Ben Chang, also known as Señor Chang, El Tigre Chino, Sgt. Chang, General Chang, and Kevin is by far the most puzzling, weird, and downright insane character on Community. As described by Jeff, Chang is nuts, dangerous, selfish and prone to using his name to make bad puns, which don’t make any sense most of the time. It is no secret that Chang exhibits symptoms of at least half a dozen disorders and it comes as no surprise that Chang has done some pretty insane things over the years.
After all, this is a man who’s had a different role at Greendale in each season. In season one, he was a Spanish teacher. In season two, he was a student. In season three, he was a security guard. In season four, he was an amnesiac. In season five, he was a math teacher. Last but not least, in season six, he was an actor. In each of his incarnations, Chang was pretty bonkers and today we’re taking a look at the ten craziest things this Chinese teacher of Spanish with the body of a fifth-grader and the brain of a psychopath has done.
HE FAKED HIS OWN DEATH
Upon returning from winter break, the study group was shocked to find a memorial to the recently departed Chang and a new professor at the Spanish classroom. Needless to say, not one of them was heartbroken by the news. However, they may have been just a bit disappointed when Chang entered the classroom still very much alive, carrying a boombox, and ready to get inside their cabezas.
Wearing his “El Tigre Chino” leather jacket, Chang told the actress to leave and announced to the class that he’s a man who cannot die. He then turned on the boombox and the song “I Never Die” blasted as he exited the classroom. Basically, he faked his own death for a prank.
HE PRETENDED TO BE A SPANISH TEACHER
In the season one episode “English as a Second Language”, it is revealed that Jeff is not the only one whose credentials are less than legitimate. Señor Chang admits to Jeff, in confidence, that he faked his way into a job teaching Spanish at a community college using phrases from Sesame Street, without having a proper degree.
So, for years, this man has been teaching Spanish without actually having any knowledge of Spanish. That’s some Greendale-level absurdity. Not to mention that during his time as a teacher, Chang was the worst teacher ever. He constantly bullied and humiliated his students, often taking a sadistic approach to his job.
HE SMASHED JEFF’S CAR
Of course, even Greendale has standards and rules, and as soon as Dean Pelton found out about Chang’s lack of credentials, Chang was fired. The Dean said that he got an anonymous tip about Chang, but it was, in fact, Annie who reported Chang. Because, when Chang confessed his dirty little secret to Jeff, Annie’s recorder recorded their conversation.
However, Chang was certain that Jeff was the only one who knew about his indiscretion, meaning Jeff had to be the one who ratted on him. To exert his revenge, Chang smashed Jeff’s car with his keytar while wearing safety goggles, because safety first.
HE TRIED TO JOIN THE STUDY GROUP AND WENT CRAZY
In season two, Chang became a student at Greendale and so began his desperate and weird efforts to join the study group. In the first episode of the season, Chang asked the group “is there any room in this pocket for a little spare chang?” and they promised to think about it. However, Chang, or at least a part of him, didn’t trust the group.
He is later seen in the study room having an argument with himself over whether he wants to join the study group or destroy them while switching between evil and good sides much like Gollum from The Lord of the Rings. This might be the moment Chang truly went crazy. His efforts to join the study group didn’t stop, however. On the contrary, he persisted and, in the end, they let him join.
HE GOT WAY TOO SERIOUS ABOUT HIS SECURITY GUARD JOB
When Chang became a security guard at Greendale in season three, he took his job just a tad too seriously. In “Geography of Global Conflict”, much to his displeasure, Chang is put in charge of monitoring the trashcans outside the library and making sure students don’t bump into them. Meanwhile, Britta felt frustrated that she’s no longer living the dangerous life of an activist. The two bumped heads and created an adversarial relationship to their mutual content.
