Zorphic (Madness)

Zorphic (Madness)
Name	Zorphic (Madness)
Species	Morphic
First Appearance	Walk of Doom
Voice Actor(s)	None

Zorphic, otherwise known as "Madness", is an alien from the Morphic race that took the appearance of a chihuahua: a small dog with a chipped ear, one brown iris and a stitch across its head.

It has made several appearances over the course of the series. Its presence even made a lasting impression as It was dubbed "Madness" by the fans, seeing as Zim screamed "MADNESS!" when he sees it appear to go static when a passing car creates wind that tugs on its fur during its first appearance in "Walk of Doom".

The alien chihuahua might be a reference to a chihuahua mentioned in Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, when Nny screamed to a survey man that "This little chihuahua started following me".

In the audio commentary of "Walk of Doom", Jhonen Vasquez said it was planned as a running gag that actually didn't work out.

Issue 35 of the comic series reveals that the chihuahua is actually an alien named Zorphic, a member of the shapeshifting Morphic species. It came to Earth to peacefully observe things, which is what led to its repeated encounters with Zim.

A figure of Zorphic.

Appearances

• "Walk of Doom"

When Zim turned a corner, Zorphic was there. He immediately screamed "MADNESS!" and ran in the other direction. He also was inexplicably seen on top of a building right before Zim and GIR fell into a dumpster.

• "Attack of the Saucer Morons"

When Zim realized that the "Saucer Morons" have taken the Voot Carrier, on one of the pedestals as an "alien artifact" was the alien dog.

• "Door to Door"

When Zim and GIR arrived at a neighbor's door, GIR was tossing eggs everywhere, cooking them on the sidewalk. Zorphic then appeared and started eating the sunny-side-up eggs.

• "Walk for Your Lives"

Zorphic stole meat from a questionable meat vendor, and was dragging it across the street in front of the City Cesspool when he met Zim in his grandma disguise. Zim panicked, yelling "Dog with meat! Dog with meat!!", and got GIR's leash caught on a nearby lamppost, which toppled him and sent the slow-motion explosion flying away into the city.

• "Invasion of the Idiot Dog Brain"

When GIR shook off dirt in his house form, Courtney Lilly could be seen walking with Zorphic.

• "Battle-Dib"

When Dib realized that he was missing his briefcase, Zorphic found it in the alleyway he left it and dragged it away with his mouth.

• "Issue 23"

The escape vehicle that Hok rescues Zim in is shaped like a chihuahua which looks like Zorphic.

• "Issue 34"

Zorphic is one of the beings Zim pays to have locked up in the space prison Moo-Ping 10.

Zorphic reveals itself

• "Issue 35"

Zorphic reveals its true name and nature to Zim, as they team up to escape Moo-Ping 10. Zim repeatedly screws up their plan, and finally decides to leave Zorphic behind when he reestablishes his working relationship with the Gellaxis. Infuriated by this, Zorphic manages to escape by sneaking aboard Zim's ship in disguise, swearing to eventually take revenge on him.

Facts of Doom

• Interestingly, Zorphic doesn't appear in "Bolognius Maximus" when dogs were chasing Dib and later Zim when they were turning into bologna.
• In the comic, we see that his ship was damaged probably beyond the point of being repaired when it crashed. This would imply that he's stranded on Earth, similar to the Nhar-Gh'ok, but unlike them, Zorphic doesn't seem to be in any hurry to go back to his home planet.

  

  Zorphic first taking the form of "Madness".

• It's implied in Issue 35 that the reason Zorphic took the form of a Chihuahua was because he wanted to "smell" things, something he wouldn't have been able to do without raising some eyebrows had he taken a human form.
• Although issue 35 ends with him swearing vengeance on Zim, both the original comic series and the quarterly series ended without anything coming of it.