Invader Zim / Tropes T to Z

Invader Zim Trope Examples
A - C | D - F | G - M | N - S | T - Z

---

T

• Take That!:
  • In "GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff" and "ZIM Eats Waffles", ZIM is shown to have a human child captive in order to experiment with the happiness receptors in the child's brain. As a result, the child is compulsively happy. The child's name? Nick.
  • In one episode Dib tries to take over an Irken computer, hoping out loud that they just happen to use the same operating system as him.
  • The hilarious fact that being banished to Foodcourtia, a fast food civilization, is regarded as the lowest position as an Irken citizen.
  • Really, the whole show involves making fun of human society, in some ways that are true, in some ways that is regarded by a Large Ham who tries his hardest to hate mankind. "Walk of Doom" is a huge example of this.
  Zim: (after stepping off the bus) What is wrong with these humans?!
  • Breakfast Chunks are a stab at the equally disgusting Breakfast Squares◊ General Mills sold in the '80s, which pretty much nobody liked.
• Take That, Audience!: In "Dib's Wonderful Life Of Doom," the shoe aliens address Dib as "Dib... er, whatever your last name is," to which Dib firmly replies "That's right," a jab at all of the fans who insisted that his last name is Membrane (this being before it was made canon).
• Take Your Time: In "Bloaty's Pizza Hog", Gaz can't go to the titular restaurant for the annual family night until she brings Dib with her, but the latter is in Zim's lair. And if she doesn't rescue him in time, it will be put off until next year. And she only has a couple hours left! Despite all of this, she just takes her time and is able to go to Bloaty's before Membrane goes to work.
• Teacher's Pet: Zita to Ms. Bitters.
• Temporal Paradox: Discussing them makes GIR's head blow up.
• 10-Minute Retirement: Dib in "Mopiness of Doom" (the unproduced script).
• Terminator Impersonator: Zim creates a robot called a "Hunter-Destroyer" (which has a name and appearance incredibly similar to a "Hunter-Killer" robot from the Terminator franchise) to go back in time and kill Dib before he can become Zim's enemy. However, in addition to the Temporal Paradox this would create, the robot proves incompatible with Time Travel anyway, so the scheme never gets off the ground.
• Terrified of Germs: Zim has mysophobia in the episode "Germs".
• Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Female Irken (there aren't that many of them) are distinguished by having fuller eyebrow/lashes and curly feelers. Fandom typically chooses to ignore this.
• That Liar Lies: As an overcompensation to his Paper-Thin Disguise, Zim loves accusing others of lying at complete random.
• Theme Naming:
  • The main characters all have three-letter names: Zim, GIR, Dib, Gaz. Although not as important as the aforementioned characters, Tak also follows this trend.
  • Red and Purple also count, though the other Tallests mentioned have different names.
• The Snack Is More Interesting: GIR does this frequently. Take Plague of Babies for example: while Zim fights for his life against the Giganto-Baby, GIR enjoys a bucket of fried chicken and mayo (even eating a still clucking chicken). Other characters also have their moments.
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill: "The Wettening" sees Zim ultimately get back at Dib for constantly hitting him with water balloons by dropping a giant one on him from a Kill Sat in orbit.
• Think of the Children!: Parodied in "Door to Door", where an obese, flaming mutant in Zim's simulation of a dystopian future he uses to persuade people into buying his candy states "Pwease? For the children!" after shoving a girl into his pocket and devouring her doll.
• Third-Person Flashback: Lampshaded. ZIM remembers escaping from Frycourtia, and Sizz-Lor coming in and swearing to recapture him. Back in the present, Sizz-lor asks how he can remember that last part if he already left. ZIM doesn't have an answer.
• Third-Person Person: ZIM does this a lot, especially when he's hamming it up (and when is he not?).
• Throw the Dog a Bone: After being the Butt-Monkey his whole life, Dib gets the chance to salvage Tak's ship.
• Timey-Wimey Ball: Lampshaded and discussed by ZIM and Sizz-lor after Sizz-lor describes how he spent twenty years on Foodcourtia even though ZIM only left a year or two ago. Sizz-lor tries too pass it off and ZIM dosen't seem convinced by it.
• Toilet Humor
• Toilet Teleportation: This is the main method of transportation.
• Too Dumb to Live: The vast majority of the human race.
• Totally Radical: Parodied by Poop Dawg in "Door to Door".
• Touched by Vorlons: Played straight and later averted in "Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom".
• Toy-Based Characterization:
  • Dib is a self-professed paranormal investigator who is deeply fascinated with anything supernatural he can find. Even as a baby, he was spelling out the word "aliens" with his letter blocks.
  • His sister Gaz is a misanthropic goth who Hates Everyone Equally. She owns a "Bitey the Vampire" doll and several stuffed animals that she converted into security drones to guard her room. According to her, they're programmed to feed on human flesh.
• Transformation Sequence: GIR doing a Mundane Made Awesome version of putting on his dog costume.
• Transplant: Ms. Bitters and the Abductors were major characters in Jhonen's comic Squee, though neither had names. Two Vortians also appear as rivals of the Abductors.
• True Meaning of Christmas: Dib actually does effectively shame the mob on Christmastime by expounding on it and urging them to go home and spend time with their families. It holds for about five seconds before ZIM shows up as the "Easter Platypus" and turns them against him.
• 20 Minutes into the Future
• Two Halves Make a Plot: "Tak the Hideous New Girl" has this when Dib's sister Gaz found files containing Tak's plan, which gives this exchange:
  Zim: I'm the only one with the technology to decode those files!
  Dib: And we're the only ones with the files to be decoded!
• Two-Teacher School: The only Skool teachers that we really see throughout the series and comics are Ms. Bitters and Mr. Elliot. That said, certain episodes and comics have confirmed the existence of other Skool staff, including the Principal, guidance counselors, and a gym coach.

