Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life (Volume 1)

Scott Pilgrim is a charming and confident 23-year-old Canadian slacker living in a video-game-style Toronto with his sarcastic gay roommate, Wallace Wells. He has started "dating" a Chinese-Canadian high-school girl, Knives Chau. Although his friends think it's scandalous, since she is only 17, Scott doesn't consider it a big deal as they only chat about her school life. During a phone conversation with his sister, Stacey, it is implied that this relationship is Scott's attempt to get over an ex. He is the bass player in the band Sex Bob-omb, along with his friends Stephen Stills (guitar), Kim Pine (drums), and "Young" Neil Nordegraf (who lives in the house they rehearse in). Still, Stephen is the only member recognized as "the talent," and the other members rarely take the endeavour seriously.

One night, Scott dreams about a girl on rollerblades whom he has never met before and later glimpses in real life, delivering a package to the library. Her repeated presence in his dreams and a coincidental meeting at a party thrown by Stephen's on-off girlfriend, Julie Powers, prompts him to become obsessed with finding out more about her. He discovers that she is Ramona Flowers, a girl who works for Amazon.ca and has recently come to Toronto from New York after a rumored messy breakup with someone named Gideon.

Scott orders a few CDs from Amazon.ca as a pretext to meet her again and receives an email from a person named Matthew Patel, who challenges him to battle, but Scott pays little heed to the email and promptly deletes it. After another dream about Ramona, in which she is carrying his package, Scott wakes to find her at his door. She explains that, as part of her job, she uses subspace portals to cross long distances in seconds; one such route passes through Scott's brain, hence his dreams. Realizing she caused his obsession, Ramona is convinced he isn't a weirdo after their previous encounters, and they go on a date, eventually returning to her house due to a heavy snowstorm. After blundering into her bedroom while she is changing, Scott and Ramona kiss and sleep together but don't have sex.

The next day, Scott goes home. Wallace informs him that he needs to break up with Knives if he plans to pursue a serious relationship with Ramona. Still, when he meets her later in preparation for their gig at Club Rockit, Knives is considerably more forward than usual and kisses him, and Scott fails to tell her. He also receives a letter from Matthew, which he again discards.

Scott accidentally invites both Knives and Ramona to a performance and tries to prevent them from finding out about each other. After an opening performance by rival band Crash and the Boys, Sex Bob-omb prepares to begin their set when Matthew descends upon the stage and engages Scott in a video game-style duel. He introduces himself as Ramona's first evil ex-boyfriend and has mystical powers that allow him to summon "demon hipster chicks." Unbeknownst to Matthew, Scott took long sword proficiency as a child and is one of the best hand-to-hand fighters in Toronto, easily matching him in the fight. Scott prevails, with his friends joining him in a dance number, which overwhelms Matthew and allows Scott to obliterate him into a few coins.

On the subway home, Scott and Ramona decide to become a couple on the proviso that Scott agrees to defeat her other evil exes. When Scott asks if Gideon is one of them, Ramona's head glows, and she starts acting distant.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Volume 2)

Part 2 opens with a flashback to Scott's high school days, where he meets and befriends a girl named Lisa Miller and gains a crush on Kim. Kim is kidnapped by a rival school led by Simon Lee. After Scott fights them all to save her, they start to date. Scott, Kim, and Lisa then formed a band called Sonic & Knuckles with their friend Lauren until Scott moved to Toronto.

In the present, now early Spring, Wallace issues Scott an ultimatum: he must break up with Knives, or he'll tell Ramona about her. Scott goes to meet Knives and awkwardly breaks it off right after she tells him she loves him, but is cheered by thoughts of Ramona. Later, Wallace fills Scott in on Ramona's second evil ex: movie actor Lucas Lee.

Meanwhile, Kim dreams about a scenario where Simon killed Scott, but she isn't bothered. She goes around her daily routine, where she hates her roommates and only gets along with Hollie, her co-worker. Ramona and Stacey meet and become friends, worrying Scott. Knives attempts to stalk Scott's house but is stopped by Wallace.

