MOTHER/Characters

Shigesato Itoi's cult RPG trilogy has a cast as large as it is whimsical and charming.

Ninten
A twelve-year-old American boy, who lives with his parents and twin younger sisters outside the town of Podunk (Mother's Day). He sets out to find the Eight Melodies and possibly uncover secrets about his mysterious great-grandparents. Not much information is given about his personality, but he seems to be a kind, brave kid, if with a bit of a temper. He loves prime ribs, penguins, and baseball, and occasionally suffers from asthma.


 * The All American Boy: He's a bat-wielding Every Man boy from a small American town.
 * Badass Adorable
 * Batter Up: Uses baseball bats as weapons.
 * Berserk Button: Lying about his mother calling him is not a smart move, hippies.
 * Combat Medic: He has a very powerful physical attack, but all of his PSI is assist and healing. He doesn't even get a signature move like Ness's PSI Rockin or Lucas's PK Love. Even so, he is the strongest permanent party member.
 * Fountain of Expies: His appearance (especially his trademark striped shirt) set the standard for MOTHER series protagonists.
 * Ness is the most obvious example, as he is almost an exact copy of him. As Ness is more well-known, this sometimes leads to confusion, as they share the same outfit. Fans often draw Ninten wearing a red neckerchief and with a slightly different shirt stripe pattern to differentiate them, based on a live-action Japanese commercial for MOTHER.
 * The Hero
 * Heroic Mime:.
 * Jack of All Stats
 * Jerk With a Heart of Gold: The novelization written by Saori Kumi portrays him as this.
 * Magic Knight: Has healing and shield PSI, with strong attack and good defense.
 * Nice Hat: The baseball cap that he convinced his dad to buy for him.
 * Official Couple: Ninten X Ana is the only true relationship between the playable characters in the series.
 * Psychic Powers
 * Support Party Member: Has only support/healing PSI, but is capable of powerful normal attacks.
 * Trademark Favorite Food: Prime ribs.

Loid
The eleven-year-old boy genius from Merrysville (Thanksgiving). Loid is brilliant, but is often bullied by his classmates for being a nerd and a weakling. He developed a tendency to hide in trash cans to avoid confrontation. Despite this, he has a great deal of determination, even when it comes to the dreaded gym class. Bullying has left him very shy and cowardly when he joins Ninten, but over time he becomes stronger and more confident in himself. He likes rockets, science, computers, and Superman.


 * Badass Adorable
 * Big Damn Heroes:.
 * Butt Monkey: He gets bullied a lot at school, and everyone calls him a weakling.
 * Gadgeteer Genius
 * Heroic Albino
 * Lovable Coward: Ninten meets Loid hiding from bullies in a garbage can. He later gets over his cowardice through Character Development.
 * Meaningful Name: Loid's name comes from his Japanese name, "Roido," coming from the word "roidomegane", meaning "round glasses with thick plastic rims".
 * Nerd Glasses
 * The Smart Guy
 * Spell My Name With an "S": Earthbound Zero translates his name as "Loid," but his sticker in Super Smash Bros. Brawl calls him "Lloyd."
 * White-Haired Pretty Boy: Or at least the white-haired part, anyway.

Ana
The only permanent female member of the group, Ana is a twelve-year-old from Snowman. A sweet, but timid girl, Ana has never ventured out of Snowman alone. She is described as kind at heart, with a great sense of direction. Before the start of the adventure, Ana was unable to sleep due to odd dreams, and sets out with Ninten in hopes of finding her abducted mother. She is deeply religious (one of her favorite possessions being a Bible), is a skilled piano player, and also collects stamps and envelopes.


 * Badass Adorable: This adorable little girl in pink and pigtails has some powerful PSI.
 * The Chick
 * Friend to All Living Things: A lover of all animals, she once released all the frogs set to be dissected at her school with her mind.
 * Girlish Pigtails: Only with her hat off. When it's on, she has a single ponytail.
 * Lady of Black Magic
 * Missing Mom: One of the big reasons she offers to join Ninten is to find her mother.
 * Nice Hat
 * Psychic Powers
 * Squishy Wizard: Boy, is she ever.
 * White Magician Girl

Teddy
Unlike the other members of the party, Teddy is not a kid; rather, he is a young man in his late teens to twenties. Leader of the B.B. (Black Blood Gang), he is the kingpin of the town of Ellay (Valentine) until some kids came in and started messing with his crew. After he is beaten by Ninten, he joins the party as to avenge the death of his parents. He likes smoking, leather jackets, and rock and roll.


 * The Big Guy
 * Cool Shades / Triangle Shades: He was doing Kamina's shades over a decade before Kamina (or Squirtle).
 * Delinquents
 * Smoking Is Cool: It is said that teddy smokes "Horse Shit" brand cigarettes in the MOTHER Encyclopedia.
 * Used to Be A Sweet Kid: A NPC will tell you that, before his parents' deaths, he was very nice boy.
 * You Killed My Father: His parents were supposedly killed by wild animals, and he joined Ninten in order to avenge them.
 * Used to Be A Sweet Kid: A NPC will tell you that, before his parents' deaths, he was very nice boy.
 * You Killed My Father: His parents were supposedly killed by wild animals, and he joined Ninten in order to avenge them.

Pippi
A pigtailed young girl whom Ninten must save from zombies.


