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The New Invader Zim Under Ground
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Zim is the title character from the Nickelodeon animated series, Invader Zim. He is from Irk, a planet far out in the Milky Way galaxy. He is a short Irken defective but, despite his size, he feels that he is superior to other Irkens and other universal creatures. He hates humans and Earthly culture (as would any Irken), and dreams of conquering the planet for Irken use. He thinks the Almighty Tallest sent him on a "secret mission" to Earth, but in reality they simply wanted to get rid of him. After arriving on Earth, he forms a deep rivalry with Dib, an avid paranormal investigator from the planet. Zim wants to conquer the Earth, more likely so as to prove himself great than for the glory of his homeworld.
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Zim's age is unknown, although Jhonen Vasquez states that Zim is older than any human being. In one episode, another Irken citizen claims that Zim had ruined her chances at becoming an invader fifty years ago. As a smeet (a baby Irken; pronounced "shmeat"), Zim was created in an Irken incubation chamber and therefore has no siblings or parents. He was brought to life by a robotic arm and his first words were "I love you, cold unfeeling robot arm!" His physical appearance is based on the "typical alien" design, the Greys. Zim (like all other Irkens) was fused at birth with his Standard-Issue Irken Utility Pack, or PAK. Zim's PAK provides him with life support and increased physical abilities and stamina. The primary function of the PAK is a spider leg capability where 4 articualted legs extend from the PAK. In addition, the PAK can also provides rockets for mobility in space and lasers for cutting holes through walls.
Zim's skin sizzles and smokes on contact with water. The episode "The Wettening" first clearly shows this, and it has since become one of Zim's primary bodily weaknesses. He also hated human food (as he thought it was "human filth") until the episode "Zim Eats Waffles" (although the waffles that GIR produces are not typically edible to humans, which may explain why he can eat them). When his face came in contact with pizza and bacon, he grew a hypnotic pimple (named Pustulio).
He has a penchant for being overdramatic, saying phrases like "I AM ZIM!" and "Silence!" (both are his trademark catch phrases; the second catch phrase being a cliché command for supervillains), and uses ridiculously excessive and elaborate plans to conquer the planet when he obviously has the resources to do so much more efficiently. He also has a characteristic evil laugh. Often Zim overreacts by screaming and shouting, even just when he's speaking to GIR, his robot slave/assistant. Richard Steven Horvitz, the American voice actor for Zim, later admitted (on the first DVD's interview with the voice cast, titled "The Voices of Zim") that the constant shouting tired his voice during the recording sessions, and he would have to go home and recuperate "for a day, day and a half, uh, beyond that". In the cancelled episode called "The Trial" (see below), it is revealed that Zim's overdramaticism and narcissistic behavior was probably caused by a corrupted data path in his PAK.
Zim often wears disguises to attempt to conceal his identity from the "pig-smellies" that he plans to eventually conquer. They are often poor disguises. Zim's usual disguise consists of so
me contact lenses and a wig resembling Pee-Wee Herman's hairdo (pictured at above right), leaving his green skin clearly visible (which he explains away as an unnamed skin condition, and in the episode Vindicated!, that his red eyes are due to pinkeye). He's been known to wear other costumes as well, like an old man disguise, an elderly woman disguise, a bear suit (actual purpose unknown; it was most likely a running gag originating from Jhonen Vasquez's earlier comic, I Feel Sick), a poorly-constructed parent costume, and a Santa suit made from a Vortian liquid material.
If the series were to continue, Zim would have to undergo an Existence Evaluation Trial (an evaluation, based on past crimes, to determine whether an Irken is worthy of continuing to exist), get kicked out of his base by the Parent Decoys (which are robots designed by Zim in order to seem like a normal human child), and enter GIR in a SIR unit contest. After the series ended, Jhonen wrote a four-page comic for Nickelodeon magazine, in which Zim actually did conquer the earth when Dib wasn't looking, and took Dib, GIR, and Minimoose to another planet to drink space sodas and ride giant alien bunnies.
