Line #22 YMMV/BaldisBasicsInEducationAndLearning


1	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
2	** Is Baldi just a psychopathic teacher who is out to kill or trying to help the protagonist by coming after them with a ruler in hand? It's never outright stated he's going to kill you after all and corporal punishment was still going strong in the 90s.
3	*** And for that matter, is he [[UnwinnableByDesign deliberately setting you up with unsolvable math problems]], or does he just [[UnintentionallyUnwinnable not realize/care]]? [[spoiler:The latter could be possible, since, after expunging Null from the game and getting the 21 questions wrong ending, Baldi legitimately gives you some advice regarding math.]]
4	*** The fandom's [[MemeticMolester sultry portrayal of Baldi]] has led to an alternate interpretation that Baldi wants to do more to the player then just spank or kill them. There's even a (not pornographic, but NSFW and very uncomfortable) ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlouAA8mRZo fully animated fan song]]'', courtesy of Creator/DAGames, about it that has over nine million views and counting.
5	** Same goes for Principal of the Thing. Whether he knows that putting the protagonist in detention will ultimately get them killed or not, is up for interpretation.
6	** There's also [=Filename2=]/Null. Whether he's either really a person stuck inside the game or just a character mocking meta games that have people trapped inside games is up to interpretation.
7	* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: A lot of people predicted the Kickstarter for the full game would crash and burn, since Baldi's Basics was a game which grew popular very quickly, and was thought to simply be remembered as a passing fad. That's exactly why the creator made the Kickstarter in the first place, since he wanted to know if people actually cared about Baldi or if they simply [[WatchItForTheMeme played it for the meme]]. The Kickstarter reached its goal a few days before the deadline.
8	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Schoolhouse Trouble, [[spoiler:the boss theme which plays once you provoke Null into fighting you in the hidden Null mode. It's notable for sounding epic in contrast to the rest of the themes that play throughout the game. It helps that the entire school is glitching ''on beat'' to the music]].
9	** Sometime after the release of ''Classic Remastered'', the song's composer [[https://youtu.be/7oXVp8TK430 even made a "REQUIEM" version that amps up the intensity the original had]].
10	* BetterAsALetsPlay: The {{jump scare}}s, bizarre characters, and surreal and [[StylisticSuck intentionally schlocky]] nature of the game make videos of players reacting to the latest weird character or mechanic added to the game as they try to avoid their ill-tempered school teacher widely popular.
11	* CargoShip: Believe it or not, Baldi x Ruler is a thing.
12	* CatharsisFactor: Given how frequently Playtime can result in a game-over, especially for players of the first version, being able to engage in a very literal case of CuttingTheKnot — i.e, her skipping rope — with the safety scissors is immeasurably satisfying.
13	* CrackPairing: Every single pairing. No exception. Acceptable ones include [[FanPreferredCouple Baldi]]/[[SleepingWithTheBoss Principal]], [[ToyShip Playtime]]/[[WouldntHitAGirl Bully]] and any combination of Gotta Sweep, Arts & Crafters, and 1st Prize.
14	* CrossoverShip: It's pretty popular to ship Baldi with other indie horror antagonists, such as [[VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys William Afton]], [[VideoGame/BendyAndTheInkMachine Bendy]], or [[VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub Monika]].
15	* DemonicSpiders:
16	** Playtime and the Principal. With Playtime, she forces you to do a game of jump-rope before letting you go, increasing the risk of Baldi killing you or catching up. The Principal is worse, as if he sees you breaking school rules, he instantly gives chase, and doesn't stop until he catches you. When he does, he puts you on detention for a certain amount of time, and this gives Baldi a chance to catch up, or, if the time is still ticking, kill you, especially if you have a ''99-second detention''. If you have the Principal's Keys, you can escape detention, but if the Principal spots you, he'll put you back into detention.
17	** It's a Bully could count as well. He requires you to give an item to him for him to move, but he can block paths to a notebook. He could also steal an item that could be useful. Oh, and the item he steals is ''completely random''. And if you happen to have an empty inventory when you run into him, he simply won't budge, potentially rendering the round {{Unwinnable}} if [[YouAreAlreadyDead Baldi's coming the other way]]. All one can do is ''pray'' that the Principal of the Thing shows up to send the Bully to detention.
