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* ArtifactOfDoom: The Mani Mani Statue gives off greedy thoughts to any nearby individual who comes across it.
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* BigCreepyCrawlies: The first "Your Sanctuary" boss is the Titanic Ant.
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[[folder:A]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:B]]
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[[folder:C]]
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[[/folder]]
[[folder:D]]
[[folder:D]]
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** Original copies of the game were bundled with the complete strategy guide at no extra charge. So if you must shout "guide dang it!" [[ReadTheFreakingManual you need not shout too loudly]].
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** Original copies of the game were bundled with the complete strategy guide at no extra charge. So if you must shout "guide dang it!" [[ReadTheFreakingManual you need not shout too loudly]].
loudly.]]
[[/folder]]
[[/folder]]
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* CrapsackWorld: Eagleland is filled with [[MayorPain corrupt mayors]] (played straight with [[CorruptCorporateExecutive B.H. Pirkle]], subverted with [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Mr. Monotoli]]), gangs, an [[PoliceAreUseless incompetent police force]], [[ApatheticCitizens citizens]] who are anything ''BUT'' [[HumansAreMorons trustworthy]], and wild animals roaming around. In fact, when Ness has to go to Twoson, the cops deal with the situation by [[PoliceBrutality picking a fight with him]] just because he [[DisproportionateRetribution didn't read the sign on the traveller's shack that said "DO NOT ENTER" and went in anyway]]. Summers isn't exactly the nicest place to take a vacation either, thus earning the name "[[MeaningfulName Eternal Tourist Trap]]". And all that's ''before'' Giygas wreaks havoc upon the Earth. It's no surprise that four children are chosen to do some good for a world of immoral deadbeats.
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* CrapsackWorld: Eagleland is filled with [[MayorPain corrupt mayors]] (played straight with [[CorruptCorporateExecutive B.H. Pirkle]], subverted with [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Mr. Monotoli]]), gangs, an [[PoliceAreUseless incompetent police force]], [[ApatheticCitizens citizens]] who are anything ''BUT'' [[HumansAreMorons trustworthy]], and wild animals roaming around. In fact, when Ness has to go to Twoson, the cops deal with the situation by [[PoliceBrutality picking a fight with him]] just because he [[DisproportionateRetribution didn't read the sign on the traveller's shack that said "DO NOT ENTER" and went in anyway]]. Summers isn't exactly the nicest place to take a vacation either, thus earning the name "[[MeaningfulName Eternal Tourist Trap]]". And all that's ''before'' Giygas wreaks havoc upon the Earth. It's no surprise that four children are chosen to do some good for a world of immoral deadbeats.More or less.
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--> ''You finally got here. This is the first "Your Tropes Page". But it's mine now. Take it from me, if you dare...''
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--> ''You finally got here. This is the first "Your Tropes Page".Tropes" page. But it's mine now. Take it from me, if you dare...''
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--> You can view the main page [[VideoGame/{{EarthBound}} HERE!]]
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--> ''You finally got here. This is the first "Your Tropes Page". But it's mine now. Take it from me, if you dare...''
You can view the main page [[VideoGame/{{EarthBound}} HERE!]]
You can view the main page [[VideoGame/{{EarthBound}} HERE!]]
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* BigScrewedUpFamily[=/=]DysfunctionalFamily: If it weren't for [[OnlySaneMan Picky]], you can count his whole family just plain evil.
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* BigScrewedUpFamily[=/=]DysfunctionalFamily: If it weren't for [[OnlySaneMan Picky]], you can count his whole the Minch family to be just plain evil.
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* BigScrewedUpFamily[=/=]DysfunctionalFamily: If it weren't for [[OnlySaneMan Picky]], you can count his whole family just plain evil.
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* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: [[spoiler: The Evil Mani Mani statue in the deep recesses of Ness' mind.]]
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* BiggerOnTheInside: All of the houses and buildings in the game has this concept.
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* CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority
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* CrapsackWorld: Eagleland is filled with [[MayorPain corrupt mayors]] (played straight with [[CorruptCorporateExecutive B.H. Pirkle]], subverted with [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Mr. Monotoli]]), gangs, an [[PoliceAreUseless incompetent police force]], [[ApatheticCitizens citizens]] who are anything ''BUT'' [[HumansAreMorons trustworthy]], and wild animals roaming around. In fact, when Ness has to go to Twoson, the cops deal with the situation by [[PoliceBrutality picking a fight with him]] just because he [[DisproportionateRetribution didn't read the sign on the traveller's shack that said "DO NOT ENTER" and went in anyway]]. Summers isn't exactly the nicest place to take a vacation either, thus earning the name "[[MeaningfulName Eternal Tourist Trap]]". And all that's ''before'' Giygas wreaks havoc upon the world. It's no surprise that four children are chosen to do some good for a world of immoral deadbeats.
to:
* CrapsackWorld: Eagleland is filled with [[MayorPain corrupt mayors]] (played straight with [[CorruptCorporateExecutive B.H. Pirkle]], subverted with [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Mr. Monotoli]]), gangs, an [[PoliceAreUseless incompetent police force]], [[ApatheticCitizens citizens]] who are anything ''BUT'' [[HumansAreMorons trustworthy]], and wild animals roaming around. In fact, when Ness has to go to Twoson, the cops deal with the situation by [[PoliceBrutality picking a fight with him]] just because he [[DisproportionateRetribution didn't read the sign on the traveller's shack that said "DO NOT ENTER" and went in anyway]]. Summers isn't exactly the nicest place to take a vacation either, thus earning the name "[[MeaningfulName Eternal Tourist Trap]]". And all that's ''before'' Giygas wreaks havoc upon the world.Earth. It's no surprise that four children are chosen to do some good for a world of immoral deadbeats.
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* CreepyCemetery: Threed has one the first time you enter there. [[NightOfTheLivingMooks Come on, were you '''NOT''' expecting enemies?]]
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* CreepyCemetery: Threed has one the first time you enter there. [[NightOfTheLivingMooks Come on, were you '''NOT''' NOT expecting enemies?]]
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* CreepyCemetery: Threed has one the first time you enter there. [[NightOfTheLivingMooks Come on, were you '''NOT'' expecting enemies?]]
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* CreepyCemetery: Threed has one the first time you enter there. [[NightOfTheLivingMooks Come on, were you '''NOT'' '''NOT''' expecting enemies?]]
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* EverytownAmerica: Onett is the quintessential '50s Amer- er, [[Eagleland Eaglandian]] town, replete with school, burger joint, arcade, City Hall and gang of street toughs. And a meteor, but we don't talk about the meteor. Twoson and Threed may also count, but Onett is the more obvious one.
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** TheKlan: Truth be told, Nintendo apparently thought that the Happy Happists resembled the Ku Klux Klan in many ways.
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** TheKlan: Truth be told, Nintendo apparently thought that the Happy Happists resembled the Ku Klux Klan in many ways. ways.
* CreepyCemetery: Threed has one the first time you enter there. [[NightOfTheLivingMooks Come on, were you '''NOT'' expecting enemies?]]
* CreepyCemetery: Threed has one the first time you enter there. [[NightOfTheLivingMooks Come on, were you '''NOT'' expecting enemies?]]
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* EverythingsDeaderWithZombies: Why else is Threed in the game?
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'''Tropes A To G''' | EarthBound/TropesHToM | EarthBound/TropesNToS | EarthBound/TropesTToZ |
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'''Tropes A To G''' | EarthBound/TropesHToM | EarthBound/TropesNToS | EarthBound/TropesTToZ |
EarthBound/TropesTToZ
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* DeepSouth: Twoson can be depicted as this. It can also be depicted as a SweetHomeAlabama.
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* GeniusLoci: Dungeon Man. It even goes far enough to say that he's a walking, talking dungeon made from the dungeon builder Dungeon Man.
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** If you gave Ness a different name, then Ness's Nightmare will be [[TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything renamed accordingly as well]]!
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** If you gave Ness a different name, then Ness's Nightmare will be [[TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything renamed accordingly as well]]!well!]]
* EasilyThwartedAlienInvasion
* EasilyThwartedAlienInvasion
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** CultColony
** TheKlan: Truth be told, Nintendo apparently thought that the Happy Happists resembled the Ku Klux Klan in many ways.
** TheKlan: Truth be told, Nintendo apparently thought that the Happy Happists resembled the Ku Klux Klan in many ways.
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* TheChanteuse: Venus.
