List of EarthBound characters

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This is a list of characters from the Super Nintendo role-playing game EarthBound.

Contents 1 Playable characters 1.1 Ness 1.2 Paula 1.3 Jeff 1.4 Poo 2 Other Important Characters 2.1 Doctor Andonuts 2.2 Giygas 2.3 Pokey Minch 3 Other characters 3.1 Apple Kid 3.2 Dad 3.3 Everdred 3.4 Evil Mani Mani 3.5 Master Belch 3.6 Mr. Saturn 3.7 Mom 3.8 Runaway Five 3.9 Tracy 4 References

[edit] Playable characters

[edit] Ness

Ness (ネス, Nesu^?) is a youth gifted with psychic abilities who plays the role of the main protagonist in EarthBound. Born in the town of Onett, in the fictional country of Eagleland (which is supposedly made to resemble America), Ness is a seemingly ordinary boy whose fate would be radically altered on the night of a meteor shower. Out of curiosity, he and his next-door neighbor, Pokey Minch, inspect the meteor landing site. There Ness learns from the time-traveling alien, Buzz-Buzz, that he has been chosen by the Apple of Enlightenment, a prophetic fruit, to destroy the evil alien, Giygas, who in the future destroys all of reality. To do this, he must travel to eight sanctuaries and absorb their psychic energies in order to unite his power with the Earth's. At each sanctuary, he records a fragment of a melody in his Sound Stone and experiences a personal sense memory. During the flashbacks experienced via the Sound Stone, it is revealed that Ness was born with psychokinetic abilities, and they manifested when he was an infant.

Ness is around the age of 13 at the beginning of the game. He commonly wears a red hat, a t-shirt with blue stripes, blue shorts, and red sneakers. He occasionally wears clothes such as a black t-shirt, blue shorts and sandals and other types of clothes in the video game series, Super Smash Bros.. He carries around a few toys such as a baseball bat and a yo-yo. He has black hair, black eyes and he is the same height as Lucas (Mother 3).

Ness has appeared in every game of the Super Smash Bros. series to date. He first appeared in Super Smash Bros. as a hidden character. In this game, Ness possesses none of the PSI powers that he possessed in Earthbound, but instead, he possesses three powers that his partner Paula knew: PK Fire, PK Thunder, and PSI Magnet. It is notable that Ninten, Ness's predecessor from Mother, didn't know any of these moves either, and his female counterpart, Ana, did. Ness appeared again in Super Smash Bros. Melee as a starting character. This time, Ness's own PK Flash move was added to his arsenal. Most recently, Ness has appeared as a hidden character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii^[1], alongside Lucas, the protagonist of Mother 3. In Brawl, Ness and Lucas share a powerful move known by Prince Poo and Princess Kumatora, PK Starstorm, which causes meteor-like stars to jet down upon enemies. Ness is voiced by female seiyū Makiko Ōmoto in the Super Smash Bros. series.

Ness makes a cameo in Mother 3, a game where Lucas is the protagonist. He, as well as Paula, Jeff, and Poo, appears in a movie created by King P that the protagonist views in a theater in King P's amusement-park-like metropolis known as New Pork City.

[edit] Paula

Paula Polestar, or Paula Jones (ポーラ・ジョーンズ, Pōra Jōnzu^?) in the Japanese version, is a girl who joins Ness after he saves her from the Happy Happyist Cult. Paula's family runs a preschool that Paula helps at, and she is considered popular with the children due to her kind nature. Paula's main weapon arsenal consists of frying pans, but she can also make use of yo-yos and slingshots like the other three. She also possesses extraordinary psychic abilities, PSI, similarly like Ness and Poo. One of which is her ability to telepathically contact people, even if they are in another part of the world. Her offensive moves are most useful, due to the breadth of choices and potential power. She is the only character of the chosen four who can utilize PK Fire, but Poo is able to learn PK Freeze and PK Thunder as she can.

