#(​who are either AIs that Irkens built that took over or a parasite species from somewhere else)

[random-iz-stuff]

Don't know if u ever talked bout this, but any headcannons of what are control brains?

(I personally think they are an advance parasitic species who had to do with irken paks and thirst for conquest)

Basically the opposite of that. I headcanon Control Brains as being incredibly important parts of the Irken government, but they’re below the Tallest in most situations. I also headcanon that they’re supercomputers that were invented by Irkens.

In the Irken Judicial System, Control Brains hold most, if not all the power, serving as judges, juries and executioners in one singular package that, unlike a living judge, can’t be biased or swayed to one side by things like bribes or sympathy. The Control Brain’s ability to go through Irken memory banks and delete data off PAKs also makes them excel at this role.

Control Brains also make good judges because they’re guaranteed to give criminals whatever punishment is best fitting and most efficient for the Empire. Zim doesn’t get the death penalty after OID1 because the Control Brains know about his scientific records (including the fact that he built the Massive’s Bridge Cannon) and figured that putting Zim in permanent storage on Foodcourtia, in a position where he can’t cause any damage but is still there if they need him for any particularly large projects, was a lot better for the Empire in the long term than killing him and losing a valuable person that can build superweapons like the Bridge Cannon.

But even here, the Tallest still hold quite a bit of power. They can’t call off an ongoing trial or force the Control Brains to come to a specific conclusion, but they do hold enough power to cancel an upcoming trial (even their own trial) unless said trial is deemed to be too important to cancel or reschedule, and the Control Brains need their permission to do things like pause an ongoing trial to add in new brains. In Zim’s trial, the Control Brains ask the Tallest to pause the trial and let them get more Control Brains to help filter through Zim’s incredibly corrupt PAK, and the Tallest deny the request, showing that they’re more than capable of refusing requests from the Control Brains.

But if the trial is currently ongoing (and doesn’t have a reason to be paused) or it’s deemed to be particularly important, the Tallest have no power over it besides the whole “the Control Brains need the Tallest’s permission to declare breaks and swap out new Control Brains” thing.

So in the judicial system (and sorting Drones into their various positions), Control Brains are virtually unopposed, but everywhere else, they hold a lot less power, mostly serving as advisors to the current Tallest.

You can divide the Tallest’s group of advisors into two groups that work together; actual living advisors, who guide and make decisions based on past knowledge and rational thinking, and the Control Brains, who guide and make decisions based on pure logical and algorithms to make the most efficient path possible. The Tallest don’t need to follow the advice given, but they’re often encouraged to.

As for why living Irkens make up a good chunk of the Tallest’s advisory system, it’s because of how Control Brains think. Control Brains constantly go for the most efficient and perfect path possible, but that’s not always the best choice when doing things. Being AIs that focus purely on efficiency, Control Brain tend to focus purely on the outcome and statistics with little fucks given about how they get there.

Think of it like this: The Control Brains can create the most efficient and fast path across a landscape, but the Irken Advisors are the ones who make sure that said path doesn’t go through a mountain, river with no bridge, or enemy territory.

In a battle, the Control Brains would pick a strategy that has a 100% chance of victory, but would also result in heavy casualties and leave the army weakened after the battle, making any battle that comes after much more difficult, while the Advisors would pick a strategy with a lower chance of victory, but would result in less casualties if it does succeed and won’t leave the army weakened afterwards.

In my vision of things, the Irken Empire isn’t run or driven by anything but themselves. It’s essentially a cult that worships itself and the system it’s built on. Control Brains are just cogs in the self sustaining machine that is the Irken Empire. Very important cogs, but cogs nonetheless.

It’s a dictatorship, but removing the Tallest won’t fix anything, because the next Tallest that comes along will have the same general ideas and goals because the entire race has been groomed from birth to think that way. They’ve been taught since birth to worship the system around them, never go against it, and hate those that aren’t a part of the system. And you just can’t dismantle that system no matter how hard you try because it’s simply too big, old and fortified.

Anyone that doesn’t believe in the Empire is an enemy, regardless of if they’re an Irken or not. If they’re not an Irken, they’re below you, and if they ARE an Irken and they don’t believe in the empire, they’re a traitorous defective that needs to be handed in and deleted for the good of the empire. These are all things that are taught from day one of an Irken’s life, and it’s just drilled into the Irken’s head further as they grow up into an adult. No Irken ever sees anything wrong with this both because it’s all anyone’s ever known and because they’ve been taught that any thoughts that say otherwise are proof that you’re defective and worthy only of death.

PAKs help keep this whole thing up, as they prevent Irkens from thinking things that go against the Empire or it’s status quo. The controlling of Irken media also helps keep it going, as everything from news to history to entertainment is heavily controlled to keep Irkens believing that the Empire is the best, it’s been that way for most of history, and anyone that says otherwise is an enemy of the state.

Even extremely defective Irkens like Zim and constantly abused Irkens like Skoodge have unquestioning loyalty towards the Empire. They’ve been groomed since birth to think this way and any other way of thinking is completely alien to them.

The Irken Empire is a massive self sustaining space cult.

Also, a headcanon of mine is that Irkens absolutely HATE people that say that the Control Brains are the ones in control because saying that is an insult to the Tallest. They hate the conspiracy theories and stereotypes that say that they’re a hive mind as well. It’s one of the only things they have in common with the Meekrob.