Cassandra (2024)

"I've been listening to goth music all my life... It never said anything about apples!"

―Cassandra, Pico's School

Cassandra is the main antagonist and final boss of Pico's School. She is the leader of the Goth Punks and the main perpetrator of the school shooting. She is secretly a Penilian, an alien species from outer space, disguised as a human.

General information[]

Physical appearance[]

Cassandra has short red hair with two points at the front, comparable to demon horns, white eyes and a red sweater. She wears a gray jacket and boots with red soles and bright yellow upside-down crosses. She also has short red nails and has red lipstick on her bottom lip. Cassandra carries a TEC-9 in her right hand and a small dark gray book in her left with a yellow pentagram on it. She is also sometimes shown with a pair of Penilian eyes, which have yellow sclerae and black irises. She never seems to smile and is constantly scowling. In MindChamber's redesign for a proposed Pico's School remake, she has a more pronounced feminine figure.

As a Penilian, Cassandra looks like every other Penilian. She has two horns protruding down with six horns on the side of her head, and her eyes are reptilian-like. She is also scowling, just like in her human form.

Personality[]

Superficially, Cassandra appears to be an aloof, angry goth kid who hates society and rules. In reality, Cassandra is a shapeshifting alien mastermind merely manipulating social outcasts to do her dirty work, and actively despises the goth culture she mimics. Cassandra is cunning and manipulative, but also crass, foul-mouthed, arrogant, and impatient. She views herself as superior to humans, much like the rest of her species. She shows no respect for human life, even killing her own henchmen for no other reason than frustration.

In Pico's School: Love Conquers All, despite her disdain for the human race and goth subculture, she genuinely enjoys their music; so much that when Pico expresses a mutual interest in it, it stops her from shooting up the school. This also seems to suggest that beneath her intimidating and conniving exterior, Cassandra is also very lonely and will jump at any chance for a genuine connection with another person. She is also a furry.

Relationships[]

The following is based solely on canonical information.
Characters unrelated to the Pico franchise are not included.

Goth Punks[]

Cassandra is the leader of the Goth Punks. She convinced them to help her commit the school shooting in Pico's School. However, she is only using them as a means to an end, as she has no qualms about killing two of them with her own hands and, by her own words, "[she doesn't] give a sh*t about any of this society crap".

Hanzo[]

In Pico's School: Love Conquers All, it is revealed that Hanzo didn't want to kill anyone, but took part in the school shooting anyway because he didn't want to disappoint Cassandra, who was the only person that had treated him well.

History[]

Pico's School[]

In Pico's School, Cassandra is first seen at the beginning of the game in Pico's class. When the teacher asks the class who has ever eaten a banana, she runs to the front of the class mad and states that she never heard about apples in the songs she listened to, proceeding to shoot the teacher and kids but leaving Pico alive. It is later revealed by Cyclops that she kept Pico alive because she had a crush on him.

She is later seen introducing Pico to Alucard, telling him that he has interesting telekinetic powers and that Pico has never heard of him because he was always "too busy being popular."

Once Pico defeats Hanzo and enters the Teacher's Lounge, Cassandra is found alongside two other goth punks. After a conversation with Pico, she kills the goths alongside her and transforms into her Penilian form. The fight begins and Pico needs to shoot her penis to deal damage. If he shoots the flammable barrel above her, it will explode, causing the wall behind her to collapse. After that, the police will help him fight Cassandra, which unlocks the "Bruckheimer" achievement. She ends up castrated and is presumed dead.

Pico Roulette[]

In Pico Roulette, Cassandra appears as a playable character.

Pico's School: Love Conquers All[]

In Pico's School: Love Conquers All, the game begins as normal, except Pico reveals he has similar interests to Cassandra. He then takes her on a walk and redeems her gang, showing her the beauty of the world. She is afraid to live with humans due to them being hom*ophobic and Penilians being naturally gay, but Pico shows her that not all humans are anti-gay, by introducing her to his boyfriend. They all agree to take Cassandra to a museum to teach her about culture. However, Cassandra reveals herself to be a furry who enjoys arousing art, leaving Pico and Boyfriend in shocked silence.

Friday Night Funkin'[]

In a livestream, Cassandra was confirmed as an upcoming character in Friday Night Funkin' by one of the developers, PhantomArcade.

The content below is not official to the Pico franchise.

Newgrounds Rumble[]

In Newgrounds Rumble, Cassandra (in her Penilian form) makes a cameo appearance in the background of the Pico's School stage.

Pico Blast[]

In Pico Blast, Cassandra makes a short cameo in an onscreen photograph during the game's intro, where The Commissioner guesses that goths could've hijacked the train-yard.

Indie Game Battle[]

In Indie Game Battle, one of Pico's alternative costumes references Cassandra, using her color scheme.

