Dib

Personality:   He’s the hero of the setting. The defender of earth against the alien threat of Zim. But just like how Zim is more morally grey than a villain and has a bunch of traits commonly associated with heroes, Dib is more morally grey than a hero and has a bunch of traits commonly associated with VILLAINS. Dib seems like your average hero at first, being the sole defender of earth against an alien threat, but when you look at his main motivations and just HOW he goes about defending earth, Dib quickly starts looking a lot more lawful neutral than lawful good. First of all, His motives for defending earth aren’t purely “because it’s the right thing to do”. Dib’s motives aren’t even “because I’m one of the idiots who lives here”. Defending earth because it’s his home and for the good of humanity are definitely two of Dib’s motives, but his main motivation that comes first and foremost is getting his research on the paranormal proved and validated. Defeating Zim will prove that he’s not crazy, and that all the things he’s been talking about are actually true. Earth’s safety comes second to that simply because without earth, there’s no one to prove anything to. The best proof of this is Dib’s Wonderful Life Of Doom, where we actually get to see what Dib would do if he won. In the simulation, Dib captures Zim and immediately uses him as proof of the paranormal, using Zim as a springboard to start a career in paranormal sciences. Dib quickly spends all his time proving his theories on the paranormal, proving to everyone that he’s RIGHT, and he completely forgets about the Irken Armada until they’re pretty much on earth’s doorstep, needing to be reminded by Zim. Dib doesn’t care about the alien threat of the armada, only about finally being right and being able to study the paranormal. He only goes against the armada when they’re extremely close to earth, now actively posing a threat to the paranormal research he’s done over the years. But that’s not all the evidence. There’s proof of this in the very first episode, where Dib outright says that he’s hoping that “they’ll name your autopsy after me!”. While saving the earth is definitely a high priority of his, it comes second to the fame and recognition that proving the existence of aliens will give him. There’s also Zib showing just how little Dib cares about the earth’s actual safety. When he kills Zim and proves the existence of aliens, only for no one to care and him to get not even the slightest bit of recognition for it, he takes over earth himself and ends up destroying it by firing a massive weapon designed to destroy the entire irken empire in one shot, something that he only attempts to do when it’s made absolutely clear to him that irkens and aliens in general cannot be used to prove the existence of the paranormal. Sure you can say that Zib wasn’t in the best state of mind at the time, literally having Zim’s PAK strapped to the back of his head, but he still did it and the point still stands. But also, Dib’s more villainous traits almost perfectly contrast Zim’s more heroic traits. First of all, where Zim has a strange sense of honour, is willing to go easy on Dib, will spare his enemies at the end of a fight and is willing to work with his enemies if the situation calls for it, Dib is ruthless and would probably sell your soul for one corn chip. Unlike Zim, who’s willing to swallow his pride and work with Dib in a pinch, Dib refuses to work with Zim in any context, needing to be forced into working with Zim for even the shortest amount of time. Like I mentioned before, Zim is the one who initiates all the team ups between the two of them, as Dib always refuses to do so. But there’s also the fact that when they’re working together, Zim gives and Dib takes. For some examples, Tak: The Hideous New Girl and Halloween Spectacular Of Spooky Doom. In Tak: The Hideous New Girl, Upon agreeing to work with Dib, Zim lets Dib into his base, and gives him a ride in his Voot Cruiser to Tak’s base, all in exchange for a data drive. He lets Dib into his home, his main base of operations that he is extremely protective of, for a single data drive. And although that was a part of their original deal, him giving Dib a ride definitely wasn’t. Meanwhile, when Dib and Zim work together in Halloween Spectacular Of Spooky Doom, Dib betrays Zim almost immediately, slapping the crazy collar on Zim and throwing him to the monsters without hesitation. Zim even seems taken aback at Dib’s betrayal, obviously not expecting it. That’s not a hero trait. That’s a straight up villain trope. There’s also this scene in 10 Minutes To Doom. Dib gets his hands on Zim’s PAK and Zim comes in and attempts to reason with him, explaining that he needs the PAK to live and will legitimately die without it. Now we’ve already established that if the roles were reversed, Zim would have given Dib his lifesaving equipment back with little to no questions asked. But the roles aren’t reversed, and what does Dib do? He makes it his personal goal that this thing in his hands does not reattach to Zim in time. Even when the PAK attaches to him and starts overwhelming his mind, which he is AWARE OF BY THE WAY, he continues to do his best to play keep-away with Zim, with the full intentions of killing him in a slow and painful manner by doing so. Dib is ruthless in his war against Zim. He can’t work with Zim in any constructive way without betraying him unless earth or his own life is at stake, he can and will take any chance he gets at killing Zim and he simply cannot be reasoned with against doing so. This inability to be reasoned with and complete focus on wanting his enemies dead in any way possible isn’t something commonly seen in heroes, but is pretty much a staple of villain traits. Zim, the literal villain of the setting, doesn’t even have this sort of mindset when it comes to fighting Dib, as he only attempts to kill him in elaborate schemes that Dib is able to fight back against, going easy on Dib in fights and even putting obvious flaws in his plans so Dib has a fair chance against him (like for example, using a human operating system in some of his machines so Dib can hack them in Future Dib or giving the wormhole he sent Dib’s class to in Room With A Moose a way out). Dib on the other hand, doesn’t care about giving Zim a fair fight at all, and will take any chance he gets to kill him, betraying Zim and throwing him to the monsters in Halloween Spectacular Of Spooky Doom and depriving Zim of his PAK in 10 Minutes To Doom. Even in Enter The Florpus, Dib is willing to take advantage of Zim when he’s in no condition to fight back to achieve his goals. Upon seeing Zim in a depressed funk over his leaders, Dib almost immediately takes advantage of Zim’s state, handcuffing him and attempting to expose him at Professor Membrane’s Peace Day keynote speech. So Dib is the hero of the setting, but his motivations have far more selfish undertones than they first appear and he displays the ruthlessness, selfishness and willingness to betray others never seen in heroes, but commonly seen in villains. Dib is morally grey, and also fits the description of a lawful neutral character. He has a single main goal of defeating Zim and proving the existence of the paranormal to the world by doing so, and doesn’t care about what he has to do, good or bad, in order to achieve that goal. He’s willing to take advantage of and betray anyone (usually Zim in situations when they’re forced to work together, but there’s also the fact that he willingly cursed his own sister with an unknown spell just to see if it works) if it means getting closer to that goal of proving the supernatural. He’ll straight up torture Zim to death by depriving him of his PAK if that’s what it takes. He’s protecting the earth because that’s what needs to be done in order for there to be a world to prove the paranormal to in the first place. Dib is lawful neutral and morally grey.

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