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This article is about the character. For the series, see Kim Possible.
Kim Possible is the protagonist of Disney's 2002-2007 animated television program of the same name. Kim is a high school student and freelance troubleshooter. She is unusual in this field of work due to the fact that she doesn't use a secret identity.
Background
Kim comes from Middletown and lives there with her parents and her younger twin brothers. When Kim was a toddler, she met a boy named Ron Stoppable on her first day of preschool, where the two began their lifelong friendship.
In her late preteen/early teen years, Kim Possible wanted to supplement her allowance, so she decided to start up her own babysitting business and set up her own website, "KimPossible.com", under the slogan "I can do anything", and soon after her site went live, Kim was accidentally contacted by Mr. McHenry who was in trouble, and was trying to contact a different group of heroes named "Team Impossible".
Due to a typing error, he contacted "KimPossible.com" instead of "Impossible.com" after the rescue, Kim's fame as a hero grew until she was being contacted for help by people all over the world, even including governments and royalty.
Personality
Kim in her new mission outfit in the fourth season.
Kim is a confident, brave, strong, and sharp teenager whose awareness of her own abilities is reflected well by her motto, "I can do anything". Her typical state of mind is to be bright, positive, and cheerful and she has a kind and caring heart that compels her to help others and to put their well-being above her own, although she can be arrogant at times, and can be jealous when people appear to do things better than she herself can.
Her competitive nature and drive for perfection, as well as some of her insecurities, are consistent with a Type A personality. They also lead her to set high standards for herself, and sometimes give her a tendency to be bossy and to set standards for others that are too high - as was evident when she attempted to coach her brothers' soccer team - or to try and do things herself in order to save others from potential failure or harm.
Despite being a freelance hero, she is still a teenage girl and is susceptible to most normal teenage insecurities and growing pains. She gets embarrassed by her parents, is pouty when she doesn't get her way and has a strong desire to fit in with society, the latter trait of which is often one of her biggest weaknesses. Kim's personality traits were most clearly demonstrated when her school was hit by a fictional personality guide fad known as animology, under which she is classified as being a blue fox: a born leader who can't resist a challenge, is driven to excel, and who is a perfectionist. This is never more clear than during the career fair at her school, when Kim was drawn toward international diplomacy: a job she knew was a demanding, extroverted field.
Kim has a tendency to be worried about - and be frequently fooled by - appearances. As such, she is often overly concerned about her image and the way in which others see her, sometimes even going so far as to extend these anxieties to others (primarily Ron Stoppable) even though they do not necessarily feel the same way. Owing to this element of her personality, Kim has a tendency to succumb to peer pressure, something she never really manages to overcome until the very end of the third season and she is often unable to see beyond first appearances and impressions or deeper than other peoples' defense mechanisms. Her inability to see the bigger picture in this field has led to several setbacks.
This is the element of her personality which appears to form the foundations of much of Kim's rivalry with Bonnie, who is similarly competitive and concerned about appearances, and it is often through this rivalry that we see the less-desirable elements of Kim's competitive nature in play, including incidents when she has engaged in tit-for-tat revenge or one-upmanship and when she has competed purely because she doesn't want Bonnie to succeed.
Due to her Type A personality, she also has a strong tendency to become frustrated, impatient or insecure when faced with a field in which she does not instantly excel. This tendency has been displayed several times throughout the franchise, usually in conjunction with an episode subplot or McGuffin revolving around her social life and is often made more notable by the fact that these fields are ones in which either the often-inept Ron or the immature Tweebs excel. Examples of such fields such as cooking, video games, car mechanics and the duties required of her when she worked at Bueno Nacho during Season 1.
In addition to the recurring problems caused by her competitive personality and her weakness in the face of peer pressure, Kim has also demonstrated many of the weaknesses that have become clichƩ to teen high school comedy and drama, most of which have been highlighted in individual episodes, but aren't evident across the franchise as a whole. Such clichƩs include trapping herself in a position in which she tells an escalating series of lies in order to cover up a much smaller lie, attempting to sabotage an opponent's campaign during a school election, and allowing herself to be baited into angry or unwise courses of action by a rival.