In the unaired episode called "The Trial", it would have been revealed that Zim is essentially the cause of most of Irk's disasters; when he entered the information-downloading chamber, he claimed it as his own, shoving the next smeet (baby Irken) up the chute, causing a blackout that plunged Irk into darkness for five years. Later, an accident with a security robot caused another blackout, this one lasting for four years. As a military scientist, he created an energy-absorbing monster, which ingested an infinite energy source and proceeded to eat Tallest Miyuki. Years later, it returned to get the collar Zim had and ate Tallest Spork. He also plunged half of the military planet Devatis into darkness when he used a powerful robot on a malfunctioning snack machine. During Operation Impending Doom One, Zim was placed in a small circle and told to watch it, but he stole a Frontline Battlemech and destroyed half of Irk. Incredibly, he's proud of all this and his personality allowed him to survive by screwing up the Control Brains who were going to remove his Pak.
Zim is currently voiced by Richard Steven Horvitz (for the original English version) and by a female voice actor (Nao Nagasawa) for the Japanese dubbed version. In the pilot episode, titled Food Fight, Zim's voice was provided first by the famous Star Wars actor Mark Hamill and then by veteran voice actor Billy West. Horvitz, however, was asked to come back, after being denied the part, to revoice Zim as a tester in the new version of the pilot, which is not currently seen on any DVD.
Zim is, as previously noted, an Irken with megalomaniacal and narcisstic tendancies. However, in Horrible Holiday Cheer, Jhonen Vasquez mentions Zim acquiring a more sensitive side by the series' abrupt end. For example, he develops some compassion for GIR, whom he regards as both a 'robot slave', and his only real companion. Early in the series, he exhibits the desire to dispose of him, yet during episodes like Battle of the Planets and Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom, he shows concern for the robot's well-being and safety ("Maybe that little robot isn't such a bad evil minion after all" and "I hope poor GIR is alright by himself against those ZOMBIES!"). Character development of this nature is unusual in animated television series.
It should also be noted that the source of Zim's failures at conquest isn't mere ineptitude. His own choice of delusionment would be a more accurate way of identifying the cause of his downfalls. He has tendency to headstrongly refuse to see any flaw (even if made obvious to him at times) in whatever grand, scheme he has concocted. (This is likely brought on by his extremely narcisistic nature, as everything he does will always seems to be truly amazing- as is, in his "brain meats") At times in the series, Zim does demonstrate his capabilities of great resourcefulness and ingenuity. But do to his nature, he may make judgements that are impractical or lacking in common sense, thus leading to complications and collapses in whatever plan he has.
Zim is extremely loyal to the Irken Empire throughout the series but his instability renders this loyalty unreliable.
Zim is held in contempt by the entire Irken race. He seems oblivious of this fact except, possibly, during one small moment when he is insulted by Tak. Ironically, he and his greatest enemy, Dib, are essentially similar in that they are both outsiders—Zim is literally an alien, while Dib is isolated because his human family and acquaintances consider him to be crazy or stupid.
Despite the cancellation of the show, many fans of Zim (and Invader Zim in general) continue to participate in the writing of fan fiction and creation of fan art.
GIR is a popular character in the Nicktoon Invader Zim. While the gender of GIR is never clearly stated in the cartoon, the male pronoun is used throughout this article for simplicity. He is essentially a psychotic, stupid robot slave belonging to Zim. He is easily influenced and impossible to fully control. He is a modified SIR (Standard Information Retrieval) unit, although not even he is aware of what the "G" in GIR stands for (several fans think GIR stands for Garbage Idiot Robot, but Jhonen Vasquez has said that the G doesn't stand for anything). Occasionally he reverts to behaviour expected of a normal SIR unit (during which time his eyes, torso, and wrist spheres change colour to red), but this is normally short-lived. He is incapable of focusing his attention on important things for long periods of time and often speaks with no relevant coherent thought in mind. He is often the reason Zim fails in his attempts. His normal disguise is a very shoddy green dog suit. He is infatuated with Earth culture and is a very popular character. GIR's personality is essentially like that of a dog/little brother whose main interests in life are sleeping, dancing, watching TV (in particular, the Scary Monkey show) and eating. He cooks on occasion, making goodies like mashed potatoes or waffles (sometimes made with peanuts, bacon and soap). He usually cooks only for himself, as Zim finds human food to be disgusting. However, by the time "Zim Eats Waffles" was shown, it was known that Zim had developed an immunity to human food, as he himself is shown eating the waffles GIR concocts throughout the episode (though the waffles made from the ingredients noted above are not traditionally edible to humans). He appears to eat for the sheer pleasure of doing so, as he is a robot and likely does not need food. GIR gets along well with others, and his best friend is a pig who is seen on occasion "visiting" with GIR at Zim's house.
