History Trivia / MOTHER

* ShortLivedBigImpact: The series consists solely of three games and a CompilationRerelease, yet has been cited as a major influence by a large number of creators across media, from indie developers (most notably ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' creator Creator/TobyFox) to let's players (e.g. LetsPlay/{{Chuggaaconroy}} and LetsPlay/StephenPlays) to ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' 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 ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' set becoming an increasingly prominent element in series from ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' to ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' to Nintendo's own ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' [=RPGs=].

* NoExportForYou: 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 KeepCirculatingTheTapes for years until it eventually got another rerelease during the ''UsefulNotes/WiiU'' 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 fully avert this trope some time in the future...

* ShortLivedBigImpact: The series consists solely of three games and a CompilationRerelease, yet has been cited as a major influence by a large number of creators across media, from indie developers (most notably ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' creator Creator/TobyFox) to let's players (e.g. LetsPlay/{{Chuggaaconroy}} and LetsPlay/StephenPlays) to ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' 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 ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' set becoming an increasingly prominent element in series from ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTenseiPersona'' to ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' to Nintendo's own ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' [=RPGs=].

* ShortLivedBigImpact: The series consists solely of three games and a CompilationRerelease, yet has been cited as a major influence by a large number of creators across media, from indie developers (most notably ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' creator Creator/TobyFox) to let's players (e.g. LetsPlay/{{Chuggaaconroy}} and LetsPlay/StephenPlays) to ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

* ShortLivedBigImpact: The series consists solely of three games and a CompilationRerelease, yet has been cited as a major influence by a large number of creators across media, from indie developers (most notably ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' creator Creator/TobyFox) to let's players (e.g. LetsPlay/Chuggaaconroy and LetsPlay/StephenPlays) to ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

** A fourth ''MOTHER'' game was briefly discussed for the UsefulNotes/NintendoGamecube, [[https://nintendoeverything.com/nintendo-and-namco-discussed-a-potential-earthbound-game-for-the-gamecube-concepts-shown/ with some concepts for a felt-like design being created]], but the project quickly died due to Itoi having little interest in making another installment.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: ''MOTHER 3'' was originally planned for the SNES, subsequently developed for the Nintendo 64DD, then just the Nintendo 64, and [[DevelopmentHell 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.

* TheWikiRule: [[http://earthbound.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page The EarthBound Wiki]].

* NewbieBoom: The ''VideoGame/EarthBound'' fandom got a sudden surge of new members when the game ''[[KeepCirculatingTheTapes finally]]'' got rereleased on the Wii U. At one point it was ''the'' most downloaded VirtualConsole 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 [[OldGuardVersusNewBlood those who were in the cult fandom before it gained a wider audience]], as not only are the newbies more willing to point out ''VideoGame/EarthBound''s flaws, they've even started to criticize ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'''s flaws upon finding out about it, which considering the game was considered a SacredCow by those who were in the cult fandom...

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Due to Itoi's penchant for leaving a lot of elements of characters' personalities, motivations, and stories implicit or merely hinted at rather than stating them outright, as well as the relative drought of direct interactions between major characters during the first two games, you can find any number of interpretations of just about any character in the series.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: ''MOTHER 3'' was originally planned for the SNES, subsequently developed for the 64DD, then just the 64, and [[DevelopMentHell eventually]] on the GBA; losing international release, 3D graphics, two tentative subtitles, many more chapters and characters, and who knows what else.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The series' own name. The first game was planned to be released as ''Earth Bound'', but the second game removed the space... although no one seemed to agree whether it was ''[[CamelCase EarthBound]]'' or ''Earthbound'' (an actual word). The game itself went with the former, but the original Player's Guide used the latter even in the more recent [[earthbound.nintendo.com/playersguide/ online version]]. It wasn't until ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' that the former spelling was standardized in official sources, but the latter still pops up on rare occasions. If you don't believe that, check out Creator/ShigesatoItoi's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxjOnl_Xkjo announcement]] for "''Earthbound''" ''Beginnings''.