** LittleBlackDress
** LittleBlackDress
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* {{Foreshadowing}}: The hint about [[VideoGame/{{MOTHER3}} the sequel]]can be found in the final moments of final battle.
-->[[spoiler:'''Pokey:''']] ''"Ness! Now, I... well... It's going to seem like I'm running away, but perhaps I'll just [[VideoGame/{{Mother 3}} sneak away to another era]] to think about my next plan."''
-->[[spoiler:'''Pokey:''']] ''"Ness! Now, I... well... It's going to seem like I'm running away, but perhaps I'll just [[VideoGame/{{Mother 3}} sneak away to another era]] to think about my next plan."''
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* {{Foreshadowing}}: The hint about [[VideoGame/{{MOTHER3}} the sequel]]can sequel]] can be found in the final moments of final battle.
-->[[spoiler:'''Pokey:''']] ''"Ness! Now, I... well... It's going to seem like I'm running away, but perhaps I'll just[[VideoGame/{{Mother 3}} [[VideoGame/{{MOTHER3}} sneak away to another era]] to think about my next plan."''
-->[[spoiler:'''Pokey:''']] ''"Ness! Now, I... well... It's going to seem like I'm running away, but perhaps I'll just
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* {{Foreshadowing}}: The hint about [[VideoGame/Mother3 the sequel]]can be found in the final moments of final battle.
-->[[spoiler:'''Pokey:''' ''"Ness! Now, I... well... It's going to seem like I'm running away, but perhaps I'll just [[VideoGame/{{Mother 3}} sneak away to another era]] to think about my next plan."''
-->[[spoiler:'''Pokey:''' ''"Ness! Now, I... well... It's going to seem like I'm running away, but perhaps I'll just [[VideoGame/{{Mother 3}} sneak away to another era]] to think about my next plan."''
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* {{Foreshadowing}}: The hint about [[VideoGame/Mother3 [[VideoGame/{{MOTHER3}} the sequel]]can be found in the final moments of final battle.
-->[[spoiler:'''Pokey:''' -->[[spoiler:'''Pokey:''']] ''"Ness! Now, I... well... It's going to seem like I'm running away, but perhaps I'll just [[VideoGame/{{Mother 3}} sneak away to another era]] to think about my next plan."''
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* {{Foreshadowing}}: "Ness! Now, I... well... It's going to seem like I'm running away, but perhaps I'll just [[VideoGame/{{Mother 3}} sneak away to another era]] to think about my next plan."
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* {{Foreshadowing}}: "Ness! The hint about [[VideoGame/Mother3 the sequel]]can be found in the final moments of final battle.
-->[[spoiler:'''Pokey:''' ''"Ness! Now, I... well... It's going to seem like I'm running away, but perhaps I'll just [[VideoGame/{{Mother 3}} sneak away to another era]] to think about my next plan.""''
-->[[spoiler:'''Pokey:''' ''"Ness! Now, I... well... It's going to seem like I'm running away, but perhaps I'll just [[VideoGame/{{Mother 3}} sneak away to another era]] to think about my next plan.
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* GangBangers: The Sharks.
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--> You can view the main page [[VideoGame/EarthBound HERE!]]
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--> You can view the main page [[VideoGame/EarthBound [[VideoGame/{{EarthBound}} HERE!]]
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--> You can view the main page [[VideoGame/{{EarthBound}} HERE!]]
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--> You can view the main page [[VideoGame/{{EarthBound}} [[VideoGame/EarthBound HERE!]]
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'''Tropes A To G''' | EarthBound/TropesHToM | EarthBound/TropesNToS | EarthBound/TToZ |
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'''Tropes A To G''' | EarthBound/TropesHToM | EarthBound/TropesNToS | EarthBound/TToZ EarthBound/TropesTToZ |
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----> TropesHToM [[EarthBound/TropesHToM HERE!]]
----> TropesNToS [[EarthBound/TropesNToS HERE!]]
----> TropesTToZ [[EarthBound/TropesTToZ HERE!]]
----> TropesNToS [[EarthBound/TropesNToS HERE!]]
----> TropesTToZ [[EarthBound/TropesTToZ HERE!]]
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----> TropesNToS [[EarthBound/TropesNToS HERE!]]
----> TropesTToZ [[EarthBound/TropesTToZ HERE!]]
'''Tropes A To G''' | EarthBound/TropesHToM | EarthBound/TropesNToS | EarthBound/TToZ |
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--> You can view the main page [[VideoGame/{{EarthBound}} HERE!]]
----> TropesHToM [[EarthBound/TropesHToM HERE!]]
----> TropesNToS [[EarthBound/TropesNToS HERE!]]
----> TropesTToZ [[EarthBound/TropesTToZ HERE!]]
----
* AbusiveParents: In the Japanese version, Porky and his brother are spanked off camera by their father after you bring them back home at the start of the game. In the American version, the sound effect was changed to the one later used when enemies use "speaking attacks", the idea being that he's just scolding them.
** Also, when you talk to Porky after that off-camera incident, he'll say, "My butt hurts!" in the original version, while in the U.S. version, Pokey says, "My dad really got after me. He said I get no dessert for the rest of the decade..."
* AddressingThePlayer: Used [[spoiler:in one of the most emotional boss battle endings ever.]]
* AdventureTowns: One city is filled with delinquent children, another has a cultist group just around the corner, another is in the middle of a ZombieApocalypse...
* AerithAndBob: Ness, Jeff, Paula and... [[UnfortunateNames Poo]]? Heck, even Ness may qualify.
** Talk to the Sanchez brothers in the desert between Threed and Fourside. In order, their names are Pancho, Pincho, and ''Tomas Jefferson''.
* AIRoulette: More striking because there are multiple AI moves that do nothing, and still more that ''inflict bad status effects on the enemy that uses them''. Much of this, though, serves to enhance the game's odd world and contribute to the RuleOfFunny.
* AllCavemenWereNeanderthals
* AllInARow
* AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs: Giygas' agents invade Onett in the game's final act.
* AlmostDeadGuy: Buzz Buzz and debatably Everdred.
* AlwaysNight: Threed, at least until the zombie infestation is cleared up.
* AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield: in every battle.
* AmbidextrousSprite: It's the YAWAИUЯ van when facing left. Naturally, due to this trope, the Cyrillic letters are 100% unintentional.
** The same goes for Pokey's heli.
* AnimateInanimateObject: So many enemies. This is a game where stop signs, possessed garbage cans, and anthropomorphic molecules are likely to try and kill you.
* AnotherDimension: Both Moonside and [[{{Wackyland}} Magicant]] are sort of AnotherDimension-PhantomZone hybrids.
* AnthropomorphicFood: The coffee cups.
* ArcVillain: Prominent in the first half of the game, with Frank in Onett, Mr. Carpainter in Twoson and Happy Happy Village, Master Belch in Threed, and Monotoli in Fourside. Though the real Arc Villain of the first half of the game is the Mani Mani Statue, a corrupting illusion device.
* AshFace: Colliding with a person or obstacle when attempting to teleport causes the user to turn black with soot and a smile.
* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: [[spoiler: When you get to the lost world,]] your size shrinks thanks to how huge everything (including the enemies) are compared to your normal size.
* AutobotsRockOut: [[spoiler:Pokey]]'s battle music starts out 8-bit and simple, reminiscent of ''Dragon Warrior'', the series which inspired this one. A minute in, the instrumentals revert to heavy metal.
* AwardBaitSong: "Smiles and Tears". It had official lyrics in the Japanese instruction booklet, but it didn't have official vocals until 2010.
* AwesomeButImpractical: The Casey Bat.
** The Casey Bat becomes AwesomeYetPractical when trying to find the Sword of Kings. But there are plenty of other relatively useless items covered under this trope, like the Pair of Dirty Socks.
*** [[http://www.baseball-almanac.com/poetry/po_case.shtml What this item is a reference to:]]
** The higher levels of PK Rockin' can feel like this because it requires significantly more PP than any other PSI move in the game. And unlike Paula and Poo, Ness doesn't have access to PSI Magnet to replenish PP. It does have its uses, like when you REALLY need to kill something fast, or when all the enemies are on separate "rows", making it impossible to hit everything with PK Fire.