In the episode "GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff", Zim tries to lock GIR in red-eyed "Duty Mode" to make him a more efficient (not to mention obedient) servant, but finds that extended lucid periods clue GIR into Zim's overall incompetence. Duty-Mode GIR subsequently goes about trying to eliminate Zim as a threat to the mission. In the end, Zim realises that a super-intelligent robot that hates him is a larger burden than a stupid robot that loves him, so he reverts GIR back to his former, normal self.
GIR is a "custom" SIR only in that he was haphazardly put together out of trash by the Tallest—to prevent the waste of a good, working unit on Zim. His CPU apparently is held together with bubble gum, pennies and a paper clip. To everyone's surprise, GIR actually boots, and is technically functional. Ironically, as seen in the episode discussed above, it is possible that a normal SIR unit would have become as rebellious as "Duty Mode GIR" and, likely, would have killed Zim.
The Gameboy Advance game Nicktoons: Freeze Frame Frenzy refers to GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff: Zim (who is the main villain in the game and can be unlocked by getting 100% in the album) mentions that "using GIR's code was a really bad idea" when confronting his Helga robot (who, just like all of his other robotic dopplegangers in the game, rebelled in the same way as Duty Mode GIR) in the Danny Phantom stage. This implies that non-SIR robots could rebel with GIR's programming.
GIR is voiced by Rosearik Rikki Simons (in the original English version) and by a Japanese female voice actor, Mizuta Wasabi, for the Japanese dubbed version.
The Almighty Tallest (characters seen on Invader Zim) are the leaders of an intergalactic empire known as the Irken Empire. There is usually one leader, the tallest Irken in the imperium, but since the two tallest Irkens (Red and Purple) are of equal height, the power is equally divided amongst them. In the Japanese version of Invader Zim, the Almighty Tallest is known as "Zennou Takenaga", which translates as "Almighty Tall One(s)".
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In The Nightmare Begins (the first episode), it's revealed that Red is very self-absorbed. He likes lasers and nachos, and cares more about his political status rather than the people he is ruling over. Red also enjoys annoying his companion in ruling the Irken Empire, Purple.
The voice of Almighty Tallest Red was done by Wally Wingert, who on Power Rangers in Space provided the voice of Psycho Blue.
In The Nightmare Begins (the first episode of Invader Zim), it's revealed that Purple is as self-absorbed and concerned with his political status as Red. He likes smoke machines and curly fries.
The voice of Almighty Tallest Purple was done by Kids in the Hall veteran Kevin McDonald, who has also provided the voice of Agent Pleakley in Disney's Lilo & Stitch franchise.
The Irken Empire has a hierarchal class structure, where shorter individuals are both figuratively and literally looked down upon. The tallest Irken born in a specific generation takes command of the Empire as "the Tallest", but since Red and Purple, the two current Tallest, are the exact same height, they share equal (and nigh-supreme) power. One should address the Tallest as "my Tallest" which is the Irken equivalent of "Your Majesty/Majesties".
The Tallest are little more than "figureheads" introduced to give the Irken populace something to identify with (and idolize) in the imperium. Presently, they travel around to observe and supervise Operation Impending Doom II in "The Massive", the largest and most powerful ship in the Irken Armada. Its armor is so well-developed that it has survived plunging through the outer layer of a sun, repeated meteor impacts and multiple laser strikes without compromising its critical systems. The Tallest stand in a central dais located in the bow of the ship, surrounded by crew operating at computer terminals (though their systems also have a solid voice interface), with a large panoramic glass screen spanning a good portion of the wall in front of the dais. The only armament ever displayed was a wide laser pulse that fired out of the bow. The side pods contain food and snacks, with the power core located in the central pod of the ship. It is capable of teleporting objects, and there is no visible propulsion system of any sort. The Massive was designed by the conquered aliens called the Vortians.