While watching Lucas's movies with Ramona, her head glows again, but it quickly subsides, and the two embrace and kiss before going to sleep. Ramona is highly impressed with Scott's cooking skills as he makes an entire dinner for themselves. Later, she introduces Scott to her pet cat, whom she also named Gideon.

Scott goes to meet Lucas at his filming location, the Casa Loma. Lucas immediately beats Scott up, after which they take a lunch break, and Lucas tells Scott about the League of Evil-Exes who have organized themselves to come after Scott. He also expresses sadness over Ramona cheating on him and breaking his heart. Lucas initially offers to let Scott go if the latter gives him all his money, but Scott counter-offers, daring Lucas to grind the handrail on the stairway down from Casa Loma. Lucas, though reluctant, accepts the challenge but dies, leaving behind a prize of a mithril skateboard, which Scott cannot access as he never progressed to that level.

Knives, shaken from the breakup, spies on Ramona making dinner with Scott, Kim, Stephen, and Neil. She goes home and gives herself a total makeover in an effort to get Scott's attention and win him back from Ramona. She attacks Ramona and Stacey at the Toronto Reference Library, but Ramona overpowers her, and she leaves.

Scott gets a phone call from his ex-girlfriend Envy, inviting Sex Bob-omb to open for The Clash at Demonhead, a band fronted by her. The call causes Scott to go comatose until Wallace arrives home. Scott reluctantly tells the others about the offer, and they instantly agree to it. On the night of the gig, it is revealed that Knives is now dating Young Neil, Stephen's roommate, to Stephen's horror. As The Clash at Demonhead plays, Ramona realizes that the bassist, Todd Ingram, is her third evil ex.

Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Sadness (Volume 3)

After the show, Sex Bob-omb meets up with the Clash at Demonhead backstage. Clash at Demonhead's drummer, Lynette, punches the highlights out of Knives's hair, provoking Scott to try and punch out Todd right then and there, but is stopped by Todd's telekinetic powers, which he and Envy attribute to him being vegan. Envy eventually gets bored of the fight and tells everyone to go home.

Flashbacks throughout the story show the timeline of Scott meeting Envy (then known as Natalie), Stephen, and Julie in college. Natalie was a nerd who, unlike the present, was hated by Julie, but had a good relationship with Scott. The couple begins a romantic relationship and starts a musical group alongside Stephen. However, as time passed, Natalie expanded the band by recruiting additional members and, ultimately, secured a record deal without obtaining consent, leading to both Scott and Stephen resigning from the group.

Natalie begins cheating on Scott and, when Wallace and Scott became friends, refused to acknowledge his presence and started a rivalry. On the day of their breakup, Scott only remembers getting a haircut and nothing about what happened, although he insists that the separation was her fault. Meanwhile, Todd punched a hole in the moon for Ramona when they dated, but they broke up when he went to Vegan Academy. In the present, Wallace starts dating a psychic named Mobile.

Envy proposes a challenge for Scott and Todd: a fight to the death at Honest Ed's—whoever reaches the end of the store first wins. Scott and Todd dash through the store, the contents of which are reminiscent of a haunted house, and Todd is mentally tormented by his past until he goes berserk and causes Honest Ed's to implode. Neither Scott nor Todd win the challenge, but they plan to fight again the following night. However, Ramona and Scott instead skip it to go on a date. In the interim, Knives cries on top of a huge sign about her situation, and Todd cheats on Envy with the band's drummer, Lynette, and on his vegan diet with gelato (which contains milk and eggs). Scott allows Ramona to give him a haircut, something which only he did ever since his and Envy's break up. Stephen panics over another potential breakup with Julie and throws up from nerves about a show.

At Lee's Palace, Envy and Scott talk backstage, and Scott attempts to apologize to Knives, who believes this means they can get back together. While Sex Bob-omb performs, Ramona and Envy get into an argument and begin to fight, Ramona armed with a giant mallet. Envy gains the upper hand, but before she can deliver the final flow, Ramona is saved by Knives. Scott then incapacitates Envy. Envy catches Todd and Lynette leaving the bathroom together—Lynette's panties on Todd's head. Lynette disappears before Envy can swing Ramona's mallet at her, leaving behind Lynette's robotic arm. Todd tries to get back in Envy's good graces, only to receive a swift knee to his crotch. Enraged, Todd uses his psychic powers to fling Envy to the front of the sound stage, then shamelessly flips off the shocked audience.

