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"Is that Knives Chau the stunt double, or Knives Chau the character?".
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| Spoiler warning! This article contains plot/ending details. |
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"This is a guest comic, so it's non-canon."
Elements of this article may be declared to be non-canon and not a part of the series' official timeline. |
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Knives Chau (b. March 1987[1]) is a 17-year-old (18-years-old in Volume 6) Chinese-Canadian high school girl and self-described "Scottaholic" (though she later gets over him). When Knives dates Scott, she is happy-go-lucky, but when he cheated on her (initially "forgetting" to break up with her), her personality drastically changes.
After he "grows up" and reveals that he showed an interest in Ramona, he breaks up with Knives and she comes to terms with it. She is one of the seven main characters of the Scott Pilgrim franchise and also the secondary antagonist of the entire series.
Biography[]
Scott Pilgrim graphic novels[]
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Knives Chau was born in 1987, seventeen years before the start of the series of Chinese-Canadian descent. Her life in elementary school is very lonely and her mother nagged her to find someone to fall in love with, as the prospect simply did not interest her. During one such argument on a bus, she met Scott Pilgrim and began dating him. Scott was probably the only thing about her otherwise boring and ordinary life that truly made her happy, and as a result she became obsessed with him. She would occasionally come over to see his band, Sex Bob-omb, play.
Knives as she appears in the graphic novels.
Unfortunately for her, Scott broke up with her after he met Ramona Flowers (though he initially "forgot" to break up with her). This outraged her and she cut and dyed her hair and changed her clothing style and becomes bitter, obsessed and jealous. She hopes to win Scott back by becoming more of a hipster. Her discovery that Scott was cheating on her with Ramona causes tension between the two girls, sometimes culminating in actual fights, though later the two reach a level of acceptance of one another.
She starts dating Sex Bob-omb's groupie Young Neil, although she is still hung up on Scott. She and Young Neil later break up, but Knives still hangs out with the group, and by Volume 5 had seemingly developed a mutual attraction to Stephen Stills, however, this was proven to be false at the end of Volume 6 with the realization that Stephen had been dating Joseph.
She used to idolize Envy Adams, based on her success as a musician and her former relationship with Scott but is soon disenchanted when Envy has her drummer Lynette punch Knives hard enough to knock the highlights out of her hair (although even afterward Knives couldn't bring herself to hate Envy's music.) Knives' father becomes aware of Scott's past relationship with his daughter, causing him to hunt him down and try to kill him, though Scott later earns his acceptance.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World[]
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Knives Chau is played by Ellen Wong whose previous works include roles in Runaway and This is Wonderland. She tried out three times, and director Edgar Wright later found out after the second audition that she was a green belt in tae-kwon-do. They brought her back in, got her to do some high kicks and the like, and cast her in the role.
Knives as she appears in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, portrayed by Ellen Wong.
In the film, Wallace and Stacey refer to Knives as Scott's "fake high-school girlfriend" like Wallace did in the books. The only things they do during their time together are playing Ninja Ninja Revolution, visiting the music store Sonic Boom, getting pizza from Pizza Pizza and shopping for clothes at a Goodwill. After Scott breaks up with her, she tries to get Scott back and goes to his house. When she calls Scott's house phone, Wallace answers the door and Scott jumps out the window with Knives still at the door. After Knives discovers Scott is dating Ramona, she describes Ramona as, "A fatass hipster chick" and believes Scott likes Ramona because she's older. Knives goes on a conquest to win Scott back by being like Ramona and goes as far as to dye half of her hair blue. She dates Young Neil (texting him, "YUNG NEIL ITZ KNIVES. OMFG YUR SO HOTT.") so that she can get closer to Scott to win him back. At The Clash at Demonhead concert, Todd Ingram (rather than Lynette Guycott) literally punches the highlights out of her hair. This makes Scott extremely angry and is what started the fight between Todd and Scott. Unlike in the books and game, Knives is not really seen having a relationship with Kim. Later while Scott is fighting Gideon, Knives shows up out of nowhere and saves Scott from Gideon's final attack. However, she really had her sights on Ramona, blaming her for all of her pain and proceeds to fight her.
