I used to look up at space, with hope and wonder in my eyes. Until space... looked back. Invader Zim: evil alien soldier of the Irken Empire. Sent by his diabolical masters, the Almighty Tallest, to infiltrate Earth and prepare it for the coming invasion. Disguised as one of us, he moved into my neighborhood. He went to my school. And with the help of his vile mechanical servants, plotted to destroy everything we have. Everything we are. And then... he vanished. My name is Dib Membrane. I'm twelve years old, and I'm all that stands between Zim... and the annihilation of our world! — Dib Membrane
Andy Berman Carlos Enrique Bonilla (Spanish) Jesus Pinillos (Castillian Spanish) Ayumi Kida (Japanese)
Dib Membrane is one of the two tritagonists (alongside his sister, Gaz Membrane) of the Nickelodeon animated Invader Zim franchise, serving as one of the three main antagonists (alongside Almighty Tallest) of the 2001-2006 television series Invader Zim and the main protagonist of the 2019 Netflix film Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus.
He is an eccentric young boy who is obsessed with the paranormal. He's the older brother of Gaz Membrane and son of Professor Membrane. Self-proclaimed "defender of Earth", he attends skool with Zim and is determined to stop him from conquering Earth or expose him as an alien, though almost nobody believes him. He is highly unpopular at school and at home for his said obsession with the paranormal, and is often dismissed as "crazy" or "insane". Despite being a foil to Zim, he's frequently shown acting in selfish, self-centered ways.
In Issue 0 of the Invader Zim comic "TruthShrieker", it is confirmed that Dib's (and Gaz's) last name is "Membrane". He’s the author of an article about Zim's mysterious disappearance, and the article is by "Dib Membrane". The surname was concreted again when it was quoted in Issue 5. However, before it was confirmed in the comics and the TV Movie, the surname was previously mentioned on an entry of Jhonen Vasquez's blog published on March 7, 2010 that was overlooked.[1]
Dib is a 12-year-old boy (as confirmed during the opening narration of Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus) and resembles his father Professor Membrane. Both have black, lightning bolt-like hair; in "Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom", Dib's got more jagged and bigger with age. Many people claim that Dib's head is big, a running gag in the show, but it's not visibly bigger. The redesign process God Save the Dib, however, actually gave him a bigger head.
Dib montage.
His hair spike seems to be solid, and retains its shape even when getting wet. It took a water balloon of ridiculous proportions dropped from Earth's orbit and a second normal water balloon in order to get it to bend, as seen in "The Wettening".
Dib seems to be able to zip-line with his hair spike (using the spike as the runners), as seen in "Backseat Drivers From Beyond the Stars" and Issue 17. Likewise, it seems solid enough to punch through a brick wall like any part of his body if Dib is flung hard enough, as seen in "Mortos der Soulstealer".
He wears a pair of round glasses and a trademark black trench coat along with a blue shirt with an unsmiling grey face on it, pulled directly from Squee!, in which the main character, Todd, also known as Squee, wears exactly the same shirt. In some of the comics, the grey face on his shirt is replaced by a ghost. His boots have been replaced with red shoes. Dib also more hair on the back of his head. His comic appearance was carried into Enter the Florpus.
Personality
Dib and his "future self".
Dib is separated from the rest of his peers by his exceptional intelligence and determination. Also, Dib continues to seek out the paranormal despite the considerable ridicule he receives from both peers and family.
He considers himself to be the sole defender of Earth against Zim's plans of conquest, and rightly so; he's in fact the only one who knows (or cares) that Zim is an Irken bent on world domination and the subjugation of all humanity.
When Zim first landed on Earth, Dib was initially shown to be more antagonistic, obsessed, and desperate, making it his sole goal in life to expose Zim as an alien by any means necessary.
However, he eventually realized that any efforts to reveal Zim would be wasted on his oblivious and mean spirited peers, and Dib eventually lost his obsessive, desperate edge, becoming a more humorous, depressive and more sympathetic character overall. His hatred of Zim eventually becomes real as the Irken takes every opportunity to make his existence even more miserable than it already it is even when unprovoked, making Dib's efforts to beat Zim all the more personal.
Dib in Enter the Florpus.
Dib shares his father's scientific and technological prowess, with skills that far exceed the average human being. He has been known to created advanced technology entirely from scratch (for example, an advanced water balloon-launching apparatus).
These skills aren't limited to just Earth-based technology, either. Dib has on multiple occasions proven a keen understanding of Irken technology as well, whether it be hacking into Zim's base, reverse-engineering a rogue Invader's crashed vessel, or remotely flying the Irken flagship itself.
