David Kibner

David Kibner is a fictional psychiatrist and a supporting character featured in the 1978 feature film Invasion of the Body Snatchers. He was played by actor Leonard Nimoy.

Biography
Doctor David Kibner was a psychiatrist and self-help guru living in San Francisco, California during the 1970s. He earned himself celebrity status within his community and wrote several books. In 1978, an alien spore came to the planet Earth and began subverting the city's population by creating genetic doppelgängers of its inhabitants, which grew from large plant-like pods. Once this duplicate was fully formed, its host predecessor would die, their remains dissolving into dust.

It is unclear exactly when David Kibner was assimilated and duplicated, but it appears as if he may have been one of the first people in the city to fall prey to the "body snatchers". While most of these so-called "pod people" lacked an ability to express emotion, David's duplicate pantomimed human emotion in order to pass himself off as human.

Several of Kibner's patients came to him complaining that their loved ones were not who they were supposed to be. Kibner relied upon his reputation to allay their fears, telling them that this mass behavioral change was just an example of people shirking all sense of responsibility and commitment. Two of the women who came to him with concerns over people they knew were Elizabeth Driscoll and Katherine Hendley.

Within short order, evidence began to surface showing the truth of the women's claims. Kibner was called in to check out a bizarre sighting at the Bellicec Mud Baths spa. When he arrived there, owners Jack and Nancy Bellicec claimed that a duplicate of Jack had suddenly appeared within one of the stalls of their business. When he asked to see it however, the body was gone. Though never proven, it is possible that Kibner himself may have facilitated the disappearance of the body.

Another bizarre incident occurred shortly thereafter. David's close friend Matthew Bennell claimed that he found a duplicate of Elizabeth Driscoll lying inside a greenhouse at the house of Elizabeth's boyfriend Geoffrey Howell. He called Kibner who came to the house after Matthew had called the police. Matthew's story, while accurate, seemed absurdly fantastic to the police. Kibner made certain to mention that the real Elizabeth Driscoll was safely tucked away at Matthew's house.

Late that evening, Kibner and several other pod people apprehended Jack Bellicec and replicated him again. This time, the process was completed and the clone replaced Bellicac entirely. Kibner, Bellicec, Howell and several others pursued the fleeing Matthew Bennell and Elizabeth Driscoll and finally caught up with them at the San Francisco Department of Health. While the others restrained them, Kibner administered an injection designed to make them fall asleep. He explained that his progenitors were born as sentient spores on a dying world and have traveled from planet to planet on the solar winds, assimilating entire cultures. He insisted that their way was not only a matter of survival, but was actually an improvement over the natural evolution of mankind. After hearing his story, Matthew and Elizabeth fought back against Kibner. Elizabeth bashed him across the head with a glass beaker and Matthew locked hims inside a freezer unit. Presumably, David Kibner was eventually set free.

Notes & Trivia



 * Actor Leonard Nimoy is more famously known for playing the character Spock in the Star Trek mythos. Coincidentally, this character was also an alien bereft of emotions.