Gaz Membrane

Gaz
Homeworld	Earth
Gender	Female
Hair Color	Purple
Eye Color	Brown/Amber
Affiliation(s)	None
First Appearance	Pilot
Voice Actor	Melissa Fahn (English) Ana Lobo (Spanish) Haruhi Nanao (Japanese) Yvonne Greitzke (German)

Gaz Membrane is the menacing younger sister of Dib and one of the supporting characters of Invader Zim. She is also the daughter of Professor Membrane, although she and her brother may not be his biological children in the conventional sense. Known for her dark, violent and antisocial personality, Gaz has frequently expressed her disdain for the rest of the human race, seeming to care about only two things in the world: pizza and video games. Few have been known to get between her and those two things and walk away unscathed.

Gaz was voiced by Melissa Fahn in the original English version, and by Haruhi Nanao (七緒はるひ) in the Japanese dub. In the German dub she is voiced by Yvonne Greitzke, and in the Spanish dub she is voiced by Ana Lobo.

Appearance

Gaz's full appearance.

Though her dress style is vaguely Gothic in appearance, Gaz has never been established as an actual goth, something which has been stated by Jhonen Vasquez himself. Coincidentally, Gaz's clothing style bears a strong resemblance to that of Pepito the Antichrist, another creation of Jhonen's. Around Gaz's neck is a necklace in the shape of a stylized human skull. When she was younger, she still wore a black dress but had a bow in her hair. 

The most unique characteristics about Gaz are her hair and eyes. Her purple hair is cubic and fashioned into five spikes, and takes on the ominous appearance of a mouth with fangs (a stylized version of a bob cut). Her eyes are almost always closed or squinting, but when they are open, her eyes have been shown to be an amber color. In the Pilot, her eyes are blue with the exception of being brown/amber in one scene. She opens her eyes when she is surprised, enraptured or really angry (she opens one eye occasionally when she makes a point).

In season two of the show, Gaz's head was remodeled to be more angular, like her brother's head, when facing forward towards the camera, rather than having a round shape (though she had the rounder shape when she was younger and in the non-canon video game Nicktoons: MLB). Her head seems to be large compared to normal human beings, but she accuses Dib (like almost every character) of having a big head. As the series goes on, she gets taller, and even has some facial changes, but her voice doesn't change much.

Personality

Bringing down an elevator singlehandedly.

Gaz is best known for her creepy, dark, cynical and antisocial nature, along with some of her obsessions that include pizza and video games.

Gaz's usual concern for her brother's welfare.

Those who interfere with her and certain things she enjoys will enrage her and she will vow to make things very unpleasant for them. A prime example of this vengeful nature was seen in the episode "Game Slave 2": when an egocentric gamer called Iggins took the last Game Slave 2 in stock at the mall that was rightfully hers; Gaz singlehandedly stalked and terrorized Iggins until he surrendered the Game Slave 2 to her.

Gaz tends to care little for most people (especially those who bother her), and generally regards human interaction as nothing more than a means to an end. On the other hand, she seems to express a particular hatred for her older brother Dib, who constantly annoys her. Aside from eating pizza and gaming, she verbally abuses her brother at most given opportunities for bothering her. She also gives him no special treatment if he incurs her wrath: If anything, she is even more eager to inflict pain on him than on anyone else for doing so. Although she is usually angry and bitter most of the time, her few interests have been known to coax a more positive side out of her.

Role in Invader ZIM

Gaz has a tendency to seek revenge on those who cross her... and she usually gets it.

Gaz is the only one, with the exception of Dib, to realize that Zim is really an alien. In "Bloaty's Pizza Hog", she replied to Dib's comment that Zim was trying to enslave all mankind with "but he's so bad at it". Another example was seen in "Gaz, Taster of Pork", where she acknowledged Zim's an alien and said that "he's too dumb to take over the world". In-between the events of the first few episodes, she and Zim met, though it was one that was far from friendly.

