Kahn Souphanousinphone

Kahn Souphanousinphone (voiced by Toby Huss), is a fictional character on the animated series King of the Hill. He and his family (wife Minh and daughter Connie) are next-door neighbors to the Hills. Kahn works in the Information Technology industry as a systems analyst.

An immigrant from Laos, Kahn represents the new American trying to blend into the melting pot of Arlen, Texas. Like many immigrants, Kahn is preoccupied with achieving "the American dream." In his case, this means succeeding financially, having his daughter excel academically, and keeping up with the Joneses (or the Hills, as the case may be). Because of this, Kahn tends to brag about his material possessions and to put down his neighbors, calling them names like "hillbilly" and "redneck." He also has an affinity for 80s pop music.

Kahn's greatest fear is that his daughter might marry Bobby Hill who to Kahn embodies everything bad he says about White people. In his heart, Kahn respects Hank, and he is aware that Hank is in many ways his equal. However, this just makes Kahn resent him even more. Similarly, Hank's efforts to tolerate and understand his neighbor reflect the greater struggles of America to welcome and live with its immigrant population. Kahn idolizes Ted Wasonasong, a Laotian even more affluent than Kahn, but finally turns his back on him when he refuses to join Ted's Laotian militia and, after briefly embracing traditional Laotian culture in an effort to please Ted, he goes back to his materialistic ways.

Trivia

 * Kahn's name is not Laotian. However, it is an anagram of Hank which most likely explains why this isn't the case.


 * For a time Kahn's mother dated Bill Dauterive. Kahn was horrified enough to learn she desired to work in "that filthy cracker shack!" but when he discovered the two were a couple he fainted.


 * Series creator Mike Judge says the only inspiration for Khan was his own Asian friend (although he came from the Philippines), however he wasn't racist like Khan.


 * Much to the dismay of Hank, Kahn uses mesquite and/or charcoal to barbecue with instead of clean burning, energy-efficient propane.