History YMMV / Garfield

* Narm: Happy Chapman pointedly stating he hates lasagna after he just so happens to be offered it. Y’know, Garfield’s favourite food. Feels like an incredibly awkward way to assert who’s the bad guy here, as if kidnapping and torturing a dog didn’t make that clear enough. Made further odd by how this never comes into play afterwards.

** And [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1979/10/06 this other trip]] from 1979 where Jon outrights French kisses the vet after she refused a date with him. With sexual harassment now being treated a serious issue, this strip would never get away with the backlash it would get if it were published in the present day.

** There is some degree of overlap between the ''Garfield'' fandom and the ''Franchise/HelloKitty'' fandom, due to both characters being cats, but very different in terms of personalities. Also, both franchises dominate opposite sides of the globe; Hello Kitty is more popular in Asia, especially its home country of Japan, while Garfield is popular in the Western world.

** The 2004 video game (completely unrelated to the movie; simply named ''Garfield'') for the [=PS2=] and PC, which is a ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'' knock-off (except with no ghosts, you suck up objects and place them back in the right areas) with abysmal voice acting (just so you know, Garfield and Jon are voiced by the same actor, making them sound ''very off''; [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgaSr2TtnM4 see for yourself]]), terrible graphics (Garfield is stuck with a permanent grin and Jon with an angry expression), repetitive, awkward dialogue ("Jon's gonna put me on a diet now and I don't want to go on a diet!"), rather poor grasp of the source material, strange controls, [[LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading long loading times]] (especially on the [=PS2=] version) and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Odie only flipping over when attacked]].

** The 2004 video game (completely unrelated to the movie; simply named ''Garfield''), which is a ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'' knock-off with abysmal voice acting (just so you know, Garfield and Jon are voiced by the same actor, making them sound ''very off''; [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgaSr2TtnM4 see for yourself]]), terrible graphics (Garfield is stuck with a permanent grin and Jon with an angry expression), repetitive, awkward dialogue ("Jon's gonna put me on a diet now and I don't want to go on a diet!"), rather poor grasp of the source material, strange controls, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Odie only flipping over when attacked]].

** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1984/ga841216.gif This 1984 strip]] has Garfield [[MuggedForDisguise stealing a kid's clothes]], giving him a striking resemblance to [[VideoGame/EarthBound Ness]].

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: ''Garfield'' is incredibly popular in Asia -- particularly in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China, which regularly receive exclusive events and merchandise. For example, a ''Garfield'' land with a dark ride was planned for a Six Flags park in China (though this was eventually canceled), and in 2022, Hong Kong received exclusive ''Garfield'' merchandise by the artist Plastic Thing crossing over with their own character, Fatty.
** The strip is also very popular in France. So popular, in fact, that they produced their own show based off of the franchise that gets higher ratings than other French-produced shows and other popular foreign shows such as WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants.

* SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames: While most of Garfield's video game outings typically run the gamut between being mediocre at best and absolutely dreadful at worst, ''VideoGame/GarfieldCaughtInTheAct'' for the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis and ''Garfield's Nightmare'' for the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS are regarded to be surprisingly decent (if not perfect) 2D platforming outings for the fat cat.
** ''VideoGame/GarfieldsScaryScavengerHunt'' is a duo of web browser games released in 2002 and 2003. The first game in particular is considered to be a classic browser game.

** The 2004 video game (completely unrelated to the movie; simply named ''Garfield''), which is a ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'' knock-off with abysmal voice acting (just so you know, Garfield and Jon are voiced by the same actor, making them sound ''very off'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgaSr2TtnM4 See for yourself]]), terrible graphics (Garfield is stuck with a permanent grin and Jon with an angry expression), repetitive, awkward dialogue ("Jon's gonna put me on a diet now and I don't want to go on a diet!"), rather poor grasp of the source material, strange controls, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Odie only flipping over when attacked]].

* SeasonalRot: The number of people defending the strip is shrinking as the years go by. It doesn't help that A) Jim Davis now uses ghostwriters for most strips, B) even when he did write it, he admitted to having little ambition for anything beyond his comfort zone, C) the comic doesn't have a lot of storyline strips anymore, opting with only gag-per-day strips with loose plot threads, D) many newer strips are recycled from older strips or just very slight variations of the same jokes, E) the artwork has become stiffer over the years. The strip still has an online fandom, but it's a mostly ironic one.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: ''Garfield'' is one of the most popular comic strips ever and is easily quotable. And then you come to a comic and go "Oh, I know this one," and it's ruined.

* {{Padding}}: Many, many Sunday strips are lengthened simply to take up space, and [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/garfield/?comic=2621 as]] [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/garfield/?comic=1560 numerous]] ''Webcomic/SquareRootOfMinusGarfield'' [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/garfield/?comic=109 edits]] [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/garfield/?comic=610 have]] [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/garfield/?comic=1466 demonstrated]], could easily be shortened down to half their panel number or less and have no effect on the joke.

** The Website/{{Tumblr}} blog [[https://ihatejonarbuckle.tumblr.com/ ihatejonarbuckle]] contests that Jon is an abusive owner that constantly [[{{Jerkass}} insults and demeans]] Garfield for [[ForTheEvulz absolutely no reason whatsoever,]] [[KickTheDog murdered Lyman just to steal his dog]] (to also abuse), [[ManipulativeBastard manipulated Liz into falling in love with him]], [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and happily drank dog semen.]]

* FanNickname: Dark Deity Garfield, Deep God Garfield Garf-Sothoth, Gorefield, Garfthulhu, [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Calamity Garfield]], [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos etc.]] for the EldritchAbomination version of Garfield that tends to appear online.

