D.O.O.P.

The Democratic Order of Planets or D.O.O.P is a fictional organization in the cartoon Futurama. It was founded in 2945 after the Second Galactic War (a parody of the United Nations being founded on 1945 after World War II), supposedly to be an instrument of peace. Its capital is on Earth, which is also one of the primary members. In its first appearance on the show in "Brannigan Begin Again" (though it was repeatedly mentioned in "Love's Labours Lost in Space") it was initially explained to Fry as being similar to the United Nations of the present time. In response to Fry's lack of comprehension, Hermes compared it to "The Federation of your Star Trek program." Grand Councilwoman Glab (not named during the show) is the President of the D.O.O.P., as shown in the episode "Brannigan Begin Again", where she presides over Zapp Brannigan's court martial. President Glab is also seen announcing the dedication of the new orbital headquarters of the D.O.O.P. over the Neutral Planet.

Organization
The D.O.O.P. deliberately parodies both the Federation of Star Trek and the U.N.. D.O.O.P. headquarters was initially located in a rundown building in Weehawken, New New Jersey, a joke on the U.N. being located in a small office park in the suburbs of New York City while its New York City headquarters was being built, and after Zapp Brannigan's destruction of the new, space-based $400 billion headquarters in orbit around the Neutral Planet, returned there where it is assumed to still be located. D.O.O.P. has judiciary powers in prosecuting certain crimes including treason, as well as in military courts martial.

D.O.O.P. member planets seem to meet in a fashion similar to the U.N. to discuss and mediate disputes, and a wide variety of species are visible at every meeting. D.O.O.P operates its own military, supposedly for mutual defense, though it may also be used to intimidate dissenting member-planets [similar to the U.N.'s use of (primarily) the U.S. military in the Korean War] or even to conquer new planets for induction into the D.O.O.P., similar to the practice of the Roman Empire.

Military

The D.O.O.P. operates its own space fleet (similar to the Federation Starfleet), under the leadership of Twenty-Five Star General Zapp Brannigan, from his flagship, the Nimbus. Zapp's army title may indicate a hierarchal superiority of ground forces over naval forces within the D.O.O.P., a reversal of the usual practice of Marines being subordinate hierarchally to naval command. Like Zapp, the military is incompetent (often sending the newest recruits in the first wave of battle, such as in "War is the H-Word") and incapable of defeating all but the weakest foes. This combined with Zapp's obvious pride in his military conquests (typically involving overwhelming force against an inferior foe), may indicate that the D.O.O.P. military is primarily the aggressor in its conflicts, and may be primarily an instrument of conquest. Examples of the D.O.O.P. military as an aggressor include the carpet bombing of Eden 7 as well as the defeats of the following: the pacifists of the Gandhi nebula, the Spiderians of Tarantulon 6, the Retiree People of the Assisted Living Nebula and the driving of the native Spheroids off of Spheron 1, although it should be mentioned that it was not made clear if all of these attacks were ordered by the D.O.O.P., or if some were just mistakes by Zapp that he has since claimed as victories (in "War is the H-Word").

Though typically the aggressor, D.O.O.P. has attempted to defend Earth from several Omicronian invasions ("When Aliens Attack", "The Problem with Popplers", etc.) each time having to resort to appeasement to avoid military conquest. D.O.O.P. also unsuccessfully defended against an attack by the Decapodians in "A Taste of Freedom". Earth seems to exert a high amount of influence on the military branch of D.O.O.P., as demonstrated by the relative lack of non-humans serving (Kif Kroker being the obvious exception) and Earth President Richard Nixon giving orders to Zapp Brannigan during the invasion of Spheron 1.

D.O.O.P. members
Planet-Representative members of D.O.O.P. include:
* An Amazonian of Amazonia
* Ambassador Moivin of Decapod 10
* Grand Councilwoman Glab of Amphibios 9
* A Horrible Gelatinous Blob
* Humans of the United States of Earth
* An Insectoid
* A Neptunian of Neptune
* Robot Elders of Chapek 9
* A Space Lizard
* A Trisolian of Trisol
* Some Wormulons of Wormulon
* The Yarn People of Nylar IV

Behind the scenes
In the episode "Brannigan Begin Again", the location of the original D.O.O.P. headquarters is said to be Weehawken, New Jersey, which for that era is incorrect. A road map shown in "Bendin' in the Wind" later reveals the state's correct name to be New New Jersey.

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