Kif Kroker
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| Futurama character | |
| Kif Kroker | |
 |
|
| Age | At least 24 |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| Species | Amphibiosan |
| Planet of Origin | Amphibios 9 |
| Job | Lieutenant. First Officer of the DOOP starship Nimbus |
| Relatives | Girlfriend: Amy. |
| First Appearance | Love's Labours Lost in Space |
| First Line | I suppose, Captain. I'm not as big a fan of velour as you are. Now what do you want to do about that unidentified ship? |
| Voiced by | Maurice LaMarche |
Lieutenant Kif Kroker is a fictional character in the animated television show Futurama. His surname is a pun on "croaker", possibly a reference to his amphibian appearance and physiology. He is the assistant to Captain Zapp Brannigan and first officer of the Democratic Order of Planets (DOOP) starship Nimbus. His frustration with Brannigan's arrogance and general incompetence in season 1 leads him to be a disaffected, indifferent, sardonic lackey, although his personality differs greatly in later seasons.
Kif has three nipples, and is able to shed his skin when necessary. His skin can also change colors to blend in with his surroundings like a chameleon (though he has some difficulty controlling it, as shown in "Where the Buggalo Roam"), and is somewhat elastic. He can inflate his head to gargantuan size to frighten away predators. His hands and feet are equipped with suction cups, allowing him to climb walls like a gecko. Kif has no skeleton and his body has a system of fluid-filled bladders instead of bones.
He is also shown (in "A Head in the Polls") as a member of the "Green Party", which is a pun on the contemporary political party, since all its members are, in fact, green.
In Season 3, Kif begins dating Planet Express employee Amy Wong, whom he met aboard the starship Titanic in "A Flight To Remember."
While dating Amy, Kif's character is fleshed out a great deal, and it is revealed that he is actually an extremely sensitive, shy, and timid man. It took him a year to work up the courage to ask Amy out for a date, and even then it was only through Zapp that a date was finally arranged. His non-confrontational personality makes it difficult to stand up to Zapp, and so he complains about him to Leela (much to her consternation) and anyone else who will listen. When actually in command of a subordinate, however, he'll become quite a martinet, once berating Philip J. Fry, "Mix those mixed nuts! I see two almonds touching!"
He is also revealed to be a very romantic man (even though he is an amphibious reptile-creature), if somewhat lacking in self-confidence, and it is shown that he and Amy truly do love each other. Amy's parents don't much care for him, referring to him as "squishy" (which, he later reveals, he literally is, as his body is made of a series of fluid-filled bladders). In contrast, an earlier episode (in which the two met) actually showed Amy's parents' approval of Kif, possibly because he was a captain at the time. He is not very manly, which also bothers Mr. and Mrs. Wong, as they want their daughter to marry their ranch hand, a buff, macho cowboy (along with every other male they happen to come across).
The males of Kif's species can carry and bear young, as Kif did in "Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch." Kif explains that his species can exchange genetic information even through simple touch. This occurs during a "receptive phase", which happens when a member of his species is deeply in love. (It is unclear whether this is their only form of reproduction, or just an ancillary method. It should be noted that in "Amazon Women in the Mood", he ran away from one of the women he was assigned to, nor he did he know what "making love" was in "Where the Buggalo Roam".)
Professor Farnsworth's inter-species DNA paternity testing machine ("even I laughed at me when I built it," he explains) reveals the "father" of Kif's young to be Leela, though Kif explains that the true parent (the smizmar) is the one who inspired the original feelings of love, regardless of the DNA donor. At the baby shower held for Kif, Amy leaves him suddenly, finding herself unable to make the sacrifice of her lifestyle for parenthood, only to change her mind in the end and return to him in time for the ancient birthing rite on Kif's homeworld. He gives birth to a spoor of tadpoles and explains to Amy that the babies will return in twenty years, and Amy decides that by that time she will be ready for parenting.
[edit] Production notes
- In an early interview, show creator Matt Groening claimed that the inspiration for Kif partly came from Star Trek's Mr Spock, with the important difference that this version of Spock would detest his captain.
| Futurama | |
|---|---|
| Media | |
| Episodes • Comic books • Video game • Bender's Big Score | |
| Characters | |
| Fry • Leela • Bender • Professor Farnsworth • Doctor Zoidberg • Hermes • Amy Zapp Brannigan • Kif Kroker • Nibbler • Cubert • Calculon • Mom Recurring human characters • Recurring robot characters • Recurring alien characters • Secondary characters |
|
| Universe | |
| Planets: Amphibios 9 • Eternium • Omicron Persei VIII Alien races: Cygnoid • Decapodian • Neptunian Politics and religion: Earth Government • Robotology • D.O.O.P. Technology: Gadgets • Suicide booth • Planet Express Ship • Nimbus Other: Timeline • Blernsball • All My Circuits • The Scary Door • Slurm • Products • Locations • Animals |
|
