History YMMV / EarthBound

* GoodBadBug: Cited by [=EarthBound=] Central in 2009, there is a glitch on the bottom right pillar at the Threed tent, when you press the L button repeatedly, the game will do random things from generating scrambles of characters to even skipping to certain areas.[[note]]How this works: Every area in the game, from Onett to the Cave of the Past, is a part of one huge map consisting of everything. Incidentally, that tent in Threed happens to be located smack-dab at the bottom of said supermap. So when you check, there's no data beyond the point you check, and the game wigs out because of it.[[/note]]

* CultClassic: To the point where it was considered a SacredCow for a long time. Such overprotective veneration of the game has largely subsided with Nintendo's decision to make the game available on the Wii U and [=3DS=] Virtual Console services, as newbies have been very willing to pick apart the game's flaws after having heard it hyped up so much.

** Speaking of last names, Jeff is near-universally called Jeff Andonuts by fans due to him being the son of Dr. Andonuts. But contrary to popular belief, Jeff is never actually ''called'' "Jeff Andonuts" in any official material; he is only called that in the English ''[=EarthBound=]'' Player's Guide, which at best gives it semi-canon status[[note]]the Player's guide isn't considered a reliable source thanks to rampant errors throughout it.[[/note]]. Unlike Paula's case above however, there isn't any hard evidence against Jeff's surname being Andonuts, so there isn't much argument in the fandom about it.
** Many people believe that Ness's Mother is really a grown up Ana from ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'' thanks to them both having blonde hair, blue eyes, and Ness's Mother holding a frying pan on her clay model, which is Ana's WeaponOfChoice. Given the fact that Ness resembles Ninten and Ninten and Ana being shown as an OfficialCouple by the end of the game, they further believe that Ninten is the father. Likewise, there are people who also believe that Dr. Andonuts is Lloyd thanks to being geniuses with white hair and round glasses, and according to ''Mother 3'', having a tendency to hide in trash cans. Hard evidence implies this all isn't the case thanks to ''[=EarthBound=]'' being ambiguously set in the 1990's, whereas ''Beginnings'' is set in the 1980's. Even if one were to argue that the first game is set in 1980 and the second in 1999, that would make the 12 year old Ninten and Ana just 31 by ''[=EarthBound=]'', which would be a rather questionable age at which to be parenting a 13 year old biological son, especially when you consider that Ana is [[PreachersKid the daughter of a pastor]], making it rather out of character for her. Additionally, the Famicom version of ''Beginnings'' concretely labels the events of the game as taking place in 1988, making the theory even more implausible. Nevertheless, the theory lingers. Some fans who are aware of that believe in the theory anyway because being related to Ninten (and therefore, Giygas himself) gives Ness a really good reason to be TheChosenOne.

** Speaking of last names, Jeff is near-universally called Jeff Andonuts due to him being the son of Dr. Andonuts. Contrary to popular belief, Jeff is never actually called "Jeff Andonuts" in any official material; he is called that in the English ''[=EarthBound=]'' Player's Guide, which at least gives it semi-canon status[[note]]the guide often isn't a reliable source thanks to rampant errors elsewhere[[/note]]. Unlike Paula's case above however, there isn't any hard evidence against Jeff's surname being Andonuts, so there isn't much argument in the fandom about it.

** Many people believe that Ness's Mother is really a grown up Ana from ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'' thanks to them both having blonde hair, blue eyes, and Ness's Mother holding a frying pan on her clay model, which is Ana's WeaponOfChoice. Given the fact that Ness resembles Ninten and Ninten and Ana being shown as an OfficialCouple by the end of the game, they further believe that Ninten is the father. Likewise, there are people who also believe that Dr. Andonuts is Lloyd thanks to being geniuses with white hair and round glasses, and according to ''Mother 3'', having a tendency to hide in trash cans. Hard evidence implies this all isn't the case thanks to ''[=EarthBound=]'' being ambiguously set in the 1990's, whereas ''Beginnings'' is set in the 1980's. Even if one were to argue that the first game is set in 1980 and the second in 1999, that would make the 12 year old Ninten and Ana just 31 by ''[=EarthBound=]'', which would be a rather questionable age at which to be parenting a 13 year old biological son, especially when you consider that Ana is the daughter of a pastor. Additionally, the Famicom version of ''Beginnings'' concretely labels the events of the game as taking place in 1988, making the theory even more implausible. Nevertheless, the theory lingers. Some fans who are aware of that believe in the theory anyway because being related to Ninten (and therefore, Giygas himself) gives Ness a really good reason to be TheChosenOne.

