Boyfriend

From Friday Night Funkin Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Boyfriend, alternatively referred to as the Boyfriend, is the protagonist of Friday Night Funkin'. He is a young musician who is trying to date Girlfriend, but her parents, Daddy Dearest and Mommy Mearest, are trying to kill him. To gain their approval, he must sing off against them and many other characters in his way during various weeks.

Appearance

Boyfriend is a young man with light skin and spiky cyan hair. He wears a backward pink-red cap with a blue brim, a magenta-white short-sleeved T-shirt with a red prohibition sign, baggy blue pants, and pink-red sneakers with magenta-white shoelaces and soles, as well as black dots or holes on the quarters and the letters "NG" engraved on the outsoles. He holds a bluish gray microphone in his right hand while keeping his left hand in his pocket. In his idle animation, he wears a confident grin and bops his head. He is drawn in a chibi style.

During Week 4, his hair gets blown around from standing on a moving car.

During Week 5, he wears a red parka with white fur, light blue pants, and light brown snow boots.

During Week 6, his regular appearance is brightened and rendered in pixel art style. His movements are somewhat more animated and bouncier.

During the Week 7 track Stress, he holds Girlfriend up by the waist with his left hand.

Personality

Boyfriend is portrayed as a young, overzealous rapper with a love for music, donuts,[7] and his girlfriend. He loves to sing and show off his skills, resulting in his confident and cocky character. He is very determined and persistent about reaching his goals and won't let anyone get in the way of his success, even when threatened with death.

Boyfriend is implied to be clingy, as he is never seen without Girlfriend by his side. He is also very unintelligent, either not realizing when he is in danger or being overconfident about his ability to get out of it.[8] As a result, he is afraid of virtually nothing.[9] This is demonstrated during both Monster and Winter Horrorland, where he does not appear to be afraid despite Monster's constant threats to him and Girlfriend. Boyfriend also seems to get bored of scary games, as he once almost fell asleep while playing one.[10] Despite this apparent lack of intelligence, he has street smarts, as he knows how to heal people.[11]

Boyfriend has been diagnosed with ADHD and ASD.[12] When communicating with others, he will simply beep or vocalize in musical tones instead of talking,[13] giving the impression that he is rather eccentric, although he may be able to use verbal communication in some cases (such as when singing). He is also a creative individual, which is demonstrated by his talents as a musician and freestyle rapper. Furthermore, he is never found without his red cap. Boyfriend has low levels of empathy, but he has good intuition.[14] He may live in a messy place, as he does not wash his dirty clothes and continuously moves a pile of them around his room depending on his needs, which also suggests that he has executive dysfunction.[15] His object permanence is also not very good at times.[16] He has a poor concept of time, too, which is a common ADHD trait. He doesn't know very well how to handle money, either, as when he has to pay for a hamburger, he will pay less than what the hamburger costs.[17]

Boyfriend seems quite willing to do immoral things. From tricking iPad children on YouTube for money and cigarettes,[18] getting as much free food as possible from McDonald's while holding the store hostage, hogging up drive-throughs,[19] and vandalizing PlayPlaces,[20] Boyfriend does not appear to care if the things he does are wrong as long as he can get what he wants. In addition, he appears to be somewhat destructive and influenced by anger, as whenever his phones fail to work properly, his first instinct is to destroy them in bizarre and extreme ways.[21][22]

Abilities

While the full extent of Boyfriend's abilities remains to be seen, multiple of his skills are evident. Boyfriend is an exceptionally talented musician, being able to win in rap battles and sing-offs against anyone he faces and performing perfectly at his best. He makes his own music as well.[23][15] It is also known that Boyfriend is a capable fighter,[24] which is demonstrated by numerous unused sprites. Boyfriend demonstrates the ability to use his microphone to attack opponents by swinging it around by its wire, as well as being able to quickly react and dodge either attacks or obstacles. He is shown to be able to successfully hit Daddy Dearest in a full unused attack animation, to the point of angering the father.[25]

It is also shown that he has strength in his arms, since he can carry Girlfriend with just one hand (even when Girlfriend weighs almost half a ton).

Relationships

Parents

Not much is known about Boyfriend's parents, but they seem to be willing to make sacrifices for him, as they floated him the entry fees for public college. However, based on the fact that Boyfriend simply stopped showing up to class so he could instead read comics in the library all day,[26] which subsequently led to his dropping out,[27] he may not be very interested in or appreciative of the things that his parents want or do for him.

Girlfriend

Girlfriend is Boyfriend's partner. The two love each other very much and are never shown to be apart. Boyfriend is determined to do whatever he can to stay with Girlfriend and protect her, including by singing off against her parents and others, even when in dangerous situations. Their closeness is shown when Boyfriend happily catches Girlfriend and receives a hug from her during the cutscene for Stress thanks to true love.

Daddy Dearest

Daddy Dearest hates Boyfriend for dating Girlfriend and wants him dead, as he often tries to kill him when the couple are trying to enjoy spending time together. Even though Daddy Dearest is an evil demon, Boyfriend is not afraid to face off against him in rap battles in order to be allowed to date his daughter. Despite his hatred for Boyfriend, Daddy Dearest compliments his singing skills in unused cutscene dialogue for Fresh.

Pico

Pico and Boyfriend used to date,[28][29][30][31] though little is known about the relationship they had. It is known that the reason for their breakup is "complicated,"[32] and it has been hinted that they sang together in the past, as Pico raps with Boyfriend in Week 3 due to nostalgia and old habits.[33] This implies that Pico misses him in some way.

Pico is loyal to Boyfriend in the present day, betraying his employer, Daddy Dearest, by sparing Boyfriend after being hired to kill him twice. Boyfriend appears to be fully comfortable being around Pico and even sings with him happily, but it is otherwise unclear how Boyfriend feels about Pico.

