The Unofficial Invader Zim Site // Invader Zim Character Guide

INVADER ZIM CHARACTER DATABASE
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A database filled with information you never knew about Zim, Gir, and the rest of the crew.

INVADER ZIM (voiced by Richard Horvitz)

Bio
When you're a short guy in a society where height rules, you need to get noticed. Unfortunately for Invader ZIM of IRK, piloting a giant destructo-bot who obliterates your home planet during an important invasion doesn't exactly make you a local hero. That's why the ALMIGHTY TALLEST have sent ZIM on a mission to a far-away space rock called Earth. If all goes as planned, irksome Invader ZIM will be out of their hair forever. Until ZIM discovers a race of Earthenoids just waiting for him take over their puny planet, that is....

Characteristics
Jhonen Vasquez has stated that Zim's age is 16 Irk years and 159 Earth years. In "Tak, the Hideous New Girl", Tak, another Irken, claims that Zim had ruined her chances at becoming an Invader fifty years ago. In "NanoZim", Zim mentions that he has been flying ships since before Dib was born.
- As a smeet (a baby Irken), Zim was created in an Irken incubation chamber and therefore has no siblings or parents.
- In "The Nightmare Begins", Zim is shown as being even shorter than the notoriously short Invader Skoodge.

Personality and Abilities
Zim, like most of Vasquez's protagonists, gives the impression of being completely insane. He is an Irken with megalomaniacal, sociopathic and narcissistic tendencies. However, he's consistently portrayed as more of a danger to his own people, and himself, than to the human race. Zim is dedicated to his mission to destroy the Earth. In the episode Planet Jackers, Zim undergoes a rather severe beating in the name of protecting his mission and Irken interests. Jhonen Vasquez has stated that he envisioned Zim as being unaware of his shortcomings. He trusts his own judgment despite indications not to. When he hijacks the Massive in Backseat Drivers from Beyond the Stars he only considers that the Tallest will be appreciative of his efforts. Nor does he really consider the consequence of detonating a huge explosion in Walk for Your Lives, despite being warned several times by GIR and his computer. Zim possesses highly advanced technical skills on terms of a genius, albeit a mad one, often creating highly advanced technology that works a bit too "well" resulting in them backfiring. For example in Walk of Doom he successfully repairs and upgrade's GIR's guidance chip.In GIR goes Crazy and Stuff he keeps GIR locked in obedience mode. In Bolognius Maximus he creates a virus that turns Dib into bologna, yet ends up becoming infected himself. He is also a skilled pilot, being able to hold his own against Tak, Dib, and Gaz. In the The Most Horrible X-Mas Ever he creates a highly sophisticated Santa suit, which he himself states worked too well to the point it supplanted his personality with the suit. Zim has shown Machiavellian tendencies in regards to his interaction with others. He has no compassion for anyone else when it leads him to success. In FBI Warning of Doom, Zim persuaded prisoners of a cell to work together to escape, resulting only in escape for himself, leaving the remaining prisoners behind. In Hobo 13, Zim purposefully sacrifices his colleagues for his own gain. However, it cannot be assumed that Zim is completely heartless. In one episode, Walk of Doom, Zim believes he has caused GIR to cry by scolding him harshly (though unbeknownst to Zim, GIR is crying about the cupcake) and shows signs of feeling guilty about this, gruffly telling GIR that he sees he has learned his lesson. Apparently, Zim can constantly "persuade" humans and even other aliens, except Dib and Gaz, into believeing him, such as when he stated he had a skin condition or constantly covers his identity such as he did in The Frycook What Came From All That Space when he mocked Dib and convinced everyone despite the fact he was just at that moment using alien technology or in The Most Horrible X-Mas Ever when he convinces everyone to attack Dib after inventing his own holiday character after the supposed exile of Santa into space. This demonstrates he is highly manipulative of those around him and has the "charisma" to convince others of his point of views, though it may just also be the general stupidity of most of the characters around him. He has also been shown to be highly resourceful such as when he elaborated a plan to escape Foodcourtia in The Frycook What Came From All That Space. Even though it was told to him by the fat alien, it was his resourcefulness and ability to persuade that got him out. This was also observed in Rise of the Zitboy when he uses a pimple to hypnotize everyone including Dib. In The Wettening he shows his highly advanced skills coupled with his resourcefulness by tricking Dib with a hologram of himself and then creating an enormous water balloon with his advanced machine wiping out the whole city.

Zim's PAK
Zim, like all Irkens, was fused at birth with a mechanical device called a PAK. Zim's PAK provides him with life support, all the necessary nutrients for survival, and an array of different weapons and tools. These tools include a set of four spider-like mechanical legs, an organ harvester, scanner pads, hand-held communicators, memory drive, charging cell, atmospheric processor, high tech infrared/nightvision binoculars and holographic transmitters. It can reanimate the user after a sudden shock (like the wave of raw stupidity in Plague of Babies). Zim's PAK, due to his actions after Impending Doom One, has him encoded as a Food Service Drone; this was part of his banishment to the Irken snacking planet Foodcourtia. In the unfinished episode 10 Minutes till Doom: Dib steals Zim's PAK. Zim accidentally slips telling Dib that without his pack he can only live for 10 minutes. Zim's PAK is apparently what makes him a "Defective" The Almighty Tallest, stating that he was fused with a defective PAK, Zim, however, does not believe them.

Weaknesses and immunities
Zim is severely allergic to several Earth substances, including water, meat (which actually burns his skin), barbecue sauce, beans, pizza and most school lunches. In Rise of the Zitboy it is shown that exposure to excessive grease leads to the creation of enormous hypnotic pimples. In The Wettening, Zim discovered that bathing in white school glue repelled water, and that germs could be repelled by covering his body in "space meat" and using conventional Earth disinfectant sprays. In the episode Zim Eats Waffles, he thinks that eating enough Earth food will allow him to build up an immunity to it. During the episode Lice it is discovered that an unknown substance secreted by his skin kills lice almost instantly.

