- Perhaps it's simply that he was freed from Giygas's influence and decided that he might as well do something with the photos?
- First off Buzz Buzz is not simply just a bug. When you first encounter him his first lines are " "A bee I am... not".
- Not only this, but the starman also said "You are no longer a hero, Buzz Buzz, just a useless little insect!!". Why would he emphasize "insect", unless he wasn't an insect when he was a hero?note
- Buzz Buzz/Ninten is presumably older than Ness. Ninten was born in 1975-76, and Buzz Buzz hails from about 200x, when Ninten would be 24-34. How is this relevant? Let me explain. Although Buzz Buzz may be older than Ness he doesn't seem to be too old. When you get the Sound Stone Buzz Buzz calls it an "awesome" item. That is not the kind of terminology I would expect a wise old sage to use, but a young adult? Yep.
- Not that I disagree, but I'm compelled to say that perhaps he's using it in the original sense of the word, IE, a thing that inspires awe.
- The Starman Jr. that attacked Buzz Buzz seemed to have known him quite well. If it's the same Starman Jr. as the one in Mother, then he would have met Ninten (Buzz Buzz) in the first game, therefore knowing him quite well at the time they meet again in Earthbound.
- It would make sense that Ninten would seek out an individual that looked/seemed much like himself (Ness).
- In battle, Buzz Buzz uses physical attacks and PSI Shield, both specialties of Ninten. PSI Shield sigma from Mother II translates roughly into PSI Shield beta from Mother I. Healing and defense were not necessary, so the only other technique of Ninten that they could have had Buzz Buzz sensibly use would be Offense Up. Also, Ninten was fast (compared to Ana and Loid), and Buzz Buzz is fast.
- Buzz Buzz isn't actually a bee in Mother 2. He is a dung beetle. Dung beetles in Egyptian mythology represent eternal recurrence. Quite a coincidence.
- Wasn't it only Lardna that called him a dung beetle? It was implied she only called him that because of the disgustingness factor of the word dung, meaning she called him that because to her he's just some disgusting bug. Disgusting like dung.
- I always thought it was because she's dumb and didn't realize he was a bee, not a dung beetle.
- Buzz Buzz isn't a bee or a dung beetle. He is stated to be a rhinoceros beetle from several Japanese sources if my memory does not fail me.
- Buzz Buzz isn't actually a bee in Mother 2. He is a dung beetle. Dung beetles in Egyptian mythology represent eternal recurrence. Quite a coincidence.
- I can easily see Itoi noticing the small sizes he had to work with on the NES and comparing the size to a bug. Take that thought, run a few miles, and suddenly Ninten is a bug-size NPC in Mother 2.
- This idea had popped into my head as well. Though my interpretation was that the Buzz Buzz body is in fact a robot, since it's explained later on that biological matter can't handle time warping. This is further supported by the fact that the material Dr. Andonuts used in the time Machine were in the meteorite Buzz Buzz traveled by, indicating that they operate on similar principles.
- I subscribe to this theory. It would make sense that Ninten would be the one to pass on the duty of defeating Giygas to the Chosen Four. This what I like to think what happened:
- When Giygas attempted to take over the earth again in 200X, Ninten and his friends (now adults) go up against Giygas once again, only this time they fail. Ninten's friends are killed and Ninten himself barely escapes.
- After Giygas takes over the world shortly after, Ninten infiltrates Giygas' lair or something to try and figure out how to stop him.
- He discovers the Apple of Enlightenment, which foretells that a boy named Ness along with his three friends, Paula, Jeff, and Poo, are the ones truely destined to defeat Giygas once and for all.
- He steals alien time-travel technology, converts himself into a robotic insect, and travels back in time to warn Ness about Giygas' invasion.
- Shortly after warning Ness about Giygas and setting him on his journey, Ninten/Buzz Buzz tragically murdered by Pokey/Porky's mom. Ninten gives Ness the sound stone with his dying breath and the rest is history.
As thought up by a friend of mine:
He would have the knowledge and ability to travel back in time, but due to his incomplete understanding without the Mr. Saturns, only a small life form could possibly make the journey back. So he transformed his body into that of a tiny fly. With this, he could return into the past and tell Ness what he needed to know. And with his mass all condensed into that tiny body, his attacks were able to hit much harder than they would as a human.
"But wait," you might say, "Buzz Buzz used PSI!" Well, you know what they say about any sufficiently advanced technology.
Both share in common the ability to use PSI/PK Shield, play defensively in battle, have very high speed and agility, and a weak consitiution [which could've been made worse in the conversion to Buzz Buzz or not at all depending on your own interpretation]. Then why can she hit for such high damage? A small body propelled at high speeds, becomes bullet-like, piercing through objects that larger masses of force at similar speeds might glance off of with only dents [and therefore lesser damage overall].
It's also possible that future Ness had died doing something that inspired Paula to take up a similar form of courage like him to undergo conversion into such a form and go back to warn a younger Ness, possibly out of respect or even a romantic type of feeling for him, creating a type of tragic sacrifice when Lardna kills her.
Buzz Buzz's gender can be interpreted either way since the body that was "Buzz Buzz" could've been a different gender from the person whose mind was transferred into it [like the transfer of the characters' minds into their robot bodies, which are genderless].
- Yes, Giygas was the enemy of the first Mother game. Hearing his Mother's song was so powerful, though, it turned him into a human; to give him a second chance.
- The entire planet is working toward that goal: the Earth itself has provided the Ley Points that remind him of the love of his family and friends, a love which "Giegue" in Mother 1 (aka Earthbound Zero) rejected.
- As Ness progresses on his adventure, a darkness called "Ness's Nightmare" is growing within him. He eventually fights it in Magicant, which was the creation of Queen Maria, and defeats it, but had Ness not gone on his journey, it probably would have built to the boiling point and overwhelmed him.
