GIR (Invader Zim)

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Invader Zim character
GIR
Gender
Race	Robot
Relatives
First appearance	The Nightmare Begins
Voice actor	Rosearik Rikki Simons

GIR is one of the main characters from the animated television series Invader Zim. He is Zim's robot slave, a "modified" S.I.R. (Standard-issue Information Retrieval) unit, who occasionally dresses like a dog to disguise the fact that he's an alien robot. GIR is voiced by Rosearik Rikki Simons.

GIR is Zim's moronic, unfocused robot slave, easily influenced and impossible to fully control. He is incapable of focusing attention on important things for long periods of time and often speaks with no relevant coherent thought in mind (see quotes link below), making him almost completely useless, or even disastrous. Occasionally he reverts to normal S.I.R. behavior, during which time his cyan components (sometimes only his eyes) become red and voice becomes much deeper, but these periods are normally short-lived. As a robot, GIR technically has no gender, but he is usually referred to as being male, mostly by Zim. Zim (While under the Santa Suit's control) called GIR "little fellow", suggesting GIR is, indeed, male. However- GIR has been called "she" a couple times. GIR's normal disguise is a shoddy green dog suit with a visible zipper down the front, though he occasionally forgets to wear it in front of humans. He is infatuated with Gaz, the sister of Zim's enemy, Dib. He also doesn't mind getting involved with typical Earth culture.

Contents 1 Personality 2 Zim and GIR's relationship 3 Video Game Appearances 4 Bloody GIR

[edit] Personality

GIR's personality is essentially much like that of a dog or little brother. His main interests are playing with pigs, sleeping, dancing, watching TV (in particular, the Scary Monkey Show), eating, drinking slushies, aimlessly rolling on the floor, and being very annoying. He cooks occasionally, making foods including mashed potatoes and waffles, and often uses unusual ingredients such as peanuts and soap. His favorite foods are tacos, chocolate bubble gum slushies ,and pancakes/waffles. He usually cooks only for himself, as Zim finds human food to be disgusting. However, in the episode Zim Eats Waffles, Zim was attempting to develop an immunity to human food, and he was shown eating the waffles GIR made seemingly endlessly throughout the episode (although GIR used ingredients not typically found in human food such as soap and Irken ingredients). GIR eats solely for pleasure, as he is a robot and likely does not need food. He gets along well with others, and his best friend (other than Zim) is a pig, named "Pig", who sometimes "visits" with GIR at Zim's house, and can be heard driving a motorcycle after GIR says goodbye to him. He commonly says "I don't... know", accenting "Don't" with a high pitch and dragging out the last word. Surprisingly, GIR seems to know much more about Earth culture and how to adapt to it, as seen on various occasions.

Jhonen Vasquez mentions in the Invader Zim DVD commentary that much of GIR's personality is simply attributed to the fact that he is a largely hedonistic character. Regardless of what Zim and others want of him, he will probably do anything that makes him happy no matter how crazy it is. Vasquez and the cast of the show have expressed that they dislike how some people consider GIR "cute", using the scene from Bestest Friend (GIR walks up to where Keef has been thrown out, and looks like he's going to comfort him, but instead just takes his bacon) as an example. Curiously, GIR is not utterly selfish and devoid of conscience, as he does do what Zim wants of him from time to time and often expresses his love for his master in ways that may make sense only to himself, like the random hugging sessions in Germs and Rise of the Zitboy.

In the episode GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff, Zim uses a behavioral modulator set on a "dangerously high level" in an attempt to lock GIR in "Duty Mode" to make him a more efficient and obedient servant. These extended lucid periods, however, reveal to GIR Zim's overall incompetence. Duty Mode GIR subsequently tries to eliminate Zim, who he deems a threat to the mission. In the end, Zim realizes that a super-intelligent robot that hates him is a larger burden than a stupid robot that loves him, so he reverts GIR back to his former, normal self. This might actually say that GIR truly is aware of Zim's ineptitude, but doesn't say anything about it, or the unusual way his brain works prevents him from saying so.

Defective S.I.R. Units, as observed in Megadoomer, appear to act similarly to GIR's normal behavior, although their coloring stays red and they don't have the GIR body type. Additionally, they acted almost completely destructively, whereas GIR tends to behave in a more whimsical manner.

[edit] Zim and GIR's relationship

At the start of the series, Zim said GIR was his "robot slave." Throughout most of the earlier episodes, Zim and GIR's relationship was established as master and servant (indeed, GIR usually refers to Zim as "Master" and "My lord"). Later on, however, Zim refers to GIR as his sidekick.

Their relationship is oddly complex for a children's series. While Zim initially wished that GIR were operational, and though he often shouts at him and blames him for his failures, he regularly expresses concern for GIR's safety and treats him affectionately. For instance, in the Halloween episode, Zim hopes that GIR is okay on his own against the "candy zombies."

Although Zim is frequently frustrated by GIR's incompetence, he takes no steps to deactivate or get rid of GIR (but he does try to replace him in the unfinished episode Nubs of Doom). One reason Zim may keep GIR around is because he is the only friend Zim has. Another is that GIR has saved him from Dib on a number of occasions.

[edit] Video Game Appearances

The Game Boy Advance game Nicktoons: Freeze Frame Frenzy refers to GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff: In the Danny Phantom stage, Zim, the main villain in the game (unlocked by getting 100% in the album), confronts his rebellious Helga robot and mentions that "using GIR's code was a really bad idea." This implies that non-S.I.R. robots could rebel with GIR's programming. Realistically though, the game should not be looked at as being too related to the show, being a fictional crossover, which are usually non-canonical.

[edit] Bloody GIR

Bloody GIR is an Easter Egg visible in several episodes of the television series Invader Zim. Bloody GIR was born when Nickelodeon refused to allow a scene involving GIR covered with blood. Out of comic spite, the creator of the show Jhonen Vasquez had the crew insert the forbidden image into single frames in a few episodes.

The existence of bloody GIR has been confirmed by director Steve Ressel in interviews. The frames were reportedly scattered throughout the episodes following Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy by Ressel and Chris Graham.

"The bloody GIR was this single frame drawing that Chris Graham drew and I was putting it into the show at random points hidden within things. It is very hard to make out....and I am not telling where or when those frames are (you have to be a master to see Bloody GIR, even with a frame-by-frame VCR). If anyone finds it...let me know. He is in several places through the last 14 shows. We tried to get him put into GIR's Rubber Piggy when the last pig goes through the portal: that was the first one and I don't think it stayed...you have to check...if it is there it is faint faint." -Steve Ressel^{[citation needed]}