The WORST episodes of Invader ZIM

Every episode of Invader ZIM ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Invader ZIM!

Invader ZIM is an eccentric alien soldier from the planet Irk. He was banished from the Irken Empire after nearly destroying his home planet on an early mission. After begging his superiors, the Almighty Tallest Red and Purple, for another chance, they decide to get rid of him once and for all. They trick him into going on a "secret mission" to an obscure planet at the edge of the universe, a planet with the unlikely name of Earth, in hopes that he'll die along the way. But their trick backfires when ZIM safely reaches Earth and begins his ever-so-subtle conquest of it. He disguises himself as a schoolboy, and now the only person who can stop him is one kid - Dib, a somewhat insane paranormal researcher, who sees straight through ZIM's disguise and is intent on stopping his reign of "terror". The only problem is that neither of them is very good at stopping the other.

Last Updated: 9/16/2026Network: NickelodeonStatus: Ended
Game Slave 2
star
6.50
112 votes

#1 - Game Slave 2

Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 9/21/2001

When Gaz sees an advertisement for the new handheld gaming console, the Game Slave 2, she decides that she really needs to go to the mall in order to get one. However, when her father insists that she takes Dib to the mall as well, he forces her to wait until Mysterious Mysteries goes off, which causes them to arrive at the mall late. Gaz, in rage, tricks Dib into running off into the underground parking lot while she attempts to get a Game Slave 2; though Gaz discovers an annoying kid managed to get the last copy so she seeks to steal his copy, all the while Dib must attempt to get out of the underground parking lot, which is filled with rat-like people who just annoy him.

Directors: Steve Ressel
Plague of Babies
star
6.50
56 votes

#2 - Plague of Babies

Season 1 - Episode 18 - Aired 9/7/2001

When Zim’s Voot Cruiser has a mechanical failure and it sends Zim and Gir flying through the skies, Zim manages to gain control just in time to land safely in their headquarters. However, Zim is highly upset because a human baby saw the whole thing and despite Gir’s attempts to reason with him, Zim decides to go meet with the baby to see what he can do. However, Zim soon discovers the true nature of the baby and he must do everything he can to prevent them from accomplishing their goals.

Directors: Steve Ressel
Writer: Rob Hummel
GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff
star
6.70
111 votes

#3 - GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff

Season 1 - Episode 33 - Aired 5/24/2002

When Zim attempts to taint the Earth’s cow-meat supply with sewer water is ruined because of Gir’s antics, he decides to increase the power on Gir’s behavioral modifier, which will permit him to stay in serious mode all the time. However, when the serious Gir starts to consider Zim a threat to the mission and runs off to learn things on his own accord, it’s up to Zim and Squidman to find Gir and turn down the power on his behavioral modifier before too many individuals see them and jeopardize their mission.

Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom
star
6.70
84 votes

#4 - Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom

Season 1 - Episode 34 - Aired 5/24/2002

While at school one day, Zim throws another fit about the lunch food so Dib throws a muffin at him, which causes Zim to run away in anger. The next day, a pair of Meekrob come to Dib in his sleep and grant him marvelous super powers, in which Dib decides to use to put an end to Zim once and for all. When Dib manages to suppress Zim quite easily, he decides to use his power for the greater good and he lives out the wonderful life he always wanted to have; though perhaps it’s too wonderful.

Directors: Steve Ressel
A Room with a Moose
star
7.00
112 votes

#5 - A Room with a Moose

Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 8/17/2001

When Zim formulates a plan to get revenge on his skoolmates and especially Dib, he gets them all participating on a fieldtrip. Dib, however, realizes that the driver of the bus isn’t real, but due to his constant theories, the other students disregard his warnings. Zim decides to gloat about his magnificent plan and he informs Dib of every detail in confidence that Dib can do nothing to stop him, though Dib refuses to give up and he does everything he can to save his skoolmates and himself; despite the fact that he doesn’t know why Zim’s plans involve a room with a moose.

