History YMMV / Housepets

** Just the way [[spoiler: Gale]] silently and menacingly gets near [[spoiler: King and his family]] to abduct them [[https://www.housepetscomic.com/comic/2018/08/31/maybe-well-skip-this-one/ here]]. Also, note that their puppies [[AdultFear are still toddlers]] whom [[WouldHurtAChild she might have done]] [[FridgeHorror anything to keep them quiet...]]. Good thing the page ends with [[spoiler: Bailey's]] MamaBear and SpiderSense ready to protect them.

* ArcFatigue: The Temple Crashers II arc for some which began in spring of 2017 and took a little over a year to conclude in 2018.
** Heckraiser, still in progress (as of april 2022) has fallen into this. It started in september 2020 (in the middle of the Covid-19 Pandemic), got interrupted during december of that year for Heavendropper, a filler starred by Fox, then in june of 2021, the comic went into a hiatus which ended in september 24th. But Rick Griffin has already stated that the comic wouldn't be updated on mondays, wednesdays and fridays, as he has done it since the beginning, but instead on tuesdays and fridays, but that doesn't mean we're receiving two pages a week, but that we should expect at least an update during any of those two days of the week.

* FoeYay: Satau and Ptah's rivalry seems almost playful at times, and in their final appearance Satau has his arm around Ptah's shoulders as they watch the sunrise together (granted they were also still arguing).

** A number of commenters on [[http://www.housepetscomic.com/2010/07/09/and-nothing-but/ this strip]] think that a many-tailed kitsune showing up means Rick has watched too much ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''. Never mind, of course, that kitsunes show up in a lot of old Japanese folklore, and that said folklore is the ''origin'' of stories of foxes with nine tails, such as Naruto...
** Or, to be very blunt, that the one in Naruto isn't nearly as powerful as the original source material. The more you know!

** Res is starting to seem this way, though owner mistreatment was quickly quashed as a possible reason. His feeling heavily under pressure to produce more Prdelands books clearly weighs heavily on him.

* NightmareFuel: [[http://www.housepetscomic.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/2017-12-15-double-hockey.png Keene, you really did it this time.]] In short, [[spoiler:he, through his selfishness, unlocked a gateway to Hell.]]

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: While the the comic hasn't reached CerebusSyndrome status and most of the characters are considered generally likeable, some readers found the FantasticRacism the anthropomorphic animal characters endure in their world difficult to ignore. These readers have become frustrated and perplexed by the characters' unwillingness to rebel against such poor treatment, as well as Keene's lack of progress in remedying such perceived bigotry. These same readers are also often baffled that most of the "pet" animals seem either apathetic or oblivious to the oppression they endure.

** Res is starting to seem this way, though owner mistreatment was quickly quashed as a possible reason.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: Sasha gets a lot of loose ends tied up nicely in the Hot Spring arc; specifically the complaints of her putting up with her drunken 'daddy's' abuse and neglect for years, and her and Fox's unresolved tension. The latter firmly shows Kevin is treating her right, and while neither of them mind Sasha kissing with other dogs (such as Fox), that they work well as a couple and both politely turn Fox down, to which he accepts. To the former, one of the things Kevin is doing is using his police contacts to have Sasha's father investigated for said abuse and neglect, and hopes to have her eventually emancipated, something fans thought was long, long overdue.

** The supernatural and magical elements that become central to the story through King's arc were either the comic GrowingTheBeard and becoming more dynamic than the SliceOfLife silly fun it started as, or when the comic declined in quality. There also those who were the latter but have slowly started coming around, since its obvious the supernatural shenanigans are not going anywhere and are now a recurring element of the comic.
** The portrayal of the anthros as a FantasticUnderclass that's enforced by the humans has many readers locking horns. One side finds it egregious and horrifyingly esoteric given how rarely it's called out or fought against and thinks it messes with any charm or light-heartedness the comic was trying to get across. Another side finds the treatment little different from how animals are treated in real life and not meant to be taken seriously.

