YMMV / Eddsworld

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Was Tord Evil All Along, or did he just undergo a Face–Heel Turn and joined the Enemy Army from Moving Targets (which was the last full episode with Tord as a protagonist)? Or was his appearance in "The End" actually an escaped/surviving clone from "Spares"?
  • Were Commander Bai and crew assholes who disposed of the gang when they outlived their usefulness, or were they getting rid of Matt, who was a threat to their ship?
  • Did Future Tom mean the laser he got to the face in Zanta Claws II gave him cancer, or did he mention the laser to trick Tom into thinking he wore the "eye-thing" because of the laser, only to reveal he had cancer?
  • In "Matt Sucks", was the newly vampiric Matt trying to kill Edd and Tom or was he trying to turn them into vampires too?
  • Regarding Eduardo's Temporarily a Villain status in "PowerEdd", was his hate of Edd truly because of the latter coming first place in a drawing contest, while Eduardo came in second, or was it actually because Eduardo was still upset about of the events of "MovieMakers" (as it lead to his girlfriend's death)? Or was it actually for both reasons (as Eduardo was bullied pretty hard for coming second place)?
• Alternate Self Shipping: There are people that ship the boys with their female counterparts from "Mirror Mirror", even though they never interacted or even appeared together outside of "Casting Call". This somehow works more for Matt than the others, considering the fact that he's a Narcissist and has canonically made a movie titled Matt on Matt Action.
• Aluminum Christmas Trees: In "Saloonatics", Edward Gold, the ancestor of Edd, manages to gain superpowers by drinking a brand-new product called "cola". Cola as we know it was actually invented in 1886, and became rather popular, meaning it could have feasibly been a brand-new drink in the Western United States by the 1890s, near the tail end of the Wild West period. It also originally contained cocaine, explaining the rush that Edward had, and possibly one part of Edd's sickness (the other part is because it was over 100 years old).
• Angst? What Angst?: Aside from a single webcomic, Eduardo is never shown or stated to be upset about his girlfriend Laurel's death. Not even "PowerEdd", where Eduardo was Temporarily a Villain, makes any reference to it (the given reason instead being that Eduardo came in second place in a drawing competition, whereas Edd came in first).
• Awesome Ego: Matt is by far the most ego-stroking and attention-seeking member of the main cast, but the fact that all of them are Villain Protagonists and Matt's ego is constantly Played for Laughs, being tied with Tom for being the most prone to slapstick, it adds up to make his egocentricity downright hilarious in the long run.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment:
  • In one scene of the 2004 Christmas Special, Tom shoots down the Ku Klux Klan. This is never mentioned again.
  • In "PowerEdd", Tom randomly transforms into a giant monster and just as quickly changes back after being blasted with a giant laser. While "PowerEdd" is referenced in later episodes, this isn't.
• Broken Base:
  • The Legacy Era of Eddsworld. Some fans felt that Tom Ridgewell betrayed the spirit of the series by incorporating too much of his brand and personality into the cartoons, while others think that he tried his best to fulfill his late friend's wish to continue the series.
  • The art style of Saloonatics, some find it cute and refreshing, while others think the animation is too choppy and it doesn't fit the tone of the show.
  • The final Legacy episode, "The End". There are a group of people who are impressed with the idea of a former member of the gang performing a Face–Heel Turn, while there are also people who fully expected Tord to come back permanently like in the older episodes and were not happy at all that he turned evil and is no longer friends with the other boys.
  • Jon's death in "The End". While there are people who respect the decision due to Eddie Bowley leaving the show after Legacy, others dislike the decision to kill him off, as they considered it pointless and mean to both him and Eduardo (who had already lost someone close to him back in "MovieMakers"), as well the fact that they could've just given him a new voice actor like they did with Tord.
  • The Beyond Era. While some people are happy that the show is still going, there are people who wish the series should've ended on... well... "The End".
  • The usage of Tord in Eddsworld Beyond. While some get a good laugh at his various references or are even just glad to get snippets of him, others find the jokes of him being a Creator's Pest to be overdone, and self-contradictory notion to make jabs at fans still thinking about him, despite the series bringing him up from time to time.
• Draco in Leather Pants:
  • The slew of redemption fics for Tord shows that the fandom clearly wants him to come back and become a good guy again. Oddly, these fans will also end up giving Tord more villainous qualities before redeeming him.
  • Paul is a background character, but the few times he does show his personality, he comes off as surly and rude. Yet, the most common portrayal of him in the fandom is as a lovable Jerk with a Heart of Gold who's also borderline Sickeningly Sweethearts with Patryck.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • The Rule 63 versions of the main cast from "Mirror Mirror" unsurprisingly become popular the moment their episode released, due to being cute girl versions of the main cast. They receive just as much fanart as the boys do.