Paula's unique "Pray" command is a key part of the game, as it plays a crucial role in the defeat of Giygas. Ordinarily, it produces a randomized result in battle, ranging from healing lights to harmful aromas. On a casual basis, many players do not tend to use her prayer ability unless in absolute jeopardy.

Paula is not only kidnapped once, but twice, in Earthbound. In Fourside, she is nabbed by the Department Store Spook and is not released until Ness and Jeff complete a number of tasks, including being warped into the abnormal mirror world of Moonside, defeating the Evil Mani Mani, and making their way up to Monotoli's room, finally freeing her.

Paula appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee and as a sticker in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

[edit] Jeff

Jeff Andonuts (ジェフ・アンドーナッツ, Jefu Andōnattsu^?) is from the Snow Wood Boarding School in Winters. His traits are those of a stereotypical nerd or whiz kid; he wears glasses and lacks physical ability, but is great with mechanics. Jeff wears glasses to correct his myopia. He wakes up in the middle of the night at a point receiving a telepathic message from Paula informing him that she and Ness need help. At that time, Ness and Paula were taken under captivity by zombies during their investigation of the undead-infested town Threed. Jeff breaks out of his dormitory with help from his friend Tony. Dr. Andonuts, his dad, lets Jeff use a machine called the Sky Runner (called Sky Walker in the Japanese version of the game) in order to travel the distance to reach Ness and save them from their imprisonment. Apparently, Jeff and Dr. Andounuts had not seen each other for 10 years before this, with the doctor saying they should get together 'in another 10 years', showing Jeff had been at school since infancy. Once he joins them, he becomes the third member of the party. By self admission, Jeff claims to be shy, and a geek, but is a willing and dedicated friend. Jeff is the only member of the four that cannot use PSI power, but he can repair broken items, making them into useful weapons and items.

Jeff appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee and also makes an appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as an Assist Trophy, launching bottle rockets at his opponents.

[edit] Poo

Poo (プー, Pū^?) is the prince of the mystical land called Dalaam (Ramma in the Japanese version), an Eastern-style country high in the sky, resting upon a pink cloud. He has undergone strict martial arts training, called 'Mu Training', and is picky to the extreme about his diet. In Earthbound, that means that when he consumes Western-style foods, such as hamburgers or pizza, he will recover feeble amounts HP or PP (Psychic Points), deeming the Western food you offer worthless and a waste of money. However, he can drink bottles of water to adequately recover PP, and Eastern foods will allow his HP more recovery than they will the other characters. He also loses less health when hit by fire and ice attacks. Very late in the game, he learns one of the most powerful PSI attacks: PK Starstorm. He also has control of a mirror ability, which allows him to essentially transform into an enemy he is battling.

He is first introduced after Ness eats the "magic cake." He completes his training by meditation, which he maintains despite a Mu spirit breaking various parts of his body, taking away everything until there is nothing left. Once mastered, Poo then teleports to Summers and declares his allegiance to Ness. Poo is taken from the party after they come up from the exit of the Pyramid in Scaraba by the Star Master, who takes him aside to teach him the powerful PK Starstorm, which he uses to finish Master Barf once Ness, Paula, and Jeff are reaching their limits. Poo is a solemn, dedicated warrior but is loyal to his friends and bringing peace to the world. Interestingly enough, Poo is very popular with the girls in Dalaam.

Poo is the final party member, and also the most well-rounded. He has a wide variety of offensive and defensive PSI, along with being decent in the attack and defense department, but his drawback is that he can only wear armor from an "of Kings" set, four special stat-boosting items only wearable by Poo. Poo cannot use any weapons except his fists, the yo-yos, slingshots (which both lower his attack) and one special item, the Sword of Kings. Unfortunately there is only a one in 128 chance of finding the Sword of Kings after defeating a Starman Super.

Poo appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee and also makes an appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a sticker power-up.