- In the end, Ness and company give up their bodies (foreshadowed in Prince Poo's Zen training) to travel through time and confront Giygas. When they do, he has Ness's face and special attacks. Giygas is eventually defeated when the world itself, everybody Ness has touched, prays for him. This, if nothing else, tells him that he isn't alone, and never will be — and what was to become Giygas again will never come to pass.
- In addition, according to the game's lead writer, Shigesato Itoi, Giygas's strange dialogue in the final battle is based on one of his own most traumatic childhood experiences; at the age of six, Itoi accidentally walked into a grindhouse theater showing a violent sex film - certain snippets of dialogue were burned into his mind, and as a result they were the creepiest things he could think to put in his villain's mouth.
- On top of that, in this alternate universe, Ness would have remained "best friends" with Pokey, which would explain a lot. In Mother 3 Pokey is, after all, responsible for corrupting quite a dang bit.
- Pro-Mole wonders, though: would that mean Pokey is one of the Outer Gods?
- This would make Pokey analogous to Nyarlathotep, the messager and soul of the Outer Gods. It does match the role he plays as Giygas' servant.
- Mother takes place in the 80's and Earthbound takes place in the 90's - not long enough for Ninten to grow up and have an 8 to 12 year old child. Believe me, I thought it through...
- The "EarthBound'' takes place in 2000" WMG above.
- Even then, Earth Bond Beginnings takes place in 1989, meaning that if Ninten was 12 then, he would've been 23 by EarthBound.
- Ninten could be old enough. He has a former classmate in Podunk Town who works at the burger shop.
- Actually, the beginning of the game explicitly states that it takes place in 1980, not 1989, so it's perfectly plausible.
- Not exactly. The game just says that eighty years passed since the night George and Maria were abducted, with the date of that abduction initially just specified as the early 1900's. Later, it's stated that the exact year of the abduction was 1909 (or so I've heard, I didn't make it that far into the game). Therefore, 1989 seems to make the most sense.
- The "EarthBound'' takes place in 2000" WMG above.
- In Mother 3, a point is made of the fact that while Pokey's body has aged, he still retains the same bratty, immature mind - contrasted with Giygas, who, before his transformation into Nightmare Fuel, was quite serious and ruthless.
- Perhaps Tabuu's intention was to destroy Giygas, who would be able to match him in power. Since Tabuu is not weak against human emotion as Giygas is, he must have figured after Giygas was out of the way, he could dispose of Ness easily if the time came. This proved not to be the case - with the help of Sonic the Hedgehog and the intervention of King Dedede, Ness does not fail to be present at the final battle and end Tabuu's machinations.
- Giygas is a metaphorical and symbolic abortion. It's not meant to be taken literally. It's merely used as disturbing symbolism.
- You could probably gauge the size of their robot bodies by the presence of Pokey and the Phase Distorter. So it's a very big fetus.
- This theory led to this fanart.
- No, we DO have something to gauge the sizes of everything. Ness's hat.
- However, as they appear to have shrunk very easily if the above theory is true, then its not too hard to image Ness's hat simply retaining similar size.
- I've talked about this before on other websites. It is credible, but a look at the timeline proves it wrong. The final battle takes place before the start of the game, but AFTER Mother 1, where Giygas was an adult alien.
- Based on both Robert Frost's interpretation of the validity of metaphor and Vladmir Nabokov's repeated analysis of literature (and, actually by extension, all media), this fan theory can be considered both Jossed and accurate. You know, "if the shoe fits" and all. One can never "debunk" the fetus theory... there's time travel involved.
- Actually, I think I've found some contrary evidence- you actually visit the Cave of the Past.... in the present. It's during the Lost Underworld, one of the many offshoot caves that you can enter before going to the last Sanctuary is a part of the Cave of the Past, and you can even see a statue there that is also there when you go back in time, confirming them as the same place. Thus, they are the same size in the Cave of the Past that they are throughout the rest of the game, thus, no abortion-seeking robots.
- Jossed, as said above, Giygas was an adult alien in Mother.
- Don't most people only have one mother, though?
- There can be exceptions!
- In Japan, it's called Mother 2. Think about it. (Two mothers...?)
- There can be exceptions!
- There's a con man in Threed who says he thinks Giygas might be female, but then admits that he doesn't really know if Giygas is a male or a female. He disappears mysteriously after the party beats Master Belch, though, perhaps because he got too close to the truth. I'm a helpful troper, don't you think?
- Stomping this idea flat (Awww...), but the reason the guy disappears is due to a glitch. He was supposed to remain in Threed and joke on how he could capture a ghost from the tunnel and keep it as a pet. Unfortunately, the glitch causes him to vanish along with a detective that gives some rather important exposition about the Mani Mani Statue.
- A glitch? Maybe that's what Giygas wants you to think.
- Stomping this idea flat (Awww...), but the reason the guy disappears is due to a glitch. He was supposed to remain in Threed and joke on how he could capture a ghost from the tunnel and keep it as a pet. Unfortunately, the glitch causes him to vanish along with a detective that gives some rather important exposition about the Mani Mani Statue.
- Given some of the things I have seen... Also, some people discussing said things implied Giygas goes crazy becuase Pokey raped her, which gives the last battle dialog a whole new twist, considering its inspiration...
- The reason behind the baseball bat based combat has been sealed by court order.
- So Itoi is Shonen Bat?
- I always thought Shonen Bat looked like Ness.
- So Itoi is Shonen Bat?
- Actually, Giygas's attacks being incomprehensible is just something he's capable of; he did it in the first game. Hell, Porky does it in the third.
- I remember Pokey saying that the inside of the devil machine and Giygas' new form were another dimension.
- Well, the Phase Distorter brought the gang to a location outside of space and time. Therefore, they were already in another dimension/universe.
- This troper was thinking this as well. I mean, if Giygas can't think rationally that would make him VERY easy to manipulate, eh?
