Saddam Hussein was the former president and dictator of Iraq from July 1979 to April 2003. He first appeared in South Park in the Season Two episode, "Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus". Shortly before the American-Canadian War, Hussein was killed by a pack of wild boars and became Satan's jealous, emotionally abusive, and manipulative boyfriend (and later ex-boyfriend). Hussein was a recurring character in South Park, and the main antagonist of South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.
Background[]
Saddam with Ms. Ellen.
Hussein first makes a very brief cameo in "Tom's Rhinoplasty", in an image shown by some Iraqis to the third grade class as evidence of Ms. Ellen being Hussein's mistress. He does not have the Canadian look in the photograph nor does he have a real life photo of his face. Her connection to him is a significant plot point that results in Ms. Ellen's ultimate death.
Hussein makes his first appearance in "Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus", where he kidnaps Celine Dion and tries to take over Canada. He launches an assault on the country, sneaking his troops through the air lines without the Canadians noticing. By the end of the episode, he manages to take over most of Canada, but is killed when all the Canadians attending the football game he attended to announce that Canada had been rechristened as “New Baghdad” fart at the same time, creating a massive flatulence cloud that also kills his Iraqi bodyguards. He later becomes a very prominent resident of Hell.
In "The Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka", Hussein is briefly seen with Satan welcoming Jesus' television producer to Hell. This is where it is first hinted he has a relationship with Satan, as he is seen holding hands with him.
Hussein serves as the main antagonist in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. After having been killed by a pack of wild boars six weeks earlier, he continues his romantic relationship with Satan as he plans to conquer the world by taking advantage of Satan's position as ruler of Hell. He uses his position of power over Satan to launch an invasion of Earth after the American-Canadian war made it possible for him to enter, and his demons briefly manage to take over the world. He is defeated when Cartman hits him with several powerful electrical shocks generated from his rewired V-chip by swearing, and Satan, fed up with his abuse, throws the weakened Saddam off a cliff and back into Hell, where he is impaled on a large stalagmite. Hussein is later seen briefly singing Mountain Town (Reprise) while still impaled on the stalagmite.
In "Do the Handicapped Go to Hell?", Saddam returns to Hell, having nowhere else to go after his death, and tries to move in with Satan. He constantly murders Satan's new boyfriend, Chris, however he keeps coming back since they are already in hell.
In "Probably", Satan deals with his decision to choose his current boyfriend over Saddam. He ends up choosing neither, and as punishment for Saddam's abusive, manipulative actions, banishes him to heaven to live with Mormons. He finds their kindness unbearable.
Saddam's "Chocolate Chip factory"
Hussein also appears briefly in "A Ladder to Heaven" when he is suspected by the US government of building a chemical weapons plant in Heaven. Being the manipulative character that he embodies in South Park, he even convinces God that he could not possibly be building chemical weapons in Heaven, despite the fact that he himself admits his cover up for the plant, a chocolate chip factory, is easily see-through.
In "Red Sleigh Down", pictures of Saddam are seen on some buildings when Santa Claus is flying around Iraq.
Hussein is also one of the forms the alien Najix takes in "Cancelled".
Hussein also appeared in "Krazy Kripples", in which Christopher Reeve called the attention of all the bad guys in South Park, including Hussein, David Blaine, Osama bin Laden, Kim Jong-il, Professor Chaos, his sidekick General Disarray and others. He recommends "killing all the infidels" as opposed to getting rid of Gene Hackman. Although it is unknown how he returned to Earth from Heaven, God may have discovered his cookie factory was a cover for weapons of mass destruction exiled him to Earth.
In "It's Christmas in Canada", Hussein appears as the man in a shallow alcove behind a curtain controlling the Prime Minister of Canada, in a dual reference to the Great Oz of The Wizard of Oz and his real life hiding from the US infantry in a pit under a tent. He makes many new, unnecessarily hateful and eccentric laws, including one that forced Ike to leave the US and move to Canada. The boys travel to Canada to get Ike back, coming across several other people who were affected by Saddam's laws. When they finally reach Saddam, he kills Kenny with lasers, and refuses to give Ike back to his brother. When Kyle asks "What the hell is wrong with you? What kind of Prime Minister bases all his decisions on hatred?" he is unveiled as the Prime Minister of Canada, and is promptly arrested by Canadian soldiers. He is last seen being paraded through a city on a float, with the Canadians celebrating his capture similar to how Iraqi's spontaneously took to the streets after his real life capture.