** Pete, the Spirit Dragon, and Kitsune are supposed to represent [[BigBad Evil]], [[BigGood Good]], and [[TrueNeutral Neutral]], respectfully. However as the Cosmic Game came to a close, Dragon seemed a lot more neutral (she didn't really care about mortals really, she was just playing the game) and Kitsune seems to more closely follow the idea of the BigGood (he goes out of his way to help the mortals and their LoopholeAbuse of the game). Of course, some readers also see the end of the game as a subversion of these labels, and show all three of them are really AboveGoodAndEvil (Dragon can be kind of a jerk, Pete can be sympathetic, and Kitsune is just a trickster). And then there are the readers who consider them as ''all'' being jerks who toy with the lives of "lesser beings" for their own amusement, and that Kitsune only looks good because his goals happened to align with those of the mortals.

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: While the the comic doesn't technically fall under CerebusSyndrome and most of the characters are considered generally likeable, some readers found the FantasticRacism the sapient anthro characters endure in their world difficult to ignore and have been frustrated and baffled not only by how very little (if any) protests or rebellions against it are demonstrated or progress is made to remedy the bigotry by Keene in the comic's lengthy run. But those same readers are also often baffled by how most of the "Pet" animals seem either apathetic or oblivious to the oppression they endure, leaving some readers giving up on reading it with a bad taste in their mouths.

* ViewerGenderConfusion: Generally, the only way to tell if a character is female is if she has eyelashes. And there are some that don't even have those, like Grape, who is more a {{tomboy}}. Even then, some readers get confused. It's gotten to the point that, in his latest style shift, Rick Griffin has started subtlely giving females more feminine features.

* WoobieSpecies: The anthropomorphic pets in this comic as a whole are seen as abused by some readers. Despite their sentience, they're seen as being treated like 'lesser' beings by their human counterparts in ways that make the [[Literature/MoreauSeries the Moreau Universe]] look progressive. This is not helped by the fact that too few of them work to fight against this oppression or even acknowledge that they're being oppressed -- coming across as if most of them are in denial, if not brainwashed into seeing nothing wrong with their lives.

** Kingley for King[=/=]Bailey.
* {{Shipping}}: Hoo, boy. Just one of multiple examples: The AltText for [[http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/07/10/probably-taking-this-too-far/ this comic]] reads: "This is what YOU wanted. [[YouBastard You dirty, dirty people.]]"[[labelnote:*]]The previous comic had a commenter say he should "take a loooong cold bath in the nearest pond" in reaction to the barn cats' offer of a slow-motion pillow fight.[[/labelnote]]
* {{Squick}}:
** King is a frequent target of shipping--[[FanPreferredCouple usually with Sasha]] or [[HoYayShipping Fox]]--and King himself gradually gets used to being a dog as the comic goes on. However, some fans still can't look away from the fact that King is [[spoiler:not a dog, but a ''human trapped in a dog's body'']]. It makes his [[spoiler:eventual marriage with Bailey]] still too weird to accept for some.
** If you actually start to think about the society that must exist around Babylon Gardens, you can't go far without realizing something disturbing.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Some fans are already calling foul over the revelation that Sasha's actions in Keene's attempted murder were strictly her being BrainwashedAndCrazy, with some even enjoying the original idea of Sasha willingly turning against the establishment after years of being a StepfordSmiler and dealing with an emotionally abusive "daddy". There are also those who although they found the shift in her character a bit too harsh, still hoped her actions would at least be partially MoreThanMindControl, instead of her just being a completely UnwittingPawn. Some of these complaints also stem from the BrokenBase over the comic having too many supernatural elements.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Most of the humans in the webcomic are either meant to be viewed as either just bit characters or as mostly pet owner equivalent of GoodParents (with abusive owners being viewed as few and far between). But with how the world is established that the pets live as [[FantasticRacism second-class citizens at best]] and how their sapience seems rarely taken seriously or respected by even most the "Good" humans (humans who view the pet oppression as horrible and try to make amends are rarely seen), some readers view the human race in the Housepets universe as arrogant bigots who feel little to no remorse over perpetuating the state of being the FantasticUnderclass that their pets have to live through.
* ViewerGenderConfusion: Generally, the only way to tell if a character is female is if she has eyelashes. And there are some that don't even have those, like Grape, who is more a {{tomboy}}. Even then, some readers get confused. (see: Cerberus) It's gotten to the point that, in his latest style shift, Rick Griffin has started subtlely giving females more feminine features.