 * Cute Bruiser: You wouldn't expect her to have the exact same stat growths as Teddy.
 * If you realize she's Pippi Longstocking, then yes, yes you would.
 * Girlish Pigtails
 * Guest Star Party Member
 * Crutch Character: Though she does turn an unintended encounter group location into a Peninsula of Power Leveling.
 * Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: Of Pippi Longstocking.

Queen Mary
The ethereal, beautiful queen of the mysterious land of Magicant. She has fallen gravely ill, and the only thing that will restore her to her former self are the Eight Melodies.


 * Hair of Gold
 * The High Queen
 * Princesses Prefer Pink: Or queens, anyway.
 * Princesses Prefer Pink: Or queens, anyway.

Giegue/Gyiyg/Giygas
The grim leader of the invading alien forces.


 * Anti-Villain: If you pay attention to his backstory and see what happens to him in the second game, he arguably can be interpreted as eventually becoming one of these.
 * Big Bad
 * Expy: Mewtwo of Pokémon was based on his design, and depending on the Pokémon canon in question other similarities crop up.
 * Galactic Conqueror
 * Humans Are Ugly
 * Love Makes You Evil:
 * Spell My Name With an "S": Depending on the translation, his name came up as: Giegue in the original Video Game/Mother1 prototype, Gyiyg in Mother 2 and in Earthbound as Giygas.
 * Start of Darkness: His role here lay the foundation for what he became in Earthbound.
 * Singing the Alien to Death
 * Tragic Monster: Especially once you learn what happens to him later...
 * We Can Rule Together: Though not exactly, but why else does he want to spare Ninten's life?
 * You Cannot Grasp the True Form: Even before his trope-naming sequel appearance, the form of Giegue's attack happened to be inexplicable.

Ness


A perfectly average boy living in Onett, Eagleland. Sets out to find the eight "My Sanctuary" locations and to locate the other three heroes. Little is said about his personality in-game, but his appearances in Super Smash Bros describe him as being courageous and good-natured.

"Voiced by Makiko Ohmoto in Super Smash Bros"

""Even if he had telepathic powers, I don't think he'd use them to mess with you like that. I hear he's a good kid.", from Solid Snake's Codec call on him."
 * Adrenaline Makeover: Supposedly loses weight over the course of his adventure, as some characters point out in the ending.
 * The All American Boy
 * Badass Adorable: The little guy has very high offense stats.
 * Barrier Warrior: Complementing his Combat Medic role.
 * Batter Up: Uses a baseball bat as his main melee weapon.
 * Combat Medic: Has the best healing PSI, as well as the highest attack and defense by far.
 * Expy: Of Ninten.
 * Glacier Waif
 * The Hero
 * Heroic Mime:
 * Lampshaded by a couple NP Cs, one of which being Franky.
 * I Miss Mom: He can get homesickness as a status effect. It's remedied by calling home, of course. D'aww!
 * Kid Hero
 * Light'Em Up: PSI Flash, which creates a bright flash of light that may One Hit KO enemies.
 * Magic Knight: He's the party's tank, physical powerhouse, and medic.
 * Mighty Glacier: Has extremely high offense and hit points, but is the slowest party member by far.
 * Nice Guy: One of few traits known from Ness's personality.


 * Nice Hat: That lovely baseball cap.
 * Heck,.
 * Official Couple: With Paula.
 * Psychic Powers
 * Pure Energy: This is what PSI Rockin' is.
 * The Chosen One: Ness, it is my opinion you are that boy. This I believe...
 * Took a Level In Badass:
 * Trademark Favorite Food: Steak, or whatever you put as the favorite food at the start of the game.
 * Trademark Favorite Food: Steak, or whatever you put as the favorite food at the start of the game.

Paula Polestar


A young girl who lives in Twoson and who possesses powerful psychic abilities. Ness must come to her rescue after she is kidnapped by the Happy Happyist cult.


 * Alliterative Name: Not official (the guide says that her last name is 'Jones') but most people think her last name is Polestar, the name of the preschool she and her parents work at.
 * Badass Adorable: Cute little girl dressed all in pink. Can set you on fire with her mind.
 * Black Mage: She's the primary offensive magic user, later sharing this spot with Poo.
 * Chekhov's Skill: Her unique ability, 'Pray', is generally useless in battle, as its effects are completely random -- a full-party heal is nice, but do you really want to risk reviving all your defeated enemies or having everyone start feeling strange?
 * The Chick
 * Distressed Damsel:
 * Every Girl Is Cuter With Hair Decs: Wears a large red ribbon in her hair, and has access to unique ribbon accessories.
 * Expy: Of Ana.
 * Fire, Ice, Lightning: She's got all three as her offensive PSI.
 * Fragile Speedster: She has the highest speed of the four heroes, and is about as durable as a wet piece of tissue paper.
 * Frying Pan of Doom: Uses a frying pan as her main weapon.
 * Hair Decorations: Has a large red ribbon in her hair, and has ribbons as most of her 'other' equipment.
 * Hair of Gold
 * Glass Cannon
 * The Lancer
 * Lady of Black Magic
 * Official Couple: With Ness. D'aww.
 * Pink Means Feminine
 * Psychic Powers
 * Squishy Wizard: Easily two-shotted due to her low level at first, and then two-shotted at later levels due to her mediocre defense and terrible HP growths. She has around 250HP at LV60-LV70, and that's if the game was generous with RNG and if you're not (ab)using the game breaking rock candy + sugar packet trick. The other party members' HP will be double (or triple in Ness' case) that. She has the best offensive spells (and a couple good defensive spells too), and is fast enough to get them off before her foes can act, but she'll always trail behind the other party members in terms of HP and defense.
 * White Magician Girl: Subverted: has the personality of one, but almost all of her PSI are destructive in nature. Make of this what you will.

