Tak (Invader Zim)

Invader Zim Character
name = Tak


race = Irken
gender = Female
hair = black
relatives = N/A
appearance =
voiceactor = Olivia D'Abo

Tak is a character from the animated Nickelodeon cartoon "Invader Zim" created by Jhonen Vasquez. She was introduced in the episode "" as an enemy of the main character Zim. Tak is voiced by Olivia D'Abo. Although Tak was only present in one episode, she was intended to return in at least one second-season episode, but the show was cancelled before this came about. Tak's personality embedded in her ship is featured in two more episodes for which Olivia D'Abo returned to do the voicework.

Character Information

Tak is a female Irken and like Zim, she uses a disguise as a human when seen on Earth. She has purple eyes and an outfit similar to that worn by Jhonen Vasquez's comic-book character Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. Unlike Zim, who wears contacts and a wig when attempting to pass as human, Tak uses a holographic generator as the base of her human disguise. Tak is accompanied by customized SIR unit named "MiMi," disguised as a black cat with glowing red eyes. Tak also has a cybernetic implant that hypnotizes others to obey her commands, however it doesn't work on those who are too intelligent (such as Zim, Dib and Gaz) and the process can be interrupted.

Tak is clever and resourceful; her ability to escape her assignment on Dirt, as well as creating her ship and MiMi herself (apparently from broken parts) proves that Tak is quite skilled. Unlike Zim, who often wastes his time on foolish pursuits, Tak is incredibly focused and able to devise complex and effective plans. Nevertheless, Tak suffers from her own form of near-insanity; it is implied that her long exile on Dirt, as well as her hatred of Zim, has made her a bit unstable, though she seems able to control her outbursts of rage for the sake of her larger goals.

Motivation for her scheme

In "Tak: The Hideous New Girl", Tak reveals her reason for wanting revenge against Zim.

"It was 50 years ago, on the Irken military training planet Devastis. I had been waiting years to take my final test to become one of the Irken Elite Soldiers, and should the need arise, be one of the Invaders. You blew the power block for one half of the planet, but the testing went on uninterrupted on the other side. I pleaded with the control brain to let me take the test, but she said I had to wait another 70 years. I was placed on a janitorial squad, and then sent to planet Dirt! I escaped and began my long search for the mysterious person who caused the blackout...and ruined my life! "

However, Tak admits that her plan is not about revenge (but Zim paid no attention to this), but to impress the Tallest into giving her a proper commission. She intends to conquer Earth in the name of Irk and, after coring it, stuff it full of snack foods, thus giving it value to the Armada.

Tak's ship

Tak's ship is notable as it reappears in other episodes. It is a customized Irken personal cruiser (apparently made from a heavily modified Spittle Runner she found on Planet Dirt while she was assigned there, although she claims to have made it herself). After combat with Zim in space, Tak ejects from her ship, and its remains fall into the hands of Dib. He begins repair attempts, with varying degrees of failure, until Gaz repairs the ship in minutes in "The Most Horrible X-mas Ever". Remnants of Tak's downloaded personality still remain in her ship's user interface. In the episode "Dibship Rising", Dib attempts to overwrite this personality-data with his own, but the ship rejects his memories as too depressing.

Relationships

Zim

The Irken who ruined her life, she has a great amount of hatred towards this fake Invader, she does not think much of him other than being totally insane and desires to have what Zim has, a mission of her own, ironically it is believed that Tak herself is a defective like Zim because both of them have a sense of individuality that the Empire seems to lack. Despite this, they both hate each other and would kill each other if given the right moment to strike.

Dib

Out of any human Tak has met is it likely that Dib is the only one who she respects on any sort of level due to his high intelligence, they both became "friends" during the second day of school but apparently Tak only used him for information gathering, and Dib probably developed a crush on her but it likely died when he learned her true self.

Gaz and Gir

Tak didn't interact with Gaz much but probably thinks of her as an enemy since Gaz used her soda to hurt her greatly when trying to hypnotize her. As for Gir, it is unclear what she thinks of him, but it is likely that the little robot is oblivious of her intentions.

MiMi

Her own custom made SIR unit and possibly Tak's only friend, unlike most SIR units, Mimi shows characteristics that made her/it a unique robot like her large arm and loyalty towards her mistress, after Gir took over her mind, it is likely that Tak would try to fix her.

The Tallest

She contacted them with the purpose of getting the Invader status and possibly to get Zim out of their way once and for all. They probably thought of her as highly capable, but treated her the same way they treat other members of their race.