- This Troper doubt Porky/Pokey was that manipulative, although he was indeed quite manipulative. I don't think Giygas was evil though. He seemed more tragic, he had nothing left, he gave everything up. Even the goal he was striving for was gone, all that is left is his hatred and madness, but somewhere deep inside is a tiny fragment of his emotions, the thing he bottled away, the love he felt, this was to great for him to ever truely remove, thus your prays and the prays of those who love you bring out the small fragment of what once was and cause him pain, his calls to you for friendship and love where reactions to emotions that where hidden inside him.
- This WMG can be supported by the fact that everything Pokey said in the entire game were, basically, lies.
- This Troper doubt Porky/Pokey was that manipulative, although he was indeed quite manipulative. I don't think Giygas was evil though. He seemed more tragic, he had nothing left, he gave everything up. Even the goal he was striving for was gone, all that is left is his hatred and madness, but somewhere deep inside is a tiny fragment of his emotions, the thing he bottled away, the love he felt, this was to great for him to ever truely remove, thus your prays and the prays of those who love you bring out the small fragment of what once was and cause him pain, his calls to you for friendship and love where reactions to emotions that where hidden inside him.
- It crossed this Troper's mind as a kid while playing. It could simply be that Giygas in trying to bottle up the love he felt, remove the reason the song affected him drove him more towards madness. There may have been a point, insane but still capable of sentience, he gave the orders to begin the attacks, but afterward lost control. Becoming the equivalent of an all powerful autistic child throwing a tantrum.
- If you like this WMG, you should check out the fangame Cognitive Dissonance.
- Then enter Pokey/Porkey. He somehow begins putting two and two together. Organization ran by an immensely powerful being now self-reduced to a toddler's mindset, and a powerful army too loyal to even question it. Perhaps not even thinking to check why they haven't received any recent orders...
- This theory also ties in quite nicely to another description/Alternative Character Interpretation I've heard concerning Giegue/Giygas, although it's more based in the original Mother. Consider this: Giegue was raised by George and Maria, particularly Maria, and explicitly tells Ninten that he's grateful to his family, to the point where he's willing to invite Ninten to join him to spare him from being killed. This might not be considered "good", but consider this as well: The PSI abilities that all the Kid Heroes of the Mother series were originally exclusive to whatever race Giegue is a member of, and only found their way to Earth due to George researching it without permission and then running off with said information, which Giegue also tells the player can be used to betray his people, so, regardless of his intentions, George basically stole classified information, which created a considerable national/planetary security threat to Giegue's planet. Given some of the description you get from Queen Mary, it seems like he was very attached to her, and it seems very possible that he was invading more because he felt that he had to rather than because he fully wanted to. It's also possible that, as Maria's descendant, he may have thought of Ninten as practically family, hence why he was willing to save him, but the final straw comes from the method in which you defeat him: Remember that Queen Mary's lullaby is the same song Giegue's "mother" used to sing him to sleep as a baby. If, as the theory posits, he was invading more because he felt that he had to than because he wanted to, and still held a reasonable degree to attachment to Maria, I think that little reminder would have severely taxed his resolve to the point where he'd be torn over which was more important to him: His duty to his people, or his lingering feelings for his "mother", which contributes to his declining mental state, and though there are probably other factors involved (For one, I can't imagine his people being too happy about Giegue's failure to wipe out humanity), eventually leads to, well, what we see in Earthbound.
- While it's still fully possible that Giygas isn't trying to destroy everything, it's strongly hinted at in Mother 3 that Pokey considered Ness to be his only friend. That fact that he doesn't have any friends is thought to be the reason he decides to destroy the world, enacting his "Unfounded Revenge" on the world for disliking him. Assuming this to be the case, it is unlikely that he would try to have his only friend killed.
- The original Giygas was defeated by Ninten and Co. The aliens came back, and people assumed Giygas was behind the second attack, even though no one actually saw him. And the aliens went with it, since it was a good scare tactic.
- Whenever a person started acting against the best interest of society, people claimed it was because of Giygas's influence (See: Buzz Buzz). So Giygas became the embodiment of evil as an excuse for people to avoid being forced to believe that the evil was within them all along. So, Ness and Co. aren't actually fighting Giygas, they're just fighting the standard maniacs and feral animals (and the aliens, which are evil because they're Giygas' followers) - but because of Buzz Buzz, they think they're fighting Giygas.
- Ness and Co. are also chasing Pokey, who has decided that Evil Is Cool and likes the idea of serving the ultimate evil. This could perhaps be partially blamed on his upbrining, but the fact remains that he promotes this idea of an ultimate evil existing.
- The last battle takes place entirely within Ness and Co.'s minds. They want to fight Giygas, but they can't, because there is no Giygas - so they make him up. This is why you only see the background, because a formless enemy can't be confronted and is thus more frightening. Same goes for the attacks - they never heard what Giygas could do in direct battle, so they make up the worst possible attacks - attacks they can't understand and thus can't fight against. Thus, Giygas becomes a symbol of evil, despite the fact that there is actually nothing there. The party suffers because they are reminded of all the evil they came across, which gives this ultimate evil power.
- Paula's Pray command works because Pokey reminds them of the good people they've come across in the world (it seems unlikely to This Troper that this was what he intended). When they summon up images and memories of these people supporting them, it affects Giygas; they represent people fighting against evil, which weakens the force of evil and strengthens good.
- When it isn't enough, when Paula can't think of any other person, she does the only thing possible: she creates one. The person she creates is the ultimate force of good that can never be beaten by evil, no matter how strong the evil is. Giygas falls to this creation because it represents his weakness - the ceaseless, unwavering devotion that good will always find a way to triumph, no matter how great the evil. This reasoning could ostensibly be used to prove that the player doesn't actually exist - a philosophical discussion on that would be a lot of fun.
