ZIM

Among the shortest in a species where height determines one's standing in society, ZIM makes up for his lack of height with overwhelming displays of confidence, dedication and energy. Unfortunately, these positive traits are in service to a skewed world-view and a general refusal to recognize his limitations. It would be a mistake to assume that ZIM is stupid. 'Misguided' would be a more accurate adjective for him. Unfortunately, most of the intelligence he's getting is either from his defective information-retrieval robot GIR or from fellow schoolchildren, who have a different set of priorities and a more imaginative way of looking at the world. ZIM frequently makes baseless assumptions about Earth and its strange inhabitants, most of which are untrue, and all of which he accepts as absolute fact. ZIM frequently reports to the ALMIGHTY TALLEST, from whom an acknowledgement of any kind (whether real or imagined) will fill him with unimaginable INVADER'S pride. He lives to impress his leaders and peers, who meet his reports with indifference, mock interest or disgust. ZIM's presence on Earth is not limited to his impersonation of a schoolchild. He also has a variety of different earth disguises. Wearing only a giant beard, he can seamlessly blend in as an old man. A disturbingly tiny old man. A disturbingly tiny, vomit green old man. ZIM NEVER sleeps. He is constantly recharged by the backpack plugged into his shoulders. ZIM NEVER comes into contact with human food without some kind of obscene display of disgust or if he is forced to ACTUALLY EAT any of the sickening gruel, allergic consequence. He survives on a Lik-M-Aid style IRKEN food. Except, of course, when he eats the 'space version' of the same food (for example, the sandwich he eats on Conventia in ep.1 is a 'space sandwich'.) ZIM will never acknowledge his own shortcomings and will always try and play them off like they are some sort of secret strength. ZIM is more likely to try and think his way through a situation (however faulty that thinking may be) than to whip convenient gadgets out of his backpack to get himself out of trouble. Though his mission is to research the planet's defenses to make the Armada's coming conquest go smoother, if an opportunity to singlehandedly crush the human race arises, ZIM will take it. His thinking is that if the Tallest are saved the trouble of crushing Earth's inhabitants, then he is that much more effective as an INVADER. IRKENS spell their names ALL IN CAPS.

Dib

Like an elementary school Fox Mulder (with slightly more emotional range), Dib is intensely focused on all things paranormal and has little time for anything else. Dib is the son of the one and only PROFESSOR MEMBRANE, the man responsible for thousands of amazing inventions and miraculous cures, as well as host of the enormously popular kid's show 'POKING THE MEMBRANE OF SCIENCE.' Unfortunately, Membrane is often too busy to pay much attention to the child chattering behind him about yeti and space aliens. The rest of the world just thinks he's crazy. Dib lives for the day his father, and the world, see him for the truthsayer that he is. While mostly content with his passion for delving into the spooky world of the unexplained, Dib's lack of credibility in other's eyes is a huge detriment in convincing the world about ZIM (or just about any other paranormal phenomenon for that matter). ZIM's presence in Dib's life gives him a focussed mission with multiple benefits. The Mission: undermine ZIM's efforts at earth destruction by exposing him as the Galactic scourge that he is. The benefits: he gets to save the planet and be acknowledged for the amazing genius that he is. Like ZIM, Dib is very single minded in his purpose and not very mindful of whether or not anyone cares about whatever he's rambling on about. Dib is sadly aware of dad's disdain for all things supernatural, but is never discouraged enough to stop trying to convince him of the truth. Dib's last name is NOT Membrane. The family name is never discussed. Dib is often plagued by his conflicting desires. On the one hand, he wants to save the world from alien conquest. On the other, he wouldn’t mind seeing 99% of the population (the portion of the population seemingly dedicated to making his life Hell) destroyed. Dib is a compulsive watcher of the show 'Mysterious Mysteries of Strange Mystery', a 'Sightings' like show that focuses on bizarre goings on in his strange universe. Whereas ZIM's world is all about technology and science, Dib's encompasses all that and more. Ghosts and goblins and the overall supernatural are his specialty.