* AwesomeYetPractical: Bags of Dragonite, the Bottle Rockets, and Jeff's Heavy Bazooka are among some of things.
* BadFuture: According to Buzz Buzz, this was the state of the future under Giygas's control. It was presumably averted with Giygas's defeat.
* BeamMeUpScotty: Giygas never actually said "I feel... h...a...p...p...y...", although many people quote him on this. He said "I'm h...a...p...p...y..." and "I feel... g... o... o... d..." but he never actually said "I feel... h...a...p...p...y...".
* BecauseDestinySaysSo
* BetterThanABareBulb: Brick Road's dungeon [[spoiler: and Dungeon Man]] has tons of signs that lampshade many dungeon cliches.
* BigBadDuumvirate: [[spoiler:Giygas and Pokey Minch]], or so it seems; no-one can be completely sure if they're equals, or if one is pulling the strings of the other.
* BigDamnHeroes:
** "All of a sudden, some guys rushed into the room! It was the Runaway Five!"
** Poo!
** Jeff is this to Ness and Paula, although not the player; you actually have to go save Ness and Paula while playing as Jeff.
** And ''[[spoiler:[[BreakingTheFourthWall the player]]]]''.
* BizarroUniverse: Moonside.
* BlahBlahBlah: If you talk to the officer next to Chief Strong who had scolded you for entering Giant Step, he'll say the following dialogue:
-->'''Police Officer:''' So here you are. You're the little delinquent that came back from Giant Step! Now you listen here... "Don't Enter" means just that-- DO NOT ENTER! You got that? And furthermore... Blah blah Blah blah It's usually those tax evaders who... Blah blah Blah blah We don't enjoy blocking off the roads, you know... Blah blah Blah blah It's usually the local whiners that make a big deal about emergencies and meteorites! Blah blah Blah blah Blah blah
** If you talk to him again:
--->'''Police Officer:''' Didn't you see the "Don't Enter" sign? That means I'm there to stop you when you're on your way out! So pay attention next time... And furthermore... Blah, blah Blah, blah
* BlindingBangs: Pokey's and Picky's.
* BookEnds: That red static on the title screen sure looks like [[spoiler:the unstable Giygas being destroyed at the game's end]].
** The second scene of the game and TheStinger open with one of the Minch brothers pounding on your door in the middle of the night.
* BooksThatBite: See EverythingTryingToKillYou.
* BossInMookClothing: Final Starman.
* BoringReturnJourney: Subverted. It's entirely possible to have one after defeating Giygas, but since you can teleport by that point, there's really no reason to.
* BottomlessBladder: There are washrooms, but they're always occupied.
* {{Bowdlerization}}: As one would expect from a game localized in the nineties, there are quite a few of these; [[http://earthboundcentral.com/m2eb/ EarthBound Central compares and profiles them here]].
* BreadEggsBreadedEggs: When Ness takes Paula back to her house and talks to her mother, she says that she has made "a hand-made band-aid. Oooh! That rhymes! I'll call it a Hand-Aid!" This was actually [[{{Woolseyism}} added to the English translation]], as the Japanese version did not give a reason for the Hand-Aid's name.
* BreakingTheFourthWall: The fourth wall is [[SlidingScaleOfFourthWallHardness a bit soft]] in this game.
** In the beginning of the game, if you have your bat without having it equipped and talk to Pokey before leaving your house, he'll specifically tell you to equip it. If you respond no to his question of if you know what equip means, he'll say "'Equip' is used a lot in games like this, but you already knew that..."
** In the FirstTown, a dog tells Ness that he's been possessed by the spirit of the game designer to explain something.
** Those good moles who give you game advice. ''"Oh, I mean in front of you!!"''
** [[spoiler:You, the player, enter your name multiple times throughout the game, under the guise of Jeff's friend Tony contacting you via phone.]]
** Finally, [[spoiler:the ''player'' helps to destroy Giygas, and is thanked by name, as per above.]]
* BrokenBridge: {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d - the Onett police department is famous for closing roads, and are reportedly going for the world record of most roads closed because of emergency.
** Also played straight, in that there is also a literal broken bridge in Peaceful Rest Valley. When you first enter the dungeon, you must take the long way around the bridge, but after you complete the dungeon, it gets fixed and acts as a shortcut back through.
* BugBuzz: When Buzz Buzz joins your party, his buzzing sound fills up the background music.
* BumblingDad: Paula's.
* ButThouMust: When Pokey wakes Ness up in the middle of the night, he asks him to help find his younger brother, Picky. If you refuse to help him, Pokey says he will say something that will "[[FelonyMisdemeanor cut you like a knife]]", and then bring up the Yes/No choice again. If you refuse again, he will say that he was just kidding, and won't actually say anything like that, and then asks you again, keeping you in a looped conversation until you say Yes.
* CamelCase: ''VideoGame/EarthBound''.
* CarnivoreConfusion: One of the healing items in the game is the Hamburger. Later on, [[LetsMeetTheMeat you have a conversation with a cow]].
* CelebrityEndorsement: In Japan, ''[=EarthBound=]'' was heavily promoted by [[PeripheryDemographic Takuya]] [[EstrogenBrigade Kimura]] (who is still the ideal man of most Japanese women today) of the boy band SMAP. He was on the advertisements and commercials — granted that the game was also advertised towards young women, there's a likely chance that many women started playing the game because of him. Not only that, but all the nameable characters could be named after the members of SMAP using the "Don't Care" option!
** Similarly, one of the biggest selling points for the series as a whole in Japan was that Itoi is a popular celebrity and the games were something he made, to the point where tagging his name onto the ads was a big part of the campaign.
* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:The meteor that kicks off the adventure is used much, ''much'' later to provide what you need for time travel.]]
* ChurchOfHappyology: The Happy-Happyists, who are dedicated to painting everything blue, to the exclusion of all else -- including spouses, children, and even their own needs.
* CircleOfFriendship / ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: [[spoiler:Giygas is ultimately defeated by people all around the world joining in prayer... including the player.]]
* ClimaxBoss: The Mani Mani Statue.
* CombinedEnergyAttack: The way to defeat Giygas.
* ContinuityNod: Ness's eight Sanctuaries, the places where he finds the Eight Melodies, use for background music a remix of Queen Mary's Lullabye, aka [[VideoGame/{{Mother 1}} the original Eight Melodies]].
** The first time you leave your house during the day, "Pollyanna" (the outdoor theme from ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER|1}}'' before you get any other party members) plays for a few bars before segueing into the Onett theme.
* CopyProtection: Legendary for its unusually fiendish brutality. If you ran the game from a copied cartridge or cartridge-copying device, bad things would happen. Like ''the game suddenly crashing and all your saves getting deleted during the final boss fight,'' for instance.
* CosmicHorrorStory: After the GenreShift from comedy, occurring roughly around the Stonehenge base assault.
* CoversAlwaysLie: On the cover, Ness is reflected in the [[BossInMookClothing Final Starman's]] visor. By the time you ''do'' encounter the Final Starman, you'll be in TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon. The offense? [[spoiler: You're in robotic bodies at that point, so Ness' face is not visible.]]
** It is possible that [[spoiler:the face is Giygas's and not Ness's; Giygas can and does have Ness's face at one point, and Final Starman can be directly taking its orders. The face seems to be inside a sphere, as well.]]
* CrapsackWorld: Eagleland is filled with [[MayorPain corrupt mayors]] (played straight with [[CorruptCorporateExecutive B.H. Pirkle]], subverted with [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Mr. Monotoli]]), gangs, an [[PoliceAreUseless incompetent police force]], [[ApatheticCitizens citizens]] who are anything ''BUT'' [[HumansAreMorons trustworthy]], and wild animals roaming around. In fact, when Ness has to go to Twoson, the cops deal with the situation by [[PoliceBrutality picking a fight with him]] just because he [[DisproportionateRetribution didn't read the sign on the traveller's shack that said "DO NOT ENTER" and went in anyway]]. Summers isn't exactly the nicest place to take a vacation either, thus earning the name "[[MeaningfulName Eternal Tourist Trap]]". And all that's ''before'' Giygas wreaks havoc upon the world. It's no surprise that four children are chosen to do some good for a world of immoral deadbeats.
