| “ | Zimmy!” |
| — Smoots • Most frequent phrase spoken by this little insect. |
Smoots is a defective Irken (Designed for Invader ZIM: The DOOM Movie!) who was sent by Merp (another defective) to go to Earth and find Zim, in hopes that he'll help bust 'em out of Defective Area 9. She suffers from the delusion that Zim is in love with her, and seems to think she's the most beautiful thing in existence. Really, though? She's just a parody of Mary Sues everywhere.
The symbol on her forehead is a "Defective" symbol that Stanley Orr came up with when designing her character.
History[]
Smoots was born like all other Irken Smeets, but - of course - given a defective PAK. Her emotional circuit had a problem which caused her to feel obsessive, romantic love that she attached to random individuals or objects at any given time. Soon enough, she was identified as the defective she is, and was branded as such, then sent to Defective Area 9, to be a snack slave for the rest of her days. It is here that she met Merp, another defective, one who was bent on leading an uprising and escaping Defective Area 9. Rumors have reached them of one Irken in particular, one who has supposedly escaped being labeled as a defective, one who allegedly escaped the process that led to being a snack slave: Zim. On hearing about him, and on seeing the occasional footage of his reckless destruction (the failure of ID1, the intrusion into the Great Assigning), Smoots falls head over heels in love with the troublesome fool, becoming far more fixated than ever before. Seeing this as an opportunity, Merp has Smoots esacpe Defective Area 9, and go bring back Zim, in hopes that he will lead a revolution!
During Invader ZIM: The DOOM Movie![]
Smoots plays an important role in the events that both kick off the plot and bring it to its conclusion, though her presence between the two points is almost entirely pointless, save for being a parody of Self-Inserts, Tak Copycats, and Mary Sues.
Escape from Defective Area 9[]
Smoots, upon escaping Defective Area 9, is hunted down by two guards, and nearly killed. She manages to escape in a damaged spittle runner, and heads for Earth, hopeful that she'll find her, "Zimmy-Pie!"
On Earth[]
Crash landing and Interrogation at Zim's Base[]
She promptly crash lands in a pond on Earth, damaging her left eye. Zim goes to investigate the crash, and is shocked to find a strange Irken that knows his name. He immediately captures her and takes her back to his base for interrogation.
Does any of this phase her, though? No. She simply is too starstruck from meeting Zim to do anything but fawn over him and give him affirmative answers to his incorrect guesses as to what she's doing on Earth. While Zim briefly turns his back, Smoots simply asks Zim's computer to be let out of her cell. Surprisingly, the computer complies, prompting Zim to stun her and have Minimoose drag her back into the cell. When asked how Smoots managed to simply walk out, Zim's computer explains that, "She asked me to let her out, and your I.D. PAK Datapaths are almost exactly the same. I mistook her for you!" Unnerved by this, but not connecting with the fact that his PAK is defective, Zim drags Smoots to Skool with him (not trusting to leave her alone, unsupervised, in his base of operations).
At Skool[]
Smoots her stupid Skoolchild disguise. Note the defective left lens and the cardboard paper covering her defective symbol.
At Skool, Smoots wears a disguise Zim whipped up for her: a dirty wig, two contacts (one of which is defective), and some green cardboard paper taped to her forehead to cover the defective symbol. Passing her off as his sister, Zim fools everyone at Skool, save Dib. Dib immediately sees through her awful disguise, but fails to get any information out of Zim. Dib then chases Zim and Smoots away from Skool, using some sort of chemical that burns Irkens.
The Massive's Landing and Zim's Speech[]
Smoots in the hideous dress she briefly wears in an attempt to woo Zim.
When they return to Zim's base, Smoots tries to fawn over Zim yet again. Zim is having none of this, especially since the Tallest are calling! He quickly has the computer stun her and hide her from view, so his call isn't interrupted. At some point during the call, Smoots wakes up and wanders off, coming back to Zim after the call ends. When she returns, she and GIR are in princess dresses (her idea). GIR announces that he's going to eat the one he's wearing later, then begins eating it. Smoots tries to woo Zim with her "beauty," but Zim doesn't even notice - the Tallest told him that they're coming to Earth, to finish off Impending Doom II by threatening to blow up the planet if the humans refuse to obey Zim! Shortly after this, the Massive lands, and the entire Irken Armada descends to Earth, putting on a brilliant show for the feeble minded humans. Zim, Smoots, and GIR watch from Zim's Voot Cruiser, Zim having dressed himself in an emperor's robe and crown.