Mommy Mearest

Like Daddy Dearest, Mommy Mearest hates Boyfriend greatly, partaking in the plan to kill Boyfriend by having him fall off a plane[34] and making him sing off against her on top of a moving limousine. She even throws darts at a picture of him on a wall while bathing.[10] Boyfriend is not deterred by her actions, confidently defeating her in singing battles.

Skid and Pump

Boyfriend is friendly with Skid and Pump. When the children arrive at Girlfriend's house while out trick-or-treating, Boyfriend gladly lets them play by singing with them, even though they are trying to get Girlfriend for Monster (though whether or not he is initially aware of their plans is unclear).

Monster

Although Monster wants to eat Boyfriend, the rapper is not afraid to face off against him in singing battles, even as he constantly makes disturbing threats toward Boyfriend and Girlfriend. Thanks to Boyfriend's rapping skills, Monster is easily defeated each time before he can do anything to the couple.

Senpai

Senpai is initially friendly toward Boyfriend, deciding to engage in a serenade between gentlemen to decide who will be able to date Girlfriend. However, after Boyfriend beats him in a rap battle, Senpai gets very angry at him. He threatens to rip Boyfriend's testicles off as soon as he is done letting Girlfriend gargle his own. Despite this, he wants to upstage Boyfriend without violence.[33] Boyfriend doesn't seem to care about being threatened, simply responding to Senpai with beeping noises before both of his songs.

Spirit

Due to Spirit's apparent distorted sense of justice, he considers it "only fair" to take Boyfriend and Girlfriend's bodies for himself in order to escape the dating sim game he was trapped in. Even with this threat, Boyfriend remains undeterred, as he confidently rap battles the ghastly soul without saying a word to him beforehand and ultimately wins.

Tankman

Tankman is very rude to Boyfriend and only decided not to kill him on sight because he had a boring day. Though he compliments his performance the first time, he is just as quick to insult Boyfriend about his girlfriend. Tankman does not take losing to Boyfriend twice lightly, as he ultimately orders his men to kill the couple in retaliation. After the soldiers are stopped by Pico, Tankman decides to settle the situation by challenging Boyfriend to one final rap battle. Despite his vulgar attitude, he was impressed enough by Boyfriend to share another compliment halfway through Stress, saying, "Heh. Pretty good!"

Darnell

Darnell is one of the people hired by Daddy Dearest to kill Boyfriend. He appears to be very determined to get his job done as he battles Pico to do so.

Nene

Nene is one of the people hired by Daddy Dearest to kill Boyfriend. Like Darnell, she selfishly does whatever she can to get the job done.

