History YMMV / Pico

* GeniusBonus: When Pico calls Cyclops a poser, Cyclops retorts that Pico listens to techno. There was a sizable overlap in the early techno scene and the goth music scene, with many fans of one being fans of the other. This is paid off decades later in the game ''Love Conquers All'', where Pico shows he's familiar with the same goth music that Cassandra calls "the best in all time and space".

** The old Flash character profiles of Pico, Darnell, and Nene. You'll need a Flash extension to see those files in a web archiving site. Some characteristics of the three may be dubious due to negative continuity and sheer absurdity of some of them.
--->'''Pico's Characteristics''': "Insomniac, Obsessive, Wannabe DJ, Homicidal, Schizophrenic, IQ: 127"
--->'''Darnell's Characteristics''': "Pyromaniac, Migraines, Hormonal, Supergenius, Has 5 Years to Live, IQ: 241"
--->'''Nene's Characteristics''': "A.D.D., Herpes, Suicidal Sadomasochist, Enjoys Necrophilia & Bestiality, Lactose Intolerant, IQ: 133"

** While most ''Pico''-related games and flashes aren't really meant to be taken seriously (what with BlackComedy being rampant throughout the series), they still use heavy amounts of gore that can be shocking to see. Some people who played ''Pico's School'' even pointed out that they thought the game was going to be light-hearted due to the intro, only for the game's intro to go from [[SurpriseCreepy 1 to 100 real fast]].

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHkswj4dZio I Do Not Care]][[labelnote:Explanation]]A short clip of Pico dancing from the [[https://youtu.be/UmuLAcRJrcA?t=280 4th Annual Newgrounds Tank Awards video]] with the titular caption, set to "EEEAAAOOO", can be used to inform someone that the user is not interested in the topic. The music can be also replaced by any other track.[[/labelnote]]

** Despite Otis not having a WeaponOfChoice, some fans like to portray him with the mace Convict wielded as him in ''Pico Vs. Convict''.

** Despite Otis not having a WeaponOfChoice, some fans like to portray him with the mace Convict weilded as him in ''Pico Vs. Convict''.

** Where to begin with ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96xeJpDzee4 Pico vs. Convict]]''? It starts off with Pico waking up to see his dead teacher and finding a note from Nene, which claims that [[SerialKiller Convict]] killed ''everyone'' in the school except [[SoleSurvivor her and Pico]]. In the ''next scene'', Convict is shown to overpower Pico effortlessly with his [[VoluntaryShapeshifting shapeshifting powers]], and once he has Pico cornered, Pico isn't ready to fight him, but is ''scared shitless'', in contrast to the badass demeanor most games and flashes have him. During the end of the flash, Convict transforms into Nene (who had distracted him from killing Pico earlier), and Pico has to [[SpotTheImposter shoot one of the Nenes]]... [[spoiler: [[DownerEnding only for it to be revealed that he shot the real Nene]], as the flash ends with Convict menacingly revealing his face to the audience. And that's not even mentioning the SlasherSmile Nene pulled off as she was about to murder Convict before Pico accidentally shot her. Sweet dreams]].

** Thanks to ''Friday Night Funkin[='=]'' giving Pico and Boyfriend a romantic "past" between them, it's become fanon that they used to be a couple in the main universe as well. This is flat out made canon in the ''Love Conquers All'' universe.
** To a minor degree, fans of the game also have shiped Pico with Lila from ''WebAnimation/SpookyMonth''.
** Possibly as an answer to Pico/Boyfriend, some people depict Nene or Cassandra having a similar history/past romance with Girlfriend.

** The two additional Goth Punks seen at the end of ''Pico'a School'' are a couple of {{Red Shirt}}s, but fans typically give them names ("Spike" for the mohawk kid, "Pierre" for the {{Beatnik}}) and portray them as friends of the other Goth Punks.

** To a minor degree, fans of the game also have started to ship Pico with Lila from ''WebAnimation/SpookyMonth''.
** Possibly as an answer to Pico/Boyfriend, some people started depicting Nene or Cassandra having a similar history/past romance with Girlfriend.