[edit] Other Important Characters

[edit] Doctor Andonuts

Doctor Andonuts (アンドーナッツ博士, Andōnattsu hakase^?) is a fictional character who first appeared in EarthBound for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and later returned in Mother 3 for the Game Boy Advance.

Doctor Andonuts is Jeff's father. When Jeff leaves Snow Wood Boarding School and finds his father's lab, Doctor Andonuts reveals that he hasn't seen Jeff in 10 years. In Mother 3, he was taken from his time to the future by Pokey and forced to work for him, creating Chimeras and other inventions.

He invented the Sky Runner (Sky Walker in Japan), is a UFO-styled aircraft. Jeff uses it to get to Threed and find Ness and Paula. It crashes, but is later fixed up so the gang can make their way to Summers. However, it crashes again, and while Ness and his friends are unhurt, a few chunks of debris are all that remain of it.

The Phase Distorter (Space Tunnel in Japan) is Dr. Andonuts's last invention in EarthBound. He works in conjunction with the Mr. Saturn population and Apple Kid, another inventor. The first Phase Distorter is stolen by Pokey before Ness and friends have a chance to use it. Dr. Andonuts and the gang have to construct another Phase Distorter, called the Phase Distorter 2.0. The Phase Distorter 2.0 takes on the appearance of a Mr. Saturn and requires Zexonyte to operate. Ness and friends must have their souls transmitted into robotic bodies to use this invention, as it would destroy their human bodies. Once the Phase Distorter is used and Ness and friends arrive at their destination, it can be used to repair the robot bodies and to call Ness's father.

[edit] Giygas

Giygas (ギーグ, Gīgu^?, Gyiyg in the Japanese version) is once again the main antagonist from Mother. Known as both the "Embodiment of Evil" and the "Universal Cosmic Destroyer," Giygas is an evil alien that intends to sentence all of reality to the horror of infinite darkness. With an army of Starmen, UFOs, and other deadly war machines, Giygas also used his immense power to influence the evil parts of the Earth's beings to assist him.

In Mother, Giygas is raised by Maria, a woman abducted along with her husband George from Earth by Giygas' alien race in the early 1900s. George studied the aliens' PSI powers without permission, and escaped back to Earth. Once he matured, Giygas was tasked by his people to make sure that PSI never spread onto Earth. However, Giygas didn't want to betray those who raised him, particularly his beloved Maria. In the end, he forced himself to detach from Maria, and began preparations for the aliens' invasion. Many years later, he starts the invasion, and is eventually confronted by the great-grandson of Maria and George, Ninten, and his companions. By singing a song once known by Maria and Giygas, the loving memories he had tried so hard to suppress weaken him. Giygas eventually surrenders, but promises revenge upon Ninten someday, and flies away.

In Mother 2, Giygas returns as the primary antagonist, though he vastly differs from his appearance in Mother. Giygas gains such tremendous evil power that it destroys his entire being, including his mind, henceforth losing all semblance of life. As such, Giygas manifests as what can only be described as pure evil; in Pokey Minch's words, "he is the evil power". Due to the loss of his mind, Giygas becomes irrational, and incapable of thought; in the final battle, Pokey points out that Giygas isn't aware of himself, or what he is doing, referring to him as "an all-mighty idiot". This is highly reminiscent of the Lovecraftian god Azathoth, who is referred to as the "Blind Idiot God".

Now wielding vast cosmic power, Giygas becomes a threat to the existence of the universe. Ten years after the beginning of Mother 2, Giygas initiates the apocalypse. The only known being who manages to escape destruction is an alien insectoid named Buzz Buzz, who travels back in time 10 years and warns Ness of the impending catastrophe. In Ness's present-day, Giygas's influence is seen throughout the Earth, mainly in the form of enemies that Ness encounters. Now existing as the whole of evil power in the universe, Giygas is able to manipulate the evil in the minds of living beings, both human and animal, and he can apparently manipulate even the forms of inanimate objects.

