Mother 3


 * For the unrealesed title that was intended for the Nintendo 64 with the same name, see EarthBound 64.

Mother 3 (Japanese:  ＭＯＴＨＥＲ３) is a role playing video game developed by Brownie Brown and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance on April 20, 2006. It is the third and final video game in the Mother series, and revolves around the fictional Nowhere Islands, their invasion by the Pigmask Army, and the attempts of young Lucas to depose them.

Although initially conceived for release on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Mother 3 was the subject of multiple delays and several consoles. Initial efforts to develop an N64 sequel failed, and while the project was canceled for a short time, Mother 3 was re-announced in 2003. Its subsequent release on the Game Boy Advance was met with commercial success and positive reception.

Although the game has not been released outside of Japan, Mother 3 has enjoyed a cult following similar to that of its predecessor, EarthBound. In October 2008, a fan translation of the game was released by Starmen.net, and Mother 3 has been represented by Lucas in the Super Smash Bros. series since Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Story
Unlike the first two games, the focus is no longer on a group of children. Lucas is the only child protagonist in the game, although Kumatora appears to be a teenager. Some chapters put completely different characters in the protagonist role. In one chapter the player controls Flint, a strange middle-aged cowboy and Lucas's father, another has a limping thief named Duster, and in another chapter the main character is Salsa, a monkey who is constantly suffering abuse by a rich traveling merchant named Fassad. Halfway through the game is when the finalized team is used: Lucas is the leader, followed by the tomboyish Kumatora, Duster, and finally Lucas's dog Boney.

Mother 3 is set in the Nowhere Islands in an unknown time period. Chaos ensues after an invasion by the Pigmask Army, named after the uniforms, which resemble pigs, and its leader, Porky Minch, the "Pig King". They slowly construct a police state, while experimenting on the land's flora and fauna, and introducing new technology and infrastructure to the islands. The various chapters record the life of a boy named Lucas and his family and friends, banding together to rid the Nowhere Islands of the Pigmask Army.

Prologue
The game opens with Lucas, when his family are visiting Alec. Claus, Lucas's older twin brother, wakes Lucas up to play with the Dragos who came to visit. While playing, they are interrupted by a Mole Cricket who challenges Lucas and Claus for a fight. Afterwards, Hinawa the twins' Mother, calls them to have Omelets for lunch. Later, Hinawa sends a message to her husband Flint via carrier pigeon that they will be going home later that night.

Chapter 1: Night of the Funeral
The game begins the first chapter with Flint, who, after a group of Pigmasks start a fire in the Sunshine Forest, is tasked by the fireman Thomas to rescue Lighter and Fuel who are trapped in the fire. They find Lighter by his house which was caught on fire, and find out Fuel was trapped inside. Flint rescues Fuel and escorts him back to the village. Suddenly, it begins to rain, which puts out the fire in the forest, however Flint and the other residents find out that his wife Hinawa and their sons, Lucas and Claus, haven't come back to the village yet. As such they begin a search for them. During the search, Flint hears from Isaac that earlier, he thought he saw Hinawa, then heard a Drago's roar, followed by bloodcurdling screams. Issac nervously grows skeptical about this, while Flint later receives the letter Hinawa sent at the end of the prologue and reads it at home. Flint then sets out with Boney to continue the search. As they continue searching deeper in the forest, they are unable to proceed through the forest due to a fallen tree. Jonel points out a cliffside that were seemingly slashed at by Drago clawmarks, which worries the people as Dragos are gentle creatures. They spot a strand of Hinawa's dress at the top of the plateau, and seek to scale the cliff. Wess sends Boney to call his son Duster who has the ability to help them scale the cliff. Duster makes a ladder with Wall Staples to allow them to climb up and retrieve the strand, only to have a fight with a robotic cyborg caribou. Afterwards they learn of an unknown individual who has plans to reconstruct the animals living in the Nowhere Islands in similar ways.

As they near the end of the forest, they soon find Lucas and Claus were found by a river, and were being warmed by a bonfire. Then Bronson arrives to tell the residents good news and bad news. The good news was that Bronson found a Drago Fang which could be used as a weapon, however the bad news was that the fang was pierced through Hinawa's heart and killed her. Flint enters a blind rage caused by the fact that he couldn't save his wife, he then begins to assault the residents who try to comfort him, until Bronson strikes Flint unconscious with a log and temparorily puts him in jail.

The next day, Flint wakes up in jail after dreaming of the last time he saw Hinawa alive, as she and the boys were leaving to visit Alec on Mt. Oriander. Bronson remarks that Flint is the first person to have been put in Tazmily's jail. He explains that everyone understands Flint's grief and why he went on a rampage last night, but also admonishes Flint for his poor method of coping with the stress of his wife's death. Bronson asks Flint to see him once he gets out of jail, as the former managed to fashion the Drago's Fang into an effective weapon. Claus arrives to give Flint an apple with a Hand File in its core to allow Flint to open the prison door, then Claus explains that he is going to get revenge on the Drago that killed his mother.

