Prior to the broadcast, Parker and Stone said "Damien" would be the first episode in which Kenny would not be killed; ultimately, however, Kenny was shot by Jimbo at the end of the pay-per-view fight. Kenny is turned into a duck-billed platypus in the episode, which Parker said was done because, "Duck billed platypuses are something I've always been infatuated with. They're just so bizarre." In the original script, Pip, the unpopular British student inspired by the character of the same name in Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations", was originally supposed to be killed and permanently removed from the show after "Damien", in which Damien projects Pip into the air and blows him up in a shower of fireworks. However, Parker and Stone decided they should not kill any student characters except for Kenny, so they decided not to kill Pip and to bring him back for future episodes.