History Characters / InvaderZim

** [[Characters/InvaderZimZim Zim]]

Characters from the animated series ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim''.

[[foldercontrol]]

!!Zim and Allies

[[folder:Zim]]
[[quoteright:180:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zim_yell.png]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/BillyWest (pilot only) Creator/RichardStevenHorvitz (series)

->''"I am Zim, and [[ThirdPersonPerson Zim shall rule!]]"''

A pint-sized alien from the planet Irk, with an ego as big as he himself... isn't, Zim is a [[MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds walking disaster area]] that somehow remains [[SmallNameBigEgo oblivious to his own shortcomings and the contempt his people hold him in]]. He ''thinks'' he was sent to Earth as an Invader to ready the planet for hostile takeover, but really [[ReassignedToAntarctica his leaders were just trying to get rid of him by sending him as far away as possible]] (they didn't even know there would ''be'' a planet there for him to try to conquer). On Earth, he aims to TakeOverTheWorld, but is of course [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption continually thwarted]], either by his Dib's interference, GIR's stupidity, or his own incompetence.

* AbusiveAlienParents: ''"I love you cold, unfeeling robot arm!"''
* AccidentalHero: [[spoiler:In ''Enter the Florpus,'' he opens the titular interdimensional space hole that the Massive ends up flying into, possibly dooming the Irken Armada and stopping Operation Impending Doom II for the forseeable future. With this in mind, Zim may have just ''saved the entire galaxy'' from the Irken Empire. Not that he's aware of it.]]
* AliensSpeakingEnglish: He comes from planet Irk, yet somehow still knew English before even coming to Earth.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Even though he's completely oblivious to it, his reputation among the other Irkens is [[DoomMagnet less than amiable.]] He's not really liked on Earth, either, though he generally fares better there than Dib.
* AmbitionIsEvil: He's an extremely driven and ambitious little guy who never gives up, and is also a wannabe conqueror of worlds with almost no empathy.
* AmusingAlien: It's amusing to look at his schemes unless you're Dib.
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Despite being an enormous thorn in their side, the Tallest and the Control Brains usually just punish Zim by demoting or banishing him. That's for all the death and destruction he caused. The crime that ultimately puts him on the fast track for termination during "The Trial"? [[spoiler:Having a faulty PAK. [[SubvertedTrope Then again]], as noted in AwesomeBackpack, that PAK is pretty much Zim's backup brain, meaning that its existence proves Zim is inherently messed-up]].
* AssholeVictim: Whenever his plans backfire in painful ways, it's very hard to argue he doesn't deserve it.
* TheAtoner: He is in part driven by his desire to make up for his disastrous incompetence during the original Operation Impending Doom. [[LackOfEmpathy Not out of any kind of guilt, mind you]]; [[NeverMyFault just so that the rest of his species will get off his back about it]].
* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: Zim has incredibly poor listening skills, and seems to retain only information he likes. "Walk for Your Lives" is probably the worst example, where Zim ignores literally everyone around him (even GIR) telling him that to speed up a time-locked, city-destroying explosion would produce... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin exactly that]].
-->'''Dib:''' Zim, you're just going to blow us all up?!? This is stupid! This... is ''stupid'' stupid!
* AwesomeBackpack: If you don't think that a backpack with spider legs, an organ-stealing device, goggles, an entire personality and history, memories, and a hologram device isn't cool, then you need to taste some [[DoomyDoomsOfDoom DOOM.]] That backpack is part of what allows Irkens to live. Without it, they literally can only survive for ten minutes at a time, and it also serves as a backup brain, effectively making them amnesia-proof. Unfortunately, according to the unaired episode "The Trial," Zim was given a defective PAK, which is the reason (or at least part of the reason) why he is so uncontrollable.
* AxCrazy: Incredibly so. It's clear as day that he's completely unhinged.
* BadBoss: He can competently rally complete strangers to his causes, but he has no qualms about ditching them when they're no longer useful.
* BasedOnAGreatBigLie: His mission to take over Earth was assigned to him simply to get him out of the way of the ''actual'' operation to conquer the universe, and holds no actual significance whatsoever. Despite this fact being blatantly obvious, Zim's BlindObedience to the Almighty Tallest generally causes him to ignore any evidence that suggests it. The only time he even comes close to noticing this is in ''Enter The Florpus'' where he tracks the Tallest's flight path and realizes that they aren't even coming to Earth, [[DespairEventHorizon causing him to go into]] [[TenMinuteRetirement a brief depression]] before [[spoiler:getting the idea to use Professor Membranes technology to warp Earth to the Tallest.]]
* BenevolentBoss: That being said, he is rather friendly towards his two CoDragons (GIR and Minimoose), and in ''Enter The Florpus'' Zim gets distraught for his MechaMooks when Professor Membrane destroys Zim's robot army.
* BaldOfEvil: He has no hair, being an InsectoidAlien, though he wears a wig in his human disguise.
* BewareTheSillyOnes: Zim is deeply silly, but he's also dangerous and tends to cause mass amounts of wanton destruction when left to his own devices.
* [[BigBadDuumvirate Big Bad Triumvirate]]: On any other given day, Zim falls squarely into BigBadWannabe, but the only time Zim ever comes close to proper BigBad status is in ''Enter the Florpus''. He's the cause of all the mayhem that ensues, including putting Earth at the mercy of the two other major threats in the form of the Tallest and the Florpus Hole.
* BigBadWannabe: He's set on conquering Earth and hatches multiple schemes to accomplish this, but his general incompetence hampers him every step of the way, and on the off chance he ''does'' succeed, it's often for petty revenge over furthering the invasion. Even in ''Enter the Florpus'', [[spoiler:though he succeeds in teleporting Earth into the flightpath of the Massive, the real threats to Earth come from the Tallest just deciding to blow up the planet rather than deal with Zim, and the Florpus Hole Zim unwittingly created by teleporting Earth in the first place. [=GIR=] even notes that despite Zim claiming victory when the end of the world is happening, none of the humans are even looking at him or aware of his involvement.]]
* BigNo: This is basically one of his catchphrases.
* BizarreAlienBiology: ''"Gah, my squeedlyspooch!"''
* BlatantLies: He tends to tell very obvious lies about being human and not being an alien, [[TooDumbToLive but most humans are too stupid to realize this.]] Who has a skin condition that includes earless and noseless side effects?
* BlindObedience: He recognizes that GIR is defective on sight and shows clear confusion about why the Irken Empire would have any interest in taking over a planet as backwater as Earth, but graciously accepts the duty of oveseeing both due to his loyalty to the Tallest, who assigned them to him.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: While he can still be an exceptionally vindictive bastard, most of what Zim does is determined by what he deems necessary to fulfil his purpose as an Irken drone. As such he's willing to go to very bizarre and dangerous lengths to achieve this, and fails to understand why it's wrong to do so.
* BluntMetaphorsTrauma: Almost Blunt ''Words'' Trauma. Although Zim speaks perfect English, he has a tendency to mix up words, or in some cases he just doesn't listen and ends up hearing the wrong thing.
-->'''Dib:''' [[YoureJustJealous You're just jealous!]]\\
'''Zim:''' This has nothing to do with jelly!
* BurgerFool: Zim was banished to a planet called Foodcourtia where he had to do community service for royally screwing up Operation Impending Doom I. Also, he works in a fast food restaurant on Earth in "Career Day".
* ButtMonkey: He fares ''slightly'' better than Dib most of the time, but is still constantly beaten up and humiliated.
* CantKillYouStillNeedYou: Zim has the means to destroy the Earth, but since he's ostensibly there to ''conquer'' it, his hands are often tied. That being said, he is not averse to letting mankind wipe itself out (with a little assistance from him) if the opportunity arises and slaves are just a nice bonus to the Irkens and not necessary acquisitions.
* CardCarryingVillain: "Now...back to my filthy evil, I guess..."
* CatchPhrase: "YOU LIE!!", "SILENCE!!!", "I AM ZIM!!!" and [[BigNo "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"]]
* ChaoticStupid: He has repeatedly shown himself to be determined enough to not only easily conquer Earth but the entire galaxy, yet his impetuous nature and his COMPLETE lack of consideration for the consequences of his actions results in utter failure and/or the deaths of people he WASN'T trying to kill.
* CharacterDevelopment: While just as much of [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} a lunatic]] as ever, in ''Enter the Florpus'', Zim is presented as a far more patient [[TheChessmaster chessmaster]] with his infamous impulsiveness from the show downplayed.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: His hamminess noticably comes in spurts in the pilot episode, as opposed to being his default state as it is for the rest of the series.
* TheChessmaster: In ''Enter the Florpus'', where Zim is at his most cunning and meticulous when it comes to his planning, having his bases covered far more than ever.
* ClarkKenting: Zim's human form is basically himself but with human eyes and a slick hairstyle.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: In one episode, when confronted by fully mobile talking babies, he stated that 'I knew it! Earth babies come from space!'. More pointedly, in an unfinished episode called "The Trial", he is kidnapped and brought to court among his people; in spite of the flagrant evidence that it is, in fact, a trial for his continued right to exist, he insists on believing it to be a party in his honor. In what was to be that episode's ending, Zim is scanned for defects by the robot "control-brains" that run the planet. His insanity drives the machines to madness, and they declare him the greatest of all Irkens. The Tallest weep as Zim is given ten free minutes of piloting the Massive and proceeds to gleefully smash it into everything like a little kid driving a bumper car at an amusement park.
* CloudcuckoolandersMinder: To GIR ''all the time'', even though he's a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} himself.
* ComedicSociopathy: Most of his insane, self-centered and spiteful deeds are PlayedForLaughs.
* ComplexityAddiction: In "Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom", he traps Dib in a LotusEaterMachine simulating ''decades'' of life (from childhood to old age), all to find out ''if he was the one who threw a muffin at Zim''.
* CosmicPlaything: Sometimes. There's a good chance that circumstances will contrive to force him in the most hilariously painful way possible... [[SnapBack then again, sometimes he succeeds and that doesn't really matter.]] But when his leaders want him gone, or for him to fail, it ''will'' blow up in their faces. More than any situation involving him usually blows up in someone's face, considering that it's seemingly impossible for him not to destroy anything.
* CrossdressingVoices: As a baby. Some foreign dubs also give him a voice actress, probably to facilitate his more high-pitched voice, as Richard Horvitz has a range that's unattainable for most male voice actors.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: When he ''does'' put up a fight ("Hobo 13"), he can be surprisingly competent and clever.
* DeadpanSnarker: Usually Zim is SarcasmBlind thanks to his massive ego and craziness, but he does get a few moments occasionally to get his snark on (usually at Dib's expense).
* DecoyProtagonist: In ''Enter the Florpus'', it becomes more apparent as the movie goes on that Dib is the main character, with Zim being less the VillainProtagonist and more the plain ol' BigBad.
* DespairEventHorizon: Though it doesn't last long, in ''Enter the Florpus'' Zim becomes despondent when [[spoiler: he finds out that the Almighty Tallest had no intention of coming to Earth.]]
* {{Determinator}}: Continuing his "mission" even after being exiled due to his entire species loathing his very existence, although there's disagreement as to whether he merely ignores their scorn or he really is that stupid.
* DevilInPlainSight: Or with a PaperThinDisguise...
* DidntThinkThisThrough: One of his main personality traits; Zim's plans often fail because he tends to think precisely one step ahead of his current problem. This is best shown in "Walk For Your Lives", where the explosion of his [[TimeStandsStill time stasis field device]] is slowed down, but will [[SphereOfDestruction eventually grow to destroy Zim's base and the whole city]]. Not wanting the Tallest to see an embarrassing screw-up like this, Zim desperately works out a way to get rid of the explosion. His solution? To cancel the stasis field under the assumption that once the field is canceled, the explosion will be gone forever, not factoring in that doing so will ''annihilate'' his base and the whole city. He ultimately goes through with it, despite his computer, Dib, and even ''[[DumbassHasAPoint GIR]]'' all telling him that it's an absurdly bad idea.
* DisguisedInDrag: At one point in "Walk For Your Lives", he's [[ItMakesSenseInContext disguised as a giant old lady.]]
* DoomMagnet: Thanks to his stupidity, insanity, and lust for violence, he tends to cause wanton destruction everywhere he goes. He's both hated and feared among his own people for this very reason.
* TheDreaded: Hated, ridiculed and feared by his entire race. Not that he notices.
* EnfanteTerrible: He wasn't even two minutes old when he accidentally caused a massive blackout on Irk that lasted five years and came to be known as "Horrible Painful Overload Day". And then when he was ten, he caused another one that lasted four ''more'' years and was called "Horrible Painful Overload Day, Part II".
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: In his case, GIR is the closest thing of a loved one that he has given his behavior toward him. He also has shown ''slight'' slivers of affection towards the Roboparents in "Parent Teacher Night".
* EvenEvilHasStandards: It's a comparatively minor one, but in ''Battle Of The Planets'' he's confused and flabbergasted why the Martians would [[spoiler:work their entire species to extinction building a Planet sized ship just because it's "cool."]]
** Before mellowing out and experimenting with various hobbies in the GrandFinale of the comic, Zim exploited the GroundhogDayLoop of the titular ''Dookie Loop Horror'' to kill Dib enough times that he was able to create an entire, bulging scrap book full of his rival's many, many deaths. This was all in good fun apart from one very gristly murder where GIR decapitated Dib and used the rest of his body to make a "people pie", the sight of which was so horrifying to Zim that he never wanted to see it happen again, and the smell of the process was so foul that it briefly overpowered the Chrono-Dumper dung that causes the time loops.
* EvilIsHammy: Most of Zim's plans come with long tirades that he just ''loves'' to inflict on whoever he's forcing to listen.
* EvilIsPetty: Despite being older than every other human on Earth, Zim's greatest rival comes in the form of an 12-year-old child no one even believes. The biggest example is when he put Dib through a LotusEaterMachine where he lives a fulfilled life and is adored by everyone...because he threw a muffin at him.
* EvilLaugh: ''Incredibly'' good at this. In the show's opening, he is seen laughing maniacally in an ImagineSpot of succeeding in his conquest.
* ExpressiveMask: His contact lenses change pupil size like real eyes. Somehow.
* FatalFlaw: He has two -- his vanity and unwillingness to abide by common sense. The truth is that Zim ''is'' genuinely brilliant and a deadly invader when he applies himself. Unfortunately, he's less than aware of this, which leads him to concocting insane half-plans that always blow up in his face. If it weren't for (most) of the human population being stupid and the universe making Dib its chew toy, Zim would have been defeated long ago under normal circumstances.
* FauxAffablyEvil: The few times Zim teams up with Dib to stop an even worse/more chaotic evil, Zim usually tries to put on a vague facade of politeness but it's still obvious that he utterly hates having to work with the human.
%%* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The Choleric.
%%* {{Foreshadowing}}: His first appearance in the comic proper has him doing stretches. It's soon revealed that he's warming himself up after [[spoiler:doing nothing for a number of weeks as part of his BatmanGambit]].
* FailedAttemptAtDrama: In the 2017 teaser trailers for ''Enter the Florpus'', he tries to scare the audience with a video message about [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall his return and newfound plans to conquer Earth,]] only to get interrupted by GIR.
-->'''Zim:''' ''(in a deep and ominous voice)'' People of Earth...did you really think you'd seen the last of me? Don't you know an Invader never stops until their mission is complete? I've been watching you. Waiting. And soon your world will be MINE!\\
''(GIR giggles)''\\
'''Zim:''' ''(returns to normal voice, annoyed)'' No, GIR! I'm being serious!\\
'''GIR:''' But I like your voice! It's funny!\\
'''Zim:''' I'm not ''being'' funny! I'm being, you know, terrifying and spooky!\\
'''GIR:''' Oooooh, okay!\\
'''Zim:''' ''(resumes deep voice)'' Soon your world will be... ''(normal voice)'' ...Nope! You've ruined it, GIR! Nice going!\\
'''GIR:''' Awww.
* GalacticConqueror: As the show's title [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin speaks for itself.]]
* GeneralFailure: He really ''is'' a moron. His stupidity is usually what prevents him from conquering anything at all (if [[WorthyOpponent Dib]] or [[BumblingSidekick GIR]] has no interference). The most common assumption for this is that he carries a defective [[AwesomeBackpack PAK,]] which is basically an Irken invader's brain, knowledge and competence. An interview with Richard Horvitz said this is partially because of his blind allegiance to his planet. Horvitz said Zim would tell right away GIR was just trash, but because the Tallest said he was "advanced", Zim instantly believed them.
* GeniusDitz: [[invoked]] It can be hard to credit, but he's demonstrated some true cunning on occasion. He's more ''insane'' than stupid, but his insanity is what makes him do stupid things in the first place, so it's hard to tell the difference. WordOfGod has noted that Zim is best described as a genius with horrifically skewed priorities and no common sense.
* GirlScoutsAreEvil: When he's selling Poop candy bars for a school fundraiser to get the mystery prize in "Door to Door".
* GoalInLife: To conquer Earth, enslave all humankind, and impress the Tallests. Due to his stupidity, he's never going to accomplish it.
* HairTriggerTemper: He's known for his anger issues.
* HarmlessVillain: If it isn't Dib who stops him, it's usually his own stupidity. Gaz herself lampshades it in "Enter the Florpus", where ironically he's actually proven to be a NotSoHarmlessVillain when he really applies himself.
* HatedByAll: Outside of GIR (and even then that's almost only because of his stupidity), nobody likes Invader Zim. This is for a multitude of reasons, such as Zim's utter insanity and incompetence (most characters), Zim trying to take over the world (Dib), Zim ruining their life (Tak), etc. And even though the children defend Zim from Dib's accusations, they still hate the Irken's guts. Even GIR has been shown to hate Zim in "Duty Mode" and his base's computer is [[DeadpanSnarker very snarky towards him]]. In addition, his entire race despises him, often mocking Zim behind his back, and the Tallest only made him an Invader so he wouldn't horribly derail their plans for universal conquest. [[ObliviousToHatred Not that Zim is aware of this contempt, of course]].
* HatesBeingTouched:
** In "Mortos Der Soul Stealer", Dib wasn't touching him per se, but holding him down so Mortos could steal his soul. Zim reacted very negatively to it.
** In "Germs", he really doesn't want to be hugged by GIR, though this could be due to his [[NeatFreak germophobia.]]
** This dialogue in "Bestest Friend":
--->'''Keef:''' ''(hugs Zim)'' I'm so happy!\\
'''Zim:''' ''(pushes Keef away)'' Don't touch me.
* TheHeavy: Like all Irken invaders, Zim acts as an agent for [[GreaterScopeVillain the Tallest]], being charged with conquering Earth.
* HiddenDepths: When he doesn't have time to let himself swell up in his own ego, he can be quite [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass dangerous and a really skilled opponent.]] He's very intelligent, just reckless and too loyal to his race for his own good. He also has disturbingly vivid fears: he's very obsessive-compulsive (to the point of breaking down crying when he discovered how filthy his house is) and has very specific fears of being discovered by humans, mutilated, and kept in a dark room for the rest of his life. In addition, despite the militarised conditioning that Irkens go through as soon as they're born, his reaction in "Parent Teacher Night" to remembering the robot arm that first greeted him indicates, if anything, the capability to experience love and further a desire to be loved, and he looks both relieved and downright euphoric to see the Roboparents take him into their arms at the end of the episode.
* HijackingCthulhu: Many a plan of Zim's involves harnessing a force greater than himself. Ex. the Wormhole Moose, the Mars-ship, the Star Donkey, the Pants-parasites, the Brain-Eating Parasite, and the Florpus Hole. In most cases it backfires on him...and quite often everyone else.
* HisOwnWorstEnemy: Having demonstrated his intelligence and genuine competence time and time again, it has been increasingly clear just who is in his way of becoming the greatest Invader of them all: '''Zim'''.
* HumanoidAliens: He has the general shape and proportions of a human child but also has green skin, no ears, a lizard-like tongue, red insect eyes, and antennae. Funnily enough though, everybody on Earth except Dib and Gaz is so stupid that with just contacts and a wig he's able to pass off his green skin and lack of ears as a "skin condition".
* HumansAreUgly: A firm believer of this. In fact, he sticks with his counter-productive PaperThinDisguise because he doesn't want to look too human.
* HumansThroughAlienEyes: Sees them as stupid and revolting, which to be fair, is [[SurroundedByIdiots not entirely inaccurate when it comes to humans in this show]]. Secretly, though, he's also terrified of humans; one of his recurrent fears is being captured and mutilated by human authorities.
* {{Hypocrite}}: He condescendingly pities "poor, deluded Skoodge" for thinking the Tallest still hold him in favor. The irony of this really needs no explanation.
* HypocriticalHumor: ''(laughs)'' "Inferior human organs! ...Ow, my squeedlyspooch!"
* IHaveYourWife: Coerces Vortian Prisoner 777 for information by [[http://globegander.tumblr.com/post/123359114696/somebody-put-this-on-a-t-shirt-ive-missed-you holding his children hostage and threatening to "erase" them.]]
* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: Deconstructed. While it's hard not to pity Zim at times given how much he goes through trying to fulfill his purpose,with his leaders brushing him off as a defective failure, his sheer devotion to the Irken Empire's genocidal agenda, as well as the fact that he's capable of some truly vile and horrifying deeds, reminds you how much of a monster he is.
* InsaneTrollLogic: "My Tallests, a new child attacked me with meat. My conclusion? SHE'S IN LOVE WITH ME!" Amusingly, given that the customary Valentine's gift on Earth in the ''Invader Zim'' universe is meat, this might in fact be one of the few times Zim was actually paying attention to the humans.
* InsectoidAliens: Zim, and all other Irkens, resemble generic humanoid bugs, not helped by the fact that their [=PAKs=] contain mechanical spider legs.
* InsufferableGenius: Zim is brilliant with alien technologies and even an effective strategist at times, but he overestimates his own abilities and likes to declare out loud that he's an incredible genius.
* InsufferableImbecile: A selfish, LethallyStupid jerkass whose evil plans often fail due to his own stupidity.
* IRejectYourReality: Zim's [[SmallNameBigEgo remarkable ego]] is a great example of this. Any evidence that suggests the Tallest don't like him and that his mission to conquer Earth is a lie meant to get rid of him will go in one ear and out the other. A notable example occurs during Dib's failed attempt at an EnemyMine in "Gaz, Taster of Pork":
-->'''Zim''': Help ''you''!? Why should I help ''you''!?
-->'''Dib''': Hey! I helped ''you'' [[CallBack when we were transforming into giant balonies!]]
-->'''Zim''': '''YOU'RE MAKING IT UP!!'''
* ItsAllAboutMe: Zim is absurdly selfish and cares about no one else.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Though he would never admit it, he's occasionally shown to care about GIR.
** In Battle of the Planets, when GIR was actually being helpful (in his standard crazy state, no less), he said to himself: "Maybe that little robot isn't such a bad evil minion after all."
** In an unfinished episode, he screamed in sorrow when he thought GIR transformed into ground beef.
** "And I already promised the moon to GIR."
** In "Halloween Spectacular Of Spooky Doom", he was worrying if GIR could take on all the "zombies" all by himself.
** Once Zim gives GIR a lollipop when he cried, though it was mostly to shut him up.
** When GIR gets the two lost and Zim snaps at GIR, causing him to cry, Zim looks uncomfortable and comments that yelling will get them nowhere which is as close to an apology as Zim might ever get.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: In "FBI Warning of Doom" and "Planet Jackers".
* KarmaHoudini:
** [[ZigZaggingTrope Sometimes, sometimes not.]] The most prominent example is "Dark Harvest", where he gets no repercussions for stealing his classmates' organs to avoid being found out as an alien.
** In ''Enter the Florpus'' [[spoiler:despite his actions endangering the Earth, he gets off relatively scott-free and still continuing his plans for world domination. [[DownplayedTrope It eases the sting in that]], though he's still up to his old tricks, his actions seem to have inadvertently doomed the Almighty Tallest and virtually all of the Irken Empire to the Florpus Hole, a fact that he remains oblivious to. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Also, a pug falls on his head from space.]]]]
* KillAllHumans: That or enslave them -- he changes it from enslaving, ruling, killing, poisoning their food supply and cutting their legs off depending on the episode. The bottom line is that the Earth needs to be ready for the other Irkens to conquer, so the humans need to either be gone or easy to enslave.
* TheKingslayer: An unproduced episode reveals that he is responsible for accidentally killing the two Almighty Tallest, Miyuki and Spork, who came before Red and Purple. [[spoiler: His actions in the movie may have lead to the deaths, or FateWorseThanDeath, for Red and Purple as well, bringing the number up to 4.]]
* LackOfEmpathy: He has no empathy for anyone unless it's GIR or the Tallest.
* LargeHam: His hamminess is so large that it has its own gravitational pull.
* LaughablyEvil: Yes, his intentions are to conquer the Earth and he's overall a raving {{Jerkass}}, but Zim is still the funniest member of the whole cast by a wide margin, providing a ''lot'' of laughs thanks to his utter insanity, absurdly disproportionate ego, bitter sarcasm, and stupefying incompetence.
* LethallyStupid: He was originally exiled to Foodcourtia after he went on a [[AxCrazy killing rampage]] on his ''[[OmnicidalManiac own home planet]]''. In the unfinished episode "The Trial", it's revealed that he [[MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds destroyed several planets by scratching himself.]] Unfortunately, where it's required for him to actually destroy everything (Earth) he doesn't quite succeed.
* LonersAreFreaks: He's a social outcast at Skool (and in general), but has no interest in cultivating friendships. The one time he attempted to make a friend was solely as a means of avoiding being outed as an alien, and ended just as quickly as it began.
--> '''Zim''': Tch... humans and their ''friendships''... Invaders need no one! '''[[SuddenlyShouting NO ONE]]'''!
* MadEye: This ''is'' a Creator/JhonenVasquez production, after all.
* MadScientist: He was once a military scientist, but was exiled to food service after accidentally killing the Almighty Tallest. He's still prone to performing unethical experiments in the series proper; often with live test subjects.
* MadeOfIron: Probably another good reason the Tallest fear him. He gets burned by toxic rain water, gets his lenses boiled by the sun, takes a brutal beating from a Planet Jacker, gets ''flayed alive'' in "Lice", gets grotesquely swollen up by a cosmic eclipse, and gets feasted upon by a brain parasite, among other injuries. He never loses his confidence, and if anything these just seem to encourage him to keep trying.
* MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds: In the unproduced episode "The Trial," it's revealed that he has, in fact destroyed more than one planet. By scratching himself.
* MirrorCharacter: He and Dib share a lot in common. Both of them are looked on as incompetent or crazy by regular members of their respective races due to past incidents. Both of them are capable of being legitimately dangerous in spite of their quirks. Both of them are mocked by their own race for a perceived physical quirk (being small in Zim's case, having a big head for Dib). Both of them are obsessed with proving their worth and success to their peers. This is something Dib even briefly acknowledges in ''Enter the Florpus'' during Zim's DespairEventHorizon.
-->'''Dib:''' You know... my dad [[DudeWheresMyRespect doesn't respect what I do, either.]]
* MoodSwinger: While he's most known for being a LargeHam, the occasional moments when he's [[DullSurprise shockingly nonchalant]] are often just as funny. "Zim Eats Waffles" in particular features him oscillating between his usual diabolical ranting and a more laid-back casualness.
* MostDefinitelyNotAVillain: He passes himself off as a human and nobody else but Dib and Gaz notice that he doesn't look much like a human.
* TheNapoleon: He is from a society that determines rank from height, and is the size of a human child, due to him being hatched prematurely. For comparison, he is roughly the same age (if not older) than The Tallest, but doesn’t even come up to their knees. As a result he's perpetually eager to please his leaders, but being a TooDumbToLive GeniusDitz he only succeeds in making things worse.
* NeatFreak: In "Germs", he starts to get obsessed with cleanliness due to becoming germophobic to paranoid levels.
* NiceHat:
** In "GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff", he wears a police hat he took from Officer Squidman.
** When he works at the fast food restaurant in "Career Day".
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: His efforts to get the Almighty Tallest to notice him in ''Enter the Florpus'' ultimately results in [[spoiler: most (if not all) of the Irken Armada getting sucked into the titular Florpus, freeing the galaxy (at least temporarily) from their conquest.]] Zim is completely oblivious to this, of course.
* NoIndoorVoice: Zim tends to be pretty shouty most of the time ("[[YouLie You lie! You liiiiiiiiiiiiie!!!"]]) This trait of his is lampshaded in "Issue #17" of the comics, where Dib tells him that he yells too much, and that he never realized how annoying it was until [[ItMakesSenseInContext spending time locked up with him]].
* NotMeThisTime: One of the comics has him try to infiltrate the local equivalent of the Girl Scouts. Dib bursts in and yells that there's an alien in disguise trying to take over the earth here... and the scout leader rips off her rubber mask and reveals herself. Turns out Zim was only there to steal cookies to bribe GIR with.
* NotSoHarmlessVillain:
** Several episodes such as "The Wettening" or "Dark Harvest" show that he can be a pretty big threat.
** This becomes a plot point in ''Enter the Florpus'', [[spoiler: where he [[TheChessmaster goads Dib into assisting him in the (improvised) Phase Two of his plan by allowing Dib to bring him to his father's convention, giving him the opportunity to take Professor Membrane's place as the world's leading scientist and trick the children of the world into holding hands wearing recalibrated Membraclets so that he could teleport the Earth straight into the Tallest's path]]. Gaz herself admits that this is a step up from Zim's usual incompetence and that she was wrong for thinking he'd just mess up his plan on his own.]]
* ObliviousToHatred: He is utterly blind to how much his entire species hates him, due to both his insanity and big ego [[IRejectYourReality tainting his view of things]].
* OddFriendship: With GIR, his robot sidekick. Zim's a megalomaniacal, egotistical world conqueror while GIR's a ditzy, cheerful {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, but they seem to get along fine for the most part.
* OffModel: In one shot in "Megadoomer", his uniform is red instead of pink.
* OlderThanTheyLook: [[WordOfGod Jhonen Vasquez]] has stated that [[https://twitter.com/JhonenV/status/1147294170140143616 Zim is far older]] than any human on the show and is only treated as a kid due to his height. This only makes his feud with an 11 year old boy look that much more pathetic.
* OmnicidalManiac: He even embarked on a destruction spree on ''his own planet''. Either he didn't understand how much devastation he caused or he [[LackOfEmpathy just doesn't care.]]
* PaperThinDisguise: Consists of a wig and contact lenses (that apparently are very uncomfortable and can be knocked out just from hitting him in the head) doing nothing about his vibrantly ''green'' skin. Which may may you think at first, since Irkens have the technology to make themselves look completely human, but he only picked that one because he thinks he's too attractive to be covered up. He claims he has a skin condition, [[BlatantLies which is also the reason why he doesn't have ears]]... The funny part, though, is that given later episodes, Zim is shown to actually put the ''most'' work into his disguise compared to other Invaders.
* PersonOfMassDestruction: Tricky to place, but Zim ''does'' do a lot of damage, intentionally or not. [[AllThereInTheManual According to the unmade scripts,]] he single-handedly started a crippling global blackout when he was about four minutes old. And according to that same script, he once seemingly blew up a planet just by standing there while scratching his butt. In fact, he was sent to military research because, in the words of the Tallest Miyuki (the Tallest at the time) "He destroys everything he touches!"
* PetTheDog:
** Rather literally, Zim has had a few moments of genuine-seeming kindness directed at GIR, whose disguise consists of a dog.
--->'''Zim:''' It's over, Tak! The Earth is mine to devastate! ...And I already promised the moon to GIR.
** Amusingly downplayed in "Tak: The Hideous New Girl". When he's summing up the episode's events to the Tallest at the end, he briefly admits that he couldn't have defeated Tak without the assistance of "the filthy humans" (read: Dib and Gaz). Of course, he ''immediately'' goes back on that and claims that he [[BlatantLies used mind control on them to get their assistance with his plan]], but considering how Zim sees all of humanity as only fit for either extermination or being MadeASlave, that's still a pretty noteworthy moment of humility from him.
* PickOnSomeoneYourOwnSize: His rivalry with Dib... [[NonIndicativeName although, technically,]] they ''are'' the same size...
* PintsizedPowerhouse: He's absolutely tiny compared to a lot of characters in the series but he's ridiculously destructive. And insane.
* PragmaticVillainy: He usually will team up to stop a greater threat from destroying the earth, but make no mistake this is because ''he'' wants to ravage the planet for himself.
* PsychoForHire: He prefers HumongousMecha and his KillSat instead of killing and maiming directly, but it's hard to ignore the maniacal glee with which he steals organs or reduces cities to rubble.
* PsychopathicManchild: He's an adult by Irken standards (the Almighty Tallest are actually his ''peers'' in age), but he's also childish enough to have a mutually intense rivalry with a twelve-year-old human boy.
* PuppeteerParasite: His PAK would have been revealed to be one in "Ten Minutes to Doom".
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: WordOfGod has him [[http://www.revolutionsf.com/article.php?id=552&page=5 "older than any human alive,"]] at any rate.
* RealMenWearPink: His uniform is pink and he looks like he's wearing a dress.
* ReassignedToAntarctica: The Tallest sent him to invade Earth simply to keep his incompetence from screwing up the more important plans of Irken conquest.
* TheRemnant: [[spoiler: By the end of ''Enter the Florpus'', a combination of his shortsightedness, the Tallest's stupidity and the Membrane family's resistance results in the entire Irken fleet becoming trapped inside an interdimensional hellscape, which may have ended Operation Impending Doom II and potentially the Irken Empire itself. Zim himself is totally unaware of this, and continues his effort to conquer the Earth in preparation for the Tallest's arrival. Assuming this isn't handwaved away by NegativeContinuity, his mission, which was already a SnipeHunt to begin with, is now truly of absolutely no consequence.]]
* RightForTheWrongReasons: In ''Enter the Florpus'', Zim realizes that the Almighty Tallest and Irken Armada will never actually come to Earth. However, Zim thinks that this is a punishment for him forgetting "Phase 2" of his plan and wasting their time earleir, when in reality the Tallest were ''never'' going to come to Earth regardless (as they both hate him and Zim is TheExile).
* SanityHasAdvantages: He has proven himself several times to be pretty badass and can be very intelligent. Heck, if he wasn't totally out of his mind, he'd be the best soldier the Irkens could have. As it is, his erratic nature, immaturity, and delusions mean that he's more a threat to the Irkens than to anyone else.
* SecretIdentity: On Earth, he has a secret identity through his PaperThinDisguise.
* SelectiveObliviousness: Due to his massive ego, Zim cannot conceive the idea that his superiors hate him and want nothing to do with him, no matter how plain they make their contempt for him known. Even in ''Enter the Florpus'' [[spoiler:when Zim discovers that the Irken Armada isn't coming to Earth, he assumes it's because the Tallest are angry at him for failing to think of a Phase 2 of his plan to conquer Earth and not that they were never planning on coming in the first place.]]
* ScreamingWarrior: Mostly averted; Zim attempts this but usually ends up with a high-pitched squeal.
* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: He screams like a little girl when he's afraid or in pain.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: The Manly Man to GIR's Sensitive Guy.
* SheatheYourSword: The first issue of the comic has Zim reaping the fruits of a very simple and effective BatmanGambit he set up against Dib. [[spoiler:By doing absolutely nothing for a prolonged period of time]], he knew that he'd make Dib so paranoid as to what he was plotting that he'd [[spoiler:waste all his time and energy trying to seek him out with his surveillance equipment, neglecting his body and turning himself into a fat, noodle-armed impotent who would be incapable of interfering with Zim's real scheme.]] ''Enter The Florpus'' starts with the end-result of him doing this, and he takes advantage of it by [[PokeThePoodle switching around people's mail, read newspapers he doesn't have a subscription for, and kick over trash cans]].
* SkewedPriorities: [[invoked]] Despite his reputation, Zim is in fact a genius with a lifetime of incredible scientific achievement under his belt. The problem is that he's easily distracted and is horrible at prioritizing his goals. [[WordOfGod Jhonen Vasquez]] has listed the episode "Megadoomer" as the perfect example of this trait, where, after receiving the most powerful weapon the Irken Armada has ever created, he rationalizes that the best use of the machine would be petty revenge on Dib (rather than attacking a strategic target or fixing the machine's faulty power systems).
* SlasherSmile: In many of his AxCrazy moments, he grins in an unnerving fashion.
* SmallNameBigEgo: He is despised by his species due to the combination of this trope and TooDumbToLive.
* SmugSnake: His massive ego is what usually prevents him from succeeding, because when he doesn't have time to let his ego have any impact on his decisions, he's actually quite badass (especially prominent in "Hobo 13").
* SnipeHunt: His mission originally began as one of these, as the Irken Empire wasn't entirely sure there ''was'' a planet where Earth was, and he was simply sent there to get rid of him. When he finally reached said planet six months later, the operation "upgraded" into a case of ReassignedToAntarctica.
* TheSociopath: Given that he is part of a race who're obsessed with conquering planets for petty reasons, it's not surprising that he has virtually zero empathy for other people and is willing to hurt people without remorse. Justified still, since he isn't very good at acting out false feelings, however, the humans are too stupid to notice.
* SpannerInTheWorks: Single-handedly ruined Operation Impending Doom I by accidentally devastating the Irken homeworld as a result of being too short to see over the control panel of his HumongousMecha. [[spoiler: He ends up doing the same with even more catastrophic results in ''Enter the Florpus'', where his moving the Earth to be along The Massive's warpath ends up creating the interdimensional Florpus that the entire Irken Armada gets trapped in, not only slowing/stopping Operation Impending Doom II but potentially destroying the ''entire'' Irken Empire.]]
* SpiderLimbs: He has spider-like legs emerge from AwesomeBackpack.
* SquareRaceRoundClass: Being an (ex-)invader runs counter to Zim's destructive talents. As Red accurately put it, invaders are supposed to "observe" and sabotage planets rather than annihilate them outright.
* StaticCharacter: At the end of the day, he is and probably always will be the conquering little maniac we love to hate, and never move beyond his quest to TakeOverTheWorld. [[spoiler:Even when he falls into a temporary depression over his Tallest not caring for him, he still just as quickly gets back into the groove and is happy to go back to his normal routine even after his plans are thwarted.]] One could say that this is deliberate, as he's pathologically incapable of recognizing his flaws and is [[IRejectYourReality much happier in the fantasy that he's a great invader.]]
* StopWorshippingMe:
** In "Attack of the Saucer Morons", he gets discovered and captured by a group of alien-worshipping cultists who proclaim themselves his loving servants. Zim, who finds humans repulsive, wants nothing to do with them and tries to escape their clutches as fast as possible.
** In Issue 7, he's initially happy to have the rapidly-evolving amoebas worship him. However, they quickly get on his nerves, to the point where he repeatedly tries in vain to get them to leave him alone.
* StupidEvil: He veers between this and ChaoticStupid:
-->'''Zim''': I put the fires out!\\
'''Tallest''': You made them '''worse!'''\\
'''Zim''': Worse... Or ''better?''
* SuperOCD: [[NoIndoorVoice "GERMS!!"]]
* SycophanticServant: He goes to extreme lengths to impress the Tallest.
* TakeOverTheWorld: The premise of the show is that he attempts to conquer Earth.
* TemporaryBulkChange: He becomes enormously bloated in "Dark Harvest" as a result of stealing organs from his Skool classmates and eating them.
* TerrifiedOfGerms: In "Germs", he panics when he sees germs on every surface of his house while looking through his germ-finding goggles.
* ThatLiarLies: Zim's proclamations of lies, and how they usually bring out his hamminess, is a RunningGag.
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: If it's not his personal motto, it ought to be.
* TheyWouldCutYouUp: Zim fears this would happen if he were caught by Earth's natives. Dib explicitly threatens him with it. At one point he's seen vividly imagining his fate, human scientists stuffing him in a jar, dancing around his helpless body, cutting out limbs and eyes and keeping him a dark room for the rest of his life.
* ThirdPersonPerson: "I am Zim, and Zim shall rule!"
* TheStarscream: Normally averted completely, since he’s ''obsessively'' loyal to the Tallests despite them blatantly not caring about him, but in his MotorMouth message to thank them for (accidentally) sending him the Megadoomer, he apparently wants to rule the universe himself, though even then he says they “won’t be forgotten”
* TomatoSurprise: After adapting the opening of the comicbook series, the film's plot is kicked off when Zim finds out that the Almighty Tallest have no intention of ever coming to Earth, wrecking Zim's usually unflappable confidence and giving Dib (who has become fat and filthy due to Zim's manipulations) a chance to stage his own comeback.
* TooCleverByHalf: Yes, Zim is an EvilGenius with access to advanced technology, but his massive ego, SkewedPriorities, and faulty programming all combine to prevent him from taking over Earth.
* TooDumbToLive: Unable to learn from his various lethal mistakes... and it doesn't help that he often comes out of them unscathed.
* TookALevelInBadass: While in the series he was typically portrayed as a ridiculous NotSoHarmlessVillain, Zim in ''Enter the Florpus'' is portrayed as more of a genuine threat to the entire universe, albeit one who is still quite LaughablyEvil and so incompetent that his plan would've completely blown up in his face anyhow.
* TooSpicyForYogSothoth: In the unproduced episode "The Trial", he is declared a defective by the Control Brains, who sentence him to execution and attempt to erase the data from his PAK (which he needs to live). But his PAK is filled with so much bad data that absorbing it drives them insane and causes them to instead declare him the most incredible Irken ever.
* TwitchyEye:
-->'''Zim''': We cannot fail, Gir. Even as a small Irken smeet my dream was to pass Probing Day like a sloorbeeze passes her young. JIGGLY! And full of juice. (''twitch twitch'')
* UncertainDoom: Due to NegativeContinuity, many episodes end with Zim potentially dying/revealed to the public. In "The Wettening," we last see him drowning in a toilet. In "Hobo 13," he possibly flies into a sun when The Tallest tamper with his new ship's controls. In "Backseat Drivers From Beyond the Stars," we last see him screaming in pain as his [[HoistByHisOwnPetard own brain-eating Parasite procceeds to eat his brain]]. In "Dibship Rising," Tak's Ship throws Zim into space [[WhateverHappenedToTheMouse and we don't see him again]]. And in "Attack of the Saucer Morons," both he and GIR have their true forms revealed to ''two'' different groups of alien-worshipping cultists and UFO investigators.
* TheUnfettered: Zim will stop at absolutely nothing to achieve his dream, even if it's for petty grudges, such as dropping a giant water-balloon on Earth just to win against Dib in a water fight.
* UndyingLoyalty: To the Tallest and the Irken Empire. Unfortunately for them, "loyal soldier" is not equivalent to "''competent'' soldier".
* UsedToBeASweetKid: PlayedForLaughs in a flashback. The first thing he does upon being born -- aka awakened by a Control Brain following his creation in an underground lab -- is to affectionately glomp onto the robot.
-->'''Zim''': I love you, cold unfeeling robot arm!
* VagueAge: While Zim is short enough to pose as a human child, he also claims that he's been flying ships since before Dib was born. This, combined with Irken biology and their societal views based on height, makes it difficult to place how old Zim actually is. WordOfGod says that he's an adult by Irken standards, but still leaves how old this actually makes him vague.
* VillainProtagonist: His goal is to conquer the world under the assumption that doing so will assist the EvilEmpire that he serves in taking over the galaxy. Outside of this, he's generally violent, destructive, ammoral and cruel, with little in the way of obviously redeeming traits.
* VillainsBlendInBetter: His disguises are garbage, but he can be rather charismatic and deceptively personable once he has enough information about his targets. In the comics, he uses his newly-acquired knowledge of the alternative art scene pretension and related lingo to create a front for an enormous mechanism to summon the Star Donkey.
* VillainousBSOD: He suffers a complete breakdown and falls into a depression in ''Enter the Florpus'' upon finally realizing the Tallest have no intention of seeing his conquest of Earth. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Dib ends up]] being the one to give him the motivation and plan needed to renew his efforts.]]
* VillainousValor: Whenever he goes up against a bigger, nastier horror(often of his own making) he remains incredibly diligent and is willing to take a beating to overcome any challenge to his mission.
* VocalEvolution:
** His voice was artificially pitched up in the early episodes, causing it to sound lower as the series goes on.
** Zim sounds a little hoarser in ''Enter the Florpus'', likely because it's been well over a decade since the show and Horvitz is a fair bit older.
* WeaksauceWeakness: To water. It was supposed to be to ''polluted'' water only, but that didn't come across to the writers/animation team/storyboarders. Though, given [[GaiasLament Earth's state]] in this setting, one could argue that ''all'' water has been polluted.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Though the Tallest are his leaders instead of his fathers (in fact they're apparently around the same age), a lot of Zim's motivation for conquering the Earth comes from a childlike desire to make them proud, not unlike a little kid wanting his parents' recognition.
* WontTakeYesForAnAnswer:
** A RunningGag with him is that he'll continually interrupt people trying to tell him something, demanding they tell him about the very thing his interruption is preventing them from saying in the first place.
--->"Who are you?"\\
"I AM --"\\
''"Who are you?"''\\
"I AM --"\\
'''"WHO ARE YOU?"'''
** Another is for him to randomly accuse people of lying for no apparent reason.
--->'''Zim:''' Hey, these [waffles] aren't bad. What's in 'em?\\
'''GIR:''' [[ShapedLikeItself There's waffle in 'em!]]\\
'''Zim:''' YOU'RE LYING!
* WorthyOpponent: He admits on one occasion he sees Dib as this.
-->'''Zim:''' You're one of the only people who can appreciate the amazingness of this plan, [[JustBetweenYouAndMe so I'm going to let you in on what "it" is...]]
* WouldHitAGirl: In "Bestest Friend", he tortures Gretchen just off-screen.
* WouldHurtAChild: Considering that he is actually an adult and that he has no issues with trying to kill or harm any children who get in his way, he is an example of this. Sometimes, [[ForTheEvulz they don't even need to be in his way.]] In "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX7yo6xZlxw&t=10m40s Attack of the Saucer Morons,]]" for instance, he deliberately veers his escape ship so that it's heading straight for ''a baby.'' [[SlasherSmile Note the look on Zim's face.]]
* YouDontLookLikeYou: His Series 2 Palisades toy doesn't have a PAK.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:GIR]]
[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gir_dog_suit.png]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Rosearik Rikki Simons