Trivia

General

  • ninjamuffin99 has stated that Boyfriend's name is simply Boyfriend.[35] Prior to this confirmation, fans often speculated about the character's real name; such speculation continued even afterward due to the unusual nature of the name "Boyfriend".
    • After this speculation started, ninjamuffin99 trolled the fandom by spouting out random names for Boyfriend and other characters on Twitter and TikTok. Some false names that fans often used include:
      • Keith (from TikTok. As this is the first one ninjamuffin99 said, it became the most commonly used fake name[36]).
      • Evan (from TikTok, based on misheard lyrics from the song Monster[37]).
      • Luis (from Twitter,[38] named after Newgrounds artist Luis Castañon).
      • Cam (from Twitter, based on ninjamuffin99's real name, Cameron. It was commonly used after becoming the first result when searching for Boyfriend's name on Google).
      • Jack (from TikTok).
        • There are currently two opening lines in the introduction sequence for Friday Night Funkin' that explicitly disconfirm two of these names: "His name isn't Evan, silly TikTok" and "His name isn't Keith, dumb eggy lol."
          • ninjamuffin99 also made a TikTok pleading with people to stop calling him Keith, saying, "His name, his name isn't Keith, it's not Keith. I'm, I'm sick of seeing everyone calling him Keith."[39] Despite this, he has stated on Reddit that people can call Boyfriend whatever they want.[37]
  • The color of Boyfriend's shoes and jeans were decided by PhantomArcade, whereas the prohibition sign on his shirt was a design choice by evilsk8r.[40]
  • Boyfriend is tied with Girlfriend and Spirit for having the least tracks out of any character in Friday Night Funkin', having one each.
  • Boyfriend originally had magenta hair instead of cyan blue, revealed in early concept sketches of Boyfriend released by PhantomArcade.[41]
    • Additionally, his shoelaces were originally blue instead of white.
  • Boyfriend has the most unused animations out of any character in Friday Night Funkin'.
  • While Boyfriend's singing voice is provided by Kawai Sprite, the game's composer, Boyfriend's groan after losing a battle was provided by PhantomArcade, the game's main artist and animator.
    • PhantomArcade also confirmed that he will be voicing more sound effects for Boyfriend. Additionally, he stated that Boyfriend's canon voice will probably end up being the one used in Fresh (Boyfriend Remix).[42]
  • Boyfriend makes a cameo appearance in Sr Pelo's animation "Spooky Month 3 - Unwanted Guest" as a background plushie.[43] He also makes a cameo in "Spooky Month 5 - Tender Treats," in which a trick-or-treater is dressed as him.[44] The Spooky Month series is also where Skid and Pump originate from.
  • At the end of most of his turns in Bopeebo and, as of the Week 7 update, his first two turns in Tutorial, Boyfriend will briefly strike a V-sign pose.
    • Boyfriend has variants of his V-sign pose for Week 4, Week 5 and Week 6, although they all go unused.
  • Like Girlfriend, Boyfriend is afraid of lightning,[45] as shown in Week 2. Whenever lightning strikes, Boyfriend will briefly wince and shudder.
  • In the Game Over screen, Boyfriend is revealed to be slouching his knees, adding to his small appearance.
    • Even when he isn't slouching and when Girlfriend isn't wearing her heels, she is still taller than him.[46]
      • A Reddit comment by PhantomArcade implies that Boyfriend and Girlfriend appear very short as a symbol of their innocence.[47]
  • Boyfriend's original icons in the Ludum Dare prototype and older versions of the Newgrounds demo consisted of a small yellow circle with a yellow cap, blue eyes and a smiling mouth. In the Week 4 update, his icons were replaced with a blue mouthless head that more closely resembles Boyfriend. Pressing "9" during any track will cause Boyfriend's new icons to be replaced with his old ones again.
  • There is a 1 in 1000 chance for the pause menu or Game Over screen of Friday Night Funkin' to change to resemble that of Gitaroo Man, in which Boyfriend's head (drawn by Newgrounds artist Wandaboy) will appear over a message saying "Replay this game?".
  • It has been noted that Boyfriend's attire, from his red prohibition sign T-shirt, blue pants, and red and white shoes, is strikingly similar to that of a character from a 2009 Flash animation by Newgrounds user Zarla around the 1:52 mark.[48]
    • In a Reddit AMA, PhantomArcade confirmed that the similarities are purely coincidental.[40]
      • Another character resembling Boyfriend appears in an episode of the 1994 animated series Mega Man. The character, named Bobby, wears a backward red cap and a red prohibition sign T-shirt; moreover, the two characters have slightly similar names and personalities.[49]
  • The concept of Pico being Boyfriend's ex-boyfriend started out as a headcanon within the Friday Night Funkin' fandom after the release of Week 3. This headcanon gathered so much traction that Tom Fulp, the creator of Pico, Tweeted jokingly that it was "official Pico 2 canon,"[50] leading people to believe that it was true. ninjamuffin99 initially said that this was a joke,[51] but later changed his mind and confirmed it was canon.[28]
    • On the 1st of April, 2021, Tom Fulp updated the original Pico's School game for April Fools' Day, ending with Pico revealing to Cassandra that he and Boyfriend are a couple and everyone at his school accepts them. The day after, this version would be released as a separate game set in an alternate timeline called Pico's School: Love Conquers All. As Pico and Boyfriend's relationship was portrayed in a positive light, the game indicated Tom Fulp's approval of the idea of them once having been a couple.
  • On the 22nd of May, 2022, JohnnyUtah uploaded a piece of artwork depicting a much more muscular and seemingly older Boyfriend next to a surprised Girlfriend.[52][53] PhantomArcade has confirmed that he will find a way to officially implement it into Friday Night Funkin'.[54]
    • Comments made when the image was uploaded to Twitter revealed that the muscular Boyfriend is from an alternate timeline where he was forced to kill Girlfriend for unknown reasons[55] and that the Girlfriend in the image is a blow-up doll dressed to look like her that he's kept as a companion since the incident.[56]

