Gir

GIR is the insane, hyperactive robotic assistant of Zim and the closest thing the incompetent Irken has to a friend, having been constructed from scrap parts and given to Zim by the Almighty Tallest just before it was handed to Zim, instead of a regular SIR (Standard-issue Information Retrieval Unit).

GIR is voiced by Rosearik Rikki Simons, and played a main role in three episodes: "Walk of Doom", "Invasion of the Idiot Dog Brain" and "GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff", and would have played another major role in the cancelled episode "GIR's Big Day." In every other episode he played either a minor or secondary role. He was voiced by Wasabi Mizuta in the Japanese dub and Irwin Daayán in the Spanish dub.

Appearance
The only differences between GIR and regular SIR units are the unique coloration of the luminous parts of GIR's body (teal instead of red, although they do go red when he is serious), a different configuration for the eyes, and his cross-hatched mouth. The similarities in construction suggest that the components from which he was built came from an out-of-date model of SIR unit.

GIR's usual Earth disguise consists of a green "mongoose-dog" suit with a zipper on the stomach, and a head that can be pulled over like a hood. It also includes a small tail that he is inexplicably capable of wagging like a human dog's. The large eyes sometimes blink while at other times, they do not. Also, the mouth will sometimes open when he speaks, whereas other times it stays closed.

He also has a small child disguise with blonde hair and the mouth hanging open so he can see, but it was only used in two episodes.

Personality
GIR is happy-go-lucky, enthusistic, energetic, excitable, and extremely hyperactive, and will eat just about anything, regardless of whether it is edible or not. Most of the time he spouts nonsense, but does have a few, short moments of clarity: for instance, in "Walk for Your Lives" he actually contemplated whether making the explosion go faster would make things worse ("But if the big 'splody goes fast, won't it get all bad?"), and in "Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy" he questioned the wisdom of sending a machine into the past to destroy Dib.

GIR usually fools around when Zim gives an order, and always goes right back to what he was doing before once he has completed the order (which is only done occasionally) or, more often, when Zim leaves. Zim has described GIR's intelligence as "bad"; indeed, the little robot is often one of the many reasons why Zim's plans frequently fail. GIR has also been known to disobey orders whenever it conflicts with getting something he wants, such as rubber piggies or food.

Zim has taken advantage of GIR's poor intelligence in the past, having once attached GIR to a power amplifier in "Plague of Babies" to incapacitate Sergeant Shnooky and his underlings with an amplified wave of the little robot's stupidity. However, despite his stupidity, GIR also has shown an occasional manipulative side, having used his antics in the past to bend others to his will.

Unlike Zim, GIR does not mind getting involved with typical Earth culture; on several occasions he has even admitted to loving Earth. GIR also has a strong love of Earth snacks, such as tacos, taquitos, candy, chocolate bubblegum, waffles, cupcakes, tuna, biscuits, chicken with mayonnaise, pizza, Suck Munkeys, numerous Poop products, mashed potatoes, muffins and corn. He can eat and enjoy them, even though he is a robot, and was even shown somehow becoming fat in the "Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom" after stealing all of the Halloween candy from trick-or-treaters.

Despite his sub-par disguises, GIR is actually quite good at blending in with the humans, due to his behavior and intelligence being similar to theirs. In "Attack of the Saucer Morons", he even befriended multiple teenage human females. Similarly in Issue 26 of the comics, GIR disguised himself as a human boy to able to go to skool with his master, in the process he befriended several skoolchildren, easily blending in and becoming one of the "popular kids" on his first day, even when the kids saw him in his dog costume, they still loved him.

His favorite assignment from Zim is "monitoring Earth broadcasts" (in other words, watching TV); when doing so, he usually watches The Scary Monkey Show, which he has declared to be his "favorite show". His favorite movie is Intestines of War, which he has seen over one hundred times ("FBI Warning of Doom"). GIR is also very loyal to Zim, despite disobeying him often and mainly being a hindrance to his plans.

