| 2-Time Featured Article Winner April 2010, October 2018
|
Kyle Broflovski is one of South Park's main characters, along with Stan Marsh, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormick. Based on co-creator Matt Stone, Kyle is a member of the only Jewish family in South Park. He is often noted for this, as well as his intelligence.
Background
Religious Beliefs
Kyle is of the Jewish faith, but this detail is not officially revealed until "Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo", despite having been mentioned briefly in the second The Spirit of Christmas short, and in "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride". It was also mentioned in "An Elephant Makes Love to a Pig". Cartman regularly makes derogatory remarks about the Jewish people, often directly in Kyle's presence specifically to aggravate him.
Kyle appears to have mixed feelings toward Judaism, and there is conflicting evidence as to the religiousness of his family - for example, while they dress similarly to many religious Jews (Gerald, for example, always wears a yarmulke), they apparently do not keep the Sabbath or follow very strict sexual lives (Sheila Stone, mother of Matt Stone, was herself a secular Sephardic Jew). Kyle's apparent indifference to religion may be part of his effort to fit in with his friends, who are mostly Roman Catholic. Kyle is more often defensive than proud of his faith, and though he regularly attends such functions as "Jew Scouts", he often has a poor grasp of the history, traditions and rituals of his religion. He is very naive, though he is seen to know more in later seasons. This could be the fault of his parents, who, in a misguided attempt to shelter their son, generally do not discuss with him the finer points of their religion. For example:
- In "Starvin' Marvin", Kyle is seen eating ham at King Jimmy's Buffet. Either he does not know that ham is not kosher, or he does not observe Jewish dietary laws. It should also be noted that Kyle's parents were present.
- When he heard that his adoptive brother Ike was going to have a bris, he was under the misapprehension that it involved cutting off the entire penis rather than just the foreskin. This was despite the fact that Kyle got circumcised himself - though he was too young to remember this and did not realize that he was circumcised.
- After seeing Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, he conceded to Cartman that Cartman was right about the Jews all along and stood up in his synagogue to demand that the Jews apologize for the death of Christ. Ironically, he personally killed Jesus in "Fantastic Easter Special", though the act was not due to malice but but Jesus' own request (so that he could resurrect himself and save Stan and the "Hare Club for Men" from being boiled alive like rabbits). Kyle was initially reluctant to agree to Jesus' request and, concerned as to the implications of a Jewish person killing Christ, only ultimately agreed provided that Eric Cartman would never know about it, this also echoes the unproven and highly controversial claim that Judas betrayed Christ upon request, not for malicious reasons.
- When he learned of Catholicism's conditions for getting into Heaven, he renounced his faith on the basis that if the Jews were right about the matter, it would make no difference if he were a Catholic, but if the Catholics were right, he would go to hell for not accepting Christ.
- In "Chickenpox", when his father told him about how society works, he thought of a "better idea", which involved sending all the poor people to concentration camps so only rich people would live. Gerald quickly realized he was being intolerant of people less fortunate than himself and stopped this right away. This indicates that, at least early in the show's run, Kyle did not have a very clear grasp of the Holocaust or other forms of genocide.
- Despite being Jewish, Kyle seems very excited about the Baconalia event going on at the local Denny's. Cartman used "Bacon filled Pancakes" as an enticement to get Kyle involved in the Crack Baby Basketball League. Although Kyle is not seen eating bacon, his enthusiasm calls into question if he keeps Kosher as part of his Jewish faith.
- In Cartmanland, Kyle briefly denounces his faith after getting a haemorrhoid while Cartman inherits a million dollars and purchases a theme park. His faith is restored however, when Cartman loses control of the theme park and gets in trouble with the Internal Revenue Service.
Talents
According to Mr. Garrison, Kyle is a "smart" and "A+" student. Also Kyle, along with the other boys, is portrayed as having multiple useful and trivial talents. However, at very rare times, like most of the children, he is also portrayed as being ignorant.
Knowledge of the Universe
In "The Tooth Fairy Tats 2000", Kyle begins to question reality once he discovers the Tooth Fairy is not real. He reads what seems to be every book on psychology, reality, and science ever written. This also leads him to question whether or not he truly exists. In the end of the episode, Kyle seems to fade from existence before going into a God-like state for a while; distorting reality and making a giant squirrel-chicken hybrid appear. In the end, he returns to normal, shrugging off the experience. Subsequently, towards the end of "Cartman's Incredible Gift" Kyle screams at Cartman and the other "psychic" detectives, causing the lights to go out and the shelves behind his hospital bed to shake and their contents to fall.
Video Gaming
Kyle is often seen playing video games with Stan, Kenny and Cartman, and owns an Xbox. In "Guitar Queer-O", the boys compliment Kyle and Stan's skill on Guitar Hero 123, and later in the episode, they pass the million point mark together in co-op mode - a feat that was thought to be practically impossible. In "Whale Whores", Kyle is shown playing guitar or bass in Rock Band for the song Poker Face.
Sports
Kyle has played a numerous amount of sports including Basketball, Football, Baseball, Soccer, Hockey, and Dodgeball. He is very talented athletically. Kyle is known to be the best basketball player at South Park Elementary, one of two sports at which Stan is not the best (the other being Dodgeball, at which Pip is considered the best). However, in "Mr. Garrison's Fancy New Vagina", he goes to the all-state game tryouts and is rejected not because of his skills, but because of the fact that he is short and Jewish (rather than tall and black). Oddly, Kyle was not in the basketball team in "Elementary School Musical", though this was probably to avoid Kyle being active in the fad. Kyle has stated that he wants to play in the Denver Nuggets someday. On the football team however, he is very talented. He made a touchdown, which remarked his skills. He played as a Guard in Basketball, a Wide Receiver in Football, and Second Base in Baseball.
Music
In "Hooked on Monkey Phonics" Kyle plays the guitar to serenade home-schooled Rebecca, who responds by throwing him money. He also performs with the boy band Fingerbang in "Something You Can Do with Your Finger". And accompanied Stan in their attempt at reaching one million points in co-op mode on Guitar Hero, in "Guitar Queer-O". And is seen performing a musical number in "Elementary School Musical". He also played bass in the boys' band Moop. He does not appear to have much sense of rhythm in terms of dancing however, as in "Rainforest Shmainforest"; he kept messing up every time the group performed (although in 'Elementary School Musical' this was contradicted by the fact the main boys performed a long and complicated dance routine perfectly). Kyle also shouts after Robert Smith in "Mecha-Streisand" that "Disintegration is the best album ever!"