* CreativeClosingCredits: Say, "Fuzzy Pickles"! Note that each image in Ness' slideshow is 100% accurate, including their statuses at the time. (KO'd characters still have halos over their heads.)
* {{Cult}}: The Happy Happists. Blue, blue...
* CurtainCall: The cast roll at the very end of the game.
* CutTheJuice: When Ness and Jeff inflict enough damage on the Clumsy Robot, the Runaway Five burst in, and turn it off by flipping a switch on its back. If you inflict enough damage by its own attack, the Runaway Five turn the robot off a second time because of a glitch.
* DamageOverTime: Whenever a character receives damage or healing, their LifeMeter rolls down or up to the new value over time (rather than instantly), the speed of which is governed by the character's individual "Guts" stat. Side effects like CriticalExistenceFailure do not trigger based on the raw damage a character has received, but the value that's currently shown on their meter instead.
* DamageSpongeBoss: The Clumsy Robot - your party is incomplete for this fight, and the Robot can take a lot of punishment. Worse, sometimes it eats a bologna sandwich ([[FridgeLogic somehow]]) and maxes out its HP again . . . [[spoiler:Except it doesn't. The sandwich does nothing, and the battle dialog actually lies to your face about it. [[ThatOneBoss Not that this makes the fight any easier...]]]]
** [[spoiler:In other words, the bologna sandwich's effect [[FridgeBrilliance is nothing but]] [[StealthPun baloney]].]]
* DarkWorld: Moonside, though [[spoiler: it's a hallucination caused by the Mani Mani Statue]].
* DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: While you lose half your money when your party is defeated, the ability to keep your money in an ATM basically means that you never need to lose ANY amount of money. A game over is more or less an inconvenience, rather than any sort of peril to avoid.
** However, near the end of the game the ATMs are replaced by people that charge ridiculous handling fees, which encourages you to carry your hard earned cash on you at all times.
** It's worth it to note that dying and continuing leads to only your front character being alive (and with no PP). In certain areas, this leads to some difficult situations.
* DebugRoom: Fairly elaborate, accessible only with these Game Genie codes: 6B88-54D4, 3188-5404, 3E88-5464. This menu contains, among other things, a {{Kirby}} sprite as the menu cursor -- an artifact left by a HAL Laboratory programmer, perhaps.
** Although, another more well-known debug menu exists as well -- one intended to be used during the game, similar to ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG''. This menu is also reachable via one of the options from the former... and is significantly trickier to figure out, since it remains untranslated from Japanese despite the lack of a Japanese font. Only a few words are recognisable as compressed garbled [[IntentionalEngrishForFunny Engrish]] -- "SUND" for Sound, "TRP-T" for Teleport, and "[=GtZStTI=]" for Goods Edit, for example.
* DefeatMeansFriendship: Frank Fly, Everdred, and a few other supporting characters.
* DegradedBoss: The Kraken.
* DesertSkull: You can actually have a conversation with a cattle skeleton in the Dusty Dunes Desert.
* {{Determinator}}: Any character, if their Guts stat is sufficiently high, will hang in there through repeated mortal blows for a very long times - enough, usually, to heal them completely.
** The HitPoints in this game rolls down, much like a odometer in your car. When a character takes enough damage to be knocked out, it will say "X has taken Y points of mortal damage!" but they won't actually die until the meter rolls down to zero. This will lead to you rushing to heal the party member or end the battle before their HP counter rolls down to zero and they die. There's a chance that the game will omit the "mortal" part in the message and the meter will stop at one instead of zero, the chances of this happening depends on the character's Guts stat.
** There's also an item called the "Sudden Guts Pill" that, when used in battle, will temporarily double the character's Guts stat for the duration. However, it's incredibly rare, and the one shop that has it sells it at a ridiculous price.
* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything: In the PlayableEpilogue, Ness can finally return the map to the Onett library and the bike to the Twoson bicycle shop. How considerate!
** If you take said bike into the rain forest in said epilogue and ride it through the puddles, it gets its own unique sound effect that never plays at any other point in the game.
** You're in a cave, where you need to give monkeys a certain item so they'll let you pass. Depending on the items that you have, this may or may not turn into a ChainOfDeals-type quest. There are two monkeys that ask for Hamburgers... however, Double Burgers also fit the requirement.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: [[spoiler: Ness didn't, Paula didn't, Jeff didn't, Poo didn't, but '''''you, the player, sure as hell did!''''']]
* DismantledMacGuffin: In musical form: the Eight Melodies, scattered across the Your Sanctuary locations, combine to form the Sound Stone's song.
* DisproportionateRetribution: [[spoiler: Pokey's motivation for the remainder of the game.]]
* DontExplainTheJoke: In the Japanese version, the welcome sign for Twoson tells you that it is the second town and asks, "Did you notice?" The English version [[{{Woolseyism}} handles this]] by saying, "We got this name because we weren't first."
* DoomyDoomsOfDoom: The Plague Rat OF DOOM.
* DubNameChange: Too many to list, but worthy of note is that the [[TropeNamers trope-naming]] New Age Retro Hippie was more simply known as a "carefree guy" in the Japanese version, with the English translation giving the trope name. Threek was changed to Threed due to an oversight by the original writers -- although it was most likely intended to sound like a combination of "three" and "eek!" due to the zombies, Nintendo of America didn't want people misreading it as "Three K," in other words, "KKK."
* DuelBoss: Ness's Nightmare. Also, the bosses encountered before rescuing Paula - Frank Fly, Frankystein Mk. II, Titanic Ant, and Mr. Carpainter.
** If you gave Ness a different name, then Ness's Nightmare will be [[TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything renamed accordingly as well]]!
* EasterEgg: Early in the game, the police chief will explain that "...kids like you should be at home playing Nintendo games in a time like this!"
** Then again, if you go back to Onett later on, you'll find the police chief talking about how he's having a hard time playing this game called ''[=EarthBound=]''.
*** If you visit a certain are in Onett after defeating Giygas, you can read a newspaper that has a story about Onett's police chief completing EarthBound, and asks, "Where is the sequel?".
** There's also a [[DevelopmentHell planning meeting]] for [[VideoGame/{{Mother 3}} [=EarthBound=] 2]] in Fourside.
*** Which only twists the knife if you live [[NoExportForYou outside Japan]].
** One of the Sharks, a local gang Ness fights early in the game, asks if you'd like to join. The correct response in order to continue the plot is "no". Answering "yes" will prompt the gang member to tell you to come back after completing ''[=EarthBound=]''.
* EccentricTownsfolk: Hippies, Angry Ladies, Drunks...
* EdibleThemeNaming: The Apple Kid and Orange Kid.
* ElaborateUndergroundBase: Giygas's army has one at Stonehenge.
* EldritchAbomination: Giygas.
* EldritchLocation: Moonside. Also, it's entirely possible that Giygas is sufficiently large and amorphous that once he's released from the Devil's Machine, he is one of these of his own accord instead of being just an EldritchAbomination.
* ElementalTiers: Elemental attacks have different areas of effect. Ice is a single-target, Fire hits a whole row but does less damage, and Lightning targets a random enemy and is prone to missing frequently unless there are many enemies. So even if you're facing a lightning-vulnerable boss you probably want to use ice, and same goes for if the fire-weak enemies are on multiple rows.
* EmergencyTransformation: Dr. Andonuts transplants the heroes' souls into robot bodies. Without them, you can't chase Giygas into the distant past.
* EnlightenmentSuperpowers: This is how Prince Poo gets two critical level ups. [[spoiler: Coupled with a JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind, it's also how Ness gets his biggest level up of the game going into the GrandFinale.]]
* EscapeRope: The Exit Mice. They can even be found in [[ThatOneLevel long dungeons]]!
* EpilepticFlashingLights: Moonside.
* [[spoiler:EveryoneJoinTheParty: While fighting the BigBad, the only way to beat him is to use the up until then useless skill "Pray," which causes all the [=NPCs=] in the world, plus the player, to pray together, which destroys him.]]
* EverythingTryingToKillYou: Animals, stop signs, hippies, robots, animate ''cups of coffee'', and [[OurMonstersAreWeird a hundred other weird monsters]], including those god-damn exploding trees!
* EvilTowerOfOminousness: The Monotoli Building.
* {{Expy}}: Ness, Paula and Jeff are near-identical to their original ''Mother'' counterparts Ninten, Ana, and Loid, and even hold many of the same abilities. Frank Fly appears to be an expy of Teddy, but he's not playable.