Disguises worn in public
Zim often wears disguises to attempt to conceal his identity from the humans that he plans to eventually conquer; they are often poorly or hastily constructed. Zim's school disguise consists of some contact lenses and a bouffant wig. The contacts give his eyes a human appearance, and the wig covers his antennae; all else about him, including his uniform and green skin, is left unchanged. He explains away his skin color and lack of ears as a skin condition, and has passed off being caught without his contact lenses as a bad case of pinkeye. He occasionally wears an old man disguise like in the episode Walk of Doom, which he uses throughout the first season. In the second season of the show Zim upgrades his disguise arsenal with a floppy, huge-headed human suit with a cape, a sewed-on handbag and stuffed puppy, and a nametag reading 'human'. Other costumes worn include a fat lady outfit, used to hide the timefield explosion in Walk for Your Lives, bear suit seen when reporting to The Tallest in Battle of the Planets, 'Baby Inspector' disguise for interrogating 'Noogums' in Plague of Babies and the Santa suit and Easter Platypus disguises used to manipulate the public in The Most Horrible X-mas Ever. The Pilot episode also has an oversize robotic battle-suit shaped like Zim's school disguise for use in the food-fight that occurs.

GIR (Rosearik Rikki Simmons)

Bio
Every IRKEN Invader is assigned a robotic Sidekick - Standerd Information Retrieval unit known as a S.I.R. As a cruel joke, however, the Tallest threw together some garbage and told ZIM it was a "top secret" S.I.R model who named himself G.I.R. What does the "G" stand for"?, Zim questions. GIR doesn't know. GIR has trouble even knowing "Up" from down. But GIR does know ZIM is his master, and that taquitos ate good. More likely to laugh and jump around the room playing with his toys than he is to actually do any work, GIR is the worst robot helper anyone could have. GIR is just insane.

Origin
The point that GIR's body was first constructed is never revealed in the series. In the first episode when Zim attempts to get a SIR Unit, a broken robot of a SIR was put together with parts from a garbage can by the Almighty Tallest and then put whatever they had in their pockets, such as pennies, paperclips, and bubble gum, into its head. The robot introduced himself as GIR. It is unknown if the "G" stands for anything. When asked about it, the robot replied, "I don't know."

Personality
GIR is Zim's robot slave, easily influenced yet impossible to fully control. He is incapable of focusing attention on important things for long periods of time and often speaks with no relevant coherent thought in mind (making him very random), making him almost completely useless as best and often disastrous and hazardisous. Occasionally he reverts to normal S.I.R. behavior, (referred to as Duty Mode)during which time either all his cyan coloured components or sometimes only his eyes become red and voice becomes much deeper, but these periods are normally short-lived. During the episode GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff, Zim manages to set GIR to duty mode, normal S.I.R. behavior, but the result is that he is smart and responsible enough to realize that Zim is incompetent as an Invader, and attempts to overthrow him.

When GIR shuts down, all of his cyan parts turn gray and he reverts to lifelessness. As a robot, GIR technically has no gender, but he is usually referred to as being male, mostly by Zim. In public on earth, GIR's most common disguise is a green dog suit that squeaks, with a visible zipper down the front. Another disguise is one that looks like a human child, and another that looks like a government agent by the name of "Government Man". Unlike Zim, he doesn't mind getting involved with typical Earth culture, and has a strong love of Earth snacks, such as tacos, taquitos, candy, waffles, chocolate bubblegum, cupcakes, tuna, chicken with mayo, pizza, slush-style drinks and, as he states in an episode, "I like corn...I do!" This would imply some sense of taste and some way to "digest" (or in some dispose of) food; he is also shown becoming fat in the episode: The Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom.

Bloody GIR
Bloody GIR is an Easter Egg visible in several episodes of the television series Invader ZIM. Bloody GIR was born when Nickelodeon refused to allow a scene involving GIR covered with blood. The crew inserted the forbidden image into single frames in a few episodes. Post production supervisor Jason Stiff has confirmed that the image appears in Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy. The existence of bloody GIR has been confirmed by director Steve Ressel in interviews. The frames were reportedly scattered throughout the episodes following Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy by Ressel and Chris Graham. According to Ressel, Nickelodeon never discovered a Bloody GIR before the episode aired.

Disguises worn in public
- Green Doggy Disguise Suit that squeaks, with a visible zipper down the front (commonly used)
- Elfin Dog Disguise Suit (Christmas Special)
- Human child (Door to Door)
- Government Man (Attack of the Saucer Morons)

DIB (Andy Berman)

Bio
When the ugly headed spector of strange phenomena rears its ugly head, who can you count on? Dib. The Son of world-famous scientist PROFESSOR MEMBRANE, Din hopes to be a famous Paranormal Investigator some day. For the moment, he is determined to rid the Earth of the terrible alien menace known as ZIM. But no matter how hard he tries, Dib always seems to be doomed to failure. And doomed to have a big head. In fact, people notice his big head more than they do his incredible, intelligent brains. Nobody ever seems to believe him, and it makes him even more desperate to want to prove them wrong. Did we mention he has a big head?

Origin
Eric Trueheart, one of the series writers, has stated in a commentary on the final Invader ZIM DVD that, if the series had not been canceled, a potential storyline might have included Dib discovering he was an artificial creation of Professor Membrane's making.

In the episode Dark Harvest Dib mentions to his classmate, Torque Smacky that he has memories of being abducted as a baby "... Perhaps to create some kind of genius super baby?", though he also states his memory on this is unclear.

