History YMMV / TheBindingOfIsaac

* [[TierInducedScrappy/TheBindingOfIsaac Tier Induced Scrappy]]

** Edmund is referred to by more cynical fans as "Steakmund" quite frequently, referring to his [[CreatorBacklash furiously defiant stance]] on the datamined reveal of The Lost and the "No Fun Allowed" impression given to fans by so many [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks highly contested]] {{nerf}}s. In this case, "Steak" refers to Edmund's infamous reference to this mentality in the 2014 WebVideo/{{Vinesauce}} [[https://youtu.be/UJVuLvGjPOc?t=8197 interview]].

** Repentance took this trope UpToEleven by adding an alternate variant for each character that plays completely unique, usually having a spin on the idea of the character, effectively doubling the roster of playable characters.

** The [[ResetButton Glowing Hour Glass]] has gained a reputation as being [[TheAllSolvingHammer the solution to literally everything]] (as it practically undoes any mistake you made in the last room).

** If you have [[https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2575911103 a certain mod installed]], hearing [[VideoGame/Persona4 The Specialist]] (which is itself a good song) signifies that you've just found an amazing item.

* EndingAversion: Ending 20, the final ending to the game in ''Afterbirth†'', [[spoiler:just [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment reaffirms what was shown by the previous few endings]]. There's [[OnceMoreWithClarity more clarity]] to it, [[MindScrewdriver yes]], but it doesn't reveal anything new either, is still [[LeftHanging quite open-ended]], and even closes the story at the same point Ending 17 did]]. ''Repentance'' fixes this with its final ending, though due to the nature of the ending, it’s not without its own detractors.

* The "Scatman" challenge is surprisingly this to the rest of the blindfolded challenges. You start with the "Oh Crap" transformation as well as Thunder Thighs and E. Coli, meaning it's basically instantaneous healing every time you touch an enemy [[note]]The E. Coli item makes you turn all enemies into poop, the Thunder Thighs helps you destroy poop just by walking over it, and the "Oh Crap" transformation lets you heal every time a poop is destroyed[[/note]]. The challenge comes from only being able to use Dips and Butt Bombs to kill bosses, but if you're able to acquire enough bombs throughout the challenge, they shouldn't give you much trouble either.

* EndingAversion: Ending 20, the final ending to the game in ''Afterbirth†'', [[spoiler:just [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment reaffirms what was shown by the previous few endings]]. There's [[OnceMoreWithClarity more clarity]] to it, [[MindScrewdriver yes]], but it doesn't reveal anything new either, is still [[LeftHanging quite open-ended]], and even closes the story at the same point Ending 17 did]]. ''Repentance'' fixes this with its final ending.

* HypeBacklash: Considering that ''The Wrath of the Lamb'' expansion available for the original version of Issac was absolutely enormous and dirt cheap, many fans thought that ''Afterbirth'', the first expansion for the remake, would be comparable to ''[=WOTL=]''. It is nowhere near that size, which many fans have felt ripped off by. While many praise new additions like the genuinely interesting (if somewhat buggy) character Lilith, the fantastic and fun Greed Mode, and many of the new items being very fun to toy around with (and boasting even more tasty synergies to fool around with), there are a ''staggering'' amount of issues[[note]]The absolutely massive amount of bugs, needless difficulty increase from ''Rebirth'', constant patching (not to fix the bugs, but instead make the game tougher), the disappointing challenges and transformations, the 109 incident and Edmund's incredibly poor handling of the situation[[/note]] that have left a good portion of the fanbase extremely upset and disappointed.

** ''Isaac''. Being [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer constantly bullied by children in school]], having to go through [[LostPetGrievance the death of his pets]], having an AntiRoleModel father that left him and his mom after a falling with her, his mom being {{abusive|Parents}} and out to kill Isaac after a voice [[MistakenIdentity she mistakes to be]] {{God}} tells her to... [[DarkAndTroubledPast what this poor kid goes through]], '''''no human should ever go'''''. And yet, ''[[IronWoobie he takes it all like a badass]]''. A ''[[TearsOfFear weeping]]'', ''[[FullFrontalAssault naked]]'', ''[[CowardlyLion terrified]]'', ''[[KidHero prepubescent]] '''badass'''''.