Abilities
Dib Membrane is an extremely intelligent boy. He shares his father's scientific and technological prowess and is even shown to be slightly more intelligent than him, being the only one to see through Zim's (terrible) disguise. He has the ability to build advanced technology just from scratch. He has also been known to use and control Irken technology such as hacking into Zim's base, utilizing Tak's Ship, and controlling the Massive, the flagship of the Irken Armada.
Dib is also very agile and is a very fast runner, as he was able to catch up to Zim (who is also very agile) in Enter the Florpus. He has been shown to use his scythe-like hair as runners on zip-lines)
An angry Dib.
Dib also possesses super human strength, as seen in ''Enter the Florpus'', when Dib smashes through a stone wall with ease. He also has super human durability, also shown in Enter the Florpus, when Dib gets exploded by Zim's robotic leprechaun cat, then slapped and dogpiled on by Zim's robot minions, and comes out of that relatively fine.
In the episode "Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom" , Dib seemingly receives powers from the Meekrob to help him take down the Irken Empire. He is shown to be able to shoot bio-electricity from his hands, as well as having flight, telekinesis, super speed and agility, and the ability to jump several feet into the air. He is also shown to be able to breathe without oxygen. However, since most of the events in the episode were revealed to have taken place in a simulation, Dib never actually received any of these powers.
He is also shown to have a strong sense of knowledge of the supernatural. In "Mortos der Soulstealer", Dib was able to summon Mortos from the underworld, in "Gaz, Taster of Pork", he cast a spell on Gaz that made everything she ate taste like pork, and in "Backseat Drivers from Beyond the Stars", Professor Membrane mentions Dib summoning the walking dead at one point.
Zim is Dib's mortal enemy. The two of them met during Zim's first day of Skool, and the human boy was able to see through the Irken's terrible disguise, and since then they have developed not only a rivalry but also great hatred towards each other, with Dib vowing to expose Zim for the "evil menace he is". The two enemies have spent a lot of time together due to them trying to stop the other from their goal of saving/destroying Earth, and as a result they know each other rather well, and have even teamed up on several occasions for the same goal, making them reluctant allies at best and willing to betray the other at worst when a situation goes south.
People have often mistaken them for friends, much to their shared disgust, but ironically Zim could be considered the closest thing Dib has to an actual friend because they rely on each other to have a meaning in their lives; more accurately, this would make the two adversaries "frenemies" of sorts. It is also quite evident that they share a few traits, such as both being outcasts in their respective societies, having high intelligence and short height, as well as the fact that they have a grudging respect for each other, which makes their rivalry all the more complex.
Dib doesn't view GIR as much of a threat, as he’s aware the SIR Unit is more friendly than an actual enemy, and can sometimes count on the fact that he will be helpful in his plans to expose Zim, with the most famous example being in "Zim Eats Waffles". There have also been times that Dib has been able to get inside Zim's base, like in "The Frycook What Came from All That Space" where he even made a little dance in front of the Tallest with GIR, while in "Battle of the Planets", he views GIR as an annoyance and was mad at him for stealing his cameras.
From his POV, GIR has commented that he think of Dib as "nice", which is unsurprising since he views everyone like a friend. GIR is also sometimes aware that Dib is an enemy, as he stated to Zim that Dib has seen them out of disguise and knows where they live.
Dib's relationship with his little sister (by a year) can best be described as anything but warm, as Gaz hates her brother with every fiber of her being and has gone as far as to physically and verbally abuse him when he gets on her nerves during the course of the series, though there have been times when she restraints herself from hurting him. However, it can be said that Dib isn't nice to Gaz either, as he was the reason as to why she was cursed to taste nothing but pork, though he did try to get the curse removed and still got beaten up by Gaz and didn't get any sympathy from her as he sacrificed himself to prevent her from getting punished.
It wasn't until Enter the Florpus that Gaz revealed that she’s only hard on Dib since she knows he can handle it, showing that despite everything she still cares about her brother, despite the fact she doesn't show any sympathy for him when he’s in pain whatsoever.
Dib's relationship with his father has always been quite distant, as the Professor sometimes forgets he has a son and doesn't even recognize him in some episodes of the series. It was often shown that Professor Membrane was quite neglectful, as he was gone for several days always focusing on "real science" rather than spending time with his kids; however, this changed in the comic series and especially in Enter the Florpus, as the Professor has been trying to be a more active parent in his kids' lives.
A big part of this relationship is that Dib always wanted his father's approval, and it wasn't until the movie that the professor told his son that he's always proud of him.