Personality
Dib has been obsessed with the paranormal and supernatural since an early age, as seen in the episodes Bad Bad Rubber Piggy and Mysterious Mysteries. His obsession has made many of the people around him deem him crazy and/or stupid, including his classmates, his teacher Ms Bitters, his sister Gaz and his father, Professor Membrane. In the episode Gaz, Taster of Pork, Dib mentions that he may be obsessive-compulsive by saying: "How did I miss that? Me! The obsessive-compulsive Dib!" Although he is a generally good person, Dib can be extremely talkative and annoying, which frustrates his sister Gaz to no end. When confronted with alternate versions of himself (such as in Future Dib and Dibship Rising) he is usually aware of this fact, but makes no effort to change his way of life to avoid future agony. Despite his own eccentricities, Dib is comparatively smarter than the majority of Invader Zim characters, who, as a rule, tend to be idiots. His ability to discern Zim's true identity show him to be smarter than most of his classmates, and Tak's inability to control his mind show a similar measurement of intelligence. Along with Gaz and Tak, Dib is one of the few characters, human or alien, to show any kind of common sense.

Paranormal work
Dib dreams of becoming a paranormal investigator when he grows up. He seems to regard this field as a legitimate one, though most people he knows do not; and, despite his fascination with many paranormal legends, he nevertheless is being shown critical of others, such as "Chickenfoot" (a supposed half-man, half-chicken that turned out to be a crazy man in a chicken suit) and a chocolate vampire, Count Cocofang (a parody of Count Chocula). He believes that paranormal study is as much about disproving frauds as pointing out the legitimate occurrences. (The Sad, Sad Tale of Chickenfoot). Apart from Gaz, Dib is the only child at the "Skool" who realizes that Zim is an alien, and his sister doesn't seem to care. He is a member of the "Swollen Eyeball Network" conspiracy theory group, where he is known as Agent Mothman (a reference to the Mothman of West Virginian folklore). Prior to his discovery of Zim, Dib was already heavily involved in the paranormal, and people often throw his earlier ideas of 'ninja ghosts' and 'finding Bigfoot in his garage' (where he was using the belt sander) back in his face when he asks for help.

Appearance
Dib's hair is pulled back in a scythe-like manner, and he usually wears a black trench coat. A running gag in the show is the fact that everyone insults Dib for his supposedly-large head, although his head is more or less equal in proportion to the other characters in appearance. (Dib himself once comments on this, asking "Why does everyone keep saying that?") This joke began in the episode Door to Door, and has occurred in most of the future episodes.

GAZ (Melissa Fahn)

Bio
Gaz is Dib's sister. Gaz likes video games, drawing, and junk food, though you couldn't tell from her sour little face. What she really DOESN'T like is her annoying brother Dib always getting in the way of her simple pleasures with his constant babbling about Zim. Gaz spends most of her time annoyed, actually. If Dib was your brother, you'd be the annoyed too. Stop reading about Gaz now and go away. You're bugging her.

Appearance
Gaz has a gothic style of dress black dress, purple/pink leggings, grey sleeves, purple hair, and skull necklace, although Jhonen Vasquez claims she is just a normal kid and the clothing comes from his own style. Her clothes are also the same in design as Jhonen's other character Pepito, the devil's son from his comic Squee!, the only difference being her necklece which is a skull while Pepito's is a lock. She also has noticeably squinty eyes that rarely open up except in moments of total enrapturement, great rage and/or agitation (as seen in the picture above). 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 constantly sneers at, just like she does to everyone and everything else. In fact, she seems to care little about anything besides video games, pizza, drawing pigs, and soda.

Personality
Gaz's character is depicted as very antisocial and preferring to be alone, playing her Game Slave 2 video game console rather than dealing with people. In the first season, most of her on-screen time showed her playing her Game Slave, and she had very few lines. A first season exception is the episode NanoZim, where Gaz uses her video game prowess to defeat Zim and his nano-chip micro-suit, thinking she is playing a video game. Gaz has a tendency towards sudden, decisive action, especially sworn acts of violence against those who cross her in her mind, which she can pursue with monomaniacal focus. She also has a great hatred for her brother, and if he annoys her too much she is prone to attack him. For instance, she once cautioned Dib that he would "suffer horribly" were he to interfere with a ceremony that she was conducting. She is also annoyed by his talking, claiming that his voice sends her into great rage.

Gaz is considerably smarter than most Invader ZIM characters, who, as a rule, are idiots. Other than Dib, she is also the only human who knows that Zim is an alien, but, unlike her brother who wants to stop him, she merely writes this fact off and leaves Zim to his own devices, treating him with just as much misanthropy as anyone else. Her feelings about Zim are perhaps best summed up in "Bloaty's Pizza Hog," where, in response to Dib exasperatedly reminding her of Zim's plan to take over the world, she stoically replies that he's "so bad at it." She has actually stopped Zim's plans several times, such as in NanoZim and another time "rescuing" Dib from his clutches in the episode Future Dib; however, unlike Dib, who is motivated by hatred of Zim and a desire to save the world, Gaz only fights Zim if she has her own reason for doing so.

Episodes featured in
As the first 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, only to see the last of the stock sold to the child accompanying her, who introduces himself as Iggins. 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. She was also featured in a few more episodes, but all including only a few words each of her saying. She was featured in the lice episode saying "Whiner!" to a few people.

THE ALMIGHTY TALLEST (Red: Wally Wingert; Purple: Kevin McDonald)

Bio
Tremble before the exalted rulers of the IRKEN EMPIRE! Gaze in awe at their astonishing tallness! Normally, only one IRKEN can be named as TALLEST, but since Red and Purple are exactly the same height, well, THERE YOU GO! Note that one has RED EYES and one has PURPLE EYES! Note this, and note it well, for those eyes will look down on all the universe some day, and then become sort of squinty, as if to say "YEEEESSSSSSS... IT'S OURS... IT'S ALL OURS!!!!" Did we mention that they're jerks!