Scott breaks up the fight and accidentally blurts out that he cheated on both of them with each other. While everyone is distracted, Gideon kills Scott. Scott comes back to his last "save point" using his Extra Life and goes through the events leading up the fight with Gideon. This time, Scott stops Knives from fighting Ramona and the two enter 2-player mode and attack Gideon using moves from Ninja Ninja Revolution. After getting a perfect victory and defeating Gideon, Nega Scott shows up. Knives and Ramona get ready to fight him, but Scott tells them that he has to deal with it himself and they wait outside, surprised when Scott and Nega Scott exit with plans to have brunch next week. When Ramona begins to leave forever, Knives convinces Scott to go with her, restating Wallace's earlier comment that she is "too cool for you (Scott) anyway." (in the Comics Scott says that "what Wallace told you was true, you are too good for me (Scott)", but she disagrees). Knives kisses Scott on the cheek, and Scott make his final words to her as "ciao Knives", a play on words of her name.
The original ending had Scott end up with Knives, with Ramona complimenting Knives's obsession over him while talking to Scott in the dream desert. In the end, Ramona leaves through a subspace door, and Knives and Scott continue their traditional routine of playing Ninja Ninja Revolution. This alternate ending is available as a deleted scene on the DVD.
Knives is considerably powerful, as she is seemingly evenly matched with Ramona, who "kicks all kind of ass" according to Stephen Stills.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game[]
Knives' main art in the game.
Knives is an assist character in the game and can be used by all the characters, each with their own effect.
- When Scott calls her, she jumps in and sprouts the word "LOVE" in puffy cloud-letters, which stuns enemies briefly.
- When Ramona calls her, she appears in a barista's uniform holding a huge cup of coffee, which restores a little bit of health and makes her hyper.
- When Stephen Stills (or Wallace) calls her, she appears and throws comically large daggers at the enemies.
- When Kim calls her, she appears by kissing her, which restores health and stuns nearby enemies (excluding robots).
- When Nega Scott calls, a a dark version of Knives appears and cuts down enemies before leaping off-screen.
Knives was released as a downloadable character on November 9, 2010. As a playable character, some of her moves are very similar to Kim's (most likely a reference to how Knives was "cramping [Kim's] style"), but she has a spin kick and the ability to throw explosive knives. Her striker is her mother, Mrs. Chau, who will shout profanity in Chinese at the enemies.
Endings
- In her own ending, she kisses Scott, confetti appears, and they are standing at the altar to be married. All of Scott's friends are there to support a very confused Scott. This a reference to a scene in the popular Japanese manga, Dragon Ball, where Goku married Chi-Chi and he was confused on what was going on.
- In Scott's ending, she along with Envy and Kim are dating Scott at the same time, some time after Ramona left him.
- In Kim's ending, Kim and Knives hook-up, much to the shock of Scott and Stephen.
- In Nega Scott's ending, Knives, Scott, Ramona, Stephen Stills, and Kim are all Nega Scott's slaves.
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off[]
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Knives as she appears in Scott Pilgrim Takes Off.
Like in the comic and the movie, Knives is dating Scott at age seventeen and was invited to see his band rehearse. However, unlike those two, due to Scott being presumably dead after his battle with Matthew Patel, Knives attends the funeral alongside everyone else and blames Ramona for Scott's death.
When hanging with Kim and Stephen, through the encouragement of Kim, Knives quickly becomes a pro at bass in four hours. Recognizing her talent, Stephen asks Knives to write a musical with him, and the two start a song-writing career. She quickly gets over her feelings for Scott, becoming less boy-crazy and more ambitiously career-centric, with Stephen as her business partner.
The two make an entire Scott Pilgrim musical and pitch it to the new G-Man media head, Matthew, who Knives knows will greenlight it in a heartbeat due to her extensive research on his musical theater dreams, which, just as she said it would, works as he agrees to do it. Despite still feeling scorned over Scott cheating on her with Ramona, as well as acting bitter towards her, referring to it as "emotional business", Knives is still able to progress and find her true calling in the music space.
Eventually, upon Scott's return from the future, the two finally have a relatively mature break up discussion where Scott apologizes for dating her in the first place because "a 23-year-old dating a 17-year-old is looked down upon by society". Knives replies that she is glad that he is alive, but is also glad that he died, which gave her a lot of space to reflect and grow, thanking him in return.
Features in other media[]
Seconds[]
Knives Chau makes a cameo appearance in another Bryan Lee O'Malley comic, Seconds, Knives can be seen among the patrons in the Seconds restaurant when Katie shows up dressed up fancy and drinking alcohol uncontrollably.
Appearance[]
Knives is a petite asian girl with a slim build. She has dark hair that in her first appearance is long and tied back into a ponytail, but later on is changed to a short bob hair cut, similar to Kim's hairstyle. Unlike the other characters in the series, her eyes are drawn as just two black dots.