The Tallest descend from the Massive and give a brief introduction, explaining to the humans that they've had a spy living among them for quite some time - Zim. Zim steps into his ship's tractor beam, so he can dramatically descend to the podium and give a speech. Just before exiting, he tells Smoots to keep her mouth shut and stay in the ship. Convinced by the Tallest that he's going to be crowned dictator of Earth, he willingly removes his disguise, revealing himself to everyone. Just before he can begin his gloating, however, Tallest Purple hands Zim a note. As Zim begins to read, the Tallest return to the Massive. The note Zim's reading aloud is a long insult directed at Zim, revealing him to be a defective and revealing his mission to be a fake. To add insult to injury, the Tallest blow up Zim's Voot, leaving him stranded on Earth. GIR goes flying out of it and crashes into Zim's base. Smoots, somehow, pops up right next to Zim, unfortunately unscathed by the explosion. Zim and her run quickly into Zim's base, to escape the swarm of humans as the Irken Armada returns to space.
The Trip to Irk[]
Smoots is present as Zim explains to every minion that he believes the Tallest to be brainwashed by a control brain, and that it's his duty to rescue them. Not having a backup spaceship, and unwilling to cram into Tak's ship with his arch nemesis, Dib, Zim converts his house into a spaceship, and Smoots tags along for the trip to Irk. On the way there, Zim notices that Dib (and a reluctant Gaz) is following him in Tak's ship. After a brief argument, he concludes that he'll get to Irk twice as fast if he has the combined power of Tak's ship and his base. So he fuses the two, much to Dib and the Computer's chagrin. During the long, boring space trip, Smoots spends her time drawing creepy fanart of her and Zim.
Suddenly, the ship is attacked by Skoodge's ship. Zim is confused as to why a fellow Irken is assaulting him, and hands Dib the controls while he goes outside to investigate. As Dib struggles to keep flying straight through the barrage of lasers, Smoots runs up, frantic and demanding that Dib tell her how she can help. Dib almost tells her to stop interfering, but then gets an idea: if he flings Zim off into space, perhaps Smoots could guide him to Irk. Dib asks Smoots just that, "in the unfortunate accident that Zim is, say, lost in space by my reckless driving." This only panics Smoots, and she begins fighting Dib for control of the ship, to protect, "Zimmy." Matters only become worse for Zim as the reckless driving enters a meteor field, with Smoots and Dib still yanking the controls back and forth. Up top, Zim finds out that Skoodge is being mind-controlled. By whom, he doesn't know. Unable to keep up with the meteors and laser fire, Zim retreats back to his house-ship's interior, to find Smoots and Dib fighting still. He takes back the controls and Smoots - thrilled to see Zim alive - gives him a big hug. He responds by kicking her across the room. For the rest of the scuffle, Smoots is unable to regain solid footing, and stumbles around horribly as the ship veers out of control. She narrowly avoids death when she bumps into Gaz, interrupting her game. Gaz lets her off with a warning and a harsh yank on her antannae. At the last minute, Zim clears the asteroid patch and ejects the roboparents out onto Skoodge's ship. Skoodge is forced to make a retreat, as the Roboparents' scolding and gibbering is interfering with his piloting.
On Irk[]
Arrival and Initial Capture[]
The group reaches Irk and has to go through a security checkpoint. As Zim disguises Dib and Gaz to look like Irkens, Smoots is forced to hide in the back, lest the security guard notice an escaped defective is aboard the ship. During his conversation with the toll guard (who fails to recognize Zim as Zim), Zim finds out that the Tallest weren't brainwashed, and that they really did mean those horrible things they made him say. Zim shoots his ship towards Irk's surface, vowing vengeance on the Tallest. He lands in a top-level military hangar, where all of Irk's prototype military technology is stored. The group attempts to operate a Destruct-O-Mech, and succeeds in wreaking havoc everywhere. Unfortunately, Dib accidentally presses a self-destruct button, resulting in them losing their rampage and getting captured by Irken Guards.
