The Evil-Emperor Zurg via His Toy-Appearance Counterpart of The Number-First Form

> So we meet again, Buzz Lightyear, for the last time!
>
> Emperor Zurg, Toy Story 0002

**Emperor Zurg** (also known as the **Evil Emperor Zurg** or simply **Zurg**) is a recurring antagonist in the ***Disney***/***Pixar*** *Toy Story* franchise, first appearing as the secondary antagonist of *Toy Story 2*. Like Buzz, Zurg is based on the fictitious character of the same name. Within his fictitious universe, Zurg is the sworn enemy of the Galactic Alliance and the archenemy of Buzz Lightyear.

## Media Acting Users

### Somehow Entirely Voiced by

Ken Mitchroney (Space Ranger Spin)
Andrew Stanton (1999-2013)
James Patrick Stuart (*Toy Story 3: The Video Game* and *Disney Magic Kingdoms*)
James Brolin (*Lightyear*)

## Loves And Hates

### Likes

Defeating Buzz Lightyear (formerly), catching up with his son

## Naming Info Details

### Alias

Evil Emperor Zurg
Zurg

## Known Media Appearances

### Somehow Entirely Voiced by

Ken Mitchroney (Space Ranger Spin)
Andrew Stanton (1999-2013)
James Patrick Stuart (*Toy Story 3: The Video Game* and *Disney Magic Kingdoms*)
James Brolin (*Lightyear*)

### Regular Original Voice(s)

Ken Mitchroney (Space Ranger Spin)
Andrew Stanton (1999-2013)
James Patrick Stuart (*Toy Story 3: The Video Game* and *Disney Magic Kingdoms*)
James Brolin (*Lightyear*)

### Feature F Films

*Toy Story 2
Toy Story 3* (cameo)
*Tomorrowland* (cameo)

## Possession And Paraphernalias

Zurg appears in several forms as several individuals. He is mentioned as a presence by Andy's Buzz, appears as an intangible video game boss, appears as an individual toy who pursues Al's Utility Belt Buzz, and another Zurg toy that arrives at ***Sunnyside Daycare***. There is discrepency within the Pixar movies as to what relationship the characters Zurg and Buzz share. While Zurg in Toy Story 2 claims to be Buzz' father, ***Lightyear*** establishes him to be Buzz himself from a different timeline.

## Appearances

### *Toy Story 2*

Zurg first appears in *Toy Story 2* in two forms.

The first form appears during the opening sequence, where he is initially seen tracking Buzz's location through his fortress inside his control room. A little later, he is seen doing battle with Buzz, in which Zurg, using his ion blaster, blasts the top half of Buzz's body into smithereens; however, the opening sequence is revealed to be only *Buzz Lightyear: Attack on Zurg*, a video game Rex has been playing.

Though not a physical appearance, an image of Zurg is seen in a game manual Rex reads when the toys arrive in ***Al's Toy Barn***.

### ***Disney Infinity***

Emperor Zurg is one of the villains that appear in *Disney Infinity*. He is a part of the final mission in the Toy Story in Space playset after the player conquers all the simulation missions. He appears as a giant version of himself in the skies above the alien planet, unable to be attacked or interacted with. The player has to gather the batteries to convert the great tower in the alien city into a shrink ray. Once powered up, the laser is fired and Zurg is shrunk down to toy size and later given to Buzz as a trophy for their heroics. However, soon after, he comically attacks everyone with blasts from his blaster before scurrying off to who knows where.

In the 3DS version, he appears on a game board where the player must start up the shield generators and beat Zurg. He also a character is faced off against in the adventure games.

### ***Disney Heroes: Battle Mode***

Zurg appears in the game as an unlockable character and one of the heroes (despite being a villain) corrupted by the virus, he is a damage hero and his plasma pistol turns him into a destructive machine that with his white ability can destroy his enemies.