->''"I like waffles!"''

Zim's [[RobotBuddy robot sidekick]], on Earth disguised as a dog. Supposedly a "SIR" (Standard-Issue Information Retrieval) unit assigned to all invaders, but GIR is an "advanced" model the Tallest specially gave Zim. And by "advanced", we of course mean "[[TheDitz moronic]]," thanks to having a head literally full of garbage.[[note]]To be precise, Tallest Purple's ''pocket lint''.[[/note]] While usually too flighty to be of any consistent help, GIR will now and again go into "Duty Mode," signified by a change of eye-and-panel color from blue to [[RedEyesTakeWarning red]], and act like a real SIR.
----
* AchievementsInIgnorance:
** Without even trying, he's very good at blending in with humans. In "Attack of the Saucer Morons", he has fun dancing with some girls at a nightclub.
** In the unproduced episode "The Trial", he ''successfully conquers Earth'' while Zim is being held prisoner on the Massive.
** His very creation is a case of this. He was literally slapped together with random lint and garbage for a "brain"/CPU, with a body made from spare parts and according to WordOfGod, a defunct frozen yogurt maker. And yet the end result was still a fully functional robot assistant. Even with his insanity, the fact that he can turn on and perform even the most basic functions, all things considered is a miracle.
* AffablyEvil: Definitely more amiable compared to Zim.
* AliensLoveHumanFood: GIR has a bottomless appetite and will eat almost anything, his favorites being tacos and waffles. "Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom" has him ballooning to a massive size after eating loads of candy stolen from trick-or-treaters.
* AmbiguousInnocence: GIR is, indeed, innocent -- it is hard to imagine he even has the mental capacity to understand that there is a difference between right and wrong, much less know what that difference is. GIR often relishes in destruction only seemingly without malice, but an increase in understanding and competence (such as in the episode "GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff") would simply provide the needed motivation to apply that destructive force purposefully. In short, just because he's dumb and innocent doesn't mean he'd be a sweet-tempered do-gooder if left to his own devices.
* AntiVillain: Type IV (unless he "goes crazy and stuff"). Usually he's too interested in snacking or television to do anything actually evil, and the few times he's lucid enough to act like the killer robot he was intended to be, they don't last long enough for him to accomplish anything before going back to his relatively harmless insanity.
* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: Nearly anything can distract him--squirrels, piggies, waffles, the Scary Monkey show, whatever.
* BadassAdorable: He's a pretty cute robot taking over the world ''all by himself'' in an unfinished episode, and he wasn't in duty mode.
* BagOfHolding: The inside of his head can hold dozens of rubber piggies.
* BerserkButton: Don't make the Taco Man die in front of him, not even if it's fake.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: It would be hard to say if he is nice or mean, but he isn't as evil as Zim, and he's too [[InnocentlyInsensitive dumb to realize how evil he is.]].. and when he's in [[OhCrap Duty Mode]]...
* BewareTheSillyOnes: In one episode, Zim locks GIR into "Duty Mode" (the red-eyed, serious version), and he promptly becomes much more evil and competent than Zim himself, including deciding that Zim is a threat to the mission and needs to be eliminated. Long story short, Zim just barely turns him back to normal in time to prevent a KlingonPromotion.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: We have absolutely no idea why he does anything he does, and if we could look into his thought processes, [[YourHeadAsplode our brains would a-splode]].
* BigEater: He's very gluttonous, eating lots of waffles and tacos mostly. He also comes off as a messy eater due to how fast he eats.
* BumblingSidekick: He is Zim's incompetent lackey.
* CatchPhrase:
** "TAACOOOS!"
** "Okie dokie!"
** "Ooooooo..."
* ChaoticStupid: Even more than Zim, due to his utter lack of reasoning capabilities or self-restraint.
* ChickMagnet: Was seen dancing with a bunch of girls at a club, then dropped off at the house hours later by his new friends.
* ChildrenAreInnocent: How "innocent" is highly debatable but GIR essentially has the mind of a small child who doesn't fully comprehend the magnitude of his actions.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: However, Jhonen has gone on record to say that humor involving GIR isn't random as it's all rooted by the fact that the robot's brain is literally junk.
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Blue/green = regular GIR. Red = duty mode.
* CraniumCompartment: He can open the top of his head and uses the space within to store items. As his behaviour demonstrates, his CPU doesn't take up much space at all in there.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: His duty mode proves this without a doubt, especially in "GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff". Not to mention that he managed to TakeOverTheWorld all on his own in an unfinished episode.
* {{Cuckoosnarker}}: During his moments of clarity, GIR can be pretty snarky towards Zim.
-->'''Zim:''' You now possess superior geographic guidance abilities, GIR.\\
'''GIR:''' [[SarcasmMode Finally.]]
* CuddleBug: "Aww, somebody needs a hug!"
* CuteButCacophonic: GIR is undeniably cuddly looking and has a loud, high pitched scream when he's upset.
* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: Well, not quite -- his eyes are the same color as the lightbulb on the antenna on the top of his head.
* DeathGlare: When delivering his TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Zim in duty mode in "GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff".
* TheDitz: He is amazingly ditzy. He often heads into {{Cloudcuckoolander}} territory, depending on the local humidity and/or piggy count.
* TheDragon: SIR units as a whole fulfill this purpose for their masters, and GIR, being Zim's robotic sidekick, fulfills the same role... [[TheDitz just with much less effectiveness than the standard model]]. When Minimoose comes aboard, he and GIR [[CoDragons share the role.]]
* DumbassHasAPoint: More often than you would expect. It's not uncommon for him to pick up the SmartBall when no one else is around to be Zim's StraightMan.
** When Zim gets freaked out about a baby spotting them [[note]]In fairness, it was actually an [[MakesAsMuchSenseInContext alien that looks like a human baby.]][[/note]], GIR says this:
--->'''GIR:''' Dib's seen us before. ''And'' he knows where we live.
** He gets another moment in "Walk For Your Lives." When Zim decides to cancel out the stasis field slowing down a city-busting explosion, [[DidntThinkThisThrough not taking into account]] that said explosion will still annihilate his base and the entire city, GIR of all people insists to Zim that going through with this plan is ''not'' a good idea.
** In the movie, Zim tries to pull a YouDidntSeeThat, only for GIR to say "YES THEY DID."
* DumbIsGood: [[invoked]] [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]; GIR's impulsive stupidity leaves him with little regard for others' safety, and he causes destruction for entertainment on a whim. Note that portraying him as "good" was ''never'' the intent, but the [[MisaimedFandom fandom]] picked it up and ran with it. GIR is often misconstrued as a harmless or even compassionate character rather than a merely stupid one. "GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff" was in part a measure dedicated to correcting that; without his mental issues distracting him, it turns out he's naturally as cold and evil as any other SIR unit.
* EasterEgg: The infamous "Bloody Gir" (an image of GIR in duty mode and covered in blood), hidden as a TakeThat against the network for not allowing the image into a scene.
* EatingOptional: Being a robot, GIR doesn't need to eat, but he does anyway out of enjoyment of Earth food.
* EatingMachine: He loves to eat, mainly waffles and tacos. And burritos...and chicken...and pretty much everything else.
* ExtremeOmnivore:
** To name a few... A live chicken, tacos, burritos, taquitos, cupcakes, waffles made outta peanuts and soap, a fish (or tried to), pizza, Acne Blast acne cream, puppies (maybe)...
** In the first issue of the comic, GIR claims [[EatsBabies to have eaten a baby]]. This joke is repeated verbatim in ''Enter the Florpus''.
--->'''GIR:''' I ate a baby there!\\
'''Zim:''' He did.
* FloatingLimbs: His metal legs. Averted in the toys, where his legs are attached to his body.
%%* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The Sanguine.
* TheGlomp: He loves anything cute and especially clings to Zim more than once.
* GeniusLoci: In "Invasion of the Idiot Dog Brain", his brain is accidentally uploaded into the central hub of Zim's house, allowing him to control it and eventually turn it into a HumongousMecha.
* HanlonsRazor: Well, he actually never has an malicious intent whenever he does help Zim, but in duty mode...oh boy, is this trope ever averted.
* HeadPet: He rides on Zim's head in a few episodes such as "Battle of the Planets" and "Attack of the Saucer Morons". In "Tak, the Hideous New Girl", he uses Dib's head instead.
* HehHehYouSaidX:
-->'''Zim:''' I'm going to attempt to lock you into duty mode with this behavioral modulator.\\
''(GIR giggles)''\\
'''Zim:''' What?\\
'''GIR:''' Doody.
* HiddenDepths: The sentence "Do anything is real?" can be seen among his childish scribbles along the walls of Zim's house in ''Enter the Florpus'', implying that he possesses an understanding of existentialism that we otherwise get no insight into.
* HyperCompetentSidekick: In duty mode. Unfortunately for Zim, that usually only lasts for a few seconds. [[DumbassHasAPoint Although non-duty mode GIR has moments of surprising clarity that Zim repeatedly fails to pay any heed,]] like in "Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy". The best example of this would be the time he tried to point out to Zim that speeding up a slowed down explosion (ItMakesSenseInContext) would be a bad thing.
* {{Keet}}: His electronic robot voice coupled with his bizarre enthusiasm for everything makes him a very notable example.
* KlingonsLoveShakespeare: He loves watching human TV programs, especially the Scary Monkey show. This causes some trouble in "Parent-Teacher Night" when Zim puts him in charge of making sure the Roboparents absorb information from a videotape of human parents' behavior towards their children, but GIR changes the channel to a bunch of random shows and commercials instead. HilarityEnsues.
* LethalChef: In "Zim Eats Waffles", he makes waffles and begs Zim to eat them. Zim enjoys them until GIR reveals that the waffles contain peanuts and soap.
-->'''Zim:''' GIR! Your waffles have sickened me! Fetch me the bucket!
* LethallyStupid: Especially in "Invasion of The Idiot Dog Brain".
* MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext: '''EVERYTHING ABOUT HIM.'''
* TheMillstone: If it isn't Zim himself or Dib who foil his plans, [[LethallyStupid it's usually Gir who does.]]
* MinionWithAnFInEvil: [[ZigZaggingTrope Sometimes]]; in particular he holds no malice toward Dib (or anyone, usually) and helps him on occasion.
* MoralityPet: Slightly. Although GIR doesn't actually do anything to curb Zim's villainous actions, the little robot appears to be one of the few individuals Zim actually (somewhat) cares for.
* NotAfraidToDie: His reactions to impending doom can be downright gleeful, and he's even expressed disappointment at avoiding it. Doesn't quite cross the line into DeathSeeker territory, though.
-->'''GIR:''' Aww. I wanted to explode.
* NotSoHarmless: Jhonen has gone so far as to describe him as an "amoral baby monster" who has a tenuous grasp on reality due to how he was made.
* OcularGushers: Whenever he cries, expect bigass streams of tears to come flowing from his eyes.
--> "[[BigWhy WHYYYYYY?!]] WHY, MY PIGGY?! I LOVEDED YOU PIGGY! I LOVEDED YOU!"
* OddFriendship: With Zim, his leader and boss. Zim's a megalomaniacal, egotistical world conqueror while GIR's a ditzy, cheerful {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, but they seem to get along fine for the most part.
* PaperThinDisguise: His dog disguise isn't much better than Zim's own "human" disguise, up to and including the prominent zipper.
* PersonOfMassDestruction: In ''Invasion of the Idiot Dog Brain.''
* PintsizedPowerhouse: In duty mode, he can put up an impressive fight in spite of his small size. Occasionally in his "normal" mode as well. In "Megadoomer" he was able to carry a contact five times his size without any troubled effort.
* PluckyComicRelief: While most of the cast is comedic to some extent, [=GIR=]'s {{Cloudcuckoolander}} tendencies, BlueAndOrangeMorality and endless supply of non-sequiturs land him squarely in this category.
* PunchClockVillain: He only does what Zim says because he is his servant. [[TheMillstone Not that he often does what is asked of him, anyway]].
* RidiculouslyHumanRobots: For some reason, he enjoys eating food, watching TV, consistently demonstrates emotions, and is even able to cry. And then, of course, there's the fact that his constantly malfunctioning A.I seems to be suffering from [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizoaffective_disorder schizoaffective disorder]].
* RobotKid: Although not intended as such in-universe, GIR's personality strongly resembles that of a hyperactive small child.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: The Sensitive Guy to Zim's Manly Man.
* ServileSnarker: He's not always making remarks at Zim's expense, but can be this during his moments of clarity. Not to mention when he's in duty mode.
* StepfordSmiler: If one is to take WordOfGod in the commentary of "Bestest Friends" literally, "GIR hates life and he wants to die", which would make him Type A. His glee at being ordered to self-destruct in "Dib's Wonderful Life Of Doom" seems to back this up, as does his admission in "GIR Goes Crazy And Stuff" that he despised being Zim's servant even when he was his normal self. According to his voice actor, GIR's usual behavior is the result of him being a broken unit and "duty mode" GIR is the real deal trapped in an AndIMustScream scenario.
* StylisticSuck: When Zim enters GIR's mind during the comic's Virooz arc, it greatly resembles the Grid from {{Film/Tron}}, but it's a deranged and largely broken version of it.
* SuicideAsComedy: In "Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom", GIR shrieks a delighted "FINALLY!" upon being ordered to self-destruct. An early draft of the script made it more explicit by having GIR shout "SWEET RELEASE!" instead.
* TalkativeLoon: A lot of what he says are complete non sequiturs to show just how bonkers and ditzy he is.
-->"OOH! LEPRECHAUNS!"
* TantrumThrowing: Having the mind of a small child, GIR will sometimes do this when Zim does something he doesn't want. When Zim returned a DVD to the rental store, GIR ran around in circles screaming and crying for about five seconds before randomly falling asleep on the living room floor.
* TemporaryBulkChange: The metal he's made of is apparently very flexible because he grew to a massive size in "Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom" from eating the candy stolen from a bunch of trick-or-treaters.
* TooDumbToFool: Possibly why Tak's MindControl doesn't work on him.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: He loves tacos, pizza and waffles.
* TransformationSequence: The first time he assumes dog form, he leaps into the air, poses amid a field of spinning bones, lets out a slow howl, and [[spoiler: lands, picking up his costume and zipping it on snugly.]]
* UndyingLoyalty: For all the time he spends goofing off, he still sticks by Zim the way a loyal pet does for his owner. Even when not in Duty Mode, he's come to Zim's rescue on a few occasions.
* WildCard: There's no way of knowing what he'll end up doing in any given circumstances, making him serve as a regular SpannerInTheWorks for Zim's plans.
* WolverinePublicity: Good god. If we had a dollar for every individual piece of merchandise that featured GIR in his dog suit, we'd have enough money to bribe Nickelodeon into uncanceling ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim.''
* YouDontLookLikeYou: In the toys that feature Robot!GIR, his legs are connected to his torso instead of floating apart from it, for obvious reasons.

