History ComicBook / ScottPilgrim

[[caption-width-right:350:Get the hot girl. Defeat her evil exes. Hit love where it hurts. Easy, right? [[note]]Clockwise from center going to bottom-left:[[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Scott Pilgrim]], [[ActionGirl Ramona Flowers]], [[StalkerWithACrush Knives Chau]], [[GuestStarPartyMember Lisa Miller]], [[LittleMissSnarker Kim Pine]], [[StraightGay Wallace Wells]], [[DualBoss Kyle Katayanagi, Ken Katayanagi]], [[PsychoExGirlfriend Roxie Richter]], [[EvilIsPetty Gideon Graves]], [[StarterVillain Matthew Patel]], [[AntiVillain Lucas Lee]], [[SuperpowerLottery Todd Ingram]], [[AlphaBitch Envy Adams]], [[Jerkass Julie Powers]], [[ButtMonkey Young Neil]], and [[ComingOutStory Stephen Stills]].[[/note]]]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Get the hot girl. Defeat her evil exes. Hit love where it hurts. Easy, right? [[note]]Clockwise from center going to bottom-left:[[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Scott Pilgrim]], [[ActionGirl Ramona Flowers]], [[StalkerWithACrush Knives Chau]], [[GuestStarPartyMember Lisa Miller]], [[LittleMissSnarker Kim Pine]], [[StraightGay Wallace Wells]], [[DualBoss Kyle Katayanagi, Ken Katayanagi]], [[PsychoEx-Girlfriend Roxie Richter]], [[EvilIsPetty Gideon Graves]], [[StarterVillain Matthew Patel]], [[Anti-Villain Lucas Lee]], [[SuperpowerLottery Todd Ingram]], [[AlphaBitch Envy Adams]], [[Jerkass Julie Powers]], [[Butt-Monkey Young Neil]], and [[ComingOutStory Stephen Stills]].[[/note]]]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Get the hot girl. Defeat her evil exes. Hit love where it hurts. Easy, right? [[note]]Clockwise from center going to bottom-left:[[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Scott Pilgrim]], [[ActionGirl Ramona Flowers]], [[StalkerWithACrush Knives Chau]], [[Guest-StarPartyMember Lisa Miller]], [[LittleMissSnarker Kim Pine]], [[StraightGay Wallace Wells]], [[DualBoss Kyle Katayanagi, Ken Katayanagi]], [[PsychoEx-Girlfriend Roxie Richter]], [[EvilIsPetty Gideon Graves]], [[StarterVillain Matthew Patel]], [[Anti-Villain Lucas Lee]], [[SuperpowerLottery Todd Ingram]], [[AlphaBitch Envy Adams]], [[Jerkass Julie Powers]], [[Butt-Monkey Young Neil]], and [[Coming-OutStory Stephen Stills]].[[/note]]]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Get the hot girl. Defeat her evil exes. Hit love where it hurts. Easy, right?]]

Did we mention that it's set in a VideoGame version of UsefulNotes/{{Toronto}} that runs based on the AcceptableBreaksFromReality used in ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom''?

[[http://www.comicsalliance.com/2012/03/30/scott-pilgrim-hardcover-reprint/ The series had a full-color]] UpdatedRerelease that was progressively issued by volume between 2012 and 2015, finally rendering all those [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall black and white]] jokes completely meaningless.

* ''The Wonderful World of Kim Pine'' (ADayInTheLimelight story for Kim Pine, released for Comics Festival 2007 as a plot gap fill between Volumes 3 and 4, and also featured in Volume 3's color edition)

* ''The Wonderful World of Kim Pine'' (ADayInTheLightTime story for Kim Pine, released for Comics Festival 2007 as a plot gap fill between Volumes 3 and 4, and also featured in Volume 3's color edition)

The series runs through six volumes and one side story:

'''Main volumes'''

'''Side story'''
* ''Free Scott Pilgrim'' (initially published for Free Comic Book Day 2006, later featured as an extra in the color edition of ''Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness''; it's set between the former and ''Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together'')

* ''Free Scott Pilgrim'' (initially published for Free Comic Book Day 2006, later featured as an extra in the color edition of ''Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness'')

# ''Free Scott Pilgrim'' (side story initially published for Free Comic Book Day 2006, later featured as an extra in the color edition of ''Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness'')

The series runs through six volumes:

# ''Scott Pilgrim & The Infinite Sadness'' (2006)

[[http://www.comicsalliance.com/2012/03/30/scott-pilgrim-hardcover-reprint/ The series now has a full-color]] UpdatedRerelease that began on August 2012, finally rendering all those [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall black and white]] jokes completely meaningless.

The comic series has seen [[Franchise/ScottPilgrim several adaptations in other media]]. [[TheFilmOfTheBook The film version of the series]], ''Film/ScottPilgrimVsTheWorld'', was directed by Creator/EdgarWright, starring Creator/MichaelCera as Scott and Creator/MaryElizabethWinstead as Ramona, and released in summer 2010. [[VideoGame/ScottPilgrimVsTheWorldTheGame A side-scrolling beat-'em-up game by Ubisoft]], with sprite work by Creator/PaulRobertson and music by Music/{{Anamanaguchi}}, was released a matter of days before the film's American premiere as a tie-in. O'Malley was heavily involved in both adaptations.

For those who prefer a more tactile gaming experience, a DeckbuildingGame called ''Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Card Game'' was published in 2017 by Renegade Game Studios, who also launched a Website/{{Kickstarter}} [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/scottpilgrimminis/scott-pilgrim-miniatures-the-world-relaunch campaign for]] a tabletop miniatures game, ''Scott Pilgrim Miniatures the World'', in 2019.

In January 2022, [[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/scott-pilgrim-anime-series-netflix-1235071580/ it was announced that Netflix is developing an anime series based on the graphic novels]], written by O'Malley and produced by Creator/ScienceSARU. The cast of the live action film [[https://youtu.be/mWkYrr3W3sY will reprise their roles]].

[[TheFilmOfTheBook The film version of the series]], ''Film/ScottPilgrimVsTheWorld'', was directed by Creator/EdgarWright, starring Creator/MichaelCera as Scott and Creator/MaryElizabethWinstead as Ramona, and released in summer 2010. [[VideoGame/ScottPilgrimVsTheWorldTheGame A side-scrolling beat-'em-up game by Ubisoft]], with sprite work by Creator/PaulRobertson and music by Music/{{Anamanaguchi}}, was released a matter of days before the film's American premiere as a tie-in. O'Malley was heavily involved in both adaptations.

In January 2022, [[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/scott-pilgrim-anime-series-netflix-1235071580/ it was announced that Netflix is developing an anime series based on the graphic novels]], written by O'Malley and produced by Creator/ScienceSARU.

On January 2022, [[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/scott-pilgrim-anime-series-netflix-1235071580/ it was announced that Netflix is developing an anime series based on the graphic novels]], written by O'Malley and produced by Creator/ScienceSARU.

Now has a [[Characters/ScottPilgrim Character sheet]] and [[ShoutOut/ScottPilgrim Shout Out]] page. Feel free to contribute.

