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Jerome McElroy, commonly referred to as Chef, was a recurring character in South Park. He was most famous for being the South Park Elementary cafeteria chef and the boys' go-to guy for advice, which would often result into him breaking into songs about sex. He first appeared in the Season One episode, "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe".

Chef was killed off in the Season Ten debut episode, "The Return of Chef", following controversy with Isaac Hayes, who left the series after the episode, "Trapped in the Closet" aired, due to its portrayal of Scientology.

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Background

As his nickname implies, Chef was a school cafeteria cook at the South Park Elementary School and former member of City Council as "Head of Public Safety". He was the only adult that the boys (Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny) consistently looked to for advice. A typical exchange between Chef and the boys goes as such:

Chef: "Hello there, children!" Boys: [in unison] "Hey, Chef." Chef: "How's it goin'?" Boys: [one or all] "Bad." Chef: "Why bad?"

Chef used the word "children" often, even for a singular child. For example, he referred to Cartman as "children" in "Cartman's Mom is a Dirty Slut" and "Spontaneous Combustion," Stan in "Kenny Dies," and Butters in "The Simpsons Already Did It". He also tended to use "fudge" as a euphemism for "fuck," particularly in early episodes. The various humorously named snacks he made in "Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls" epitomized this.

While most of the inhabitants of South Park are Caucasian, Chef was one of the very few residents in town who was African American; in fact, the only other black people to consistently live in South Park are Token and his parents, who were not prominent characters until the fourth season. As a result, Chef (usually affectionately, though not always) referred to most people in town with the racial slur "crackers", often "cracker-ass", including the children.

Aside from cooking, Chef was passionate about singing - he wrote the song, "Stinky Britches" which was later covered by Alanis Morissette. He was based on such 1970s African American singers as Isaac Hayes and Barry White. Often, he agreed to give the boys advice in the form of songs but wound up singing about having sex. However, over time, like many earlier characters on the show, his role, especially as a singer, diminished, and in later seasons he did not sing much. By the time his death occurred, he had not sung any songs in 4 years or so.

Despite his preoccupations with women and sex, Chef was generally one of the few level-headed adults in South Park. In addition to dispensing advice to "the children", Chef spoke out against outrageous ideas and helped save South Park/the world in general from disasters on numerous occasions. However, Chef was not above performing nonsensical acts, such as buying a fancy TV that he couldn't even program.

In earlier seasons, Chef was often approached by the children when they were unfamiliar with a sexual term or practice. This happened so often that it eventually got on Chef's nerves, leading him to say, "Goddammit, children, why do I always have to be the one to teach you these things?", but went on to explain to them whatever they wanted to know anyway.

Chef’s last name suggests he could be at least partially of some Celtic descent, and indeed his parents live in Edinburgh, Scotland.

In "Chef Goes Nanners", he briefly converted to Islam and adopted the name "Abdul Mohammed Jabar Rauf Kareem Ali", but converted back to Christianity by the end of the episode.

Criminal Record

Death

The fate of Chef was revealed in the Season 10 premiere, in which voice clips taken from previous episodes were linked together to form new dialogue to support the plot of "The Return of Chef". In the episode, Chef was brainwashed into becoming a child molester by the Super Adventure Club, an organization which combines outdoors activities with sex tourism and bizarre religious beliefs, some of which seem akin to those held by the real-life Church of Scientology.

At the end of the episode, Chef was burned, battered, impaled, shot, his face, including one eyeball, was pulled off, and his limbs were torn apart by a grizzly bear and a mountain lion, and he finally defecated as he died as a reference to the episode "Something Wall-Mart This Way Comes".

The town held a moving memorial service for him, in which Kyle gave a eulogy stating, "We shouldn't be mad at Chef for leaving us, we should be mad at that fruity little club for scrambling his brains" - a not-so-subtle jab at Scientology.

Darth Chef

Connelly: "Chef, can you hear me? Say something!" Darth Chef: [with respirator-assisted Vader-like breathing] "Hello there, children. How would you like some Salisbury steak?" Connelly: "Yes, go on!" Darth Chef: "And for dessert, how would you children like to suck on my chocolate salty balls?" Connelly: [mimicking children's voice] "Oh, you mean like a chocolate candy?" Darth Chef: "No, I mean MY BALLS!"