Lore

  • The reason why Boyfriend and Girlfriend began dating is not because of their names, but because they thought that they were cute.[57]
  • Boyfriend knows a lot of fingerboard tricks, and it's one of the reasons he won Girlfriend's heart.[58]
  • Boyfriend has a dog who lives at his parents' house, with his mom taking care of the dog.[59]
  • Boyfriend's favorite Newgrounds game is Newgrounds Rumble.[60]
  • Boyfriend loves donuts the most out of all the Friday Night Funkin' characters.[7]
  • Boyfriend likes Brisk iced tea and milk.[61]
  • Boyfriend likes drinkable yogurt. Girlfriend is sometimes really nice and gets him some; if she gets him 5 of them, he will drink them so fast that he starts choking because he isn't swallowing fast enough, and he then spits it all over her face. Girlfriend buys them for him anyway because she loves him.[62]
  • Boyfriend's hair is not dyed and is naturally cyan blue.[63]
    • One of Tankman's Game Over quotes pokes fun at this fact, as he questions (and mocks) the nature of his hair color, stating, "I guess your shitty blue hair dye got in your eyes. It's okay, it happens to all of us."
      • PhantomArcade has stated that "Tankman claims his hair is dyed to be a condescending asshole, in reality[,] it's naturally blue."[64]
  • Boyfriend's beeping noises are not a language;[65] however, when he "speaks" in musical tones, he means to communicate actual words. As such, what he means to say is shown through written text in official media, such as his speech bubble in the non-canon Monster's Head-Canon comic[13] or the subtitles of the FNF Erect Mode Sampler video on YouTube.[66]
  • In 2020, ninjamuffin99 stated that Ritz The Rat was "canonically" Boyfriend's brother, as he and Kawai Sprite worked on both Friday Night Funkin' and Ritz, making the two developers "fathers together." As an in-universe explanation, ninjamuffin99 described this in 2021 as a Stuart Little situation.[67] However, in 2023, ninjamuffin99 instead stated that Ritz being Boyfriend's brother is a "light headcanon" for the same reason as before.[68]
  • Boyfriend is neurodivergent, as he has ADHD and autism.[12]
  • Boyfriend likes to listen to music by Kanye West.[69]
  • Boyfriend and Girlfriend cannot be hypnotized or mind-controlled into not loving each other. Their love for each other is practically the only thing that occupies their minds, and they would die without it.[70]
  • Boyfriend doesn't know what the Pizzagate conspiracy theory is.[71]
  • Boyfriend barely understands the concept of race.[72]
  • Boyfriend does not wash his clothes. He keeps a pile of dirty clothes on his desk chair where he goes to make music; when he wakes up, he puts the clothes on his bed, and when he goes to bed, he puts them on his chair.[15]
  • Boyfriend acts extremely enthusiastically when Girlfriend cooks him dinner, which is PB&J sandwiches.[73]
  • Boyfriend's favorite animal is a Hominid, not realizing that a Hominid isn't an actual animal.[74]
  • Boyfriend can't read fast enough to watch subtitled anime, which makes everyone around him concerned that he is lying and possibly can't read at all.[75]
  • In a 2021 Reddit AMA, ninjamuffin99 stated that Boyfriend's parents work in accounting.[76] However, when someone called them his "accountant parents" in a donation message during a 2022 live stream by PhantomArcade, the latter seemed confused,[77] suggesting that ninjamuffin99's comment was a random joke and not canon.
  • Early on in the game's development, the VOCALOID Hatsune Miku was stated to be Boyfriend's sister by ninjamuffin99.[78][79] During a live stream, PhantomArcade elaborated by explaining that Miku was no longer a teenager in Friday Night Funkin' and was therefore the older sister. He also said that the developers were trying to talk to Crypton Future Media, Inc. to get the rights to Miku.[80] However, during a later Twitter Space, PhantomArcade said that although he reached out to Piapro and Crypton, having Miku officially appear in Friday Night Funkin' was ultimately not up to him,[81] suggesting that the FNF team tried and failed to convince the rights owners to license Miku to them. This, combined with the fact that the developers have not discussed Miku in relation to FNF since then, may mean that her being the sister of Boyfriend is a scrapped concept and no longer canon.
  • Although Boyfriend reps Newgrounds, he made a YouTube account and got advertisements enabled on it. Since he hates working part-time jobs, he uploads 3D videos of sex in Roblox to make money on the side. Despite the videos being age-restricted, he profits from the videos based on the views and CPM and uses the money to buy cigarettes,[18] implying that he likes to smoke.
  • Boyfriend's favorite burger order is a burger from In-N-Out Burger with jalapeños, pepper Jack cheese and the Animal Style spread.[82]
  • Boyfriend and Girlfriend like Neon Genesis Evangelion, but only the scenes where things fight, as they are too unintelligent to understand the plot.[83]
  • Boyfriend hates the movie Cars with a passion.[84]
    • If he sees a poster for Planes, he throws up wherever he's standing. Sometimes, when he accidentally swallows things around the house that he's not supposed to, Girlfriend simply shows him the Planes poster, and they immediately get back whatever they're missing.[84]
  • Boyfriend likes to go to a Brazilian wax factory that costs exactly 1 dollar. Although they do an awful job and painfully rip all of his pubic hair off, it's really cheap, and he has fun each time he does it.[85]
  • Whenever Boyfriend fails a song and gets "blue-balled," Girlfriend holds his hand until he feels better.[86] Girlfriend is obliged to kneel to hold Boyfriend's hand due to being taller than him.[87]
  • Boyfriend is irreligious.[88]
  • Boyfriend is circumcised, described by PhantomArcade as being a "cut king."[89] His foreskin was apparently cut off due to an incident involving a car door.[90]
  • Boyfriend owns a copy of PaRappa the Rapper 2 that he bought from Goodwill.[91]
  • Boyfriend can easily defeat Darth Vader,[92] but he can't beat Goku.[93]
    • In a situation involving Girlfriend and Boyfriend meeting Darth Vader, he would see Darth Vader coming ominously. Darth Vader would have his lightsaber out, and all of a sudden, Girlfriend would start charging up in the background. Darth Vader would sense an ominous force and would start to get a chill within his suit; he would pull out his lightsaber and make sure he's ready to completely try to take on whatever's about to come at him. Boyfriend would then slam his microphone into the Fisher-Price control panel on his chest, leading to Darth Vader freaking out, coughing and dying. Boyfriend and Girlfriend would then start hopping on his back and beating him up, yanking on his helmet and smacking his bald, crispy head around.[94]
      • In a fight between Boyfriend and Goku, Goku would rip Boyfriend's skin off,[95] but as long as Boyfriend had his hand for Girlfriend to hold, he would still have the retry screen.[96]
  • Boyfriend uses $100 Android-based monthly card payment phones. He also gets angry at the poor-quality 3G Wi-Fi and drops the phones from 5-story buildings onto incoming traffic out of frustration.[21] Whenever they crash, he throws them 200 feet off his roof; an example is him drawing PictoChat-esque penis pictures on his Samsung Galaxy before its 5 kilobytes of free space crash it, leading to him throwing the phone off the roof instinctively.[22]
    • If he got a better phone, he would accidentally set facial recognition and forget the strange face that he made, failing repeatedly as a result.[97] He would also hold it outside a Greyhound window to film a video, and a gust of wind would knock it out of his hands, with the phone then flying underneath the front tires of an 18-wheeler truck, leading to the truck flipping.[98]
  • If X (better known as Sonic.exe) ever tried to mess with Boyfriend and Girlfriend, he could trap them in a nightmare dimension for all eternity, but if he mentioned there's no McDonald's, they would immediately kill him and escape.[99] If there was a McDonald's, they would presumably stay.[100]
    • If there was a McDonald's but its ice cream machine was broken permanently, they would be fine with just being given the sweetener milk bags that go in the machine instead.[101]
      • If they were told that there was no Burger King, they might actually prefer the nightmare dimension to reality.[102]
  • When Boyfriend and Girlfriend go to McDonald's, they normally get whatever they can pressure the window clerk to give them for free. They hold the store hostage, stealing Mommy Mearest's limousine and holding up the entire drive-through slot.[19]
    • If the McDonald's were to have no Chicken McNuggets included with the Happy Meal, they would start yanking all the iron bolts and screws out of the PlayPlace.[20]
  • Boyfriend wears his prohibition sign shirt because, according to ninjamuffin99, it looks cool.[103]
    • He also wears it because he is a "cool as fuk smooth ass bitch" with "nothin but style."[104]
  • When Boyfriend and Girlfriend sign up for a driver's license test, they use a fake ID, and they crash into trees and run away. As a result, the Henchmen are stuck driving Mommy Mearest's Porsche back, and she tears the Henchmen's fingernails and eyelashes off.[105]
    • Boyfriend and Girlfriend need fake IDs because they don't want the police called on them; they go to the same DMV every few months.[106]
  • Boyfriend may have a drool fetish, as he seems happy to be drooled on by Girlfriend's drool after she puts his Nendoroid figure in her mouth.[10]
  • When Boyfriend texts Girlfriend to ask if she wants Chick-fil-A, he knows to get extra Polynesian Sauce once she starts sending nudes.[107]
  • In the wintertime, when Boyfriend and Girlfriend look away from each other for more than 10 minutes and then look back toward each other, they hold their arms out wide and run toward each other to hug each other, as their object permanence is sometimes not very good. Sometimes they will go to kiss and accidentally bump into a cold pole and kiss it, and both get their tongues stuck to it for hours. The fire department even knows them by name.[16]
  • If Girlfriend became a worm, Boyfriend would still love her. While it would impact their love lives and change things, they could get used to it. Boyfriend would also figure out a way to change her back, even if it took him a decade.[108]
  • Boyfriend rides a Lime electric scooter that he rented with the app and never returned, and he is dodging the debt collectors on it. He signed up for Lime with a temporary e-mail address, and he simply can't be found.[109]
  • Boyfriend and Girlfriend have a poor concept of time, so occasionally they get really freaked out at night upon realizing that their local McDonald's is not open 24/7. When they see that it is closed, they think it is closed down, as the lights are off and no one is there. This scares them greatly, so they stay up all night holding each other and watching movies, trying to forget about it, and they can't sleep. The next morning, they go to McDonald's just to double check, and when they see people are working there again, they breathe out in happiness and go to order $20 worth of food using dimes in their pockets.[17]
  • Boyfriend is a grower, not a shower.[110]