  • The reject clones in "Spares" (particularly "Torm", "Tomatoredd" and "Scribble Tom") are very popular, stemming from their interesting designs and plot potential.
  • Bing the Evil Director and his bodyguard/assistant Larry well-liked because of their dynamic and personalities.
  • Laurel from "MovieMakers", due to being a token cute girl and getting along well with the main boys. Fans of her who wanted her to become a mainstay in the series were understandably upset at her death.
  • The Staring Kid from Fun Dead who Tom gives a gun to and who promptly guns down a bunch of zombies offscreen. Mainly because the latter makes him totally badass.
  • Dan, a guy who has seemingly one-sided Ship Tease with Ell in this comic, quickly became popular with fans for his cute design and the fact that, with what little screen time he had, he came off as rather Adorkable. He became popular enough that his female counterpart made a cameo in ''Surf and Turf Wars Part 2", cheering Edd on in the background of one scene.
• Epileptic Trees: A popular theory following "The End" is that the Tord in both parts wasn't the actual Tord, but rather a clone that survived the onslaught at the end of "Spares". Faulty clones are confirmed to exist in the episode itself, giving an easy In-Universe explanation for Tord's change in personality and even his different voice, while also allowing the events of "The End" to coexist with the "original" Tord.
• Fandom-Specific Plot: After "The End", there have been a lot of fics where Tord returns again, either to finish what he started, change his ways, or both.
• Fandom-Enraging Misconception:
  • No matter the intention, do not draw Edd with angelic imagery, such as a halo or wings, as many fans, Matthew Hargreaves, and even Edd's own family find it very distasteful.
  • Fans get touchy when less educated fans spread rumors on why Tord left, such as a falling out with Edd/Tom, TomTord perturbing him enough to leave, or fans overstepping their boundaries causing him to flee. They'll usually point to the account he gave in his lost explanation video, where he explains he left out of his own accord because he wanted to pursue his own artistic career, and he stayed gone because of the obsessive fans.
• Fanfic Fuel:
  • "WTFuture", in spades. Where did Future Edd get his gun and time travel device? Why are Future Tom and Future Matt affiliated with Red Leader? Is Future Edd also affiliated with him? When/how did Tord perfect time travel? Was Red Leader the one who banned cola?
  • To a lesser degree, "Saloonatics" and the continued antics of Detective Edward Gold, Sheriff Thompson and Prince Matthew. Sometimes Barkeep Todd is added to the mix.
  • And, of course, the Rule 63 universe and the adventures of Ell, Tamara and Matilda (and sometimes Tori). Even better, their debut episode implies that the parallel universes are not completely identical, as the box the girls got had completely different contents from the one the boys did.
  • Regarding Laurel from "MovieMakers" and the original plans for her, how would the rest of the series have played out had she lived?
• Fan Nickname: The older episodes before "Space Face" are commonly called the Classic era.
• Fanon:
  • It's a common assumption (especially among shippers) that Future Edd's black overcoat from "WTFuture" is actually Tord's old coat.
  • A minor, but present example—with Tom being The Grinch and Jon being written as his polar opposite, a handful of fans like to portray Jon as The Anti-Grinch, who loves Christmas and gets downright scary in his love for it just as Tom gets scary in his hatred of it.
  • Due to only appearing as an arm and a sleeve, there are many fanmade designs of Todd which mainly fall into either being depicted as a passive, bespectacled, bookworm or a scruffy, rude, neighbor like Eduardo, although most fall in the former. He is also usually depicted with bangs that flop down in contrast to Tord's erect hair tufts.
  • The Staring Kid from Fun Dead (usually just called "Fun Dead Kid" by fans) has two common fanons surrounding him — one being that he's mute and/or communicates via sign language, the other being that he was recruited by the Red Army after killing all those zombies.
• Fanon Discontinuity: There are many episodes, events, and eras that like to be forgotten by fans, such as:
  • Every episode after "Moving Targets", for fans of Tord, since he left after that episode.
  • Laurel's death in "MovieMakers", for people who really wanted her to live and make more appearances.
  • The Legacy era, for having no involvement from Edd Gould.
  • The ending of "Mirror Mirror", due to Matt breaking the magic mirror.
  • "The End", due to having Tord perform a Face–Heel Turn and trying to kill his friends.
