Invader ZIM Easter Egg - It's the Creator!

In the cartoon Invader ZIM, in every episode you can see a red headed man with glasses and a treanchcoat. He is the creator of Invader ZIM.

Here is an example:

In the first episode, you can see Zim looking for a disguise on a weird screen thing.
For the first person he looks at he says "too ugly", so he goes on to the next one. The second guy is Jhonen Vasquez, the creator of the entire show.
Keep looking for Jhonen!

User Rating:
5.7
  5.7/10 with 340 votes
Contributed By: MikeyNess on 06-02-2001
Reviewed By: Webmaster
Special Requirements: Eyes and a TV
Please correct this Egg if you see errors.

Pictures and Videos

It's Johnen and all of his cool looking red headed glory!
It's Johnen and all of his cool looking red headed glory!

Do you have another one? Send us a picture or video of this Egg!

Comments

Some of you seem a little confused about cameo appearances. In the first episode (part II) when Zim is selecting a disguise, he first discards the disguise who is drawn to look like Jhonen Vasquez, the co-executive producer, head writer, production designer and creator of the series saying "Too ugly!" As well he does voice work for the show but is credited as Mr. Scolex. The second disguise he discards is the disguise drawn to look like Steve Ressel, the co-director and producer saying "Too stinky!" If you want to see pictures of both of them, check out the Invader Zim Crew Guide I found at http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/CrewGuide/showid-3270/ As well, I was wondering if anyone knows where I could get my hands on a script for the show, do you? I'm studying Radio and Television Arts at Ryerson University and I'm analyzing and deconstructing Invader Zim for a paper I have to do. Anyone have any connections? Peace all, and let's not get snarky about details in the future...our love for Zim should bind us, not pit us against each other! :-) ~The Tak-Hater~
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Zoulot writes:
That is not the creator but one of the guys who writes for the series. Heck he might have helped but is not the main guy. The real creator is Jhonen Vasquez, writer and artist of such comics as 'I Feel Sick', 'Squee' and 'Johnny the Homicidal Maniac'. If you look for a tall skinny man with red hair and glasses, thats Jhonen.
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Andyp writes:
If you watch the water balloon episode, at the end when zim has flooded the world he goes back to his lab and gets stuck. If you have watched the show CLOSELY you would know that Zim's front door is a men's room door and that the entrance to his lab is a toilet, so what do you think happened when zim tried to go to his lab?
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one of the guys who draws the cartoon also puts out a gothic comic named Lenore. It's about a little embalmed dead girl www.spookyland.com
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restruction writes:
Actually, IIRC, that's incorrect. The creator's name is Jhonen Vasquez, who before Zim drew the comics "Squee" and "Johnny the Homicidal Maniac." I believe the heavy bearded man you mention is a co-producer, not Jhonen. Jhonen, if I'm not mistaken, also appears in some (all?) of the episodes of Zim. For example, in "The Wettening," he is the man who drinks a piranha that was in his glass of water and then clutches at his throat. Also, Jhonen includes some characters from "Johnny the Homicidal Maniac" sometimes (an example is the girls that drop GIR off at the house after he has been partying at a club in "Revenge of the Saucer Morons." Also, keep an eye out for unexpected recurring characters. For example, Oldkid (who in some animations would be a throw-away gag) appears at the "Meet Count Cocoafang" thing next to McMeaty's in "Career Day."
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GwenGrrl writes:
no, it's not. jonn vasquez (however you spell it). he's not a short chubby guy, he's a tall lanky guy. i've read his earlier comics (trust me, it's not him)
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Arashi writes:
Actually, the creator is the thin, red-headed dude with glasses, Jhonen Vasquez).You know, the one who choked on the gold fish in I think it was called, "Rainy Day," or whatever. I'm horrible at remembering titles.Anyways, the tubby guy is one of the producers. Speaking of that certain episode, Roman Dirge helped writing it. He's the creator of a comic called "Lenore" and is a good friend of Vasquez.
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mouse writes:
You couldn't be more wrong. The guy he deems "too ugly", is the creator. Johnen Vasquez (famous for the Johnny the Homicidal Maniac comics) is a tallish, skinny, geekish, hispanic guy. He and other people involved appear several times during the shows.
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Mindy Doll writes:
in the one where Zim gets lost in the city, and the one where he has to go to parent teacher night at school I can't see him.
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Lauren writes:
That egg is wrong. The creator is actually tall and very skinny. I've met him.
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mouse writes:
Oldkid is supposedly voiced by Jhonen, too. In the episode where he gets lost in the city, there's a [Z?]
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C-thunda writes:
Also, Keith (from the "Best Friend" episode) makes a cameo appearance in "Rainy Day." He's one of the kids fling through the air during the song.
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nu11-pb writes:
As mentioned above Jhonen Vasquez draws the comics Johnny the homicidal Maniac, squee and a couple more. If any of you own the Directors cut collection of JTHM [big thick book] the back has an "interview" of Jhonen. It's got a little drawing of him standing at a Podium. It looks allot like the background character you see choke on the goldfish in the wettining. Actually, it looks exactly likee him. The fact that the same guy who draws JTHM draws a nick cartoon should be an easter egg =P
