| 1 | [[center: [- [[Characters/InvaderZim Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/InvaderZimZimAndAllies Zim & Allies]] | '''Membrane Family''' | [[Characters/InvaderZimIrkenEmpire Irken Empire]] | [[Characters/InvaderZimSkool Skool]] | [[Characters/InvaderZimAliensMonstersAndWeirdos Aliens, Monsters, and Weirdos]] -]]] |
| 2 | ---- |
| 3 | |
| 4 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 5 | |
| 6 | [[folder:In General]] |
| 7 | * 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. |
| 8 | ** 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. |
| 9 | ** 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. |
| 10 | ** Professor Membrane becomes more broad-shouldered and angular, but otherwise looks mostly the same. |
| 11 | * AwwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: You’d never know it but there are the incredibly rare moments where they do show they care for one another. Professor Membrane really does love his kids despite being so busy in his research and Gaz would rather eat rancid bologna dipped in motor oil than openly say it but despite her brother’s manic obsession, she does have her moments. Dib is the most vocal about caring for his family. |
| 12 | * 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.]] |
| 13 | * 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. |
| 14 | * LargeHam: Particularly Professor Membrane, but even [[DeadpanSnarker Gaz]] [[NotSoAboveItAll can get melodramatic when the mood calls for it]]. |
| 15 | * 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. |
| 16 | * OnlySaneByComparison: 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. |
| 17 | * 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. |
| 18 | [[/folder]] |
| 19 | |
| 20 | [[folder:Dib Membrane]] |
| 21 | [[quoteright:180:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dib_rage.png]] |
| 22 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/AndyBerman |
| 23 | |
| 24 | ->''"My ''problem'' is that the human race seems to ''want'' to be destroyed!"'' |
| 25 | |
| 26 | 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. |
| 27 | ---- |
| 28 | * 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. |
| 29 | * 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. |
| 30 | * 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. |
| 31 | * 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. |
| 32 | * AnimeHair: Shaped like a scythe. And according to "Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom," it gets more and more extreme as he ages. |
| 33 | * 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. |
| 34 | * 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. |
| 35 | * ArchEnemy: He is the main threat to Zim's goal of conquering Earth. |
| 36 | * 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. |
| 37 | * AttentionWhore: He wants to stop Zim in order to protect the human race, but it's clear he's mostly motivated by his desire to get his paranormal research legitimized in order to become famous and rub his success in the face of everyone who doubted him. |
| 38 | * BadassBookworm: A smart kid who can be tough in a pinch. |
| 39 | * 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. |
| 40 | * 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. |
| 41 | * BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: "Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom". [[spoiler:Subverted at the very end when the sequence was revealed to be part of a LotusEaterMachine]]. |
| 42 | * 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. |
| 43 | ** 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.]] |
| 44 | * BeYourself: In the unproduced episode "Mopiness of Doom", he gets tired of fighting with Zim and decides to become a scientist at his father's lab, studying Real Science. But even though he's good at it and it makes him respected and popular, it doesn't make him happy. He realizes he's only happy when studying the paranormal and decides to go back to hunting Zim, which also makes Zim happy because he's bored out of his mind without his rival to challenge him. |
| 45 | * 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. |
| 46 | * TheBore: His tendency to act as the show's resident rambling MrExposition has made it so that he even bores ''himself'' at times. |
| 47 | * 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." |
| 48 | * 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). |
| 49 | * 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. |
| 50 | * 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. |
| 51 | * CharacterCatchphrase: "You jerk." Often said to Zim or any other character who seriously messes things up for Dib, usually at the end of the episode. |
| 52 | * CharacterDevelopment: |
| 53 | ** 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. |
| 54 | ** [[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. |
| 55 | * CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Despite apparently being a normal human, he has accomplished superhuman feats, such as destroying a brick wall using only a briefcase. |
| 56 | * ChildProdigy: He could spell the word "aliens" when he was still in diapers, and by the time of the show can hack extraterrestrial technology. |
