Irken wedding




 * "With fire and steel did the supreme god forge the Irken heart. So fiercely did it beat, so loud was the sound, that the god cried out, 'On this day I have brought forth the strongest heart on Irk. None can stand before it without trembling at its intimidation.' But then the Irken heart weakened, its steady rhythm faltered somewhat, and the god said, 'Why do you weaken so? I have made you the strongest in all of Irken creation.'
 * And the heart said... 'Because I am alone.'
 * And the god knew that he had made a huge mistake. So he went back to his forge and brought forth another heart.
 * But the second heart beat stronger than the first, and the first was jealous of its power. Fortunately, the second heart was tempered by wisdom and passion.
 * 'If we join together, no one in this universe can stop us.'
 * And when the two hearts began to beat together, they filled the heavens with a sweet sound. For the first time, the god knew pleasure. The Irken hearts grew stronger and defeated all opponents who challenged one another. To this very day, no one can oppose the beating of two Irken hearts."

''We Irkens often tout our prowess in battle and our desire for honor and glory above all else... but how hollow is the sound of victory without someone to share it with. And Honor gives little comfort to a man alone in his home... and in his squeedlyspooch.''

The Irken wedding was a highly ritualized ceremony, resembling a Human wedding with some elements from a Klingon wedding. In preparation for the wedding, the bride had to be approved by the royal senate of the future Tallest that she was marrying.

An Irken wedding is a ceremony that joins two individuals in the bond of marriage, employing the language and traditions of Irken culture. The couple will typically exchange vows of marriage, as well as wedding jewelry. The person officiating the ceremony than declares them married, at which time it is traditional for the couple to kiss. An Irken equivalent to Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring played as the bride processes towards her groom and joins him at the altar. Then, a close friend of the groom recited the traditional story of the Irken creation, in which the Irken male and female were created and joined together and rose up against all challenges. The groom's fei-shan-nen (equivalent to a best man) presented the couple with fet-heets (the Irken equivalent of a Klingon bat'leth) as they did mock battle with each other in representation of the struggle of the male and female Irken hearts against one another.

After the couple recited their vows, swearing to unite against all their opponents as well as love, respect and protect each other, the guests would cheer and welcome the newlyweds.

After the ceremony
The bride then was given knowledge of Irk and its culture, along with resilience, a faster healing rate, durability and flexibility by being placed into a pod-like machine that injects Irken DNA and Ovarian resequencing enzymes‎. Some experience a bit of pain, but others pleasure; Gazlene, the future empress of Tallest ZIM, could be heard moaning as DNA and enzymes were injected into the machine she was in. She also was required to acknowledge her responsibilities as the wife of an Irken warrior, and later the consort of a (male) Tallest.

Mating rituals
Irkens traditionally mate for life, and it is not uncommon for them to take commitment oaths after only one encounter. Zim secretly made his commitment oath to himself after encountering Gaz for the first time, but later said it out loud to her when they were in the Irken Imperial Palace.

The mating ritual as described above is even carried out when mating occurs between a Irken and a member of another race. Due to his traditional Irken values, Zim took mating much more seriously than his partners did. However, as his new empress was much too young to bear children just yet, he and Gazlene decided that she should age a bit more before they could really mate.