Todd and Scott then proceed to have a Bass Battle, and Scott is aided by the powers of Crash and the Boys, who now have the ability to control sound. Todd almost wins the battle until the vegan police show up and strip him of his powers for multiple vegan offenses, such as eating the gelato earlier. Scott headbutts the powerless Todd, who is reduced to a pile of coins. Afterwards, Scott receives an extra life. Finally, Sex Bob-omb gets to play while the audience comments on their performance. The audience gives mostly positive critiques as they play, except for an indifferent man with a shadowy profile wearing glasses who merely says "No comment" and walks away. Scott notices the man briefly as he leaves.

Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together (Volume 4)

Scott, Ramona, and their friends go to Julie's beach hut for the Summer. Knives has stopped pretending she likes Young Neil, upsetting him, while Julie and Stephen break up again after an argument. Knives and Kim accidentally out themselves as bisexual and make out while blackout drunk, with only Scott remembering it.

Scott and Wallace's landlord reminds them that their rent is due soon, and Wallace is struggling to support them both. Kim moves out of her flat and in with Hollie and Joseph, her gay roommate. She is helped by her boyfriend, Jason Kim, whom everyone has met but always forgets. Learning that Joseph has a recording studio, Stephen becomes obsessed with recording an album, causing a rift within the band. Scott reunites with Lisa Miller, who seems to have a crush on him, and they meet Ramona, who seems unbothered by Lisa.

Ramona prompts Scott to find a job to earn his share. He eventually gets a job as a prep cook at Stephen's workplace, a vegan restaurant called the Happy Avocado. An older Katana-wielding man attacks him and Kim, but they escape through subspace. Scott forgets to tell anyone he has a job, Young Neil starts smoking, Stephen cancels all band practices to create the album, and Wallace and Scott learn their lease is ending. Lisa continues hanging out with the group, and her advances on Scott become more apparent. When Jason assumes Lisa is Scott's ex, he worries about her presence. Scott is attacked by a half-ninja named Roxanne 'Roxie' Richter, who retreats after being punched.

While at work, Scott sees Ramona and Roxie eating together and eventually realizes that Roxanne is Ramona's fourth evil ex. Not wanting to fight her, Ramona does instead and hides Scott in her subspace bag; Roxanne also enters subspace but retreats when Ramona hurts her feelings. Ramona and Scott decide to move in together, while Wallace moves in with his boyfriend, Mobile.

After Lisa flirts with Scott too many times, Ramona becomes suspicious that they were a couple. Seeing Ramona's lack of confidence causes Scott's head to glow. He cannot return to his and Wallace's apartment and is fired due to the fight with Roxie. He ends up staying over at Lisa's, who admits her feelings, but Scott instead declares his love for Ramona, and the pair eat pizza. Roxie attacks Scott in his dream, but he awakens before she can kill him. Scott leaves but chooses to get his job back before confronting Ramona. He learns that the Katana-wielding man is Knives's father seeking revenge and that Roxie is staying with Ramona while she's in Toronto, resulting in the pair arguing. He goes to walk it off but collapses, looking up to see an evil version of himself before running off again.

Scott pits Roxie and Mr. Chau in battle against each other, but Ramona tells him that was a terrible move. Scott finally tells Ramona he loves her and will do anything to keep their relationship going. In this act of courage, Scott earns a sword of his own, the "Power of Love," which he uses to defeat Roxie. Mr. Chau watches in silence, then goes home to tell Knives that dating a "white boy" wouldn't be so bad in Chinese, although his dialogue actually translates to a commentary on the Chinese language. Lisa moves to Los Angeles to start her acting career, Stephen continues his self-destructive behavior by making the album, and Ramona also declares her love for Scott.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe (Volume 5)