!!Duty Mode GIR

[[quoteright:262:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gir_duty_mode.png]]

When in "duty mode", GIR switches to a completely different personality: highly intelligent, calculating, and efficient, even moreso than Zim.

* AIIsACrapshoot: While GIR's usual level of helpfulness is questionable at best, when Zim temporarily locks him into hyper-competent Duty Mode, [[GoneHorriblyRight GIR decides that Zim himself is a threat to the mission]] and [[TheStarscream decides to take over]].
* AndIMustScream: According to Rikki Simons, there is a perfectly competent "inner-GIR" desperately wanting to fix the outer "broken GIR" in order to get out and/or gain control of himself.
* AxCrazy: In duty mode, he takes his invasion job very seriously and will not hesitate to do away with anyone who serves as an impediment toward the Irken cause.
* CatchPhrase: "Yes, sir!" or, "Yes, my master!"
* CuteAndPsycho: In "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff]]", this adorable robot becomes psychotic.
* ADayInTheLimelight: Most episodes only have him show up for a few seconds, but his biggest role is in "GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff".
* EvilSoundsDeep: His voice noticeably deepens, which is also the state where he is at his most transparently evil.
* FlatJoy: This line in "GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff":
-->'''Duty!GIR''': Blend in with the indigenous life, analyze their weaknesses, prepare the planet for the coming badness. Yay.
* GoneHorriblyRight: In "GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff", Zim gets tired of GIR's incompetence screwing up his evil plans and uses a behavioral modulator to lock him into duty mode, making him smarter. GIR becomes smarter, indeed...so smart that he becomes more competent than Zim, and then concludes that ''Zim's'' incompetence is a threat to the mission and decides to "terminate" him.
* KillerRobot: In this mode, he becomes psychotic and violent.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Delivers one to Zim in "GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff".
-->'''GIR:''' You are no commander! You are a threat to the mission! Your intelligence is ''stupid''! Your methods are ''stupid''! Your progress has been ''stupid''! Your intelligence is stupid! For the sake of the mission, you must be ''terminated''!
* RedEyesTakeWarning: This GIR has glowing red eyes and is ''much'' more dangerous than his normal self, since he has a completely functioning brain and is dedicated to completing his mission of taking over Earth.
* RoboticPsychopath: GIR is one of the few cases where AIIsACrapshoot is a ''good'' thing. In just the [[TheDitz ditzy sense]], he is always this, but in the AxCrazy sense he's this in duty mode. Zim [[OhCrap learnt this the hard way]] [[IdiotBall when he locked him into duty mode...]]
* TheStarscream: In ''GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff,'' a newly hyper-competent GIR decides that Zim's stupidity is a threat to their mission and attempts to correct the problem by terminating his master. Especially since the episode was made in attempt to show fans that he isn't supposed to be good-natured.
* SuperPersistentPredator: When he decides Zim is a threat to the mission, he'll stop at nothing to hunt him down and kill him. He's only stopped by being turned back into his normal goofy self.
* SuperpoweredEvilSide: GIR's Duty Mode briefly becomes this when Zim locks him into it.
* TwitchyEye: When locked into duty mode permanently, and Zim leaves the room, you can clearly see his twitching.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Minimoose]]
[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minimoose.png]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/JhonenVasquez

->''"Nyaaa!"''

A floating, purple, noseless moose who's Zim's second sidekick. Originally envisioned as Zim's ultimate tool of destruction, whom he created to replace [=GIR=], since the series was cancelled before his debut episode could be finished, he was instead simply retconned as being with Zim "the entire time." Minimoose's actual power is finally showcased in ''Enter the Florpus'' where he ends up being crucial to Zim's evil plan.
----
* CoDragons: With GIR as Zim's henchmen.
* EasilyForgiven: In ''Enter the Florpus'', [[spoiler:Zim blames Minimoose for his plan's failure.]] After a short squeak, Zim just laughs it off and says he can't stay mad at him.
* IntelligibleUnintelligible: Even though Minimoose only articulates in squeaks, Zim and others are able to understand him quite clearly.
* LastEpisodeNewCharacter: Minimoose was introduced in the final episode of the show ''The Most Horrible X-mas Ever''. He was originally intended to be introduced in the episode ''Nubs of Doom'', which would show his actual origins, but after Nickelodeon cancelled the show, they only allowed the animation team the choice to finish one episode and they went with the Christmas special.
* MacGuffinSuperPerson: [[spoiler:Minimoose is the only being in the known universe with the ability to harness enough cosmic energy to teleport Earth through schmillions of miles through space into the direct path of the Tallests' flagship. This also means getting Minimoose away from Zim is the only way Dib, Gaz and Professor Membrane can teleport Earth back before it's destroyed by the Florpus Hole.]]
* PuzzleBoss: The most literal example ever, since activating him to save the day basically involved solving a moose-shaped Rubik's Cube.
* PsychicPowers: He's always levitating and displays some telekinetic powers in ''Enter the Florpus''.
* RememberTheNewGuy: Lampshaded and PlayedForLaughs. When someone Zim's abducted asks what Minimoose is, Zim just introduces him as Minimoose and says he's been there [[BlatantLies "the entire time".]] The crew was originally going to go a step further and crudely insert Minimoose into scenes from earlier episodes but they didn't have enough time.
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: It may be a weapon of mass destruction, but it's an ''adorable'' one!
* TeamPet: More-or-less serves as this for Zim, and yet he still manages to be more useful than [=GIR=].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Roboparents]]
[[quoteright:207:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/roboparents.png]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Mo Collins (Robomom), Michael [=McDonald=] (Robodad)

->''"Welcome home, son!"''

Two poorly-made robot decoys that pose as Zim's "parents" in order to further his disguise as a human child.
----
* AIIsACrapshoot: Their programming is terrible and causes them to malfunction constantly, doing all manner of bizarre things. Luckily for Zim, he can get away with it because nobody in-universe is smart enough to notice that they're not humans. The series bible actually semi-justifies this by saying that their sole function is to be seen for a few seconds from a distance when they greet Zim when he arrives home, and aren't programmed to be capable of doing much else.
* AnimeHair: Robomom has an odd hairstyle that vaguely resembles the wig Zim wears in his human disguise.
* TheCameo: They appear briefly in ''Enter the Florpus.''
* ADayInTheLimelight: "Parent Teacher Night" is the closest to this during the seires proper. The cancelled episode "Roboparents Gone Wild!" would have also been one for them.
* LargeHam: Robodad hams it up in "Parent Teacher Night".
-->'''Robodad:''' ''(after his arm pops off)'' That was my squeezing arm! THEY TOOK MY SQUEEZING ARM! ''WHY MY SQUEEZING ARM??? (screams)''
* LethalChef: Robomom's idea of "dinner" is to dump a sack of flour on Zim's head.
* NoisyRobots: They can be heard whirring whenever they move.
* RidiculouslyHumanRobots: Parodied. Despite them having facial stitches, metal claw-like arms, and wheels for feet, no one in-universe can tell that they're not human. Even when Robodad's arm falls off and starts giving off electric sparks, Zim is able to explain it away by saying, "My dad lost his arm in, uh...the war!"
* StandardFiftiesFather: Robodad is a riff on this trope, complete with glasses and smoking pipe.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Computer]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/caz.png]]
[[caption-width-right:250:"PROCESSING, ''[[LargeHam PROCESSSING!!]]''"]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Jhonen Vasquez

->''"Something is happening at the front door. Something...'' '''''horrible!"'''''

The ArtificialIntelligence that runs Zim's base. Thoroughly sarcastic and perpetually bored with having to serve his master's whims, and was once possessed by GIR for several months.
----
* BriefAccentImitation: It briefly puts on a British accent in ''Enter the Florpus'' when it's sassing back to Zim and pretending to sound like a butler.
* [[invoked]] CriticalResearchFailure: Parodied in "FBI Warning of Doom," where it {{Ass Pull}}s like a madman as to gain more "educated guesses" regarding the FBI for Zim based on insufficient data.
* DeadpanSnarker: Quite possibly ''the'' most sarcastic character in the entire franchise.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: As shown in its above quote, it found the Roboparents' rampage during "Backseat Drivers From Beyond the Stars" to be horrifying.
* TheEvilGenius: It's typically the one to actually conduct necessary experiments involving Zim's mission, and also has SuperIntelligence by virtue of being a highly advanced supercomputer.
* FauxAffablyEvil: It can put on more of a polite facade than Zim can, but is still just as dedicated to the extermination/enslavement of mankind.
* GeniusLoci: An insanely advanced AI that runs Zim's ElaborateUndergroundBase.
* LargeHam: Often prone to SuddenlyShouting when doing mundane tasks.
* ManChild: Childishly shouts back "I DON'T WANT TO!" when Zim asks it to laugh with him during his EvilLaugh.
* MissionControl: Typically serves as this for Zim when he's engaging in certain tasks that take him far away from his base.
** MissionControlIsOffItsMeds: The Computer is also deeply sarcastic and sometimes directly disobeys Zim's orders out of sheer apathy.
* NormalFishInATinyPond: It's stated several times that the Computer AI and Zim's base as a whole are very impressive when compared to the rest of Earth, but they're actually super-outdated by Irken standards, to the point where in Issue 39 of the comic, Tak's Ship and not Zim's base is described as being the most advanced piece of technology on the entire planet.
* OnlySaneMan: Generally stands out as the most rational member of Zim's crew. It, Dib, and even ''GIR'' are the ones to point out how thoroughly idiotic Zim's solution to the slowed-down explosion in "Walk For Your Lives" is.
* RidiculouslyHumanRobots: Parodied. Despite being a bodiless AI, it's highly emotional and even ''coughs'' at one point ([[LampshadeHanging much to Zim's own confusion]]).
* ServileSnarker: While it loyally serves Zim, it often showcases a rather dry wit and snarks back at his more insane orders.
* TookALevelInJerkass: In both the comics and ''Enter the Florpus'', the Computer is considerably more caustic and bitingly sarcastic towards its master than it was in the TV series.
* WithCatlikeTread: PlayedForLaughs in ''Enter the Florpus'', with it gaining the necessary power to figure out The Massive's flight path by violently shooting cables into any power source in the surrounding neighborhood, draining power from the whole city while screaming "SNEAKING!" at the top of its nonexistent lungs.
[[/folder]]

!!Membrane Family

[[folder:In General]]
* ArtEvolution: Their designs were updated for ''Enter the Florpus.'' Among other things, their skin color is slightly darker, in line with the WordOfGod that they're Mexican.
** Dib's eyes are smaller and farther apart, he now has actual eyebrows, and the sides and back of his head are no longer shaved. His BadassLongcoat has been made slightly shorter and his neutral face shirt is also swapped out for one with a picture of a ghost on it.
** Gaz's hair is a slightly lighter color, has more rounded edges, and covers more of her forehead. She also swaps out her black dress, pink tights and skull pendant for a blue shirt with a pixellated alien on it and a skirt.
** Professor Membrane becomes more broad-shouldered and angular, but otherwise looks mostly the same.
* BadassFamily: [[spoiler:Get upgraded to one in ''Enter the Florpus,'' when they end up saving the Earth from being destroyed by Zim and the Tallests.]]
* BigScrewedUpFamily: The Membranes consist of one wacky scientist and his two children (who are mostly raised by robots), a big-headed paranormal investigator and a sarcastic, aggressive gamer girl with unexplained supernatural powers.
* LargeHam: Particularly Professor Membrane, but even [[DeadpanSnarker Gaz]] [[NotSoAboveItAll can get melodramatic when the mood calls for it]].
* MissingMom: Professor Membrane's wife / Dib's and Gaz's mother has never been seen or mentioned. According to WordOfGod, Membrane keeps her remains in a jar.
* OnlySaneMan: The Membranes are some of the only characters on the show with anything resembling smarts or common sense, in a world where literally everyone else is so stupid that they can be fooled into thinking Zim is a human with just a wig and a pair of contacts. That said, all three of them regularly display mentally-unstable behavior themselves, so their sanity is only relative.
* WeirdnessMagnet: The Membrane family runs into a lot of alien- and paranormal- related disasters, most of them caused by Dib's obsession with hunting Zim and his fascination with anything supernatural.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Dib Membrane]]
[[quoteright:180:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dib_rage.png]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Andy Berman

->''"My ''problem'' is that the human race seems to ''want'' to be destroyed!"''

A 12-year-old (as of ''[[WesternAnimation/InvaderZimEnterTheFlorpus Enter the Florpus]]'') self-styled "paranormal investigator", and one of only two people on Earth (the other being his sister Gaz) to realize Zim's extraterrestrial origin. Dib's goal is to expose paranormal phenomena to the rest of the world, especially his father. However he is regarded as a loon by pretty much everyone, and essentially treated like crap by the very people whose lives he's trying to save. Nonetheless, while he means well, he's fairly ruthless (at times bordering on sadistic) when it comes to dealing with Zim, making them {{Mirror Character}}s to each other.
----
* AffectionateNickname: Referred to as "Son" by his father, Professor Membrane. This doesn't sound like any special nickname, until one realizes that Membrane only referred to Gaz as "Daughter" [[Recap/InvaderZimS1E27FutureDib once]], and refers to her as Gaz every other time.
* AgentMulder: Dib tends to come across as a desperate Agent Mulder making all number of bizarre claims, but it becomes apparent in later episodes that he's actually fairly rational and even skeptical. His problem is other people's stupidity and/or apathy, plus his horrible luck in losing his proof at the worst possible moment, every single time.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Like Zim, he's extremely disliked in skool, presumably for his "insane" outbursts. He's even unpopular and disliked among his fellow paranormal investigators in the Swollen Eyeball Network.
* AmbitionIsEvil: While clearly not evil, Dib is shown to have high hopes and dreams for his future, which occasionally motivates him in his more sadistic moments.
* AnimeHair: Shaped like a scythe. And according to "Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom," it gets more and more extreme as he ages.
* AntiHero: Initially, a NominalHero. He may be trying to save the world, but he's only doing it for himself. Over time, he becomes a PragmaticHero as it becomes a little clearer that Dib is actually genuinely good, seeing as he is willing to put his ego aside in order to save people he hates. Also, his speech in the ChristmasSpecial shows he really does care. Still, he can be a little brutal when dealing with Zim.
* ArbitrarySkepticism: He believes in aliens and ghosts and Sasquatches and regularly goes to school with a poorly-disguised alien from outer space...but the one thing he doesn't believe in is a giant Lice Queen that lives underground and is the source of all head lice in the world. Because the universe hates him, he's proven wrong at the end of the episode.
* ArchEnemy: He is the main threat to Zim's goal of conquering Earth.
* ArtificialHuman: In the DVD commentary, Eric Truehart says he wanted this to be a reveal later on in the series, had the show not been cancelled. Whether or not this is still considered canon with the release of ''Enter the Florpus'' is up in the air.
* BadassBookworm: A smart kid who can be tough in a pinch.
* BadassLongcoat: He wears a black trench coat. [[https://m.ign.com/articles/2004/09/01/an-interview-with-jhonen-vasquez-and-rikki-simons Jhonen Vasquez's decision to have him in this attire caused some controversy before the show's premier.]] [[note]] Nickelodeon thought that Dib wearing a trench coat would remind people of the Columbine High School massacre and would therefore be in bad taste. They tried to get Jhonen to change his attire, but in the end, the trench coat remained.[[/note]] In the movie, Dib claims he wears it because it makes him look mysterious, though his sister is unimpressed with this claim. Humorously, the comics reveal that he wears it to bed, over his pajamas.
* BadassNormal: In "[=NanoZim=]," he [[CeilingCling hangs upside down from the ceiling,]] does a series of ninja backflips to evade the security system of Zim's house, and escapes without a scratch.
* BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: "Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom". [[spoiler:Subverted at the very end when the sequence was revealed to be part of a LotusEaterMachine]].
* BeingGoodSucks: Doesn't matter how many times he saves the day (or at least tries to), he'll almost never get credit for it and often will end up having something bad happen to him for his efforts. Though to be fair, bad things happen to him even when he's being selfish.
** Gets played to the extreme in the comics: [[spoiler: Dib ''still'' is not able to garner respect even after ''successfully'' defeating and capturing Zim, leading to the creation of the HalfHumanHybrid, ApocalypseHow bringing abomination known as Zib.]]
* BigBrotherInstinct: Is protective towards his sister Gaz... sometimes. Other times he's perfectly willing to use her as a guinea pig when it benefits him.
* TheBore: His tendency to act as the show's resident rambling MrExposition has made it so that he even bores ''himself'' at times.
* BuffySpeak: Quite often--"I'll be there, DOING STUFF!" and the [[MemeticMutation meme-tastic]] "Things he do!" "Score one for the human race! Score zero for the...Zim...thingy...race."
* ButtMonkey: Dib is the butt of everyone's jokes, due to his perceived insanity regarding the paranormal (as well as the size of his head). An interesting example as he is the show's designated protagonist. His father is generally absent, using the little time he has with Dib to bemoan his "insanity" and pressure him to study "real science"; his younger sister, Gaz, is eternally unsympathetic to him and often turns horribly violent if Dib, for example, takes her last piece of pizza or talks too much. One could say the Halloween episode "Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom" quite literally "put him through Hell." (In a twist, by the end of the episode he was the only character who wasn't injured).
* CallingTheOldManOut: At the beginning of the movie, Dib gets fed up with his father's blind disbelief in the supernatural, and decides to show him the proof he's been keeping in the garage. When Professor Membrane is ''still'' skeptical, Dib tells him that he's used to people not believing him but he wishes, just once, that his dad would have his back before angrily storming away.
* TheCassandra: Arguably Dib's strongest character trait is that he constantly talks about things that are true, but nobody believes him. In ''Halloweenies'', he explains to the psychiatric counselors that he's not crazy, he's slipping between dimensions because he used his father's inter-dimensional viewing device. Even the fact his father is right there and ''confirms'' that such a device exists doesn't keep the counselors from shipping him off to an insane asylum.
* {{Catchphrase}}: "You jerk." Often said to Zim or any other character who seriously messes things up for Dib, usually at the end of the episode.
* CharacterDevelopment:
** Arguably more than any other character in the series. He starts off as something of a KnightTemplar, but by the end of the series has definitely become its primary StraightMan.
** [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] by the time of the comics, his increased paranoia due to Zim's multi-year disappearance has eroded his StraightMan tendencies somewhat and amped up his {{Jerkass}}ery to almost start-of-series levels.
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Despite apparently being a normal human, he has accomplished superhuman feats, such as destroying a brick wall using only a briefcase.
* ChildProdigy: He could spell the word "aliens" when he was still in diapers, and by the time of the show can hack extraterrestrial technology.
* TheCloudcuckoolanderWasRight: There's a good chance that most, if not all of what he says is completely true. Unfortunately, the stuff that's true is so bizarre that it makes him into TheCassandra.
* CollectorOfTheStrange: Haunted gummy bears and magical "spell drives", among other things.
* ConspiracyTheorist: Though [[ProperlyParanoid he's often right]], and is often contrasted with even ''more'' insane and deluded conspiracy nuts.
* CrossdressingVoices: In the Japanese dub, he is voiced by Ayumi Kida.
* CryingWolf: He has the reputation of making bizarre and unverifiable claims (see NoodleIncident below), although it's quite possible [[NotSoImaginaryFriend he was right about those too]]. It doesn't help his case, though.
* DeadpanSnarker: Not quite to his sister's level, but he definitely has his moments.
-->'''Dib:''' How did you pass the verbal portion of the exam?
* DemonicPossession: He would have been on the receiving end of it ([[PuppeteerParasite sort of]]) in "Ten Minutes to Doom".
* DependingOnTheWriter: Whether he's capable of ninja-like feats of physical spectacle or an uncoordinated nerd tends to vary depending on the episode.
* {{Determinator}}: By necessity. No matter how much everyone mocks him and abuses him, he will not give up his quest to save the Earth from Zim.
* {{Deuteragonist}}: To Zim, of the opposing kind.
* DisneyDeath: In "Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy."
* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:''Enter the Florpus'' has him gain his family's love and save both the Earth from Zim and the universe from the Irken Empire. With that said, his father ''still'' [[ImplausibleDeniability refuses to believe that aliens exist]] and Zim is still around to cause trouble, [[SubvertedTrope so things in all likelihood won't be much different for him going forward]].]]
* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: A male example. He's seen as weird by other characters, and has pale skin and dark hair.
* EnragedByIdiocy: Humanity's inability to see past Zim's blatant disguise frustrates him to no end. This ultimately reaches a breaking point in the episode "The Frycook What Came from All That Space". Where after his classmates once again dismiss a credible piece of evidence, he has a flat-out mental breakdown.
* EyeGlasses: The lenses even disappear as he closes his eyes. His glasses also have wire-thin frames and no earpieces. Some fans didn't even realize he wore glasses until Zim mentioned it, at which point we suddenly realized what that narrow line connecting Dib's eyes was supposed to be.
* FailureHero: It's very rare for episodes to actually end with Dib successfully stopping Zim on his own; with [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption Zim's inevitable defeat]] usually coming about as a result of either [[SelfDisposingVillain his own incompetence]] or [[DarkhorseVictory the interference of a third party ]](usually [[HypercompetentSidekick Gaz]] or [[SpannerInTheWorks GIR]]). In fact, [[ButtMonkey Dib]] usually suffers an even ''worse'' fate than Zim does when all's said and done.
* FatalFlaw: [[AttentionWhore His need for acknowledgement.]] Time and time again, Dib's desire for attention for his deeds and discoveries blinds him to ''very obvious'' dangers that his common sense would otherwise steer him away from. This is shown most damningly in ''Enter The Florpus'' when [[spoiler: Zim manages to play on his severe WellDoneSonGuy trait, allowing the former to take over Membrane Labs and later on the Earth itself.]]
** [[invoked]] WordOfGod says that Dib genuinely is a good person...but one that needs ''everyone else'' to know how good of a person he is.
** ''Enter the Florpus'' seems to elaborate and explain on this: Dib's underlying desire is for his father to be ''proud'' of him, despite Dib following a ... ''different'' path than him. Given how much of an absent parent Professor Membrane is along with the rocky relationship he has with Gaz, it becomes obvious that his need for acknowledgement of his efforts came as a result of parental neglect. He wanted ''someone'' to acknowledge his efforts he puts into his goals and validate his decision; given how Membrane doesn't understand and how Gaz doesn't care, it explains why he acts as such with the rest of the world. Fittingly, [[spoiler: the film has Professor Membrane tell his son that he's always proud of him and even Gaz admits that she respects Dib in her own way, namely that the reason she's rough with him is because she knows he can take it.]]
* {{Flanderization}}: Notably a deliberate example of this happening. Partway through the first season, a movement known as "God Save the Dib" was started by the show's writing staff, who felt that Dib came across as boring and whiny in the early episodes, to make him more comedic and appealing. As a result, later episodes, while never dropping his status as the show's de facto OnlySaneMan, feature plenty more moments of him acting like a wacky idiot, along with a much greater amount of LampshadeHanging about his status as the resident dull MrExposition.
* {{Foil}}: To Zim. Both are single-mindedly driven and emotionally volatile egoists whose antics have made them outcasts among their peers, causing them to become fixated on accomplishing a goal of very little real importance for the sake of gaining the recognition that they believe themselves to be deserving of. While Zim's actions are completely governed by his warped sense of self-importance, though, Dib is occasionally able to look past his own selfishness and do genuine good for the sake of it, which has also given him a slightly greater amount of self-awareness.
* ForeheadOfDoom: In addition to his large head, he also has a wide forehead. On the animation project "God Save The Dib", a note next to his character model reads "''Lots'' of forehead! Forehead good!"
%%* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The Melancholic.
* FriendlessBackground: He doesn't appear to have any friends, though whether or not he minds this [[DependingOnTheWriter seems to vary]]. The episode "Vindicated!" has him jump at the chance to have a partner in the form of Mr. Dwicky, the Skool counselor. In the unfinished episode "Return of Keef", however, he is apathetic to and even irritated by Keef's attempts to be his friend (though to be fair, Keef was annoying and trying to get him to give up on the paranormal), and only decides to hang out with him as part of a plan to lure Zim in. In Issue #8 of the comics, Dib mocks the idea of having an investigative partner, and abandons Groyna (the girl he's on a mission with) as soon as she's no longer of use to him.
** That said, it's clear in many episodes that the lack of support from others takes a toll on him. Getting rather depressed when he finds out Mr. Dwicky never actually believed him, contemplating letting himself be destroyed along with his class when they make it absolutely clear how much they hate him, and so on. His constant pestering of his sister can be interpretted as him trying to have at least one person to turn to.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: He's this to the Swollen Eyeball Network, where he's unpopular and disliked even among his fellow paranormal investigators (partially due to terrible luck on his part causing him to accidentally waste their time on multiple occasions), though a couple of them do help him out on occasion.
* GoalInLife: To prove to the world that Zim is an alien.
* GoodIsNotNice: Particularly early on. While he's generally motivated by heroic reasons, he has a tendency to be arrogant, cocky and even cruel while pursuing what he believes to be paranormal threats, and shows downright glee at the thought of being able to perform an autopsy on Zim. [[CharacterDevelopment He loses a bit of that as the show goes on, though]].
* HeroAntagonist: A paranormal investigator trying to prevent the alien Zim from taking over the world, there are numerous {{Villain Episode}}s where Dib is the main character, making him the protagonist (and usually casting Zim as the antagonist) a good portion of the time.
* HeroWithBadPublicity: In ''spades''. The few people who tolerate him enough to hear him out usually can only do so for a short while before blowing him off as an obnoxious maniac.
* HeroicSelfDeprecation: An interesting [[ZigZaggingTrope ZigZagging]] example. Dib is generally too full of himself to care about how others perceive him, but on the occasions where he is made to interact with an externalized version of himself in some form he almost always ends up finding himself to be just as unbearable as everyone else does. Notably, "Dibship Rising" ends with a ship programmed to have his personality and memories ''killing itself'' after realizing how much of a loser it was.
* {{Hikikomori}}: Becomes this during the TimeSkip between ''The Most Horrible X-Mas Ever'' and ''Enter the Florpus''. He didn't leave his room until Zim returned, which was what Zim was counting on as Dib had let himself go ''tremendously'', becoming fat, unhygienic and fused to his chair. Zim goes so far as to call him a "sad chair".
-->"Sat too long... Chair... Fused to butt! More chair than man now!"
* HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood: His family doesn't like him much, his teacher and classmates openly ridicule him and it's common for him to be subjected to a FateWorseThanDeath by an episode's end.
* ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne
-->'''Zim:''' Despite his large head, the Dib-monkey is quite stupid.\\
'''Dib:''' MY HEAD'S NOT BIG!
* IdiotHair: His hair is always styled into a massive pointy scythe shape.
* InformedDeformity: His supposedly big head, considering that it's no larger than everyone else's heads.
-->"My head's not big!"
** In ''Enter the Florpus'', Dib's head is depicted as incredibly swollen and massive when he appears on TV [[spoiler: during Zim's Peace Day broadcast]], so perhaps the insults are more accurate than they seem to be.
* InsufferableGenius: He's typically one of the most intelligent and rational characters of the show but he's a stubborn egotist.
* IntelligenceEqualsIsolation: His classmates go out of their way to avoid him and are [[ChildrenAreCruel sadistically vicious]] when they do have to acknowledge him. Given he was shown in ''Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy'' to have harassed and stalked a hairy kid under the assumption that he was a Bigfoot (though in Dib's defense, in all likelihood he ''is''), there's probably a reason his social situation turned out this way.
* IronButtMonkey: He has taken a lot of damage. He's been killed at least once, had his whole childhood ruined in horrible pig-related accidents, turned into bologna, turned inside out while having a hole ripped in his head...
* ItsAllAboutMe: This is what more often than not sets off Gaz's revenge schemes on him, as he misinterprets her actions as helping him or he assumes that she's okay with dropping whatever she's doing to see what insignificant thing he's caught Zim doing. This specifically kicks off her sabotaging him at every turn in the episode "Battle-Dib" by snatching the slice of pizza she was about to eat and the entire events of ''Issue #5'' by shutting off her online game to show her footage of Zim yelling at a cat.
** This may explain why he has a poor social standing among his peers, or at least part of it. He rarely shows interest in the hobbies or interests of others, notably Gaz's own.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Dib is generally smug, arrogant and selfish, and has a bad tendency of dipping into extremism during his pursuits of the paranormal, but he's at heart a decent guy who usually shows empathy when it counts.
* KidHero: The defender of the Earth is a twelve-year-old.
* TheKlutz: He can display some impressive moves in the middle of a battle, yet tends to trip over and bump into things in normal situations.
* LargeHam: Dib ''really'' likes to play up the epicness of his feud with Zim in order to make it seem as dramatic and important as possible, and can be just as loud as Zim is as a result. That said, he's also much better than most of the rest of the cast is at reining it in when the situation calls for it.
* {{Leitmotif}}: A violin, which goes with Gaz's harpsichord.
* LetsGetDangerous: Briefly sheds his ButtMonkey status several times, one of the most noteworthy being "Battle of the Planets."
* LikeFatherUnlikeSon: His dad is a globally-beloved super scientist who scoffs at the notion of the paranormal even existing whereas he's a social outcast who uses his scientific knowledge exclusively to pursue the paranormal.
* LonersAreFreaks: Only seems to initiate interactions with others either to rant at them about paranormal creatures or accuse them of ''being'' paranormal creatures, which has caused him to be deemed a weirdo and have no friends at Skool. While he's partially driven by his desire for recognition from others, he does not appear to have any real interest in making friends, and in fact shows immediate annoyance when Keef attempts to befriend him in "Return of Keef".
* LovableNerd: He's a hyperactive nerd obsessed with the paranormal who is constantly bullied by his classmates and sister, is tragically misunderstood by his dad due to not sharing his dedication to "real science", and is [[HeroAntagonist perpetually at odds]] with [[VillainProtagonist Zim]] due to the whole "trying to take over Earth" thing. He is also easily one of the smartest and morally upright characters in the show[[note]]Although this is such a CrapsackWorld that the bar wasn't very high to begin with[[/note]], and despite his BloodKnight levels of obsession with taking Zim down, he genuinely has the best interests of Earth and its people at heart, even tanking a massive blow to his pride just to save his classmates from one of Zim's schemes.
* MeaningfulName: Though likely unintentional, Dib is an Arabic given name and surname meaning "wolf"; Dib himself is a raving KnightTemplar who has become a social pariah (or "lone wolf") as a result of his tendency to constantly [[CryingWolf Cry Wolf]].
* MilesGloriosus: While he doesn't exactly shy away from action, more often than not he'll end up getting beaten and pummeled by whatever threat is in his way, watch as someone else (usually Gaz) solves the problem for him, then take full credit for himself. In the movie, he even laments that no one will believe him that he stopped the Irken invasion and saved the world after Zim reveals the Armada was never coming to Earth in the first place and he was giving up out of depression.
* MirrorCharacter: Dib has shown that he's really not that different from Zim, both of them being outcasts who want to be respected by their peers, both of them can be selfish and ruthless at times, and they have big egos (though admittedly, Dib's isn't quite as big as Zim's). Like Zim, Dib also gets blinded from basic common sense due to a disastrously singleminded obsession with the other, and is also occasionally blind to just how disliked he is by his peers (especially his sister). In the comic, Tak's ship points these similarities out only for Dib to respond by proving her point, much to her chagrin.
-->'''Dib:''' But that's where Zim's going, so that's where we're going.\\
'''Tak's Ship:''' Ugh! And if Zim flew into the sun, would you do that too?\\
'''Dib:''' Is Zim trying to fly into the sun? Why would he do that? What does he stand to gain? Is there any way we could beat him to the- \\
'''Tak's Ship:''' I HATE BOTH OF YOU SO MUCH!
* MissingMom: Dib and Gaz's mother is never mentioned or shown in the show, comics, or film. It is assumed that their mother either passed away or divorced Professor Membrane. Though the creators mentioned that in Dib's case, he technically doesn't have a mother and was likely created through more artificial means. Whether or not the latter is still considered canon with the release of ''Enter the Florpus'' is up in the air.
* MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold: He has no friends and everyone thinks he's crazy, but he's still a decent person doing his best to save the world. Unfortunately he's also a JerkWithAHeartOfGold because of his delusional belief that he's the ''only'' person who can save the world, so he also alienates himself from anyone who could be an ally.
* MotorMouth: Compared to Zim's style of ranting, Dib has a tendency to mutter to himself extremely quickly when he's jazzed up about something. Everyone finds it annoying, [[SelfDeprecation even Dib himself when he realizes that he does it]].
* MrExposition: Tends to provide a lot of rambling exposition, to the point where even ''he'' lampshades it.
-->'''Dib''': "Wow.....WOW! I'm ''boring!'' Do I always explain everything like that?"
* {{Necromancer}}: One of Professor Membrane's lines from "Backseat Drivers from Beyond the Stars" implies it.
-->"SON! There better not be any walking dead up there!"
* NeverMyFault: The comics show that he'd rather risk his life battling an ancient conspiracy of wizards than take responsibility for his actions and apologize for knocking over Gaz's soda.
* NoFullNameGiven: Played with. At one point, he is addressed as "Dib... Whatever your last name is," and Dib says that's correct. ''Enter the Florpus'' finally confirmed Membrane to be his last name. The creators originally avoided assigning Dib a last name to go with the implication that he was a clone or creation of his father rather than a true biological son.
* NoodleIncident:
** A RunningGag is that someone will allude to some crazy-sounding paranormal event that Dib claims to have discovered before. Given how weird this show is, it's plausible that they really happened.
--->'''Greg from the FBI:''' Hey...you're ''DIB...''right? Heh-heh, you ever get that ''ninja ghost'' outta your toilet?\\
'''Dib:''' ''Yes,'' no thanks to ''you!''
** Whatever led to Dib bringing the dead back to life the first time.
--->'''Professor Membrane''': Son, there better not be any ''walking dead'' up there!\\
'''Dib:''' It's nothing to worry about, dad! And I said I was sorry about that!
** This little gem in "The Nightmare Begins":
--->'''The Letter M:''' Yeah, what's wrong with you? All you talk about is aliens and ghosts and seeing bigfoot in your garage!\\
'''Dib:''' He was using the belt sander...
** From "Dibship Rising":
--->'''Dib:''' ''([[ItMakesSenseInContext talking to a spaceship clone of himself]])'' Remember our fifth birthday when we fought off that swarm of alien... ghost... bee babies?
** This was not the only bee-related incident that happened to Dib, either. He mentioned in ''Enter The Florpus'' that he was seemingly stung by a [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot vampire bee]], and unexplainably eats too much honey. Strangely enough, he seems to be able to communicate with bee aliens.
** Whatever gave the Mysterious Mysteries host his scar. Speaking of which, the Mysterious Mysteries host has an entire room called "The Dib Archives" (apparently very large) that's overflowing with reports from him, which he lives in mortal fear of having to visit. Honestly, it's probably safe to say that Dib's entire life is one big NoodleIncident.
** From "Dibship Rising":
--->'''Random kid:''' Hey, Dib's being all weird and giant again!
* NoRespectGuy: He's unlucky and most of the other characters, except Gaz, are idiots.
* NotSoSimilar:
** Despite their similarities, there are a few key differences between him and Zim. Zim is an outcast because of the destruction he causes the Irken Empire, but he is too insane to see that, thinking that he is beloved by his peers. Dib is an outcast because of his belief in the paranormal and is viewed as crazy for the trouble he causes, but the truth is that Dib is sane, while his peers are too dumb to see he's trying to save them; also, Dib knows he's an outcast.
** Despite Zim's loyalty to the Irken Empire, he is truly selfish with a big ego, and does not care about the destruction he causes to win. In contrast, despite how selfish Dib can be at times and his big ego, he's actually genuinely good, seeing as he is willing to put his ego aside in order to save people he hates.
* NotSoImaginaryFriend: Given the sheer weirdness of Dib's world, it's very plausible that Dib really has seen all the paranormal craziness he claims to have seen -- in "Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy", we actually see Dib trying to catch what is quite clearly a baby Sasquatch, despite its own claims of being a human kid. Not to mention the whole thing about Zim really being an alien, even though nobody believes or recognizes it.
* OnlySaneMan: Which is saying something, as he's not entirely sane himself due to being a brash and obsessive {{Cloudcuckoolander}}.
* OtherMeAnnoysMe: Consistently finds himself to be unbearable on the occasions where he's made to interact with alternate versions of himself.
* ParentalNeglect: Although it's more workaholic neglect than outright abandonment, Membrane scarcely acknowledges him.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: Towards Zim at times.
* ProperlyParanoid: Dib has the CassandraTruth reputation going strong. But he's right — Zim is indeed an evil alien bent on conquering humanity. What's more, whenever he's seen engaging in other paranormal studies (such as chasing a hairy kid he thinks is a baby Bigfoot), he continues to show much more awareness of the world around him than... well, the world around him. Maybe he'd be more credible if he stopped talking to himself.
* PunctuatedForEmphasis: "You will pay for ruining my childhood, Zim! '''''You! Will! PAY!!!'''''"
* RefuseToRescueTheDisliked: In "A Room with a Moose", he questions whether his classmates, who have always belittled him and ignored his warnings about Zim's true colors, truly deserve to be saved. In the end, he decides to save them anyway despite knowing they all still hate him.
* RunningGag: So, how many fans are convinced Dib's head really ''is'' drawn larger than the rest of the cast's, I wonder? In the [[ArtEvolution animation project]] God Save The Dib, Jhonen changed him so he actually ''does'' have a larger head.
* SanitySlippage: Most obvious in "Vindicated!" and "The Fry Cook That Came From All That Space".
* ScaryShinyGlasses: In the opener.
* SeekerArchetype: His anxious following of his favorite TV show ''Mysterious Mysteries'' is this trope objectified.
* SitcomArchnemesis: To Zim, as Dib takes every opportunity he gets to antagonize him, and is out to expose his alien identity. However, there are a few moments where they help each other out.
* SmugSnake: As Zim's {{Foil}}, he's fittingly just as deluded about his competence and importance as Zim is about his own. While he has the much more sympathetic goal of wanting to protect humanity from Zim, it's also clearly at least partly motivated by his desire to be viewed as a hero and rub being right in the face of everyone who doubted him. He also completely overestimates Zim's actual threat level and mostly chooses to disregard any information he obtains that suggests that Zim might actually be an incompetent boob in order to maintain the legitimacy of their rivalry.
* SpeechImpediment: Temporarily as a result of Zim screwing with his past in "Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy".
* SurroundedByIdiots: "Okay, am I the only one who sees the [[PaperThinDisguise alien]] sitting in class?"
* SympatheticInspectorAntagonist: Since Zim is the main character, Dib is generally the main antagonist attempting to expose him as an alien to the world. But, as Zim is distinctly a VillainProtagonist, [[HeroAntagonist Dib is essentially the show's hero]].
* ThinkingOutLoud: A habit he frequently lampshades in later episodes.
* ThisLoserIsYou: At the beginning of ''Enter the Florpus'' and the comic series, he has grown into an obese and unwashed shut-in who has spent ([[NotAllowedToGrowUp what has felt like]]) over a decade obsessing over Zim coming back; a not-too-subtle jab at die-hard Zim fans.
* ThrowTheDogABone: Some episodes end on relatively high notes for him, usually by means of worse things happening to Zim than to him.
** In "Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom", he successfully escapes from the nightmare dimension and is the only one at the end of the episode who isn't injured, even getting away with a lollipop.
** [[spoiler: In ''Enter the Florpus'', Dib gets a happy ending. He learns that his family ''does'' genuinely love him and he indirectly defeats the Irken Empire as the Irken Armada and the Tallest are now all trapped within the Florpus. While Zim is still a threat, Dib has saved the Earth and gained the respect of his family.]]
* TookALevelInJerkass: While he was never exactly a saint in the show, he was a bit nicer than he has been in the comics. Nowadays he's more prone to things like abandoning people when they're no longer of use to him (Groyna in ''Issue #8'' for example) and refusing to apologize when something is clearly his fault (such as "Issue #29" where he spills Gaz's soda).
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: Does displaying a desire to strap Zim to an autopsy table and dissect him to see his alien organs count?
* TheUnfavorite: Dib's dad seems to notably favor his sister, just because she's not "insane". Subverted in "Bloaty's Pizza Hog" when Professor Membrane refuses to leave Dib behind on Family Dinner Night.
-->'''Prof. Membrane:''' My poor, insane son.\\
'''Prof. Membrane:''' (to Gaz) You're my funny child!
** Later episodes, as well as the movie show that Membrane still loves Dib dearly. He simply comes off as cold due to the difficulty he has bonding with his family in general due to work as well as his percieved views of Dib's mental state. And even with that perception, in most cases he tries to be careful and understanding with his son, urging Gaz to do the same as well to help him.
* UnwittingPawn: In ''Enter the Florpus'', [[spoiler: Zim uses him to gain access to and take over Membrane Labs.]]
* UselessProtagonist: He begins ''Enter the Florpus'' declaring that he's the only one capable of defeating Zim, but ultimately contributes very little to thwart his nemesis besides repairing Tak's ship (which flies itself for the most part).
* TwitchyEye: At the end of "Vindicated!", and arguably during his mental breakdown in "The Fry Cook That Came From All That Space".
* VerbalTic: "NYAH!!!"
* VocalEvolution: Andy Berman couldn't seem to make up his mind: in some episodes, Dib sounds like he did in the premiere (more nasal and fast-paced), and in others, Dib's voice is much rougher and lower, and he talks more slowly. The latter voice makes him sound more teenaged.
* WellDoneSonGuy: The few times he does interact with Membrane. It's never easy when your dad is a strong skeptic of everything you're trying to prove. ''Enter the Florpus'' [[spoiler:ends with Dib finding out that his father is genuinely proud of him, even though he refuses to acknowledge the paranormal.]]
* WorthIt: This dialogue in "The Wettening".
-->'''Gaz:''' ''(after beng splashed in water by Dib)'' [[CreepyMonotone You do realize I'm going to]] [[TranquilFury destroy you now.]]\\
'''Dib:''' It was worth it! Score one for the human race! Score zero for the [[BuffySpeak Zim...thingy...race.]]
* WorthyOpponent: "You're one of the only people who can appreciate the amazingness of this plan, [[JustBetweenYouAndMe so I'm going to let you in on what "it" is...]]"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gazlene "Gaz" Membrane]]
[[quoteright:195:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gaz_membrane.png]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MelissaFahn