If you look very carefully in "A Million Little Fibers" when it shows the reporter from the Middle East, you can see a portrait of Hussein in the background.
Appearance[]
Saddam Hussein has an appearance that very much resembles the typical Canadian character except his head is a cut out of the real Saddam. He has a floppy head, a high-pitched voice and wears dark gray pants, a dark brown military jacket, and black shoes.
However, in Tom's Rhinoplasty, Hussein is shown to look like a normal adult, lacking the looks of a Canadian. He is also overweight. However, considering that Wendy hired the Iraq soldiers who held the photo to capture Ms. Ellen, it was likely photoshopped.
In the episode "It's Christmas in Canada", his face is a picture of him, with damaged skin and messy hair and beard, after he was dragged from a hidey-hole some days before the episode aired.
- To see images of Saddam Hussein, visit Saddam Hussein/Gallery.
Personality[]
Saddam Hussein on South Park has mannerisms that differ from the real Saddam. Firstly, he speaks English only, secondly, he talks in a whiny, high-pitched voice and speaks the show’s distinctive Canadian mannerisms (using phrases like “Guy”, “Buddy”, “Friend” and pronouncing “about” as “aboot”), and thirdly, he is homosexual. Hussein also is shown to be very manipulative, often accomplishing his tasks fairly easily due to the stupidity of nearly everyone around him, even God and Satan at times.
Hussein often creates diabolical schemes to take over the world. Most prominently in the film, where he manipulated his boyfriend Satan into invading earth, just so Saddam could push him aside and assume control of the world himself. He also organizes a gambit to invade Canada, sneaking his soldiers through the airlines in "Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus" and apparently built a chemical weapons plant to take over the world in "A Ladder to Heaven".
Hussein's most recent plot was to become the Prime Minister of Canada by tricking the Canadians. He becomes the Prime Minister for a short time but is defeated when the boys find out who he really is, and Canadian soldiers arrest him.
Saddam appears to be very sadistic, as evidenced by his torture of Kenny in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, he is heavily implied to have a sexual fetish for it. Similarly, Saddam appears to be very sex-crazed. He satisfies both his lust for power and his sex cravings by being in a homosexual relationship with Satan, whom he is very abusive towards.
As shown in "Do the Handicapped Go to Hell?" and "Probably", Hussein's first instinct when his relationship with Satan is threatened when Satan finds a new, much kinder boyfriend is to murder said boyfriend, and his first reaction after Satan breaks up with him is to constantly stalk him.
Hussein is a self-proclaimed psychopath, as evidenced in his song "I Can Change", which contained the following lyrics: "I like to kill I like to maim but it's OK because I can change!", during which he kills a dancer by breaking her back. He also apparently had abusive parents, as evidenced by other lyrics from the same song:
"It's not my fault, that I'm, so evil its society. society. You see my parents were sometimes abusive, and it made a prick of me." During these lyrics caricatures of Saddam's parents are seen physically abusing their infant son.
Saddam also is depicted as very power hungry, greedy, and dishonest. On one occasion, he is shown to be a religious extremist, as evidenced by his line in "Krazy Kripples", where Hussein recommends "Death to the infidels" as opposed to getting rid of Gene Hackman.
Quotes[]
- "Heeeeeeyyyyy! Relax, guy!"
- ”I love when you get all biblical Satan, you know exactly how to turn my crank!”
- "Where was I gonna go, Detroit?"
- “Saddam Hussein? Nah, relax buddy! I’m not him!”
U.S. Government Representative: Mr. Hussein, the U.S. government is becoming worried.
Saddam: Worried? Aboot what? Take a load off! Relax!
Representative: You seem to be taking over Canada.
