Ok, this is gonna be my first real article/ post. Therefore I decided to dedicate it to the Scott Pilgrim Series. I am a fanatic of Brian Lee O'Malley's story, and I only wish my parents would see it as an actual book and they wouldn't think I was reading the same comic over and over. For those of you that do not know, Scott pilgrim is the six part graphic novel by Brian Lee O'Malley. There is also a movie (Which recently was released for blue ray/ DVD) and a video game which can be purchased on the Playstation Network or Xbox Store for something like 10 bucks. Now I happen to have a lot to say about Scott Pilgrim, so I have decided to release my article in parts, starting with the general overview of the series and the characters that inhabit it. I will follow with the Books, then the Movie, and finally the Game within the upcoming weeks. And i strongly recommend reading the books or at least seeing the movie, however i will be posting spoilers for pretty much everything in all of these articles and will probably ruin everything. So I would go out, find the books (or at least the movie, but seriously the books are phenomenal) and read them and by the time you've finished and read them ten times over because they are so good I will probably have finished, leaving the spoilers to be not a problem. So in this initial post of my Scott Pilgrim series, the plot and the characters will be discussed, or at least summarized.
This story takes place in Toronto, Canadia and takes place in the early years of the new millennium. This is the story of the 23 year old protagonist- Scott pilgrim- and his battle for love. Now from that description it may seem to some that this is a romance videogame- movie- book, but when I say battle for love, I mean a legitimate battle for love. The plot is that Scott has fallen in love with an American girl named Ramona flowers, who is a mysterious girl with a mysterious path, and through luck manages to secure her in his pants. However, the catch is that in order to continue to date Ramona, Scott must fight her seven evil exes. Yea. And when I say fight, I mean fight in the sense of a colosseum battle aka to the death. (don't worry, my blood- sensitive friends, there is only one frame In the entire series with blood, everyone else turns into pocket change). Now I'm going to go through and describe each of the characters that hold significance to this saga. And I repeat, this is jam packed with spoilers and i strongly recommend reading the books before reading my articles.
Lets Begin
Scott pilgrim: age 24, rating: awesome.
Now Scott is my favorite character only because he is a lot like the rest if the world. He plays video games, he plays an instrument in a band, and he happens to be somewhat of a loser. No job, lives in a shoddy apartment with Wallace Wells but is enjoying life. One crucial piece of information to know (which is mentioned in the first part of book 1) is that Scott happens to be the best fighter in his province (it's like a state but not =\) Scott kicks serious ass on The field and in video games and kindof noy really on the stage- he plays bass in the band Sex bob-omb, which has other members of Kim pine (drums) and stephen still aka the talent (guitar lead vocals). They have one major fan- knives chau and they practice in a living room with young Neil ( Stephens brother).
Kim Pine- Age 24
Now Kim is a much more important character Than they give credit to in the movie. If you have seen the film, you notice that Kim is a) the drummer b) smanti smocile c) pretty much doesn't express any emotion whatsoever (except when she flips people off). However if you read the texts you see a much bigger back story and more description of Kim. For example, the books go through Scotts teen years when he meets Kim and Lisa and gives the story of scott and kims relationship when the movie only alludes to it. Kim played a prominent figure in scott's early Years and also later on, although she has the air of someone who will rip your face off if you get close to her. She and romana actually become close friends through scott, by which i mean share "embarrassing stories" (aka talk about the size/duration of his penis). Kim is loved by some (zac) because she holds significance and is a total Bad Ass.
Stephen "The Talent" Stills
Stephen is the third member of "sex bob-omb" and is the only one with great talent. He is noted for always pushing for gigs and then pussying out and bitching moments before hand. Stephen happens to be youn Neil's older brother, although they hardly stick with that story, seeing how they don't act/ refer to each other as brothers and don't share the same last name. But regardless, he plays guitar and in the book spends endless time making the album for sex bob-omb with Fred, who is a soft voiced gay roomate of Kim an holly (don't look for him or holly in the movie, you Won't find them) and, theonky major plot twist with Stephen is that after four books going back and forth with a girl in a terrible relationship and spending two books with a gay guy, guess what? He goes gay on us, which further proves o'malley's support of homosexuality." by adding another gay member to the cast (yea that was a spoiler, told you so.)