Quotes[]

"Enough of this crap!"

―Cassandra, Pico's School

"The American education system is bullsh*t! Rip the system! End fascism! KEIN MEHRHEIT FÜR DIE MITLEID! BeRzErKeR!"

―Cassandra, Pico's School

"You sure are a nosey bastard, Pico. Have you ever met Alucard? You're always too busy being popular. He has interesting telekinetic powers. Observe!"

―Cassandra, Pico's School

"Not bad, Prico. You are already too late, however. The time of the punk rock/goth gestapo has come! Wish you were part of it? You could have been a nonconformist just like the rest of us! But no - you had to express your individuality in forms other than your clothing."

―Cassandra, Pico's School

"You think I need these f*cks to help me kill you?! To be honest, I don't give a sh*t about any of this society crap. I have other plans for this world."

―Cassandra, Pico's School

"Weird, I didn't think any kids at this school listened to the same music as me."

―Cassandra, Pico's School: Love Conquers All

"Your offer is tempting but I'm actually an interdimensional being sent here to reign terror and prepare your society for authoritarian rule."

―Cassandra, Pico's School: Love Conquers All

"Well jeez, when you put it that way... I guess I was being a bit selfish."

―Cassandra, Pico's School: Love Conquers All

"No, you're right. I was only thinking about what I wanted and not the needs of others. I've been acting like a grade-A dingus."

―Cassandra, Pico's School: Love Conquers All

"I've been... reconsidering our options. Maybe killing everyone wasn't the best idea."

―Cassandra, Pico's School: Love Conquers All

"I'll admit the people of your world aren't as horrible as I thought. However, there is one important thing we can not forgive. You see, on our planet, Penilians are what you would call, "gay". And it is our understanding that your planet is hom*ophobic."

―Cassandra, Pico's School: Love Conquers All

"We had not realized how far your civilization has progressed. Pico, you've convinced me. I shall spare your planet and come live among you."

―Cassandra, Pico's School: Love Conquers All

"Tell me, do you have museums dedicated to... Furry art?"

―Cassandra, Pico's School: Love Conquers All

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

• At the beginning of the game, Cassandra shouts, “Enough of this crap!” This is a reference to Eric Harris, one of the Columbine school shooters, who posted lyrics of KMFDM's "Stray Bullet" on his personal website.
  • The band's political stance may have influenced Cassandra, as themes of anti-fascism are present. Ironically, there's a lot more songs by them that are anti-war and anti-violence.
    • In the original 1999 version of Pico’s School, in the opening when Cassandra starts talking, a loop of the beginning of KMFDM’s "Godlike" is played. However, this was changed to "Talkin' Smack" in later versions.
• Cassandra's weapon of choice seems to be an Intratec TEC-9, which is the same brand of gun that was used by Dylan Klebold in the Columbine shooting.
• It was confirmed by Tom Fulp that Cassandra's name was misspelled as Casandra in Pico's School.^[1]
  • In the German translation, Casandra's name is corrected to Cassandra and her German message is changed to "KEIN MITLEID MEHR," which roughly translates to "no more pity" and she instead says that the German Education system is "bullsh*t" rather than the American one.
  • Cassandra's name was corrected in Pico Roulette and Pico’s School: Love Conquers All. However, in a dialogue section with Cyclops in Pico’s School: Love Conquers All, there is an instance where it is misspelled as Casandra.
• Cassandra is likely based off of Aaron Cole, a fan of Tom Fulp who emailed him during the aftermath of the Columbine School massacre.
  • The influence can be seen with her speaking German and identifying with goth culture.
• Within Cassandra's animation in Pico Roulette, she inserts the gun into her crotch. This means that she is most likely biologically female in her human form.
• Cassandra's hair is shaped like the head of a Penilian upside down.
  • Interestingly, one of Cassandra’s hair horns is slightly bigger than the other. However, this is likely an oversight.
• As a Penilian, Cassandra appears to be significantly larger than the other Penilians seen in UFA.
• When asked what species Cassandra's fursona would be, Tom Fulp responded with a picture of a fennec fox.^[2]
• After she wins a round in Pico Roulette, Cassandra actually cracks a smile.
• Cassandra's eyes have been shown to switch from the normal white eyes that most characters have, to a pair of Penilian eyes.
  • They switch during her death animation in Pico Roulette, after she shoots herself and begins bleeding.
  • In Pico's School: Love Conquers All, she shows them to Pico when she reveals to him that she is an "interdimensional being."
  • Also in Pico's School: Love Conquers All, when smoking the medicinal herb, she can be seen with them; however they have a slight pink tint, indicating that she is high.
• Tom Fulp has confirmed that Cassandra's favorite music artists are My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult and KMFDM.^[3]

References[]