Professor Membrane

NOT SCIENTIFICALLY POSSIBLE! — Professor Membrane's most famous quote, Enter the Florpus

Professor Membrane is one of the main supporting characters of the Invader Zim series and the tritagonist in Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus. He is the father of Dib and Gaz, but he has very little time for his offspring, being one of the most famous and important people on Earth.

The Professor, as he is often called, is rarely at home, so he supervises his kids in the form of a floating monitor, which often spews out pre-recorded reminders that are often way out-of-date. Expectedly, Dib and Gaz refer to him as Dad.

Personality[]

Professor Membrane has been presented an incredibly vain individual judging by how he owns multiple objects and inventions that resemble him (Mainly being his scythe-shaped hairstyle). Despite this, he still cares about other people. That, being his family. Although he does seem to have little parental concern for his children. As shown in the unmade episode "Mopiness of Doom", Dib comes home after a fight with Zim, now having disheveled hair, scratches, and torn up clothing. Membrane either didn't notice Dib's condition, or seem very concerned about it.

There are times where he shows parental concern for his children however. As seen in "Gaz, Taster of Pork", he was clearly stressed out by the fact he could not find a way to cure Gaz for when she was "cursed" to taste pigs. As well as another scene from "Mopiness of Doom", He was easily able to detect that Dib was not happy about something. Showing that he's easily able to tell how someone feels depending on their demeanor, or anything they do that's slightly off. Like when one of Dib's calculations were incorrect, Membrane clearly took this as a "cry for help" and told Dib he could tell him what was wrong. Another example is from "Quarterly 2", when Dib gets knocked off the Membrane Labs Junior Executive Mobile Exosuit by Zim, Membrane clearly showed worry for his son's life, quickly jumping into action by catching his son, and expressed anger at what Zim had just tried to do.

Membrane can also be temperamental since he usually tends to suddenly raise his voice when saying certain words, or talking about a certain topic. He's rather expressive through movement, and tone of voice. Which is probably a good thing considering his face is obscured by he coat and goggles.

Much like his daughter Gaz, he can also be vengeful at times as shown in "The Most Horrible X-Mas Ever", he was not happy to have received an overload of socks from Santa Claus, and devoted a portion of his life to destroying Santa. He's clearly still very angry about it, even in adulthood.

Although his parenting skills seem to be missing in action, he really does love his kids, taking time at least once a year for dinner together—and always remembering to activate the food monitor. In "Future Dib", he invented a device that would supply unlimited energy to the entire planet, but refused to activate it unless his children were there to share the moment.

Membrane is somewhat embarrassed of his son's belief in the paranormal, refusing to call it a "proper" branch of science. However, he believes Dib's obsession is just a phase (or as he speaks of it, "temporary insanity"), that Dib will eventually grow out of, and allows his son to do as he pleases to an extent.

He even understands that letting go of such of notions isn't easy, comparing it to how he once believed sharks and humans could be friends (which cost him both his arms). On occasion, Membrane is so preoccupied with work that he fails to recognize his own kids (i.e. not recognizing Dib when he comes backstage in "Battle-Dib").

Professor Membrane has also had a grudge against Santa Claus ever since he was a child; on Christmas day, instead of giving him twelve cases of Uranium-238 as he'd asked, Santa gave him a present overflowing with socks.

In the comic series, the Professor is presented as a more active parent, spending more time with his children. This is carried over into Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus, where it's made clear that despite still not liking Dib's obsession with the paranormal, he's proud of and loves his son.

Appearance[]

Professor Membrane's appearance has not developed much since he was a child, other than his increased height. He wears a white lab coat, purple gloves, and big black boots. His eyes are never clearly seen due to him wearing goggles. Dib looks a lot like his father, both sharing black hair styled in similar scythe-like shapes.

For Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus, the Professor has been slightly redesigned, with more hair on the top of his head in addition to the scythe, as well as a thicker coat that makes him look thicker than he did in the series. Also his gloves and boots are now larger, the gloves acting to cover the fact he now has cybernetic arms (with it being heavily implied that they were lost in a vicious shark attack when he was a child).

