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    Zim 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zim_yell.png
Voiced by: Billy West (pilot only), Richard Steven Horvitz (series), Melissa Fahn (as a smeet)

"I am Zim, and Zim shall rule!"

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


  • For tropes related to him, see here.

    GIR 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gir_dog_suit.png
Voiced by: Rosearik Rikki Simons

"I like waffles!"

Zim's robot sidekick, on Earth disguised as a dog. Supposedly a "SIR" (Standard-Issue Information Retrieval) unit assigned to all invaders, but GIR is an "advanced" model the Tallest specially gave Zim. And by "advanced", we of course mean "moronic," thanks to having a head literally full of garbage.note  While usually too flighty to be of any consistent help, GIR will now and again go into "Duty Mode," signified by a change of eye-and-panel color from blue to red, and act like a real SIR.


  • Achievements in Ignorance:
    • Without even trying, he's very good at blending in with humans. In "Attack of the Saucer Morons", he has fun dancing with some girls at a nightclub.
    • In the unproduced episode "The Trial", he successfully conquers Earth while Zim is being held prisoner on the Massive.
    • His very creation is a case of this. He was literally slapped together with random lint and garbage for a "brain"/CPU, with a body made from spare parts and according to Word of God, a defunct frozen yogurt maker. And yet the end result was still a fully functional robot assistant. Even with his insanity, the fact that he can turn on and perform even the most basic functions, all things considered is a miracle.
  • Affably Evil: Definitely more amiable compared to Zim.
  • Aliens Love Human Food: GIR has a bottomless appetite and will eat almost anything, his favorites being tacos and waffles. "Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom" has him ballooning to a massive size after eating loads of candy stolen from trick-or-treaters.
  • Ambiguous Innocence: GIR is, indeed, innocent — it is hard to imagine he even has the mental capacity to understand that there is a difference between right and wrong, much less know what that difference is. GIR often relishes in destruction only seemingly without malice, but an increase in understanding and competence (such as in the episode "GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff") would simply provide the needed motivation to apply that destructive force purposefully. In short, just because he's dumb and innocent doesn't mean he'd be a sweet-tempered do-gooder if left to his own devices.
  • Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Nearly anything can distract him—squirrels, piggies, waffles, the Scary Monkey show, whatever.
  • Ax-Crazy: He's prone to random acts of violence, such as repeatedly launching a pug into space, eating a baby and baking Dib into a pie.
  • Badass Adorable: He's a pretty cute robot taking over the world all by himself in an unfinished episode, and he wasn't in duty mode.
  • Bag of Holding: The inside of his head can hold dozens of rubber piggies.
  • Berserk Button: Don't make the Taco Man die in front of him, not even if it's fake.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: It would be hard to say if he is nice or mean, but he isn't as evil as Zim, and he's too dumb to realize how evil he is... and when he's in Duty Mode...
  • Beware the Silly Ones: In one episode, Zim locks GIR into "Duty Mode" (the red-eyed, serious version), and he promptly becomes much more evil and competent than Zim himself, including deciding that Zim is a threat to the mission and needs to be eliminated. Long story short, Zim just barely turns him back to normal in time to prevent a Klingon Promotion.
  • Blue-and-Orange Morality: We have absolutely no idea why he does anything he does, and if we could look into his thought processes, our brains would a-splode.
  • Big Eater: He's very gluttonous, eating lots of waffles and tacos mostly. He also comes off as a messy eater due to how fast he eats.
  • Bumbling Sidekick: He is Zim's incompetent lackey.
  • Chaotic Stupid: Even more than Zim, due to his utter lack of reasoning capabilities or self-restraint.
  • Character Catchphrase:
    • "TAACOOOS!"
    • "Okie dokie!"
    • "Ooooooo..."
  • Cheerful Child: He’s very hyperactive and not a lot gets him down for the most part.
  • Chick Magnet: He was seen dancing with a bunch of girls at a club, then dropped off at the house hours later by his new friends.