* NewbieBoom: The ''VideoGame/EarthBound'' fandom got a sudden surge of new members when the game ''[[KeepCirculatingTheTapes finally]]'' got rereleased on the Wii U. At one point it was ''the'' most downloaded VirtualConsole game on the Wii U, which resulted in many new comers to the series, with some being people who likely never heard of the game at that point. This has notably caused some friction between [[OldGuardVersusNewBlood those who were in the cult fandom before it gained a wider audience]], as not only are the newbies more willing to point out ''VideoGame/EarthBound''s flaws, they've even started to criticize ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'''s flaws upon finding out about it, which considering the game was considered a SacredCow by those who were in the cult fandom...
* NoExportForYou: The series as a whole is quite 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 KeepCirculatingTheTapes for years until it ''finally'' got another rerelease during the ''UsefulNotes/WiiU'' era, which also finally brought the series to Europe. Then, some time later on June 14, 2015, the first game 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 finally be able to fully avert this trope some time in the future...
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: ''Mother 3: Fall of the Pig King'' was originally for the 64DD, then just the 64, then [[DevelopMentHell eventually]] on the GBA; losing international release, 3D graphics, 10 other playable characters, and who knows what else.

* ColbertBump: 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 "Radiation" Fox, creator of ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' and Austin "Dingaling" Jorgenson, creator of ''VideoGame/{{Lisa}}''.

* {{Defictionalization}}: [[http://lvl1-chef.tumblr.com/ 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.

* {{Defictionalization}}: [[http://lvl1-chef.tumblr.com/ 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 penut butter cheese bars.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: ''Mother 3: Fall of the Pig King'' was originally for the 64DD, then just the 64, then [[DevelopMentHell eventually]] on the GBA; loosing international release, 3D graphics, 10 other playable characters, and who knows what else.

* {{Defictionalization}}: [[http://lvl1-chef.tumblr.com/ 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.

* NoExportForYou: The series as a whole is quite possibly ''the'' most infamous example 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 KeepCirculatingTheTapes for years until it ''finally'' got another rerelease during the ''UsefulNotes/WiiU'' era, which also finally brought the series to Europe. Then, some time later on June 14, 2015, the first game 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 finally be able to fully avert this trope some time in the future...

* NoExportForYou: Only ''MOTHER 2'' was released in America, under the name ''[=EarthBound=]''. Europe got it even worse, as ''none of the three games'' were ever released there.
** The rerelease of ''[=EarthBound=]'' on the Wii U finally averts this for Europe.
** As of June 14, 2015, the first game is getting an international release under the name ''Earthbound Beginnings.''

!The whole series

!''VideoGame/{{MOTHER|1}}''
* FanNickname: The game is widely known as "[=EarthBound=] Zero". Its North American release was canceled at the last minute, and the DubNameChange title, ''Earth Bound'', was later reused, albeit without the space, for [[Videogame/EarthBound the SNES sequel]] ''MOTHER 2''. When a prototype of the game was discovered and dumped, after a few modifications to get it to work properly on the emulators of the day, the releasers tacked "Zero" onto the title screen to differentiate the release from the nonfunctional ROM releases, also acting as a nod to it sharing the name of its sequel, and the name stuck.
* FanTranslation: At the time of the discovery of the English prototype, a group of fans had been working on their own fan translation; eventually, they were the ones who obtained the prototype and released the ROM to the general public, and for a while there were those who saw that as somewhat suspicious. Full story [[http://www.lostlevels.org/200407/200407-earthbound.shtml here]].
** There was also a FanTranslation of the ''MOTHER 1'' portion of the GameBoyAdvance CompilationRerelease ''MOTHER 1+2'' that brings the text more in line with the original Japanese version, such as making all the towns named after holidays, as well as renaming Giegue to his proper international name, "Giygas" in order to tie it in with its sequel better. The fan-polishing GameMod ''MOTHER 25th Anniversary Edition'' uses this translation, adapted to the NES.
* MyHeroZero: When the ROM image of the complete-but-unreleased English translation was leaked (see FanTranslation), it was dubbed ''[[http://www.lostlevels.org/200407/ebzero.png EarthBound Zero]]'', to avoid confusion with [[VideoGame/EarthBound the sequel]].
* NoExportForYou: The NES version is a particularly interesting case - it was complete and ready to go, then it simply didn't happen, likely because it arrived at the end of the NES's lifespan. The GBA version could be because of the legal issues said to doom the franchise's western presence, but it could simply have been out of lack of perceived interest.
* WordOfDante: [[http://youtu.be/yQUN7QAnMp0 The live-action commercial]]'s depiction of Ninten is the basis of a vast majority of fanart of this game - adopting his neckerchief and (less frequently) slightly different clothing here as a way to differentiate Ninten from Ness, who is by far the more famous wearer of their standard clothing.

