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| Kyle Broflovski | |
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| Age: | 9[1] |
| Gender: | Male |
| Hair color: | Red-auburn |
| Job: | Student |
| Religion: | Jewish |
| First appearance: | The Spirit of Christmas |
| Voiced by: | Matt Stone |
Kyle Broflovski (portrayed as 'Brovlofski' on a sign at his dad's office in the season 4 episode Chef Goes Nanners,[2] and as 'Broflofski' in the caption on the newscast about the "Everyone versus Everyone" trial in the Sexual Harassment Panda episode) is a fictional character in the Emmy-award-winning American animated series South Park. Voiced by and based on series co-creator Matt Stone, Kyle is one of the show's four central characters, together with Stan Marsh, Kenny McCormick, and Eric Cartman. Stone has asserted that the character is loosely based on himself and his experiences growing up in suburban Colorado. The surname Broflovski is derived from Brosloski, the original surname of Stone's mother (changed to Belasco when an ancestor immigrated to the United States).
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His mother, Sheila Broflovski, is very overprotective; she instigates a war between the USA and Canada in the feature-length movie South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut because of Canadian natives Terrance and Phillip's extremely scatological R-rated movie. Mrs. Broflovski is very prone to "making a mountain out of a molehill" whenever she thinks something is threatening her son. Her catchphrase is "What, what, what?!" Kyle's father Gerald Broflovski is a lawyer, but Kyle reiterates that despite his father's profession, they are not as wealthy as Token Black, though out of the four main boys, he is the wealthiest. Kyle also has an adopted younger brother, Ike Broflovski. Ike's birth parents are Canadian. He also has a cousin who appeared in "The Entity", "Red Sleigh Down", and "The Losing Edge", also named Kyle. It is implied that Kyle might have moved to the town, since he is quoted in The Entity saying, "I spent five years in this town making a good name for Jews. . ."[3]
Kyle wears a bright green ear-flapped cap (or shapka), a bright orange jacket with black-edged pockets with a bright green collar, dark green pants, and lime-green mittens or gloves. He is rarely shown without his cap, but without it he has a bright red-to-auburn Jewfro, a hairstyle he seems to resent. This hairstyle is first revealed in "How to Eat with Your Butt", and secondly in "Elementary School Musical" where it was styled to resemble High School Musical's Corbin Bleu. Before then, he was not even confirmed as being ginger; in the episode "Spookyfish", which aired before "How to Eat with Your Butt", his evil twin had a brown beard, suggesting that the original plan for Kyle's hair color was brown. In "Good Times with Weapons", his anime self is shown to have either brown or violet eyes. In the episode "Ginger Kids", Cartman refers him as a 'Daywalker' (a part ginger: the only ginger trait is the hair).
He is one of the few Jewish characters in the show, though he shows a very Deist point of view throughout the course of the series. Rather than integrating Jewish mysticism and religious ideas with science, he instead puts down supernatural explanations and prefers to see things scientifically rather than religiously. For instance, when Cartman claims to have psychic powers and Kyle displays plausible psychic ability (by blowing up a few lightbulbs while shouting), he dismisses it saying that there is a reasonable explanation. He is considered by some to believe in God as First Cause and take on the religion of his parents out of respect for them (the latter being increasingly likely as he has actually met and seen Jesus, who is the reason for the Christianity-Judaism split). A good example of this is seen in "The Passion of the Jew". Cartman's most frequent topic to tease Kyle over is his religion, and because of this, Kyle is very insecure about his origins, and is more defensive than he is proud. He does not seem to know much about Jewish traditions or beliefs, as when his little brother, Ike, was going to have a bris in "Ike's Wee Wee", he thought Ike's entire penis was going to be cut off, rather than just the foreskin (this is due to the fact that Kyle had his Brit milah at a younger age). He also refers to God as 'Jehovah' in the episode "Cartmanland".