** Zach can get it bad some times... but as Jessica points out, some of it is his own fault and lack of awareness.

* WoobieSpecies: The anthros in this comic as a whole are held to this trope by some readers, given how, despite their sentience, they're being treated as 'lesser' beings by their human counterparts in ways that make the [[Literature/MoreauSeries the Moreau Universe]] look progressive. Not helped by the fact that too few of them work to fight against this oppression or even acknowledge that they're being oppressed comes across like most of them are in denial, if not brainwashed into seeing nothing wrong with their lives.

* BrokenBase: The supernatural and magical elements that become central to the story through King's arc were either the comic GrowingTheBeard and becoming more dynamic than the SliceOfLife silly fun it started as, or when the comic declined in quality. There also those who were the latter but have slowly started coming around, since its obvious the supernatural shenanigans are not going anywhere and are now a reoccurring element of the comic.
** The portrayal of the anthros as FantasticUnderclass that's enforced by the humans has many readers locking horns. One side finds it egregious and horrifyingly esoteric given how rarely it's called out or fought against and thinks it messes with any charm or light-heartedness the comic was trying to get across. Another side finds the treatment little different from how animals are treated in real life and not meant to be taken seriously.

** Joel was a fairly undeveloped character who seemed to just play the role of a PETA lackey. [[KarmicTransformation King]], on the other hand, quickly gained a disproportionate number of fans. Part of that might come from his being absolutely adorable. The author has taken note of this; when he allowed members of the comic's forum to vote on the plot for the next major story arc following "Imaginate, Too!", he ''specifically excluded King from the running'' because he knew everyone would vote for him, and a future King arc was already forthcoming.

** Tiger Arbelt became rather well-liked after he got his own arc as a mentally unstable kids' show host.
** Breel quickly became a fan favorite due to his adorable design, sweet personality, shipping with Keene and the fact that he turned into quite TheWoobie after revealing that he died by [[http://www.housepetscomic.com/comic/2017/10/09/eat-drink-and-be-merry/ getting hit by a train]] and Keene [[http://www.housepetscomic.com/comic/2017/12/15/double-hockey/ making him cry.]]

** Lifespans are a confusing detail in the comic. It's insinuated that animals don't actually have that different of lifespans than they do in the real world, but this isn't actually said outright. Not only that, but when [[spoiler:Pete and Dragon are sentenced to no less than 70 years of mortality for both losing the Cosmic Game, Kitsune considered reincarnating them as King and Bailey's puppies, who should realistically have lifespans much shorter than 70 years. Then again, no one ever said the 70 mortal years had to be served consecutively in a single lifetime. Later though, when Breel is allowed to come back to life as a boon from heaven, he states his expected lifespan will be around 40-50 years in spite of the fact he's a pine marten, a species that typically has a lifespan of around 15 years (domesticated). Then again, there's no way to know if Breel was a pine marten before he died, as Keene's adopted human father Mr. Milton elected to become a ferret in the afterlife, and even if he was it's been established Breel is rather ignorant of how mortals live since he's been dead for around 200 years.]]
* FanficFuel: Tiger's backstory. All we know in the canon is that he's a mood-swinging, socially awkward, food-obsessed AxCrazy JerkassWoobie. What sort of traumatic incident or treatment caused him to be the way he is? Just how bad was the bullying that he endured on both a physical and emotional level? Being a PG comic, we'll likely never get the answer. That being said, Tiger Arbelt is pretty much fertile soil for a HurtComfortFic or two.

* FridgeHorror: It's said Babylon Gardens is very much both a novelty and a rarity as far as places that are so open towards giving pets a lot of freedom. It's been heavily insinuated pets in other places of the world are not always treated as nicely, and animal abuse does happen, despite the fact animals in the Housepets! universe are fully sentient. It's also been insinuated animals have very few personal rights over humans, although the ferrets seem to be working to try and introduce more rights to animals over time.

** The first time King met Fox[[note]] after King became a corgi, that is[[/note]]had Fox presenting his rearend to King to 'give him the first sniff'. While scent sniffing isn't unusual for dogs, shippers quickly latched onto the pair because of this initial interaction. Rick himself even acknowledged the pairing in a post on the comic's Facebook page, specifying that while he felt taking taking their relationship in that direction might have been cute, it would have been too predictable given how many people shipped them already.

