Trivia / Mother

aka: MOTHER 3

• Approval of God: Itoi has given his approval for fan works as a whole, saying that since he was done with the series, it was up to fans to continue the story.
• Colbert Bump: The series has gotten more than a few fans of indie RPGs after their creators have cited the games as a major source of inspiration, especially Toby Fox, creator of Undertale & Deltarune, and Austin "Dingaling" Jorgenson, creator of LISA.
• Defictionalization: This tumblr blog focuses on making real life versions of a lot of the MOTHER series food items, from stuff like skip sandwiches to pork chips to peanut cheese bars.
• Moved to the Next Console: MOTHER 3 was originally planned for the SNES, subsequently developed for the Nintendo 64DD, then just the Nintendo 64, and eventually completed for the GBA; shedding international release plans, 3D graphics, two tentative subtitles, four story chapters, at least three playable characters, and who knows what else along the way.
• Newbie Boom: The EarthBound fandom got a sudden surge of new members when the game finally got rereleased on the Wii U. At one point it was the most downloaded Virtual Console game on the Wii U, which resulted in many newcomers to the series, with some being people who likely never heard of the game at that point. This has notably caused some friction between those who were in the cult fandom before it gained a wider audience, as not only are the newbies more willing to point out the flaws in EarthBound, they've even started to criticize Mother 3's flaws upon finding out about it, which considering the game was considered a Sacred Cow by those who were in the cult fandom...
• No Export for You: For a while, the series as a whole is possibly the most infamous example of this trope in all of video games. Only MOTHER 2 was released in America back in the day, under the name EarthBound. Europe got it even worse, as none of the three games were ever released there. EarthBound then proceeded to become a case of Keep Circulating the Tapes for years until it eventually got another rerelease during the Wii U era, which also finally brought the series to Europe. Then, on June 14, 2015, the first game finally got an international release under the name EarthBound Beginnings, nearly 26 years after it came out in Japan. Only time will tell if Mother 3 will at last be able to finally avert this trope officially (albeit for this one, an Updated Re Release at the very least) in the future...
• Short-Lived, Big Impact: The series consists solely of three games and a Compilation Re-release, yet has been cited as a major influence by a large number of creators across media, from indie developers (most notably Undertale & Deltarune creator Toby Fox) to let's players (e.g. Chuggaaconroy and StephenPlays) to South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. The series' nontraditional approach to the RPG genre also had a noticeable influence on later bigger-name games in the field, with urban settings, offbeat writing, and deviations from and expansions upon the gameplay template Dragon Quest set becoming an increasingly prominent element in series from Persona to Pokémon to Nintendo's own Super Mario Bros. RPGs.
• Similarly Named Works: The series shares its name with two different horror games.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Mother 3 started its life as Earthbound 64. However, the project entered Development Hell and took so long to be completed it was moved over to the 64DD, but then was canceled after the 64DD proved unpopular.
  • Prior to the development of the GBA version of MOTHER 3, an installment for the Nintendo Gamecube was being considered, with some concepts for a felt-like art style being created. The project quickly died due to Itoi having little interest at the time.
  • A great deal of unusued sprites and code were found in MOTHER 3, including sprites for Porky dying, an alternate Chapter 1, and Claus as a playable character with his own unique weapon.
• Write Who You Know: Many characters and events in the games are inspired by Shigesato Itoi's real life experiences:
  • In all three games, the main character has an absent parent — Ninten and Ness's fathers are always away at work, while Lucas' mother is mauled to death by the Mecha Drago. According to Itoi, the decision to do this was inspired by his experiences growing up without a father, which influenced his decision to name the series after a John Lennon song about his absent mother.
  • In EarthBound Beginnings, Ninten's asthma is a reflection of Itoi's own, which caused sleeping problems for him during the '80s because lying down would trigger coughing fits.
  • EarthBound features Tony, a gay boy based on queer people in Itoi's own circle of friends. The game also lampoons Itoi's failed attempts at gold mining via Gerardo Montague's mine in the middle of Dusty Dune Desert. Montague's Japanese name, Shoji Motchi, is even a riff on Shouji Mochizuki, who helped Itoi with his mining excursion.
  • The Magypsies in Mother 3 were based on Itoi's gender nonconforming friends.

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