Mother 4 is a prequel to Mother 3.
The fact that the antagonists are known as "The Modern Men" makes me think that they're either an early version of the Pigmask Army (after all, they were all about "modernizing" the Nowhere Islands) or that their influence will cause the destruction of civilization (thus setting the stage for Mother 3).
- They're probably not an early version of the Pigmasks, because according to Mother 3, the Pigmasks are just random people Porky plucked from all over the timeline and brainwashed to do what he wanted. They could possibly be responsible for the destruction of civilization, however.
The Modern Men are...
.. Remnants of Tazmily/Mother 3
Non Player Characters who survived the dragon awakening. Outliving your world is more than likely not conducive toward mental health. A mixture of the trauma of world ending and Porky's brainwashing about "modernizing" resulted in a group of fanatics who are carrying on their own disjointed vision of what the Pigmasks were attempting.
At some point, another world will be created from the existing one.
This is mostly based off the title logo, so it may just be over thinking things a bit... But the logo shows a teardrop like mini-planet forming from it. It could be possible that the Modern Men intend to create their own world, in a way that will result in serious damage to the existing world. That's why it appears the planet is crying in the logo, and the tear appears to have land masses on it.
Mother 4 will fix the Mother 3 ending
At least one or more characters from Mother 1, Mother 2, and Mother 3 will return as an NPC or otherwise.
- They may not be a playable character, but an NPC you run into.
One of the main characters will become one of the Modern Men.
- Whether willingly or not, a party member or a major character will end up joining. There's precedent in Porky in Earthbound and Claus in MOTHER 3. Naturally, it'll be a Tear Jerker if the party is forced to fight them.
The Modern Men are a group of modern artists.
(Credit to spritefuser on
Reddit
.) From the recurring painting themes and artistic vibes the game gives off, the Modern Men could be a group of
Mad Artists gone rogue, terrorizing Pleiades with their insane creations.
The Modern Men are an alien species that are attempting to drain the Earth of resources.
The logo for the game is a teardrop leaking out of the planet, complete with tiny landmasses.
The Big Bad is...
... Lucas from Mother 3. Awakening the dragon was suppose to fix everything. Make it all better. All it did was bring a new world forth from the old. The boy has lost more than most grown men could bare, and has massive amounts of psychic power. He formed the Modern Men to use the spires to drain this world of life/power to create a new world in the old one's image. A world where all that was lost can be found again. Bonus points if the machine he uses to amplify his PSI power looks like the Devil Machine from Mother 2 and the boss fight has a second stage where he becomes a psychic embodiment of despair.
Travis's brother, Zack, is aligned with the Modern Men.
Alternatively, Zack...
Will pull a Claus and will become something similar to the Masked Man from
Mother 3. Whether
it's willingly or not is up to debate.
Leo's weapon will be along the lines of brass knuckles.
It goes with his greaser/fighter theme.
- A possible weapon, but his description already states that he uses "things like cinder blocks and stop signs".
The mechanical spires seen in the game are draining the
Life Energy of the planet itself.
The plot of the game will revolve around the protagonist attempting to destroy these spires before the start to negatively impact the planet. Bonus points if
there's eight or seven that need to be destroyed around the planet.
Leo is attempting to hide his PSI Powers as much as he can.
Given the way he casually lights a cigarette with PK Fire in public during the Attract Mode, that's unlikely.
The game will have "Dedicated to Satoru Iwata" in the credits.
The ending will reveal the entire game was just a daydream Travis was having.
Because someone has to make the inevitable "
All Just a Dream" WMG.
Travis and Zack's dad dies at some point.
On the blog, it mentions that Travis' dad works in "
The City" and rides a train there, and that this will probably be important later on. We see a wrecked train in a screenshot. Coincidence?
Probably.Credit goes to a user on Reddit who's post I can't find anymore. Coincidence? Still probably.
A Shigesato Itoi
Expy will make a cameo at the ending.
Alternatively, he'll make a cameo in the game as a
Mr. Saturn enemy, but with Itoi's hair, glasses, and hat. He will speak in the same manner as Mr. Saturn (BOING!) and he fights by throwing
croquette rolls at the players.