| 57 | * 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. |
| 58 | * CollectorOfTheStrange: Haunted gummy bears and magical "spell drives", among other things. |
| 59 | * ConspiracyTheorist: Though [[ProperlyParanoid he's often right]], and is often contrasted with even ''more'' insane and deluded conspiracy nuts. |
| 60 | * CrossdressingVoices: In the Japanese dub, he is voiced by Ayumi Kida. |
| 61 | * 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. |
| 62 | * DeadpanSnarker: Not quite to his sister's level, but he definitely has his moments of this. |
| 63 | -->'''Dib:''' How did you pass the verbal portion of the exam? |
| 64 | * DemonicPossession: He would have been on the receiving end of it ([[PuppeteerParasite sort of]]) in "Ten Minutes to Doom". |
| 65 | * DependingOnTheWriter: Whether he's capable of ninja-like feats of physical spectacle or an uncoordinated nerd tends to vary depending on the episode. |
| 66 | * {{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. |
| 67 | * {{Deuteragonist}}: To Zim, of the opposing kind. |
| 68 | * DisneyDeath: In "Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy." |
| 69 | * DubNameChange: In the French dub, he's renamed Fred. |
| 70 | * EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:''Enter the Florpus'' has him gain genuine confirmation that his family does love him 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]]. Then again, as the unaired episode "Mopiness of Doom" demonstrated, Dib really is at his happiest [[BeYourself when investigating the paranormal and battling his sworn enemy Zim]], so he likely wouldn't have it any other way.]] |
| 71 | * EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: A male example. He's seen as weird by other characters, and has pale skin and dark hair. However, he's given a slightly darker complexion in ''Enter the Florpus'' alongside the rest of his family to more reflect his Mexican heritage. |
| 72 | * EmpoweredBadassNormal: On at least two occasions: |
| 73 | ** In "Dib's Wonderful Life Of Doom", he becomes a superhero who can even fly through space and fight giant starships after the Meekrob evolve his prowess to superhuman levels. [[spoiler:Sadly, this turns out to be a simulation.]] |
| 74 | ** When he's brought to near-death in "Bad Bad Rubber Piggy", Membrane in a rare display of protectiveness places him in a high-tech battlesuit to save his life, that gets upgraded with more and more weaponry when Zim tries to damage it. By the end Zim has to undo the current timeline entirely to stop him. |
| 75 | * 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 full-on mental breakdown. |
| 76 | * 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. |
| 77 | * 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. |
| 78 | * 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.]] |
| 79 | ** [[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. |
| 80 | ** ''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.]] |
| 81 | * {{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. |
| 82 | * {{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. |
| 83 | * 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!" |
| 84 | %%* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The Melancholic. |
| 85 | * 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. |
| 86 | ** 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. |
| 87 | * 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. |
| 88 | * GoalInLife: To prove to the world that Zim is an alien. |
| 89 | * 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]]. |
| 90 | * 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. |
| 91 | * 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. |
| 92 | * 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. |
| 93 | * {{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". |
| 94 | -->"Sat too long... Chair... Fused to butt! More chair than man now!" |
| 95 | * 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. |
| 96 | * ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne: |
| 97 | -->'''Zim:''' Despite his large head, the Dib-monkey is quite stupid.\ |
| 98 | '''Dib:''' MY HEAD'S NOT BIG! |
| 99 | * IdiotHair: His hair is always styled into a massive pointy scythe shape. |
| 100 | * InformedDeformity: His supposedly big head, considering that it's no larger than everyone else's heads. |
| 101 | -->"My head's not big!" |
| 102 | ** 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. |
| 103 | * InsufferableGenius: He's typically one of the most intelligent and rational characters of the show but he's a stubborn egotist. |
| 104 | * IntelligenceEqualsIsolation: His classmates go out of their way to avoid him and are [[KidsAreCruel 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. |
| 105 | * 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... |
| 106 | * 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. |
| 107 | ** 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. |
| 108 | * 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. |
| 109 | * KidHero: The defender of the Earth is a twelve-year-old. |
| 110 | * 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. |
| 111 | * 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. |