At first, Dib viewed Clembrane as nothing more than one of Zim's failed experiments. He grew exasperated with the clone of his father quite frequently, and even hated him for keeping him from stopping Zim and searching for his father. But by the end of the movie, he grew to care for the clone, though still wondered if he lived with the family now.
Dib and Tak had a brief friendship in "Tak: The Hideous New Girl", due to mutual dislike of Zim. However, she only befriended him to get information about Zim; it can be assumed that Tak confronted him only because she noticed that he knew the most about Zim. Meanwhile, Dib noted that no one else had ever taken an interest in his paranormal studies before, so clearly was excited to have someone listen to him.
They were seen having one conversation while at Skool, during which he offered her Valentine's Day meat. This was the only time they were seen interacting before Tak's identity was revealed, which leaves whether or not they talked often up to debate.
In "Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom", one of Dib's girlfriends strongly resembles Tak, implying that he did indeed develop feelings for her.
Dib's relationship with his teacher can best be described as a cold one. While Dib is regularly annoyed with Miss Bitters for her harsh treatment of him and the other children, she in return views him as mentally unstable, and is quick to reprimand and punish him at the slightest provocation.
Miss Bitters tends to blame Dib for the damage done within skool grounds, such as in the episode "Rise of the Zitboy", where she made him use a small sponge to clean up all the pimple juice, as well as several other instances. She also sees Dib as being very annoying, having stated on one occasion that he "squawks like a fruit bat", and in "Dark Harvest" she says "[Dib] is just annoying" to the Skool Nurse.
Mr. Dwicky briefly was the new Skool counselor and initially pretended to believe Dib when the boy said that Zim is an alien. Dib got excited, thinking that he finally had someone to share his discoveries with, but unbeknownst to Dib, however, Dwicky was only pretending so he could find out Dib's "real" problem; when Dib discovered Dwicky's well-intentioned duplicity, he was devastated, and stated, "That's my problem right there! My problem is that the human race seems to want to be destroyed!"
Their team up was short lived, and Dwicky went through something of a mental breakdown when he discovered aliens are real, and despite Dwicky recording that Zim is an alien, he discarded Dib the moment Mooshy and Spoopty offered to take him with them to travel the universe. And to add insult to injury, he didn't even bother to return Dib's camera, implying that he probably wasn't a very good counselor.
Dib is also obsessed with his favourite television show, Mysterious Mysteries. In "NanoZIM", he tried to send some evidence on Zim he had acquired and even had aspirations to host the show and get "his own episode." Ironically that eventually came true as he later made an appearance on the show in the episode "Mysterious Mysteries" (though he has evidently appeared on it before; that occasion resulted in the host of the show somehow acquiring a scar on his face, though how is unknown).
There's even a large room fittingly named "The Dib Archives" which is full of boxes, crates and bags full of letters and papers sent in by Dib that the producers of the show simply put away most likely without seeing what he sent. Ultimately, in desperation for ratings, the anchor of the show goes through these archives and sees a video disk with Zim and GIR out of disguise.
Despite the overwhelming evidence from this that Dib still tried to use to prove that Zim is an alien, the host still concludes that he's crazy. He also concludes that GIR was "definitely crazy" and that, while he felt bad for the "green kid", states that there was probably a good chance that he was also crazy... but not an alien.
In "Gaz, Taster of Pork", the anchor explains what spelldrives are, and when he gets to the point of introducing Dib, he gets very annoyed, clearly remembering his past experiences with him and probably bitter of the fact that the show most likely had to use further evidence sent by Dib because as his producer told him, "crazy gets good ratings."
Role in Invader Zim
Dib trying to escape.
Even though he's antagonistic towards Zim (who's interpreted as an anti-hero), Dib can be considered a hero. This means that while he's technically a hero, he's considered to be an antagonist in Zim's point of view.
He's declared himself "Sole Defender of Earth", and is there to thwart Zim's plans, but the two have teamed up on more than one occasion when it benefits them both (such as in "Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom" or in "Bolognius Maximus").
Dib is often called "crazy" or "insane" and is constantly mocked for his theories. He even got put in a "Crazy Bucket", a possible alternative to a straitjacket. Overall, most of his classmates try to ignore him.
Dib is also known by NASAPlace and even the FBI for his paranormal-related antics. He's been on the front page of the newspaper twice (shown in "Dark Harvest" and "Mortos der Soulstealer"), so it is likely that a good deal of the city is aware of the trouble he frequently ends up in. Additionally, in "Mysterious Mysteries" it is shown that the show's production studio has an entire room dedicated to housing the reports Dib has sent in over the years, which the show's anchor seems to dread opening.