Origin
They are aliens known as Irkens from the planet Irk. They are the leaders of an intergalactic empire known as the Irken Empire. There is usually one leader of the Irken Empire, the tallest Irken in the imperium, but since the two tallest Irkens (known only as Red and Purple) are of equal height, the power is equally divided amongst them. They both hate the protagonist of the show, Zim. Although it is revealed that they have real names, Red and Purple are addressed only by the "royal title" of "My Tallest" by more or less all other Irkens, and thus they are never called by their names in the show.

Almighty Tallest Red
In the first episode. The Nightmare Begins, Red shows himself to be very self-absorbed. He likes lasers and nachos. He seemingly cares more about his political status than the people he rules over. Red also enjoys annoying his fellow Irken Empire ruler. He is suggested to be more intelligent than his counterpart, having some sort of knowledge about the Massive's inner workings and mechanisms as seen in Backseat Drivers from Beyond the Stars. He is also seen to be more willing to take action than his counterpart: Purple hovers about catching doughnuts, where as Red attempts to regain control of the 'Massive'.

Almighty Tallest Purple
In The Nightmare Begins, it is shown that Purple is as self-absorbed and concerned with his political status as Red. He likes smoke machines and curly fries. As with Red, he has a fixation with snack foods. He is somewhat less intelligent than his counterpart, along with being noticeably lazier and a bit more spastic in his actions.

The Role of the Almighty Tallest
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. An Irken addresses the Tallest as "My Tallest" which is somewhat the Irken equivalent of "Your Majesty/Majesties". The Tallest have the ability to do anything that they please, ranging from the fate of a conquered planet, to having anyone they please being thrown into space. Presently, they travel around to observe and supervise Operation Impending Doom II in The Massive, the largest and most powerful ship in the Irken military force, the Irken Armada.

Previous Tallest
The following Almighty Tallests are featured in the never completed episode The Trial, which explains Zim's past. Zim was responsible for their untimely demise:

Almighty Tallest Miyuki Has never been seen in the series. She was eaten alive by an Infinite Energy Absorbing Blob creature created by Zim while he was a scientist working at the Vort Research Station 9. It was during her reign that the Massive was designed.

Almighty Tallest Spork His time as the Almighty Tallest was very short, after being made the Tallest on his first day came about his termination by the Infinite Energy Absorbing Blob.

PROFESSOR MEMBRANE (Roger Bumpass: best known as the voice of Squidward Tentacles on Spongebob Squarepants)

Bio
He is the father of Dib and Gaz and also world's smartest man, host of the popular television show "Probing the Membrane of Science" and inventor of SuperToast. Membrane's scientific abilities are offset by incredibly poor parenting: his primary method of managing his children is by way of a floating digital projection screen - and his messages to them are often not only pre-recorded but woefully out of date. Also, he rarely, if ever, calls Dib and Gaz by their names (instead calling them 'son' and 'daughter').

Appearance
Similar to Dib, Professor Membrane has black, slicked back hair. His face is mostly hidden by large goggles and the collar of his coat. In The Most Horrible X-mas Ever, he possesses the power to shoot energy out of his hand. Though "Membrane" seems to be the last name of Dib's father, it's actually his first name rather than the family name. It was mentioned on DVD commentary that they wanted the cliché of a cartoon character with no last name. Also, in Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom, Zim's simulation of the Meekrob referred to Dib as "Dib... whatever your last name is" and Dib replied "That's right" instead of correcting him with the name of his father.

Personality
Professor Membrane is obsessed with the progression of science and technology. He doesn't believe in the paranormal, and frequently refers to Dib as his "poor insane son". (In Battle of the Planets he admits that there are aliens, but none able to travel to Earth.) (Likewise, he sometimes refers to Gaz as his 'funny, sane child'). He sees Zim as a foreigner (misconstruing Dib's statements that Zim is an alien). Inventing is Membrane's primary goal in life and rarely makes time for anything not related to his experiments. Membrane hates Santa Claus with the same vigor that his son despises Zim: when Membrane was a child, he wanted 12 cases of Uranium 238, but Santa merely gave him a seemingly endless supply of socks. Vowing "a portion of his life" to the defeat of Santa, Membrane created a massive polar fortress full of anti-Santa technology, which he allows Dib to access in The Most Horrible X-mas Ever. This is one of the very few times he takes his son's devotion to paranormal activity seriously. Despite his lack of parental skill, Jhonen has stated in DVD commentary that Membrane does love his kids, adding "If he didn't love them...they'd be dead."

Past
According to a commentary on the Invader Zim DVDs, Dib was going to find out that he was actually an experiment created by his father, thus explaining why his life stunk so much. That would mean Gaz is also possibly a creation of Membrane's, though it is never explained. Also, it seems that both Dib and Gaz are lightweight due to the ease with which Membrane can pick them up.

MS. BITTERS (Lucille Bliss)

Bio
Nobody knows where Ms. Bitters comes from. Some say she existed before time itself and they simply built the skool around her. Others say she was the spawn of an English Teacher and a really big snake. If there's a young fragile spirit blossoming in the fields of learning, you can bet Ms. Bitters will be there to crush it, and crush it down hard. She is the teacher of Zim and Dib's school class. Devoid of any positive emotion, she is a tall, slender old woman of unknown origin.

