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NOTE: This article is about the Zurg seen in BLOSC. Other versions of the character can be found on the disambiguation page.

Villain Overview

CURSE YOU, BUZZ LIGHTYEAR!!!
~ Zurg's most famous catchphrase whenever he is defeated.
Evil rules!
~ Zurg's catchphrase in The Adventure Begins.
And so ends Star Command. Ooh, I'm so evil! I just gave myself chills! Even my goosebumps have goosebumps! (Evilly laughs) I'M A BAD BOY! (Continues evilly laughing)
~ Zurg in The Adventure Begins.

Zurg, better known as the Evil Emperor Zurg, is the main antagonist of the television series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command and its 2000 film Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins. He is the TV counterpart of the Evil Emperor Zurg toys in the Toy Story franchise.

He was voiced by Wayne Knight, who also played The Penguin in Harley Quinn, Al McWhiggin in Toy Story 2, Krudsky in Scooby-Doo! and The Goblin King, Dennis Nedry in Jurassic Park, and Newman in Seinfeld. In the Disney Park attraction "Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters", he was voiced by Andrew Stanton, who also voiced his toy counterpart in Toy Story 2.

Biography[]

In the series, which is presumably where the Buzz Lightyear character originates in-universe, Zurg is the main antagonist, and 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.

His most personal ally is Warp Darkmatter, who was a Space Ranger and Buzz's partner until his betrayal. Despite often breaking the seriousness of otherwise purely evil statements, Zurg is widely considered the evilest person in the galaxy, especially by the other villains. In the series, Zurg is a flamboyant villain who is just as much a comic relief character and has many comedic habits, though he remains as a competent, formidable, and influential opponent similar to his role in Toy Story 2.

The episode "War, and Peace and War" was notably the only episode where Zurg was forced to team up with Buzz Lightyear to defeat the Heed (led by Guzelian), a common enemy that was trying to take over their galaxy by tricking all planets to dismantle their defense system for peace.

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.

Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters[]

Zurg at Disneyland

Zurg as he appears on Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters at Disneyland.

A hybrid between the toy counterpart from the movies and this version of Zurg serves as the main antagonist of Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, the second version of the Buzz Lightyear Dark Rides that could be found at four of the six Disney Resorts around the world (currently at Tokyo Disneyland [until October 2024], Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris, and formerly at Hong Kong Disneyland until August of 2017). While he shares the design and voice of of his toy counterpart, his more dynamic personality as an evil warlord with anger problems, as well as the use of his Dreadnought, and the design of Planet Z are all elements borrowed from the TV series.

In the attraction, Zurg assembles an army of giant robots to attack Space Rangers stationed in Sector 9 to steal Crystallic Fusion Battery Cells, presumably neutralizing them in the process. He puts out a message that he will soon rule the galaxy with an iron fist, audibly threatening both homeworld of the Little Green Men and Star Command itself, and that not even Buzz Lightyear can stop him.

In desperation, Buzz Lightyear recruits rookie Space Rangers to battle Zurg's forces with the help of the Little Green Men. The rookies are jettisoned out into space where they come into contact with Zurg's Dreadnought, eventually boarding it, and finding the evil Emperor himself waiting for them, utilizing his "Zurgatronic Ion Blaster" (which is what he calls his weapon of choice in the series). He's infuriated at the presence of the rookies, as well as their precise aim, allegiance to Star Command, and the Dreadnought crash landing on Planet Z. Zurg manages to escape onboard his secret weapon, which is a small space vessel. After battling through the alien life of Planet Z, the rookies find Zurg firing missiles upon the homeworld of the LGMs. He gloats to the rookies that nobody can stop him now, and that he'll rule the homeworld of the LGMs and his plans of conquering Star Command next. Eventually, the rookies encounter Zurg again in the vacuum of space, where Buzz and the LGMs have stopped him, tearing his weapon apart, much to his dismay and frustration. In the final scene, Zurg is seen in a box, with the LGMs signing a receipt to return him to Al's Toy Barn, with the evil Emperor promising his eventual return, as the LGMs and Buzz thank the rookies for helping them defeat the galactic tyrant.