18	** Beans and his gum bubble will make one feel what it's like to be on the receiving end of a B-Soda. The gum slows you down immensely, almost making you immobile. It has a janky hitbox, so you can't move to the sides of the hall to dodge it; if you see Beans charging up, even at the end of a hallway, ''[[RunOrDie run.]]'' What's worse is that Beans appears to spawn more frequently than other enemies. One cathartic factor about this, however, is that if you can successfully dodge the bubble by going into another hall, it may hit Baldi instead, buying you some time. The 0.4 update would add sound affects for Beans chewing and spitting his gum, the gum flying down the hallway, and splatting when it hits something, making it easier to track the gum's trajectory and where it will land.
19	* DesignatedVillain: The Principal may be a pain in the ass when you really need to run away from a SadistTeacher, but he is simply just enforcing the basic school-rules to keep it in order. Not to mention that on rare occasions, he even sends TheBully to detention for, well… bullying, as that is also obviously against the rules. Although it is unknown what he would do if he knew, or if he even is aware of that Baldi, his employee, is about to kill the player.
20	* DracoInLeatherPants: Baldi is easily one of the most bizarre cases. While it's easy to assume that he's just a SternTeacher with a HairTriggerTemper, quite a few pieces of fanart portray him as outright ''sultry''. This is commonly blamed on the SelfFanservice people apply on the characters, as well as some players ''[[TooKinkyToTorture enjoying]]'' the feeling of being hit with a ruler…
21	* EnsembleDarkhorse:
22	** Gotta Sweep — the awesome MookBouncer, and the game's FountainOfMemes.
23	** 1st Prize. Despite being added in version 1.3, he's already getting popularity due to being a hug-loving Cyborg that won in a science fair, and his ability to push you around the school. The fact that he can help you escape by the end of the game certainly helps matters.
24	** Baldi's family, his wife Susan and son Andrew, have been embraced by the fanbase, despite only appearing in the Badimore comics so far and WordOfGod from mystman12 saying that even ''he'' isn't sure if they are canon to the games.
25	* FanNickname: Null was originally called [=Filename2=] by the fanbase before the release of ''Classic Remastered''.
26	* {{Fanon}}:
27	** A lot of people assume that Baldi's bright, red lips are because he's wearing lipstick.
28	** It's also pretty popular for people to assume that Playtime is Principal of the Thing's daughter.
29	** As is the case with many indie games released in the last few years, it's not uncommon to see Baldi and Co. show up in Platform/GoAnimate videos.
30	** TheProtagonist is usually portrayed by a kid with [[AnimeHair spiky black hair]] wearing a green onesie. Such a character model never appeared in the game.
31	*** For people who have seen and accepted the real model[[note]]a tall gray pole with invisible eyes halfway down its face[[/note]], this fan appearance is often applied to Andrew Baldimore.
32	** Fans generally accepted "[[RepetitiveName Baldimore]]", Baldi's last name from the original comics, as his canonical last name.
33	** Baldi's wife and son are called "[[DistaffCounterpart Miss Baldi/Baldina]]" and "[[JuniorCounterpart Baldi Jr.]]" respectively.
34	** The enigmatic Null, with his vague warnings about wanting to destroy the game, is often portrayed as a full on BigBad in mods and custom maps, to the extent of possibly even being an OmnicidalManiac. [[spoiler:This became AscendedFanon with NULL Style having him become a full blown boss trying to directly stop you.]]
35	* FanPreferredCouple: Principal/Baldi, also known as Princibaldi.
36	* FriendlyFandoms: Fans of this game and ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'' tend to get along pretty well, since both are horror games masquerading as [[DatingSim other]] [[EdutainmentGame games]], which also happen to take place in a school. Some even consider Baldi's Basics to be DDLC's SpiritualSuccessor.
37	* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments: Has its own page [[Funny/BaldisBasicsInEducationAndLearning here]].
38	* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The game received a [[CultClassic cult following]] and MemeticMutation within the [[UsefulNotes/SouthKorea South Korean]] internet sphere as it inspired humorous fan arts on Twitter and Let's Plays on [=YouTube=].
39	* GottaShipEmAll: Shipping is surprisingly very common in the Baldi's Basics Fandom. Considering that none of the characters have much characterization beyond being obstacles for the player to avoid, all of these ships count as a CrackPairing. One quick Google Search confirms that the fanbase has shipped ''every combination imaginable'', and yes, this includes [[HumanoidAbomination Null]] if you're wondering.
