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Almighty Tallest

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Almighty Tallest (Red and Purple)
Red and Purple talking about Zim
Homeworld Irk
Assignment To rule the Irken Empire
Rank Tallest
Gender Male
Eye Color Red and Purple
First appearance The Nightmare Begins

The Almighty Tallest are one of the two main antagonists (along with Dib Membrane) of the Nickelodeon animated Invader Zim franchise, serving as one of the three main antagonists (alongside Dib Membrane) of the 2001-2006 television series Invader Zim and one of the overarching antagonists (alongside Control Brains) of the 2019 Netflix film Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus.

They are the leaders of the Irken Empire. As the name suggests, they are the tallest known Irkens alive and they have virtually absolute power, besides the Control Brains.

Description[]

IrkenSociety

Tallest Red and Purple literally "looking down" on the very short Invader Skoodge.

The Irken Empire has a hierarchical class structure in which shorter individuals are both figuratively and literally looked down upon. The tallest Irken alive at the time in a specific generation takes command of the entirety of the Empire.

However, in the event that two Irkens are exactly the same height, they'll rule simultaneously, such as in the case of Red and Purple.

In such a case, which is likely rare, the two may or may not take responsibility for different aspects of the Empire, something that may be alluded to by the general attitudes of Red and Purple, with Red being more outspoken, active, and generally "in-charge", and Purple generally paying more attention to eloquence, social situations, and creature comforts such as food or drink.

Tallest Purple commanding

Irkens obey virtually every command the Tallest give, regardless of whether it is impulsive or not.

There's no known official enthronement ceremony for the Almighty Tallest, however, and the only confirmed ceremony's that in which the thumbs of the recently ascended Tallest are amputated (though it has been implied that the current Tallest have forgone this by simply hiding their thumbs inside their massive gauntlets. [citation needed]

The Irken race as a whole almost fanatically refers to their leaders as "My Tallest", highly akin to the way humans participating in a monarchical societal structure refer to their rulers only as "Your Majesty". As a general rule of both grammar and respect, "My Tallest" is never pluralized, even when two Tallest rule in tandem.

Presently, the two current Almighty Tallest, Red and Purple, travel around to observe and supervise Operation Impending Doom II in the Massive, the largest and most powerful ship in the Irken Armada. It also serves as Red and Purple's personal vessel. While they appear to have a casual interest in expanding the Empire, as well as take great amusement from watching the process of such, the two are rather lazy and prefer to spend most of their time lounging around and/or eating junk food.

Presumably, previous Tallest were far more productive, as was hinted with Tallest Miyuki who commissioned the Massive during her reign, as well as oversaw its construction while visiting Vort Research Station 9, as documented on the unmade episode “The Trial”, while Tallest Spork demanded the loyalty of the Irken Elite while giving a speech meant to inspire future soldiers on Devastis. By contrast, while Red and Purple are seen to have the ability to do whatever they please without consequences, they don’t have the motivation or interest to really do their job as leaders of the Empire, as they’re content with their already-leisurely condition of life.

Another day for the Tallest

The Tallest lounging.

Although they are the same species as their subjects, the Almighty Tallest differ from their subordinates in many ways other than height: They appear to only have two fingers (as opposed to the normal Irken amount of three), and their waists are unnaturally thin. Explaining the former, it was stated by the Invader Zim crew that when a Tallest is chosen, their thumbs are usually chopped off in order to prove that they can rule without them. It’s unknown how long this tradition has been in place, but presumably since at least from the early days of Tallest Miyuki’s reign.

Role in Invader Zim[]

The Almighty Tallest hold near-omnipotent power in the Irken Empire and are practically worshipped by their subjects. They regularly appear at major events and gatherings, either playing a major role or simply providing their presence to raise morale.

Tallest Probing Day

The Tallest on Probing Day.

For example, on an Irken holiday known as Probing Day, it's the duty of the Almighty Tallest to check up on all the Irken Invaders and ask them to conduct a presentation on how they plan to conquer their assigned planet.

However, as is to be expected, the generally-frivolous Red and Purple force the Invaders to instead do a puppet show on how they are going to conquer the planet. Failure to meet the Tallest's standards is met with punishment by whacking the individual on the head with mechanical mallets - referred to as a "pummeling". It's unknown how long this part of the tradition has been in place.