| 112 | * {{Leitmotif}}: A violin, which goes with Gaz's harpsichord. |
| 113 | * LetsGetDangerous: Briefly sheds his ButtMonkey status several times, one of the most noteworthy being "Battle of the Planets." |
| 114 | * 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. |
| 115 | * 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". |
| 116 | * 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. |
| 117 | * 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]]. |
| 118 | * 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. |
| 119 | * 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. |
| 120 | -->'''Dib:''' But that's where Zim's going, so that's where we're going.\ |
| 121 | '''Tak's Ship:''' Ugh! And if Zim flew into the sun, would you do that too?\ |
| 122 | '''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- \ |
| 123 | '''Tak's Ship:''' I HATE BOTH OF YOU SO MUCH! |
| 124 | * 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. |
| 125 | * 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. |
| 126 | * 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]]. |
| 127 | * MrExposition: Tends to provide a lot of rambling exposition, to the point where even ''he'' lampshades it. |
| 128 | -->'''Dib''': "Wow.....WOW! I'm ''boring!'' Do I always explain everything like that?" |
| 129 | * {{Necromancer}}: One of Professor Membrane's lines from "Backseat Drivers from Beyond the Stars" implies it. |
| 130 | -->"SON! There better not be any walking dead up there!" |
| 131 | * 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. |
| 132 | * 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. |
| 133 | * NoodleIncident: |
| 134 | ** A RunningGag is that someone will elude 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. |
| 135 | --->'''Greg from the FBI:''' Hey...you're ''DIB...''right? Heh-heh, you ever get that ''ninja ghost'' outta your toilet?\ |
| 136 | '''Dib:''' ''Yes,'' no thanks to ''you!'' |
| 137 | ** Whatever led to Dib bringing the dead back to life the first time. |
| 138 | --->'''Professor Membrane''': Son, there better not be any ''walking dead'' up there!\ |
| 139 | '''Dib:''' It's nothing to worry about, dad! And I said I was sorry about that! |
| 140 | ** This little gem in "The Nightmare Begins": |
| 141 | --->'''The Letter M:''' Yeah, what's wrong with you? All you talk about is aliens and ghosts and seeing bigfoot in your garage!\ |
| 142 | '''Dib:''' He was using the belt sander... |
| 143 | ** From "Dibship Rising": |
| 144 | --->'''Dib:''' ''([[ItMakesSenseInContext talking to a spaceship clone of himself]])'' Remember our fifth birthday when we fought off that swarm of alien... ghost... bee babies? |
| 145 | ** 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. |
| 146 | ** 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. |
| 147 | ** From "Dibship Rising": |
| 148 | --->'''Random kid:''' Hey, Dib's being all weird and giant again! |
| 149 | ** When Miss Bitters catches Dib jamming half of a phone into Willy's ear in "The Voting of the Doomed", she rebukes Dib in a way that implies this isn't the first time Dib shoved something in a classmate's ear. |
| 150 | * NoRespectGuy: He's unlucky and most of the other characters, except Gaz, are idiots. |
| 151 | * NotSoSimilar: |
| 152 | ** 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. |
| 153 | ** 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. |
| 154 | * 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. |
| 155 | * OnlySaneMan: Which is saying something, as he's not entirely sane himself due to being a brash and obsessive {{Cloudcuckoolander}}. |
| 156 | * OtherMeAnnoysMe: Consistently finds himself to be unbearable on the occasions where he's made to interact with alternate versions of himself. |
| 157 | * ParentalNeglect: Although it's more workaholic neglect than outright abandonment, Membrane scarcely acknowledges him. |
| 158 | * PayEvilUntoEvil: Towards Zim at times. |
| 159 | * 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. |
| 160 | * PunctuatedForEmphasis: "You will pay for ruining my childhood, Zim! '''''You! Will! PAY!!!'''''" |
| 161 | * 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. |
| 162 | * 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. |
| 163 | * SanitySlippage: Most obvious in "Vindicated!" and "The Fry Cook That Came From All That Space". |
| 164 | * ScaryShinyGlasses: In the opener. |
| 165 | * SeekerArchetype: His anxious following of his favorite TV show ''Mysterious Mysteries'' is this trope objectified. |
| 166 | * 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. |
| 167 | * 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. |
| 168 | * SpeechImpediment: Temporarily as a result of Zim screwing with his past in "Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy". |
| 169 | * SurroundedByIdiots: "Okay, am I the only one who sees the [[PaperThinDisguise alien]] sitting in class?" |
| 170 | * 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]]. |
| 171 | * ThinkingOutLoud: A habit he frequently lampshades in later episodes. |
| 172 | * 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. |
| 173 | * ThrowTheDogABone: Some episodes end on relatively high notes for him, usually by means of worse things happening to Zim than to him. |
