Dr. John Zoidberg
First Appearance | The Series Has Landed |
Sex | Male |
Race | Decapodian |
Voice Actor(s) | Billy West |
A Day in the Life
Dr. John A. Zoidberg is a failed comedian-turned-doctor from the planet Decapod 10. He relocated to Earth many years ago and became best friends with Professor Hubert Farnsworth, the proprietor of the Planet Express delivery company. He is the company’s sole doctor, despite his lack of medical knowledge; his doctorate is in Art History. He often does not know what is lethal to humans, nor where their gonads are located. He is under the assumption that all doctors are as poor as he is. Though he dresses in a lab coat like other doctors, he also wears sandals - he's a little unorthodox.
He often has illusions of grandeur, most notably when he finds a shell at the bottom of the ocean and becomes a home owner as a result. He once browsed a catalogue of new shells to order only to be shot down by Hermes and told that he can only order the generic model under his insurance plan. He has attempted to be a movie star with his famed uncle, Harold Zoid. Zoidberg is gelatinous underneath his hard exterior cover and can use his claws as weapons. He is often on the short end of the stick and mistreated by his colleagues. He was the alien discovered in Roswell, New Mexico.
Despite the Planet Express crew’s successes and failures on the behalf of their paradox universe counterparts, Zoidberg and his paradox twin are both failures. He has a tendency to indulge in everything he can find, including moldy sandwiches and the Earth’s flag. Zoidberg often bursts into tears over how everyone treats him, Hermes in particular. He has two forms of defense with the primary form being to run away by scuttling and the secondary form being to shoot ink, much like a squid. When mating season arrives, Zoidberg becomes overly aggressive and a fin erects over the back of his neck and head. Zoidberg is presently a virgin, though Farnsworth grinds up his wedding photo album in Benderama, insinuating that he has been married. In That's Lobstertainment! it is revealed that he is the son of Sam, Norm, and Sadie. It is presumed his birth parents died after mating and a foster parent raised him.
Eating Habits
Zoidberg has an affinity for trying new delicious dishes. Here is a list of some of his favorite things to eat.
Guinea Pig
Zoidberg is trapped in a contraption by the Planet Express crew during the "Anthology of Interest 1" when they place a guinea pig out in the open. Zoidberg notices it immediately and zooms in for the kill when the device traps him. “Friends, help,” he exclaims, “a guinea pig tricked me!” Unbeknownst to him, his “friends” were the ones who tricked him all along.
Earth’s Flag
An entire episode is devoted to Zoidberg’s most controversial craving, the Earth Flag. During Freedom Day, Zoidberg expresses his freedom by devouring nearly the entire oversized Earth flag, which outrages billions of people, including President Nixon. Seeking asylum in the Decapodian embassy, it is debated if Zoidberg eating the flag was a sign of disrespect or an exercise of freedom.
Anglerfish
In “The Deep South”, Zoidberg finds a delicious-looking illuminated lure at the bottom of the ocean floor. Taking a big bite out of it, it is revealed that it is instead an anglerfish waiting for prey. It proceeds to chase Zoidberg throughout the ocean floor, leading the good doctor to find a new home in an oversized crab’s shell.
Pac-Man Items, Fry
In the second Anthology of Interest episode, the crew goes through the escape tunnels--a glorified Pac-Man stage--and Zoidberg devours the white pellets, random pieces of fruit, keys, and even Fry. Zoidberg states that the pellets "taste like stale marshmallows," to his delight.
Shirt
In the 30% Iron Chef, Zoidberg destroys the precious ship in a bottle belonging to the Professor. As a means to escape being beaten because of his folly, Zoidberg sets up his good friend Fry by eating his shirt while he is in the shower and replacing it with one that reads, "I Hate Bottles".
Scruffy's Pet Goldfish
Scruffy is torn to pieces when he must flush his beloved goldfish down the toilet upon its death. The Planet Express crew make their way through the sewers to attend Leela's parents' anniversary party, and Zoidberg arrives just in time to catch the dead fish in his mouth.
Sandwich
Zoidberg trades away his stock in the Planet Express delivery company for a complete sandwich. “A complete sandwich? Ha! You got fleeced,” he reveals, “I would have settled for a hard roll with ketchup inside.” When all of the Planet Express stock goes belly-up, Zoidberg expresses that his “sandwich-heavy portfolio” has paid off. It is also revealed that his sandwich is now moldy, as he took too long to eat it.
Frisbee
Hermes tosses a frisbee for Zoidberg to fetch at the Central Park Lake, which he does with his mouth... and promptly devours it without hesitation.
Raccoon
Zoidberg finds his abandoned shell in the dumpster in "Amazon Women in the Mood," which contained a live raccoon inside. It is alluded to that he devoured it.
Mint-in-Box Zapp Brannigan Action Figure
At Comic-Con 3010, Dr. Zoidberg takes a liking to the Toyminator's mint-in-box booth, which contains action figures of Zapp Brannigan's DOOP special edition for sale. He grabs one of the toys, claws the packaging open and begins eating it.
Wedding Cake
As Zapp Brannigan's wedding with Leela's mother, the ice cream cake is non-refundable, leaving it up for grabs for whoever is fast enough to devour it. Zoidberg comes to the rescue, eating the tiny plastic wedding couple in the process.