Computer Skills
Kyle is shown to have relatively strong computer skills, as shown in "The Snuke" wherein he uses various public resources to thwart a terrorist threat from a Soviet-style militant. In the film, he initiates research on the clitoris and accidentally stumbling on pornography featuring Liane Cartman. When arrested by the Japanese government for ecoterrorism in "Whale Whores" Stan enlists the help of Kyle (who remained in South Park) to manipulate an image showing a dolphin and whale in the Enola Gay to a cow and chicken. Kyle is also shown to be active on social media websites such as Facebook and using popular electronic devices such as Apple's iPad in "HUMANCENTiPAD". During the events of "Bass to Mouth", he solved the mystery of who was behind the Eavesdropper website scandal by tracking the IP address within the school. He is considered to have the best technological skills out of his entire class.
Writing and Poetry
Kyle occasionally phrases what he says in a somewhat poetic way when he speaks philosophically, questioning reality and why things are as they are. In "Roger Ebert Should Lay off the Fatty Foods" Mr. Garrison begins to explain haiku's (a form of poetry) to the class, but stops on noticing Cartman was not in the classroom. Kyle shortly after comes up with three haiku's on the spot which are all used to insult Cartman. Also, in "The Wacky Molestation Adventure" Kyle is informed that Cartman had three extra tickets on the 28th row at the Raging Pussies concert, but Kyle's mom tells him he cannot go to see it unless he has done all his chores and brought democracy to Cuba (assuming it to be an impossible task). This prompts Kyle to write a letter to Fidel Castro, who is actually convinced to bring democracy to Cuba after reading Kyle's innocent, persuasive rhymes, lyrics, and words. Kyle also seems to take a leading role in writing the book The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs with the other boys in "The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs".
Languages
In "Cartman's Silly Hate Crime 2000", Kyle seems to speak pig-Latin extremely well, even losing Stan in conversation. He can also speak and understand Marklar well.
Superhero Alter-Ego
- See: Human Kite
Health
Kyle becomes sick more often than any of the other boys, despite Kenny dying repeatedly. He experiences a painful infectious hemorrhoid when Cartman inherits $1 million from his grandmother and uses it to buy his own amusement park in "Cartmanland". He also experienced renal failure and needed a kidney transplant in "Cherokee Hair Tampons". In "Guitar Queer-O", sickness apparently prevents Kyle from practicing Guitar Hero as much as Stan does. By contrast, in "Chickenpox", he is the only person in his class who does not easily catch the illness, even after playing a game in which Kenny spit into his mouth and he had to swallow it while saying, "Ooky Mouth". He ultimately catches it after prolonged exposure to Stan and Cartman, and contracts a more severe case than any of the other children.
Kyle and Cartman share the AB negative blood type, as revealed in "Cherokee Hair Tampons". It was also revealed in "Cherokee Hair Tampons" that Kyle is diabetic, which may be the root for his many health concerns.
He is also shown to not have great oral health after getting two dental fillings in "You Have 0 Friends".
List of Health Issues
- Chicken Pox (possibly Shingles) in "Chickenpox" (semi serious, passed out and collapsed backward, but he was stabilized at the hospital.)
- Kidney Failure in "Cherokee Hair Tampons" (fatal unless he received a kidney a that matched his AB- blood type; Stan tricked Cartman into donating a kidney)
- Type I Diabetes, mentioned in "Cherokee Hair Tampons".
- Hemorrhoid in "Cartmanland" (became seriously infected, was to be fatal due to Kyle giving up on life after a religious crisis. The condition caused heart failure. Stan wheeled Kyle to the amusement park; he regained hope when he witnessed Cartman's tantrum).
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) in "Make Love, Not Warcraft".
- Died of AIDS in "Woodland Critter Christmas" (In Cartman's story) and actually got infected in "Tonsil Trouble". He was cured of the AIDS though with a cash injection.
- Was sick with the common cold during the events of "The Snuke", but grew better at the end of the episode.
While not directly related to his health, the following events jeopardized his life:
- Almost died in a Smug Storm in "Smug Alert!". However, he was saved by Cartman.
- Died in "Imaginationland, Episode II" from a ManBearPig attack. However, he was revived by Cartman.
- Died in "Imaginationland, Episode III" from missile fired by Al Gore (re-imagined by Butters).
- Bashed his head in "Cartman's Incredible Gift".
Grounded Moments
Like the other boys, Kyle is rarely grounded. He does regret most of the things he is grounded for. Kyle has been grounded on the following occasions:
- South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut - Kyle was grounded for two weeks with the other boys for going to see an R rated Terrance and Phillip Movie, which caused Kenny's death.
- "Fun with Veal" - Kyle, along with the rest of the boys, was grounded for keeping calves from being slaughtered and sold as veal.
- "Butt Out" - Kyle was grounded for three weeks for smoking outside school with the other boys and for accidentally starting a fire on the school.
- "Major Boobage" - Kyle was grounded by his parents in this episode because they caught him hiding a cat and thought that he was cheesing when in fact, Kyle was keeping the cat away from Kenny. However, his grounding was quickly lifted after his father, Gerald, who later cheesed and was caught in a huge scandal.
Criminal Record
Kyle has committed various crimes over the course of the series.
- Child Abuse: Has kicked his brother, Ike, around like a football numerous times, although Ike somehow avoids getting hurt in each of these instances.
- Negligence: In "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe", he leaves Ike behind at the bus stop, resulting in his abduction by Visitors. Kyle spends the rest of the episode trying to get him back. In "Ike's Wee Wee", he puts Ike on a freight train bound for Lincoln, Nebraska, in an attempt to stop his parents from circumcising Ike. Upon arrival, Ike is used as a table stand at a bar there.
- False Imprisonment: In "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe", following Wendy's advice, he ties Cartman to a tree, using him as bait to get the Visitors to return to Earth and present an opportunity to rescue Ike. In "Spontaneous Combustion", he and Stan, as part of a passion play at the latter's church, tie Cartman to a cross and place him on top of the nearby hill. Instead of untying him, though, they leave him there, thinking he will die and resurrect, helping to solve his father's impotence somehow.
