View source for Pico (franchise)

''This page is about the franchise. If you were looking for the character, see [[Pico]].''
----
[[File:Pico Logo.svg|300px|right|The official Pico logotype, designed by Tom Fulp using an edited version of the Martini at Joe's font. This logotype is probably dated around early 1999.]]
'''''Pico''''' is an American franchise of Flash media created and owned by [[Tom Fulp]], who is also the founder of [[Newgrounds]]. The IP began in early 1999<ref name=":0" /> with the consecutive releases of ''[[Darnell Plays With Fire|Darnell's Pyro 101]]'', ''[[Nene Interactive Suicide]]'', and ''[[Pico's School]]'', which were said to be "chapter 1" of the series.<ref>[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/newgrounds/images/4/4e/Tubby.png?format=original Newgrounds Presents: Teletubby Fun Land]</ref> As of today, it currently consists of 10 games, one movie, and its own holiday in the name of "[[Pico Day]]", which is celebrated (almost) every April 30 on Newgrounds.

The series revolves around the eponymous [[Pico]], a young ginger boy who is incredibly skilled with firearms and often dreams of being a DJ while living in the city of [[Philadelphia]] with his friends: [[Nene]], a popular girl suffering from suicidal tendencies, and [[Darnell]], a pyromaniac with a supergenius intellect. It delves into the misadventures of the trio, such as [[Pico vs Bear|taking down a psychotic bear]], [[Pico vs. Überkids|facing off against genetically engineered Überkids]], and much more.

After 2007, the franchise quietly came to a halt and did not receive any new content until 14 years later in the form of ''[[Pico's School: Love Conquers All]]'', an alternate reality of ''Pico's School'' where everything ends peacefully. The game also features a cameo of [[Boyfriend]] from ''[[fnf:Friday Night Funkin'|Friday Night Funkin']]'', a viral indie rhythm game currently in development that features Pico as a main character. However, whether the ''Pico'' franchise itself will make a full return or not is still unknown.

==History==
[[File:Pico Teaser.png|left|alt=The game was originally going to be about Pico pooping close to a church.|thumb|The initial mockup and teaser of ''[[Pico's School]]''.]]
[[File:Pico's Origins.png|thumb|The "About Pico" article featured in ''[[Pico's World|Pico's World's]]'' title screen.]]
The ''Pico'' franchise was announced on April Fools' Day of 1999 and unveiled with ''[[Pico's World]]'' on the same day.<ref name=":0">[https://web.archive.org/web/19990420135239/http://newgrounds.com/ "General April-March Updates!" on Newgrounds]</ref> The hub introduced others to the then-brand-new characters and their games. Only two were available at the time: ''[[Darnell Plays With Fire|Darnell's Pyro 101]]'' and ''[[Nene Interactive Suicide]]''. But the main protagonist of the franchise, Pico (initially named Pogo), didn't have a scenario yet.       

The series' main game, ''[[Pico's School]]'', initially had a teaser page with a mockup of the original plot of the game; it was coprophilia-related. However, the original version of the game never made it past the concept art phase, as it "wasn't really going anywhere" for Tom Fulp.<ref>[[:File:PicohasNoAge.jpeg|TomFulp on Newgrounds]]</ref> Consequently, once the [[wikipedia:Columbine High School massacre|Columbine High School massacre]] occurred, the game was reworked into a sort of commentary on the tragic event, as well as containing a life lesson about expressing yourself and warning people about the result of the mal-consumption of media, being a spoof on edutainment PC games at the time. The game was released worldwide on the Newgrounds website on Sunday, July 25, 1999.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20230427091827/https://pico.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000037591/r/4400000000000308363 I did it, we now know! | Pico Fandom Wiki]</ref> The game later became the center of controversy, so much so that Fulp was scheduled for a CCN interview.{{Cite|No references to this claim}} Despite this, ''Pico's School'' was still a successful game, and the titular "Pico" became the very first mascot of Newgrounds.  

People eventually started begging for a sequel. On August 22nd, Tom announced he was working on ''[[Pico 2]]''.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/19991013021022/http://newgrounds.com/ "August Updates!" on Newgrounds]</ref> On September 26th, [[Samurai Asshole|Samurai Asshole's]] sneak preview was released, and ''Pico 2'' was nearing completion until Tom noticed he wasn't satisfied with the game and cancelled it, stating that he realized it didn't live up to his expectations.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20011125191024/http://www.newgrounds.com/pico/pico2_teaser.html Newgrounds Presents: Pico 2 Preview]</ref> On October 29, 1999, a spin-off game, ''[[UFA]]'', was released.

