The renegade hero!!!....Invader Zim?
is an Invader Zim/Lilo & Stitch/Atomic Betty crossover fic by D_rissing and nightmaster000.
There is a name that means heroism across the galaxy. A name that gives courage and hope to all who fight against evil. A name that people use to inspire others to rally against the evil Irken Empire. And that name is... Zim?
Unknown to Zim or anyone who knows him personally, his accidental rampages against his own people have given the rest of the universe the mistaken belief that he's a heroic renegade who is rebelling against the Tallest in order to stop the Irken Empire's expansion. When he learns about this after a chance encounter with Atomic Betty, Zim is naturally stunned, but quick to decide to use this misconception to his advantage, enacting a new evil plan more devious than any before.
Tropes
- Accidental Hero: Zim's completely unintentional acts of sabotage against the Irken Empire have convinced the rest of the universe that he's rebelling against them to stop their conquests. Zim himself is shocked to learn this, as he sees himself as a paragon of Irken loyalty and competence.
- Accidental Pervert: After Zim wakes up in the Pelekai house following a crash-landing and starts attacking everyone in panic, Betty tackles him to try and snap him out of it, only to end up with them on the floor and her crotch in his face. Which is made more embarrassing for her due to having been changed out of her uniform and into just a shirt and panties.
- Accidental Truth: After letting slip to Betty and the Pelekais about his time on Foodcourtia, and wanting to fuel their misconception that he's a heroic rebel, Zim tells them that it was because the Tallest banished him there as punishment for his actions during Operation Impending Doom... which is exactly what happened, it's just that Zim has deluded himself into thinking that he was just there on vacation.
- Actor Allusion: Zim notes that Pleakley's voice sounds familiar and comforting to him. This is a nod towards how Pleakley is voiced by Kevin McDonald, who also voiced Tallest Purple.
- Adaptation Species Change: Characters like Duncan and Sheen are human in their home canons, but are reinterpreted as Human Aliens here in order for them to be Galactic Guardian cadets (as canonically, Betty and Noah are the only human members).
- Adaptational Early Appearance: Zim ends up so determined to prove to himself that he is in fact evil that he ends up creating Minimoose to use as an ultimate weapon a full season before he would have in canon.
- Big "WHAT?!": Zim's reaction to learning that he's viewed as a heroic rebel by the rest of the universe.
- Canon Welding:
- The Galactic Guardians from Atomic Betty are an autonomous agency of the Galactic Federation from Lilo & Stitch
- Jumba reveals that he used some of Zim's DNA, which was found on the collar of his Infinite Energy Absorbing Blob when it crashed on Jumba's homeworld, as part of the process of creating Stitch.
- Dib and Lilo are online paranormal buddies, though she keeps him in the dark about the experiments due to his fanatical views on aliens.
- Similarly, Professor Membrane and Jumba are colleagues.
- The Irkens are the ones who destroyed the Boov's homeworld.
- Chick Magnet: Zim is somehow one of these, with Betty having a fangirl crush on his misconceived hero persona, Lilo showing signs of being flattered by his appreciation of her skills with the experiments, and Gaz being implied to be attracted to his destructive skills.
- Crossover: While the main crossover is between Invader Zim and Atomic Betty, with Lilo & Stitch playing a major supporting role, the story also features a few smaller examples:
- A version of Jinmay from Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! is a friend of Gaz's.
- Professor Membrane makes an offhand reference to Professor Sumdac.
- The class of Galactic Guardian cadets introduced in Chapter 8 include Duncan, Entrapta, Becky Botsford, Little Cato, Sheen, and a Boov.
- Dramatic Irony: Zim's interactions with anyone who believes in his false status as a hero are dripping with this, as no matter what he says or does, the wording or context just reinforces that belief. This is especially true in the first couple of chapters before Zim learns of and wraps his head around this concept, and doesn't even try to spin his actions as heroic.