Kyle has, other than Cartman, the shortest temper out of all of the boys, and very frequently gets angry or frustrated. When angered or frustrated, Kyle has a tendency to clench his fists and growl or yell angrily. He has also apparently picked up Stan's trait of pinching the bridge of his nose when frustrated, as seen at the end of "I'm a Little Bit Country", and "Super Fun Time". Kyle often displays the highest moral standard of all the boys,even though he sometimes lies like in "Are You There God? It's Me, Jesus". Kyle also usually gets higher grades than his friends, and often provides a sober thought to plans or ideas made by the other boys. Kyle usually acts as the protagonist to Cartman's antagonist. Kyle is on better terms with Stan Marsh;the two are usually seen as very close friends.Either he or Stan are usually the ones to say "You know, I learned something today", and/or save the town from various disasters or negative influences. However, while Stan usually accomplishes this through his clear-headedness and unbiased views, Kyle usually does the same through his vast knowledge and intelligence. A notable example of this is in "Cartoon Wars Part II", where he warns the president of the Fox Network of the dangers of censorship and its violation of American principles. Another instance is in "Imaginationland Episode III", where he convinces the Pentagon General not to nuke Imaginationland by explaining that despite being "imaginary", imaginary characters are just as real as non-imaginary ones (see Pantheistic solipsism). Kyle is probably the aptest character to deliver this lesson: in "Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo", he is the first person in South Park (apart from Chef) to be aware of the existence of Mr. Hankey, who other people think is his imaginary friend before being forced to realize he does exist. In addition, Kyle is led to question reality in "The Tooth Fairy Tats 2000". As a result, he may appear as the character most familiar with metaphysics and esoterism, which may or may not have to do with his Jewish background: "Jewbilee" shows that he is used to Moses' visitation.Kyle is caring to his friends but he can be especially violent towards Cartman, and has beaten him up on several occasions, notably in "Kenny Dies" because Cartman had pretended to care about Kenny's illness in order to get the ban on stem cells lifted, only to then use stem cells to clone his own Shakey's Pizza, and in "Tonsil Trouble" after Cartman purposely infected Kyle with the HIV virus. As for his friend Kenny McCormick, in most South Park episodes Kyle and Kenny are portrayed to be quite good friends, as Kyle heavily mourned his death in "Kenny Dies" and seemed to be most concerned about Kenny's drug problem in "Major Boobage". It is also revealed that he has no rhythm in "Rainforest Schmainforest". In the episode "Cartman's Silly Hate Crime 2000" it is shown that Kyle is able to speak pig Latin fluently. In "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut," Kyle is also shown to be a capable hacker.
Kyle's birthday is somewhere in May, though his exact birthday is currently unknown.[4].[5]
Besides Kenny, Kyle becomes sick more often than any of the other boys, likely due to his Type One diabetes. He experiences a painful infected hemorrhoid when Cartman inherits $1 million from his grandmother and uses it to buy his own amusement park in "Cartmanland" (though this could be psychosomatic, as the hemorrhoid disappears as soon as Cartman loses his park). He also needed a kidney transplant (that only Cartman could provide because they are both blood type AB-negative) in "Cherokee Hair Tampons". In the episode "Guitar Queer-o", sickness apparently prevents Kyle from practicing playing Guitar Hero as much as Stan does, and in the episode "The Death Camp of Tolerance", he succumbs to the physical effects of torture before Stan and Cartman. However, in the episode "Chickenpox" he is the only person in his class who does not easily catch chickenpox, even after playing a game in which Kenny (who had chickenpox) spat into his mouth and he had to swallow it while saying "ookymouth" (an activity suggested by his mother in hopes that her son would catch chickenpox). He does catch it in the end, collapsing onto the ground melodramatically, though this only occurs after prolonged exposure to the sick Stan and Cartman. Probably the most serious illness Kyle has "contracted" so far is HIV, deliberately given to him by Cartman. However, thanks to Magic Johnson (and his cash), he is cured of the disease. In three instances, Stan has saved his life (two of which involve illnesses).
In the early seasons, Kyle showed little to no interest in girls. His first kiss was with Bebe Stevens in "Clubhouses" after she developed a crush on him. However, as soon as he was kissed by her, he ran out, disgusted. In a dramatic turn of events, however, he developed an interest in a girl called Rebecca Cottswald in "Hooked on Monkey Fonics", which quickly became his first relationship. However, it likely dissolved when she made out with every single boy at the dance he took her to (she was, at this point, behaving in a promiscuous way). After this, he had no more relationships and had no interest in girls in "The List" (at least up until he discovered he was ranked last in a corrupted list).
