Mysterion

Mysterion is the super hero identity of Kenny who appears in the episodes "The Coon", "Coon 2: Hindsight", "Mysterion Rises" and "Coon vs. Coon and Friends". He is one of Mr. Garrison's fourth grade students at South Park Elementary masquerading as a vigilante under the pseudonym 'Mysterion'. He unveiled himself after the Coon persuaded them to for the good of the town. Due to the way the characters' facial characteristics are—their eyes, lack of noses, and mouth — it was initially unclear who Mysterion was to the audience, but the townspeople recognized him immediately.

Originally, Trey Parker and Matt Stone intended for Mysterion to be a one-time character and had not planned for his identity to ever be revealed, or even intended for him to be a particular character and intended him, like Eric Cartman's father, only to cause debates among fans. However, during Season 14, Mysterion returned in a story arc beginning in "Coon 2: Hindsight" as a member of Coon and Friends, and in the follow-up "Mysterion Rises" his identity was revealed to be Kenny, and he possesses a superpower - his familiar inability to die as well as the fact no one remembers him dying.

Personality
Mysterion is the embodiment of the anti-hero character architype. Much of his attitude and view of the world stems from his experiences as Kenny, from his poverty, his willingness to help others in a time of need, as well as his inability to convince his friends of his inability to stay dead, which he views as a curse. Most of the time he is calm and calculating, makings him an excellent strategist. However, there are times when, usually when people fail to take him seriously or in discussions with the Coon, that his temper gets the better of him - he came very close to lashing out violently at Kyle when he said that not being able to die would be "pretty cool". On another occssion he said that he finds pissing Cartman off "extremely funny" - possibly the only time Mysterion has laughed.

Despite being the near-exact opposite of the Coon, Kenny has used his alter ego to improve his own life to an extent - he convinced his parents to stop beating each other up, stop smoking pot (although he has only been semi-successful in both of these) and give their sons allowances. However, given his nature of being almost completely selfless under other circumstances, this is forgivable.

Appearance
Mysterion looks very much like a child superhero, as he wears a pair of white underwear briefs over his base suit, which is an off-lavender and has a bright green 'M' on the front of it. Around his waist, there is a plain, thin black belt with a dark grey, standard buckle. Brown boots adorn his feet. There is a dark blue cloak that drags on the ground wrapped around his neck and provides a shield for his 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 just out from the top of Mysterion's head. Finally, he wears a black half-mask that covers his face from the bridge of the nose up.

Unfortunately, there are little clues as to what features Mysterion possesses that makes him distinctive. Like most children in South Park's animation style, Mysterion has a perfectly round head, an averagely sized body, two tilted oval eyes with black pupils, and a mouth. He is extremely agile, and can run away quickly enough to disappear while a string of fireworks are blowing up.

Vigilante Activities
Despite everyone's insistence on how important Mysterion was to the town, he appeared to stop relatively small crimes. The only crimes we saw him stop were public disorderly conduct and graffitti by reporting them to the police. He also beats up Proffessor Chaos (Butters) and General Dissarray to stop them from blowing up a hospital (although fellow "hero" The Coon was really behind that plot) and his dialogue with Chaos indicates that he has probably stopped his "evil" plots before.

Weapons/Tools
In Coon vs. Coon and Friends, he is seen toting a handgun, although he never uses it for his vigilante activities, but only to shoot himself on two seperate occasions. 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.

Powers/Abilites
Mysterion seems to be more of a hand-to-hand combat fighter, as we see when he fights with Professor Chaos and General Disarray. Mysterion has great agility, as he made it to the top of buildings without the use of ladders, stairs, or elevators.

In "Mysterion Rises" we are to discover Mysterion possesses a superpower - he is unable to die, always waking up in his bed every day as if nothing ever happened, with nobody remembering it. He has died "countless" times, and is unaware of why himself. It is implied however, it has to do with the Necronomicon and the cult of Cthulhu. Coon vs. Coon and Friends also reveals that he may use his immortality as a sort of improvised teleport: Since he will go back to his bed after he dies, he kills himself to be sent back there. He uses this technique to escape the sunken city of Ry'leh.

