Before you write hate-speech on how much you dislike Creepypasta Theories, know that this is not one of them. While I was watching the Invader Zim Halloween Marathon on Nicktoons Halloween night (9—12 pm), I noticed something strange throughout the episodes, most specifically the Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom. After a lot of thinking, it seems like they were hinting towards ZIM being created by Dib's imagination.
While this does sound like a Creepypasta in the making, (and I have no doubt someone's already written about this as one,) it seems like this could be a cannon explanation. Is this possible? Or just a mistake by the writers? Let's look at the evidence.
Nightmare ZIM[]
Before I begin, I'll allow a moment for that FNaF 4 joke I see brewing in your heads to relieve itself. ... You good? Alright.
In Dib's head, there exist the very prominent Nightmare versions of characters in Dib's life, including, but not limited to, Gaz, Bitters, Membrane, Keef (kind of) and even himself. This provides insight into his psyche. He fears his father and his sister, sees his teacher as the leader of evil, and believes he himself is a monster, locked away in the asylum.
This being said, you would expect ZIM, his constant obsession who holds that everlooming fear of world domination just above him, would be present in his world, the mastermind behind the plot, even. So... Where is he?
ZIM's Knowledge of the Realm[]
After just arriving with Dib in the Nightmare Realm, ZIM says they can't go to his base. This statement in on itself is a bit suspicious; how would he know there was no Nightmare version of him and his base? Surely he hasn't been here before...
Floating Timeline[]
While many cartoons, realistic or not, exist on floating timelines (IZ being no exception,) this series has actually tried to portray continuity. The most interesting and seemingly impossible example of this is when Dib brings up the events of Bolognius Maximus in another episode. This could not be possible, as both of them turned into meat by the end of the episode.
However, the relevance of this particularly is questionable.
Yes, Invader Zim is a cartoon, not meant to be realistic, not meant to be taken seriously, and not ment to have a deeper meaning than what is presented. With that said, and with the strange points brought up above, what do you think? Could it all be in Dib's abnormally large head? Does the absence of Nightmare ZIM mean something? Comment below your thoughts, or if I missed something. This was all just off the top of my head typed up during Study Hall, so please do share.
And before you publish your comments, please know that I will respect your opinions so long as you respect mine. Thank you.