** The friendship between Pico, Darnell, and Nene. It varies from creator-to-creator and animation-to-animation. They're often friends that get along, sometimes enemies that even physically fight each other, and other times have romance (often between Pico & Nene or Darnell & Nene).

** Perhaps as a way of making the game seem even edgier than it already is, it is commonly claimed that Pico is a school shooter, with this claim especially increasing in frequency when a section of the ''VideoGame/FridayNightFunkin'' fanbase started portraying Pico in an increasingly [[DracoInLeatherPants romanticized]] way, with the original ''Pico'' fanbase wanting to distance him from this portrayal. Except that the original game is all about him ''stopping'' the school shooters; he has the option to shoot innocent people in-game, but that option is [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential fully up to the player]], and the fact that one of his potential victims (Nene) shows up in later games indicates that he doesn't canonically kill the innocents.

* DracoInLeatherPants: Likely due to their designs and unique boss fights, the Goth Punks get treated like this to an extent in the fandom. Even in spite of the fact that Cassandra didn't care about them in the original game and only used them as pawns for her goal, they're often depicted as friends (or even LoveInterests) with her in fanart. Cassandra is also often paired up with Pico (due to Cyclops claiming that [[VillainousCrush she has a crush on him]]), Darnell, or Nene, despite them being canonically enemies (with Pico) or never having even met each other (with Darnell and Nene). Then again, given how ''Love Conquers All'' revealed some of them having troubled pasts (Alucard) or difficult relationships with others (Cyclops and Hanzou), it at least gives a reason for their behavior, whereas Cassandra's plan was selfish, which she even points out herself in the same timeline. However, there are still a number of fans who don't condone the actions of the characters themselves and just simply like them while not downplaying their actions like in most cases of this trope.

** Nene is often depicted as Pico's LoveInterest. If Boyfriend is assumed to be Pico's ex, chances are that Nene's likely to be depicted as Pico's current date.

** While in the original game, they were mere pawns that Cassandra manipulated to kill others, the Goth Punks are often depicted as friends with Cassandra in fanon. It may or may not lead to them getting the DracoInLeatherPants treatment when it comes to fanart or fanfiction about them.

** Pico is often depicted as friends or even rivals with other [[Website/{{Newgrounds}} Newgrounds]] icons/mascots, such as [[WebAnimation/{{Tankmen}} John Captain]], [[VideoGame/{{AlienHominid}} Alien Hominid]], [[WebAnimation/{{MadnessCombat}} Hank]], and so on.

* ViewerGenderConfusion: Cassandra is female, despite some thinking that she's male due to the masculine appearance of her final form, and the lack of gendered pronouns used for her in the original game. Her Penilian form ''is'' hermaphroditic, so they have some [[JustifiedTrope justification]]. Later redesigns made it clearer that Cassandra is female.

** Some like to depict Pico having trauma because of the events of ''Pico's School''.

** Because of her starting the shooting due to a lesson from her teacher about apples and bananas, Cassandra hating apples has become a common running gag within the fandom.

** While in the original game they were mere pawns Cassandra manipulated to kill others, the goth punks are often depicted as friends with Cassandra in fanon. It may or may not lead to them getting the DracoInLeatherPants treatment when it comes to fanart or fanfiction about them.
** Because of the Neo Goth Punks in ''Pico's Cousin 2'' being the cousins of the goth punks from ''Pico's School'', Damien from the former game is often depicted as Cassandra's cousin or even her brother. And while he has no "canon" HumanDisguise, fanart usually depicts Damien's possible HumanDisguise as similar to Cassandra, but with blue hair to contrast Cassandra's red hair.
** Piconjo is often depicted as being Pico's rival, rather than his enemy. Some fanart tends to depict him, Pico, and Otis as a trio of sorts.
** Darnell and Nene are shown in fanon to be just as capable fighters as Pico is. This seems to be the case for the recent teaser trailer for ''VideoGame/FridayNightFunkin'', where they're shown to be capable of combat... [[FaceHeelTurn except they're fighting]] ''[[FaceHeelTurn against]]'' [[FaceHeelTurn Pico]].