- This last part has a possible alternative. Paula doesn't make up someone who is the ultimate force of good, she prays to someone she believes is the ultimate force of good: God. Though religion is rarely if ever explicitly mentioned, it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine that there was some sort of theistic religion that people, including her family, followed. This means that, when the end comes and she prays to God, the player responds...which means the player becomes God.
- OK, even though I support them, I think we got enough "Giygas and Ness and Ninten and Lucas are related/The same person" theories now. Even though they're pretty cool. All of them.
- Just asking, I recall reading a theory that Giygas and Queen Mary were actually the same person, but I can't recall any specifics and I haven't beaten the first or third games yet. Does anyone else out there have it?
- An additional bit of story this could make would explain what would happen to Porky after he is encased in the Absolutely Safe Capsule in Mother 3: They begin a romance in a very detailed magicant like simulation. It would be easy to assume the two would grow at least close professionally throughout their time traveling exploits, but when they are faced with an eternity stuck with each other, it becomes hard not to imagine they would begin to see each other in a more romantic way. Remembering past battles, schemes, plots, the like, they have time to reflect on what they've been on together. When left with nothing left to reminisce about, Giygas decides to use the same power (s)he used in Mother 1. With a world made from the memories of past experiences, the two life out the rest of their existence in their own personal happy ending for all eternity. Perhaps it is the end they deserved, as well, both being little more than confused, lonely people to begin with, they finally get what little good karma they had coming for them.
- Then where are the Scout's awesome psychic powers? Also, Team Fortress 2 takes place somewhere in 1968 where Earthbound takes place in the 90s.
- The psychic powers have transformed into a source of time travel. Alternatively, The Scout is Ness's Dad.
- "Hey there Chucklenuts, I've deposited $500 into your account. NOW GET ON THE FREAKING POINT DUMBASS!"
- The psychic powers have transformed into a source of time travel. Alternatively, The Scout is Ness's Dad.
- That doesn't make sense, becasue Giygas is pronounced 'Geeg' in Japan. Giygas is just a localization difference. However, considering at the end of Mother 3 the player is one recreating the universe it could start off with Mother 1, and the events could repeat through the player. Maybe the end to Mother 3 just represented the video game 'reset' button, and when you replay the series you are actually replaying the second, third, etc. 'loop' of the timeline.
- Actually no, it does make a weird amount of sense. Earthbound takes place in "Eagleland" which is clearly supposed to be a altered version of America, which implies the characters would speak English. If anything the original version is the "wrong" one.
- And I have to wonder if there's any significance to the Giygas->Gygax thing? Father of the game that is second-most famous for Munchkins?
- At the end of Earthbound, though Paula's praying stops Giygas, Giygas isn't completely destroyed. A small part of him still lies within Ness and over the next 10 years slowly corrupts Ness's friend and neighbor Porky into stopping Ness, that way Ness will never go back in time to defeat Giygas and Giygas can corrupt Ness in the past as planned. The first thing Porky does in the game is to try and keep Ness away from the meteor crash site where Ness is fated to meet Buzz-Buzz and begin the chain of events that lead to Giygas's doom.
- It is only after Porky's little brother is in trouble that Porky frantically calls on Ness to help, overcoming Giygas's influence for just a moment out of love for his little brother. But the effects of Giygas's power on Porky grows deeper and deeper throughout the game as can be seen in Porky continually standing in Ness's way, Porky's phsyical changes (like his skin color), and Porky's immortality.
- When Ness fights Ness's Nightmare in Magicant, he's actually fighting the remains of Giygas still deep inside his mind, left over from Giygas being destroyed in the womb. You'll note that the next time Ness meets Porky after beating the Nightmare, Porky's no longer obeying Giygas, but instead mocking him, calling him an idiot, etc, which shows that while Porky still remains tainted by Giygas's evil influence, he is no longer under the control of the part of Giygas that once existed in Ness.
- The game ends with the cycle coming full circle. Giygas is defeated in the womb dimension, the remains of Giygas corrupt Porky in the future, Porky and Ness go back in time and it all happens again.
In Ness's case, he had an ancestor named Ernest, Ness for short. Our hero Ness is named after this ancestor, and his parents decided to just call him Ness since no one called great-grandpa Ernest anyway.
Picky's real name is Bateau, and Porky's real name is something similarly exotic. Obviously, Lardna and Aloysius were too lazy to say their full names, and stuck to giving them nicknames that suited their eating habits.
- Porky's real name is Dudley.
- Not so hard if you posit that "Before you die, you hear the prayer".
- No, the canon states that the 2 games are sequential
- But wouldn't that explain why the beginning of Giygas's theme is 8-bit-esque?
- ...why is it that people always think that a song called "Porky Means Business" is Giygas' theme?
- Because the track in question doesn't actually have an official name. Seeing as "Porky Means Business" is a fan given name and that he isn't the focal point of the final boss, it would be Giygas' theme, not Porky's.
- But wouldn't that explain why the beginning of Giygas's theme is 8-bit-esque?
- So, he's Chuck Norris?
- The funny thing about this is that you actually can grasp the true form of his attacks; as it turns out, they're all mostly-ordinary PSI moves masked by a special battle message.
- Basically, his attack is as close to "flailing" as a psychic mind can manage. Kind of like Pokemon, where when they run out of attacks they use struggle; they just start flailing around.
- Considering the above WMG, this is true in gameplay when you realize that Giygas' masked, but ultimately very ordinary, attacks don't actually pierce elemental resistances granted by equipment.
- Magicant only appeared twice in the series: Once as the land of Maria's mind, and then as the land of Ness' mind.
- When Ninten collected the Eight Melodies, it was to restore Maria's memories & power. Ness, however, was collecting the melodies to raise his own power.
- More details about this theory here: [1]
- Wait, wait. Born evil from rape? Yes, rape is horrible and traumatic, but babies resulting for it aren't automatically evil.
- MST3K Mantra+Fetus Theory+Mother 1?
