Z I M

Zim's pretty interesting, to put it bluntly.

His most noticeable trait is that he's incredibly self-centered. Despite his size...and his reputation........and his questionable intellect, Zim very much believes that he's the center of the universe. His giant ego prevents him from seeing anything that could possibly be his fault, and even gets in the way of his bigger plans. If he's trying to take over the world with one of his brilliant plans and something goes wrong, nine chances out of ten Zim won't notice until the last minute because he's continuously bragging about it. Very often, he will also speak in third person.

Things must always be focused on himself, whether they're supposed to be or not. If there's an animal running around, Zim will believe that it was sent to go after him. If someone is looking at him funny, they are out to get him because he's an alien. A lot of this can be due to his paranoia, but his egotistic attitude doesn't really help with that.

Of course, whenever things go wrong, they're never his fault. Even though majority of the time they are.

Narcissism is a trait that he holds pretty well too. Zim believes that the Irken race is ten times superior than the human race, and he talks about it to the point where it disgusts him, even to the point where he's physically ill. He also proudly believes that he's the greatest of the Irkens, except for the Tallest. Being the higher being of the Irk race is something that he constantly brags about, even though it's been hinted that he sometimes has a pretty small intellect by the stupid mistakes he makes. One of the most often questions he will ask himself is, "Why am I so amazing?"

He doesn't let that "knowledge" stop him, though. Zim has been ridiculed and mocked multiple times by the Tallest, even in front of his fellow Irkens. He proclaimed himself to be an invader and was assigned a phony mission by his leaders in front of hundreds of others of his kind, but he completely ignored this and took it as seriously as he could. Some see Zim as being incredibly vain, others think that he does in fact know what others think of him, but he tries his hardest to ignore it.

To the Irken community, Zim is seen as small, insignificant, and defective. This has not only been hinted to him, but blatantly told to his face. He often ignores these insults (whether because he simply can't believe it or because he chooses to ignore it), and continues on his way. No matter how harsh he's told, Zim does not accept the fact that he's a defective Irken. Literally a defective Irken.

Zim sees human romance to be a very painful thing. He doesn't completely understand soft feelings, so he can't see how someone going through the process of love or admiration as a pleasurable thing. Instead he views it as physically harmful.

He has absolutely no idea of what love is, or compassion in the least. Irkens are all created by cloning; there's no mother figure for them to love, nor a father. The first thing they hear is a voice coming from a speaker, and the first thing they see is a robotic arm that cracked open their tube and shocked them to life. He doesn't feel compassion or soft feelings for anyone, no matter what the situation.

Well, there are some times where he does. But a strong Irken Invader can't let weak feelings show. He spent years and years training to become an Irken Elite. Feelings of compassion or love or anything that could show weakness he was forced to put aside.

He's the definition of an anti-hero. Zim only views idealism and courageousness and morality under an Irken rule, instead of seeing it towards justice. There have only been a few times where he saved the earth from destruction, but it was only for his own personal gain. It doesn't matter to him whether another alien race is dying and in need of the planet, or a more qualified Irk wants to take control. Zim will save the planet if necessary, but he fully intends to destroy it in the end by his own hand. He's pretty much the definition of selfish.

A lot of Irkens see Zim as a threat; there are things that he's very good at (building and engineering, piloting, ect.), and times he proves himself to be a genius. But during his times when he needed to prove them most, Zim screwed things up so badly he got screwed over in the end. For example, when proving how he could conquer his own planet, Zim ended up destroying his own planet instead of traveling to a different one with an entire army to back him up. He can plan things perfectly down to the very last T, but small little details he doesn't look hard enough to see end up being his downfall. Zim can see them, if he manages to get over his ego.

One positive trait to him though, is that he's extremely curious. Disguised (or sometimes undisguised), Zim will go around looking at the humans and the surroundings, trying to piece together what is important and for what cause. He'll often makes notes and store them away, and will try to use them to help himself blend in. A lot of times this won't work, as he'll use it out of context and it'll make him stand out more than not.

Although he constantly goes on about "trying to fit in", Zim is very overreactive. He will flip out over the tinniest of things, and will sometimes go to the extreme. During one point in the show, his fear of germs made him clean and sanitize his entire house, while he walked around with tissue-box shoes and rubber gloves. When he finds out there's a specific type of meat that is completely germ free, he walks around covered from head to foot in said meat because he believes that germs will kill him. Everything is taken over the top with him, which can lead to his downfall in some cases.

Even though Zim tries to prove himself as a mighty invader, he fears failure. No matter if he destroys his own home planet, or screws up in trying to destroy earth, he will always try again in fear. Failing at something and word going back to Irk of it will not only "disappoint" the Tallest, but it will humiliate him in front of his peers and will only further prove his defectiveness. If he's ever in a situation where he needs to confess a screw up, he does it quickly and changes the subject so things don't linger.