Sightings[]

Abilities[]

In "The Most Horrible X-mas Ever", Membrane seems to have incredible power, similar to that of Dib's power in the episode "Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom", when he blasts open the back door with an energy beam fired from his glove, although this is likely based more upon technology that he created rather than any natural gift.

This was eventually confirmed in Enter the Florpus, wherein it is revealed that the Professor has two completely robotic arms hidden under his gloves, which are capable of firing powerful energy attacks. He apparently lost his real arms to sharks he tried to befriend as a child. His legs are apparently mechanical as well, as he is able to move inhumanly fast, covering a large portion of a stadium in the blink of an eye, and can hover by projecting the same energy from the bottom of his feet.

Role in Invader Zim[]

He has a science TV show Probing the Membrane of Science, which requires the people in the audience to pass several tests just to sit and watch. He is somewhat of a celebrity, and was described in "Future Dib" as someone "without whom the whole world falls into chaos".

The Professor appears to be about 40 or so; his first name is unknown, but none is apparently needed; he is world-renowned for his contributions to human science, making breakthroughs in every scientific field, from genetics and neuroscience to disease research and engineering. Some of his most notable inventions include the hover helmet, the Perpetual Energy Generator (which was never put into use, due to heckling from the crowd) and Super Toast.

Had the series continued, it would have been revealed that Dib and maybe Gaz as well were not actually Membrane's birth children, but had been genetically engineered by the Professor, perhaps as an experiment. This may explain why Dib and Gaz seem to have superhuman powers, as well as the lack of a mother in the Membrane household. However, this idea was never brought to fruition.

In the comic series, Membrane is presented as more of an active parent, as he's seen spending more time having meals with and playing games with his children, in person rather than by remote. However, he's also demonstrated that he still prioritizes science over them. In Issue 5, he agrees to help Gaz imprison Dib in an alternate universe ruled by gamers just because she says it's for science; in Issue 16, he's happy to let Dib use an experimental fear siphon, even though he admits it's not ready for human use yet; and in Issue 32, he shows only moderate concern for the fact that Dib intends to cheat at the Physical Fitness test, instead being more focused on something he's needed for on the Moon.

In Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus, Membrane has his largest role ever. Intending to use his new Membracelets to harness the power of children holding hands around the planet in order to improve the world on Peace Day, he is dismissive of Dib's return to studying the paranormal. This causes an angry Dib to decide to crash his father's keynote speech unveiling the Membracelets in order to expose Zim, who has become despondent upon learning the Irken Armada isn't coming to conquer Earth. However, learning of the Membracelets inspires Zim, and he hijacks the speech, taking over Membrane Labs and sending Membrane himself to Moo-Ping 10, before using the Membracelets to teleport Earth into the Armada's path, inadvertently creating a dangerous Florpus Hole in the process.

Dib and Gaz eventually use Tak's Ship to reach Moo-Ping 10 and rescue their father, who is convinced the whole thing is a hallucination caused by being hit on the head, most likely by Zim. Despite this, he is able to deduce how Minimoose can be used to reverse Earth's teleportation before the Florpus destroys it. Tak's Ship then breaks the Membranes out and they fly back to Earth, only to crash due to debris. Membrane is separated from Dib in the crash, but tracks him down in time to save him from Zim's robot soldiers.

Despite still believing that the whole situation is a dream, Membrane fights the robots, destroying all of them, only to be confronted by Clembrane, a flawed clone of him created by Zim; confused by the clone's presence, he is defeated by it. Fortunately, when Gaz's intervention causes Clembrane to get ahold of Minimoose from Zim, she and Dib are able to convince him to hand the moose over.

Membrane then uses Minimoose to return Earth to its proper place, just in time to avoid it being destroyed by either the Florpus or the Armada. Afterwards, he has dinner with his family (now joined by Clembrane), and reveals that he still believes that the whole thing was a hallucination, despite the family growing more closer and Dib reconciles with him and Gaz.