- Itoi didn't have anything to do with Pokemon.
- Some of MOTHER 1(and 2)'s team did work on Red and Green, (Blue was the third version) they could of thrown somesuggestions to the design team.
- Wait, wait. Born evil from rape? Yes, rape is horrible and traumatic, but babies resulting for it aren't automatically evil.
- This is first seen near the beginning of the game;Pokey: "Ness, let's be friends again. Please answer me. I promise to be good. ...uh...okay... (walks away slowly) Hah! I lied! See you, sucker!"
- This ploy seemed to be at least partially successful in giving Ness a fear of abandonment, as even after making new friends he has to call his mom frequently to avoid becoming homesick.
- Pokey's line "I know you have telepathy, or something, so just try and call for help" was disguised as sarcastic hubris, but by that point Pokey had caught on to the fact that Giygas had been influencing his actions, and he wanted to help Ness defeat Giygas. Even his lines "And here you stand, waiting to be burned up with all the rest of the garbage of this universe..." "Haaaaah! That's so sad. I can't help but shed a tear. You know, my heart is beating incredibly fast, ...I must be experiencing absolute terror!" were false sarcasm. Some part of Pokey truly was saddened by the prospect of his (former) friend's death, and was terrified of the control Giygas had exerted over him.
- In the end, the evil in Pokey wins. After seeing numerous humans turned back to normal, having Giygas' evil influence banished after being defeated by Ness, Pokey's evil side makes him flee the battle before being fully defeated. Pokey's final taunt (delivered by Picky) "Come and get me, loser! Spankety, spankety, spankety!" was actually the final desperate plea of Pokey's good side to be rescued by Ness. But Pokey's evil side made sure he stayed hidden somewhere (or somewhen) that Ness could never find.
- You could go into further examples as Pokey says something along the lines of "This is my neighbor, Pig's Butt...no, Ness!" reflecting that Pokey did get Ness's name right as his "good side" was showing up.
- But all this is actually all a lie as Pokey does attempt to harm you in the end.
- This Troper agrees with the above. In fact, I think that the good in Pokey is still there and he doesn't hate Ness at all. This because of the Easter eggs that you find in Chapter 8. In the final chapter, when Lucas and his friends are in New Pork City, there are references to Ness. His adventures are being shown in a theater. In the same theater, you can buy replicas of Ness' bat and cap. And in the tower, on one of the floors, there's an entire level dedicated to items Ness used or interacted with during his adventure. In fact, even before this chapter, I think in chapter 4 or 5, beating the optional boss in the Lightning Tower in Porky's private room rewards you with the Friend's Yo-yo. If we assume this yo-yo was a gift from Ness, why would Porky keep it if he hated Ness, much less have it guarded?
- Giygas isn't influencing Pokey. That's The Reveal at the end of the game, Giygas is a barely-conscious beast with no control over himself anymore, and he's been that way for the entire game (which we know, because the boss fight takes place in the distant past) and Pokey has just been using him as a figurehead to avoid taking responsibility. Mother 3 even shows us that Pokey's been messing around with time travel so much that he's ruined his body, but still can't die of old age. It's much more likely that by the time Mother 3 takes place, Pokey's come full-circle and has actually come to regret losing Ness as a friend, but can't admit it to himself...which is why he has all these things related to Ness set up in shrines that he himself can't actually use or indulge in. He's probably the focal point of so many stable time loops that he's basically got two options: go back in time, stop himself, and erase all his work so he can be friends with Ness, or stay the ruler of New Pork City. No good or evil side needed, just ordinary, mundane tragedy.
- He knows exactly how much to deposit in Ness's account based on the type and quantity of enemies defeated.
- He is the only one who can save the game.
- Why is it Ness's father who speaks to Ness when Ness is defeated? He offers encouragement because, as the game's programmer, he doesn't want Ness (and by extension, the player) to quit before he's seen the whole game he put so much work into!
- He can communicate with animals.
- Lots of animals in EB are telepathic, though (the monkeys, for instance).
- His 'spy' ability could be him searching the enemy's mind with telepathy.
- The reason he doesn't have a PSI menu or use PSI in battle is because his powers are only limited- He only has telepathy.
- Alternatively, he has subconscious PSI powers. This is how he was able to see Paula in his dream. He can understand animals as an instinct.
- This actually explains a lot. How else would he have known that you'd need an Eraser Eraser?
- However, this led to some problems when he was captured and kept in a secret alien base blocked off by an iron statue that he himself had set there.
- This makes more sense if you look at it like this, the Iron Statues blocked off hostile areas to keep civilians from wandering into ambushes and such. If Apple Kid did place the Eraser Statue, then it is likely that he was trying to keep tourists and wild life from wandering into the dangerous alien base. In retaliation, the Starmen beamed into his home and beamed him into their prison.
- However, this led to some problems when he was captured and kept in a secret alien base blocked off by an iron statue that he himself had set there.
- Because everything else up to that point made perfect sense.
- Alternatively, the meteor didn't actually have anything to do with Buzz Buzz. It caused a minor earthquake, which made something on Ness's ceiling fall on him, putting him in a coma.
- As for George, he didn't fully recover from his mental alterations. From the moment the aliens screwed him up, he started seeing things that weren't there. Things like Maria taking care of a small alien, or huge robots towering over him (He recorded the latter visions to build EVE). He also studied what he could about PSI, which was then learned by Ninten and Ana, and possibly passed down to Ness, Paula and/or Poo. Before long, his insane hallucinations grew too strong, and he eventually died as an old, lonely and insane human being.
- Maria was locked in a capsule and taught many of the aliens' secrets, including PSI. She was now one of them. But before they could do anything else, Maria (now being known as Giygas) started unleashing an inexplicable power (PSI), and proclaimed herself the ruler of the aliens. Due to Giygas' incomprehensibly mighty power, they had no choice but to comply. She then ordered them to invade Earth, and the events of Earthbound Zero began.