Jeff Andonuts


A child prodigy attending a boarding school in Winters. Comes to Ness and Paula's rescue after they are captured by zombies, after receiving a telekinetic message from Paula.


 * Badass Adorable Adorkable
 * Badass Bookworm
 * Badass Normal: Is the only character in the main party with no psychic powers, but has a variety of self-made weapons and is frequently the team's pilot.
 * BFG: His bazookas are just as destructive as you would imagine.
 * Big Damn Heroes: His solo journey from Winters to Eagleland to bust Ness and Paula out of prison.
 * Boarding School: Attends one in Winters.
 * Bow Ties Are Cool
 * Drives Like Crazy: Has a body count of two Sky Runners, both of which crashed under his piloting. (Though he can usually repair them.) The submarine somehow remained unscathed.
 * Enemy Scan: Can use his unique ability, Spy, to display an enemy's stats and status ailment weaknesses. And to steal any items they might have on them.
 * Expy: Of Loid.
 * Gadgeteer Genius: Jeff lacks the psychic powers of his friends, but he can take things you'd find in most typical junkyards, such as broken harmonicas, irons, pipes, and antennas, and somehow retrofit them into highly advanced laser guns, psychic shield destroyers, and slime blasters.
 * Heroic Self-Deprecation: His self-introduction to Ness and Paula.
 * Item Caddy
 * Macross Missile Massacre: The only character who can use the massively damaging bottle rocket items.
 * Mad Scientist: Not quite as bad as his father yet, but gets up to some impressive scientific feats for his young age.
 * Mad Scientist's Cute Son
 * Mr. Fixit: Can turn broken junk you find lying around into laser guns, psychic field neutralizers, bazookas...
 * Muggle: Like Loid, he can't use PSI.
 * Nerd Glasses: Self-described as "really nearsighted", he's probably Blind Without'Em.
 * Parental Abandonment: Grew up in an exclusive boys' boarding school and hasn't seen his father in ten years.
 * His father's response on seeing him? "Let's do this again in another 10 years."
 * Ray Gun: Uses homemade laser guns as his weapons.
 * School Uniforms Are the New Black
 * Science Hero
 * The Short Guy With Glasses
 * The Sleepless / Plot Powered Stamina: When staying at inns, he'll stay up all night fixing that broken junk you've accumulated, and his battle prowess doesn't suffer a bit for it.
 * The Smart Guy: A scientific prodigy and son of the famous Dr. Andonuts, he boasts the highest IQ and IQ growths in the game.
 * The Team Normal
 * Teen Genius
 * Toy Ship: With Tony.
 * "Well Done, Son" Guy: Averted. He isn't hung up on this, but later on, his own father, despite being a flightly Cloudcuckoolander, tells his son he is indeed proud of him.
 * Youthful Freckles

Poo


The prince of Dalaam who comes to Ness's aid to fulfill a prophecy dictated by his mentor. He arrives after Ness and company accidentally trip out on some Magic Cake.


 * Badass Adorable
 * Bare-Fisted Monk: At least if you don't pick up the notoriously rare Sword of Kings. Even then, the command isn't changed to slash. Either he equips it because he becomes stronger just having it, or only uses the hilt. (Or the "Sword" part was symbolic.)
 * Bald of Awesome
 * Battle Butler: Swears to serve Ness upon meeting him.
 * Big Damn Heroes: He swoops in (literally) and deals the finishing blow to Master Belch.
 * The Big Guy
 * Can't Catch Up: He joins at an extremely low level for the point of the game you're at, and has trouble catching up.
 * Chick Magnet: Very popular with the ladies of Dalaam.
 * Colony Drop: PK STARSTORRRM!!!
 * Dynamic Entry: Seems fond of this -- he drops out of the sky in his first appearance to Ness and company, and it is also a big part of his Big Damn Heroes moment against Master Belch.
 * Heroes Prefer Swords: The Sword of Kings, one of those infamous rare item drops.
 * Informed Attractiveness: When playing as him, you get a lot of attention from the ladies in Dalaam.
 * Jack of All Stats: He can use both healing and offensive PSI, and has decent overall stats as well.
 * Look What I Can Do Now: PK Starstorm Alpha.
 * Mega Manning: Has the unique ability to transform himself into certain enemies during battle.
 * Mind Screw: So, was Ness controlling him, just watching/having a premonition, or happily tripping out while Poo set out for unrelated reasons?
 * Picky Eater: Dislikes (or just isn't used to) most Western foods, and gets minimal HP restoration from eating them.
 * Psychic Powers
 * The Red Mage: Has access to a variety of both healing and offensive PSI, unlike specialists Ness and Paula.
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something
 * Spoony Bard: Oh, boy...his PP is low, but he can restore it by drinking cheap bottles of water. He isn't used to Western food and gains minimal HP restoration from it. He can only use certain pieces of equipment, and any others will lower his stats -- he has exactly ONE weapon, and it's an incredibly rare drop from an enemy in a one-time-only area. It's also extremely difficult for him to catch up level-wise because he requires the most EXP for each individual level up.
 * Toy Ship: With...all the ladies of Dalaam, really.
 * Training From Hell: His Mu training, at the end of which he.
 * Unfortunate Name: It isn't as unfortunate in Japan, as his name is read as "Puu" there. It's intended to be Asian-sounding, but the North American release Romanized it differently... and unfortunately. Prerelease images indicate it was almost Romanized as "Pu"; you have to wonder whether the change had anything to do with the game's unfortunate advertising campaign.
 * Warrior Prince

King


Ness's lovely little pet dog. He's a Guest Star Party Member early on in the game, and does substantial damage. He chickens out and runs away when Buzz Buzz appears, because the party limit is four.