** The main two of The Runaway Five (Lucky and Gorgeous) bare a striking resemblance to TheBluesBrothers.
** The Starmen feature an uncanny resemblance to the...figure in the infamous 'Solway Firth' photograph. [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/solwaystarman_5765.jpg Note the white suit/skin, the dark visor where the eyes should be, and the Starman's trademark Superman pose.]]
* FanSequel: [[http://cogdis.tazmily.com/ Cognitive Dissonance]]. - or Fan Prequel, rather.
** Not to mention it heavily inspired ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}''; the name of which is intended as a ShoutOut to this game.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture
** {{Eagleland}}: Both the TropeNamer and a solid Flavor 1.
** {{Wutai}}: Dalaam
** {{Qurac}}: Scaraba
** DarkestAfrica: Deep Darkness
** Winters has features of Britain (albeit with [[SlippySlideyIceWorld even worse weather]]), and Summers is a vaguely southern European resort town.
* FatherNeptune: The captain outside the boat you're supposed to get on when going to Scaraba.
* FightWoosh: There are four different kinds. The gray woosh means that the battle will go on as normal. Sneak up behind an enemy to get a [[color:green:green woosh]] and a surprise attack. Don't let the enemy sneak up behind you or you'll get a [[color:red:red woosh]] and ''they'll'' get a surprise attack on ''you!'' The fourth kind is the spiky one used for bosses.
* [[FiveManBand Four Man Band]]:
** TheHero: Ness
** TheLancer / TheChick: Paula
** TheSmartGuy: Jeff
** TheBigGuy: Poo
** And an oddly straight example, The Runaway Five! An actual band made up of five people (actually six with the keyboardist who is only seen on stage... seven if you count Venus).
* ForcedLevelGrinding: A little, mostly just to get Ness and Paula's levels up early in game.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: "Ness! Now, I... well... It's going to seem like I'm running away, but perhaps I'll just [[VideoGame/{{Mother 3}} sneak away to another era]] to think about my next plan."
* FollowTheLeader: The Tengi Makyou/Far East Of Eden, which shares this series's offbeat humour, with hilarious writings, taking place in a fictional Japan based on exaggerated conceptions by the west. The fourth one even takes place in a fictional America, with hilarious results. The first game appeared after Mother 1, in 1989. It unfortunately shares its NoExportForYou status.
* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: [[spoiler:Inverted; the fourth wall doesn't protect Giygas from ''you'']].
* FreeRangeChildren: The Chosen Four themselves, as well as some of their [[GuestStarPartyMember friend]][[NonPlayerCharacter s]] from around the region.
* FromBeyondTheFourthWall: [[spoiler: You kill Giygas. You, personally, called by your name when everything else has failed.]]
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** The person in the hotel room in Twoson when you first arrive, who's been Mushroomized. S/he asks "Do I have a mushroom on my head?" Ness answers "Yes," and the person says "That's what I thought... Recently, I couldn't walk quite right. It's because of this mushroom. [[MushroomSamba It's actually kind of fun, so I'll leave it there]]." DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything?
** "You will be gone, and you'll be burning in... Well, you'll go to heaven!"
** "You strange, unmasked fellow! Don't go to heaven!" Actually, this line was left intact from the Japanese version.
** One grandma asks Ness if he has grandchildren. If he answers "Yes", her answer is hilarious. Also, when you control Jeff for the first time, Tony's attempt to help you escape is rather... um.
** On some occasions, they had literally got the word "Crap" past the radar.
** When Picky and Pokey's father beats them, the sound effect was changed to something sounding a bit more cartoony in the American release. However, the implications of child abuse was ''not'' lost on any older gamer.
* GirlOfMyDreams: Can happen with Ness -- if he sleeps in inns before he battles the Happy Happyists, he will receive psychic pleas from the imprisoned Paula. And it also happens with Jeff, who receives similar psychic pleas from Paula when she and Ness are trapped in Threed.
* GlobalCurrency: Slightly more acceptable here. Sure, the world only uses one currency, but it's ''dollars''. And stuff in other countries is more expensive, but this may be because of the SortingAlgorithmOfWeaponEffectiveness, and one of the last towns is a tourist resort. The signs for stores in other countries also make a point of stating that they do indeed accept Eagleland currency, something real foreign stores would do to promote tourist spending.)
** It starts to get ridiculous though when a FLOATING KINGDOM only accessible by teleportation is seen to accept them...
* GoBackToTheSource: Ness and the others must fight Giygas at a point in time when he was much weaker.
* GoodHurtsEvil: How Giygas meets his end.
* GoodMorningCrono: {{Justified|Trope}} by the fact that the game begins in the middle of the night. The main character is wide awake by the time the sun rises.
* GuestStarPartyMember: Quite a few, ranging from Pokey, his brother Picky, Ness's dog King, an [[ItMakesSenseInContext alien insect from the future]], Jeff's friend Tony, to an {{invisib|ility}}le man with a unibrow and a gold tooth, a [[ItMakesSenseInContext giant animated tower, to inanimate teddy bears, demonic ghosts that can possess you, and manifestations of Ness's subconscious]]. Some of them are more useful than others.
** In the last moments of the final battle with Giygas, [[spoiler:the player -- as in, the one holding the controller -- as in, ''YOU'']] join the party. And it is ''awesome.''
* GuideDangIt: Figuring out that you're supposed to [[spoiler:pray]] in the final battle can be tough without checking a guide, as the game only drops a few subtle hints.
-->[[spoiler:'''Pokey''': Do you want to scream for help here in the dark?! ... I know you have telepathy or something, so just '''''[[NiceJobFixingitVillain try and call for help]]'''''!]]
** Buzz Buzz does somewhat tell you even from the start. His final words are of you having to "unite with the Earth's power". This can be seen as [[spoiler:both having to find all Eight Melodies and as uniting all as one in prayer.]]
** Possibly making it even tougher is when, the eighth time you [[spoiler:pray]], you get a message saying "Paula's [[spoiler:prayer]] was absorbed by the darkness." This can make players think that [[spoiler:prayer]] no longer works and you're supposed to return to simply beating Giygas up again. Actually, you're supposed to [[spoiler:pray]] AGAIN, one last time, to finish the battle.
** Original copies of the game were bundled with the complete strategy guide at no extra charge. So if you must shout "guide dang it!" [[ReadTheFreakingManual you need not shout too loudly]].
----
----> TropesHToM [[EarthBound/TropesHToM HERE!]]
----> TropesNToS [[EarthBound/TropesNToS HERE!]]
----> TropesTToZ [[EarthBound/TropesTToZ HERE!]]
----
* AbusiveParents: In the Japanese version, Porky and his brother are spanked off camera by their father after you bring them back home at the start of the game. In the American version, the sound effect was changed to the one later used when enemies use "speaking attacks", the idea being that he's just scolding them.
** Also, when you talk to Porky after that off-camera incident, he'll say, "My butt hurts!" in the original version, while in the U.S. version, Pokey says, "My dad really got after me. He said I get no dessert for the rest of the decade..."
* AddressingThePlayer: Used [[spoiler:in one of the most emotional boss battle endings ever.]]
* AdventureTowns: One city is filled with delinquent children, another has a cultist group just around the corner, another is in the middle of a ZombieApocalypse...
* AerithAndBob: Ness, Jeff, Paula and... [[UnfortunateNames Poo]]? Heck, even Ness may qualify.
** Talk to the Sanchez brothers in the desert between Threed and Fourside. In order, their names are Pancho, Pincho, and ''Tomas Jefferson''.
* AIRoulette: More striking because there are multiple AI moves that do nothing, and still more that ''inflict bad status effects on the enemy that uses them''. Much of this, though, serves to enhance the game's odd world and contribute to the RuleOfFunny.
* AllCavemenWereNeanderthals
* AllInARow
* AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs: Giygas' agents invade Onett in the game's final act.
* AlmostDeadGuy: Buzz Buzz and debatably Everdred.
* AlwaysNight: Threed, at least until the zombie infestation is cleared up.
* AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield: in every battle.
* AmbidextrousSprite: It's the YAWAИUЯ van when facing left. Naturally, due to this trope, the Cyrillic letters are 100% unintentional.