** Between ''Rebirth'' and Booster Pack 2 of ''Afterbirth+'', angel rooms are almost entirely ignored outside of Mega Satan runs and devil rooms are preferred. Not only did devil rooms have better items on average, they tended to have items more often — angel rooms from ''Rebirth'' onward have a chance to not contain an item at all, simply having a few hearts that likely won't help a player good enough at avoiding damage to get angel/devil rooms in the first place. This was changed when Booster Pack 2, while not making items guaranteed as they were in Flash ''Isaac'', made them ''significantly'' more likely, and gave them a mechanic where the player was given up to four items and could pick one of them. By ''Repentance'', this was flipped completely: with health being made rarer and several powerful angel items like Revelation added to the pool, most playthroughs encourage going for angel rooms over devil rooms. This was helped by how not entering the first devil room at all guarantees that the next post-boss door that spawns will be an angel one.

** Compared to the Halloween Update's Sheol, which tested your skills with the base game's items and had an awesome boss at the end, Wrath of the Lamb's Cathedral, which further tested your skills and had a brutal boss at the end, and a later update's Chest, which essentially starts out with four Item Rooms and contains mostly bosses, ''Rebirth'' gives us... the Dark Room, meant to be the demonic counterpart to the Chest. It succeeds in all the wrong ways, with the level starting out with four Red Chests instead of trading four keys for four items and having much more unfair rooms. Its only redeeming counterparts are a great boss fight at the end and the fact that non-Red chests still pay out with items. ''Afterbirth+'' had to add a bunch of features and achievements tied to this floor just to give players an incentive to go there.

** ''Afterbirth+'' added what's meant to be the ultimate final stage and boss of the game. It's just [[AllTheWorldsAreAStage assorted random rooms and bosses from every floor in the game]]. While The Void and its main boss, Delirium, ''do'' fit the game's narrative, in terms of gameplay they all still feel very underwhelming compared to The Chest, which [[EleventhHourSuperpower gives you a ton of new items]] and [[BossBonanza has rooms stacked with bosses]].
* EndingAversion: Ending 20, the final ending to the game in ''Afterbirth+'', [[spoiler:just [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment reaffirms what was shown by the previous few endings]]. There's [[OnceMoreWithClarity more clarity]] to it, [[MindScrewdriver yes]], but it doesn't reveal anything new either, is still [[LeftHanging quite open-ended]], and even closes the story at the same point Ending 17 did]]. ''Repentance'' fixes this with its final ending.

* HilariousInHindsight: About a year after ''Antibirth'' released its "two characters in one" package of Jacob and Esau, ''The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+''[='=]s final official update included its own "two characters in one" package in the form of The Forgotten and The Soul. The major difference is that Jacob and Esau requires controlling both characters simultaneously and both differ from the rest of the cast primarily in terms of stats, while The Forgotten and The Soul function more like a TagTeam and have individual quirks that make them much more different from other characters even beyond the "two in one" aspect. Doubly funny when ''Antibirth'' became part of the base game with the ''Repentance'' expansion!

* LoveToHate: '''[[ThatOneBoss The Bloat]]''' is this. The Subreddit dedicated to him ([[https://www.reddit.com/r/FUCKBLOAT/ r/FUCKBLOAT]]) is the clearest example of how much people hate him, though this same infamy has, ironically, attracted people to join in on the hate for fun despite not hating the boss himself. Such popularity probably helped, as in ''Afterbirth+'', The Bloat stars as the RecurringBoss of his own challenge, "Aprils' Fool", and ''Four Souls'' has three cards with his name on them[[note]]a regular one, a {{Chibi}} one, and a holo-reprint of the original with Green Champion Bloat[[/note]]. [[AscendedMeme Now real]], as there is a Warp Zone card quite literally named "FUCK BLOAT" that spawns a Bloat and damages the players to the left and right of you.

