Rosearik Rikki Simons

Rosearik Rikki Allen Simons (born September 8, 1970) is an American voice actor, writer, cartoonist, and animator. He is best known as the voice of GIR in the Nickelodeon animated series, Invader Zim. Simons has also written a number of novels and comic series, often working with his wife, Tavisha Wolfgarth-Simons.

Rosearik Rikki Simons
Simons in May 2019
Born
Rosearik Rikki Allen Simons

(1970-09-08) September 8, 1970
Fontana, California, U.S.
Other namesRikki Simons
Occupations
  • Voice actor
  • cartoonist
  • writer
  • animator
Years active1995–present
Spouse
Tavisha Wolfgarth
​
(m. 1994)​

Biography

Invader Zim and other voice work

Simons was the color designer for the animated TV show Invader Zim, and also voiced the robot character GIR.[1] Show creator Jhonen Vasquez wanted someone with no experience in voice acting to play GIR, to reflect how broken and messed up the character is.[2] Vasquez was disappointed with actors who auditioned for GIR, saying they were "good actors" who just did a "stock crazy robot voice". Simons was Vasquez's friend and was working on I Feel Sick with him, and he asked him to try to audition for GIR, saying he "couldn't screw it up anymore than anyone else".[3]

Simons did a few different voices for his audition for GIR, including one where he was trying to imitate his mother-in-law, but decided it was too "shrieky". He then remembered when he used to play with hand puppets with his father as a kid and tried to do one of those voices. Vasquez said he gave Simons the part of GIR because he was "bad at it", and that fit the character.[4] When voicing GIR, Simons' voice was edited to make it sound higher-pitched and metallic. While Simons eventually learned to perform the voice without the high-pitch editing, the metallic quality still had to be added. Unedited versions of Simons' voice-overs can be heard in voice recordings for the unfinished episodes.[5]

Simons said in a 2004 interview that he approached the role of GIR "by pretending (which didn't take much effort) that it wasn't a job... A lot of people comment that I sound like I was just making things up on the spot. That's partly true, but I'm not a voice actor... while I did the voice-actor thing of taking his direction on inflection and I read the lines provided, I was really having the best time ever just yelling and screaming and being stupid."[1]

Simons reprised his role of GIR in a number of video games and in a 2019 film, Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus.[6] In 2011, Nickelodeon approached Rikki Simons, the voice of GIR, about doing some animated shorts revolving around GIR. While Simons was open to reprising his role, nothing ever came of these shorts for unknown reasons.[7][2] During an Invader Zim panel at Long Beach Comic Con 2019, Simons said the reason why these GIR shorts never went anywhere might have been because "It's kinda weird to do GIR by himself. I don't know what that would be."[8]

Simons was also involved in the Invader Zim comic series; he was credited as a writer in issue #0 of the Invader Zim comic series as well as a colorist for two issues.

Simons has gone on to other voice acting roles, including on the cartoon Mighty Magiswords and the 2021 video game Psychonauts 2.

Comics and writing

Simons has written multiple novels and comics. Many of these are illustrated or co-illustrated by his wife, illustrator Tavisha Wolfgarth-Simons.

Works

Acting

Unless otherwise noted, all roles below are voice acting.

Work Format Date(s) Character(s) and other notes Notes and citations
Invader Zim Television 2001–2006 GIR, Bloaty, and various background characters [6]
NieA_7 Television 2007 Bobby Part of the English dub; the original anime was released in 2000.[6][9]
Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots Video game 2007 GIR [6]
SpongeBob SquarePants featuring Nicktoons: Globs of Doom Video game 2008
Nicktoons MLB Video game 2011
Touch Short film 2013 Levy On-screen role[6]
The Norm Short film 2014 Norm
Mighty Magiswords Television 2017–2018 Multiple characters Appeared in 7 of the 91 episodes[6]
Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus TV film 2019 GIR; Bloaty [6]
Psychonauts 2 Video game 2021 Raz Archetype [10]
The Inspector Chronicles Film Not yet released T.A.R.V.I.S. Announced, but filming has not begun.[6]
Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway Video Game 2022 GIR

Colorist

Writer
  • ShutterBox (writer, co-artist) (2003–2005)
  • Super Information Hijinks: Reality Check! (1995–2002) - comic book series, illustrated by Tavisha Wolfgarth-Simons
  • Ranklechick and His Three-Legged Cat (2006) - novel, with illustrations by Tavisha Wolfgarth-Simons[11]
  • Trinkkits - webcomic
  • Hitherto a Lion (2011) - novel, with illustrations by Tavisha Wolfgarth-Simons.[12]

References
  1. Tierney, Adam (September 2, 2004). "An Interview with Jhonen Vasquez and Rikki Simons". IGN.
  2. "107 Invader Zim Facts Everyone Should Know-(ToonedUp #170) ChannelFrederator". Channel Frederator. July 29, 2016.
  3. "Episode 27: The Invader Zim Cast Nick Animation Podcast". Nickelodeon Animation Podcast. January 6, 2017. Archived from the original on 2021-12-20.
  4. "Episode 14: Jhonen Vasquez Nick Animation Podcast". Nickelodeon Animation Podcast. August 12, 2016. Archived from the original on 2021-12-20.
  5. Powell, Dougie (November 23, 2017). "25 Surprising Things You Didn't Know About Invader Zim". TheGamer. Archived from the original on November 27, 2018. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  6. "Rikki Simons". IMDb. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  7. "Invader Zim - What Ever Happened to... ChannelFrederator (Ep. 1)". Channel Frederator. February 8, 2017. Archived from the original on 2021-12-20.
  8. "Long Beach Comic Con 2019 Invader Zim Enter The Florpus Panel". September 11, 2019. Archived from the original on 2021-12-20. Retrieved 19 September 2019 – via YouTube.
  9. "NieA_7 (TV)". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  10. @rikkisimons (July 26, 2021). "I cannot tell you how excited I am to be playing Raz Archetype in Psychonauts 2! So I will not tell you. Instead, I will make strange noises that make eye- contact uncomfortable" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  11. Simons, Rikki (2006). Ranklechick and His Three-Legged Cat. Lulu.com. ISBN 1411675797.
  12. Simons, Rikki (2011). Hitherto a Lion. Rikkitikki Tavicat. ISBN 978-0692693698.
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