Discussion Funny / SouthParkTheFracturedButWhole

The characters mistook a girl for a boy. How is that not an explanation? Mistaking someone for the opposite gender is an inherently funny concept.

You're right. The New Kid WASN'T always a girl. But in-universe, she can be. If you decide to play as a trans person or cis girl (keyword here being "cis"), Mr. Mackey will call your parents to confirm and they will. He even breaks the fourth wall and says you were trans/a girl the whole time during the Stick of Truth. And when you go home, your mother straight up says that she and your father lied about your gender identity.

As for the trans thing, I explicitly said in the example that the kids in the first game used male pronouns without ever noticing that you're biologically female, indicating that it's the fact that they were Accidentally Accurate about your gender that was funny, not the New Kid's transgenderism itself. In other words, I wasn't saying "This isn't funny but this makes it funny" I was saying "This isn't funny but if it weren't for it, this funny thing wouldn't have happened".

Mackey calls up your parents and says the same thing if you pick cisgender as well. Your parents also say they were lying to the school if you pick cisgender. The reason that they did so is an in-game spoiler, but because their parents were on the run because the New Kid inherited social media powers from both parents. That's not a situation played for humor.

Mistaking someone for the opposite gender would be funny if, during the Stick of Truth, you were a girl. You actually weren't. The concept itself is a joke told during this game, but it doesn't change the last game because of the last game's story. Replaying the Stick of Truth even after this game is released doesn't change the story of So T.

Now, if you want to say something like "The New Kid may declare they were always a girl", it would require some rewording, but it's doable. As it's written now, it is not explained by the canon.

Again, the trans thing makes no sense at all. The kids used male pronouns during the Stick of Truth because the New Kid is a boy during the Stick of Truth. Changing that in the Fractured But Whole does NOT change the way the Stick of Truth is played. The girls are still treated as not playing with the boys. That's why I say it sounds like an advocacy magazine, it isn't supported by the facts of the story.

If you're a cis boy, Mackey doesn't call your parents to confirm, he calls to let them know you had "other options". These are two different reasons. But I digress.

If this page was talking about the Stick of Truth, then you'd have a point. But this page is talking about the sequel: the Fractured but Whole. The New Kid being cis male in the former doesn't negate the Retcon that occurs if you decide to play as any other gender in the latter.

If you decide to play as a cis girl or trans in Fb W, the game retcons what was established in So T by saying you were a girl/trans the whole time but nobody noticed and your parents were lying about your gender anyway. Within the context of Fb W with that option selected, it means the characters got your gender wrong in So T regardless of the latter initially establishing you as cis male. That's the joke.

Mr. Mackey: "So the whole King in the Stick of Truth was actually a girl the entire time."

The kids are never seen interacting with your parents at any point in So T. And since your character never speaks, one can easily guess that they mistook you for a boy without being told so. And not all the girls in South Park act like the girls we see in So T. Just look at Shelly. The New Kid not hanging out with the girls in So T could easily be explained as them either being a boy or a tomboy. As for the adults, seeing as how your parents obviously had to enroll you in the local school, they must've lied to the school faculty and none of them questioned it, this being South Park and all. And your parents reffering to her as male can be seen as them trying to get into the habit so as not to blow their cover. The idea that your own parents got your gender wrong in the Stick of Truth can still be considered funny up until it's revealed that they lied. And again, the kids never spoke to your parents. So their assumption about your gender was their own.

Same goes for the trans male option. Within the context of Fb W, the kids were Accidentally Accurate about which pronouns to use thanks to the Retcon that comes with the option. And since you're biologically female with this option, you would expect them to notice and use female pronouns or at the very least show confusion.

The Retcon trope, by definition, changes an already established canon in a continuity. So yes. Playing as a girl/trans in Fb W DOES make you a girl/trans in So T within the context of the former. Plus, choosing the cis girl or trans male option can make your interactions with the characters in So T Hilarious in Hindsight.

Also, your suggestion of how to re-word the example doesn't sound very good considering it sounds like it's implying that the New Kid might not actually a girl in Fb W either, when they can be now. Cis or trans.

Looking at the example, it may be tough, if not impossible, to write it so that it doesn't step on any toes. Perhaps we should keep it off the page for now.

I'm sorry, but did you actually pick the cisgender boy option? He does call your parents, asks to confirm if you are cisgender. Later that night, your mother argues with your father. A few of the words are different, yes, but it does happen. Please be aware of what happens before declaring it.

What you're describing is not a joke. You haven't even explained it. You can call yourself a girl, but you were still a boy in So T because of the story.

@Matt 620 I watched the cisgender boy option on You Tube prior to this discussion. From what I could understand, it sounded more like Mackey was telling your parents "Hey, your child is cisgender but they don't have to be" than "Hey your child says their cisgender. Is that true?"

Yes, it is a joke. It's a Breaking the Fourth Wall and mistaking one's gender joke. Mackey calls the Stick of Truth by name and says you were a girl the whole time during the events of So T IF you choose the girl option. Initially being a boy in So T doesn't negate that because Mackey also says "everyone was under the impression that she was a boy" in clear reference to So T. It's a Retcon.

So calling yourself a cis girl means, within the story of Fb W (which this page is focused on), that you were a girl during the events of So T and nobody noticed. That's the funny part.

From your wording, what I'm gathering is that you're saying the New Kid isn't a cis girl in Fb W because they were a boy in So T. Thus making them trans regardless of which female option you pick. Again, the joke is that they mistook you for a male if you're a cis female. If you were a trans female, then the confusion makes sense since the New Kid never speaks and thus never would've clarified their transgenderism. So the characters would refer to them by her biological sex by force of habit,

@Berrenta I fail to see how this is a Rule Of Cautious Editing Judgement issue considering the issue doesn't sound like a complex, real-world issue to me. Just a question of wether or not the New Kid can be considered female in the previous game because of the dialogue of the next game.

How about this then:

• "If you decide to play as a girl, the New Kid will be said to have been mistaken for a boy (despite clearly being a boy in the Stick of Truth), and nobody noticed otherwise until now. The kicker? The boys constantly take note of your feminine features throughout the game, yet somehow never figure out that you're actually a girl."

I'm leaving out the trans thing since trans people dress themselves up to better suit their preferred gender.

Your statement works fine.