U

• Ultra Super Death Gore Fest Chainsawer 3000: Vampire Piggy Hunter, which actually looks to be a decent game.
• Undying Loyalty: Zim is clearly loyal to the Irken cause.
• Unexplained Recovery: Is a Running Gag for poor Skoodge... First he was sent to Blorch, home of the slaughtering rat people, for being the shortest Invader of Operation Impending Doom II. When he actually did conquer it, the Tallest still didn't like him and launched him out of a cannon. This still didn't stop him from making an appearance in "Hobo 13", where his remarkable recovery was Lampshaded and handwaved:
  Zim: Skoodge? I thought the Tallest killed you!
  Skoodge: Yeah, but I'm okay now.
• Unwanted False Faith: In "Attack of the Saucer Morons" ZIM somehow fails to see the benefits of dozens of worshipers and instead has to escape from them.
• Used Future
• The Usual Adversaries: Irkens for most of the galaxy. ZIM for the Irkens.

V

• Vile Villain, Laughable Lackey: Zim is an unusual case in several ways. Zim is a Villain Protagonist and an underling for The Empire, and characters from The Empire higher up than him are indeed far, far more capable, competent, and serious than Zim is. However, they don't actually care about conquering Earth, and indeed aren't even sure Earth exists: sending Zim to Earth is their idea of making him Reassigned to Antarctica, just so he won't screw up any of the plans they do care about!
• Villain Episode:
  • Inverted, given that ZIM is a Villain Protagonist — Hero Antagonist Dib occasionally gets episodes entirely dedicated to himself such as "Battle-Dib" and "The Sad, Sad Tale of Chickenfoot" where ZIM does not appear at all.
  • Also Gaz, in "Game Slave 2".
• Villain Protagonist: Zim.
• Villainous Gentrification: Downplayed. On the infrequent occasions that the Irken Empire appears on-screen, it seems the only thing the Armada does with the planets it conquers is pave them over to build convention centres, shopping malls, parking lots...
• Villains Out Shopping: "Mortos Der Soulstealer", "ZIM Eats Waffles".
• Virtual-Reality Interrogation: A variation is present in an episode where Zim puts Dib in a virtual reality where he gains ultimate power and uses it to defeat the Irken and become a major celebrity just so he could get Dib to confess that he threw a muffin at him during lunch.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: The Tallest big time.
• Vomit Discretion Shot:
  • "GIR! Your waffles have sickened me! FETCH ME THE BUCKET!"
    • In the Latin American dub, it was changed to "GIR! Your waffles have sickened me! BRING ME MORE!"
• Vomit Indiscretion Shot: In "Zim Eats Waffles", GIR is seen eating 2 waffles (while Zim is being attacked by the "giant flesh-eating demon squid") and vomiting shortly afterwards.

