History Recap / SouthParkS3E11Chinpokomon

* TotallyRadical: Exploited by the parents when they discover that the surefire way to get their children to abandon the fad is to make a show of feignQed, stilted enthusiasm for it.

** Whenever Kyle tries to join in on a fad, his friends have already moved on to the next one. This ends up ''backfiring'' when Kyle is still completely willing to carry out the bombing himself, with Stan's first attempt to calm him down (giving him an Aesop that sometimes it's better not to FollowTheLeader with trends) only succeeding in convincing Kyle to ''double down'' on doing so, with Stan only talking him down by deliberately confusing him with the BrokenAesop.

* TotallyRadical: Exploited by the parents when they discover that the surefire way to get their children to abandon the fad is to make a show of feigned, stilted enthusiasm for it.
* TrendAesop: {{Deconstructed|Trope}}. Early on, Gerald tries to convince Kyle not to keep up with fads and assert his individuality, only for Kyle to tell him that he'll get bullied if he doesn't participate in the latest fads. Towards the end of the episode, Stan tells Kyle that they only liked Chinpokomon because of group mentality, and it's time to move on. Kyle, however, refuses to do so, since he considers quitting Chinpokomon as following the group, and wants to express his individuality by staying with the dying fad. He ultimately gives it up when Stan contradicts himself by saying following the group is good.

** Whenever Kyle tries to join in on a fad, his friends have already moved on to the next one.

* TheyKilledKennyAgain: Kenny dies from a seizure he gets from playing the ''Chinpokomon'' video game, though it's not entirely clear when he actually dies as he's still fully mobile (though speechless) until the end of the episode, when rats subsequently surround him, before they come out of his body. Stan and Kyle don't say their usual catchphrase, they just laugh.

* TheAlcoholic: Alabama Man. "He can bowl, he can drink, he can drink some more, he's Alabama Man!"

* TheAlcholic: Alabama Man. "He can bowl, he can drink, he can drink some more, he's Alabama Man!"

* ParodyCommercial: We get two mock advertisements. The first was the "Wild Wacky Action Bike", a bicycle with both front and rear handlebars, advertised as "almost impossible to steer". The second product was the "Alabama Man", an action figure of a stereotypical redneck who spends his time drinking beer, bowling, chewing tobacco, and beating his wife ("When Wife asks him where he's been, just use the action button and Alabama Man busts her lip open! 'Shut up, bitch!'"). After a focus group consisting of Cartman, Stan and Kyle dismiss both as "gay", the researcher says, "Oooh, dear. Well, let's keep trying. How about this?" Cut to real commercials.

* UnreadableDisclaimer: A verbal example. The "Alabama Man" commercial ends with the announcer saying "Not all people from Alabama are wife-beaters."

* {{Animesque}}: The boys' craze over ''Chinpokomon'' turns their eyes into arches when they smile and causes them to spout Japanese gibberish with glee. Bonus points: The creators speak Japanese so it really is gibberish.

* {{Phonymon}}: The Chinpokomon, which were meant to control the minds of American children so America would be vulnerable to a Japanese attack. Also the page image.

* ItWillNeverCatchOn: It's easy to tell that this episode was made at a time when ''Pokémon'' was seen as a passing craze that would likely be over in a few years. The idea that it would become a franchise with enormous staying power-- to the point that the anime has been on the air for as long as ''South Park'' has-- clearly never crossed the writers' minds. In fact as of 2020, ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' is the ''highest grossing media franchise of all time''.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The chinpo or chinpoko element in Chinpokomon is actually a vulgar Japanese word for "penis".

* ItWillNeverCatchOn: It's easy to tell that this episode was made at a time when ''Pokémon'' was seen as a passing craze that would likely be over in a few years. The idea that it would become a franchise with enormous staying power-- to the point that the anime has been on the air for as long as ''South Park'' has-- clearly never crossed the writers' minds. In fact as of 2020, ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' is the ''highest grossing media franchise''.

* ItWillNeverCatchOn: It's easy to tell that this episode was made at a time when ''Pokémon'' was seen as a passing craze that would likely be over in a few years. The idea that it would become a franchise with enormous staying power-- to the point that the anime has been on the air for as long as ''South Park'' has-- clearly never crossed the writers' minds.

* {{Animesque}}: The ''South Park'' kids gain anime faces to show their addiction to Chinpokomon. They are limited to one facial expression.
* AppealToFlattery: The Japanese creators of Chinpokomon successfully lull critics by praising the American penis size.

* BilingualBonus: "Chinpoko" is childish Japanese slang for "penis". "Chinpokomon" literally translates to "penis monster."

* ItWillNeverCatchOn: Granted, ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' was extremely popular at the time this episode came out, but most people (including Matt and Trey) just assumed that it was merely a fad and would go away in a couple years. As of TheNewTens, much of the hoopla around the anime series (which was the driving force behind the franchise's early popularity in the US) has passed due to being a LongRunner and a formulaic series unwilling to take risks or make massive changes to the Status Quo until 2019 (the main protagonist, even after going through what amounts to many years of travel, is still somehow ten-years old, [[ObliviousToLove is too dense to notice when he's being hit on]], and never achieved his dreams and goals until the gen VII and VIII stories which finally had a few big changes and started to shake things up) but ''Pokemon'' as a whole is a massive CashCowFranchise and pop culture phenomenon with no signs of going away (in fact, both ''South Park'' and ''Pokemon'' began in 1997, with the same [[LongRunner staying power]]). Later ''South Park'' media, especially the two major [[VideoGame/SouthParkTheStickOfTruth video]] [[VideoGame/SouthParkTheFracturedButWhole games]], bring back Chinpokomon in various forms to spoof newer ''Pokémon'' games and generations.

* {{Phonymon}}: The Chinpokomon, which were meant to control the minds of American children so America would be vulnerable to a Japanese attack.