The group is taken before a giant crowd of Irkens, just in front of the Tallest Tower. The Almighty Tallest show up to make a public spectacle of the executions, having been completely fed up with everything Zim's wrought on the empire. During this time, the Tallest's PAKs suddenly erupt into a spasm of electricity, then glow green. The Almighty Tallest speak in unison, with distorted voices, and are suddenly furious at Zim, going on a brief rant about how he needs to be executed and be made an example of. They return to normal as quickly as they start acting up, however, and neither one knows what just happened. At any rate, the executions begin, first with Zim. A big Irken Guard walks up, cocks an oversized gun, then touches Zim's head with the barrel, very slowly pulling the trigger. In a burst of annoyance, Tallest Red tells the guard to "just do it already!" The guard suddenly grabs Zim and shoots up into the air, disappearing in a flash of purple smoke.
At Defective Area 9[]
Smoots interprets this as Zim betraying and abandoning her, and she is instantly devistated. During the time when all the Irkens are distracted by Zim's disappearance, Gaz frees the others and demands Smoots tell them where a safe place to hide is. Smoots briefly composes herself just long enough to guide the others to Defective Area 9.
Smoots's clown disguise - used to sneak past security and get into Defective Area 9... odd, considering that the empire probably wants her there anyway, but that thought never occurs to her.
The group has to disguise themselves as clowns to make it through security, for reasons that are never explained. Once inside, Merp meets up with them and asks Smoots if she managed to bring back Zim. Smoots bursts into tears, the painful memory of Zim "abandoning" her rising to the front of her mind again. While Merp enters a conversation with Dib, Smoots continues bawling on the floor. Through the conversation they have, Dib learns that Zim was decided to be a defective, but escaped before he could be processed and branded. He did so by simply walking out of the "Exit" door. Dib points out how incredibly bad the security actually is around Defective Area 9, and asks Merp why she and the others don't just walk out of the building. This confuses Merp. Suddenly, Zim's voice comes in through GIR's radio. Smoots - thinking Zim has somehow become trapped inside of GIR - jumps up and pins GIR to the ground, ready to rip his head open to set Zim free. Minimoose intervenes before this can happen. Zim orders GIR to track him down and come to his rescue, and says there isn't much time. GIR sniffs around briefly before burrowing straight down through Irk's many layers of wires and tubes, to a location underground where Zim is at. Smoots doesn't hesitate to leap down after GIR, proclaiming, that she's coming for "Zimmy-poo!" Dib follows as well, telling her she'll rescue him over his (Zim's) dead body.
Encounters with the Master Control Brain/Hive-Mind[]
All this time, Zim has been in an underground hallway somewhere miles below the surface. Tak has strapped Zim to a wall, and is preparing to torture him to death as revenge for foiling her plans and sending her off into space. She had crash-landed on planet Hobo 13, where Skoodge was stranded. She mind-controlled him and used his ship to head to Earth. On the way there, however, she came across Zim and tried attacking his ship. When that failed, she disguised herself as a guard and kidnapped Zim so she could personally end him. However, she soon started acting strange - just like the Tallest - speaking in multiple voices at once and having a glowing PAK. Zim says, "What's going on, Tak?" clearly confused by this. She responds by saying, "I'm. Not. Tak." in that multiple-toned voice. Just before she goes in for the kill, GIR's burrowing leads the others down to the hallway, burying Tak beneath a ton of rubble. Smoots sees Zim and is ready to leap onto him and hug him, but Tak rises from the rubble. Smoots misinterprets this as Zim cheating on her, and begins crying again. At this point, Dib falls in with even more rubble, burying Smoots and Tak beneath it. Zim convinces Dib that something big is happening, and that he needs to get him down so they can figure it out. Dib reluctantly agrees to free Zim, and they head back up to the surface with GIR, leaving Tak and Smoots buried under rubble.
