View source for Korn's Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery

{{Episode_Infobox
|Title=Korn's Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery
|Season=03
|Episode=12
|Author=Trey Parker
|Director=Trey Parker
|Airdate=1999-10-27
|Image=http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/images/shows/south-park/episode-thumbnails/season-3/south-park-s03e12-korns-groovy-pirate-ghost-mystery.jpg
|Number=43
|Guest=Korn as Themselves
|Prev=[[Starvin' Marvin in Space]]
|Next=[[Hooked on Monkey Fonics]]
}}

==Story==

===Description===
It's Halloween again, and the band Korn has been booked to play at a big festival at the South Park Docks. But the musical group's van (which looks suspiciously like the Mystery Machine from the Scooby Doo cartoons) is forced off the road by what appear to be ghost pirates. 
When Korn finally makes it into town, the group encounters Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny, who have problems of their own.  In order to scare some fifth graders, they dug up the moldering corpse of Kyle's grandmother and then they promptly misplaced it.

The townspeople quickly learn of the grave robbing. Not knowing the true fate of the body, they fear it was taken by necrophiliacs. During a town meeting about the "problem," they're attacked by ghost pirates who slay several residents, then warn that they'll come back to finish the job if the Halloween festivities continue.

The townspeople decide that Korn is responsible for the outbreak of Satanic events, cancel their concert and roll their van for good measure. Meanwhile, the musical group and the boys endeavor to solve the mystery. After what can best be described as "hijinks," they discover that Father Maxi, who loathes Halloween, is behind everything. He created the pirates using "a flashlight and some cotton swabs," and their ship using "some candles, a mirror and two squirrels."  Kyle's grandma's corpse is also recovered when the dog that ate it regurgitates it in front of a crowd of horrified onlookers.

===What I Learned Today===
"It's easy to perceive something some way and then be wrong. So we all need to learn to be a little less perceptive."

===Memorable Quotes===
* "Where  the hell are we gonna get a dead body?" (Cartman)
* "Dude, we're not digging up my Grandma!  I'll get in trouble!!"  (Kyle)
* "People stealing bodies to have sex with them, pirate ghosts destroying the town -- when did everything go so wrong?" (Kyle's Mom)
* "Aw, nuts!  Come on Ned, this ain't a whore house, it's a hor-ROR house!"  (Jimbo)
* "Somebody wanted to have sex with her dead body." (Night Watchman)
* "Screw Halloween, I already got my Christmas present!" (Cartman)
* "You best clear out of here.   There's pirate ghosts and they'll kill you." (Announcer)
* "If there's one thing we like more than playng music, its solving a groovy mystery." (Jonathan from Korn)
* "LYNCH MOB!!"  (Stan's Dad)
* "You son of a bitch chicken from outer space!!  Come back here!"  (Cartman)

==Characters==

{{Character list
| Name = Stan Marsh
| Image = http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/characters/kids/stan-marsh.png
}}
{{Character list
| Name = Kyle Broflovski
| Image = http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/characters/kids/kyle-broflovski.png
}}
{{Character list
| Name = Eric Cartman
| Image = http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/characters/kids/eric-cartman.png
}}
{{Character list
| Name = Kenny McCormick
| Image = http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/characters/kids/kenny-mccormick.png
}}
{{Character list
| Name = Pirate Ghosts
| Image = http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/characters/non-human/pirate-ghosts.png
}}
{{Character list
| Name = Liane Cartman
| Image = http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/characters/adults/liane-cartman.png
}}
{{Character list
| Name = Gerald Broflovski
| Image = http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/characters/adults/gerald-broflovski.png
}}
{{Character list
| Name = Sheila Broflovski
| Image = http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/characters/adults/sheila-broflovski.png
}}
{{Character list
| Name = Randy Marsh
| Image = http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/characters/adults/randy-marsh.png
}}
{{Character list
| Name = Sharon Marsh
| Image = http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/characters/adults/sharon-marsh.png
}}
{{Character list
| Name = Father Maxi
| Image = http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/characters/adults/priestmaxi.png
}}
{{Character list
| Name = Jerome "Chef" McElroy
| Image = http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/characters/adults/chef.png
}}
{{Character list
| Name = Herbert Garrison
| Image = http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/characters/adults/mrgarrison.png
}}
{{Character list
| Name = Jimbo Kern
| Image = http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/characters/adults/jimbo-kern.png
}}
{{Character list
| Name = Ned Gerblansky
| Image = http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/characters/adults/ned-gerblanski.png
}
{{Character list
| Name = Wendy Testaburger
| Image = http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/characters/kids/wendy-testaburger.png
}}
===Character Debuts===
{{Character list
| Name = KORN
| Image = http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/characters/celebrities/korn.png
}}<br clear="left">
Korn, the musical group, as well as Niblet, an annoying yellow canary/chicken that serves at Korn's mascot and comic relief.

The Fifth Graders, who will continue to bully the boys from here on out. The Leader of the Fifth Graders is best known for his mutton-chopped brown hair and green t-shirt with a picture of himself on it.  (General note:  After "Fourth Grade", they will be referred to as "Sixth Graders", as everyone moved up a grade.  Derp.)  

{{Character list
| Name = Cleo Broflovski
| Image = http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/characters/adults/cleo-broflovski.png
}}<br clear="left">
We "meet" Kyle's grandmother, Cleo Broflovski.  Although she's dead, pretty badly decomposed, and then eaten by a dog.

===Body Count===
Several residents killed by pirates. Also Kenny, shot to pieces by tiny Rebel snowspeeders from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back -- perhaps because the Halloween costume he's wearing at the time looks like an Imperial Walker. See Pop Culture References for the details.

==Locations==

==Behind The Scenes==
Matt and Trey remember this as one of their most difficult episodes to produce, because it was the first one after a months-long break to rest and recuperate after the South Park movie. It took a while to get their groove back. Also, the argument during the episode about whether the  evil spirits were "pirate ghosts" (ghosts that had become pirates) or "ghost pirates" (pirates that had become ghosts) actually raged for a while between Matt (who favored "pirate ghosts") and one of the show's writers.

===Where Did The Idea Come From===
The band Korn approached the show about debuting the first single from their new album on South Park. The writers thought it would be funny if they used them as clueless "mystery" investigators, a la Scooby Doo.

==Pop Culture References==
===Shout Outs===
Kenny's Halloween costume is a faithful reproduction of the ED-209 law enforcement robot from the movie Robocop. Ironically, in that film the ED-209 malfunctions and kills a man named "Kinney." Also Korn makes use of many Scooby Doo props, including driving around in a tricked-out van

===Pwn'd===
Cartman's mom gets a "Lifesized Blow-Up Antonio Banderas Love Doll With Realistic Genitalia" in the mail. Cartman thinks it's a Christmas gift for him, blows it up and carries it around.

==Bonus Factoids==

===Pointless Observations===
When Cartman flips through a toy catalog, one can see ads for Alabama Man from "Chinpokomon" and for a Mr. Hankey Play Set from " Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo".  Also Wendy wins the town's Halloween costume competition by wearing the same Chewbacca outfit she wore in "Pink Eye" two seasons earlier. Finally, at the graveyard where they dug up Kyle's grandma, one of the gravestones reads "Kenny-1999."

Much like the Power Rangers, each member of Korn has the super ability to turn into a various corn product (popcorn, creamed corn, corn on the cob).   It doesn't help out.

Much of the action takes place on the South Park Docks. However South Park (being part of Colorado) is landlocked.

{{Season_List_03|Episode=12}}