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:S-Z]]
* SayMyName
* SecretTestOfCharacter
* SelfDeprecation: Scott performs one during the early records of the disc ("I know a guy who owns a car?") and the author managed to do it, with Ramona's "It's official, nothing cool ever happens in Canada." Remember, the author is Canadian, so he broke the fourth wall and did some self depriciation humour very subtly.
* SelfDisposingVillain: Some of the evil exes end up doing themselves in rather than Scott actually defeating them. For example: [[spoiler:Scott challenges Lucas Lee to perform an impossible skateboard trick in the middle of their fight. Lucas would rather take on the challenge than lose face. The trick ends up killing him, as he goes too fast and bursts into coins.]] Another example is when [[spoiler:Todd Ingram is about to defeat Scott (who acknowledges that he could only win via some DeusExMachina), and right on cue, the Vegan Police shows up to take away Todd's powers for eating gelato the day before]]. Could also be a KarmicDeath in the second case.
* SelfServingMemory: Scott's memories are not accurate thanks to [[spoiler: Gideon mucking around with them]].
* SevenDeadlySins: All the characters showcase signs of these throughout the series. Special mention goes to [[JerkassWoobie Natalie (also known as Envy)]].
* SexSlave: [[spoiler:Gideon's ex-girlfriends, by implication. The fact that [[DateRape they're imprisoned and brainwashed]] doesn't help.]]
* SexySpectacles: InUniverse; save for Other Scott, Wallace only goes out with guys with glasses.
-->'''Knives''': Do you want to know who in my class is gay?\\
'''Wallace''': Yes. Does he wear glasses?
* ShadowDiscretionShot: [[spoiler:Scott and Ramona's sex scene]] in Volume 5. And even then, only two panels of it is shown.
* ShapedLikeItself: Issue 4 has Wallace introduced as:
-->'''Wallace Wells'''\\
• [Scott's] gay roommate.\\
• Lives with '''Scott'''.\\
• Is '''gay'''.
* SheatheYourSword: Scott's battle with [[spoiler:The Negascott]].
* SheIsAllGrownUp: "L is for... [[spoiler:Lisa]]?".
* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend: Scott insists this about Knives after breaking up with her.
* ShipperOnDeck: In Ramona and Envy's battle in volume 3, the crowd that gathers starts yelling out various things cheering on Envy. One of these things happens to be "MAKE OUT!!"
* ShipTease:
** Here and there, what with Scott's previous exes never having proper closure until about the last volume.
** Knives also probably had a short crush on Stephen Stills, seeing how he usually doesn't treat her like crap and even lets her drink with the folks. Young Neil even says "she's obsessed with Captain Homo these days".
** This exchange from Volume 4:
--->'''Ramona''': ''(drunkenly)'' Where'd Kim go? She seemed pretty wasted...\\
'''Scott''': Why are you always so interested in Kim?\\
'''Ramona''': I like Kim.\\
'''Julie''': Are you gonna marry her??\\
'''Ramona''': Tooooooootally.
* ShoutOut: [[ShoutOut/ScottPilgrim Now with its own page.]]
* {{Shoryuken}}: Scott to Matthew Patel.
* ShutUpHannibal: Gideon attempts a very short HannibalLecture just before [[spoiler:Scott and Ramona defeat him:]]
-->'''Gideon''': Getting rid of me... won't save you. You're your ''own'' worst enemies! ''Both'' of you!\\
''(BeatPanel, with Ramona and Scott looking at each other)''\\
'''Ramona''': [[InsultBackfire No, I'm pretty sure you're worse, dude]].\\
'''Scott''': You're definitely worse.
* ShutUpKiss: Ramona gives one to Scott on more than one occasion.
* SickeningSweethearts: Scott and Ramona can be this at times, at least to the other characters.
* SigilSpam: Gideon's triple G inverted Triforce logo appears all over the place in Volume 6. Scott even ends up sporting a triple G shirt (much to his chagrin) for the first round of his fight with Gideon.
* SingleMindedTwins: Kyle and Ken. A deliberate choice on their part; Ramona played them against each other, and they vowed to work in tandem forever after that.
* SingleStrokeBattle: At the end of the fourth book.
* SkyFace: The part in ''6'' where Kim's face shows up magically from a distance in the final scene. It's signifying that she's in there in spirit, and it's sort of related.
* TheSlacker: Most of the characters, but especially Scott [[UpToEleven a slacker amongst slackers]]. He starts to change his ways, though, particularly in Volume 4, "Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together".
* SlasherSmile: Near the end of Volume 5, Scott's reflection in the mirror while brushing his teeth at Stephen Stills's place is split into a normal, tired-looking Scott, then this... Even better, that half is [[spoiler:Negascott, an embodiment of Scott's tendency to repress painful memories instead of learning from his mistakes]].
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Messed with, severely. It slides back and forth all over the place throughout the course of the series.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: One of Ramona's evil ex-boyfriends [[spoiler: is actually a girl. Justified by the fact Ramona is mostly heterosexual and only became bisexual during her "phase", so it's actually a surprise the group even includes a girl to begin with.]]
* SnowMeansLove: Scott and Ramona are caught out in a sudden snowstorm (it is Toronto, after all) in the middle of deciding to date each other. This also has the convenient side effect of forcing Scott to crash at Ramona's place...
* SpiritualSuccessor: The video game adaptation could be considered as a love letter to Technos Japan Corp's [[VideoGame/RiverCityRansom Kunio-Kun]] games.
* SpitTake: Scott does it after chugging an (alcoholic) drink at the Chaos Theatre when he sees Julie, Sandra, and Monique staring at him.
* SplashOfColor: Volume 4's intro at the beach is in full color, although it quickly shifts back to regular monochrome once the actual story begins.
* StalkerShrine: Knives has one for Scott.
* StalkerWithACrush: A very common theme in this series.
** Most prominently displayed by Knives "I'm a Scottoholic!!!" Chau.
** And Scott.
--->''AND THEN HE STALKED HER UNTIL SHE LEFT THE PARTY''.
* StarCrossedLovers: In order to date Ramona, Scott must battle her seven evil exes. At the climax, they defeat [[PsychoExBoyfriend Gideon]] with "Power Of Love".
%%** Parodied with Scott and Knives %%Needs more context%%
* StartOfDarkness:
** Envy's plays out through flashbacks in Vol. 3. It begins with her selling all her Anime paraphernalia and culminates with her asking Scott to start calling her "Envy" rather than Natalie. Then she breaks up with him and turns completely evil, showing the reader the exact moment she crossed the MoralEventHorizon that she'd been living on the other side of since she first appeared in the comic. Though she wasn't as bad as Scott made her to be. In Volume 6, it is implied that Scott "wasn't a paragon of virtue either" and the big fight on New Year's Eve was a fight that he started rather than her just dumping him. It's true that she sold out and didn't return Scott's affections when he said he loved her, it's not clear that she was pure evil after Volume 6.
** The part in Volume 4 when [[spoiler:Scott sees Nega-Scott, a darker, more malevolent version of himself, after he learns that Roxanne, Ramona's evil ex-girlfriend, had been staying over at Ramona's apartment could have been this, but gets subverted as he quickly disperses it and goes back. He confronts it again in Vol 6, realizing it's his own repression working against him and trying to fight it only makes it worse. After he comes to terms with himself and decides to stop running from painful memories, it stops attacking him.]]
** [[spoiler:Gideon]]'s is exposited near the end of Volume 6. [[spoiler:He always was a bit of a brilliant but psychologically-stunted prick, but when Ramona dumped him, he went right out of his mind. He then went on a bender and posted a drunken ranting ad on Craigslist, which was then discovered by the other six exes.]]
* StealthPun:
** How can one describe Scott's fight with Matthew Patel? [[spoiler:An Indian versus a Pilgrim.]]
** Ramona's mental subspace is a ''sub''space, [[spoiler:[[UsefulNotes/{{BDSM}} as in a room where she wears black leather and Gideon keeps a chain around her neck]]]].
** Ramona's BagOfHolding. Gee, you think this girl's got a lot of baggage? [[spoiler:It's destroyed in the climactic showdown with Gideon, showering its contents everywhere. Afterwards, Ramona isn't interested in gathering up her old stuff. It's hard not to interpret it as a good sign for her relationship with Scott.]]
* StoppedReadingTooSoon: Matthew Patel sends Scott an email explaining the basic plot of the series. Scott skims it before declaring it boring and deletes it, thus Scott is completely blindsided when the first fight over Ramona starts.
* StraightGay: Wallace (who is the most prominent gay character shown) but also his boyfriend Mobile, his friend "Other Scott", Hollie's roommate Joseph, and his new boyfriend [[spoiler:Stephen Stills]].
* StrangeMindsThinkAlike:
** Ramona going on a "wilderness sabbatical." [[spoiler:Though in truth, Ramona spent most of her time at her dad's house, watching old ''Series/TheXFiles'' episodes on the internet.]]
---> '''Wallace:''' You see, Scott? WILDERNESS!
** The entire gang of evil exes all agreeing to the idea of killing Scott so that they can have Ramona is a darker version of this trope. This could be the result of Gideon's manipulations, though.
* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** The RuleOfCool moment of Gideon's defeat [[spoiler:where he explodes into 7 7/9th million dollars worth of Canadian coins]] is quickly derailed when [[spoiler:...7 7/9th million dollars worth of Canadian coins come raining down on everyone's heads]] and mass panic ensues.
** Ramona alludes a SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome moment in Vol. 3 when telling Scott about the time Todd [[spoiler:punched a hole in the moon for her]].
--->'''Scott''': And then what happened?\\
'''Ramona''': Uhhh... [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall About thirty pages]] of [[spoiler:explosions and tidal waves.]]
* StylisticSuck: Scott's terrible song that he writes for Ramona and sings for her on the bus. Most of the lyrics are ... "Ramona".
* SubspaceOrHyperspace: Subspace is some kind of realm that connects different locations in the world as well as providing pathways into peoples' dreams. They don't teach it in Canadian schools.
* SubvertedRhymeEveryOccasion:
-->'''Matthew Patel''': [[LampshadeHanging That doesn't even rhyme!]]
* SuddenlyAlwaysKnewThat: Vol 4 has this when [[spoiler:Scott earns the Power of Love, before exclaiming "Now I'm glad I picked that longsword proficiency in grade 5!"]]
** This could have been foreshadowed in Vol 2, as when Scott tried to get Lucas' item drop, [[ChekhovsSkill he said that he didn't have the skateboard proficiency]].
* SuddenMusicalEnding: Volume 6 ends with [[spoiler:Shatterband]] playing "I'm a Believer" by Music/TheMonkees.
* SummonBackupDancers: The Demon Hipster Chicks that Matthew Patel can call on.
* SuperDeformed: In some background panels, the characters are drawn in a cutesy {{animesque}} style.
* SuperpowerMeltdown: The sheer volume of cheap, random crap in Honest Ed's causes Todd to have a VillainousBreakdown to the point where he ends up ''imploding'' the store with his Vegan powers.
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: Ramona "didn't even string [Lucas Lee] along or cheat on him with any cocky pretty boys."
* SwordOverHead: Envy does it to Ramona with her hammer.
* TakeOurWordForIt: In Volume 6, Scott's trying to woo Envy at a party gets so [[CringeComedy cringey]] that in the middle of his wooing a text prompt appears that states that the reader has been spared the ugly sight of the rest of Scott's feeble attempts.
* TalkingIsAFreeAction: Every single fight in the series.
* TaxidermyTerror: The evil-looking stuffed moose head mounted to a clock at Honest Ed's. It really freaks Scott out, especially when it seems to hiss, "Ssscottt..."
* TerribleTrio: The Clash at Demonhead: Envy, Todd, and Lynette.
* ThereIsOnlyOneBed:
** Scott and Wallace [[HoYay share a bed]] because they can't afford another.
** Scott does this to his friends a lot in Volume 5, particularly when [[spoiler:when Ramona disappears and he bedhops at Stephen Stills's and then Kim's.]]
* ThereAreNoTherapists: It's Volume 6. [[spoiler:Scott is devastated from Ramona leaving without an explanation. He is moping around, playing videogames, goofing off on the internet, staying isolated, and trying to forget he has a life to live. What does he do? Go into a wilderness sabbatical and fight Nega-Scott!]]
** [[spoiler:And Ramona's time apart was not very different.]]
* ThisIsForEmphasisBitch:
** Played straight at the end of Volume 3.
---> "No vegan diet, no vegan powers, bitch."
** A hilarious example at the end of Volume 6.
--->'''Stephen Stills''': You got my green beans?\\
'''Scott''': Word, bitches!\\
(''flips green beans into air, they fall onto floor'')\\
'''Stephen Stills''': ...Whatever. They ordered dinner at 10:55. They're getting a salad.\\
'''Scott''': W-word, bitches!
* ThoseTwoGuys: Julie's friends, Sandra and Monique. Lampshaded in that they're not nearly as popular or cool as they seem to think they are.
* ThouShaltNotKill: Very much averted, as Scott has absolutely no issues with causing humans to explode into coins, even ones who are at his mercy. Considering that Scott Pilgrim runs on video game logic, it makes perfect sense. Has Mario ever felt guilty about stomping on Goombas?
* ThreesomeSubtext: In Volume 5, while Kim, Ramona, and Scott are all drunk together, Kim says she loves them and Ramona wonders where Kim has been all her life, kissing her on the head. [[GirlOnGirlIsHot Scott encourages them to make out]]. Then, as all three leave, Ramona encourages Kim to come sleep in their bed, but she declines.
* TookALevelInBadass: Scott does this literally, gaining a new level, new stats, and a new sword each time.
** First he does it in Volume 4, when he mans up and confesses his feelings.
** Then, after he is [[spoiler:killed]] in the middle of Volume 6.
* TrainingFromHell: PlayedForLaughs. Before Scott goes to fight Lucas Lee, he studies up on his moves by watching his movies and does push-ups on the floor while Wallace sits in an armchair playing video games.
* TrainStationGoodbye: Scott and Envy do this.
* TheUnfairSex: Ramona becomes incensed when she learns that Scott was [[spoiler:dating her behind Knives' back when she herself dated the Katayanagi Twins behind each others' backs]]. Not to mention the fact that got angry at Scott for [[spoiler:staying at Lisa's sister's place when she let Roxie stay the night at her place. (And actually ''made out'' with her, unlike Scott, who remained totally faithful)]].
* UnreliableNarrator: [[spoiler:Scott Pilgrim. We find that most of his flashbacks are a mixture of [[SelfServingMemory his own repression]], to avoid his mistakes and past pain, and Gideon 'spicing up' his boring highschool memories. The big fight where he 'rescued' Kim Pine in high school and won her heart? Scott beating up her current wussy boyfriend. Envy also implies that Scott may not have been as blameless in their breakup as his flashbacks made it seem.]]
* UnresolvedSexualTension:
** Between Kim and Scott. It's pretty subtle at first, but starts becoming more visible by the third volume and comes to a head by the end of the fifth. [[spoiler:In volume 6, Scott attempts to reconcile his relationship with Kim, and Kim is initially receptive to it, but breaks it off because Ramona is who he loves, not her]].
** Lisa and Scott. [[spoiler:They almost hook up after Lisa questions why they never did. Scott puts a stop to it because he realizes that he's in love with Ramona.]]
* UnseenNoMore: There's a RunningGag of Mobile and Lawrence barely being off-screen but often mentioned. Both of them finally appear in-person at the end of Volume 5, and Scott briefly confuses them both for Gideon.
* UnsoundEffect: All over the place, like '''STARE!''' and '''CLUTCH!''' and '''NOD. NOD.'''
** ''~pause''
** ''~unpause''
* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: Scott has shades of this when you first read the series, due to his extreme {{manchild}} tendencies. FridgeBrilliance sets in when you realize that this is actually Scott's main character flaw, and [[spoiler:him realizing this is essential to his character development]].
* TheVamp: Inverted. Envy Adams seems to prefer dating evil guys rather than corrupting good ones.
* VerbalTic:
** ...or whatever.
** None of the characters have verbal tics when they're in denial. [-Yes they do.-]
* VerbThis: Envy while fighting Ramona.