Inspirations

  • According to PhantomArcade in a Tweet, one of the core inspirations for Friday Night Funkin' is the 1981 anime adaptation of the manga Urusei Yatsura.[111] Boyfriend is presumably based on the series' main character Moroboshi Ataru, who has a powerful girlfriend named Lum, whom Girlfriend is presumably based on in turn. Lum's blue hair also inspired Boyfriend's hair color.
  • Boyfriend is supposed to represent issues that PhantomArcade had at 19 years old.[112]
    • When PhantomArcade was 19 years old, his partner's father told him to turn off the Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth music that he was listening to because it was "fruity." The father then played AC/DC music on a guitar. PhantomArcade described this as "a story about the unique dynamics within relationships that inspired the game, and why [Boyfriend and Girlfriend] are that age."[113]
      • Boyfriend is a self-insert of PhantomArcade, as stated by the latter during a live stream.[82]
  • Boyfriend was loosely inspired by early Cartoon Network shows like Dexter's Laboratory and The Powerpuff Girls.[114]
  • Boyfriend is similar to PaRappa in some ways and may be inspired by the latter. Like PaRappa, Boyfriend is passionate about rap music, is always seen with a cap and engages in rap battles in order to impress his love interest.
  • Boyfriend may be based on b-boy characters used by graffiti artists. B-boys and graffiti art represent and descend from hip-hop culture, with graffiti and street art being closely linked with breakers and breaking since the 1980s.[115] Other aspects of Friday Night Funkin' and its art appear to also be influenced by graffiti and street art.

Gallery

View Boyfriend's full gallery here.

Notes

  1. For years, Newgrounds users speculated that Pico and his friends were around 10–14 years old during the events of Pico's School and Pico 2, but Tom Fulp confirmed that all of the main characters of Pico's School were high school seniors (approximately 16–18 years old). Although Fulp later retconned this with the statement that "Pico and his friends don't really have super defined ages", MindChamber's statement contradicts this regarding Pico.
  2. In a Tweet made in December 2020 by PhantomArcade, Boyfriend and Girlfriend were stated to be 19 years old. In a Tweet made in February 2021 by PhantomArcade, the two characters were stated to be 20 years old. It is unclear if PhantomArcade was confused in the later Tweet, if the two being 19 years old was retconned, or if Boyfriend and Girlfriend have no specific age and only a range. However, in a live stream PhantomArcade did in April 2022, he stated that Boyfriend and Girlfriend are 19 again. As the two have been stated to be 19 more often than not, the one instance of them being stated to be 20 may have been a mistake or a temporary retcon that ended up being scrapped.

