History YMMV / ScottPilgrim

** Scott may be the psychological and or emotional crutch for many if not all his friends. Kim has self-esteem issues masked behind her mildly misanthropic nature while Stephen has a lot of neurotic moments and has a knack for entering unhealthy relationships with abrasive individuals. This isn't counting for lesser-known characters like Neil, who we know little about. We see glimpses of them when they're not around Scott and they're usually not happy. In fact, many of the happy moments tend to be when they are together with Scott. Even those like Wallace Wells could be considered as Wallace seems to drink a lot and occasionally seen as a hedonist. Knives has her friend, but was focused mainly on her studies and didn't know much of the outside world until meeting Scott. Even (or rather, especially) Ramona herself, as Scott proves to be the one for her and the one who ultimately gives her the confidence in moving forward. This could explain why they deal with Scott and his problems, because they really don't have any other friends (or even may not be capable of making friends with others, the exception being Wallace, who has done pretty well for himself). Scott is what holds the gang together since it was formed from everyone meeting him. Without him, the group would fall apart and would result in them being miserable lonely people.

** Also, Envy Adams, especially in Volume 6 after she reveals [[spoiler:that her and Scott's break-up was a mutual occurrence and Scott simply white-washed his role in it out of the flashbacks seen by the reader in Volume 3]]. However, she is still pretty unsympathetic.

* CreatorWorship: Bryan Lee O'Malley, the series author, is absolutely ''adored'' by the fanbase for makiing the series and his writing, especially since he had influence on writing the film adaptation. To say that fans were overjoyed to learn he was the one spearheading the anime adaptation is an understatement.

** Scott and Knives' kiss in Volume 6 is an InUniverse example.

* ValuesDissonance:
** Scott having a romantic history with the 17-year-old Knives and Kim (who's the same age as Scott) having an implied RelationshipUpgrade with her are both treated fairly casually throughout the comic, with the sketchier elements of it PlayedForLaughs. In a post-[=#MeToo=] era, the idea of a (slightly) famous 24-year-old in a position of (again, slight) power dating a minor comes across as much more problematic. Scott faces a lot of criticism from the rest of the band for dating a highschooler and it's treated as one of the biggest examples of his immaturity, but he faces no lasting social consquences for the relationship which likely wouldn't be the case if the story was set during the following decade.[[note]]He doesn't face legal trouble for it since the age of consent in Canada is 16.[[/note]]
** Knives' relationship with Sex Bob-Omb as a whole has been getting more and more uncomfortable as the years have passed by. The problem being that the situation reeks of a weird grooming dynamic where Knives is the ideal groupie who is actively getting passed around between band mates who are all in their 20s, with her friends and parents being none the wiser. Over the course of the series, she gets with Scott, Kim and Young Neil, all the while remaining a star struck, naive, and worst of all vulnerable 17 year old.

** Scott having a romantic history with the 17-year-old Knives and Kim (who's the same age as Scott) having an implied RelationshipUpgrade with her are both treated fairly casually throughout the comic, with the sketchier elements of it PlayedForLaughs. In a post-[=#MeToo=] era, the idea of a (slightly) famous 24-year-old in a position of (again, slight) power dating a minor comes across as much more problematic. Arguably downplayed as Scott faces a lot of criticism from the rest of the band for dating a highschooler and it's treated as one of the biggest examples of his immaturity, but he faces no lasting social consquences for the relationship which likely wouldn't be the case if the story was set during the following decade.[[note]]He doesn't face legal trouble for it since the age of consent in Canada is 16.[[/note]]

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Not that we can hear the music, but come on, the fight with the first ex culminating in a song battle is pretty damn awesome.

* FashionVictimVillain: All the Evil exes are dressed like normal(ish) people, except for Ken Katayanagi, who is once seen wearing a ''headband and Japanese rising sun undershirt''. He somehow manages to look out of place at a Mexican Day of the Dead-themed party.