In Volume 2, Knives dyes part of her hair red (blue in the movie), as a way to mimic Ramona's style and get Scott's attention. She sports this look up until the beginning of Volume 3, in which Lynette Guycott punches the highlights out of her hair (In the movie, however, it's Todd Ingram that does this).
She sports a variety of outfits throughout the books, with her most iconic being her battle outfit worn in Volume 2 that consists of a black sleeveless onepiece suit with black fingerless gloves and a striped scarf. This look is her default appearance in the game.
Personality[]
Sweet and pleasant, Knives is among the nicer characters in the cast. She lacks most of the cynicism that her older friends have and tends to be rather grounded, at least starting out. Additionally, Knives is also one of the most dynamic characters of the series as she grows and changes considerably throughout the series. Her own story within the series is a coming-of-age stoy regarding romance, friendships, and relationships. Prior to the book, she was presented as an ordinary if studious girl who was focusing on her studies and seemed a bit annoyed over at her mother who was pushing her to date. While it remains unknown how the two got together (especially given her previous disinterest in relationships), her initial time with him was casual and rather pleasant, with the two enjoying one another's company.
However, Knives would change when she would be invited to a practice session of Sex Bob-Omb for the first time. The experience overwhelms her with excitement and serves as a sort of awakening for her. She becomes a fan of Sex Bob-omb, and her feelings for Scott rapidly intensify. These feelings grow into a full-blown infatuation with Scott to where she becomes a self-professed Scottaholic. She also begins pushing for a lot more over from the relationship, even going over to surprise Scott with a kiss, much to the latter's shock and discomfort. Additionally, she indulges in adolescent rebellion as she notes making a plan to sneak out of her house to watch the band perform. However, her being swept-up in her emotions has her fail to notice how uncomfortable she is making Scott. She further changes when Scott breaks up with her and ends up with Ramona. Here, Knives experiencing heartbreak reveals further aspects of her. She initially views Ramona as having "taken" Scott away and tries to fight her to get him back. She also wrestles with insecurity on herself, even dyeing her hair to make herself seem cooler.
While she does settle down into a form of affability in Ramona, another negative aspect we seen is her own attempts of rebound, mainly with Young Neil. Primarily, she fully notes she is only dating him because of his similarities in appearances with Scott and even insulted him a bit behind his back (prompting Scott to defend him.) This reveals that far from being the innocent ingénue that she initially appears as, she is more than capable of being petty, mean, selfish, unfair, and even hypocritical. At the same time, she does maintain her goodness as she rescues Ramona from an attack on Envy because she makes Scott happy. She also notes Neil's presence in helping her afterwards, showing a potential realization of her behavior though this isn't followed up on. Her further growth comes in where she admits to Ramona what happened between her and Scott while also eventually moving on from Scott romantically (albeit still having a place in her heart for him as her first love.) Ultimately though, she becomes a stronger young woman as a result.
Relationships[]
Scott Pilgrim[]
Scott and Knives met on a bus when Scott helped her pick up a stack of books she dropped while traveling home with her mother. However, nothing is known on how the two actually became a couple, such as who asked who out or whatnot. Her being 17 and Scott being 23, Scott had no problem with the age difference since nothing seems to happen between them apart from Knives talking about her day and Scott listening. Knives for her part isn't bothered since her own parents have a larger age gap between them. The two's relationship starting out could best be described as "casually dating." Despite this, the two enjoyed one another's company as Scott served as a good listener over how Knives was doing with her life and events in school. Eventually, she's invited to a practice session of Scott's group Sex Bob-omb and after hearing "LaunchPad McQuack" (which is not the name of the song), is addicted to them, and Scott. Here, their relatonship ends up changing drastically as Knives' feelings for him grow into full-blown infatuation.
The infatuation would lead Knives to go and want to expand on her relationship over with Scott, though it would also blind her to how Scott was feeling. Beyond Scott's shock and discomfort at her change, there was also how Scott would become obsessed with Ramona due to the latter invading his dreamspace. Before long, Wallace would go and tell Scott that he had to break up with Knives after he gets with Ramona. This is when Scott breaks up with Knives at the start of Volume 2. Stalking Scott for several days, she learns of Ramona and immediately assumes Scott was cheating on her, but only because she thinks that Ramona put him under some sort of spell. She viewed her as the enemy she must defeat to win Scott back.
