This Was What Saddam Hussein Was Up to Last Time We Saw Him on ‘South Park’
Now that Trey Parker and Matt Stone have struck a lucrative new deal with Paramount ($1.5 billion can buy a whole lot of dilapidated novelty Mexican restaurants), South Park’s Season 27 premiere is seemingly going to air tonight without any further delay.
To prove that all is well in the world of South Park, the show’s YouTube account recently posted a teaser for the episode, showcasing the return of OG South Park character Jesus Christ.
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While we all knew that Jesus would be back, fans were seemingly shocked by the revelation that the premiere will also feature the return of a mystery character who — although only depicted in silhouette — sure looks and sounds a lot like Saddam Hussein.
The cartoon version of the Iraqi dictator (with a cut-out photograph face) was a major part of the show’s early years. Hussein first appeared in the Season Two episode “Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus,” which frustrated fans by disrupting the revelation of a major cliffhanger, delivering a standalone adventure focused on Canada’s most flatulent comedy duo.
A few episodes later, in "The Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka," Hussein shows up again. But now he’s living in Hell, possibly the result of a lethal fart exposure in Canada.
This development teed up his role as the main antagonist of South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, which finds him in a toxic relationship with Satan, planning to rise from the underworld and conquer the world. He even has a whole musical number.
Apart from a brief glimpse of a portrait in “A Million Little Fibers,” the last time Saddam appeared on South Park was more than 20 years ago. In the final minutes of the Season Seven finale “It’s Christmas in Canada,” Stan discovers that the new, dictatorial Canadian Prime Minister is secretly being controlled by Hussein, Wizard of Oz-style.
In a full-circle moment for the character, he’s captured by Canadian soldiers, tied up and forced to participate in a Christmas parade. This was in December 2003, just days after the real Hussein was captured, and three years before he was executed.
This marked the end of the character’s South Park run — until now, it seems.