It's shown that in the end, Zim would take over earth. But he wouldn't choose to rule it. It's hinted that he doesn't want the throne in the end. One time he was taken captive by a bunch of humans who worshipped him, but Zim didn't want anything to do with them. He just wanted to escape.

Just as powerful as his fear of failure is a desire to prove himself. Zim is always trying his hardest (no matter what the outcome, or on whom) to prove himself worthy as a member of the Irken Elite. He doesn't mind if there will be sacrifices to be made, no matter how personal. If it needs to be done, he will find a way and will be happy to show it off.

Another thing that is doubtless is his loyalty. Zim is proud of Irk and of himself, and his heritage. He's also very proud of his leaders, and will not tolerate any negative talk of them or his peers.

He has an archenemy named Dib, who he's constantly after because the other is after him as well. Zim often talks of vengence, and ways to destroy him...but it's that same person who motivates Zim to destroy earth. He needs a lot of motivation to keep him going, especially when it comes to really taking on the earth in a destructive manner.

Invader Zim takes place in the future, in a world where aliens and myths do exist. The water is polluted, the sky is always a crimson red, and the technology is very well advanced compared to our own. The only problem is that majority of the humans are gullible to the point of stupidity, save for Dib and his family members.

Before the start of Operation Impending Doom I, Zim was cloned in a lab and left dormant until his body was able to become stable on its own. His 'birth' consisted of a robot arm breaking his tube, a Pak being implanted into his back, and being electrocuted into life. Immediately from birth, Zim was taken to his first part of Invader training: learning Irk's history.

All of the information was put through his Pak; the download time took mere minutes. There Zim learned about the history of the Tallest, of how Irk came to be. It's been told to be a very short, but very painful process. Other information about Irk's armada was given to Zim at that time, too.

He spent many, many years in training, learning how to become a proper invader. During that time, he caused two major blackouts that lasted for nine years total, almost got his best friend blown up, and was beaten many times for disobeying the academy rules. Zim had many promises of becoming a good invader, but his defective Pak made the process a lot harder than it should have been. He also blew up half of the power grid on the training planet Devastis, which ultimately caused a hard-working invader to unwillingly serve seventy earth years on a dirtball planet. He had a lot of promise as an invader, but because of some reasons, that potential was never met.

Despite his faults, Zim eventually became a member of the Irken Elite. When it was his turn to conquer a planet (the first time), he completely ignored the part about going to another planet. He began his phase of Operation Impending Doom I on his own home planet, ultimately destroying everything and killing dozens of invaders. The aftermath included Zim being downgraded to a food court drone, and being banished to a planet far away named Foodcourtia. There he was to spend the rest of his life...supposed to, anyway.

Even though he was told up front that what he had done was horrible, and that he was a defective Irk, Zim saw no problems with what he did wrong. When the Tallest told him that he destroyed his own home planet, he would retaliate with "I put the fires out!" He didn't understand the reasoning for him being banished. So when the time came for Operation Impending Doom II, Zim "quit being banished" and went to the Tallest for his assignment.

To get out of the Tallests' hair, Zim was sent away to the other end of the universe to take over a planet called earth. Instead of getting a special robot like most invaders, his robot consisted of garbage and leftover parts from an older model. He took this "mission" quite seriously, though it was the Tallests' full intention for him to die out in space.

Although the trip was long, Zim made it to earth fine. He set up his base in a city northwest in the United States, and managed to go undetected by most. During the years he stayed there, he tried to learn as much as he could about the human's language, cultures, and structures of the humans.

During this time, Zim made many attempts to destroy the earth; every single one of them being a horrible failure. Either they were stopped by his own faults, or because his archenemy, Dib, somehow put a stop to it.

It's said that years later Zim actually does take earth over, but doesn't decide to rule over it. Instead he hands it to the Armada to deal with, while he continues to travel through space.
 

 

pak.
All Invaders are given surgically implanted with a Pak when they are born. A Pak is absolutely essential to an Irk; it keeps tabs of brain functions, and other things such as memory and personal identification. It can be programmed to determine what kind of job an Irk is supposed to do through their life. It can be detached, but only for a certain amount of time. If the time limit is met and the Pak is not secure on their back, the alien can die.

It also has other useful functions, such as robotic spider-legs that can be brought out at will. The invader is able to make the spider-legs take them wherever they have to go faster and safer. The Pak can also hold jet blasters, high-powered binoculars, and a connector that allows the alien to talk with their SIRs.

eyes.
It's noted in Invader Zim that members of the Irken Elite eventually undergo a kind of surgery in which special ocular implants are put near the retinas. With these, Zim can see farther and more clearly.

antennae.
Instead of ears and noses, Irkens have antennae at the top of their heads that are sensitive to sound and touch. There's nothing really too important about them other than this!

water sensitivity.
Zim's skin is especially sensitive to water. If he's exposed, his skin will burn and blister. This obviously puts Zim through extreme pain. He's found a way to avoid it though; if he can bathe himself head to foot in paste, then usually he can tread through water without any problems.

other.
he also has three fingers!
 

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