| 174 | ** 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. |
| 175 | ** [[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.]] |
| 176 | * 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). His depiction in ''Enter the Florpus'' returns him to being more well-intentioned despite his egotism. |
| 177 | * TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: Does displaying a desire to strap Zim to an autopsy table and dissect him to see his alien organs count? |
| 178 | * TwitchyEye: At the end of "Vindicated!", and arguably during his mental breakdown in "The Fry Cook That Came From All That Space". |
| 179 | * 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. |
| 180 | -->'''Prof. Membrane:''' My poor, insane son.\ |
| 181 | '''Prof. Membrane:''' (to Gaz) You're my funny child! |
| 182 | ** 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. |
| 183 | * UnwittingPawn: In ''Enter the Florpus'', [[spoiler: Zim uses him to gain access to and take over Membrane Labs.]] |
| 184 | * 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). |
| 185 | * VerbalTic: "NYAH!!!" |
| 186 | * 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. |
| 187 | * 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.]] |
| 188 | * WorthIt: This dialogue in "The Wettening". |
| 189 | -->'''Gaz:''' ''(after beng splashed in water by Dib)'' [[CreepyMonotone You do realize I'm going to]] [[TranquilFury destroy you now.]]\ |
| 190 | '''Dib:''' It was worth it! Score one for the human race! Score zero for the [[BuffySpeak Zim...thingy...race.]] |
| 191 | * 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...]]" |
| 192 | [[/folder]] |
| 193 | |
| 194 | [[folder:Gazlene "Gaz" Membrane]] |
| 195 | [[quoteright:195:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gaz_membrane.png]] |
| 196 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MelissaFahn |
| 197 | |
| 198 | ->''"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!"''\ |
| 199 | (after getting a negative response): ''"I hope ya like NIGHTMARE WORLDS!"'' |
| 200 | |
| 201 | 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. |
| 202 | ---- |
| 203 | * 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. |
| 204 | * 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. |
| 205 | * 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.]] |
| 206 | * ADayInTheLimelight: "Bloaty's Pizza Hog", "Game Slave 2", and "Gaz, Taster of Pork" all focus on her. |
| 207 | * 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''. |
| 208 | * 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". |
| 209 | * 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. |
| 210 | * AnimalMotifs: Gaz has a thing for pigs. Her favorite restaurant is Bloaty's Pizza Hog, her favorite video game is ''Vampire Piggy Hunter'', she enjoys drawing little piggies, she once got a curse cast on her to make everything she ate taste like pork (which could only be reversed by the Shadowhog), [[spoiler:and in ''Enter the Florpus'', she defeats Zim by throwing a giant baked ham at him]]. |
| 211 | * AnimeHair: Shaped like a massive set of jaws. |
| 212 | * 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.]] |
| 213 | * 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. |
| 214 | * 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. |
| 215 | * 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. |
| 216 | * 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. |
| 217 | * 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). |
| 218 | * 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]]. |
| 219 | * BalloonBelly: Gaz's ImagineSpot in the episode "Gaz, Taster of Pork" has her imagine herself swelling to an enormous size, due to a curse of her eating a lifetime of Pork, to the point she nearly ''breaks the TV''. |
| 220 | * BerserkButton: |
| 221 | ** Take her stuff ([[GamerChick especially her Game Slave]] as well as her food) and you will pay. |
| 222 | ** 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. |
| 223 | * 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. |
| 224 | * 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. |
| 225 | * BigNo: In ''Enter the Florpus'', as Dib comes out of his room in a completely filthy state and Gaz gets overwhelmed by the odor. |
| 226 | -->'''Gaz''': Dib, no. Look at you. The world's not ready to see what you've become. You're hideous! The smell!\ |
| 227 | '''Dib''': The world...needs me!\ |
| 228 | '''Gaz''': Take a bath first! Take... ''(gagging)'' ...take a bath! ''NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!'' |
| 229 | * 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. |
| 230 | * BootsOfToughness: A close-up shot of her shoes in "Gaz, Taster of Pork" reveals that they are spiky combat boots. |
| 231 | * BoyishShortHair: She's tomboyish and she wears her hair in a rather cubic bob. |
| 232 | * 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. |
| 233 | * BystanderSyndrome: Generally. She does help on occasion. |
| 234 | -->'''Gaz:''' Are there any video games around here?\ |
| 235 | '''Zim's Computer:''' No. Not really.\ |
| 236 | '''Gaz:''' I ''guess'' I'll ''save the Earth,'' then. |
| 237 | * 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. |
