Gaz is a character from the highly popular Nickelodeon cartoon, Invader Zim. She appears to be in what some fans consider "gothic" attire (Black dress, purple leggings, grey shirt, skull necklace; though this attire is more attributed to her creator, Jhonen Vasquez's dark stylings than a "Gothic" preference, as Gaz is just a child), and has purple hair. Her father is Professor Membrane, a world-renowned scientist famous for his Science TV show, Probing the Membrane of Science, as well as making inventions like Super Toast and high-tech machinery. In the episode "Bad, Bad, Rubber Piggy" we get to see Professor Membrane's "Temporal Displacement" machine, which allows us a peek back at young Gaz and Dib.
She is very antisocial (is rumored to have antisocial personality disorder), and prefers being alone to play her Game Slave 2 rather than deal with mankind (or aliens, for that matter), as she feels mankind is "annoying and stupid". Her on-screen time was, in the first season of Invader Zim, comprised of just her playing her Game Slave, and she had very few lines. One first season exception is episode 2.B, NanoZim where Gaz uses her video game prowess to defeat Zim and his nano-chip micro-suit, thinking it's just a video game (as we all know, if Gaz knew she was saving her brother's life, she wouldn't have played :) ) As the second season went on, Gaz's character developed further with the episodes "Game Slave 2" where Gaz has her first adventure on her own at the City Center Mall at midnight waiting to buy the new Game Slave handheld, the GS2. When she is tricked out of the GS2 that was rightfully hers by the crafty, lying, but (of course) doomed Iggins, Gaz sets out to get what was meant to be hers. Spoofing off of cult horror movies, Gaz stalks out her prey (Iggins) and gets her GS2 after terrifying the boy, and eventually sending him plummeting to his doom. Gaz, toward the end of the final season, got her own "Epic" episode filling the full 22 minute spot in "Gaz, Taster of Pork." In this episode, in an attempt to test a spell drive spell on someone other than himself, Dib curses Gaz with "enhanced piggy senses," causing her to taste nothing but pork. Throughout the episode, Gaz becomes a media freak known as "Pig Girl" and guilts/blackmails Dib into finding a cure for her curse, taking them to a Pig World Netherworld where she has to face the horrible challenge of the Shadow Hog.
Fan Reaction
Many fans of Gaz (and Invader Zim in particular) participate in the writing of fanfiction and creation of fanart. The most popular (albeit non-canonical) "Pairings" in fanfiction is "ZAGR" (Zim And Gaz Romance ). Many of these stories take the characters out of the setting of the show to an age where a romantic relationship (xenophilia) is plausible. However this "pairing" upsets many of the fans who don't think that creator Jhonen Vasquez would ever have intended Gaz to become romantically entangled with anyone, let alone Zim, as she's content with just her GS2 and the series never intended her to be anything but a child with a video game/piggy/pizza obsession. This is a very heated debate within the fandom.
Also, many fanfics are written in speculation of Gaz and Dib's parentage, particularly their absent mother and the roots of Gaz's dark, brooding nature. Some stories also cover on the issue of whether Gaz is Dib's real sister at all.
Voice Actress
Gaz is voiced by Melissa Fahn.
External Links
[1] The first ever Gaz art/fanfiction club on deviantART.