  • Children Are Innocent: How "innocent" is highly debatable but GIR essentially has the mind of a small child who doesn't fully comprehend the magnitude of his actions paired with the tools and weaponry of a planet conqueror.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: However, Jhonen has gone on record to say that humor involving GIR isn't random as it's all rooted by the fact that the robot's brain is literally junk.
  • Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Blue/green = regular GIR. Red = duty mode.
  • Cranium Compartment: He can open the top of his head and uses the space within to store items. As his behaviour demonstrates, his CPU doesn't take up much space at all in there.
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: His duty mode proves this without a doubt, especially in "GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff". Not to mention that he managed to Take Over the World all on his own in an unfinished episode.
  • Cuckoosnarker: During his moments of clarity, GIR can be pretty snarky towards Zim.
    Zim: You now possess superior geographic guidance abilities, GIR.
    GIR: Finally.
  • Cuddle Bug: "Aww, somebody needs a hug!"
  • Cute, but Cacophonic: GIR is undeniably cuddly looking and has a loud, high pitched scream when he's upset.
  • Curtains Match the Window: Well, not quite — his eyes are the same color as the lightbulb on the antenna on the top of his head.
  • Death Glare: When delivering his "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Zim in duty mode in "GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff".
  • Death Seeker: Played for Laughs. For seemingly no reason, GIR has an innate desire to want to explode. At the end of "Plague of Babies", he sounds disappointed that he didn't end up exploding, and when Zim tells him to self-destruct in "Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom", he shouts an excited, "FINALLY!"
  • The Ditz: He is amazingly ditzy. He often heads into Cloudcuckoolander territory, depending on the local humidity and/or piggy count.
  • The Dragon: SIR units as a whole fulfill this purpose for their masters, and GIR, being Zim's robotic sidekick, fulfills the same role... just with much less effectiveness than the standard model. When Minimoose comes aboard, he and GIR share the role.
  • Dumbass Has a Point: More often than you would expect. It's not uncommon for him to pick up the Smart Ball when no one else is around to be Zim's Straight Man.
    • When Zim gets freaked out about a baby spotting themnote , GIR says this:
      GIR: Dib's seen us before. And he knows where we live.
    • He gets another moment in "Walk For Your Lives." When Zim decides to cancel out the stasis field slowing down a city-busting explosion, not taking into account that said explosion will still annihilate his base and the entire city, GIR of all people insists to Zim that going through with this plan is not a good idea.
    • In the movie, Zim tries to pull a You Didn't See That, only for GIR to say "YES THEY DID."
      Zim: Now this is what I like to see, GIR! Pathetic human scum fleeing in terror at the sight of ZIIIIM!
      GIR: Nobody even lookin' at you!
  • Dumb Is Good: invokedSubverted; GIR's impulsive stupidity leaves him with little regard for others' safety, and he causes destruction for entertainment on a whim. Note that portraying him as "good" was never the intent, but the fandom picked it up and ran with it. GIR is often misconstrued as a harmless or even compassionate character rather than a merely stupid one. "GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff" was in part a measure dedicated to correcting that; without his mental issues distracting him, it turns out he's naturally as cold and evil as any other SIR unit.
  • Easter Egg: The infamous "Bloody Gir" (an image of GIR in duty mode and covered in blood), hidden as a Take That! against the network for not allowing the image into a scene.
  • Eating Optional: Being a robot, GIR doesn't need to eat, but he does anyway out of enjoyment of Earth food.
  • Eating Machine: He loves to eat, mainly waffles and tacos. And burritos... and chicken... and pretty much everything else.
  • Eccentric A.I.: It's been confirmed that his brain is nothing but junk, and this shows in his Non Sequiturs and general idiocy that often causes Zim's plans to fail.
  • Extreme Omnivore:
    • To name a few... A live chicken, tacos, burritos, taquitos, cupcakes, waffles made outta peanuts and soap, a fish (or tried to), pizza, Acne Blast acne cream, puppies (maybe)...
    • In the first issue of the comic, GIR claims to have eaten a baby. This joke is repeated verbatim in Enter the Florpus.
      GIR: I ate a baby there!
      Zim: He did.
  • Floating Limbs: His metal legs. Averted in the toys, where his legs are attached to his body.