| 238 | * {{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. |
| 239 | * 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. |
| 240 | * 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. |
| 241 | * 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. |
| 242 | * 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. |
| 243 | * 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. |
| 244 | * CreepyChild: She frightens grown men, as seen in "Mysterious Mysteries." |
| 245 | * TheCynic: Seems to be convinced that everything is stupid. To her credit, [[SadistShow she's]] [[CrapsackWorld probably]] [[SurroundedByIdiots right]]. |
| 246 | * 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. |
| 247 | * DeadpanSnarker: Snarks like there's no tomorrow. |
| 248 | -->'''Dib:''' "Did you hear that, Gaz? Humans don't have squeedlyspooches!"\ |
| 249 | '''Gaz:''' "I've got a squeedlyspooch."\ |
| 250 | * beat*\ |
| 251 | '''Gaz:''' "Why do you have to have a head?" |
| 252 | * DeathGlare: She's VERY good at giving intimidating glares. |
| 253 | * DependingOnTheArtist: |
| 254 | ** 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). |
| 255 | ** She wears leggings as shown in the series, but is sometimes shown wearing tights instead. |
| 256 | * {{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. |
| 257 | * {{Deuteragonist}}: Once Zim is established as the DecoyProtagonist and Dib becomes the main Protagonist, Gaz is promoted to this role in Enter The Florpus. |
| 258 | * DisproportionateRetribution: |
| 259 | ** 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. |
| 260 | ** 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. |
| 261 | ** 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.]] |
| 262 | * DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale: Her treatment of Dib for bothering her is downright psychotic in some episodes, but PlayedForLaughs. |
| 263 | * 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". |
| 264 | * EnfanteTerrible: She's just a kid, but still sadistic. |
| 265 | * EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Contrary to her overall sociopathic tendencies, Gaz is perfectly amiable toward Professor Membrane. |
| 266 | * 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. |
| 267 | ** On that note, despite her often screwing with Dib when he's childishly upset simply for her own amusement, she's completely against doing so when he's genuinely ''heartbroken''. |
| 268 | * EvilIsBurningHot: Sometimes when she gets angry, the background behind her bursts into flames. |
| 269 | * EvilIsPetty: |
| 270 | ** "Battle-Dib" is basically her doing everything possible to foil Dib by cheating, just because he took her last piece of pizza. |
| 271 | ** 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. |
| 272 | * 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. |
| 273 | * 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. |
| 274 | * 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." |
| 275 | * {{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". |
| 276 | * FightsLikeANormal: Assuming she ''does'' have inhuman powers, she only demonstrates that when she's ''really'' pissed off. Against foes like Zim she uses only her wits and tech expertise, which admittedly isn't hard as Zim is very much lacking in wit himself. |
| 277 | * {{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. |
| 278 | * ForeheadOfDoom: Her forehead is pretty big, and she's short-tempered. |
| 279 | %%* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The Phlegmatic. |
| 280 | * 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. |
| 281 | * 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. |
| 282 | * GirlsLoveStuffedAnimals: She has a collection of stuffed animals and dolls...that she converted into security drones programmed to ''feed on human flesh.'' Yikes. |
| 283 | * 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. |
| 284 | * 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. |
| 285 | * 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. |
| 286 | * HairTriggerTemper: It doesn't take much to set her off, especially if it's from her brother. |
| 287 | * HatesBeingTouched: Gaz seems to greatly dislike, or at least be ''very'' particular about, physical contact of any type. |
| 288 | ** 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. |
| 289 | ** In "Future Dib", she reacts with utter revulsion when "Dib" (who was actually Zim controlling a Dib robot) puts his arm around her. |
| 290 | ** 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. |
| 291 | ** 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. |
| 292 | * HatesEveryoneEqually: She frequently expresses her disdain for the rest of the human race. |
| 293 | * 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. |
| 294 | * HeroicComedicSociopath: If she can be bothered to help at ''all,'' she's usually this. |
| 295 | * HiddenDepths: She occasionally shows glimpses of a softer side, as well as an interest in things other than video games. |
| 296 | ** In the unproduced "Mopiness of Doom" episode, she is disturbed by Dib giving up on the paranormal and relieved when everything returns to normal. |
| 297 | ** 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". |