Directors: Steve Ressel
Writer: Rob Hummel
Planet Jackers
star
7.00
84 votes

#6 - Planet Jackers

Season 1 - Episode 16 - Aired 8/31/2001

Zim is upset because all of the other Invaders are doing much better in their tasks than he is, though he inadvertently discovers that his signal to the data hub has been interrupted. When Zim takes a closer look, he discovers that the Earth has actually been hijacked by the Planet-Jackers, an alien race who must throw other planets into their dying sun in order to survive. Zim begins to formulate a plan to stop the Planet-Jackers, but when Dib refuses to believe him, he realizes that he must save the world he plans to destroy by himself, just for the sake of being the one who gets to destroy it.

Directors: Steve Ressel
Writer: Rob Hummel
Bolognius Maximus
star
7.00
84 votes

#7 - Bolognius Maximus

Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 9/21/2001

When Dib once again notices that Zim isn’t eating his food, he throws a piece of bologna at him in order to taunt him, in which the bologna fuses with Zim’s skin, causing him immense pain. Zim vows to get his revenge and during the next day of school, Dib sits on a tack, which causes Zim to begin laughing hysterically. Dib believes Zim is just being pathetic, but when Dib begins to transform into a living piece of bologna, he realizes that Zim’s plan was better than he had thought and he must formulate a method of curing himself before it’s too late.

Directors: Steve Ressel
Hobo 13
star
7.00
84 votes

#8 - Hobo 13

Season 1 - Episode 35 - Aired 7/12/2002

When Zim’s constant requests to the Tallest get on their nerves, they attempt to remind him that he is an Invader, not a battle soldier, and that he doesn’t have the training to use the equipment he requested. In order for Zim to prove himself to them, they send him to Hobo 13, an elite training facility that only the best of soldiers stand a chance of completing. While the Tallest hope that Zim will die on the mission and be gone once and for all, they soon discover that Zim is much more cunning than they gave him credit for.

Directors: Steve Ressel
Mortos der Soulstealer
star
7.00
112 votes

#9 - Mortos der Soulstealer

Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 6/17/2006

Dib summons Mortos der Soulstealer, a mystical being who emerges once every thousand years, in order to wish for him to steal ZIM’s soul. However, when it turns out that Mortos needs to recharge his power before he can complete the task that Dib requested, Dib must help him do many absurd things in hopes of putting an end to ZIM once and for all. Meanwhile, ZIM heads around town undergoing his latest evil scheme, which is the reason Dib was so eager to enlist Mortos’ help in the first place.

Gaz, Taster of Pork
star
7.00
83 votes

#10 - Gaz, Taster of Pork

Season 2 - Episode 9 - Aired 8/12/2006

When Dib finally manages to get his book of spells somewhat fixed, he casts a spell on his sister in order to test and see if things work properly. However, when the spell makes everything Gaz eat taste like pork, Gaz threatens to destroy him if he doesn’t help her get back to normal. All their father could do was put Gaz in a cage and treat her like a freak so Dib goes off to ask the Swollen Eyeball Network if they have any advice on the situation; there is only one way Gaz can get her sense of taste restored: she must travel to an alternate dimension and get The Pork King to return her back to normal.

Walk for Your Lives
star
7.00
56 votes

#11 - Walk for Your Lives

Season 1 - Episode 36 - Aired 7/12/2002

During Probing Day, the day where the Tallest evaluate the Invaders’ performances, Zim has Dib captured in a space-time-field prison which is keeping him in slow motion, in which Zim wants to perform experiments on him for the Tallest. However, when a malfunction causes the prison to explode, Zim finds a piece of explosion that is expanding very slowly; in which Zim believes he can end if he throws it into the city’s cesspool. However, when he discovers that getting the explosion to the cesspool is much more difficult than he expected, he finds that he may just have to use unconventional means to complete the task.

Directors: Steve Ressel
Megadoomer
star
7.20
139 votes

#12 - Megadoomer

Season 1 - Episode 30 - Aired 4/26/2002

The Almighty tallest are examining a storage planet in order to send valuable goods to the Invaders to help them on their missions. They decide to send a Megadoomer Combat Stealth Mech to Invader Tenn to help her conquest of the planet Meekrob and they decide to send a box of malfunctioning SIR units to Invader ZIM, but when the two packages addresses are switched by an angry slave, ZIM gets the Megadoomer and plans to use his new gift from the Tallest to put an end to Dib once and for all.