** Before ''Rebirth'', Abel (a mirrored familiar with the power of basic familiars) was the most common example, but since then, it had to share the spotlight with Aquarius (tracks low-damaging trail of tears on the ground).
** Bob's Brain (an item that is a bomb that can be shot towards enemies, [[SplashDamage whether or not]] [[YetAnotherStupidDeath you want it to]]), best item in the game!

** The [[ResetButton Glowing Hour Glass]] is gaining a reputation as being [[TheAllSolvingHammer the solution to literally everything.]]
** Sissy Longlegs has become one thanks to ''[[https://www.youtube.com/user/sinvicta316 Sinvicta]]'', who became famous for his incredibly long win streak with Eden in ''Afterbirth+''. Since Sinvicta tends to have good runs with Sissy Longlegs on tow, fans have caught on and declare any run with Sissy is bound to be blessed.
** Blood Puppy from ''Repentance'' seems to be getting this reception. It's a, well, bloody little slug creature that sports a constant CatSmile, looking fairly UglyCute while it attacks enemies like a Meat Boy... but after enough kills it suddenly gets angry and targets you instead. It can be damaged to return it to normal, but if it keeps killing while enraged, it gets even meaner and stronger. It's gained a sizable fanbase as a result.

** The Keeper in ''Repentance''. Before, in ''Afterbirth''[=/=]''Afterbirth+'', Keeper used to have a maximum of two Coin Hearts and the only way to increase that amount was through a very impractical item[[note]]Greed's Gullet, which adds one Heart Container for every 25 cents Isaac holds, but in ''Afterbirth+'' only the removal of Heart Containers was retroactive, picking up the item at 99 cents would basically condemn Isaac to lose a maximum of four Heart Containers as his money drained out; ''Repentance'' [[BalanceBuff changed the increase to be retroactive]] as well[[/note]]. Now, after defeating Hush, Keeper will start with three Coin Hearts, making the game much more enjoyable (and improving the achievement for beating a boss as hard as Hush from [[DudeWheresMyReward "Keeper now holds... a penny!"]] to "Keeper now has more health and a penny!"). Moreover, Keeper can now pay Devil Deals with ''coins'' rather than ''health'', so Angel Rooms are no longer the only viable way to play the character. Additionally, Keeper is now ''completely'' immune to Devil Deal[=/=]Angel Room chance loss upon receiving damage. Finally, his starting Speed was increased from 0.85 to 0.9, which, while small, can make surviving fast shooting enemies much easier.
** Big Horn was just as contested as the other new bosses in ''Afterbirth+'' for a variety of reasons: his attack patterns were unfair (primarily because he could summon [[GoddamnedBoss Little Horn]] on top of his already massive coverage), he had obnoxious damage resistance, and his spritework was below standard for the game due to being stiff, lacking in shading, and overall feeling out of place. His fight issues were mostly fixed in patches, but ''Repentance'' really boosted him by redoing his spritesets to be more consistent and UglyCute, removing the Little Horn summon in exchange for a related attack, and incorporating him into other parts of the game (he's the OneHitKill effect for the very useful Little Horn item, and drags [[spoiler:Tainted Esau]] away once he takes enough damage), making him much more tolerable and endearing.

** ''Repentance'' reworked Hard Mode so that soul hearts are rarer and shops are much more likely to be of smaller variants, even when fully upgraded. In any difficulty, items that were single-handed run-savers — or even run-carriers — back in ''Afterbirth+'' and earlier have been nerfed, in particular most sources of soul/black hearts have either had their given health toned down or removed. The alternate path pulls no punches and requires fast thinking to avoid getting hit. Edmund himself even {{invoked|Trope}} this by saying the reworked Hard Mode would be difficult even to seasoned veterans and suggested that they learn the game all over again.