  • The Beyond era, for turning "The End" into a Series Fauxnale, having no involvement from Edd Gould or Thomas Ridgewell, Tord not returning, the boys moving to an apartment instead of living in their regular house^note Though they had no choice as Tord destroyed the old house., and Jon being dead. Oh, and Laurel's still dead and Eduardo's now depressed.
  • Many people like to forget the April Fools' 2022 video posted by the Eddsworld Extra channel, as well as the Beyond episode, "The Chronicles of Santa", mainly due to containing jokes done at Tord's expense (being entirely removed from the "remastered" episode clips in the former and a caveman version of him being immediately killed off in the latter).
  • A picture posted on the Eddsworld twitter in 2022 shows Shoe getting married with Laurel's shoes. Fans of Laurel who were upset at her death were understandably not happy at this.
• Friendly Fandoms: The Eddsworld fandom gets on well with the Osomatsu-san fandom. Perhaps not too surprising, seeing as both fandoms involve boys in colour-coded hoodies going on wacky adventures. The Eddsworld fandom is also really chummy with the Friday Night Funkin' fandom, mainly due to popular FNF mod creator BBpanzu speed running how fast he can make a mod, and choosing Tord to be Boyfriend's opponent. As a result, there are multiple Eddsworld mods made by fans.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: America, Korea, and Japan love Eddsworld. With the former, the sense of British Humour employed by the series is considered top-of-the-line comedy to Americans, whereas with the latter two, the premise of four Vitriolic Best Buds engaging in constant slapstick is a format that Korea and Japan are completely enthralled by, bringing to mind the likes of Osomatsu-kun.
• Ghost Shipping: Eduardo with Laurel or Jon.
• Gotta Ship 'Em All: There are many ships in the fandom especially within the main 4/3. They include TomTord, EddMatt, MattTord, TomEdd, MattTom, and TordEdd.
• Growing the Beard: Eddsworld was always a rapid-fire comedy at best, developing a narrative structure by "Christmas Special 2004", but "Zombeh Nation" is when the jokes became more elaborate and the comedic interactions between the characters really hit their stride.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • Shoe killing Laurel in "MovieMakers" is treated as a funny moment for how sudden and anti-climatic it is. The Eddsworld comics would later reveal that Eduardo and Laurel were dating prior to her death, with Eduardo genuinely missing her.
    • The comic also has Jon attempting to comfort Eduardo due to the latter being depressed about Laurel's death. Jon himself would end up dying in "The End", and "The Beaster Bunny" shows that Eduardo's still depressed from it.
  • When the group is hiding in a diner in "WTFuture", Matt asks why he and Tom are also running away when Edd's future self only wants to kill his past self. Tom replies that "without Edd it would just be me and you. And well, that would suck." Fast forward two years later and the real Edd's passing makes that joke a lot less funny. Another joke had Tom getting cancer in the future because of a laser he got hit by.
  • All of the older episodes that killed off one or more of the boys (such as "Matt Sucks", "Ruined", and the "Zombeh" episodes) ended up becoming this after Gould's passing. They, or at least Edd, stopped getting killed off as of the ''Legacy'' era as a result.
    • This was especially apparent with "Halloween Special 2007", in which Matt is the last one to die to the killer, doubled by the fact that in real life, he is the only one of the original crew still working on the show.
  • Tom's Jerkass Woobie attitude would end up becoming this due to his real life self's Creator Breakdown after Gould's passing.
  • In a similar vein, the characterization of Tom as a chronic alcoholic becomes less funny due to Thomas Ridgwell's real-life struggles with alcoholism and depression.
  • The Eddsworld comic #179, titled "Surgery", feels much more depressing when you realize it was the very last comic strip Edd Gould made before he passed away.
  • This fan drawing from 2014 has Tord among the villains harassing the Eddsworld crew. Tord would ultimately betray the other three boys and perform a Face–Heel Turn in "The End".
• Hilarious in Hindsight: "Christmas Special 2004" features an one-off character named Ell that appears in a brief scene, with Edd being the one that notices her. Eleven years later, "Ell" also became the name of Edd's genderbent counterpart.
• Idiosyncratic Ship Naming: While most ship names are Portmanteau Couple Name, a notable exception is the ship between Eduardo and Edd, which is referred to as Cola Losers.
• Jerkass Woobie: "The Beaster Bunny" manages to turn Eduardo into this. He may be a jerk towards Edd and the gang, but he lost his girlfriend Laurel, his home, and Jon in a relatively short timespan, and he is very depressed over the entire ordeal.