- After the events of the first game, Giygas vowed revenge upon the humans who defeated her, including her own great-grandson, Ninten, and fled back to space. She stayed in her vessel orbiting the Earth. When Ninten started singing the 8 Melodies, something cracked in her mind. It made her snap, and her alien mind took over most of her former memories. Her mind ripped apart from her body. The vessel eventually crash-landed on Earth, on a small town called Onett. There, she brought chaos and darkness upon the whole world, until Buzz Buzz decided to go back in time and find Ninten's descendant. Buzz Buzz was one of the aliens under Giygas' clutches, who went to Earth after notice of how her vessel had crashed there. While Buzz Buzz was searching for clues inside the crashe vessel, he heard voices outside. He found a boy who surprisingly looked a lot like Ninten, and assumed that this was the kid he was looking for. He then warned, the boy, Ness, of the horrible future that awaited the universe if he didn't stop her at all costs. This caused a rift in the space-time continuum, and Giygas, now just a mind existing without a body, was trapped by it in a land where time can't exist, inside a demonic capsule called the Devil's Machine.
- After many adventures, Ness and company reached this place and encountered Giygas. Porky claimed that he was working with Giygas, even though he didn't know of her existance until she started influencing the minds of animals and weak humans. He just did that because he was a massive jerk, ready to build the most ridiculous plans and do the most vile actions just to mess with Ness. Thus, Giygas was freed from the Devil's Machine by Porky, ready to finally unleash her revenge on who she thought was Ninten. She was stopped, however, by Paula's praying. This insignificant soul was blocking her thoughts. Why? Because...
- Er...so, what's the deal with Magicant, then? If Maria is Giygas, what's with Queen Mary?
- Reincarnation of Maria's good side, the one before she was corrupted.
- Er...so, what's the deal with Magicant, then? If Maria is Giygas, what's with Queen Mary?
- I think this one's canon.
- Alternatively, (warning: crack theory approaching) After Mother 3 ended, Porky resided so long in the Absolutely Safe Capsule that he forgot the majority of his past and his body became warped until it was unrecognizable. Porky was eventually freed some way or another by an alien civilization from the past, which traveled to the future to find anything of interest. The aliens went back in the past with Porky and started to tinker with his body to make it even more inhuman. He learned PSI in the process and obtained a new name: Giygas. The aliens later (in 1909) abducted two humans: George and Maria. Porky, now Giygas, still had the mind of a child and Maria tasked herself with raising Giygas. With Maria's help Porky/Giygas finally started to mentally mature to adulthood. Because of the events regarding George's escape Giygas was forced to detach from Maria and became cold and serious as a result. After Giygas's defeat at the hands of Ninten and his friends he took it upon himself to increase his power even more so that he can destroy humankind once and for all. His body and mind were torn apart by his unfathomable power. To contain this power and conserve his last shreds of sanity Giygas was locked into the Devil Machine. The only thing Giygas can remember is the person who ruined his plans the very first time yet was his only friend: Ness. Because this is the only thing left that Giygas remembers he uses Ness's face while in the Devil Machine. During the final battle Giygas finally remembers Ness and calls out for help, to end his misery after the countless years. However, due to the original Porky joining Giygas's side the cycle starts anew...
- You frickin' kidding me? This is awesome! I love it!
- But if Ness didn't collect all 8 melodies, he would have been corrupted by the Mani Mani statue.
- And the Phase Distorter III is the TARDIS.
- Protip: if your only evidence for a WMG is "why not?", there's probably something wrong with it. For example, when he dies, he doesn't get a new body and isn't automatically resurrected.
- For a visualization of the aftermath of this WMG, see The Halloween Hack.
- Giygas, desperate for revenge, continues to build up his psychic abilities over time, however, Ninten may die long before Giygas becomes strong enough, and so decides to use time travel to go so far back as the formation of the world.
- As Dr. Andonuts states: living matter can not travel backwards in time. Powerful as Giygas is, he is unaware of these consequences. In spite of his psi abilities, the journey destroys his physical body and leaves behind only his mind, which is likely in a state of dissipation, preventing Giygas from focusing on anything without the aid of the Devil's Machine.
- Although in a time and place where Giygas can ensure he is powerful enough by the time Ninten is born, Giygas' fractured state causes him to telepathically reach out, across time and space, which no longer hinders him since he is no longer living in a strict sense, and find individuals whom he can corrupt.
- Ness and co. go back to a point where Giygas is vulnerable, which for the sake of efficiency could mean only going back as far as need be. In this case, that would be right before Giygas can become focused enough to begin his plans anew, which is roughly when the party gets there.
- The future Buzz Buzz alludes to is one where they fail to stop Porky from aiding Giygas, which would seem t invoke a paradox, unless one accepts one of the above WMGs that Porky was always evil and would aid Giygas regardless of Buzz Buzz's intervention.
- Porky aids Giygas because of their similarities: Giygas could not understand his adoptive parents love for him and Porky likely never received any from his.
- The future Buzz Buzz alludes to is one where they fail to stop Porky from aiding Giygas, which would seem t invoke a paradox, unless one accepts one of the above WMGs that Porky was always evil and would aid Giygas regardless of Buzz Buzz's intervention.
- The reason Giygas' attacks are indescribable is because, as a purely psionic entity, he merely as to launch part of himself at Ness. Ness cannot understand these attacks because they do not use a natural medium. (Fire, Ice, Neon Lights/Rockin') It functions in that respect like Mind Rape. The Player can damage Giygas because the ability to break the Fourth Wall and appeal to a higher Universe trumps PSI any day.
- Jossed, we've made to The New '20s, and no such video has surfaced
- Uh... no it didn't. And even if it did, it also took his limbs and eyes and ears, so it's clearly a metaphor.
- Maybe it reassembled his body from what it took.