Character origin
Directly pulled from Vasquez's earlier comic book series Squee!, she apparently possesses eerie powers, including the ability to materialize out of shadows, float through the air, and adopt snake-like or (sometimes) spider-like features. The biography on the back of the Nickelodeon electronic trading card (written by Eric Trueheart) states that she is not human, and that she did not come to work at the "Skool," but rather, was always there; the "Skool" was built around her.

Appearance
In some early episodes, she appears to be covered in cockroaches. When her students displease her, she habitually looms over them menacingly with clawed hands and bared teeth. However, her actual identity and form is unknown. Whatever she is, she cannot survive in direct sunlight, as seen in The Voting of the Doomed. She dislikes the smell of children, and has expressed frustration at school over-crowding, as well as disdain for traditional holidays such as Halloween and Valentine's Day (although this could be quite reasonable, considering some strange unknown event in the past changed the Valentine's Day tradition from giving chocolates and cards to giving "Valentine meat").

Teaching style
She sometimes horrifies her students with grotesque recollections: she claims to have once been a fairy princess until she was shocked with a giant bugzapper in Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom, which she claims "One day it all went horribly wrong!", and in Career Day she claims to have been an astronaut whose spaceship imploded in the cold and meciless vacum of space. She said this was a lesson that 'dreams lead to hideous implosions'. It is revealed in the DVD commentaries that many more Ms. Bitters flashbacks were to occur in the series, but they constantly had to be cut due to time constraints. She also has a dark disposition, which she uses as "lessons", such as "The universe, and how it will eventually implode in on itself" and "Our whole society is nothing more than a perilous house of cards, destined to collapse under its own weight".

MINOR CHARACTERS OF INVADER ZIM

Bill, the Paranormal Investigator (Adam Paul)
Bill is depicted as a moronic paranormal investigator who claims that ghosts, Bigfoot, and dinosaurs are all just myths, while cereal box creatures such as Count Cocofang and Frankenchokey are real. Even when proof of the existence of the paranormal is right in front of him, he tends to dismiss it or ignore it entirely. He also believes that Chickenfoot is some sort of space chicken when it's made clear to the viewer that it's a man in a chicken costume. Bill appears in the episodes Career Day and The Sad, Sad Tale of Chickenfoot.

Chewie Rodrigez a.k.a. Chickenfoot (David Herman)
Chickenfoot's real name is Chewie Rodrigez and he is featured in the episode The Sad, Sad Tale of Chickenfoot. The character is a former employee of a fast food chicken franchise called Chicky Licky. He is the man who would stand in front of the restaurant in a Mr. Chicky Licky costume to help draw in customers. One day, other employees splashed dirty dishwater on the microwave while in an argument. The microwave sent out deadly waves at Chewie and it made him think that he had fused with chicken suit. Dib persuaded him to go to the hospital in exchange for a dirty chicken toy. At the hospital Dib eventually got the chicken suit off of Chewie.

Countess Von Verminstrasser (Mindy Sterling)
An exterminator specializing in lice; in the episode Lice, Countess Von Verminstrasser was called to quarantine the skool after an invasion of lice. Though seemingly crazy, it turned out Countess Von Verminstrasser's theory that there was a "Louse Queen" was correct, as one was found underneath the school. Using the lice-killing oils secreted through Zim's skin, Countess Von Verminstrasser managed to kill the Louse Queen and her spawn, causing Zim pain in the process.

Mr Dwicky (Fred Tatasciore)
Featured in the episode Vindicated, Mr. Dwicky, the new skool councilor, tells Dib that he believes him about Zim and agrees to help. He teams up with Dib in a plot to lure Zim into the forest using a fake Plookesian signal. While waiting for Zim, Dwicky reveals that he doesn't actually believe Dib but wanted to help in order to figure out Dib's problems. Zim finally arrives and Dwicky's world is turned upside down. Real Plookesians, named Mooshy and Spoopty, arrive and offer to take Mr. Dwicky with them. He goes, accidentally taking the camera used to film Zim with him.

Mr. Elliot (S. Scott Bullock)
First seen in Parent Teacher Night. A former student of Ms. Bitters, Mr. Elliot is the teacher of Gaz's class. He is usually bursting with joy, the exact opposite of his former teacher. In the cancelled episode Simon Sez Doom!, Mr. Elliot worked as a volunteer at the orphanage where he recruited Zim and Dib. He shows up periodically and he does commercials - he can be seen in GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff selling antacids.

Iggins (Paul Greenberg)
Iggins was featured in the episode Game Slave 2. He calls himself the master of all reality and gaming. He seems to be obsessed with games, and will do almost anything to get one. He appears to be clever, as he tricked a store clerk into giving him the Game Slave 2 console. He was originally supposed to die at the end of the episode but Nickelodeon would not allow it instead, he emerged from the wreckage with super powers. He also had a minor appearance in the episode Walk for Your Lives, shown getting arrested for standing around and doing nothing. He also has brief Appearances in episodes such as Bolognius Maximus and The Voting of the Doomed.

Moofy (Eliza Schneider)
A Member of the Girly Rangers, Moofy attempted to sell some cookies to Zim but got her foot trapped in a hole created by Zim's robot gopher. The media came to cover the event and Moofy, enjoying the attention, milked it for all it was worth. Zim attempted to use the situation to his advantage by talking PresidentMan into letting him use a machine that would shake Moofy free - but destroy the Earth as well. Dib turned the tables by making a deal with PresidentMan to get him to use a digging machine instead, which would likely expose Zim's base. Zim took matters into his own hands by simply yanking Moofy free.

Nick
A child kept as an experiment by Zim; Nick's most notable feature is the large, drill-like probe jutting from his head, which causes him to be insanely happy. Nick appears in both "GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff" and "The Girl Who Cried Gnome", though only has a notable role in "Zim Eats Waffles". He is voiced by Jhonen Vasquez. Nick may be a representation of Vasquez's feelings toward Nickelodeon.

