Steve Barkin
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Steve Barkin is a fictional character from Disney's animated television series Kim Possible.
[edit] About Steve Barkin
Barkin is a teacher at Middleton High, Kim and Ron's school. He frequently turns up in charge of almost every class, ranging from gym to home economics, due to the fact that the other teachers seem to be perpetually sick or on vacation. The show's staff has dubbed him the school's "permanent substitute".
A gruff, humorless fellow with an apparent military background (and possibly a little shell-shocked because of it), he's normally quite abrasive with the students and seems particularly harsh with Ron Stoppable ("I looked at him funny once in the 9th grade, and he's dogged me ever since." Ron explains - and is later proven correct as Mr. Barkin says he knew Ron was a problem since that occasion), as well as anyone who questions authority in general and his authority in specific (which sometimes causes him to butt heads with Kim).
He is the male role model that Ron can have mano-y-boyo conversations with. He can also be a valuable ally (i.e. saving Ron's in Bonding as well as other episodes) but mostly he is a sort of bully towards Ron. He often lifts him with anger (as seen in Bad Boy) and strikes fear into his eyes.
He has also frequently expressed a strong dislike of mutants, which he sometimes encounters through his occasional involvement with Kim and Ron's adventures (one was Return to Wannaweep). He does have a soft spot for baked goods, however, and is the den-mother ("Brigadier Pixie") of the local Pixie Scouts chapter. His other extra-curricular activities mostly seem to involve going to the gym and playing Rugby.
Despite his initial unpleasantness, Barkin describes himself as "tough, but fair". While he's never one to play favorites in his classes, he's also the first to shower praise on any student who possesses exceptional abilities in whatever he happens to be teaching at the time. Even Ron, who often frequents Barkin's bad side, has managed to impress him on occasion, most notably after he demonstrated his outstanding cooking abilities in Home Economics and after he defeated Gill.
In Tick-Tick-Tick and Royal Pain, his hair was blond, but starting with Sink or Swim, it was colored brown for the remainder of the series.
He also has a military background, achieving at least the rank of Lieutenant, and serving in Vietnam (as shown in Two to Tutor)
Steve Barkin also demonstrated some sexism in Ron the Man when he contested Ron's manhood by mentioning he's constantly saved by a girl.
Mr. Barkin is voiced by Patrick Warburton.
[edit] Not the Principal
For a long time, fans believed Barkin to be Middleton High's principal. However, in the episode All the News it was revealed that the principal was a woman.
[edit] Constable Barkin
In the episode Rewriting History, several flashbacks and an old photo of Steve Barkin's great-grandfather, Constable Barkin, are seen.
Constable Barkin appears to possess the same gruff, no-nonsense, inflexible personality as his descendant. However, these events were revealed to be a dream sequence.
