Dr. Zoidberg

Dr. John D. Zoidberg is employed as the doctor for the Planet Express delivery service. He has no recognized medical degree and appears to know next to nothing about human anatomy, despite the fact that all the company's employees (save Bender) are human.

Zoidberg is a member of the Decapodian species, an alien race adapted to life in the sea. ('Decapodian' is probably a play on the Decapoda, the group of crustaceans which includes crabs, lobsters, crayfish, and shrimp, though it also could be a reference to the Decapodiformes, the group of cephalopod molluscs including squid and cuttlefish). The Decapodians possess a variety of traits in common with Earth-based sea life, including crab-like pincers, four tentacles (just above the mouth), an ink sac to distract enemies, and the need to molt the outer shell on a regular basis. Zoidberg is very poor due to his lack of expertise and to his being employed at Planet Express, and he is always scrounging for scraps of anything edible - which for him means virtually anything organic, including seafood, picnic lunches, live bait, spilled pasta, raccoons, t-shirts, and the wicker baskets around picnic lunches. His species seems to prefer seafood on the whole, having eaten the Earth anchovy into extinction because of its deliciousness, and Zoidberg's wide dietary choices are probably reflective more of his desperation than of a normal diet for his kind.

Zoidberg is more or less universally detested by the other people at Planet Express, who avoid him due to his often strange behaviors (like gesturing and shrieking seemingly at random), his 'hideousness,' and the fact that he smells like garbage - because he is forced to eat garbage thanks to his low salary. He is often the butt of jokes when he is not being ignored, and he frequently alludes - directly or indirectly - to his status as an outcast.

Despite his odd affectations, ravenous hunger, and low status in life, Zoidberg appears to be generally good-hearted and interested in doing what is morally right, to the point of feeling enormous guilt over framing Fry for a crime - a crime which merely cost Fry ten dollars. Nevertheless, Zoidberg's private thoughts and struggles are thoroughly ignored by the rest of the crew, except when they jeopardize normal operations.

It should be noted that Dr. Zoidberg's medical experience is at least adequate to have allowed him to graft Fry's head to Amy's body when the former's body was severedly damaged in a space-car accident (which was caused by Zoidberg's poor driving).

Record 1539 - character - Last update 24 Jan 2008, 03:57:32

Entry written by: Torvus

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