A possible given, since the MOTHER series is
infamous for its
extremely heartbreaking moments.
How the game will probably end is that the main characters will fight the leader of the Modern Men (either a power-hungry alien or a Giygas-esque Eldritch Abomination) to save their world from being destroyed. Floyd, the weakest party member, chickens out and abandons his friends mid-way out of fear, but later returns a la Heroic Sacrifice to help ensure the final boss' defeat.
However, unlike the previous MOTHER games, the whole party is fatally wounded during the final battle and they are all dying. Floyd, who turns out to be a very Lonely Rich Kid, reveals his fear of Dying Alone and thinks his lack of PSI powers made him a huge burden for his friends. In their final moments, Travis, Meryl, and Leo use their telepathy to show Floyd their memories of all the times he has aided them in battle. They also create a Psychic Link with Floyd so he'll never be alone even as he dies. What happens next will be an incredibly moving cutscene:
[Four groups of people come up the hill. Travis' family. Meryl's family. Floyd's family. Leo's motorcycle gang. Even Travis' pet dog, Domino. The "
Love Theme" from MOTHER 3 starts playing.]
[Zack walks up to his younger brother. He shakes Travis' body].
Zack: "Travis, can you hear me? Wake up!"
[Travis does not move. His chest does not rise, like it does when he's sleeping. Zack refuses to believe that his brother is dead.]
Zack: "Come on, Travis, wake up! You're oversleeping again! You're gonna miss this month's baseball game if you don't move!"
[Travis' mother starts sobbing. Travis' father walks forward and checks for a pulse. There is nothing.]
[Travis' father tries to be strong, but it's clear that he's tearing up at the loss of his second child. He and Travis' mother hug Zack, who breaks down screaming. All around the Chosen Four, their family and friends gather to grieve and voice their losses. Upon seeing her dead daughter, Meryl's mother collapses sobbing in her husband's arms.]
Meryl's Mother (sobbing): "Oh Meryl, my sweet little girl..."
[Next to Meryl's family, Floyd's mother goes into hysterics.]
Floyd's Mother: "He can't be dead, can he? My baby can't be dead!"
[Floyd's father tries to console his wife.]
Floyd's Father: "Dear, he must be dead! The other boy [Travis] didn't move or speak when his family talked to him!"
Floyd's Mother (screaming): "My baby! My poor baby!"
[Floyd's mother tries to retrieve her son, but Floyd's father restrains her. Meanwhile, the members of Leo's motorcycle gang gather around him. Some bikers start crying. Two start hugging each other after realizing what has happened to their leader. Others, however, are hopeful that it is all just one big joke.]
Biker #1: "Come on, wake up boss, don't yank our chains like this! "
Biker #2: "Yeah, boss! Who's gonna protect us from the cops?"
[The gang's attempts to rouse their leader are stopped by another older biker, Leo's Number 2. His face is grim, and unlike the others, he knows the truth.]
Biker #3: "
He's dead, guys. The boss is dead. Prodding him awake won't do anything."
Biker #1: "But who's gonna lead us now? Who's gonna keep the group together now that he's gone?"
[Biker #3 is silent. He walks up to Leo's body, feeling thoughtful and sad. He takes note of the happiness on Leo's face, surrounded by Travis, Floyd, and Meryl.]
Biker #3 (thinking): "The boss has always been different from the rest of us. Maybe he wasn't supposed to become a biker at all. Perhaps his destiny revolved around something far greater, and those kids he befriended..."
[The emotions become too much for Biker #3 to hold inside. Though he made no sound,
his face is wet with tears, and his body is visibly shaking. Domino lifted its head and let out a series of long, wailing howls in mourning the loss of its young master. The howls trail up to the bright, cloudy sky.]
[There is a sunny meadow, full of flowers and
hills with rolling grass. In the middle of the meadow, there is a huge tree. Sitting in its shade is a small shrine, a simple grave where, some months ago, four young friends were buried together. The shrine is littered with small gifts: A polished baseball bat and a baseball bearing the autograph a famous baseball player. A pile of books, and a jar of live pond skaters half-full with water. A small bag of money, and a newly released model of a toy race car. A pack of cigars, a black comb, and a silver Zippo lighter.]