Flint then goes off to Hinawa's grave where Alec forces Lucas to reveal that Claus actually did steal Flint's kitchen knife and run off to the mountains to avenge Hinawa, causing Lucas to shamefully run away while Alec realizes he was may have been too harsh on Lucas. Alec then asks Flint to go to his house, along the way Flint then heads to Bronson's to retrieve the Drago fang which was made into a weapon, heads to Alec's house. Alec then joins Flint as they go looking for Claus. Alec brings Flint to a house with a group of bizzarre human-like creatures called the Magypsys, lead by Aeolia, who sent Claus off to the mountains with a special power to aid him. As they scale Drago Plateau, Flint and Alec chase off find several other Pigmasks who've been recently terrorizing Tazmily Village, and later find a baby Drago playing with a shoe that is unmistakably Claus's. Travelling further they find a reconstructed Drago with a missing fang, revealing that this was the one responsible for Hinawa's death. Flint pierces the Drago with its own fang and fights it. The Drago then lays injured as Flint attempts to kill the Drago, only to be stopped by the baby Drago and Alex, of which Alec tells Flint that killing the Drago will only put the baby in the same tragedy that struck the kids. In the end Flint decides to spare the Drago. Unfortunately, Claus was nowhere to be found, then he is shown lying unconscious on the mountainside.

Chapter 2: Thief's Adventure
From here, the second chapter begins later that night, with Duster being drafted to go to the abandond Osohe Castle by his father Wess to find the Egg of Light. Along the way, Duster encounters a suspicious man with a pet monkey, who had offered the farmer Butch a bag of money exchanged for pigs. Butch shows Duster that he is hiding the money inside of the well. In the castle Duster finds that it is taken over by ghosts, most of which are hostile although many are also friendly. One friendly ghost allows Duster to purchase the Rope Snake to help him cross gaps in the castle. Later Duster sees a strange girl run past him, as she drops a pendant along the way. After battling a ghostly musician Mr. Passion, Duster finds the Noble Spitoon, and brings it home to his father Wess. However, Wess hevily scholds Duster because it was the wrong item to return, however Duster also gives him the pendant dropped by the girl, who speculates that the pendant belongs to the princess of Osohe Castle. Because of this, Wess joins Duster to go back to the castle to find the real treasure.

However they are ambushed by Pigmasks who send a Clayman to attack them, although the two defeat it. The two trek through the castle and then enter the room where the Nobile Spitoon was located, and Wess performs a dance to open the door to the rest of the castle to find the Egg. Along the way, Duster and Wess are almost shot with PK Freeze by Kumatora, who was the girl Duster saw on his first visit, and also mistook them for a threat. Upon her pendant being returned, she joins them to search for the Egg of Light. They then reach the Egg of Light, just as several Pigmasks attempt to take the Egg. Kumatora grabs the Egg to escape, which sets off a trap sending them into a water filled chamber where they are attacked by the Oh So Snake. After fighting it, the trio is flushed out of the castle and Duster loses his memory. Wess and Kumatora wash up on a beach. Duster is nowhere to be seen, however. Wess suspects Duster ran off to have his "merry time", causing Kumatora to rebuke him saying Duster might actually be in danger.

Chapter 3: The Suspicious Peddler
Chapter 3 occours simultaneously with Chapter 2. The Pigmask Army then plan to reconstruct the town of Tazmily Village with the help of Fassad. The chapter begins with a monkey named Salsa, who is forced and abused by Fassad to do his bidding, though Salsa is not involved with the scheme and simply wants to rescue his girlfriend, who was kidnapped by the Pigmasks. First they are traveling through a desert to find a passage that will lead them to Tazmily Village. They are attacked by a Cactus Wolf with Salsa being forced to fight it alone, at which point Fassad opens a secret underground passage.

The passage leads to Tazmily' s graveyard, where Salsa and Fassad then head to the village. Along the way they bump into Duster, and then Fassad overheard Butch telling Duster that he hid the money in the well. Fassad then stays the night at Yado Inn. The next day Fassad attempts to convince the town with a new infrastructure and "Happy Boxes," which are like TV's, that will cause the village to be modernized. Fassad forces Salsa to deliver Happy Boxes to several residents in the village. They use the happiness boxes primarily to corrupt the residents of Tazmily and make their job of establishing authority easier.

Fassad later receives notice that the Pigmasks's raid of Osohe Castle, intended to obtain the Egg of Light, was foiled by a group of amature raiders (Wess, Duster, and Kumatora). Knowing that the amateurs are in the basement, Fassad forces Salsa to drain the waters at the bottom of the castle, washing away the amateurs-- and the Egg of Light. Angered, Fassad goes back to the inn to stay the night. However, on his way there, he encounters a frenzy erupting in the town square: the man who sold Fassad his pigs is accusing a family in the town of stealing his money. Fassad takes the opportunity to continue his propaganda, while a strange girl in the crowd forms a telepathic connection with Salsa.

Fassad then once agains stays the night at the inn. That night Salsa is ultimately rescued by Kumatora and Wess, who upon escaping are ambushed by Pigmasks in tanks in the forest. Fortunately, Lucas shows up and calls a Drago to attack the Pigmasks. Lucas then learns of the schemes the Pigmasks are attempting to put upon the Nowhere Islands, and Lucas begins getting stronger to help put an end to their plans.