Scott turns twenty-four and moves in officially with Ramona. At a Day of the Dead party, Ramona spots her next two evil ex-boyfriends, Japanese twins Kyle & Ken Katayanagi, who were invited to the party by Julie. Scott approaches them and prepares to fight but is forced to fight their robot, Robot-01. While Scott is fighting the robot, Kim and Ramona talk on the balcony about Stephen's album recording having destroyed the band, and Knives talks to Stephen, who reveals that he and Julie have broken up again; he then tells Knives that Scott cheated on Knives with Ramona, which shocks Knives. Scott then defeats Robot-01 and "wins the party." Scott endures battles with other robots throughout the story.

Ramona becomes paranoid over Scott's history of ending relationships and forgetting all about them, and the band performs but is terrible now. Knives confronts Ramona at the gig, where they fight until Knives realizes it is Scott's fault she was cheated on and not Ramona's, telling Ramona as such. The pair find Scott has just defeated a robot, and Ramona tells Scott they should have time apart. Kim and Scott orchestrate a meeting between the three of them, where Kim reveals that Hollie is sleeping with her boyfriend. This causes Ramona's head to glow, and the pair attempt to convince her it is happening, but she doesn't believe them.

Julie holds several more parties, causing everyone to become tired and angry at each other. Scott continues to get attacked by robots while the twins mock Ramona. Later, at a party, Kim takes a picture of Ramona's glowing head and shows it to her, but refuses to explain. After a nightcap with Scott and Ramona, Kim goes home on the subway but is kidnapped by the twins.

Scott and Ramona seemingly make up until she confronts Scott about cheating on her with Knives. When Scott tries to pass it off as him cheating on Knives instead, her head starts glowing, and she calls him "another evil ex waiting to happen." Scott acknowledges his mistakes and expects Ramona to break up with him but finds she is still there in the morning.

Scott receives a text from Kim and rescues her despite his hangover. Waiting for him are the twins, who battle him at once. Scott tries to call this out as cheating, but the twins reveal that "cheating" is what Ramona did to them by dating both of them at the same time and turning them against each other. It is with Kim's help that Scott defeats the twins.

Scott comes home to find that Ramona has cut and dyed her hair. Scott tells Ramona he doesn't care about her past and loves her. She thanks him as the glow around her head grows brighter and brighter until she disappears altogether, leaving behind a letter addressed to Gideon. Scott, heartbroken, accidentally locks himself out of Ramona's house, and Gideon the cat runs away. Scott moves around his friends' houses, who are all also struggling.

Later, Scott moves into a new apartment paid for by his parents. Kim moves north to live with her parents after Hollie sells most of her belongings. With Gideon the last evil ex to battle, Scott grows paranoid, mistaking anyone with glasses as Gideon — even his own brother and Mobile. He also has to return his bass to his brother, as he was borrowing it. Scott reads Ramona's letter to Gideon and receives a threatening phone call from Gideon shortly after.

Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour (Volume 6)

Scared to face Gideon, Scott spends most of his time alone in his apartment playing video games and quitting his job after being kicked out of Sex Bob-omb. He is also plagued by dreams of Ramona and his other ex-girlfriends. When he is finally convinced to go outside, he tries to reconnect with the now-18-year-old Knives, who is college-bound and offers to kiss him, but they both find it to be horrible. Scott goes to a party, assuming it to be Julie's, but discovers she has moved to Montreal, and Envy is at the party. Envy meets Scott for coffee, but he refuses to make amends with her. Scott finds and reunites with Gideon the Cat. Scott and Envy meet again, and she tries to convince Scott that Gideon, who has produced her solo album, isn't all that bad. She also discovers that Scott cannot remember anything about their relationship, despite its impact on the both of them. It is implied the reason they broke up is because of his drinking problem, despite insisting in every comic he doesn't drink. Gideon appears in the distance, exchanging intimidating stares with Scott, but Scott chickens out and runs away.

