Kyle Broflovski

**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.

### 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.

## 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 (maybe Can be a taboo The Jewish in the country)
* 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.