Emperor Zurg

"So, we meet again, Buzz Lightyear... FOR THE LAST TIME!"

- Zurg's famous quote before he repeatedly fails to kill Buzz Lightyear

The Evil Emperor Zurg, better known as Emperor Zurg or simply Zurg, is a popular villain in the Toy Story franchise. He is the tertiary antagonist of Toy Story 2 and the main antagonist of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command and its film. He is also a minor character in Toy Story 3. He appears in the Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3 video games as a boss. He is Buzz Lightyear's arch enemy and Utility Belt Buzz's father.

Mentions
Zurg was mentioned in the first Toy Story film and show Toy Story Treats, as part of the backstory to Buzz Lightyear.

Toy Story 2
"Surrender, Buzz Lightyear! I have won! (Buzz#2: I'll never give in! You killed my father!) No, Buzz... I am your father."

- Emperor Zurg, parodying a very famous scene

Zurg made his first physical appearance in Toy Story 2, as the tertiary antagonist. He was introduced as the main antagonist, but this was the plot to reveal the true main villains later on. He was voiced by the film's co-writer, Andrew Stanton.

He is first seen at the beginning of the movie in the video game Rex is playing. He fights Buzz, but since Rex's arms are small, he cannot execute the combos needed to defeat Zurg and Zurg is victorious.

Later When the real Buzz Lightyear was trying to get out of Al's Toy Barn, he knocked Zurg's selling box over and Zurg broke free. Zurg then followed Buzz to Al's Apartment, where he encounters both Buzzes. Then a fight takes place on top of the elevator. Zurg grabbed Buzz 2 by his neck and told him that he was his father even though Buzz 2 said that Zurg killed his father.

Rex, who was too scared and apprehensive to watch anymore turns away, but his large tail hits Zurg sending him falling down the elevator shaft. However Zurg somehow survived his fall, and he later finds the other Buzz again and spends time with his "son".

His arms were also seen in Woody's nightmare.

Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue
The Evil Emperor Zurg is a major boss in the 1999 video game Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue.

Biography
The Evil Emperor Zurg is the boss of the game's twelfth level, The Evil Emperor Zurg, and the fourth main boss encountered by Buzz Lightyear. Zurg is fought on top of an elevator within the Elevator Hop, and Buzz must be careful not to fall off the edge during the battle. Zurg will constantly hover above Buzz firing spheres at him that will damage him on contact, although Buzz can deflect these by spinning. The yellow spheres travel towards him and then disappear, whereas the green ones will come back at Buzz and home in on him. Buzz must shoot Zurg with his laser while he's in range to damage him, and once his health has been fully diminished, the boss will topple over the side of the elevator and disappear into the darkness below. Buzz will then be allowed to proceed to the following level.

Buzz Lightyear of Star Command and Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins
In the series, which is presumably where the Buzz Lightyear character originates in-universe, Zurg rules an empire on Planet Z, and wants to rule the entire galaxy while destroying Star Command. Emperor Zurg considers Buzz his archenemy and often takes any opportunity to eliminate him. Most of his subjects are robots. His feet double as rockets and he can transform his arms into a variety of weapons. Despite often breaking the seriousness of otherwise purely evil statements, Zurg is widely considered the most evil person in the galaxy, especially by the other villains. He seems to have some nervousness about being touched. This cartoon had Zurg is a flamboyant villain who is just as much a comic relief character as he is a formidable opponent, similar to Skeletor, and has many comedic habits such as videotaping Buzz's speeches, maintaining a troll doll collection, and mentioning an equally evil "Nana Zurg". Zurg was voiced by Wayne Knight, who also played Al in Toy Story 2.

