There are a lot of differences between the Scott Pilgrim books and its film and game adaptations. This stands to reason as there are six volumes crammed into a single movie and the same for a rather short game. The general overview of the film is that a lot of backstory from the books are gone.
The movie instead focuses on fighting the Seven Evil Exes. The same can be true for the game as well as it is a beat 'em up. That said, it incorporated plenty of characters and Easter eggs from both the comics and movie. Even though they are different, both adaptations at least feel like they belong to the same universe or at least have similar vibes.
5 Matthew Patel & Lucas Lee Fights
The first volume of Scott Pilgrim is fairly well adapted into the movie up until the fight with Matthew Patel. The big difference with his character is the fact that Scott also got a letter from Patel besides the email and in the final fight his friends join in on a dance battle. It should also be mentioned that Crash and the Boys didn’t die like in the film.
Lucas, on the other hand, is much more different. Scott trains to fight him by watching his movies and when the time comes to finally check him out at Casa Loma, there really is no fighting. Lucas throws him into the castle then they break for some snacks and some backstory before Scott goats him into the skateboard trick. There is no big movie production in the comics like there is in the film adaptation and video game level.
4 Todd Ingram Fight & Flashbacks With Envy
Volume two with Lucas is pretty different, but volume three is where things really diverge. First of all, Lee’s Palace may be where the fight starts with Todd, but there are two more major encounters before he is officially toast. There’s a great fight where Scott and Todd have to survive in a giant Walmart-like store and go insane in the process before the latter blows it up. The final battle ends the same, with a headbutt after Todd loses his Vegan powers. Crash and the Boys, or The Boys and Crash now, jump in before this to help Scott out.
Prior to that, there’s an epic fight with Envy and Ramona. The book also explores exactly what went on between Scott and Envy through flashbacks. There is also the fact that the other member of the band, Lynette Guycott, is fooling around with Todd. This point is at least pursued in the game, but in the film, she doesn’t have a single line. They even took out the part where she was the one who punched the highlights out of Knives’ hair.
3 Lisa Miller & Roxie Richter Cross Paths
The Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together book opens up with the snow finally gone and the gang going on a summer beach vacation. The game was actually going to feature this in Roxie’s stage but was cut out. Besides Roxie being more present in the book, with her and Ramona hanging out, she tries to poison Ramona’s mind by making her think Scott is cheating on her with his old friend Lisa Miller. Lisa appears in the game as a background character but that’s it. Also in this book is Knives' dad who is out to seek revenge on Scott for dumping her. He does appear in the game as well as an optional boss.
Roxie’s alternate death is interesting. In the book, this is where Scott earns the Power of Love aka the sword at the end of the film. He cuts her down thus exploding her into animals just like in the game, which was a reference to Sonic the Hedgehog. It’s interesting to note that her sword in the film and game can transform into a whip, a bigger reference to her last name being borrowed from Castlevania, aka Richter as in Richter Belmont. In the film, the fight plays out in a club with Ramona helping Scott defeat her which ends in hitting her tickle spot behind her knee. In the book, this is actually how Scott helps Ramona defeat Envy in volume three.
2 The Katayanagi Twins, Kim, & Ramona’s Exodus
The further the film got, the less emphasis the Seven Evil Exes had on the plot. In the film’s version, the Katayanagi fight is a music boss battle without the twins saying a word. There’s even a Persona-like element to the conflict. Afterward, Scott gets a 1-Up which is different from both the game and books as he gets the 1-Up from Todd’s fight.
In the books, the twins avoid fighting Scott for most of volume five and instead send robots after him starting at a Halloween party. The game tries to incorporate some of these elements in such as mini-boss battles before the final confrontation where they actually fight. It should also be mentioned that they kidnap Kim in the books in order to force Scott’s hand. This is also where Scott and Ramona start to split, with the latter eventually disappearing in a literal flash by the end.
1 Gideon Graves & The Endings
The endings themselves are all almost identical. In the canonical version of the game, it has Scott and Ramona’s leaving together through a portal door which is what happens in the book and film too. Leading up to this end is where things really differ. In the book, it’s a drawn-out era of depression for Scott who can barely function without Ramona. He goes to visit Kim, who moved away, in order to train in a forest where he faces his evil emotions aka Nega Scott. This does happen in the game, but in the film, it’s at the very end and is played off as a joke.
The battle with Gideon in the book has a sword fight leading to Scott’s death and revival along with an eternal battle inside Ramona where he is seen as a giant brute. Once Scott is revived, he earns The Power of Understanding, an even bigger sword, and the fight ends with Ramona and Scott finishing Gideon off together.
The brute form is reflected in the game although to a bigger degree with Gideon taking on an RPG-like form akin to Kefka from Final Fantasy VI. Also different in the game is a secret underground base which ends similarly to Mega Man 2 wherein Gideon is shown to have no powers at all.
In the film, Scott’s 1-Up is used as a time travel device instead of reviving him right on the spot like in the book. Instead of Scott and Ramona teaming up, it’s Scott and Knives taking Gideon out together. It should also be noted that Knives first appears in order to fight Ramona for Scott’s love. While they do fight in the book, they actually become friends after volume three and Knives evolves more as a person.
Also absent from the game and film are Gideon’s ex-girlfriends who he froze in capsules, something he planned to do with Ramona. Envy is also at The Chaos Theatre where she was set to perform before Scott showed up. The film Sex Bob-omb was signed to play with Young Neil taking Scott’s place in the band. In the book, Young Neil never shows any inclination of wanting to join the band and the band actually breaks up by the end of the fifth book.