* CrossesTheLineTwice: Gun violence, wrist-slitting, pyromania... in RealLife, all horrific problems. In the world of VideoGame/{{Pico}}, all kinds of insanity.

** [[ShapeShifting Convict]] from ''Pico vs. Convict'' (as well as a playable character in ''VideoGame/NewgroundsRumble'') also has a bit of a cult following, given how he's one of the only Pico antagonists to ''not'' be killed outright, and how he [[spoiler: successfully tricked Pico into shooting Nene instead of him at the end of his debut flash]]. Some even think he's a better antagonist than Cassandra because of this.

* FandomRivalry: With several fans from ''Videogame/FridayNightFunkin'' flocking in to the ''Pico'' series, there have been conflicts between certain groups of old and new fans ranging from Pico's fan depictions, different headcanons & opinions, all the way to whether ''FNF'' lore is canon to the main Pico series. Just mentioning whether Pico is bi, gay, or straight (or simply AmbiguouslyBi) is enough to spark a debate on whether this is a case of good writing or [[WordofGod doing another J.K. Rowling on an old character]]. Drawing Pico enjoying wearing a maid outfit, being a "softboi uwu character", or a ruthless murderer who isn't picky with his targets are also points of contention between different fandoms. The creators themselves don't mind it, however, as it means spurring fans in discussing Newgrounds again (that and them being the TrollingCreator kind). It helps that Pico is also an InterpretativeCharacter. There are fans who prefer to just let everyone do their thing and mind their own business, though.
* {{Fanon}}: Given the Pico characters are all examples of the InterpretativeCharacter trope, there are bound to be some shared ideas for them in the fandom.

** Darnell and Nene are shown in fanon to be just as capable as fighting as Pico is. This seems to be the case for the recent teaser trailer for ''VideoGame/FridayNightFunkin'', where they're shown to be capable of combat... except they're fighting ''against'' Pico.

** The original opening to the VideoGame/{{Pico}} sub-site featured a plane crashing into a skyscraper. The modern Pico sub-site (Before it was redesigned) [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] that [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror awkward imagery]].
** The franchise itself being born out of UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}}. Back when [[AxesAtSchool school shootings]] were a rare event, the concept of one kid grabbing another rifle and fighting back might have made for some sort of CatharsisFactor, in much the same way Franchise/{{Godzilla}} helped the Japanese recover from the UsefulNotes/AtomicBombingsOfHiroshimaAndNagasaki. Fast forward almost two decades later, and school shootings have become a frighteningly common occurrence, making the BlackComedy {{escapism}} Pico offered ''a lot'' harder to enjoy.

** While most Pico-related games and flashes aren't really meant to be taken seriously (what with BlackComedy being rampant throughout the series), they still use heavy amounts of gore that can be shocking to see. Some people who played ''Pico's School'' even pointed out that they thought the game was going to be light-hearted due to the intro, only for the game's intro to go from [[SurpriseCreepy 1 to 100 real fast]].

* ThatOneBoss: Hanzo in ''Pico's School''. Unlike the other bosses, Hanzo's attacks can't be avoided; you have to kill him before he takes off all your health. Given the finicky hitboxes in the game and how he moves around a lot, this makes for a rather frustrating fight. Prior to the game's overhaul in 2006, Hanzo could be made UnintentionallyUnwinnable as he would simply move around the screen too fast to actually kill on fast computers before he killed Pico, making the fight even worse.

* AdaptationDisplacement: Piconjo's most well-known design (with a purple and black color scheme) is actually from ''VideoGame/NewgroundsRumble'' and was drawn and written by MindChamber. Many people were introduced to Piconjo through ''Newgrounds Rumble'' and were unaware of Piconjo's existence prior or his history of being a TrollingCreator. This led to Piconjo's disownment of MindChamber's design of him when he returned to Newgrounds, calling this depiction closer to an original character with his name than his initial self and mocking it with a WebOriginal/VirginVsChad-style comparison.[[note]]Though Piconjo has also said any depiction of Piconjo that was embraced by his fans is a valid one.[[/note]]