Wallace Wells- Age 27 Fun Fact: He's gay!
Wallace is scotts awesome roomate and they share a one- room apartment with 98% of it belonging to him. He is often considered the only correctly cast character for the film, however I personally think Scott was pretty good too. Wallace is Scott's wingman when it comes to fighting the evil exes and by wingman I mean he helps him train in the books and in the movie be hits on/stalks one of them. (and by training I mean Tony hawk proskater 3/movies) Wallace also has multiple scenes when he has a boyfriend in bed with him and Scott, which is probably one of the funnier parts of the movie. Wallace met Scott back in college with some incredible gay/drunk story Which they fail to explain in the book and movie. Wallace is a sarcastic and funny guy, making him my second favorite character in this saga.
Ramona Flowers- Age Unknown Fun Fact: Unknown
Ramona has to be the most interesting Character. She begins as a very distant, mysterious character who reveals very little information about herself. However, by the end of book two she appears to have broken out of her shell and becomes an active and open member of the cast. She still has an air of secrecy to her about her past with the unknown Gideon, but she tends to be happy and constantly questions Scott's heterosexuality. The intreguing thing about Ramona is that she introduces the SubSpace Highway into Canada. The SubSpace highway, which is almost always associated with ramona, is the travel system which allows people to travel at 3 miles per second, which Ramona uses to make working at Amazon a hell of a lot easier. She actually meets Scott through this Highway because one of the main arteries of this system goes right through Scott's head, and Scott first sees Ramona in his dream, which people can go through at their will. Subspace entrances are marked with a Star, and they usually are white doors, but entrances come in a variety of forms. One crucial example is Ramona's purse, which until book 4 when she fights Roxy, her 4th Ex and the only ex that is female (sexy phase!!) she hides Scott in the purse and also stores everything in it, including her weapon of choice, a huge-ass hammer that would destroy a building if swung right. Ramona eventually destroys the purse though because holding onto it made it easier for Gideon to reach her, causing her mental haywire, among other things. In fact, Ramona uses the bag to run away from Scott at the end of book 5, which leaves Scott to despair, for obvious reasons. Ramona also has an interseting history with relationships, in that she always left her current partner for someone else, she was never the "dumpee". Brian Lee O'Malley has an interesting use of concepts and themes which I don't want to get into because it will probably bore you, but if you want to know comment on what information you want to hear, because whatever it is, i probably know it.
Knives Chau- Age 18 Race: Asian (tehehe.... asian school girls ;)
Knives Chau is the last major character according to me, and she is my least favorite as well. She was Scott's girlfriend at the beginning of the saga, and Scott opened her up to the world beyond her lame catholic school. he showed her music, what adults do, and more importantly how to have a good time. It's like the feeling that you get when you have a fun time hanging out with friends, she never had that at a serious level until she was dating Scott. Unfortunately, Knives get dumped in a very Ramona-like fashion by Scott early on in book 1, and Scott proceeds to Date ramona, beginning the process of the story. This is another part where I could insert some literary connections to support O'Malley's writing, but in the interest of the Average Reader of Average Player, I will leave that up for you to decide. [side note* although i am new, i realize that none of our listners actually comment on these articles, i would like to say that if you are out there, yea you, try to at least post something of minimal value, so at least we know you exist. I am pretty convinced that the statistics Zac reads are fabricated by the government, but not the less, back to Scott Pilgrim] Knives obviously is crushed by losing the love of her life, and wanders in despair for a while... until she discovers Scott's New New Girlfriend, Ramona (in case you are wondering, Knives was the New Girlfriend, and Ramona is the New New... READ THE BOOKS!!!) At this point, she flips a shit. She dies her hair (to match Ramona) she listens to music (to match Ramona?) and she tries to win Scott back.... now if you read the books she does this by attacking Ramona in a mall, in her outfit which is shown at the end of the movie in the fight at the Chaos Theater. In the movie, she gets revenge by going out with Young Neil and stalking Scott (she does this in the book too, but that's the only thing that happens in the movie, except for the end when she attacks Ramona for stealing Scott). Knives throughout the entire series proudly professes her love for Scott Pilgrim, and even at the end when she stops chasing him and attacking Ramona, she matures and loves Scott, but moves on to date other people (like Young Neil).