On occasion, she has bailed out her brother, but only when it convenienced her, like in "Bloaty's Pizza Hog" and "The Most Horrible X-Mas Ever".

Although she usually plays only a supporting role as the unwilling sidekick to Dib, her obsessive-compulsive brother, she has been the main subject in three episodes:

• In Game Slave 2, Gaz attempted to buy the Game Slave 2 handheld device, and ruthlessly terrorized a kid named Iggins when he made off with the last one in stock that was rightfully hers.
• In Bloaty's Pizza Hog, she proved that she will do anything to eat out at Bloaty's, even rescuing her brother from Zim's clutches.
• In Gaz, Taster of Pork, the episode chronicled the events that ensued when a mishap with one of Dib's spelldrives caused her to be cursed to a fate of tasting nothing but pork.

Abilities

An immediate change of atmosphere occurs when Gaz is agitated.

Throughout the show, it is demonstrated, but never actually said, that Gaz has amazing powers. Her powers includes: the ability to fix, pilot, manipulate, and in general control anything electronic, the ability to get any place she needs at will, the demonic ability to levitate on pure rage alone (surrounding herself in a column of purple light), to create fires at will, umbrakinesis, to generate spookiness in a tangible manner, shroud, etc. She is also shown to be capable of using Irken technology and her piloting skills seem to be on par, if not greater than Zim's, as she was able to pilot one of his ships with ease. It is assumed by fans that as Gaz ages, her powers will most likely become stronger. Gaz's power appears to be more one of an inner, ethereal nature in more than one way, and she seems to have a natural affinity with aerial abilities, as evidenced by her ability to levitate.

One of the rare occasions she has smiled. Here, she is smirking at Zim when he is about to chew beans.

It is possible that these abilities, being completely unnatural, could actually be a result of her being a genetic experiment of Professor Membrane, just as it is rumored that her brother is (it is currently unknown if Gaz was Professor Membrane's creation or his biological child). She, despite her demonic nature, seem to have a sort of connection to the holy, as shown in Game Slave 2, when upon getting her game back, the stormy night turned to a bright sunny day, and her hair returned to its natural shape as angels sang. She also commented on how "the rightful order has been restored". In Mopiness of Doom, she similarly stated, "All is right with the world again". These were obvious references to horror movies such as The Ring and The Grudge, which also contained considerably creepy girls, as well as the plot of Game Slave 2, which somewhat parodied the aforementioned movies. Additionally, when enraged the atmosphere around Gaz immediately if briefly becomes Satanic, complete with hellfire.