->''"What you need is to give the Game Slave to me or I will plunge you into a nightmare world from which there is no waking!"''\\
(after getting a negative response): ''"I hope ya like NIGHTMARE WORLDS!"''

Dib's younger sister. Like Dib, she knows Zim's real origin, but unlike him, she doesn't much care, on the grounds that he really isn't very ''good'' at the whole world-conquering thing. That, plus she seems to be something of a misanthrope herself. (She did once have a very hard time deciding whether to destroy all life on Earth or not, when putting a can of beans in a super-powered microwave.) Mostly Gaz sticks to her video games and [[DeadpanSnarker snarks]] at the insanity around her.
----
* AccidentalHero: In "[=NanoZim=]", she saves Dib's life by using a microscopic submarine to beat up a Zim-controlled nanoship traveling through his body, thinking it's just a video game.
* ActuallyPrettyFunny: She's laughed at some of the stunts Zim's pulled on her older brother. Oddly, her saying this line near-verbatim after one of ''Dib'''s stunts proved unexpectedly hilarious was one of the closest things she's had to a PetTheDog moment with him in the cartoon series.
* AcePilot: Technically [[spoiler: Tak's ship]] could fly itself, but in the climax of ''Enter the Florpus'', [[spoiler: Gaz pilots Tak's ship through an asteroid field and blows them up left and right with the ship's lasers.]]
* ADayInTheLimelight: "Bloaty's Pizza Hog", "Game Slave 2", and "Gaz, Taster of Pork" all focus on her.
* AllThereInTheManual: According to [[http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_QtriJtpXiAg/R_FO2HzRfdI/AAAAAAAAAQI/XxvKFK5ahVw/s1600-h/Nick+Mag+Nicktoons+2007+page+2.JPG this]] issue of the ''Magazine/NickelodeonMagazine'', her full name is Gazlene. It is finally used by Foodio 3000 in ''Enter the Florpus''.
* AmbiguouslyHuman: She demonstrates unexplained supernatural powers when enraged in "Game Slave 2", including OffscreenTeleportation, levitation, and [[PlayingWithFire pyrokinesis]]. However, Jhonen Vasquez has stated that Gaz has no genuine powers of any sort, and that she is simply "someone you don't want to anger".
* AngryDance: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] in "Tak, the Hideous New Girl" where GIR tells her that he'll help her only if she dances with him. She does so, rather angrily and begrudgingly.
* AnimeHair: Shaped like a massive set of jaws.
* AntiHero: A NominalHero. She only cares about herself and will usually only help her brother if it benefits her. An exception to this is whenever Dib's life is in serious peril, such as Issue #14 of the comics. [[spoiler:By ''Enter the Florpus'', she morphs into a KnightInSourArmor.]]
* AscendedExtra: While she was never an extra, she's much more of an active player in the comics and ''Enter the Florpus'' than she ever was in the original series.
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: While it's rare, the comics do show on occasion that despite Dib annoying her she does care about him, and when he's in real danger she'll help him. ''Enter the Florpus'' continues that characterization from the comic, where she actually treats Dib with more decency in the special than she ever did in any other episode of the show.
* AxCrazy: Not to Zim's level, but she has her moments. Her first instinct upon being told by her father that heating up a can of beans in the microwave may result in the eradication of all life is to do exactly that, and she shows outright disappointment when nothing ends up happening afterward.
* BadassAdorable: She's ''very'' scary when enraged and is tough enough to go head to head with alien warriors, but at the same time she's a small, curious child and her mannerisms can be quite cute.
* BadassBiker: In the script for "Ten Minutes to Doom", she drives a motorcycle from the arcade all the way to her father's lab to retrieve Zim's PAK (long story).
* BadassFingersnap: Happens in "Gaz, Taster of Pork" when she snaps her fingers to activate her stuffed animals and dolls which were programmed by her to [[KillerRabbit feed on human flesh]].
* BerserkButton:
** Take her stuff ([[GamerChick especially her Game Slave]]) and you will pay.
** Some episodes have her flat out state that Dib's existence itself fills her with an uncontrollable rage, while others lessen her hatred to "merely" being of the sound of his voice.
* BigBrotherBully: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]]--she's a Little Sister Bully. She's got no problem with and even seems to enjoy insulting or threatening Dib, or even physically assaulting him for that matter, should she see him as deserving of it. Downplayed considerably in the comics and ''Enter the Florpus'' after she [[CharacterizationMarchesOn became more fleshed out as a character]] and TookALevelInKindness.
* BigEater: She's shown eating in the majority of her scenes and tends to react violently when her food is taken away or when her abilities to obtain or enjoy food are jeopardized.
* BloodKnight: She loves fighting in video games, and come ''Enter the Florpus'', she welcomes the chance to [[spoiler:take control of the Tak-ship's lasers]] with a wild laugh.
* BootsOfToughness: A close-up shot of her shoes in "Gaz, Taster of Pork" reveals that they are spiky combat boots.
* BoyishShortHair: She's tomboyish and she wears her hair in a rather cubic bob.
* BrilliantButLazy: When forced to take action against Zim, Gaz has proven herself to be highly intelligent, perceptive, and resourceful. However, knowing that Zim's plans always fail in the end, usually because of his own incompetence, she'd much rather sit back, grab a slice of pizza, and watch him screw himself over.
* BystanderSyndrome: Generally. She does help on occasion.
-->'''Gaz:''' Are there any video games around here?\\
'''Zim's Computer:''' No. Not really.\\
'''Gaz:''' I ''guess'' I'll ''save the Earth,'' then.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: She's antisocial and downright unstable in the original series, but, while still generally grumpy, is much more easygoing in the comics and ''Enter the Florpus''. Her feelings towards Dib in particular were totally overhauled; going from being enraged by the mere thought of his existence to clearly caring about him despite finding him annoying.
* {{Chickification}}: Downplayed in ''Enter the Florpus'', where she demonstrates neither the supernatural powers or the absurd hypercompetence that she often would in the series. While she's still more consistently competent than Dib, there's no suggestion that she's anything more than a crafty little girl.
* ChildProdigy: Is an unusually skilled pilot, was able to fix an alien starship, and apparently created her own flesh-eating robot dolls. It makes a bit of sense, given who her dad is.
* CloudcuckoolandersMinder: After playing this role on occasion previously, she fully graduates to this in ''Enter the Florpus,'' where she seems to have accepted that she's the only one capable of keeping Dib and Zim's obsessions and antics from screwing everyone else over, corralling Dib into doing the right thing (violently, if need be), and stepping up to make sure things don't get any crazier than they already are--even if that means calmly pretending a bizarre fish-headed clone is her father, while Dib is too intense to play along.
* ComedicSociopathy: A lot of humor is derived from her tendency to screw people over and not care. One highlight is when she was told by her father to remove the beans from the can before cooking them so it wouldn't cause the termination of all human life, which of course leads to her ignoring her father's warning and being upset that her dad lied to her about cooking the beans while still in the can would kill everyone.
* TheComicallySerious: Gaz tends to handle a lot of the bizarre solutions she finds herself in with an air of [[TheStoic cold stoicism]]. Naturally, this gives her some hilariously [[DeadpanSnarker snarky reactions]] when paired with the [[LargeHam much hammier]] Zim, Dib and GIR.
* CostumeEvolution: In the comics, Gaz's apparel is redesigned to a light green-grayish shirt with an 8-bit rabbit skull paired with a skirt.
* CreepyChild: She frightens grown men, as seen in "Mysterious Mysteries."
* TheCynic: Seems to be convinced that everything is stupid. To her credit, [[SadistShow she's]] [[CrapsackWorld probably]] [[SurroundedByIdiots right]].
* DaddysGirl: An odd example, but she does seem to have a great deal of affection for her father, and will go to any length necessary to spend time with him. In ''Florpus,'' even before everything goes crazy and Membrane gets kidnapped, her number one priority is to make sure her father's event goes without a hitch, and her primary motive for stopping Zim is saving him.
* DeadpanSnarker: Snarks like there's no tomorrow.
-->'''Dib:''' "Did you hear that, Gaz? Humans don't have squeedlyspooches!"\\
'''Gaz:''' "I've got a squeedlyspooch."\\
* beat*\\
'''Gaz:''' "Why do you have to have a head?"
* DeathGlare: She's VERY good at giving intimidating glares.
* DependingOnTheArtist:
** She has had several different eye colors--blue (in the pilot), brown (in the series), green (in Issue #5 of the comics), and purple (in Issue #17).
** She wears leggings as shown in the series, but is sometimes shown wearing tights instead.
* {{Determinator}}: Gaz pursues whatever she wants with relentless fury. This is especially the case whenever she seeks vengeance on anyone who wrongs her; in "Game Slave 2", for example, she stops at nothing to obtain the Game Slave 2 that Iggins falsely claimed was his...even if it means riding a hijacked scooter in a thunderstorm, stalking, and playing mind games. An example unrelated to revenge is "Bloaty's Pizza Hog", where she doesn't let anyone or anything--not GIR, Zim, or Dib's refusal to come home--stand between her and a night out with her father.
* DisproportionateRetribution:
** Particularly in the episodes "Game Slave 2" and "Battle-Dib", Gaz is prone to waging all-out war against those who cheat her of what is rightfully hers... even if it's just a slice of pizza or a gaming console, it's SeriousBusiness.
** Also in Issue #5, when her reaction to Dib interrupting her game to make her join him in spying on Zim is to kidnap him and drag him to an AlternateUniverse ruled by gamers, where he's placed in virtual simulations of games and put through horrible suffering.
** Humorously subverted in Issue #29 of the comics where Dib accidentally knocks over her bottle of soda. Gaz says that if Dib doesn't get her a new bottle, he'll... have to apologize for what he did. [[SeriousBusiness Dib is still horrified at the thought.]]
* DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale: Her treatment of Dib for bothering her is downright psychotic in some episodes, but PlayedForLaughs.
* TheDreaded: Fear of her wrath is one of the few things that can successfully deter Dib from his usual obsession with Zim. Zim himself screams in fear upon seeing her angry in "Future Dib".
* EnfanteTerrible: She's just a kid, but still sadistic.
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Contrary to her overall sociopathic tendencies, Gaz is perfectly amiable toward Professor Membrane.
* EveryoneHasStandards: On a few occasions she humors Dib when he's feeling particularly exasperated. In the timeline created in "Bad Bad Rubber Piggy", she even seems more amiable to her poor brother after Zim disfigured him.
* EvilIsBurningHot: Sometimes when she gets angry, the background behind her bursts into flames.
* EvilIsPetty:
** "Battle-Dib" is basically her doing everything possible to foil Dib by cheating, just because he took her last piece of pizza.
** In Issue #5 of the comic, she drags Dib into an AlternateUniverse and traps him inside video games where he's [[YourMindMakesItReal horribly tortured]], all just because he interrupted her game.
* ExpressiveHair: In "Game Slave 2", when she's angry at Iggins, rain pours down and straightens her hair. When he finally gives the game to her, her hair is restored to its normal state with a magical glow.
* EyesAlwaysShut: When she ''does'' open them, she's either in an enraptured trance or about to hit you. She'll occasionally open them when making a point. Averted in ''Enter the Florpus'', where she opens her eyes a lot more often, leading to her being more emotive.
* FeelNoPain: When she's playing her video games, her concentration becomes so intense that no amount of physical pain seems to affect her. She completely ignores the itchy lice attack on her head in "Lice" and isn't bothered when Zim steals one of her organs and replaces it with her Game Slave in "Dark Harvest."
* {{Flanderization}}: In earlier episodes of the series, she was simply antisocial with the desire to be left alone. In later episodes, she [[HairTriggerTemper gets angry much more easily]], and becomes far more prone to sadistically hurting Dib or anyone else who crosses her at the slightest provocation. Her [[EstablishingCharacterMoment very first line]] in the first episode is swearing that Dib "will pay!" for drinking the last soda, but thirty seconds later she's talking to him civilly. Compare that to her insatiable desire for painful, terrible revenge in later episodes like "Game Slave 2" or "Gaz, Taster of Pork".
* FlatCharacter: Other than tormenting people who cross her and indulging in video games and pizza, she really doesn't have much of a personality. Jhonen Vasquez himself has gone on record saying one of his biggest regrets in the series was underwriting her character and making her come off as shallow and one-note. He took great pains to change this in the comics and Netflix movie.
* {{Foil}}: To GIR. Both serve as [[BigEater junk food-guzzling]] sidekicks of questionable loyalty to obsessives with over-inflated senses of self-importance, but where GIR is manic, hyperactive and chipper, Gaz is aloof, sullen and disinterested. Both also tend to serve as [[DarkhorseVictory an unforeseen third party that ultimately saves the day in the end]], but while GIR generally does so by being an incompetent SpannerInTheWorks, Gaz does so by being a HypercompetentSidekick.
* ForeheadOfDoom: Her forehead is pretty big, and she's short-tempered.
%%* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The Phlegmatic.
* FreudianExcuse: The reason she has such an antagonistic relationship with Dib is because he misinterprets her actions as helping him, or he assumes that she's okay with dropping whatever she's doing to see what insignificant thing he's caught Zim doing.
* GamerChick: She would rather play video games than just about anything, and she is very, very good at them. And ''terrifying'' if you attempt to prevent her from playing them. She was seen only playing handheld games in the show, but the comics consistently have her playing console games and MMORPG's as well.
* GirlsLoveStuffedAnimals: She has a collection of stuffed animals and dolls...that she converted into security drones programmed to ''feed on human flesh.'' Yikes.
* GivenNameReveal: Her full name, Gazlene, is spoken for the first time in-series at the end of ''Enter the Florpus''... quite nonchalantly by Foodio 3000.
* GothGirlsKnowMagic: While she isn't a goth per se, she has a look and attitude reminiscent of one and is occasionally suggested to have supernatural powers. Ironically, it's Dib, not her, who enjoys dabbling in the occult; Gaz, despite her creepiness, is pretty singularly devoted to mainstream consumer culture.
* IconicItem: [[AvertedTrope Averted]]: When she was younger, she wore a pink bow in her hair as seen in "Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy." However, by the present day, it's never seen.
* HairTriggerTemper: It doesn't take much to set her off, especially if it's from her brother.
* HatesBeingTouched: Gaz seems to greatly dislike, or at least be ''very'' particular about, physical contact of any type.
** In "The Wettening", she threatens Zim with limb removal should he not put her down after picking her up and trying to use her as an umbrella during a rainstorm, only to attack him even after he puts her down.
** In "Future Dib", she reacts with utter revulsion when "Dib" (who was actually Zim controlling a Dib robot) puts his arm around her.
** During one scene in "Tak, the Hideous New Girl", GIR grabs her face in a silly fashion, and she immediately pushes him off with an angry scream.
** In ''Enter the Florpus'', when she tells all of the surrounding children to hold hands in order to [[spoiler: thwart the destruction of Earth]], a boy attempts to hold her hand, to which Gaz shouts, "No way! Be serious!", and promptly takes his hand and places it into someone else's hand.
* HatesEveryoneEqually: She frequently expresses her disdain for the rest of the human race.
* HeelFaceTurn: While still snarky, cruel and mean-spirited, Gaz comes off as much more emotionally invested in things in the comics than she ever did in the series. She's also generally more civil with Dib. ''Enter the Florpus'' has her graduate to being a full-on JerkWithAHeartOfGold.
* HeroicComedicSociopath: If she can be bothered to help at ''all,'' she's usually this.
* HiddenDepths: She occasionally shows glimpses of a softer side, as well as an interest in things other than video games.
** In the unproduced "Mopiness of Doom" episode, she is disturbed by Dib giving up on the paranormal and relieved when everything returns to normal.
** She seems to really want to spend time with her father, and will do whatever it takes to do so, as shown in "Bloaty's Pizza Hog".
** Playing video games can likewise bring out a friendlier, more sociable side of her. Evidence of this is in "Nanozim" when she approaches Dib and asks him in a genuinely amiable tone what game he's playing (unaware that it wasn't actually a game) and even gives him tips on how to beat it when she sees him struggling ("The transformation move is always quarter, circle, back.") She's also shown playing MMORPG's with fellow gamers in the comics.
** Some episodes, such as "Bloaty's Pizza Hog" and "The Wettening" show that she ''does'' have pastimes other than video games; she's engrossed in and enjoying drawing in the former, and reading a book in the latter.
** If the debut issue of the comics and ''Enter the Florpus'' are anything to go by, Gaz can play electric guitar.
* HypercompetentSidekick: Occasionally accompanies Dib as a reluctant assistant of sorts, and always ends up proving herself to be much better at foiling Zim than he is.
* IconicItem: Never seen without her Game Slave.
* IJustWantToBeNormal: Implied a few times, but primarily in "Bloaty's Pizza Hog".
-->"All I want is to have some pizza, hang out with Dad, and not have your weirdness mess up my day."
* ImprobableWeaponUser:
** She used cans of Poop soda against Zim, Dib, Tak, and [=MiMi=] in "Tak, the Hideous New Girl."
** She ultimately defeats Zim with [[spoiler:a large baked ham]] near the end of ''Enter the Florpus''.
* InexplicablyAwesome: How a little girl is able to pull off half the feats she does(particularly when angry), is never explained. She just ''can.''
* {{Jerkass}}: She's cynical, antisocial, and lashes out violently over the most trivial things.
* JerkassHasAPoint:
** When Dib points out to her that Zim is trying to wipe out the human race, Gaz states she doesn't care because Zim is "so ''bad'' at it." As Zim is repeatedly shown to be a HarmlessVillain who constantly screws up due to his own stupidity, she ''does'' have a point.
** While her actions in Issue #5 are a case of DisproportionateRetribution, she is right that Dib has a habit of bothering her, disregarding her wants and desires, and forcing her to give up what she's doing to join him.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold:
** In "Tak, the Hideous New Girl", after much reluctance, she helps to stop Tak from taking over the world despite there being no personal gain from it for her.
** Several issues of the comics make it very clear that she does genuinely care about her brother's well-being, occasionally helping him or giving advice (granted, said advice is usually to relax and stop obsessing over Zim, which he promptly ignores). In particular, Issue #14 has her [[ItMakesSenseInContext explicitly state that she doesn't want him to blow up]] and do everything in her power to prevent him from doing so, and admits that she'd feel genuine guilt for being the reason Dib blew up.
** ''Enter the Florpus'' really solidifies that Gaz ''is'', beyond any shadow of a doubt, this trope. She's now capable of having a conversation with Dib without physically abusing him at the mildest provocation, and she does admit, when Dib is at his lowest point, that she tortures him because he's strong enough to take it. She also tells him that it's "no fun" to pick on him when he's completely devastated.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: ''Also'' this trope. In the episode "Bloaty's Pizza Hog", she does save her brother, but only because she wants to go out to eat with her father.
* KarmaHoudini: On occasion, though other times (like in "Battle-Dib"), she gets her comeuppance.
* KidsAreCruel: [[ZigZaggingTrope Sometimes.]] Other times, she's just apathetic.
* LackOfEmpathy: She tends to care little for some people, because she thinks she's surrounded by thoughtless people. Her voice actress, Creator/MelissaFahn, has gone on record confirming this; according to her, Gaz is capable of feeling and showing affection and love, but she generally doesn't because she sees herself as so much better than those around her. Given the dystopian CrapsackWorld she lives in, it isn't impossible to see why.
* LargeHam: She has her moments. Most of her dialogue in the climax of ''Enter the Florpus'' is screamed at the top of her lungs. Her ham is enough to [[spoiler: one-shot Zim. With an actual ham, no less!]]
-->"Haaaaaaammmm!" ''(Gaz holds [[spoiler: the ham]] over her head as lighting strikes it like Thor's hammer.)''
** From an earlier episode, there's her hysterical reaction when Dib swipes her last slice of pizza:
--->"Let it be known that from ''this'' day, until the ''end'' of the day, vengeance will be mine. Dib, you will not know the meaning of peace, for I shall rain misery down upon your pizza-stealing heart!"
* {{Leitmotif}}: A harpsichord.
* LittleMissBadass: Gaz is all badass. The fact that she's only around 10-12 and has already beaten the living crap out of her older brother more than once for crossing her (by stealing and beheading her Bitey the Vampire doll on one occasion and casting a spell on her without her permission on another), coupled with the fact that she terrorized a guy for taking the last video game system in stock that was rightfully hers, no doubt makes her qualify.
* LittleMissSnarker: A humorlessly sarcastic little girl.
* LittleSisterInstinct: Sometimes, she can be this to her brother. However, these moments are often motivated by her own interests.
* LonersAreFreaks: Like Dib, she appears to have no friends at Skool, and intimidates her classmates with her antisocial behavior. She clearly couldn't care less. In the comics, she plays MMORPG's with other gamers, but it isn't certain if she sees these people as friends or not.
* LostFoodGrievance: She's ''very'' territorial over her food, and a plot point in "Battle-Dib" involves her exacting revenge quite excessively on Dib for him snatching her last slice of pizza.
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: While reality seems to warp when Gaz is in a mood and she often shows hypercompetence in things no little girl has any business being, it's never clear whether she's supernatural in any way or she's just so intimidating it ''appears'' that way to people around her.
* MeaningfulName:
** Gaz, which is short for ''Gazlene'' (a play on the word "gasoline"), has a fiery HairTriggerTemper and a tendency to cause a lot of damage when provoked...similar to how fire set to gasoline causes destruction.
** In Hungarian, the adjective ''gaz'' would mean "vile, wicked and villainous" among other things. Gaz herself can be quite cruel and often displays a LackOfEmpathy.
* MissingMom: Gaz and Dib's mother is never mentioned or shown in the show, comics, or film. It is assumed that their mother either passed away or divorced Professor Membrane.
* MouthyKid: Gaz tells it like it is or puts you in your place, regardless of who you are.
-->'''Deelishus Weenie employee:''' Deelishus Weenie!\\
'''Gaz:''' Hi.\\
'''Deelishus Weenie employee:''' Uhhh, what'll it be?\\
'''Gaz:''' Be quiet. I wanted to let you know that my brother is trying to break into this building through some secret entrance.
* NightmareFetishist: Gaz definitely likes dark-themed things. On the show, she wears a black dress and a skeleton pendent (which has led some to mislabel her as {{Goth}}). Her bedroom is shown to be very dark and spooky, and she draws a monstrous-looking pig in "Bloaty's Pizza Hog". She also loves vampires, gory video games, and in "Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy", she's ecstatic to watch a television program depicting bats eating a cow.
* NoSocialSkills: Gaz is rarely seen interacting with people bar her family and seems visibly uncomfortable on the few occasions she has to. Downplayed in the comics, however, as she's shown playing online games with other people, but doesn't seem to actually like them that much.
* NotSoAboveItAll: Despite her shrewd intelligence and OnlySaneWoman role on the show, "Bloaty's Pizza Hog" shows that even ''she'' isn't above [[MindControlEyes being controlled by]] Bloaty's Pizza Hog's hypnotic commercial.
* OffModel: The shape of her head changes between certain scenes in "The Wettening."
* OffscreenTeleportation: When stalking Iggins in "Game Slave 2".
* OnlySaneWoman: She is one of the few people who know perfectly well that Zim is an alien who wants to conquer/destroy the Earth. She's also largely uninterested in the conflict, quipping rather correctly that Zim isn't very good at what he does.
* PerpetualFrowner: Fitting with her personality, she almost never smiles and almost always has a scowl on her face.
* PetTheDog: As much as she seems to dislike Dib, it's worth noting that her few moments of kindness are mostly directed at him.
** In Issue #14 of the comics, she tricks Dib into drinking one of their father's formulas, not knowing that it'll make him explode if he becomes too upset at any point in the day. Out of concern for Dib's life, guilt that it would be her fault if he died, and fear that [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking she wouldn't get to go to Bloaty's]], she begrudgingly spends all day accompanying Dib on his paranormal adventures instead of letting him blow up.
** In the unproduced episode "Mopiness of Doom", she actually seems worried when Dib decides to stop investigating the paranormal and plotting against Zim in favor of studying "Real Science", and tells him about a Vampire Doughnut special that Mysterious Mysteries is airing, in an attempt to turn him back to his old self. She turns out to be right, as Dib realizes that studying the paranormal is what ''really'' makes him happy.
** In Issue #38, upon realizing that Dib is stuck in the woods, she goes out of her way to sabotage GIR's impersonation of her brother, and therefore Zim's plan of the week.
** In Issue #39, when the alien ship they're on is blowing up and Dib is focused on trying to convince the ship's owner to flee with them, Gaz grabs him and drags him into an escape pod.
** In ''Enter The Florpus'', when she sees Dib [[spoiler:on the ground in a space prison cell, wallowing in his [[DarkestHour near-defeat]], expecting Gaz to kick him while he's down, she says that she only tortures him because she knows he can handle it, but not while he's at his worst.]]
* ThePowerOfHate: Her raw hatred seems to manifest itself as supernatural abilities at times.
* PuppyDogEyes: Several episodes have her doing this, but it’s rarely shown.
* SarcasmMode: The comics have a running gag where she feigns enthusiasm at whatever Dib is currently doing, [[OutOfCharacterAlert usually accompanied by her opening her eyes wide and giving a beaming smile]], only to immediately switch back to her normal self and mock him.
* SharedFamilyQuirks: Gaz's obsession with games is not all that different from Dib's obsession with the paranormal; Professor Membrane even alludes to this in ''Enter the Florpus''.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: She's the show's only main female character.
* SourOutsideSadInside: While it's never explictly said in the show, she is implied to be very depressed, which is justified, as she is a pre-teen. Eric Trueheart [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this in the art book.
* SourSupporter: She's the closest thing Dib has to an ally... and she's not at all happy about it.
* SpoiledBrat: Membrane gives her everything she actually needs.
* SupernaturalIsPurple: She has purple hair and is implied to be something more than human.
* SurroundedByIdiots: While Dib still has some hope for humanity, his sister, Gaz, on the other hand sees everyone around her, including Dib, as idiots. She knows Zim is an alien, but doesn't really care.
-->'''Dib:''' Don't you care that Zim is trying to destroy all mankind? Huh?\\
'''Gaz:''' But he's ''so'' '''''bad''''' at it.
* {{Tomboy}}: A very surly, aggressive preteen girl whose interests are [[GamerChick video games]], [[BigBrotherBully tormenting her brother]], and [[LittleMissSnarker snarking at everyone and everything around her]].
* TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: While not particularly girly, she does sport a pink hair bow during two flashbacks in "Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy", wears a pink winged teddy bear footie pajama in "Gaz, Taster of Pork", and have many stuffed animals and dolls in her room in the aforementioned episode (albeit one's that [[KillerRabbit turn into monstrous beasts which feed on human flesh when activated]]). She also wears a dress with pinkish-colored tights on the show, and a skirt with her new outfit in the comics.
* TookALevelInKindness: In ''Enter the Florpus'', while Gaz still has her dark side, she's at the "nicest" she's ever been in the series, graduating fully to JerkWithAHeartOfGold and displaying that yes, she does actually care about Dib.
* ToThePain: Takes great care to explain to Dib how she will make him suffer in "Gaz, Taster of Pork", complete with [[GlowingEyesOfDoom glowing]] RedEyesTakeWarning and levitation.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: She loves pepperoni pizza more than almost anything else.
* TranquilFury: When you have screwed up big time, she almost never goes ballistic; she's too mad for that.
** In "Game Slave 2" when Dib keeps her from going to the mall early so he can watch a new episode of ''Mysterious Mysteries of Strange Mystery''. Later upon arriving at the mall, she and Dib find that the line for the game she wants is outrageously long. She grits her teeth and looks like she's going to get violent for a second ([[EvilIsBurningHot complete with the background being engulfed in flames]]), but simmers down immediately after and simply sends Dib on a wild-goose chase for a chupacabra.
** In "The Wettening", after Dib jumps into a rain puddle and inadvertently splashes Gaz (he was trying to splash Zim), Gaz tells him in a completely deadpan tone that she's going to destroy him.
** In Issue #5, when Dib turns off her game, a furious Gaz stands there in StunnedSilence and then leaves the room.
* TwitchyEye: ''"I'm trying to draw a little piggy. Can't you see I'm trying to draw a little piggy?!"''
* VagueAge: She's a year younger than Dib, but that's all we know for sure. Flashbacks show them to have been babies at the same time, so it can be assumed they're not very far apart in age.
* VocalEvolution: Like with Dib, Gaz's voice would shift on occasion from low-pitched and rough, to higher and softer.
* WhenSheSmiles:
** When playing as her in the online game ''Dib's Nanochase,'' she will smile upon the player's victory.
** She gives a few genuine smiles in ''Enter the Florpus'', such as [[spoiler:when she's reunited with her father.]]
* WingdingEyes: She gets swirls in her pupils when distracted by a commercial in "Bloaty's Pizza Hog."
* WomenAreWiser: The show's only major female character is also the only one smart enough to realize how pointlessly stupid its central conflict is.
* WrongGenreSavvy: [[spoiler: In ''Enter the Florpus'' she's completely nonchalant about Zim preparing to complete his evil plan because, in her own words "It's Zim. It's just going to fail anyway." Of course since this was a BigDamnMovie the plan actually succeeds and she is quick to admit she was wrong.]]
* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: In ''Enter the Florpus'', she delivers one of these speeches to Dib when the latter is feeling down, albeit in her own way:
-->"You're my brother, man. I only torment you because I know you can handle it. I've done way worse than [[spoiler: throwing you in a space prison]]. This is nothing. Get up!"
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Or, rather, You Gotta Have Purple Hair.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Professor Membrane]]
[[quoteright:315:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/profmem.jpg]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/RodgerBumpass

