Brick replica project: Characters from "Invader Zim"
Phillip Thorne
Wednesday, 26 June 2002

Among the militaristic alien Irkens, status is synonymous with stature, and their leaders are known only as The Tallest.  The Tallest (sometimes known as Red and Purple, for the color of their eyes) have a small problem, however, which distracts them from eating snacks: one of their elite operatives, trained to infiltrate and undermine target worlds prior to the arrival of the Irken Armada, has a slight problem with *missing the point*.  The Invader named Zim is competent enough with all Irken battlefield technologies, but he's easily distracted, and often loses sight of strategic priorities.  At barely three feet in height, he's also *short*.  "Never has there been an Invader so very -- *small*," the Tallest told him.  "You're very small, Zim.  A small, tiny thing."  Seeking to rid themselves of this overenthusiastic pest, the Tallest equipped him with a cheerful but mentally unbalanced robot slave, and directed him to the far corner of the starmap...

...thus begins the animated series "Invader Zim" (genres: SF, school, dark humor) (creator: comic artist Jhonen Vasquez) (carried on: us/cable/Nickelodeon).

IRKENS (from the planet IRK) are green-skinned humanoid beings (bipedal, bimanual, binocular, bisexual) with two mobile antennae at the upper forward edge of their squarish heads, but no pinnae.  Their bulbous eyes lack pupils, and may be red, purple, or green in color.  Invader garb consists of a tapered tunic (red or purple) over a black bodysuit, black knee-length boots, and black elbow-length gloves.  Invaders are usually equipped with a cybernetic utility backpack, which can extend four slender insectile legs (which double as weapons projectors), telescopic headgear, and other tools.

Invaders typically disguise themselves to blend into the society of their target world.  Zim rejected several disguises proposed by his computer, then chose one that consisted of contact lenses and a hairpiece.  While this would seem a fairly laughable form of camouflage, only two humans have noticed -- and only one of them cares.  ("And look, he has no *ears* -- is that part of your 'skin condition', Zim?")

An Invader is usually equipped with a S.I.R. (pronounced "sir"), a Standard Information Retrieval unit: a versatile robot slave about two feet tall.  A SIR approximately resembles its creators (but: cylindrical body parts, a single centrally-mounted antenna, no mouth) and are grey with red trim.  Its head can deploy a variety of weapons.  Its legs appear to float free of the torso: as with most Irken-designed walking mechs, the hip-articulation is forcefield-based.

The SIR issued to Zim was assembled by the Tallest on the spur-of-the-moment, from discarded junk and pocket lint.  Upon activation, it called itself G.I.R. (but couldn't say what the "G" stands for).  Unlike standard-issue SIRs, GIR has blue trim, and a mouth containing a pink tongue.  GIR enjoys chocolate shakes, tunafish, muffins, pizza, tacos, and taquitos.

On one occassion, Zim's plans were interrupted by the arrival of a second Irken, a female named TAK who bore a mighty grudge against him.  Tak had equipped herself with a nonstandard SIR, which she called MIMI; Mimi had an extra-large right hand (for smashing), to which ran an conduit from its backpack.

zim_disguise_011b.jpg - Zim figure, Earthen disguise (with spare pieces at its feet).
zimgir_011b.jpg       - Zim (natural features) and GIR (version 1).
zimgir_012b.jpg       - Zim and GIR, facing each other.
sirs_011a.jpg         - MIMI, GIR(1), and GIR(2); front view.  Three different scales.
sirs_012a.jpg         - The three of them; rear view.