* AdaptationDisplacement: Piconjo's most well-known design (with a purple and black color scheme) is actually from ''VideoGame/NewgroundsRumble'' and was drawn and written by Mindchamber. Many people were introduced to Piconjo through ''Newgrounds Rumble'' and were unaware of Piconjo's existence prior or his history of being a TrollingCreator. This led to Piconjo's disownment of Mindchamber's design of him when he returned to Newgrounds, calling this depiction closer to an original character with his name than his initial self and mocking it with a WebOriginal/VirginVsChad-style comparison.[[note]]Though Piconjo has also said any depiction of Piconjo that was embraced by his fans is a valid one.[[/note]]

** Connected to the above, it's also often assumed (also often by newcomers) that Pico is either grumpy, anti-social, or just outright rude. He's best known for impulsive badassery and having a traumatic past, but he's also described by his classmates in-game as popular. He's also rather cheerfully attentive in class. His social life and general personality outside of fights get brought up a lot less often by fans- both new and old.

--->'''Nene's Characteristics''': "A.D.D., Herpes, Suicidal Sadomasochist, Enjoys Necrophilia & Beastiality, Lactose Intolerant, IQ: 133"

** [[ShapeShifting Convict]] from ''Pico vs Convict'' (as well as a playable character in ''VideoGame/NewgroundsRumble'') also has a bit of a cult following, given how he's one of the only Pico antagonists to ''not'' be killed outright, and how he [[spoiler: successfully tricked Pico into shooting Nene instead of him at the end of his debut flash]]. Some even think he's a better antagonist than Cassandra because of this.

** Darnell and Nene are shown in fanon to be just as capable as fighting as Pico is. This seems to be the case for the recent teaser trailer for ''VideoGame/FridayNightFunkin'', where they're shown to be capable of combat... except they're fighting against Pico.

** Pico and Cassandra, the protagonist and antagonist of ''Pico's School'' respectively, are often shipped together. It helps that Cassandra canonically had a crush on Pico during the events of ''Pico's School'' (Or so Cyclops claims at least) and it's implied that he survived her massacre of the rest of their class because she deliberately spared him.

** Nene showed no combat prowess in either ''Nene's Interactive Suicide'' or ''Pico's School''. Most fan content treats her as just as badass as Pico or even stronger than him. ''Pico vs Convict'' has her [[spoiler:easily stomping Convict before Pico shoots her accidentally.]]

** Where to begin with ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96xeJpDzee4 Pico vs Convict]]''? It starts off with Pico waking up to see his dead teacher and finding a note from Nene, which claims that [[SerialKiller Convict]] killed ''everyone'' in the school except [[SoleSurvivor her and Pico]]. In the ''next scene'', Convict is shown to overpower Pico effortlessly with his [[VoluntaryShapeshifting shapeshifting powers]], and once he has Pico cornered, Pico isn't ready to fight him, but is ''scared shitless'', in contrast to the badass demeanor most games and flashes have him. During the end of the flash, Convict transforms into Nene (who had distracted him from killing Pico earlier), and Pico has to [[SpotTheImposter shoot one of the Nenes]]... [[spoiler: [[DownerEnding only for it to be revealed that he shot the real Nene]], as the flash ends with Convict menacingly revealing his face to the audience. And that's not even mentioning the SlasherSmile Nene pulled off as she was about to murder Convict before Pico accidentally shot her. Sweet dreams]].

** While not to the same degree as Piconjo, Pico's cousin Otis of from the flash games ''Pico's Cousin'' and ''Pico's Cousin 2'' has been widely accepted as family to Pico and has also appeared in fan art and flashes, including as a cameo in ''Pico vs Convict'' (an animation by Luis, one of the Newgrounds staff members) as a form Convict takes on to throw Pico off his game, elevating him close to AscendedFanon.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The depiction of Cassandra and the goths, punks, etc. as the school shooters originated from a belief back in 1999, when there was a moral panic that the Columbine killers, which the game took inspiration from, were goths. Nowadays, this belief is discredited by the media, after many studies disproved the correlation. It was also a time when videogames were frequently used as scapegoats for violence, similar as to some reception of ''Pico's School'' and other similar games blamed after/for the Columbine shootings- most notably the ''Franchise/{{Doom}}'' series. The game, however, does have AnAesop that any form of extremism is bad when Cassandra exclaims not to really care about society aside from her own selfish reason to kill while the rest of her goth friends are simply duped into following her thinking that she empathizes with them being outsiders. Even discriminated subgroups have their own bad apples every once in a while.