- Pokey travels through time to Mother 3 and fights Lucas, getting trapped in the Absolutely Safe Capsule.
- The universe ends and begins, Pokey safe in the capsule, and his body still aging and the capsule damaged from the big bang. Pokey creates the Starmen somehow to repair/modify the capsule.
- Pokey becomes Giygas and his body's aged to the point where he looks like he did in Mother. The events of Mother happen.
- Events of Mother 2 happen. Giygas at this time no longer has a physical body, and is just a now mind, unstable and shapeless within the Absolutely Safe Capsule, which has eroded to the point where it needs to be sustained by the Devil's Machine. Pokey meets Giygas and becomes his right-hand man. Giygas, mentally unstable, only remembers Ness from all this and attempts contacting Ness before finally dying as Pokey escapes.
- Mother 3 happens, and the loop is complete.
- Well yes, this is made explicitly obvious within the game itself.
Porky is the first one on the scene. Due to time travel and the aforementioned stable time loop, all the previous characters exist already, leading to the events of Earthbound and Mother 3. As in a previous WMG, Porky, after fleeing into the absolutely safe capsule, travels time for who-knows-how-many years, going insane and possibly losing his memory. He eventually travels several years into the past and is found by an alien couple who take him in, renaming him Giygas, and raising him as an alien. Eventually, "Giygas" is told to attack earth because his stepfather, George, stole their technology. Cue the events of Mother 1 and Earthbound, at the end of which, Porky is defeated twice: his far past self, thus cementing that part of the stable time loop, and his future self, this time for good. However, he didn't truly die, and again, as per a previous guess, reborn. Deviating from that original theory, he is reborn as Ninten, rather than Lucas, and given a chance at redemption by defeating his past self, leading to the events of Mother 1. As per said game, he passes the test. However, shortly after this, something happens to Ninten that puts him in a coma for a few years, and kills his family. Somehow, he survives the coma (maybe he's found by one of his friends.) When he eventually wakes up, he has become amnesiac, and is adopted by a loving family that names him Ness. Said family lives in Onett, next to the Minch family, and Ness meets Porky. The reason Ness feels any affection towards Porky (remember the Porky from Magicant) is because he is unknowingly a distant future counterpart of him. The events of Earthbound happen, and Giygas's fate is sealed. Shortly after this, however, the end of the world described by Leder in Mother 3 occurs, and Ness and his family board the White Ship. On arriving on the Nowhere Islands, Ness's family's memories are rewritten, and their physical appearances changed, lest the familiar faces reawaken their memories of the original world. Their names are changed, with Ness's name changing to Lucas, his father's to Flint, his mother's to Hinawa. Something happened to Ness's sister on the way, (maybe she died in the original world's destruction) and they adopted Claus to make up for it, in a way. All this is followed by the events of Mother 3, thus finally completing the loop.
If you actually read all that, you deserve a cookie.
- Seems like the war against Giygas is approching its final moments then, what with a worldwide Wii U rerelease of EarthBound.
- The war appears to be nearly done, Mother 1 was recently released worldwide on the Wii U eShop as Earthbound Beginnings.
If you think about it, Poo is capable of using PSI, and PK Starstorm, the same one that the later editions of Starmen use. Additionally, Poo recovers ~6 HP from any food except for the Brain food lunch, which is an Elixir for him and him only. Brain food lunch. Regular Starmen drop those. Poo also gets more PP from bottles of water because Ness and company aren't so used to drinking those, while Poo's race depends on it. Poo comes out of nowhere. You eat a damn cake with "leftover" drugs, play as Poo for a while, and so on. Then he teleports to your party and says he will obey Ness. Also, Poo can equip the same equipment as the rest of the party and not get the attack or defense boosts because it's unfamiliar to him. For some reason there are armor pieces in presents around Ness's planet.
Speaking of equipment, you know the Sword of kings you have to hunt for? Starmen Supers drop those. Starmen Supers. Basically, one in 128 units of Starmen Supers carry a sword with them (that they never attack with for some reason). Poo is very familiar with those. That's why it raises his offense and reduces his miss rate.
Poo's name furthers this theory, because "Poo" as we know it...well. Anyways, Poo in Poo's culture means something else. He also has a "Mirror" ability that turns him into an enemy for 16 turns. Or, use the Neutralizer to return Poo to normal. It's a psychic ability, and it's exclusive to him because...well, he is a different "human" from Ness, Paula, and Jeff. The reason for the whole Mani-Mani incident in Fourside is because Giygas doesn't want Ness to eventually get Poo as a party member. Once you get him, Giygas's army finds out and retaliates by kidnapping plot-central characters who would later set up your entrance to the final dungeon. Stopping Ness from getting Poo was Giygas's last chance at victory, but Ness got him somehow, so now he tries his hardest to get his army to eliminate Ness's party. While Ness needed the last two melodies, Buzz Buzz also mentioned "3 boys and 1 girl" defeating Giygas...that last "boy" is Poo, and boy is he incredibly useful.
Poo is willing to serve Ness because he knows Ness will defeat Giygas. Poo's race is pacifist. They use their powers for good. In short, Poo is a Rebel Scum extraterrestrial... but they don't tell you that.
- Jones being her last name is not canon.
- Or worse, go crazy like Giygas...
Jeff is actually a PSI user, but is simply unaware of it. The reason is mostly owing to his only PSI ability, an unusual variation of the Healing/Lifeup powers that is able to replace sleep, keeping him rested and focused even when he hasn't slept for days on end. The ability only uses a small amount of PP to maintain itself, and can be turned 'on' or 'off'. When it's on, it uses PP at the same rate as Jeff naturally regains it; without leaving it off long enough to build up a good-sized PP reserve, the PP usage will use all of Jeff's available PP before it can even register as being restored. In other words, it cancels out his ability to regain PP without outside help, and because of that he never has any spare PP to use other PSI abilities. Because of this, Jeff is left unaware that he even has PSI. Since he isn't aware of his PSI abilities, he isn't able to turn his sleep-replacing ability off. It isn't until after the events of Earthbound that he realizes there's something strange about his magical all-nighters, and realizes that he had PSI the entire time. Understandably, he's rather put-out by the realization that his no-PSI angst was for nothing.