-->(''Wallace has just left after continously cheering on Ramona'')\\
'''Ramona''': But...but I'm enjoying your company!\\
'''Envy''': ENJOY '''''THIS!''''' (''kicks Ramona in the chin, launching her upward'')
* TheVerse:
** Kim Pine started out as a character in series of comic strips that started years before ''Scott Pilgrim'' debuted. Bryan Lee O'Malley did three short comic strips called "Style" which featured characters named Kim Pine and Lisa Miller. You can read them at his site under "Best of My Online Comics" [[http://radiomaru.com/ here]]. The Kim Pine and Lisa Miller in the "Style" strips look NOTHING like their Scott Pilgrim namesakes, and aren't really given distinct personalities, so they are probably better classified as Proto-Kim and Proto-Lisa, much like rabbits from Warner Bros. cartoons from the late 1930s predating the 1940 Creator/TexAvery directorial effort "A Wild Hare" are considered prototypes for WesternAnimation/BugsBunny.
** Also, Scott made a cameo in Corey Lewis's graphic novel PENG, which is in continuity with Lewis's series Sharknife.
* VillainSong: Matthew Patel gets to sing one when facing off against Scott, complete with his fireballs and demon hipster chicks. S-L-ICK!
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Lucas, Envy, and Gideon.
-->'''Ramona''': What the hell is this?! Why are they all rooting for you when you're ''obviously'' a huge bitch?\\
'''Random Guy''': '''''You're''''' a huge bitch!!\\
'''Envy''': Ramona, sweetie, I'm ''famous''.
* VisibleInvisibility: Roxie appears as blurred lines when teleporting. She is only ''half'' ninja, after all.
* VisibleSilence: On occasion.
* WallJump: Ramona does one to chase after Knives during their fight.
* WarpZone: Subspace.
* WaxingLyrical: Scott's quoting of the Music/BackstreetBoys at the end of Volume 5.
* WeCanRuleTogether: This offer is made by Gideon to Scott when it's revealed that [[spoiler:Scott qualifies to join the League of Evil Exes, on account of no longer being with Ramona. Scott declines vigorously... and is dead three pages later]].
* WeirdTradeUnion: Of Ramona's evil exes.
* WeNamedTheMonkeyJack: Ramona's cat is named Gideon. [[spoiler:A fact that shocks even Gideon.]]
* WhamEpisode:
** ''Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together'': Scott and Ramona have a RelationshipUpgrade after confessing their love to one another.
** ''Scott Pilgrim vs. The Universe'': After the previous volume ended on such a happy note, [[spoiler:Scott and Ramona's relationship shows signs of getting stale, [[WhamLine Knives reveals to Ramona that Scott cheated on both of them]], [[TearJerker Ramona abandons Scott, and Kim leaves Toronto]]. Also, Sex Bob-omb ends]].
** ''[[GrandFinale Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour]]'': Considering it has the final standoff between Scott and Ramona's final evil ex, this is a given. [[spoiler:Scott has to defeat Gideon by means of physical, emotional, and mental warfare; also, for the first time in the series, there's ''blood'', and [[BloodierAndGorier a lot of it]], especially when people get run through with the Power of Love.]]
* WhamLine:
** In Volume 5.
--->[[spoiler:'''Knives''': He cheated on us, Ramona. ''Both of us.'']]
** Volume 5 ends with Scott getting a call from someone, and Scott asks who's on the other end..
--->[[spoiler:'''Gideon''': This is Gideon. When would it be convenient for you to die?]]
* WhamShot: [[spoiler:Gideon stabbing Scott with the Power of Love in Volume 6, complete with a very nasty blood splatter on the page]].
* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: Various DeadpanSnarker characters question how Scott attracts these girls. Honestly, it's a good question. He's ''hot'', that's what they see. Only [[GenericCuteness ''we'' don't get to see it in the comic]] and in the film the character was played by Michael Cera; but it's [[InformedAttractiveness explicitly stated]], mostly by Wallace.
* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway: Averted with Scott gaining a flaming sword from the power of love and [[spoiler:the power of understanding, a frigging big Manga/{{Bleach}}-like sword]].
* WhatTheHellHero:
-->'''Scott''': Are you okay now?\\
'''Envy''': Am I...? You just headbutted my best friend so hard he ''burst,'' Scott.
** Scott gets another one with Envy in Volume 6. Becomes more apparent and embarassing when he breaks it down in front of a thousand quiet fans staring at Envy in awe.
-->'''Scott''': Envy Adams? Partying with ''mere mortals''?\\
'''Envy''': *glare* \\
'''Scott''': Why don't you go back to... to... ''[[LameComeback Montrealhalla]]''.
* WhiteVoidRoom: When Ramona gives Scott a haircut in chapter 16, they are depicted in a completely blank-white room as a text prompt reads "'''time passed'''".
* WhyDontYouMarryIt
* WidgetSeries: Never before has Canada's most populated city been this quirky.
* WingdingEyes: In book 3, Scott's pupils turn into starry asterisks when Ramona offers to cut his hair in chapter 16.
* WorldOfHam: So many tasty, delicious moments of ultra-ham.
* WorldOfWeirdness: The best example of this is that learning that a character is psychic is no more shocking than learning that someone is vegan--in fact, in this world, it's often the same thing.
* WouldHitAGirl: Todd [[MoralEventHorizon shows his true colors]] in volume 3 when he psychically throws Envy into a wall, and then retorts that he's not afraid to hit girls because he's a rock star, losers.
* WouldntHitAGirl: Played straight with Scott.
-->'''Roxie''': Is that a moral high ground thing, or are you just a pussy?
** [[spoiler:If she's one of Ramona's evil exes and trying to cut him to pieces, he ''will'' [[DiagonalCut use a sword]] on her, though. Well, after leveling up.]]
* {{Yandere}}:
** Knives Chau is a TropeCodifier of this for Western audiences, developing into this after she started JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope.
** Scott himself in flashbacks can be interpreted as this for Kim, ignoring the parts where UnreliableNarrator is in play.
** [[BigBad Gideon Graves]] is a darker version, having his first six ex-girlfriends as [[HumanPopsicle human popsicles]] (he wants Ramona to be the [[ArcNumber seventh]]).
** The rest of the League of Evil Exes are this towards Ramona to some degree.
* YouAreFat: Knives to Ramona, [[RunningGag multiple times.]]
* YouFightLikeACow: Ramona says the line, [[VideoGame/MonkeyIsland verbatim,]] in a fight with Knives.
-->'''Knives''': But look at your face! I totally [[StealthPun grazed]] you!\\
'''Ramona''': How appropriate. You fight like a cow.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Played with in Ramona's case. Her regular changes of dye and hairstyle hint at [[spoiler:her constant drive to run from herself.]]
* YouNeedToGetLaid: Wallace says this to Scott when he's moping around [[YouWatchTooMuchX playing too many video games]] at the start of Volume 6. HilarityEnsues when Scott tries to take his advice.
* YourMom: Scott uses insults like these a few times, since he's terrible at comebacks.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:K-R]]
* KaleidoscopeHair: Ramona dyes her hair every two weeks, causing Scott to freak out.
* KarmaHoudini:
** Scott seems to get away pretty clean in regards to him dating Knives Chau and Ramona at the same time. [[spoiler:Until Volume 5.]]
** Todd Ingram, however, ''[[SubvertedTrope thinks]]'' he should be one because, in his own words, "I'm a rockstar!"
* KatanasAreJustBetter: Can be combined with RuleOfCool when Knives' dad uses one to slice through a ''streetcar''.
* KissingUnderTheInfluence: [[spoiler:Kim and Knives]] at the start of the fourth book, to Scott's amazement.
* LameComeback: Scott is a master of this trope. "I... but... it's... not... it's totally... it's... y...you're not the boss of... me?"
-->'''Scott''': At least I... wait... something... you... insult...\\
'''Ramona''': Scott, that was ''not'' a good comeback.\\
'''Stephen Stills''': That was actually not bad for Scott.
** And then in Volume 6:
-->'''Scott''' ''(to Gideon)'': Shut up, you...guy!\\
'''Wallace''': Better comebacks, Scott!
* LapPillow: Scott does this with Ramona.
* LateArrivalSpoiler:
** TheReveal that one of Ramona's ex-boyfriends is [[spoiler:actually a girl]] is rather obvious to anyone who has seen [[TrailersAlwaysSpoil any promos for the movie.]]
** Later issues begin with recaps of the plot, which would completely spoil the previous issues for anyone who hadn't read them yet.
* LetsDance: Said by Roxy to Scott before their big battle near the end of Volume 4.
* LetsWaitAWhile: The love scene in Volume 1.
* LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain: Quoted, word-for-word, after Scott [[spoiler:accidentally walked in on Knives and Kim drunkenly making out]] unnoticed at the beginning of Volume 4.
* LightIsNotGood:
** Gideon is glitzy, glamorous, and wears a snow white suit jacket. He's also a major dick.
** Todd exudes white Vegan energy.
* LimitedSocialCircle: Highly averted, as the characters have a subclique of main characters and then they each have their own little circle of friends, and you've got friends and friends of friends -- most of which add some realism, [[ConservationOfDetail but don't really contribute anything aside from confusion.]] Because of the black and white art, it can be hard to tell all the LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters apart. Luckily, we get little captions reminding us of names on a regular basis, and in the front of the third book, there is a helpful graph explaining the characters' relations to each other. Lampshaded a number of times: Some minor characters have captions like "I don't know this girl" or "Who cares?" In Volume 4, when Scott walks into Wallace's apartment, he finds Wallace in the company of two friends - a male and female - neither of whom are named and instead have giant Question Marks floating over their heads.
* ListOfTransgressions:
** "Things That Are Not Cool About Scott's Apartment."
--->'''Scott''': What does "Not girl-friendly" mean?\\
'''Ramona''': It means it's a sucky little hole in the ground, Scott.
** The Vegan Police listing Todd's [[SeriousBusiness crimes against veganism]].
--->'''Todd''': Gelato isn't vegan?\\
'''Vegan Cop''': It's milk and eggs, bitch.
* LivingDollCollector: [[spoiler:Gideon keeps all of his ex-girlfriends in PeopleJars and plans for Ramona to be next.]] A ''big'' part of the reason the reader is still cheering for Scott in spite of his occasionally dysfunctional personality.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: There are a ''lot'' of tangential background characters who are "friends of friends", who pop up for a panel or two or are discussed but have no impact on anything and then disappear. This was lampshaded in one cast scene where the captions pointed out a few minor background characters, and one had "I don't know this girl" over her.
* LogicBomb: Joseph to Scott in volume 6: "I'm just saying if we die out there, I'll murder you."
* LongList: Ramona rattling off tea blends.
* LookBehindYou: When Scott is on a pay phone and gets creeped out when Knives starts describing his outfit to him. Turns out she happens to be standing nearby.
* LoveChart: The third book opens with one.
* LoveDodecahedron: Let's just say it would take more than half the page to properly explain everything.
* LoveHurts: With all the cheating and broken hearts that go on in this series, it's a given. Scott, Ramona, Kim, Knives and others have all gone through it at some point.
* LoveMakesYouEvil:
** As evidenced by Ramona's seven evil exes. [[spoiler:This almost happens to Scott as well, but was averted through some EpiphanyTherapy in Vol. 6.]]
** Subverted with Knives, who in Volume 2 appears to make a FaceHeelTurn by ambushing Ramona in a jealous rage, but she later settles down and goes back to being simply a little bit {{Yandere}}.
** [[spoiler:Also, it might be hinted that Ramona's other six exes weren't ''really'' evil so much as Gideon manipulated them into singling her out as the sole culprit of their failed relationships (though the episode with Kyle and Ken ''was'' a dick move on her part, if we're to believe them).]]
* LoveRedeems: [[spoiler:The reason Scott undergoes CharacterDevelopment at all is because of his newly discovered love for Ramona, and his journey- dare I say [[MeaningfulName "pilgrimage?"]]- to attain her love, and Ramona develops once she reciprocates these feelings too. By the series end, although both are still far from perfect, they resolve to be better people to each other and to their friends.]]
* MagicSkirt: Averted. Ramona's skirt flies up and reveals her tights in one panel.
* MadeOfEvil: Comeau's skull ring, which he apparently got "from the future".
* MagicalRealism: All over the place.
* MagikarpPower: The reason Scott didn't have a Skateboard Proficiency? He has a [[spoiler:Sword Proficiency]] instead. Convenient when one actually shows up.
* TheMainCharactersDoEverything: A disproportionate number of events of worldwide importance seem to involve the core cast of characters in some way. For example, apparently the reason why there's holes in the moon is because [[spoiler:Todd Ingram punched them into it with his bare fists to impress Envy]].
* ManChild: This is Scott's principle character flaw. While the first few books seem to embrace and even flatter his childishness, it's only upon looking back after reading the whole series and witnessing his entire character arc that you realize how harshly it was actually [[{{Deconstruction}} mocking his immaturity]].
* ManicPixieDreamGirl: There is a debate on whether Ramona is a straight example, deconstruction, or subversion. See [[http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/50119247.html this blog post]], which lists Ramona as being similar to Clementine from ''Film/EternalSunshineOfTheSpotlessMind'', which is one of the more famous subversions of the concept.
* MasqueradeBall: The party at Julie's apartment in Volume 5.
* MeaningfulName:
** Kim Pine [[spoiler:is pining for Scott]]. In the appendix of volume 1's color edition, Bryan Lee O'Malley also states that he chose "Pine" as in "porcupine" due to her prickly personality. (O'Malley originally conceived her as a character for a different series, an ''X-Men''-style comic where she literally developed spikes when people got too close to her.)
** Knives Chau fights with knives.
** Scott Pilgrim is another: the book is all about his ''pilgrimage'' from self serving slacker to... well, someone approaching a responsible adult, anyway.
* MechaMooks: The first two robots the Twins deploy against Scott.
* MechanicalMonster: The third robot the Twins send after Scott.
* MediumAwareness: Scott apparently learns that Knives has turned 18 the same way that the reader does: by reading the caption above her head. He also refers to Ramona's caption listing her age as "unknown." Also, Scott will often tell another character to read a previous volume when they express confusion about something that happened earlier, and at one point Envy comments that an event has lasted for "a quarter of this book."
* MinisculeRocking: Crash and the Boys' forte
--> '''Wallace''': It's not a race, guys!
* MinusWorld: Spoofed in the video game.
* MirrorMatch: Scott versus Nega-Scott.
* MissingStepsPlan: The "Vegan Shepherd's Pie" scene in Volume 2 has a variation:
-->'''Stephen Stills:''' '''''Five!''' Add the fake meat stuff! '''Six!''' Add the gravy stuff! '''Eight!''' Add some soymilk and stir so everything's a bit saucy!''
* MistakenForCheating: Zigzagged. Thanks to Roxie, Ramona becomes increasingly suspicious that Scott is cheating on her with Lisa. She's only half-right, he cheated on her with Knives (and vice versa), not Lisa. When Scott spends the night in Lisa's apartment, he ''mistakes himself'' for cheating the following morning. Despite Lisa offering him the chance to do so, she tells him that he refused.
* MistakenForGay: When Ramona first visits Scott's house, she notes that he and Wallace sleep in the same bed. He's quick to note that only because ThereIsOnlyOneBed.
* MistakenIdentity:
** [[spoiler:Mr. Chau goes after Scott because Knives' aunt mentioned that she saw Knives dating a white guy (Young Neil) and he drew the wrong conclusion from her StalkerShrine.]]
** Scott keeps mistaking various people, even his own brother, for Gideon and attacking them.
* MoneySpider: The villains explode in a shower of coins, for no apparent reason other than that's what happens when someone gets killed. Lampshaded when people comment on how it ends up being barely enough to handle cab fare, a coffee, etc. But only for Patel. The other ex-boyfriends give out much more after defeat. [[spoiler:Gideon's death rewards $7,777,777.]] Still spoofed, as the characters lament on how it's all in coins. [[spoiler:Gideon's coin shower actually hurts the audience due to sheer volume and the height from which they drop.]]