BUT! It was meant to be five! That's right, King was meant to be a permanent party member. This model does however return in Boney.

"King: I'm not going out again. I don't care if everyone thinks I'm a stubborn mutt."
 * Arbitrary Headcount Limit: If he'd been permanent, he would've extended it to 5.
 * Big Friendly Dog
 * Demoted to Extra
 * Heroes Love Dogs
 * The Lancer: Until he leaves the party.
 * Lovable Coward


 * Muggle
 * What Could Have Been: It's given away by an unused climbing sprite.

Porky/Pokey Minch


Ness's next-door neighbor. A selfish, spoiled brat who loves to cause trouble and


 * Abusive Parents: In the Japanese version of Mother 2, Pokey glumly says that if his parents find out he and Picky were out late, he gets spanked 100 times; this had to be changed because of Nintendo's rules of content. Thus, in the American version of Earthbound, he gets no dessert for the rest of the decade.
 * Amazing Technicolor Population:.
 * : Or at least he thought of Ness as a friend.
 * Blinding Bangs
 * Blond Guys Are Evil
 * Dirty Coward
 * The Drag Along: "Three boys, he said? ...Uhhh...I'm not one of those three, am I?...'Cause... I'm not into this kind of thing at all..."
 * : With in Earthbound, as by the time you fight them Giygas is barely sentient and clearly incapable of acting of his own accord. This could make Porky ; it's very open to interpretation, like most things in MOTHER.
 * Dumb Is Good: As he becomes, his speech is more erudite, as well.
 * Enfante Terrible
 * Evil Costume Switch: As a "consultant" to Fourside's corrupt Mayor, Porky dons a snazzy red suit.
 * : To Ness.
 * Fat Bastard: Up to Eleven, to the point where NPCs always refer to him as a "pig-looking kid". Consider his name, for one.
 * Freudian Excuse: His parents are pretty loathsome. Either one would sell out humanity for a nickel, so it's no surprise that Porky is so susceptible.
 * Gonk
 * I Just Want to Have Friends: According to Word of God. Porky's manifestation in Magicant is quite friendly and wishes to mend fences with Ness.
 * Jerkass: Taken to ever-increasing levels. Just when you think he can't possibly get any worse, he somehow finds a way to top himself. Again. And again. And again.
 * : During the, even though he admits terrifies him as much as Ness.
 * The Load: Although he's only with you at the very beginning of the game, all he does is alternately whine, beg for mercy, hide behind Ness, play dead, and otherwise do nothing to contribute.
 * He manages to keep being the load thereafter by associating himself intimately with whoever happens to be standing in your way at the moment and making it very clear that, now that he has powerful new friends, he's far too good for the likes of you. When you inevitably prevail, he begs for forgiveness just long enough to make a getaway.
 * : To Carpainter and Mayor Monotoli. Also one interpretation of his relation with.
 * Meaningful Name: Yeah, you can't deny he's quite porky.
 * : Steals the chopper Ness is intending to use to fly to Scaraba. Jeff later finds its crashed wreckage in the swamp; Porky somehow managed to navigate it on foot. The kicker, though, is when he pops up in the Cave of the Past after a long absence.
 * More Than Mind Control: As demonstrated when he 'snaps out of' the Happy Happyism Cult brainwashing.
 * : Who better to be than Ness' annoying neighbor?
 * : Taunts Ness to cry out and PRAY to his friends ("I know you have telepathy, or something") for help. ?
 * Not So Harmless
 * : A particularly chilling one during.
 * Retreaux: His battle music starts out like this.
 * Sinister Minister: Blithely resurfaces as a Priest in the Happy Happyist cult.
 * Slasher Smile:.
 * Spell My Name With an "S": Originally "Porky" in Japanese, but because the localization staff apparently missed the joke (and yet kept all the other pig jokes about him and his family), his name in the English version is Pokey. Much later, Super Smash Bros Brawl rectified the mistake and called him Porky, as did the MOTHER 3 fan translation, and fans are divided on what they want to call him.
 * Spider Tank: His preferred method of offence/defence/not dying.
 * This Loser Is You: Yup. Itoi considers Porky "a symbol of mankind."
 * Unfortunate Name
 * We Used to Be Friends: Is implied to have been friends with Ness at some point. Though why Ness didn't hang out with Picky instead is anyone's guess.
 * We Will Meet Again: Once Giygas is destroyed,, but not before taunting Ness one last time.
 * Yin Yang Clash: The Minches are a bizarro reflection Ness' family. Porky does not like steak, which is Ness' canon favorite food.
 * Yin Yang Clash: The Minches are a bizarro reflection Ness' family. Porky does not like steak, which is Ness' canon favorite food.