Presidentman (Jeffrey Jones)
The president of the United States. Like the majority of characters on the show, Presidentman is featured as clueless and ignorant of what's going on. He is addicted to Girly Scout Ninja Star cookies to the point of doing anything for them, and gets easily excited. He once handed over control of the country to Zim when he was disguised as Santa Claus.

Sergeant Slab Rankle (Robert Cait)
A security guard who appears only once, in the episode FBI Warning of Doom. Rankle is a megalomaniacal security guard in one of the malls in Zim's city. He takes his job far, far too seriously for words, often reassuring the camera pictures of the stores that he will protect them as they "sleep". He first encountered Zim when he was attempting to break into the mall and return a video GIR had been watching for a month. When Zim resisted his command to surrender, Rankle quickly imprisoned him in an underground holding cell, where he keeps other people. Zim quickly escaped, and was faced down by evil zombie soldiers who pretty much collapsed in a heap, unable to fight. Amazed by Zim's escapes, Rankle then appeared in person, asking Zim to join him, saying that, together, they could conquer the entire mall. But Zim, uninterested in the mall & creeped out by his appearance, declined, instead going home. In the last we ever saw of Rankle, he takes Zim's rejection well, and rejuvenatedly rides an elevator back to his hovel amid the pile of zombies.

The Swollen Eyeball Network
Agent Darkbooty is voiced by Star Trek regular John DeLancie.
Agent Nessie is voiced by Bill Chott.
Agent Disembodied Head is voiced by Danny Cooksey.
Agent Tunaghost is voiced by Jocelyn Blue.

A group of conspiracy theorists who have an astonishingly high standard of proof. Dib is, of course, a member - albeit a junior one, with the alias "Agent Mothman". Dib spends a fair amount of his time trying to convince the membership of the threat posed by Zim. Dib, for the majority of the series, communicates with them via video-conferencing. On screen, they appear as solid-black figures with somewhat-thick white outlines and solid-red oval discs for eyes (though due to a continuity error they are blue eyed and have pupils in Battle-Dib), disguised behind nicknames like Agent Nessie, Agent Darkbooty, Agent Disembodied-Head, and Agent Tunaghost. However, Dib makes direct contact with Agent Darkbooty, who turns out to be (or possibly disguised as) a crafty old janitor for NASA, renamed NASAPLACE in the series, in the episode Battle of the Planets. Darkbooty assists Dib. In the episode Battle-Dib, Dib struggles to get his father to sign a permission slip so that he can make a presentation on Zim to the entirety of the Swollen Eyeball Network's membership. However, he loses the briefcase along the way, and has to reschedule. Probably because of this, the Eyeball Network stops taking Dib too seriously, and by the time the episode Zim Eats Waffles rolls around, they show alot of dislike for him. Agent Darkbooty even says, "You make me sick." Although, in a later episode Gaz, Taster of Pork: Agant Tunaghost helps Dib to solve his problem with the "Sense of the Shadowhog" spell.

SUPPORTING CHARACTERS OF INVADER ZIM

Lard Nar (Fred Tatasciore)
Lard Nar is the leader of the resistance against the Irken empire, known as The Resisty. Appearing only in the season two premier, Backseat Drivers from Beyond the Stars, he and The Resisty were scheduled to appear in the unnamed season two finale. His primary concern is to keep The Resisty alive and fed before attempting a coup on the Irken Empire. He was the captain of a Vortian ship, until it entered "Shrinky Self-Destruct" mode, ejecting all crew members and detonating a significantly smaller ship. In the episode, after over-hearing the Tallests exclaim their weapons were deactivated, providing an opportunity to destroy the Massive, Lard Nar commands "Get those snacks!".

Mortos Der Soulstealer (Wally Wingert)
Featured in the episode of the same name. A demon-like being, Mortos Der Soulstealer appears in every one thousand years on Earth when the moon aligns with "Jakunga". In the episode, Dib attempts to utilize Mortos to steal Zim's soul, unfortunately Mortos is extremely lazy and a mooch, refusing to do anything until his "power levels" are up. Eventually, Mortos returns to "the place beneath the overworld" after mistakingly granting the wish of a nearby bystander for ice cream instead of Dib's wish to steal Zim's soul.

Sergeant Hobo 678 (R. Lee Ermey)
The being in charge of the Hobo 13 military training facility. In the episode Hobo 13, Zim and Skoodge are both sent by The Tallest on what the Tallest are hoping is an ensured death mission. However, Zim manages to complete the trials and defeat Sergeant Hobo 678 at the expense of all his teammates. Sergeant Hobo 678 is supposedly eaten by a monster and appears to take Invader Skoodge with him.

The Robo-Parents (Michael McDonald and Mo Collins)
Two Robots created by Zim to act as parents for when he is in human form. However, due to their extreme mental instability, the Robo-Parents are rarely used. In Parent Teacher Night, Zim has the Robo-Parents attend a meeting with Ms. Bitters with disastrous results; in Backseat Drivers from Beyond the Stars the Robo-Parents go completely haywire and cause mass-scale havoc for Zim. The Robo-Parents also made several other small appearances such as in Zim Eats Waffles, Bloaty's Pizza Hog and The Girl Who Cried Gnome. It was planned to have an episode featuring the Robo-Parents called Roboparents gone Wild. The voices of the Robo-Parents: Michael McDonald and Mo Collins, are two comedians who were regulars on the sketch show, MADtv.