--> "That guy left behind like 30 bucks in coins!" "What a dick!"
* MookChivalry: Discussed.
* MotivationalLie: Kim tells Scott one to help him beat the twins.
* MundaneFantastic: The story is a pretty normal, funny comic about relationships, until someone busts out the [[FunctionalMagic mystical powers]] or [[IKnowKarate implausible kung-fu skills]], or uses your dreams as a [[DreamWalker travel shortcut]].
* MundaneMacGuffinPerson: Ramona Flowers. The protagonist must go through several obstacles to be with her, but we are shown very little about the relationship, or even Ramona herself, except that [[InformedAbility we are assured of her awesomeness]].
* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: The Boys and Crash. Used to be Crash and The Boys. The band went through a bit of a hostile takeover, apparently.
* MyHairCameOutGreen: When Knives dyes her hair after breaking up with Scott, it turns bright red.
-->'''Knives''': It looks like my head is bleeding!
-->'''Tamara''': [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Your head is bleeding?]]
* MysteriousPast:
** Ramona, though each volume fills us in on things, she never really explains exactly what [[spoiler:happened between her and Gideon in New York]]. In a way [[FridgeBrilliance her mysteriousness makes sense]] in light of what she reveals in Volume 6, how [[spoiler:she's afraid of becoming "stuck" in her life, so she constantly reinvents herself and keeps her past at arm's-length in order to try and outrun her fears]]. Her past is a mystery because even ''she'' would prefer it that way.
** Interestingly, Scott is the same way, though in his case, it's less about [[spoiler:being stuck]] than simply [[spoiler:not liking his past self]], so he constantly [[spoiler:reinvents himself]] in an effort to be a better person. [[spoiler:Except he's actually kind of a terrible person, which he eventually comes to realize and deal with.]]
* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous:
** The real life Stephen Stills is a famous guitarist, and the S in the famous band [[Music/CrosbyStillsNashAndYoung CSNY]]. The Y is for Music/NeilYoung, for whom Young Neil is named.
** Most of the characters are named after a famous song or band, as the bonus materials at the end of Volume 3 show. Scott's name is taken from a song by the band Plumtree (which was the inspiration for O'Malley to write the series in general).
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast:
** As Ramona herself puts it: "What kind of idiot would knowingly date a girl named Knives?"
** Possibly Envy Adams as well, but in her case it's only a nickname, though a self-applied one... which might make it worse). Her real first name is Natalie and her middle initial is V. N-V Adams. Ramona Victoria Flowers jokes that she should change her name to RV for the same reason.
* {{NEET}}: For the first few volumes, Scott Pilgrim meanders through life with no job and no effort to get the training or experience for a job, to the ever decreasing patience of the friends on whose generosity he depends.
* NeverTrustATrailer: A fairly minor case. The trailers (particularly the early ones) seemed edited to make it less apparent that Michael Cera was PlayingAgainstType (making Scott Pilgrim look a bit more like [[Series/ArrestedDevelopment George Michael]]).
* NightmareSequence: Scott's had several throughout the series, but his scariest one was in Volume 6 [[spoiler:when he got impaled through the chest with the Power of Love by an angelic Ramona, pinning him to the ground and leaving him alone and stuck in the middle of a desert. Sharp-toothed monsters start circling around him, which are revealed to be Envy, Knives, and Kim. They then proceed to eat his limbs [[AndIMustScream while he is completely unable to do anything.]]]]
* NinetyPercentOfYourBrain: Filled with curds and whey, which is why Todd's veganism allows him psychic powers.
* NintendoHard: The Tie-In game. Even on the easiest mode. Try to pass the whole game without saving and without continuing on single player. Unless, of course, you actually purchase some stat upgrades at (un)reasonable costs.
* NoAccountingForTaste: Stephen Stills and Julie have a pretty vitriolic relationship. By book five, they've broken up "for like the fiftieth time!" [[spoiler:Stephen Stills continues to be an example of this even after he comes out as gay -- his new boyfriend, Joseph, is, if possible, even more bitchy than Julie.]]
* NoBisexuals: Ramona's relationship with her ex Roxy is described as a "phase", [[spoiler:Kim and Knives make out when they're drunk with no further teasing or resolution]], and Stephen dates Julie in a tumultuous off-and-on relationship before [[spoiler:dating Joseph.]] Scott declares Julie turned Stephen gay, with the possibility of bisexuality not even considered.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Lucas Lee is based on Jason Lee.
* NoEndorHolocaust: Averted. Punching those holes in the moon did cause about 30 pages' worth of tidal waves and chaos.
* NoSocialSkills: Scott, initially.
* NotHelpingYourCase: When Ramona confronts Scott after finding out that [[spoiler:he's been double-timing between her and Knives, she asks if he's been cheating on her with Knives. He immediately replies, [[DiggingYourselfDeeper as if it would help things]], that he's been cheating on ''Knives'' with ''her''. And that's the straw that breaks the camel's back.]] [[SarcasmMode Good going, Scott.]]
* NotSoDifferentRemark:
** Scott realizing he shares a lot of the petty qualities (such as infidelity) that Ramona's EvilIsPetty exes had. Comes to a head in Volume 6 when [[spoiler:he finally fights Gideon, and realizes that he does a lot of the things that Gideon does (self-serving memory, NeverMyFault-isms, and ProtagonistCenteredMorality). Scott thankfully comes to realize he doesn't like it, and that he doesn't want to be that way anymore because of how it has hurt his friends]].
--->[[spoiler:'''Scott''': Gideon...I think I understand you, man...And now I have to kill you.]]
** It doesn't really hit home until the end but [[spoiler:Scott and Ramona are very alike. They both casually dumped their girl/boyfriendss when they were done with them, they both have jealousy issues (represented by their head glowing whenever they feel jealousy), and they both run away from their issues and flaws rather than confront and deal with them. And to top it off, after Ramona left Scott at the end of Vol. 5, we later learn that she spent her time afterwards the exact same way Scott did: by spending all her time moping and watching TV. As one character states, they deserve each other.]]
** Knives dates Young Neil for shallow reasons and then dumps him abruptly, just like Scott did with her, and Ramona did with almost all of her exes.
** Hinted at with Scott and Mr. Chau. After finding out that his daughter has been going out with a white guy, Knives said that his mind cracked open into a machine of mechanical revenge. This same visual metaphor is used for Scott after he realized that [[GirlOnGirlIsHot Ramona had a sexy phase]].
* NotWhatItLooksLike:
** Scott tries this multiple times when his past transgressions with other girls are brought up. [[spoiler: He's lying, every time.]]
** Todd tries to claim this when [[DidYouJustHaveSex he and Lynette come out of the bathroom]], but it doesn't work (first of all, he has her ''panties on his head'').
* NWordPrivileges: Knives casually mentions that the Asians at her school are "fobbish".[[note]]FOB is an acronym for "fresh off the boat" and refers to Asians who act uncool and old-fashioned.[[/note]]
* ObviouslyEvil: The BigBad appears in silhouette in the first four volumes, and his last name is, of all things, ''Graves''. His 'emblem' is also the video game equivalent of an inverted cross, and his three names each have six letters. Yep.
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: The "Knives Chau: 17 Years Old" joke lead many to believe that something important ''had'' to occur when her eighteenth birthday finally happened. Turns out, it happened a ''week'' before Volume 6 started.
* OlderThanTheyLook:
** Young Neil is the biggest offender of this, and the RunningGag makes a huge deal out of the fact that [[spoiler:Scott finally acknowledged him as simply Neil in Volume 6]]; however, thanks to the art style, every single character in the series can be mistaken for mid-to-late teens unless you've read the comics or their bios. The ArtEvolution doesn't help this.
** Even more noticeable is when we finally meet Scott's parents, late in Volume 5. We only know Scott's dad is supposed to be older because his hair is receding a little and he has some lines on his forehead; otherwise, he'd be nearly indistinguishable from Stephen Stills.
* OneSteveLimit: Averted. Lucas Lee/Lucas Wilson/Luke Wilson, much to Scott's confusion. There's also "Other Scott" and Ramona's cat Gideon, although [[WeNamedTheMonkeyJack his name is not a coincidence.]]
* OneUp: Shaped like Scott's head, which creeps him out immensely.
* OneWingedAngel:
** [[spoiler:[[ShoutOut Echoing]] the end of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', Gideon transforms into a sixty foot tall barely-clothed and brutishly muscular version of himself surrounded by his fawning (and brainwashed) ex-girlfriends. [[AntiClimaxBoss Scott literally headbutts him]] [[BroughtDownToNormal back to normal]] [[AntiClimaxBoss one page later]]]].
** Also happens in the game, with the girls replaced with the heads of the other Evil Exes (or at least some of them).
* OnionTears: Near the end of Volume 5, Scott is shown solemnly chopping onions with a completely stoic face while his eyes have turned into OcularGushers. A fellow worker comes and comforts him, to which he retorts by stating that it's the onions, not him.
* OnlySixFaces: Many characters look very similar. Possibly [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by Knives when she says she only went out with Young Neil because he looks exactly like Scott. This gets confusing when Ramona cuts/dyes her hair every so often (the book is in black and white).
* OnTheRebound: We have a triple threat:
** After the devastating break-up with Envy, Scott briefly gets with Knives at the first chance, before becoming obsessed with Ramona (at least he didn't take advantage of her). While over a year has passed since the break-up, Scott is still hurting so much that he's still dreaming the early days of their relationship and ''a phone call from Envy'' left him near-comatose.
** After being dumped by Scott, Knives dates Young Neil, as he [[ReplacementGoldfish looks kind of like him]].
** When the full story about her break-up with Scott becomes known in volume 6 it becomes clear that ''Envy'' is on the rebound and dated Todd only because of this (he does look like a buff Scott) and thought their long friendship would help. After Todd is revealed to have been cheating on her she ''tries'' it again with Gideon, who shares many of Scott's character flaws, and only gets closure after his death.
* OrcusOnHisThrone: Gideon spends the first five volumes of the series doing very little. He only appears briefly in a few scenes, until he contacts Scott at the end of the fifth book.
* OverprotectiveDad: Knives' dad.
* PapaWolf: Mr. Chau.
* PeopleJars: [[spoiler:Gideon keeps his ex-girlfriends cryogenically frozen and hooked up to some sort of ominous-looking machine that he draws his power from. There are [[ArcNumber seven]] tubes attached to the machine. Six are occupied, one stands empty and waiting for Ramona]].
* PhraseCatcher:
** "Gideon Graves: What A Dick."
** "I don't have to answer [to] that!"
* PlayerInventory: What Subspace bags are supposed to be the equivalent of, considering that the world of Scott Pilgrim runs on video game logic.
* PlotBasedPhotograph: At one point, Wallace shows a blurry photograph of Gideon to Scott, although this is meant more to hide Gideon's appearance from Scott himself.
* PoliceAreUseless: Played straight most of the time. Then double subverted with [[spoiler:Todd Ingram, when he gets taken out by the Vegan Police, who charge him with eating gelato while ignoring the fact that he was trying to kill somebody.]]
* ThePowerOfFriendship: Scott defeats Matthew Patel with help from his band, while stating:
-->'''Scott''': You think you're so great, but you're missing the point. You gotta have friendship and courage and whatever!\\
'''Matthew''': [[SubvertedRhymeEveryOccasion That doesn't even rhyme!]]\\
'''Scott''': Shut up!
* ThePowerOfLove:
** In volume 4, the "Power of Love" manifests [[spoiler:In the form of a flaming sword... but the trope is {{Subverted|Trope}} because loving Romona isn't enough to surmount the last Evil Ex-Boyfriend. That requires the far more important Power of Understanding, which allows Scott to see [[ShadowArchetype how similar he is to Gideon]], and how that is a very bad thing]].
** In volume 1, this protects [[spoiler:Wallace, Jimmy, and those in the immediate vicinity from the effects of "Last Song Kills Audience", although they weren't in as much danger as the name implies]].
* PrecisionFStrike: Perhaps surprisingly for a series about the relationships of a group of twentysomethings, there's almost no swearing in the series. When somebody ''does'' swear, you know that things are serious.
* PreMortemOneLiner: Scott dishes a pretty badass one before defeating the twins.
-->"I've a message for Gideon, you identical turds...'''''he's next'''''."
* PrepareToDie: Roxy to Scott in Volume 4 after she gets punched by him in the boob. However, her presentation of the phrase is a bit...unconvincing.
-->"Prepare to...*cough* die."
* ProductPlacement:
** Scott Pilgrim's three months of depression, brought to you by the [[http://turbo.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2009/10/psp_go-480x362.jpg PSP Go]].
** Amazon.ca.
** Let me offer you a drink. Coke Zero, right?
** Pizza Pizza, Second Cup, Shoppers Drug Mart, CIBC, Honest Ed's, and many other well-known Canadian brands. Note that these companies didn't actually pay to be advertised in the book; O'Malley included them to add local color to the story.
** A Flight Centre storefront also shows up in TheMovie. The "l" in flight [[MeaningfulBackgroundEvent quickly flickers out]] turning it into a ''Fight'' Centre.
** Jose Cuervo tequila.
* ProlongedPrologue: Not so much in the books as in the movie, where books 2-6 took between 10-25 minutes apiece of screentime, whereas book 1 was a good 45 minutes.
* PropertyOfLove: Gideon [[spoiler:keeping Ramona as his bondage slave.]]
* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: [[{{Deconstruction}} This actually becomes a plot point around Volume 5.]]
* PsychoExGirlfriend:
** The League of Evil Exes, the antagonists of the series, are male versions of this trope ([[spoiler:[[TheSmurfettePrinciple Except for one]] [[PsychoLesbian girl]]!]]). Gideon in particular seems to take rejection really badly, what with the whole plot to [[spoiler:cryogenically freeze his ex-girlfriends so that he can date them at his leisure later.]]
** Knives gets [[{{Yandere}} a little psychotic]] for a while after Scott breaks up with her.
* PsychopathicManchild: Gideon. His psychopath and manchild sides are quite firmly divided, and it's only near the end, [[spoiler:after he reveals his ex-girlfriend-containing PeopleJars]], that they start to bleed together.
* PunchClockVillain: Lucas Lee. He seems like a genuinely nice guy, engages in small talk with the group, and even offers Scott some baby carrots and Ritz. Right after throwing him into Casa Loma's tallest tower.[[note]]He's actually considered evil because he's [[FelonyMisdemeanor a sellout]]...or he sold out because he's evil...[[/note]]
* PunctuatedForEmphasis: Scott to Gideon in Volume 6, spread across ''4 pages.''
-->"Would ''you'' '''LOOK ''AT YOURSELF?!'''''"
* PyrrhicVictory: At the end of Volume 5, [[spoiler:Scott defeats the Twins but Ramona still leaves him.]]
%%* RaceForYourLove: In Volume 6, when Scott returns from his stay in Ontario, %%context, please%%
%%* RandomEncounter: Parodied. Scott has these in his fantasy genre-themed dreams.
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Bryan Lee O'Malley was dating an American woman (cartoonist/comic book creator Hope Larson, to whom he was married from 2004-2014) and in a garage band when he started the series.
