* CreativeDifferences: Surprisingly, the Nickelodeon executives actually (knowingly) let the writers get away with a lot of stuff. Character deaths that were originally written were never allowed, though.
** According to Rikki Simons, this was more a problem between Vasquez and series director Steve Ressel than it was with any of the suits. Ressel wanted to go all-out with camera angles and cinematography while Vasquez wanted the gags to speak for themselves.
* CrossDressingVoices:
** In Mexico, Zim is voiced by a woman.
** Outside of the Americas (Brazil, Mexico, USA); GIR is often voiced by a woman.
** Zim, Dib and GIR are voiced by women in the Japanese dub
* GodNeverSaidThat: Unfortunately, the phrase "[[WordOfGod Jhonen said]]" has been falsely appended to so many baseless rumors that unless there is an actual verifiable citation included you're far more likely to be reading something someone ''heard'' Jhonen said from someone else who who heard it and so on... following the GossipEvolution back to its source often leads only to the reveal of glorified {{fanon}} whose origin had been lost in the telling. According to (note the citation) [[http://www.questionsleep.com/mindspill/?p=1208 Jhonen on his blog]], even Wikipedia and IMDB have included errors by not sourcing, meaning you can't necessarily trust everything you read there too. While not every person who makes the claim to WordOfGod without citation is incorrect, you should adjust your credulity accordingly.
** One of the most common assertions to fall under this clause is Zim being 16 in "Irken Years" and 150 or 159 in human years. WordOfGod on the age business is that Zim is [[http://www.revolutionsf.com/article.php?id=552&page=5 older than any human alive]], but {{fanon}}, perhaps not liking the [[PickOnSomeoneYourOwnSize extreme age gap between the show's main protagonist and his chief rival]], invented the concept of "Irken Years" putting his "relative" age far closer to Dib's, and his real age closer to the lower bound of "older than any living human". Somewhere along the line this made the jump from {{fanon}} to false WordOfGod. You won't find any interviews or blog posts verifying this fact, although some user-edited information sites such as Wikipedia have listed it from time to time (entries inevitably being deleted due to the lack of citation).
** The biggest one, perhaps, is that it would take a crapload of money for Vasquez to even consider coming back to the show, often attributed to the man himself but actually a rumor spread by [[http://www.buzzyworld.com/zim/archives/askstevearchives.html#103103 series director]] [[http://www.buzzyworld.com/zim/archives/askstevearchives.html#082803 Steve Ressel]], who had his own issues with the way things were run. (Vasquez does often make disparaging remarks about ''Zim'', but the same way he does about ''everything''--[[JokingMode with his tongue superglued to the inside of his cheek.]]) One would think Vasquez's presence on most of the DVD commentary tracks and his offer to do cover art for the DVD[=s=] would assuage this, but alas. Recently his blog posts and appearance at Invader[=Con=] II have been doing more to dispel the rumors.
* HeyItsThatVoice:
** [[RichardStevenHorvitz Zim]] is [[WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy Billy]] and [[VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}} Raz]]. Or [[WesternAnimation/TheAngryBeavers Daggett]]. Or [[PowerRangers Alpha 5]]. Or [[DestroyAllHumans Orthopox-13]].
*** Before the series proper, our favorite Irken was [[RenAndStimpy Stimpy]], [[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} Fry]], and [[PinkyAndTheBrain Larry]]; that's right, in the pilot, Zim's voice was provided by BillyWest.
** The Purple Tallest is [[LiloAndStitch Pleakley]] and [[CatScratch Waffle]].
*** Not to mention a KidsInTheHall alumnus.
** Let us not forget the [[RLeeErmey Drill Sergeant]] from Hobo 13.
** [[MelissaFahn Gaz]] is [[Anime/DigimonTamers Rika]], [[Anime/CowboyBebop Radical Edward]] and [[{{FLCL}} Ninamori]].
** Miss Bitters is [[TheSmurfs Smurfette]].
** Tak is [[TheWonderYears Karen Arnold]]
*** And [[Disney/{{Tarzan}} Jane Porter]].
*** And [[StarWarsTheCloneWars Luminara]].
** [[MysteryScienceTheater3000 TV's Frank]] is one of the writers and has a few additional voice roles.
** [[WallyWingert The Red Tallest]] is [[Manga/{{Bleach}} Renji Abarai]] and [[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries The Riddler]].