- Filing False Police Report: In "The Wacky Molestation Adventure", he lies to the police about his parents abusing him.
- Attempted Murder: In "Death". he tries to help Stan kill his grandfather at the latter's request, as he has lost his will to live. They are unsuccessful in doing so.
- Underage Smoking: In "Butt Out", he, Stan, Cartman, and Kenny smoked because they did not want to be like people that told them how bad smoking was.
- Eavesdropping: Along with Stan, secretly records Cartman playing with dolls in "Cartman's Mom is a Dirty Slut". Despite their counselor Mr. Mackey's assurance that this is legal, it is deemed eavesdropping under the law, as it involves secretly recording someone's conversations without their consent, and is thus a crime.
- Usage of Illegal Fireworks: At the end of "Summer Sucks", he and Stan use two Tijuana bottle rockets smuggled into the US by Jimbo and Ned to destroy the giant snake firework that is threatening the entire United States. The usage of fireworks of this kind is illegal in the state of Colorado.
- Trespassing: In "Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls", he ventures into the sewers to visit Mr. Hankey. In "Cartmanland", he attempts to break into Cartman's theme park, but pops his hemorrhoid trying to get in and is subsequently hospitalized.
- Assault: Enraged by Cartman's wasting of money at the Cow Day's festival in "Cow Days", he attacks him. He has also attacked Cartman in numerous other episodes.
- Academic Fraud: In "Gnomes", Kyle and his study group (his friends and Tweek) use the essay Tweek's dad wrote for them. This is academic fraud, because they are claiming they created a piece of academic work that they did not write.
- Burglary: In "Prehistoric Ice Man", he breaks into Dr. Mephesto's laboratory and frees Larry.
- Assault / Fighting: In "Prehistoric Ice Man", he gets into a dispute with Stan over Larry's name (he calls him "Steve", Stan calls him "Gorak") which ultimately culminates in a brawl at the train station.
- Conspiracy to Commit Treason: In "Chinpokomon", he gets caught up in the Chinpokomon fad. As a result, he is brainwashed by the Japanese into launching an attack on Pearl Harbor but is stopped from doing so by his parents use of reverse psychology and (contradictory) words of wisdom from Stan.
- Use of Weapons of Mass Destruction/Manslaughter: In "World Wide Recorder Concert", in an effort to show up the New York kids at Yoko Ono's recorder concert, he and his friends alter their song sheets to contain the brown note, so when the New York kids play their music, they will lose bowel control, soiling their pants and humiliating them. However, the organizers discover the revized sheet, believing that it is for the entire performance, resulting in the fake sheet music being distributed to every single child at the concert. As a result, the brown note - backed by the lungs of over four million American third-graders - is heard throughout the world, with disastrous consequences and, in at least one case, loss of life. The Boys did, however, succeed in impressing the New York kids.
- Organized Criminal Activity: In "The Tooth Fairy Tats 2000", becomes involved in the tooth trade.
- Attempting to Facilitate a Prison Escape / Smuggling Contraband into a Correctional Facility: In "Cartman's Silly Hate Crime 2000", he attempts to give Cartman a cake with a file into prison to help him break out. Due to prison regulations prohibiting inmates from bringing food to their cells, however, he fails to do this. He does however, give Cartman cigarettes.
- Drug Abuse: In "Timmy 2000", he and all of South Park get high on Ritalin. In "Butt Out", he and the boys took up smoking. In "Quest for Ratings", he and the rest of the Sexy Action School News team get high on cough syrup in an attempt to find ideas for their next show. In "Smug Alert!", he takes LSD to cope with his father's newfound smugness from owning a hybrid and living in San Francisco.
- Framing / Lying to Law Enforcement: In "The Wacky Molestation Adventure", he claims to be molested to get his parents sent to prison. His parents are promptly arrested and, with no apparent trial, are sent directly to prison.
- Civil Unrest / Rioting: Participant in the South Park Elementary gender war in "Proper Condom Use".
- False Imprisonment / Trespassing: In "The Entity", he tricks his cousin Kyle Schwartz into boarding a freight plane bound for Antarctica.
- False Advertising: In "Jared Has Aides", he, along with Stan and Cartman, attempt to create an ad campaign for City Wok in the style of Subway's Jared campaign, claiming that Butters lost weight by eating food there, when in reality they simply performed liposuction surgery on him (see below).
- Performing Surgery Without a License: In "Jared Has Aides", he, along with Stan and Cartman, perform liposuction surgery on Butters, as part of the fraudulent promotion for City Wok (see above)
- Terrorism / Burglary / Theft: In "Fun with Veal", he, Stan, Cartman and Butters, disgusted after discovering veal comes from baby calves, rescue several of them and bring them to Stan's house, barricading themselves in Stan's room and refusing to leave. After a long standoff with the authorities, they are eventually captured and arrested,but do succeed in forcing the FDA to change the name of veal to "tortured baby cow meat", causing demand in veal to plummet and saving the calves from their fate.
- Arson: In "Butt Out", he and the other boys accidentally burned the school to the ground. Also caused a fire in preschool that caused serious life-threatening burns to Miss Claridge.
- Burglary / Theft: In "The Simpsons Already Did It", he, Stan, Cartman and Tweek, thinking they accidentally killed Ms. Choksondik by putting brine shrimp in her coffee (the news reporting semen, which they misheard as "Sea-Men", was discovered in her stomach), attempt to cover their tracks by breaking into the morgue and stealing the semen sample recovered from her.
- Breaking and Entering: In "Free Hat", he, Stan, Cartman and Tweek break into Skywalker Ranch in an attempt to steal the original print of Raiders of the Lost Ark, to prevent it from being remastered. However, they are caught in the process.
- Vandalism: In "Toilet Paper", he and the boys toilet-paper their art teacher's house. Despite the relatively mild nature of this crime, Kyle feels extreme guilty and even suffers nightmares about the (nonexistent) terror he helped inflict upon the teacher and her family.