->''Friend to the world, enemy of Santa Claus.''

The father ([[TrulySingleParent at least allegedly]]) of Dib and Gaz, Membrane is a super scientist who also hosts the ShowWithinAShow ''Probing the Membrane of Science''. He keeps a very busy schedule, to the point where he can only manage to eat dinner with his children once a year.
----
* TheAce: With as often as he's used for comic relief, it can be easy to forget that in the universe of the show he's the most well-respected scientist on earth, and for good reason.
* ActionDad: [[spoiler: ''Enter the Florpus'' has him take on an entire army of robots to protect his son.]]
* AgentScully: Despite all of the proof Dib has gathered about the existence of aliens and the paranormal, Professor Membrane refuses to believe any of it is "real" since it's not scientific. [[spoiler:In the end, he continues to delude himself into thinking everything he experienced in ''Enter the Florpus'' was a hallucination, even after encountering multiple aliens and actively helping his son and daughter thwart the Tallests' destruction of the Earth.]]
* AllJustADream: In ''Enter the Florpus'', despite his son having alien objects he collected from his enemy, being kidnapped by Zim, and put into an space prison, he believes he's in a hallucination.
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Despite his massive popularity, he is unable to turn the public against Santa, and spends much of the Christmas seasons either bunkered down in his lab or screaming in impotent rage.
* ArbitrarySkepticism: He refuses to believe any of Dib's paranormal claims, but he does believe in Santa Claus. (Then again, so does everyone else.) In one episode he yelled that Dib better not have any walking dead in his room. ([[NoodleIncident Dib SAID he was sorry about that!]])
* AnimeHair: [[HereditaryHairstyle Where Dib gets it from]]. His is shaped more like a lightning bolt, though. It also [[EyesDoNotBelongThere has bones]], giving them limited prehensile ability.
* ArmCannon: Is revealed to have these in ''Enter the Florpus'', courtesy of his [[spoiler:cybernetic arms.]] They can be taken clear up to WaveMotionGun territory should he do a KamehameHadoken.
* ArtificialLimbs: ''Enter The Florpus'' reveals he has two. [[spoiler: His arms, apparently since ''childhood'', when they were [[NoodleIncident lost to sharks]].]]
* BadassBookworm: Can restore all of the power on Earth simply by pulling a specially made lever and also ''launch energy beams from his hands''! There's no indication of whether or not this was an invention he'd created or if he just has amazing superhuman abilities, but it's amazing either way. It's ultimately revealed in ''Enter the Florpus'' that Membrane [[spoiler:has long since replaced his arms with high-tech prosthetics after his originals were eaten off by sharks]].
* BerserkButton: Santa, for giving him something he didn't want for Christmas, and sharks for betraying his trust and biting off his arms.
* BigGood:
** Serves as this to a degree for humanity. While he's oblivious and indifferent to the presence of aliens, he is pretty much single-handedly responsible for the massive technological leaps humankind has taken by the series' beginning and is respected, admired and trusted by the world's leaders. He's to thank for basically any aspect of the series' portrayal of Earth that ''doesn't'' make it out to be a completely CrapsackWorld.
** Much more pronounced in ''Enter the Florpus''. His desire for world peace kickstarts the plot, he's generally much kinder to Dib and he even ends up [[spoiler:telling him he's proud of him and fighting against Zim's... er, his own robot army alongside the boy. Ultimately, he also uses Minimoose to save the Earth in the end.]]
* BunnyEarsLawyer: He may be an eccentric LargeHam with an irrational hatred of Santa Claus, but he's also a legitimately brilliant scientist who can effortlessly build things that are on par with Irken technology and is very dependable during times of crisis.
* CatchPhrase: [[HypocriticalHumor "My poor insane son."]]
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: He may be a great scientist, but he's still a MadScientist. He's the smartest person on the planet, yet the existence of the supernatural completely alludes him. His idea of parenting is skewed at best, using pre-recordings and robots to look after his children (Dib being over-zealous and a little crazy, Gaz being a moody sociopath) and can only every really spend time with them a few times a year. He is also prone to other forms of strange behavior, including believing in Santa Claus (and making it his mission in life to kill him), using electricity to make toast (having been the inventor of "super-toast") and is prone to [[MoodSwinger mood-swings]].
* CrazyPrepared: When his son needs to fight [[ItMakesSenseInContext an evil sentient Santa suit]], he's able to give him access to an enormous anti-Santa arsenal he prepared for just such an occasion.
-->'''Membrane:''' I knew this day would come!
* {{Cyborg}}: ''Enter the Florpus'' reveals that at least both of his arms are actually robotic prosthetics.
* DependingOnTheWriter: While he's always a neglectful parent, the show tends to zig-zag on whether or not he even interacts with his children on a regular basis. Some episodes show him working at home, and even occasionally taking time to do more mundane things like eat meals or watch TV with his kids, while others suggest him to be so busy that he only sees Dib and Gaz in person a few times a year, communicating with them almost entirely through video monitors (which themselves zig-zag between being live feeds or pre-recorded messages).
* DisabledInTheAdaptation: His arms are mechanical prosthetics in ''Enter the Florpus'' whereas they at least appeared to be organic in the original series.
* DisproportionateRetribution: The ChristmasEpisode establishes that he hates Santa and wishes to destroy him simply for getting a crapton of socks for Christmas instead of the 12 cases of Uranium-238 he wanted.
* DitzyGenius: Despite his incredible scientific intellect, he seems as dense as everyone else when it comes to the obvious extraterrestrial activity that's constantly happening around him.
* EvilLaugh: "There are no curses, son. ''MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!''"
* TheFaceless: Never seen without a high collar and goggles, even as a kid.
* FlatEarthAtheist: Despite his world being filled with readily accessible paranormal phenomena, he dismisses everything outside of traditional science as being ridiculous.
* {{Foil}}: To the Almighty Tallest. Both are distant authority figures that the main characters seek to gain the recognition of, but while the Tallest are lazy and incompetent despots who simply ignore Zim because they dislike him, Membrane is a brilliant {{Workaholic}} super scientist who only ignores his children as a result of his extremely busy schedule. It's also worth noting that the Tallest pay close attention to the information Zim gives to them about humanity (if only out of a BileFascination for how HumansAreMorons), while Membrane is an unflinching AgentScully who refuses to even entertain his son's claims that aliens exist. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Finally]], both Membrane and the Tallest are shown at various points screwing around with puppet versions of themselves.
* ForScience: He'll do anything as long as it can benefit the field of science.
* GeniusBruiser: ''Enter the Florpus'' reveals him to be an agile martial artist whose augmented strength from his cybernetic limbs allows him to tear through hundreds of armored robots with ease. Appropriately, ArtEvolution gives him a much bulkier physique than he ever had in the original series to match.
* GogglesDoNothing: That we know of.
* TheGrinch: A mild case as he doesn't appear to hate the holiday itself, just Santa.
* HisNameReallyIsBarkeep: "Professor" is not actually a title, but his actual name. Also a case of StevenUlyssesPerhero since he didn't have many options besides pursuing a scientific career with that name.
* HotScientist: He has fangirls who will defend this trope.
* IGotARock: His hatred of Santa comes from an incident in his childhood, where he asked for 12 cases of uranium-238 for Christmas, but instead got an infinite supply of socks.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: He genuinely doesn't seem to realize how his blunt dismissal of Dib's theories about the paranormal could be seen as hurtful.
* IRejectYourReality: By the end of ''Enter The Florpus'', he [[spoiler: ''still'' refuses to believe anything alien he witnessed is anything more than a hallucination in an attempt to portray himself as an OnlySaneMan]] while the rest of Earth likely thinks differently.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He can be quite cruel to his son and is often too wrapped up in himself to notice what is going on right in front of him, but he's a good man at his core who devotes nearly all of his time and energy toward the betterment of society and genuinely loves both of his kids.
* LargeHam: Possibly the biggest one in the series. Considering [[WorldOfHam the kind of world he inhabits]], it's ''quite'' an accomplishment.
* LikeFatherLikeSon: Similar to Dib, Membrane is intelligent, self-absorbed, neurotic, and mostly speaks ''at'' people while waving off or lashing out at them for their input.
* MadScientist: He built a space-time object replacement device, a perpetual energy generator, and possibly cloned Dib.
* {{Muggle}}: Eccentricities aside, he's one of the more normal seeming characters, strictly abiding by logic and science and often selectively oblivious to anything weird going on around him. Zig-Zagged at times, particularly when he creates an entire arsenal of high-tech weapons to fight [[BadSanta Santa Claus]], and ''especially'' in the movie where he reveals he has high-powered prosthetics and lays waste to Zim's robot army.
* MundaneUtility: In the very first episode, in something of a EstablishingCharacterMoment, he ignores his son's plea about hearing aliens so he can use an electrical welding device... to make toast.
-->'''Prof. Membrane''': ''Stand back son, I'm making...(sparks fly out-of-view, before saying triumphantly) '''toast!''' (Holds toast high in the air.)''
** A later episode credits him as being the inventor of "super-toast", which is shown to have some kind of unexplained muscle-enhancing properties, [[CallBack so it's possible that said toast]] ''was'' a surprisingly big deal.
* NoMouth: It's covered up by the collar of his lab coat.
* NoSocialSkills: Implied in ''Enter The Florpus'', where Dib [[CallingTheOldManOut tells his dad that he wished, just once, that his dad would have his back]]. Professor Membrane, almost in a way where he's trying to reassure his son, retorts that "wishing isn't very scientific".
* NotNowKiddo: Often he's too enthralled by his work to even pay attention to what Dib has to say, though he always keeps an ear out to make sure [[NoodleIncident that he never raises the dead again]].
* NotSoAboveItAll: Not only does he believe in Santa like the rest of the world, ''he has a mecha built to destroy him should the need arise''. This is especially hilarious, because Dib is normally the one to point out "unrealistic" phenomena and he's the one who goes out of his way to capture and/or destroy it.
** He also seems to get a chuckle out of the name Minimoose.
* OneManArmy: We finally get to see him in action in ''Enter the Florpus'', and he does not disappoint. [[spoiler: He takes on an entire army of robots by himself, blasting out waves of energy powerful enough to level city blocks from his bare hands.]]
* OnlySaneMan: Convinces himself that he's this by the end of ''Enter The Florpuss'' by [[spoiler: stating that everything alien he witnessed was a hallucination]], but it's subverted in that he's the ''only'' one who thinks this delusion is accurate.
* PapaWolf: Even if he's convinced he's just experiencing a hallucination [[spoiler:don't threaten his son with death by robots. He'll go OneManArmy to wipe them out.]]
* ParentalFavoritism: He seems to generally favor Gaz, though he doesn't hate Dib; he just thinks that he's crazy. ("My poor, insane son.") Just how bad it is depends on the episode. In ''Halloweenies'', he listens to Dib explain he's slipping between dimensions because he messed with the Professor's inter-dimensional viewing device and then lets the apathetic psychiatrists sentence Dib to being sent to an insane asylum without a qualm. In ''Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy'', though, after Dib gets killed by Zim's time travelling attacks, he scientifically revives his son and implants him into a protective suit of [[MiniMecha exo-armor]] -- and when Zim starts hurling more pigs into the past to try and re-kill Dib, Professor Membrane responds by constantly upgrading Dib's exo-armor with bigger and badder weaponry. ''Enter the Florpus'' shows that he genuinely loves his son unconditionally, and suggests that his preferential treatment of Gaz has more to do with him having an easier time connecting with her than he does with Dib.
* ParentalNeglect: He loves his kids but his fixation with science means that he's hardly ever there for them.
* PoweredByAForsakenChild: During ''Enter the Florpus'', he invents "Membracelets" that expel waves of peace and happiness from the youthful energy of their users. Although, it should be noted that even [[spoiler:after Zim hijacks them]], they never actually hurt any of their hosts.
* ReedRichardsIsUseless: Parodied in "Future Dib", where he builds a Perpetual Energy Generator but then chooses not to activate it after determining that the world didn't deserve it. He surprisingly averts this trope outside of this instance, though, as he's noted to create and distribute world-changing inventions and medicines on an ''hourly'' basis.
* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: The reason he built a Perpetual Energy Generator[[note]]Or as he calls it, "PEG"[[/note]] was because he started to question why an energy source needs fuel in the first place. Considering the angry shout he gave his assistants when questioning why, [[NoodleIncident he probably did this off-screen]].
* ShowWithinAShow: The aforementioned ''Probing the Membrane of Science''.
* SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids: While he believes in the limitless potential of "real" science, he has a dim view on more abstract and unreliable concepts such as wishing, friendship, and Santa Claus.
* SoProudOfYou: In the unfinished episode "Mopiness of Doom", he has this reaction when Dib decides to stop chasing Zim and study "real science." During the climax of ''Enter the Florpus'', he outright assures Dib that he's ''always'' proud of him.
* StoryBreakerPower: He's a hyper-intelligent super scientist who has built, among several other things, [[BeamSpam a lever capable of restoring all of the power on Earth when pulled and a perpetual energy machine, can fire energy blasts from his hands]], [[BigGood has the trust and support of all the world's leaders]] and the resources necessary to easily mobilize large-scale projects on a daily basis. Suffice it to say, the show wouldn't be especially interesting if Dib ''were'' to ever convince him that Zim was an alien in need of being stopped. [[spoiler: ''Enter the Florpus'' pretty much proves this, where Membrane alone is enough to completely destroy Zim's robot army and recalibrate Minimoose to return the earth to its original location.]]
* StrongFamilyResemblance: From what we can see of his face, anyway, Dib takes after him a lot.
* SupernaturalProofFather: Taken to absurd extremes; Professor Membrane will deny the existence of the paranormal even when it's staring him directly in the face. In an ironic twist on the trope, he's anything ''but'' sensible and grounded, and is arguably just as outlandish as the phenomena he claims can't possibly be real.
* TapOnTheHead: Zim [[spoiler:knocks him out and kidnaps him]] during the first act of ''Enter the Florpus''. Membrane spends the rest of the special believing that a massive concussion is causing him to hallucinate aliens and spaceships.
* TookALevelInBadass: While in the show he was always able to create earth-shattering inventions, in ''Enter the Florpus'' he gains robot arms (that he says were lost to ''sharks'') [[spoiler:and can shoot powerful lasers from them, which he uses against Zim's robot army while in pursuit of Minimoose with Dib and Gaz, as well as breaking out some pretty sick kung fu]].
* TookALevelInKindness: He's much more present for his kids in ''Enter the Florpus'', and is distinctly presented as merely being unable to connect with Dib rather than outright neglectful toward him as he often was in the series.
* TrulySingleParent: Allegedly, had the series continued, it would have eventually been revealed that Dib was an experiment created by Membrane (possibly Membrane's clone, given their resemblance). Where Gaz comes from in this scenario is open to speculation. Whether or not this is still considered canon with the release of the comics and later ''Enter the Florpus'' is up in the air.
* VocalDissonance: As a child, he had the exact same voice he does now.
* WackyParentSeriousChild: Not a perfect example, but his kids are at least more [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]] and less [[LargeHam hammy]].
* WhenYouComingHomeDad: He ''does'' genuinely love his children, but is almost always too preoccupied with his job as [[BigGood the most important man in the world]] to spend much time with them.
* TheWorfEffect: After showing his combat prowess in ''Enter the Florpus'', [[spoiler:Clembrane]] defeats him with a single blow.
* {{Workaholic}}: Even when he's not working away from home, he's almost always shown in the middle of some kind of science experiment, and never seems to ''not'' be busy.
* WorldsSmartestMan: Recognized as such in-universe, and [[HumansAreMorons while that isn't saying much]], he is regularly shown to be genuinely amazingly intelligent and talented.
[[/folder]]

