Zim’s Use of His Name as a Replacement for First-Person Pronouns
I recently did a small project and went through every single Invader Zim episode script to discover just how much Zim actually replaces first-person (I/me/my/myself) pronouns with his name, and whether he ever replaces first-person pronouns with third-person pronouns (he/him/his). The answers to these questions pretty much lined up with what I remembered about his canon use of his name as a pronoun-replacement, and I would now like to share my findings, and a list of every time Zim refers to himself in the third person, with all of you fine people here on the Tumblr dot coms.
Observations
1) Zim uses I/me/my pronouns the vast majority of the time he refers to himself. He uses his name in place of a pronoun to refer to himself in 18 out of 27 full episodes, or 21 out of 46 segments (but see #5 below). He says his name in a couple more instances than that but not in place of a pronoun. Technically, ‘I am Zim!’ is not an instance where he is replacing an I/me/my pronoun with his name, any more than me saying, 'Hi, I’m KidK’ is such an instance. Really, when Zim says, 'I am Zim!’ he is reinforcing the fact that he uses I/me/my pronouns regularly and the fact that he likes to say his own name, without suggesting he replaces pronouns with his name as often as, say, Elmo the Muppet. I therefore didn’t count instances of 'I am Zim!’ as pronoun replacements, but have made a separate list of them for the sake of interest.
2) Zim replaces 'me’ with his name as the object of a sentence rather than replacing 'I’ as the subject. The only exception to this in the entire run of the show is 'Zim needs no vacation!’ from “The Frycook What Came From All That Space.” A more typical usage is lines like 'There is none so worthy as Zim!’ or 'Victory for Zim!’ Also, Zim only uses the possessive 'Zim’s’ once–'No one takes Zim’s mission!’ in “Tak: The Hideous New Girl.'”In all other lines when Zim wants to say something is his, he says 'the [thing] of Zim’–or, much more often, uses first-person pronouns 'my’ and 'mine.’
3) Zim really really very does not speak like Elmo. He tends to replace one first-person pronoun in a sentence with his name and leave the rest intact, rather than substituting 'Zim’ for every first-person pronoun in the line. For example, in “The Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom,” he says, 'I break free and now I have to go back to rescue that little rat that left Zim to rot?’ Even this kind of sentence reinforces the fact that Zim uses I/me/my regularly and Zim-as-a-pronoun as a more infrequent thing to add emphasis or drama.
4) The other way in which Zim is not like Elmo is that he never, ever replaces a first-person pronoun with a third-person pronoun. Using the same example, notice he did not say, 'Zim breaks free and now he has to go back to rescue that little rat that left him to rot?' (Zim did use ‘he/him’ for himself when he pretended to be a future version of Dib and thus needed to speak in third person about himself to keep up the ruse; these instances are not included in my count/list because that was playacting and not pronoun-replacement. He also uses he/him and she/her to refer to other people, including other Irkens, but that’s a subject for a different kind of post.)
5) Several of the times Zim refers to himself by name that I’ve included on the list are edge cases and may not be true pronoun replacements. These are noted in the list.
6) Zim starts referring to himself in third person more about halfway through the show’s run. He does it a few notable times in episodes 1-15 but all the episodes where he does it a lot are from “Hobo 13″ on. In fact, there are a few episodes where Zim does it a lot, and then in the others where he does it it’s only once, maybe twice. The episode segments where Zim refers to himself by name in third person the most are “Hobo 13,” “The Voting of the Doomed,” and “The Frycook What Came From All That Space.”
7) The first few instances of 'I am Zim’ aren’t just random exclamations, but places where Zim telling someone his name is a natural part of a conversation. It’s not until “Hobo 13″ and beyond that Zim starts yelling 'I am Zim!’ for no apparent reason other than to assert that he is, in fact, Zim I guess.
And now without further ado, below the cut is a list of Every. Single. Time. Zim refers to himself in third person in the series, broken down by episode, with a bonus list of every 'I am Zim!’ at the end. In every other instance besides these listed times, when Zim refers to himself, he does it with a first-person I/me/my/myself pronoun. Yep. He sure does know what those are, and uses them very frequently. Use this information however you like.
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I guess I need to explain what all happened to me. Since everyone probably wondered where I am.
Sometime around December 4th, my primary tumblr logged me out without my permission and forced me to change my password.