** As it turns out, Rufus and Maxwell had some sort of history together, the initial reveal of this connection punctuated with Rufus giving Max a smooch on the cheek before heading back to heaven. We do eventually learn their history, Max was a lost kitten who was taken in by Rufus, and through a harrowing course of events, Max was introduced to his current owner through Rufus. As if a wink to the fandom shipping the two, the other characters after hearing this story actually accuse Max of having a crush on Rufus, and that that's where Maxwell gets his attraction to older animals from.
** And a growing ship now is Fungo--Fox and Mungo. Mostly due to Mungo being huggy & openly affectionate to Fox as his partner in the K9 unit, while Fox is prone to blushing whenever he does so. As with Max & Rufus, Rick has made some nods to this pairing, particularly during the HotSpringsEpisode wherein Mungo casually admits he's more comfortable undressing and sharing a bath with Fox than with others, and Fox becomes hilariously flustered when he does just that. What's more, Rick later released [[https://www.deviantart.com/rickgriffin/art/Housepets-Spa-Movie-Night-800928049 a print]] that takes the alluding even further, depicting the two sharing a bath [[ShowerOfAwkward while surrounded by other characters making out]], with Mungo happily slinging his arm around Fox's shoulder while Fox can do nothing but blush and wag his tail. And as of the strip released for Christmas 2020, there's the implication that [[spoiler:Fox and Mungo will be each other's companions in Heaven when they go there]]. The specifics of their companionship is kept ambiguous, but [[spoiler:given that Fox is already romantically involved with both ''other'' members of the group they'll make up]], it causes one to wonder.
** Although King's hitting on the women when he was drunk, in the "Universes and Unrealities" arc, can be used throw some doubt on his romantic interests, earlier in the comic King and Fox were shipped by some of the audience. King falling in love with--and ultimately marrying--Fox's cousin Bailey pretty much killed any canon basis for this (and it's worth pointing out that [[ShipperOnDeck Fox was completely in favor of their relationship]]). Probably won't stop the fanfic writers, though.
* IdiosyncraticShipNaming

* IronWoobie: Sasha manages to stay uppity and cheerful despite the fact that her owner is an absolute {{Jerkass}}. Look at her boyfriend. She has experience.

* {{Moe}}: Most of the cast is this due to the art style but Peanut, Zach, Res, Joey, King, Tiger, Dallas and Sasha in particular stand out.

** Adorable though King's new form is, when Pete informed him [[spoiler: that Pete has no intention of changing him back into a human]], there were plenty of horrified fans.[[note]]Subverted later on when its revealed Pete had to keep King as a corgi to keep him as a part of the game, and in the end King would have earned "prizes" anyway for participating, most likely the choice of remaining a dog or living a happy, quiet life as a human, the same prize he ultimately did get anyway.[[/note]]

* MST3KMantra: You really don't need to bog yourself down with overanalysis on things such as biology and natural laws here.

* HoYayShipping: Although King's hitting on the women when he was drunk, in the "Universes and Unrealities" arc, can be used throw some doubt on his romantic interests, earlier in the comic King and Fox were shipped by some of the audience. King falling in love with--and ultimately marrying--Fox's cousin Bailey pretty much killed any canon basis for this (and it's worth pointing out that [[ShipperOnDeck Fox was completely in favor of their relationship]]). Probably won't stop the fanfic writers, though.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: While the the comic doesn't technically fall under CerebusSyndrome and most of the characters are considered generally likeable, some readers found the FantasticRacism the sapient anthro characters endure in their world difficult to ignore and have been frustrated and baffled not only by how very little (if any) protests or rebellions against it are demonstrated or progress is made to remedy the bigotry by Keene in the comic's lengthy run. But those same readers are also often baffled by how most of the "Pet" animals seem either apathetic or oblivious to the oppression they endure, leaving some readers giving up on reading it with a bad taste in their mouths.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: While the the comic doesn't technically fall under CerebusSyndrome and most of the characters are considered generally likeable, some readers found the FantasticRacism the sapient anthro characters endure in their world difficult to ignore and have been frustrated and baffled not only by how very little (if any) protests or rebellions against it are demonstrated or progress is made to remedy the bigotry by Keene in the comic's lengthy run. But those same readers are also often baffled by how most of the "Pet" animals seem either apathetic or oblivious to the oppression they endure, leaving some readers giving up on reader it with a bad taste in their mouths.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Most of the humans in the webcomic are either meant to be viewed as either just bit characters or as mostly pet owner equivalent of GoodParents (with abusive owners being viewed as few and far between). But with how the world is established that the pets live as [[FantasticRacism second-class citizens at best]] and how their sapience seems rarely taken seriously or respected by even most the "Good" humans (what humans who few the pet oppression as horrible and try to make amends are rarely seen), some readers view the human race in the Housepets universe as arrogant bigots who feel little to no remorse over perpetuating the state of being the FantasticUnderclass that their pets have to live through.