* ReallyGetsAround: Scott is actually Ramona's ''ninth'' boyfriend. Aside from the evil exes, she once dated a guy called Doug, who wasn't evil, but a jerk, so she dumped him.
* RedHerring:
** In Volume 2, Wallace shows Scott that Mobile taught him some psychic skills, making Scott think he could learn them as well to help him against Todd. [[spoiler:Turns out he never does. Instead [[DeusExMachina the vegan police show up to strip Todd of his powers.]]]]
** In Volume 6, the final battle has a reveal that didn't happen in the way Scott assumed. Hilarity Ensues:
--->[[spoiler:'''Gideon''': I've watched you guys do stuff!]]\\
[[spoiler:'''Scott''': (realization) ''You were the cat!'']]\\
[[spoiler:'''Gideon''': '''I was not the cat!''']]\\
[[spoiler:'''Scott''': '''THEN WHY WAS IT NAMED GIDEON?!''']]\\
[[spoiler:'''Gideon''': '''''[[YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe YOU NAMED YOUR CAT GIDEON?!]]''''']]\\
[[spoiler:'''Ramona''': '''[[WeNamedTheMonkeyJack I- I have my own way of working things out!]]''']]
* ReferenceOverdosed: The comic, the film, and the video game all embody this trope magnificently.
* RefusalOfTheCall: Scott deletes all the messages that Matthew Patel sends him. Big mistake.
* RelationshipUpgrade: The source of the page image; Scott and Ramona near the end of Volume 4, when the two confess their love to each other.
* RetCon: Simon Lee looks remarkably like Gideon in Volume 2. Later, this is [[HandWave explained away]] as [[spoiler:Gideon messing with Scott's memories... except that he looks ''exactly the same'' in ''Kim's'' dream in the same volume, which never gets explained. Looks like the author's original intention was to make Simon and Gideon the same person, but he later changed his mind.]]
* {{Retraux}}: The video game, ''Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game'' is a curious case. It's about as old-school beat'-em-up as you can get. Featuring [[{{Chiptune}} chiptunes (by Anamanaguchi)]], 8-bit spriting, and so on. So much so that it's frequently likened to ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom'', and/or ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage''[=/=]''VideoGame/FinalFight'', almost to the point of looking like a SpiritualSuccessor of them. This on a UsefulNotes/{{PS3}} (and UsefulNotes/XBox360)... only. As a downloadable game. With none of the annoyances of a NES/SNES-era games. There is good reason to why a lot of people are interested in this one game. It's very much an old-school gamer's love letter.
** And now it's gotten a retail release with all DLC packaged on the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch!
* RevealingContinuityLapse: Scott himself is notoriously unable to remember things that happen from issue to issue (and even further back), and since we see everything through his eyes, things that are easy to look up in a past volume clash with whatever Scott says about what happened back then. At first, this is thought to be because of his rather selfish personality and SelfServingMemory, but it actually turns out that [[spoiler:Gideon has been in his head pretty much since the moment Scott started dating Ramona, and has been "spicing up" Scott's memories this whole time.]]
* RewatchBonus: Early in volume 1 Scott dreams of playing in a band with Knives, Stephen Stills, an unseen drummer, and a so far unknown and plain-looking girl (with red hair in the color edition) that sings and plays the keyboard, leaving the reader wondering why she's playing with Sex Bob-omb. Upon rereading, it's clear that [[spoiler: the girl is ''Envy Adams'' in the early days of her relationship with Scott ([[SheCleansUpNicely before her makeover]], the band is Kid Chameleon, and]] this is actually the first hint that [[OnTheRebound Scott is nowhere near over his break-up with Envy]].
* RockersSmashGuitars: At the end of Sex Bob-omb's performance at Sneaky Dee's (although we barely get to see any of it), Scott smashes his bass guitar.
* RoommateCom: It opens as a fairly traditional version, being about Scott and his cool gay roommate Wallace as Scott has a comic love life and hangs out with the people in his band. However, things swiftly take [[GenreShift a turn for the surreal]] every time a fight breaks out and Scott has to battle his love interest's evil exes in order to date her.
* RPGElements
* RuleOfCool: For one thing, we're never told how or why EverybodyWasKungFuFighting.
* RuleOfFunny: ''Oh'' yeah.
* RunningGag: [[RunningGag/ScottPilgrim Lots.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:D-F]]
* DarkestHour: In Volume 6, ironically titled "Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour"; the entire first half of the story is devoted to the aftermath of Scott's breakup with Ramona and his attempt to forget about his past and move on. The finest hour comes at the end of the story.
* DarkIsEvil: Both Roxy and Envy dress in a dark, somewhat gothic-inspired style, the latter to accentuate her FemmeFatale persona.
* DarkIsNotEvil: [[spoiler:Nega-Scott. He is the EnemyWithout personification of Scott's mistakes: he exists because Scott refuses to face up to them, obsessed with his narcissistic, NeverMyFault attitude. Every time Nega-Scott shows up prior to Volume 6, it's when Scott is being an absolute ass, serving as {{Foreshadowing}} of Scott's inability to learn from his past, and Scott never acknowledges it. He tries to ''destroy'' Nega-Scott in Volume 6, insisting that he's doing it to protect Kim (who is shouting at him to ''stop fighting and running away from his past'' and is in no danger), and only by accepting that he's ''not a good person'' is he able to realize that he's had a horrible negative impact on his friends and himself. He gets better as a result.]]
* DeadpanSnarker: [[WorldOfSnark Everyone]], but especially Kim Pine and, to a lesser extent, Wallace.
* DeathGlare:
** Everyone in The Clash at Demonhead gives one to Knives when she tells them what a huge fan she is of them.
** Ramona gives one to Kim in volume 4 when she brings up a poster of [[GirlOnGirlIsHot two girls kissing]]. It's even accompanied by "GLARE" being shown in big text, probably considering Ramona was wearing opaque glasses that obscured her eyes from the reader.
** Kim to Scott in Vol. 6 after Scott fails to continue to not be her mom.
* DefaceOfTheMoon: Todd Ingram punched two craters in the moon with his Vegan powers, one for Ramona and one for Envy.
* DelayedCausality: Roxanne takes a few seconds to fall apart after being cut up by Scott.
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment:
** Some of Scott's insults take the form of BreadEggsBreadedEggs.
** Volume 4's inside cover has a character guide to help readers potentially catch up to what's happening in the story. When it comes to Wallace, two of his characteristics are "the gay roommate" and "is gay".
* DesignatedGirlFight: Ramona's only female to male brawl [[spoiler: would be Gideon]]. That's okay though, since the chick fights are awesome.
* DeusExMachina:
** Parodied in the third volume (even more hilarious when you realize it was actually a ChekhovsGun):
--->'''Scott Pilgrim:''' I can't even get near him! I need some kind of... like... [[LampshadeHanging last minute, poorly-set-up Deus Ex Machina]]!!
--->[[spoiler:'''Vegan Policeman (to the villain):''' FREEZE! Vegan police. You were caught eating gelato this morning.]]
** The Boys and Crash, just moments before.
** Just as Envy is about to kill Ramona with her own hammer, Knives comes in with a flying kick.
* DiagonalCut:
** [[spoiler:Roxanne, after her battle with Scott]].
** [[spoiler:Both Scott and Gideon, in Volume 6]].
* DisproportionateRetribution: The League of Evil Exes consider controlling Ramona's love life by killing anyone who tries to date her is a justified response to her dumping them.
* DistressedDamsel:
** Kim Pine is found captured by evil-doers twice. They are keeping her trapped, in shackles or otherwise, and waiting for a contender to show up. [[spoiler:Although the first time, she may not have been captured at all, considering she was dating the guy. Scott is just an UnreliableNarrator.]] Given the constant references to [[VideoGame video games]], it is natural that Scott Pilgrim has to SaveThePrincess.
** This trope is subverted with Ramona. It's not often in a work of fiction that the girl being fought for is a more capable fighter than the guy fighting for her, but Ramona just might be. She's a true ActionGirl, at the very least, though this isn't really revealed until Volume 2.
* DontTryThisAtHome:
** Near the end of Volume 4:
--->'''Julie:''' Are we letting [Knives] drink beer again?\\
'''Stephen Stills:''' Hell yes we are, and it's ''hilarious''.\\
'''NOTE TO MINORS''': He is lying. Underage drinking is not at all hilarious.
** In the bonus comic ''Free Scott Pilgrim'':
--->'''Scott Pilgrim Says...'''\\
Just remember: in real life, you should never punch a girl. [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality Unless it's a serious emergency.]]
* DoubleStandard: Ramona chews out Scott for dating both her and Knives Chau at the beginning of their relationship, despite the fact that she cheated on several of her evil exes in the past, and [[spoiler:making out with Roxie while Ramona and Scott were going out in Volume 4 (not to mention her dating Kyle behind Ken's back ''and vice-versa'').]] Ramona is aware of the double standard, and everything that it implies about her, and most of her story arc is trying to distance herself from the bad stuff she's done in her past.
* DownerEnding: Volume 5. [[spoiler:Scott and Ramona's relationship shows signs of getting stale, Knives reveals to Ramona that Scott cheated on both of them, Ramona abandons Scott, Kim leaves Toronto, and Sex Bob-omb ends.]]
* DoYouWantToCopulate:
** After Scott is told by Wallace to [[YouNeedToGetLaid get with a girl]] at the start of Volume 6, he winds up [[LargeHam dramatically]] asking Knives for her hand in sex. It's pretty hilarious.
--> '''Scott''': Do you want to have ''sex''? I think we should have '''sex'''! '''''Casual sex!'''''
** He ends up re-attempting this on ''Envy''. While she turns him down, she doesn't seem ''completely'' put off by it.
** [[spoiler:He also attempts this on Kim, though it's more downplayed as he simply tries to make out with her. Kim initially goes along with it but quickly stops, and the two finally settle their otherwise unresolved feelings]].
* DramaticWind: When Scott goes to find Ramona in subspace in Volume 6, complete with tumbleweed.
* DropTheHammer: Ramona and Envy's fight in Volume 3.
* DudeShesLikeInAComa: [[spoiler:PsychopathicManchild stalker Gideon keeps his ex-girlfriends locked away in PeopleJars. He spends the better part of the story trying to add Ramona to his [[LivingDollCollector Living Doll collection.]] [[FridgeHorror Think about it.]]]]
* DynamicEntry: Knives jumping down to fight Ramona in the library. With knives, appropriately enough.
* DysfunctionJunction: Scott's circle of friends is... not full of the healthiest people. Kim Pine has self-esteem issues masked behind her mildly misanthropic nature, and Stephen has lots of neurotic moments and 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. To say nothing of Scott and Ramona themselves.
* EarlyBirdCameo:
** In Volume 3, Gideon slips in a cameo ([[HeWhoMustNotBeSeen shrouded in shadows]]) during Todd's flashback sequence at Honest Ed's and right after Scott defeats Todd. He also slips in another one in Volume 4 when Scott crashes Ramona's subconscious.
** The colour version sort-of confirms that [[spoiler:Envy]] has an EarlyBirdCameo in Vol. 1. [[spoiler:Scott writes a white-washed version of her into his dream of Sex Bob-Omb being an actual famous band. She's the redhead on the keyboard (the same instrument played by the real-life Envy)]].
* EarnYourHappyEnding: Scott and Ramona definitely do.
* EldritchLocation: Honest Ed's, described as an "existential horror" (it was a [[MundaneMadeAwesome dollar store]]). It causes a HeroicBSOD in Scott and a SuperpowerMeltdown in Todd.
-->'''Julie''': "[[MundaneMadeAwesome Stephen... you know how, when a baby is first born, it just cries at the sheer horror of being alive?]]”
** Subspace, if you ''really'' think about it.
* EnemyMine: Wallace and Ramona become friends because of their shared hatred for Envy.
* EnemyWithout: [[spoiler:Nega-Scott. Has the "fusion" resolution, as Kim points out that if Scott killed his darkness and forgot about it, he would just make the same mistakes over and over again.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards: [[spoiler:For all of her insults towards Scott & Ramona in the preceding five volumes, Julie is visibly shocked & horrified when Gideon kills Scott & runs Ramona through with a katana, a reaction shared by Envy. Averted with Joseph, as he simply doesn't seem to care.]]
* EverybodyWasKungFuFighting: Everybody [[NonActionGuy except Wallace]].
* EveryoneIsASuper: An odd example. Subspace allows people to use superpowers, and it's implied that everyone can do it. The reason why not many people are shown using Subspace is because it isn't taught in Canada.
* EvilCounterpart:
** [[spoiler:Gideon for Scott. In the last volume, it is shown that he represses memories in the same fashion that Scott does, [[SelfServingMemory self-editing to favor himself]], and Scott recognizes the similarity, gaining the [[CoolSword Power of Understanding]] from it.]]
** To lesser degrees, Joel [=MacMillan=] [[http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/scottpilgrim/images/7/7c/Film_Joel_Info_Sheet.jpg/revision/latest ("sweat bands -- biting Scott's style?" "Note: Scott doesn't like him. Ask Scott about this [maybe]")]][[note]]though he's not actually evil[[/note]] and Todd Ingram, both bassists for other bands.
* EvilDiva: Envy Adams.
* EvilIsPetty:
** Possessiveness and jealousy are the main motivations driving the League of Evil Exes. Especially Gideon, who just happened to have founded the group in the pettiest of ways: [[spoiler:by posting an angry rant on the internet.]]
** And the reason why [[spoiler:Gideon had six girls in PeopleJars and wants Ramona to be the seventh? He wanted to go on a date with all of them at once.]]
* EvilSorcerer: Matthew Patel.
* ExpressiveShirt: Scott's ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' slime T-shirt changes its expression as he does.
* ExtradimensionalShortcut: Subspace is used this way ([[HyperspaceArsenal among other things]]). Ramona uses it [[MundaneUtility to make fast deliveries]].
* FaceNodAction: Envy to Lynette before she punches Knives.
* {{Facepalm}}: Kim Pine does several variations of this.
* FadeToWhite: When Scott [[spoiler:gets stabbed by Gideon]] in Volume 6. It goes on for three whole pages.
* FanGirl: Knives Chau towards Sex Bob-Omb and Scott, ''especially'' Scott.
--> '''Knives''': I'm a Scottaholic!
* {{Fanservice}}: A few to count, namely the saucy romantic sessions Scott has with some of the girls as well as some fanservice scenes. The rather hot and heavy moment in Volume 5 and not to mention the part where he jumped into Ramona's mind. Although pre-art change Scott Pilgrim had at least one sex scene per volume, relatively work-safe of course.
* FantasyKitchenSink: The evil exes have [[EvilSorcerer mystical powers]], PsychicPowers, {{Ninja}}s, and [[MechaMooks Robots]].
* FauxAffablyEvil: [[spoiler:Gideon. He calls Scott buddy, and compliments him on his shirt (both sarcastically). Also, when he kills Scott, he buys everyone a drink. Gideon's compliment on the shirt relates to the fact that it bears Gideon's initials: GGG.]]
* FemmeFatale: Parodied with Ramona, Envy and Knives. Scott seems to be a magnet for the type. Though it should be noted that Envy and Knives didn't fit the trope when they first started dating Scott and only became that way later.
-->"What kind of idiot would knowingly date a girl named [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Knives]]?"
* {{Fetish}}:
** Wallace has a ''big'' fetish for guys wearing glasses.
** Gideon also tells Envy something along the lines of "you know putting you in those outfits is sexually fulfilling for me". Envy replies that that's ''all'' that he finds sexually fulfilling. See LivingDollCollector.
* FingerGun:
** The Vegan Police fire their de-veganizing beams out of them.
** Kim mimics shooting herself in the head whenever she's feeling bored or exasperated.
* FlamingSword: Of Love. [[Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena That comes out of the heart on Scott's shirt]].
* FlippingTheBird:
** In volume 1, when we are introduced to Crash and the Boys, Trasha flips off Wallace when he questions there being a female drummer.
** In volume 3, Scott flips off Stephen Stills while leaving the bathroom when he sees him vomiting into a toilet.
** Julie has a penchant for doing this.
* ForcefulKiss: Played with in volume 6. [[spoiler:Being the most emotionally vulnerable he's ever been, Scott kisses Kim in a desperate attempt to reconnect their lost relationship. Kim is clearly surprised by the kiss, but is initially receptive of it... But soon breaks it off. Kim's expression immediately after the fact indicates that she was scared of how effective it was, but the two finally resolve the lack of closure in their relationship soon after]].
* {{Foreshadowing}}: The free comic (released after Volume 2) features posters animated by ninja magic, presaging Roxie's appearance in Volume 4.
** In the same comic Ramona warns Scott that he'll have to learn to hit girls eventually.
** Scott asks Wallace where he got a certain shirt from in one volume. Said t-shirt has a Wild West theme to it... guess who comes out in Volume 6?
** Related to the above point, when Ramona bumps into Young Neil at a party, she asks him why Knives isn't with him. He says she left him to hang out with "Captain Homo". It seems mostly like just a jerk comment by Young Neil who is going through a dickish phase, but [[spoiler:then we learn that Steven Stills came out as gay offscreen sometime during Vol.5, so the comment isn't exactly wrong.]]
** Throughout the first few volumes, whenever Ramona is feeling jealous, her head starts to glow. When [[spoiler:Scott catches Ramona's ex-girlfriend at her house after they had an argument]], Scott's head starts glowing too. [[spoiler:This is one of the earliest signs that Scott and Ramona really aren't that different emotionally, despite outward appearances.]]
** Very ''subtle'' foreshadowing: "Scott, if your life had a face I would punch it". [[StealthPun Guess what he obtains in the third book?]]
* FourEyesZeroSoul: Gideon.
* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: In volume 3, Michael Comeau is introduced as "knowing everyone ''including you''".
** Similarly, Knives and Scott's kiss in volume 6 is described as being "horrible for everyone, ''including you''".
* FreudianExcuse: One of the things that flashes through Todd's head during his SuperpowerMeltdown in Honest Ed's is his father's doubt of him. Papa Ingram, coincidentally, looks a lot like Dr. Freud.
* FullNameBasis: Stephen Stills.
* FunnyBackgroundEvent: Scott fighting Robot-01 at the MasqueradeBall in Volume 5 serves as this throughout two scenes, with the second culminating in the Robot-01 finally being bested.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:G-J]]
* GainaxEnding: Volume 6 features this in spades, what with Gideon's ultimate plan, his powers, Scott and Ramona's exit, etc.
* GeekyTurnOn: Possibly why Scott used to date Envy, as she started out as a nerdy chick who loved {{anime}} before she became a FemmeFatale.
* GenerationXerox: If you take WordOfGod in account, [[http://www.radiomaru.com/comics/short/monica/ Scott's dad has also fallen in love with enigmatic girls. His friend even looks quite like Stephen Stills.]]
* GetARoom: When Scott and Ramona kiss at the end of Volume 4.
* TheGhost:
** Scott's brother Lawrence and Wallace's psychic boyfriend Mobile until the end of Volume 5. [[spoiler:Both of whom are mistaken for Gideon by Scott]].
** Gideon himself in Volumes 1-5. He is mentioned quite often, but doesn't appear (except as a voice on the phone) until the final book.
* GirlOfMyDreams: Quite literally.
* GirlOnGirlIsHot: Discussed.
-->'''Scott''': So, have you ever kissed a girl?
-->'''Ramona''': Yes.
-->'''Scott''': (shivering with delight)
** Scott's reaction when he learns Ramona and Roxie dated: "YOU HAD A SEXY PHASE?!"
** Subverted when Scott finds [[spoiler:Knives and Kim]] drunkenly making out. He's rather disturbed about it.
* GISSyndrome: The books proper don't contain this, but the Free Comic Book Day issue contains a [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] example.
--> "Okay, this background looks really hard to draw and I don't think I'm getting paid for this comic, so enjoy this stock photo."
* GivingSomeoneThePointerFinger: This happens at least once every volume, and each main character's probably done this at least once. It's even on the first volume's cover!
* AGoodNameForARockBand: Sex [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Bob-Omb]]. The Clash at Demonhead. Crash and the Boys. [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic and Knuckles]]. Shatterband. Every band is named after a video game reference.
* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking:
** Parodied when two clubgoers remark "Oh my god, she's ''evil!''" when they see Lynette lighting up. [[spoiler:Though when Ramona's attitude starts changing, she starts smoking more than she used to...]]
** When Envy starts smoking, it's a sign of her StartOfDarkness.
** All the girls except Kim Pine smoke at some point in the book, but the one time Young Neil smokes, it represents his absolute low.
** When Lisa smokes in front of Scott, she offers him a puff but he refuses, saying that "smoking is evil".
* GoThroughMe: Parodied. One of the jocks holding Kim hostage says this to Scott, but he simply [[CurbStompBattle wipes the floor with him]] and continues on his way.
* GottaKillThemAll: The premise of the series. In order for Scott to start building a real relationship, he's got to deal with her seven exes -- and by "deal with", he means annihilate.
* GrandRomanticGesture: Todd (evil ex #3) proclaimed his love for Ramona by [[spoiler:punching a hole in the moon]]. He also does it for his current girlfriend Envy -- since she thought he'd only done it for her, this comes back to bite him in the ass.
* GratuitousFrench: It is Canada, of course.
* GroinAttack: Envy knees Todd in the crotch after finding out [[spoiler:he was cheating on her behind her back with Ramona and Lynette]].
-->'''Envy''': "Let's both be girls!!"
* GrumpyBear: Kim.
* HalfHumanHybrid: Parodied; Roxie is a "half-ninja".
* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: Happens in Volume 6 to [[spoiler:Scott while he's inside Ramona's mind.]]
* HalloweenEpisode: The beginning of the 5th book is at a Mexican Day of The Dead party with everyone dressed in some vague skeleton motif.
* HardDrinkingPartyGirl: Wallace is a male version. Pun not intended.
* HaveIMentionedIAmGay: While we do see Wallace kissing [[AllGaysArePromiscuous quite a few guys]], some readers got a little tired of him being referred to as Scott's "cool gay roommate" constantly. But that's the joke, and Scott's an idiot.
* HeartIsAnAwesomePower
* HeroicBSOD: Starting Volume 4, the development of Scott's relationship with Ramona turns him into a poster-boy of this trope as he suffers from this repeatedly with increasingly brutal aftermath every time. This is also what summons Nega-Scott. By the end of Volume 5, there are many hints of Scott turning clinically insane, and finally in Volume 6, the half of, if not, the entire storyline could be summed up as "Scott's quest to [[AchillesInHisTent get away from]] [[DarkestHour the increasing brink of]] DespairEventHorizon".
* HeroicResolve
* HeroicSecondWind: Scott catches his a few times, such as when he defeats the twins.
* HesBack: Essentially the general theme of Volume 6. Also explains the volume's subtitle.
* HeterosexualLifePartners[=/=]IncompatibleOrientation: Scott and Wallace; not only does Wallace jokingly flirt with Scott, he remembers his birthday, buys all of his things and ''[[ThereIsOnlyOneBed even shares a bed with him.]]'' Even Ramona [[LampshadeHanging points it out]] [[MistakenForGay on a few occasions.]]
* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: Gideon, at least until Volume 6.
* HeyYouHaymaker: Lynette punching Knives.
* HotbloodedSideburns: One of Ramona's many hairstyles invokes this. Obviously, she doesn't have actual sideburns.
* HypocriticalHumor:
** When Ramona gets annoyed about Scott staying with Lisa for a night, it turns out that [[spoiler:Roxanne]] stayed at her place for the night. She defends herself by saying that they didn't even make out that much.
** When Wallace is complaining about Scott calling him at work. You can see that he is playing solitaire on the computer.
* ICanNotSelfTerminate: ZigZagged. According to WordOfGod, [[https://radiomaru.tumblr.com/post/34254798677/if-i-existed-in-scott-pilgrim-canon-then-could-i there is no friendly-fire in the Scott Pilgrim canon.]]
* IJustWantToBeYou: Kim drunkenly says this to Ramona, however given Kim's self-esteem issues and her [[spoiler:love of Scott]], it's probably not far from the truth.
* IdiotHero
* IfICantHaveYou:
** This is the basic principle behind the League of Evil Exes.
** [[WordOfGod According to O'Malley]], Knives got her name because when a friend of his broke up with his girlfriend, said girlfriend pulled a knife on him.
* IkeaWeaponry: Todd assembles an assault rifle out of household items at Honest Ed's.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: [[spoiler:One of Scott's dreams in Volume 6 has Ramona as an angel descending from the skies with the Power of Love to plunge it right through Scott's chest and simultaneously pin him to the ground.]]
* ImportantHaircut:
** Knives after getting dumped by Scott. Inverted with Ramona, who gets her hair done all the time and only lets it grow out when she and Scott start actually getting closer.
** Played straight with [[spoiler:Ramona in Volume 5.]] An entire page is used to further show the importance of the action.
** Scott also tried to pull something similar to this when things with Natalie were looking bad. He thought the new hair would bring them back together. [[spoiler:It didn't.]]
** Subverted with the haircut that Ramona gives Scott in Volume 3, since he doesn't look any different afterwards.
--->'''Scott:''' Check out my rad haircut! Totally ready for the show now!\\
'''Stephen Stills:''' Yeah... great.\\
'''Kim:''' That's a haircut? You got a haircut?
* InUniverseFactoidFailure: Scott's fairly ridiculous impression of Italy. For one thing, he seems to think the Leaning Tower of ''Pisa'' is in Rome.
* IncrediblyLamePun:
** "Chau down!" "Did you really just say that?"
** In Volume 5 at the Happy Avocado, Stephen Stills says that he only wants to discuss Knives and the band...only for him to then say that he's referring to the knives that he's currently using to chop onions.
* InformedAttractiveness: Scott and Ramona. Several characters have the hots for them - including each other - but due to the art style's GenericCuteness they don't look any different from everybody else in the comic.
* InsistentTerminology: Ramona corrects Scott each time he refers to her evil ex-boyfriends as "evil ''exes'', yes." [[ExperimentedInCollege There is a very good reason for that.]]
* InsultBackfire: In Volume 6, [[spoiler:Gideon]] tells Scott and Ramona they're their own worst enemies. They both conclude he's definitely worse.
--> '''Scott''': No, I'm pretty sure you're worse, dude.\\
'''Ramona''': You're definitely worse!
* InterchangeableAsianCultures: Mr. Chau, a Chinese ninja who wields a katana. If it helps, the author is himself Asian, so Mr. Chau is probably a spoof of this trope. Or maybe he simply abides by the RuleOfCool, like everybody and everything else in the series. And to be fair, other characters (including Scott) use, if not actual katanas, then katana-esque swords.
* InTheNameOfTheMoon: Scott gives Gideon a variation of this before defeating him once and for all.
* InvincibilityPowerUp
* IronicEcho: Ken Katayanagi's "I don't think we've been properly...introduced" line in Volume 5 first appears at the MasqueradeBall when they first run into Ramona and Kim, [[spoiler:and then returns for much more sinister effect when the Katayanagis kidnap Kim.]]
* ItemGet: When Scott defeats Lucas Lee and gets a skateboard. [[spoiler:He can't use it though, because he never acquired a skateboard proficiency.]]
* ItRunsOnNonsensoleum: Defeating enemies causes them to explode into coins. Also, being a vegan gives one telekinesis.
-->'''Stephen:''' Uh... Hey. How does not eating dairy products give you psychic powers, anyway? I've been wondering.
-->'''Todd:''' You know how you only use ten percent of your brain? Well, it's because the other 90 percent is filled up with curds and whey!
-->'''Scott:''' That's the stupidest thing I ever heard!!
-->'''Todd:''' Maybe if you knew the science...
* ItsAllAboutMe:
** Gideon ''lives'' this trope. His mania doesn't just stop at acquiring things (and people), it's all about injecting some aspect of himself into it like he's marking his territory. See: his triple-G inverted Triforce, dressing Envy in costumes according to his tastes, [[spoiler:implanting a fragment of himself in Ramona's head]], and in TheMovie, [[spoiler:retooling the newly-professional Sex Bob-Omb from a quirky garage rock band to a generic gothic Music/MyChemicalRomance-style punk band]].
** Scott himself is another good example; although he eventually grows out of it. [[spoiler: It adds a serious case of UnreliableNarrator to the preceeding five volumes when it's confirmed in Volume 6 that Scott has a self-serving memory and world view.]]
* ItsPersonal: Scott's HeroicSecondWind in Volume 6.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Knives claims to be this for Scott. Kim is possibly this for Scott as well.
* JackOfAllStats: In the Free Comics Day comic, Scott tries to select drinks based on their stat boosts being complimentary.
* JerkAss:
** Todd Ingram is very insensitive towards people, claiming that because he is a rock star, he is better than other people. He even cheats on his girlfriend Envy Adams with the drummer of their band. To top it all off, he telekinetically throws Envy across the room when she confronts and lashes out at him over his infidelity. (Although to be fair, she ''did'' successfully GroinAttack him immediately before he did that.)
** Gideon Graves. A manipulating, sexually domineering [[LivingDollCollector creep]]. His first subtitle is even "Gideon Graves (31 Years old) Occupation: Asshole".
---> Gideon stole [[spoiler:the Power of Love]]! What a dick!
** Played with in the case of our almost JerkAss protagonist. Scott is undeniably likable and sympathetic, but a big part of the story is exposing and dealing with the fact that he's also kind of a dick.
** Julie Powers. Her main personality quirk is being an absolute bitch to everyone.
** Minor character Monique is one too. Her behavior is kind of like what Julie would be if she were an extra.
* JerkAssWoobie:
** Envy. Especially in Volume 6 after she reveals [[spoiler:that her and Scott's break-up was a mutual occurrence and Scott simply whitewashed his role in it out of the flashbacks seen by the reader in Volume 3]].
** And Scott himself.
* JerkJock: Subverted with Lucas Lee, who turns out to be quite the decent fellow, and is easily the [[FriendlyEnemy nicest]] of Ramona's evil exes, going so far as to offer to throw the fight (for a fee) when it becomes clear that Scott is completely outclassed. However, played completely straight with Todd (who, if he isn't a jock, at least ''dresses'' like one...). Until Scott accidentally pressed Lucas' BerserkButton, that is...
--> '''Lucas (calm):''' Okay, look. Give me all your money, and I'll let you live. I'll tell Gideon you beat me up.\\
'''Scott:''' Wow. You really are a sellout.\\
'''Lucas (advancing threateningly):''' Kiss Ramona's sweet ass goodbye, Pilgrim.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold:
** Scott Pilgrim himself, of course. Being charming and sweet in a dorky way doesn't hide the fact that he's shallow, self-centered, a shameless mooch to everyone of his acquaintance, and willfully oblivious to the damage his "precious little life" causes others. Through CharacterDevelopment, he... doesn't exactly rise above this, but undeniable that there's a little less Jerk and a little more Heart of Gold by the end. [[spoiler:Kim Pine turns out to be one in Volume 6 as well.]]
** Also Ramona, who admits to being a bitch in the past and also tries to downplay her own responsibility in the failure of her relationships, but is actively trying to be better since moving to Toronto.
** [[spoiler:Envy too turns out to be one towards the end of the story, as she starts talking to Scott again and the events of their break-up are revealed not to be entirely her fault - at least, not so much as in it was Scott who started their argument. In the end, after realizing the kind of person Gideon was ("He was an asshole" - her words), she mends her fences with Scott for good.]]
* JuxtaposedHalvesShot: Used in Volume 5 twice:
** With the Katayanagi twins during their fight with Scott. Of course, it works perfectly.
** In the mirror with Scott and [[spoiler:Nega-Scott]].
[[/folder]]

