History SouthPark / TropesEToJ

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** Watching the first three seasons and seeing characters like Butters, Craig, Token, Clyde and Randy as {{Living Prop}}s or in minor roles feels weird when you consider that they're well-established and recognized characters today.
** In episodes 2 to 6 of the first season, Kyle is the one who says, "Oh my God, they killed Kenny!", rather than Stan. The seventh episode, "Pinkeye" (the first HalloweenEpisode), has the line said by Stan as normal at the beginning, but the ending features a variant said by Kyle. Subsequent episodes have Stan as the primary deliverer of the line. On another note, "You bastards!" wasn't said in the episode "Volcano".
** In the 1992 short ''Jesus vs. Frosty'', which came out before ''The Spirit of Christmas'', the character that is to become Cartman is called Kenny and is TheSpeechless, Future Kenny has no name and speaks coherently, and they both die. The characters are also missing their ''Franchise/{{Garfield}}''-style SphereEyes, having only unfilled circles and dots in their place.
** In "Weight Gain 4000", Cartman wins an essay contest by cheating. In later seasons, Kyle would be the one trying to move Heaven and Earth to prove it while no one believed him, but in this episode it's ''Stan'' among the four main boys who gets pissed. Later, he'd be the least likely to give half a shit.
** The first season's obsession with television and sitcom stars such as Creator/PatrickDuffy and Tina Yothers. Most of the comedy in those episodes revolves around basic cable television.
** Kyle's "kick the baby!" shtick was dropped after the first few seasons.
** In "Cartman's Mom Is a Dirty Slut", during Cartman's tea party with his dolls, "Clyde Frog" calls him a fat piece of crap while all the others praise him. Later episodes have Clyde Frog as Cartman's number-one favorite stuffed animal, to the point where he had an emotional goodbye with him in "Die Hippie Die" and [[spoiler: had a funeral for him in "1%"]].
** In "Death", Kyle, Cartman and Stan's mothers are called "Carol" instead of Sheila, Liane and Sharon, respectively.
** Stan and Kyle's relationship would at times be just as [[VitriolicBestBuds antagonistic as their interactions with Cartman]]. One example was in "Starvin' Marvin" where Kyle called Stan an ass-rammer after the latter told him to shut up. Nowadays, [[HeterosexualLifePartners Stan and Kyle are so close]], they'd really only argue if it's for the conflict.
** Stan and Kyle also had a mean streak when it came to Pip and occasionally Butters. As the show progressed, they would scold Cartman whenever he picked on Butters.
** In "Volcano", there was no implication that Randy was Stan's father, as he expressed no concern over the fact that he was in the mountains as the volcano was ready to erupt. Their relation wouldn't be revealed until "An Elephant Makes Love to a Pig". Also, Randy was a lot more intelligent and mature, which is a stark contrast to the BumblingDad he'd become in later seasons. Randy also looked slightly different in his earliest appearances, with a somewhat different hairstyle and a lack of visible eyebrows (this older design would remain in the opening sequence until its replacement during the fourth season).
** In "Conjoined Fetus Lady", Butters (at that point a background character) was called "Swanson" rather than his actual modern day name. Annie Knitts is also called "Jordan" in the episode.
** In season 3, when Butters became an AscendedExtra, he used to stutter, and in "Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub" had a habit of repeating himself.
** Timmy and Jimmy hated each other in "Cripple Fight". However, in "Krazy Kripples", they're suddenly friends.
** When Butters was introduced in Season 3's "Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub", he was portrayed as one of the unpopular kids at school who gets bullied often. Yet his next speaking appearance in four episodes later, "Hooked on Monkey Fonics", portrays him as a bully himself who tormented the new home-schooled boy Mark with Craig's gang. Butters also joined in with the rest of the class on antagonizing Pip in two Season 1 episodes, punching him in "Weight Gain 4000" and laughing after Cartman kicks his groin in "Mecha-Streisand".
** In "Jakovasaurs", Cartman sings a song about how he [[VitriolicBestBuds "hates"]] the other three boys and hates Kenny the most. Later seasons would establish that he "hates" Kyle the most, while Kenny became the closest thing he has to a best friend.
** A few Season 1 episodes had Tolkien Black depicted as white. Much like Butters, he was a background character at the time, so they probably hadn't bothered with consistency. Also, his surname was Williams earlier on.