  • The Gadfly: The unfinished episode "Mopiness of Doom" sees GIR stash burgers in the ceiling with the intent of annoying Zim, and he's disappointed when Zim doesn't yell at him.
  • The Glomp: He loves anything cute and especially clings to Zim more than once.
  • Genius Loci: In "Invasion of the Idiot Dog Brain", his brain is accidentally uploaded into the central hub of Zim's house, allowing him to control it and eventually turn it into a Humongous Mecha.
  • Hanlon's Razor: Well, he actually never has an malicious intent whenever he does help Zim, but in duty mode...oh boy, is this trope ever averted.
  • Head Pet: He rides on Zim's head in a few episodes such as "Battle of the Planets" and "Attack of the Saucer Morons". In "Tak, the Hideous New Girl", he uses Dib's head instead.
  • Heh Heh, You Said "X":
    Zim: I'm going to attempt to lock you into duty mode with this behavioral modulator.
    (GIR giggles)
    Zim: What?
    GIR: Doody.
  • Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Zim. The two have gone on countless missions together and are the closest things to friends each other has.
  • Hidden Depths: The sentence "Do anything is real?" can be seen among his childish scribbles along the walls of Zim's house in Enter the Florpus, implying that he possesses an understanding of existentialism that we otherwise get no insight into.
  • Hidden Disdain Reveal: While in duty mode, GIR eventually decides that Zim has to die for the sake of the mission. When Zim protests and says that GIR used to be his servant, GIR has this to say.
    GIR: Yes. I didn't like it.
  • Hyper-Competent Sidekick: In duty mode. Unfortunately for Zim, that usually only lasts for a few seconds. Although non-duty mode GIR has moments of surprising clarity that Zim repeatedly fails to pay any heed, like in "Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy". The best example of this would be the time he tried to point out to Zim that speeding up a slowed down explosion (It Makes Sense in Context) would be a bad thing.
  • Keet: His electronic robot voice coupled with his bizarre enthusiasm for everything makes him a very notable example.
  • Klingons Love Shakespeare: He loves watching human TV programs, especially the Scary Monkey show. This causes some trouble in "Parent-Teacher Night" when Zim puts him in charge of making sure the Roboparents absorb information from a videotape of human parents' behavior towards their children, but GIR changes the channel to a bunch of random shows and commercials instead. Hilarity Ensues.
  • Lethal Chef: In "Zim Eats Waffles", he makes waffles and begs Zim to eat them. Zim enjoys them until GIR reveals that the waffles contain peanuts and soap.
    Zim: GIR, your waffles have sickened me. Fetch me the bucket!
  • Lethally Stupid: Especially in "Invasion of The Idiot Dog Brain".
  • The Millstone: If it isn't Zim himself or Dib who foil his plans, it's usually Gir who does.
  • Minion with an F in Evil: Sometimes; GIR is legitimately too stupid to grasp morality and he holds no malice toward Dib (or anyone, usually) helping him on occasion. However ignorance of the ramifications doesn't stop GIR from engaging in mayhem, violence, or destruction.
  • Morality Pet: Literally. GIR is one of the very few things Zim cares for beyond himself. Though Zim would never admit it, he's displayed affection for the little robot and several of his Pet the Dog moments involve GIR in some way.
  • Nominal Villain: Unless he "goes crazy and stuff". Usually he's too interested in snacking or television to do anything actually evil, and the few times he's lucid enough to act like the killer robot he was intended to be, they don't last long enough for him to accomplish anything before going back to his relatively harmless insanity.
  • Not Afraid to Die: His reactions to impending doom can be downright gleeful, and he's even expressed disappointment at avoiding it. Doesn't quite cross the line into Death Seeker territory, though.
    GIR: Aww. I wanted to explode.
  • Not So Harmless: Jhonen has gone so far as to describe him as an "amoral baby monster" who has a tenuous grasp on reality due to how he was made.
  • Ocular Gushers: Whenever he cries, expect bigass streams of tears to come flowing from his eyes.
    "WHYYYYYY?! WHY, MY PIGGY?! I LOVEDED YOU PIGGY! I LOVEDED YOU!"
  • Odd Friendship: With Zim, his leader and boss. Zim's a megalomaniacal, egotistical world conqueror while GIR's a ditzy, cheerful Cloudcuckoolander, but they seem to get along fine for the most part.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: His dog disguise isn't much better than Zim's own "human" disguise, up to and including the prominent zipper.
  • Person of Mass Destruction: In Invasion of the Idiot Dog Brain.