* FashionVictimVillain: All the Evil exes are dressed like normal(ish) people, except for Ken Katayanagi, who is wearing a ''headband and Japanese rising sun undershirt''. He somehow manages to look out of place at a Mexican Day of the Dead-themed party.

** Honest Ed's, which is portrayed in the comics as a sort of EldritchLocation, was a real discount store in Toronto which was founded in 1948 and officially closed down in 2016.

** Scott and Wallace's "hole in concrete" apartment fosters much confusion in viewers/readers. Also, Honest Ed's was a real place (closed in 2016).

** Scott having a romantic history with the 17-year-old Knives and Kim (who's the same age as Scott) having an implied RelationshipUpgrade with her are both treated fairly casually throughout the comic, with the sketchier elements of it PlayedForLaughs, but in a post-[=#MeToo=] era, the idea of a 24-year-old in even a minor position of fame and power dating a minor. As for Knives, while Scott does get some criticism for dating a 17-year-old, he doesn't face legal trouble for it since the age of consent in Canada is 16 [[note]]Though many characters do call him out for it[[/note]].

-->'''Scott Pilgrim:''' Do you want to have '''sex'''? I think we should have '''sex'''. '''CASUAL SEX.'''

** Scott having a romantic history with the 17-year-old Knives and Kim (who's the same age as Scott) having an implied RelationshipUpgrade with her are both treated fairly casually throughout the comic, with the sketchier elements of it PlayedForLaughs, but in a post-[=#MeToo=] era, the idea of a 24-year-old in even a minor position of fame and power dating a minor and, in Scott's case, soliciting sex from her would be viewed with much more serious levels of scorn. As for Knives, while Scott does get some criticism for dating a 17-year-old, he doesn't face legal trouble for it since the age of consent in Canada is 16. On one hand, the scene where he solicits sex from her in the final volume is him at his very lowest and portrays him negatively for it (see MemeticMolester above). On the other hand, it's also generally played for comedy which likely wouldn't fly if written now.

** Scott may be the psychological and or emotional crutch for many if not all his friends. Kim has self-esteem issues masked behind her mildly misanthropic nature while Stephen has alot of neurotic moments and has a knack for entering unhealthy relationships with abrasive individuals. This isn't counting for lesser-known characters like Neil, who we know little about. We see glimpses of them when they're not around Scott and they're usually not happy. In fact, many of the happy moments tend to be when they are together with Scott. Even those like Wallace Wells could be considered as Wallace seems to drink alot and occasionally seen as a hedonist. Knives has her friend, but was focused mainly on her studies and didn't know much of the outside world until meeting Scott. Even (or rather, especially) Ramona herself, as Scott proves to be the one for her and the one who ultimately gives her the confidence in moving forward. This could explain why they deal with Scott and his problems, because they really don't have any other friends (or even may not be capable of making friends with others, the exception being Wallace, who has done pretty well for himself). Scott is what holds the gang together since it was formed from everyone meeting him. Without him, the group would fall apart and would result in them being miserable lonely people.

** Think it's strange that a hardcore vegan like Todd would be so willing to secretly eat meat, magical powers nonwithstanding? Google "recovering vegans" and you'll find many stories involving vegans who realized they lacked the resolve to sustain their diet, and to avoid backlash from the vegan community, started eating meat in secret. Whether or not O'Malley was aware of this though, is up for debate; Todd's hypocrisy fits a little too well into his personality for it to be a coincidence.

* FashionVictimVillain: All the Evil exes are dressed like normal(ish) people, except for Ken Katyanagi, who is wearing a ''headband and Japanese rising sun undershirt''. He somehow manages to look out of place at a Mexican Day of the Dead-themed party.

** Think it's strange that a hardcore vegan would be so willing to secretly eat meat, magical powers nonwithstanding? Google "recovering vegans" and you'll find many stories involving vegans who realized they lacked the resolve to sustain their diet, and to avoid backlash from the vegan community, started eating meat in secret. Whether or not O'Malley was aware of this though, is up for debate; Todd Ingram's hypocrisy fits a little too well into his personality for it to be a coincidence.

