The Irken Invader Zim is the protagonist of his eponymous series. He's an alien whose actions usually led to disaster, resulting in his superiors, the Almighty Tallest, sending him on a "Secret Mission" to Earth. Zim's primary desire is to conquer the planet and impress his superiors, though his clumsiness makes this an almost impossible job. Zim is a supergenius more than capable of conquering Earth, but hardly uses his skills properly as when he's close to taking over the planet, his own negligence usually causes his downfall.
Zim is assisted by his enthusiastic robot GIR and opposed by his nemesis Dib, who wants to expose Zim to the world as an alien. It's suggested that Zim and Dib's rivality gives them both some form of motivation in their jobs.
Alignment:Chaotic Evil (Zim is an insane egotistical megalomaniac Irken that wishes to conquer Earth and make all humans his slaves to appease his tallest, has tricked people such as Keef who just wanted to be Zim's friend and gouged his eyes out and replaced them with mechanical eyes to trick Keef into thinking a rabbid squirrel was Zim and got him attacked and nearly killed[2]. Along with this Zim has harvested the organs of all the kids in his school[3])
Tier:8-A | 8-A physically. His technology Varies from 8-A to 5-B to 2-C Irken Technology, up to 2-B via the Florpus hole. Far Higher with sufficient preparation
Durability:City District level | City District level but should be higher than before. Far Higher with the Muscle Suit
Striking Strength:City District Class | City District Class. Far Higher with the Muscle Suit
Lifting Strength:Above Average Human (Can casually lift Keef around and swing him like a baseball bat[4]) | Above Average Human. Cosmic with the Muscle Suit
Travel Speed:Superhuman on foot (Ran up the stairs quickly enough before a lady could turn her head.[5] Should be comparable to Tak who moved so fast she appeared as a blur.[6] Should be comparable, albeit slower than Doctor Membrane who ran a large distance through a giant crowd in a split second), Higher with spider legs, Massively Hypersonic with Jetpack (Flew across the planet Jackers ship, which is large enough to capture planets, in seconds[7]), Unknown when piloting the Voot Cruiser (Flew to Mars in a short timeframe,[8]which grants these results) and Faster Than Light with the Voot Cruiser on autopilot (Flew from Irk, a planet so far away from Earth that the Irken Empire had no ideaof it's existence despite being on a universal conquest, and having many galaxies and planets mapped out[9]) | Superhuman on foot, Higher with spider legs, Massively Hypersonic with Jetpack, Unknown when piloting the Voot Cruiser, Fast Than Light with the Voot Cruiser on autopilot. Higher with the Muscle suit (Can move beyond all space-time)
Attack Speed:Superhuman (Comparable to Dib who can fight with his robots) | Superhuman. Infinite with the Muscle Suit (Did infinite sit-ups)
Reaction Speed:Superhuman | Superhuman. Infinite with Muscle Suit
Supernatural Resilience (Irkens like Zim have been able to still do actions and be alive after their brain has been replaced with an inanimate object.[34])
Regeneration (Low-Mid; Irkens have a regenerative healing factor, Zim had his entire skin burn out of his eyeballs and regenerates it back in the course of a day to night cycle.[35] Zim quickly healed his head after it was greatly deformed from the beating he took from one of the planet jacker's.[36] Zim noted that his broken skeleton would heal.[37])
Mind Manipulation (The PAK can prevent Zim from getting amnesia, and also can reactivate Zim after being exposed to a wave of stupidity turning him braindead.[42])
Vehicular Mastery (Zim is a very skilled pilot, being capable of outmanuvering the likes of other aliens, such as the Planet Jackers where he delayed and stalled them with his fight while having his ship slowly drill the Earth out of the planet jacker's dome [44])
Stealth Mastery (Sneaked in to Slab's room and stole the disc back from him while also disabling the security system without him noticing[45])
Preparation (Planned out and made a huge space station during a preparation sequence of 2 days which also involved him finding a way to get around his weakness to water and ending with him making a large water balloon that was resistant to the effects of atmospheric re-entry and could easily destroy meteors in it's way along with satellites, ending with it flooding the entire city.[60])
Pain Tolerance (Able to still do actions and be alive after his brain has been replaced with a toy pig.[61] Should scale to all earth kids who survived having parts of their organs being stolen and replaced by inanimate objects[62] Endured being beaten up repeatedly by the Planet Jackers and was still able to move. Can function just fine after being electrocuted, burned, crushed, and broken into small pieces. Was able to speak and slightly move after having his skeleton broken. Survived a blast that nuked an entire city)
Enhanced Senses (Equipped with a helmet that allows him to see from far distances extremely clearly [63])
Clairvoyance (Limited; Zim was able to remember what someone said even though he wasn't there for the event[64])
Self-Sustenance (Respiratory; Has a built in invisible space gear around him that protects him from the vacuums of space.[65])