Facts of Doom

• Her voice actress, Melissa Fahn, has stated in the commentary for The Most Horrible X-Mas Ever that Gaz actually can show positive emotions and love others; she just does not like people interfering with her life and slightly has a big ego (much like Zim and, retroactively, her brother) and thinks she is better than others sometimes, hence her rotten attitude and demeanor around most people she makes contact with throughout the series. Melissa also confirmed in the same commentary that Gaz is the smartest character, even more intelligent than her own father, agreeing with Jhonen. This seems to explain why, unlike Dib, she doesn't view Zim as an ultimate threat to Earth.
• It is unknown if Gaz actually has friends because she is usually seen playing alone in the episodes that feature her and the series also focuses mostly on the activity of Zim or Dib.
• Ten Minutes to Doom reveals that she knows various types of martial arts, thanks to playing video games (specifically a ninja-based fighting game) at the arcade. She may have learned her Irken ship-piloting skills in Bloaty's Pizza Hog from playing video games as well.
• The only episodes in which Gaz smiled were Parent Teacher Night (while snickering at Zim and Dib's misfortunes), The Wettening (before dropping her water balloon on Dib after Zim's watery victory against him), and Gaz, Taster of Pork (while she attempted to torture Dib with her robotic toys, and mentioned that she had programmed them to feed on human flesh). She also smiled several times in the Pilot, but, given the many differences and inconsistencies seen in the "episode", its canonicity is called into question.
• Her demonic nature, misanthropic demeanor, and verbal and sometimes physical abuse of her brother have caused controversy from Christians and the magazine Christian Parenting Today; even some of her darkest lines in episodes like NanoZIM, Gaz, Taster of Pork and Game Slave 2 have been called into question by Christians due to the negativity and random nature of her statements. However, Jhonen has not made any comment on the controversy as of late, nor has Melissa.
• Ironically, Fahn previously voiced the cheerful eponymous character in the Hello Kitty Paradise animated series, and has a very pleasant demeanor.
• Gaz's full first name is Gazlene, a play on the word gasoline, but was never mentioned in the series. The play on words fits her personality rather well: Like gasoline when ignited, Gaz has a very fiery temper when provoked. She is one of the only main characters to have a first name with more than one syllable, or a name that is a wordplay.
• Gaz is ambidextrous. She can be seen drawing with her right hand in The Wettening and with her left in Bloaty's Pizza Hog.
• Her eyes are brown/hazel, although they were supposed to be light blue as they were in the Pilot. A coloring error led to her current eye color of amber/hazel.
• In the early episodes, her height occasionally changes; possibly due to some animation errors on the part of the artists. She is sometimes seen taller in her surroundings and other times shorter. The shape of her head also can be seen as angular or round in different episodes. However, she is still described as Dib's younger sibling.

Gaz's eyes

• In an image on Nicktoons's official site, Gaz is seen sitting playing her Game Slave 2 in Zim and Dib's classroom in front of Ms. Bitters, who is growling at her. However, Parent Teacher Night and Gaz, Taster of Pork notably explain that she is in Mr. Elliot's class.
• During the intro, Gaz breaks the fourth wall by putting her hand on the screen and brusquely shoving it aside.
• Gaz is a playable character in Nicktoons: MLB alongside Zim, with surprisingly positive interaction with him. Best used as a pitcher, her throw is one of the fastest in the entire game; her throw leaves a trail of skulls in the same designs as the ones from her part in the show's intro scene. Her clothes are the same as in the show, only her dress has pinstripes and she wears a red baseball cap that transforms into a first baseman's helmet when she is at first base. In these concept sketches by Aaron Alexovich, in the series she was going to actually wear a helmet that would cover her hair. Additionally, she also has a collectible card; it mentions her complaining that the whole idea is as bad as a 2-bit arcade game when reached for comment by reporters. When ZIM passes first base during a home run, Gaz can briefly be seen cheering for him when he passes her during it. Since the game offers no story mode or explanation as to why the two are partnered together, one can only use their imagination as to why Gaz is being so nice to him in this instance. The trick to getting this animation is that you have to have the both of them as first-basers on both teams, and make ZIM hit a home run.
• Gazlene is a character that can be rescued in Nicktoons: Globs of Doom, with Melissa Fahn providing her voice as usual. She can be rescued along with her father in the Skool stage. When you rescue her, she actually congratulates you for rescuing her. However, she is not playable and has no weapons.
• The word "gaz" is also the name of a type of candy found in the Middle East. The word, translated from Farsi, means "sap". The word is also the French word for gas (as in the fuel), further adding to the above wordplay.
• In The Most Horrible X-Mas Ever, Gaz's anger and hatred is revealed by Jhonen Vasquez to be able to fix the Tak Runner. This seems to suggest that Irken ships can be fixed faster by simply feeling a Iot of emotion, or to express that Gaz is much smarter then Dib in some ways.
• Gaz makes an appearance in 3 of Snafu's webcomics: PowerPuff Girls Doujinshi, Grim Tales, and Invader Zim: Manifest Doom.

Gallery

Main article: Gaz:Screenshots

See also

• Dib and Gaz's Relationship
• Zim and Gaz's Relationship
• Gaz and Professor Membrane's Relationship

  

  Gaz watching a commercial for a new video game system