Emperor Zurg

Evil Emperor Zurg, Sworn Enemy of the Galactic Alliance, is an arch enemy of Buzz Lightyear. He is voiced by Andrew Stanton in the films and by Wayne Knight in the television series.

Toy Story
Zurg does not actually appear in the first Toy Story; however, he is only mentioned by Buzz, who mentions about Zurg building a secret weapon with enough power to destroy an entire planet, making a reference to the Death Star from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Andy also mentions Zurg when he plays with Buzz on his birthday. His appearance is only shown in one of Andy's drawings.

Toy Story 2


Zurg appears in two forms in Toy Story 2. 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 a video game.

Much later in the film, an incarnation of Zurg is later accidentally released by Andy's Buzz Lightyear in Al's Toy Barn. Believing himself to be real much like Andy's Buzz has done in the first film, he pursues after Andy's Buzz to destroy him. He seems to have followed Andy's Buzz across the street, through an air vent of Al's apartment, and up the elevator shaft as he is seen arriving atop the elevator when Andy's Buzz and his rescue squad of toys head back to the elevator after Al packs Woody and the Roundup gang into his case and leaves his room to head for the airport. Along with the group is an "alternate" Buzz Lightyear action figure (also released from Al's Toy Barn by Andy's Buzz Lightyear), who also believes himself to be real. Both the "alternate" Buzz and Rex, a fan of the video game "Buzz Lightyear: Attack on Zurg", are caught with surprise by Zurg's unexpected arrival. A showdown occurs between the "alternate" Buzz and Zurg atop an elevator, where Zurg uses his chief weapon (which appears to be a Nurf ball gun.) During this battle, after overpowering the other Buzz, Zurg reveals he is Buzz's father (a parody of the duel between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker from Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back). As Zurg sets his gun to his highest level and is about to finish the "alternate" Buzz off (at point-blank range), Rex, not bearing to watch the duel anymore, turns away, but his large thick tail hits Zurg, knocking him down the elevator shaft. While Rex finally feels excited about finally overcoming his frustration toward not being able to defeat Zurg previously, the "alternate" Buzz feels forlorn about losing his father. Zurg seems to have survived the fall as he and the "alternate" Buzz are seen playing catch and spending "quality time" together (a possible reference to Kevin Costner's character Ray Kinsella reunited and playing catch with his father in the final scene of "Field of Dreams") while the "original" Buzz and his rescue squad make their way out of Al's apartment. The "alternate" Buzz describes Zurg as a "great dad" as he rushes to catch another ball fired by Zurg.

Toy Story 3
Zurg is mentioned again by Buzz, who sees Andy's toys as minions of Zurg after Lotso turns him back to his original settings.

Zurg himself makes a brief appearance in the end credits of Toy Story 3, where he is shown being donated to Sunnyside Daycare Center in a box along with a dinosaur, a giraffe plush, and two Fisher-Price Little People. He is helped down by Stretch, and meets Ken and Barbie, Sunnyside's new leaders. He is then seen doing a robot dance. But he is not with both his "son" Utility Belt Buzz and his ion blaster. However, as years have passed since Toy Story 2, the two (Zurg and Utility Belt Buzz) could have been separated by being adopted by different families. Also, it is probable that Zurg's previous owner could have lost his ion blaster. This would imply that this is indeed the same Zurg. He is later seen doing the robot dance. It is also unknown if he still thinks he is real, or he already knows that he is just a toy.

Buzz Lightyear of Star Command


Zurg is the main villain of the series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, in which he rules over Planet Z and wants to take over the entire universe. His subjects are Grubs, which are similar to Star Command's Little Green Men, Brain Pods, who work for him as scientists and researchers, and an army of Hornets, which are his robotic foot soldiers used for battle. One of his henchmen is Warp Darkmatter, who was once Buzz's partner but had been secretly working for Zurg and given the codename "Agent Z." This incarnation of Zurg is a flamboyant villain who often breaks the seriousness of his evil statements, and is just as much a comic relief character as he is a formidable opponent. He is known for videotaping Buzz's speeches so he can secretly mock him, and in one episode tells Buzz that he is his father during a fight (just like he did in Toy Story 2) only to gain the upper hand by using the statement as a "Made You Look" moment to trick Buzz. Despite his campy nature, he is still widely considered the most evil person in the galaxy.

Trivia
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 it's name re-spelled with an "e" instead of a "u."
 * While Zurg and Buzz #2 fight atop the elevator, as the talk button of Buzz #2 is repeatedly hit, it skips the message "Buzz... Buzz... Buzz Lightyear to the rescue," which also happens when Woody and Buzz fight underneath Andy's car at the gas station in Toy Story.
 * 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 This is Spinal Tap.
 * Zurg's character may appear to draw from Darth Vader, a main villain in the Star Wars original trilogy, with a similar voice, appearance, and set of mannerisms.
 * 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 the film, some of the the mismatched toy arms in the trash can Woody was discarded in belonged to Zurg (although there were a couple color variations).
 * 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.
 * Zurg was based partially off Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich's favorite toy, the Six Million Dollar Man.