Giygas


The Universal Cosmic Destroyer who once again menaces Earth, and according to Buzz Buzz, successfully obliterates it in the future. Things are... different this time.


 * Abstract Apotheosis: Has become evil itself.
 * Background Boss: Played with; Giygas is the background.
 * Big Bad
 * Diabolus Ex Nihilo
 * Doppelganger Attack: Smacking him around causes Giygas to split into these, until there's literally a sea of undulating, screaming faces. Y'know, for kids.
 * The Dreaded: Giygas: a physical manifestation of people's fear.
 * Eldritch Abomination: He doesn't have a form, he exists in the future and the past, and his only dialog is inspired by the trauma of viewing a violent murder scene misinterpreted by Itoi as a rape scene in a movie that scarred him when he was a kid.
 * Eldritch Location: It's very easy to interpret him as being this as well, as it's implied that he's just that big and distorted.
 * Evil Is Visceral: He looks like this when the Devil Machine is active. After that... it's a little hard to classify what he looks like, other than Nightmare Fuel personified. Giygas' first form provides one of the page images.
 * Galactic Conqueror
 * Love Makes You Evil: It's suggested that his highly conflicted feelings of love for Mary and hate for mankind, his weakness in MOTHER, are what pushed him over the edge to turn him into his present form.
 * Made of Evil: In MOTHER, he was an angry grey alien. Now he is a disembodied entity of pure evil.
 * Madness Mantra: "Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness Ness NESS NESS NESS NESS NESS NESS NESS NESS..."
 * Mirror Boss: His first form attacks with Psi, and even sports Ness's face.
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast: The Universal Cosmic Destroyer
 * No Pronunciation Guide: Really, how do you pronounce "Giygas"?
 * /'gaj.gəs/?
 * Actually a case of Spell My Name With an "S". In Japan, its pronounced "geeg" and the EarthBound Zero prototype calls him the more directly-translated Giegue.
 * Apparently, the most literal translation equals "Gyiyg" (as seen in the Japanese version's opening), pronounced, again, "geeg".
 * Omnicidal Maniac: They call him the Universal Cosmic Destroyer for a reason.
 * One-Scene Wonder: Though he's talked up all throughout the game, you never see his true form until the final battle. It's probably the most memorable part about the game.
 * Red and Black And Evil All Over
 * Restraining Bolt: Pokey's "Devil's Machine."
 * Surprise Creepy
 * Ultimate Evil
 * Vile Villain Saccharine Show: You would think a series as cartoony and (initially) light-hearted as this would provide only ordinary Nightmare Fuel at worst, but Giygas begs to differ.
 * With Great Power Comes Great Insanity
 * You Cannot Grasp the True Form: Trope Namer.

Mr. Saturn


A race of cute, innocent creatures that live in the secluded Saturn Valley. Actually highly intelligent in spite of their goofy personalities, they.


 * Big Ol' Eyebrows
 * Black Bead Eyes: Like everyone else in the series, but exaggerated: they're much smaller than their eyebrows.
 * Cephalothorax: A variation without arms.
 * Cloudcuckoolander
 * Every Saturn Is Cuter With Hair Decs -- Every Mr. Saturn sports a cute red ribbon in their (single) hair.
 * Gag Nose
 * Genius Ditz: The entire species.
 * Painting the Fourth Wall: Mr. Saturns weird very font have, boing!
 * Planet of Hats: Every Mr. Saturn is named Mr. Saturn.
 * Punny Name / Lost in Translation: Mr. Saturn in Japanese is Dousei-san - which means both "Mr. Saturn" and "Mr. Samename."
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter
 * Verbal Tic: Their speech is littered with "zoom"s, "boing"s, and "ding"s.
 * Waddling Head
 * Wingdinglish: Mr. Saturn's speech is displayed in loopy, childish font to emphasize their odd speech patterns, zoom.

Buzz-Buzz
A small, bee-like (or not) visitor from the future, who has traveled back in time to warn Ness of Giygas' pending invasion.


 * Almost Dead Guy: The page picture.
 * First Episode Spoiler: Killed only a few minutes into the game, after putting the plot in motion.
 * Glass Cannon: Powerful attacks and psychic shields. Killed in a single swat.
 * I Am Not Weasel: "A bee I am... not."
 * Psychic Powers
 * Sacrificial Lamb
 * A Taste of Power: Without him, you probably wouldn't survive that first Starman fight. Too bad he gets squished only a few minutes later.

The Runaway Five (The Tonzura Brothers)
A famous jazz band that the party befriends in Twoson after helping them out of their debts.


 * Big Damn Heroes:
 * Expy: Themed after the Blues Brothers. The English version reduced this by recolouring their black suits into brighter colours.
 * Work Off the Debt: They're not too great with contract negotiations. The party has to bail them out twice. Though they do repay the favor by giving them rides in their tour bus, and by
 * Work Off the Debt: They're not too great with contract negotiations. The party has to bail them out twice. Though they do repay the favor by giving them rides in their tour bus, and by

Dr. Andonuts


A brilliant scientist from Winters. He is Jeff's father, and helps the party on numerous occasions with his inventions; from the flying Sky Runner to the.