** [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2001/ga010911.gif One strip]] has Jon saying "We all have to live together. We all have to be considerate of our neighbors." The final panel shows Garfield in woman clothing as Jon yells "SO RETURN THOSE TO MRS. FEENY!" This was written in advance like all comic strips, and what day did it get printed on? September 11, 2001.

** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2005/08/01 This strip]] was released one month before Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans.

* ValuesResonance: Recently, with the rise of the internet, celebrities like Music/WeirdAlYankovic, and mainstream revelations of niche hobbies and/or holding onto one's childhood, that might be featured on shows such as ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'', and recognition of disabilities that spur these interests (such as autism and ADHD), Jon can be seen less as a loser, and more of an outcast of restrictive normative society. This, as well as his previous inability to find a romantic partner, resonate with those aforementioned disabled and outcast odd individuals who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, and their interests have been seen as less and less quirky and tasteless, and more compelling and personality-revealing.

* TransAudienceInterpretation: ViewerGenderConfusion notwithstanding, there is a small, very vocal portion of the fandom who interpret Nermal as a trans boy. He has long eyelashes, a trait usually reserved for female characters in the strip, and his entire personality revolves around looking cute in contrast to Garfield, whose primary trait is laziness. Some have also pointed out his voice change between ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheGarfieldShow'' is him changing his voice to sound more masculine while still somewhat high-pitched.

* SeasonalRot: The number of people defending the strip is shrinking as the years go by. It doesn't help that A) Jim Davis now uses ghostwriters for most strips, B) even when he did write it, he admitted to having little ambition for anything beyond his comfort zone, C) the comic doesn't have a lot of storyline strips anymore, opting with only gag-per-day strips with loose plot threads, D) many newer strips are recycled from older strips or just very slight variations of the same jokes, E) the artwork has become stiffer over the years. The strip still has an online fandom, but it's a mostly ironic one.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: ''Garfield'' is incredibly popular in Asia -- particularly in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China -- which regularly receive exclusive events and merchandise. For example, a ''Garfield'' land with a dark ride was planned for a Six Flags park in China (though this was eventually canceled), and in 2022, Hong Kong received exclusive ''Garfield'' merchandise by the artist Plastic Thing crossing over with their own character, Fatty.

** According to [[WordOfGod Jim Davis]], the joke of [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1990/05/30 May 30th, 1990]], where Jon takes a drink from a cup and is told he'll be giving birth to a litter of puppies, is based on something that was common at the farm Jim grew up at, where they would give high-protein supplements to pregnant cows. The large amount of people who didn't have knowledge of that resulted in the [[MemeticMutation infamous misinterpretation]] of "Jon drank dog semen".

** Despite the FandomRivalry, there's no real friction between fans of ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' and ''ComicStrip/{{Heathcliff}}'', primarily because they're both very different cats save species and color.

* MemeticBadass[=/=]MemeticPsychopath: Much like WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}} before them, the strange and occasionally horrifying world of fan work (especially ''WebVideo/{{Garfielf}}'' and ''WebVideo/FistOfTheB0rfStar'') has turned Jon and Garfield into characters with traits from both these character types, with Jon [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation commonly perceived]] as an antisocial, insane recluse who hears voices and murdered [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome Lyman]] to steal his pets and Garfield as a [[ExtremeOmnivore ceaselessly hungry]] EldritchAbomination that will devour the entire world if not appeased with lasagna. Hell, there's even an entry (#3166) about Garfield on '''''[[Website/SCPFoundation the SCP Foundation]]'''''. There's also a very active [[Website/{{Reddit}} subreddit]] dedicated to fanart of Garfield as an Lovecraftian eldritch horror, [[https://www.reddit.com/r/imsorryjon/ "r/imsorryjon"]].

** Another one [[https://www.mezzacotta.net/garfield/?comic=1343 pointed out]] by ''Square Root of Minus Garfield''; on early 90's strip saw Jon get a fortune cookie fortune that claimed "A tall, beautiful blonde will change your life". Fast-forward about 15 years, and Jon's date with the tall, beautiful blonde Ellen eventually leads to him becoming an OfficialCouple with Liz.

* FriendlyFandoms: Despite the Fandom Rivalry, there's no real friction between fans of ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' and ''ComicStrip/{{Heathcliff}}'', primarily because they're both very different cats save species and color.

* TransAudienceInterpretation: ViewerGenderConfusion notemwithstanding, there is a small, very vocal portion of the fandom who interpret Nermal as a trans boy. He has long eyelashes, a trait usually reserved for female characters in the strip, and his entire personality revolves around looking cute in contrast to Garfield, whose primary trait is laziness. Some have also pointed out his voice change between ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheGarfieldShow'' is him changing his voice to sound more masculine while still somewhat high-pitched.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: The fandom is evenly split on how they feel about Nermal. There are those who adore him for his cuteness and snark towards Garfield, and then there is an equally large number of fans who absolutely despise him for those exact reasons.

* ValuesResonance: Recently, with the rise of the internet, celebrities like Music/WeirdAlYankovic, and mainstream revelations of niche hobbies that might be featured on shows such as ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'', as well as recognition of disabilities that spur these interests (such as autism and ADHD), Jon can be seen less as a loser, and more of an outcast of normative society. This, as well as his previous inability to find a romantic partner, resonate with those aforementioned disabled and outcast odd individuals who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, and have been seen as less and less quirky and tasteless, and more interesting and personality-revealing.