Eventually, Smoots regains consciousness and heads to the surface, only to find that a battle is occuring in Defective Area 9. A swarm of Irkens, all behaving just like Tak and the Tallest were, are acting as one, leading an assault of extermination on the defectives, whose pitiful attempts to fight back are useless. Smoots never realizes this, but this behavior is due to the Master Control Brain initiating the Hive-Mind Protocol, wherein it takes over every non-defective PAK in the universe, on all Irkens, everywhere. Right now it is attempting to purge all defectives from its perfect empire. Smoots notices Zim, and instantly begins fawning over him again, oblivious to how panicked he is as he runs away from the battle. Zim manages to get to the back of Defective Area 9, where a snack chute is located. He dives down it. Smoots follows. Then Dib follows. Just as Dib dives down, the hole is blasted, and sealed shut, by a laser.
As they fall, Zim notices Smoots's presence, and angrily shoves her away from him. Dib asks Zim where this chute leads, to which Zim responds by screaming and panicking. They fall some more, before landing on Irk's core: a suspended ball of snack food, hundreds of feet in radius. Zim continues panicking, muttering only that they have to escape. Suddenly, the Master Control Brain declares that, "it is too late for that," and seals off all exits before activating its defences. The Master Control Brain is Irk's core.
A short fight ensues, which could best be described as a game of whack-a-mole, minus any place for Smoots, Zim, or Dib to hide. In the chaos, Zim manages to attach his PAK to a port the Master Control Brain has, which reads, "Emergency Data Exchange." The PAK begins overwhelming the Master Control Brain's mind with corrupt data. The madness briefly affects the Hive-Mind as well, with all the soldiers loosing their minds. Soon enough, the Master Control Brain is driven completely insane, and loses its grip on the other Irkens, freeing them from Hive-Mind control. Smoots, Dib, and Zim escape through a hole that rips open during its fit of madness, returning to the surface.
Aftermath of the Battle at the Center of Irk[]
When they reach the surface, Zim announces boldly what he did to a crowd of aching, dizzy, exhausted Irkens just as they're waking up. At the same time, all the surviving defectives (except for Zim and Smoots) manage to steal a Viral Tank and flee to space. The Tallest wake up as Zim is speaking, and - on hearing what he did to the Master Control Brain - order Zim to be publicly humiliated until he and Smoots can be executed in the most violent, painful way possible. A defective label is quickly branded onto Zim's forehead, and the group is subjected to a live Irken Gameshow, located in the Spike of Judgement and entitled, "Punish that Defective." It revolves around exactly what it sounds like: spinning a giant game show wheel to decide what humiliations to subject the criminals to - the criminals in this case being Zim, Dib, GIR, Gaz, and Smoots.
Zim goes into a catatonic state at this, his brain unable to comprehend the Tallest actually hating him and him actually being a defective. Seeing this, Smoots uses the opportunity to gently grab Zim's hand and stare off into space, daydreaming.
During the Battle for Irk[]
As the Battle Begins[]
When the Master Control Brain had taken over all non-defective Irkens, Lard Nar - leader of the Resisty - managed to lock onto where the Hive-Mind Protocol was coming from, and he hacked into the Master Control Brain, inserting several codes that prevented it from attacking or harming any member of the resistance. All it could do was stare and glare at the Resisty as they literally walked out of their holding cells on Meekrob and gathered a giant fleet. They headed immediately to Irk, but - before they arrived the Master Control Brain had lost its grip on the Hive-Mind, and the Irkens were freed. The Resisty will actually have to fight the Irkens in combat. A space battle begins, though it is very one-sided, as the Irkens have a superior force by far.
Two irken guards are discussing this, laughing about how foolish the Resisty are for thinking they can take on the Irkens. Zim faintly overhears the word, "Resisty." This triggers an internal debate in his head, and he has an ephiphany: He is a defective.