Well that's it for the major characters, and now I'm just going to do a brief list of all the character's I consider to be secondary and a brief Description of them:
Young Neil-Still's brother, hangs out at band practice, plays mucho video games. Dates (gets used by) Knives in book 3-5
Julie- Bitch, dates Stills before being him turning gay and works everywhere
Monique- One of Kim's first roomates, reference to her and Scott hooking up once, not much else
Lisa Miller- Lisa is actually an important character, but she is only in book 4 and in the flashback of book 3, so I didn't include her in the major list. Lisa was Scott's best friend in High School, and was always Scott's "what if..." girl. He never dated her, banged her, or any flirtatious signs, but when they have a surprise encounter in a mall during the summer, they get together and reminisce on old times, and She puts tempts Scott with her, um, womanly charms and he winds up not banging her, but in actuality discovers what he must do to prove himself to ramona- in which he also gets his job back and earns the power of love in what is my favorite section of the series (book 4, if you read the book you would understand what i meant). Unfortunately, she is left out of the movie (which is ironic because she is an actress =P ) and Scott goes onto finding the power of Love a different way... o wellz
Holly- Kims coworker/future roomate, seems pretty nice, not a major character
Other Scott- Wallace's boyfriend, pretty sassy but awesome
Stacy Pilgrim- Scott's younger sister who is a gossip but also more mature than Scott, often referred to as his older sister
Comeau- guy who knows everyone. even you.
Tamara- Knives poor, poor friend who has to listen to her bitch about Scott for 5 books... poor kid
Sandra- another girl, pretty sure Scott banged her once (same deal as Monique)
Mobile- Wallaces other boyfriend, secretly a zen master in the making
Joseph- Gay roomate of Hollie, also records Sex Bob-Omb Album with Stills
Lynette Guycott- Drummer for the CLASH AT DEAMONHEAD- has a kick ass bionic arm, and is only in 30 pages of the series and has no more than 30 words said.... also bangs the bassist TODD INGRAHM who is ENVY ADAMS current boyfriend and Ramonas THIRD EVIL EX (see next section for more detail)
Envy Adams- Scott's Big Girlfriend- Dated for three years, thought she was "the one" and was tossed in the trash at a New Year's Party- also his hair has been his confidence gap ever since. Envy is the Lead singer for the Clash at Deamonhead, dated TODD INGRAHM (before his demise, book 3) and is a character who appears when GIDEON GRAVES gets into the picture in book 6.
Knives' Dad- Mr. Chau is a ninja, nothing else
Ok, i think that covers most of the subcharacters, except of course, the evil exes. Now in Scott Pilgrims life, it can be considered that there are eight "bosses" in which he must fight. I'm going to spend the time to go through them now, and give you as much detail as i know.
MATTHEW PATEL- Ramona's 1st evil ex. He rhymes, has mystical powers, and daemon hipster chicks that help him in combat. He introduces the league to Scott and gets owned before you could write a haiku. Scott wins the fight by simply beating the crap out of him, reducing him to $2.35
LUCAS LEE- Ramona's 2nd evil ex. He was a pro-skater- has his own line of skate boards. He then moved onto acting, in which only one of his films are good. he is labeled as a sell out, he is cocky and will do anything for a price (or women, you never know what mood he's in). He presents a greater strength than Scott so he tricks him into doing a rail grind down a huge stair well, leading to his death. Scott then unlocks a gift, which is a clear skate board, but cannot use the item because he never took skateboard proficiency.