Sightings[]






List of Known Tallest[]

The following table displays every known tallest in the order they have ruled.

Name Status
Almighty Tallest Miyuki Deceased †
Almighty Tallest Spork Deceased †
Almighty Tallest Red Deceased † (after ETF) or left to debate in other timelines
Almighty Tallest Purple Deceased † (after ETF) or left to debate in other timelines

Facts of Doom[]

  • Chronologically, Tallest Miyuki is the earliest known Almighty Tallest and so far the only known female ruler in Irk’s history.
  • Spork is the only known Tallest to have two different designs, as revealed in The Art of Invader Zim.
  • Despite Red and Purple being the leaders of the Irken Empire, they are never seen on Irk either doing their role in leading their people or working to shape morale.
  • Fittingly, Red and Purple could be considered the embodiment of hedonism within the show as they’re more often than not, devoted to their pursuit of pleasure (e.g. conquest) and indulgence (e.g. lazily eating snacks).
  • Red and Purple nearly died during "Backseat Drivers from Beyond the Stars", but unlike Tallest Miyuki and Tallest Spork who were killed by a blob monster that Zim created, they were almost killed by Dib who flew the Massive towards a star.
  • Despite Zim being the main antagonist of the show, the comics and the film, the Almighty Tallest are far more dangerous than he is, as they have all the power of the Irken Empire in their hands and an immense military armada which they can use to ravage and conquer multiple worlds. Indeed, the Tallest are far more evil than Zim, who just wants to prove his worth as an Irken Invader.
  • In Enter the Florpus, despite retaining their comedic traits, the Almighty Tallest are presented as somewhat more actively evil than in the series or comics. While in the show they disliked Zim and sometimes they didn't want to check up his "mission" to either focus on Operation Impending Doom II or eat snacks, when Zim contacts them after a long time the Tallest decide that they have had enough of him and resolve to blow up the Earth just to get rid of Zim once and for all.
  • Jhonen Vasquez confirmed at Mexico Pixelatl 2019 that the Tallest are dead (for real this time), having died in the Florpus Hole in the dimension of fire, and presumably met their end shortly after Zim's transmission with them disconnected. However, since Invader Zim exists within a floating timeline or alternate timelines, their current status may be up for debate.
  • Purple has more lines than Red in the show.
  • In the Latin American dub of the show, the Tallest are never referred to as the Almighty Tallest. This is because when translated into Spanish it would be "Los Todo poderosos Más Altos", which is too long to translate; as a result, they are simply referred to as "Los Altos" (The Tallest), Mis Altos (My Tallest) or very rarely "Mis Altisimos" (My very Tallest).
  • Most of the time Tallest Red has an all red uniform, but sometimes he can be seen wearing a black and red uniform.
  • Wally Wingert, the voice actor for Tallest Red, has a theory that the Tallest aren't actually tall, but instead just wear suits to make them look tall. However, this is not considered canonical as Jhonen Vasquez has not confirmed or denied this.
  • Despite the fact that as mentioned above by the Invader Zim crew that when a Tallest is chosen, their thumbs are usually chopped off in order to prove that they can rule without them, during the events of Enter the Florpus, Red and Purple were seen with their thumbs. This can be explained “in universe” that they never had them cut off and were simply hidden the whole time under their gauntlets and decided not to hide them anymore, or just as likely that it could have been an animation error.
  • It was revealed in “The Trial” that Zim had aspirations to be the Tallest, but presumably that is no longer his goal, as he'd much rather be an Invader and doesn’t seem to be interested in gaining power and ruling his home planet at the moment, as hinted in a four page comic that was in a Nick magazine and Enter the Florpus. However, fans seem to want this to come to fruition for him in fan art and fan fiction, creating many unique designs for an Almighty Tallest Zim.[1] [2] [3][4] [5][6]

References[]

  1. ↑ [1]
  2. ↑ [2]
  3. ↑ [3]
  4. ↑ [4]
  5. ↑ [5]
  6. ↑ [6]

See also[]

Irken Jobs
Advisor • Almighty Tallest • Control Brain • Irken Elite • Fast Food Drone • Frylord • Irken Invader • Janitor • Navigator • Service Drone • Soldier
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