- Attempted Murder: In "South Park is Gay!", after being bullied for not conforming to the metrosexual fad, he decides, along with Mr. Garrison and Mr. Slave, to travel to New York City and murder the hosts of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy for popularizing the fad. Their plans are thwarted when Mr. Slave severely injures himself trying to crash through a glass window. Despite this, the hosts do not press charges against them, so the police do not prosecute the three.
- Murder: In "Sexual Healing", he and Butters are ordered by President Obama to shoot at a "wizard alien" who, unbeknown to them, is a soldier dressed up in an alien costume. However, this does not really count as a crime as they were forced by the authorities to kill the soldier and were tricked into thinking he was an alien.
- Illegally Downloading Music: In "Christian Rock Hard", he, Stan, and Kenny try to find inspiration for their band Moop and download various songs off of the internet illegally. They are swiftly arrested by the FBI and forced to witness the ever-so-slightly-reduced luxury musicians have to endure because of music piracy's minimal-to-negligible effects on their income, after which they are promptly released.
- Endangerment / Medical Neglect: In "Good Times with Weapons", he and the rest of the boys refuse to take an injured Butters to a hospital, fearing their parents would find out what that they hurt him. Instead, they disguise him as a dog and try to take him at an animal hospital. Butters escapes, is found by a shelter, and nearly put down.
Future
In the future timeline set in South Park: Post Covid, Kyle is involved in an online counseling startup company. He becomes skeptic towards Cartman, who had converted into Judaism and became a rabbi.
At the end of South Park: Post Covid: The Return of Covid, Kyle, Cartman, and Stan travel back in time and successfully changed the future, setting a new timeline where Kyle has two children.
Appearance
Kyle without his hat in "Elementary School Musical"
Kyle wears a greenish lime ushanka, a bright orange jacket, dark green pants, and lime-green mittens. Kyle weighs 83 lbs. as stated in "HUMANCENTiPAD". Underneath his hat, he has red hair, much like his mother's. This was first shown in "How to Eat with Your Butt;" he is seen without his hat in "Lil' Crime Stoppers", "South Park is Gay!", "Quest for Ratings", "Mr. Garrison's Fancy New Vagina", "The Losing Edge", "Elementary School Musical", "W.T.F.", "It's a Jersey Thing", and the Coon and Friends arc (as his vigilante alter-ego, Human Kite). His hair is a nod to Matt Stone's (his creator) old hairstyle, as well as his character in "Cannibal! The Musical", who also wore an ushanka. In "Good Times with Weapons", he as depicted as a ninja with brown eyes.
In several episodes, he has appeared in different outfits other than his, such as in "Margaritaville", when Randy recommended that the townspeople wear bedsheets instead of normal clothes (and riding llamas, among other things) to propitiate the economy's anger, Kyle wore a red bed sheet in the form of a robe. Also, on several occasions, he has altered his Jewfro stylishly, as shown in "South Park is Gay!" (when he briefly followed the metrosexual fad), "Quest for Ratings" (in an exaggerated anchorman coif), "Elementary School Musical (in the style of Corbin Bleu), and in "It's a Jersey Thing" (when he 'transforms' into a Jerseyite). In "Free Willzyx", a photo-realistic image of him is drawn by the police (along with the other boys); his mother Sheila comments that it is "kind of a bad drawing".
Kyle in the original Christmas short
In "The List", Kyle was voted the ugliest boy in class out of the 16 students attending the class. This shakes Kyle's confidence; he stoops down to the level of the ugly misfit kids at school (who are so ugly that he still stands out), who constantly talk about burning the school down. Eventually, Stan and Wendy informed Kyle that the list was the result of a corrupt compromise just before Kyle set the school on fire, relieving Kyle of his status as ugliest kid.
In the original Christmas short, Kyle's appearance was drastically different: Instead of his orange jacket, he wore a green jacket, and instead of an ushanka, he wore a yellow baseball cap and looked very similar to Stan.
In the future timeline set in South Park: Post Covid, Kyle has grown a full beard. He wears an orange jacket over a light green shirt, dark green pants, and brown shoes. He does not wear his trademark ushanka.
- To see images of Kyle Broflovski, visit Kyle Broflovski/Gallery.
Personality
Kyle on Facebook
Originally, Kyle's personality was extremely similar to his best friend Stan's - he had firm morals and generally was the "good boy" of the group, often being the one to deliver the "I learned something today" speech at the end of the episodes. After the abandoned plan to kill Kyle off in Season Five (that honor went, predictably, to Kenny) his personality was changed - most notably, his temper shortened considerably. Like his mother, Kyle does speeches to say what he thinks is right,
Kyle has extremely strong beliefs, and when forced to question them, he becomes very upset and has somewhat of a short temper (especially when it comes to Cartman. This is has caused a lot of fights between the two boys). For the most part, Kyle bases his decisions on both his emotions and beliefs; therefore, he is easily coaxed into fights or manipulated by his feelings, an example of this being when Cartman sang a song about his mother being a "bitch" and got everyone to join in, which annoyed Kyle. As a result, this has happened at least twice (South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, "Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo"). Cartman is more than happy to poke fun at Kyle in other ways as well, which has landed him in trouble many times. However, Kyle has been known to abandon his beliefs if there is a lot of money in it for him and self-justify himself despite knowing how wrong he is- he only changes his mind when he realizes he is turning into Cartman ("Crack Baby Athletic Association" and "Raising the Bar"). Out of all the major characters, Kyle seems to have the greatest moral standing, often refusing to go along with acts he finds wrong or evil, though he is easily pressured into going through on them by his friends.
Kyle seems to have a strong fraternal instinct. Despite his initial displeasure after learning that Ike was his adopted brother in "Ike's Wee Wee", he recalls his bond with Ike prior and protects him when misconceiving that Ike was in immediate danger. Kyle has, in numerous episodes, dedicated all of his focus on saving Ike or Ike's general well-being. ("It's Christmas in Canada", "Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy", "Canada on Strike", "Fatbeard", and "Dead Celebrities") In the "The Jeffersons", he was initially the first one to show concern for the new neighbor's son by promptly tending to Blanket's scraped knee when he was unnoticed by his father "Mr. Jefferson". Throughout the episode, Kyle willingly looks out for Blanket: caring for his wound, taking him to Stan's house after showing outrage that Blanket was found alone in his backyard, putting him to bed, trying to hide him from his neglectful father, and defending him by delivering that Mr.Jefferson should be more responsible for Blanket's well-being and should act as more a father figure.