 * Absent-Minded Professor
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Upon seeing his son for the first time in ten years, he asks him whether he would like a doughnut. If Jeff answers in the affirmative, Dr. Andonuts wistfully comments that he'd like one, too.
 * Einstein Hair
 * Gadgeteer Genius: Must run in the family.
 * Mad Scientist
 * Omnidisciplinary Scientist: A world-renowned expert in robotics, physics, medicine, engineering...
 * Parental Abandonment: Hasn't seen his son, Jeff, in ten years; despite living a short walk away from his boarding school.
 * Parental Abandonment: Hasn't seen his son, Jeff, in ten years; despite living a short walk away from his boarding school.

Tony
Jeff's best friend and roommate at his boarding school. He frets over Jeff during his friend's long and dangerous adventure and worries about his health and safety; even going so far as to try to get to know the mysterious person guiding them.


 * Boarding School: Attends one in Winters.
 * Clingy Jealous Guy: A pretty benign example, but he gets awfully anxious whenever he thinks that Jeff is ignoring him for his new friends.
 * Fourth Wall Observer: He is the only character who addresses the player directly, calling to ask for your name.
 * Nice Hat: A porkpie.
 * Straight Gay
 * Word of Gay: Confirmed by Itoi.
 * Straight Gay
 * Word of Gay: Confirmed by Itoi.

Apple Kid


An aspiring inventor that Ness & Co. inadvertently start funding. His odd (and oddly-specific) inventions come in handy throughout the game. He proves himself capable by.


 * Fat Bastard: Played with and averted nicely. He's perceived as one by the people of Twoson owing to his bulk, lack of self-hygiene and poor social skills... but he proves himself to be anything but and is critical in Ness's success.
 * Gadgeteer Genius
 * Mad Scientist
 * Never Accepted in His Hometown: Widely disliked in his hometown of Twoson in favor of his more charming and less talented rival, Orange Kid.
 * Phlebotinum Bomb: Specializes in making extremely specific machines that only erase, for example, pencils. Or erasers.
 * Phlebotinum Bomb: Specializes in making extremely specific machines that only erase, for example, pencils. Or erasers.

Lucas


The protagonist of the second half of the game. He starts as a crybaby, but after his adventure he grows a lot more mature. "Voiced by Lani Minella in Super Smash Bros"


 * Badass Adorable: Once Character Development kicks in.
 * Big Damn Heroes and Moment of Awesome:
 * Break the Cutie
 * Character Development: It even gets mirrored in Super Smash Bros Brawl.
 * Combat Medic: Continues the series' trend of the main protagonist being the game's primary healer. Lucas has the largest arsenal of healing abilities of the four party members as well as the strongest physical attack.
 * Farm Boy: His father is a shepherd, even!
 * Hair of Gold: Representing his innocent, pure-minded personality.
 * Kid Hero
 * Lovable Coward: Until the Character Development kicks in
 * Magic Knight: Has a great deal of healing, shield and buffering moves but also deals that most damage in the party and can take quite a bit of damage.
 * Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: He and Kumatora.
 * Mushroom Samba: Complete with a large dose of Nightmare Fuel.
 * Plot Induced Stupidity and Gameplay and Story Segregation:
 * Psychic Powers
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: Lucas is blue to Claus's red.
 * Shrinking Violet
 * Sibling Yin-Yang: Lucas is timid and gentle, while Claus is more outgoing and excitable.
 * Simple Staff / Carry a Big Stick: His weapons of choice range from either yo-yos, sticks, staves, or baseball bats.
 * Theme Twin Naming: Lucas and Claus are anagrams of each other.
 * Unlikely Hero: Claus' shirt is blue and yellow--the same color as Ness's and Ninten's before him. He also acts like a Hot Blooded hero, capable of ridiculously selfless and suicidal actions on behalf of the people he cares about. Everything about him is deliberately engineered to scream "hero!"... but it's timid Lucas who gets saddled with the position instead.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: Lucas is blue to Claus's red.
 * Shrinking Violet
 * Sibling Yin-Yang: Lucas is timid and gentle, while Claus is more outgoing and excitable.
 * Simple Staff / Carry a Big Stick: His weapons of choice range from either yo-yos, sticks, staves, or baseball bats.
 * Theme Twin Naming: Lucas and Claus are anagrams of each other.
 * Unlikely Hero: Claus' shirt is blue and yellow--the same color as Ness's and Ninten's before him. He also acts like a Hot Blooded hero, capable of ridiculously selfless and suicidal actions on behalf of the people he cares about. Everything about him is deliberately engineered to scream "hero!"... but it's timid Lucas who gets saddled with the position instead.

Claus



 * Badass Normal:
 * Be Careful What You Wish For: "I'm gonna get stronger. ...I'm gonna get so strong even Dragos won't stand a chance against me!"
 * Decoy Protagonist
 * : It works.
 * Fiery Redhead
 * Keet: He even wears bright colors!
 * Logical Weakness:, which renders your combo system useless.
 * : Well, Flint never did despite his greatest efforts.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: Lucas, blue, and Claus, red.
 * Sibling Yin-Yang: Lucas is timid and gentle, while Claus is more outgoing and excitable.
 * : Deflecting Thunder PK onto.
 * : King P gloats that this is the case.
 * Theme Twin Naming: Lucas and Claus are anagrams of each other.
 * Logical Weakness:, which renders your combo system useless.
 * : Well, Flint never did despite his greatest efforts.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: Lucas, blue, and Claus, red.
 * Sibling Yin-Yang: Lucas is timid and gentle, while Claus is more outgoing and excitable.
 * : Deflecting Thunder PK onto.
 * : King P gloats that this is the case.
 * Theme Twin Naming: Lucas and Claus are anagrams of each other.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: Lucas, blue, and Claus, red.
 * Sibling Yin-Yang: Lucas is timid and gentle, while Claus is more outgoing and excitable.
 * : Deflecting Thunder PK onto.
 * : King P gloats that this is the case.
 * Theme Twin Naming: Lucas and Claus are anagrams of each other.