!!''MOTHER 2'' / ''VideoGame/EarthBound''
* ApprovalOfGod: Creator/ShigesatoItoi called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hVuv7mDNqM this]] Earthbound tribute video [[https://twitter.com/itoi_shigesato/status/519728956803538945 amazing]].
* BeamMeUpScotty: One of the songs most associated with Giygas (thanks in no small part to the infamous [=McRoll=] video) is [[http://youtu.be/CkwzRz4mKes Pokey Means Business]], which, as the name implies, is actually ''Porky's''[[labelnote:**]]mistranslated as "Pokey" at the time[[/labelnote]] battle theme. Of course, this is probably because it's the song before the actual fight with Giygas', whose [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYb9kSCkjE8 theme song(s)]] [[HellIsThatNoise barely resembles music at all.]]
** Giygas sometimes says "I'm HAPPY" or "I feel GOOD" during the battle with him, but he never said "I feel HAPPY"
* CrackIsCheaper: [[http://earthboundcentral.com/2012/02/piece-of-cardboard-only-109/ The game's cardboard insert was put up for over $100.]]. Once more for emphasis: '''''The game's CARDBOARD INSERT was put up for over $100.'''''
* ColbertBump: The game's [[VindicatedByHistory initial release]] was without that much fanfare, and it mostly went unnoticed (which helped to contribute to the cartridge's current rarity). [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Four years later, though]]...
* HeAlsoDid: The rock guitar heard in several parts of the game is played by M. D. Seegar. You know him better by his real name, ShigeruMiyamoto.
* HilariousInHindsight: There is a Happy-Happyist who chants "Green, green..." when she is meant to chant "Blue, blue...". Fast forward to the late 1990s, and we've got a similar confusion with the [[VideoGames/PokemonRedBlueAndYellow very first series of the Pokemon games]].
* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: One of the most infamous and bemoaned examples in gaming, [[EpilepticTrees generally attributed to]] being mired in legal issues as a result of background music with blatant samples of Music/TheBeatles, ''[[Film/TheLittleRascals Our Gang]]'', and [[Music/TheCars Ric Ocasek]], and an enemy that was inspired by the work of Creator/SalvadorDali. As a result, even used boxless copies of the game [[CrackIsCheaper go for astronomical prices]] on eBay. ''Finally'' averted by the 2013 release for the VirtualConsole. This is even lampshaded by Nintendo's press release, which says "You are not dreaming - This is Real".
* KillerApp: Not in its initial release, but many people - fans of the series or not - are considering buying a WiiU for the sake of its Virtual Console port.
* MarthDebutedInSmashBros: Ness was playable in all three Smash Bros. games before [=EarthBound=] was released in Europe's Virtual Console. He doesn't have as many spoilers as Lucas does, though.
* NoExportForYou: None of the ''MOTHER'' games have been released in Europe. And of the three ''MOTHER'' games, only this, the second, was released in the US, and even then only once.