** The first season's obsession with television and sitcom stars such as Patrick Duffy and Tina Yuthers. Most of the comedy in those episodes revolves around basic cable television.

** In "Volcano", there was no implication that Randy was Stan's father, as he expressed no concern over the fact that he was in the mountains as the volcano was ready to erupt. Their relation wouldn't be revealed until "An Elephant Makes Love to a Pig". Also, Randy was a lot more intelligent and mature, which is a stark contrast to the BumblingDad he'd become in later seasons.

** Strong Woman's ex-boyfriend "Heather Swanson", AKA Blade Jaggart. He's a garishly-dressed, roided-out JerkJock who declared himself transgender purely so he could compete in women's sports and get away with beating them up. If anyone tries to point this out, Heather accuses them of being transphobic and has them publicly vilified. Never mind that Heather made no attempt at getting a sex change before competing, which meant he had an unfair advantage over the other women (plus any genuine trans-women who had gone through months of hormone therapy before competing). When he's beaten by some 10-year-old girls at board games, Heather cries about how he was at a disadvantage due to being born a boy, showing that he's selective when it comes to his (fake) identiy.

* IAmNotMyFather: Stan in particular is pretty ashamed of his father most of the time and tries to avoid being like him, not that he always succeeds.
** To a lesser extent, Kyle is like this, but usually with his mother. [[{{Catchphrase}} "It's a Jersey Thing."]]

* FlatEarthAtheist: In the world of South Park, Jesus hosts a public access show; Satan has taken over the world, and God himself shows up for a verified, documented press conference. Despite all of this, atheists and agnostics still deny or doubt they exist.

* [[HateSink/SouthPark Hate Sink]]

* HauntedHouse: Randy buys a Blockbuster Video which has no customers because everyone now watches movies online. It is haunted like the Overlook Hotel in ''Film/TheShining''. After Randy sees a ghost dressed in a 1980's aerobics outfit ask for ''Film/TurnerAndHooch'' and disappear:

* HaveAGayOldTime: "The F Word" argues and advocates the notion that "fag" is no longer a derogatory term for homosexuals, but for loud, annoying douchebags. Like [[AcceptableTargets Harley riders]].

** And every few seasons, Kenny's muffled line in the song changes.

* GoMadFromTheRevelation: Played for laughs. In "Tsst", a group of television nannies try to correct Cartman's bad behavior before realizing what he is and giving up. ''Series/{{Supernanny}}'' is the last one to attempt it. Within three days she's confined to a psychiatric hospital where she spends most of her time eating her own excrement and sobbing uncontrollably while screaming "From Hell! It's from Hell!".

* GoodAngelBadAngel[=/=]PowerTrio: Nowadays there is a tendency for Kyle to act as the superego (good angel), Cartman to act as the Id (devil), and Stan be the ego. ([[PlayingWithTropes Played with]] frequently, however).

** One example is "Le Petite Tourette". Cartman fakes Tourette's Syndrome to get what he wants, and Kyle, who's known Cartman all his life, gets annoyed and says that he doesn't have Tourette's, and an authority figure that hears it accuses Kyle of being a bully and he is taken to observe various kids with Tourette's (with lack of swearing). He is then forced to apologize to Cartman. However, when Cartman plans to bad-mouth Jews, it's the straw that breaks the camel's back, so Kyle devises an elaborate plan that [[spoiler: actually saves Cartman from going in too deep]].

** The episode also has Kyle [[LampshadeHanging lampshade]] the [[Literature/TheBible story of Job]] by asking how the God who would punish a decent man just to prove a point to Satan could possibly be considered benevolent. It doesn't help that his parents forgot the last part of the story where God rewards Job, and gives him more than what Job had before he lost everything.

* InnocentlyInsensitive: When Kyle's cousin [[NamesTheSame Kyle]] comes to visit, Sheila appears to favor her nephew over her son, as she starts referring to Kyle as "[[DemotedToExtra Kyle Two]]".

* ISeeDeadPeople: Or "Dead Celebrities".