On December 30th, ''[[Pico vs Bear|Bloodshed in the Big Blue House]]'' was released. It was a crossover between the ''Pico'' franchise and the ''Assassin'' games. The game's plot revolves around [[The Commissioner]] commissioning Pico to kill [[Big Brown Bary|Bear]], the owner of the [[The Big Blue House|Big Blue House]] and former children's star, until he went on a rampage and began abusing his [[Pico vs Bear/Minor characters|friends]]. The game went under controversy and was shut down for a couple of days when [[wikipedia:The Jim Henson Company|The Jim Henson Company]] sued Tom because he used their intellectual property without their consent and in a hurtful, vulgar way. In response, the game was updated on February 28, 2000, with redesigned characters and the addition of new music. On July 6th, ''[[Pico vs. Überkids]]'' was released. This game introduced the titular [[Überkids]], and functioned as a casino game with the theme of "Rock Paper Scissors Roulette". 

[[File:697ECDC0-BC89-486C-9BE9-924AF85F1E88.gif|left|thumb|The updated Pico logotype, designed by [[Tom Fulp]] with art by [[MindChamber]] dated in late 2001.]]
In 2001, Tom Fulp went back to work on ''Pico 2'', and decided that Pico and friends needed a redesign. Many users on Newgrounds drew their own concepts and showed them to Tom, with Ryan Wooffindin, Zeebarf, and MindChamber being three of them. MindChamber's designs ended up being Tom's favorite, but he thought that the characters looked too "grown up". MindChamber then tried emulating Pico in a [[wikipedia:Calvin and Hobbes|''Calvin and Hobbes'']]-esque style, and thus became the new artist behind ''Pico 2''.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20011129124830/http://www.newgrounds.com/lit/pico_concepts.html Concept Art - Pico 2]</ref> Another build was made between October 2001 and January 2002, using Flash 5 to include keyboard support.

Pico became the character featured in the voting section of the Newgrounds Flash Portal, and on May 23, 2002, ''Pico vs. Überkids'' was featured on FHM in their "100 Greatest Online Games" list.<ref>[https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/26687 "100 Greatest Online Games - fhm.com" on Newgrounds]</ref> This publicity soon drew the attention of Celador's copyright lawyers, who requested that Tom remove a very short sample of music used in their hit game show, [[wikipedia:Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (British game show)|''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'']]. Tom complied, but included the statement: "At least we now know what magazine this guy jerks off to while he's on the toilet."<ref>[https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/26796 "Who Wants to be an Asshole?" on Newgrounds]</ref>

Tom exercised the option of featuring Pico in the site's logotype. Meanwhile, ''Pico 2'' wasn't getting any news or progress updates. Tom Fulp then said he came back to work on the sequel in 2003.<ref>[https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/49855 "What's new???" on Newgrounds]</ref> The year came and went with no game release, and in reality, the game was cancelled because it was too ambitious for a Flash game at the time.

[[File:Title 238.gif|thumb|Pico Day 2006 section logo drawn by MindChamber.]]
On January 23, 2006, Galloglasses proposed the idea of a "[[Pico Day]]" since they noticed Pico was becoming irrelevant.<ref>[https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/419702 "The Push For Pico Day!" on Newgrounds]</ref> Mogly then suggested that the date be April 30, coinciding with Tom Fulp's birthday.<ref>[https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/419702/3#bbspost7760433_post_text "The Push For Pico Day!" Response]</ref> Tom loved the idea, and he announced on February 21st that he was making it official, and from that point onward, the holiday would be celebrated every year on Newgrounds.<ref>[https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/437250/1 "Pico Day, Charity, News, Fun!" on Newgrounds]</ref> For the first annual Pico Day, Tom and MindChamber released ''[[Resident Pico]]'' on April 30; the plot was that Pico needed to defend himself from [[Zombie|zombies]]. This was the first public ''Pico'' game which featured MindChamber as an artist.