Time Paradox Immunity (Both Zim and GIR seem to remember the events of what happened during "Bad, Bad Rubber Pig" beyond what future Zim wrote to past Zim.[66])
Subjective Reality (All characters in Invader Zim can create alternate universes through their imagination. This is shown by Dib creating his own nightmare dimension that he directly calls an alternate universe. This is a real physical place as when Dib is capable of phasing in and out of his dimension he is able to escape the insane asylum in the main universe[68])
Disease Manipulation (It is stated that the cafeteria food has potentially killed people and greatly made them ill yet Zim and co. are fine from it[80])
Invisibility (With the Megadoomer X-3 Combat Stealth Mech, the mech can go completely invisible[86])
Extrasensory Perception (Zim is equipped with goggles that allow him to see all germs and microscopic beings[87])
Retrocognition (With Zim's space-time transport device he can view one's past[88])
Cosmic Awareness (Zim gave GIR a guidance system tractor allowing him to instantly find any location in the entire universe. Zim isn't aware of all locations in the universe either making this far more impressive.[89] His computer can track people from other planets [90])
Size Manipulation (Zim shrunk himself to a small size to go within Dib's body and control his nerves[96])
Water Manipulation (Planned out and made a huge space station during a preparation sequence of 2 days which also involved him finding a way to get around his weakness to water and ending with him making a large water balloon that was resistant to the effects of atmospheric re-entry and could easily destroy meteors in it's way along with satellites, ending with it flooding the entire city [97])
Illusion Manipulation (Standard Illusion; Trapped an unaware Dib in a realistic illusion comparable to that of the original universe, where Dib had been bestowed powers by an unknown alien species to which he had later declared war against the Irken race. Throughout the episode he has been aging and experiencing his entire life up until he grew old, where he had been convinced that it was all real. Once he admitted he threw a muffin at Zim, the people around him turned into Zim, to which they all laughed at him. Once the illusion was over, Dib was back to his normal age[102])
Time Manipulation (1-T; Zim suspended Dib in a variable time stasis field allowing him to control him moving in a state of slowed and fast time, after a massive explosion Dib was stuck in a state of slowed time[104])
Teleportation (Irkens also have teleportation technology. This is shown in the episodes "The Nightmare Begins" when the Announcer tells the Irkens to take the complimentary teleporters to Conventia's surface,[105] and in "Bloaty's Pizza Hog" when Gaz takes a teleporter to Zim's Space Station[106])
GIR: The G Information Retrieval Unit, Zim's surrogate minion who was made from scrapped parts from the Almighty Tallest. Due to this he is heavily incompetent and completely stupid. GIR will display brief instances of complete functionality. Usually triggered by Zim giving an order, this "Duty Mode" is made manifest by the teal parts of GIR's body and eyes flashing red, his voice changing from high-pitched to harsh, deep and rough, and GIR himself snapping to attention, alert and utterly obedient. He concludes it with a salute and response of "Yes, sir!". These random bouts never last for long, though, and after a few seconds, GIR is right back to his gleeful, hyperactive self. GIR possesses "superior geographic abilities" that were given to him by Zim. In his head there are an array of various weapons, but he rarely uses them. There is also a great deal of empty space that he uses to store things, like a giant pile of rubber piggies, a puppy, or even a beehive. This is implied to be the "thermos" function stated by Tallest Red to be built into all SIR units. He also has X-ray vision, the ability to shoot lasers from his eyes, and jets in his feet. GIR can also analyze living things and inanimate objects, from species to intelligence. GIR is shown to be extremely strong as shown in the episode "Megadoomer", as he carried a huge plug around the neighborhood to Dib's house. He also seems to be very durable as he was also able to withstand a big explosion without being destroyed in the same episode. He is shown to be very fast in "Bad Bad Rubber Piggy" as he outran several missles Dib shot at him.
Mini-Moose: Mini-Moose is Zim's other minion, he contains many more deadly super weapons in "Nubs of Doom", giving the name to what would have been its debut episode. Minimoose is also capable of giving speeches, as shown when he introduced Santa Claus and the teleporter to the people of Earth, who cheered massively; either due to Santa's presence, or that Minimoose made a satisfactory speech. Minimoose is also shown to be quite persuasive. In "Nubs of Doom", another speech was made by Minimoose to get the "Stop Piling Cows" protest group to leave the base. In Enter the Florpus, Minimoose has the power to channel cosmic energy powerful enough to move an entire planet from one place of the universe to another. He's also shown to have some telekinetic abilities, as he was able to remove a pizza sticker from a car without touching it.
