The darkest Futurama theories we hope aren’t true

Zapp Brannigan is likely one of the most memorable secondary characters on Futurama. When the bumbling starship captain was first launched, he was little greater than a one-dimensional, self-aggrandizing buffoon — a bloviating satire of characters like William Shatner’sJames Kirk, unique captain of the Starship Enterprise. That every one adjustments on subsequent episodes, nonetheless, because the character accrues important depth throughout a number of intersecting missions with the Planet Categorical crew.

This darkish principle weaves collectively a number of disparate items of Brannigan’s slowly unfolding backstory right into a tapestry of woe. First, keep in mind that Brannigan has a major quantity of authority for somebody who appears as incompetent as he has demonstrated himself to be. It is merely implausible to think about an officer thisineffective climbing the army ranks to such heights. We have now to contemplate the likelihood that Brannigan was as soon as a greater officer than he’s sometimes portrayed as.

Based on Zapp himself, his crowning army achievement got here when he vanquished the Killbots by making the choice to ship each single one in all his troopers into battle concurrently, thus overwhelming the Killbots’ programming. Such a gutsy surge tactic seemingly got here with substantial human casualties, a value that this principle suggests has haunted Zapp ever since.

Tortured by the post-traumatic stress induced by this incident, Zapp has been pushed to alcoholism, cowardice, and lechery. His feigned incompetence is all a ploy to safe a discharge from service. That vacant area go well with who spends all his time fawning over Leela? That man is only a shell of his former self — hollowed out by the horror of the army choices he made in a second of grave significance.

It is arduous to snigger at a critical psychological dysfunction like PTSD, so we actually hope this principle is not true, however we would be mendacity if we stated it does not make plenty of sense. Of all of the Futuramafan theories on the market within the multiverse, this one is certainly the darkest.