History EarthBound / TropesAToG

* ComingOfAgeStory: A subtle example. This game is a ComingOfAgeStory in the guise of an [[WidgetSeries offbeat]] JRPG adventure.

* 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.]]

* CrapsackWorld: Corruption and incompetence is everywhere, but these traits are frequently seen in authority figures such as politicians and cops. The townsfolk don't fare much better, as most of them are either socially inept, [[{{Jerkass}} jerkasses,]] or [[BystanderSyndrome just too plain lazy to give a hoot of what's going on,]] not to mention there's a [[EnfantTerrible disturbed kid]] roaming around, causing mayhem wherever he goes. Ness and his friends ''really'' have their work cut out for them.

** Special mention goes to Fourside, which is obviously based on major big cities and as such has skyscrapers, a massive department store, several restaurants, a museum, and a theatre. Everything ''seems'' fine except one person controls everything including the police, the manager of the theater scams the Runway Five and tricks them into crippling debt, the department store loses power and suddenly becomes infested with monsters while Paula gets kidnapped at the same time and finally, [[ArtifactOfDoom the Mani Mani statue]] is located in the storage area of a ''random Cafe''. All that on top of the fact that Taxi's, Roadway signs, and even random people will suddenly come out of nowhere to fight you.

** One girl NPC asks "Has Earthbound been released yet?"

* FreeRangeChildren: The Chosen Four themselves, as well as [[NonPlayerCharacter some of]] [[GuestStarPartyMember their friends]] from around the world. {{Deconstructed}}, as Ness has to deal with crippling homesickness the entire way, and [[CrapsaccharineWorld the world]] [[WorldOfJerkass isn't exactly kind to them]].

* FunnyPhotoPhrase: The Photo Man asks members of the Chosen Four to say, "Fuzzy pickles!" whenever he takes a photo of them. In the Japanese version, he instead instructs them to say, "Cheese sandwich."

** If you visit a certain area in Onett after defeating Giygas, you can read a newspaper that has a story about Onett's police chief completing ''VideoGame/EarthBound,'' and asks, "Where is the sequel?".

* {{Deconstruction}}: Of the "young kids saving the world" plot. While innocent undertones are included, it factors in several characters emotions and thoughts and brings light to several disturbing tones in stories of the sort, such as Ness's homesickness, and [[spoiler:Giygas essentially being a child when you kill him/her/them/it.]]

*** Master Belch's clay model is blue with a dark green coat of slime on the back of his head. His in-game sprites, meanwhile, depict him as a solid teal-green.

** Pokey's official artwork, based on his appearance at the start of the game, features him wearing baggy blue shorts held up by a single suspender. His appropriate in-game sprite, however, depicts him wearing overalls with both suspenders up.
** Master Belch's clay model is blue with a dark green coat of slime on the back of his head. His in-game sprites, meanwhile, depict him as a solid teal-green.

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** In addition to replacing the phrase "Gyiyg Strikes Back" with "the war against Giygas", the revelation that [[spoiler:Giygas is attacking from the past]] near the very end of the game was changed to the more explicit [[spoiler:Giygas attacking from the DISTANT past]] - the implication being that the events of ''MOTHER'' are overwritten.

** There's also a [[InUniverse planning]] [[DevelopmentHell meeting]] for [[VideoGame/{{MOTHER 3}} [=EarthBound=] 2]] in Fourside. Which only twists the knife [[NoExportForYou internationally]].

** Ness, Paula and Jeff are near-identical to their original ''MOTHER'' counterparts Ninten, Ana, and Lloyd, and even hold many of the same abilities. Frank Fly appears to be an expy of Teddy, but he's not playable.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The hint about [[VideoGame/{{MOTHER3}} the sequel]] can be found in the final moments of final battle.
-->[[spoiler:'''Porky:''']] ''"Ness! Now, I... well... It's going to seem like I'm running away. But perhaps I'll just [[VideoGame/{{MOTHER3}} sneak away to another era]] to think about my next plan."''

** Porky was changed to Pokey. ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl'' reversed it.

* GameGourmet: From burgers, fries, cookies, and Skip Sandwiches in your hometown, to more elegant foods such as iced tea in Summers! Of course, the amounts of HP a lot of them recover are less than enemies deal where and when they're available, and thus go unbought by most players. There's even an NPC in Onett's burger joint that advises you not to bother with cheaper foods available.

** This can happen again near the end, when Dr. Andonuts [[spoiler: prompts Ness to push the button to send the party to the past.]] If Ness says no, then Andonuts will tell Jeff to do it. If Jeff says no, he comments on how Jeff lost his nerve before going back to Ness, and so on until one of them says yes.

** CrapsaccharineWorld: However, everything is still so bright, colorful and lighthearted that you have to pay very close attention to notice or, even then, take it very seriously. That is, until [[spoiler:[[EldritchAbomination Giygas]] shows up and [[SurpriseCreepy blows the saccharine disguise to atoms]]]].

* ExcitedShowTitle: Its full title is ''[=EarthBound: The War Against Giygas!=]''
** Some enemies also invoke this, like the Shroom! boss or the Arachnid!!

* DaddysGirl: Paula appears to be very close to her father, who [[OverProtectiveDad loves her]] [[DotingParent to pieces]] in return.

* CircleOfFriendship / ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: [[spoiler:Giygas is ultimately defeated by people all around the world joining in prayer... including the player.]]

* TheColoredCross: The removed all the red cross logos that were on hospital buildings in the original Japanese version.

* CombinedEnergyAttack: The way to defeat Giygas.

* AbuseDiscretionShot: At the beginning of the game after returning to Pokey's house after seeing the meteor, Pokey's dad decides to discipline him and Picky for sneaking out at night. He takes them upstairs and off-screen, and a smacking sound is heard. If you talk to Pokey before leaving the house, he'll say his butt really hurts. This is only in the original Japanese version, and is {{bowdlerized}} in the North American release; Pokey is simply said to have been grounded instead, and the slap is replaced with the sound of arguing.

** How you befriend the Apple Kid in Twoson(in addition to paying to fund his research) and Gerardo Montague in Dusty Dunes Desert.