** The Flooded Caves, where Chargers have a higher chance to be replaced with their slightly tankier, diagonal shot-shooting cousins known as Drowned Chargers. Many of the "drowned" enemies spawn them as well, including the level's Mulligan variety, which can quickly fill the room with enemies that can overwhelm the player character in a run with low DPS by that point. The infamous "single line of ground over a pit with five Boom Flies" room can still appear, and the flies have a chance to be replaced with ''Drowned'' Boom Flies, who have a cardinal retaliation shot and spawn, yet again, Drowned Chargers. Not miraculously getting flight by Chapter 2 could easily mean a death sentence. To rub salt in the wound, one Super Secret Room variety that is almost ''completely'' useless[[note]]It consists of nothing but a narrow cross-shaped path leading to a black poop surrounded by spikes. Black poop ''can'' be used to damage enemies, but there are no enemies in the room. At best, the black poop could be rerolled with [=D12=] and the spikes ''could'' be used to activate some items that work on damage, but those are both highly situational.[[/note]] is the one with the Flooded Caves skin. Booster Pack 4 of ''Afterbirth+'' made it even worse with the addition of a unique type of worm enemy that fires high-arcing shots that "predict" where the player character tries to run to.

* WereStillRelevantDammit: One of the items in ''Afterbirth+'' is [[VideoGame/PokemonGo Poke Go]]. By the time the expansion was released, while it still has a regular player base, ''Pokémon Go'' is largely regarded as a fad of 2016 by most people.

*** If you thought Isaac was a Woobie before, the DownerEnding of ''Afterbirth+'' multiplies it tenfold. [[spoiler:As it turns out, he is indeed slowly asphyxiating to death within a chest. We are finally given the reason why: [[DrivenToSuicide he did it to himself]]. After losing his pets and watching his father walk out on his mother, he demonizes himself and blames everything that happened on him. The entire game is a DyingDream as he [[SanitySlippage goes insane]] and slowly suffocates to death.]]

** With all the items including wire coat hangars, babies that give you items for money, blood beams, and literal DungFu, this trope is in play alongside ItMakesSenseInContext anyone tries to describe a run they have. Example: "I just got a good run and killed The Lamb as the Blue Baby with Brimstone, Cancer, Dark Bum, and The Intruder!"

** Aquarius and Aries were long considered to be the most underwhelming Zodiac items, the former for the low damage dealt by its creep and the latter for requiring you to run into enemies to trigger its effect in a game where most enemies deal contact damage. Both recieved substantial buffs in ''Repentance'', with Aquarius now scaling to match Isaac's damage stat and synergising with tear effects, and Aries making Isaac immune to contact damage if he's moving quickly enough. Both items have seen an increase in popularity as a result, especially the latter.

** ''Afterbirth+'''s final ending (Ending 20) not only ups Isaac's own Woobieness, but also does the same for [[JerkassWoobie his mother]]. Although ''The Legend of Bum-bo'' brings to light that she was the {{Abusive Parent|s}} to Isaac, [[spoiler:not only does she have to go through her husband leaving her after a huge falling out that was at both parties' fault, but she also finds in the chest in Isaac's room the little skeleton of her poor son, who had long been DrivenToSuicide]].
*** ''Repentance'', although having a bigger focus on her as the BigBad, adds fuel to the fire in the form of logs, ''propane'', and finally '''''gasoline'''''. In Ending 21, [[spoiler:she finds Isaac drawing her the way he sees her — [[YouMonster like a monster]]. This severely upsets her, and [[ThenLetMeBeEvil she grounds Isaac by locking him in a closet]] while remarking [[EtTuBrute he's just like his father]]. Then, in the [[RiseToTheChallenge Ascent sequence]] to [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Home]], she can be heard in the background arguing with Isaac's dad, getting justifiably angry with him spending his savings and being drunk — thus serving as an AntiRoleModel to his son — and regretting telling her husband to leave them as he does that (not without accepting he's done more harm than good to them). It doesn't help that during this time, she'd ''also'' been going [[BeliefMakesYouStupid religiously insane]] as a result of all those Christian broadcasts, which put this idea into her head that Isaac needed to be "saved". Lastly, the game's true ending (Ending 22) reveals [[OutlivingTheOffspring she actually mourned her son's death in his chest]] and not only confirms her husband was abusive, but that they used to live together happily with their own son. With this in mind, one could argue Isaac's mom has officially moved on from JerkassWoobie territory and that she's now a straight up Woobie. And again, all of this not actually happening as told by the game's true ending doesn't make it any less egregious.]]