| 298 | ** 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. |
| 299 | ** 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. |
| 300 | ** If the debut issue of the comics and ''Enter the Florpus'' are anything to go by, Gaz can play electric guitar. |
| 301 | * 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. |
| 302 | * IconicItem: Never seen without her Game Slave. |
| 303 | * IJustWantToBeNormal: Implied a few times, but primarily in "Bloaty's Pizza Hog". |
| 304 | -->"All I want is to have some pizza, hang out with Dad, and not have your weirdness mess up my day." |
| 305 | * ImprobableWeaponUser: |
| 306 | ** She used cans of Poop soda against Zim, Dib, Tak, and [=MiMi=] in "Tak, the Hideous New Girl." |
| 307 | ** She ultimately defeats Zim with [[spoiler:a large baked ham]] near the end of ''Enter the Florpus''. |
| 308 | * InexplicablyAwesome: How a little girl is able to pull off half the feats she does(particularly when angry), is never explained. She just ''can.'' |
| 309 | * {{Jerkass}}: She's cynical, antisocial, and lashes out violently over the most trivial things. |
| 310 | * JerkassHasAPoint: |
| 311 | ** 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. |
| 312 | ** 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. |
| 313 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: |
| 314 | ** 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. |
| 315 | ** 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. |
| 316 | ** ''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. |
| 317 | * 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. |
| 318 | * KarmaHoudini: On occasion, though other times (like in "Battle-Dib"), she gets her comeuppance. |
| 319 | * KidsAreCruel: [[ZigZaggingTrope Sometimes.]] Other times, she's just apathetic. |
| 320 | * 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. |
| 321 | * 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!]] |
| 322 | -->'''"HAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMM!!"''' ''(Gaz holds [[spoiler: the ham]] over her head as lighting strikes it like Thor's hammer.)'' |
| 323 | ** From an earlier episode, there's her hysterical reaction when Dib swipes her last slice of pizza: |
| 324 | --->"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!" |
| 325 | * {{Leitmotif}}: A harpsichord. |
| 326 | * 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. |
| 327 | * LittleMissSnarker: A humorlessly sarcastic little girl. |
| 328 | * LittleSisterInstinct: Sometimes, she can be this to her brother. However, these moments are often motivated by her own interests. |
| 329 | * 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. |
| 330 | * 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. |
| 331 | * 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. |
| 332 | * MeaningfulName: |
| 333 | ** 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. |
| 334 | ** 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. |
| 335 | * 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. |
| 336 | * MouthyKid: Gaz tells it like it is or puts you in your place, regardless of who you are. |
| 337 | -->'''Deelishus Weenie employee:''' Deelishus Weenie!\ |
| 338 | '''Gaz:''' Hi.\ |
| 339 | '''Deelishus Weenie employee:''' Uhhh, what'll it be?\ |
| 340 | '''Gaz:''' Be quiet. I wanted to let you know that my brother is trying to break into this building through some secret entrance. |
| 341 | * 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. |
| 342 | * 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. |
| 343 | * 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. |
| 344 | * OffscreenTeleportation: When stalking Iggins in "Game Slave 2". |
| 345 | * 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. |
| 346 | * PerpetualFrowner: Fitting with her personality, she almost never smiles and almost always has a scowl on her face. |
| 347 | * PetTheDog: As much as she seems to dislike Dib, it's worth noting that he's also the only person she's ever nice to. |
| 348 | ** 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. |
| 349 | ** In the unproduced episode "Mopiness of Doom", she actually starts to worry 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. |
| 350 | --->'''Gaz''': ''(after Dib goes back to chasing Zim)'' All is right with the world again...stupid world. |
| 351 | ** 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. |
| 352 | ** 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. |
| 353 | ** 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.]] |
| 354 | * ThePowerOfHate: Her raw hatred seems to manifest itself as supernatural abilities at times. |
| 355 | * PunnyName: Her full name, Gazlene, is a play on the word "gasoline". |
| 356 | * PuppyDogEyes: Several episodes have her doing this, but it’s rarely shown. |
| 357 | * 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. |
| 358 | * 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''. |
| 359 | * TheSmurfettePrinciple: She's the show's only main female character. |
| 360 | * 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. |
| 361 | * SourSupporter: She's the closest thing Dib has to an ally... and she's not at all happy about it. |
| 362 | * SpoiledBrat: Membrane gives her everything she actually needs. |