!!Irken Empire

[[folder:In General]]
* AbusiveAlienParents: Irkens don't form families or personal relationships. Young Irkens are spawned in incubation tubes and raised from birth to serve the Irken Empire.
* AerithAndBob: Irken naming conventions are...odd. We've met Irkens named Zim, Tak, Red, Purple, Miyuki, Spork, Skoodge, Sizz-Lorr, and Timmy.
* AliensLackAttributes: According to the creators, they don't have reproductive organs.
* AliensSpeakingEnglish: Despite having their own written language, Irkens are always shown to speak English, even on their own planet.
* AlwaysChaoticEvil: What else could you call a race of alien {{Galactic Conqueror}}s?
* AwesomeBackpack: From birth, each Irken is fitted with a backpack-like device called a PAK that contains their memories, serves as a backup brain, and can be used as a BagOfHolding. However, the PAK is so essential to an Irken's life that they will die if separated from it for longer than 10 minutes. Also, if an unlucky Irken happens to be fitted with a defective PAK, they themselves are also considered defective (read: Zim).
* BizarreAlienBiology: Irkens are dependent on their [=PAKs=] to live, are allergic to water and meat, and have a large super-organ called a "squeedlyspooch" that fills their entire torso and performs most or all bodily functions.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: [[invoked]] According to WordOfGod, they ''are'' capable of feeling love, but it's unlike the type of love humans are familiar with. What exactly this means has not been elaborated on.
* CultureClash: Most Irkens show nothing but utter confusion/revulsion when dealing with alien cultures. Justified since their own society is a ruthless, racist, and imperialist military junta.
* {{Cyborg}}: All of them are this because of their [=PAKs=].
* TheEmpire: It's in the name. Amusingly, the fact that the Almighty Tallest are actually puppets to the Control Brains suggests that their government is run in a manner more reminiscent of a modern constitutional monarchy than what this trope typically implies.
* EvilEmpire: Well, ''obviously''.
* EqualOpportunityEvil: Female Irkens are shown serving as soldiers, invaders, and even the Almighty Tallest. That said, short Irkens suffer from constant discrimination within their society, with [[ButtMonkey Skoodge]] in particular being treated like dirt in spite of being an excellent soldier simply because of his height.
* FatalFlaw: {{Pride}}. Virtually every Irken seen on the show is incredibly full of themselves, with it eventually leading to their downfall.
* FantasticRacism: Generally speaking, Irkens see all other life as utter filth only fit for being either MadeASlave or exterminated. That being said, some of their worlds (like Foodcourtia) suggest that their policies aren't ''always'' as extreme as that implies, with them being "fine" with other races as long as they serve the Empire's best interests.
* GalacticConqueror: The Irken Empire is hellbent on taking over every planet in the universe. And when we say "every", we ''mean'' every, with it being heavily implied near the end of the series that they've been steamrolling their way through most of the Milky Way with no signs of slowing down. [[spoiler:Well, at least until ''Enter the Florpus'', which has the Irken Armada and The Massive all sucked into the titular Florpus and basically derails Operation Impending Doom II for the foreseeable future]].
* GreaterScopeVillain:
** The Control Brains, genetically altered Irkens encased in massive robotic forms, are the actual rulers of the Empire, with the Almighty Tallest as just figureheads (though they do still hold not-insignificant power on their own).
** Likewise, there's Tallest Miyuki, one of the Tallest before Red and Purple, and the one responsible for the Irken Race's massive technological advantage.
* InvincibleVillain: Despite being led by the glaringly incompetent Red and Purple, it's made clear that no race in the universe really stands any kind of chance at stopping the Irkens' intergalactic conquest, with all who attempt to resist them being instantly squashed like bugs. The only thing that seems to truly pose any threat to them is [[SpannerInTheWorks Zim's]] stupefying incompetence. [[spoiler:This is possibly subverted after ''Enter The Florpus'', though, as the Irken Armada and The Massive are all sucked into the Florpus and the fate of the Irken Empire is left completely up in the air]].
* LargeAndInCharge: The hierarchy of Irken society is based on height. The tallest individual in a generation becomes the Almighty Tallest. Taller Irkens are given more important duties, while shorter Irkens are assigned to menial jobs such as food service.
* LaughablyEvil: As a whole. Sure, they might all be AlwaysChaoticEvil {{Galactic Conqueror}}s, but they're just so damn ''hilarious'' at the same time!
* LittleGreenMen: They resemble a human's stereotypical idea of aliens, with green skin, solid-colored eyes, and a pair of antennae. In a particularly notable riff on this trope, their society determines authority based on height.
* MasterOfDisguise: With a few notable exceptions (i.e., Tak), this is amusingly subverted with most Irken Invaders. Despite possessing sufficiently advanced holographic technology that would allow them to perfectly disguise themselves as natives of the planet they are currently conquering, most Invaders are [[FantasticRacism so comically ultranationalistic and bigoted towards non-Irkens]] that they don't want to "sully" their true forms and instead take up {{Paper Thin Disguise}}s, which all seem to rely on the natives holding the IdiotBall to not notice.
* NoBloodTies: Irkens are grown in jars and enter military training immediately after "birth." They nevertheless seem to have familial feelings, since Zim considers the "cold, unfeeling robot arm" that activated him as his parent.
* NotSoHarmlessVillain: It can be hard to remember at times that for all of their childish egotism and revolting decadence, they're also basically an entire species of ruthless sociopaths that have been conquering the entire Milky Way with no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
* OrbitalBombardment: Referred to as the "Organic Sweep," this has the Irken Armada bombarding a newly-conquered planet from orbit so as to cleanse their new conquest of all organic life and make it fit for Irken colonization.
* PaperThinDisguise: It's a relatively minor RunningGag that Invaders wear absolutely ''horrible'' disguises to fit in with the natives of the planets they're trying to conquer. Notably, Zim actually comes across as one of the ''more'' competent in terms of disguising his alien form here... at least when compared to, say, Invader Slacks, who infiltrated the Large Nostril People of Boodie Nen by just [[GagNose sticking an absurdly big set of prosthetic nostrils to the front of his face]].
* PragmaticVillainy: Instead of fighting against the Planet Jackers, the Irkens instead just have a treaty with them for the Jackers to leave any planet marked by the Irkens for conquest alone, apparently having decided that a war with them wasn't worth the effort. Relatedly, they don't seem to want to ''always'' wipe out any non-Irken life when they can instead be used to serve the Empire's best interests (i.e., the Vortians being enslaved as {{Mad Scientist}}s to help the Irkens develop better war machines).
* RiddleForTheAges: It has never been explained how the Irken race became completely dependent on artificial reproduction to survive (to the point of modern Irkens lacking reproductive organs).
* SigilSpam: They put the Irken insignia on all their stuff. "Battle of the Planets" even shows that they first ''bomb the Irken insignia'' into the surface of planets they've recently conquered.
* SingleBiomePlanet: Parodied, with the Irkens often devoting entire planets to utterly pointless and meaninglessly singular objectives. For instance, Blorch is designated to serve as a "parking structure planet" after it's conquered.
* TechnicolorEyes: Most Irkens have red eyes, with a few having purple instead. There are a few other colors that show up even more rarely, including green, blue, and brown.
* UncertainDoom: [[spoiler:As noted below, the Irken Armada gets sucked into the Florpus along with the Massive and the Almighty Tallest during ''Enter The Florpus'', leaving the fate of the entire Irken Empire unknown]].
* UndyingLoyalty: Due in part to them all being {{Cyborg}}s, the average Irken has a near-fanatical loyalty to the entire empire. It's quite a pity that [[BadBoss their leaders typically don't return the favor]].
* UnskilledButStrong: They vastly misuse their resources, have absolutely no tactical skills, and are a massively shallow race that values physical height and size more than anything (to the point where their Mothership is called The Massive). That said, their massive technology advantage over every other race in the universe keeps them on top.
* WomenAreWiser: One of Red and Purple's predecessors, Tallest Miyuki, is implied to be female from her name. She's also massively more competent than Red and Purple, being why the Irken Armada has incredible technology.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Almighty Tallest]]
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/almighty_tallest.png]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/WallyWingert (Red), Creator/KevinMcDonald (Purple)

->'''Red:''' "''The universe will be ours for the taking! It's only a matter of time before all the races of the Universe serve the Irken Empire!"''\\
'''Purple:''' ''"I'll have them serve me the curly fries."''

The leaders (figureheads, really) of Irken society. Their height is their only qualification for office, so they're not veryy well-equipped in the brain department, although Red seems to have it together better than Purple. They usually sit around snacking and acting like jerks, similar to a pair of teenage bullies picking on and bossing around a group of younger kids.

Red and Purple weren't the first Tallest. Some of the previous leaders were slated to appear in flashbacks if the show hadn't been canceled.

The proper way to address the Almighty Tallest is "My Tallest", the equivalent of "Your Majesty" (or, perhaps more accurately, "Your Highness") on Earth. As a general rule of both grammar and respect, "My Tallest" is never pluralized, even when more than one Tallest rules.
----
* AliensSpeakingEnglish: Like all Irkens, they inexplicably speak perfect English.
* AllThereInTheScript: Their real names are Red and Purple (guess which is which).
* AmbiguousRobots: It's not clear whether they're cyborgs or organic beings wearing mechanical armor.
* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler:Their final fate in ''Enter the Florpus'' is to be trapped in the titular hole, a swirling void of infinite realities crashing into and off of each other. We last see them in some kind of puppet hell dimension, screaming in horror as they burn. Zim, of course, sees nothing strange about this.]]
* ArtEvolution: In ''Enter the Florpus'', instead of just having two ''very'' long, seemingly metallic prosthetic fingers on their hands like they did in the series, their hands now resemble Zim' short black gloves with stubby claws and even featuring visible thumbs. Also, their skin is slightly paler, their armor is darker, and their spines are pinker.
* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Their ultimate fate in ''Enter the Florpus'', namely ending up trapped there after trying to destroy Earth just to finally be rid of Zim.]]
* BadBoss: They both treat their underlings terribly, but Purple especially seems to enjoy [[ThrownOutTheAirlock shooting them out the airlock]].
* BaitTheDog: PlayedForLaughs in the unproduced episode "The Trial". They gently explain the process of Irken existence evaluation to a young Irken child, and then send him to the dungeons [[HeKnowsTooMuch for knowing too much.]]
* BareYourMidriff: Their "Tallest" outfits sort of have this look going for them.
* BigBadDuumvirate:
** For the franchise as a whole. Because of their matching height, they're both the official leaders of the Irken Empire. Unofficially, Red is the more domineering and competent of the pair.
** In ''Enter The Florpus'', they form a rare Big Bad ''Triumvirative'' with [[spoiler:both Zim ([[TheHeavy who is responsible for all the film's mayhem]]) and the Florpus itself; the Tallest intend to blow Earth up just to finally be rid of Zim, and the Florpus is a NegativeSpaceWedgie that threatens to suck the Earth in and scatter it across infinite realities]].
* BigEater: Usually shown eating their own weight in junk food.
* BrilliantButLazy: "Backseat Drivers From Beyond the Stars" reveals that Red can be a surprisingly capable leader when his life is in immediate danger. Otherwise, he'd much rather kick back and gorge himself while letting his underlings take care of the hard work.
* BuffySpeak: Despite otherwise being the smarter of the two, Red is consistently shown to be a lot less articulate than you'd expect from a (figure)head of state. This is perhaps best when he [[LetsGetDangerous takes charge]] in "Backseat Drivers From Beyond the Stars" and refers to the [[WaveMotionGun enormous laser]] that he calibrates the Massive to fire as "Some kind of... Laser thingy".
* ButtMonkey: Purple has shades, mostly due to Red's abuse of him.
* TheCaligula: Both of them are selfish, lazy and generally incompetent despots, though Purple seems especially useless. They don't even respect the traditions of their position, and somehow cheated their way out of having to amputate their thumbs after being named Tallest.
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Named after their eye colors.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: "Backseat Drivers From Beyond the Stars" shows that Red can be a genuinely competent commander when he has to. This does ''not'' apply to Purple.
* CultureClash: They are absolutely ''floored'' when Zim explains to them that adult humans are generally much taller than Irkens, but are also incredibly stupid. This flies completely in the face of Irken societal ideas, so they have trouble wrapping their minds around it. This is also literally the only time in the series taht they actually pay attention to Zim, the concept is just ''that'' alien to them.
* DeadpanSnarker: This, hysterical laughter or [[StunnedSilence blank shock]] is how they usually react to Zim's antics.
-->''(Zim's base explodes during a video conference)''\\
'''Purple:''' Well, you look real busy exploding, Zim...\\
'''Red:''' What a shame, moving on now...
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: In the first episode they each got alternating moments of stupidity and intelligence. By "Backseat Drivers from Beyond the Stars", Red seems to have settled into "The smarter one", though he still prefers to laze around with Purple.
* TheDividual: While they do develop more distinct traits over time (Red becomes the more intelligent and domineering one while Purple becomes {{TheDitz}} bordering on {{Cloudcuckoolander}}), they still have very similar personalities, look almost exactly alike, and are never seen apart.
* DrearyHalfLiddedEyes: Both their eyes are almost always half-shut, characterizing them as as smug, snarky, and exhausted by Zim's antics. Since their lids also slant inwards, they also have slight TsurimeEyes fitting their exasperated demeanors.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: PlayedForLaughs in "Germs", when both are ''deeply'' unsettled by Zim's germaphobia-induced SanitySlippage.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: They're only ever referred to as "The/My Tallest" in the series.
* EvilEmpire: The figureheads of the Irken Empire.
* EvilIsBigger: They're called the Almighty ''Tallest'' for a reason.
* EvilIsHammy: They're the leaders of a race known to subjugate other planets and are some of the hammiest characters in the show.
* EvilOverlord: The emperors of the Irken Empire.
* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler:Their eventual fate at the end of ''Enter The Florpus''. After ''constantly'' refusing to move around it, they fly straight into it and are torn across different realities.]]
* FauxAffablyEvil: They're lazy and generally genial, but that won't stop them from committing genocide or having their own soldiers ThrownOutTheAirlock for not being tall enough.
* {{Fingore}}: [[invoked]] They only have two fingers on each hand, as opposed to a normal Irken's three. [[http://zim.wikia.com/wiki/Tallest According to the Invader Zim Wiki]], the [[WordOfGod production staff]] have said that when a Tallest is chosen, their thumbs are ritualistically severed to prove that they can rule without them. [[spoiler:However this has been [[AvertedTrope Averted]] by the current Tallests, Red and Purple, who instead hide their thumbs inside their massive gauntlets.]]
* FreudianExcuse: If the unproduced "The Trial" counts as canon, they witnessed their two previous Tallest die because of Zim. As such, their mistreatment of him at least might stem from fear that they'd suffer the same fate.
* GalacticConqueror: Their and their species' entire motivation is galactic domination. Invaders are used to infiltrate planets and prime them for invasion from within. Afterwards, they tend to use them for mundane activities like serving junk food or parking structures. They're also not averse to just blowing up random planets in the way of their flagship.
* GreaterScopeVillain: While not intentional, they're the reason Zim is trying to take over Earth. Honestly, they weren't sure ''anything'' was ther, nevermind a planet; they just wanted Zim oout of the way while they conquered the rest of the universe.
* HateSink: Comedic moments aside, the Tallest are both callous, genocidal, ''utterly'' unsympathetic cowards who horribly mistreat even their most loyal soldiers, and actually make ''[[VillainProtagonist Zim himself]]'' look sympathetic by comparison. It's pretty telling that the vast majority of the the Tallest's jokes involve them getting a blast of karma to the face.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: [[invoked]] Fans debate whether they're this, twin brothers ([[WildMassGuessing from the same cloning tube, maybe]]?) or [[HoYay gay lovers]]. More obvious in the comics, where they are shown playing together.
* HiddenDepths:
** Red is confirmed to be BrilliantButLazy in "Backseat Drivers from Beyond the Stars."
** [[invoked]] "The Nightmare Begins" shows Purple to be the more eloquent of the two (at least enough to remember the word "armada"), though it could be argued that this is just a case of [[CharacterizationMarchesOn his personality not having fully crystalized yet]].
* HonorBeforeReason: In ''Enter the Florpus'' they refuse to diverge from their projected course, a straight line, because "turning is stupid." [[spoiler:Even though they have more than enough time to get out of the way of the titular Florpus, they continue on in a straight line to their doom.]]
* HyperactiveMetabolism: They remain rail-thin despite constantly putting away enormous amounts of junk food. It's possible that [[AmbiguousRobots their bodies aren't entirely organic]].
* {{Irony}}: They only became rulers or Irk because Zim accidentally killed the last two. Now they have to constantly deal with the destructive individual who made their ascension possible. Granted, as mentioned, said individual was responsible for the '''deaths''' of the last two individuals to hold their position, so it's only natural they'd want to get rid of him for reasons beyond personal annoyance.
* InadequateInheritor: Unreleased episodes would've implied that their predecessor, Tallest Miyuki, was a much more capable leader. She was the one commissioned the Massive, while as far as the audience knows, these two don't have one accomplishment to their names.
* {{Jerkass}}: Along with being a pair of genocidal [[EvilOverlord Evil Overlords]], they're also generally lazy, selfish assholes who can barely stand ''each other'', let alone anyone they consider beneath them (as in, everything else in the universe).
* JerkassHasAPoint: Given what we see of Zim’s actions during Operation Impending Doom I, it’s hard to argue that Zim didn’t deserve to be banished. Honestly, he probably got off ''easy''. It’s also easy to see why they trust him as an invader after this, and Zim’s antics ''do'' tend to create more problems for the Irkens than they solve.
* KarmaHoudini: Well, except for "Backseat Drivers from Beyond the Stars". ''Finally'' averted in comic Issue #4. [[spoiler:Their game of [[ItMakesSenseInContext torturing Zim with a large Cheese Puff]] ''literally'' blows up in their faces. Further averted in the movie]].
* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: After having escaped the series itself unscathed due to its cancellation, the Tallest finally get their comeuppance in the movie nearly two decades later: [[spoiler: Namely, being trapped in a hellscape thanks entirely to their own stupidity and stubbornness, with traumatic -- and potentially fatal -- results.]]
* KilledOffscreen: [[spoiler: They're obviously in distress at the end of the movie, and Jhonen confirmed during th Pixelatl México stream that they died. He then mentions the show's NegativeContinuity and tendency to bring characters back from the dead with no explanation in the same breath, so whether they'll ''stay'' dead is up in the air.]]
* LargeAndInCharge: They're the leaders of their race because they are the tallest.
* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler:In ''Enter the Florpus'' they end up doing the eponymous action, meaning they've entered what essentially boils down to an indeterminate period of incredible pain at best and a wackier-than-usual death-by-black-hole at worst. Their final transmission seems to show them either trapped in or passing through a hellscape.]]
* LaughablyEvil: They might be genocidal sociopaths who treat their own people like shit, but they also provide some of the funniest moments in the series.
* LawOfChromaticSuperiority: Red is smarter, more competent, and more domieering than Purple.
* LazyBum: Neither of them ever do much in the way of leading, instead spending most of their time snacking and goofing off, and they tend to show aggravation whenever they ''are'' forced to actually do something. Operation Impending Doom II itself could be viewed as a product of their laziness: send out invaders to conquer planets for them ahead of time so that they don't actually have to ''do'' anything when they get to them. [[spoiler: [[KarmicDeath This ends up bringing them their doom]] in ''Enter the Florpus'', where their refusal to make the small effort to steer The Massive out of the way of the Florpus ends up getting them and the entire Irken fleet [[FateWorseThanDeath trapped in an interdimensional hellscape for what may be eternity]].]]
* LeanAndMean: In addition to being the tallest Irkens, they're also rail-thin despite how much they eat.
* LetsGetDangerous: "Backseat Drivers From beyond the Stars" shows that Red can be a surprisingly competent and level-headed military commander when his life is directly threatened.
** It's also amusingly subverted in the same episode for both of them. After being utterly humiliated by the Resisty and tossed around like pinballs for most of the episode due to Zim's actions, they contact him on a video call with the express purpose of making "our ''friend'' Zim '''hurt'''." Unfortunately for them, their video call is instead "answered" by Zim getting attacked by his own brain parasite while [=GIR=] and Zim's robotic parent decoys rampage through Zim's base. The Tallest lapse into horrified/baffled StunnedSilence, right before Purple runs offscreen to throw up.
* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: They've repeatedly tried to do this to Zim, so as not to ''directly'' implicate themselves in his demise, be it sending him off on a SnipeHunt in the hopes that he'll die en route to trying to have him killed at boot camp. [[spoiler:By ''Enter the Flopus'', however, Zim teleporting the Earth directly into The Massive's flight path has them decide to forgo discretion completely and just blow up the planet so they never have to deal with him again.]]
* MeaningfulName: Red is the [[LawOfChromaticSuperiority first color of the rainbow]] and purple is a color often associated with royalty.
* MoralMyopia: Averted. While the Irkens treat all other races as nonentities, the Tallest have no qualms about shooting ''their own people'' out of cannons or airlocks. One at least can't fault them for hypocrisy there.
* NotSoHarmlessVillain: Par for being part of the Irken race, their childish egotism and hedonism [[TheSociopath masks their ruthlessness and greed]].
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness:
** It ''really'' says something about how '''furious''' they are with Zim in "Backseat Drivers From Beyond The Stars" when Purple (normally TheDitz of the two) starts to show some TranquilFury while Red (who has always been the more open of the two in their hatred of Zim) [[FauxAffablyEvil cheerily]] asks The Massive's technicians to [[BadNewsInAGoodWay "give our friend Zim a call."]]
** Similarly, them deciding to [[spoiler:simply destroy the Earth once it appears in The Massive's flight path so as to destroy Zim once and for all instead of [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident Making It Look Like An Accident]] helps show just how profoundly fed up they are with Zim's antics and that they now just want to ''kill'' him no matter what]].
* OnlySaneMan: ''Heavily'' downplayed, but Red generally serves as not only the StraightMan to Purple's {{Cloudcuckoolander}} tendencies, but also as one of the more level-headed Irken leaders (his own foolishness and laziness notwithstanding), and is typically the one to grab the SanityBall in interactions between the Tallest and Zim/other Irkens.
* OrcusOnHisThrone: They don't do much except lounge around their mothership.
* PaletteSwap: Of each other.
* PetTheDog: They occasionally have moments, generally directed at each other, that show that they have ''some'' capacity for good will:
** Red gets angry at Zim for denying Purple a planetful of snacks in "Tak: The Hideous New Girl".
*** In the same episode, Red affectionately pats Purple on the shoulder after smacking him over the head with his own puppet.
** At one point, they let Zim talk about humanity and seem quite intrigued by it. More specifically, they're fascinated by his claims of humans being taller than Irkens and yet still utter idiots.
** They also allowed Zim to give his show on Probing Day, despite openly hating him (They planned to fail and pummel him regardless, but still).
** Amazingly, they even have one that has nothing to do with either of them, or even their species: At the beginning of "Invasion of the Idiot Dog Brain" a young human boy wanders into Zim's base, followed shortly by his mother. She scolds him for wandering off, he cheerfully declares that he missed her, and the two leave. Purple smiles and says he's "glad it had a happy ending after all." Red, also smiling, agrees.
* PsychopathicManchild: Despite being the [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] overlords of the most powerful known race in the galaxy, they mostly act like a pair of lazy, arrogant and stupid teenagers. They love sweets and junk food, bicker over simple things, and make their servants present their planet-conquest strategies with puppet shows. Heck, their dynamic with Zim can best be described as two [[BigBrotherBully Big Brother Bullies]] and their AnnoyingYoungerSibling.
* PointyHairedBoss: Their only qualification for their job is their height. Fortunately for them, that's the only qualification that matters in Irken culture.
* PurpleIsPowerful: Purple, of course.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: Red, of course.
* SlouchOfVillainy: Their designs always make them look slightly hunched over, even in "The Nightmare Begins."
* SmugSnake: They're ''extremely'' arrogant and absolutely certain that nothing stands a chance of getting in their way of conquering the universe. While the Irken Empire ''is'' incredibly powerful, that fact is rather clearly unrelated to their incompetent despotism.
* TheSociopath: Don't be fooled by their laid-back laziness, as these guys are genocidal dicks.
* SweetTooth: It goes in hand with their BigEater status -- although it's possible that what humans consider junk food, [[BizarreAlienBiology Irkens consider healthy]].
* ThrownOutTheAirlock: Purple especially seems to enjoy doing this.
* TooDumbToLive: [[spoiler:Taken to its logical conclusion in ''Enter the Florpus'', where they refuse to steer their ship around the deadly Florpus hole since it would mean not going in a straight line. They get sucked into it and end up being burning alive in some kind of puppet {{Hell}}.]]
* TookALevelInDumbass: They were never the brightest bulbs in the series proper, but fly straight into TooDumbToLive territory in ''Enter The Florpus'' when they refuse to fly out of the path of [[spoiler:the Florpus Hole despite there being ''plenty of time to do so'', resulting in both them and the entire Irken Armada suffering a FateWorseThanDeath]].
* TookALevelInJerkass: The Tallest are ''much'' less subtle about their hatred of Zim in ''Enter The Florpus'', [[spoiler:to the point that they ultimately decide to ''blow up the Earth'' just to be rid of him once and for all.]]
* UncertainDoom: [[spoiler:As of the ending of ''Enter the Florpus,'' they are shown burning in a puppet-like alternate reality. Whether they ultimately perish in the Florpus, are stuck there alive for eternity, or somehow pass through and escape -- into their own reality or another -- remains unknown. The fact they're able to receive a transmission indicates that, at the very least, they're still on the Massive, which may be their only hope for survival. And even if they do make it out, they'll undoubtedly be traumatized for life.]]
* VitriolicBestBuds: Of a sorts. They spend a lot of time together and often play harmful pranks on one another.
* VomitDiscretionShot: Purple's reaction to the parasite eating Zim's brain at the end of "Backseat Drivers from Beyond the Stars."
* WhileRomeBurns: In the end of ''Enter The Florpus'', [[spoiler:their last words are of premature and stubbornly placed celebration as they fly headlong into the Florpus hole, dooming their entire race and them for presumably eternity.]]
* WouldHurtAChild: They send young Irkens to invade dangerous planets and seemingly don't care if they die along the way.
* YouDontLookLikeYou: Red's Series 2 Palisades toy gives him darker skin than Purple.
* YoungerThanTheyLook: They look older than Zim, but the script for the unproduced episode "The Trial" reveals that the three are actually all about the same age.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Invader Skoodge]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/invader_skoodge.png]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Ted Raimi

->''"So that no Irken boot has to come in contact with any unsavory alien filth! '''HOO-HA!'''"''

An incredibly short Invader, and perhaps the closest thing that Zim has to an actual friend. Had the show continued, he would have become a reoccurring character, and lived in Zim's basement.
----
* AffablyEvil: He doesn't really come across as being [[ForTheEvulz evil for its own sake]], but Irkens in general seem to have an AlwaysChaoticEvil bent and at the very least he is complicit to genocide.
* ButtMonkey: He was sent to a planet of Slaughtering Rat People, used as artillery against said planet after he pacified it, and then had his achievement given to someone else.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: With the exception of a variant cover for ''Issue #10'', he's absent from the new comics.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: He's the first Irken Invader to single-handedly complete his mission, and he survived being on a planet as it was being blown up. If it wasn't for his gullibility, he'd be an Irken to be reckoned with.
* MadeOfIron: Even more so than Zim, Dib, and Keef combined.
* NoRespectGuy: In spite of his accomplishments, the Tallest still treat him like crap because he's short.
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: We never get any indication of ''how'' exactly he managed to conquer Blorch, home of the Slaughtering Rat People, but he did it.
* ThePigPen: Quite downplayed, but his uniform is consistently dirty and covered in splotchy stains.
* TheDogBitesBack: The unfinished episode ''Day Of the Spookies'' actually has him take pleasure in tormenting Zim when the two pretend to be ghosts on ''Mysterious Mysteries'', and eventually leave him to be hauled off for study when things go south.
* UndyingLoyalty: Even with how the Tallest and Zim treat him, he's still determined to prove his worth and risks life and limb to please them. [[spoiler:Although it's shown even he has his limits.]]
* UnexplainedRecovery: Blatantly and repeatedly. He often appears to get killed only to later return alive and well with no explanation for his survival.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tak]]
[[quoteright:180:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/taktransparent.png]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Olivia d'Abo

->''"NO, IT ISN'T REVENGE! It's about taking back what's '''mine''', you delusional twit! '''I''' should have been an Invader! '''I''' should have been part of The Great Assigning! I shouldn't '''have''' to be stealing '''this''' planet from '''you'''!"''