** The [[spoiler: first]] Kraken. It has several ''massively'' damaging party hitting attacks that, if not [[OneHitKill one-shotting]] a party member will at least leave them ''very'' close to death. You'll pretty much be using either Ness or Poo as a dedicated healer throughout the fight and even if Paula is boosted up on stat boosting items and Jeff is spamming Big Bottle rockets, the Kraken still takes a long time to go down because of its massive amount of HP. Worse still; you can't even abuse its statis weakness since near all its attacks are PSI based and paralysis only stops physical attacks; it might buy you a turn ''at most'' but it doesn't majorly help when near everyone's HP is scrolling down to death. It's little wonder why most walkthroughs will recommend using one of the sanctuaries to grind at before facing it. Worst part is, it's possible to encounter it ''way'' before you're expected to, when your characters would be grossly underleveled for dealing with it. [[spoiler: By Magicant, while Ness will be leveled up enough to take them down in a few thorns, it doesn't stop them from being a [[GoddamnBats massive thorn in your side]] thanks to needing to reserve your HP and PP for Ness' Nightmare, as stated above.]]

** Carpainter is very easy thanks to the Franklin Badge reflecting all of his lightning attacks back at him. He does have attacks other than lightning, but they're weak.

* HateSink: Porky may be an asshole, but his parents are simply vile people. It's rather obvious that they're the reason Porky is so insecure and hateful.

* ItsEasySoItSucks: Averted. ''[=EarthBound=]'' is almost as easy as ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' and is by far much easier than ''VideoGame/EarthboundBeginnings'', but the game is so bizarre and fun that hardly anyone complains.

** Mondo Mole can be this. His offense is high enough as it is, but he's fond of buffing it with Offense Up, at which point he'll likely be able to take out a SHIELDED Ness in only a couple of turns, much less Paula whose HP and defense are guaranteed to be far below Ness'. To make matters worse, he's highly resistant to ice, making Paula's main offensive option useless, as she'll still be doing less damage than Ness' normal attacks with her PSI Fire. That leaves her with PSI Thunder, her only option of hitting him hard and that's only if you're lucky enough for it to actually hit. To top it off, he's also capable of using Lifeup and PSI Shield, essentially making your new party member useless in this battle. It's no wonder the player's guide warns you it may take a couple tries to beat him. However, as mentioned above under AntiClimaxBoss, you can avoid all of this by paralyzing him, as he's highly susceptible to paralysis, and being paralyzed renders him about as threatening as a potato.

** Ness is almost always drawn with PurpleEyes in fanart, due to his appearance in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee'' and ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'' giving his BlackBeadEyes purple irises at the bottom. Ness' model in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'' does away with the purple irises, but fans still draw him this way.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: It's not uncommon for Ness to become homesick and miss turns during battle; the only way to cure that is to speak to his mother. Good thing this doesn't happen to Lucas in ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER 3}}''.

* BestBossEver: Giygas has become one of Nintendo's most memorable bosses for a few reasons:

* CultClassic: To the point where it was considered a [[SacredCow]] for a long time. Such overprotective veneration of the game has largely subsided with Nintendo's decision to make the game available on the Wii U and [=3DS=] Virtual Console services, as newbies have been very willing to pick apart the game's flaws after having heard it hyped up so much.

* EarWorm: Hell, any of them! But just try to get the Onett theme out of your head.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq3Gd7nnFPQ This]] especially. Click at your own risk.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4z82byt5mA This theme]] just the first 55 seconds, don't deny it.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUce_1Mw6M8 Twoson's theme]] is pretty catchy too.

* DarthWiki/MostAnnoyingSound: When an enemy gets a ''[[CriticalHit Smaaaaaaash!!]]'' attack on your party, it plays a distinct sound that might just ruin your day. There are certain enemies with high Guts stats that are specifically geared to do frequent critical hits, so expect to hear this sound often against them.

* MostAnnoyingSound: When an enemy gets a ''[[CriticalHit Smaaaaaaash!!]]'' attack on your party, it plays a distinct sound that might just ruin your day. There are certain enemies with high Guts stats that are specifically geared to do frequent critical hits, so expect to hear this sound often against them.

** The music. The first Giygas battle theme starts off as an 8-bit throwback before seamlessly seguing into 16-bit ''metal'', emphasizing just how important this battle really is. The rest of Giygas' battle themes, while not necessarily catchy or even ''music'', per se, serve a different purpose: To highlight just how twisted and how much of a horror Giygas is. It all adds up to one of the most nightmare-ish final bosses Nintendo has ever produced.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: For all its happy-go-lucky goofiness, [=EarthBound=] gets notoriously dark sometimes. What other SNES game can you think of that involves stuff like religious fanaticism, police brutality, rape symbolism, dismemberment, and a nightmare-inducing EldritchAbomination? Then again, [[TropesAreTools many a fan agrees that this is one of the game's best features]]. Averted on the Wii U Virtual Console, it got a T rating instead of the old E rating.