This normally wouldn’t be a problem…. but the email associated with my account was from a domain that no longer exists, and I was unable to retrieve my primary account or prove the account belonged to me in the first place.
On top of that, I ended up catching Covid. Yeah, that’s right, the big virus everyone’s in a panic about.
The only good side is I have had it now, so I don’t need to worry about getting it again. Aside from a lingering cough, all my symptoms are gone and I will get back to work soon
I was out of state when I caught it and wasn’t able to go back to my apartment for ten days. And on top of that, was unable to work. (due to me being a plauge to mankind for like ten to fourteen days)
Reminder that I still have a
Ko-fi
or Patreon
and I’m fairly active on those. (patreon even has stuff I didn’t upload to tumblr yet.)
And so you know, I’m not abandoning the post-florpus AU. all my art and stuff will defiantly be posted to this account now.
Here’s the new post-florpus masterpost
I don’t think I’ll repost all my old art here. The Florpus AU art is still on my old account where people can see it.
I just won’t be able to update old posts for what comes next in the saga so I am relying entirely on the word of mouth on everyone else.
(The next arc is the “back to skool” arc btw…which you can see I listed in the masterpost where it’s gonna take place. )
My only regret was that I could not answer someone’s ask about GIR.
That and all of my drafts for “rant wips” were deleted.
The rants and analysis will still be up on my old blog. Those won’t go anywhere.
But yeah, this blog will pretty much be like the old one. I’ll write rants, and fanfic, and draw. And reblog things from friends.
I am so sad that my old blog just kinda lingers in cyberspace like that. I get sentimental and when a blog that I’ve had since 2012 just won’t let me back in… it’s sad…
RIP @dana-chan325 and my 2,000 followers. :’(
Anyways… Spread the word. Direct people here and to the new masterpost.
I also apologize to all my old Naruto Fandom buddies who will probably have no idea where I am now.
But thanks for sticking with me guys. I’ll hope you stick around and that this goes to the tags
being in a fandom for more than a few years is kind of a surreal experience, honestly. you see fanart that you’ve sent in texts years ago, you see posts that you qualify now as ‘classics’ because of how old they are, you see people getting excited over new information that, honestly, you’ve known for a long while… you see one of those same-old same-old arguments bubbling up between people in the fandom and you just think to yourself “oh not again”, and then you lean back in your rocking chair, watching from the sidelines like your joints ache too much from all the battles of your past. a fuckin fandom grandparent. someone get me some applesauce
Here’s another prompt list for you guys! Feel free to reblog, but please do not repost (unless one of us has given you permission, and it would be nice to give credit to the blog). Anyway, these should work for most, if not all fandoms! :)
“Please turn off the lights.”
“You won’t like the truth.”
“Somebody help!”
“You haven’t been yourself.”
“It wasn’t that bad.”
“I think that’s enough wine for tonight.”
“Stop worrying.”
“This isn’t open for discussion.”
“I can’t lose you.”
“You don’t have to pretend with me.”
“I’m sure you’ll do just fine.”
“Way to go Einstein.”
“You got yourself into quite a/the mess.”
“Poke it with a stick.”
“Maybe you should leave the cooking to me.”
“I’ve been looking forward to this.”
“If you could just be patient for two seconds.”
“The damage is done.”
“Try not to think about it.”
“Stop trying to figure me out.”
“What is going on with you?”
“Sorry about your shirt.”
“None of this makes any sense.”
“Why are you here?”
“Take a deep breath.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“Why did you leave?”
“Do you believe in love at first sight?”
“All I want is your honest opinion.”
“Oh god, it’s sticky.”
“How’s life treating you?”
“You should know better.”
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
“Bad dream?”
“I tried to move on, but I couldn’t.”
“You’re strong, I know you are.”
“There’s always tomorrow.”
“I owe you one.”
“Why would you do that?”
“I think you deserve a little something.”
“Do I make myself clear?”
“I’m just checking in, that’s all.”
“ I don’t have time for games.”
“How about no.”
“I love you. You are what matters to me.”
“I brought food.”
“I know it smells bad, but you’ll feel better, trust me.”
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so i wasn’t gonna do this because I didn’t think the prompts were very good for writing to, but I remembered the last day’s prompt was “role swap” so I decided to do something small and quick for it. this is all 7 days in one post. the first and last ones are drabbles and one of them is an au idea
@invader-zim-week here u go!!!
