Zapp Brannigan

Secondary character
Zapp Brannigan
Gender	Male
Species	Human
Planet of origin	Earth
Profession	Captain of the DOOP starship Nimbus and high ranking general.
First appearance	"Love's Labours Lost in Space" (1ACV04)
Voiced by	Billy West

Zapp Brannigan is a 25-Star General in the Democratic Order of Planets, captain of his flagship the Nimbus and head of the DOOP Army.

Biography

Zapp Brannigan

Although he claims to be a strategic genius, Zapp is actually an imbecile and a coward whose plans could have easily been conjured up by a child. Zapp is well respected throughout the universe, appearing as a Miss Universe Judge and often defending Earth from attacks. Most battles are lost with Zapp in charge, due to his lack of reasoning, however sometimes the army is lucky. Zapp doesn't care about men's lives and even sends wave after wave of his own men to die in battle. He also suffers from a learning disorder that he calls sexlexia, which is a disturbingly erotic disorder. Also the central law of DOOP, Brannigan's Law, is named after him.

He is hardly ever seen without his second in command, Kif Kroker. Zapp and Kif have a tough time working together and Zapp treats Kif like a slave making his job the second most humiliating job there is. Some of the jobs Zapp makes Kif do are shaving his armpit whilst he was bathing. Even though he treats Kif badly he always gives advice, usually bad advice, to Kif whenever he needs it and also calls him is most best and loyal friend. He was angered when Leela became the mother of Kif's children.

He repeatedly attempts to seduce Leela whom he slept with, in his Lovenasium, on their first meeting. After that fateful night Leela ended the relationship and chose saving Nibbler over getting back with Zapp and being rescued. Zapp keeps trying to get together with Leela and sometimes even mentioned what happened between them in court but she invariably turns him away sometimes even pretending that she has a boyfriend. At the battle of Spheron 1 Zapp was attracted to new male recruit Lee Lemon and feared he might be gay and was relieved to find out that it was actually Leela.

Only once was Zapp's incompetence shown when he blew up DOOP's new headquarters with the Nimbus' hyperdeath laser. This led to him and Kif being banned from the DOOP. The two were employed by The Professor the work at Planet Express which led to Zapp convincing Bender and Fry to mutiny against Leela. Zapp escaped and was given back his title as General even though he tried to pilot the Planet Express Ship into the Neutral President's home.

Family

• Zapp has at least three children, born to Holo-Shed characters who became real. (4ACV01)
• He may also have Amazonian children. (3ACV01)
• Was "host" to a dozen or so Da Nangian spawn. The children were presumably eaten by Zoidberg. (US#004)

Commendations and Accomplishments

Killbot kill limit being reset

• Defeated an army of Killbots by sacrificing his troops until the bots' pre-set "Kill limit" was reached
• Rented self a medal after leading a successful assault on the Spiderian home world Tarantulon 6.
• Led DOOP to victory over the peaceful Ball-People of planet Spheron 1
• Single-handedly defeated the Retiree People of the Assisted Living Nebula
• Annihalated the Pacifists of the Gandhi Nebula
• Conducted a triumphant carpet bombing on Eden 7
• Author of "Zapp Brannigan's Big Book of War", which is likely a plagiarized version of Sun Tzu's The Art of War.
• Sponsored "Brown Out".

Voice

The voice acting was originally scheduled for Phil Hartman, who also voiced Troy McClure on the Simpsons. But due to Hartman's death in 1998, the voice acting was given to Billy West. As a tribute, the makers of the Simpsons dedicated an episode to him and retired his characters. On Futurama, Philip J. Fry was named in his honor.

Billy West has stated that Zapp Brannigan is how he envisions Captain Kirk playing William Shatner. West also based the voice on certain radio announcers he's heard who love the sound of their own voice and often enunciate ending consonants.

