The Origin of Brawlers – Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game (2010)

The theme of FurCon 2014, “Further Confusion vs. the World,” comes from the video game and movie based on the comic book series, Scott Pilgrim, by Bryan Lee O’Malley. The six volume set was published in digest format by Oni Press (Portland Maine), between 2004 and 2010. Scott Pilgrim is a 23-year-old Toronto musician who must battle Ramona’s seven evil exes to win her love. The plot mimics the classic brawler genre, making it natural for development as a video game. O’Malley claims River City Ransom as his inspiration.

O’Malley adopted the name “Scott Pilgrim” from the song by Plumtree, a Canadian band active from 1993 to 2000. The name is an accidental mix-up of Scott Ingram, an accountant to indie rock stars, and Philip Pilgrim, a music producer. The lyrics, “I’ve liked you for a thousand years, a thousand years,” were not planned but sung spontaneously by band member Carla Gillis. The name intentionally has nothing to do with the lyrics. O’Malley was a fan of Plumtree and named his protagonist after the song.

Approached by Telltale Games to make an adventure game, O’Malley refused and kept his brawler concept intact. Both game and movie were released at the same time and are relatively faithful to the books. Although it did not recoup production costs, the film was nominated for and won awards; it became a cult favorite. The game also had some critical success.

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On loan from Ben Rog-Wilhelm