Day 1. Angst or Fluff
Zim’s denial skills are god tier, but even they have their limits.
Drabble. I think this is the turning point for my eventual found family au
“When are you going to get it through your thick head that the Tallests aren’t coming?” Dib flings his arms out wide in his exasperation
“They’re just…!” Zim fumbles a bit, clenching and unclenching his fists. “The Armada is a million light years away! It takes time to travel that far, obviously. It took me six of your months to get here from Conventia and the Massive is further away from here now than that. They’ll come! You’ll see! And then you’ll be sorry!” Zim’s face is drawn tight. He’s tense all over, shoulders drawn up to his jaw, antennae pressed flat to his head, and normally Dib prides himself on reading Zim like an open book, but he’s too far gone in his own annoyance to see the warning signs.
It’s because he doesn’t see these red flags that Dib proceeds to stick his own foot in his mouth with his next words. “Maybe if you weren’t such an idiot and opened your eyes, you’d see the truth—that they dumped you here to get rid of you.”
“YOU THINK I DON’T KNOW THAT?” Zim explodes, planting his tiny hands in Dib’s chest and shoving. The boy lands painfully on his ass. “I’m not stupid, Dib.” His name is spat like an insult. “I know they don’t care about me! Why do you think I try so hard?”
Dib gapes at Zim, looking up at him for once, stunned into silence. “I.” He swallows. “You know?”
“Of course, I know.” Zim’s voice is a low hiss and his eyes are narrowed to slits. “You don’t get banished and then just get over it. You don’t get put on trial to defend your life, forced to relive your worse mistakes, and get sentenced to death, only to be saved by freak miracle, and never acknowledge it happened.” Zim takes a deep breath and crosses his arms over his chest. Dib supposes he means for it to look intimidating, but it looks more like he’s holding himself together. “I’ve always known.”
“Why do you try so hard then? If you’ve always known there was no point?” Dib has to ask, has to know, has to hear the words from Zim’s own mouth.
Zim purses his lips and turns away. “There was always a point.” He falls silent for a moment, one antenna twitching up a bit in thought. “I just… I thought if I was just a little better, if I accomplished something important for once, that… I don’t know, that maybe I’d.” He pauses and grits his teeth. “Maybe if I actually managed to take over this filthy planet I’d be worth something for once.”
Day 2. Be Gay Do Crime (LGBTQA+ headcannons)
Dib is bi/pan/demi-ro, Gaz is lesbian, Zim is ace/demi-ro
Headcanons.
Dib seems like the kind of guy that would both take whatever kind of relationship he could get, but also appreciate it. Dib isn’t afraid to work for what he wants and isn’t afraid of things that are “not normal” so I see him being the type to not care about the gender of whoever he eventually decides to date. However, because Dib’s been burned in the past, he would need a deep and sincere emotional relationship to see someone as a potential romantic partner.
Gaz is just a big lesbian. Girls, man.
Zim is ace all the way baby!!! He’s just not interested, and sure, part of that is me projecting, but it just feels right for Zim to just… not care. He has no interest and doesn’t care for sexual attraction regardless of whether or not Irkens do/can/will have sex or not. On the other hand, Zim has expressed a softer side before and I can see him being able to maybe eventually develop romantic feelings for someone if he actually manages to get close enough to them for those kinds of feelings to even emerge. It would take a lot of time and a deep, meaningful friendship, but Zim has shown he’s capable of love. He just has to let himself feel it.
Day 3. Fandom Appreciation
Found family fuck yeah
Headcanons.