40	* IKnewIt: [[spoiler:Before ''Plus'' was released, several fans theorized that Null would be killed or the player would have to fight him. Both turned out to be right, just not in ''Plus.'']]
41	* ItsPopularNowItSucks: Many people have expressed their disappointment at the game's rapid increase in popularity and the attention it has gotten from big-name [=YouTubers=] like WebVideo/JackSepticEye, WebVideo/CoryxKenshin, WebVideo/GameTheory, and WebVideo/{{Markiplier}}. Some of these people see the game as nothing more than an amusing Game Jam entry and don't believe it needs to be blown out of proportion. Others just don't want the game to fall victim to the side-effects of receiving "mainstream" attention like other popular indie horror games have.
42	* MemeticMolester:
43	** Baldi. That's what you get for [[TooKinkyToTorture threatening to hit people with a ruler]]. The fact that a later demo, and some later versions, [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything involve Baldi being alone with the player character on a camping trip]] certainly doesn’t help matters.
44	** 1st Prize as well. He's an adult-sounding robot who hugs the player without asking and even ''proposes'' to them. Keep in mind that the player is likely still a minor.
45	* MemeticMutation:
46	** [[NoIndoorVoice Gotta Sweep]] has become the subject of many memes, all of which have to do with his lines, such as "GOTTA SWEEP SWEEP SWEEP!" and "LOOKS LIKE IT'S SWEEPING TIME!"
47	** The Principal has gotten a similar treatment, mainly due to his lines when punishing you, leading to "No x in the halls."
48	** Despacit-no. No! Sit down! I don't want memes in my math class![[note]]During a livestream in which [=mystman12=] tried to beat his own game of ''Baldi's Basics'', he would occasionally slip into character voicing the characters he played in the game. At one point, he is requested to say [[Music/LuisFonsi "despacito"]] in-character as Baldi, only to make a remark about not wanting memes in his math class.[[/note]]
49	** I hope you like bees![[note]]An unused voiceline of Baldi has him say this when asking the player to answer questions about spelling, a subject cut from the final game. The meme revolves around a fan animation where Baldi says the quote and summons actual [[BeeAfraid bees]], only for them to turn on Baldi and sting him, while also including an extra few seconds to allow others to have Baldi summon something else.[[/note]]
50	* MisaimedFandom:
51	** The jokes about the game having "lore" are just that, jokes. Despite that, a lot of people still write creepypastas for the game, make up backstories for each character[[note]]because Null said that [[TrappedInTVLand he was sucked into the game]], a lot of people assume that every character [[WasOnceAMan was once an ordinary person]] who [[AndIMustScream got sucked into it]][[/note]], and generally assume that [[PoesLaw all of the game's "lore" is meant to be taken seriously]].
52	** Also the shippers. And, for whatever reason, the [[SelfFanservice Baldi fangirls]]. The Baldi’s Basics fandom has somewhat gained the reputation of the VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys fandom, with a lot of children who see the game in... unusual ways and seemingly forget it’s a horror game.
53	* MisaimedMerchandising: ''Baldi'' [[https://www.amazon.com/s?k=baldi&i=toys-and-games&ref=nb_sb_noss_2 toys]] exist, presumably aimed at young kids, despite the whole game being a SubvertedKidsShow.
54	* {{Moe}}: Many times Playtime is this. She's oddly endearing compared to the rest of the characters. Though her bad habit of making you play jump rope with her will make you get caught by Baldi more often than not.
55	* NarmCharm: Some of the voices can come off as this. This is all based on opinion, but Gotta Sweep's voice is reminiscent of Max Gilardi's Fluttershy as seen in the [[WebAnimation/PonyDotMov PONY.MOV]] series, which in turn is a Fat Albert parody. Baldi himself sounds like a cross between [[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarepants Squidward]] and some of the silly voices [[WebVideo/RegularCarReviews Mr. Regular]] has been known to do, and Null's SuddenlyShouting voice sounds less demonic and unearthly and more like someone trying to sing death metal.
56	* NightmareRetardant:
57	** The StylisticSuck {{Retraux}} EdutainmentGame aesthetic lends itself to this. It's a little hard to be nervous or scared or anything beyond weirded out when ''everything looks like shit'' and/or it's giving you a nostalgia trip of the kind of crap games you found on cereal boxes.
