Sometimes i think about keith and just.....he's such a nice person??? Like a genuinely kind person?

YES,, THIS,, Listen there’s so much I could talk about with this, I could go on and on. So I’ll try to keep this brief, but–our very first intro to Keith is him saving Shiro. He’s not just rescuing someone either, he clearly cares so much for Takashi, looks down at him like he means the world and softens up completely, tenderly reaches out to turn his head a little closer. Right off the bat, our first impression isn’t cocky or cold or aloof. Its seeing Keith fiercely protect someone he loves and then just melt. You know within the boy’s first scene that he’s got a big heart:

And even though he’s not thrilled to have the other paladins along for the ride at first, he still drives them to safety and lets them crash at his place. Contrary to popular belief, he didn’t impulsively hate or antagonize Lance either. Quite the contrary, he didn’t have any problem with Lance until Lance made it a problem and continually instigated everything. Even still, rather than continue pushing his buttons, Keith ends up being the first to let the “rivalry” fizzle out. 

And he does so as early as season 2. Lance thinks Keith wants to steal his Lion, and Keith does his best to politely apologize and try to explain rather than fighting back. Lance doesn’t like that he has to share the pool with someone, but Keith tries to mediate the situation and work out a reasonable solution. Lance angrily yells that Keith’s a hothead, yet he says nothing in his own defense. Keith could have easily let himself continue to be baited by Lance, but it’s obvious he doesn’t like having a temper and does his best to keep those kinds of emotions in check. You can tell he really wants to bridge that gap, and makes a conscious effort to do so. He didn’t have to do that. 

We also have the way Keith is very understanding when Allura distances herself from him. Is he hurt by this? Yes, that much is clear. Like the rivalry with Lance, is any of this his fault? No. Unlike Lance however, Allura’s feelings aren’t completely unfounded–they stem from deeply rooted trauma, and he understands that. “Allura, it’s okay.” He never asks for an apology, nor does he ever expect one. He could have felt entirely betrayed by Allura’s behavior, but he doesn’t. Again, his compassion and concern for others wins out over his own emotional needs. 

Going back to first impressions for a minute, because this is incredibly important–when Keith only knew everyone for about a day, when they were all veritable strangers with the exception of Shiro–when he thought he was dying, his last words were literally, “It’s been an honor flying with you boys.” Keith is incredibly selfless and always puts others’ needs above his own. Instead of lamenting that he might die, he instead tries to comfort his fellow paladins. That was his first instinct and it’s very indicative of the kind of person he is. 

When left alone on a mission with Hunk, Keith could have easily been dismissive about his friend’s fears and stress. Instead, he tries to alleviate some of that anxiety by joking around with Hunk to cheer him up, as well as offering physical affirmations of reassurance (cue the signature shoulder touch). Ironically, even though Keith is often depicted as an excessively violent, aggressive harbinger of war, he’s actually very nurturing. And I’d argue that’s more in tune with his nature, and any hostility is more so a side effect of his fiercely protective instincts. See: Keith attacking Lubos for enslaving his own people, Keith immediately rushing to defend the Arusians when they’re “invaded,” Keith taking on Zarkon solo to defend Shiro, ect. 

He also takes his duty as a paladin very seriously–when everyone but Shiro wanted to leave, Keith was the most intent on staying. He was harsh on Pidge, but that was because he was looking at the bigger picture. “Everyone in the universe has families.” Everyone but him, but he’s still willing to lay his life on the line and see this through to the end so that everyone else can return safely to their families. That’s commitment. He truly cares about others, and it always gets me. 

And don’t even get me started on Keith’s galra arc, because he shows so much remorse for simply existing. He thinks he’s the reason Zarkon’s tracking them, so he packs his things and leaves. Despite how much he loves his newfound family, he cares about their safety too much to selfishly stay. And when Allura tries to convince him that all galra are innately evil? Keith’s trying so hard to rationalize this with his own feelings and his intentions. Because he doesn’t want to be a monster, because he desperately wants to believe he’s still him. Because he cares enough to ask, “But at the same time, couldn’t at least a few of them be fighting for good?” He wants so badly to be a good person, to do what’s “right.” It’s both incredibly endearing and upsetting.

And then there’s how, aside from Shiro, Keith is the only one actually upset by Ulaz’s sacrifice. Everyone else cheers when a man literally blows up saving all their lives, and Keith is the only other person who’s distraught. For everyone else, Ulaz’s sacrifice was a rather fortunate convenience. The fact that everyone else viewed the value of his life as lesser simply by virtue of being galra, that’s incredibly alienating in ways I can’t even begin to explain. Even more telling, rather than ruminating on his own demons, Keith’s first impulse is to comfort Shiro instead. Again, Keith’s compassion for others–and Shiro especially–eclipses his own pain. He sets aside his personal dilemma to stand by Shiro’s side and speak up on his behalf against Allura’s claims. 

Then you have all of season 3, where Keith is the only one unable to move on. Where he’s the one person still burdened by their grief, still frantically searching for Shiro day after day because he’d never just leave him. And he can’t understand how the others can just go on with their lives, erupts into grief laden outbursts that boil down to None of you care about him like I do. “We don’t have Shiro either. Everyone seems to have forgotten that.” “Shiro’s the Black Lion.” “No! I’m gonna find him.” We as the audience feel Shiro’s loss entirely through Keith, and that’s very purposeful. His heart is the one that’s breaking the most, his life was the one thrown into chaos. Shiro was the literal manifestation of his greatest hopes and dreams. 

If there’s one that that indicates Keith’s gentle heart, it’s his unparalleled bond with Shiro. And the fact that Keith can care so much for others at all after having been burnt at every turn–“Shiro is the one person who never gave up on me, I won’t give up on him.” Abandonment is a big part of his life, and it stemmed from the fact that even his own mother left him behind. The fact that he could still keep an open heart to others after so much loss and rejection, the simple fact that he will lay his life on the line for a bunch of strangers when he has no real reason to do so, the fact that he’d defend even a “home planet” where there’s no home there waiting for him–it’s incredibly humbling. 

Even so obviously depressed and scarred by grief, Keith willingly puts his own feelings aside and takes up the mantle of the Black Paladin. For the sake of the rest of his team, as well as in honor of Shiro’s last wish. “This one’s for you, Shiro.” Keith puts everything else on hold and takes on a role he neither wants nor feels he can properly fulfill. And when “Shiro” returns, Keith does everything in his power to return Black to her “original” paladin–in his mind, that’s setting things right. Even if it means leaving the team again. Keith obviously cares about the other paladins very much, but he’s willingly to make sacrifices for the greater good. That’s just the kind of person he is. 

All his life, the universe seems to just take and take when it comes to Keith. So the fact that he’d still be willing to sacrifice himself after all that, the sheer notion that he’d still care so much about others when all his life he’s been ostracized and abandoned–it’s heartbreaking. The universe really doesn’t deserve someone as kind and gentle hearted as him.