• Mirror Universe: In universe with the Mirror World which is a Gender-Bent Alternate Universe, and Fanon-wise with the Opposite Day AU, which has the characters become the opposite of their personalties. Edd is anxious and quiet, Tom is energetic and cheerful, Matt is clever and stoic, and Tord is timid and cowardly.
• Mis-blamed:
  • There has always been some confusion about Tom "being the reason" that Tord left the series and how the two apparently had never gotten along, but that of course was never true. As Tom stated, Tord himself left the series due to a multitude of reasons, and also had to stress that he and Tord just weren't as close as he was with Matt or Edd. He (and afterwards Edd too) would admit that the way Tord was written out of the show (Tord just leaving with no explanation) didn't help matters.
    • In addition, younger and more ignorant fans occasionally blame the ship TomTord for Tord and sometimes Tom's departure from the show, when it had nothing to do with it.
  • Most of the criticisms towards the Eddsworld Legacy cartoons are directed solely at Tom, despite the fact that, as pointed out by Eddie Bowley, he and Eddie co-produced, co-wrote and co-directed the Eddsworld Legacy cartoons together.
• Narm Charm: Without the nostalgia of internet history, Eddsworld comes off as a bit choppy and the like, something that Matt, Tom, and the staff of Eddsworld Legacy had commented on, however that's why it works. The series garnered a reputation and fanbase for being so charming with its simple stories and downright fun attitude. Edd's Nice Guy personality and overall demeanour really helped matters too.
• Never Live It Down:
  • There was a grand total of one episode where Tom called Tord a "commie" and this was done in a flashback with Tord describing the event. In fanfics, especially Tom/Tord Slash Fic and Tord Redemption fics, this is nearly always Tom's go-to insulting nickname for Tord, sometimes to the exclusion of calling him anything else. Tord implies that this was a regular occurrence, but it's never shown to be in the actual show. By the same token, Tord shooting back by calling Tom a "Jehovah's Witness".
  • The BBC email incident, where Tom would retell how Edd once received an email from the BBC, asking to make a deal on turning Eddsworld into a tv series and asked how he would monetize off his property. According to Tom, Edd emailed them back asking what "monetize" meant. Even for fans of the series, this was a rather cringy hilarious moment for Edd.
  • 25ft Under the Seat is a victim of this, mainly because it's the first episode where Tord doesn't appear. The intro to said episode even shows him leaving.
• Once Original, Now Common: Eddsworld was one of the first web originals to feature a lesbian couple in Kim and Katya in the episode "The Dudette Next Door", which originally aired in 2005, back when LGBT characters were still relatively uncommon in fiction and even web-based series. Fast-forward to the 2010s, and LGBT characters became more prominent in mainstream media, and arguably more so in web entertainment, and all of sudden, Kim and Katya didn't seem like a big deal anymore. It doesn't help that they only had a minor role in just one episode and were essentially fanservice.
• Overshadowed by Controversy: Three characters suffer from this, Tord, Helucard, and Patryck. Tord for his real life counterpart/second voice actor being harassed off the internet by stalkers and toxic fans upset with his and the character's departure from the show, or for his third voice actor being fired after it came out that he groomed and sexually abused a then underaged Kiki Palmer. Although he remains a fan-favorite, the former reason makes fans skeptical of a comeback of the character. On a similar note, Helucard was based on and voiced by Dominic Сharbonneau who himself was accused of grooming underaged girls. Patryck because his real life counterpart/voice actor, Patryk Dudlewicz made an angry Tumblr post where he ranted about how the character he played was frequently shipped with Paul (also based on a real person), and shippers used their real names, much to his discomfort. Fans usually keep this mind when referring to the character, often changing his name to simply Pat or keeping the extra c that isn't in Patryk's actual name.
• Retroactive Recognition: The Dudette Next Door has Kira Buckland voice the titular character and her girlfriend long before she made it big as a professional voice actress.
• Role Swap AU: Many fans have created role swap AUs, which switch the personalties and appearances of the characters, for example giving those who swap with Matt an overcoat, and those who swap with Tom Exhausted Eye Bags. Although there many obscure AUs, and some fans who integrate their own friend group, the most popular are:
  • Tomsworld. Tom swaps with Edd. Matt swaps with Tord.
  • Mattsworld. Matt swaps with Edd. Tom swaps with Tord.
  • Tordsworld. Two alternate versions where Tord swaps with Edd, and Tom and Matt either swap with each other, or Paul and Patryck respectively.
• Ron the Death Eater:
  • Tord, after his Face–Heel Turn, weirdly mixes this trope with Draco in Leather Pants, being depicted as committing horrific atrocities whilst looking both hot and cool. This includes him torturing/mutilating/sexually violating Tom or even Paul and Patryck despite there being no indication of him being willing to do this in canon. He is shown in canon to be a wanted criminal, but we don't know what he did to earn that status.