The episode "War, and Peace and War" was notably the only episode where Zurg teamed up with Buzz Lightyear to defeat the Heed, a common enemy that was trying to take over their galaxy. In Stranger Invasion, he revealed himself to be Buzz's father (a parody upon The Empire Strikes Back and a nearly identical scene in Toy Story 2), but quickly took it back, using the statement as a 'Made You Look' to stun Buzz and gain the upper hand.
 * Grubs (voiced by Frank Welker) - Zurg's equivalents to the LGMs of Star Command (though far less competent). They perform mechanical and technical duties. The Grubs work for Zurg against their will and also desire freedom, but many of them are simply too afraid to try to defect.
 * Brain Pods (Various Voices for each one) - Cybernetic brains in mobile jars, who serve Zurg as scientists and researchers. Although they take pride in their creations, they secretly harbor a desire to escape from Zurg's control (two of which are shown succeeding in doing so on-screen).
 * Hornets - The Hornets are Zurg's robotic foot soldiers, extremely expendable, lousy shots and always get vaporized in mass numbers by Lightyear's team. Hornets come in different models, but the most frequently seen are yellow and of average height.

Toy Story 3
Zurg has a short appearance in Toy Story 3. He was originally going to be the main antagonist during the film's earlier development. Many Toy Story fans though he would be the third's film main antagonist however he was ultimately reduced to a cameo at the end of the third movie.

Zurg is first mentioned in the third movie a few times by Buzz after Lotso switches him to "Demo Mode". He is later mentioned agian when Andy gives Buzz to Bonnie Anderson. Zurg appears during the credits being donated to Sunnyside Daycare Center after Lotso leaves. He is greeted by Stretch. Zurg It is currently stated that this Zurg is a different one from the second movie.

Toy Story 3: The Videogame
Zurg is in Toy Story 3: The Videogame.

Disney INFINITY
Zurg is also the main antagonist of the Toy Story playset in Disney Infinity.

Trivia

 * Zurg is evidently the equivalent to Darth Vader, with Buzz Lightyear the equivalent to Luke Skywalker, parodying of Star Wars.
 * Zurg's species is an issue of much debate. The four predominant theories are that he is either a human, a robot, a cyborg, or an alien. To this day, there is no concrete answer, but there is theoretically enough evidence to rule out Zurg being a robot due to his eating and sleeping habits.
 * He was originally going to appear in the first movie, probably as the main antagonist, but instead he was saved for the second film and Pixar decided to make a toy destroying boy the first movie's main villain.
 * Although Zurg was introduced as the sequel's main antagonist, Al McWhiggin and Stinky Pete are really the main villains because they both had bigger plans than Zurg.
 * Because Toy Story fans debate about Al and Stinky Pete, over which one of them ACTUALLY IS the main villain in Toy Story 2, Emperor Zurg is the villain who represented Toy Story 2 in the Pixar Pedia.
 * Zurg appeared in the 2015 Live-Action Disney movie, Tomorrowland.

Similar Villains

 * Bowser (Super Mario) - They both tend to have a rack to destroying the main hero. No matter how many times they fail, it does not stop them from keep trying, and they have come close to succeeding almost all the time.
 * Mojo Jojo (The Powerpuff Girls) - They're both supervillains, who not only dedicated their lives to destroy the hero, but actually created them. However, both of them surprisingly have moments where they actually get along with them, and they respect them as rivals.
 * Darth Vader (Star Wars) - Emperor Zurg is based on Darth Vader. They're stock Evil Geniuses bent on ruling the universe, and are very powerful. They are also the father of the hero, making their relationship complicated.
 * Lord Garmadon (Ninjago) - They're both heavily inspired by Darth Vader, and are fathers to the hero. Despite they're rivalry against them, they develop a soft spot for their sons, and even redeem themselves.
 * Dr. Ivo Eggman Robotnik (Sonic The Hedgehog) - They're supervillains who are constantly attempting the destroy the hero, and rule the world, or the universe if they get the chance. They likewise appear to have some kind of grey morality, and respect the hero as rivals.
 * Shredder (1987 TMNT) - They're supervillains who created the protagonist, and their mission is to destroy them.
 * Peg Leg Pete (Disney) - Used mostly for comic relief.