* NarmCharm: ''Living in the Light'', [[spoiler:Dogma's theme]], has a pair of preachers in the song's background yelling their lungs out about Christianity, with some moments where they go full CarefulWithThatAxe mode[[note]]'''BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOOOLY SPIRIIIIIT!''', '''THE ANGER OF GOOOOD IS COMIIIIING!''', '''[=']VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY![='=] SAYS THE LORD''' [[/note]]. Even if it can seem hilarious, it's so well-executed and representative of the negative effects that religion and [[TheFundamentalist fundamentalism]] can have on a person.

* NarmCharm: ''Living in the Light'', [[spoiler:Dogma's theme]], has a pair of preachers in the song's background yelling their lungs out about Christianity, with some moments where they go full CarefulWithThatAxe mode[[note]]'''BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOOOLY SPIRIIIIIT!''', '''THE ANGEL OF GOOOOD IS COMIIIIING!''', '''VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY!'''[[/note]]. Even if it can seem hilarious, it's so well-executed and representative of the negative effects that religion and [[TheFundamentalist fundamentalism]] can have on a person.

* CreepyCute: Due to the [[ArtStyleDissonance cutesy art style]], most things that aren't flat-out BodyHorror fall into this.
** Among the playable characters there's a dead body who periodically soils himself, a blood-spitting demon, another demon who's had her eyes gouged out, an animate statue with EmptyEyes, [[DemBones a skeleton]], several ghosts and a living shadow. All of them still manage to be quite cute in one way or another, seeing as they're the alternate personas of a five-year-old.
** Among the bosses:
*** Dingle, Dangle and Brownie, who are all happy [[TalkingPoo living poops]]. Dingle and Dangle even give a NotSoInnocentWhistle as part of their attacks.
*** The Gurglings and Turdlings, walking piles of organs or poop with smiling faces.
*** Baby Plum, a fat red fly with big eyes and a tooth.
*** Little Horn, a small demon with a [[CuteLittleFangs cute little fang]] and a habit of blowing himself up.
*** The Haunt, who is a big BedsheetGhost... [[NightmareFace Until he takes off his mask.]]
*** The Rainmaker, a stitched-up ghost with a flamboyant personality that makes him quite endearing.
*** Min-Min, a tiny flame ghost who hides from you inside the Husk's corpse.
*** Chub and CHAD, who are both happy, smiling, giant maggots.
*** Gurdy and Gurdy Jr, both piles of organs with a little happy face on top.
*** Big Horn, a giant demon who's fiercely protective of his little brother.
*** War, who periodically falls over and makes PuppyDogEyes at you.
*** Hornfel, another small demon who taunts you throughout the fight and bursts into tears when defeated.
*** Singe, a little humanoid creature who attacks with explosive farts.
*** Loki, a four-armed demon with a constant CheshireCatGrin.
*** The Siren, a CuteMonsterGirl who has MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily.
*** The Horny Boys, a stitched amalgamation of Loki and Hornfel with a massive amount of personality.
*** Blastocyst, a [[MegaMicrobes giant cell]] with a face.
*** Triachnid, a three-legged spider with a permanent [[PuppyDogEyes Puppy-Dog Eye]].
*** Lokii, a bisected Loki who looks just as happy as the original.
*** Krampus, a fluffy-looking fanged monster.
*** [[spoiler:Dogma's]] first form, which looks like a baby made out of static.

*** Chub, a happy, smiling, giant maggot.

*** Lokii, a bisected Loki which looks just as happy as the original.

** The Rainmaker, a stitched-up ghost with a flamboyant personality that makes him quite endearing.
** Min-Min, a tiny flame ghost who hides from you inside the Husk's corpse.

* [[Fanon/TheBindingOfIsaac Fanon]]