** The same goes for Pokey's heli.
* AnimateInanimateObject: So many enemies. This is a game where stop signs, possessed garbage cans, and anthropomorphic molecules are likely to try and kill you.
* AnotherDimension: Both Moonside and [[{{Wackyland}} Magicant]] are sort of AnotherDimension-PhantomZone hybrids.
* AnthropomorphicFood: The coffee cups.
* ArcVillain: Prominent in the first half of the game, with Frank in Onett, Mr. Carpainter in Twoson and Happy Happy Village, Master Belch in Threed, and Monotoli in Fourside. Though the real Arc Villain of the first half of the game is the Mani Mani Statue, a corrupting illusion device.
* AshFace: Colliding with a person or obstacle when attempting to teleport causes the user to turn black with soot and a smile.
* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: [[spoiler: When you get to the lost world,]] your size shrinks thanks to how huge everything (including the enemies) are compared to your normal size.
* AutobotsRockOut: [[spoiler:Pokey]]'s battle music starts out 8-bit and simple, reminiscent of ''Dragon Warrior'', the series which inspired this one. A minute in, the instrumentals revert to heavy metal.
* AwardBaitSong: "Smiles and Tears". It had official lyrics in the Japanese instruction booklet, but it didn't have official vocals until 2010.
* AwesomeButImpractical: The Casey Bat.
** The Casey Bat becomes AwesomeYetPractical when trying to find the Sword of Kings. But there are plenty of other relatively useless items covered under this trope, like the Pair of Dirty Socks.
*** [[http://www.baseball-almanac.com/poetry/po_case.shtml What this item is a reference to:]]
** The higher levels of PK Rockin' can feel like this because it requires significantly more PP than any other PSI move in the game. And unlike Paula and Poo, Ness doesn't have access to PSI Magnet to replenish PP. It does have its uses, like when you REALLY need to kill something fast, or when all the enemies are on separate "rows", making it impossible to hit everything with PK Fire.
* AwesomeYetPractical: Bags of Dragonite, the Bottle Rockets, and Jeff's Heavy Bazooka are among some of things.
* BadFuture: According to Buzz Buzz, this was the state of the future under Giygas's control. It was presumably averted with Giygas's defeat.
* BeamMeUpScotty: Giygas never actually said "I feel... h...a...p...p...y...", although many people quote him on this. He said "I'm h...a...p...p...y..." and "I feel... g... o... o... d..." but he never actually said "I feel... h...a...p...p...y...".
* BecauseDestinySaysSo
* BetterThanABareBulb: Brick Road's dungeon [[spoiler: and Dungeon Man]] has tons of signs that lampshade many dungeon cliches.
* BigBadDuumvirate: [[spoiler:Giygas and Pokey Minch]], or so it seems; no-one can be completely sure if they're equals, or if one is pulling the strings of the other.
* BigDamnHeroes:
** "All of a sudden, some guys rushed into the room! It was the Runaway Five!"
** Poo!
** Jeff is this to Ness and Paula, although not the player; you actually have to go save Ness and Paula while playing as Jeff.
** And ''[[spoiler:[[BreakingTheFourthWall the player]]]]''.
* BizarroUniverse: Moonside.
* BlahBlahBlah: If you talk to the officer next to Chief Strong who had scolded you for entering Giant Step, he'll say the following dialogue:
-->'''Police Officer:''' So here you are. You're the little delinquent that came back from Giant Step! Now you listen here... "Don't Enter" means just that-- DO NOT ENTER! You got that? And furthermore... Blah blah Blah blah It's usually those tax evaders who... Blah blah Blah blah We don't enjoy blocking off the roads, you know... Blah blah Blah blah It's usually the local whiners that make a big deal about emergencies and meteorites! Blah blah Blah blah Blah blah
** If you talk to him again:
--->'''Police Officer:''' Didn't you see the "Don't Enter" sign? That means I'm there to stop you when you're on your way out! So pay attention next time... And furthermore... Blah, blah Blah, blah
* BlindingBangs: Pokey's and Picky's.
* BookEnds: That red static on the title screen sure looks like [[spoiler:the unstable Giygas being destroyed at the game's end]].
** The second scene of the game and TheStinger open with one of the Minch brothers pounding on your door in the middle of the night.
* BooksThatBite: See EverythingTryingToKillYou.
* BossInMookClothing: Final Starman.
* BoringReturnJourney: Subverted. It's entirely possible to have one after defeating Giygas, but since you can teleport by that point, there's really no reason to.
* BottomlessBladder: There are washrooms, but they're always occupied.
* {{Bowdlerization}}: As one would expect from a game localized in the nineties, there are quite a few of these; [[http://earthboundcentral.com/m2eb/ EarthBound Central compares and profiles them here]].
* BreadEggsBreadedEggs: When Ness takes Paula back to her house and talks to her mother, she says that she has made "a hand-made band-aid. Oooh! That rhymes! I'll call it a Hand-Aid!" This was actually [[{{Woolseyism}} added to the English translation]], as the Japanese version did not give a reason for the Hand-Aid's name.
* BreakingTheFourthWall: The fourth wall is [[SlidingScaleOfFourthWallHardness a bit soft]] in this game.
** In the beginning of the game, if you have your bat without having it equipped and talk to Pokey before leaving your house, he'll specifically tell you to equip it. If you respond no to his question of if you know what equip means, he'll say "'Equip' is used a lot in games like this, but you already knew that..."
** In the FirstTown, a dog tells Ness that he's been possessed by the spirit of the game designer to explain something.
** Those good moles who give you game advice. ''"Oh, I mean in front of you!!"''
** [[spoiler:You, the player, enter your name multiple times throughout the game, under the guise of Jeff's friend Tony contacting you via phone.]]
** Finally, [[spoiler:the ''player'' helps to destroy Giygas, and is thanked by name, as per above.]]
* BrokenBridge: {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d - the Onett police department is famous for closing roads, and are reportedly going for the world record of most roads closed because of emergency.
** Also played straight, in that there is also a literal broken bridge in Peaceful Rest Valley. When you first enter the dungeon, you must take the long way around the bridge, but after you complete the dungeon, it gets fixed and acts as a shortcut back through.
* BugBuzz: When Buzz Buzz joins your party, his buzzing sound fills up the background music.
* BumblingDad: Paula's.
* ButThouMust: When Pokey wakes Ness up in the middle of the night, he asks him to help find his younger brother, Picky. If you refuse to help him, Pokey says he will say something that will "[[FelonyMisdemeanor cut you like a knife]]", and then bring up the Yes/No choice again. If you refuse again, he will say that he was just kidding, and won't actually say anything like that, and then asks you again, keeping you in a looped conversation until you say Yes.
* CamelCase: ''VideoGame/EarthBound''.
* CarnivoreConfusion: One of the healing items in the game is the Hamburger. Later on, [[LetsMeetTheMeat you have a conversation with a cow]].
* CelebrityEndorsement: In Japan, ''[=EarthBound=]'' was heavily promoted by [[PeripheryDemographic Takuya]] [[EstrogenBrigade Kimura]] (who is still the ideal man of most Japanese women today) of the boy band SMAP. He was on the advertisements and commercials — granted that the game was also advertised towards young women, there's a likely chance that many women started playing the game because of him. Not only that, but all the nameable characters could be named after the members of SMAP using the "Don't Care" option!
** Similarly, one of the biggest selling points for the series as a whole in Japan was that Itoi is a popular celebrity and the games were something he made, to the point where tagging his name onto the ads was a big part of the campaign.
* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:The meteor that kicks off the adventure is used much, ''much'' later to provide what you need for time travel.]]
* ChurchOfHappyology: The Happy-Happyists, who are dedicated to painting everything blue, to the exclusion of all else -- including spouses, children, and even their own needs.
* CircleOfFriendship / ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: [[spoiler:Giygas is ultimately defeated by people all around the world joining in prayer... including the player.]]
* ClimaxBoss: The Mani Mani Statue.
* CombinedEnergyAttack: The way to defeat Giygas.
* ContinuityNod: Ness's eight Sanctuaries, the places where he finds the Eight Melodies, use for background music a remix of Queen Mary's Lullabye, aka [[VideoGame/{{Mother 1}} the original Eight Melodies]].
** The first time you leave your house during the day, "Pollyanna" (the outdoor theme from ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER|1}}'' before you get any other party members) plays for a few bars before segueing into the Onett theme.