Unfortunately for the Irkens, this only drives Zim more insane and makes him more determined to "help" his empire. He somehow thinks that - by admitting he's a defective - he'll succeed in saving the Irkens (though they don't need saving in the first place). Smoots immediately follows him, wanting to be a part of whatever it is he's doing. Zim steals an Irken Shuvver and takes off with GIR, Minimoose, and Smoots along for the ride.
In the Resisty's Flagship[]
During the battle, Zim does little more than dodge lasers and frantically avoid getting killed. Nonetheless, he manages to find the Resisty's flagship and slams through its front window. Realizing this was a bad idea, he turns his ship around and tries exiting. The shuvver gets caught in the Resisty's giant emergency airlock, just as Smoots gets caught in the shuvver's airlock, accidentally activating it. Smoots is ejected into the Resisty's bridge just as Zim's shuvver escapes, leaving Smoots trapped inside with the Resisty.
Lard Nar has Smoots taken hostage, hoping to use her as leverage to get information out of Zim. He communicates with him, demanding that he explain what happened to the Master Control Brain. When Lard Nar threatens to kill Smoots if Zim doesn't talk, Zim cuts the transmission.
Smoots's Death[]
The Resisty put off killing Smoots, however, as they have more important things to deal with. Dib has hacked into the Massive, and managed to deactivate its shields. Lard Nar orders the crew to charge up the biggest lasers available, aiming it right at the Massive. Smoots realizes the danger, and asks a guard if the Resisty's ship has a self-destruct button. The guard points out the Shrinky Self-Destruct button without thinking. Smoots fixates on it.
The Resisty are about to fire, when a warning comes on. Zim's shuvver (which has been held in place by the Resisty's tractor beam) is charged to full capacity, aiming directly at the Resisty's ship. Lard Nar reacts quickly, disengaging the tractor beam and messing up Zim's aim. Zim discharges the laser directly through the front of the Massive. With its shields down, the Massive is helpless, and doomed. It slowly begins plummetting to Irk's surface as the Tallest curse Zim.
After a stunned moment of silence, the Resisty begin celebrating, thinking they've won. In this celebration, Smoots sneaks over and does the only intelligent thing in her life: she slams the Shrinky Self-Destruct button so hard that it breaks, forcing the Resisty's flagship to jolt violently instead of smoothly begin shrinking. Lard Nar freaks out, telling all Resisty ships to activate their escape pods, because the flagship is rigged to control all the other Resisty ships. The others escape unscathed. However, everyone in the flagship is trapped, because the escape pods are jammed. The Resisty's main leaders spend their last moments panicking. Smoots uses this time to call Zim, who is also panicking because he accidentally killed the Tallest and doomed the empire.
When she contacts Zim, she first seeks approval for what she's done, proudly saying that she pressed the button. Then the ship jolts, and she's reminded that she won't live for very long. She asks Zim to confess his love for her in these last moments.
Zim responds by cutting the transmission.
Smoots interprets this as him saying he loves her, and she begins gushing about how much she loves him, and how they were always destined to be together. Suddenly, as her voice gets higher and higher and as the flagship crushes her more and more, she realizes she's in a lot of pain, and begins screaming in agony for a few seconds. Then, the flagship implodes completely, and Smoots is no more.
Trivia[]
- Smoots gets her name from "Smoots Creek," a creek in Kansas that Stanley Orr frequently passes on his trips to visit his grandparents. He noted that "Smoots" sounded like a Zim character name, and soon decided it would go well for a Mary Sue Parody.
- Initially, Smoots had a long history of helping Zim as a Smeet wreak havoc and destruction, only for him to constantly ignore her affections. She would have been driven insane as a result of an early encounter with the Master Control Brain, and would have had many more scenes. These were cut for the sake of time, and because they weren't satirical enough towards Mary Sues. It was then that her revised history, of being a defective that happened to fixate on Zim, was installed.
- In an early draft of the script, Smoots was after Zim's literal heart, having misinterpreted the phrase, "You've stolen my heart." This version included much more romantically-driven dialogue coming from her and a scene where Zim performes a heart transplant just to get her to stop pestering him. These scenes were deleted for many reasons, including how overbearing the character was.
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