  • Pintsized Powerhouse: In duty mode, he can put up an impressive fight in spite of his small size. Occasionally in his "normal" mode as well. In "Megadoomer" he was able to carry a contact five times his size without any troubled effort.
  • Plucky Comic Relief: While most of the cast is comedic to some extent, GIR's Cloudcuckoolander tendencies, Blue-and-Orange Morality and endless supply of non-sequiturs land him squarely in this category.
  • Punch-Clock Villain: He only does what Zim says because he is his servant. Not that he often does what is asked of him, anyway.
  • Ridiculously Human Robots: For some reason, he enjoys eating food, watching TV, consistently demonstrates emotions, and is even able to cry. And then, of course, there's the fact that his constantly malfunctioning A.I seems to be suffering from schizoaffective disorder.
  • Robot Kid: Although not intended as such in-universe, GIR's personality strongly resembles that of a hyperactive small child.
  • Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The Sensitive Guy to Zim's Manly Man.
  • Series Mascot: Outside the show, GIR is very recognizable due to the large amount of merchandise produced featuring him in his dog suit.
  • Servile Snarker: He's not always making remarks at Zim's expense, but can be this during his moments of clarity. Not to mention when he's in duty mode.
  • Stepford Smiler: If one is to take Word of God in the commentary of "Bestest Friends" literally, "GIR hates life and he wants to die", which would make him Type A. His glee at being ordered to self-destruct in "Dib's Wonderful Life Of Doom" seems to back this up, as does his admission in "GIR Goes Crazy And Stuff" that he despised being Zim's servant even when he was his normal self. According to his voice actor, GIR's usual behavior is the result of him being a broken unit and "duty mode" GIR is the real deal trapped in an And I Must Scream scenario.
  • Stylistic Suck: When Zim enters GIR's mind during the comic's Virooz arc, it greatly resembles the Grid from TRON, but it's a deranged and largely broken version of it.
  • Suicide as Comedy: In "Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom", GIR shrieks a delighted "FINALLY!" upon being ordered to self-destruct. An early draft of the script made it more explicit by having GIR shout "SWEET RELEASE!" instead.
  • Talkative Loon: A lot of what he says are complete non sequiturs to show just how bonkers and ditzy he is.
    "OOH! LEPRECHAUNS!"
  • Tantrum Throwing: Having the mind of a small child, GIR will sometimes do this when Zim does something he doesn't want. When Zim returned a DVD to the rental store, GIR ran around in circles screaming and crying for about five seconds before randomly falling asleep on the living room floor.
  • Temporary Bulk Change: The metal he's made of is apparently very flexible because he grew to a massive size in "Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom" from eating the candy stolen from a bunch of trick-or-treaters.
  • Through the Eyes of Madness: In "GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff", we get a brief glimpse into his thought process when he looks at some cows in a field and sees them as sausages in top hats and tuxedos, saying, "Dance with us, GIR! Dance with us into oblivion!"
  • Too Dumb to Fool: Possibly why Tak's Mind Control doesn't work on him.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: He loves tacos, pizza and waffles.
  • Transformation Sequence: The first time he assumes dog form, he leaps into the air, poses amid a field of spinning bones, lets out a slow howl, and lands, picking up his costume and zipping it on snugly.
  • Undying Loyalty: For all the time he spends goofing off, he still sticks by Zim the way a loyal pet does for his owner. Even when not in Duty Mode, he's come to Zim's rescue on a few occasions.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: A one-sided case with Zim. Zim often belittles GIR and displays frustration over the latter's antics, but hangs out with him constantly and displays more tolerance for GIR than he would anyone else. GIR, despite his insanity, is extremely loyal to Zim in return.
  • Wild Card: There's no way of knowing what he'll end up doing in any given circumstances, making him serve as a regular Spanner in the Works for Zim's plans.
  • Wolverine Publicity: Good god. If we had a dollar for every individual piece of merchandise that featured GIR in his dog suit, we'd have enough money to bribe Nickelodeon into uncanceling Invader Zim.
  • You Don't Look Like You: In the toys that feature Robot!GIR, his legs are connected to his torso instead of floating apart from it, for obvious reasons.