I’m still in the process of thinking about how I wanna go about my found family au so here’s just some initial ideas
After ETF, Zim self isolates for a bit. The florpus hole was his Last Ditch Effort plan and had it succeeded, he knew he would have been destroyed too. He was okay with it. He had made peace with it. However, it failed, and now he’s forced to reflect on said failure
The Massive doesn’t escape the florpus. They’re gone, completely. If they the ship does manage to get out, it’s not in one piece
I initially couldn’t decide if The Trial should come Before ETF or After but I think im gonna say before so the Massive doesn’t have to come back lmao
Before too long, Zim jumps back into the planning/scheming swing of things, but his ideas are never more than petty crimes and being a huge annoyance
Dib gets really annoyed with him and they have a big argument
Zim finally admits to knowing of his own Defectiveness
Dib reluctantly feels bad for him and backs off a bit to let Zim have his space
Zim, however, sees this as a betrayal and redoubles his efforts to get his attention
Somewhere along the way, Skoodge comes back and Zim backs off of Dib a bit, having someone else to focus attention on
Dib eventually begins to offer Zim his hand in friendship (phrased as a truce at first) and they finally make steps towards getting along
They realize they actually really like being friends
Zim eventually realizes that he’s made a life for himself, outside of the Empire
Eventually Zim, Skoodge, GIR, Minimoose, Dib, and Gaz form their own little family and explore space and hunt cryptids
(I love cryptid hunter and space exploration aus holy shit)
Day 4. If IZ had a different setting/time period
Cyberpunk??? Sure
Potential idea maybe.
Cyberpunk dystopian future
Aliens and humans intermingle, both on and off Earth
The Irken Empire has gotten bigger
Technology is advanced and cybernetics are widely known/produced
Idk man I don’t know a lot about cyberpunk, maybe this should be more for the aesthetic
Day 5. Aesthetic
Big shrug man idk
Headcanons, thoughts.
I’m a big fan of fashion Zim, and whenever I get the chance I give him clothes that are both cute and comfortable
Galaxy print leggings are a personal favorite of mine to give him
One time I wrote a little ficlet/oneshot where he wore a skirt. I should publish that some day
Uhhhhhh okay so. Dib has veeeeeery big early 2000s emo/punk vibes tbh
Scene kid GIR always makes me laugh
Gaz could pull off pastel goth like no one’s business
I’ve been here long enough to witness emo/scene hair wig Zim and his eventual fall lmfao
Pretty much everyone that redesigned them back in the day gave Zim emo kid hair that fall perfectly over one eye it was WILD
Day 6. What if IZ was a different Genre?
Uhhhh does “fantasy instead of scifi” count?
Potential idea maybe. (oops it ended up being a fantasy/modern magic au haha ooooops)
Instead of being an alien, I had the idea of, maybeeeeee Irkens are like. Elves maybe, or perhaps some kind of fae. (I don’t know much about fae, oops)
Okay bear with me here, this is all coming together in real time.
The Irkens (which is what I’m gonna call their clan or faction or subrace or whatever) still want to be the rulers or something over the humans/other mystical beings. This world of magic is hidden from humans and they live blissfully unaware. There are invaders all over the place, using magic and glamors to trick humans into thinking they’re also humans. Zim is one such invader and just to happens to end up in Dib’s town, whereupon he enrolls in Dib’s school, pretending to be a transfer student.
I have no idea why or how the Irkens invade or what methods they use, but since my biggest experience with elves is through DND, I’m going to say they’re functionally similar to certain DND elf races.
So anyway, Zim ends up in Dib’s class and Zim’s glamor just Doesn’t Work on Dib for whatever reason (maybe Dib passed his Wisdom saving throw while literally everyone else failed, idk) and so Dib can immediately see Zim for what he is.
Dib is still into paranormal type stuff, though in his world, he’s less about cryptids and aliens and more about the magical species/world(s) that he KNOWS exists. His big goal in his au is similar to canon in that he wants to expose it all for recognition and love from his father.
Zim, meanwhile, he just wants to prove himself, just like canon. I can’t decide how I want the Irken hierarchy to go in this au—that’s something to think about later, when I have more time—but whatever it is, Zim is either a) not very good at it, b) not suited for it, c) ridiculed for not fitting in to it, or d) a combination of any or all of these things. (or secret option e) he rejects it but has no where else to go. On the other hand, it maybe be none of these things.)
GIR is here too though he’s probably not a robot. Maybe he’s another kind of magical being, or, hell, maybe he’s just Zim’s little brother. I’d be okay with that.
Gaz can also see through glamors but she just doesn’t care. Tak shows up at some point to get revenge, and Skoodge also shows up at some point to stay with Zim and be his friend.
Zim is bad at blending in at first, but he eventually Does get better, since he’s not totally isolated from other Irkens here and he also doesn’t Look like an alien.
(I’m thinkin’ elves in this au look Mostly human but with a few differences. Since I’m biased and this is MY fantasy world, damnit, elves are just. Really Pretty. Ethereal and elegant and graceful (for the most part—there are always exceptions) and they’re also great at magic. Maybe Zim isn’t all that great at magic, I dunno. I’ll figure something out.)