Beliefs
Dib, self-proclaimed "Defender of Earth."
He believes Zim and GIR are the "bad guys", while he and Gaz are the "good guys" who are Earth's last hope against the coming alien invaders. He makes every effort to stop the two at every possible turn (although he tends to disregard GIR). This often leads to increased social difficulties at Skool, as they are constantly making a scene in class or in the cafeteria.
While trying to expose Zim in front of his peers, Dib actually only damaged his own reputation even further as the rest of the skoolchildren think of him as a "crazy boy" which ironically helps Zim fool everyone into making Dib look like the "bad guy".
As Agent Mothman
Agent Mothman is Dib's secret agent name for The Swollen Eyeball Network. It is unknown how long he has been a part of the network, but all the other operatives seem to know who he is and his reputation for being crazy. Dib seems on better terms, however, with Agent Darkbootie.
Darkbootie has helped Dib at least once, in "Battle of the Planets", while in "Battle-Dib", an unnamed agent gives him a chance to present the Network with all of his findings on Zim. Dib is also less ridiculed by Agent Tunaghost, who helped him in "Gaz, Taster of Pork", Implying a decent working relationship while the rest of the agents either find him annoying, crazy, or a disgrace to the Network as seen in "Zim Eats Waffles."
"Head" Gag
Dib's giant head!
During the initial production of the show, Nickelodeon wanted to cut Dib from the show outright because they did not think he was funny or interesting enough. As a result, Jhonen Vasquez fought back with a project called God Save the Dib, which involved making slight changes to Dib's character to make him more funny and interesting in order to avoid Nickelodeon cutting him from the show.
One notable change that came out of "God Save the Dib" was making Dib's head bigger than his body, which became a reoccurring joke throughout the series. "In universe", GIR started this running gag in "Door to Door" with the question "Whyyy is his heeead so biiig?" Since then, cracks about Dib's head have been made in just about every episode:
In "Future Dib", when the robot gnomes shove him in the cage, his head doesn't quite fit.
In "Tak: The Hideous New Girl", Zim says that "Despite his large head, the Dib-monkey is quite stupid." Dib protests against this of course, but Zim doesn't care or even notice Dib laying there on the grass.
In "Gaz, Taster of Pork", the Mysterious Mysteries anchor describes him as a boy with "the largest head", accompanied by a picture of Dib's head that is captioned with "Still growing?". Later, when Dib is going through a list of spells on his Spelldrive, he says, "Too bad, a smaller head would be cool" and towards the end of the episode the Shadowhog asks if Dib conjured up a Big Head Demon to give him a big(ger) head.
In "Mysterious Mysteries", one of Dib's classmates asks "What's up with his head?" (which is ironic, considering the bizarre knot that is located on that particular student's forehead). The anchor in "Gaz, Taster of Pork" also described him as a boy with a "horribly large head", and Dib's introductory slide captioned him as a "large-headed believer."
Massive right on top of your landing-pad-size monster of a head which is disturbingly large!". Dib ran away screaming while saying, "Quit making fun of my head!"
In "Walk for Your Lives", when Dib falls out of Zim's garbage chute and into a neighbor's lap, she says, "Hey, look at that! It's one of them big-head boys!" The line seems to imply that there are other kids like Dib.
In the Latin American version of "Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom", when Dib asks why he's the only one who can see that Zim is an alien, Gaz comes by and replies with "Por que te sirve esa cabezota" which translates to "Because that big head of yours works" rather than asking "Why do you have to have a head?" as in the original English version.
Also in "Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom" the (nonexistent) Meekrob tell Dib that "no one else had a head large enough to accommodate so much power."
In "Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom", numerous cracks are made about Dib's head. The nightmare version of himself even tells him his head is big, to which Dib replies, "My head's not big! Why does everyone say that?". Later, when a trick-or-treater shouts "Trick or treat!", Dib randomly shouts out, "My head's not big!" Finally, toward the climax of the episode, he appears to have begun to accept his head's size, thinking, "maybe my head IS big..."
In "GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff", GIR's field of vision describes the Dib hologram as "Big Head Boy."
In "Vindicated!", Zim is shown to be thinking ". . . It's the size of a hippo, that head."
In "The Voting of the Doomed", Zim brings up Dib's head as part of his campaign, saying "Just what does Willy plan on doing about the size of Dib's giant head?"
The head gag returns in Issue 8 of the comic series, when Groyna questions why Dib's head is as big as a turkey, trying to push him through a vent. Later in the issue, Ubertrouser mistakes Dib as the leader of Earth, believing that Earth's leader is the one with the largest head.