In the final battle, Giygas is held within the Devil's Machine, an eyeball-like machine (with an image of Ness's face inside) created to contain Giygas' tremendous power. During the battle, Pokey shuts it off, causing all of Giygas's power to be unleashed; an event that creates a chaotic, bizarre dimension all around them in which only Giygas, Pokey, and the four robots remained trapped in darkness. His attacks are random and incomprehensible, and his speech is erratic and mindless. He is eventually defeated after Paula calls out to the people of the Earth to pray (including the player), and the combined prayers reach Giygas and exploit his weakness, which turns out to be human emotions (possibly due to his loss of Maria). He fades into nothingness, and the end of all things is averted.

Giygas in some ways could be considered a tragic character, due to the fact that he was emotionally torn between fulfilling his duty for his alien race and Maria, who took care of him when he was little. When he couldn't bring himself to complete his mission the first time, he did everything he could to become emotionless and evil. This ultimately consumed him, destroying his body and mind.

Shigesato Itoi stated that his inspiration for Giygas' speech came from a traumatic childhood experience where he unwittingly viewed a rape scene in the 1957 film The Military Policeman and the Dismembered Beauty (憲兵とバラバラ死美人, Kenpei to Barabara Shibijin^?).^[2]

[edit] Pokey Minch

Pokey Minch (ポーキー・ミンチ, Pōkī Minchi^?, Porky Minch) is another boy from the suburbs of Onett; he is Ness's portly, obnoxious next-door neighbor. His family seems to hold a grudge against Ness's, because Pokey's father, Aloysius Minch, allegedly loaned a few hundred thousand dollars to Ness's dad (though he admits it could have been a lot less), and was never repaid. When a meteor shower occurs in the mountains north of their houses in Onett, Pokey and his younger brother Picky sneak out of their house to investigate. When Picky turns up missing, Pokey turns to Ness, pleading him to help him find his younger brother, clearly because he is too cowardly to go alone. After sweet-talking Ness's mother and pretending to be Ness' friend while hiding his obvious contempt of him, Ness agrees to help him. At the meteorite landing site, Ness, Pokey, and Picky meet Buzz-Buzz, an alien from 10 years in the future. Pokey learns of the impending destruction of the universe at the hands of Giygas, but convinces himself that he is not one of the heroes that the alien speaks of. When they are confronted by one of Giygas's cohorts, a Starman Jr., Pokey cowers in fear while Ness and Picky assist Buzz-Buzz in defeating the alien. After Ness escorts Pokey and Picky safely home, Pokey isn't seen again for some time. Pokey joins the Happy Happyist cult, and becomes a high priest. When Ness confronts him, he orders two of the cult's followers to attack Ness.

After the cult is disbanded, he and his father end up working as business consultants for Mayor Monotoli. He uses the money to live a luxurious life, but he eventually steals Monotoli's helicopter after Monotoli is confronted by Ness. That helicopter is shown to have been crashed in the Deep Darkness swamp, and Pokey (Now discolored from time travel,) is not seen until he appears with Giygas, where he claims that Giygas was leading him the whole time, and that he only serves "the strong and able". He expresses to Ness his new belief that Giygas should destroy the universe. He appears in an organic spider-like machine, and battles Ness and his friends (in their robotic forms) alongside Giygas. Once Giygas is destroyed, Pokey uses time travel to escape into another era, but not before taunting Ness one last time. His last message comes through Picky in the form of a note that says "Come and get me, loser! Spankety spankety spankety!"

Pokey returns in Mother 3 as The Pig King, drastically aged due to his abuse of time travel, but still mentally immature. The Pig King also makes an appearance as a boss in the Adventure Mode of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, where he attacks Ness and Mother 3's Lucas. In Brawl he is listed as the original Japanese "Porky" (similarly, his city is marked as "New Pork City," as in the untranslated Mother 3).