| 363 | * 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. |
| 364 | -->'''Dib:''' Don't you care that Zim is trying to destroy all mankind? Huh?\ |
| 365 | '''Gaz:''' But he's ''so'' '''''bad''''' at it. |
| 366 | * {{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]]. |
| 367 | * TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: While not particularly girly, she does sport a pink hair bow during two flashbacks in "Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy", wear 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. |
| 368 | * 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. |
| 369 | * 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. |
| 370 | * TrademarkFavoriteFood: She loves pepperoni pizza more than almost anything else. |
| 371 | * TranquilFury: When you have screwed up big time, she almost never goes ballistic; she's too mad for that. |
| 372 | ** 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. |
| 373 | ** 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. |
| 374 | ** In Issue #5, when Dib turns off her game, a furious Gaz stands there in StunnedSilence and then leaves the room. |
| 375 | * TwitchyEye: ''"I'm trying to draw a little piggy. Can't you see I'm trying to draw a little piggy?!"'' |
| 376 | * 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. |
| 377 | * VocalEvolution: Like with Dib, Gaz's voice would shift on occasion from low-pitched and rough, to higher and softer. |
| 378 | * WhenSheSmiles: |
| 379 | ** When playing as her in the online game ''Dib's Nanochase,'' she will smile upon the player's victory. |
| 380 | ** She gives a few genuine smiles in ''Enter the Florpus'', such as [[spoiler:when she's reunited with her father.]] |
| 381 | * WingdingEyes: She gets swirls in her pupils when distracted by a commercial in "Bloaty's Pizza Hog." |
| 382 | * 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.]] |
| 383 | * YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: In ''Enter the Florpus'', she delivers one of these speeches to Dib when the latter is feeling down, albeit in her own way: |
| 384 | -->"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!" |
| 385 | [[/folder]] |
| 386 | |
| 387 | [[folder:Professor Membrane]] |
| 388 | [[quoteright:315:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/profmem.jpg]] |
| 389 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/RodgerBumpass |
| 390 | |
| 391 | ->''Friend to the world, enemy of Santa Claus.'' |
| 392 | |
| 393 | 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. |
| 394 | ---- |
| 395 | * 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. |
| 396 | * ActionDad: [[spoiler:''Enter the Florpus'' has him take on an entire army of robots to protect his son.]] |
| 397 | * 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.]] |
| 398 | * 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. |
| 399 | * 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. |
| 400 | * 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!]]) |
| 401 | * 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. |
| 402 | * 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. |
| 403 | * ArtificialLimbs: ''Enter The Florpus'' reveals he has two. [[spoiler: His arms, apparently since ''childhood'', when they were [[NoodleIncident lost to sharks]].]] |
| 404 | * 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]]. |
| 405 | * BerserkButton: Santa, for giving him something he didn't want for Christmas, and sharks for betraying his trust and biting off his arms. |
| 406 | * BigGood: |
| 407 | ** 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. |
| 408 | ** 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.]] |
| 409 | * 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. |
| 410 | * CerebusRetcon: In "The Most Horrible X-Mas Ever", he's randomly shown firing a beam of energy from his hand at the front door of his house, with it seeming to be a BigLippedAlligatorMoment that has no discernible explanation. In ''Enter the Florpus'', however, it's revealed that this beam firing is the result of him having prosthetic arms with energy-firing features, which he {{implie|d trope}}s was the result of sharks ravaging his arms off when he was a child. |
| 411 | * CharacterCatchphrase: [[HypocriticalHumor "My poor, insane son."]] |
| 412 | * {{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 eludes 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]]. |
| 413 | * 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. |
| 414 | -->'''Membrane:''' I knew this day would come! |
| 415 | * {{Cyborg}}: ''Enter the Florpus'' reveals that at least both of his arms are actually robotic prosthetics. |
| 416 | * 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). |
| 417 | * DisabledInTheAdaptation: His arms are mechanical prosthetics in ''Enter the Florpus'' whereas they at least appeared to be organic in the original series. |
| 418 | * 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. |
| 419 | * 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. |
| 420 | * EvilLaugh: "There are no curses, son. ''MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!''" |
| 421 | * TheFaceless: Never seen without a high collar and goggles, even as a kid. |