A female Irken out to seek Zim's mission and prove herself as a worthy Invader to the Tallests. Fifty years ago, Zim caused a blackout that caused her to miss her test to become an Irken-Elite. Not to be confused with [[NamesTheSame the main character]] of another [[{{Creator/Nickelodeon}} Nick]] franchise, ''WesternAnimation/TakAndThePowerOfJuju.''
----
* AliensOfLondon: Tak has a British accent while none of the other Irkens do.
* BadassLongcoat: Both her disguise and her Irken uniform resemble a tailcoat in the back.
* BeautyMark: She has one under her eye, in both her normal state and human disguise.
* BerserkButton: She gets visibly enraged when Sara teasingly calls her Zim's "girlfriend", although she doesn't explode, since it would blow her cover. Instead, she uses her CompellingVoice to make Sara apologize and eat her own eraser.
* BestServedCold: Tak wants to conquer Earth before Zim, since Zim was the one who made her fail her military exam and sent her to work as a janitor on Planet Dirt for fifty years. She actually doesn't view it as revenge so much as setting things right, though—as she (correctly) points out, she's a highly competent invader who ''deserved'' to get assigned a planet, while Zim was sent there [[ReassignedToAntarctica just to get him out of the Almighty Tallests' antennae.]]
* BoyishShortHair: In her human disguise mode, she sports a spiky and punky bob cut.
* ButtMonkey: Somewhat, particularly being exiled from her planet despite being an excellent invader but Zim's idiocy caused this, and getting thwarted by Zim and being almost killed in a spaceship crash. Tak just couldn't catch a break.
* CatsAreMean: Her S.I.R. Mimi takes the guise of a cat, and is nasty powerful enough to kick Zim and GIR's asses.
* CompellingVoice: It only works on idiots though.
* EvilBrit: She is not a Brit of the humans, although her accent is clearly British.
* EvilerThanThou: To be fair, not ''eviler'' than Zim, just more competent.
* EvilLaugh: It's so hideous in contrast to her appearance.
* EvilVersusEvil: Her conflict with Zim, since both of them want to conquer the Earth.
* ForWantOfANail: Had Zim not decided to use a HumongousMecha to [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill retrieve a bag of chips from an obstinate vending machine]], Tak likely would have passed her exam and wouldn't even ''know'' who Zim was, let alone his activities on Earth.
* FreudianExcuse: Zim inadvertently ruining her chance to become an Irken Elite and getting her exiled to the planet Dirt as part of the janitorial staff spurred her quest to prove herself a ''real'' Invader by usurping Zim's intended target of conquest and actually turning it into something valuable for the Tallest.
* HypnoticEyes: Tak seems to possess these in the form of some sort of device in or near her eyes. While in disguise, a flash of her eyes allows her to erase short-term memories of her victims (unless their mind is too strong, like Dib's and Gaz's were) and, in one case, impose her will over others.
-->'''Sara:''' Looks like Zim has a girlfriend!\\
'''Tak:''' It's not NICE... to embarrass people! You should apologize... and... ''(eyes flash)'' eat your eraser!\\
'''Sara:''' ''(with MindControlEyes)'' Yes, Tak! I'm sorry, Zim. ''(takes a bite out of her eraser)''
* {{Irony}}: Had Zim not stopped her from taking the exam, she might've wound up among the invaders he blew up in Operation: Impending Doom 1.
* KnightOfCerebus: Tak is certainly a MUCH bigger threat to Earth than Zim. And comes very close to accomplishing her plans.
* LargeHam: It leads to HamToHamCombat when she argues with Zim.
* LovingBully: Completely subverted and played for laughs. Zim's conclusion that Tak, while disguised as a skool girl, physically abuses him because she's in love with him is just a sign of his InsaneTrollLogic. She really does just despise him and only uses his efforts to study "pain-based Earth affection" to torture him for giggles.
* MirrorCharacter: For as much as she likes to claim she's Zim's superior, they both shirked menial roles assigned to them (Zim's indentured employment on Foodcourtia and Tak's temporary janitorial duties on Planet Dirt) for what they perceived to be faster routes to glory. Interestingly enough, both their respective exiles are also technically Zim's fault: Zim got himself exiled for blowing up the invasion fleet during the previous invasion, and Tak was only exiled because Zim's stupidity prevented her from getting to her final exam on time.
* MoreDeadlyThanTheMale: And how!
* MotiveRant: She at one point goes on a rant on how she hates Zim for ruining her life and wants to make him pay for it.
* NoExceptYes: She insists that she isn't after Zim for revenge, but that she is going to steal his mission in particular rather than that of any other invader.
* NothingPersonal: While Tak doesn't deny that she hates Zim, she insists her plan isn't about revenge per se, so much as proving that she's worthy of being an Invader while he isn't.
* PurpleIsPowerful: Instead of the standard dark pink Irken uniform, she wears a purple one. Her eyes and the spots on her PAK are purple too.
* TheRival: She's Zim's rival in the invasion of Earth.
* {{Revenge}}: She claims her plan to usurp the conquest of Earth from Zim isn't about revenge but about making things right by proving she's a real Invader while Zim is just a joke. However, she is open on how much she loathes Zim and enjoys making him suffer. In fact, it's telling that rather than choose any other unclaimed planet that could be more appealing to the Tallest, she ''chose'' the backwater far-off Earth where Zim is, despite being clearly aware he was sent there by the Tallest to be rid of him. [[note]]However, given she's going against orders, taking Zim's exile planet and making it valuable while ruining Zim's life in the process was probably the only way she could do this and get away with it.[[/note]]
* SlidingScaleOfVillainEffectiveness: She's essentially a competent, intelligent version of Zim.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Is her SIR unit named Mimi or [=MiMi?=]
* TertiarySexualCharacteristics: Female Irkens have long eyelashes and curled antennae.
* VillainsBlendInBetter: Or in this case, Competent Villains Blend In Better. Her human disguise is far more convincing than Zim's, which says more on the latter given how well the other invaders were doing.
* WeWillMeetAgain: The last thing she says to Zim before he launches her into space. Had the series continued it was intended for her to come back as a recurring villain, but the closest she gets to returning in the show proper is her ship's presence, since it has an artificial intelligence copied off of her own brain.
* WomenAreWiser: She's the only prominently-featured female Irken, and is significantly more competent than Zim or the Tallest are.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Her human disguise.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tak's Ship]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Olivia d'Abo, Andy Berman

->''"DIB! Your face is STUPID!"''

The modified Spittle Runner Tak used to make her way to Earth. After she was defeated, Dib keeps it within his family's garage to further modify it and study Irken technology. After being reactivated, however, it's discovered that the ship's autopilot runs on a copy of Tak's personality, and is hesitant to allow anyone ''but'' Tak to even sit in itself, let alone pilot it.
----
* AIIsACrapshoot: The ship is able to copy the memories and personality of its user. However, without proper training and an environment to understand what's going on, it will likely go mad trying to understand what it even is.
* BrainUploading: It's able to utilize the brainwaves of its pilot as its primary AI, effectively becoming a robotic clone of them.
* CloningBlues: After Dib attempts to become its pilot by overwriting the AI derived from Tak with one made from his own brainwaves, the ship is wholeheartedly convinced that it ''is'' Dib.
* DrivenToSuicide: After running on a copy of Dib's brain that is then brainwashed by Zim, the real Dib tries to break it out of the mind control. While it remembers everything, it also concludes that such a life is so horrible that it would rather delete its own personality data.
* EnemyMine: Though it confesses that it hates Dib, it also acknowledges that it hates Zim more, and agrees to help Dib and Gaz with the understanding that it'll hurt Zim.
* SapientShip: The ship is not afraid to speak its mind at any given moment it's active. And that usually means voicing its displeasure at Dib or any other humans riding in it.
* SentientVehicle: An alien spaceship with a fully independent AI.
* TokenEvilTeammate: In ''Enter the Florpus,'' the ship teams up with Gaz and Dib to save the Earth but it's clear that the ship is only doing it because of its hatred for Zim.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Sizz-Lorr]]
[[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sizz-lorr_5148.png]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Jim Wise

->''"Nobody escapes from Sizz-Lorr. I will find you, Zim. I will search all of space's dark corners to hunt you down.'' '''''AND I WILL FIND YOOOOOUUUUU!!!'''''"

Zim's boss during his exile on Foodcourtia, an Irken frycook who runs Foodcourtia's premier restaurant. After Zim escaped the planet, Sizz-Lorr swore to make him come back if it was the last thing he did.
----
* AlmightyJanitor: He is the biggest, strongest, and probably the most powerful Irken ever seen in the show. And his job is being a fry cook. Though in his defense he is the highest ranking Fry Cook in the entire Irken Army, and given that the Food Court Planet is often used as a punishment, the position of head Fry Cook may function as a warden.
* BadBoss: PlayedWith. On the one hand, he took a good deal of delight in making Zim suffer and working him hard. On the other hand, Zim was sent there as ''banishment'' for nearly destorying their peoples' civilization without regret. As such, Sizz-Lorr's behavior could not only be justified, but also appropriate since he is not just Zim's boss, but more accurately his parole officer or even prison guard/warden.
** BenevolentBoss: He seems to be a pretty decent and reasonable boss over to his employees, i.e. the people he ''actually '''hired''''' rather than Zim, who is his prisoner.
* BigYes: He yells "Yes" in response to Zim's BigNo at having to work for him again.
* ChefOfIron: The natural result of combining his role as a chef and a badass. He even suits up in battle armor with a giant spatula as a weapon.
* ClarkKenting: Zim was unable to recognize him without his fry cook hat. And Sizz-Lorr was wearing his name tag.
* GeniusBruiser: Along with having the usual Irken technological prowess, he's huge, enormously strong and a skilled fighter. He's also one of the few characters who is distinctly not an idiot.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: His laser-spatula...thing.
* LargeAndInCharge: And how - he is taller than any other Irken we have ever seen, perhaps even surpassing Tallest Red and Purple.
* LargeHam: [[WorldOfHam It's a given that he'd be yet another hammy character.]]
* NiceHat: His frycook hat.
* PaperThinDisguise: This is a funny one. At first, it makes sense that Zim doesn't recognize him: while he is a very large guy, he's also wearing a gas mask and bodysuit. Then he reveals his face. Zim doesn't catch on. Then he takes off the suit, and changes into his fry cook outfit. Zim still doesn't get it. Then he ''puts on a nametag.'' Zim's still unable to place him. It's only when he finally puts on his tiny paper hat that Zim puts two and two together.
* PunnyName: Sizz-Lorr. Sizzler!
* RedEyesTakeWarning: After he finds out that Zim is gone in the flashback, his eyes momentarily glow red.
* RiddleForTheAges: Why is an Irken who is even larger than the Almighty Tallest and several times more competent working in fast food? Was he exiled like Zim? Does his weight counterract his height in the eyes of Irken society? Is the position of Frylord seen as just ''that'' sacred? The world may never know.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Vortian Prisoner 777]]
One of the Vortian military researchers used by the Irken Empire to produce their tech and weaponry, kept as a prisoner. He copes with this by making... [[AchillesHeel interesting]] [[CoolButStupid design decisions]] in Irken weapons, and trusting them to Zim, who he knows full well will [[LethallyStupid do something horrible with them]].
----
* GadgeteerGenius: A seemingly common trait for Vortians, who have provided Zim with ''many'' idiotic devices that seem outright designed to kill whoever uses them, such as the malfunctioning santa suit Zim uses in the christmas special, and probably the megadoomer.
* IHaveYourWife: How Zim gets said gadgets from him - he has 777's children stuck in a tube with an "Erase Children" button attached.
* NoNameGiven: We never learn his real name.
* SarcasticDevotee: He's very happy to ''help'' Zim. [[GoneHorriblyRight For a given value]] [[GoneHorriblyWrong of "help."]]
-->'''777''': "(Sarcastically hammy tone) That would be ''wrong!'' It'd infuriate the armada! (Suddenly helpful) I helped design that ship, you know. *{{beat}}* Here you go!"
* YouAreNumberSix: Is only ever referred to by his prison number.
[[/folder]]

!!Skool

[[folder:Miss Bitters]]
[[quoteright:180:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/MsBittersTvtropes_4577.jpg]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Lucille Bliss

->''"The universe is doomed. Doomed! DOOOOOOOMED!... Go home now."''

Zim and Dib's pessimistic old crank teacher of an unclear species.
----
* AmbiguouslyHuman: She's almost definitely not human, even if we assume she ''was'' one at some point in the now-distant past, but we're not quite sure ''what'', exactly, she is. Sunlight [[WeakenedByTheLight burns her]]. The only possibility she's been willing to extend is her claim that she was a fairy princess when she was younger.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Due to Lucille Bliss's death, Miss Bitters just made a non-speaking cameo at the beginning of ''Enter the Florpus''.
* DevilInPlainSight: She does little to nothing to hide how inhuman she is, but no one seems to be even remotely aware of her monstrous nature. Even ''[[AgentMulder Dib]]'' is convinced she's just a very creepy but otherwise normal old woman.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Despite the obvious hatred she has for her students, she thinks Dib is [[YouDontWantToKnow happier not knowing]] how meat replaced candy for Valentine's Day and even expressed "moral outrage" to the principal allowing the kids to celebrate the holiday.
* TheFairFolk: If what she said about formerly being a fairy princess is true, she is most certainly this rather than [[FairyCompanion the friendlier type]]. [[UsedToBeASweetKid Well, she is now.]]
* [[GrumpyOldMan Grumpy Old Woman]]: Cantankerous as all hell and lives up to her name.
* HatesEveryoneEqually: She hates her students, she hates their parents (who ''used'' to be her students), she hates the world she inhabits, and she hates the entire universe.
* HiddenDepths: For someone as perpetually angry, nihilistic and mean-spirited as Miss Bitters, she occasionally comments on how she used to have hopes and dreams, and that the world wasn't always such a hellhole in her time. She even apparently used to love someone.
* HumanoidAbomination: According to one source, Miss Bitters didn't come to teach, as she's always existed on that land... ''the Skool was simply built around her.''
* {{Leitmotif}}: Her presence often comes with the sound of cicadas.
* LivingShadow: She sometimes sneaks up on people by becoming their shadow. Literally.
* MeaningfulName: Her name reflects her '''bitter''', nihilistic attitude.
* MultipleChoicePast: She was supposedly a fairy princess once and went into space as a kid, [[UnexplainedRecovery until the rocket imploded]]. Meanwhile, [[AllThereInTheManual tie-in materials]] claim that she's always been where she is now, and the skool was built around her. The 15th issue of the ''ComicBook/InvaderZim'' comic book has the Skoolchildren theorize more backstories for her, such as being a golem created centuries ago to enact revenge on behalf of her creator and being part of a race of bug people planning to invade Earth.
* NoodleIncident: See MultipleChoicePast. There were apparently supposed to be [[RunningGag even more of them]], but they got cut for one reason or another.
* PerpetualFrowner: She has only two expressions and moods to go with them: irritated and infuriated.
* SadistTeacher: She's a teacher and isn't very nice to her students.
* SnakePeople: She's tall and thin and swirls through the air and curls around people like a boa constrictor. Rattlesnake sounds show up when she speaks or gets annoyed.
* StrawNihilist: PlayedForLaughs. She often gives lectures to her students on how there's no hope for anyone and that doom is the only thing to come in the end.
* {{Transplant}}: She was ComicBook/{{Squee}}'s teacher before becoming a character in this show.
* WeakenedByTheLight: She has to wear heavy, hooded robes on the one occasion we see her leave the building.
* UsedToBeASweetKid: Implied at times by her [[MultipleChoicePast numerous backstories.]]
* WasOnceAMan: One of her backstories implies that she used to be human before she became whatever she is now.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Skool Children]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/PhilLamarr (The Letter M), Jim Wise (Willy), Paul Greenberg (Poonchy), Creator/JaniceKawaye (Sara), Antoinette Spolar (Aki, Gretchen, Jessica, Mary, Peyoopi, and Spoo), Rosearik Rikki Simons (Chunk and Pigboy), Mo Collins (Zita), Creator/JasonMarsden (Zootch and Torque Smacky), Jhonen Vasquez (Brian, Carl and Old Kid)

->''"We think Dib's even crazier than normal today! Can we use one of our Crazy Cards to send him to the Crazy House for Boys?"''
-->--'''Zita'''

The other kids in the Skool which Zim and Dib attend, which includes Miss Bitters' class. They mostly act like normal kids and have absolutely no idea that Zim's an alien.
----
* AerithAndBob: From Gretchen, Rob, and Carl, to Peyoopi, Keef, and Chunk.
* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Gretchen seems to have a crush on Dib, though he's more interested in chasing after Zim. In "Tak, the Hideous New Girl", she gives him a plate full of heart-shaped meat, and is later seen crying when she sees him talking to Tak.
* AlphaBitch: Jessica appears to be one. She gossips about Zim snobbily in "Bestest Friend", and subsequently refers to a group of unpopular kids sitting together at a table as "rejects". She's also snobby in the comics.
* AmusingInjuries:
-->'''Zootch:''' Argh! My organs!
* AnimeHair: [[http://zim.wikia.com/wiki/File:Peyoopi.png Peyoopi]]
* ButtMonkey: Due to having [[OmnicidalManiac Zim]] as a classmate, and [[SadistTeacher Miss Bitters]] as a teacher.
* BracesOfOrthodonticOverkill: Gretchen has huge braces that visibly stick out from her mouth, so much so that she looks as though she has no lower jaw.
* DemotedToExtra: In ''Enter The Florpus'' almost all of them aren't given speaking roles except for Poonchy during a gag in the earlier part of the movie, and none of them are referred to by name. The most they do is unwittingly help Zim's plan to transport Earth into the path of the Irken Armada along with every other child on the planet.
* TheDitz: Willy doesn't even seem to be smart enough to speak.
* EveryoneHasStandards: While they won't hesitate to pick on students, they seem to mark the line at discrimination against people for how they look. Some of the children call Dib out for calling Zim an alien just for how he looks in "The Nightmare Begins" and Zita calls Dib out for hurting Pigboy's feelings in "The Frycook What Came from All That Space" when he says that they aren't pigs.
* EvilRedhead: Chunk and Rob both have red hair and aren't very nice.
* {{Irony}}: They call Dib crazy, but some of them act even weirder than they accuse him of being.
* JerkJock: Downplayed by Torque Smacky, who is a burly kid that is always shown doing curls with a weight. While he's hardly a LovableJock, and shoves Zim to the ground just for looking at him funny, he tends to be fairly hands off compared to the other kids in terms of bullying and is the only one among them shown to actually be capable of having a civil ([[OneDialogueTwoConversations albeit one-sided]]) conversation with Dib.
* JerkassHasAPoint: [[KidsAreCruel While they're all generally shown to be mean-spirited little assholes no matter the context]], their ostracization of Dib isn't without some legitimate ground. From what we see of his social interactions, Dib [[ItsAllAboutMe often aggressively forces his obsession with the paranormal onto others and ignores or dismisses their own interests as being unimportant]]. Flashbacks to his early childhood in "Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy" show him ruining another kid's birthday party because he mistook an alien-shaped punching bag for the real thing and harassing a child [[AmbiguouslyHuman who may or may not have been a bigfoot]] simply for looking like a monster, [[KnightTemplar despite him seemingly having been just minding his own business]].
* KarmaHoudini: Usually get away with how they treat Dib and sometimes Zim, totally scott-free.
* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: That said, some episodes have them hurt or traumatized by Zim's plans which they ignore Dib's warnings of.
* KidsAreCruel: Dib's class makes no effort to hide how much they hate him. The only ones to be exempt from this are Gretchen, Keef and a handful of recurring kids who don't pick on Dib. Even Gretchen is seen laughing at Dib in "Room With a Moose" and "Frycook What Come From All That Space."
* NiceHat: Carl, who wears a red stocking cap.
* NoIndoorVoice: [[MeaningfulName Screamy]], who appears in the unfinished episode "Ten Minutes to Doom."
* NoNameGiven: The OneSceneWonder student president in "The Voting of the Doomed."
* ThePigPen: Willy is disgustingly filthy.
* RecurringExtra: They're essentially minor characters who frequently appear in scenes taking place at Skool.
* TheStoic: Torque Smacky seems indifferent to anything that doesn't involve sports or excercising, and even those don't elicit much of a reaction from him.
* TeachersPet: Zita is the only student who Miss Bitters seems to like.
* TookALevelInJerkass: In the earlier episodes, while they never liked Dib or Zim, they hardly did anything worse than make minor insults to them or talk badly about them behind their backs. Later episodes have several of them cruelly mocking and physically humiliating them, to the point where Zim attempts to trap them in an alternate dimension and Dib questions if they're even worth saving in ''A Room with a Moose''. Everyone outright refuses to sit on the ''side of the bus as him'', because it could damage some unexplained credibility they have.
-->'''Rob:''' If we go over [to the other side of the bus], then we'd be ''near'' you.\\
'''Jessica:''' That doesn't sound cool.\\
'''Morla:''' Do you see our dilemma?
* VocalDissonance: In "Tak, the Hideous New Girl", a female student yells "WIENERS ROCK!" in an adult man's voice.
* WeirdnessCensor: UpToEleven. No matter how obvious it is that Zim is an alien, they are too dumb or oblivious to see it. "The Frycook What Came From All That Space" has Sizz-Lorr kidnap Zim in front of the whole class and they act like nothing happened.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Zita and Gretchen have purple hair, Peyoopi has green hair, and Sara has blue hair.
* YoungerThanTheyLook: Old Kid, as his name implies, is a child that somehow looks like an elderly man.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Keef]]
[[quoteright:217:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/keef.png]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Danny Cooksey
An overly optimistic schoolboy with an abnormal resistance to injury, Keef is the first (and likely only) human Zim attempts to make friends with.
----
* AmbiguouslyHuman: Not only incredibly durable, absorbent, and unnaturally optimistic, but he also has only three fingers, the same as Irkens.
* BirdsOfAFeather: The unproduced "Return of Keef" reveals that he and GIR naturally get along perfectly.
* CheerfulChild: Nothing that hasn't been stated before.
* {{Determinator}}: Keef never seems to lose his cheery demeanor and hopeless optimism, brushing off the most gruesome injuries with a cheeky smile.
* DumbassHasAPoint: In the unreleased episode "Return of Keef", he redecorates Dib's room and gets rid of his paranormal stuff, because it was "making him sad." Considering how ninety percent of Dib's suffering comes from his obsession with hunting monsters, it's hard to argue with that.
* EyeScream: Zim's "friendship" present. Don't worry, he was fine by the next episode.
* FieryRedhead: To the point where he literally ''explodes'' from enthusiasm at one point.
* GenreBlind: Considering the CrapsackWorld he lives in, you probably wouldn't be so perpetually cheerful if you were in his place.
* HiddenDepths: In his proper debut, he paints a recreation of ''Madonna and Child'' by Giovanni Bellini (with him and Zim substituting), suggesting he's quite a skilled artist for his age. And in Issue 15 of the comics, he shows himself to be a very creative storyteller.
* {{Keet}}: A very cheery and energetic boy. His name even sounds like the word!
* KiddieKid: Wears a shirt with rainbows on it, uses words like "bestest" and prefers skipping over walking. While all of the Skool children are idiots, Keef is one in a very distinctly childish way.
* MadeOfIron: He's inexplicably highly resistant to pain. In fact, the main reason Zim chose him to be his best friend is because he endured the greatest amount of physical torture out of the candidates for the position.
* NiceGuy: Probably the nicest kid in Skool. Unfortunately, since he's in a SadistShow, it does not end well for him.
* ThePollyanna: Keef is always friendly and cheerful, despite the CrapsackWorld he lives in.
* StepfordSmiler: Implied a few times. Before he meets Zim at the Rejects' lunch table, he looks unusually downtrodden like the rest of his friends. Later, he frowns briefly when his invitations to Zim's "Party" are rejected.
* TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: Zim has to ''rip out his eyes'' to get him to leave him alone once they become friends. Even then, the only reason that he does is because his robotic replacements trick him into thinking that a squirrel is Zim.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Groyna]]

A schoolgirl who temporarily teams up with Dib in issue 8 of the comics to investigate the infestation of alien pants Zim has brought to earth.
----
* ActionGirl: Only a year higher than Dib, and yet a hardened fighter against [[ItMakesSenseInContext a pants invasion.]]
* AmbiguouslyGay: Despite calling Sheather her "best friend", the way she's openly emotional about reuniting,coupled with the fact that Sheather wears a single earring, suggests there's something closer going on between them.
** Eventually confirmed as such by Eric Trueheart.
* BadassNormal: She's a human skool-kid whose able to hold her own against alien parasites and is the only one sans Dib to escape infestation.
* ButchLesbian: Implied to be this, and displays quite a few mannerisms.
* {{Determinator}}: She survived the pants invasion long enough to reunite and embrace her friend after the Ubertrouser was destroyed.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: In an unusual turn for this universe, Groyna actually reunites with Sheather after the pants invasion is over, and the two are last seen embracing with tears of joy.
* EmotionalBruiser: Groyna is clearly weeping as she fights her pants controlled friend.
* GodCreatedCanonForeigner: Groyna was supposed to appear in the cancelled episode "Pants!". When the show was eventually given a comic continuation, she made her proper debut.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: Groyna is the last survivor of Zim's alien pants invasion plan. She's wise to the pants' habits of finding prey and has even killed a few over the last several days. Of course, since this is following Dib, we don't actually get much of her side of the story.
* HugeSchoolGirl: Groyna is built like a bodybuilder and unusually athletic for a kid from this universe.
* TheLadette: She states she's a year ahead of Dib and captain of the School Vooleyball team.
* OneShotCharacter: Thus far, she's only ever appeared in one issue, although Eric Trueheart has expressed interest in her returning.
* OnlySaneMan: In contrast to the usually brainless masses who line up for whatever insidious fad Zim's promoting, Groyna resists all the way and even calls the alien pants for what they are.
* TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: She is a female jock with a [[BrawnHilda Brawn Hilda-ish]] appearance and an openly emotional personality, as seen by how she cries under stress and lovingly embraces her best friend [[spoiler: once the two of them are reunited]].
[[/folder]]


!!Aliens, Monsters and Weirdos

[[folder:The Resisty]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Resisty_8734.jpg]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/FredTatasciore (Lard Nar), Paul Greenberg (Shloonktapooxis), Creator/RodgerBumpass (Spleenk)

->''"You haven't seen the last...of the RESISTY! (That's right, that's still our name!)"''

Latecomers to the series, the Resisty are a RagtagBunchOfMisfits from different planets who banded together to... well, [[LaResistance resist]] the [[EvilEmpire Evil Irken Empire]]. Led by Lard Nar, a former engineer from Planet Vort.
----
* AliensOfLondon: Like Tak, Lard Nar has a British accent, for some reason.
* AllThereInTheScript: The character's names are only given in the end credits and the script.
* BigGood: As an organized band trying to take down the Irken Empire, they ''want'' to be this, but, unfortunately for them, they're far too ineffectual and the Irkens are too powerful for the Resisty to actually get anywhere. The only reason they even had a ''shot'' was because of Zim hijacking control of the Massive, or they would have vaporized then and there. They would've reappeared to continue the fight had the series continued, but whether they would've gotten anywhere with their goals is anyone's guess.
* CastOfSnowflakes: Every single one of them is a distinct-looking alien, making them a very diverse bunch.
* CharacterDevelopment: It's only in one episode, but you can still kinda see Lard Nar come into his own over the course of "Backseat Drivers" -- from a guy who completely freaks out over the slightest setback, to a leader undaunted at even the loss of his entire ship.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Shloonktapooxis. The best example of his looniness is when he suggests they call their group "the Pirate Monkeys", for no reason other than thinking the name is awesome.
* CoolChair: Lard Nar has a neat-looking chair he sits in.
* CoolShip: They have an awesome ship. Too bad they had to shrinky self-destruct it.
* CowardlyLion: The idea of launching an attack on the Massive directly causes Lard Nar to have an instant FreakOut, but he still goes through with organizing one for the sake of hurting the Irkens and strengthening the resistance.
* DavidVsGoliath: They're a scrappy resistance movement that is just starting to bud attempting to take down the most powerful race in the universe. It would be an understatement to say that their chances of succeeding are slim.
* DeterminedDefeatist: Lard Nar freaks out at the drop of a hat and seems to have almost no faith in the Resisty's chances of actually stopping the Irken Empire (despite being its ''leader''), but continues to lead it nonetheless.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: The Resisty didn't realize just how out of their depth they were until they came face to face with the Massive. Zim hijacking the Massive's power core was the only thing that kept them from being blown to smithereens.
-->'''Lard Nar''': My people designed most of that thing, so I know how powerful it is. ''({{Beat}})'' [[SuddenlyShouting WE'RE GONNA DIE! WHOSE IDEA WAS THIS?!]]
* TheDitz: Both Shloonktapooxis and Spleenk seem to be idiots. To be more specific, Spleenk seems to be an idiot, while Shloonktapooxis seems to be straight up [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} insane]].
* FakeUltimateHero: Lard Nar tries to project the image of a cool and charismatic leader onto himself, but is both too much of a coward and too aware of how in over his head he is to ever pull it off for very long.
* FromBadToWorse: Things go downhill for them when their power core is teleported out of the ship and swapped with the Massive's faulty one. There ''was'' good news... until they realized they were about to crash into Earth, meaning they had to abandon ship.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: They're a resistance force trying to stop the Irken Empire's galactic conquest, though their storyline isn't explored nor expanded due to the show's untimely cancellation.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Lard Nar continues to take Spleenk's advice even after he proves himself over and over again to be a moron. It reaches a point where even ''Spleenk himself'' has no clue why Lard Nar listens to him at all.
* InTheHood: Ixane wears a face-obscuring cloak.
* LaResistance: Their goal is to fight back against the Irken invaders.
* LargeHam: Whether he's giving a RousingSpeech or having a screaming FreakOut, Lard Nar is ''very'' melodramatic.
* MoodSwinger: Lard Nar, at least to start with.
* MultipleHeadCase: One of them, although he isn't given a name.
* NervousWreck: While Lard Nar attempts to seem like a dignified RebelLeader, it takes very little to send him into a screaming panic attack. Justified, as his background as a former weapon developer for the Irken Empire has made him [[DavidVsGoliath all too aware of how horribly outmatched he and his followers are]].
* NoNameGiven: All of them are nameless except for Lard Nar, Shloonktapooxis, Spleenk, and Ixane, and even ''they'' only get them [[AllThereInTheScript in the scripts]].
* {{One Shot Character}}s: They were meant to be more, but the show was cancelled before their plotline could get past its introduction. Lard Nar does show up in a non-speaking role in the unproduced script for "The Trial."
* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Again, Lard Nar. Though he quickly clears his throat and tries to look like [[TheAce a badass]] again.
* SurroundedByIdiots: Lard Nar seems to be relatively smart, but his two most vocal assistants are bumbling idiots, and the rest of the group don't speak up enough to make it clear whether they're any better.
* TwoGirlsToATeam: Ixane and an unnamed blobbish creature are the only two who seem to be female, and both are OutOfFocus.
* TheVoiceless: Only Lard Nar, Shloonktapooxis and Spleenk speak during their sole appearance, making the entire rest of the Resisty qualify as this. Ixane in particular counts, however, as she is the only one besides the main three to be named in the script despite not saying a word.
* TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask: Parodied with Lard Nar. He's aware of the futility of the Resisty's mission and terrified for his life, but puts on a mask of being a calm and calculated leader for the sake of maintaining his comrades' morale. The only problem is that he's very, ''very'' bad at doing this, and cracks under the absolute slightest pressure.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Planet-Jackers]]
->'''Voiced by:'''Sherman Howard(Oog-Ah) Rob Izenberg(Nik)

->''"That one's gonna burn real good. Critters Burn good!"''
A species of advanced aliens on a planet orbiting a dying sun. To keep their planet safe, they hijack worlds with a massive towing ship and launch them into said sun. Two try to steal Earth, much to Zim's chagrin.
----
* AerithAndBob: The pair's names, Oog-Ah and Nik.
* AffablyEvil: Nik at least is friendly with his more surly fellow planet jacker and initially tries to reason with Zim when he comes to stop them.
* AllThereInTheManual: The nick E-cards reveal a lot more background on the two, as well as their names.
* BigGuyLittleGuy: Nik is scrawny and less aggressive, while Oog-Ah is hulking and more inclined to a fight.
* DavidVersusGoliath: Because Oog-Ah is much bigger and stronger, Zim's strategy is letting himself take a beating while GIR cuts loose the earth from it's prison. Given Zim's [[MadeOfIron remarkable durability]], it actually works.
* FairPlayVillain: After he's done beating the Irken to a pulp, Oog-Ah lets Zim retreat. Even if he's willing to destroy entire worlds, he evidently doesn't like killing unnecessarily.
* FailedASpotCheck: A pretty big one too. Zim cuts loose Earth from their shieldings, but they go on anyway, completely failing to notice the planet is gone.
* GeniusBruiser: May be a whole race of them. They've developed technology strong enough to tow ''whole planets'' and going by Oog-Ah, are very tough and brutal fighters.
* HiddenDepths: According to the E-cards, Oog-Ah has a secret love of Ballet and wanted to be an architect before he was drafted into planet-jacking service.
* MightyGlacier: Oog-Ah moves very slow but hits Zim very hard. Justified as they're fighting in the vacumn of space.
* PunchClockVillain: They steal planets to save their own world, not out of power-hungry malice like the Irkens. Oog-Ah even seems annoyed at having to fight Zim.
* SolarCPR[=/=]HurlItIntoTheSun: Their sun is dying out. Their solution? Steal entire planets from other galaxies and drop them into it as "kindling". Whether this process works or not is anyone's guess, but the ones we see aren't making the rules -- their planet's government is.
* TranquilFury: Oog-Ah is the more surly and angry of the two, but he's much more composed than our favorite Irken and barely shows fury as he's laying a beatdown.
* VitriolicBestBuds: Oog-Ah threatens to eat off Nik's head, but also shares some laughs with him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Nhar-Gh'ok]]
[[quoteright:348:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ok_2680.png]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/PhilLamarr (Shnooky)

->''"We will take your ship! And for the trouble you've caused, we're going to destroy your base, leaving you stranded here. Just like we were."''