In 2007, Tom Fulp revisited the idea of an online version of ''Pico vs. Überkids'' and worked with [http://psychogoldfish.newgrounds.com/ PsychoGoldfish] on bringing the concept to life, thus creating ''[[Pico Roulette]]'', which was released on the second annual Pico Day: April 30, 2007. Pico and Nene also appeared in the unofficial ''[[Newgrounds Rumble]]'', a ''[[wikipedia:Super Smash Bros.|Super Smash Bros.]]''-styled fighting game. Unfortunately, that same year, the franchise began to truly wane; the character fell into the Newgrounds public domain, so he was only used in animations by fans or the staff, although Tom still personally owns the ''Pico'' IP. On April 27, 2013, ''Pico Roulette'' shut down its servers. In 2018, Pico was replaced in the Newgrounds voting section by Steve, a character from the ''TANKMEN'' series, and the Newgrounds staff even considered changing the name of Pico Day. But even after all of that, ''Pico's School'' received an update in 2016, adding new original music by ThatJohnnyGuy (also known as RealFactionTV) to avoid copyright infringement.
[[File:PicoFNFanim.gif|thumb|left|Pico's animated poses in ''[[fnf:Friday Night Funkin'|Friday Night Funkin']]''.]]

On November 1, 2020, ''[[fnf:Friday Night Funkin'|Friday Night Funkin']]'' was released on Newgrounds after an unsuccessful demo appeared on the last day of the 47th [[wikipedia:Ludum Dare|Ludum Dare]] on itch.io. The Newgrounds release, however, was a greater success. Tom was grateful that it brought new life into the website, so he asked the team if they could add Pico to the game. They did, and [[fnf:Pico (Week)|Pico's Week]] (Week 3) was released on December 11. This saved Pico from obscurity, as he quickly became one of the most popular characters within the game's community.

April 1, 2021, would mark the return of the official ''Pico'' franchise in 14 years with ''[[Pico's School: Love Conquers All]]'', an alternative retelling of ''Pico's School'' in which Pico shows [[Cassandra]] and the other [[Goth Punks]] the power of friendship. Most recently, Pico and his friends made their return in the level "[[fnf:Due Debts|Due Debts]]" (WeekEnd 1) in ''Friday Night Funkin''', released on April 30, 2024; Pico and Nene will continue to appear in future WeekEnds, as those levels are their side story,<ref>[https://clips.twitch.tv/SpookyBloodyBadgerSSSsss-yzRL87zLGhzOip4_ PhantomArcade Twitch Clip]</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0aEx_z_QEY&t=2696s PhantomArcade Twitch Stream]</ref> and Cassandra has been teased to come back in a future level of the game.
{{clear}}

==Content <small>(listed by release date)</small>==
===Movies===
*''[[Darnell Plays With Fire|'''Darnell Plays With Fire''']]''

===Games===
*''[[Nene Interactive Suicide|'''Nene Interactive Suicide''']]''
*''[[Pico's School|'''Pico's School''']]''
*''[[Samurai Asshole|'''Samurai Asshole''']]'' <small>(spin-off)</small>
*''[[UFA|'''UFA''']]'' <small>(spin-off)</small>
*''[[Pico vs Bear|'''Pico vs Bear''']]''
*''[[Pico vs. Überkids|'''Pico vs. Überkids''']]''
*''[[Pico 2|'''Pico 2''']]'' <small>(unreleased)</small>
*''[[Resident Pico|'''Resident Pico''']]''
*''[[Pico Roulette|'''Pico Roulette''']]''
*''[[Pico's School: Love Conquers All|'''Pico's School: Love Conquers All''']]''

===Hubworlds===
*''[[Pico's World|'''Pico's World''']]''
*''[https://www.newgrounds.com/collection/pico '''Newgrounds' Pico Collection''']''

==Trivia==
* The ''Pico'' characters' white eyes were directly inspired by the ''[[wikipedia:Little Orphan Annie|Little Orphan Annie]]'' comics.<ref name=":1">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ncv6doXgKLw&t=91s How Newgrounds Changed Gaming ft. JohnnyUtah - YouTube]</ref>
* Inspirations for the ''Pico'' franchise include ''[[wikipedia:South Park|South Park]]'' and a desire to make parodies of edutainment games.<ref name=":1"/>
* Tom Fulp's art style for the ''Pico'' series was inspired by illustrations for Children's Tylenol Cold in the 1990s.<ref>[[:File:PicoInspirations.jpeg|TomFulp on Newgrounds]]</ref> An [[:File:PicosInspiration.png|illustration]] on one of the boxes displays a child that directly resembles Pico, hairstyle and all.

==References==
<references/>
{{Pico}}
[[Category:Official Pico content]]
[[Category:Pico Day]]
[[Category:Pico Wiki]]
[[Category:1999]]
[[Category:A-Z]]