References

  1. ninjamuffin99 (February 9, 2021). "real". From Twitter.
  2. File:Pico's age in Pico 1 and 2.png
  3. framework (November 20, 2022). "FNF work, it leaked, no point in hidin' it" (30:58). From YouTube.
  4. ninjamuffin99 (December 31, 2020). "bf and gf are like 19/20 or so, probably pico too spooky kids idk how old ask Pelo lol mom and dad are 13". From "i programmed Friday Night Funkin AMA 2: the sequel" on Reddit.
  5. PhantomArcade (December 22, 2020). "the boyfriend is canonically 7 feet tall.". From Twitter.
  6. PhantomArcade (December 18, 2022). "yessir". From Twitter.
  7. 7.0 7.1 ninjamuffin99 (February 14, 2021). "boyfriend lovs donuts". From "wake up babe new ninjamuffin99 ama" on Reddit.
  8. framework (April 30, 2023). "BF and GF are unintelligent". From YouTube.
  9. PhantomArcade (April 3, 2021). "except GF would definitely not be afraid of RUV, or Whitty for that matter. Her and BF are too dumb to be afraid, plus they're definitely not in danger.". From Twitter.
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 PhantomArcade (February 18, 2023). "FNF NENDO COMIC SPECIAL". From Newgrounds.
  11. PhantomArcade (October 23, 2021). "They're both dumb as hell. But let me put it like this. GF knows how to file taxes, and BF knows what to do if you accidentally shoot a bullet into your thigh and can't afford a hospital visit.". From "PhantomArcade AMA" on Reddit.
  12. 12.0 12.1 framework (April 30, 2023). "Boyfriend and Girlfriend are neurodivergent". From YouTube.
  13. 13.0 13.1 PhantomArcade. "what if i told you that BF spoke in musical tone, but what's written is what he meant". From "Monster's Head-Canon" on Newgrounds.
  14. Lendon (February 12, 2023). "Phantom Arcade Stream || FNF Deranged 2am Wtf Stream Part 2" (3:00:07). From YouTube.
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 Lendon (February 25, 2023). "Some FNF Fun Facts" (1:44). From YouTube.
  16. 16.0 16.1 Lendon (March 14, 2023). "More BF and GF Fun Facts". From YouTube.
  17. 17.0 17.1 Lendon (June 18, 2023). "Phantom Arcade Stream || "Wat Da Funk This Boy Up 2"" (1:22:31). From YouTube.
  18. 18.0 18.1 framework (April 29, 2022). "bf youtube channel". From YouTube.
  19. 19.0 19.1 PhantomArcade (June 19, 2022). "whatever they can pressure the window clerk to hand off for free. They hold the store hostage stealing Mom's limo and holding up the entire drive thru slot". From Twitter.
  20. 20.0 20.1 PhantomArcade (June 19, 2022). "start yanking all the iron bolts n screws out of the McDonalds Play Place". From Twitter.
  21. 21.0 21.1 PhantomArcade (June 15, 2022). "Girlfriend uses handmedown iPhones from her rich evil parents (barely smart enough to use it) and Boyfriend uses $100 Android based monthly card payment phones (gets pissed when the shitty 3g internet sucks, drops them from 5 story buildings into on coming traffic)". From Twitter.
  22. 22.0 22.1 PhantomArcade (June 15, 2022). "boyfriend drawing picochat esc dick pics on his samsung galaxy before its 5kb of free space crashes the phone and he instinctively throws it 200 feet off his roof". From Twitter.
  23. PhantomArcade, Kawai Sprite, Six Impala, Kohta Takahashi, ninjamuffin99, peepo173 (March 20, 2024). "FNF Erect Mode Sampler". From Newgrounds.
  24. PhantomArcade (October 23, 2021). "he'd fuck you up so bad your family would laugh about it behind your back for decades". From "PhantomArcade AMA" on Reddit.
  25. File:Pow, right in the kisser!.gif
  26. PhantomArcade (October 23, 2021). "his parents floated him the entry fees for public college but he just stopped showing up to class n read comics in the college library all day instead". From "PhantomArcade AMA" on Reddit.
  27. "Is Boyfriend's hair naturally blue?". From Kickstarter.
  28. 28.0 28.1 ninjamuffin99. "peith confirm". From Twitch.
  29. File:PICO AND BOYFRIEND IS CANON SHUT UP ALREADY.jpg
  30. ninjamuffin99 (February 14, 2021). "pico is BF's ex girlfriend and boyfriend are their canon names I finally sent nintendo the pitch a few days ago, I guess check back in a few months, that seems to be how long it takes them to respond to pitches hehehe". From "wake up babe new ninjamuffin99 ama" on Reddit.
  31. ninjamuffin99 (April 9, 2021). "people gonna be in denial about it however long they want tho, at this point no matter how many times we all say it i guess". From Twitter.
  32. ninjamuffin99 (April 11, 2021). "its complicated". From Twitter.
  33. 33.0 33.1 PhantomArcade (October 23, 2021). "the parents do it out of a weird pride and to be condescending as singing performers, the spooky kids wanna play, the monster is just insane, pico does it out of nostalgia/old habits, senpai does it to try and upstage you without violence, the tankmen do it cuz they're bored, etc". From "PhantomArcade AMA" on Reddit.
  34. Snowy does fnf (April 28, 2021). "Phantom arcade explains week 7 lore". From YouTube.
  35. ninjamuffin99 (December 31, 2020). "girlfriend and boyfriend". From "i programmed Friday Night Funkin AMA 2: the sequel" on Reddit.
  36. ninjamuffin99 (March 12, 2021). "someone on tiktok asked me what bf's name was, and I said Keith because it was funny. To other comments I replied completely different names, but Keith was the first one i said so it stuck lolololol". From Twitter.