[edit] Other characters

[edit] Apple Kid

Apple Kid is a fat, dirty slob, but extremely intelligent and useful to Ness' quest. His first contribution to the quest is the Pencil Eraser (Octopus Erasing Machine in Japan), which he makes in exchange for some food and $200.00. When Ness reaches Threed, he invents "zombie paper," which Ness and Paula use to capture the town's zombies. After Ness defeats Evil Mani Mani, and searches for a way to rescue Paula, he invents a machine that makes trout-flavored yogurt (Strawberry Tofu in Japan), which Ness gives to Pokey's maid Electra to bargain for access to the penthouse. He later goes to Dr. Andonuts' lab in order to build the Phase Distorter (Space Tunnel in Japan), which he concluded is needed to defeat Giygas. During his visit to Dr. Andonuts' lab, he also constructs the Eraser Eraser (Kokeshi Erasing Machine). Apple Kid also has a mouse assistant. However, since it has no name (in reference to the novel I Am a Cat, which features a similarly unnamed cat protagonist^[3]), it is called the No Name Mouse.

[edit] Dad

The character of Dad is Ness' unseen father, a reference to the creator's plight in work-centered Japan, who only appears as a voice on the telephone. Even in the ending credits, a telephone appears in his place. To save the game, it is necessary to locate a phone and call dad. Dad also deposits all the money Ness earns into his bank account. At the end of the game, Ness' dad stops saving the game for you and states how he will be home in time for Ness' fourteenth birthday. It is stated in the Mother 2 story that Ness's dad works in the Hamburger Industry.

[edit] Everdred

Everdred (Tonchiki in Japan) is a hustler and thief whom the party runs into at Burglin Park in Twoson. He attacks at first (to rob Ness's party), but when he loses, Everdred gives them information about where the kidnapped Paula is being held. The next time he appears is in Fourside, where he is found lying wounded outside Jackie's Cafe. He claims that he got too close to the Mayor's secrets, and tells Ness about how to get to Moonside. Ness can ask him to repeat what he said twice, but the third time Everdred will lose his patience and stagger out of sight (off-screen). His fate is unknown (although hackers have claimed to find an unused Everdred ghost sprite), but he appears in Ness' dream.

[edit] Evil Mani Mani

Evil Mani Mani is a glorious, golden statue that brings out the evil in human beings. First found in possession of Lier X. Agerate, it is bought by Carpainter and used to control the minds of the Happy Happy cultists. It is later found in Moonside, as a living entity that attacks Ness. Once defeated, it is broken forever and Moonside vanishes. Ness's Nightmare, which is fought in Magicant, looks exactly like it, but it is unknown whether they share any connection. Since the Mani Mani is implied to mean "Dark Side" (such as in the creation of Moonside), the connection is referring to the darkside of Ness's mind. After Mani Mani's destruction, it is implied the whole moonside sequence was just an illusion, or a dream generated by the evil statue's power.

[edit] Master Belch

Master Belch (Geppu in Japan) is a large, animated pile of vomit. Master Belch is one of Giygas' most esteemed minions, is addicted to Fly Honey, and is lord over smaller piles of vomit. He enslaves the Mr. Saturns at one point to mass produce Fly Honey. He can be distracted by the Fly Honey when the party fights with him in the factory. He reappears in Deep Darkness as Master Barf and attacks the party, but after he suffers enough damage, Poo swoops in to defeat him with PK Starstorm.

[edit] Mr. Saturn

Mr. Saturn (どせいさん, Dosei-san^?) is a friendly species that aids the player's party. All individuals of the species are named Mr. Saturn, except for the friendly Dr. Saturn. They are identical in appearance, each short, peach, with an overlarge nose, whiskers, and a bow on its one hair. They speak Saturnian (composed of odd looking English letters), and erratically use the words "boing," "ding," and "zoom". Dr. Saturn says "zoomer" at the end of his sentences. ("aRE yOU kay-O? if yOU all RiGHt, tHat'S GReat. zOOmER!") The Japanese font is said to be inspired by the handwriting of the young daughter of EarthBound's designer, Shigesato Itoi. They make a return appearance in Mother 3, the Japanese sequel to "Mother 2" (EarthBound). In both games, they help with repairing or building various machines.