But, then, why doesn't he recover PSI through other means, like hot springs or Magic Tarts? Well, after having his PSI ability turned on for nearly his whole life, the ability has adjusted to needing to use all of Jeff's available PP to maintain itself. So, by the time the game rolls around, any extra PP Jeff gains is immediately used up in one go. So rather than filling his PSI reserves, he gets a sudden burst of energy instead. This ends up being one of the big tip-offs for his PSI abilities being discovered. After gaining the ability to turn the ability off, he can regain PP like normal so long as it isn't on. It takes a while afterwords to re-adjust the ability so that it doesn't immediately consume all of his PP.
Both are Obliviously Evil, childlike creatures with tremendous attack powers and menacing black and red appearance. Both are nigh-impossible to beat in straight-up combat. The world's prayers ultimately aren't what defeats Giygas; rather, the fight illustrates what would happen if Crayak didn't immediately shut down the Howlers upon the first sign of trouble, and Paula's prayers and The Power of Love make it through to Giygas's mind, destroying him. In this analogy Pokey is the Drode. They act basically exactly the same.
- The power boost was probably important In-Universe but it's limited by the video game stats to not make Ness too OP. RPG stats should never be taken too seriously when it come to quantifying characters power level. Also you need to attack Giygas for the first phase, then Paula needs to pray because Giygas is stronger than what the heroes planned (They specifically travelled in time to fight a weaker Giygas). Also PK Rockin' Omega is gained trough leveling, no with Magicant.
- Ultimately, Ness may not have needed to get the 8 melodies and could have grown just as strong through time and effort. However, Buzz Buzz may not have known that raw power was hopeless in defeating Giygas and using the 8 Melodies to unite Ness' power with that of the Earth may have been the only thing he could think of to do. Buzz Buzz might also have had other things planned to even the odds against even the godlike being Giygas was with the 8 melodies being only step 1, but died early in the adventure and was only able to pass on the 8 melodies before he died.
While this doesn't show up on the clay models for whatever reason, the complexion of Ness's in-game sprites is noticeably similar to Poo's, who's explicitly of an Tibetan-esque ethnic group belonging to Chommo, the game's version of Asia. His black hair could also be from his Japanese-side, but it's probable that his father isn't fully Japanese, given Tracy still has her mother's unadulterated blond hair.
Ness having partial Japanese-equivalent ancestry would explain why he doesn't seem to bat much of an eye at Japanese-specific culturally phenomena, at least in the MOTHER 2 version— he understands what a daruma otoshi is, he just cares about getting it out of the way. This being true would also have presented Japanese players in 1994 with a paradoxically But Not Too Foreign All-American protagonist. A Japanese-American, or, er, Japanese-Eaglelander, he'd have both a cultural connection to the player but also a grounding in the Eagleland of, erm, Eagleland.
Captain Strong is clearly aware of the issues around Onett involving the Sharks. Additionally, he's likely aware of the suddenly-dangerous animals, bugs, and what-have-you around both Giant Step and the road to Twoson, let alone possessing possible awareness of Paula's kidnapping that's outside of his jurisdiction. Having blocked off the road to Twoson and possibly used the Sharks' behavior as a scapegoat to lock up the shack that's the only thing keeping the furious mice and ants at Giant Step from heading straight into town, he then finds out that Pirkle gave Ness the key to the shack after Ness singlehandedly brought down the Sharks. The Captain may have seen some potential in Ness, so he has an officer quietly observe his progress at Giant Step, and only has him intervene AFTER Ness is done dealing with the Titanic Ant. Afterward, he's in no rush - he knows that if Ness wants to help out in Twoson, he has to first get through the roadblock at the south side of town. So, just to make certain that Ness is probably capable of handling himself against whatever awaits - including grown men and women who he KNOWS are suddenly acting strange and violent in Twoson, including some of the police officers - he sets up a challenge; if he's able to take on five of Onett's police officers in a row, as well as Captain Strong himself, he'll be convinced that Ness has what it takes to stay relatively safe in Twoson to investigate and adventure further, and allows him to proceed unimpeded from there.
- No, not Giygas specifically, but what he became. Giygas' species are immensely powerful psychic aliens and probably know far more about PSI than whatever paltry secrets George managed to swipe. What they know or at least theorized is that if a being with PSI grows powerful enough psychic abilities, their own power can end up destroying them, particularly if they are mentally conflicted and become insane. Then thus become a Eldritch Abomination with the power to destroy the entire universe. They may even have had it happen to one of their own in the past, or witnessed it on other planets with other species that have PSI.
Thus, Giygas' species abducted Maria and George in the first place in order to test the psychic potential of humanity, with the young Giygas himself being their jailer/observer. Unfortunately for them, George stole knowledge of PSI from them, while Giygas developed an attachment to Maria. In a panic, they tried to conquer Earth and destroy any knowledge of PSI. In their hubris, they used Giygas as the head of the invasion force. All the while the invasion only promoted PSI growth in humans, allowing Giygas' forces to be defeated.
However, the thing that backfired the most was Giygas associating with Maria. Spending so much time with Maria not only caused Giygas to develop an attachment, but gradually become infected by Humanity's imperfections. His feelings towards her and Earth conflicting with his loyalty to his species manifested in self destructive psychic power as Giygas' powers grew.
The end result of a long series of backfiring was a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy, and at the hand of one of their own, rather than one of the humans they feared would lack the mental control to avoid becoming like Giygas did.
He felt disillusioned when Teddy changed his ways after meeting Ninten and co., and decided to move across the country and start his own gang in Onett.