Picnic Basket
Dr. Zoidberg joins Fry and Amy on an intergalactic space picnic when Fry attempts to get some distance between himself and his newfound girlfriend. Zoidberg eats the contents of the picnic basket before devouring the wicker basket itself before the trio can even make their destination.
Chess Piece
In a particularly iconic clip, Zoidberg is shown playing chess with himself. After staring at the chess board, lost in thought and concentration for several seconds, Zoidberg immediately grabs a chess piece and throws it into his mouth before gleefully gnawing on it.
Ravioli
When Captain Bender takes over the Planet Express ship, Zoidberg is his loyalist subject. He happens to do Bender a favor by cleaning up the ravioli that Bender slings across the room, one of which has three footprints on it.
Penguin Eggs
Zoidberg is disciplined for eating penguin eggs by being sent to the ship, away from his duties. Fry also ate some of the penguin eggs.
Soap
Zoidberg is invisible, sharing a bath with Amy and decides to eat a bar of soap. He refers to the soap as "bubble cake."
Cash
A complicated casino heist takes place in "Viva Mars Vegas," and Zoidberg is at the center of it all. It's up to him, in an invisible state, to swallow three hundred pounds of money.
Bait
Hermes Conrad attempts to figure out which bait he would like to use while the Planet Express crew goes on a mandatory fishing trip, and Zoidberg pounces on the opportunity to offer his expertise by devouring his buckets of sardines and nightcrawlers (pictured).
Googly Eye
In "When Aliens Attack," Zoidberg accidentally stabs Leela's googly eye used for arts and crafts. Stuck to his claw, the only way to remove it is to eat it off of it.
Bird
In a Wild West cut-off between Zoidberg and Clamps on the Moon, Clamps attempts to intimidate Zoidberg by clamping a bird as it flies by. Zoidberg counters this by grabbing a bird and devouring it.
Turkey
Bender foresees an attack when he becomes overclocked by Cubert Farnsworth. As a means of defense, he sets up a volleyball-esque net and cooks a turkey, which Zoidberg then goes in to devour. A calamity ensues, allowing Zoidberg to walk away with the full microwaved turkey. It is presumably raw.
Buffet
When Zoidberg is kidnapped by the government in Roswell, New Mexico, they determine what types of food his alien species enjoys by lining up a buffet smorgasbord for him to chow down on. He devours it all like a ravenous animal, including fried chicken, pizza, fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, and a whole pie. It is determined that Zoidberg will eat just about anything.
Wedding Cake
At Bender and Calculon's wedding in "Bend Her", Zoidberg pronounces Coilette dead whilst munching on their wedding cake.
Anchovy Pizza
When Fry finds a can of anchovies—an extinct food source in the year 3000—he decides to share them with his closest friends. When everyone takes a huge bite out of the slices of pizza, they immediately spit it back out as they despise the taste. Dr. Zoidberg makes his way into the dining hall at the smell of the anchovies, which he finds to be fantastic. He gobbles up the pieces of pizza that no one else wanted.
Vinnie
When Dr. Zoidberg travels back to his home planet, he reminisces of his childhood in a tiny little puddle of water. He makes his way back to that same puddle only to find Vinnie, a hermit crab who bullied him as an adolescent. “Who is the tough guy now, Vinnie!?” Zoidberg proclaims before picking the hermit crab up and eating it.
Toilet Paper
The nefarious bathroom bandit is revealed to the viewer as Zoidberg, who slurps up a roll of toilet paper like it's spaghetti. He suggests that he is just trying to feed his family.
Clothing
Zoidberg makes a one-off reference to clothes being "delicious" in the episode Love & Rocket.
Organ Bouquet
When Kif Kroker tosses out the bouquet at his wedding with Amy Wong, Dr. Zoidberg quickly grabs it and devours it in the celebration.
Fry's Cholesteral
When shrunk down inside of Fry's body, Zoidberg scraps some of the cholesteral from Fry's artories and spreads it across a piece of bread, stating that it tastes like bad cholestral when it's actually good cholesteral.
The Dark Ones
In "Into the Wild Green Yonder", the Dark Ones seek to destroy as much as possible. The last of the Dark Ones is a pet of Leela's and is destroyed by the Encyclopods. Zoidberg is quick to gobble up the remains, for which he has had a clamoring for ever since he laid eyes on them.
Dog Food
Zoidberg expresses an interest in eating dog food at the dog show in "The Day the Earth Stood Stupid".
Cow
Zoidberg, in a non-canon scene and disguised as a planet, eats a cow that jumps over the moon (Professor Farnsworth). This is a deleted scene from "The Sting".
Kipper
Amy prepares some stuffed kipper, an oily type of fish, for Dr. Zoidsmith to eat in the newfangled version of the future where the British successfully invaded.
Hermes Conrad
Zoidberg attempts to eat the fleshy remains of Hermes until he realizes his flesh is entirely too spicy due to LaBarbara's cooking.
Garbage
The Planet Express crew plays a game of Garbage Toss by throwing animal bones and apple cores into Zoidberg's mouth in "Bend Her". He has eaten garbage on numerous occasions throughout the series' run.