** The idea that Ness is actually a rather spoiled kid who wasn't ready to become TheChosenOne, but had to adapt quickly. His mother makes him his favorite food anytime he feels like and lets him run off in the middle of the night without question, he gets homesick very easily to the point of debilitation, and many people describe him as chubby. No wonder his insane potential was buried under so much doubt and fear, as stated in his Magicant. Fortunately, if this is true, he definitely falls into the SpoiledSweet category.

** Poo's Mu Training. An ancestral ghost that breaks your legs and tears off your arms, then removes your sight and sound which leaves you with only your mind which he vows he will one day take as well, is a bit unsettling considering the cartoonish nature of the game up until that point. The eerie humming throughout the scene only makes it worse...

* EpilepticTrees: The long running Giygas/Fetus/Abortion "theory", albeit with a single grain of truth involved.[[note]]That being the inspiration for Giygas ''was'' the sick, disgusting feelings that Itoi felt upon accidentally seeing a certain scene in a movie. Most believe he remembered it as a rape scene, but the interview where he mentioned this didn't specifically say, and [[Film/TheMilitaryPolicemanAndTheDismemberedBeauty the movie believed to be the one he saw]] didn't actually contain any rape.[[/note]] For a really in-depth analysis of the theory as a whole, [[http://forum.starmen.net/forum/Games/Mother2/Fetus-Theory/page/2#post1501487 go here, but beware of spoilers.]] The theory revolves around the background image in the later phases of the Giygas fight looking like a child in its mother's womb. The "YOU WERE SENT BACK IN TIME TO ABORT A FETUS" element was introduced later. Interpretations of the Devil's Machine chamber as looking eerily like a woman's cervix didn't help matters. Granted, said machine was surrounded by tubes/intestines/brain-looking stuff, which is not actually what the inside of a vagina looks like. While there's a decent change that some of the visual symbols the theory cites ''were'' intentional, their presence is likely much more, well, [[RuleOfSymbolism symbolic]], than literal.

* EpilepticTrees: The long running Giygas/Fetus/Abortion "theory", albeit with a single grain of truth involved.[[note]]That being the inspiration for Giygas ''was'' the sick, disgusting feelings that Itoi felt upon accidentally seeing a certain scene in a movie. Most believe he remembered it as a rape scene, but the interview where he mentioned this didn't specifically say, and [[Film/TheMilitaryPolicemanAndTheDismemberedBeauty the movie believed to be the one he saw]] didn't actually contain any rape.[[/note]]
** The theory revolves around the background image in the later phases of the Giygas fight looking like a child in its mother's womb. The "YOU WERE SENT BACK IN TIME TO ABORT A FETUS" element was introduced later. [[note]]For a really in-depth analysis of the theory as a whole, [[http://forum.starmen.net/forum/Games/Mother2/Fetus-Theory/page/2#post1501487 go here, but beware of spoilers.]][[/note]]
*** The fact that the machine Giygas was locked in looked eerily like a woman's cervix didn't help matters. Granted, said machine was surrounded by tubes/intestines/brain-looking stuff, which is not actually what the inside of a vagina looks like.

* EvilIsCool: Hinted at as to why Porky agreed to work for [[spoiler:Giygas.]] Yes, really, that's his stake in everything. To be cooler than Ness.

** Giygas' dialogue. When you confront Giygas, not much remains of his sanity and the things he says are extremely unsettling, describing how he feels good, or sad, or repeating Ness' name over and over. It actually makes him even creepier than if he just told you to suffer or die or something.

** Giygas as a character, especially if you're familiar with his backstory. While other villains are just there for the sake of being villains, Giygas was one of the earlier examples of a villain that you could feel sorry for. Between his parental problems and his madness, chances are a good portion of players will actually end up pitying the poor alien.

** Moonside. It's a dark mirror of Fourside where the terrain is only visible by multicolored outlines, and the enemies inhabiting the area are all very surreal with unique abilities and challenging without being overwhelming. The [=NPCs=] talk in very strange ways, being creepy and funny in equal measure. Because of being usettling yet humorous, the place in general is very well remembered for being the culmination of ''[=EarthBound=]''[='=]s best aspects. It finally concludes with a confrontation with the Mani-Mani Statue, which has been a thorn in the player's side since Twoson.