In Issue 9, Dib posts a video of Zim on the TruthShrieker forums, getting negative feedback, with one of the users complaining that Dib's giant head is slowing their internet connection down.
In Issue 17, Zim comments that humans lack the technology to make a hat big enough to fit on Dib's head. Later, he tells a (clearly false) story about a time Dib's head grew so big it blocked out the sun, and Zim had to change the Earth's rotation to fix the problem. Later still, Dib finishes his own story of saving the world and capturing Zim by stating that everyone loved him and never made fun of his head again.
In Issue 29, when Fizzmitz is beginning to explain the true origin of Poop Cola to Dib, he calls him "little large-head".
In Issue 30, when Dib is late to joining Poopwatch's assault on Nightnubs' lair, one of the wizards tells Fizzmitz that they can't "trust a kid with a head that big".
In Issue 33, upon being apprehended upon breaking into the Conglamo factory, Dib is referred to as a "large-headed kid" by one of the security guards.
Dib doesn't appear in Issue 36, but he is mentioned by Recap Kid, who comments that if they dressed up in a Dib costume they'd have to give it a "big round head".
In Issue 37, a trophy for "Largest Head" can be seen in Dib's room. And during his presentation in class, Zim makes repeated reference to Dib's big head.
In Issue 38, the fact that the head of GIR's Dib costume is so big is used as proof that he's the real Dib.
In one of the stories in Issue 40, it's noted that Dib, or rather the actor playing him in the in-universe play, has a big head.
Several times throughout Issue 42 and Issue 43, the Plim repeatedly reference how big Dib's head is.
Dib on TV in Enter the Florpus
In Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus, when Dib confronts Zim on national television, Gaz notes that his head looks huge on TV.
In Issue 47, Zim 2000 (aka 2K) notes that the Dib in his universe had a smaller head than the series' main Dib.
In Issue 48, 2K again comments on the size of Dib's head, and later when Zim 100 is using him as a battering ram to get into the tower, the Zims inside note that it sounds like a huge head is hitting the door.
In Issue 49, Zib claims to Dib that in his timeline, no one makes fun of his head's size anymore, instead believing that their own heads are small, with "Dib's head" now being the standard unit of measurement. However, given that it later turns out that Zib was lying about being beloved in his timeline, this is presumably all false.
Repeatedly throughout Issue 50, Zim insults the size of Dib's head. Dib counters by pointing out that his head is barely bigger than Zim's, and claims to have done measurements that prove it's not big.
In The Dookie Loop Horror, Zim says that Dib's head is too big to ever wear a hat. Dib counters by saying that his head isn't big, everything else is just small.
Facts of Doom
Dib listening to "The Great Assigning."
Dib is the first human to make an appearance on the series' premiere "The Nightmare Begins". This is fitting considering he serves as Zim's main rival on Earth.
Dib is among the most antisocial character in the show; he has no friends due to most of the other Skoolchildren ridiculing and bullying him most of the time. The only person who is more antisocial is his own sister, who seems to actively despise humanity because they seem to interfere with her life all the time.
The episode "Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom" seems to suggest that, like his sister Gaz, Dib may have been granted phenomenal powers and abilities far beyond those of normal humans. These abilities may have been given to him by the Meekrob in Dib's dreamlike illusion.
At some point in his life, he tried to raise the dead, as referenced by Professor Membrane twice in "Backseat Drivers from Beyond the Stars". It's inferred that he succeeded, as Membrane shouts "There better not be any walking dead up there!"
Despite his determination, he loses far more battles against Zim than he wins. Even when he wins, his plans don't work out the way he plans them. Before the seventh or so script, his profile on Nick.com said he was never able to win.
As seen in "Lice", Dib seemed to have come across a kindred spirit in Countess von Verminstrasser since she was mocked for believing in the Lice Queen just like Dib is when it comes to Zim being an Irken Invader and other paranormal things.
Dib and Captain Lard Nar are the only known people who have been seen fighting the Irkens and are quite possibly the Empire's smartest enemies.
A misconception of the end of "Future Dib" is that he aged, but he'd been there for a month and the beard was most likely a momentary gag or that Dib was wearing a fake beard.
The animators took a liking to his unique hairstyle, and in "Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom", they wanted it to grow into a longer, more jagged, lightning-bolt shape (similar to that of his father).
Dib and Gaz are the only humans that know of the existence of the Irken Empire.
Although perceived as insane, he's in many ways the most sane and human character in the series to some viewers.
Dib is the 3rd character to have the most appearances in the show, having been absent from 8 episodes. The first being Zim, only being absent in 3 episodes, the second being GIR, being absent in 7 episodes, and the fourth being Gaz being absent from 19 episodes.