** And a growing ship now is Fungo--Fox and Mungo. Mostly due to Mungo being huggy & openly affectionate to Fox as his partner in the K9 unit, while Fox is prone to blushing whenever he does so. As with Max & Rufus, Rick has made some nods to this pairing, particularly during the HotSpringsEpisode wherein Mungo casually admits he's more comfortable undressing and sharing a bath with Fox than with others, and Fox becomes hilariously flustered when he does just that. What's more, Rick later released [[https://www.deviantart.com/rickgriffin/art/Housepets-Spa-Movie-Night-800928049 a print]] that takes the alluding even further, depicting the two sharing a bath [[ShowerOfAwkward while surrounded by other characters making out]], with Mungo happily slinging his arm around Fox's shoulder while Fox can do nothing but blush and wag his tail.

** The first time King met Fox[[note]] after King became a corgi, that is[[/note]]had Fox presenting his rearend to King to 'give him the first sniff'. While scent sniffing isn't unusual for dogs, shippers quickly latched onto the pair because of this initial interaction.

** And a growing ship now is Fungo--Fox and Mungo.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Pete, the Spirit Dragon, and Kitsune are supposed to represent [[BigBad Evil]], [[BigGood Good]], and [[TrueNeutral Neutral]], respectfully. However as the Comsic Game came to a close, Dragon seemed a lot more neutral (she didn't really care about mortals really, she was just playing the game) and Kitsune seems to more closely follow the idea of the BigGood (he goes out of his way to help the mortals and their LoopholeAbuse of the game). Of course, some readers also see the end of the game as a subversion of these labels, and show all three of them are really AboveGoodAndEvil (Dragon can be kind of a jerk, Pete can be sympathetic, and Kitsune is just a trickster). And then there are the readers who consider them as ''all'' being jerks who toy with the lives of "lesser beings" for their own amusement, and that Kitsune only looks good because his goals happened to align with those of the mortals.

** The three players (Pete, Spirit Dragon and the Kitsune) are pretty much good, neutral, and bad. Guess who the bad one is.

** Bino came close to crossing it when he tried to break King's watch but had he'd actually succeeded and King died in front of everyone, he'd [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone probably be more shocked and horrified then anything.]]
** Jack "Four Finger Discount" crosses this in the Wolf's Clothing arc where he eggs Bino on to steal from humans only to abandon him and try to sell his collar off to a well known con artist. Say what you will about Bino but what Jack did to him was just plain cold.

** or to be very blunt, that the one in Naruto isn't nearly as powerful as the original source material. The more you know!

** This is more of a Fridge TearJerker than anything, but it's implied that the lifespan of animals in this universe isn't all that different from their lifespan in our universe. The average life expectancy for a cat is about fifteen years, for a dog it's about 10-13 years, for rabbits like Zach, it's only about three to eight years, and for Jessica the opossum, it's a grand total of ''two years''. WebcomicTime might be the only thing keeping the majority of the cast alive by this point. This is even worse for King, who [[spoiler: has willingly chosen to stay as a dog as of the end of Heaven's Not Enough]], meaning that he has essentially given up the rest of his human lifespan to spend maybe, ''maybe'' ten more years with Bailey. At least we know Heaven exists in this universe...