Military[]

On the show, Zurg had many minions to do his bidding.

  • 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.

Appearance[]

Zurg appears as a tall, thin-built but broad-chested humanoid of unknown species dressed in royal purple armor and robes. His head is invariably encased in a massive helmet crested with grey horns, through which a pair of piercing red eyes and a grille of yellow teeth (or, at the at least, a frowning bevor or mouthpiece) peer. His chest is covered with a grey and purple chassis, probably made of steel, and his arms are wrapped in steel gauntlets capped with deadly claws. His feet are encased in long, royal purple robes, and he wears a dramatic black cloak lined with scarlet, with raised lapels in vampiric manner. The clasp on his cape is inscribed with "Z," and it appears to work as a type of control panel for his numerous systems, since he can activate his rocket boots, allowing him to fly. He does, in fact, have feet, despite the fact that his garments obscure them.

Since Zurg was physically reduced to a blob-like monster in The Crawling Flesh, when he wore his helmet atop a blob-like helmet with a newly visible mouth, it is clear that his face is that of an armor-clad humanoid rather than some robotic form. Despite this, Zurg's genuine look has never been revealed, making it impossible to determine what species he actually belongs to.

Personality[]

Zurg was known to be the evilest and most destructive villain in his galaxy, dedicated to ruling it with an iron fist by all means necessary. He is shown to be manipulative, intelligent and ruthless, as he was willing to take down anyone that serves as an obstacle to himself or his plans. He can be quite campy and comedic in nature, as he tends to engage in various comical antics such as videotaping Buzz's speeches for his own amusement, keeping a Troll doll collection, and mentioning an equally evil "Nana Zurg". He is also shown to be somewhat picky and conscientious about his schemes, claiming when politicians were being kidnapped that he would never do something "so obvious".

Trivia[]

  • Zurg's species is an issue of much debate. The four predominant theories are that he is either a human, an alien, a robot, or a cyborg. 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.
  • Unlike his usual appearance, his signature ion blaster has a slightly different design such has having a lack of a cage held on his back connected to it via a hose storing his ammo, and is instead only held and somehow operated by putting his hand into it. It's also uncertain as to how the ammo works.
  • Zurg sometimes speaks in a slight British accent.

Navigation[]

           ToyStoryLogo Villains

Humans
Sid Phillips | Al McWhiggin | Ronald Tompkins

Toys
Andy and Bonnie's Games
One-Eyed Bart | Attack Dog with Built-in-force-field | One-Eyed Betty | Dr. Porkchop | Witch
Al's Toy Barn
Stinky Pete | Emperor Zurg
Lotso's Gang
Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear | Ken | Big Baby | Stretch | Chunk | Sparks | Twitch | Monkey
Battlesaurs
The Cleric | Goliathon | Reptillus Maximus
Second Chance Antiques
Gabby Gabby | The Bensons

In-Universe Fiction
Buzz Lightyear of Star Command
Emperor Zurg | Zurg Empire (Warp Darkmatter, XL, Torque, Gravitina, NOS-4-A2, Shiv Katall, Hornets, Brain Pods, Grubs, & Zzub)
Lightyear
Zurg | Zyclops (Zyclop 06) | Zappers 66 and 26
Others
Zurg Bots | Vampire

In Videogames
Toy Story 2
Stinky Pete | Buzz Lightyear Buggy | Gunslinger | Zurg | Blacksmith
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters Online
Astro Blasters Robots
Kingdom Hearts
Young Xehanort | King of Toys

           BuzzLightyearOfStarCommandTitle Villains

Zurg Empire
Emperor Zurg | Warp Darkmatter | Hornets (Hyper-Hornet) | Zurg Bots | Brain Pods | Grubs | Shiv Katall | Gravitina | NOS-4-A2 | Wirewolf | Torque | Smoltz | Roswellian Lackey | Shape Stealer | Zzub | Feara | Blister | X-Treme | XL | Zurg Spy

Valkyran Raiders
Brun | Hilda | Sig | Valkyran Guard

Others
Evil Buzz Lightyear | Rentwhistle Swack | Spyro Lepton | Gularis | Guzelian | Lardak Lurdak | Flint | Natron

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