Chef's body was secretly recovered by the Super Adventure Club, who managed to revive him as a "Darth" Chef, mimicking the ending to. He was revived by the Super Adventure Club in a Darth Vader-esque suit (albeit with a helmet similar to a chef's hat) and was given a red spatula lightsaber. After that, the Super Adventure Club leader Connelly began the scene, which parodies

Connelly, as a parody of Darth Sidious, was very happy about Darth Chef's reply and responds with an evil laugh.

Darth Chef's voice was provided by Peter Serafinowicz, who voiced Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. However, he has not reappeared. It is now highly unlikely for him to return due to Isaac Hayes' death. Darth Chef does, however, appear along with many other characters in the background of the South Park opening sequence. While he is in Chef's place in the crowd of waving townspeople beginning right after "The Return of Chef", the clip of him waving is inserted into the opening beginning in "Make Love, Not Warcraft". Instead of waving, he is seen threateningly activating his lightsaber/spatula.

It should be noted the name "Darth Chef" has been generally accepted by fans, but is never actually used on the show. It is, however, mentioned on South Park Studios.

Aftermath

After Chef died, the children were never seen getting lunch again until "Crème Fraiche", and it was unknown who replaced Chef. However, in "Eek, A Penis!", Mr. Derp was seen in the background, implying he took over for the time. In "Crème Fraiche", the boys are seen in the lunch line and are greeted by Randy with Chef's familiar lines "Hello there children!" and "How's it goin'?" He also wore an apron that was similar to Chef's, only smaller, and he reveals there was an opening for a cafeteria chef. Chef himself is not directly referenced in the episode though, and Randy quits at the end, meaning it is likely Mr. Derp or another staff member took on the role again.

Chef is seen briefly during a trailer for South Park: The Stick of Truth breaking out from a coffin, partially rotting, much to the shock of Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and the new kid. Despite his final appearance in the show depicting him in a Darth Vader-like suit, his appearance in-game is a zombified version of his normal attire (along with the addition of a Nazi Sash around his arm). Chef is brought back to life by Clyde thanks to toxic waste made by aliens as a zombie Nazi as a boss fight, at points Chef will try biting the new kid, only for him to literally knock some sense into him, unfortunately Clyde shoots the toxic waste from a water gun at chef, causing the zombie Nazi personality to take over. At the end of the fight, Chef gains control, but only briefly as Clyde lights him on fire in a last ditch effort to defeat the new Kid, who had no choice but to use magical farts on Chef, burning his face off and killing him again. Chef's dialogue is, much like in Chef's return, comprised of stock audio (both from Isaac Hayes and various speeches from Adolf Hitler).

Chef was referenced in "Stunning and Brave", when P.C. Principal mentions a "chef person of color who loved to sing soul songs", and claims that the children drove him to suicide. Butters corrects him by stating that he was brainwashed by a cult.

Isaac Hayes Quits South Park

On March 13, 2006, Isaac Hayes was reported to have quit South Park over objections to the show's attitudes toward and depiction of various religions, claiming that the show had crossed the line from satire into intolerance.

Despite the content of the official press release, however, there remains considerable speculation about the motivations behind his departure. Parker and Stone assert that he quit due to the controversial episode "Trapped in the Closet", and its treatment of Scientology, as Hayes was a member of the religion. Series co-creator and writer Matt Stone commented in a manner that suggested that Hayes practiced a double standard regarding the treatment of religion on South Park: "[We] never heard a peep out of Isaac in any way until we did Scientology. He wants a different standard for religions other than his own, and to me, that is where intolerance and bigotry begin." [3]

Others have suggested that Hayes left the show because of the external pressure forced by his fellow Scientologists and that the decision was not voluntary. It was eventually reported, however, that Hayes did not quit the show, but that the original press release announcing his departure was put out by someone who was not authorized to represent him. On January 4, 2006, Hayes defended South Park's style of controversial humor to The Onion's AV Club and XM's Opie and Anthony Show, going so far as to note that although he was not pleased with the show's depiction of Scientology, he "understand[s] what [Matt and Trey] are doing." It was reported that Hayes suffered a stroke in the middle of January 2006 and was not in a position to make major decisions for himself.

Hayes died of a stroke on August 10, 2008, making "The Return of Chef" Chef's final official appearance.