- The Dreaded: The Irkens are feared by the Galactic Guardians, and virtually everyone else in the universe, for their sheer destructive power.
- Hero-Worshipper: The Galactic Guardians idolize Zim, with Betty in particular going into fangirl mode around him.
- Homeworld Evacuation: As a consequence of raising the Galactic Guardians' ire by trying to jack a planet inhabited by sentient beings, the Planet Jackers are forced into negotiations with the Federation to transfer their population to a new solar system instead of continuing their trademark practice of throwing planets into their dying sun.
- It Amused Me: Gaz only pushes Zim towards taking advantage of the Galactic Guardians' hero worship of him because she thinks it'd be amusing to see what kind of damage he can do with that.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Jinmay's memory banks were damaged when she crashed into Gaz's yard, so she doesn't remember where she came from.
- I Meant to Do That: While trying out the Galactic Guardians' training room as a demonstration, Zim blasts random parts of it before the training even starts as a lesson in the element of surprise. A little while later, some of the damage from this causes part of the roof to collapse onto a Killer Robot sent after Zim and take it out of commission, giving his audience the impression that that was his strategy all along.
- Not What It Looks Like: When Jinmay bursts into Zim's base to "rescue" Gaz from him (after he abducted her for a conversation) and finds them in a rather compromising-looking position (Zim grabbing her by the face to hold her close in an intimidation move, her hands on his chest to push him away, and his leg at the right angle to partially push up her skirt), she immediately goes into tease mode and questions if she's interrupting something.
- Oblivious to Love: As per canon, Betty is completely oblivious to Noah having a crush on her, which is made worse by her own fangirl crush on Zim.
- Only Sane Man:
- Sparky is literally the only member of the Galactic Guardians who doesn't buy into the myth of Zim's heroism and sees him for the threat he is. Unfortunately, his aggressive attitude about it means no one is willing to listen to him.
- Similarly, Pleakley is the only member of the Pelekai household who views Zim as a threat, but everyone brushes off his concerns as just his usual neurosis.
- And of course, there's Dib, who continues to be the only person in his hometown (except for Gaz and Jinmay, who don't care) who knows that Zim is an evil alien trying to Take Over the World.
- Atomic Roger and some cadets are later also shown to be among the few Galactic Guardians who refuse to believe Zim is heroic, but since the former is an egotistical blowhard and the latter are viewed as simply being uninformed, Betty is quick to dismiss all their concerns.
- Pet the Dog: Zim genuinely praises Lilo's ability to control the experiments, nicknaming her "Commander Lilo".
- Point of Divergence: The plot diverges from IZ canon during the events of "Planet Jackers", when Betty's crew investigates the theft of Earth and arrives on site just in time to witness Zim fighting Oog-Ah as a distraction while GIR cuts the planet free. This leads to Zim meeting Betty and learning of his Accidental Hero status, kickstarting his new plan.
- Red Baron: Zim is known by most of the universe as the "Hero of Doomsday" for preventing the success of Operation Impending Doom.
- Ship Tease: In addition to Betty's serious fangirl crush on Zim, it's also implied that Lilo and Gaz are both attracted to him for different reasons. And in Gaz's case, Zim admits to finding her fascinating and "nice looking".
- Shout-Out: Jinmay's bad girl appearance and attitude are based on the work of DeviantArt artist The Black Sun King.
- The Tease: Jinmay loves to poke fun at Gaz by implying she has a crush on Zim, or otherwise acting provocative towards her regarding their own relationship.
- Undressing the Unconscious: After Zim and Betty crash in Hawaii and are taken in by the Pelekais, they remove the latter's damaged uniform to treat her injuries, leaving her in just panties and a loaned shirt. Understandably, Betty's quite embarrassed when she wakes up and finds herself in this state.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Due to the rest of the universe misinterpreting Zim's accidental sabotage of Operation Impending Doom as a deliberate act of rebellion, he's treated as a grand hero despite not even really trying to hide his egomania and disdain for non-Irkens.