Despite his short temper, Kyle has a wide imagination and is easily the most compassionate of the boys, evident by how he did not find the invasive gossip from Eavesdropper to be amusing unlike the majority of the other kids in his class. He shows genuine empathy by reasoning that others would not find the site to be funny if it wrote about them ("Bass to Mouth"). Though, Kyle can also be mean and sometimes neurotic. He also is known to be the most sensible and intelligent of the four and even though he sometimes puts his own emotions before common sense, he usually manages to find logical solutions to problems - solutions which are often ignored in favor of something ridiculous (Cartman's "psychic abilities", for example - although Kyle did manage to offer his solution through his own equally fraudulent "psychic abilities" ("Cartman's Incredible Gift")). This is yet another thing that annoys Kyle.
After PC Principal overheard that Kyle did not have a glowing opinion of Caitlyn Jenner, he was harassed until he was forced to compromise. This ultimately lost him a lot of respect, as seen by the death glares he receives whenever he tries to make one of his speeches.
As noted by Butters in "Going Native", Kyle believes he knows everything, or at the very least believes everything has a logical explanation, and is quick to dismiss any supernatural phenomenon. He was rather upset when he was wrong in "A History Channel Thanksgiving", and oftentimes he will sulk into an upset mood when something does not go his way.
Family
Sheila Broflovski
- Main article: Sheila Broflovski
Kyle's mother, Sheila, is known to be extremely overprotective. She even goes so far as to instigate a war between the United States and Canada in the feature-length movie South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut because of Canadians Terrance and Phillip's extremely scatological R-rated movie. Her motto was: "Horrific, deplorable violence is okay, as long as people don't say any naughty words." Sheila is prone to exaggerating the issue whenever something threatens her son. Even so, in "Cherokee Hair Tampons" she turns to holistic and natural medicine when Kyle's kidney's begin to fail.
Gerald Broflovski
- Main article: Gerald Broflovski
Kyle's father Gerald is a lawyer. He serves as legal counsel for the Town Council, though the exact nature of his regular practice is unclear. He is involved in litigation at various points, one time briefly becoming quite wealthy from his involvement in a spate of sexual harassment lawsuits against the town. He has also represented townspeople at times, including Chef's case involving copyright infringement in "Chef Aid". In early episodes the Broflovski's appear to be more affluent than much of the population in South Park, but decidedly less so than the Black family.
Gerald is usually one of the more reasonable men in South Park, much more so than Randy Marsh, the main adult protagonist, and generally tries to teach Kyle good morals, as seen in Chickenpox, although can fail to teach him the right morals, as also seen in the episode.
Kyle is shown to idolize his father, once referring to him as 'the smartest guy in the world'.
Ike Broflovski
- Main article: Ike Broflovski
Kyle has an adopted younger Canadian brother, Ike. When Kyle first learned that Ike was adopted, he initially considered Ike not to be his "real" brother, becoming detached from and even resentful towards him. His feelings for Ike returned however after Ike showed him pictures of the times they had spent together, and later fled to Kyle's room for protection when in distress over an imminent circumcision, at which point Kyle fiercely defended him. Their relationship has been strong ever since, though has been strained at times. The greatest rift between them was in "Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy" where Kyle reveals the illicit relationship between Ike and his kindergarten teacher. Ike did not understand that Kyle was simply trying to protect him, and told Kyle "You're dead to me." Eventually Ike comes to realize the folly of his relationship with his teacher, and appreciates how much Kyle had cared about him. In South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut the first interactions between the two have them playing "kick the baby". When Sheila, their mother, told Kyle that he had to take Ike with him for the day, Kyle complained, becoming annoyed with his younger sibling. He then proceeded to kick Ike through the window, getting Ike in trouble. Later on, as the movie develops, Kyle shows a strong protectiveness over Ike.
Kyle Schwartz
- Main article: Kyle Schwartz
Kyle also has a cousin from Connecticut, Kyle Schwartz, who is a Woody Allen-esque Jewish stereotype. He complains about many things such as his asthma, gas caused by beef intake and getting slivers from wooden desks, and drives Kyle (Broflovski) crazy with his heavy breathing. Kyle became so desperate as to try to get rid of his cousin by methods such as tying his sled to a bus and putting him into cargo-load for an airplane.
Relationships
Kyle is one of the leaders of the male student population, along with Cartman, Kenny, and most notably Stan. He gets along with most characters, although his temper sometimes alienates children. He is shown to not have a great relationship with girls, finding it gross when Bebe Stevens had arranged for Wendy Testaburger to have her kiss Kyle in Stan's clubhouse in "Clubhouses". Although, it is seen he is somewhat friendly with Wendy, often talking with her in background scenes.
Stan Marsh
Kyle is best friends with Stan. They are the closest out of the four boys, and they are generally seen together on the show, standing next to each other as well as sitting together on the school bus. Kyle shares an affinity with Stan in many ways (particularly early in the show, when there were fewer distinctions to be drawn between their personalities), and they genuinely care about each other. They almost always side together on the many issues they encounter, mainly when it is Cartman who is opposing them. This is frequently manifested when there is a conflict between Kyle and Cartman, and Stan offers support to Kyle by siding with him.
The two have their differences, with Kyle sometimes becoming frustrated with Stan when they have divergent perspectives on something he feels strongly about, and Stan in turn becomes concerned when Kyle gets obsessed in his rivalry with Cartman. Though rare, they have had serious disagreements and even "broken up" seven times (in the episodes "Prehistoric Ice Man", "Super Best Friends", "South Park is Gay!", "Douche and Turd", "Follow That Egg!", "Guitar Queer-O", "You're Getting Old", "Butterballs", "I Should Have Never Gone Ziplining" and "Black Friday"), but they have almost always reconciled in the end (with the exception of "You're Getting Old", although they made up in the next episode). It is when their friendship is so tested that its depth is best illustrated on the show, as in "Guitar Queer-O", where their falling-out creates the major conflict of the story. The rift formed between them helps Stan realize that what he most enjoyed about his success was not success for its own sake, but rather, sharing the experience with his best friend. Hearing this from Stan, a previously spurned Kyle rejoins him in picking up where they left off with renewed enthusiasm (only to be called fags by the game after hitting a million points).