* CopyProtection: Legendary for its unusually fiendish brutality. If you ran the game from a copied cartridge or cartridge-copying device, bad things would happen. Like ''the game suddenly crashing and all your saves getting deleted during the final boss fight,'' for instance.
* CosmicHorrorStory: After the GenreShift from comedy, occurring roughly around the Stonehenge base assault.
* CoversAlwaysLie: On the cover, Ness is reflected in the [[BossInMookClothing Final Starman's]] visor. By the time you ''do'' encounter the Final Starman, you'll be in TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon. The offense? [[spoiler: You're in robotic bodies at that point, so Ness' face is not visible.]]
** It is possible that [[spoiler:the face is Giygas's and not Ness's; Giygas can and does have Ness's face at one point, and Final Starman can be directly taking its orders. The face seems to be inside a sphere, as well.]]
* CrapsackWorld: Eagleland is filled with [[MayorPain corrupt mayors]] (played straight with [[CorruptCorporateExecutive B.H. Pirkle]], subverted with [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Mr. Monotoli]]), gangs, an [[PoliceAreUseless incompetent police force]], [[ApatheticCitizens citizens]] who are anything ''BUT'' [[HumansAreMorons trustworthy]], and wild animals roaming around. In fact, when Ness has to go to Twoson, the cops deal with the situation by [[PoliceBrutality picking a fight with him]] just because he [[DisproportionateRetribution didn't read the sign on the traveller's shack that said "DO NOT ENTER" and went in anyway]]. Summers isn't exactly the nicest place to take a vacation either, thus earning the name "[[MeaningfulName Eternal Tourist Trap]]". And all that's ''before'' Giygas wreaks havoc upon the world. It's no surprise that four children are chosen to do some good for a world of immoral deadbeats.
* CreativeClosingCredits: Say, "Fuzzy Pickles"! Note that each image in Ness' slideshow is 100% accurate, including their statuses at the time. (KO'd characters still have halos over their heads.)
* {{Cult}}: The Happy Happists. Blue, blue...
* CurtainCall: The cast roll at the very end of the game.
* CutTheJuice: When Ness and Jeff inflict enough damage on the Clumsy Robot, the Runaway Five burst in, and turn it off by flipping a switch on its back. If you inflict enough damage by its own attack, the Runaway Five turn the robot off a second time because of a glitch.
* DamageOverTime: Whenever a character receives damage or healing, their LifeMeter rolls down or up to the new value over time (rather than instantly), the speed of which is governed by the character's individual "Guts" stat. Side effects like CriticalExistenceFailure do not trigger based on the raw damage a character has received, but the value that's currently shown on their meter instead.
* DamageSpongeBoss: The Clumsy Robot - your party is incomplete for this fight, and the Robot can take a lot of punishment. Worse, sometimes it eats a bologna sandwich ([[FridgeLogic somehow]]) and maxes out its HP again . . . [[spoiler:Except it doesn't. The sandwich does nothing, and the battle dialog actually lies to your face about it. [[ThatOneBoss Not that this makes the fight any easier...]]]]
** [[spoiler:In other words, the bologna sandwich's effect [[FridgeBrilliance is nothing but]] [[StealthPun baloney]].]]
* DarkWorld: Moonside, though [[spoiler: it's a hallucination caused by the Mani Mani Statue]].
* DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: While you lose half your money when your party is defeated, the ability to keep your money in an ATM basically means that you never need to lose ANY amount of money. A game over is more or less an inconvenience, rather than any sort of peril to avoid.
** However, near the end of the game the ATMs are replaced by people that charge ridiculous handling fees, which encourages you to carry your hard earned cash on you at all times.
** It's worth it to note that dying and continuing leads to only your front character being alive (and with no PP). In certain areas, this leads to some difficult situations.
* DebugRoom: Fairly elaborate, accessible only with these Game Genie codes: 6B88-54D4, 3188-5404, 3E88-5464. This menu contains, among other things, a {{Kirby}} sprite as the menu cursor -- an artifact left by a HAL Laboratory programmer, perhaps.
** Although, another more well-known debug menu exists as well -- one intended to be used during the game, similar to ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG''. This menu is also reachable via one of the options from the former... and is significantly trickier to figure out, since it remains untranslated from Japanese despite the lack of a Japanese font. Only a few words are recognisable as compressed garbled [[IntentionalEngrishForFunny Engrish]] -- "SUND" for Sound, "TRP-T" for Teleport, and "[=GtZStTI=]" for Goods Edit, for example.
* DefeatMeansFriendship: Frank Fly, Everdred, and a few other supporting characters.
* DegradedBoss: The Kraken.
* DesertSkull: You can actually have a conversation with a cattle skeleton in the Dusty Dunes Desert.
* {{Determinator}}: Any character, if their Guts stat is sufficiently high, will hang in there through repeated mortal blows for a very long times - enough, usually, to heal them completely.
** The HitPoints in this game rolls down, much like a odometer in your car. When a character takes enough damage to be knocked out, it will say "X has taken Y points of mortal damage!" but they won't actually die until the meter rolls down to zero. This will lead to you rushing to heal the party member or end the battle before their HP counter rolls down to zero and they die. There's a chance that the game will omit the "mortal" part in the message and the meter will stop at one instead of zero, the chances of this happening depends on the character's Guts stat.
** There's also an item called the "Sudden Guts Pill" that, when used in battle, will temporarily double the character's Guts stat for the duration. However, it's incredibly rare, and the one shop that has it sells it at a ridiculous price.
* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything: In the PlayableEpilogue, Ness can finally return the map to the Onett library and the bike to the Twoson bicycle shop. How considerate!
** If you take said bike into the rain forest in said epilogue and ride it through the puddles, it gets its own unique sound effect that never plays at any other point in the game.
** You're in a cave, where you need to give monkeys a certain item so they'll let you pass. Depending on the items that you have, this may or may not turn into a ChainOfDeals-type quest. There are two monkeys that ask for Hamburgers... however, Double Burgers also fit the requirement.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: [[spoiler: Ness didn't, Paula didn't, Jeff didn't, Poo didn't, but '''''you, the player, sure as hell did!''''']]
* DismantledMacGuffin: In musical form: the Eight Melodies, scattered across the Your Sanctuary locations, combine to form the Sound Stone's song.
* DisproportionateRetribution: [[spoiler: Pokey's motivation for the remainder of the game.]]
* DontExplainTheJoke: In the Japanese version, the welcome sign for Twoson tells you that it is the second town and asks, "Did you notice?" The English version [[{{Woolseyism}} handles this]] by saying, "We got this name because we weren't first."
* DoomyDoomsOfDoom: The Plague Rat OF DOOM.
* DubNameChange: Too many to list, but worthy of note is that the [[TropeNamers trope-naming]] New Age Retro Hippie was more simply known as a "carefree guy" in the Japanese version, with the English translation giving the trope name. Threek was changed to Threed due to an oversight by the original writers -- although it was most likely intended to sound like a combination of "three" and "eek!" due to the zombies, Nintendo of America didn't want people misreading it as "Three K," in other words, "KKK."
* DuelBoss: Ness's Nightmare. Also, the bosses encountered before rescuing Paula - Frank Fly, Frankystein Mk. II, Titanic Ant, and Mr. Carpainter.
** If you gave Ness a different name, then Ness's Nightmare will be [[TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything renamed accordingly as well]]!
* EasterEgg: Early in the game, the police chief will explain that "...kids like you should be at home playing Nintendo games in a time like this!"
** Then again, if you go back to Onett later on, you'll find the police chief talking about how he's having a hard time playing this game called ''[=EarthBound=]''.
*** If you visit a certain are in Onett after defeating Giygas, you can read a newspaper that has a story about Onett's police chief completing EarthBound, and asks, "Where is the sequel?".
** There's also a [[DevelopmentHell planning meeting]] for [[VideoGame/{{Mother 3}} [=EarthBound=] 2]] in Fourside.
*** Which only twists the knife if you live [[NoExportForYou outside Japan]].
** One of the Sharks, a local gang Ness fights early in the game, asks if you'd like to join. The correct response in order to continue the plot is "no". Answering "yes" will prompt the gang member to tell you to come back after completing ''[=EarthBound=]''.
* EccentricTownsfolk: Hippies, Angry Ladies, Drunks...
