History YMMV / DontHugMeImScared

** The cut of meat in "Health" is frequently called "Steak Guy", even though [[ViewerSpeciesConfusion he is a lamb chop]].

* ArcFatigue: The main criticism of the 4th episode "Friendship." Many criticize it for basically being a pointless {{Filler}} episode of the worst variety; too many scenes of nothing but the characters talking, scenes dragging on for too long, and overall the slow pacing in general. Even the Brain Friends segment, while being interesting in concept, is botched by the slow pacing, taking up far too much of the episode, and again being filled with little but characters just rambling on and on.

* ArcFatigue: The main criticism of the 4th episode "Friends" from the TV series, and is the reason why it is the most widely hated episode. Many criticize the episode for its horrid pacing, with many scenes dragging on for way too long and the overall large amounts of filler scenes with nothing happening throughout. The Brain Friends segment in particular is especially hated for this, as despite them being an interesting concept on paper, their execution is botched by how the segment, again, drags on for way too long, is filled with filler scenes that don't add anything other than killing time, and generally overstays its welcome.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Considering the weirdness of the series, you'd be surprised to learn that "aspic" from "Health" is a real food. It's a clear and gelatinous ingredient made from meat stock which is eaten on its own, or used to season and preserve meat in pies, mostly those of the pork variety.

** Sketchbook's singing. Any of the teachers' singing counts too. Except maybe the Healthy Band in ''5'', and most definitely the Lamp in ''6''.

** Meanwhile, the three main puppets are often referred to by fans as Harry (Red Guy), Robin (Duck), and Manny (Yellow Guy).

** Red Guy is the most rude of the trio, but he also seems to be the most aware of them being trapped in the nightmare world. He manages to escape in "Computers", only to fail to get his friends out, and in the TV series he has a panic attack trying to escape the house.

* FanficFuel: The 40-year TimeSkip that happens in Episode 1 of the TV series has been ripe for much fan theories, including Yellow Guy and Red Guy's lives outside of the workplace, and the life Yellow Guy ended up leading with Claire and Janet.

*** However, it's increasingly common for both Tony and Sketchbook to be depicted as full-on psychopaths rather than the just mildly creepy and questionably characters they are in canon (at least when they aren't being shipped together—and sometimes even when they are).

** In a notable contrast to the "full-on psychopath" portrayal, a sizeable chunk of the fandom portrays ''all'' the "teacher" antagonists as sympathetic, with [[spoiler:Roy's control]] being more or less responsible for the results of their "lessons". In such imaginings, one or more of the teachers will often be cast as a [[PapaWolf protective parent]] [[MamaBear or guardian]] to the main characters.

* {{Narm}}: In the TV series, for some reason, the characters aren't allowed to say "anus". In episodes in which a giant blob of raw flesh appears, Duck is decapitated with a shovel and Yellow Guy's face melts. One could get the joke they were trying to get across, about the [[{{Gorn}} over the top violence]] yet the characters [[SkewedPriorities never swearing]] but it's still really jarring.

%%* WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs: Oh, yes.

** Yes, Yellow Guy's arm getting shredded off in "Jobs" is terrifiying. Yes, the co-workers treating it like a party and Red Guy trying to fix it by ''firing him'' makes it hilarious.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: Warren the Eagle is intended to be a HateSink and a [[{{Hypocrite}} hypocritical]] {{Jerkass}} who only [[ItsAllAboutMe talks about himself]], but one might feel a little sorry for him considering that [[IJustWantToHaveFriends all he truly wants is to have friends]] he can hang out with, even if he admittedly goes too far with it. And despite being extremely insensitive towards the trio, it can come across as him being [[InnocentlyInsensitive ignorant]] than out of any sort of malice. It doesn't help that the trio's insults about his appearance genuinely upsets him and can feel rather unwarranted.

* EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory: One idea of the TV series suggests that it is actually about Gnosticism. According to Gnosticism, an imposter god created the physical world and deliberately made their creation mindless until they were granted hidden knowledge by higher beings. In the TV series, [[spoiler:Lesley appears to have a bit of control over the puppets and their world, and appears to want to keep the Yellow Guy and the others in the dark about their existence. In that sense, Becky and Joe would be the true gods who exist several stairs past the attic.]]

* RealismInducedHorror:
** Manages to be a mixture of this, SurrealHumor, and SurrealHorror at the same time. Most of the "teachers" seem to represent a different form of harm that adult authority figures can inflict on the children they have power over: Sketchbook stifles Yellow Guy's creativity by punishing him for making art "the wrong way", Shrignold is a cult leader who employs [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_bombing love bombing]], etc. The most disturbing part in "Health" is not actually Duck's gruesome death, but everything that comes before: He's conscious that something is wrong with the lesson, but the teachers abuse their authority to patronize him and try to scare him straight to ensure he won't complain, and while he still does, they try this on the more naive [[BreakTheCutie Yellow Guy]] and ''succeed''.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: The Brain Friends are rather divisive characters. Half of the fanbase likes them for being some of the only [[SheepInSheepsClothing genuinely nice characters]] in the entire series, while the other half finds their designs to be [[SweetnessAversion too saccharine]] and accuse them of bringing "Friendship"'s pacing to a crawl. The only Brain Friend who doesn't have a noticeable hatedom is Shy Imaginary Older Brother, mainly due to him being less focused on and [[RefittedForTheSequel reviving an old idea]] from the cancelled original TV series.

* SignatureScene: [[SurpriseCreepy The iconic Creativity Explosion scene]] in the first episode.

* {{Narm}}: In the TV series, for some reason, the characters aren't allowed to say "anus". In episodes in which a giant blob of raw flesh appears, Duck is decapitated with a shovel and Yellow Guy's face melts. One could get the joke they were trying to get across, about the [[Gorn over the top violence]] yet the characters [[SkewedPriorities never swearing]] but it's still really jarring.
* NauseaFuel:

* {{Narm:}} In the TV series, for some reason, the characters aren't allowed to say "anus". In episodes in which a giant blob of raw flesh appears, Duck is decapitated with a shovel and Yellow Guy's face melts. One could get the joke they were trying to get across, about the [[Gorn over the top violence]] yet the characters [[SkewedPriorities never swearing]] but it's still really jarring.
* NauseaFuel:

* Narm: In the TV series, for some reason, the characters aren't allowed to say "anus". In episodes in which a giant blob of raw flesh appears, Duck is decapitated with a shovel and Yellow Guy's face melts. One could get the joke they were trying to get across, about the [[Gorn over the top violence]] yet the characters [[SkeweredPriorities never swearing]] but it's still really jarring.
* NauseaFuel:

* NauseaFuel: