Mysterion

Mysterion is a character in the animated TV show, South Park, and is featured in the episode, The Coon. S/he was voiced by Trey Parker.

S/he is a student at South Park Elementary in Mr. Garrison's fourth grade class who hides behind a pseudonym, 'Mysterion', and was the rival to The Coon. S/he unveiled himself after 'The Coon' persuaded him/her to for the good of the town.

Due to the way the characters' facial characteristics are—their eyes, lack of noses, and mouth—it is unclear who the unmasked Mysterion was. The only major clues are Cartman's line of, "I knew it! I even said it was you before!" and to a lesser extent, Mr. Garrison's, "Wow, one of the kids in my class was Mysterion!"

As to Cartman's list of suspects (whom he had named verbally as being Mysterion), the names include Craig, Kyle, Stan, and Clyde. He wondered about Kenny being Mysterion because he had a newspaper clipping of the superhero taped to the inside of his locker, but Stan and Clyde revealed that they, too, had the same picture in their lockers as well. He also did seem to become suspicious when Wendy interrupted with her comment about Mysterion's possibility of being a female, as he gasps, points at her, and says, "Fucking bitch!"

No female had been listed as a suspect on Professor Chaos and General Disarray's wall of Mysterion suspects, which may point to the fact that there is no possible way for Mysterion to be any of the female students in Mr. Garrison's class.

Costume
Mysterion looks very much like a child superhero, as s/he wears a pair of white underwear briefs over his/her base suit, which is an off-lavender. Around his/her waist, there is a plain, thin black belt with a dark gray, standard buckle. Brown boats adorn his/her feet. There is a dark blue cloak that drags on the ground wrapped around his/her neck and provides a shield for his/her hair or any defining features. This cloak has a bright green question mark made of some type of sturdy material attached to a spring that juts out from the top of Mysterion's head. Finally, a black half-mask that covers his/her face from the bridge of the nose up.

Bodily Features
Unfortunately, there are little clues as to what features Mysterion possesses that makes him/her distinctive to us, the viewers. Like most children in South Park, Mysterion has a perfectly round head, an averagely sized body, two tilted oval eyes with black pupils, and a frown. Naturally, we can rule out any over- or under-weighted children as being Mysterion or those with oddly-shaped heads. Also, Mysterion does not require the use of any type of walking aide; s/he is very agile and able with perfectly working limbs.

Weapons/Tools


Mysterion seems to be more of a hand-to-hand combat fighter, as we see when s/he fights with Professor Chaos and General Disarray. There is no evidence of there being any type of weapon on his/her person.

The only tool we had seen Mysterion to use was a strand of firecrackers, which is illegal in the state of Colorado, in order to escape from the Coon. We have to assume that Mysterion made it to the top of buildings with the use of ladders, stairs, or elevators.

Mysterion Suspects




Eric Cartman
Eric Cartman is known as the Coon in this episode, and we hear his inner dialogue and voice. There is no doubt that Cartman is the Coon, and therefore, he is not Mysterion. Mysterion, however, is his "rival," so to speak, for Cartman bluntly objects his presence as a symbol of South Park.

Cartman's body structure, and this has been noted several times throughout the events of this episode, is much too large when compared to Mysterion's, whose body size is average. Cartman was also crossed out on the wall of suspects that Professor Chaos and General Disarray had put together.

Though both Cartman and Mysterion are voiced by Trey Parker (and it is likely that any character that is voiced by Parker is the true identity of Mysterion, rather than any characters that are voiced by Matt Stone), there is absolutely no way for Cartman to be Mysterion.

Kyle Broflovski
Kyle Broflovski's role in this episode was that of a requested helper of Mysterion's. The superhero had entered into Kyle's room without him knowing and told him of his need for someone smart to investigate and do background checks for him; he was wary of the fact that someone was trying to learn his true identity.

Cartman, during his interaction with Mysterion, had been convinced that he was Kyle.

Kyle was listed as a suspect to be Mysterion on the wall of suspects, but we, the viewers, from seeing the interaction between Mysterion and Kyle, know that there is no possible way for Kyle to be him.

Besides that, Kyle had stated early on in the episode that running around in a costume at night was "faggy."

He is also voiced by Matt Stone, further discrediting his identity of being that of Mysterion's (to the people of South Park).

Stan Marsh
Stan Marsh was suspected by Cartman of being Mysterion. This was further concluded when Cartman sniffed Stan's hands for the scent of the firecrackers that Mysterion had used to get away.

While Kenny was being called out by Cartman for having a newspaper clipping of Mysterion taped to the inside of his locker, he jumped in and showed that he had one very similar to it, as did Clyde Donovan.

There is much evidence to point to the possibility of Stan being Mysterion.