Facts of Doom[]

• Professor Membrane's voice actor is Rodger Bumpass, who also provides the voice of Squidward on SpongeBob SquarePants.
  • Bumpass also portrayed Nightmare Bitters in "Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom" and ironically the alien Spleenk in "Backseat Drivers from Beyond the Stars".
• In TruthShrieker, it is revealed that his last name is in fact Membrane. However, his first name has never been revealed
• The Professor was the final member of his family to have met Zim and by extension possibly the first scientist to have met an alien, though he is unaware of this fact as he thinks Zim to be a child with a skin condition.
• Professor Membrane knows Zim as Dib's "little foreign friend" which makes sense as he (somewhat erroneously) believes that he is from another country rather than another planet (this could refer to the fact that "alien" is also a synonym for "immigrant").
  • He does however believe in the existence of extraterrestrials, though does not believe they have visited Earth, as he said in “Battle Of The Planets” that if there truly were aliens in space then they would be too far away to travel the massive distance to our planet.
• Jhonen Vasquez revealed that Professor Membrane is rich, which makes sense seeing as he has his own TV Show "Probing the Membrane of Science", creates several inventions that he most likely patented as well as receiving royalties from his autobiography, he also has two labs, one downtown and the other in the basement in his house and it is hinted in "Future Dib" that he also gets funding from the government as he is friends with President Man.
  • Despite this, however, he lives in a regular, normal house, which contrasts with his childhood home seen in the Quarterly 3 issue.
• He doesn't allow Dib to use his tools for his "para-science", as stated in the Halloween episode. However, this is contradicted in "NanoZIM", when he allows Dib to use his Nanoship, although it's possible that the Professor made these restrictions after an unseen event in the series, maybe the above mention of bringing the dead back from the grave.
• The Professor has a lever built into his home for restoring power to the entire city, in the (apparently frequent) event that his son causes a city-wide blackout.
• In "Battle-Dib", it's revealed in his autobiography that the professor's first sentient thought was "I will poop now". However, this could be false information fed to Dib by Gaz, who was attempting to sabotage him, as another kid quickly tried to correct her, but was pushed away.
• In "Future Dib", there was going to be a future version of himself who is presented as a head in a jar in a floating robotic body, as seen from the concept art by Aaron Alexovich. This was probably inspired by Futurama, which had a similar concept in which the heads of famous people are kept alive in the 31th century by being preserved in jars.
• Since the Nanoship's controls he created that were seen in "NanoZIM" strongly resembles the Game Slave, it may hint that Professor Membrane is a bit of a gamer himself. Another clue was in "Game Slave 2", when he said that "video games develop hand eye coordination, and make kids into better human beings!", and later in Issue 1 of the comics he was seen playing a video game with Gaz.
• The Professor calls Gaz his "funny child" and sometimes he even calls her "honey". He sometimes even calls her by her name which he never does to Dib, implying that she is his favorite child and may be protective of her.
  • The feeling must be mutual since unsurprisingly, because The Professor is Gaz's favorite family member.
• Jhonen Vasquez has said in the commentary for "Future Dib" that he had trouble with one of Professor Membrane's colleagues calling Dib and Gaz his "roommates" rather than his kids as he feels that joke while it does highlight him as an absent figure in their lives, he does love his children.
• In the unmade episode "Mopiness of Doom", Professor Membrane could actually tell Dib was unhappy following his turn towards "real" science, since a formula he got from him was incorrect and the Professor believed it was a "cry for help", and for once gave him some fatherly advice. Of course, this just ends up backfiring as he unintentionally encouraged his son to be a paranormal investigator once more.
• Despite the Professor not recognizing Dib and often being embarrassed by his "para-science" he does love his son as Jhonen Vasquez has said that without his father, Dib would've been dead long ago, one example of this could be seen in "Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy" when he made the MegaBoy 3000 to save his son's life.
• The Professor has a little handmade puppet version of himself and seems to have a talent for ventriloquism. However, this may just be because his mouth is covered by his clothing.
• In "The Most Horrible X-Mas Ever", during a flashback when the Professor was a kid, he sounds as if he's already an adult.
• In "Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom", he appears as a nightmare monster along with Gaz.
• In the series Professor Membrane is scrawny with a single scythe looking hair. However, in Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus, he seems to have a full set of hair and gained some weight.
  • In the movie it's also revealed that Professor Membrane has robotic arms, his real ones having apparently been lost to sharks he tried to befriend as a child.