Saddam: Taking over Canada? Me? Hey, you need a rest, fella! I'm not hiding any bombs!
Representative: We didn't say anything about bombs.
Saddam: Oh. You didn't? Hey, relax
Trivia[]
- It is rumored by some U.S. Soldiers that the real Saddam Hussein was shown the film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut while on trial for genocide/crimes against humanity as a form of torture.
- Saddam was voiced by Matt Stone but in the end credits of Bigger, Longer and Uncut, he is credited to “himself”.
- Saddam was the second celebrity whose head was used on the body of an animated South Park character, right after David Hasselhoff.
- In the episode "Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus", he pronounces about as "aboot". This, combined with his Canadian style head and his habit of saying "relax guy/friend" when people suspect him, implies that he is Canadian in some way. However, in other episodes, he pronounces about as "about", and does not have a Canadian accent.
- The cause for Saddam's death changes every time it is mentioned in the series - the film states he was killed by a pack wild boars while in "A Ladder to Heaven" and George Bush claims U.S. assassins took him out. He also was claimed to have died from a chemical gas attack by the Canadians in "Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus". However, this episode is shown as a fictional show-within-a-show in the episodes "Cartman's Mom is a Dirty Slut" and "Terrance and Phillip: Behind the Blow".
- Saddam was described by Satan once as "fucking crazy." Considering this is Satan, this is fairly ironic, although Satan has been shown as considerably nicer and more sensitive than he is depicted in other media.
- When Saddam Hussein first appeared on South Park, he was still the dictator of Iraq, making his appearance as Satan's boyfriend rather surreal, especially the first time they aired.
- Although Saddam is South Park's biggest and most dangerous villain and a real person and celebrity, he does not appear in "200" or "201".
- Saddam is referenced a few times as the Iraqi Dictator instead of Satan's boyfriend:
- In "Red Sleigh Down", an image of Hussein is seen in the room where Santa Claus is being tortured by the Iraqis.
- The pro-war guy sings a song about America's need to fight Saddam Hussein in "I'm a Little Bit Country".
- In "Erection Day", Jimmy tells a joke about how Saddam fell, but the price of gas did not.
- In the commentary track for South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut's Blu-ray release, Trey Parker mentions that they had an idea to bring back Saddam in Season Thirteen, however, this never came to fruition.
- Saddam initially started out as the film's secondary antagonist and Satan's henchman. However, this is no longer true, because Satan has reformed later on, leaving Saddam to usurp him and become the true main villain in the long run.
- Saddam was found in a pit beneath a tent hovel on December 13, 2003 in the town of ad-Dawr, Iraq, near Tikrit as the conclusion of the US military Operation "Red Dawn". His face in "It's Christmas in Canada" is from the images circulating in the news and added to the final cut 4 days before airtime. The plot elements of him hiding behind a curtain and people parading after his capture are from real life.[2][3][4]
- Saddam Hussein died in real life about a month after "Stanley's Cup" aired, meaning that "It's Christmas in Canada" could be Saddam's last appearance.
- The rapper Eminem referenced Saddam in the song "Criminal", saying his catchphrase: "Come on, relax guy!" in Saddam's voice.
Prominence[]
- "Tom's Rhinoplasty" (cameo) - Seen in a photo having an affair with Ms. Ellen.
- "Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus" - Tries to take over Canada but dies in a chemical gas attack perpetrated by a stadium of Canadian citizens who fart in unison.
- "The Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka" - Along with Satan, Saddam welcomes Jesus' producer to Hell.
- "2000 New Year's Countdown"
- "Do the Handicapped Go to Hell?" - Tries to get back together with Satan.
- "Probably" - Satan banishes him to Heaven.
- "A Ladder to Heaven" - He creates weapons of mass destruction in Heaven.
- "Cancelled" - Seen as one of Najix's forms and shown in live action form in the Earth TV show.
- "Krazy Kripples" - Joins a group of supervillains.
- "It's Christmas in Canada" - Makes unfair laws undercover as the prime minister of Canada. He also killed Kenny in the episode.
Movies[]
- South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut - Serves as the main antagonist.