Jarod Nandin, known as The South Park Guy, has died due to COVID-19 complications. The World of Warcraft cosplayer revealed on Twitter on December 19 that he had gone to the ER with chest pains and was administered a COVID-19 test. Three days later he confirmed that he had tested positive but urged fans not to worry, saying, “I’ll make it.”
His last two tweets regarding his condition were dated December 27 and 28, and mentioned that he was struggling with breathing issues. Nandin said that his oxygen saturation levels had dropped below 90. The following day, Nandin posted his last retweet, - a reminder to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that millions of Americans are still waiting on a new stimulus check.
Nandin made a splash at BlizzCon 2013 when he cosplayed as the World of Warcraft player who was getting much too strong in the South Park Season 10 episode, "Make Love, Not Warcraft." The episode parodied the gamer’s cheating and aggression, and featured a real-life version of the player sitting at his computer at the end of the episode.
World of Warcraft and South Park fans were enthralled by Nandin’s performance and immediately dubbed him The South Park Guy. The cosplayer had even shaved the top of his head to achieve his hilarious look. In 2014, Nandin spoke to LA Weekly about his character, saying, “People can relate to it. We know somebody like that or we're like that.”
According to the article, Nandin had been playing World of Warcraft since 2007 on three different accounts, though he refused to take himself too seriously. “I thought if I took that character and made him human, meaning if I portrayed him, it would just be hilarious,” Nandin said. The cosplayer’s fame was also met with online harassment, yet he shrugged off any negative energy. “Why do I want to care about people who want to hurt me?” he said. “I only want to care about the people who want to do good.”
Source: ComicBook