A race of aliens led by Gorkspace Sergeant Shnooky who were stranded on Earth posing as human babies after an incident in a maternity ward. They attempt to take Zim's ship and use it to fly back to their home planet. It doesn't end well for them.
----
* AliensSpeakingEnglish: As is standard for aliens in the ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' universe, they're extraterrestrials that already know and speak the English language.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Zim refuses to let them take his ship. They threaten to take his ship, destroy his base, report him to the human authorities, and leave him stranded on Earth.
* FateWorseThanDeath: At the end of ''Plague of Babies,'' Zim uses the power amplifier to reduce their intelligence to that of real babies.
* FusionDance: In their final confrontation with Zim, they all merge together into a giant monster.
-->'''Shnooky''': Now, my minions! FORM GIGANTO-BABY!
* HumanOutsideAlienInside: They look like human babies on the outside, but their sharp teeth, protruding tongues, and ability to spit an acid-like substance suggest that their resemblance to human infants is only superficial.
* NoNameGiven: Like the Resisty, most of them are not given individual names.
* PoisonousPerson: One of them spits out an acid-like substance to melt through the wall of Zim's base.
* VocalDissonance: Shnooky talks with a very deep voice.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ultra Peepi]]
[[quoteright:244:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ultra_peepi.jpg]]

Once an ordinary, adorable hamster Miss Bitters brought in to increase class enthusiasm, Peepi is soon transformed into a seemingly unstoppable creature of destruction by...well, guess who.
----
* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: Fairly standard example, he's a giant, all consuming beast that's normally looked upon as something small and fragile.
* BadassAdorable: A cute fluffy hamster that just happens to be 150 ft tall and with an array of evolving, deadly powers.
* BigEater: Literally, he even increases in size the more matter he consumes.
* CutenessProximity: Zim planned to weaponize him for this very purpose, as anyone who looks at him quickly gets distracted by his cute mannerisms and fluffy appearance.
* FluffyTheTerrible: Peepi, the cute hamster who will stomp you into nothing without a care.
* {{Kaiju}}: A clear tribute to giant monster movies from Japan.
* KillerRabbit: Even as a {{Kaiju}} he still retains his innocent appearance and behavior, which just distracts none-so wise citizens before he squashes them.
* MakeMyMonsterGrow: It started when Zim mutated Peepi, then continues as he evolves from the matter he eats.
* NonMaliciousMonster: He's basically just a curious, playful animal that got transformed into a monster and doesn't understand how much damage he's doing to the world around him.
* PersonOfMassDestruction: He lay wastes to an entire city, as well as the military that attacks him. It gets so extreme even ''Zim'' has to reel him back.
* RodentsOfUnusualSize: Again, giant hamster.
* TouchedByVorlons: A particularly extreme example of how Irken technology can affect Earth lifeforms.
* UncertainDoom: Zim sends him rocketing into space, then crashing to Earth. While a title card of him appears assuring the audience NoAnimalsWereHarmed, it's not revealed if he survived.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Countess Von Verminstrasser]]
->'''Voiced by:'''Mindy Sterling

->''"You dare question me?! Question my methods!? You who stand to benefit the most from my research? You disgust me!"''

The extremely paranoid, short tempered, and militant head of the "Delousers" an organization devoted to stopping rapid lice infections. Dib initially thinks she's nuts, but there's more to the issue than meets the eye.
----
* BadassLabcoat: Comes with the occupation.
* {{Foil}}: An older and angrier female counterpart for Dib. She could be considered one for Tak as well, since both are much more competent and ruthless than their male foils and actually come ''damn close'' to a full victory.
* GoodIsNotNice: Wants to stop lice for the good of mankind, but she's not a pleasant person.
* HairTriggerTemper: Very quick to snap and argue with anyone who criticizes her work.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: Well, "hero" would be a ''huge'' stretch, but it's implied hunting giant insect infestations is the norm for her and she still has a semi-heroic endgame.
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: As she justifies her extreme methods:
-->"Some will suffer yes, but for the greater good!"
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: A much more subtle example. She's extremely egotistical and her methods are ridiculously cruel, but she's still desperate to keep the public safe from the threat of the "Queen Lice" and is quick to congratulate and credit Zim for his (incredibly unwilling) role in stopping it.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: Using [[VillainProtagonist Zim]] as lice repellent, all while completely unaware of what he is.
* KnightTemplar: Goes to frightening extremes to contain ''lice'' and has no regard whatsoever for how the students feel.
* MamaBear: Ironically has this attitude toward Zim during the final showdown as she's flaying him alive.
-->''"Hold on, baby!"''
* {{Narcissist}}: Like Dib, Verminstrasser ''really'' wants to be validated by her peers as a hero, but she's a far, far more dangerous case of this. It doesn't help as much by the fact that her beliefs turn out to be right.
* NeverMessWithGranny: She's an elderly woman who is still very physically capable and dangerous.
* ProperlyParanoid: As it turns out, all her years of ranting about a giant Queen Lice were ''correct''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Halloweenies]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/RodgerBumpass (Nightmare Bitters and Nightmare Membrane), Creator/MelissaFahn (Nightmare Gaz), Jhonen Vasquez (Yolk), Creator/KevinMichaelRichardson (Hummelflesh), Rosearik Rikki Simons (The Enigma)

Because Dib's life isn't screwed up enough, his subconscious is a gateway to a dark netherworld, whose inhabitants are grotesquely twisted versions of almost everyone he knows.
----
* AlwaysChaoticEvil: They make the Irkens look reasonable.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Nightmare Bitters is their leader, and rips apart Zim's mech very easily.
* AlasPoorVillain: The ones who end up banished by Nightmare Bitters, considering how their comrades are visibly saddened to see them leave.
* BadBoss: Nightmare Bitters has a bad habit of banishing her underlings to the "Realm of Eternal Screaming and Restlessness" even for things that aren't their fault.
* BodyHorror: As you'd expect, they're all grotesquely twisted in appearance, with each creature being different.
* DarkWorld: And yet, it's all found in Dib's large head.
* HorrifyingTheHorror: After Nightmare Bitters finally manages to escape into the real world, she is so disgusted by the children and terrified by a morbidly obease and chocolate covered GIR that she flees screaming.
* KnightOfCerebus: Amusingly inverted. While Nightmare Bitters, the leader of a race of war-mongering extra-dimensional monsters, ''should'' be this, she's actually somewhat childlike and fun-loving, especially compared to her main show counterpart.
* MonsterLord: Again, Nightmare Bitters.
* OurMonstersAreWeird: A lot of them are pretty bizarre-looking. The best example is The Enigma, who for some reason has a steering wheel on his stomach.
* PunchClockVillain: Their attitudes when not terrorizing or being "spooky" isn't much different from everyday folk.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:"Mary" and "Fred"]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Eric Trueheart and Paul Greenberg[[note]]Brian George and Jim Wise were credited because Eric Trueheart and Paul Greenberg's recordings were intended to be placeholders, but were mistakenly used in place of Brian George and Jim Wise's recordings at the last minute.[[/note]]

A pair of aliens who once captured Zim under the mistaken belief that he was a bona fide human being. Zim ends up escaping them easily because they're both really dumb.
----
* AliensOfLondon: "Fred" (the blue-eyed one) has a Cockney British accent.
* BizarreAlienBiology: Laughing apparently causes green goo to squirt out of their ears.
* TheDitz: Both aliens are clearly stupid as mud because of their very poor understanding of Earth life forms and barely doing anything about Zim and GIR escaping. Heck, they still believe Zim to be a human and GIR to be a dog after they remove their disguises in front of them!
* PaperThinDisguise: Somehow, their human disguises are even ''worse'' than Zim's. All they wear are smocks with human bodies printed on them and crude-looking masks. To make their disguises even more ridiculous, the one disguised as a male human has the nametag reading "Mary", while the one in the female disguise has the nametage reading "Fred".
* {{Transplant}}: They originated as minor characters in ''ComicBook/{{Squee}}''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mortos der Soulstealer]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/WallyWingert

A being from the netherworld who appears every 1,000 years. Before returning home, he has to grant one mortal a wish.
----
* AntiAntichrist: An undead being with ungodly supernatural powers who rises from the netherworld every one thousand years to... just dick around.
* BerserkButton: He gets really angry when Dib calls him a mooch.
* BigEater: He has a voracious appetite. One of the first things he does after Dib asks that he steal Zim's soul is order a fuckton of [=McMeaties=] food.
* HulkSpeak: He refers to himself in third person and a lot of his sentences are incomplete.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Clembrane]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/JhonenVasquez

Debuting in ''Enter the Florpus'', Clembrane is a failed clone of Professor Membrane created by Zim in the past as part of an aborted plan to swap him out with the real Membrane and have him ground Dib forever. Zim gave up on him, not because the clone obviously looks, sounds and acts absolutely nothing like the real Professor Membrane, but because the clone couldn't make pudding just the way Dib likes... even though Dib doesn't even like pudding. Nevertheless, Zim does find a use for Clembrane in his plots eventually.
----
* AntiVillain: He does Zim's bidding but not out of malice. He really is convinced that he's the real Professor Membrane and that Dib and Gaz are his beloved children. Him essentially keeping them under house arrest is mostly so he can spend time with them.
* BerserkButton: More out of distraught than outright anger, but Dib insisting that he's not his dad will cause him to scream at the top of his lungs and thrash around.
* ChekhovsGunman: Introduced as a minor gag early into the movie, but becomes a major presence in it later on.
* CloneDegeneration: A deformed clone of Membrane who is clearly... out there.
* CloningBlues: Averted. Though he's a clone, he's convinced that he's the real Professor Membrane and is completely content with his lot in life. [[spoiler:He even seemingly joins the Membrane household at the end of ''Enter the Florpus'', either still oblivious to the fact that he's a clone or content with the "imposter" Professor Membrane living with him and "his" kids.]]
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: See ImplacableMan. Plus, during the climax, he's actually able to knock out Membrane, who up until that moment had been a OneManArmy [[spoiler: and his HeelFaceTurn is what marks Zim's defeat]].
* EasyImpersonation: Even though Zim designed him to be a clone of Professor Membrane, Clembrane just looks like some kind of fish monster just wearing his clothes. Absolutely nobody mistakes the two of them, with only Zim, being Zim, believing the two look like a perfect match. Dib and Gaz only go along with the ruse because Clembrane throws destructive temper tantrums when they say he's not their dad.
* GoneHorriblyRight: Zim wanted a clone of Professor Membrane that he could use against Dib. He failed in matching the clone to the real Membrane in almost every capacity except for one. [[spoiler:Clembrane shares Membrane's love for "his" children.]]
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Though he only barely qualifies as a villain, he still turns on Zim at the end of ''Enter the Florpus'' and hands Minimoose over to Professor Membrane so he can use it to save the Earth from the Florpus.]]
* ImplacableMan: Despite looking like some deformed fishman, his bizarre thought processes, and obsession with pudding, Clembrane is scarily competent at preventing Dib and Gaz from escaping the Membrane household. Gaz tells Dib she tried every way possible to get out only for him to stop her at every turn, and given what Gaz has shown herself to be capable of, it's surprisingly impressive.
* LethalChef: Clembrane is obsessed with serving Dib and Gaz pudding at every opportunity, but apparently Zim wasn't understating it when he said the clone was incapable of making pudding just the way Dib liked (even though Dib doesn't even like pudding). According to Gaz, it's the worst tasting pudding in the world. [[spoiler:Though, as part of convincing Clembrane to side with her family, she lies and tells him it's the finest pudding she's ever tasted.]]
* MonsterRoommate: [[spoiler:At the end of ''Enter the Florpus'', Dib questions if Clembrane just lives with the Membrane family now. Apparently the answer is "yes", even if the real Professor Membrane remains confused about the situation.]]
* MyBelovedSmother: A male version. He's convinced he's the real Professor Membrane and that Dib and Gaz are his actual children and acts very overbearing towards them, smothering them and forcing them to spend time with him.
* NonMammalianHair: He has a hairstyle that mimics Professor Membrane's, despite looking like some sort of fish monster.
* {{Portmanteau}}: Gaz dubs him Clembrane as a shortening of "Clone Membrane."
* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: [[spoiler:Though in this case, since his master is Zim and turning against him saves the Earth, it all works out pretty well.]]
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Pudding! Granted, he doesn't seem to like eating it so much as he likes making sure Dib and Gaz eat it at every meal.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Recap Kid]]
[[quoteright:205:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/recap_kid.jpg]]
An energetic child that claims to know all things ''Invader Zim''. They appear at the start of every issue of the comics to give the readers a recap of previous events.
----
* AmbiguousGender: It is never clear what gender they identify as.
* AmbiguouslyBrown: They have brownish skin, but it's not clear what their ethincity is intended to be.
* AmbiguouslyHuman: They ''appear'' human but it's never clear where they come from.
* CheerfulChild: They are chipper to almost concerning levels.
* DimensionalTraveler: Sometimes is only seen in a blank space outside the narrative, sometimes is seen directly interacting with Zim and Dib's world. In Issue #40, they find themselves stumbling upon various alternate versions of Zim and Dib.
* FourthWallObserver: Are completely aware ''Invader Zim'' is a TV/Comics series.
* LoonyFan: Sometimes comes off as unhinged with their obsession with ''Invader Zim''.
* MoodSwinger: Can switch between being cheerful to angrily foaming at the mouth- all for their pasion for ''Zim''.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: In Issue #16, they claim to be afraid of heights, weights, gyms, yoga mats, [[OverlyLongGag dogs, dogs on leashes, dogs on roller skates, dogs on roller blades, dogfights, hotdogs, flesh-eating hot dog viruses]], and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking changes to the art style of the comic]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Agent Batflaps]]
A minor recurring character from the comics. A forum poster on Truthshrieker, and something of a rival to Dib in the field of Paranormal investigation. Not in terms of competence, but in his ability to garner respect and clout from the community.
----
* AssholeVictim: Dib (disguised as an alien lackey) convinces Zim to select him for abduction and gross experiments, which he kind of deserves for how mean he was to Dib. He later manages to escape off-screen and continues to heckle Dib online. And in his second appearance, Gaz ultimately beats him up in order to force him to leave Dib's newest video a positive review.
* CausticCritic: He compulsively attacks any videos and images Dib posts.
* NoodleIncident: How he managed to escape Zim's base. In his second appearance, he claims it somehow involved starving to death.
* StylisticSuck: His videos showing "proof" of the paranormal make no effort to hide the strings holding up the possessed objects and he is very prone to BadBadActing.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Virooz]]
Real name Fitzoo-Menga, he's an ArcVillain from the comics, who remotely torments Zim for several issues as part of a larger, mysterious agenda.
----
* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler: Is last seen with his mind stuck in a PAK attached to a couch on a seemingly abandoned planet.]]
* ArcVillain: For Issues 22-25, which are called the "Arc of Virooz".
* {{Cyborg}}: Not that he needs to be one. Apparently he added cybernetic parts to himself just because he could afford to.
* FictionFiveHundred: Is apparently a "quadrillonaire".
* GrandTheftMe: [[spoiler: His ultimate goal is to steal Zim's body and identity.]]
* HiddenAgendaVillain: He's around for four issues, and his goals aren't revealed until the last one.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler: The PAK he transferred his mind into in order to steal Zim's body ends up stuck on a couch, trapping him forever.]]
* TheManBehindTheMan: Zim initially thinks that "Virooz" is the name of the virus that infected GIR and made him turn on Zim. It's only after it's defeated does Zim realize the virus was working for someone.
* TwoAliasesOneCharacter: His real name is Fitzoo-Menga, but he prefers to go by Virooz.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Number 1 / [[spoiler:Zib]] ]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/num1_2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see his true form]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zib.png[[/labelnote]]]]
Of the thousands of alternate Zims who ended up trapped in the Zimvoid after passing through Pandora's Quadrangle, this one is considered the best of the best, the ultimate Zim who conquered his Earth and destroyed his enemies. He effectively runs the PocketDimension and its contests in order to determine the best of the best.

[[spoiler: Turns out he's actually a Dib who killed his Zim and fused his brain with Zim's PAK after modifying it. He apparently created the Zimvoid in order to trick other Zims into uploading his own PAK virus to their respective Irken Armadas so he can destroy them.]]
----
* TheAce: Like that name implies, he's apparently the best version of Zim. Even the resistance is impressed with his achievements.
* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler: After Zim tampers with the timelines to erase his own alternates, Zib's plan is rapildy undone, ejecting everything back their their home timelines and leaving Zib trapped alone in his own dead universe.]]
* ArcVillain: For the Battle Void Arc from issues 46-49.
* ApocalypseHow: [[spoiler: He caused a Class X-4. The Pandora's Quadrangle wormholes and the the small planetoid where he makes his base are all that remains of his universe.]]
* BadassBoast: When all of the Zims gang up on him, he retorts with this.
-->'''Number 1:''' I've defeated one Zim already. I've conquered an entire armada! Frying all these Zims will be less than a challenge. It'll be a genuine pleasure!
* BerserkButton: [[spoiler: He really hates being called "Zib".]]
* CompositeCharacter: Essentially the worst parts of [[spoiler:Zim and Dib merged into one, being an alternate universe Dib who killed his world's Zim and took his PAK]].
* ExactWords: He is described as the ultimate Zim who conquered his Earth and killed his enemies. [[spoiler: This is technically true, as he is a Zim-Dib hybrid who, as Dib, killed his timeline's Zim, and took over the Earth in a twisted attempt to save it.]]
* EvilAllAlong: He manages to play this trope straight for both sides. For Zim [[spoiler: he's actually his universe's Dib, who was using the alias of Zim Number 1 to lure Zims to be beaten, brainwashed, and used as carriers to infect their home universes' Irken Empires]]. And for Dib, [[spoiler: turns out being merged with Zim's PAK, along with the endless bullying he experienced his entire life has left Zib completely unhinged. He ended up destroying his entire universe besides the small space his base occupies, and was gleefully willing to subject other timelines to the same fate to prove he was right]].
* HalfHumanHybrid: [[spoiler:After attaching a modified version of Zim's PAK to his brain, Zib became an amalgamation of Zim and Dib, both in personality and in physical characteristics such as his smile, bulging eyes that resemble Zim's human disguise lenses, more pointed fingers, and two hair spikes instead of, which resemble Zim's antennae.]]
* HannibalLecture: Tries giving one to Dib. [[spoiler: As he puts it, yes ''he'' succeeded in stopping the threat of Zim for good, but what happened after? No one cared. Presumably even after all the evidence he provided, it was disregarded. This is what led Zib to go and take over the Earth to get the resources to build his weapon.]]
* HiddenAgendaVillain: His identity (beyond being one of the thousands of Zims trapped in the Zimvoid) was unknown until the third issue of his arc, and his true motives aren't revealed until near the end of the storyline.
* MeaningfulName: Of the unintentional and AccidentalInnuendo variety. In a similar case to Dib [[spoiler:Zib]] is also a word with connections to the Arabic language [[spoiler:as a slang word for ''dick''.]] Given that [[spoiler:Zib is basically a combination of Zim and Dib, two jerks in their own rights, without ''any'' of their redeeming qualities ''and'' goes onto committing multi-dimensional genocide]] let's just say that the shoe fits.
* AMillionIsAStatistic: [[spoiler:He views eradicating all life from his timeline as "a minor setback" and brushes off Dib's fears about him doing this to ''his'' timeline by saying that a few doomed timelines don't matter to him when he has infinite timelines to give him infinite do overs to try to save the universe.]]
* MirrorCharacter: [[spoiler: The similarities mentioned in Dib's own folder are magnified with this version of Dib. And they got even worse after he put on Zim's PAK.]]
* MythologyGag: A similar concept where [[spoiler:Dib attaches Zim's PAK to himself and becomes more aggressive, insane, and megalomaniacal as a result of its influence]] was originally proposed for the unfinished episode of the show, "Ten Minutes to Doom".
* UngratefulBastard: Not with him, but how he perceives [[spoiler: his world's people. As he says, even after defeating Zim, no body cared or did anything in response. This caused him to finally break, merge himself with Zim's PAK and try to take over the world. He even accuses Dib of this when Dib calls him out on his horrific actions that destroyed his world.]]
* WalkingSpoiler: Have you noticed all the spoiler tags yet?
[[/folder]]

* WhileRomeBurns: They lounge around stuffing their faces with junk food while their people invade other planets.

* BasedOnAGreatBigLie: His mission to take over Earth was assigned to him simply to get him out of the way of the ''actual'' operation to conquer the universe, and holds no actual significance whatsoever. Despite this fact being blatantly obvious, Zim's BlindObedience to the Almighty Tallest generally causes him to ignore any evidence that suggests it.

* AdaptationalBadass: While in the series he was typically portrayed as a ridiculous NotSoHarmlessVillain, Zim in ''Enter the Florpus'' is portrayed as more of a genuine threat to the entire universe, albeit one who is still quite LaughablyEvil and so incompetent that his plan would've completely blown up in his face anyhow.
* AdaptationalIntelligence: While just as much of [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} a lunatic]] as ever, in ''Enter the Florpus'', Zim is presented as a far more patient [[TheChessmaster chessmaster]] with his infamous impulsiveness from the show downplayed.

* AdaptationalJerkass: In both the comics and ''Enter the Florpus'', the Computer is considerably more caustic and bitingly sarcastic towards its master than it was in the TV series.

* AdaptationalHeroism: While still snarky, cruel and mean-spirited, Gaz comes off as much more emotionally invested in things in the comics than she ever did in the series. She's also generally more civil with Dib. Overlaps with CharacterizationMarchesOn and FlatCharacter below. ''Enter the Florpus'' has her graduate to being a full-on JerkWithAHeartOfGold.
* AdaptationalPersonalityChange: She's antisocial and downright unstable in the original series, but, while still generally grumpy, is much more easygoing in the comics and ''Enter the Florpus''. Her feelings towards Dib in particular were totally overhauled; going from being enraged by the mere thought of his existence to clearly caring about him despite finding him annoying.
* AdaptationalWimp: Downplayed in ''Enter the Florpus'', where she demonstrates neither the supernatural powers or the absurd hypercompetence that she often would in the series. While she's still more consistently competent than Dib, there's no suggestion that she's anything more than a crafty little girl.

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Jhonen expressed a desire to have her [[https://www.ign.com/articles/2015/06/12/invader-zim-is-back-from-the-dead be less "one note" in the comic]], viewing her portrayal in the television series to be a bit ''too'' hateful. As such, she now behaves more like "an actual sister" towards Dib and reacts more vividly to some situations [[http://40.media.tumblr.com/fa0485ae7cdb93917fb5cc86678c89a0/tumblr_npuvi9Lyts1qd6bcco4_r1_1280.jpg like this]].

* DependingOnTheArtist: She has had several different eye colors--blue (in the pilot), brown (in the series), green (in Issue #5 of the comics), and purple (in Issue #17).
** Some fan art shows her with amber eyes instead of the normal brown color.
*** Also, she is wearing leggings as shown in the series, but like the former, is sometimes shown wearing tights.

* AdaptationalBadass: While in the show he was always able to create earth-shattering inventions, in ''Enter the Florpus'' he gains robot arms (that he says were lost to ''sharks'') [[spoiler:and can shoot powerful lasers from them, which he uses against Zim's robot army while in pursuit of Minimoose with Dib and Gaz, as well as breaking out some pretty sick kung fu]].
* AdaptationalNiceGuy: He's much more present for his kids in ''Enter the Florpus'', and is distinctly presented as merely being unable to connect with Dib rather than outright neglectful toward him as he often was in the series.

* AdaptationalDumbass: They were never the brightest bulbs in the series proper, but fly straight into TooDumbToLive territory in ''Enter The Florpus'' when they refuse to fly out of the path of [[spoiler:the Florpus Hole despite there being ''plenty of time to do so'', resulting in both them and the entire Irken Armada suffering a FateWorseThanDeath]].
* AdaptationalJerkass: The Tallest are ''much'' less subtle about their hatred of Zim in ''Enter The Florpus'', [[spoiler:to the point that they ultimately decide to ''blow up the Earth'' just to be rid of him once and for all.]]

Teaches Zim and Dib's class.

* AmbiguouslyHuman: She's almost definitely ''not'', but we're not quite sure what she ''is''. Sunlight [[WeakenedByTheLight burns her]]. Although, in the Halloween special she says she was a Fairy Princess once.
* AntiVillain: She doesn't seem to be outright evil, just extremely nihilistic and apathetic, and doing what's necessary to keep the Skool in check.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Due to her death, Miss Bitters just made a non-speaking cameo at the beginning of ''Enter the Florpus''.
* DevilInPlainSight: She does little to nothing to hide how inhuman she is, but no one seems to be even remotely aware of her monstrous nature. Even ''[[AgentMulder Dib]]'' is convinced she's just just a normal, if very creepy, old woman.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Despite the obvious hatred she has for her students and all the horrible stuff she's told them before, she refused to divulge just what happened that led people to start giving out meat on Valentine's Day. Her response to Dib's question was "[[YouDontWantToKnow you don't want to know]]". She even expressed "moral outrage" to the principal allowing the kids to celebrate the holiday.
* EvilOldFolks: While not evil per se, she's cantankerous and lives up to her name.
* TheFairFolk: If what she said about formerly being a fairy princess is true, she is most certainly this rather than the [[FairyCompanion friendlier type.]]

* HumanoidAbomination: According to one source, Miss Bitters didn't come to teach, as she's always existed on that land... ''[[GeniusLoci the school was simply built around her]].''

* NoodleIncident: See MultipleChoicePast. There were apparently supposed to be [[RunningGag more of them]], but they got cut for one reason or another.
* ObviouslyEvil: She wears a black dress and has a very creepy demeanor.

* YouDoNotWantToKnow: Her response when Dib asks her how the tradition started of giving out meat on Valentine's Day.

* OnlyOneName: Played with. At one point, he is addressed as "Dib... Whatever your last name is," and Dib says that's correct. ''Enter the Florpus'' finally confirmed Membrane to be his last name. The creators originally avoided assigning Dib a last name to go with the implication that he was a clone or creation of his father rather than a true biological son.

* EvilIsHammy: And how! Most of Zim's plans come with long tirades that he just ''loves'' to inflict on whoever he's forcing to listen.