Appearance

Aside from Nichole, Token, and their families, Chef was the only African-American character in South Park. He was almost always seen wearing his chef's hat, red shirt and blue pants. He was also often seen wearing a white apron with the word "Chef" printed on it. He appeared to be slightly overweight and had a black beard.

Chef seems to have worn a chef's hat for most of his life, even when he wasn't employed as a chef. He wore it as a child, as seen in "The Tooth Fairy Tats 2000" and supported by his father's anecdote in "The Succubus". Even when he is employed as an accountant in "The Succubus", his signature hat can be seen hanging up in his office. However, he does not wear it as a young adult in the flashbacks in "Chef Aid" or "Cartman's Mom is a Dirty Slut"

To see images of Jerome "Chef" McElroy, visit Jerome "Chef" McElroy/Gallery.

Family

Chef's parents first appeared in "The Succubus", when they came over from Scotland for Chef's wedding. They told the boys of their many alleged encounters with the Loch Ness Monster, and his attempts to swindle $3.50 ("tree-fiddy") out of them by dressing up as a Girl Scout, an alien and even using young Chef by posing as his imaginary friend.

Chef's folks also made another appearance in "The Biggest Douche in the Universe", where they tried to give Cartman "more time" by extracting Kenny's soul from inside him. Chef's mother also offered "tree-fiddy" to Kenny to go out the window in case the soul got on the curtains or into the pot roast (which Kenny ended up getting trapped in), to which his father replied, "Now don't go offerin' the soul no tree-fiddy, woman!" They are also seen in a crowd during "Red Sleigh Down".

However, the two were not seen among those who attended their son's funeral after his death in "The Return of Chef".

Quotes

Chef: "Uhhh... James Taylor, what the hell are you doin' in here?! Singing' about prostitutes to the children! Get out of here! ...These children tricked me!" from "Fat Camp"

"Uhhh... James Taylor, what the hell are you doin' in here?! Singing' about prostitutes to the children! Get out of here! ...These children tricked me!" from "Fat Camp" The Boys: [quoting Chef] "There's a time and a place for everything, and it's called college." from "The Tooth Fairy Tats 2000"

[quoting Chef] "There's a time and a place for everything, and it's called college." from "The Tooth Fairy Tats 2000" Chef: "Children, you know I rarely say this, but.....well, fudge ya." from "Summer Sucks"

"Children, you know I rarely say this, but.....well, fudge ya." from "Summer Sucks" Chef: "Have you ever heard of the Emancipation Proclamation?"

Catchphrases

"Hello there, children!"

Trivia

Prominence

In South Park: The Stick of Truth, Chef is revived as a Nazi Zombie by Clyde. The player referred to as "Douchebag" must fight him as a penultimate boss. It is revealed that he has been stitched back together, however, his skin has turned green (like most zombies in the game), the visible scars and gashes from his brutal death still remain, and his old clothes are tattered (as you would expect). He will quickly switch between his old voice and the Nazi outbursts common among those exposed to the green goo. His voice lines are similar to being replayed from an old episode, much like "The Return of Chef", this is due to how the original voice actor having passed away 6 years prior to the game's release, when making his old voice lines, he is still his old self, showing regret for him being forced to attack the boys, but this is quickly stopped by Clyde, who quickly covers him in the green goo.

Zombie Chef's abilities include: "Chocolate Salty Balls" involves him pulling out said balls from the gash in his stomach and will inflict gross out if not blocked, "Hello Children": where he attempts to bite the player character (but mashing the corresponding buttons when shown can resist the attack). Or he can use his spatula as a Melee weapon dealing a large amount of damage if it is unblocked (especially to Jimmy or Cartman).

When the player takes Chef's health down to 1 (from a rather large 73,476 if you are level 15), Chef will fully regain control of himself and proclaim "Children! Everybody! I'm back!", before Clyde will throw a Molotov Cocktail at Chef, causing him to violently burst into flames and run around. The player will charge up and release a powerful fart, to which Chef gets caught in the proceeding fireball, killing him and causing him to re-sustain the brutal injuries that lead to his original death, albeit him now being horribly charred. If the player fails to do this quickly then Chef will set the player and their buddy on fire unless they have any shields. Once they have no shields then they will get fire damage and will die soon meaning that they will have to restart the game from the last checkpoint.