  • Tom is usually demonized in Tord redemption fics, almost always depicted as the most openly hostile to Tord when he comes back, sometimes needlessly or even violently so (though justified given how Tord tried to murder him and his friends, of course most fanfic writers won't portray it that way), but he always tends to come around... especially if shipping is involved.
• The Scrappy:
  • You'd be hard-pressed to find people who like Mark as anything but an extension of the other two Neighbors. This is mainly due to the fact that he doesn't have a personality.
  • The bullies in Surf & Turf Wars (Part 1). Even though they are meant to be unlikable, most fans tend to be apathetic towards them, if not outright dislike them, saying that they are redundant characters whose roles could have been filled in by Eduardo and his gang.
• Self-Fanservice: All four of the boys get this on some level. Tom gets it the most, almost always being given a major buffness upgrade, with Tord being close behind, usually getting the "evil is sexy" treatment when drawn as "Red Leader", which becomes Hilarious in Hindsight when Tomska's concept art for Red Leader!Tord came out and he turned out to be a Darth Vader expy who's covered up from head to toe. Matt and Edd get this to a slightly lesser degree, with Edd (especially after Saloonatics) being depicted as a Big Beautiful Man and Matt being depicted as a Pretty Boy—though the latter kind of has some canon support. Humorously, none of these makes any attempt to change Tom's eyes.
• Shallow Parody: Comic 226, referencing that other show with an Edd in it. The two characters are Ed and Edd, but the latter is introduced as Eddy, and acts in the exact same way as Ed, whereas in their original cartoon they were essentially foils to each other.
• Ships That Pass in the Night: Some fans ship the male Eddsworld characters with the female Ellsworld characters. Although, with the exception of Matt and Matilda, shipping a character with their direct female counterpart is a bit taboo and seen as selfcest.
• Theme Pairing: Basically any ship that pairs the main 3/4 with their neighbor counterparts.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!:
  • Fans were complaining about Space Face's Art Shift in between the two parts (which happened for obvious reasons). Paul explained this on his blog.
  • Many people complained about Tord leaving the series after "Moving Targets", despite the fact that this was done due to his real life self leaving the show.
  • Fans of Tord were understandably not happy about his Face–Heel Turn in "The End".
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: There are many characters that, after their first appearances, either were Demoted to Extra or never appeared again.
  • Laurel was introduced in "Movie Makers" and set up as a good addition to the cast, but was unceremoniously killed off and never returned.
  • The Ellsworld girls were Put on a Bus after "Mirror Mirror" during the Legacy era, and didn't return until Beyond's "Casting Call".
  • None of the Ellsworld episodes have Tori make a physical appearance, with her being reduced to background cameos.
  • There are many people who believe that Kim and Katya from "The Dudette Next Door" should have another episode dedicated to them or at least make more appearances in the show.
  • Tord reappears in "The End" after leaving the show starting with "25ft Under the Seat", but was Put on a Bus once again after that and is completely absent in Beyond.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • Laurel and Eduardo's relationship is never touched upon, most likely because said relationship was only revealed after the former's death.
  • Near the end of "Mirror Mirror", Ell briefly goes through the mirror to take back a sword that landed in the boys' universe. That could've allowed for an interesting plot in a future episode with the boys traveling to the girls' universe or vice-versa, but unfortunately Matt drops and breaks the mirror in the end out of fright. So much for that...
  • Many fans were upset that Laurel's death was never brought up in "PowerEdd", since that could've been a more understandable excuse for Eduardo becoming a villain than coming second place in a drawing contest.
• Tough Act to Follow: The Legacy era is mainly disliked for the stiffer pacing and barely comparing to Tom's earlier episodes, but others are okay with it.
• Viewer Gender Confusion: Ringo, Edd's cat, is female. However, the Gender-Blender Name and lack of Tertiary Sexual Characteristics leads to confusion among fans.
• What Do You Mean, It's Not for Kids?: The cartoon may look kid-friendly, since it has a simplistic art style and character design, but there's mild swearing, brief gore, nudity, and a lot of death, most of it treated comedically.
• The Woobie: Jon. He is constantly mistreated by Eduardo, and at one point in their debut episode he gets punched by Eduardo for no reason, and when he tries to point out that he didn't even say anything, Eduardo just yells at him to shut up. It only got worse in "The End", as not only did Eduardo wish that he was dead, but he actually ended up dying for real near the end of the episode. Many viewers agree that he did not deserve this.

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