In the pilot episode "Crush", Kim was rendered incapable of coherent speech in the presence of Josh Mankey, her first confirmed love interest. Although a take-charge person as she is in the other areas of her life, when faced with asking Josh on a date, Kim was at a complete loss for what to do.
Kim lives to please, as she confirmed herself in the episode "Queen Bebe". When Ron asks her why she doesn't "just say no" to a request for help, she replies that she's "just not programmed that way." This accounts for why she finds herself unable to refuse a date with Brick Flagg in "All the News" since she agrees to do it so that Brick won't be so depressed that he'll blow the football game.
Although Kim is generally reasonably mature in the usual give-and-take with her parents over what she can and can't do (how late she can stay out, even if it is on a mission saving the world, if she can get a loan to buy new clothes or must instead get an after-school job, etc.), if she really, really wants something it looks like she won't be able to get, she has a "puppy-dog pout" that has been seen several times during the show. It becomes a running gag and the pout has even been used against her by others at times.
Physical appearance
Kim is tall, slender, and very strong. She has large green eyes and long thick fiery red hair which came down to her shoulders, and when seen from behind is shaped as a heart. She wore her hair in pigtails when she was in Pre-K, and as a preteen, she wore it in one long ponytail and had braces on her teeth. She is most iconic in her short black top which exposes her stomach, her midriff to her belly button and jeans.
Age
Kim's age has been debated quite a bit because nothing has been stated that she was any specific age other than 'high school' age, putting her at 14-18. However, in the Season 2 episode "Car Trouble", Kim is stated as old enough to get a driver's license, which in most states (the show takes place in the United States) is 16. Kim also had mentioned that Ron took 12 years to kiss her in "Homecoming Upset", which indicates that she was 17 as of that episode.
Graduating from high school and considering college acceptance letters in the series finale, "Graduation", would likely put her at a few months shy of 18. During the episode Hidden Talent, Wade constructs a class ring with a mini Kimmunicator inside of it; the ring had an Emerald in the setting, signaling that Kim's birth month could be May (traditional class rings within the United States are often adorned with the wearer's birthstone). Also in a few episodes she shows her love for being a senior as people stare at her, implying that she is a 17 to 18-year-old student.
Powers and abilities
- Above-average reflexes: Kim is extremely athletic, aerobatic, and has excellent reflexes that have been honed through years of cheerleading practice, allowing her to perform death-defying moves like somersaulting between laser beams with little apparent effort; although "A Sitch in Time" presents Kim as being a good fighter before being a cheerleader.
- Martial Arts & Kung Fu: She is also highly skilled in martial arts, knowing sixteen types of kung fu (as revealed when she threatened Ron in the episode "Hidden Talent"), including Praying mantis kung fu. Her skills are aptly demonstrated by the fact that she is able to go toe-to-toe against Shego, an older and more experienced villain whose superpowers allow her to tear through reinforced concrete with ease.
Kim in her super suit.
- Advanced Learning: Kim is also a fast learner, able to pick up new skills quickly, and adapt to new situations as they arise. Among the many talents that she has demonstrated during the series, all are a high level of proficiency in various extreme sports; such as hang-gliding, skiing, and rock climbing, and even Space Shuttle piloting. She also discovers her ability to sing in the episode "Hidden Talent".
- Talented Swimmer: Kim is a talented swimmer, which she uses to great effect in many of her missions. She was a member of her school's swim team during her sophomore year of school, swam the English Channel, and is an accomplished SCUBA diver.
- Above-average Strength: Despite her frame, Kim is surprisingly strong and is capable of easily hitting someone hard enough to knock them off their feet or even unconscious with a single blow. In addition, Kim is quite exceptionally skilled and learned in many different forms of hand-to-hand combat and armed and unarmed combat. She is extremely learned in possibly tens of numerous various fighting skills and techniques.
