(no subject)
IGN DVD: A few of the episodes involve Zim coming pretty close to his objectives, and in Hobo 13 he's abusive but he gets the job done. Do you consider him a screw-up? And if the show had continued do you think he might've been able to conquer Earth?
Jhonen: I always imagined ZIM as just being utterly unaware of his shortcomings, to a dangerous extent even. He's not really stupid, but he's got some problems getting priorities straight. He's this alien from an incredibly advanced race (technologically anyhow), with access to a universe of power. And yet he stays in school all day, enduring it, hating it, fearing it and freaking out about it. The thought of sneaking out or setting a robot in his place never crosses his mind. He gets so caught up with the most unimportant details, he ends up getting nothing done; He gets a giant robot, and his plan is to go beat Dib up. It was cool to remind people that he really was in control of some impressive stuff, but that his sense of control was so horrible that it didn't matter if his plans were foolproof.
Ultimately, my idea was to take his sights off world domination, as ZIM begins to understand that there is a beauty in human life, an understanding that sets him on his path to becoming a public legal defender. I was very inspired by Ben Affleck's powerful courtroom scenes in Daredevil, and I wanted to move people to tears like those scenes moved me. But the show was canceled before any of that, thus leaving our audience of ten unfulfilled.
---
Dr. T: You've said that any person that's writing a character is either basing it on themselves or someone that they think is a completely different person from themselves. So, where does Zim stand in relation to you?
JV: I think that Zim is just the part of me that refuses to listen to anybody. It's the only reason I get anywhere! People always telling you this and that, you've got to be careful of this and that -- you know, like, "Learn a trade so that you'll have something to fall back on!" The only thing I enjoy is drawing, making up these horrible little stories. And Zim, the thing that keeps him going, that keeps him so relentless, is the fact that he's oblivious. It's his only strength. In his case, it's absurd. If he realized what an idiot he was he would break down crying. But he doesn't! Everything he does is pure genius! He's unstoppable, and that makes him terrifying really, because there is no greater enemy than an idiot who doesn't understand that he is an idiot.