** The GBA compilation containing this game and its predecessor was only released in Japan, despite the fact that the original version of one game previously had a North American release while the other had a complete English translation that was only scrapped due to the age of the system it was on. As above, there was a brief consideration of releasing it in America, which didn't pan out.
** Though at long last, it has been averted. Close to ''nineteen years'' after its release in North America, ''[=EarthBound=]'' finally saw a release in Europe via the WiiU Virtual Console.
*** It should be noted that while for ''MOTHER'' a straight script-dump from the NES prototype to ''MOTHER 1+2'' would be possible, the same could not be said for ''[=EarthBound=]''. After the release of the ''MOTHER 1+2'' partial fan translation, in which the [=EarthBound=] half went pretty much untranslated, Tomato [[http://earthboundcentral.com/2011/04/a-look-at-the-mother-2-side/ discussed why he wasn't going to do]] the ''[=EarthBound=]'' half properly: because both are so densely and strangely programmed, in completely different ways no less, that it's pretty much impossible.
*** However, [=TheZunar123=] is currently making a Mother 2 translation for Mother 1+2 which can be patched along with Mato's fan translation, here is the link to it: http://youtu.be/sMWUOa46JGI
* ScrewedByTheNetwork: One of the most egregious cases in gaming. Only one third of the entire series [[NoExportForYou ever made it to American shores]], and the infamous marketing campaign ("this game stinks" was the marketing slogan) likely put a dent on sales. Even in Japan this appeared to be the case, although it was finally released for the WiiU's Virtual Console in March 2013. However, it was also confirmed that ''[=EarthBound=]'' would ''finally'' be getting a Western re-release on the WiiU Virtual Console - in Europe too, no less! - with Nintendo of America engaging in a hearty dose of LampshadeHanging.
* ScrewedByTheLawyers: Supposedly, the reason the game had issues being released in the US and Europe is due to copyrights concerning the name of an enemy (Dali's Clock) and two music tracks sounding like Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Goode (New Age Retro Hippie theme) and The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again (the Skyrunner theme). Apart from toning down the flashes during battles, the Virtual Console release has no changes from the original SNES release.
* TooSoon: Surprisingly {{averted}}; the fact that the Aum Shinrikyo cult released chemical attacks in Japanese subways at the time of this game's release did not affect the inclusion of the [[TheFundamentalist Happy Happyist]] subplot.
* {{Trope Namer|s}}:
** Current:
*** AlmightyIdiot
*** {{Eagleland}}: And, by association, its {{snowclone|s}} EaglelandOsmosis.
*** NewAgeRetroHippie
*** SoundStone
*** YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm
** Former:
*** {{Wackyland}}: Formerly known as {{Magicant}}
* {{Tuckerization}}: Due to the long nights he worked to get the game localized, Nintendo of America allowed Marcus Lindbloom, the game's localizer, to rename one of the minor [=NPC=]s to "Nico" after his daughter, who had just been born.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: As there's a DummiedOut sprite in the game's code of [[spoiler:Everdred's Ghost]], it's possible that [[spoiler:Everdred really was supposed to die in the game]].
** Ness's dog King may have been planned to join him several other times throughout the game besides the beginning part. It's given away by an unused climbing sprite.
* WordOfGay: Tony, confirmed by Itoi [[http://earthboundcentral.com/2008/06/yes-tony-is-gay-and-mr-saturn-is-innocent/ here.]]
* WordOfGod: Marcus Lindblom, head of the English translation and localization, finally set the record straight on Giygas' name. [[http://earthboundcentral.com/2013/03/marcus-lindblom-spills-some-earthbound-secrets/ It's pronounced as "Geegus".]]