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I believe the disguise scene went something like this: ZIM sees Vasquez, and says, "Too ugly", then there's a really chubby guy, to which ZIM replies "Too ugly", and goes on to find his current disguise. Not that I'm being a smarty-pants or anything...
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restruction writes:
Just for clarification, Jhonen chokes on a piranha. That explains the sharp teeth. The implication is it bit him and tore up his throat. I thought it was a goldfish too but my friend's a huge Jhonen fan and told me. I think it has something to do with something else...it'd be an egg if I knew what that was.
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Oops! I meant to put ZIM saying "Too stinky" when he sees the fat guy. Tee Hee hee! The Diva, Signing Off
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ILIKETOAST writes:
actually, the fat guy has something to do with the skinny guy, because you see them together in many episodes, such as 'Germs' and 'The Wettening'
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Animedude010 writes:
Actually,the short,fat guy that comes after Jhonen Vasquez(the creator)is Steve Ressel,Jhonen's close friend and the director of Invader ZIM.
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I caught a egg I have not seen posted yet. in the organ snatching episode, there will be a brief scene of school walls with signs on them(they are yellow). One that points down has the letters "JV" on them..we can all deduce what that stands for....I hope....
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Another reference I failed to mention earlier (it's very obvious to any avid readers of JTHM) is the mention of "explody-head planets" in the Germs episode, obviously Jhonnen has a thing about exploding heads....
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Animedude010 writes:
Oops!I meant Steve Ressel was the producer of Invader ZIM.
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Athame writes:
Nope, that's totally wrong. AS practically everyone here has pointed out, the creator of Invader Zim is The Almighty Powerful God Jhonen Vasquez... red hair, skinny, glasses. He appears quite a few times in the show. In the burger joint, he's eating a burger with the director. And for all you Roman people, I believe that in The Best Friend episode, the kid with the webbed feet's name is Dirge. Well, someone in there's named Dirge, anyway. Check the closing credits, if you don't believe me. Anyway...good times and good loving, you guys.
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Nny writes:
A couple of comics references I've noticed in the shows: -The episode "Dark Harvest" begins with the teacher placing glass containers on the windowsill, which have small animals and various other things floating in them. A ball comes through the window and breaks one of the containers--inside the container is Fillerbunny, from Jhonen's comics. -In the episode "Plague of Babies," Zim goes next door as the Neighborhood Baby Inspector. When he is inside the house, right after you see all the pictures of the baby (ages 1-7), they show the woman Zim is talking to. On the wall behind her a picture is hanging, of an odd creature from one of Jhonen's Meanwhiles--the boy who wanted to turn into a vampire and ended up as something resembling a big-headed walrus.
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Tascha writes:
This "fat guy" that everybody keeps referring to is Rosearik Rikki Simons. He is Jhonen's friend and helps him publish and put pretty colors in Jhonen's chucked full of joy comics. "Oh.God!My feet!" - i feel sick issue #1 Riki Looks like someone has done their SLG homework..
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SheDevil writes:
If you've ever seen Jhonen Vasquez in real life, he IS a skinny red haired guy with glasses, he bears a somewhat resemblance to Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, one of his creations. For some reason he also reminds me of Dib. And another thing I'd like to add, Dib's shirt with that mild-looking "smiley face" is actually The Happy Noodle Boy, but a somewhat tamer version. The Happy Noodle Boy is actually a character in a comic drawn by JTHM, a somewhat part of his childhood because when he was young, kids picked on him and called him "Noodle Boy" and made fun of how skinny he was.
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juiblex writes:
its very simple. if you read the Squee comics (I'm referring especially to #4, I'm not sure if its included in the compilation) there is a small strip about Jhonen's life. you will see that he looks exactly like the recurring character in InvZ. Problem solved. BTW, if you don't own JTHM or Squee or filler bunny or any other Vasquez/slave labor creations, then you couldn't possibly truly appreciate all the jokes in InvZ.
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Sarah writes:
There seems to be some confusion about the appearances of Jhonen Vasquez (The creator and head writer), Steve Russel, (The producer), and Roman Dirge (he creator of comics such as Lenore). I happen to have all of the episodes downloaded (WWW.yourmom.dhs.org/zim) so I think I can clear this up. In the first episode (The Nightmare Begins), the first disguise that Zim looks at is Jhonen Vasquez (he is tall, lanky and has red hair), the second disguise Zim considers is Steve Russel, the prodeucer of the show. These two characters can also be seen in the "Germs" episode sitting at a table at MacMeaty's. If you look closely, they are looking over the script and story board from the first episode. Also, in "Bestest Friend", the kid that Zim chooses to be his best friend is named Keef, not Keith. Roman Dirge can be seen in "Parent Teacher Night" and twice in "Walk of Doom". Another interesting thing is that Jhonen Vasquez is the voice of old kid, who was only in the first episode, and the Almighty Tallest is Kevin McDonald from Kids in the Hall.