Tombstone (written in hiragana): "Here lies four heroes, who stayed loyal to each other until the end. Although they died to save the world, they still live in the hearts of those who treasure their memory."
[Every week, four small groups would pay their respects. Three of them are families, bereft of their child. One is a motorcycle gang, now under a new leader. And at the end of the day, one by one, they would leave and carry on with their lives.]
[Four spirits appear standing at their grave, looking on while holding hands. Zack shivers and looks back, and gasps at the spirit of his little brother.]
Zack (whispering): "Travis?"
[Travis smiles at Zack. He and his three friends wave goodbye, grinning happily as they fade away into a storm of small lights that float up into the sky. Travis is the last one to disappear. Faint laughter is heard on a gentle breeze that blows past Zack like a loving hug, before Travis, Meryl, Floyd, and Leo ascend to the afterlife. The screen slowly fades to black, with a message to the player.]
Travis, Meryl, Floyd, Leo: "Thank you for being our friend and helping us on our journey! We hope to see you again soon!"
The game takes place about 1970 years after the end of Mother 3
The stated time period of the game is 197X, and at the end Mother 3,
it's unclear exactly what happened but is sort of implied that the Dark Dragon more or less destroyed and recreated the entire world, an event big enough that it would probably be set as an epoch to be the new "year zero" of a new calendar dating system.
Leo's smoking will prove to be an expensive habit
The mother series has a long history of unusual status effects specific to one character, such as Ninten's asthma attacks and Ness' bouts of homesickness. Maybe the party will have to keep spending their money to buy cigarettes for Leo who will slowly deplete them as the party travels about the overworld, and if he runs out he will get a "withdrawal" status effect that lowers his stats and/or makes him unable to concentrate well enough to use PSI.
- In addition, Leo's smoking habits will not only become expensive, but his health will later decrease every time he lights a cigarette - a sign that it is starting to take a toll on his body.
Leo will join the party in a way that's similar to
TeddyLike his predecessor
Teddy, Leo will challenge Travis and his friends after hearing some members of his motorcycle gang were injured fighting the kids. Unlike Teddy, Leo displays impressive
PSI on top of physical power, making him akin to a tough
Mini-Boss. However, if Travis manages to defeat him, Leo will be impressed enough to join Travis' party, even preventing his gang from further harassing Travis out of revenge.
What will make Leo different from Teddy is their motives for helping the main characters: Unlike Teddy, who needed help avenging the murder of his parents, Leo secretly thinks his gang sees him as "weird" for being a psychic (in reality his gang doesn't care that their leader has PSI and sees Leo as A Father to His Men). So when Travis' party shows up, Leo discovers Travis and Meryl are also psychics and quickly seizes the opportunity to leave so he won't continue feeling like an outcast on his own turf.
The 11th update to the development blog makes it clear beyond a doubt that Pennyburg, his hometown, is a tiny farming hamlet. An intelligent, charismatic boy like Floyd who likes fast cars, may be dissatisfied by the slow life in someplace like this. This may be a factor in why he decides to join Travis in running around all over the country to investigate the mystery of the Modern Men and what it is that they're up to.
Perhaps a unique status ailment for Leo. It's a stretch, but would be interesting.
- Maybe nicotine withdrawal that makes him unable to concentrate (therefore unable to use PSI).
Leo's biker gang will have a similar role in the plot to the Runaway Five from Earthbound and the DCMC from Mother 3.
That is to say, they will show up at multiple points in the plot and provide assistance.
For extra similarity, maybe Leo and some of the bikers have a jazz band together that will play in a club at some point.
Or alternatively...
A team of racecar drivers will have a similar role in the plot to the Runaway Five from Earthbound and the DCMC from Mother 3.
It seems a bit of a stretch, but Floyd is interested in racecars, and the 1970's was the time when NASCAR started getting popular. The party may befriend a group of them, and they will show up a few times providing assistance.
The game will support 5 party members instead of just 4, and at some point late in the game Zack will join permanently.