Duty Mode GIR

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gir_duty_mode.png

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

  • A.I. Is a Crapshoot: While GIR's usual level of helpfulness is questionable at best, when Zim temporarily locks him into hyper-competent Duty Mode, GIR decides that Zim himself is a threat to the mission and decides to take over.
  • And I Must Scream: According to Rikki Simons, there is a perfectly competent "inner-GIR" desperately wanting to fix the outer "broken GIR" in order to get out and/or gain control of himself.
  • Ax-Crazy: In duty mode, he takes his invasion job very seriously and will not hesitate to do away with anyone who serves as an impediment toward the Irken cause.
  • Character Catchphrase: "Yes, sir!" or, "Yes, my master!"
  • Cute and Psycho: In "GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff", this adorable robot becomes psychotic.
  • A Day in the Limelight: Most episodes only have him show up for a few seconds, but his biggest role is in "GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff".
  • Evil Sounds Deep: His voice noticeably deepens, which is also the state where he is at his most transparently evil.
  • Flat Joy: This line in "GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff":
    Duty!GIR: Blend in with the indigenous life, analyze their weaknesses, prepare the planet for the coming badness. Yay.
  • Gone Horribly Right: In "GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff", Zim gets tired of GIR's incompetence screwing up his evil plans and uses a behavioral modulator to lock him into duty mode, keeping him focused exclusively on the mission. GIR becomes focused and competent, indeed...so focused that he becomes more competent than Zim, and then concludes that Zim's incompetence is a threat to the mission and decides to "terminate" him.
  • Killer Robot: In this mode, he becomes psychotic and violent.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Delivers one to Zim in "GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff".
    GIR: You are no commander! You are a threat to the mission! Your methods are stupid! Your progress has been stupid! Your intelligence is stupid! For the sake of the mission, you must be terminated!
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: This GIR has glowing red eyes and is much more dangerous than his normal self, since he has a completely functioning brain and is dedicated to completing his mission of taking over Earth.
  • Robotic Psychopath: GIR is one of the few cases where A.I. Is a Crapshoot is a good thing. In just the ditzy sense, he is always this, but in the Ax-Crazy sense he's this in duty mode. Zim learnt this the hard way when he locked him into duty mode...
  • The Starscream: In GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff, a newly hyper-competent GIR decides that Zim's stupidity is a threat to their mission and attempts to correct the problem by terminating his master. Especially since the episode was made in attempt to show fans that he isn't supposed to be good-natured.
  • Super-Persistent Predator: When he decides Zim is a threat to the mission, he'll stop at nothing to hunt him down and kill him. He's only stopped by being turned back into his normal goofy self.
  • Superpowered Evil Side: GIR's Duty Mode briefly becomes this when Zim locks him into it.
  • Twitchy Eye: When locked into duty mode permanently, and Zim leaves the room, you can clearly see his twitching.

