He kept Gir around merely for comedic relief, realizing he was good for little more. He gave the robot menial tasks not even he could mess up just so he would have something to do to leave the alien to his business. Taking his mind off Gir, he again rested, dreaming back to days gone by. Back to before he had first come to Earth. Life was not much simpler then. His small stature did little for his respect, and he had always dreamed of overtaking a planet and proving himself worthy.

He always had high respect for the Tallest, as did all Irkens, and he envisioned the day he would be looked up to as they were, with gratification and jealousy. He wanted his race to look at him and dream of the day they could be in his place. He would show them all! He would succeed, he would dominate! And then he was sent to Earth, given Gir as an 'advanced' model of the Sirs. He often times doubted his leaders' judgement with this, but always trusted them in the end. They were, after all, the leaders of the Irken Empire. He remained on this disgusting planet, learning all he could, dealing with the pressures of his society, as well as Dib's constant attempts to reveal his secret. Everything seemed to be against him.

After yet another huge failure, he transmitted to the Tallest, telling them all was going smoothly. His mask, however, was failing, and they delighted in his misery. But they let something slip in that contact, showing Zim the light to their scheme. They tried to cover it up so as to prevent Zim from coming back, but eventually had to confess, without much guilt of course.

"To put things simply--We..don't..want..you.."

The awful scene played back in his head, and he stifled the anger that threatened to come forth whenever he remembered back to that moment. Once he had found out that this entire mission was a fraud, that they had merely sent him here to rid of him forever, not expecting him to find a planet, he had thought about giving up. Thought about just leaving to some far away unimportant planet so that the Irken empire would no longer have to hear from him. He had packed and had almost left, too. But then he thought again; no, he couldn't leave, he couldn't just give up. He was going to take this planet and prove to the Tallest that he was Irken material, that he was worthy enough to be called an invader!

Only a few short months later he succeeded. He had learned enough about the ways of the human, and overthrew some of the most powerful political leaders of the day, the others soon surrendering to his fury. Things only went up from there. He continued to gain power, continued to strike fear into the hearts of all, until the final day when, after two years of trying, he was finally deemed leader of all humans! Ruler of the planet! He then remembered back to the look on the faces of the Tallest when he reported his victory, and snickered at the thought.

His first task was to break up Dib's family, destroy the threat. He had the father sent off to some faraway, and terribly underfunded jail, but kept Dib and Gaz near in order to keep an eye on them. He threw them in the nearby jail, being sure to keep them seperated so they may not commerce with each other and manage to escape. It worked, for a while, but months later Dib did succeed in thwarting the high security, and made to his freedom. Zim sent out a search party, but in reality Dib's escape was for the better. His weakling sister would not give in as long as Dib had been there, but now that he was gone, he easily broke her spirit, brainwashed her with the promises of power and glory. She gave in, and successfully gained the ranks.

Meanwhile Dib was still on the loose, gathering a rebellion, which would soon be known around the state, and Zim's constant attempts at capturing him failed. He did not worry, however, because the child was only fourteen at the time, and was no threat. But as Dib grew, so did his army, and it was soon apparent this earth monkey would have to be stopped. They began entrapping his most loyal rebels, executing them to break Dib's spirit. When that too failed, they tried harder, until finally they captured Dib himself, now a thirty year old man. Oh, sure, there were still plenty of rebels left out there, but they were lost without their leader.