58	** In ''Baldi's Basics Plus'', all sound is muted in the Library. This can be terrifying for the player as they'll have no way of hearing where Baldi is, made worse by the room's labyrinthine layout, but if Baldi ''does'' catch the player there, mercifully, the jumpscare sound is muted too.
59	* ParanoiaFuel: This game is ''made'' for this. You probably wouldn't like to enter in a school at night anymore.
60	-->"'''I HEAR EVERY DOOR YOU OPEN'''"
61	* RealismInducedHorror: It's generally agreed among fans that one of the scariest things about the game is the anxiety and ParanoiaFuel that comes from having a teacher get furious at you and chase you down simply for failing to solve a math problem you don't understand. This has led to multiple fan theories, such as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-k0NW9z-_U&feature=youtu.be this]], suggesting that the protagonist is a child in the real world, possibly with a disability of some kind, and they're [[DelusionConclusion imagining themselves]] being chased by an EvilTeacher in an EdutainmentGame world either as a result of general anxiety from school, or possibly from traumatic experiences with an actual abusive teacher.
62	* ScrappyMechanic:
63	** Detentions. While some of the rules you need to follow do make sense, you have to ''not'' follow them in order to beat the game, I.E. you need to run to move through the school faster, faculty rooms have useful items to collect, and using the [=BSoda=] can give you distance between you and Baldi. When you're in detention, you have a time-limit on how long you are in it, and the time builds up for each subsequent detention ranging from a mere 15 seconds to ''99 seconds''. Plus, unless you use the phone or the tape (the tape player for which is usually inside the Principal's Office), or use [=WD-NoSquee=] on the door to the Principal's Office, getting in detention counts as a door opening, so there's a big chance that Baldi will come in, kill you, and end your run, especially when he's moving faster, during higher-timed detentions, or if he's close to the office when you do get detention. ''Baldi's Basics Plus'' lessened this a bit by having the Principal's Office location be randomly generated rather than only in the center of the building, which gives Baldi more time to head towards it, and decreased the duration by which the detention times increase from 15 second intervals to 5 second intervals, a change that carried over to ''Baldi's Basics Classic Remastered''. This is because the original 15 second intervals are now one of the difficulty changes provided in the Hard Mode Fun Setting, grouping it within a more difficult gameplay round.
64	** The jump rope minigame with [[BaseBreakingCharacter Playtime]]. When she catches you, you have to jump 5 times, but if you mess up, you have to start over, but the biggest reason on why this is annoying is because if Baldi is close, this can lead to you dying. Thankfully, you can avoid this by using the Safety Scissors. Playtime being able to reward at most 25 You Thought Points in ''Baldi's Basics Plus'' for completing her jump rope minigame without messing up has lessened this issue as it means the player now has an incentive to play with her (as these points are used in Johnny's Store to buy valuable items). ''Plus'' and ''Classic Remastered'' would tweak this further by allowing the player to move while they are jumping, preventing them from being completely helpless.
65	** Arts and Crafters' mechanic of teleporting you to the starting point. Despite him being active only after you got [=7/7=] notebooks, this can ruin any good run, due to him also teleporting Baldi to the starting point as well, which means, unless you have a [=BSoda=] to use on him, YouAreAlreadyDead. Fortunately, Arts and Crafters can only do it once per run. This also happens in the older version of the camping minigame, where wandering too far out past the sign triggers his spawn and causes him to teleport you to the burnt out campfire where Baldi is. The mechanic was frequently updated in later demos as well as ''Baldi's Basics Plus''. The player will often have less or more notebooks to collect[[note]]4 on the first floor, though random seeds with 1, 2, or 3 notebooks have been reported, the usual 7 on the second floor, and 9 on the third floor[[/note]], his teleportation also takes much longer to take effect, showing him swirling around the player as he prepares to teleport them, and he only teleports the player to a random part of the building this time, and it produced a sound at the source of the teleportation to draw over Baldi. This can temporarily get the player way out of range from Baldi, and even can rarely put the player inside the Mystery Room (which Baldi can't enter), but he can teleport the player into faculty rooms, which can thus make the player at risk of Principal of the Thing. This was patched to remove the teleportation area making noise, which gave the player more time to get away since now Baldi would lose them. Ultimately, it would be patched for a final time by now teleporting the player near one of the elevators in the building, and teleporting Baldi as well once again like in ''Classic'', putting the player between Baldi and the elevator. This version was used for ''Classic Remastered'' as well.