* ScottPilgrim/TropesGToJ

[[folder:A-C]]
* AbsurdlyLongStairway: Scott defeats Lucas Lee by convincing him to rail grind a huge stairway on his skateboard. After [[ImplausibleBoardingSkills exceeding speeds of 309 kph]], he wipes out and explodes on impact.
* AbsurdlySharpBlade: At one point, Knives Chau's father cuts through a ''streetcar'' with his katana. Called back to in the 4th level of the game, with Roxy cutting through another streetcar, ''twice''.
* AccidentalMisnaming: Everyone calls Neil Nordegraf 'Young Neil'. He doesn't actually gripe about it, but when Scott introduces him as just 'Neil', it is the best day of his life.
* AchillesInHisTent: Scott in Volume 6.
* ActionGirl: Ramona, Knives, and Roxanne to name a few. [[spoiler:Ramona even battled and defeated Gideon alongside Scott]].
* AdultsAreUseless: ThereAreNoTherapists. [[ThereAreNoPolice Or police,]] beyond the Vegan Police. Professors have long since faded into the background. [[AdultsAreUseless Parents]] are useless, except for a vigilante ninja dad obsessed with "avenging" his daughter. Any sign of law, order, or stability is ''completely'' absent... which makes for a pretty entertaining WorldOfHam, until you consider its [[FridgeHorror nightmarish implications]]... which manifest themselves on-page, several times over.
** Well, during the fight with Scott and Knives, one guy does say he's going to call the cops, so there is at least SOME branch of police force in this world. Though a remarkably absent one, nonetheless.
* AnAesop: The main lesson of the comic is that if you've made mistakes in the past, you shouldn't run away from them, but rather accept those flaws to become a better person and avoid making the same mistakes all over again. Scott learns this by admitting his mistakes in his relationship with his exes and Ramona does the same.
* AffablyEvil:
** Lucas Lee (he ''caters'' his fight with Scott!), but not so in the movie. There he just offers to get coffee for his mooks while they beat up Scott, though not before telling Ramona that Scott 'seems nice'.
** Gideon Graves can come off as this as long as you ignore the fact that his invitation to Scott was mostly to gloat.
** Matthew Patel sent a nice email letting Scott know in advance that he was coming, and explaining the situation.
* AlliterativeName: Gideon Gordon Graves, Stephen Stills, Wallace Wells, Neil Nordegraf, Lucas Lee, Roxanne Richter, Ken and Kyle Katayanagi. It helps that Scott seems to enjoy saying their full names.
* AluminumChristmasTrees:
** 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).
** 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.
* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: Kim Pine feels this way about her parents.
* AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield:
** [[spoiler:Scott's face-off against Gideon within Ramona's mind in Volume 6 is a parody of this trope]].
** [[spoiler:Ramona's fight with Roxanne in Subspace]] in Volume 4 also has elements of this trope.
* AnachronismStew: Minor example, likely a result of ComicBookTime: For exactly one panel in the fifth volume, released in 2009, Scott wears a shirt with the bassist icon from ''VideoGame/RockBand'', which came out in 2007, despite the series taking place in 2004 and 2005.
* AndThatsTerrible: "Gideon [[spoiler:stole the [[PowerOfLove power of love]]!]] What a dick!"
* AndTheAdventureContinues: The end of Vol. 6 kinda gives you this feeling.
* AndYourRewardIsClothes: In Volume 6, Scott unlocks a new T-Shirt by leveling up. This actually works out pretty well, since he spilled booze all over the shirt he arrived in, and reluctantly put on a replacement shirt emblazoned with Gideon's logo right before his fight with Gideon. It was also [[spoiler:covered in his own blood and had a hole in it from when Gideon stabbed him to death]].
* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: Knives gives one to Scott. His response is that he thinks they should break up.
* AnimatedAdaptation: [[http://www.adultswim.com/videos/promos/scott-pilgrim-vs-the-animation Scott Pilgrim vs. the Animation]] is a four-minute short adapting the opening of Volume 2, featuring Scott's relationship with Lisa Miller and Kim Pine in his high-school days. Michael Cera and Creator/AllisonPill reprise their roles as Scott and Kim, with Lisa Miller and Simon Lee (neither of whom appear in the film) being played by Creator/MaeWhitman and Creator/JasonSchwartzman (who play Roxy and Gideon in the film), respectively.
* {{Animesque}}: The comic takes on this look after a while thanks to ArtEvolution.
* TheAntichrist: Gideon's logo is an inverted, stylized [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda triforce]] made out of G's. Yep.
* AntiVillain: The Evil Exes are mostly this (except for Gideon of course, and Todd), bordering between Type II and Type IV.
* AppropriatedTitle: The adaptations take their name from ''Scott Pilgrim vs. The World'', the second book in the series.
* ArcNumber:
** 7. It becomes a little more obvious in Volume 6 (ironically) when [[spoiler:Gideon is revealed to have 7 exes of his own -- six of them innocent victims [[PeopleJars sealed away in tubes]] (Ramona being the seventh), but anyway... And when Gideon is finally defeated he explodes into $7,777,777.00 CAD (that's seven sevens)]].
** Gideon's initials are also all [=Gs=] -- G is the seventh letter of the alphabet. (Though co-incidentially all three of his names are [[NumberOfTheBeast six letters long]].)
** Rotate Gideon's Triforce clockwise and it becomes three 7s instead of three [=Gs=].
* ArcWords: Many variations of the phrase "precious little x". Starting from Volume 1, there are Precious Little Life, Precious Little Ho-Bag, Precious Little Wallace, Precious Little Nickname, and many more. It may be just a catchphrase between all the characters, but the phrase appears in at least one instance of every volume.
* ArtEvolution: Over the course of the series, O'Malley's style became streamlined, much more rounded and even more {{Animesque}}. [[https://theprettybooks.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/scottpilgrim.png Compare]] the cover for Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life to the new art O'Malley did for the hardcover re-release of the book.
* ArtificialLimbs: Lynette ''[[MegatonPunch punches]]'' the highlights out of Knives' hair with her bionic arm. It's also the only thing left behind when she teleports away at the end of Vol. 3.
* ArtShift: The story of how Todd and Envy grew up with each other in volume 3 is shown with the characters being drawn normally but with everything else being drawn in crayon.
* AstralCheckerboardDecor: One room in subspace [[spoiler:where Scott sees Ramona as Gideon's slave]] has this.
* AutoErotica: It's revealed in Volume 2 that Scott lost his virginity to Kim in the back of a car.
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Near the end of Volume 6, it's revealed that [[spoiler:Ramona spent her time away from Scott the exact same way he did -- by moping, slacking, and sleeping all day. Scott's friends declare them a perfect couple]].
* BagOfHolding: Ramona's purse, elaborately [[LampshadeHanging lampshading]] the fact that it [[HammerSpace contains]] a [[HyperspaceMallet hammer]] (+2 against girls), a titanium baseball bat (+1 against blondes), and even ''Scott himself''. "Capacity: unknown." [[spoiler:It also serves as a passage to Ramona's head in subspace, which contains a giant Gideon Graves, whom Scott Pilgrim battles.]]
* BanisterSlide: Scott does it and knocks out his brother, mistaking him for Gideon.
* BasementDweller:
** Sort of. Scott and Wallace's apartment is actually the basement of some house O'Malley was using as a model. [[TruthInTelevision Truth In Comic Books]] in the real Toronto's college burbs.
** Scott begins playing this straight for a bit in Volume 6.
* BastardBoyfriend:
** Gideon. And Todd.
** Scott may have been more of this than he previously thought, [[spoiler:due to Gideon tampering with his memories. Especially in the case of Kim, when he beat up her current meek Asian boyfriend in order to go out with her back in high school]]. Scott is also like this toward Knives, [[spoiler:with him dating her for very shallow reasons, then becoming emotionally unavailable for her the moment Ramona skates into his life, and then finally cheating on her and dumping her in a pretty dickish way]].
* BattleCouple:
** Scott and Ramona, particularly [[spoiler:in Volume 6 with the defeat of Gideon]].
** It's shown in a flashback that Ramona and Matthew Patel beat up all the jocks at their school together when they were dating.
* BattleDiscretionShot: When Scott battles the Katayanagi Twins' killer robots, nobody really seems to care for his well-being and just ignores it. He's later seen standing over one [[OffWithHisHead which he's just beheaded]].
* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: [[spoiler:Part of the climax in Vol 6, with the fight moving to Ramona's head]].
* BareYourMidriff: A few girls throughout the series.
* BeachEpisode: The intro of Volume 4, which is also the only event in the series that is illustrated in full color.
* {{BFS}}: [[spoiler:The Power of Understanding]].
* BigBad: Gideon Graves, who is the leader of Ramona's exes that Scott must defeat in order to get her heart.
* BigDamnHeroes: The Boys and Crash show up to help out Scott in his fight with Todd Ingram using ThePowerOfRock.
* TheBigDamnKiss:
** The first between Scott and Ramona in Volume 4 after their RelationshipUpgrade. Totally epic.
** Scott and Ramona's kiss after [[spoiler:Scott gets killed by Gideon]] in Volume 6.
** Knives gives Scott one, but it's for naught in that he's already met Ramona and doesn't want to date her anymore. Awkward.
** Not to mention Scott and Knives' experimental kiss in Volume 6. It goes on for two pages. It may be ''horrible '''for everyone INCLUDING YOU''''', but it's the biggest kiss in the series.
** A very out-of-nowhere one with Scott and Kim in Volume 6 that ''takes up two whole pages.''
* BigNo:
** Scott gets one in after being informed by Wallace that his package will not be shipped until Monday.
** Also Todd Ingram [[spoiler:right after being deveganized and right before Scott headbutts him to oblivion]].
** Scott in Volume 4 after Ramona leaves him at a restaurant to drink with Kim.
* BigYes:
** Scott in Volume 4 after Dominique gives him a job at the Happy Avocado (a vegetarian restaurant where Stephen Stills works), although the job is being a dishwasher. In fact, Scott lets out ''two'', and the second one is given something of a DistantReactionShot.
** Scott lets out another one when Dominique re-hires him after he got fired for some commotion he sparked when he saw Ramona and Roxy eating together.
* BlackAndGrayMorality: It's pretty obvious from day one that Scott is kind of an asshole, but you still root for him, seeing as how his enemies, with one or two possible exceptions, are way more unpleasant than he is, and because the the trials he faces make him gradually grow out of being an asshole.
* BlackBugRoom: [[spoiler: This is the true power of the Glow and how Gideon made his fortune (having mentioned as psychological warfare and working with the ''military''). Anyone with the Glow have their memories tainted and distorted while their vices are amplified to self-destructive tendencies. In fact, it's described as being trapped inside one's own head, thus literally keeping people from connecting with one another and only able to obsess over their own actions and problems. Ramona has it and it's implied she learned to use Subspace from it while Scott himself ends up getting it. In fact, it's implied that this is how the Negascott came to be in the first place.]]
%%* TheBladeAlwaysLandsPointyEndIn: In Volume 6.
* BlandNameProduct: Mostly averted since real Canadian brands are frequently mentioned, but there are exceptions.
** The LG billboard in Dundas Square reads "LC".
** In Volume 5, Knives is seen picking up a soda from a "Choke" vending machine.
** Kim Pine's "Samsnug" cellphone.
** The "Time Critics" arcade Neil Nordegraf is seen playing in Volume 6.
* BlatantLies: Ehhh possibly. Scott's often mentions he doesn't drink despite sometimes drinking. Granted, he is never seeing enjoying it and could be interpreting as only drinking become he's pressued. Granted, after some CharacterDevelopment, he does admit that he does sometimes drink, but even the one time he does so willingly, he doesn't really enjoy it.
* BloodierAndGorier: Oh boy, Volume 6.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Killing people is okay, but if you're a graduate of the Vegan Academy and consume gelato... well, you know the theme song to ''Series/{{COPS}}''. Then again, maybe Vegan Police lack juristication in that.
* BluntYes: Crash and the Boys aren't having any of Wallace's heckling.
-->'''Crash:''' I'm Crash, and these are the Boys.\\
'''Wallace:''' Is that ''[[TheSmurfettePrinciple girl]]'' a boy too?\\
'''Crash:''' ''Yes.''
* BondageIsBad: Ramona's desire to get back together with Gideon is represented as an image of her kneeling next to him, wearing a leash and handcuffs.
* BossSubtitles: For Ramona's Exes.
* ButNotTooBi: Despite the seemingly straight characters having same-sex relationships, all the characters are explicitly proclaimed to either be straight ("it was a phase") or gay, with no in-between.
* BrainBleach:
** When Scott walks in on Wallace in bed with another guy, apparently he cannot unsee what he saw. [[spoiler:It was his junk]].
** [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] with [[spoiler:Scott and Knives']] kiss in Volume 6. [[AndThatsTerrible It was horrible for everyone involved.]] [[FanDisservice Including you.]]
* BreakingTheFourthWall:
** Whenever someone asks how he and Ramona met, Scott usually says some variation of "it's a long story, go read Volume 1." Whenever a ChekhovsGun from a previous book gets used, someone will usually refer to that book by its number. Scott has also referred to certain friends as "secondary characters."
** During Scott's battle in book 3 when he's losing against Todd, [[spoiler:Scott remarks that only a poorly set up DeusExMachina plot can save him. It does]].
** In the opening of one of the books, two background characters are making comments about the titles.
** After Todd [[WouldHitAGirl psychically throws Envy into a wall]] in volume 3, Scott remarks, "I think it's time to end this volume."
** When Stephen Stills sees that Joseph has a home studio in volume 4, he immediately asks if he can help Sex Bob-omb record an album, stating that Joseph saw them play "in volume 3".
** After [[spoiler:defeating Roxy]] in Volume 4, Scott notes to Ramona that Roxy had mentioned a pair of twins [[spoiler:right before dying]]. After Ramona admits that she had dated twins at one point, [[ThisIsGonnaSuck Scott realizes that he will eventually have to fight them]], and says this:
--->"Aww, man...am I gonna have to fight two at once in volume 5? [-Can this just be the last book?-]
** At the end of Volume 4 at a Korean restaurant, Scott notes to Wallace that he can't believe Wallace has been secretly dating Mobile since volume 3.
* BrickJoke:
** Scott is walking somewhere at night in Volume 2, and in one panel we see the moon. But it doesn't look right; there seem to be two big holes in it. It just seems weird on the first read, and nobody in the book says anything about it at the time. Near the end of Volume 3, however, we find out why it looks like that and what it has to do with the story.
** In the last volume, Scott asks Knives if she likes Stephen Stills, and she bursts out laughing for no real apparent reason. [[spoiler:At the end of that book it is revealed that he came out as gay offscreen in Vol. 5.]]
** In Vol. 5, Ramona asks for Scott to charge her phone. Later in the volume, she checks her phone to see that it's still at low battery.
* BrownNote: "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Last Song Kills Audience]]."
-->"[[SubvertedTrope Actually,]] it only knocks most people unconscious for, like, twenty to thirty minutes..."
** "BABY, I WAS BORN TO DESTROY YOU!!"
%%* BuffySpeak
* CallBack:
** Volume 5 has a dream that puts Scott in the same desert he found himself in back in the first volume, once again lamenting that he is "so alone".
** When Wallace is first telling Scott about Lucas Lee, Scott confuses him first with Luke Wilson (the actor), and then with a guy who was in a band that Sex Bob-Omb played with (also named Luke Wilson). Some time later, Scott runs into the latter Luke Wilson, and asks if he is Lucas Lee (mind you, this is after Scott had met, fought, and defeated Lee).
* CanadaEh: Written by a Canadian, so it averts most stereotypes, but has the occasional "eh?"
* CaptainObvious: Wallace is actually helpful most of the time, but once a fight actually starts..."Scott, watch out! I think that guy might be Gideon!"
-->"[[UnwantedAssistance OKAY, THANK YOU WALLACE!]]"
%%* TheCasanova: Scott and Ramona of course.
* CastFullOfGay: Wallace Wells (and his various friends and sexual conquests), his boyfriend Mobile, Roxanne Richter, "Other Scott," Joseph, [[spoiler:Stephen Stills]]...
* CastHerd: The LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters are more or less divided into two camps: Sex Bob-omb and the League of Evil Exes, and their assorted hangers-on.
* CatapultNightmare: Scott wakes up from one in Volume 2.
* CatFight:
** When Scott hears about Ramona's fight with Knives in the library, he's in his bed and gets so excited he spills his cocoa everywhere. [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Uhh.]]
** In Vol. 3, Ramona and Envy get into this kind of fight when their conversation goes south.
* CerebusRetcon: Scott's quirky high-school flashbacks turn quite glum with the revelation Kim gives Scott in the final book. [[spoiler:Turns out the boy that kidnapped her was just someone she was friends with that Scott beat up when he saw the two together. There was no major confrontation or epic fight that was earlier described. It's later revealed Gideon "spruced up" the memory when he went inside Scott's mind]].
* CerebusSyndrome: The fifth book starts dipping into some pretty heavy territory (such as fidelity), compared to the lightheartedness of the earlier volumes. This is around the same time that Scott realizes he has to grow the hell up and stop being such a {{manchild}} in order to save his relationships with Ramona and the rest of his friends. Even more so in the sixth book, especially with scenes like [[spoiler:Scott being killed with his own sword ''halfway through the book'']].
* CharacterDevelopment:
** Scott is slowly -- ''very'' slowly -- growing from a complete slacker to a quasi-functional person. [[spoiler:By the end of the series, he comes to accept the fact that he's been a narcissistic jerk throughout much of his life, and now strives to change for the better]].
** Also applies to Ramona Flowers and Knives Chau (especially in the last volume), and the secondary characters: Wallace is noticeably more care-free after he starts dating Mobile, Stephen Stills is somewhat more neurotic and self-conscious, and Kim is becoming less cold towards Scott.
%%* CharacterNameAndTheNounPhrase
%%* CharacterTitle
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: The Boys [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Crash]]'s constant rehearsing finally pays off in the form of an advanced technique:
-->''We now have the ability to manipulate pure sound waves [[{{Determinator}} through hard work and willpower alone]]!!''
** Scott has superhuman speed and strength and insane martial arts skills without any justification other than he's the main character of a video game.
* ChekhovsGun:
** [[spoiler:The extra life Scott gained in book 3 brings him back to life after Gideon runs him through. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Scott's mom, pointing out the extra life after Stacey notes that Scott just came back.]]
** It always seemed odd how the Lucas Lee movie Scott and Ramona watch in Volume 2 was curiously similar to Scott's rescuing of Kim back in high school... [[spoiler:until Vol. 6]].
* ChekhovsGunman:
** [[spoiler:Nega-Scott, Scott's mysterious doppleganger from Volume 4, reappears in Volume 6, turning out to be a personification of all the problems Scott wants to get away from.]]
** The Boys and Crash in Volume 3, along with their ChekhovsSkill (manipulating sound waves), which is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by Kim.
** In the movie, Roxie attacks Scott for the first time before he meets Todd.
** [[spoiler:Gideon Graves]] at the end of Volume 3.
* ChekhovsSkill:
** In book 2, it's shown that Scott is an exceedingly good cook. When he gets a job at a restaurant in book four, [[AvertedTrope he's relegated to a dishwasher.]]
** Played straight at the end of Volume 6. [[spoiler:Scott Pilgrim, greatest prep chef in the world. And he still botches the order.]]
--->'''Stephen Stills''': Whatever, they ordered dinner at 10:55. They're getting a salad.
** Played straight with Stephen Stills, who had his cooking moment with the vegan shepherd's pie scene in book 2, and is seen later working at the same restaurant as Scott and being complimented by customers for his cooking.
** After Scott earns the Power of Love and goes up to fight Roxy, he says, "Now I'm glad I picked that longsword proficiency in grade five!"
*** This was actually foreshadowed in Vol 2, when Scott said that he didn't take the skateboard proficiency.
** Headbutting. [[spoiler:Scott uses it to kill Todd in Volume 3, and then uses it in Volume 6 with the Glow to break Gideon out of his giant, twisted, godly form.]]
* ChristmasCake: Played straight in a bizarre fashion. In Vol. 4, Scott is sitting on a bench looking for some drink money right before he meets Lisa. Two girls walk by, one remarking that Scott is kind of cute, and the other responds, "Ew, he's like 25."
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Scott has shades of this from time to time.
--> '''Wallace''': Can you be serious for ''one'' second?\\
'''Scott (drooling)''': I like elevators.
* CombinationAttack: How Scott and Ramona [[spoiler:[[FinishHim finish off]] Gideon]]. It's a slash in the shape of an "X". An [[VideoGame/ChronoTrigger X-Slash]] if you will. The twins Kyle and Ken also do this with techniques like the Double Hurricane Kick, and Simul-Punch. Also known as the "Ex-slash" if it's possible not to notice.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: The Vegan Police rush in to remove Todd Ingram's vegan superpowers for eating gelato. Envy notes that Todd also ate chicken parmesan, but the police aren't sure whether parmesan is an animal or not, so they don't punish him for that one.
* ComicBookTime: Lampshaded and mocked in the fifth volume, as the Real world and the Scott Pilgrim world take on the last Sex Bob-Omb show collide with hilarious results.
--> '''Sandra''': A whole generation of bands have come and gone since you guys opened for the Demonheads in '05!\\
'''Scott''': That was ''this May!''
* ContinuityNod: Scott's love of the ComicBook/XMen, shown in Volume 1, is shown again in Volume 5 in full force. He tells Ramona the storylines of the demon Belasco kidnapping Colossus' sister Illyana and the time the X-Men set up base in Australia.
* ContinuityPorn: The series is loaded with little details, some of which speak to each other over separate books.
* ConvenientlyTimedAttackFromBehind: Knives leaps and attacks Envy right before she's about to finish Ramona. Subverted in that it doesn't accomplish much and Knives ends up hitting the wall.
* CosmeticAward:
** Scott unlocks an achievement for defeating the Katayanagi twins at the same time.
** They also give a $2.00 "twin bonus"... no, wait, that's likely independent of the achievement.
** Gets a ShoutOut in the video game, where defeating both of them at once earns you the 'Twin Dragons' Achievement/Trophy.
* CrankyLandlord: Scott and Wallace's landlord is a {{jerkass}} of the highest order. Considering the boys don't seem to actually ''pay him rent'' and he still lets them stay until their contract lapses, at which point he offers a per month deal...
* CrapsaccharineWorld: The entire WorldOfHam looks playful and fun ''at first'', until you realize just how [[BlackAndGrayMorality selfish, violent, and lawless]] most of the main cast actually is. [[HeroicComedicSociopath Even the heroes.]] Lampshaded several times. For example in Volume 2, when Ramona rips a metal pole off the ground to fight Knives, Stacey exclaims, "Are you crazy? You can't just tear up giant metal art objects like that!"
* CrazyPrepared: Gideon: "Yes! I had a sword built into Envy's dress in case of emergency! [[InvokedTrope THAT'S JUST THE KIND OF GUY I AM!]]"
* CriticalExistenceFailure: Scott gets thrown through brick walls, beaten up by a giant robot, etc. and manages to come out relatively unscathed.
* {{Crossover}}: Scott makes a one panel cameo in another Creator/OniPress graphic novel entitled PENG (which is NOT by Bryan Lee O'Malley, but rather by Corey Lewis, who also did the graphic novel series Sharknife, which takes place in the same continuity as PENG).
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Scott Pilgrim may be an idiot, but he's also the "best fighter in the province".
* CrypticallyUnhelpfulAnswer: Ramona's "three or five evil exes".[[note]]not ex-boyfriends[[/note]]
* CueTheSun: At the end of Volume 3.
* CutawayGag: In Volume 5.
-->'''Scott''': Well, we've got something like 48 hours, dude [Stephen Stills]...what's our plan?\\
'''SOMETHING LIKE 48 HOURS LATER''' [-'''AT SNEAKY DEE'S'''-]
[[/folder]]