* ViewerGenderConfusion: Cassandra is female, despite some thinking that she's male, due to the masculine appearance of her final form and the lack of gendered pronouns used for her in the original game. Her Penilian form ''is'' hermaphroditic, so they have some justification. Later redesigns made it clear Cassandra is female.
* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: The cartoony artstyle might trick some, and Pico's School starts off as seemingly child-friendly, but after the opening cutscene it becomes clear that the game is about a school shooting, featuring copious violence and murder, gore, drug references, and sexual references. The same can be said its many fan spinoffs, which are also not very child-friendly. However, that didn't stop several Millenials and Gen Z from playing the game or watching the several fan flashes associated with it as children when Newgrounds was in its heyday.

** Samurai Asshole being Nene’s ancestor. While this isn’t common, it’s thought of mainly due to the fact that his game is connected to the Pico series thanks to the Penillians appearing near the end of it, along with Nene being of Asian descent, as well as both characters using [[BladeEnthusiast blades]].

* ViewerGenderConfusion: Cassandra is female, despite some thinking that she's male, due to the masculine appearance of her final form and the lack of gendered pronouns used for her in the original game. Her Penillian form ''is'' hermaphroditic, so they have some justification. Later redesigns made it clear Cassandra is female.

* AdaptationDisplacement: Piconjo's most well-known design (with a purple and black color scheme) is actually from ''VideoGame/NewgroundsRumble'' and was drawn and written by Mindchamber. Many people were introduced to Piconjo through ''Newgrounds Rumble'' and were unaware of Piconjo's existence prior or his history of being a TrollingCreator. This led to Piconjo's disownment of Mindchamber's design of him when he returned to Newgrounds, calling this depiction closer to an original character with his name than his initial self and mocking it with a WebOriginal VirginVsChad-style comparison.[[note]]Though Piconjo has also said any depiction of Piconjo that was embraced by his fans is a valid one.[[/note]]

* AdaptationDisplacement: Piconjo's most well-known design (with a purple and black color scheme) is actually from ''VideoGame/NewgroundsRumble'' and was drawn and written by Mindchamber. Many people were introduced to Piconjo through ''Newgrounds Rumble'' and were unaware of Piconjo's existence prior or his history of being a TrollingCreator. This led to Piconjo's disownment of Mindchamber's design of him when he returned to Newgrounds, calling this depiction closer to an original character with his name than his initial self and mocking it.[[note]]Though Piconjo has also said any depiction of Piconjo that was embraced by his fans is a valid one.[[/note]]

** The female teacher from the intro to ''Pico's School'' has received a bit of popularity, mainly due to being the TokenWholesome and actually being nice to her students, with fans of her even calling Mr. Flacit a ReplacementScrappy.

* ReplacementScrappy: For people who grew fond of the female teacher from the intro to ''Pico's School'', Mr. Flacit ended up a victim of this.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: There are some who think the female teacher from the opening to ''Pico's School'' should've gotten more screentime or at the very least appeared in more than one game before being killed. This is especially true for people who don't like [[ReplacementScrappy Mr. Flacit]].

** Thanks to ''Friday Night Funkin[='=]'' having Pico and Boyfriend have a "past" between them, it's become fanon that they used to be a couple. This is flat out made canon in the ''Love Conquers All'' universe.

** Possibly as an answer to Pico/Boyfriend, some people started depicting Nene having a similar history/past romance with Girlfriend.

** Otis and Damien from the ''Pico's Cousin'' games are often paired up with each other in a similar vein to Pico and Cassandra, though unlike Cassandra, Damien in canon displayed to romantic interest in Otis whatsoever.