There have been times where Dib has "tricked" him into doing things, like putting a camera in Zim's Base in "Zim Eats Waffles", and even inviting him into the base during "The Frycook What Came from All That Space". This is probably because Dib doesn't seem to bother GIR as much as he does Zim, saying in "Planet Jackers" that "he seems nice". By the time of "Mysterious Mysteries" however, GIR seemed to be aware of Dib's antipathy toward his master, and flat-out defended him, though this was probably because Zim told GIR exactly what to say.

GIR also seems to possess the uncanny ability of bending others to his will as he was able to make Zim dance in the elevator of the base during "Invasion of the Idiot Dog Brain" and more surprisingly, Gaz in "Tak: The Hideous New Girl."

GIR does not hate or dislike anyone, which contrasts very sharply with Zim, Dib and especially Gaz. He instead approaches everything in the world, living or not, with boundless affection and enthusiasm.

Duty Mode
Every so often, GIR will display brief instances of complete functionality. Usually triggered by Zim giving an order, this "Duty Mode" is made manifest by the teal parts of GIR's body and eyes flashing red, his voice changing from high-pitched to harsh, deep and rough, and GIR himself snapping to attention, alert and utterly obedient. He concludes it with a salute and response of "Yes, sir!". These random bouts never last for long, though, and after a few seconds, GIR is right back to his gleeful, hyperactive self.

As it turns out, however, this brevity is probably a good thing for Zim: As he learned the hard way when he tried to lock GIR into Duty Mode via a Behavioral Modulator, if GIR was fully lucid all the time, he would quickly realize that his own master was a threat to their mission to conquer Earth, and would quickly eliminate him ("GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff").

Equipment
GIR possesses "superior geographic abilities" that were given to him by Zim. In his head there are an array of various weapons, but he rarely uses them. There is also a great deal of empty space that he uses to store things, like a giant pile of rubber piggies, a puppy, or even a beehive. This is implied to be the "thermos" function stated by Tallest Red to be built into all SIR units. He also has X-ray vision, the ability to shoot lasers from his eyes, and jets in his feet.

GIR can also analyze living things and inanimate objects, from race to intelligence.

Role in Invader ZIM
GIR serves as Zim's "evil" henchman, but is usually more of a hindrance than a help. As stated above, he has complied when Dib asked favors from him and replaced vital equipment with food in "Walk of Doom". Moreover, his erratic behavior has often ended up having catastrophic consequences and ruining Zim's plans. However, GIR has bailed Zim out occasionally, saving him from alien fanatics in "Attack of the Saucer Morons". He can also be used as a form of transportation when the Voot Cruiser is unavailable, such as in "The Nightmare Begins".

Bloody GIR
Bloody GIR is an Easter egg visible in several episodes of Invader Zim. Bloody GIR was born when Nickelodeon refused to allow a scene involving GIR covered with blood. The crew inserted the forbidden image into single frames in a few episodes. Post-production supervisor Jason Stiff has confirmed that the image appears in "Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy". 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. Bloody GIR can be seen the most clearly during the opening in "Mortos der Soulstealer", when the purple pipe from Zim's house envelops the shot right before Dib's sequence. In fact, it is almost in plain sight. Although many claim to see Bloody GIR in almost every episode, Simons stated at the 2011 InvaderCON that he only inserted Bloody GIR into a couple of episodes.

