My Friend Pedro

Lore & Background

My Friend Pedro is a run and gun game in which the player traverses themed levels while killing enemies at the behest of a talking banana named Pedro. It iterates on the gameplay of the original Flash game, retaining similar controls, mechanics, and weaponry while adding new abilities: slowing time, kicking objects or enemies, splitting aim between targets, dodging bullets by spinning, and parkour elements such as flips, wall jumps, and rolls. Players can also ricochet bullets off frying pans or signs to kill enemies. Points are awarded for each successful hit, and each kill increases the current point multiplier; players receive a rank at the end of each level based on total points, which is shared on a global leaderboard.

The plot begins with a masked, unnamed, silent protagonist waking up in a butcher shop owned by a man named Mitch. Pedro, a floating sentient banana, instructs the protagonist that Mitch is an arms dealer who must be eliminated. After escaping and killing Mitch, the protagonist heads to the district Null, an abandoned community project home to a man named Denny and his army of bounty hunters. Denny flees but reveals that his sister Ophelia controls the Internet. The protagonist deals with Denny and confronts Ophelia via the sewers. After defeating Ophelia, it is revealed that the protagonist has been systematically killing his own family: Mitch is his father, Denny his brother, and Ophelia his sister. Pedro reveals that the protagonist despised his family for their criminal activities but could not bring himself to kill them, so he knocked himself unconscious and erased his memory to eliminate them without guilt. Pedro then jams himself into the protagonist's ear and tries to make him shoot himself. The final battle represents the protagonist's mental struggle to resist Pedro's influence. With Pedro defeated, the protagonist removes his mask, revealing that he was Pedro all along, with the banana being a figment of his imagination.

Reader's Guide

My Friend Pedro received generally favorable reviews according to Metacritic. IGN's Mitchell Saltzman gave it an 8.5/10 score, stating that it 'simply feels great to play' while noting that the campaign has little replay value. The game was nominated for 'Fresh Indie Game' with DeadToast Entertainment at The Game Awards 2019. Development began in February 2015 'on and off' until indirectly announcing full development on 4 December 2015 in a devlog. It was announced as being in pre-alpha on 21 November 2015, aimed for release on PC and eventually macOS computers. On July 2, 2020, Legendary Television announced that Dmitri M. Johnson’s DJ2 Entertainment, David Leitch, and Derek Kolstad would produce an R-rated half-hour dramedy television series adaptation of the game, with Kolstad set as showrunner. The game's significance lies in its expansion of the original Flash game's mechanics, its distinctive narrative twist, and its successful transition to multiple platforms.

Did You Know?

• My Friend Pedro is based on a 2014 Adobe Flash game titled MFP: My Friend Pedro, released by Adult Swim Games.
• The game's final battle is a visual representation of the protagonist's mental struggle to resist Pedro's influence.
• A free-to-play spin-off, My Friend Pedro: Ripe for Revenge, was released for iOS and Android on August 5, 2021.
• The protagonist's family members include Mitch (father), Denny (brother), and Ophelia (sister), all of whom he kills.