The strength of their friendship and mutual dedication has been demonstrated on the show many times. In "The List", Kyle is voted the ugliest of all the boys in his class. This depresses him a great deal, and Stan, seeing how it has affected him, tries to get the girls to change the list with the help of Wendy Testaburger (ultimately uncovering the fact that the list was wrongfully altered and that Kyle was not in fact voted last). The two have even helped save each other's lives numerous times. When Kyle develops renal failure in "Cherokee Hair Tampons", Stan gladly offers to donate one of his own kidneys to save his life, and ultimately orchestrates the plan that tricks Cartman (the only compatible donor) into donating one of his. Another example can be found in "Imaginationland, Episode III", where Stan is trapped in Imaginationland and Kyle is the only one who can hear his voice. Kyle goes to extreme measures, including breaking into the Pentagon, to stop the government from nuking Imaginationland (and Stan along with it). Kyle even agreed to kill Jesus (at His request) despite his strong misgivings in order to help him save Stan's life in "Fantastic Easter Special".
Kyle and Stan's friendship has been mocked several times by others (particularly Cartman). At one point Stan's dad Randy Marsh even told him that they should not hang out too much together or else people would start to think "they are 'funny'" (i.e. homosexual). Others have insinuated they were gay, as in "Super Best Friends", where Cartman asked them, "Aw, do you want me to get you a room so you can make out?" (to which Kyle and Stan responded by kicking him in the nuts repeatedly).
It is shown that Kyle could possibly be Stan's lawyer, seeing as he was sitting beside Stan after he was sued by Cartman in "Sexual Harassment Panda".
In "You're Getting Old", after Stan is diagnosed as being a cynical asshole Kyle first attempts to cope with him. But, after he gets worse, Kyle decides that he was too much of a killjoy and starts to avoid him with Kenny and Cartman. Finally, he realizes Stan has changed and ends their friendship. However, they do not make up at the end of the episode like the other times, and with Stan not showing a single sign of getting better (along with the doctors diagnosis that he will never get better). It seems to be permanent, but in "Ass Burgers", they made up at the very end.
Kyle values Stan's opinion of him. Throughout "Crack Baby Athletic Association", Kyle would repeatedly seek Stan out to explain his involvement with Cartman's Crack Baby association, in an attempt to make sure Stan did not think less of him.
Eric Cartman
Cartman is disliked by most of the South Park kids and Kyle is no exception, also getting referred to an 'asshole' by the adults. although in "You're Getting Old", Kyle and Cartman are seen bonding closer to each other whilst Stan suffers his new found and alienating view that everything is "shitty". Nonetheless, The feud between the two has been a recurring theme since the show's beginning. Cartman and Kyle often exchange insults, with Kyle as the target of Cartman's anti-Semitism, and with Kyle taunting Cartman about his weight in return. Whenever making a point, Cartman will often try to outsmart Kyle, sometimes by making a bet with him just so that he can gloat in his face. Though Cartman usually winds up the loser of the argument, there are exceptions when Cartman's improbable assertions prove true. In such cases as in "Die Hippie, Die", where Cartman saves the town from a hippie music festival, and Kyle is forced to watch Cartman play with his new Tonka RC Bulldozer in the school parking lot every day and in "Imaginationland"; the episode begins with Cartman taking Kyle, Stan, Kenny, Butters, Clyde and Tolkien into the forest because he had seen a leprechaun in the area; Kyle, of course, does not believe him, though Cartman turns out to be correct.
Cartman angry at Kyle.
. They often hang out together as a part of the core group of main characters, although Kyle does not include Cartman in all of his activities (as when he invites Butters instead of Cartman to his birthday party at Casa Bonita because he does not consider Cartman to be his friend).
Cartman and Kyle smiling at each other and getting along at the end of "You're Getting Old".
On the rare occasions that Cartman's harassment leads the two to a physical confrontation, Kyle is consistently shown to have the advantage. For example, Kyle beats Cartman up in "Kenny Dies" upon discovering he never intended on getting stem cell research passed to potentially save Kenny. In a later episode, "Goobacks", while the four boys shovel the driveway of a woman's property, Cartman sits down chatting away on his cell phone while the others work diligently. Kyle confronts Cartman about not working and informs him that if he does not help, he would not get his share of the money, to which Cartman replies "Hey! Don't you boss me around you f***ing Jew, I will kick your ass!" The next scene shows the woman of the house opening the door at the sound of knocking to reveal the four boys standing outside; Cartman holding a bloody nose and Kyle standing with an irritated expression. When the woman asks what happened, Cartman tells her it was a "shoveling accident". When they all go inside to treat Cartman's injury, Cartman says "you're so lucky I have a sore shoulder, Kyle, or else I'd totally let you have it," implying that Kyle was the one who bloodied his nose. In "It's Christmas in Canada" Cartman threatens to beat Kyle up if they were not home in time for Christmas. Following Cartman's incessant complaining and threatening when it appears that they would not in fact make it home in time, Kyle throws one jab at Cartman's face, who quickly breaks down and cries for his mother. In "Tonsil Trouble", Kyle publicly beats up Cartman after he realizes that Cartman intentionally infected him with the HIV virus. Later in the episode, Kyle marches to Cartman's house and begins breaking all of his toys, which Cartman is physically powerless to stop. Perhaps the most extensive physical confrontation between the two, however, is their "final battle" during "Cartoon Wars Part II". Kyle initially beats Cartman, but Cartman gains the upper hand by pretending to surrender and then immediately turning on him (by kicking him in the balls) (neither really "wins" this conflict, though; Kyle is saved by Bart Simpson when he knocks Cartman out from behind with his skateboard).