*** Roxie gets a special mention, as the narrative largely paints her lesbian identity as little more than [[GirlOnGirlIsHot a fetish.]] Sure, she spends most of her respective book trying to kill Scott, but it’s hard not to feel at least a little bad over the way Ramona dismisses their relationship as “just a phase” (the movie takes it even further, with Ramona going on to state it meant nothing to her and she didn’t think it would count, while Roxie is visibly shocked and upset). Her and Ramona supposedly hooking up is largely PlayedForLaughs, but Roxie is heavily implied to still have feelings for her while Ramona clearly only views it as a casual fling; she doesn’t see it as cheating because she may never have seen it as a real relationship to begin with, almost mirroring the way Scott viewed his own relationship with Knives (downplaying in public, not taking it seriously, etc). The only differences are that Ramona’s behavior can be explained (but not excused) by internalized biphobia, while Scott has no such defense and even has a creepy age gap on top of it (which Roxie and Ramona thankfully do not have). Still, the plotline may resonate with sapphic readers who have had to deal with being on the receiving end of a “college experiment.”
** Also, Envy Adams, especially in Volume 6 after she reveals [[spoiler:that her and Scott's break-up was a mutual occurrence and Scott simply white-washed his role in it out of the flashbacks seen by the reader in Volume 3]]. However, she is still pretty unsympathic.

*** Roxie gets a special mention, as the narrative largely paints her lesbian identity as little more than [[GirlOnGirlIsHot a fetish.]] Sure, she spends most of her respective book trying to kill Scott, but it’s hard not to feel at least a little bad over the way Ramona dismisses their relationship as “just a phase” (the movie takes it even further, with Ramona going on to state it meant nothing to her and she didn’t think it would count, while Roxie is visibly shocked and upset). Her and Ramona supposedly hooking up is largely PlayedForLaughs, but Roxie is heavily implied to still have feelings for her while Ramona clearly only views it as a casual fling; she doesn’t see it as cheating because she may never have seen it as a real relationship to begin with, almost mirroring the way Scott viewed his own relationship with Knives (downplaying in public, not taking it seriously, etc). The only differences are that Ramona’s behavior can be explained (but not excused) by internalized biphobia, while Scott has no such defense and even has a creepy age gap on top of it (which Roxie and Ramona thankfully do not have).

*** Roxie gets a special mention, as the narrative largely paints her lesbian identity as little more than [[GirlOnGirlIsHot a fetish.]] Sure, she spends most of her respective book trying to kill Scott, but it’s hard not to feel at least a little bad over the way Ramona dismisses their relationship as “just a phase” (the movie takes it even further, with Ramona going on to state it meant nothing to her and she didn’t think it would count, while Roxie is visibly shocked and upset). Her and Ramona supposedly hooking up is largely PlayedForLaughs, but Roxie is heavily implied to still have feelings for her while Ramona clearly only views it as a casual fling; she doesn’t see it as cheating because she may never have seen it as a real relationship to begin with, almost mirroring the way Scott viewed his own relationship with Knives (downplaying in public, not taking it seriously, etc), the difference being that Ramona has the explanation of internalized biphobia (though it still doesn’t excuse it) and doesn’t have a creepy age gap on top of it.

*** Roxie gets a special mention, as the narrative largely paints her lesbian identity as little more than [[GirlOnGirlIsHot a fetish.]] Sure, she spends most of her respective book trying to kill Scott, but it’s hard not to feel at least a little bad over the way Ramona dismisses their relationship as “just a phase” (the movie takes it even further, with Ramona going on to state it meant nothing to her and she didn’t think it would count, while Roxie is visibly shocked and upset). Her and Ramona supposedly hooking up is largely PlayedForLaughs, but Roxie is heavily implied to still have feelings for her while Ramona clearly only views it as a casual fling; she doesn’t see it as cheating because she may never have seen it as a real relationship to begin with, almost mirroring the way Scott views his own past relationship with Knives (she could also be dealing with internalized biphobia; while that explains it, it still doesn’t excuse it).