Wallace forces Scott to leave town for a "wilderness sabbatical" in hopes of getting Scott to clear his head and train for his battle with Gideon. Scott is reluctant but eventually heads north and stays with Kim and her parents. In the woods, Kim reveals to Scott that their high school days were not as exciting and life-threatening as Scott remembers them: Simon Lee was Kim's boyfriend, whom Scott attacked unprovoked one day and stole Kim from. Scott's head begins to glow, and he again spots his evil twin, Nega-Scott. A fight ensues between the two, during which Kim tells him that Nega-Scott is a physical representation of his mistakes and will not disappear until he stops forgetting them and accepts them. The words hit Scott hard as he suddenly remembered Ramona and realized he had repressed his love for her to escape reality. Nega-Scott stops its assault and merges back into him as Scott remembers and acknowledges his mistakes, commenting he doesn't deserve Ramona back. Kim encourages him and tells him to fight and earn her back. She gives him one last kiss before Scott returns to Toronto.

Scott arrives at Gideon's venue, the Chaos Theatre, for the final confrontation. Wallace, Stacey, Stephen, Julie, Young Neil, and Knives are there. Envy, who is performing, warns Scott about Gideon, and they argue. Gideon is surprised that Ramona is not present, as he believes Scott and Ramona were still together and had planned the night's events around her. He offers Scott a position in the League, but he refuses. Gideon stuns Scott with a punch, pulls Scott's "Power of Love" sword from his chest, and impales him with it, killing him. In limbo, Scott reunites with Ramona, and they reconcile; Ramona apologizes for leaving him but admits she has only returned to confront Gideon, not to restart their relationship. Scott uses his extra life from Part 3 to bring himself back to life, bringing Ramona with him.

Gideon reveals he started the League through a drunken rant on Craigslist after Ramona dumped him and was shocked that she hurt her exes enough that they replied. He also invented the glow as a way to contain one's emotions and used subspace to embellish Scott's duller memories and remove others; his ultimate goal being to marry Ramona and his ex-girlfriends together. He blasts everyone with the glow, causing them to start arguing. Ramona decides to run away but is killed by Gideon before she can teleport fully. Scott and Gideon fight in Ramona's mind, where a part of Ramona is still subservient to the latter. However, present Ramona and other versions of herself appear, revealing that these parts of herself are over him. Ramona sacrifices her subspace bag to return the three to the real world. Scott sees Gideon objectifying Envy, prompting him to realize how badly his relationships with Knives, Kim, and Envy ended, thus winning a new sword—the "Power of Understanding." Ramona wields the "Power of Love" sword, which heals her injuries, and they deliver the final blow to Gideon. Gideon bursts into $7,777,777 worth of coins, pouring down painfully on the crowd. Envy hugs Scott, bringing their relationship to a proper close, and Gideon's ex-girlfriends are released from their capsules.

Afterward, Scott and Ramona meet up with the others, who mention the club getting shut down after that night. Ramona reveals that, after leaving Scott, she too went up north for a "wilderness sabbatical," but was not as successful as Scott's. Leaving the club, Scott and Ramona reaffirm their relationship and agree to give it another shot. Scott gets his job back and is promoted to a cook, and after work, he finds out that Stephen is gay and is currently dating Joseph. Scott and Kim start a new band called Shatter Band, but they only play covers and for fun. The next day, Scott sees Knives off to college. Finally, Scott meets up with Ramona, who is waiting for him at a subspace door, ready to begin their relationship anew. With that, they hold hands and disappear into subspace together.

Awards

In 2005, O'Malley won the Doug Wright Award for Best Emerging Talent for the first volume of Scott Pilgrim^[24] and was nominated for three Harvey Awards (Best New Talent, Best Cartoonist and Best Graphic Album of Original Work).^[25]

In 2006, O'Malley was awarded Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Cartoonist (Writer/Artist) in the Joe Shuster Awards.^[26] He was previously nominated in the same category in 2005.^[27]

O'Malley was nominated for a 2006 Eisner Award in the category Best Writer/Artist—Humor, for Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, but lost to Kyle Baker. O'Malley and Scott Pilgrim were also nominated for two 2006 Eagle Awards, and nominated for a second Wright Award (for Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World).

