History YMMV / PennyArcade

--> '''Tycho:''' What's topping? Let's top. [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything I want to top.]]

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: [[https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2000/09/13/part-one-confrontation Part One: Confrontation]], the strip for September 13, 2000, features Tycho as a ''turnip'' with absolutely zero context or explanation. The ''Attack Of the Bacon Robots'' paperback reveals that this is actually because Mike threatened to draw Jerry as a turnip as long as he put off buying a SEGA Dreamcast, but this is not explained in the strip, and this was before the News section existed, so unless you've read the books, good luck figuring out what the hell is going on.
** [[https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2000/11/03/i-think-we-got-everybody I Think We Got Everybody]]. Gabe and Tycho are discussing video games they like, then out of nowhere, Tycho points out the cat and an eggplant shaped like Abraham Lincoln. Tycho merely states [[RuleOfCool it's cool]] when Gabe asks if anybody asked for that.
* BrokenBase: The reaction to [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/08/11/ "The Sixth Slave"]] was rather... [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/08/13/ mixed]]. Not helping this was Gabe's response - that it was no different from [[BlackComedy their trademark style]] and the dickwolves were no worse than the Fruit Fucker 5000, a rapist character who'd been in the comic for years.

* [[ViewerSpeciesConfusion Viewer Videodisc Format Confusion]]:
** Div, the alcoholic UsefulNotes/{{DIVX}} player, is easily mistaken by newcomers who have not yet read the older strips (or have little to no knowledge on a DIVX player) for a UsefulNotes/{{DVD}} player.
** On a similar note, the wombat symbol is thought to be a bear by people who haven't read the older strips either.

* ValuesDissonence: Considering it's been going since the ''90s'', it's inevitable some things wouldn't age well. Some early strips could have some rather strong language, using words that would eventually go on to be see as slurs in the modern age. (Notably, the word 'retard' could be thrown around by the characters a few times in a derogatory context.)

* AluminumChristmasTrees: One level in ''Videogame/{{Scribblenauts}}'' can actually be solved [[CuttingTheKnot by just spawning the Starite]] (the item you need to collect to complete each level), as Gabe does in [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/09/23/the-wisdom-of-solomon "The Wisom of Solomon".]]

* WereStillRelevantDammit:
** The [[https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2016/05/16/supernatural-causes comic]] tackled ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' 's popularity roughly '''11 years''' after the show first premiered, and just about 8 years after the character of Castiel first appeared (and became very popular with fangirls and boys alike).
** A [[https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2022/05/11/with-special-guests 2022 strip]] has an interviewer being surprised to find out that new Penny Arcade comics are still being made.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: [[https://socksmakepeoplesexy.net/images/ff_penny-arcade.jpg This]] strip was made at a time where ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' was more unknown than the reputation it would have [[VindicatedByHistory today]]: a SacredCow among ''Final Fantasy''.

** The comic's avoidance of "the dreaded continuity" means there's no need to read the entire archive in order, but the addition of a "random comic" button in the site's newest redesign means you can lose hours just by putting the backlog "on shuffle." To say nothing of the "generate comic" button, which assembles a "new" strip out of three randomly selected panels from the archive and lets the reader be the judge whether surrealist hilarity is achieved.

** The comic's avoidance of "the dreaded continuity" means there's no need to read the entire archive in order, but the addition of a "random comic" button in the site's newest redesign means you can lose hours just by putting the backlog "on shuffle." To say nothing of the comic ''randomizer'', which assembles a "new" strip out of three randomly selected panels from the archive and lets the reader be the judge whether surrealist hilarity is achieved.

* WereStillRelevantDammit: The [[https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2016/05/16/supernatural-causes comic]] tackled ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' 's popularity roughly '''11 years''' after the show first premiered, and just about 8 years after the character of Castiel first appeared (and became very popular with fangirls and boys alike).

** The comic's avoidance of "the dreaded continuity" means there's no need to read the entire archive in order, but the addition of a "random comic" button in the site's newest redesign means you can lose hours just shuffling through 20+ years of backlog. To say nothing of the comic ''randomizer'', which assembles a "new" strip out of three randomly selected panels from the archive and lets the reader be the judge whether surrealist hilarity is achieved.

** The comic's avoidance of "the dreaded continuity" means there's no need to read the entire archive in order, but the addition of a "random comic" button in the site's newest redesign means you can lose hours just shuffling through 20+ years of backlog. To say nothing of the comic ''randomizer'', which assembles a "new" strip with three randomly selected panels from the archive and lets the reader be the judge whether surrealist hilarity is acheived.