In the group, Kyle and Stan are portrayed as the closest friends; they sing part of the opening theme song together, they generally stand next to each other in any situation, and have both labeled themselves as "Super Best Friends". Throughout the 12 seasons that South Park has aired, they have only 'broken up' 6 times, most recently in "Guitar Queer-o", but also in the episodes "Follow That Egg!", "South Park Is Gay!", "Prehistoric Ice Man", "Super Best Friends", and "Douche and Turd" but have reconciled each time on screen (except in "South Park Is Gay!"). In most episodes, Stan prefers to side with Kyle on arguments; however, there have been instances where he has openly disagreed with Kyle's views and sided with Cartman. Stan has saved Kyle's life three times, even when the situation has been potentially threatening or painful for him. Kyle, in turn, set out to rescue Stan and Butters in "Imaginationland Episode III", even experiencing a telepathic link with Stan. In "Fun with Veal", Kyle worries over Stan's deteriorating health and barely left his side. Stan and Kyle show the physical evidence of their close friendship in "Smug Alert!", when they hug on Kyle's return home from San Francisco; "It's Christmas in Canada", in which they sleep leaning towards each other (as opposed to Cartman and Kenny, who lean in opposite directions), in "The Return of Chef", where they briefly hug at sunset in a fictitious 'Previously on South Park'; and in The China Probrem, they hug in the lawyer's office and exchange emotional 'I love you's. Kyle often gets himself involved in risky situations for the benefit of Stan, and vice versa. Cartman also recognized their close friendship in "Kenny Dies" and mocks them in Super Best Friends, calling them sweet and asking them if they'd like to make out for a while, to which they react by kicking him in the testicles multiple times. Stan's father Randy has also mocked him and advised him not to hang out with Kyle too much, as people will think they are "funny".
Quite a lot can be shown with Kyle's friendship with Kenny. Throughout the series, Kyle has been there to back Kenny up. In the episode Best Friends Forever, Cartman wants a PSP at any cost and doesn't want Kenny to be revived so he can get his PSP. When he says that he is Kenny's best friend, Kyle jumps in and says "You're not Kenny's best friend, you just want Kenny dead so you can have his stupid PSP!" In Lice Capades, the whole class gave Kenny a sock bath until Kyle says out loud, "Its not Kenny who has headlice, its me. I can't let Kenny get sock bathed."
Also, in Major Boobage, Kyle is by far the most concerned of the boys about Kenny's addiction, even hiding a cat from him in his room, and coming up with the suggestion for helping Kenny to recover from his cheesing addiction. At the end of the episode, when Kenny literally 'gets high on life' by sniffing flowers, Kyle chases after him and holds him in his arms. Kyle seems to be the one most concerned about what goes wrong with Kenny a lot more than the others. During most episodes when the boys are together, Kyle dosen't turn full attention towards Kenny but talks to the boys without looking half the time. If the problem comes down to Kenny, Kyle is the one that can put up with it more than the other boys. When Stan says "Oh my god he killed Kenny", after Kenny dies, Kyle happens to lay blame on the thing or person, by stating, "You Bastard." When Kenny is killed in the episode Wing, Kyle promises to avenge his death. Kenny's will said, in Best Friends Forever, that Stan and Kyle were his best friends and he never really liked Eric Cartman but always felt sorry for him.It seems Kyle sticks up for Kenny, just like how he often looks out for his brother Ike.
However, Kyle's friendship with Kenny has its limits. When his mother wants him to stay over at Kenny's house to get chickenpox, and she tells him he should spend some time with his friends, he replies with "Kenny's not really my friend, Mom. I couldn't give a rat's ass about him."[6]
Just like sticking up for Kenny, Kyle is also a good brother to Ike, and has a great attitude towards him and helps him grow up and tries to make South Park a good environment for him to live in. Whenever Kyle gets really worried about Ike he seems to go to Stan, Cartman, and Kenny. In Canada on Strike!, Ike keeps standing on the road with a sign saying support Canada. Kyle begins to grow really worried about Ike and tells Stan, Cartman, and Butters while watching Terrance and Phillip on TV; Cartman just says "we don't care" while Stan and Butters ignore Kyle. He then makes them take notice when they realize there will be no more Terrance and Phillip episodes because of Canada's strike; at the end of the episode Kyle gives Ike a coupon for good work. It seems that Kyle looks out for Ike a lot more than their parents. In Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy, Kyle points out that Ike is too young to have sex with his teacher and tries to stop the relationship despite the fact that Ike is angry with him and Miss Stephenson believes Ike is mature enough. When Miss Stephenson is about to commit suicide because she thinks that they will never be free to express their love, Kyle talks his brother out of doing the same. In Stanley's Cup, Kyle tells Stan that Ike shouldn't play on the hockey team because he could get hurt.