*** Roxie gets a special mention, as the narrative largely paints her lesbian identity as little more than [[GirlOnGirlIsHot a fetish.]] Sure, she spends most of her respective book trying to kill Scott, but it’s hard not to feel at least a little bad over the way Ramona dismisses their relationship as “just a phase” (the movie takes it even further, with Ramona going on to state it meant nothing to her and she didn’t think it would count, while Roxie is visibly shocked and upset). Her and Ramona supposedly hooking up is largely PlayedForLaughs, but Roxie is heavily implied to still have feelings for her while Ramona clearly only views it as a casual fling; she doesn’t see it as cheating, because she may never have seen it as a real relationship to begin with, almost mirroring the way Scott views his own past relationship with Knives (she could also be dealing with internalized biphobia; while that explains it, it still doesn’t excuse it).

*** Roxy gets a special mention, as the narrative largely paints her lesbian identity as little more than [[GirlOnGirlIsHot a fetish.]] Sure, she spends most of her respective book trying to kill Scott, but it’s hard not to feel at least a little bad over the way Ramona dismisses their relationship as “just a phase” (the movie takes it even further, with Ramona going on to state it meant nothing to her and she didn’t think it would count, while Roxie is visibly shocked and upset). Her and Ramona supposedly hooking up is largely PlayedForLaughs, but Roxie is heavily implied to still have feelings for her while Ramona clearly only views it as a casual fling; she doesn’t see it as cheating, because she may never have seen it as a real relationship to begin with (she could also just be dealing with internalized biphobia; while that explains it, it still doesn’t excuse it).

*** Roxy gets a special mention, as the narrative largely paints her lesbian identity as little more than [[GirlOnGirlIsHot a fetish.]] Sure, she spends most of her respective book trying to kill Scott, but it’s hard not to feel at least a little bad over the way Ramona dismisses their relationship as “just a phase” (the movie takes it even further, with Ramona going on to state it meant nothing to her and she didn’t think it would count, while Roxie is visibly shocked and upset). Her and Ramona supposedly hooking up is largely PlayedForLaughs, but Roxie is heavily implied to still have feelings for her while Ramona clearly only views it as a casual fling; she doesn’t see it as cheating, because she may never have seen it as a real relationship to begin with (she could also just be dealing with internalized biphobia; while that explains it, it still doesn’t excuse her actions).

*** Roxy gets a special mention, as the narrative largely paints her lesbian identity as little more than a fetish. Sure, she spends most of her respective book trying to kill Scott, but it’s hard not to feel at least a little bad over the way Ramona dismisses their relationship as “just a phase” (the movie takes it even further, with Ramona going on to state it meant nothing to her and she didn’t think it would count, while Roxie is visibly shocked and upset). Her and Ramona supposedly hooking up is largely PlayedForLaughs, but Roxie is heavily implied to still have feelings for her while Ramona clearly only views it as a casual fling; even if it’s technically cheating, it’s fine because GirlOnGirlIsHot.

** Even Roxie, in a way; throughout her respective book her sexuality is largely treated as little more than a fetish. Sure, she spends most of what little screentime she has trying to kill Scott, but it’s hard not to feel at least a little bad over the way Ramona dismisses their relationship as “just a phase” (the movie takes it even further, with Ramona going on to state it meant nothing to her and she didn’t think it would count, while Roxie is visibly shocked and upset). Her and Ramona supposedly hooking up is largely PlayedForLaughs, but Roxie is heavily implied to still have feelings for her while Ramona clearly only views it as a casual fling; even if it’s technically cheating, it’s fine because GirlOnGirlIsHot.