!!''VideoGame/{{MOTHER 3}}''
* DevelopmentHell: The game started out as being a Super Famicom game shortly after the release of ''[=EarthBound=]'', and was then moved to the [=N64DD=], then the [=N64=], then delayed several times until finally being canceled. It was ultimately revived for the GBA.
* FanNickname: This game is sometimes called ''[=EarthBound=] 2''.
** Flint is so {{Badass}}, some people also like to call him [[ChuckNorris Flint Norris]].
* FanTranslation: [[http://mother3.fobby.net/ These awesome guys]]! The [[http://mother3.fobby.net/or/ online readme]], about halfway down the page, starts a very, ''very'' long list of every hack that had to made in order to make the translation work. Buried in there is this gem:
--->''The game only had enough memory for 40 letters of battle text on the screen at once. Fixing this was assumed impossible, but a fix was figured out anyway, allowing for infinite text per line.''
* MarthDebutedInSmashBros: Infamously, Lucas debuted in the West in ''SuperSmashBrosBrawl'' and with him brought a truckload of spoilers to casually sling around as if it doesn't matter, including [[spoiler:King P.'s identity and New Pork City]]. [[LateArrivalSpoiler This did not amuse a large number of fans.]]
* NoExportForYou: '''''Damn''''' ''it'', Nintendo.
** To put it in perspective, Lucas is the only playable character in ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'' (and, as of June of 2015, ''Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U'') that hasn't had his/her game released outside of Japan.
** Brownie Brown has stated that if this game ever gets a rerelease, they will attempt to avert this trope.
* SequelGap: It came out a good twelve years after ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound}}'''s Japanese release.
* UrbanLegendOfZelda: Using the silver dragonfly item against Negative Man is said to yield an extremely rare and valuable item. For those wondering Negative Man does actually have a 2% chance of dropping a [[VendorTrash meteorite]] which is worth 2500$, but this is unrelated to whether or not you use the silver dragonfly.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: ''MOTHER 3'' [[http://youtu.be/6pcd9VnnXSQ started life as a]] {{Nintendo 64}} title, which was rather widely previewed and received significant press attention both in Japan and internationally, and Nintendo of America [[HilariousInHindsight seemed pretty dead-set on giving it an international release]]. DCMC was originally supposed to have a female vocalist, and Kumatora's outfit was surprisingly more {{Stripperific}}; most of the cast's appearances and clothing were fairly different. Ness may have been set to appear in it, or perhaps Lucas was intended to look identical to him much as Ness was identical to Ninten. The N64 game was also supposed to be a lot DarkerAndEdgier--mostly due to the fact Itoi was suffering from depression at the time. This version of the game was widely called ''[=EarthBound=] 64'' by both Nintendo and gaming press, so more often than not it's still called that in discussions to differentiate it from the released GBA version.\\
Despite its extensive previewing at various Nintendo and game events, it never got very far. It was stuck in DevelopmentHell for a very long time, and ShigesatoItoi was, not being very knowledgeable about computers, ''very'' ambitious with the project.
** One of the most famous sequences from the 64 version which didn't make it into the GBA game was a sequence where Claus and Lucas rode a cart through a mine shaft. [[spoiler:In the game, they're separated in Chapter 1 and never reunited until their duel at the finale.]]
** Not even the Game Boy Advance version is free of this trope. Some sprites were found with [[spoiler:Porky]] in a different machine and some of those sprites of him in that machine when put together make a glass shattering animation which looks like his defeat was different from the final version which could mean that you originally were able to kill him off before they changed it to where [[spoiler:he escapes in and traps himself in the Absolutely Safe Capsule forever]].
** [[spoiler:Claus]] also had unused sprites showing [[spoiler:him getting killed, StrappedToAnOperatingTable to be [[UnwillingRoboticisation cyborgified]], and a finished version looking like a Starman]]. There's also unused boss music and backgrounds showing [[spoiler:him going through various stages of [[NightmareFace agony]], well on his way into becoming an EldritchAbomination]].
** There's also unused sprites of [[spoiler: Flint actually killing the Mecha-Drago instead of leaving it alive, which suggests that he was going to turn out NotSoDifferent than the beast]], as well as sprites of Kumatora [[spoiler: as a Magypsy, suggesting that ''she'' was supposed to be the final Magypsy instead of Fassad]].
** Also judging from the information gathered by hackers, Flint is able to equip some of Lucas's strongest weapons, which may suggest that he was going to either be a permanent party member, or rejoin the party late in the game.

** To put it in perspective, Lucas is the only playable character in SuperSmashBrosBrawl that hasn't had his/her game released outside of Japan.

* WordOfDante: [[http://youtu.be/yQUN7QAnMp0 The live-action commercial]]'s depiction of Ninten is the basis of a vast majority of fanart of this game - adopting his neckerchief and slightly different clothing here as a way to differentiate Ninten from Ness, who is by far the more famous wearer of their standard clothing.