Fireworks, as stated in the episode, are illegal in Colorado. The only person shown to have brought fireworks into Colorado is Stan's uncle, Jimbo.

Not many people have been inside Kyle's house (that we have seen). Stan is one of these people, so it would make sense for him to know where Kyle's house was and where his room was stationed. However, the two of them are shown to be very close friends; Stan, if he was Mysterion, did not reveal his identity to Kyle despite this fact. This may have been because Kyle's comment about the whole thing being "faggy," and he was too embarrassed about it.

The 'M' on Mysterion's chest could refer to 'Marsh,' as the 'C' beginning 'Coon' could refer to Cartman.

Personality-wise, Stan is one of the more righteous boys. Although he has not always done the right thing, he has shown that he is always thinking about what the better choice in a situation would be. This type of personality would be synonymous with Mysterion's sense of justice.

As he is voiced by Trey Parker, his voice has sounded similar to Mysterion's (namely, his tone as a goth kid in Raisins).

Kenny McCormick
Kenny McCormick could possibly be Mysterion.

He was listed as one of the suspects on the wall of suspects. Cartman had also called him out for having a newspaper clipping of Mysterion taped to the inside of his locker (though both Stan and Clyde discredited that evidence by showing that they, too, had similar pictures).

Kenny's general appearance (his hooded jacket and his tendency not to be seen without it) could point to him being Mysterion. Kenny is a very secretive boy when it comes to showing all of his face, which is what Mysterion displayed, though his reason was because unmasked, he is not a symbol of justice for South Park).

He has shown to have a bit of a heroic personality (like in several episodes such as Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut, he sacrificed his own life for everyone else's), much like Mysterion's.

Kenny is one of the only boys to have been in Kyle's home (that we have seen) and therefore knows where his room is located.

It is a well known fact that Kenny's family is not well off financially. It is unlikely that he could have afforded a costume like Mysterion's, though he once seemed to have bought a brand-new Playstation Portable.

The 'M' on Mysterion's chest could refer to the beginning 'M' in 'McCormick."

Kenny, however, is voiced by Matt Stone.

Butters Stotch
Butters Stotch is known to be Professor Chaos, and he has a rather prominent role in this episode. There is no possible way for him to have interacted with Mysterion as his evil identity and to be Mysterion at the same time.

However, to the people of South Park, he could have been just as much of a suspect as anyone else.

Butters is one of the only children to have an accent, and Mysterion spoke with a deep monotone, very unlike Butters's voice. As he is voiced by Matt Stone, that provides more evidence to the fact that he could not have been Mysterion.

He obviously was not listed on the wall of suspects because he himself had created it.

Craig Tucker
Craig Tucker was named by Cartman as possibly being Mysterion as he guessed the identity of him/her. He was also listed on the wall of suspects. It is possible that he could be Mysterion, but it seems to go against his character.

Craig always has shown to be a detached and cynical person, which is inconsistent with playing the role of a costumed superhero. We also know from the Pandemic episodes that even when he has the chance to save the day, he prefers to walk away.

He is voiced by Matt Stone, and his voice is very unlike that of the deep, confident tone of Mysterion.

Clyde Donovan
Clyde Donovan was named by Cartman as possibly being Mysterion, and he was also on the wall of suspects. There is plenty of evidence that points towards Clyde being Mysterion.

Before Mysterion was introduced, Clyde was seen as the only one sleeping during Cartman's presentation about the Coon (and was yelled at to wake up), though everyone seemed a bit out of it—probably due to their lack of enthusiasm for Cartman's subject. Mysterion had denied that Cartman had been a superhero for longer than him, and he could have been a superhero for quite some time before; this could have been the cause of Clyde's drowsiness if he was Mysterion.

The persona of Mysterion seems consistent with Clyde's rather narcissistic nature, as shown mainly in The List. All throughout the episode, the superhero insists that he is the symbol that South Park has been looking for, bragging his self-importance in the town. Also, Clyde does not seem as intellectually gifted as the rest of his classmates, especially in mathematics, so it would make sense that he, as Mysterion, would seek the help of who he deemed "the smartest kid in class," Kyle.

He is voiced by Trey Parker.

Wendy Testaburger
Wendy Testaburger rouses Cartman's suspicions when she makes a comment about Mysterion possibly being female. Though it is possible that Cartman's identification of Mysterion as being someone he had named does not directly apply to her.

She, along with all other females, was not listed on the wall of suspects.

Wendy is depicted as a very intelligent student, even one of the most intelligent in the class, disproving her need to seek Kyle for any type of help. Despite this, she was beaten by Kyle in the spelling bee in Hooked on Monkey Phonics and apparently did not know anything about the founding fathers in I'm a Little Bit Country.