    Minimoose 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minimoose.png
Voiced by: Jhonen Vasquez

"Nyaaa!"

A floating, purple, noseless moose who's Zim's second sidekick. Originally envisioned as Zim's ultimate tool of destruction, whom he created to replace GIR, since the series was cancelled before his debut episode could be finished, he was instead simply retconned as being with Zim "the entire time." Minimoose's actual power is finally showcased in Enter the Florpus where he ends up being crucial to Zim's evil plan.


  • Ascended Extra: He only appeared in one episode of the original series, but gains greater prominence in Enter the Florpus, where he gets to show off how powerful he truly is. He also made numerous appearances in the comics.
  • Beware the Silly Ones: Despite being a floating moose creature, it's also a weapon of mass destruction that almost destroyed the entire Earth as part of Zim's plan in Enter the Florpus. Issue 50 of the comic also implies Minimoose killed someone with a hammer.
  • Co-Dragons: With GIR as Zim's henchmen.
  • Easily Forgiven: In Enter the Florpus, Zim blames Minimoose for his plan's failure. After a short squeak, Zim just laughs it off and says he can't stay mad at him.
  • Intelligible Unintelligible: Even though Minimoose only articulates in squeaks, Zim and others are able to understand him quite clearly.
  • Last Episode, New Character: Minimoose was introduced in the final episode of the show The Most Horrible X-mas Ever. He was originally intended to be introduced in the episode Nubs of Doom, which would show his actual origins, but after Nickelodeon cancelled the show, they only allowed the animation team the choice to finish one episode and they went with the Christmas special.
  • MacGuffin Super-Person: Minimoose is the only being in the known universe with the ability to harness enough cosmic energy to teleport Earth through schmillions of miles through space into the direct path of the Tallests' flagship. This also means getting Minimoose away from Zim is the only way Dib, Gaz and Professor Membrane can teleport Earth back before it's destroyed by the Florpus Hole.
  • Puzzle Boss: The most literal example ever, since activating him to save the day basically involved solving a moose-shaped Rubik's Cube.
  • Psychic Powers: He's always levitating and displays some telekinetic powers in Enter the Florpus.
  • Remember the New Guy?: Lampshaded and Played for Laughs. When someone Zim's abducted asks what Minimoose is, Zim just introduces him as Minimoose and says he's been there "the entire time". The crew was originally going to go a step further and crudely insert Minimoose into scenes from earlier episodes but they didn't have enough time.
    Zim: Oh, that's Minimoose, my other sidekick! Yep. Been with me the whole time.
  • Ridiculously Cute Critter: It may be a weapon of mass destruction, but it's an adorable one!
  • Team Pet: More-or-less serves as this for Zim, and yet he still manages to be more useful than GIR.

    Roboparents 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/roboparents.png
Voiced by: Mo Collins (Robomom), Michael McDonald (Robodad)

"Welcome home, son!"

Two poorly-made robot decoys that pose as Zim's "parents" in order to further his disguise as a human child.