Dib can be just as dangerous as Zim since in "The Most Horrible X-Mas Ever" he was seen accidentally causing a blackout on the City which resulted in some accidents and its apparently a regular thing, this is something Zim has been known to do quite frequently on entire planets, also, Dib very nearly killed the Tallest when he was driving the Massive in "Backseat Drivers from Beyond the Stars", which was something Zim succeeded in doing as revealed in "The Trial."
His Swollen Eyeball codename may derive from the legend of Mothman, who would appear right before a disaster as a warning.
Whenever he talks to Tak's ship and Zim's Dib Robot (both share Dib's personality), he starts to notice why people see him as obnoxious.
Despite being beaten and bruised throughout the series, Dib is Jhonen Vasquez's favorite character in the show.
Vasquez has said in an interview that Dib has as much contempt for his fellow human beings as the person he's trying to stop. Because of his intelligence, he's kind of looked down on by most of the other kids and is viewed as a freak; Dib is as much an alien to his own people as Zim is.
Jhonen has also said that Dib has gotten to the point where he's not really a bad person, he's just stressed and/or frustrated. He lacks the patience to explain anything to anyone anymore. He's so used to people not believing him that he goes right into screaming at them. He immediately assumes that they're going to be morons and aren't going to believe him -- and normally they don't.
In the commentary for "Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy", Jhonen Vasquez jokingly stated that the original idea for the episode was for Zim to kill Dib permanently, and for Dib to be replaced with a new kid named Louie. However, Nickelodeon wouldn't permit it.
He is one of the two characters to have technically died on the show, the second being Invader Skoodge, in fact as revealed in "The Dookie Loop Horror"
Dib is the only character to have died more than once at Zim's hands.
Dib wears a shirt with an emotionless expression that looks exactly like one that Squee wore in certain comics.
Dib had an orange-yellow shirt in the pilot.
On Verizon cable, in the summary for "Mysterious Mysteries", Dib's name is misspelled as "Dub" rather than "Dib".
Dib was first seen in a commercial for Invader Zim before it premiered; the commercial started off seemingly as a typical Nickelodeon bumper, until it was interrupted by Dib, who stated "Zim is coming!"
On Nickelodeon an Invader Zim special aired before the premiere, and at one part they "call" Dib. [2]
Dib is not playable in Nicktoons MLB, but he has a collectible card. The card mentions that he knows that there is 'alien activity' going on in the major leagues and that he is undergoing psychological screening. However, the card does not acknowledge Dib knowing or caring that his sister is partnering with his mortal enemy.
If a home run is activated by Zim, Dib can be heard cheering him on as he is running around all of the bases.[citation needed]
Dib, like Zim, doesn't know that Zim's mission to Earth was actually meant to be something to keep Zim out of the way while the actual Operation Impending Doom II is in effect. If Dib knew this, he might possibly see Zim differently, but that's just speculation.
Dib's Japanese voice actress (Ayumi Kida) also voiced Dexter from Dexter's Laboratory, and the two characters show some similarities.
Jhonen Vasquez may have been aware of this and made a reference in Enter the Florpus, as Dib was seen wearing a lab coat and purple gloves which was Dexter's iconic look.
Alternatively, the lab coat and gloves were made to resemble Professor Membrane's look.
In the French version of the show, for an unknown reason Dib is named Fred.
In the Latin American version of the show Dib has a tendency to scream out the name of planets when surprised, for example "Por Saturno" which would translate to "By Saturn!", this became both a running gag and a sort of catchphrase for him.
In the Latin American version of the episode “Dark Harvest” Miss Bitters has called Dib a hypochondriac rather than “just annoying” to the skool nurse.
As seen in "A Room with a Moose", Dib is capable of being a bully, as he was seen bullying Zim like all the other skoolchildren, which is ironic, as he is usually the main target of his peers. This is later referenced in "Mysterious Mysteries", as Zim in his version of events makes Dib look like a bully who is after his lunch monies.
Ironically, while on his mission to save the Earth and expose Zim, Dib has committed a few crimes such as breaking, entering, trespassing, spying, and in one occasion nearly killing Zim.
Even though Dib did not appeared in “Plague of Babies” GIR brings him up by mentioning that he has seen both of them without disguises, and that he knows where they live, what was interesting about this was that Zim ultimately brushed the comment off as he knew that Dib had no credibility among humans and so their cover was safe from him, this moment showed that no matter what proof Dib provided, Zim knew no one would believe him but if someone else did show evidence of him being an alien then the Irken would take other humans more seriously if they were to expose him.