The enmity between Cartman and Kyle has been in the show from the start, but has become significantly more pronounced since season 4. Although most of the kids in South Park dislike Cartman, Cartman and Kyle's feud is a recurring and well-known theme. Cartman openly hates Kyle and considers him, as a Jew, to be sub-human. Kyle hates him in return, as well as being horrified and disgusted with Cartman's immorality, cruelty, bigotry, and greediness. The two spend a great deal of time arguing and trading insults, with Kyle being the butt of Cartman's antisemitism and Kyle making cracks about Cartman's weight and lack of intelligence. Many episodes, such as "Cartoon Wars", The "Imaginationland" Trilogy, and "Ginger Kids", deal with their animosity and attempts to defeat each other in their goals. Although Kyle always fights against Cartman's manipulative tactics, Cartman's hatred has been shown to have a negative effect on him. Cartman uses Kyle as a target for his sadistic desires and tendencies, and Kyle often becomes obsessed with beating Cartman at whatever he does, even abandoning Stan and Kenny in the process. However, Cartman has saved Kyle's life three times. The first time is in "Smug Alert!", where he rescues Kyle and his family from San Francisco during a smug storm, and sends them back to South Park by bus. The second time he saves Kyle, Kenny, and Stan in "Die Hippie, Die" by disbanding the large group of hippies by playing death metal through the sound system. The last time he saves Kyle's life is during "Imaginationland Episode II", when Kyle is not breathing after having been attacked by ManBearPig. Cartman begs the doctor to keep "zapping" Kyle, until he wakes up. It should be noted that each of these rescues were for Cartman's own reasons: Cartman rescues Kyle from San Francisco because he realizes he misses Kyle as an enemy, he saves him the second time because he hates hippies and wants to make Kyle watch him play with a remote control car, and he wants Kyle to live after his attack so he can suck his balls (it is unknown if Cartman would have cared otherwise). Kyle has also repeatedly put his life on the line for Cartman's safety, for example; in "ManBearPig", Cartman is so bloated from eating all the treasure that Kyle has to carry him back, whilst attempting to keep afloat himself, and he almost drowns doing so. Kyle doesn't know about Cartman saving his life. However, neither Kyle nor Cartman seems to notice the toxicity of their relationship, and continue to live in close contact, even referring to each other as friends. Kyle is also against Cartman's sinister treatment of others, especially Butters. Cartman and Kyle have also feuded in Cartoon Wars and Tonsil Trouble. In Tonsil Trouble, Cartman gives Kyle AIDS after Kyle laughs about Cartman getting it. In Cartoon Wars Parts 1 & 2, they have a major battle over Family Guy getting taken off the air. Kyle is often manipulated by Cartman because he tends to believe in the best of people, and Cartman takes advantage of this so that Kyle will help him further his nefarious schemes.
He has a tendency to make - and lose - improbable bets with Cartman. In "Red Hot Catholic Love", Cartman is able to show the feasibility of reversing the direction of the digestion process, for which Kyle owes him $20. The primary subplot of the Imaginationland series is Cartman's relentless effort to get Kyle to suck his balls, as per their agreement from a bet over a leprechaun sighting. In "Christian Rock Hard", Cartman manages to make a platinum album, thus winning a bet made with Kyle over whose band could turn out a platinum album first, though in the end the bet is lost on a technicality, as the Christian music industry in the episode gives myrrh instead of platinum albums. Similarly, in "The Red Badge of Gayness", Kyle bets Cartman that the South don't win the American Civil War with the loser forced to become the winner's slave. Although Kyle wins in the end, Cartman realizes that if the North won, slavery is abolished.
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