Knives and Scott's relationship fluctuates from Volume 3 onwards. Prior to Scott's confrontation with Todd Ingram, he admits to Knives that it was unfair on how he treated her regarding their break up. This reigntes her infatuation with him though he declines and tries to support her new relationship with Neil. She demonstrates an evolved sense of maturity afterwards when she protects Ramona from Envy, declaring that she just wants Scott to be happy. Knives continues to view Scott positively until Volume 5, when Stephen Stills tells her that Scott dated her because it was easy and dumped her as soon as someone else came along. This revelation shatters Knives' image of Scott, and she instigates a fight with Ramona out of insecurity. The fight concludes when Knives tells her that Scott had cheated on them both, disturbing Ramona.
In Volume 6, during Ramona's disappearance, Knives declared that while she won't stop loving Scott, she finally decided to move on, not wanting him anymore. Scott asks Knives for quote "Casual sex" After realizing that she turned 18 and quote "Is no longer a child according to the law". However, seconds later, he apologized for it (due to having lost control) and while Knives rejected him but she said that it would be cool if they make out for a while, they both kissed. The end result was a "horrible feeling" for them both (and even the reader). After the defeat of Gideon, when they said their goodbyes at the end of the series, she tells Scott "You'll always be my Clash At Demonhead" (Though he has no idea what she's talking about) before hugging him and departing for university.
For her obsession, Knives is viewed along with Envy, to be one of Scott's Evil Exes (really because she attacked Ramona twice).
Neil "Young Neil" Nordegraf[]
Neil would serve as Knives' rebound after Knvies would accept that Scott was with Ramona. While little is known about their relationship, Knives would admit to Scott she is only dating Neil because of his resemblance over to him. Additionally, she has been willing to insult Neil behind his back (prompting Scott to defend him). At the same time, she was appreciative of him when he came to support her after the fight with Envy.
Neil doesn't seem to speak much over on his relationship with Knives though there are hints that he may hold a slight resentment to her with how things went. However, by the end of the books though, they have returned to being on friendly terms with one another, even witnessing a practice session of Kim and Scott's together.
Stephen Stills[]
Knives and Stephen have gotten close as the novels went on, they are seen talking to each other a lot during parties in Volume 4. Julie suspects Stephen and Knives may have a mutual attraction to each other but over time she apologizes to Stephen and Knives for acting the way she did. Later on in the novels, Knives appears to be in love with Stephen. Although nothing romantic ever happened between them, they still remain very good friends.
Ramona Flowers[]
Knives and Ramona's relationship was... less than friendly
Knives and Ramona have clashed several times and appear to have a kind of love/hate relationship centralizing around Scott. In Volume 2, Knives attacks Ramona at the Toronto Reference Library with (surprise, surprise) a set of knives. Ramona assumes she's an assassin sent by Gideon, but she shrugs that off and declares herself a "Scottaholic." Ramona proves to be more than a match for Knives, however, and easily repels her attacks. The melee ends with Knives leaving Ramona a note on a knife blade reading "You're ugly, and I hate you" after learning Scott really did cheat on her with Ramona.
In Volume 3, Knives, now dating Young Neil because he looks like Scott, protects Ramona from being smashed with her own hammer by Envy stating "I just want his happiness" when asked why.
In Volume 5, she attacks Ramona in the bathroom and reveals Scott cheated on the pair of them in a brief skirmish which Ramona walks away from.
Kim Pine[]
Kim and Knives drunkenly snog
Knives and Kim have very little known dialogue before Volume 4. Despite this, Scott catches both of them and doesn't stop them, drunk, making out in Julie's aunt's house at the beginning of the book after Knives says "I've kissed the lips that kissed you" (this is later referenced in the Game through Kim's ending and Knives' assist for her). This is the same thing she said to Envy in volume 3 and even in the Film. Whether or not this was the last thing said before the make out is up to speculation.
This is also interesting as Kim initially didn't like Knives and even said she was "biting her style" by dressing like her. Given this, her relationship with Young Neil, her prior relationship with Scott, and how later she hangs around Stephen Stills a great deal (as Young Neil points out in volume 5), Knives is something of a groupie for Sex Bob-omb.
Abilities[]
Knives attacking Ramona Flowers
Fighting skills[]
Knives is a capable and agile fighter, although she is easily outmatched by Ramona. As seen in their fight in the library, Knives has immense speed in her moves. She also seems to have superhuman jumping skills as we see her jumping through the floors of the library with ease. It's also shown that despite her size, she seems to be better at parkour than Ramona, as she struggled to keep up with during the fight, though the latter is shown to be able to run up walls.
