Revision 172729779 of "Irken" on enwiki

Created by [[Jhonen Vasquez]], '''Irken''' is a fictional alien race that wishes to conquer the universe. They are [[humanoid]] in general shape, range widely in size, and have large glossy eyes of varying colors. Their homeworld is the planet [[Planets of the Invader Zim Universe|Irk]]. The Irkens are seen on the [[NickToons TV|Nicktoon]] show ''[[Invader ZIM]]'', where [[Zim (Invader Zim)|the title character]] is an unsuccessful Irken ''Invader''.

==Etymology==
The term Irken likely evolved from the term "buggers" in Orson Scott Card's ''[[Ender's Game]]'' ("bug" and "irk" are synonyms, and both terms describe insectoid alien races).

==Irken morphology==
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In Irken [[comparative anatomy|morphology]], most Irkens are [[cyborg]]s, having '''Standard-Issue Irken Utility Packs''', or '''PAKs''' installed into their spines directly after birth, incubation and birth also being fully mechanised. Irkens are physiologically humanoid (but generally about half the size of an adult human), with green skin and some insectile traits &mdash; primarily the presence of two antennae instead of hair on the head. An Irken's eyes are large, glossy, and of a single color, with no distinct pupil or iris. Irkens come in several shades of green. Their tongues appear to be segmented, and they have no visible ears.  As demonstrated by Zim, Irkens appear to have excellent regenerative capabilities - scorched eyeballs can regrow their surfaces in less than a day (an Irken eyeball popped out of its socket can also be easily put back without any apparent damage), and a PAK can apparently revive an incapacitated Irken.

The episode ''[[Dark Harvest (Invader Zim)|Dark Harvest]]'' shows Zim to have three organs, not including the brain. The Squeedly-Spooch is the largest of the three. According to Jhonen Vasquez on the DVD commentary, the Squeedly-Spooch is the master organ that manages all life functions. There is also a heart, and an unidentified smaller organ located on the right side of his abdomen. The presence of a heart suggests that Irkens have blood, and the episode ''[[Lice (Invader Zim)|Lice]]'' indicates that their blood is green in hue.

==The PAK==
As documented in [[Eric Trueheart]]'s unproduced second-season script ''The Trial'', an Irken PAK provides critical life support to its host, augmenting several mental functions including an Irken's personality and memory. (This slightly conflicts with the episode "Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy" in which Zim's brain gets replaced by a toy pig with a note on it, turning him into a drooling idiot, although it is in agreement with "Plague of Babies" when Zim is revived by his PAK after being apparently killed by a concentrated stupidity field)

The PAK also stores an endless variety of [[tool]]s and robotic accessories. Most often seen accessories are four long extendable spider legs that allow an Irken to move about on walls, ceilings, and in zero-gravity, although they appear to be quite brittle. The spider legs also have some form of laser or beam device on the end of each one, used as a tool or weapon. Other items seen in use include communication devices, space helmets, a weak jet system for use in zero gravity and an organ-harvesting teleporter, though the teleporter may have other functions. The unfinished episode "10 Minutes to Doom" suggests that an Irken cannot survive long when separated from his or her PAK. (However, in NanoZim, Zim is seen working on his PAK, perhaps fixing the corrupt data paths that make him a defective.)

==Genders and Reproduction==
Irkens apparently have female and male [[sex]]es, but don't reproduce on their own. Irken young are called smeets<ref>'''Zim''': "Even as a small Irken Smeet, my dream was to pass Probing Day like a Slorbees passes her young: Jiggly, and full of juice!" (''[[Walk for Your Lives]]'')</ref>. The Smeets are decanted from a fetus jar by "cold, unfeeling" robot arms.

Female Irkens appear to have different shaped antennae from the males (slightly curled), and more pronounced eyelashes. It is revealed in an [[List of unfinished Invader Zim episodes|unfinished episode]] that there has been one known female Tallest, Tallest Miyuki.

==Diet==
"Snacks" like [[donuts]], [[potato chips]] and [[candy]] and [[junk food]] appear to be the favorite (perhaps only) foods of Irkens, and by all outward appearances these foods are made the same on Irk as they are on Earth. In ''Zim Eats Waffles'', Zim tries to build up an immunity to Earth food by eating waffles cooked by GIR. Meats, barbecue sauce, soda and water react badly with Irken skin, creating burns and, in more severe cases, swelling.