In 2007, O'Malley won the Harvey Award. The series was also awarded a spot in Entertainment Weekly's 2007 A-List.

In 2010, O'Malley won his first Eisner Award in the "Best Humor Publication" category for Scott Pilgrim Vs. The Universe.^[28]

Film

The film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was released on August 13, 2010. It is based on all six volumes of the graphic novel series with the final book being released after original filming wrapped; this led to a new ending being filmed to match the books before the film's release.^[29] The film is directed by Edgar Wright and stars Michael Cera and Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Scott and Ramona, respectively.

The film was a critical success, but did not fare well commercially in cinemas. However, its commercial fortunes improved after being released on Blu-ray and DVD. The DVD includes extras including bloopers, outtakes, deleted scenes, storyboards (which include the ending provided by the comics), and trailers. The 2-disc edition includes soundtracks, animation (when Scott dates Kim), and a making-of.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The Animation

At the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con, Alison Pill (who plays Kim Pine in the movie), revealed that her character's past relationship with Scott will be explored in other media. "There will be a little something-something that will air on Adult Swim," she said.^[30] Creator Bryan Lee O'Malley elaborated by stating "It's gonna be like a series of short animations (to promote the movie). One of them will be the Volume 2 high school stuff with Kim and Lisa Miller. I don't know how long it will be but the rough they showed me was like 69 minutes. The stars of the movie will do the voices for the cartoons."^[31] Michael Cera and Alison Pill reprise their roles of Scott Pilgrim and Kim Pine from the movie, whilst Mae Whitman and Jason Schwartzman, who play Roxanne Richter and Gideon Graves in the movie, provide voices for Lisa Miller and Simon Lee respectively. The animated short, entitled Scott Pilgrim vs. the Animation, was produced by Titmouse, Inc. and aired on Adult Swim on August 12, 2010, later being released on their website.^[32][33] The short is based on the flashback from the second graphic novel, elaborating on Scott's adventures in high school. The animation features the songs "Post Acid" and "Beach Demon" by Wavves, though it is replaced with the film's soundtrack in the version included on the DVD/Blu-ray release of the film.

Video game

A video game based on the series, also titled Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, was announced during San Diego Comic-Con 2009 and was developed by Ubisoft Montreal, released alongside the film. The game is a four-player side-scroller influenced by 8-bit and 16-bit video games, with players able to play as Scott Pilgrim, Ramona Flowers, Kim Pine and Stephen Stills; players can also unlock NegaScott, while Knives Chau and Wallace Wells were added as playable characters via downloadable content.^[34] The game features music by chiptune punk band Anamanaguchi^[35] and art direction by Paul Robertson.^[36]

The game was released on PlayStation Network on August 10, 2010 and Xbox Live Arcade on August 25, 2010.^[37]

On December 30, 2014, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game was delisted from the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. This follows similar previous delistings of licensed games such as Uno and Marvel vs. Capcom Origins due to their licenses' expiration. On September 10, 2020, to celebrate its 10th anniversary, Ubisoft announced that the game would finally be re-released with all downloadable content included as Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game - Complete Edition. The game was released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, and Stadia, on January 14, 2021.

Mobile comic

A mobile adaptation of the comic book was produced by HarperCollins and Robot Comics.^[38] The app uses movement, sound and vibration to create an original reading experience and includes extra material hidden in the scenes of the comic. It was available for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and Android.

Animated series

An animated series based on the comics was announced to be in development by Universal Content Productions for Netflix on January 7, 2022 with O'Malley writing and executive producing alongside BenDavid Grabinski, Japanese studio Science Saru providing the animation, Eunyoung Choi serving as producer, and Abel Góngora as director. Edgar Wright, Nira Park, Marc Platt, Jared LeBoff, Adam Seigel, and Michael Bacall will also receive executive producer credits for the series.^[39] On March 30, 2023, it was announced that the original cast from the movie would reprise their roles for the television series, with Anamanaguchi providing original music.^[40] The series, titled Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, was released on November 17, 2023, and serves as both a continuation and alternate retelling of the books' events.