Mysterion has not been shown to fight anyone, but in Breast Cancer Show Ever, she is shown to be a decent fighter when she defeated Cartman. It would make sense for her to take on the role of a superhero with confidence if she had self-defense training.

One of the most significant clues disproving her to be Mysterion is her voice. While Wendy, in the fourth grade with her new voice actress, April Stewart, has the lowest female voice in the class, Mysterion's voice is much too deep and masculine to belong to any female character.

She is also riled up easily when in the presence of Cartman, so it is unlikely that she would have remained so calm during the time Mysterion spent with the Coon.

Token Black
Token Black could not have been Mysterion for a number of reasons.

He was not named as a possible candidate for being Mysterion by Cartman, and he was crossed off the wall of suspects.

It is very clear that Mysterion is white and not African American like Token is. Token also uses a manner of speech, with Adrian Beard's voice, very different from that of Mysterion's.

Tweek Tweak
Tweek Tweak was not verbally mentioned by Cartman as being Mysterion, but he was listed on the wall of suspects.

Due to Tweek's regular coffee consumption, he is likely to be up all night from the caffeine, which would give him plenty of energy to roam South Park as Mysterion. However, it is also because of that caffeine that he is a very twitchy child. Mysterion behaved much too coolly to be Tweek, who is known for being very paranoid when under pressure and spouting out phrases such as, "Oh, God! Oh, Jesus!" or "This is way too much pressure!" Mysterion never said anything similar to these phrases.

He is also voiced by Matt Stone.

Jimmy Valmer
Jimmy Valmer is neither named by Cartman as possibly being Mysterion nor remained uncrossed out on the wall of suspects.

He is crippled and must use aides to walk. Mysterion has shown to be very agile and capable of walking on his own, even jumping out a window and climbing down a fire escape ladder.

Mysterion's face was shown to be rounded, like most children's faces in the show. Jimmy's facial structure is more angular than that of all the other children's structures.

Jimmy stutters terribly when he speaks, and his voice is very distinctive in the series. Mysterion never faltered in anything he said. Although Mysterion and Jimmy were voiced both by Trey Parker, there is too much evidence against him to prove that he could be Mysterion.

Timmy
Timmy was crossed out on the wall of suspects and was not named by Cartman.

He, like Jimmy, is crippled. Mysterion is agile and does not require any type of aide to help him to walk. There is no way Timmy could have climbed down a ladder or on top of buildings in his condition.

His head is shaped much differently than Mysterion's head; it is not rounded like his.

He cannot say more than a few words (though they seem to mean a lot more to the characters in the show than to us), and Mysterion had many full speech quotes throughout the episode. Timmy is voiced by Trey Parker, but there is too much evidence to disprove him being Mysterion.

Jason
Jason was listed on the wall of suspects, but he was not named by Cartman.

He is voiced by Trey Parker, but there is nothing really that points to him being Mysterion.

Kevin Stoley
Kevin Stoley was listed on the wall of suspects, but he was not named by Cartman.

As it is unknown who voices him, there cannot be made any connections to him being Mysterion in this way.

Quotes



 * "I’m an angel keeping watch over the city at night. As violence and darkness take over the streets, I work to rid the city of crime. I’m the symbol this town needs."


 * "Nuh-uh."


 * "I am Mysterion."


 * "I might be Craig, and then again, I might not be. My identity must remain a secret. You cannot know."


 * "I assume you must be Cartman because you’re fat."


 * "I really don’t care who you are."


 * "Kyle hates Eric Cartman. Are you saying you’re Eric Cartman?"


 * "I cannot stand here and make idle conversation any longer. The city needs my help. There are innocents to protect."


 * "I could no longer sit by and watch as my city became a cesspool of crime. I have lived in South Park all my life. I decided it was up to me to keep this town safe. Nobody at school knows my double life. To them, I’m just another fourth grader, but tonight, I am Mysterion."




 * "There’s some graffiti on the bridge again. I think those sixth grade kids are doing it. And that guy at the movie theater’s harassing Mexicans again."


 * "The city needs my help. It cries for protection, and I will answer the call to save her."


 * "I don’t have time for this."


 * "Hello, Kyle."


 * "Do not be afraid. I mean you no harm."


 * "Yes, but I believe someone is trying to learn my true identity."


 * "I cannot be unmasked, for then I would stop being a symbol. I need help. Somebody who can do background checks for me, do some investigating."


 * "Because I think you are the smartest kid in class."


 * "Why are you doing this? This isn’t your usual M.O., Chaos."


 * "What next time?"


 * "Citizens, tonight has shown me that I have no choice but to unmask myself."


 * "No, it’s true. As long as my identity is a mystery, this will just happen again and again. It has to end. I will show my face."