Shnooky (Phil LaMarr)
Featured in the episode Plague of Babies, Shnooky is a leader of a fictional alien race named the Nhar-Gh'ok which look identical to babies. He was stranded on Earth when the Nhar-Gh'ok mother ship accidentally beamed aboard human babies when the Nhar-Gh'ok soldiers were ready to return from their information gathering mission. Shnooky was forced to take the identity of Noogums, a human baby who was beamed aboard the mother ship. Seven years later, Zim became Shnooky's neighbor. Shnooky witnessed Zim without his disguise and led the Nhar-Gh'ok soldiers into Zim's base with the intention of taking Zim's Voot Cruiser. Currently, Shnooky is now as stupid as a human baby, due to Zim using a power amplifier to send waves of stupidness from GIR into the Nhar-Gh'oks. Shnooky also has a Brief Cameo in Tak, The Hideous New Girl.

Zim's Computer (Jhonen Vasquez: with voice lowered in pitch)
ZIM's computer is just that. It is rather annoyed by ZIM's constant screaming and demands. He is the brain of the house, and when ZIM said he wanted his entire army to see Minimoose, demanding GIR search the house for the computer, the computer replies "Master, I AM the house." He argues with ZIM a lot, although he is never listened to. Although ZIM claims to have paid him in Walk for Your Lives, his response was that "Master, you never pay me at all." The computer also claims there are no video games in ZIM's house, although there is an arcade game in the pilot.

Minimoose (Jhonen Vasquez as Mr. Scolex: doing squeaks and squeals)
A tiny, rounded moose figure, presented as Zim's other henchman. He might have debuted in the unfinished episode Nubs of Doom, but, due to it being incomplete, he instead appeared first in the final episode, The Most Horrible X-mas Ever. This would make Zim's comment that he's been around all this time a reference to the fact that his creation should have been seen already. Minimoose was created by Zim from designs given by Vortian Prisoner #777. He has extremely dangerous weapons hidden in his "nubs", which could be either the small antlers on the sides of his head or the four bumps that serve as his legs. However, these weapons malfunction on their first attempted use, in the unfinished script Nubs of Doom. Zim created Minimoose to replace Gir, out of sheer frustration with the insane little robot. When Minimoose failed, Zim gave him to Gir to play with. His favorite activities include floating and squeaking, the only form of communication of which he is capable. The actual personality of Minimoose is unknown, as he is incapable of communicating intelligibly, even though it seems his listeners understand him quite clearly. Implications by the context of surrounding dialogue to the squeaks imply that a single squeak from Minimoose can convey a rather large amount of verbiage. Had the show continued, he would have played a major role, as shown in two unfinished scripts, Nubs of Doom and Day of da Spookies. Minimoose also appeared in Jhonen Vazquez's comic book adaptation of Invader Zim, which was featured in a Nickelodeon Magazine, along with an interview.

INVADER ZIM'S IRKEN INVADER GUIDE

About
Created by Jhonen Vasquez, Irken is a fictional alien race that wishes to conquer the universe. They are humanoid in general shape, range widely in size, and have large glossy eyes of varying colors. Their homeworld is the planet Irk. The Irkens are seen on the Nicktoon show Invader ZIM, where the title character is an unsuccessful Irken Invader.

Irken Invaders
A branch of the Irken Elite, Invaders are an important part of galatic conquest. They spy on and blend in with the natives of the planet to collect information, with the help of a SIR Unit to see how it would be best to conquer the planet. Once the planet is at a weak state, they call in the Irken Armada to do an organic Sweep of the planet, then they have full rights to claim the planet as Irken territory.

Invader Alexovich
Invader Chin
Invader Dooky
Invader El
Invader Flobee
Invader Gooch
Invader Grapa
Invader Groot
Invader Kim
Invader Koot
Invader Krunk
Invader Larb
Invader Lardnar
Invader Nen
Invader Pesto
Invader Poot
Invader Sklud
Invader Skoo
Invader Skoodge
Invader Skutch
Invader Slacks
Invader Slant
Invader Sneakyonfoota
Invader Spleen
Invader Sploodge
Invader Sqood
Invader Stink
Invader Tenn
Invader Tim
Invader Yoogli
Invader Yuli
Invader Zee
Invader Zim