GAZ

Marked by an air of extreme pessimism, GAZ is by far the darkest of the characters. She will express doubt at or indifference to her big brother's ideas and plans at every turn. She doesn't deny the existence of the things he believes in, in fact she is probably the most clearheaded of the characters, she simply does not care enough to do anything about it. Unless, of course, something gets in the way of one of the many 'normal' things she tends to enjoy (junk food, video games, etc.) Gaz is not nearly as bothered by her father's constant working as Dib is, finding solace in creative endeavors like drawing, writing and crafting meticulous revenge scenarios (when not engrossed in compulsive video game playing). While Dib is off trying to unveil mind shattering things in order to impress Dad, Gaz might make daddy a creepy looking clay monkey. Her dark nature shows itself in her artwork and in the disturbing stories she reads to her class. She spends a great deal of her time avoiding unnecessary conversation with the rest of the world, which seems to be populated only by annoying freaks. People generally undermine her attempt to live out her intensely guarded life in peace, which results in her need to seek vengeance on all who stand in her way. Unfortunately, her brother is all about inviting weird distractions into his life, and thus hers. She is never very amazed by the supernatural or fantastic, as anyone else might be. She just accepts it as another thing to be angry with. Gaz knows that ZIM is an alien, but has very quickly pegged him as little to no actual threat. Dib and ZIM are basically in the same category for her, that of 'irritant'. Gaz is not evil. She's not a bad person. She's just VERY focussed on what she wants, when she wants it. Her environment is rigidly controlled and she wants to be pretty much left alone. Anyone who stands in the way of this will know the true meaning of revenge. Dib often knows the true meaning of revenge. Well, maybe she is a LITTLE evil. Gaz loves junk food. She has a particular fondness for Bloaty's Pizza. Gaz is a compulsive player of video games. When not playing video games, Gaz is writing, painting or drawing. She is definitely the most creative of the bunch.

GIR

No one knows what the 'G' in 'GIR' stands for, but the rest is 'INFORMATION RETRIEVAL,' and that is what GIR does (or is supposed to do). He's ZIM's intelligence gathering robot, standard issue for every INVADER. Except instead of the highly efficient, top of the line model issued to INVADERS in good standing, ZIM was given a quickly-cobbled-together-from-spare-parts robot, whose attention span is, well… a little deficient. GIR has two basic modes of behavior. When he's addressed in a military manner by his master, his normally blue eyes shift to red and for a few brief moments, he is a loyal servant. But within moments, he's back to his normal, blue eyed, short attention spanned, destructive self. GIR doesn't have an ounce of malice in his little metal heart. The trouble he causes is always accidental and the result of his staggeringly short attention span and obsessions with TV and junk food. GIR should not maintain a coherent thought for more than a few words. Unless, of course, the joke is that somehow he IS maintaining a coherent thought. When addressed in a military manner by ZIM, GIR flips into good soldier mode. His normally blue eyes go red and he salutes violently. AS soon as ZIM goes away, though, he’s back to his consumptive, easily distracted self. GIR is often seen wearing his little zippered dog suit, underneath which is his metallic, insect-like true self. GIR is quite insane. Beneath all the cute energetic behavior and endearing chatter lies a piece of broken machinery you would not want piloting your children's school bus.

MS. BITTERS

Ms Bitters is ZIM and Dib's bleak elementary school teacher. She delights in the crushing of anything resembling childhood joy. She feels like she could have been somebody special but instead, ended up in a job she really has no passion for. The ancient and timeless Bitters doesn’t follow the same laws of nature as anybody else. Slithering around corners, causing carefully rendered child's artwork to burst into flame, or walking, spider-like, across the ceiling are among the many manifestations of her mysterious, never-explained but often pondered abilities.

PROFESSOR MEMBRANE

The world's most powerful, renowned and prolific scientific mind, host of the wildly popular TV show 'POKING THE MEMBRANE OF SCIENCE,' and the father of DIB and GAZ. He is seemingly everywhere at once, on billboards, on television, etc, and yet, to his children, he is unattainable, appearing in their lives only as a hunched over figure in a lab coat, or as a projected face on one of the floating monitors stationed around the house. He does, after all, bear the burden of being the most amazing man in existence!! The guy's a good dad, but really busy, so these dislocated forms of parenthood are a necessary thing.

THE ALMIGHTY TALLEST

The RULERS of the IRKEN empire. One has red eyes, the other has purple eyes. Their superior height entitles them to the grandest position in all of IRK, that of unquestioned leadership. Normally there is only one ruler, but they are exactly the same height, thus rulership must be shared. Of course, now that they're in this cushy spot, they're more than a little concerned that someone will eventually outgrow them and usurp their power. RED is a little brighter than PURPLE, but no less a jerk.