The Voot Cruiser: The Voot Runner, known also as the Voot Cruiser, is the most out-of-date known Irken vehicle, presumably rendered obsolete by the Spittle Runner. This was the spacecraft Zim used regularly, from traveling on a six-month-long journey from Conventia to Earth, and is his primary mode of transportation throughout the series. By human standards, the Voot Cruiser is an extremely fast craft, capable of entering and exiting their solar system in mere minutes. In terms of color, the Voot is very similar to many Irken craft in that it seems to be composed of various shades of red or purple. In terms of propulsion, the Voot runs on an unknown fuel directed primarily through two rear nozzles on each side, directly under the utility pods. Through these nozzles, metal legs are also able to be deployed in the rare occasion the Voot needs them, such as when Zim is choosing a disguise. The weapons systems on the Voot Cruiser were only used in "Tak: The Hideous New Girl" and "Hamstergeddon". In the former, Zim flew out into space, pursuing Tak who oddly was making little use of her ship's weapons. In the latter, Zim goaded Peepi with two orbs, possibly balls of plasma or some kind of charged particles, fired from the cannons.
PAK: The PAK is a backpack-like device that is grafted to the spine of every Irken upon their hatching. Serving as a secondary brain, the PAK contains all of an Irken's personality and statistics. The device contains all of the Irken's knowledge, effectively serving as a auxiliary brain, and holds a great array of weapons or tools. It also contains the host's personality, charging cell, atmospheric processor, and a handy auto-reset that will "reactivate" an Irken if they suffer a fatal injury ("Plague of Babies"). It also seems to be able heal the host more quickly than would happen naturally. The PAK demonstrates to perfection the cybernetic development, and reliance, that Irkens possess. Unable to live without them, and essentially composed by them, the Irken and their PAK are essentially one and the same thing. It's been revealed a few times that the PAK is sentient in a way, as it can act outside of the will of its host. In deleted footage from the episode "Abducted", Zim falls through fire and is momentarily unconscious as he takes a nasty fall. His PAK legs activate, catching onto a ledge and carrying its limp owner to safety and given the chance, if a PAK is separated from its host, it will soon begin to seek out another, though it will at first attempt to reconnect with its original Irken owner. If this fails, it will attach to the first being available, and will slowly begin to replace the new host's personality with that of the Irken's. However, if the host is not Irken, then they, too, will presumably perish after ten minutes, but in this case after ten minutes with the PAK on. There has been one notable exception to this, as Zib has survived far longer with his Zim's PAK attached, however his DNA and appearance has been noticeably altered as a result. The PAK also has an "emergency attachment protocol" and is capable of connecting with other devices as was the case in Issue 25 in which cables came out of Zim's PAK and connected to Fitzoo-Menga's chair, temporarily giving Zim control of the hovering chair, dubbing himself "ChairZim". As well as containing the Irken's knowledge, the PAK also contains their memories, so Irkens would be unable to get amnesia if they receive head injury.
PAKs have been seen to contain the following tools:
Four mechanical, spider-like legs which can be used as:
A quick and versatile mode of transportation.
Laser cutters/laser blast
Shield generator
Sharp weapons.
Laser guns
Electric Batons: A pair of electric batons that can completely fry people.
Organ Harvesting Device: A device stored in his PAK that allows him to swap one's organs with inanimate objects.
Other
Standard Tactics: Despite his insanity, Zim uses preparation to his advantage, plotting out plans to stop his enemies or creating mechs/devices to attack them, due to this, Zim essentially works as a wild card as majority of his tactics revovle around his machinery and preparation. Without preparation Zim will use his PAK along with other Equipment, along with regular hand to hand fighting.
Weaknesses:
Irken Weaknesses: An Irken’s skin cannot tolerate Earth meat, water, or beans, the former burning them terribly and sometimes even fusing to their skin. As confirmed by Jhonen in the commentary for "The Wettening", it's the pollutants in Earth water that causes the burns rather than the water itself. Paste suffices to completely nullify the effects of tainted Earth liquids. It seems that there is nothing that can protect them from Earth's meat, however. Irkens cannot survive for more than 10 minutes without their PAK. The PAK can only take over those with Irken biology or an inanimate object (as it worked on a chair), should a human take it or those with incompatible features, they would die in 10 minutes.
Unique Weaknesses:Zim seems to be very hard of hearing. Zim is brash, arrogant, as well as overconfident, and doesn't think things entirely through making him a threat to everyone, including himself. He can be kind of irrational as well. Is somewhat delusional in the sense that he sometimes doesn't get things being directly said to him, ignoring them or interpreting them in ways that may favor him/his ego. The Megadoomer X-3 Combat Stealth Mech cannot turn Zim invisible and needs a nearby outlet to stay on, additionally it can overload draining an entire city of its electricity. Zim's GIR unit is extremely incompetent leading him to mess up most of Zim's overall plans. Zim is also afraid of animatronics.
Note
The body we see for Zim isn't actually Zim, the PAK is Zim, the body is just something to carry the PAK around, thus killing the body would not grant one a win as the PAK would merely attach itself to the nearest object and that will become Zim.
Despite common misconception, Zim's intelligence is not hindered by his incompetence, a majority of the series has shown that Zim's plans failures is due to either Dib or Gaz thwarting them or GIR messing his plans up, it is almost always outside forces getting in the way of Zim's plan and not his own arrogance. The rare cases where it is Zim would be moreso PIS or ocassions that are massively outmatched by the occasions he's used his intelligence correctly.