** Lucas Lee (he ''caters'' his fight with Scott!) but not so in the movie. There he just offers to get coffee for his mooks while they beat up Scott, though not before telling Ramona that Scott 'seems nice'.

[[TheFilmOfTheBook The film version of the series]], ''Film/ScottPilgrimVsTheWorld'', was directed by Creator/EdgarWright, starring Creator/MichaelCera as Scott and Creator/MaryElizabethWinstead as Ramona, and released in summer 2010. [[VideoGame/ScottPilgrim A side-scrolling beat-'em-up game by Ubisoft]], with sprite work by Creator/PaulRobertson and music by Music/{{Anamanaguchi}}, was released a matter of days before the film's American premiere as a tie-in. O'Malley was heavily involved in both adaptations.

* PlotHole: Subverted in the video game; Ubisoft presumed the source material's plot was a ForegoneConclusion, and thus included subtle references only people familiar with it are likely to get. [[spoiler: The biggest example is if a solo Scott playthrough is completed: because one of the bosses is Nega-Scott, if Scott finishes the game without any friends, he successfully defeats Nega-Scott and therefore fails to learn from his past mistakes (in the novel, he loses to Nega-Scott and finally confronts his past). Therefore, Scott's ending has him becoming the next Gideon, with Ramona, Kim and Knives as the first girls of his harem.]]
* PoliceAreUseless: Played straight, most of the time. Then double subverted with [[spoiler:Todd Ingram, when he gets taken out by the Vegan Police, who charge him with eating gelato while ignoring the fact that he was trying to kill somebody.]]

** After the devastating break-up with Envy, Scott briefly gets with Knives at the first chance, before becoming obsessed with Ramona (at least he didn't take advantage of her). While a year has passed since the break-up, Scott is still hurting so much that ''a phone call from Envy'' left him near-comatose.

* RewatchBonus: Early in volume 1 Scott dreams of playing in a band with Knives, Stephen Stills, an unseen drummer, and a so far unknown and plain-looking girl (with red hair in the color edition) that sings and plays the keyboard, leaving the reader wondering why she's playing with Sex Bob-omb. Volume 3 reveals that the girl is ''Envy Adams'' in the early days of her relationship with Scott ([[SheCleansUpNicely before her makeover]], the band is Kid Chameleon, and this is actually the first hint that [[OnTheRebound Scott is nowhere near over his break-up with Envy]].

* OnTheRebound: After being dumped by Scott, Knives dates Young Neil, as he [[ReplacementGoldfish looks kind of like him]].