** Professor Membrane is [[WesternAnimation/TeenTitans Doctor Light]] and [[WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants Squidward Tentacles]].
** Ken Nordina AKA "Movie Trailer Voice Guy" hosts the television show ''Mysterious Mysteries'', and gets the spotlight in one episode.
** [[Creator/JohnDeLancie Agent Darkbootie]] is [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Q]] and [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Discord]].
** Down in Brazil, Gir is WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants, while Zim is [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Frodo]].
* IN Spain and Italy, Gir is [[WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory Dexter]]. In Japan, however, it's Dib who's Dexter. (Japanese Gir is {{Doraemon}})
** Speaking of Italy, Zim is [[Anime/YuGiOh Kaiba]]; Dib is [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} Brock]].
** Gaz [[HaruhiTerada is]] [[Anime/YuGiOh Mai Valentine]] in Japan.
** In Germany: Zim is [[CaptainPlanet Wheeler]]; Gaz is [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender Azula]]; Gir is Anime/{{Hamtaro}}.
* [[LyingCreator Sarcastic Creator]]: Compounding the GodNeverSaidThat issue where fans mistakenly attribute words to JhonenVasquez that he never actually said, Jhonen ''himself'' occasionally goes on record with information that's intended to be sardonic. For example, it's said in [[http://dvd.ign.com/articles/543/543764p3.html this interview]] that ultimately the plan had been for Zim to get a HeelFaceTurn... and become a lawyer:
-->Ultimately, my idea was to take his sights off world domination, as ZIM begins to understand that there is a beauty in human life, an understanding that sets him on his path to becoming a public legal defender. I was very inspired by Ben Affleck's powerful courtroom scenes in ''Film/{{Daredevil}}'', and I wanted to move people to tears like those scenes moved me. But the show was canceled before any of that, thus leaving our audience of ten unfulfilled.
** If that is not ridiculous enough on its face to give away the game, the ''Daredevil'' film came out in 2003, a year after the show's cancellation, meaning the quote literally cannot be true, and "moved to tears like those scenes moved me" is almost certainly meant as a StealthInsult. See also TheWalrusWasPaul.
* NoExportForYou: The [=DVDs=] have never been given a Region 2 release.
* OrwellianEditor: The commentary tracks only ever acknowledge director Steve Ressel's CreatorCameo[=s=] as "Joe the janitor", if at all, due to his feud with the writers and suits alike.
* ProductionPosse: Vazquez moreorless hiring all his comic book author friends to do the show with him doesn't ''strictly'' qualify, but Rikki Simons (voice of GIR and color artist for the show) had previously done the color for ''IFeelSick''.
* ScrewedByTheNetwork: Maybe not as bad as certain other Nick shows, but still a factor. The show was constantly jumbled all over the schedule so that nobody ever knew when it was on, and new episodes were premiered at timeslots like 9:15 pm. However, while the suits didn't always understand exactly what he was doing, they gave him an awful lot of leeway, and Vasquez himself would later admit that given complete creative control the only thing that might change was that extras would explode at random.
* ThrowItIn:
** The first episode contains the line "Invader's blood marches through my veins like giant, radioactive rubber pants!" The line was supposed to say "ants". But it's the kind of show where "pants" actually fits better.
** The Hamstergeddon episode involved Ultra Peepi swaggering down the street, not by intention. It came back from animation that way, and Jhonen loved it and had the composer make funk music to go under it. "I want to hear BarryWhite saying 'Ultra Peepi.'"
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Danielle Koenig's original script for "Vindicated" had Dwicky genuinely believing Dib. She refers to the change as Jhonen having "mangled" it, but she didn't sound as annoyed about it as her word choice might lead one to believe.
** It's claimed in the commentary that the original ending of "Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy" was Dib dying and being replaced by a character named "Louie" as Zim's new rival. This may have just been a joke, however.
** Another commentary tidbit is that Iggins was originally slated to die at the end of "Game Slave 2," but ExecutiveMeddling prevented that.
** In a [[http://www.questionsleep.com/mindspill/?p=1742 blog post]] Jhonen noted the original script for "Gaz: Taster of Pork" simply ended with Dib defeating the Porklord and then sharing pizza with Gaz. Eric Truehart came up with the ending we got instead.
** MarkHamill was originally considered for the role of Zim, but was dismissed by Nickelodeon for sounding too old.