Flint



 * Badass
 * Badass Longcoat: His design in the scrapped N64 version. This was most likely removed to make animations clearer.
 * Badass Normal: In a world where the Mooks wield rayguns and the heroes wield psychic powers, he's still more than capable of making his way on his quest with nothing more than a good block of wood.
 * Carry a Big Stick: Primarily uses sticks as weapons.
 * Deus Angst Machina: Chapter 1. All of this within the space of a day or so.
 * Iron Woobie: Much of what applies to Lucas also applies to him.
 * Happily Married: To Hinawa.
 * Nice Hat: Flint wouldn't be Flint without his signature cowboy hat.
 * Papa Wolf: A deconstruction; he gets so torn up about Claus' disappearance that he spends most of the game neglecting his other son in his rampant search for him.
 * During the final battle between Lucas and the Masked Man Flint will try and protect Lucas, taking two rounds of heavy damage for him.
 * Rancher
 * During the final battle between Lucas and the Masked Man Flint will try and protect Lucas, taking two rounds of heavy damage for him.
 * Rancher
 * Rancher
 * Rancher

Hinawa



 * Happily Married: To Flint.
 * Sunny Sunflower Disposition: Sunflowers are associated with her presence throughout the game.
 * Sunny Sunflower Disposition: Sunflowers are associated with her presence throughout the game.
 * Sunny Sunflower Disposition: Sunflowers are associated with her presence throughout the game.
 * Sunny Sunflower Disposition: Sunflowers are associated with her presence throughout the game.

Boney



 * Enemy Scan: His sniff ability. Some enemies either have no scent or one that Boney can't handle.
 * Evil-Detecting Dog: During the Mushroom Samba on Tanehineri/Tanetane Island, Boney's the only one that won't follow you into the hot spring. And for good reason...
 * Fragile Speedster: Can outright be upgraded to a Lightning Bruiser if you're skilled with the combo system.
 * Heroic Dog
 * Team Pet

Duster



 * Armed Legs: Duster attacks enemies by kicking with his crippled leg.
 * A clubbed foot, if I remember correctly.
 * Badass Beard/Badass Mustache: Yes, he has both.
 * Badass Normal
 * Butt Monkey
 * Disability Superpower: He walks with a limp, and it's noted by several characters. Surprisingly, he incorporates it into his Secret Thief Arts combat style. Duster's weapons are shoes, and he kicks enemies in combat. He can make preemptive attacks at the start of random encounters, and he can even negate sneak attacks.
 * Handicapped Badass
 * Heavy Sleeper: He's even asleep on his naming screen! Boney has to drag him by the neck through the rain during most of his introduction scene. It's implied that he's a night owl, but still, it takes about three quarters of the cutscene for him to finally wake up.
 * Improbable Weapon User: His Thief Tools (wall staples, a scary mask, a siren beetle, a tickle stick, smoke bombs, and a hypno-pendulum) are all things he can use in fights.
 * Master of None: He's a member of your party most of the game, and aside from his status effects, he's mostly just around to bash things.
 * Mushroom Samba: Along with quite a bit of Nightmare Fuel.
 * The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: After the mission in Osohe Castle that Wess sends him on, he's never shown stealing anything, despite being classed as a thief.
 * Stepping Stone Sword: Wall staples, which can be driven into the wall.
 * The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: After the mission in Osohe Castle that Wess sends him on, he's never shown stealing anything, despite being classed as a thief.
 * Stepping Stone Sword: Wall staples, which can be driven into the wall.

Wess
"Wess: I'd like to join the search, but they told me to stay here because I'm old. Seems nobody's aware of just how strong I really am."
 * Abusive Parents: He constantly belittles his son, Duster.
 * Badass Grandpa: He's in his 60's (or thereabouts), and he's so tough, the game nerfs him by making him attack rarely during the short time he's in your party. One of his rarer attacks is enough to one-shot anything you can encounter at the time.
 * Badass Normal
 * Blatant Lies: "I'm not going to stick my butt out or anything, though."
 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass


 * Guest Star Party Member

Kumatora



 * Badass Adorable
 * Bifauxnen: A little kid mistakes her for a boy at some point in Chapter 2.
 * Black Magician Girl
 * Everything's Better With Princesses:
 * Gameplay and Story Segregation: Kumatora is universally described as strong, tough, and masculine, and off-screen, is capable of single-handedly smacking down two bodyguards that Lucas isn't even allowed to approach because they're too dangerous. Yet in actual combat she's a Squishy Wizard who has the overall lowest physical damage ratio, even compared to a dog.
 * The Ladette
 * Lady Swears-a-Lot: Although what profanity there is in the fan translation isn't very strong, most of it comes courtesy of Kumatora.
 * Mushroom Samba: With a bit of Nightmare Fuel mixed in.
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast: Her name means bear-tiger.
 * Psychic Powers
 * Rebellious Princess:
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something
 * She Cleans Up Nicely: In her normal attire, a little girl mistakes her for a guy.
 * Squishy Wizard
 * Tomboy Princess
 * You Gotta Have Pink Hair
 * You Gotta Have Pink Hair