  • A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Their programming is terrible and causes them to malfunction constantly, doing all manner of bizarre things. Luckily for Zim, he can get away with it because nobody in-universe is smart enough to notice that they're not humans. The series bible actually semi-justifies this by saying that their sole function is to be seen for a few seconds from a distance when they greet Zim when he arrives home, and aren't programmed to be capable of doing much else.
  • Anime Hair: Robomom has an odd hairstyle that vaguely resembles the wig Zim wears in his human disguise.
  • Ax-Crazy: Robomom sometimes has random, sudden and violent outbursts, such as repeatedly poking a woman in the face until she cries or holding another woman down and forcibly scrubbing her mouth with a toothbrush.
  • The Cameo: They appear briefly in Enter the Florpus.
  • A Day in the Limelight: "Parent Teacher Night" is the closest to this during the series proper. The cancelled episode "Roboparents Gone Wild!" would have also been one for them.
  • Large Ham: Robodad hams it up in "Parent Teacher Night".
    Robodad: (after his arm pops off) That was my squeezing arm! THEY TOOK MY SQUEEZING ARM! WHY MY SQUEEZING ARM??? (screams)
  • Lethal Chef: Robomom's idea of "dinner" is to dump a sack of flour on Zim's head.
  • Noisy Robots: They can be heard whirring whenever they move.
  • Ridiculously Human Robots: Parodied. Despite them having facial stitches, metal claw-like arms, and wheels for feet, no one in-universe can tell that they're not human. Even when Robodad's arm falls off and starts giving off electric sparks, Zim is able to explain it away by saying, "My dad lost his arm in, uh...the war!"
  • Rummage Sale Reject: While Robodad dresses normally, Robomom wears a pink ballerina tutu with overalls and yellow rubber gloves, probably because Zim doesn't care enough to learn how humans usually dress.
  • Standard '50s Father: Robodad is a riff on this trope, complete with glasses and smoking pipe.

    Computer 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/caz.png
"PROCESSING, PROCESSSING!!"
Voiced by: Jhonen Vasquez

"Something is happening at the front door. Something... horrible!"

The Artificial Intelligence that runs Zim's base. Thoroughly sarcastic and perpetually bored with having to serve his master's whims, and was once possessed by GIR for several months.


  • Brief Accent Imitation: It briefly puts on a British accent in Enter the Florpus when it's sassing back to Zim and pretending to sound like a butler.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Quite possibly the most sarcastic character in the entire franchise.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: As shown in its above quote, it found the Roboparents' rampage during "Backseat Drivers From Beyond the Stars" to be horrifying.
  • The Evil Genius: It's typically the one to actually conduct necessary experiments involving Zim's mission, and also has Super-Intelligence by virtue of being a highly advanced supercomputer.
  • Faux Affably Evil: It can put on more of a polite facade than Zim can, but is still just as dedicated to the extermination/enslavement of mankind.
  • Genius Loci: An insanely advanced AI that runs Zim's Elaborate Underground Base.
  • Large Ham: Often prone to Suddenly Shouting when doing mundane tasks.
  • Manchild: Childishly shouts back "I DON'T WANT TO!" when Zim asks it to laugh with him during his Evil Laugh.
  • Mission Control: Typically serves as this for Zim when he's engaging in certain tasks that take him far away from his base.
  • Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: It's stated several times that the Computer AI and Zim's base as a whole are very impressive when compared to the rest of Earth, but they're actually super-outdated by Irken standards, to the point where in Issue 39 of the comic, Tak's Ship and not Zim's base is described as being the most advanced piece of technology on the entire planet.
  • Only Sane Man: Generally stands out as the most rational member of Zim's crew. It, Dib, and even GIR are the ones to point out how thoroughly idiotic Zim's solution to the slowed-down explosion in "Walk For Your Lives" is.
  • Ridiculously Human Robots: Parodied. Despite being a bodiless AI, it's highly emotional and even coughs at one point (much to Zim's own confusion).
  • Servile Snarker: While it loyally serves Zim, it often showcases a rather dry wit and snarks back at his more insane orders.
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: In both the comics and Enter the Florpus, the Computer is considerably more caustic and bitingly sarcastic towards its master than it was in the TV series.
  • With Catlike Tread: Played for Laughs in Enter the Florpus, with it gaining the necessary power to figure out The Massive's flight path by violently shooting cables into any power source in the surrounding neighborhood, draining power from the whole city while screaming "SNEAKING!" at the top of its nonexistent lungs.