Additional Info

Trivia

• Apparently he is known as "The Velour Fog"
• In the commentary for "When Aliens Attack" it is speculated that Zapp got promoted from Captain to 25-star general sometime since we last saw him. However, it is common for the person in command of a ship to be called "Captain" regardless of their actual rank.
• It is possible that the name Zapp is actually a parody of Zaphod Beeblebrox from The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy science fiction comedy media franchise.
• Zapp is clearly a parody of classic Sci-Fi captains, specifically Captain James T. Kirk from Star Trek.
• Only known person to have sex with both Amy and Leela. Although Lars is another possibility.
• He was charged for blowing up DOOP headquarters.

Quotes

• Zapp: Well, well, well...
• Zapp: Leela! So its you I've been attracted to. Oh God, I've never been so happy to be beaten up by a woman.
• Zapp: Sorry, Mr. President, I didn't realise. Kif; raise him up about nipple high.
• Zapp: My plan is so simple even a child could have thought it up.
• Zapp: Brannigan's law is like Brannigan's love: hard and fast.
• Zapp: If we can hit that bullseye the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards, checkmate!
• Zapp: I am the man with no name - Zapp Brannigan
• Zapp: Captain's log. Stardate: The Year of the Tiger. The battle has been bravely fought, and the suffering of our troops, beyond measure. But the alien is invulnerable, and our defeat: inevitable. That much is certain, even from my remote command post here at the Times Square Applebee's.
• Zapp: What an erotic display of girl-on-girl consolation!
• Zapp: Now remember, Kif, the quickest way to a girl's bed is through her parents. Have sex with them and you're in.

Catchphrase

Zapp occasionally mispronounces words, saying them the way they are spelt. Some examples include:

• Champagne - Champpaggin
• Guacamole - Quaca mole
• Quasedilla- Cassadilla

There are two exceptions: he doesn't have any trouble with "chutzpah" or "karaoke". Zapp often mentions velour (apparently his favorite material).

Also, when he sings his butchered version of the song "Lola," he properly pronounces the word "champagne", though it is long after Leela corrects his pronunciation of it during his seduction of her.

When mocking this trait, Leela pronounces "connoisseur" as "coin-asseur".

Appearances

• "Love's Labours Lost in Space" (1ACV04)
  
• "A Flight to Remember" (1ACV10)
  
• "When Aliens Attack" (1ACV12)
  
• "Brannigan, Begin Again" (2ACV02)
  
• "The Lesser of Two Evils" (2ACV06)
  
• "Put Your Head on My Shoulders" (2ACV07)
  
• "The Problem with Popplers" (2ACV15)
  
• "Anthology of Interest I" (2ACV16)
  
• "War Is the H-Word" (2ACV17)
  
• "Amazon Women in the Mood" (3ACV01)
  
• "Where the Buggalo Roam" (3ACV10)
  
• "I Dated a Robot" (3ACV15)
  
• "Future Stock" (3ACV21)
  
• "Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch" (4ACV01)
  
• "A Taste of Freedom" (4ACV05)
  
• "Where No Fan Has Gone Before" (4ACV11)
  
• "Three Hundred Big Boys" (4ACV16)
  
• "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings" (4ACV18)
  
• Bender's Big Score
  
• The Beast with a Billion Backs
  
• Bender's Game
  
  (intro)
• Into the Wild Green Yonder
  
• "...But Deliver Us to Evil!" (US#002)
  
• "DOOP the Right Thing!" (US#004)
  
• "More than a Filling!" (US#021)
  
• "Full Metal Racket" (US#037)
  
• "Soldier Boys" (US#041)
  
• "Homeward Boned" (US#042)
  
• "Welcome to my Nightmall" (US#043)
  
• "The Fry and the Furious!" (US#044)
  
• "Anthology of Interest II" (US#045)
  
• "Follow the Reader" (US#046)
  
• "Slaves of New New York!" (US#X03)
  
• "The Read Menace!" (US#X04)