Facts of Doom

 * Seeing as GIR was made by the Tallest as a joke assistant for Zim, it is conceivable to think that before being re-activated, he actually was a fully functional robot before presumably becoming obsolete by newer versions of the SIR Units.
 * GIR apparently has a "defensive mode" activated by voice command via Zim, although it typically results in GIR being actually even more unhelpful than usual. In "Abducted", for example, Zim activated GIR's Defensive Mode with the intent of preventing two aliens from abducting them; instead, GIR simply leaped into the sack that the aliens had brought. Defensive mode was used again in "Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom", when Zim was barricading the house against an onslaught of trick-or-treaters; its activation led GIR to cheerfully hop out of the nearest window. Defensive Mode was last used in "Zim Eats Waffles", when Zim activated it in desperation against an attacking Giant Flesh-Eating Cyborg Squid; GIR responded by offering the squid two ice cream cones out of his head as it beat Zim with a microwave.
 * GIR literally breaks the fourth wall by running into the screen during the title sequence.
 * GIR's feet squeak when he walks, regardless of whether or not he is wearing his dog disguise.
 * The Invader Zim crew hate it when the fan base call GIR "cute."
 * Rikki Simons originally had his recorded dialogued increased in pitch post-recording to voice GIR, his natural voice being much too low to perform it. A metallic effect is also added to make his voice sound more mechanical. At OMGCon 2010, Simons claimed he had learned to perform GIR's voice without the need to digitally increase the pitch, although the metallic effect was still necessary.
 * He also appears in many games like Nicktoons: Globs of Doom, Nicktoons: MLB (as an announcer) and is playable in a game called Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots, although in AOTTB DS edition, his voice is a lower pitch then his normal voice, resembling his voice in the Pilot Episode despite the fact he is still voiced by Rikki Simons in the games.
 * He is the color commentator in Nicktoons MLB, according to his collectible card. When he was told he was going to be the CC, he said, "I WON ALL THE SQUISHY TACO SOAP!".
 * He seems to like anything he sees, but especially loves tacos, cupcakes, monkeys, pigs, T.V., and most food.
 * GIR has been featured on more Invader Zim merchandise than any other character.
 * In the title sequence when Zim falls into his Voot Cruiser, GIR's eyes are green.
 * GIR's brain consists of pocket lint, a paperclip, a penny, and a marble, all of which were the contents of Tallest Purple's pockets at the time he was hastily assembled.
 * GIR makes an appearance in two of Snafu's web comics: PowerPuff Girls Doujinshi, and Invader Zim: Manifest Doom.
 * GIR's Japanese voice actress is also known for voicing Doraemon from the series of the same name.
 * While Irwin Daayán voices GIR in the Spanish dub, Víctor Ugarte voices him in duty mode in "Gir Goes Crazy and Stuff"
 * GIR's famous "bacon soap" quote from Rise of the Zitboy, much like Courteney Lily's shouting from almost being crushed by Mars in Battle of the Planets, had also become an audio meme on Flipnote Hatena back when it was still active.
 * There is a consistent error, in both the show and comics, regarding GIR's Duty Mode. Sometimes, his eyes and chest panel will both change color from blue to red, and other times it's just the eyes that change, leaving the chest panel the same.


 * GIR has a habit of keeping live animals in his head. This includes: a bee hive ("Walk of Doom" and Issue 17), a poodle (Issue 1), a chipmunk (Issue 4), a space slug (Issue 7), puppies (Issue 9), a squirrel and a cat (Issue 11).
 * GIR is one of the most popular characters in the series, being an all time fan favorite. He appears on more merchandise than any other character.
 * Interestingly, in the comics, GIR's speech bubbles are the same color as any other character (black letters on white background), even though every other robotic character's speech bubbles are color inverted, being white on black.Fonzy Gir.png
 * In Issue 22, the disguise that GIR wears as the assistant to Zim's "Engineer Scientist" has been noted as making him look like Fonzie from the TV series "Happy Days", likely as a tribute to the character.
 * Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was shown that GIR actually does have a fondness for his master as Zim was in GIR's "like pack" in Issue 23, however it was most likely a twisted version of like, seeing as Zim was too disgusted by GIR's opinion of him.
 * In 2011, Rosearik Rikki Simons was approached to do some GIR shorts for Nickelodeon. Although Simons would have been very much open to reprise his role as GIR, negotiations ultimately fell apart and no shorts were ever produced.