• The scene in Enter the Florpus where Professor Membrane yells "Not scientifically possible!" at a random crowd member quickly became a meme.
• Professor Membrane and Hobo 678 are the only known characters who have robotic implants, however how they lost their arm(s) is vastly different.
• Melissa Fahn played Professor Membrane during InvaderCON 1, as Roger wasn't invited as a guest at the time.
• Professor Membrane's name is based off of a membrane, a thin film-like structure that separates two fluids.
• Professor Membrane may well be a very vain individual, considering how highly he talks of himself and his studies. Not only that, but he has a lamp of himself in his own home.
• Jhonen Vasquez chose to make Professor Membrane a scientist so Dib could have access to advanced technology he could use against Zim's advanced Irken Technology.
• Despite Professor Membrane being a single father, there is no evidence that he was ever married; there is no mention of Dib and Gaz's mother at any point in the series, nor are there any pictures of her in the Membrane household. Eric Trueheart has said that Dib was going to go on a quest to find out why his life was so horrible and eventually discover that he's a clone of his father, which would explain why there is no Mrs. Membrane, as his children were created by the use of his DNA alone.
  • However, this has not stopped fans from creating their own versions of Dib and Gaz's mother, many of them resemble Gaz in appearance.
• Professor Membrane has made it clear that he'll do anything if it's stated to be "for science", no matter how morally questionable. It's how he justifies imprisoning Gaz and turning her into a media freak during "Gaz, Taster of Pork", and in Issue 5, Gaz weakly using it as her reasoning for finding a dimension ruled by gamers and imprisoning Dib in it is enough to get Membrane to go along with it.
• In Issue 16, he allows Dib to use an experimental Fear Siphon, despite admitting it's not safe for human use yet. Combined with the above mentions of doing anything "for science", this implies the Professor has a very loose set of morals.
  • This issue also shows that, despite being a man of science, he seems to be unaware that humans have already landed on the moon, as he states that the Fear Siphon's slurry could one day be used as fuel to reach the moon. However, in Issue 32, he claimed to be needed there and made it with nothing more than his lab coat and a space helmet, which could imply that the Fear Siphon was involved in his ability to travel, but is most likely merely another case of the series' loose continuity ignoring a previously established fact for the sake of a gag.
• In the YouTube series "Good to Evil" Professor Membrane was (erroneously) ranked as the most evil character in Invader Zim. Although, he wasn’t much a villain nor a pure evil character in the series.
• In the YouTube series "Cartoon Scientists: Dumb to Brilliant" Professor Membrane was ranked as the third smartest scientist in cartoon history only losing to Professor Farnsworth from Futurama and Rick Sanchez from "Rick and Morty."

  

• In Issue 44, it's revealed that the Professor has an RV with his hairstyle on top of it.
  • In the same issue, it's shown that he thinks that Minimoose is one of "nature's deformities", which would explain why no one questions why he's purple or can float.
  • It's revealed in the same issue that the Professor is surprisingly skilled at skiing.
  • This issue marks the first time that Professor Membrane doesn't wear his lab coat and instead wears winter clothing.
• A flashback to Membrane's childhood in Quarterly 3, specifically the origin of his hatred of Santa Claus, shows his parents for the first time. Interestingly, his mother's hairstyle is the same as his, while his father's looks similar to Gaz's.
• He has a mixed reaction from the fanbase. Many praise him for his sense of humor, while others criticize him for being a bad father by not supporting his kids enough and that he cares more about science than his own children. Some fans think he is the reason why Dib and Gaz rarely ever get along.
• As revealed by himself in Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus, he used to think sharks were his friends, but now he knows better. This might imply that his mechanical arms are the result of having his original arms being bitten off by sharks.
• Despite being Mexican, as Jhonen Vasquez revealed, Professor Membrane’s surname is still said in English while it technically should be “Membrana” which is how he’s referred to in the Latin American version of the show.

​Gallery[]

Membrane as a child on Christmas, seconds before he opens his life-changing present of socks.

Membrane with puppet self

Professor Membrane having dinner with his kids in the series

Membrane having dinner with his kids in the comics

Membrane meeting President Man

Membrane with his robotic arm

Young Membrane in the comics

See also[]

• Dib and Professor Membrane's Relationship
• Gaz and Professor Membrane's Relationship
• Inventions of Professor Membrane
• Professor Membrane/Images

References[]