Directors: Steve Ressel
Battle-Dib
star
7.20
168 votes

#13 - Battle-Dib

Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 5/4/2001

When Dib finally manages to be permitted to present his findings on Zim to the Swollen Eyeball Network, he believes he will be able to put an end to Zim’s schemes once and for all. However, when he discovers that he needs his father’s permission and since his father is busy working on his television show, Dib must venture into the studio where his father is in order to attempt to get the signature he needs; though he soon discovers that speaking to his father isn’t going to be as easy as it should be.

Directors: Steve Ressel
The Voting of the Doomed
star
7.30
84 votes

#14 - The Voting of the Doomed

Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired 7/22/2006

It’s time for the class elections at skool, in which Zim decides to participate in because he figures that if he wins the election, he’ll be one step closer to ruling the world. Dib wants to stop him but he knows that nobody would vote for him, so when Willy is nominated to compete against Zim, Dib decides to help Willy out in hopes that he’ll manage to defeat Zim in the polls. However, will Willy be able to do what Dib tells him, and even if he does, would he be able to prevent Zim from winning the election?

Hamstergeddon
star
7.30
167 votes

#15 - Hamstergeddon

Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 8/17/2001

While at skool one day, Ms. Bitters tells the class that they need a new pet hamster due to the orders of the skool’s board of directors. When the hamster arrives, all the children love the hamster because of how adorable it is, in which Zim decides to exploit that fact since the hamster could help make the humans too weak to resist him. Zim plants an Irken device on the hamster that will permit it to grow larger and be controlled by Zim, but when the hamster grows rampant and breaks free, Zim must attempt to stop the huge hamster from destroying his headquarters, all the while worrying about the growing military presence that may have no choice but to attack the hamster, which would ruin all of his efforts.

Directors: Steve Ressel
Attack of the Saucer Morons
star
7.50
223 votes

#16 - Attack of the Saucer Morons

Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 4/27/2001

Zim attempts to test some of the defenses that Earth has by taking his Voot out for a drive to monitor local police units. However, when a bumble bee crashes into his vehicle, Zim comes crashing down in the park, in which he heads home because he will be unable to recover it the next day. However, when a space cult known as the Saucer Morons discover the Voot first, Zim must find a way to get his vehicle back without causing him to lose his cover.

Directors: Steve Ressel
Lice
star
7.50
56 votes

#17 - Lice

Season 1 - Episode 31 - Aired 4/26/2002

When at skool one day, a child comes into class late because his head was itchy, which Ms. Bitters recognizes that it was due to lice. Before she can do anything, however, the lice infect the rest of the students in the class, so Ms, Bitters informs the Delouser, who proclaims martial law and the children are taken into separate rooms. However, Zim shows no sign of being infected by the lice, which causes the Delouser to take special interest in him.

Directors: Steve Ressel
Writer: Rob Hummel
Abducted
star
7.50
56 votes

#18 - Abducted

Season 1 - Episode 28 - Aired 4/12/2002

When Zim is attempting to explain to the Almighty Tallest that the humans are both dumb and tall, he gets interrupted when the doorbell rings and his transmission to the Tallest is cut short. The two individuals at the door claim to be human, but Zim doesn’t believe them and he attempts to tell them that their spaceship is jamming his signal; they respond by merely sacking both Gir and Zim and taking them to their spaceship. Will Zim be able to get back to his base and finish his report to the Tallest, and what will Zim do to the two aliens who dared to capture him?

Directors: Steve Ressel
Writer: Rob Hummel
Future Dib
star
7.50
56 votes

#19 - Future Dib

Season 1 - Episode 24 - Aired 3/22/2002

Professor Membrane has just unveiled a world changing machine that will completely remove the entire need for fuel, though if the machine were to malfunction, it could cause a giant shockwave that would destroy all life on Earth. However, Professor Membrane refuses to turn the machine on until his children are present, in which Dib is absent because he is attempting to prevent Zim from sabotaging the machine. However, things soon take a turn for the worse as Dib falls into one of Zim’s traps and the crowd in front of Professor Membrane beings to grow uneasy over the fact that they’ve waited so long, so Professor Membrane decides to send Gaz to go find Dib and put an end to his foolishness.