W

• Wacky Sound Effect: Lots. The sound of air being slowly let out of a balloon is the most common, accompanied by the visual of stupid people straining their brains.
• The Walrus Was Paul: Jhonen Vasquez decided to celebrate the "one month only" rerun of the show in March 2010 by giving an Invader ZIM "fact" each day in his blog. All of them devolve into very, very sick tall tales. Considering he rails against the misinformation about the show and its circumstances on the first post, it's not hard to interpret this as his attempt to outdo his own fanbase at bullshitting.
• Was Once a Man:
  Rat person: I was once a man!
  Dib: But you're a woman.
  • Also Chickenfoot. Except not really.
• Watch the Paint Job: "Police, I'd like to report a ... giant house that flew out of the sky and destroyed my car, okay, thank you! ... AAAGH!!"
• Wave of Babies: In "Plague of Babies".
• Weaksauce Weakness:
  • Zim's ship crashes after a bee hits its windshield. The bee survived.
  • Also, Zim's aforementioned issues with water.
• We Have Reserves: "Hobo 13" is this trope over and over again.
• What the Hell Is That Accent?: Tak's voice starts off as fake American, then wavers somewhere between that and British before becoming full-on Brit. She's played by the British-American Olivia d'Abo, who's most famous role was as an American with a slighty more consistant accent.
• Where the Hell Is Springfield?: The city where most of the series takes place is never named, let alone given a specific location. Various screenshots and supplemental information of dubious canonicity places it anywhere from Ohio to Quebec.
• White Void Room: "A room... with a moose!"
• Wicked Weasel: "Computerrr! Take me to the WEASELS!"
• With Catlike Tread: Zim 24/7.
  Zim: LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAVE NOOOOOOOOOO EVIDEEEEEEEEEEEENCE!!!!!!
• Womb Level: "NanoZIM".
• Won't Take "Yes" for an Answer:
  Zim: Is that Irken equipment you're using? That's Tak's ship you're sitting in, isn't it?
  Dib: Yes it is, Zim! It fell from the-
  Zim (yelling): Isn't it!?!
  Dib (also yelling): I said it was! Man, you have a problem with listening, Zim!
  Zim: ISN'T IT!?!
• World Gone Mad
• World of Ham: Some hammy highlights:
  Zim: Yes. Oh, I will bring my pa-rents. And they shall be the greatest, most parental parents EVER!

  Gaz: 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!

  Dib: Go on, laugh! But one day, you'll be sitting in your house feeling all safe and secure, and then you'll look over and I'll be there! Doin' stuff!

  Prof. Membrane: NOO!! Santa has let me down! I will turn my back on him and devote a portion of my life to destroying Santa!
• World of Jerkass: There are few characters who are genuinely decent in this series.
• World of Snark
• Worthy Opponent:
  • Dib to ZIM, by ZIM's own admission.
  • Sgt. Slab Rankle, a mall security guard who takes his job a little too seriously, describes ZIM as this in "FBI Warning of Doom," even offering to join forces with him so that they can "rule the mall." ZIM is unimpressed.

X

• X Must Not Win: Even when the fate of the world isn't at stake, Dib will stop at nothing to oppose Zim. His only reason for participating in the fund-raiser in "Door to Door" is to see Zim fail to win the "secret prize".

Y

• Yank the Dog's Chain: "Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom" is all this, but "Vindicated" is probably worse.
• You Can Run, but You Can't Hide: Dib says it to Zim, or rather tries to say it but just winds up contradicting himself. ("You can hide, but you can't.... hide!") In his defense he was seriously brain damaged by that point.
• You Do NOT Want To Know:
  Dib: Miss Bitters? I read that long ago that people used to give out cards and candy on Valentine's Day. How did the whole meat thing get started?
  Miss Bitters: You don't want to know...
• Younger Than He Looks: The aptly-named "Old Kid".
• Your Head Asplode: GIR does this sometimes.

Z

• Zombie Gait: A mall security guard sends a horde of zombies after Zim. He's initially scared, but soon realizes just how useless they are, as they fall over each other and are completely incapable of harming him.

---