TODD INGRAHM- Ramona's 3rd evil ex. Todd's vegan, which gives him psychic powers, because he's better than you. yea you. he is better than you, no matter what. that's his attitude towards life. "the important thing to know is that I'm just better than most people". Todd is interesting in that when dating Ramona, he flew to the moon and punched a hole in it, which is visible in the movie, the game and the book. Todd is also a really stupid guy, and he thinks that he is above everyone. Todd also, when dating Envy, punches the hole in the moon for her as well, which is kind of stupid, seeing as maybe if Envy was smart enough she would notice why there were two holes. She also is cheated on by Todd, who bangs the drummer right behind her back. In other words, he's a pompous ass hole. When Scott fights him, he begins with one of my favorite fights, the bass battle. He and Todd funk it out on the bass, but Scott isn't enough because todd is as good at bass as he is a douche bag. So when Scott actually fights him, he doesnt really stand a chance against his vegan powers, but Todd loses by his own hand. He broke his veganity vow by eating gelato, which is milk and eggs (in case you didnt know), and Scott proceeds to head smash him into loose change. buy yah
ROXANNE RICHTERS- Ramona's fourth evil ex, and the only girl (sexy phase!!) This is the lamest fight in the movie because Scott doesn't really fight her, Ramona uses his hands to punch, but it's really Ramona who is fighting. In the book, it's not exactly that, but he continually runs from her, afraid to hit a girl. It isn't until talking with Lisa Miller about their history does he actually know what to do- he goes, admits his love to Ramona and earns the Power of Love (which grants him a sweet-ass sword) he then proceeds to cut her in half, and bunnies come out. the end. However, Roxie is important to Ramona's past because Roxie taught Ramona how to fight and use subspace, so it is too bad that the half ninja had to die... not really she's obnoxious.
KATAYANAGI TWINS (KYLE AND KEN)- Ramona's 5 and 6 evil exs, these guys are the only guys more annoying than Todd. And please don't ask how the relationship worked, I'm assuming they had threesomes like any normal couple would. These guy's are dicks in the book because the don't actually fight him until the end, but instead they use robots to do their bidding while they sit back and socialize. They also set traps, mess with minds, all the usual bull shit. However, this is the one instance where the movie conquers the book, the fight with them is my favorite type: a music battle. The Twins use their music to conjure up twin dragons to destroy the Sex Bob-Ombs in an amp to amp battle. They fight back however, summoning a sick bear-daemon thing that totally rapes the dragons, and it's hard for me to describe it... so i recommend watching this clip if you dont intend on watching the movie or if you have seen it and forgot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zW55iIsHOhk
NEGA SCOTT- now I'm going in order of the book here and this is not an evil ex, it happens to be when Scott is visiting Kim at her home, and they must face Nega Scott. their is a larger explanation to this, that has to do with the Glow which will be in the article about the book. Sorry for those of you that are dying to know, but read the book, that's the best way to learn this stuff.
GIDEON GORDON GRAVES- Thats right, a middle name, that shows how important he is. Gideon is Ramona's most recent boyfriend, he is also the mastermind behind the league of Evil exes. He is also known as G-Man to those in the music world of the story, and the best Indie producer of the millennium. In the movie, he is the man that the band is trying to impress to win the contest. (more to come on that during the movie article). He uses the Glow to get into Ramona's head, driving her back to him in the end of book 5, and in the movie as well. (though in the movie, they made the Glow a chip on the back of her neck). The Glow will be further explained in detail in the next piece i write, which will be on the book. Once Gideon is killed, in an intense fight in the book movie and game, Scott goes on to continue with Ramona, and they live happily ever after. THE END.
Well... that's pretty much it. I spent 3 hours straight going over all the information, writing it out, and trying to make it creative. Please, Please write a comment or something, I want to know if this is what i should be doing or not. Thanks for the time, and see you next week with the book analysis.
Monday, October 17, 2011 at 08:08PM 