* EdibleThemeNaming: The Apple Kid and Orange Kid.
* ElaborateUndergroundBase: Giygas's army has one at Stonehenge.
* EldritchAbomination: Giygas.
* EldritchLocation: Moonside. Also, it's entirely possible that Giygas is sufficiently large and amorphous that once he's released from the Devil's Machine, he is one of these of his own accord instead of being just an EldritchAbomination.
* ElementalTiers: Elemental attacks have different areas of effect. Ice is a single-target, Fire hits a whole row but does less damage, and Lightning targets a random enemy and is prone to missing frequently unless there are many enemies. So even if you're facing a lightning-vulnerable boss you probably want to use ice, and same goes for if the fire-weak enemies are on multiple rows.
* EmergencyTransformation: Dr. Andonuts transplants the heroes' souls into robot bodies. Without them, you can't chase Giygas into the distant past.
* EnlightenmentSuperpowers: This is how Prince Poo gets two critical level ups. [[spoiler: Coupled with a JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind, it's also how Ness gets his biggest level up of the game going into the GrandFinale.]]
* EscapeRope: The Exit Mice. They can even be found in [[ThatOneLevel long dungeons]]!
* EpilepticFlashingLights: Moonside.
* [[spoiler:EveryoneJoinTheParty: While fighting the BigBad, the only way to beat him is to use the up until then useless skill "Pray," which causes all the [=NPCs=] in the world, plus the player, to pray together, which destroys him.]]
* EverythingTryingToKillYou: Animals, stop signs, hippies, robots, animate ''cups of coffee'', and [[OurMonstersAreWeird a hundred other weird monsters]], including those god-damn exploding trees!
* EvilTowerOfOminousness: The Monotoli Building.
* {{Expy}}: Ness, Paula and Jeff are near-identical to their original ''Mother'' counterparts Ninten, Ana, and Loid, and even hold many of the same abilities. Frank Fly appears to be an expy of Teddy, but he's not playable.
** The main two of The Runaway Five (Lucky and Gorgeous) bare a striking resemblance to TheBluesBrothers.
** The Starmen feature an uncanny resemblance to the...figure in the infamous 'Solway Firth' photograph. [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/solwaystarman_5765.jpg Note the white suit/skin, the dark visor where the eyes should be, and the Starman's trademark Superman pose.]]
* FanSequel: [[http://cogdis.tazmily.com/ Cognitive Dissonance]]. - or Fan Prequel, rather.
** Not to mention it heavily inspired ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}''; the name of which is intended as a ShoutOut to this game.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture
** {{Eagleland}}: Both the TropeNamer and a solid Flavor 1.
** {{Wutai}}: Dalaam
** {{Qurac}}: Scaraba
** DarkestAfrica: Deep Darkness
** Winters has features of Britain (albeit with [[SlippySlideyIceWorld even worse weather]]), and Summers is a vaguely southern European resort town.
* FatherNeptune: The captain outside the boat you're supposed to get on when going to Scaraba.
* FightWoosh: There are four different kinds. The gray woosh means that the battle will go on as normal. Sneak up behind an enemy to get a [[color:green:green woosh]] and a surprise attack. Don't let the enemy sneak up behind you or you'll get a [[color:red:red woosh]] and ''they'll'' get a surprise attack on ''you!'' The fourth kind is the spiky one used for bosses.
* [[FiveManBand Four Man Band]]:
** TheHero: Ness
** TheLancer / TheChick: Paula
** TheSmartGuy: Jeff
** TheBigGuy: Poo
** And an oddly straight example, The Runaway Five! An actual band made up of five people (actually six with the keyboardist who is only seen on stage... seven if you count Venus).
* ForcedLevelGrinding: A little, mostly just to get Ness and Paula's levels up early in game.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: "Ness! Now, I... well... It's going to seem like I'm running away, but perhaps I'll just [[VideoGame/{{Mother 3}} sneak away to another era]] to think about my next plan."
* FollowTheLeader: The Tengi Makyou/Far East Of Eden, which shares this series's offbeat humour, with hilarious writings, taking place in a fictional Japan based on exaggerated conceptions by the west. The fourth one even takes place in a fictional America, with hilarious results. The first game appeared after Mother 1, in 1989. It unfortunately shares its NoExportForYou status.
* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: [[spoiler:Inverted; the fourth wall doesn't protect Giygas from ''you'']].
* FreeRangeChildren: The Chosen Four themselves, as well as some of their [[GuestStarPartyMember friend]][[NonPlayerCharacter s]] from around the region.
* FromBeyondTheFourthWall: [[spoiler: You kill Giygas. You, personally, called by your name when everything else has failed.]]
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** The person in the hotel room in Twoson when you first arrive, who's been Mushroomized. S/he asks "Do I have a mushroom on my head?" Ness answers "Yes," and the person says "That's what I thought... Recently, I couldn't walk quite right. It's because of this mushroom. [[MushroomSamba It's actually kind of fun, so I'll leave it there]]." DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything?
** "You will be gone, and you'll be burning in... Well, you'll go to heaven!"
** "You strange, unmasked fellow! Don't go to heaven!" Actually, this line was left intact from the Japanese version.
** One grandma asks Ness if he has grandchildren. If he answers "Yes", her answer is hilarious. Also, when you control Jeff for the first time, Tony's attempt to help you escape is rather... um.
** On some occasions, they had literally got the word "Crap" past the radar.
** When Picky and Pokey's father beats them, the sound effect was changed to something sounding a bit more cartoony in the American release. However, the implications of child abuse was ''not'' lost on any older gamer.
* GirlOfMyDreams: Can happen with Ness -- if he sleeps in inns before he battles the Happy Happyists, he will receive psychic pleas from the imprisoned Paula. And it also happens with Jeff, who receives similar psychic pleas from Paula when she and Ness are trapped in Threed.
* GlobalCurrency: Slightly more acceptable here. Sure, the world only uses one currency, but it's ''dollars''. And stuff in other countries is more expensive, but this may be because of the SortingAlgorithmOfWeaponEffectiveness, and one of the last towns is a tourist resort. The signs for stores in other countries also make a point of stating that they do indeed accept Eagleland currency, something real foreign stores would do to promote tourist spending.)
** It starts to get ridiculous though when a FLOATING KINGDOM only accessible by teleportation is seen to accept them...
* GoBackToTheSource: Ness and the others must fight Giygas at a point in time when he was much weaker.
* GoodHurtsEvil: How Giygas meets his end.
* GoodMorningCrono: {{Justified|Trope}} by the fact that the game begins in the middle of the night. The main character is wide awake by the time the sun rises.
* GuestStarPartyMember: Quite a few, ranging from Pokey, his brother Picky, Ness's dog King, an [[ItMakesSenseInContext alien insect from the future]], Jeff's friend Tony, to an {{invisib|ility}}le man with a unibrow and a gold tooth, a [[ItMakesSenseInContext giant animated tower, to inanimate teddy bears, demonic ghosts that can possess you, and manifestations of Ness's subconscious]]. Some of them are more useful than others.
** In the last moments of the final battle with Giygas, [[spoiler:the player -- as in, the one holding the controller -- as in, ''YOU'']] join the party. And it is ''awesome.''
* GuideDangIt: Figuring out that you're supposed to [[spoiler:pray]] in the final battle can be tough without checking a guide, as the game only drops a few subtle hints.
-->[[spoiler:'''Pokey''': Do you want to scream for help here in the dark?! ... I know you have telepathy or something, so just '''''[[NiceJobFixingitVillain try and call for help]]'''''!]]
** Buzz Buzz does somewhat tell you even from the start. His final words are of you having to "unite with the Earth's power". This can be seen as [[spoiler:both having to find all Eight Melodies and as uniting all as one in prayer.]]
** Possibly making it even tougher is when, the eighth time you [[spoiler:pray]], you get a message saying "Paula's [[spoiler:prayer]] was absorbed by the darkness." This can make players think that [[spoiler:prayer]] no longer works and you're supposed to return to simply beating Giygas up again. Actually, you're supposed to [[spoiler:pray]] AGAIN, one last time, to finish the battle.
** Original copies of the game were bundled with the complete strategy guide at no extra charge. So if you must shout "guide dang it!" [[ReadTheFreakingManual you need not shout too loudly]].
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