Over the course of the episode, we saw Chang thwarting Britta’s efforts at rebellion. On her second attempt, Britta did kind of disrupt the Model UN competition and Chang got to taser her, so everyone was happy. It’s also worth pointing out that all of their interactions were set to Lionel Ritchie’s “Hello”.
HE LIVED IN THE AIR VENTS
Greendale’s air ventilation system isn’t just there to circulate air, it’s also home to Troy’s pet monkey Annie’s Boobs and Ben Chang. Chang first went into the vents in the season two episode “Paradigms of Human Memory”, chasing after Annie’s Boobs who had just stolen a paint brush. There he found a pile of “lost” items, prompting the study group to reminisce about old times. Meanwhile, Chang returned to the vents to retrieve his spoon.
In season three, it is revealed that a broke Chang made the air vents his new home when Dean Pelton had the system flooded with monkey gas, believing the monkey to be the cause of the ruckus. Instead, Chang and part of the ventilation system crashed right on top of the Dean’s desk.
HE ALMOST BURNED DOWN THE SCHOOL
After spending a whole month not doing much of anything as a security guard, Chang asked for a “promotion”, feeling he’s ready to make detective. Of course, there’s no such thing as a “security guard detective”, but that did not stop Chang from acting like one anyway. He delved into a hysterical film noir-like delusion and set out to solve a non-existing crime.
Back at his new home, the utility closet in the cafeteria, Chang put together an evidence board but the ball of yarn rolled towards the boiler, accidentally catching fire, and creating an explosion. Chang, being delusional, took this as a message not to poke his nose where it doesn’t belong. In the end, he did get caught and as “punishment” got promoted to head of security. Makes you wonder who the crazy one is, doesn’t it?
HE FORMED THE CHANGLORIOUS BASTERDS
Speaking of taking his security job way too seriously, having become the head of security, Chang now realized that he’s going to need more hands on deck if he intends to maintain order at Greendale. When the Dean suggests he hires some student interns, Chang gets the brilliant idea to form an army of kids. He decorates his uniform with some fake medals and officially forms the Changlorious Basterds.
Under Chang’s leadership, the Changlorious Basterds became a force to be reckoned with. But Chang wasn’t satisfied with just maintaining order with the help of his newly formed troops. He had much bigger plans – to overthrow Dean Pelton and become the main man on campus.
HE CREATED A DICTATORSHIP
As hinted at in “Contemporary Impressionist” Chang does, indeed, rise up against the Dean in “Course Listing Unavailable”. Following the Star-Burns Wake Riot, Chang and his Changlorious Basterds have the Greendale Seven expelled, replace the Deal with the Doppel-Deaner, and take complete control over the school.
Chang basically creates a dictatorship, self-titling himself as the General, surrounding the building with heavy security, and dressing in a Napoleon Bonaparte outfit, while keeping the Dean locked up in the cafeteria basement. In “The First Chang Dynasty”, which is an homage to heist movies, Chang throws himself a lavish birthday party, which the Greendale Seven crash Ocean’s Eleven-style to rescue the Dean and save their school. Chang even had a plan to get rid of the incriminating evidence against him by blowing up the records room the moment he hits the final note of his keytar solo.
HE PRETENDED TO HAVE CHANGNESIA
“Hello, my name is Kevin. I have Changnesia” – those are the words that Ben Chang had written on a piece of paper when he appeared buck naked in front of an innocent, unsuspecting Post Office worker in the first episode of season four. In “The Alternative History of the German Invasion”, Chang, now referred to as Kevin, arrived at Greendale, still faking Changnesia, described later as a complex case of amnesia, and became a student once again.
In “Advanced Documentary Filmmaking”, Abed made a documentary to document Kevin’s Changnesia to explore all aspects of the case, which the Dean used as a propaganda film to get financial assistance from the MacGuffin Neurological Institute in order to study Changnesia. While some showed support for Kevin’s condition, Jeff wasn’t buying it. In the end, it turned out Jeff was right because – surprise, surprise – Chang was totally faking it.