| 422 | * FlatEarthAtheist: Despite his world being filled with readily accessible paranormal phenomena, he dismisses everything outside of traditional science as being ridiculous. This reaches its apex in ''Enter the Florpus'' where he ends the movie [[spoiler:stubbornly insisting that the alien invasion ''he personally fought against'' was all a hallucination.]] |
| 423 | * {{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. |
| 424 | * ForScience: He'll do anything as long as it can benefit the field of science. |
| 425 | * 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. |
| 426 | * GogglesDoNothing: That we know of. |
| 427 | * TheGrinch: A mild case as he doesn't appear to hate the holiday itself, just Santa. |
| 428 | * 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. |
| 429 | * 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. |
| 430 | * InnocentlyInsensitive: He genuinely doesn't seem to realize how his blunt dismissal of Dib's theories about the paranormal could be seen as hurtful. |
| 431 | * 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. |
| 432 | * JerkassBall: In "Gaz, Taster of Pork", where he goes past neglectful and insensitive to outright exploitative, publicizing his research on Gaz to turn her humiliating curse into a merchandising opportunity. |
| 433 | * 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. |
| 434 | * LargeHam: Possibly the biggest one in the series. Considering [[WorldOfHam the kind of world he inhabits]], it's ''quite'' an accomplishment. |
| 435 | * 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. |
| 436 | * MadScientist: He built a space-time object replacement device, a perpetual energy generator, and possibly cloned Dib. |
| 437 | * {{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. |
| 438 | * 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. |
| 439 | -->'''Membrane:''' Stand back, son. I'm making... ''(sparks fly out-of-view, before saying triumphantly) '''TOAST!''' (Holds toast high in the air)'' |
| 440 | ** 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. |
| 441 | * NoMouth: It's covered up by the collar of his lab coat. |
| 442 | * 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". |
| 443 | * 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]]. |
| 444 | * 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. |
| 445 | ** He also seems to get a chuckle out of the name Minimoose. |
| 446 | * 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.]] |
| 447 | * OnlySaneMan: Convinces himself that he's this by the end of ''Enter the Florpus'' 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. |
| 448 | * OpenMindedParent: [[ZigZaggingTrope Zigzagged.]] While he thinks very lowly of Dib's aspirations to be a paranormal investigator, he doesn't necessarily attempt to force Dib out of it, and he still loves his son all the same. He plays it more straight with Gaz, as when Dib tries to call her hobby of video gaming pointless, Membrane has this to say. |
| 449 | -->'''Membrane:''' Son, video games develop hand-eye coordination, and help kids grow into ''better'' human beings! |
| 450 | * 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]]. |
| 451 | * 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 "Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom", 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. |
| 452 | * ParentalNeglect: He loves his kids but his fixation with science means that he's hardly ever there for them. |
| 453 | * 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. |
| 454 | * 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. |
| 455 | * 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]]. |
| 456 | * ShowWithinAShow: The aforementioned ''Probing the Membrane of Science''. |
| 457 | * 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. |
| 458 | * 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. |
| 459 | * 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.]] |
| 460 | * StrongFamilyResemblance: From what we can see of his face, anyway, Dib takes after him a lot. |
| 461 | * 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. |
| 462 | * 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. |
| 463 | * 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]]. |
| 464 | * 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. |
| 465 | * 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. |
| 466 | * VocalDissonance: As a child, he had the exact same voice he does now. |
| 467 | * WackyParentSeriousChild: Not a perfect example, but his kids are at least more [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]] and less [[LargeHam hammy]]. |
| 468 | * 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. |
| 469 | * TheWorfEffect: After showing his combat prowess in ''Enter the Florpus'', [[spoiler:Clembrane]] defeats him with a single blow. |
| 470 | * {{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. |
| 471 | * 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. |
| 472 | * YouDontLookLikeYou: A little bit in ''Enter the Florpus''. His coat now protrudes out from his collar as opposed to protruding inward, making him look much wider, and he also has mechanical arms which he lacked in the show. |
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