Weapons[]
Knives[]
Main article: Knives Chau's knives
Knives usually and appropriately uses knives in battle as both melee and throwing weapons. Knives appears to have a large supply of these weapons as she is always seen with at least two of her knives despite throwing some of them. Knives can throw these knives from a great distance and with great force.
Scarf[]
Although in both the books and in the game her scarf is nothing more than just an acessory, in the movie she uses it to grab Gideon's hand and disarm him.
Trivia[]
- Born in 1987, Knives is the youngest out of the seven main characters, being born eight years after Wallace Wells, the oldest of the seven main characters.
- Her friend, Tamara, was born the same year, making them two of them the youngest characters of the franchise.
- Despite being of Chinese descent, Knives doesn't speak or understand Chinese.
- Unbeknownst to Scott, he and Knives met on her 17th birthday, which is in early March.[2]
- Despite sporting her dyed hair for only about a book and a half, it eventually becomes her trademark look.
- In the comics and game, Knives dyes her hair red. But in the movie, she dyes it blue, probably because Ramona's hair was blue at that time.
- While her scarf is blue and yellow in the comics (as seen on the back cover of Volume 6 and the front cover of the color edition of Volume 2), it is black and white in the film and blue and white in the game.
- Although her main art in the game shows her wearing the same clothes she does as an assist character, Knives's clothes are slightly different as a playable character, consisting of a short black dress with gray pants underneath it.
- Knives is short in stature as she is nearly 5 ft 3 inches.[3]
- Knives' quote in Volume 2 "Chau down" (a pun on the phrase "chow down") in the Brazilian Portuguese version is translated as "Dá um tchau pra Chau" (lit. "Say goodbye to Chau"), with "tchau" being a Brazilian term for "goodbye", which has the exact same pronunciation as Knives' surname.
- However, in the Brazilian dub of the film she says "Prepare-se para a fúria de Chau" (lit. "Prepare for Chau's fury").
- Knives features on the front cover of the Volume 2 re-release as part of the Scott Pilgrim: 20th Anniversary Box Set, and on the back cover of Volume 6 in the original and 20th anniversary re-release.
- On the introduction page for Volume 4, Knives is referred to as "the teenager".
Quotes
Gallery
References[]
 Knives Chau
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| General information | Biography | Relationships | Appearances | Gallery | Powers and Abilities | Personality and Traits | Quotes |
| Items and objects | Knives Chau's knives | Knives Chau's Pixel Knives |
| Events | Graphic novels: Battle at Club Rockit | Skirmish at the Toronto Reference Library | Show at Lee's Palace | Skirmish at Lee's Palace | Gig at Lee's Palace | Encounter at the Second Cup | Fight with Robot-01 | Fight with Unnamed Third Robot | Showdown at Chaos Theatre Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: Battle at Club Rockit | Show at Lee's Palace | Toronto International Battle of the Bands | Showdown at the Ninth Circle | Showdown at Chaos Theatre Takes Off: Battle at Club Rockit | Investigation at Torontowood Studios | Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Musical | Battle at the Dream Desert |
| Running gags | "You Punched The Highlights Out Of Her Hair" | Emotional Business |
| Family | Mrs. Chau (mother) | Mr. Chau (father) |
| Residences | Toronto (Chau Residence) |
| Education | |
 Sex Bob-omb
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| Members |  Scott Pilgrim |  Stephen Stills |  Kim PineOther:  Neil Nordegraf | Knives Chau
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| Discography | Graphic novels: "LaunchPad McQuack" | "Kim's Song" | "Erasmus the Enchanter" | "Herself the Elf" Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: "We Are Sex Bob-omb" | "Garbage Truck" | "Threshold" | "Indefatigable" | "No Fun" | "Summertime" | "Gasoline Eyes" | "Disgusting Rainbow" Takes Off: "I Feel Fine" | "Orange Shirt" |
| Events | Graphic novels: Gigs | Battle at Club Rockit | Show at Lee's Palace | Gig at Lee's Palace | Bass Battle | Gig at Sneaky Dee's | Skirmish at Chaos Theatre Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: Battle at Club Rockit | Toronto International Battle of the Bands | Showdown at the Ninth Circle | Skirmish at Chaos Theatre Takes Off: Battle at Club Rockit | Battle at the Dream Desert |
| Objects, weapons and powers | Stephen's guitar | Scott's Bass | Kim's drumset | Yeti | Musical Shield |