==Irken society==
The Irken Empire is a height-based social [[hierarchy]], with the leaders being the tallest of all living Irkens, [[Almighty Tallest|The Tallest]]. The current Tallest, Red and Purple, (named for the color of their eyes and uniforms) tend to just eat snacks, give orders to their subjects (often apparently made up at the spur of the moment), and be lazy.

Irkens [[slavery|enslave]] other alien species, partially evidenced by a segment early in the episode "Megadoomer."<ref>'''Alien slave:''' "Irken monsters! Conquer my people! Take our planet!" (''[[Megadoomer]]'')</ref> There are low-ranking Irkens, regarded as servants or even slaves, which are given menial and degrading tasks, such as food service and cleaning. Such servants may be paid as little as five "monies" every two years, as seen in the episode ''[[Hobo 13]]''.<ref>'''Almighty Tallest Red''': "You, Table-headed Service Drone Bob, You will bet 500,000 monies on Zim" '''Bob''': "But I only make 5 monies every 2 years" ("Hobo 13")</ref>

Despite Irkens apparent devotion to conquering other planets, they have been known to make treaties with certain races, such as the [[Planet Jackers]], and the Irken food planet [[Foodcourtia]] appears to be frequented by a large variety of other species.

Some of Zim's remarks imply that Irken society has no direct equivalent for the human concepts of "cuteness" or "friendship" (Episodes "Hamstergeddon" and "Bestest Friend", respectively), although his ignorance of these things could merely be a symptom of Zim's own sociopathic nature.

==Invaders and Notable Irkens==
* "Invader" Zim – Main character, a disgraced Invader 'assigned' to [[Earth]].
* Tallest Red and Tallest Purple – Tallest Irkens and leaders of the Irken race.
* Invader Skoodge – One of the shortest (and ugliest, as pointed out by Tallest Purple) Irkens. Due to the Tallests' dissatisfaction with his height, he was assigned to Blorch, home of the Slaughtering Rat People.  After demonstrating his competence as an invader by conquering Blorch, he was scheduled to fire the organic cannon sweep at Blorch, but the Tallest decided that he was too short to make a good role model and so he was instead loaded into the cannon and fired onto the planet's surface. Surviving, he then wound up on Hobo 13 and became part of a training squad led by Zim, again performing well, but under Zim's command he was used as a decoy and attacked by the Ferocious, Meat-Thirsty Hogulus.
* [[Tak]] – Attempted to take Zim's mission in [[Tak, the Hideous New Girl]]. Because of her individuality, not seen in other Irkens, Tak, like Zim, may also have been a defective.
* Invader Tenn – Assigned to the planet [[Meekrob (Invader Zim)|Meekrob]]. In the episode "Megadoomer", she was to receive the powerful robot of the episodes' namesake, but instead received a package containing malfunctioning SIR units that was supposed to be sent to Zim. Through a small revolt by a factory worker, the addresses on the identical packages were switched, and her mission assumedly failed.
* Frylord Sizz-Lorr – Runs the Shloogorgh's restaurant on Foodcourtia.
* Invader Larb – Named after the food, [[Larb]]. Assigned to the planet Vort (home of the universe's most comfortable couch). Was originally going to be assigned to Blorch, but was promoted due to increased height.  As seen in the episode "Backseat Drivers from Beyond the Stars," he has completed his mission.
* Tallest Miyuki – the only known female tallest, was eaten by Zim's energy-absorbing blob while touring the planet [[Vort]] to inspect the progress on the Irken Armada's Flagship the 'Massive.'  Scripted, but not featured in any finished episodes.
* Tallest Spork – leader after Miyuki, was also eaten by Zim's creation after one day of ruling.  Scripted, but not featured in any finished episodes.
* Invader Spleen – was given his assignment after Larb. Is quite tall due to having a very large head.
* Bob – A table-headed service drone who was forcibly made to bet against Zim's survival chances on Hobo 13. He won the bet but due to his cockiness (and telling the Tallest to get their own drinks), he was strapped to the seat of an Irken vessel, given to Zim as promised by the Tallests, which they had programmed to collide into a sun.

== External links ==
* [http://www.invaderzimwiki.com An Invader Zim Wiki.]
* [http://thescarymonkeyshow.com/featureirken/biology.htm The Scary Monkey Show website on Irken biology]

==Notes and references==
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[[Category:Fictional extraterrestrial species]]
[[Category:Invader Zim]]

[[de:Irken]]