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invader Zim is an American animated television series created by Jhonen Vasquez. It was produced by and subsequently aired on Nickelodeon. The series revolves around an extraterrestrial named Zim from the planet Irk and his ongoing mission to conquer and/or destroy a dark and satirical version of the Earth. His various attempts to subjugate and destroy the human race are invariably undermined by some combination of his own ineptitude, his malfunctioning robot servant GIR, and his arch-nemesis Dib, one of very few humans attentive enough to be aware of Zim's identity.
Invader Zim was first broadcast on March 30, 2001. The show was targeted at children in their early teens, and met with critical acclaim. However, after the first season, the show's ratings began to suffer. Before the second season was completed, Nickelodeon canceled the series, leaving at least sixteen episodes and a planned television movie series finale unfinished. Because of its continued fan base and above average DVD sales since cancellation, Invader Zim has been called a cult hit.^[1]
The series consists of a pilot episode, forty-six canon episodes, and at least seventeen episodes that were in production at the time of the series' cancellation. As of August 19, 2006, all forty-six canon episodes have aired on television and been released on DVD. Nineteen of the episodes are split into two individual stories, each lasting about twelve minutes. There are eight double-length episodes. Almost every episode was directed by Steve Ressel; the only exception is the pilot episode, which was directed by Jordan Reichek.

Plot

Premise

Invader Zim revolves around the life of its lead character, Zim, his malfunctioning SIR Unit GIR and the humans and aliens who become involved in his schemes. Zim is a member of the imperialistic Irken race, an extraterrestrial species whose social hierarchy is based on height. The Irken leaders, known as The Almighty Tallest, serve together because they are exactly the same height. As recounted during the series premiere, "The Nightmare Begins", Zim, who is both very short and very naïve, was banished to the planet Foodcourtia for overzealously attacking his own planet and allies^[2] during Operation Impending Doom I.^[3]
Upon hearing of Operation Impending Doom II, Zim "quits" his exile in Foodcourtia and arrives at the Great Assigning. Here, elite Irken soldiers are chosen to become Invaders: special soldiers whose mission is to blend in with the indigenous life forms of their assigned planet, collect intelligence and prepare the planet for conquest by the Irken Armada. Zim pleads with the Tallest to assign him a planet, and, in a desperate act to get Zim as far away as possible, they assign him to a presumed planet on the outskirts of their known universe that has never been explored. This "mystery planet" is Earth, and Zim's erratic attempts at world domination and/or the eradication of the human race begin when he lands on earth for the first time.