- Miscellaneous: Kim has been mentioned as having gained a varied and ever-growing skill set throughout her mission work. She was regularly called on to serve as a babysitter, detective, unpaid bounty hunter, espionage agent and perhaps most often as a legally-accepted vigilante. In addition, Kim has had experience in a wide variety of fields, including firefighting, animal conservation/protection, natural disaster prevention/rescues, crop dusting and hot air ballooning.
- Above-average Intelligence: Kim is a naturally intelligent student who maintained a high GPA despite her adventurous lifestyle by using the time she spent traveling to and from missions to study and always made sure that she handled assignments as early as she could in case she was called away on a mission. She was even able to make time for cheerleading practice after school.
Despite her intelligence, however, Kim is the least scientifically-minded member of her family and did not understand many of the terms, phrases or inventions that her father and brothers built and used regularly.
Appearances
Kim Possible
Kim is the protagonist of the series. Accompanied by her friend Ron and his pet mole rat Rufus, Kim embarks in globe-trotting adventures against a slew of villains to protect the world from global domination. Simultaneously, she must also handle the burdens of being a teenager with her own problems and relationships. For the most part, her classmates are aware of her work but do not comment on it unless it affects them directly. At school, she is the head of her cheerleading squad and a straight-A student.
Lilo & Stitch: The Series
Kim with Lilo Pelekai in the Lilo & Stitch: The Series episode "Rufus".
Kim made an appearance in the episode "Rufus". After Stitch is kidnapped by Dr. Drakken she was called by Pleakley after he found a magazine with a cover of her. She and Lilo weren't on friendly terms until they realized that they would have to work together to stop Dr. Drakken. Kim went out to find Drakken's secret base and rescue Stitch, however, she gets sucked into a current ("People Eater") and also taken hostage. Eventually, Stitch and Kim are rescued from their prison by Lilo and Rufus. Everyone then manages to escape the underwater base. Later, Lilo teaches Kim how to dance the hula, and everyone has a good time together.
Kim Possible (film)
Kim Possible is the protagonist of the live-action movie, portrayed by Sadie Stanley in her film debut. The film takes place before the series, where Kim begins her first year at Middleton High School and must navigate an intimidating new social hierarchy. She is ready to tackle the challenge head-on, just as she has with everything else in life, but her confidence is shaken when she faces roadblocks at every turnāgetting lost in the confusing hallways, being late to class and facing rejection during soccer tryouts from her frenemy, Bonnie. Kim's day starts to turn around when she and Ron meet and befriend Athena, who becomes the newest member of Team Possible.
Other appearances
Kim's cameo in the Phineas and Ferb spot the diff episode "Lawn Gnome Beach Party of Terror".
In the Phineas and Ferb Spot the Diff episode "Lawn Gnome Beach Party of Error", a changed episode from "Lawn Gnome Beach Party of Terror", Kim Possible is seen fighting with Perry the Platypus and Heinz Doofenshmirtz in her Season 4 outfit.
She was mentioned in The Proud Family by Penny Proud during a statement she made about strong females.
In American Dragon: Jake Long, Kim is seen fighting a "clone robot" with sidekick and best-friend, Ron Stoppable. Jake Long noticed her and called her "legendary".
Disney Parks
Kim posing for a photo at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
Kim and Ron appeared at the Disney's Hollywood Studios park as walk-around characters on the Streets of America. They also had starred in the Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure game at Epcot guiding guests on their missions through Kimmunicators while they travel around the lagoon.
Relationships
Gallery
Trivia
- Her name, like many in her family, is an allusion to the word "impossible".
- Kim collects Cuddle Buddies, and cannot go to sleep without her Pandaroo, though she is not as obsessed about them as DNAmy is.
- She hates being called "Kimmy-Cub" in public by her father revealed in "The Truth Hurts".
- She looks identical to her Aunt Miriam.
- As everything in "Rewriting History" except for their waking at the end was a dream, "Aunt Mim" may not have been real.
- Given her complaint towards Ron on how long it took him to kiss her, Kim may have had a crush on Ron since she was very little.
References
External links
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