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Firstly, the "fat guy" with a beard is NOT the creator of Invader Zim. The almighty creator that is the comic God Johnen Vasquez, is the skinny guy with red hair, he is the creator of Invader Zim and more importantly, Johnny and I Feel Sick. Let's get it straight. I am a rabid fan, do not question me.
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As for the comment on the "chubby bearded guy" being Rikki Simmons... It is not Simmons. The "chubby guy" is the producer of Zim. Simmons does the voice of GIR and does not have so very much hair! Go to Tavicat.com, there are pictures of the staff on that site. Go and be enlightened...
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kuroneko writes:
By the way, has anyone else noticed that the teacher in Squee and the teacher in ZIM look the same?
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Rab writes:
Actually, in almost every episode, if not every episode, Jhonen or something Jhonen related makes an appierance.
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Ces writes:
QUESTION!!! Ok, in most of the eppisodes, I can't remmeber which one I saw it in, but the kid that sites next to Dib near the window - is that Jhonen too? It kinda resembles him...or maybe that's just me. And yes I agree, Dib does remind me of Nny and you can tell there's a lot of Nny on Jhonen. Poor Jhonen. Then again, I think there's a Nny in all of us *shudders*
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i know i saw jhonen in "the wettening" because he was that guy in the orange hair choking on a trout, or a salmon, i know it was a fish i just forget what kind and i do agree, dib's shirt has happy noodle boy on it
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Invader Jaq writes:
Adding to C-Thundra's comment, in the episode with the glue, Keef (as seen in Bestest Friend) is stuck to the wall in the first scene. "Hmmm..OOmmm...CHICKEN!"-Zim
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kderz writes:
1.JHONEN VASQUEZ (talented dude, often changes his hair color) is the creator, illustrator, writer, etc for the show. He's skinny, appears with red hair and glasses. look at a few pictures, and you'll get it. 2.Rikki (frikkin) Simmons is the voice of GIR. HE'S NOT THE FAT HAIRY GUY! goodness! He did the coloring for "i feel sick" and so on.. he's the coloring guy. he colors. he's got dark, short hair and glasses. get a stupid picture, and you'll get it. 3.This is how the dialogue goes in the first episode: zim goes to the jhonen picture, and says too ugly zim goes to the fat guy and says too stinky
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Jhonen Vasquez is the skinny red haired guy, whom Zim rejects because he is too ugly. The fat bearded guy is Steve Russel. And this "Rainy Day" episode that everyone is referring to is actually called "The Wettening." A comic reference that nobody has caught yet: In Walk of Doom, after Zim burns his eyes staring at the sun and says I'll just wait for the skin to grow back on my eyelids," the camera zooms out and exposes a billboard that says "Z?" which is also on Mr. Eff's shirt in JTHM and is on the cover of JTHM's directors cut.
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FillerBunny writes:
Jhonen Vasquez was also the voice of Zim's computer through out some episodes...not to sure if they deepened his voice or not...
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blahblah writes:
roman dirge is a woman, not a guy. thank you
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Delacroix writes:
JV doesnt just do Old Kid's voice. He does the voice of Zim's Computer,and additional voices for different episodes.He is also credited as Mr.Scolex during the credits.
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Delacroix writes:
Roman Dirge IS a man, not a woman!! You can see him in the commentary of Invader Zim Vol.2
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Raven writes:
First off, I'd like to clarify things a bit. Everyone is correct, that skinny, red-haired guy you see popping up in random episodes of IZ is Jhonen Vasquez, the CREATOR of the show. (random fact: Jhonen actually has black hair. he just dyes it weird colors-example: red, blue, purple, blond.) Another thing, my baka friends, the guy's name is Jhonen. Not Jonn, not Johnen, JHONEN. And his last name is Vasquez. You wouldn't BELIEVE how people can screw that up...Anyway, in the Rubber Piggy episode, there is a single frame right when Zim is going to throw the last pig into the portal where you can see a blood-covered GIR. Lovely, no? Another fun fact: Jhonen made the animator people stop putting him and other crew members in the episodes as cameos. He felt they were diverting attention away from the show itself. A lot of his stuff, or references to his stuff, still shows up, but no more Jhonen after episode 10 or so. -One last thing. Ever tried looking up pictures of Roman Dirge? The dude is not a chick.
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there is also a cameo of steve russel in the nightmare begins he is a choice for zims discise but he said Too Stinky and in germs he is eating a burger with johen and in attack of the sacer morons he saves a baby
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Jhonen Vasquez does the voice of zims computer and old kid in Invader Zim
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doompandas writes:
I agree with the Diva Princess. In the Nighmare Begins, Zim looks at tall, skinny Jhonen's picture and says "Too ugly" and then at the bearded, chunky guy and says, "Too smelly" before picking out the oh-so-perfect human disguise with the black hair and contacts. At an Invader Zim panel at the San Diego Comic-con before Invader Zim even came out, Jhonen told the approximately 3000+ attendees watching that Nickelodeon had already ordered him to stop drawing himself and his friends in the Zim episodes. His hair at that time was spiked up, black and purple. He does resemble JTHM as drawn and I bet he might have looked like Dib as a youngling. He seems to have Zim's aversion to humanoid babies of his own, though he appears to be a fine uncle.
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