Hello! I read the tags in reblogs, and I noticed you have headcanons about Skoodge. Can I hear what they are? I love him so much, and I think they would make my day.
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEUUUUS!
Like okay. Skoodge is actually really freaking badass. And like I feel like how the fandom usually defines his character is kinda… well, let’s just say I’m not really a fan of the whole “soft-boy skoodge” that the fandom kinda clung onto. But a reminder, these are my own personal headcanons and nothing against people who like Skoodge to be a sweet butterball, but that’s not him to me.
This is why my skoodge tag is labeled as: “#the skoodge we deserve” because I just reblog what I want to see from him the most.
If Defectives were measured on a Neurodivergent scale, I feel Skoodge is the most “normal” out of any other irken. More so then Tak and especially Zim. Skoodge is actually a very average guy and the prime example of an irken soldier.
Zim is the most defective in the history of the irken empire. Zim was so defective, his personality literally caused the control brains to get a virus. It’s not up for debate that Zim isn’t just defective. He’s the MOST defective.
Where Skoodge, as contrast, is the most normal example of an Irken soldier you can get, and is the most plain jane Hank Hill normal guy you could ever really meet.
He’s obedient, he’s gullible, he’s loyal to a self-sacrificing degree. He’s physically capable and is actually prideful like most Irkens. He conquered Blourch faster out of anyone of his species. And this was a species that was just KNOWN by the empire as “Slaughtering Rat people”
It was an assignment absolutely no one wanted. Including Larb. And Skoodge went ahead and was the very first to complete his assignment. And Skoodge was even prideful of that fact. And practically said to the Tallest’s face, yes he can be Short AND be a capable soldier.
And remember, The Tallest in Nightmare Begins gave a huge speech about how superior that being an irken invader assigned to conquer a planet is a huge honor. Skoodge is actually very on top of his rank and extremely capable.
The only thing that is really “wrong” with Skoodge is that he is short and Ugly (according to the Tallest)
Which makes his relationship with Zim equally fascinating to me. Especially in the unreleased episodes where he shines.
Loyalty is something that is built heartedly into Skoodge. It’s one of his pure defining character traits. (he has so little character traits and this is the consistent one and no one sees this?)
He follows Zim’s orders to his death even if he clearly outranks him. And he does the equally same thing to the Tallest.
To Skoodge, wanting to be helpful at every opportunity he can. He goes to the assignment on Hobo13 when he knows the Tallest have already killed him once, and holds on hope for that promotion.
I can understand an Irken Soilder being loyal to their Tallest, but why necessarily Zim?
I think it’s partly because they did grow up together, but I really love my personal headcanon.
Skoodge actually admires Zim a whole lot.
Zim is the most crazy, self-destructive menace known to Irk and I think Skoodge almost finds that admirable in a way.
He sees Zim as an admirable guy he likes to listen and to follow not necessarily because of his Tallness or authority but because he’s defective and “free” and sees his “insane” schemes as somewhat fun.
They are both short and I don’t think Skoodge is as gullible as he seems. He’s just an insane people pleaser to a self-destructive degree. Everything an irken soldier could be.
Zim also has the same desire to please his Tallest and he always goes above and beyond the call of duty and tries things his OWN way to get their attention and to get people to look at and admire him.
Skoodge just does what he’s told with no question and no hesitance, even if he might hate it.
If Zim hates something he will actively fight against it, and demand things to be made right. And just work hard like crazy to prove everything wrong and actively work against it. Zim has courage and boldness against the Tallest and society that Skoodge just doesn’t and literally can not have.
And likewise, where Zim gets jealous and spiteful towards Skoodge for how he conquered Blourch when Zim isn’t even CLOSE to conquer his planet, I think the jealousy comes from a place of mutual respect on Zim’s side.
Skoodge is his peer and they hung out a lot as training smeets. Zim hates that Skoodge surpassed him, and Zim does have that anxiety about his fellow invaders being better than him.
Which is why I think Zim repeatedly ordering Skoodge to his doom is well………Zim being extremely petty. Cause he is. Zim was even shocked when Skoodge turned out to be alive, meaning that he heard about him being shot out of the canons during the first organic sweep.
When they were together as training smeets, Zim really liked having Skoodge around, because Skoodge was bright-eyed and admired Zim’s pure tenacity. He was that admirable in his peer, which is why he would follow with whatever Zim told him to do. And Zim still wants to keep Skoodge under his thumb because he just likes that someone listens to him and follows his leadership.
Irken society has no place for things like friendship or family or anything like that. There is only being beneficial to the empire or not, defective or not, useful or not.
However, I really do think that Skoodge is the closest thing that Zim has to a friend in their society. Like growing up together and Zim leaving him for dead, you could almost say they are the closest thing to a “brother” relationship in a highly competitive society.
The relationship is extremely self-serving, and Skoodge would hold no animosity towards Zim on that. (Zim tried to kill him in Hobo13 and in Day of the Spookies he is just happy to be there helping Zim again)
Skoodge does know that the Tallest hate Zim I think. Zim is the laughing stock of the entire armada, and even someone like Skoodge who isn’t really held in high regard cause of his size, even he would know this.
But he still sees Zim as a valuable ally, even if he doesn’t get his defectiveness, I think he finds Zim’s craziness almost admirable. Skoodge knows Zim kept pushing him into the jaws of death in Hobo13, but he kept running back to him later.
Skoodge is a very average, loyal and dependable guy with the strength to slaughter rat people with his bare claws and a very capable soldier.
He keeps going back to Zim as his “safe space” even if he doesn’t know why, because I do think he has some underlying dislike for the Tallest (from the way he gloated slightly about how he conquered Blourch first and was eager to be a part of the organic sweep) but due to Skoodge not being a defective, that slight dislike can’t fester or have any real room to grow into anything besides some low grumbling (we see irkens like Navigator Irken from ETF and Table Drone Bob. You can dislike the Tallest and still serve the empire, it takes a special kind of crazy to act out against them) Which is what Skoodge finds admirable about Zim I think, even if he might not know why he keeps going back to see what Zim is up to or what he’s doing.
I would always love to see their relationship explored in way more depth because it seems so interesting.
But… absolutely no one from what I tell wants to. Skoodge is always made too soft for my liking, when Zim is the sensitive emotional one…… or Skoodge is made to have a high emotional intelligence when he really wouldn’t have that either. As I said, Skoodge is a very interpretive character because he only had a few scenes and is very underdeveloped. So people can do what they want with him, but I can never find the characterizations I crave from him.
I just need more fanfics where Skoodge is the Solid Rock to Zim’s disastrous tidal wave. Romantic or platonic, it doesn’t matter.
Skoodge is the best Invader of his people, discriminated for being short and ugly, and is the prime example of an irken soldier and a very average guy.
That’s my Skoodge. That’s the Skoodge we deserve.