This ended up being less of a genre change and more of a whole ass au, lol oops
Day 7. Role swap
Chanting: human zim au human zim au human zim au human zi
Drabble. This is for an ongoing species swap au that i’ve had in development for the last few years. i haven’t posted anything for it yet, but I’ve thought about it a lot
Dib freezes as Zim points the plastic water gun at his head. Zim’s eyes are narrowed, lips pursed, and he adjusts his grip almost nervously. Behind him, Gir is holding a bucket full of water balloons and a pair of neon green star shaped sunglasses. It’d be cute if Dib wasn’t aware of how painful Earth water is to his Irken skin.
Zim finally lowers his gun slightly. “I want some answers, alien.” He looks Dib over with critical eyes. “Who are you really, and why are you here?” He reaches back and Gir hands him a water balloon with a big smile. “And you better tell the truth or I’ll bust this over your big head.”
Dib grimaces and watches the balloon. “My name Dib, and I’m a scientist. I’m an Irken, from Irk, and I’m here to learn more about life on this planet.” He holds his hands up, hoping to placate the human gesture for surrender. “I’m not here to harm you or anyone else, promise.”
Zim huffs. “Yeah right. I bet you just came here to laugh at the locals.” He puts on a mocking voice and waves the gun and balloon as he speaks. “‘Stupid, stinking humans. They can’t even travel beyond their own moon, yet. What morons. I bet they descended from pigs with how horrible and stupid they are.’” He jams the gun against Dib’s chest. “Tell me I’m wrong.”
Dib bites his lower lip and looks away. He can’t deny he hasn’t thought something similar since arriving on Earth, but Zim didn’t have to be so crude and blunt about it.
The two are at a standoff for almost a minute before Zim blows out a long sigh and steps back. He turns to put the balloon back in the bucket, gives Gir a pat on the head, and shoots Dib one last glare. “Stay away from me, Dib. I have enough problems to deal with without having to worry about whether or not it’s safe for my brother to go to school or if I need to watch my back while walking my dog.”
“I wouldn’t hurt you,” Dib says, a little put out.
Zim scoffs and rolls his eyes. “Yeah, I’ve heard that one before. I know better than to believe it.” He turns and tries to smile at Gir but it comes out a little twisted and sad. “C’mon Gir. Let’s go home and get Minimoose and take him to that dog park you like so much.”
Gir gasps and lets out a cheer. “Can we go get ice cream afterwards?”
Zim gives a little laugh, smile turning a bit more genuine. “Yeah, sounds good.”
As they walk away Dib can’t help but wonder why he ever thought Zim was an Irken himself.
lookin for a new invader zim discord server to join 🥺
soooo im a little hesitant to put this out in the open like this, buuuuuuut im looking for an invader zim discord server that’s open to writers…… i would like to talk to folks and discuss ideas and maybe–just maybe!!!–find the motivation to write fics again…….. ive been a zim fan for at least the last 12 years and i’d just like a place to hang out sometimes
i’d hate to bug someone in particular to join their server, especially if i have no idea if it’d even be open to join, so if you’re out there and you’re open to new members…. 🥺
lookin for a new invader zim discord server to join 🥺
soooo im a little hesitant to put this out in the open like this, buuuuuuut im looking for an invader zim discord server that’s open to writers...... i would like to talk to folks and discuss ideas and maybe--just maybe!!!--find the motivation to write fics again........ ive been a zim fan for at least the last 12 years and i’d just like a place to hang out sometimes
i’d hate to bug someone in particular to join their server, especially if i have no idea if it’d even be open to join, so if you’re out there and you’re open to new members.... 🥺
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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So was anyone gonna tell me that the cancellation of Invader Zim led to ATLA's creation or was I supposed to find that out from the tv tropes website at 2 in the morning
Not just that, but you know the asian kid with glasses who sits right next to Zim?
You might also remember him as the kid dressed up as a bunny in the Halloween Special, the Kid who Ms. Bitters sends to the “underground classrooms” in Tak: the Hideous New Girl, and one of the two kids who jumps out of the way of the dodgeball in the opening credits.
Well, his name is Brian (He’s even briefly referred to by name in the halloween ep), and he’s based off of Bryan Konietzko.
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