* CultClassic: To the point where it is granted [[SacredCow Immunity To Criticism]]. Has been averted when Nintendo ''finally'' rereleased the game, allowing people to play it for cheap without emulators. This has also removed its SacredCow status, due to newbies being very willing to pick apart the game's flaws after having it hyped up so much.

** Most notably, the Territorial Oaks on the way to Peaceful Rest Valley. You see, when you defeat these things, they [[MadeOfExplodium explode.]] Now, later in the game, they'll explode on one character, and the characters next to him will receive smaller damage. But here, Ness gets it all. And explosions HURT, usually doing enough damage to kill Ness in this early part of the game. Fortunately for Ness (and the player), he is a {{Determinator}} (see Video Game tab). Also more fortunately, you get another party member (Paula) to help fight the damned things off afterwards. (However, Paula is a bit of a SquishyWizard, which likely means you have less time to escape due to her low HP.)

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The game has a [[AwesomeMusic/{{MOTHER}} superb soundtrack]] and picking just one depends on your mood at the time. Whether the touching melody of the sound stone, the lovably-idiosyncratic battle music, or the groovy tunes of the Runaway Five, ''[=EarthBound=]'' has some of the highest quality, most distinct songs on the Super Nintendo, if not the entire 16-bit generation.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The game has a [[AwesomeMusic/{{MOTHER}} superb soundtrack]] and picking just one depends on your mood at the time. Whether the touching melody of the sound stone, the awesome battle music, or the groovy tunes of the Runaway Five, ''[=EarthBound=]'' has some of the highest quality songs for the Super Nintendo, if not one of the best of the 16-bit generation.

** A lot is also applied to Pokey and Giygas. We can't list them all, but you can probably think of a few off the top.

** Adding to the confusion, the work of a certain Japanese fan has begun a proliferation or fan art featuring Giygas as female, with (possibly) NonMammalMammaries, no less.

* ViewerGenderConfusion: Giygas, of all characters, despite being referred to as "he" throughout both this game and [[VideoGame/EarthboundBeginnings its predecessor]]. An NPC even remarks that he's heard that Giygas might be female, although the Japanese version of this line is very clearly a joke about how Giygas managed to accrue so many followers, with said NPC speculating that [[TheVamp Giygas is a beautiful woman who recruited them through sex appeal]]. Once you actually get to Giygas, [[spoiler:[[EldritchAbomination the lack of anything resembling a physical body]]]] leaves the situation completely ambiguous to anyone who didn't play the first ''MOTHER'', which is probably most English-speaking fans, especially before 2015. Although, to be fair, it's not as though Giygas' appearance in ''that'' game is especially-gendered, either, thanks to the small size of the sprite and Giygas' nature as an alien. [[spoiler:The fact that his adoptive mother refers to him as, well, "him", is probably a good indicator of is gender, though.]]

* ViewerGenderConfusion: Giygas, of all characters, despite being referred to as "he" throughout both this game and [[VideoGame/EarthboundBeginnings its predecessor]]. An NPC even remarks that he's heard that Giygas might be female, although the Japanese version of this line is very clearly a joke about how Giygas managed to accrue so many followers, with said NPC speculating that [[TheVamp Giygas is a beautiful woman who recruited them through sex appeal]]. Once you actually get to Giygas, [[spoiler:[[EldritchAbomination the lack of anything resembling a physical body]]]] leaves the situation completely ambiguous to anyone who didn't play the first ''MOTHER'', which is probably most English-speaking fans, especially before 2015. Although, to be fair, it's not as though Giygas' appearance in ''that'' game is especially-gendered, either, thanks to the small size of the sprite and Giygas' nature as an alien. The fact that his adoptive mother refers to him as, well, "him", is probably a good indicator of is gender, though.

%%* UncannyValley: The [[https://www.wikibound.info/wiki/File:Clay_egoorb.jpg Ego Orb]]. Just look at it.
* ViewerGenderConfusion: Believe it or not... Giygas. Giygas is referred to as "he" throughout the game, but an addition to being an alien, an NPC even remarks that they can't be sure of "his" gender because no one has ever seen "him". Once you actually get to Giygas [[spoiler:[[EldritchAbomination the lack of anything resembling a physical body]]]] leaves the situation completely ambiguous to anyone who didn't play the first ''MOTHER'', which is probably most English-speaking fans (especially before 2015). Adding to the confusion, the work of a certain Japanese fan has begun a proliferation or fan art featuring Giygas as female, with NonMammalMammaries [[{{Squick}} no less]].