserving of praise and adoration from all and assumes the reason he's not getting it because of Mysterion. In truth, it's mainly because barely anyone knows who the Coon is, the "crimes" he prevents aren't crimes (He tells the police he saved a woman from being raped, when in reality he mauled a guy who was being intimate with his girlfriend) and he spends more time trying to tell everyone how awesome the Coon is and get rid of Mysterion rather than actually performing heroic deeds to warrant the praise. Cartman even started "Coonicon 2009," and was extremely angry and surprised that no one showed up. In contrast, Mysterion seems only to act to help people and South Park while barely interacting with people otherwise, which gets him all the attention and praise Cartman wanted by virtue of his actual vigilantism.
- Skewed Priorities: Cartman cares more about The Coon's image than actually being heroic. Ironically, the reason Mysterion gets so much more attention and praise is because he doesn't care about image at all and just goes around helping people.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: The Coon seemingly does this when talking to the police, but he's really just moving to the other side of the room. Mysterion actually has this ability.
- Take That!: Mysterion and the Coon have the same sort of guttural voices Jackie Earle Haley and Christian Bale used for their performances in Watchmen and The Dark Knight, respectively, which Matt Stone called "retarded".
- Troll: While Cartman accuses the other kids of being Mysterion, Wendy walks by and asks "How do you know Mysterion is a boy?" to mess with his head.Cartman: (Angrily) That bitch!
- The Un-Reveal: Mysterion unmasks but only the other characters know who he is, with it not narrowed down much by Mr. Garrison's amazement that a kid from his class was Mysterion, as they’re are never actually identified, and since this is South Park we’re talking about, we can’t even tell who they really are just by their face as it is the same as pretty much half of the other kids.
- Wimp Fight: The epic confrontation between Mysterion and Professor Chaos is just the two slapping at each other for a few minutes until Butters gives up.