Irken Biology
The Squeedly Spooch is located in the area where the human stomach is. It appears to be a large jumbled intestine-looking organ that stretches up through the rest of the body. Since it is so large, it is a super organ that does almost all duties. Irkens have a skeletal structure not unlike those of humans. Their head size varies with height. The Irken heart serves the same purpose as the human heart: it circulates (Green blood, seen in Planet Jackers,after he undergoes a serevere beating, he has patches of green on him.) blood cells, which carry nutrients (and oxygen?) to the cells of the body via veins and arteries. Irkens have a brain, although without the Pak, their intelligence begins to drain. Irkens almost resemble the stereotypical alien 'little green men'; but with a cool insectoid twist. Their antennae are used to express emotion, rising up and down depending on how that Irken feels. At the Great Assigning, the Irkens salute the Tallest by wiggling their antennae. Every other instance when an Irken has given a salute, they have done so with their hands in the same fashion as humans do. Although Irkens don't have any nostrils, they smell from the same area as humans. Irken eyes come in three colors: Red, Purple, and Green. Red eyes are the most common; green eyes are rare. Irken eyes have a shine that is lost when the Irken dies or becomes retarded. Invaders have ocular implants, enhancing and strengthening their eyes. Irken tongues resemble earthworms and can extend to unknown lengths. Irken teeth are all interconnected in rows to form one long tooth. Irken females are rarer than males (though this might just be in the Irken military). Irken females do differ from males physically, but there are no major biological differences. Male and female Irkens are devoid of sexual organs. The most popular theory regarding this is that the Irkens started out as a race that could reproduce sexually, but once the mass test-tube method was invented, they lost this ability over time. Irken females do have some minor differences, visible in their facial features, namely their eyelashes and curled antennae. Irkens do not require sleep, although they are able to, as seen in the Pilot and a few episodes. Irkens do not grow much during their life, but they do grow. They start out as smeets and then grow towards their final height. This growth may or may not be separated into multiple spurts. The difference between the Tallest and the rest of the Irkens has something to do with their growth spurts. Young Tallest are the same size as the average developing Irken, but then suddenly go through a massive lengthening that puts them at the forefront of the Irken Empire. This probably means that taller Irkens have growth spurts that continue on for a longer time than the rest of the race. Irken diet seems to consist of snack foods and soda, though they do not need to eat, as confirmed by Jhonen Vasquez himself. Some Earth food and drinks cause pain to Irkens. Water, and some products that consist mainly of water, sizzles on contact with Irken skin. Select foods, such as bologna, also burn Irkens or cause allergic reactions. The Irkens appear to be genetically weaker than humans, as Zim notices that the bologna DNA affects him quicker than Dib in 'Bolognius Magnimus'. Their antennae also seem to be a weak point, as Zim squirms away uncomfortably in 'Walk of Doom' when GIR pokes his. Some queries to this are that since the antennae is the point of hearing, having them touched would make a lot of sound. Another is that the antennae is just one big nerve cord, and touching it would amount to either pain or pleasure, as Zim seems to have a look of pleasure on his face after GIR taps his. Technically, Irkens do not have parents. Genes from 2 random Irkens are combined by control brains, making a smeet. The eyes of a Irken are held together by a tender long cord that hold the eye in place if it pops out. The IRKens are pained if it pops out, however. Red is a common eye color for irkens, though some have purple. Even rarer are green, and only two known Irkens have brown (Invader Dookie and an advisor to the Tallest are the only ones who have been seen). ZIM has magenta. In the episode Rise of the Zitboy, when Dib closed his eyes to avoid being hypnotized by Pustulio, Zim said, "Oh, you'll open them. You have to breathe sometime", which may indicate that Irkens breathe through their eyes. (Though, he might have just been confused or was trying to trick Dib into opening them- if so, it worked.) The Irken Empire is a height-based social hierarchy, with the leaders being the tallest of all living Irkens, The Tallest. The current Tallest, Red and Purple, (named for the color of their eyes and uniforms) tend to just eat snacks, give orders to their subjects (often apparently made up at the spur of the moment), and be lazy. Irkens enslave other alien species, partially evidenced by a segment early in the episode "Megadoomer." There are low-ranking 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. Despite Irkens apparent devotion to conquering other planets, they have been known to make treaties with certain races, such as the Planet Jackers, and the Irken food planet Foodcourtia appears to be frequented by a large variety of other species. Some of Zim's remarks imply that Irken society has no direct equivalent for the human concepts of "cuteness" or "friendship" (Episodes "Hamstergeddon" and "Bestest Friend", respectively), although his ignorance of these things could merely be a symptom of Zim's own sociopathic nature.

Etymology
The term Irken likely evolved from the term "buggers" in Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game ("bug" and "irk" are synonyms, and both terms describe insectoid alien races).

Irken Morphology
In Irken morphology, most Irkens are cyborgs, having Standard-Issue Irken Utility Packs, or PAKs installed into their spines directly after birth. Irkens are physiologically humanoid (but generally about half the size of any adult human), with green skin and some insectile traits primarily the presence of two antennae instead of hair on the head. An Irken's eyes are large, glossy, and of a single color, with no distinct pupil or iris. Irkens come in several shades of green. Their tongues appear to be segmented, and they have no visible ears. The episode Dark Harvest shows Zim to have three organs, not including the brain. The Squeedly-Spooch is the largest of the three. According to Jhonen Vasquez on the DVD commentary, the Squeedly-Spooch is the master organ that manages all life functions. There is also a heart, and an unidentified smaller organ located on the right side of his abdomen. The presence of a heart suggests that Irkens have blood, and the episode Lice indicates that their blood is green in hue.

The PAK
As documented in Eric Trueheart's unproduced second-season script The Trial, an Irken PAK provides critical life support to its host, augmenting several mental functions including an Irken's personality and memory. (This slightly conflicts with the episode "Bad Rubber Piggy" in which Zim's brain gets replaced by a toy pig with a note on it, turning him into a drooling idiot.) The PAK also stores an endless variety of tools and robotic accessories. Most often seen accessories are four long extendable spider legs that allow an Irken to move about on walls, ceilings, and in zero-gravity, although they appear to be quite brittle. The spider legs also have some form of laser or beam device on the end of each one, used as a tool or weapon. Other items seen in use include communication devices, space helmets, a weak jet system for use in zero gravity and an organ-harvesting teleporter, though the teleporter may have other functions. The unfinished episode "10 Minutes to Doom" suggests that an Irken cannot survive long when separated from his or her PAK. (However, in NanoZim, Zim is seen working on his PAK, perhaps fixing the corrupt data paths that make him a defective.)

Genders and Reproduction
Irkens apparently have female and male sexes, but don't reproduce on their own. Irken young are called smeets. The Smeets are decanted from a fetus jar by the "cold, unfeeling" robot arms. Female Irkens appear to have different shaped antennae from the males (slightly curled), and more pronounced eyelashes. It is revealed in an unfinished episode that there has been one known female Tallest, Tallest Miyuki.

Diet
"Snacks" like donuts, potato chips and candy and junk food appear to be the favorite (perhaps only) foods of Irkens, and by all outward appearances these foods are made the same on Irk as they are on Earth. In Zim Eats Waffles, Zim tries to build up an immunity to Earth food by eating waffles cooked by GIR. Meats, barbecue sauce, soda and water react badly with Irken skin, creating burns and, in more severe cases, swelling.