Identity
Before Mysterion was revealed to be Kenny, Cartman had named Craig, Kyle, Kenny, Stan, Clyde, and arguably Wendy as suspects, and during the unmasking Cartman claims he'd "knew it all along; [he] even said so before!" However, Mysterion is shown confronting Kyle in private, which ruled him out. Mr. Garrison pointed out Mysterion is a member of his class. No female had been listed as a suspect on Professor Chaos and General Disarray's wall of Mysterion suspects, which implies Mysterion as a male, and in addition, the amateur drawing of Mysterion shows a clearly male character with a masculine form and jaw, as well as a very deep voice. Also, the underwear worn are 'male' underwear, even farther ruling out Wendy or any other female student as a suspect.

He is able to move around without aid, so he could not have been Jimmy or Timmy. Also, he remained extremely calm under pressure and did not twitch, making Tweek extremely unlikely. Clyde was shown sleeping in class the day before Mysterion and the Coon (Eric Cartman) met, which some fans claimed he was tired from his activities as Mysterion. However, other students are shown tired, so it may have simply been to illustrate disinterest in the Coon's identity.

In the Season 13 DVD, the deleted ending of The Coon reveals that the boy unmasked at Town Hall was Kyle, and he was arrested as a result. Mysterion, however, appeared to Kyle outside his cell and revealed his face, repeating the gag again. While this would also dilute both Garrison and Cartman's clues, it is a general rule of thumb in fiction for deleted scenes to be non-canonical.

In Coon 2: Hindsight, the Mysterion suspects are narrowed down to two people: Kenny and Clyde. Kenny and Clyde were called out by Cartman and he said "I even said it was you,", unlike Bradley, who was not even on Professor Chaos' suspect list, nor accused by Cartman. Stan is shown as a separate hero within Mysterion's presence, ruling him out, and Craig does not appear in the episode.

In Mysterion Rises, it is revealed he is Kenny McCormick, after he urges Captain Hindsight to shoot him.

Allusions to Superheros/Supervillains
Mysterion seems to share similar characteristics with various other superheroes, particularly those from DC Comics' Batman franchise. Matt Stone and Trey Parker state on the commentary for "The Coon" he was intended as a parody of modern "dark' superhero films, using The Dark Knight and Watchmen as examples.

The Spirit
Some of Mysterion's quotes are very similar to those of The Spirit. One such example is the quote, "The city needs my help. It cries for protection, and I will answer the call to save her".

Batman
Batman, the alter ego of Bruce Wayne, often uses a low voice to disguise himself. Mysterion did this as well so none of his classmates or the people he knew as a regular child would recognize his voice. The contact that Mysterion had with the police was similar to that of Batman's partnership with the police commissioner of the city of Gotham, James Gordon; both of them report to their respective informants for relaying information about crime. Also, Mysterion's manner of disguise and choice of words allude to Batman's, for they both hide their defining features, especially around the face, and consider themselves symbols of their cities/towns. They both speak only when necessary and tend to spend more time alone, prowling the streets for crime. His reluctance to work with other heroes is also similar.

Rorschach
Rorschach, one of the central characters of the graphic novel and film Watchmen, is mentioned by Stone and Parker in the DVD commentary as a major inspiration, along with Batman, for Mysterion. Like Batman, Rorschach has a deep, throaty voice similar to Mysterion's. Also in one scene, Mysterion speaks directly to the viewer via inner dialogue, and his inner dialogue is similar to Rorschach's journal throughout the film and graphic novel.

The Riddler
One of Batman's most prominent foes, the Riddler shares his icon, the question mark, with Mysterion, who wears it atop his cloak. While question marks mean different things in regards to each, they are similar in appearance, with the exception that Mysterion's is bright green and Riddler's are many colors.

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."


 * "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."


 * "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."


 * [Inner dialogue] "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."


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


 * "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."


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


 * "As long as my identity is a mystery, this will just happen again and again. It has to end. I will show my face."


 * "I am Mysterion. I have joined forces with other superheroes in my neighborhood to help save the Gulf. Even the other heroes do not know that unlike them, I do have a power. A power they will now begin to understand. And all will know who and what I truly am."


 * "Then do it! Pull the trigger, Hindsight- if you don't believe us then you don't have a choice. Pull the trigger, you pussy!"


 * "I can't die. I've experienced death countless times. Sometimes I see a bright light. Sometimes I see Heaven, or Hell. But eventually no matter what I wake up in my bed wearing my same old clothes."


 * "You wanna whine about curses, Hindsight? You're talking to the wrong fucking cowboy."
 * "I can't die."
 * "Pretty cool? Do you know what it feels like to be stabbed? To be shot? Decapitated? Torn apart? Burned? Run over? It's not pretty cool, Kyle! It fucking hurts!"