Directors: Steve Ressel
Writer: Rob Hummel
Mysterious Mysteries
star
7.50
111 votes

#20 - Mysterious Mysteries

Season 1 - Episode 23 - Aired 3/22/2002

When Mysterious Mysteries is having trouble in ratings due to their lack of stories, they decide to take drastic measures and they finally let Dib onto the show. Dib believes this is his best chance to reveal Zim for what he is and he plays a short clip of Zim and Dib in the woods, which actually makes the anchor of the series quite pleased. However, when Zim gets on the show the next day to attempt to prove Dib wrong, they soon get into a battle of words over the real events that occurred on that day as they both attempt to persuade the host of Mysterious Mysteries to believe what they have said.

Directors: Steve Ressel
Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom
star
7.50
56 votes

#21 - Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom

Season 1 - Episode 22 - Aired 10/26/2001

It’s Halloween and the entire town is getting into the Halloween spirit; much to Zim’s dismay because he considers the entire concept to be insane and he doesn’t want filthy Earth children coming to his house. Meanwhile, Ms. Bitters sends Dib to an insane asylum because he has been acting crazier than normal, in which in truth he has been getting sucked into a nightmare world that was created due to his meddling with one of his father’s inventions. After finally getting out of the nightmare world and out of the insane asylum, Dib sees Zim’s house and decides to force Zim to come with him into the Nightmare world because he believes Zim will have the capability to put an end to all the madness, but will they manage to work together despite the fact that they’re enemies and that Zim didn’t want to help him in the first place?

Directors: Steve Ressel
Writer: Rob Hummel
Rise of the Zitboy
star
7.50
111 votes

#22 - Rise of the Zitboy

Season 1 - Episode 17 - Aired 8/31/2001

When Zim comes home from a lousy day at skool because he found out that Dib knows a flaw in his security system, Gir attempts to cheer him up by rubbing bacon oil all over his face. However, when Zim develops a pimple due to the grease, he fears that he will be considered abnormal and that it will jeopardize his mission. Zim believe he can use some acne medicine to get rid of the pimple, but when it only gets worse and when Gir draws a little face on the pimple, Zim believes all hope is lost; though Zim soon discovers the pimple has hypnotic powers and he hopes to exploit this new power in order to get Dib to reveal his secret.

Directors: Steve Ressel
Invasion of the Idiot Dog Brain
star
7.50
111 votes

#23 - Invasion of the Idiot Dog Brain

Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 8/24/2001

When Zim’s headquarters are having security problems, Zim attempts to upgrade the security system and get the job over with. He decides to put Gir in charge of ensuring nothing goes wrong while he replaces the computer’s AI, but when Gir begins to mess around with things, he inadvertently causes the house to shut down along with himself. However, Zim soon discovers that Gir’s AI has been uploaded into the central hub of the house, which worries Zim quite a lot since Gir is being unresponsive and uncontrollable, which soon puts their mission in jeopardy.

Directors: Steve Ressel
Writer: Rob Hummel
Backseat Drivers from Beyond the Stars
star
7.70
167 votes

#24 - Backseat Drivers from Beyond the Stars

Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 6/10/2006

When Zim notices that the Almighty Tallest are very close to Earth, he wants them to view his newest scheme to destroy the humans: a monster that sucks out and eats the brains of people. The Tallest don’t care because they have their own problems to deal with, such as the group of resistance fighters that are trying to attack The Massive. Zim decides to take control of The Massive and force the Almighty Tallest to come to Earth, though his plans are interrupted when Dib uses Tak’s ship in order to take control of The Massive as well, not to mention the fact that the robo-parents are malfunctioning and that the brain eating monster is about to break free. Zim will need to work three times as hard if he wants to ensure his plan will be a success, though with the odds against him, will Zim be able to get the Tallest to Earth on time to witness his brilliance?

Directors: Steve Ressel
Door to Door
star
7.70
111 votes

#25 - Door to Door

Season 1 - Episode 25 - Aired 3/29/2002

The skool is holding a candy drive in order to get some finances, in which the individual who sells the most chocolate bars will get a secret mystery prize. Zim becomes interested and he attempts to find a way to sell the most chocolate bars, which causes Dib to get into the contest in order to gain a defeat over Zim. Zim soon realizes, however, that he may have to take drastic measures in order to sell more candy bars than Dib.

Directors: Steve Ressel