66	** Baldi's SuperSenses. Despite it being a unique way of chasing you, every time you open a door, you can expect Baldi to be outside the room you enter, thus increasing your chance of dying and losing the run, especially when he's faster. He's also attracted to detentions, so when you do get detention, there's a big chance that Baldi will come to the Principal's Office, and then possibly kill you, unless you somehow get him out of the way with a [=BSoda=] or have his Least Favorite Tape to use before he gets there (the Principal's Office has a tape player for the tape to be used in).
67	** In the old version of the camping demo, the slow movement while you're carrying a lot of sticks. Justified in that the heavy weight of them is slowing you down, but this increases the chance of the fire going out, It's a Bully sneaking up to take all the sticks, and Baldi chasing you down and inevitably killing you (unless you're lucky), especially when Cloudy Copter is around. A mechanic in which the player can drop all their sticks was implemented so the player could lighten their load in the event they got too heavy.
68	* SelfFanservice:
69	** In the games, the characters are all [[StylisticSuck grotesque and weird, some looking like bizarre MS Paint doodles made by preschoolers]]. For example, Playtime's eyes are just weird scribbles, Principal doesn't even appear to have eyes or a nose, Bully's face is distorted, etc. However, in fanart, the adults such as Baldi and Principal tend to appear much more attractive, while the children like Playtime and Bully appear as cuter and more innocent-looking than they are in the games.
70	** Gotta Sweep deserves special mention here. Most humanizations have portray him as a normal human, but with green skin and white hair. Since he's supposed to be a broom, some ''may'' give him a mohawk. Also, nearly all humanizations of him are {{Bishonen}}, which clashes ''hard'' with his [[VocalDissonance deep, almost raspy voice]].
71	** Mrs. Pomp, despite only being a grotesque head in a shoe, has fanart portraying her as a fully humanoid HotTeacher.
72	** Chalkles, despite really just being a chalk face on a board, so vague that it could be anything from a young child to an old man with a mustache. Due to it's childlike laughter, many tend to portray it as a cute child. Arguably, [[{{Gonk}} Beans]] is the only new character who doesn't get hit with this.
73	* ShockingMoments: [[spoiler: The boss fight against [=Filename2=]/[=NULL=] in Classic Remastered's [[BrutalBonusLevel Glitch Mode]] is a big highlight of the entire game, mostly for just how unexpected it is.]]
74	* StuckInTheirShadow: While all of characters have their iconic and funny moments, Arts and Crafters seems to get the short end of the stick. With his lack of quotes, him being only a major factor during the endgame, and his ability to screw up a good run; its not surprising he's the one glossed over most of the time.
75	* ThatOneSidequest: Getting the Secret Ending requires you to fail all 21 questions and leave the school. Getting out after failing 6 questions is a nightmarish task in its own right, but you have to bring Baldi to his absolute limit and still escape.
76	* UglyCute:
77	** Baldi himself can be this, at least at the beginning of the game. His awkward voice and love for math can be very endearing for some players, despite the fact that he's the antagonist of a horror game.
78	** Playtime also counts. Despite being [[StylisticSuck very crudely drawn]], some people think she's adorable, mainly because of [[CheerfulChild her personality]]. Her official mini figurine portrays her as more conventionally cute, her scribble eyes are downplayed to the point of looking like BlackBeadEyes, and her nose is much smaller.
79	* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotDidactic: A popular interpretation of the game is that it’s in the imagination of a disabled child who has problems with school, and in their mind it’s a lot worse than it actually is, which is why [[spoiler: after defeating Null, Baldi actually helps the player in some of the endings - Null is the physical manifestation of their anxiety about school.]]
80	* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: The game opens with a message clarifying that despite imitating an old EdutainmentGame in style, this is indeed a horror game. The message warns readers not to let their kids play it "unless, of course, they enjoy horror games". It helps that starting with ''Baldi's Basics Plus'', a creepy music track (originally played for the game's CopyProtection screen) overlays this warning now.
81	* TheWoobie: While it ''is'' very convenient that you can get Playtime to leave you alone by cutting her jump rope, some players end up feeling sorry for her as a result, the way she ([[ThatMakesMeFeelAngry rather bluntly]]) states that you made her sad. Although she can be [[DemonicSpiders very annoying as an enemy]], she doesn't seem to be malicious at all, she just wants to play with you.

Context YMMV / BaldisBasicsInEducationAndLearning