The Magypsies

 * Ambiguous Gender: They are neither man nor woman, nor even human. They usually refer to themselves as female, but Kumatora refers to them as male.
 * Camp Gay
 * Cool Shades: Doria.
 * Funny Afro: Aeolia.
 * Heavy Sleeper: Phrygia.
 * Immortality: A Magypsy will only truly "die" if their Needle is pulled.
 * Musical Theme Naming: The Magypsies are named for the modes of the diatonic scale.
 * Meaningful Name:
 * Nice Hat: Doria and Phrygia.
 * Say It With Hearts
 * Sexophone: The Leitmotif of the Magypsies.
 * Wholesome Crossdressers: The Magypsies are all psychic guardians for good.
 * You Gotta Have Pink Hair
 * You Gotta Have Pink Hair



Salsa

 * Apologetic Attacker: One of Salsa's skills is to "apologize profusely" to the enemy. This is a Continuity Nod to one of Porky's totally useless actions when he's a Guest Star Party Member in Earthbound.
 * Butt Monkey: Literally.
 * Electric Torture: Constantly on the wrong side of it, to the point that it REALLY stops being funny after the first few times.
 * Everything's Better With Monkeys
 * I Have Your Wife: The Pigmasks have his girlfriend.
 * Team Pet: Sort of fills the role in a couple places, most notably when teamed up with Kumatora.

Yokuba/Fassad/

 * Arab Oil Sheikh: Fassad looks like one, in any case.
 * It's also worth noting that 'Fassad' is an Arabic word that means 'corruption'. It's also a pun on Façade (no, not the game.). And it's not even official.
 * Bad Boss: He will make you want to choke him to death before Salsa's chapter is over.
 * The Corrupter: Serves as this to the entire population of Tazmily. And he enjoys his job very much.
 * Crutch Character: In Salsa's chapter, though Fassad only helpes out when he feels like it.
 * The Dragon:
 * Evil Laugh: "Nwehehehehehehehehe!"
 * That's one "Nwe" and eight "he"s.
 * Fate Worse Than Death:
 * Guest Star Party Member: A notable one, as it's likely that he'll be the one doing all the damage while Salsa is taking all the hits (and doing his best to disable enemies so he doesn't get hit).
 * Jerkass
 * Kick the Dog: To Salsa. Over. And over. And over. To the point of instant Moral Event Horizon.
 * Make an Example of Them: Anyone who doesn't play ball and purchase a high quality Happy Box gets their house torched by lightning.
 * Meaningful Name: Fassad's name in the Japanese version was "Yokuba", which comes from . His name in the fan translation comes from the Arabic word and coincidentally, . Fassad could also be something of a reference to Lier X. Agerate, a minor character from EarthBound.
 * No One Could Have Survived That
 * Prophetic Name: The Locrian mode, the scale that is named after, is also known as the 'Diabolus in Musica', a Latin phrase meaning 'Devil in Music', in reference to its dissonant tone. This is likely the reason why the name "" was chosen for the traitorous.
 * The Reveal:
 * Running Gag: Fassad isn't afraid to stop whatever he's doing to eat a banana then throw the peel on the floor.
 * Snake Oil Salesman: Wouldn't YOU be happier with a Happy Box?
 * Stockholm Syndrome: Fassad may be a chode, but he's an effective teammate (a lot more than Porky or Thomas), and a lot stronger than Salsa. Itoi intentionally wanted to provoke this feeling in players themselves.
 * Trademark Favorite Food: Luxury Bananas. They even heal him for more than they heal your party members.
 * Turncoat: See "The Reveal."
 * The Reveal:
 * Running Gag: Fassad isn't afraid to stop whatever he's doing to eat a banana then throw the peel on the floor.
 * Snake Oil Salesman: Wouldn't YOU be happier with a Happy Box?
 * Stockholm Syndrome: Fassad may be a chode, but he's an effective teammate (a lot more than Porky or Thomas), and a lot stronger than Salsa. Itoi intentionally wanted to provoke this feeling in players themselves.
 * Trademark Favorite Food: Luxury Bananas. They even heal him for more than they heal your party members.
 * Turncoat: See "The Reveal."

King P

 * Actually a Doombot: When you first face him.
 * Animal Motifs: Pigs, for fairly obvious reasons.
 * And I Must Scream:
 * A Fate Worse Than Death
 * Big Bad
 * The Caligula
 * Climax Boss: And how!
 * Continuity Nod:
 * Dragon Ascendant:
 * For the Evulz:
 * A God Am I
 * : Shigesato Itoi has confirmed that he will still be alive.
 * Omnicidal Maniac
 * Self Disposing Villain
 * Time Is Dangerous:.
 * You Cannot Grasp the True Form:
 * Omnicidal Maniac
 * Self Disposing Villain
 * Time Is Dangerous:.
 * You Cannot Grasp the True Form:
 * Time Is Dangerous:.
 * You Cannot Grasp the True Form:
 * Time Is Dangerous:.
 * You Cannot Grasp the True Form:
 * You Cannot Grasp the True Form: