Lloyd

Lloyd (Japanese: ロイド Roid ), alternatively Loid, is one of the main characters of EarthBound Beginnings. He lives in Merrysville and goes to school at Twinkle Elementary School. Although he cannot use PSI, he is skilled at using various mechanical objects and explosives.

Lloyd is normally the second character to join Ninten's party, but he can be the third member to join if the player chooses to get to Ana first. Lloyd is the only character that must join Ninten in order to complete the game, as he is needed to make all the areas north of Merrysville accessible, as well as being needed to access Eve.

Physical appearance
Lloyd weighs 40 kg, is 149 cm tall and has blood type AB. He has gray hair that ends just above his ears, and that is parted in the middle. He wears a pair of round eyeglasses, which is one of his favorite possessions that he very rarely takes off, being only when he is by himself. Clothing-wise, he wears a red t-shirt, a pair of brown shorts, and a pair of red, white-edged shoes with white laces. Red blushes, being a typical trait among various characters, can also be seen on his cheeks.

He bears some slight resemblance to Jeff, a main character in EarthBound, primarily being that they both wear glasses when it comes to their physical appearances. Other similarities include their incapability of utilizing PSI, which is compensated by their ability to use various mechanical weapons, such as guns and bottle rockets. Early concept art from EarthBound, notably, depicts Jeff also wearing a red shirt and having lighter hair, making him more resemble Lloyd.

Personality and other characteristics
Lloyd is depicted as a stereotypically nerdy person, being shy and intelligent, and frequently bullied by several of his fellow schoolchildren; he is as a result usually found hiding in trash cans while being at school. As a toddler, he did already display introverted qualities, not letting anyone besides his mother be affectionate toward him. Lloyd already showed a liking of his idol, Albert Einstein, at an extremely young age, when he read a book by him on the subject of the theory of relativity, which became one of his most treasured possessions when he grew up. He is shown to have a strong liking for science, mainly mechanics, as he is seen to be able to activate industrial rockets and navigate military tanks; one of his fellow schoolmates also mentions how she thinks that Lloyd will grow up to become a computer engineer. His main weapons in-game, only being usable by him, are guns. He also likes to experiment with mechanical objects, as can be seen in the game when he tries to reproduce a Bottle Rocket. Physical education is his least favorite school subject, being something in which he shows little interest. Despite the fact that he is almost daily subjected to bullying, he is more determined than most of his other classmates, doing his best to manage through the days. When he has gone home after school, he usually spends his time on science, together with his father. Later during night, he sleeps for approximately three hours, usually falling asleep while using his microscope. Lloyd also owns an Apple Computer, which usually greets him in the morning, and he is revealed to love a certain theme from the movie Ben-Hur.

Lloyd's six most treasured possessions are his theory of relativity book, his PC software, his Superman doll, his tool set, his eyeglasses, and his trophy from the "Pan-American Concentration Convention: Boy's Division Championship". He found the theory of relativity book on his father's bookshelf at the age of three, and it sparked his interest for Albert Einstein during the following years. He mainly uses his PC to play games, and he can sometimes display aggressive behavior upon losing a game or if a game starts to malfunction. The Superman doll is one of his few possessions that does not pertain to science, where it is hinted that it may be due to him being able to identify himself with Superman, as he has two roles: one as an ordinary man, and one as a hero. His tool set serves more as a memento rather than building devices, as that specific tool set is the first one he ever got, being bought by his mother. Lastly, the trophy he got at the convention was one he managed to win after having displayed an impressive memory capacity, though all that is left of the actual trophy is its stand, as he has used the copper that the trophy consisted of for his various experiments.

History
Lloyd was born in Merrysville, where he was given birth to ten days and ten hours behind the scheduled time, and has lived there from then on. At the age of three, he read a book by Albert Einstein, concerning the theory of relativity, who since then has had great influence on him. He invented "Bathroom TV", which he dedicated to Einstein, when he was four years old, where he from the bathroom directed four mirrors toward the TV in the house's living room, enabling him to watch television while bathing. When he was eight years old, he was near completion of a time machine that he had been building on, also being dedicated to Einstein; he announced it to everyone in his class, but due to his frequent exposure to bullying, he hid in a trash can when making the announcement, and was barely heard by anyone.

During the events of EarthBound Beginnings, he is first met by Ninten in a trash can located on the roof of Twinkle Elementary School in Merrysville, hiding from the other schoolchildren. When spoken to by Ninten, he initially refuses to come out, being afraid that everyone will pick on him if he does, but after being convinced that Ninten does not want to do him any harm, he leaves the bin and introduces himself, and thereafter says that he would like to fly a Bottle Rocket from Sweet's Little Factory. After Ninten manages to get him a Bottle Rocket from the factory, Lloyd takes him down to the lab room of the school, in an attempt to reproduce even more rockets, but ultimately fails with the experiment, which instead ends in a huge explosion. He then joins Ninten on his quest in retrieving eight specific melodies.

A set of rocks block the way to the town's train station, so the two of them head off to Duncan's Factory, where they thanks to Lloyd's experience in mechanics manage to send away a rocket toward the rocks, which successfully clears the path to the station. They do then via a train go to Reindeer, where a woman gives them a hat, which she believes belongs to a girl in Snowman. After going to Snowman, they deliver the hat to a young girl named Ana, who as a result joins Ninten's and Lloyd's party, believing that they will help her find her lost mother.

The party then heads off to Spookane, where dangerous creatures have taken over a big portion of the settlement, forcing the majority of the citizens to abandon half of the town. Additionally, ghosts and other hostile beings have been showing up in a house in the outskirts of the town. After obtaining the key from the mother of the family whom once owned the house, the party enters the building, where they find a piano situated deep inside of it, that plays the fourth melody once they have checked it.

The three of them then head back to the Union Station in Merrysville, where they detour around the broken railroad tracks in order to reach the desert on the other side. After walking through the sand-ridden area for a while, the party encounters a cactus that seemingly appears to have a face. After communicating with it telepathically, the cactus will start to sing the fifth melody, which the party memorizes. After walking around the desert further, the party meets an old man, who will give them his tank in exchange for ten Ticket Stubs, which can be purchased from him. With the tank in their possession, the trio discovers the entrance to a ruin situated in the desert; they are however stopped by a huge robot, whom they are engaged in a battle with. They manage to defeat the mechanical being, but unfortunately lose the tank in the process. They then enter the ruins, and after having gone around the monkey-filled, maze-like area for a while, they find an odd-looking stone that when checked transports them to.

The party walks to the Magicant Underground, being the residence to a sleeping dragon, that upon feeling Ninten's presence battles them. The dragon starts to sing the sixth melody after being defeated, and then simply goes back to sleep. When exiting the underground, the party are teleported to a cave northwest of Youngtown. They pass through the town, and continue towards a swamp. While progressing through the swamp, the party briefly meets Lloyd's father, hiding in a trash can in front of a house. He asks for the player's name if they did not input it on their visit in Snowman, and then tells them to look out for Lloyd, stating that he is a real weakling. Later, the trio arrives at the city of Ellay.

In Ellay, after having purchased a ticket, the party gets to perform in front of an audience in a building called the Live House. The leader of the local gang, Teddy, does however confront them after the act, and a fight takes place onstage. The battle is however ended abruptly by Teddy, who is impressed by Ninten's fighting ability. He says that he wants to revenge the death of his parents, and that they must head off to the mountains in order to do so. He then forces Lloyd to leave the party, being doubtful in his strength, and thereafter replaces him, while also taking all his items with him.

During a later segment of the game, Lloyd makes a return when the party has been attacked by a giant robot at Mt. Itoi, where he brings along another tank. He places them inside the tank and takes them down to a house at the base of the mountain, where a doctor resides and offers them free treatment. Teddy did however get more damage from the attack than Ninten and Ana and must stay in the house, having his place taken by Lloyd, who states that it is time for himself to prove his strength.

The party continues up the mountain, where they eventually find a boat situated near a lake. After boarding the boat, they notice that the motor is not working; Lloyd does however manage to fix it without much struggle. After going around the lake for a while, they get sucked into a hidden facility on the bottom of the lake, where they meet a robot named Eve. After a cutscene, where the facility breaks down and all of them end up on the shore of the lake, Eve joins their team. Farther up the mountain, the party battles a third gigantic robot, who successfully defeats Eve, but the gigantic robot is also destroyed due to the impact of the explosion caused by the destruction of Eve. The remnants of Eve is however revealed to contain the seventh melody, leaving the party with only one melody left to memorize.

The three of them find a gravestone on the mountain's peak, which once checked, plays the eighth and final melody. They then return to Magicant, where Queen Mary, the one who requested Ninten to learn all the eight melodies, resides. They sing all the melodies they have retrieved for her, and she succeeds in remembering the song as a result. Her memory is then entirely brought back to her, and she is revealed to actually be the great-grandmother of Ninten, Maria, and it also revealed that Queen Mary and Magicant are mere illusions created from her consciousness. Magicant, along with all of its inhabitants, then cease to exist, and Maria dies in order to join her husband.

The party is teleported back to the gravestone at Mt. Itoi, and a cave that previously was blocked by rocks appears to be enterable. Inside of the cave, the trio finally gets to meet Giegue, the creature that is the cause of all the horrible things that have occurred throughout the game. They manage to defeat him by singing the melodies they have learned throughout their journey, which is revealed to be his weakness; after being unable to handle their singing, he admits defeat and flies off.

After finally having defeated Giegue, the party rescues all of the people that have been captured by him, and Lloyd gets the status of a hero at Twinkle Elementary School.

Growth rate values








Formula for stat increase during a levelup: stat gain = (constant + (random number 0-3))/2, rounded down. 
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In
Lloyd appears as a in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and a Spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Lloyd also makes a cameo appearence in the stage featured in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Ultimate, Where it shows him meeting Ninten for the first time on the roof of the Twinkle Elementary School.

Game appearances

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Lloyd's favorite things

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Trivia

 * Lloyd (excluding Pippi) is the only party member in the game required to join Ninten in order to complete Mother, being essential in clearing the path to the Merrysville train station and reaching EVE.
 * His Japanese name is Roido, which is a pun on roidomegane, meaning "round glasses with plastic rims", the kind of glasses he wears. His name may have been localized as Loid, and ultimately Lloyd because in Japanese, R and L are pronounced interchangeably, and Loid sounds like the name Lloyd. As a further coincidence, Lloyd means 'grey' in Welsh, which happens to be the colour of his hair.
 * Lloyd has the second-fewest primary weapons in the entire Mother series, only having two; the Stun Gun and the Air Gun. For comparison, Poo only has one.
 * Some people theorize that Lloyd was Dr. Andonuts as a child, as they look similar, and are shown to hide in garbage cans. However, this is unlikely due to Dr. Andonuts being far older than Lloyd, and EarthBound taking place in 199X, only around a decade after Beginnings, which takes place in 1988.