Despite the tension between Kyle and Cartman, they have each demonstrated some concern for the others' well-being. In "Up the Down Steroid", Kyle referred to Cartman as a friend and explained that he was really concerned that Cartman would go to Hell if he tried to participate in the Special Olympics. Kyle even risked his own life to save an ostensibly sick Cartman in "ManBearPig" by carrying him to safety in a flooding cave, despite the fact that Cartman's weight threatened to sink Kyle (and nearly did). Cartman has also saved Kyle's life. In "Smug Alert!" Cartman realizes that his life is empty and hollow without having Kyle around to rip on, and he braves the Smug Storm to save Kyle and his entire family. He did not however take credit for this, not wanting to admit how important Kyle was to him. Cartman also brought Kyle back to life in "Imaginationland, Episode II" after Kyle was attacked by Manbearpig, this time because he had not yet had a chance to humiliate Kyle by making him suck his balls to fulfill a bet. Also at the end of "It's a Jersey Thing" Cartman say that he is still a "Jersey Kid" and that he is a monster inside but he'll always be his little monster. Their relationship is perhaps best summarized by Kyle in "The Entity", where he refers to Cartman as "my sort-of friend...ish." Kyle also saves Cartman from a Snooki that is raping him. In Jewpacabra, Kyle brings Cartman home in the middle of the night, tucking him in bed and even removing his shoes. At the end of the episode, he puts his hand on Cartman's shoulder and says that he believes Cartman's claims that he is Jewish now.
Even with Cartman's consistent hostility and genuinely antisocial behavior, Kyle is sometimes deceived by Cartman's feigned good intentions. This is seen in "Casa Bonita", "Cartoon Wars Part I", "Kenny Dies" (see below), and other episodes. This may be due to an idealistic belief that there is some good in everyone, even in Cartman. Other times, Kyle makes it perfectly clear that he knows Cartman is manipulating him (or trying to), as in "Something Wall-Mart This Way Comes" and "Fat Butt and Pancake Head". In "Tonsil Trouble", Kyle cannot resist laughing at the irony that Cartman of all people was infected with HIV, feeling on some level that he deserves the disease. Kyle has also occasionally turned the tables and manipulated Cartman into doing foolish things, such as when he convinced Cartman that he would die and suggested he go out to the ocean to be a pirate in "Fatbeard". His conflict with Cartman has become increasingly intense and is now a major focal point of the show.
In "You're Getting Old", Kyle and Cartman seem to be on better terms than ever, and they are shown smiling amicably at each other while playing Xbox. However, they fight once more in "Ass Burgers" after Kyle found out that Cartman was sticking hamburgers up his butt and selling them to people, therefore causing their business to shut down.
His relationship with Cartman may be the most complex relationship portrayed in the entire show;. It is difficult to define their connection as friendship or as enemies. They seem to fit in the middle, as many people often describe them using the portmanteau word: "frenemies".
Kenny McCormick
Kyle's friendship with Kenny is not as strong as his friendship with Stan (in "Chickenpox" he claims that he does not "give a rat's ass about Kenny" to try and get out of spending the night at Kenny's poverty and then chickenpox stricken household) nor is it adversarial (like that with Cartman) but is clearly existent. They rarely interact one-on-one. Kyle regularly includes Kenny in many of his activities.
Although his friendship with Kenny is not as noticeable when Stan or Cartman are around, when the two are alone together they have been known to be quite friendly towards each other. Kyle promptly beats up Cartman in defense of Kenny's honor and memory following one of his "permanent" deaths in "Kenny Dies". In "Best Friends Forever", a once again dead Kenny bequeathed all of his belongings (except his PSP) to Kyle and Stan, and in his will said, "Dudes, you were the best friends a guy could have", to which Kyle responded "That's really touching...", indicating a meaningful relationship between the two. He invited Kenny to Jew scouts in "Jewbilee", and in "The Ring" comforted Kenny before leaving to confront Disney about the purity rings, one of which was slowly turning Kenny into a boring douche.
Butters Stotch
Kyle tries to help Butters in "Sexual Healing".
Kyle's friendship with Butters is fairly decent and he prefers him over Cartman; Kyle generally treats Butters well (such as when he defended Butters for not kissing a girl in "Butters' Bottom Bitch"). Another example is when Kyle tried to help Butters when they were diagnosed as sex addicts in "Sexual Healing". However, like the other boys, he is not above using Butters as a "guinea pig" when it comes to experiments or undercover jobs, blaming him for writing The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs in the episode of the same name. Furthermore, when Kenny was dead during the Sixth Season, he, along with Stan, would coerce Butters to do things by saying "Kenny would have done it"; he would constantly talk about how Kenny was cool with the other two and abandon Butters until he would do, often dangerous, tasks. He also occasionally makes fun of Butters, swears at him or calls him names. Conversely, Butters has been shown to harass Kyle, as shown in "The List", and he has also "bullied" him for being Jewish, though this is usually under Cartman's influence.
Bebe Stevens
Bebe Stevens had a crush on him in "Clubhouses", mainly because of her sudden interest in Kyle's ass. She wrote in a note that she "could sleep for days on his perked cheeks" and "wanted to wear his ass as a hat." Unfortunately, as the note was being passed around, it got to Stan, and Mr. Garrison thought that he was trying to pass it around, so he forced him to read it aloud to the class, and Stan subsequently got in trouble for that. Wendy then helps Bebe try to pursue a relationship with Kyle, who is oblivious to her attempts. It eventually becomes clear that Kyle does not share her feelings, as when he, Stan, Wendy and Bebe play Truth or Dare in Stan's clubhouse, Wendy dares Kyle to kiss Bebe on the lips, and when she does, Kyle expresses fear and shock and flees from the clubhouse. Bebe ultimately decided that she could not take the co-dependency of a relationship, and purported to "break up" with a mostly apathetic Kyle.
The only time Kyle ever showed any interest in Bebe was when she began developing breasts in "Bebe's Boobs Destroy Society", (although every other boy in the class shared the same sudden interest). Later in the episode, Kyle helps her to throw rocks at cars with the other boys, and eventually goes into an ape-like primal state with all of the other boys. At the end, Kyle and all of the other boys realized that they were attracted to Bebe's breasts and decided they should not be influenced by them.
Kyle's general ignorance and (possible fear) of girls (mainly in earlier episodes) could stem from the fact he is only 10, and is not into girls yet. Or perhaps he is wary because of his parents, whose relationship at times slightly resembles 'master and pet' especially when his mother is protesting about things.
Heidi Turner
Kyle first becomes concerned for Heidi in "Sons A Witches", when Cartman devises plans to kill her off right in front of him. Kyle reprimands Cartman for this, saying that "Heidi is a nice girl", and tells him that he should just break up with her instead of creating horrible schemes to get rid of her, adding that she did not deserve to be treated so badly.