## Trivia

* Before Zurg made his first appearance in *Toy Story 2*, he was mentioned in the first *Toy Story* movie. An earlier version of him is shown in an alternate opening of the first film.
* When asked why Zurg in 'Lightyear' is not Buzz father as was established in *Toy Story 2*, director ***Angus MacLane*** responded that they were unable to figure out how he could properly be established him as his parent. Instead, they changed Zurg to be Buzz himself, so that he would be his own greatest enemy, not just figuratively, but also literally.
	+ In ***Lightyear***, Buzz briefly mistakes Zurg for his father when he is revealed to be an elderly Buzz from an alternate future.
	+ However, in the *Buzz Lightyear of Star Command* episode "Stranger Invasion", Zurg briefly claims to be Buzz Lightyear's father in order to distract him during battle. After doing so, he knocks Buzz over and mocks him for actually falling for it, implying that he isn't really Lightyear's father.
* In 2012, The Disney Store released a talking Zurg action figure that was sold separately from a talking Buzz action figure.
* Zurg's character appears to draw from ***Darth Vader***, the central antagonist in the original ***Star Wars*** trilogy, with a similar voice, appearance, and set of mannerisms. A major difference between the two, however, is that Zurg is the absolute ruler of his dominion (hence his title of Emperor), while Vader merely acted as an enforcer for the Galactic Empire.
	+ In the first *Toy Story*, Buzz Lightyear mentions that Zurg is building a "weapon with the destructive capacity to annihilate an entire planet," making a reference to the ***Death Star*** in *Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope*.
	+ As Zurg and Utility Belt Buzz battle, the former lifts the latter off the floor by his "neck," and Buzz uses both hands to try to wrench Zurg's hand off him. A similar manner occurred at the beginning of *A New Hope* where Darth Vader lifts a rebel soldier off the floor by his neck and the rebel soldier also uses both hands to try to wrench Vader's hand off him.
		- During the same battle, Zurg claims to be Buzz's father, a parody of when ***Darth Vader*** reveals he is ***Luke Skywalker***'s father in *Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back*.
* Zurg's voice actor in *Buzz Lightyear of Star Command* is ***Wayne Knight***, who voiced Al McWhiggin in *Toy Story 2*. Knight is most famous for playing Newman in *Seinfeld* and Dennis Nedry in *Jurassic Park*.
* Buzz #2 spending "quality time" with Zurg may be a reference to ***Kevin Costner***'s character Ray Kinsella reunited and playing catch with his father in the final scene of *Template:WikipediaLink*.
* Zurg's species in *Buzz Lightyear of Star Command* is unknown, as he is never seen without his helmet.
* Zurg appears as a playable character exclusive to the PlayStation 3 version of ***Toy Story 3: The Video Game***, along with his custom-made car.
* When looking at the shot where Zurg is about to finish the Buzz #2 off, it is noticeable that the levels on his gun are numbered to 11, a reference to Nigel Tufnel's amplifier in *Template:WikipediaLink*.
* Zurg was actually to have a slightly bigger role in *Toy Story 3*, according to the original script. He was one of the recalled toys along with Buzz Lightyear. A quite insane Zurg was the first one to introduce Buzz to his ultimate fate of not being repaired but sent to the toy crusher.
* The character may also be based on Emperor Ming in the ***1980*** film *Flash Gordon* because he sports a cape similar to that of Ming's and is referred to as "Emperor".
* During Woody's nightmare earlier in *Toy Story 2*, some of the mismatched toy arms in the trash can Woody was discarded in belonged to Zurg (although there were a couple of color variations).
* Zurg was based partially on *Toy Story 3* director ***Lee Unkrich***'s favorite toy, the Six Million Dollar Man.
* The "Zerg" faction in the Blizzard produced computer game *StarCraft* originally had their name spelled identically to Emperor Zurg's during the game's earlier builds. However, in order to avoid possible copyright issues, the faction later had its name re-spelled with an "e" instead of "u".
* In early concept art, Zurg depicted as just a small alien in robotic armor.
* In the Buzz Lightyear episode "The Lightyear Factor", Zurg enters an alternate universe where he finds an Evil Buzz Lightyear ruling the galaxy. The Zurg from that universe is a burger guy at Cosmo's restaurant, due to not having what it took to be "ultimate evil."
* In World of Cars Online, Zurg has a cameo where he is depicted as a train in an arcade game.
* Zurg's "villainy" may have been due to the fact that Zurg (the toy) actually thinks that he is the *real* Zurg and not just a toy, very much like how the toy Buzz Lightyear actually thinks that he is the real Buzz and if he ever realized that he is just a toy, he will just remain evil and decides that he can be Buzz's enemy as a toy as well as be the *real* Zurg. It's implied that the toy Zurg is actually friendly, had he realized that he is just a toy if he chose to.
* A Zurg toy appeared in the ***2015*** live-action Disney movie ***Tomorrowland***, when ***Casey Newton*** visits the comic store.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/emperor-zurg-origins-interview-lightyear
2. ↑ https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a40414430/lightyear-angus-mcclane-zurg-twist-toy-story-2/

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