  37. 37.0 37.1 ninjamuffin99 (December 31, 2020). "songs will be on spotify uhhh VERY soon thats all i can say, we're waiting for processing stuff basically. We aimed for them to come out on spotify on christmas, d'oh! the boyfriends name is boyfriend. Evan was a misheard lyric in the monster song, and Keith was me trolling on TikTok lolol ALTHOUGH people are free to call them whatever they want :)". From "i programmed Friday Night Funkin AMA 2: the sequel" on Reddit.
  38. ninjamuffin99 (October 22, 2020). "His name is Luis also". From Twitter.
  39. ninjamuffin99 (December 19, 2020). "Unnamed video". From TikTok.
  40. 40.0 40.1 PhantomArcade. "holy shit, that's crazy haha. Complete coincidence, but wild to see. The shoes and jeans being blue n red were my thing, and the stop sign shirt was an Evilsk8r decision.". From "PhantomArcade AMA" on Reddit.
  41. File:BOYFRIEND FIRST CONCEPT.jpg
  42. PhantomArcade (October 23, 2021). "Probably will end up that way. Ultimately, it might be like Nightmare Before Christmas where Jack has a different actor for singing and talking. Already when BF's skeleton cracks I made the groan in pain, lol. Odds are anytime I need vocal sound effects for scenes with him, I'll voice it. But any time he's singing real words, it'd be Kawaisprite". From "PhantomArcade AMA" on Reddit.
  43. Sr Pelo (November 26, 2020). "Spooky Month 3 - Unwanted Guest" (2:23). From YouTube.
  44. Sr Pelo (November 6, 2022). "Spooky Month 5 - Tender Treats" (12:43). From YouTube.
  45. PhantomArcade (April 3, 2021). "lightning freaks them the fuck out, they nearly piss themselves every time". From Twitter.
  46. PhantomArcade (October 23, 2021). "Even then, GF would still be taller". From "PhantomArcade AMA" on Reddit.
  47. PhantomArcade (October 23, 2021). "Mix of both. If you've ever read Jojo part 4, the villains start out super macho and tall, but once they're defeated as a sign of their innocence or something they become midgets. It makes literally no sense but somehow makes complete sense. I really liked that". From "PhantomArcade AMA" on Reddit.
  48. Zarla (September 9, 2009). "Stamp on the Ground". From Newgrounds.
  49. Mrdjn94 (December 28, 2012). "Mega Man Season 1 Episode 10 (English)". From YouTube.
  50. Tom Fulp (December 14, 2020). "This is official Pico 2 canon.". From Twitter.
  51. ninjamuffin99 (December 13, 2020). "its too easy baby". From Twitter. Archived from the original on December 14, 2020.
  52. JohnnyUtah (May 22, 2022). "🎤yeah I ….ok". From Twitter. Archived from the original on May 22, 2022. Image mirror available.
  53. JohnnyUtah (May 22, 2022). "word to your mother". From Newgrounds.
  54. PhantomArcade (May 23, 2022). "jeff now that u made this just know I WILL find a way to make it canonically appear in game". From Twitter.
  55. JohnnyUtah (May 22, 2022). "so get this he's like "BURP BURP" and explains that he travelled through a portal and has to allow girlfriend to die in order to save the timeline and the future". From Twitter. Archived from the original on May 22, 2022.
  56. JohnnyUtah (May 22, 2022). "also since she's dead that's the blow up doll it all works". From Twitter. Archived from the original on May 22, 2022.
  57. ninjamuffin99 (December 31, 2020). "no its cuz they thot each other was cute". From "i programmed Friday Night Funkin AMA 2: the sequel" on Reddit.
  58. PhantomArcade (February 23, 2021). "confirmed". From Twitter. Archived from the original on February 23, 2021.
  59. framework (May 8, 2022). "BF has a dog". From YouTube.
  60. ninjamuffin99 (March 25, 2021). "yea, in da volume 2 release bf likes newgrounds rumble cuz and gf probably likes alien hominid cuz alien hominid is cute hehe". From Twitter.
  61. ninjamuffin99 (April 28, 2021). "bf likes brisk iced tea and also milk". From "ninjamuffin ama episode 3 or 4 or something" on Reddit.
  62. Lendon (February 25, 2023). "Some FNF Fun Facts". From YouTube.
  63. ninjamuffin99 (February 14, 2021). "natural". From "wake up babe new ninjamuffin99 ama" on Reddit.
  64. PhantomArcade (October 23, 2021). "alright this'll be the last answered question for now. It's natural, and I wanted to point that out since the Tankman's lines confuse some people. Tankman claims his hair is dyed to be a condescending asshole, in reality it's naturally blue.". From "PhantomArcade AMA" on Reddit.
  65. ninjamuffin99 (February 15, 2021). "its not a language, he just makes those sounds". From "wake up babe new ninjamuffin99 ama" on Reddit.
  66. FridayNightFunkin (March 20, 2024). "FNF Erect Mode Sampler". From YouTube.
  67. ninjamuffin99 (March 11, 2021). "It's like Stuart Little situation". From Twitter.
  68. "WEEK OF 2023/09/18 - FunkCoin". From Funkin' Blog (September 18, 2023).
  69. ninjamuffin99 (April 27, 2021). "bf likes to listen to kanye west music". From "ninjamuffin ama episode 3 or 4 or something" on Reddit.
  70. PhantomArcade (May 2, 2021). "Neither gf or bf could even be hypnotized or mindcontrolled into not loving each other. It's pretty much the only thing that occupies their minds, without it they'd just die. And when BF's skeleton cracks, GF gets on her hands and knees and ***** his **** so he can retry". From Twitter.
  71. AfroluffyX (May 29, 2021). "Phantom Arcade explains Boyfriend's brain (Friday night Funkin' FNF )". From YouTube.
  72. Lendon (June 5, 2023). ""Is Bf Racist?"". From YouTube.
  73. PhantomArcade (August 22, 2021). "this is how boyfriend acts when girlfriend cooks him dinner* *pb n j sandwiches cuz she stupid as brick". From Twitter. Archived from the original on August 23, 2021.
  74. PhantomArcade (October 23, 2021). "hominids. They're too stupid to realize they're not actual animals". From "PhantomArcade AMA" on Reddit.
