key difference between zim and dib is that dib knows everyone hates his guts and thinks he's a nutcase but absolutely refuses to change anything about himself because there is nothing wrong with him he is right. and once he manages to prove to everyone just how wrong they were that's when they'll finally come around and love him. and clap most surely. zim on the other hand is operating on ten different levels of delusion to a point of canonical disassociation. he gaslights himself into believing he is loved to such a degree that he memoryholed half of his existence. there is nothing wrong with him because there is nothing wrong with him. as he said himself he is normal. both of them have developed different methods for coping with the ostracization they face for being societal rejects. zim needs to conquer the earth to affirm his delusion that he is accepted and loved. dib is aware he is not but is convinced that through enough work he will gain that acceptance and love he desperately craves. they are so doomed. but at least they are doomed together. this too, is invader zadr.