In the unmade episode “Return of Keef” Dib angrily tells Keef that he doesn’t view Zim as a person, showing the extreme contempt he has for the Irken.
in the episode “Gaz, Taster of Pork” is the only time in the series in which Dib is (unintentionally) antagonistic towards Gaz as he was the reason she was cursed,
In the same episode it was implied that Dib has a crush on Zita, this is also the only time in the series that something close to romance was seen, though there may have been more had the series not been cancelled.
According to Eric Trueheart in the "Interview of the Writers" in the DVD, if the show had continued, Dib would go on a quest to find out why his life is so horrible and would have discovered that he was a clone or creation of Professor Membrane's rather than a naturally-produced biological son.
On that note on a short video titled “Fake Facts about Invader Zim” Trueheart jokingly claimed that the clone storyline is false and that Dib is actually composed of “billions and billions” of tiny micro “Dib nodules” that act as a hive mind that “controls the Dib we know”.
It's never stated in the show how or why Dib is capable of seeing through Zim's terrible disguises. It is also clear that its not his intelligence alone, since neither Professor Membrane or Ms. Bitters realize that Zim is alien despite being smart in their own rights.
According to polls on the Internet, Dib is the most liked character in the show (other than GIR of course) while within the universe of the show he is perhaps the second most hated.
Dib's glasses, like many cartoon characters', seem to contort to his facial expression on many an occasion. However, not only do his glasses reflect his expression, but they sometimes disappear when Dib closes his eyes. Also, his glasses don't have earpieces. As a result, the only way to tell when he's wearing glasses or not is if you look for the nose piece, signified as a straight line connecting his eyes. This is likely the Eye Glasses trope.
Interestingly in Enter the Florpus, Dib himself stated to be 12 years old which was 10 years younger than what was Jhonen Vasquez's age when the show first started.
In Issue 14, however, it is implied that Dib is now 13 years old, but given how the characters live in a floating timeline, this is up for debate.
It can be interpreted that some of the "big head" insults towards Dib might not be literal; since nobody believes Dib's claims of paranormal activity, they may viewing him as arrogant/self-centered, or "big headed".
It should be noted that he joined the Evil Syndicate in the video game Nicktoons: Globs Of Doom, and Zim joined the good guys, so it's possible he did this just to stay away from whatever side Zim was on. But, it should also be noted that the video game is most likely non-canon to the series. Although in truth, Dib wasn't much of a villain.
It has been implied that Dib is quite self-loathing, possibly to the point of suicide; in "Dibship Rising", Dib reprograms Tak's ship to have his memories and reflect his personality, and it immediately crashes itself.
Dib also seems to have hair on the back of his head (instead of just on top) in the comics and in Enter The Florpus. Jhonen has said this is due to his desire to make Dib seem more like a 12 year old boy.
Jhonen Vasquez's tweet on Dib on Enter the Florpus
On July 2, 2020, Jhonen Vasquez tweeted "Traumatic stuff! This one was just redrawing the shadow and Dib's whole...thing. Didn't get fixed, but at least he's still making the same general expression" alongside the drawings of Dib in Enter the Florpus.
The issue of Dib's eyes changing color in Issue #1 was a layering effect error.
In the intro of Enter the Florpus, Dib calls Zim "Invader Zim"; this makes him the only character other than the Tallest and the Control Brains to refer to him by that rank.
Jhonen Vasquez has confirmed that Dib, his sister Gaz, and their father, Professor Membrane are all Mexicans, however this was not mentioned in the show because it didn't serve the story.[3]
This would imply that the Membrane family does know how to speak Spanish but was never seen in the show, most likely because as Vasquez stated, it didn’t serve the story.
On the Jhonen Vasquez variant cover of Issue 2, Dib is shown wearing an outfit different than his normal blue shirt with a face on it. This time he wears and orange ghost shirt with matching orange boots. It might reference to his design from the pilot episode.
In Issue 11, it's revealed that Dib is allergic to animal dander. This is confusing, since Dib was around animals such as dogs (in "Bolognius Maximus") many times and did not get any allergic reactions from it, although it's possible it was not a serious comment and simply used for the plot of the issue.
In Issue 13, when Dib is being transformed into Humungodib by the humungoserum, the face on his shirt changes as well, becoming an angry face.
Issue 18 shows that Dib is a fan of burritos, as he's shown arriving at the Burrito King for some of the free burritos being given away (unaware that Zim is the one giving them away).