Created by Jhonen Vasquez, the Irkens are a fictional race of aliens who wish to conquer the universe. They are humanoid in general shape, range widely in size, and have antennae, green skin and eyes that are typically red, but can also be purple or (rarely) green. Their homeworld is the planet Irk. The Irkens are seen on the Nicktoon show Invader Zim, where the title character is an unsuccessful and psychologically unstable Irken invader, a prestigious elite military class.
In Irken morphology all Irkens are cyborgs, having Standard-Issue Irken Utility Packs, or PAKs installed directly after birth. The PAKs provide critical life support, augmenting several mental functions including an Irken's personality and memory. An Irken can only live for about 10 minutes when detached from its PAK, with rapidly degrading cognitive function: PAKs seem to keep their brain in working order. A PAK also stores an endless variety of tools and robotic accessories. The most often seen accessories are long extendible spider legs that allow an Irken to move about on walls, ceilings, and in zero-gravity; the spider legs can fire laser-like weapons from their tips, and generate a force field for protection. Other items seen in use include communication devices, space helmets and an organ-harvesting teleporter.
The insect like presences of antennae as well as the lack of a iris, pupil and sclera suggest that the Irkens have compound eyes. However, this has not been made clear by the series creator.
Irkens apparently have female and male sexes, although it is unknown if they are able to reproduce on their own (In a flashback sequence, Zim recalls that at his birth he was decanted from a fetus jar by a robot arm.) Female Irkens appear to have different shaped antennae and some even have eyelashes, but there does not appear to be any other physical distinctions between the genders.
Irkens apparently burn on contact with water and earth meat based protein, although water-based pastes seem to have no effect. Fatty acids and oils result in horrific acne.
The Irken Empire is a height-based social hierarchy, with the leaders being the tallest of the current generation. The Tallest presumably did more work in the past, however the current Tallest, Red and Purple, (named for the color of their eyes) tend to just eat snacks, give orders to their subjects, and be lazy; much to the chagrin of their predecessors, Almighty Tallest Miyuki (the first ever female Tallest) and Almighty Tallest Spork (a rather height-obsessed Irken). The Tallest are more like "figureheads" than actual rulers, and the Irkens seem to rely on powerful supercomputer-like Irken mutations referred to as "Control Brains" to make their more critical decisions, as well as to reproduce more "Smeets" (very young Irkens) and choose their careers. The Control Brains carry all knowledge and memories aquired by Irkens through the recycling of Irken PAKs.
It's unclear whether Irkens really enslave other alien species. In some instances subjugation or even contractual employment seem apparent, although mass genocide and extermination of some alien species is also seen. There are low-ranking Irkens (usually very short Irkens), regarded as servants or even slaves, which are given menial and degrading tasks, such as food service and cleaning. Such servants may be paid as little as five "monies" every two years, as seen in the episode Hobo 13.
It has also been revealed that they have a policy of eradicating all unintelligent alien life on conquered planets (typically when the leaders visit, so they don't have to come into contact with "unsavory alien filth"). One such planet that was cleansed was the world of slaughtering rat people, planet Blorch.
Irkens appear to be immortal and they do not age. Even so, an Irken may undergo an “Existence Evaluation Trial” where it's decided if it's worth keeping it alive. If the trial fails its PAK will be forcibly removed, the Irken will die and its PAK will be re-assimilated by the “Control Brains”.
Dib is a fictional character from the Nickelodeon animated television series, Invader Zim. He is Zim's arch-nemesis/enemy/rival (heated debate among the fandom on this) and he is highly unpopular at school and at home for his broken record obsession with the paranormal, aliens, Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, and other phenomena. He is a student in the class at the school Zim attends to maintain his cover. Dib has been obsessed with the paranormal and supernatural since an early age, as seen in the episode Bad Bad Rubber Piggy and in Mysterious Mysteries, the episode, not the show he watches.
He is loved dearly by IZ fans all over the world, including Japan and South America, although Jhonen Vasquez himself says "America hates Dib."
