Brucie Kibbutz is a supporting character first introduced in Grand Theft Auto IV. In keeping with the game’s delicious satirical take on the American Dream, Brucie is an insecure individual who hides behind a ridiculous overly-masculine façade. The player will encounter him several times in GTA IV in main missions and can invite him on friendship activities once gaining his trust. He is an outrageous individual. Despite wanting to appear tough, he is generally reluctant to join protagonist Niko in committing serious crimes. That said, he does send Niko out on a one contract killing which involves locating the target using a police car. Brucie spends most of his time ‘getting jacked’ on steroids, working out and protesting about his sexual inclinations.
“Brucie is an insecure individual who hides behind a ridiculous overly-masculine façade”
In fact, a lot of the moments involving Brucie reflect the game’s balance of satire and seriousness in general. In the end, GTA IV effectively becomes a tragedy despite the huge amounts of fun involved in getting to that point. Similarly, Brucie’s moments of bravado are clipped with insights into a miserable existence where he is unsure of his true identity and jealous of others’ success. However, the thin veneer of greatness which Brucie projects most of the time is still, in itself, incredibly funny. One of his favourite pastimes is injecting bull-shark testosterone to ramp up his sense of maleness. His super-hyper personality is great for the long car rides for which the GTA series is famous. It is a testament to the strength of the character that his lines stick out in a script which is full of fantastic moments. He can be summed up by his thoughts on his and Niko’s supposed success: “Bling? Check. Bodies? Check. Paper? Check. That’s how we roll!”
Tom Welshman
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