Mr. Saturns make their home in Saturn Valley, in Eagleland, which is just north of Threed. Their village has round homes which resemble flying saucers and/or the planet Saturn and strange furniture, such as ATMs which bounce up and down in place and resemble Mr. Saturns. Some of the Mr. Saturn's preferred foods are "almond monaka" and "pig yōkan" (changed to "peanut cheese bars" and "piggy jelly" in the English version of the game), goods that can be purchased in the Saturn Valley shop. According to Shigesato Itoi, the Mr. Saturn race are the symbolism of innocence in the game.

They also pronounce "thank you" as "yOU tHank" and OK as "Kay-O". They also have their own form of grammar ("tHE mOSt Us Pay tHat is ______. tHat kay-O On yOU? DinG! DinG!" or "yOU want tO sEll mE tHinGS at mE BOinG?").

In Super Smash Bros. Melee, Mr. Saturn appears as an item. He walks around the stage harmlessly until someone picks him up, allowing the player to hurl him at opponents. The player can earn bonuses based on Mr. Saturn, like "Mr. Saturn Fan" (using only Mr. Saturns), "Mrs. Saturn" (holding on to a particular Mr. Saturn for 30 seconds or more), "Saturn Siblings" (using three or more different Mr. Saturns) and "Saturn Ringer" (catching a Mr. Saturn thrown by another player). Mr. Saturn also returned for the sequel, Super Smash Bros. Brawl. ^[4]

Mr. Saturn also makes an appearance in the sub-game "The Great Cave Offensive" from the game Kirby Super Star as a treasure chest item.

[edit] Mom

This is Ness's mother. In game, she may offer Ness a dinner of his favorite food and allow him a comfortable stay, fully replenishing his health. This hospitality is most useful during the start of the game, when it is easy to return to Ness's house. During his travels, however, Ness may develop a case of homesickness, where his dishearted state may lead him to daydream rather than take his turn to attack an enemy. This can be cured with a call back home, where the "sweet sound of his mother's voice" refreshes Ness and makes him feel better. According to the novelization, she was formerly a supermodel when Ness was a small child.

[edit] Runaway Five

Runaway Five (Tonzura Brothers in Japan) is a band that performs in Twoson and, later, Fourside. Despite being called Runaway Five, the band is actually composed of six members: two singers (who also dance on stage) and four instrumentalists. In Twoson, Ness frees the band from a large debt to the owner of the Chaos Theater with a wad of bills acquired from Everdred. In return, the band gives Ness a ride to Threed. In Fourside, the band has incurred an even larger debt to the owner of the Topolla Theater which Ness pays with a large diamond. They repay this second act of charity by aiding Ness in the Monotoli Building by pushing a button on the invincible Clumsy Robot, deactivating it and saving Ness and Jeff. They also pray for Ness and his party during the final battle.

Many believe them to be an homage to the Saturday Night Live Blues Brothers band as they are often caught in a pinch with money and resemble the characters.

[edit] Tracy

Tracy is Ness's younger sister. At the beginning of the game, she offers him her cracked bat that Ness uses as his first weapon. Tracy later serves as a storage for Ness and his friends, taking in most obtainable items to be kept for later use. Alternatively, Tracy gets a part-time job at Escargo Express and can be contacted on the phone to exchange items. If this option is utilized, Ness and his party must wait for a brief period of time before a deliveryman appears to accept their items at the cost of $18.

[edit] References

v • d • e EarthBound video game series Titles Mother · EarthBound · Mother 1 + 2 · Mother 3 Characters Mother  · EarthBound  · Mother 3