  75. PhantomArcade (October 23, 2021). "GF likes subs, but BF can't read fast enough to watch them. Everyone is concerned he's lying and maybe can't read at all.". From "PhantomArcade AMA" on Reddit.
  76. ninjamuffin99 (February 15, 2021). "they work in accounting". From "wake up babe new ninjamuffin99 ama" on Reddit.
  77. framework (November 21, 2022). "FNF work, it leaked, no point in hidin' it" (1:49:04). From YouTube.
  78. ninjamuffin99 (December 3, 2020). "theyre siblings, thats canon". From Twitter.
  79. ninjamuffin99 (April 27, 2021). "real". From "ninjamuffin ama episode 3 or 4 or something" on Reddit.
  80. framework (April 28, 2023). "fnf miku". From YouTube.
  81. framework (December 19, 2021). "fnf twitter space press conference" (1:21:16). From YouTube.
  82. 82.0 82.1 framework (November 21, 2022). "FNF work, it leaked, no point in hidin' it" (3:03:29). From YouTube.
  83. framework (November 21, 2022). "FNF work, it leaked, no point in hidin' it" (3:04:18). From YouTube.
  84. 84.0 84.1 Lendon (February 25, 2023). "Some FNF Fun Facts" (1:16). From YouTube.
  85. PhantomArcade. "Boyfriend goes to a Brazilian wax factory". From Twitch.
  86. PhantomArcade (May 2, 2021). "Holds his hand, you nasty whores.". From Twitter.
  87. PhantomArcade (May 2, 2021). "she has to get on her hands n knees because she's so dang tall lol". From Twitter.
  88. PhantomArcade. "bf nonreligious". From Twitch.
  89. PhantomArcade (May 23, 2022). "yeah, he's a cut king". From Twitter.
  90. PhantomArcade (May 23, 2022). "he was, but… the car door bro…". From Twitter.
  91. sour (June 7, 2022). "BRAND NEW FNF WEEK 8 LORE FROM PHANTOMARCADES NEWEST STREAM (REAL)". From YouTube.
  92. PhantomArcade (June 14, 2022). "boyfriend could take em. Easy". From Twitter.
  93. PhantomArcade (June 14, 2022). "fuck no". From Twitter.
  94. Superlove Lotion (June 20, 2022). "PhantomArcade Livestream || what the funk is going on WORK, WORK IS GOING ON!! (pt. 2?)". From YouTube.
  95. PhantomArcade (January 11, 2023). "Goku would rip his fucking skin off". From Twitter.
  96. PhantomArcade (January 11, 2023). "but… as long as he has his **** for GF to **** he does have the retry screen…". From Twitter.
  97. PhantomArcade (June 16, 2022). "accidentally set facial recognition n forget what weird face he was making that unlocks it, fails repeatedly til it triggers security lock out that wipes all data". From Twitter.
  98. PhantomArcade (June 15, 2022). "holds outside greyhound window to film video, gust of wind knocks it out of hands, flies underneath front tires of 18 wheeler truck truck flips". From Twitter.
  99. PhantomArcade (June 19, 2022). "if evil bleeding eyes sonic ever tried to mess with bf and gf he could trap them in a nightmare dimension for all eternity but if he mentioned there's no McDonalds there they'd kill him instantly and escape". From Twitter.
  100. PhantomArcade (June 19, 2022). "right". From Twitter.
  101. PhantomArcade (June 19, 2022). "they'd be cool just being given the sweetner milk bags that go into the machine instead". From Twitter.
  102. PhantomArcade (June 20, 2022). "if you tell them there's no burger king they may actually prefer it to reality". From Twitter.
  103. ninjamuffin99 (August 11, 2022). "it look cool". From "ninji mofin AMA episode 4" on Reddit.
  104. ninjamuffin99 (August 11, 2022). "BOTH he is both braindead dumbass but also cool as fuk smooth ass bitch thats why he wear that shirt he wears... nothin but style....". From "ninji mofin AMA episode 4" on Reddit.
  105. PhantomArcade (November 20, 2022). "bf & gf sign up for driver's license test using fake ID and crash into trees and run away henchmen are stuck with driving mom's porsche back mommy tears their fingernails and eyelashes off". From Twitter.
  106. PhantomArcade (November 20, 2022). "don't want cops called on them, they do the same DMV every few months". From Twitter.
  107. PhantomArcade (March 1, 2023). "you know i won't lie it goes hard. It feels like something demons would fake to trick BF but he'd just text her if she wants Chik Fil A and once she starts sending nudes he knows to grab extra polynesian sauce". From Twitter.
  108. Lendon (March 14, 2023). "More BF and GF Fun Facts" (0:29). From YouTube.
  109. Lendon (June 18, 2023). "Phantom Arcade Stream || "Wat Da Funk This Boy Up 2"" (42:08). From YouTube.
  110. PhantomArcade (June 27, 2023). "he's a grower, not a shower". From Twitter.
  111. PhantomArcade (January 1, 2022). "The 1981 Urusei Yatsura is one of the core inspirations for FNF. A deranged stupid couple goes on infinite adventures that range from heartfelt to dumb as fuck. Horny MC + horned other worldly powered GF. Blue hair.". From Twitter.
  112. framework (April 30, 2023). "Boyfriend and Girlfriend are neurodivergent" (0:16). From YouTube.
  113. PhantomArcade (December 15, 2020). "real quick this isn't a sob story, this was a dude who's like 50 hearing anime music for the first time ever in 2014 from a dude who's dating his daughter. If anything this is a story about the unique dynamics within relationships that inspired the game, and why they are that age". From Twitter.
  114. DidYouKnowGaming? (November 14, 2021). "How Newgrounds Changed Gaming ft. JohnnyUtah" (11:31). From YouTube.
  115. globalstreetart (July 29, 2016). "This Week's 35: Favourite B-Boy Characters". From Global Street Art. Archived from the original on May 29, 2023.