If you look at how the battle screen was handled in the old gameplay trailer, you see that there's really no indication that the maximum party size is 4, and that there's enough horizontal space on the screen to fit
5 "stats boxes" for party members.
Mother 4 is a prequel to the entire series.
The game has been shown to take place in 197X, much like
EarthBound Beginnings 198X (or 1988) and EarthBound's 199X, so that's an obvious connection there. Of course, there is the possibility that this takes place in a rebuilt world after
Mother 3s cataclysmic ending,
with a calendar reset to boot, but this WMG assumes this isn't the case. Of course, from what we've seen so far, the game's plot doesn't seem to have much to do with either the Giegue/Giygas arc of the first two games
note with which major events pertaining to that arc took place in the 1910's, long before the first two games or Porky's shenanigans in
EarthBound and Mother 3, so we could probably liken this game to more a
Gaiden Game than anything else.
Pleiades is actually located somewhere in the Pleiades.
Considering that most people seem to think this takes place canonically after the
ending of MOTHER 3, it seems likely enough that it would be easier for the dragon to recreate a new earth than try to fix the old one. Really grasping at straws, but the
flag of Pleiades certainly resembles the
Pleiades themselves.◊There will be a parallel Dream/Mental world on top of the day/night system.
Based on the songs in the newly released OST, specifically the THREE variations of the "waking up" theme— Good Morning, Good Evening, and "Good Magining". It's not difficult to figure that "magining" could be shortened from "imagining", which goes hand-in-hand with dreaming. Not to mention, Travis's signature technique being VOX Daydream ties that together nicely too.
The green stuff is VOX Power, and the Modern Men are draining it from the planet so they can pool it all to make a very powerful transmission.
To who? Why, aliens, of course.
Endgame speculation based on the released Soundtraaack!!
(links are to corresponding songs from the soundtraaack!!.)
Since the team successfully acquired the rights to use the Soundtraaack!! in the game, and since the Soundtraaack!!'s songs seem to be loosely ordered in terms of progression (The music generally seems to become more intense as the album goes on, and the battle themes especially seem to follow an easy-to-see crescendo from Clueless to Far Superior Foe), here's a theory on how the endgame might play out (Kinda builds off the above theory about the Modern Men trying to make first contact).
After a confrontation with a powerful late-game foe (possibly a higher up Modern Man, maybe even the president or otherwise leader?) who barely considers the party a threat (possibly because the party's actions aren't actually a danger to their plans) the endgame kicks into full swing. I'm imagining the area preceding this climactic boss fight and the climactic boss fight itself mirroring Magicant and Ness's Nightmare, game-progression-wise. I'm also imagining it to be a dangerous revisiting to a previously seen area, since the song immediately preceding Confident Foe is clearly meant to be paired with another earlier song.
After this arc, the endgame is kicked off by alien life being successfully contacted (see above WMG), with aliens on the way. All that's left to do is get to the predicted landing site and see what happens.
Of course, what ends up happening is a final boss fight, against an extraterrestrial that catches everybody off guard with its sheer incomprehensability to pitiful human senses (or maybe a The War of the Worlds-style alien war machine— that movie did come out in the 50s after all).
The Modern Men are aliens who are trying to get home.
(again, links are to the songs from the soundtraaack!! that inspired those parts of the theory.)
Again building off of the above two theories (albeit off to the side a bit), the Modern Men were aliens who were left stranded on the planet somehow 8,000,000 years ago, and they're just now enacting their plan to return home. It's possible their antagonistic qualities in this case could spring from themselves simply thinking themselves to be on an existential level much much higher than humans (and heck, they might be right) and therefore more worthy of existing, even if it meant, oh, say, capturing humans in classic People Jars to drain their energy for their own devices.
In this circumstance, the above-theorized final encounter could play out much like an impatient child asking their parents when they can go home, with the Modern Men asking the arriving aliens to basically give them a ride back. Perhaps in this, the "final boss alien" is simply a mature specimen of the Modern Men's race, and said race naturally sheds their physical form for an energy-based one as they age (See Modern Mind for a possible adolescent).
certainly resembles the Pleiades themselves.
◊