They briefly date in "Doubling Down", after Kyle convinced Heidi to break up with Cartman, and they develop mutual feelings for each other. Their relationship was later ruined by Cartman who tricks her into believing that Kyle "planned" to have her break up with Cartman just so he could ruin their relationship, and inadvertently calls him a "dirty Jew", shocking him. Heidi breaks up with Kyle, and walks away with Cartman who makes an evil smile at him.
Ms. Ellen
In "Tom's Rhinoplasty", Kyle (along with Stan, Kenny, Cartman and all the other boys in the class) develops a crush on their slutty substitute teacher, Ms. Ellen. Chef eventually tells the boys that Ms. Ellen is a lesbian; however, since neither Kyle nor his friends (not even Kenny, whose understanding concerning sexual topics is usually greater than that of the other boys') understand what a lesbian is, their crush on Ms. Ellen continues in a misguided attempt to become lesbians themselves. The crush evaporates, however, when Ms. Ellen is removed as a substitute and eventually launched into the sun by a large scale plot orchestrated by Wendy.
Rebecca Cotswolds
Rebecca was a girl Kyle had a crush on in "Hooked on Monkey Phonics". The two first met at the Annual School Bee for South Park Elementary, despite the fact that she and her brother Mark were home-schooled. Rebecca lacked knowledge about love and was quite inept socially due to her sheltered upbringing, however, a determined Kyle explained to her the importance of love. They then kissed after he explained love is displayed by a kiss, and almost immediately, Rebecca's confidence grew. The two agreed to go to the School Dance together, but Rebecca ended up making out with other boys at the due, much to Kyle's shock. She has not appeared or been mentioned since, so it is a major possibility that Kyle had got over her.
Nichole Daniels
Nichole was interested in a relationship with Kyle at the beginning of "Cartman Finds Love". Cartman told Nichole that Kyle was his boyfriend, which she understood and accepted. Due to intervention from Eric Cartman, Nichole chose to have a relationship with Tolkien Black.
After Nichole's relationship with Tolkien ended, temporarily, Kyle took her to a Denver Nuggets game, in order to attempt to have a relationship. This was quickly thwarted by Cartman, who announced his love for Kyle at the basketball game.
Leslie Meyers
Kyle showed an interest in Leslie while protecting her in "PC Principal Final Justice",before Leslie was revealed to be a robot and killed by PC Principal.
Trivia
- In the Mandarin dub for South Park airing in China, among the things changed are Kyle's religion - he is a Buddhist in these versions.[3]
- Kyle is the only one of the four boys to have never been absent for more than one episode in the same season or for two consecutive episodes.
- Kyle is the only person in South Park who shares Eric Cartman's blood type, AB negative.
- Kyle's birthday is revealed to be May 26, however, in "Casa Bonita", Kyle is having his birthday party and says he is inviting Butters because he invited him to his birthday party last month. As revealed in "AWESOM-O", Butters' birthday is September 11. This is probably just a continuity error.
- In "Spookyfish" it is shown that Stan's evil twin has a black beard/mustache and Kyle's evil twin has a brown beard/mustache though according to his hair color it should be red. However, his hair color had not been chosen back then, and it is also common for people with red hair to have a brown beard.
- Kyle has killed Jesus Christ and Kenny McCormick, as well as a United States soldier dressed up as a wizard alien. However, all of these kills may be justified.
- Jesus' death was to make him resurrect himself and save the Hare Club for Men from being boiled alive in "Fantastic Easter Special".
- Kenny's death was due to him being the original zombie in "Pinkeye", and killing him stopped the zombie threat in South Park.
- The "Wizard Alien" that Kyle kills was to "save" America or the world in "Sexual Healing", though it was actually just a way for married men to get away with having affairs with women.
- Kyle finds pee to be very disgusting, even refusing to be in water that people have peed in, as seen in "Pee". However, he seems to hate bananas more.
- In "Ginger Kids", even though he is a "Daywalker", the other ginger kids still capture him. This is because he is not a full ginger. As his father has brown hair, not red hair.
- In "Guitar Queer-O", his name is spelled "Kile Barffloski" on the sign outside of the bowling alley.
- In "It's a Jersey Thing", Kyle is revealed to have been in New Jersey for the first couple of months of fetal development. Kyle's Jersey name is "Kyley-B". He is also seen to reveal his Jersey side when angered.
- In "Good Times with Weapons", Kyle's anime self has black hair, which he does not have.
- Kyle's e-mail address is 69ingchipmunks@me.com, as said by Stan in "HUMANCENTiPAD" when one of the Geniuses at Apple asks for his account.
- Like Stan, who pinches his "nose bridge" when stressed, Kyle often closes his eyes.
- Up until Season Five, Kyle had never removed his hat.
- As of "World War Zimmerman", Kyle is the only one of the four boys who has never been shot.
- Bebe was Kyle's first known kiss, Rebecca is the second girl Kyle has kissed in the series.
- In the first two seasons, whenever Kyle is shown from the side, his mouth is completely straight.
- As of Season Eighteen, Kyle would always hang out of Stan most of the time.
- Kyle is the only one of the four boys who does not have an episode with his name in the title.
Absences
- Season Three
- "Cat Orgy"
- Season Four
- "Pip"
- Season Five
- Season Ten
- Season Eleven
- Season Thirteen
- Season Fifteen
- Season Eighteen
- "Handicar"
- Season Twenty-Five
Video Games
South Park: Phone Destroyer
References
- ↑ Kyle's birthday is seen on his monitor while playing Farmville in "You Have 0 Friends".
- ↑ ""South Park" Cartman Gets an Anal Probe (TV episode 1997)". IMDb.com.
- ↑ "South Park in Mandarin.".
| Main Characters | |
|---|---|
Kyle Broflovski | Eric Cartman | Stan Marsh | Kenny McCormick | |
| Broflovski / Schwartz Family | |
|---|---|
Cleo Broflovski | Gerald Broflovski | Ike Broflovski | Kyle Broflovski | Kyle Schwartz | Murrey Broflovski | Sheila Broflovski | Kyle's Elephant | |
| See also | |
|---|---|