In Issue 19, it's suggested that Dib has been repeatedly going to the police to try and expose Zim, and apparently thinks that they're voluntarily working with him. However, it's clear that the police barely know Zim exists at the moment, and don't care about him.
Oddly, in Issue 26, Dib is never once shown wearing his glasses. This is likely a drawing error.
His name may be a reference to Muad'Dib, an alias used by the main character, Paul Atreides, in Frank Herbert's Dune.
Interestingly, despite being a child, Dib is the only one (aside from his sister Gaz) who is capable of stopping Zim's plans and lives to tell the tale, while the Tallest, Sizz-Lorr, or Tak end up nearly getting killed any other time they encounter Zim.
At times, Dib's mission to save the Earth and his distrust of Zim has been seen as a disadvantage. For example, in "Planet Jackers", despite Zim seeking help to confirm whether or not the planet was in danger, Dib was too paranoid to fall for any of Zim's "schemes" and sent the Irken away, while in "Future Dib" Zim counted on Dib trying to stop him on the destruction of a "Perpetual Energy Generator" that he tricked him using a Dib Robot-Spy to trap him and get the boy out of his way.
Jhonen Vasquez later stated that Dib is his own worst enemy as his desire for people to admire him and realize he was right about aliens backfired on him as he unwittingly gave Zim the keys for a new plan of world domination as seen in Enter the Florpus.
Dib is the only one of the four main characters who hasn't conquered the Earth. Most likely because he has claimed to be the "Sole Defender of Earth".
In Issues 8, 29, and 30, Dib narrates by means of a "paranormal investigator's log", but is never actually shown to be recording into anything. This suggests that he's simply taking mental notes.
Vasquez has stated that the four main characters aren't evil and that Zim and Dib are both "good guys" but on "different sides".
Some people have noted similarities between Dib and Dipper Pines, the protagonist of the animated series Gravity Falls, in that both are investigators in the paranormal who aren't believed by anyone around them.
There’s another character who acts similar to Dib named Chicken Little from the 2005 Disney movie of the same name. Both are hated and laughed by the entire town, wear glasses, try to warn everyone that they’re in danger but fail, have involvement with aliens, and embarrassed fathers.
Another character who is quite similar to Dib is Jeremie from Code Lyoko.
In Issue 40, it was revealed that across the multiverse, in universes where both Zim and Dib exist, they always end up meeting and are destined to be enemies.
Interestingly, it was shown in Issue 12 and the Zimvoid arc that Dib and Zim have alternative versions of themselves, and that despite being on opposite sides of the law with Zim being morally and ethically a villain and Dib being a hero, Emperor Zim ended up having everything he ever wanted as he conquered Earth, was shown having the respect of the Tallest and he is even smarter than his younger self, while Zib didn’t get the recognition he always believed he deserved and in fact, no one cared when he defeated his Zim, and as a result destroyed his universe, which is a role reversal from one would expect from the hero and villain to get in the end.
Oddly, Issue 41 depicts Dib's skeleton as having a scythe as part of his skull, indicating that it's a growth rather than just an unusual hair style. This directly contradicts when Issue 31 had him shaved bald and showed a perfectly normal shaped head, suggesting that the skull having a scythe in this issue was just a gag.
Issue 44 reveals that Dib is awful at skiing, unlike his father and sister, who are both very good at it.
Someone asked Jhonen Vasquez if he thinks Dib listens to "Lemon Demon" which he joked it was the "most specific question the world", Vasquez goes on to say he doesn't think the band exists in the IZ world but if it did then Dib's favorite song would be "Two Trucks".
Some fans think that without his glasses, his eyes would squint like Gaz’s because he couldn’t see without them. Others would think Gaz would have her eyes mostly open if she wore Dib’s glasses. However, this is false as he is seen without his glasses very briefly in "Dibship Rising" and Issues 5 and 42 and doesn’t squint.
Unlike Zim, who was ranked as the second most evil Nicktoon villain in the YouTube video "Evil to Most Evil", Dib didn't even make the top ten of Nicktoon heroes in the video "Good to Most Good".
According to the show bible, he and Gaz are heavily inspired by the main characters, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully from The X-Files. As both Dib and Fox are adamant about the existence of aliens.
Dib may be a parody of the character David Levinson from the movie Independence Day. Both wear glasses, have dark-colored clothing, and fight aliens.
Voice Actor
Dib is portrayed by Andy Berman in the original American version and by Ayumi Kida in the Japanese dub of the show. In the German dub, he is voiced by Tobias Müller, and in the Spanish dub, he is voiced by Carlos Enrique Bonilla and Eduardo Garza on one occasion in the Latin American dub.[4]
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