    Clembrane 
Voiced by: Jhonen Vasquez

Debuting in Enter the Florpus, Clembrane is a failed clone of Professor Membrane created by Zim in the past as part of an aborted plan to swap him out with the real Membrane and have him ground Dib forever. Zim gave up on him, not because the clone obviously looks, sounds and acts absolutely nothing like the real Professor Membrane, but because the clone couldn't make pudding just the way Dib likes... even though Dib doesn't even like pudding. Nevertheless, Zim does find a use for Clembrane in his plots eventually.


  • Anti-Villain: He does Zim's bidding but not out of malice. He really is convinced that he's the real Professor Membrane and that Dib and Gaz are his beloved children. Him essentially keeping them under house arrest is mostly so he can spend time with them.
  • Berserk Button: More out of distraught than outright anger, but Dib insisting that he's not his dad will cause him to scream at the top of his lungs and thrash around.
  • Chekhov's Gunman: Introduced as a minor gag early into the movie, but becomes a major presence in it later on.
  • Clone Angst: Averted. Though he's a clone, he's convinced that he's the real Professor Membrane and is completely content with his lot in life. He even seemingly joins the Membrane household at the end of Enter the Florpus, still oblivious to the fact that he's a clone yet content with the "imposter" Professor Membrane living with him and "his" kids.
  • Clone Degeneration: A deformed clone of Membrane who is clearly... out there.
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: See Implacable Man. Plus, during the climax, he's actually able to knock out Membrane, who up until that moment had been a One-Man Army and his Heel–Face Turn is what marks Zim's defeat.
  • Easy Impersonation: Even though Zim designed him to be a clone of Professor Membrane, Clembrane just looks like some kind of fish monster just wearing his clothes. Absolutely nobody mistakes the two of them, with only Zim, being Zim, believing the two look like a perfect match. Dib and Gaz only go along with the ruse because Clembrane throws destructive temper tantrums when they say he's not their dad.
  • Gone Horribly Right: Zim wanted a clone of Professor Membrane that he could use against Dib. He failed in matching the clone to the real Membrane in almost every capacity except for one. Clembrane shares Membrane's love for "his" children.
  • Heel–Face Turn: Though he only barely qualifies as a villain, he still turns on Zim at the end of Enter the Florpus and hands Minimoose over to Professor Membrane so he can use it to save the Earth from the Florpus.
  • Implacable Man: Despite looking like some deformed fishman, his bizarre thought processes, and obsession with pudding, Clembrane is scarily competent at preventing Dib and Gaz from escaping the Membrane household. Gaz tells Dib she tried every way possible to get out only for him to stop her at every turn, and given what Gaz has shown herself to be capable of, it's surprisingly impressive.
  • Lethal Chef: Clembrane is obsessed with serving Dib and Gaz pudding at every opportunity, but apparently Zim wasn't understating it when he said the clone was incapable of making pudding just the way Dib liked (even though Dib doesn't even like pudding). According to Gaz, it's the worst tasting pudding in the world. Though, as part of convincing Clembrane to side with her family, she lies and tells him it's the finest pudding she's ever tasted.
  • Monster Roommate: At the end of Enter the Florpus, Dib questions if Clembrane just lives with the Membrane family now. Apparently the answer is "yes", even if the real Professor Membrane remains confused about the situation.
  • My Beloved Smother: A male version. He's convinced he's the real Professor Membrane and that Dib and Gaz are his actual children and acts very overbearing towards them, smothering them and forcing them to spend time with him.
  • Non-Mammalian Hair: He has a hairstyle that mimics Professor Membrane's, despite looking like some sort of fish monster.
  • Portmanteau: Gaz dubs him Clembrane as a shortening of "Clone Membrane."
  • Turned Against Their Masters: Though in this case, since his master is Zim and turning against him saves the Earth, it all works out pretty well.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Pudding! Granted, he doesn't seem to like eating it so much as he likes making sure Dib and Gaz eat it at every meal.

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