Dib is the only Skool child who realizes that Zim is an alien, and he is obsessed with proving it to everyone. He wears a black trenchcoat, has glasses, and wears a shirt with a little face on it (similar to Jhonen Vasquez's clothing style). He was on his house roof when he intercepted the transmission from Conventia. He is always trying to prove Zim is an alien by exploiting his weaknesses, like pointing out that he's green and has no ears, or asking why he's surprised to see rain. He and Zim are head to head, and neither will stop until one of them succeeds. He is also a member of the "Swollen Eyeball" conspiracy theory group, where he is known as Agent Mothman (possibly a reference to the Mothman Prophecies). Prior to his discovery of Zim, Dib was already heavily involved in the paranormal. Dib's hair is pulled back in a scythe-like manner. He is also deemed as crazy or stupid by everyone around him, including his sister, Gaz, and his father, Professor Membrane. This leads one to believe that Dib (and perhaps his sister, Gaz), suffers from child neglect and possibly even emotional abuse by his father. As revealed in one episode, Dib also suffers from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.
In the beginning of the series, Dib is much less rational and constantly badgered Zim, being the only one in on the alien's plans of world domination. As the show progressed, Dib mellowed out and became more sympathetic.
Programming executives with no idea why every comedy needs a straight man, or why underdogs make such great heroes, insisted that Dib be portrayed as a fall guy, much to the frustration of the series' creator and writers. As one baffling example, they urged the writers to beat the "big head" joke into the ground well past the point where it became tiresome... even though every child character in the show has a head of similar proportions!
Dib is voiced by Andy Berman (in the original English version of the series). In the Japanese version, he is voiced by Ayumi Kida, who also voices Dexter in the Japanese version of Dexter's Laboratory.
Gaz is a character from the Nickelodeon cartoon, Invader Zim. She has a gothic style of dress--black dress, purple/pink leggings, grey sleeves, purple hair, and skull necklace. Her father is Professor Membrane, a world-renowned scientist who is famous for his Science TV show, Probing the Membrane of Science, and for inventions like Super Toast and high-tech machinery. Her brother is Dib, a paranormal investigator who she believes is very stupid. In fact, she seems to care little about anything besides video games, pizza, and soda.
Gaz is very antisocial and prefers being alone and playing her Game Slave 2 rather than dealing with social interaction, as she has a plethora of video games that require her utmost concentration. She commonly utters the catch phrase “I guess so” or a variant of it, with intense dread when she is asked to do anything she does not like, like being experimented on in Gaz: Taster of Pork. In the first season of Invader Zim, most of her on-screen time showed her playing her Game Slave, and she had very few lines. One first season exception is episode 2.B, NanoZim, where Gaz uses her video game prowess to defeat Zim and his nano-chip micro-suit, thinking she is playing a video game. As the second season went on, Gaz's character developed further with the episode "Game Slave 2." Here, Gaz has her first solo adventure at the City Center Mall waiting to buy the Game Slave 2 handheld.
In the second season episode, "Gaz, Taster of Pork", she was again to take center stage after her brother Dib accidentally curses her with "enhanced piggy senses" by the usage of a spell drive.
On Invader Zim, most of the characters, other than Gaz's brother Dib, are unaware of the very obvious fact that Zim is really an alien bent on world domination; however, Gaz is probably an exception. It is never explicitly stated, but she has seen lots of evidence to indicate that Dib is right. She also hints that she knows through several things she has said. For example, in Gaz, Taster of Pork she says to Shadowhog, "Yeah, Zim's an alien. So what? He's too stupid to take over the world or anything." Also, in "Bloaty's Pizza Hog," Dib asked Gaz if she even cared that Zim was trying to take over the world, and Gaz responded "But he's so bad at it."
Gaz is similar in appearance to Devi from Jhonen Vasquez's earlier comic series, I Feel Sick, leading some fans to speculate that she might be her and Dib's mother, born from her by Nny. However, no evidence has been introduced in canon to support this. Gaz's outfit is very similar to the one worn by Pepito (the antichrist) in a earlier comic series by Jhonen Vasquez, Squee.
Gaz is voiced by Melissa Fahn in the original English version of the series. She is voiced by a Japanese seiyuu in the Japanese-dubbed version of Invader Zim.
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