Chapter 4: Club Titiboo
Three years later, Tazmily Village is cometely modernized. Lucas explores the town and learns of a new bassist named Lucky who joined the DCMC, who looks strikingly similar to Duster. Lucas tells Wess, who asks Lucas to confirm the rumors that he has joined DCMC and to respond via carrier pigeon. Lucas must travel to Club Titiboo, near the Clayman Factory, where the DCMC performs. Unable to take the train, Lucas and Boney follow the train tracks on foot. Along they way, they reach a hot spring with Ionia bathing in it. Ionia senses power within Lucas, then it attempts to awaken the power by having Lucas hild his breath underwater. Lucas learns PK Love as Ionia remarks that not even the Magipsys can learn it.

Lucas reaches the end of the tracks where the Clayman Factory and Club Tittiboo are located. However, only factory employees are allowed in the club. Lucas and Boney then work part time in the factory to gain access to the club. The club has a strict no pet policy forcing Boney to put on a human disguise. The security were still suspicious with the two, however Kumatora (disguised as a waitress named Violet) grants access by calling Boney "Wuff" and Lucas "Poo. Lucas and Boney then watch the concert and find that Duster did indeed join the musical group DCMC as their bassist. Kumatora guides Lucas and Boney through an underground passageway to one of the dressing rooms, where she reveals that Duster disappeared three years ago and has lost his memory. Unable to get past security, she send the two into the attic to reach Lucky's dressing room. Upon defeating an abandoned and vengeful bass, the two enter Lucky's room where all of the DCMC members are gathered. Duster unfortunately still couldn't remember who he really is, however he remembers where he hid the Egg of Light. Lucas and the DCMC play a game of stone-sheet-clippers to determine if Duster should stay with the band or go. The band agrees that Lucky is Duster then purposely allow Lucas to win, and so the next day Duster listens to the DCMC's farewell song, send the carrier pigeon to Wess, and the four set off together to search for the Egg of Light.

Chapter 5: The Tower of Thunder
The team travel through the Unknown Valley and learn that Duster hid the Egg inside a non-functioning Clayman, which began to malfunction and run rampart after being struck by the lightning from the Thunder Tower. They chase the Clayman into a warehouse, where inside Lucas is mistaken for the Pigmask commander due to baring a strong resemblance to him. They give Lucas his proper uniform and dress his friends as Pigmasks, and then find the malfunctioning Clayman is being taken to the dump and so follow it across a highway.

They borrow a Pork Bean to navigate the Highway faster, however it slips on a bunch of banana peels (presumably dropped by Fassad), catching the attention of a higher-ranked Pigmask named the Fierce Pork Trooper, who is also a DCMC fan and attended the concert the previous night. Using his highly developed sense of smell, he sees through the team's the disguise and attempts to fight them off. Ultimately he is incapitated by jealousy due to the teams DCMC merchendice, allowing them to defeat him and take his own Pork Bean. They find it in a dump where it was reconstructed into the Forlorn Junk Heap. They defeat it and retrieve the Egg of Light, which restores Duster's memory. They then head to the Thunder Tower, learning that it is used to stroke houses that refuse to buy a Happy Box with lightning, to shut it down.

They once again run into the Fierce Pork Trooper, defeat him again, and run into Fassad. Fassad recognizes Lucas as the blonde-haired kid who sent the Drago to attack the Pigmasks three years agoand chases him further up the tower. While escaping, they find their way into a strange playroom belonging to King P. Among the items are a casket from a foreign land, some teddy bears that don't look like they were used since the 1990s, and a jukebox that would be "better suited for a café somewhere in a big city" that only plays a song "suited for a department store".

The continue up where Lucas is struck by a faulty lightning bolt, causing him to learn PK Flash, and destroying the generator to shut down the tower. After shutting down the tower, Fassad appears to try to stop them, but falls from the tower. Shortly after, an aircraft comes with the Masked Man inside. Duster grabs the craft with the Rope Snake and the party clings for dear life as the ship flies away. The Rope Snake cannot hold forever though, and the party falls from the aircraft.

Chapter 6: Sunflower Fields
Lucas awakes in a field full of sunflowers. After finding Boney, he sees figments of his mother, Hinawa. After chasing her off the edge of a cliff, he falls back down on a haystack near the retirement home in Tazmily Village, where Wess and Alec bring him home and help him get well.

It is unknown if the sunflower fields is where Lucas landed after falling off of the aircraft, or if it was just his imagination.

Chapter 7: The Seven Needles
When Wess and Alec bring Lucas and Boney home, they explain that they had a dream where Hinawa told them to put a haystack right where they landed. Alec asks about Duster's whereabouts and suggests for Lucas to visit the Magypsys. As Lucas and Boney are leaving, they find the Magypsy Ionia tied up on the bridge. They rescue Ionia and then it takes the duo upriver to Aeolia's house. Suddenly, a loud tremor is heard outside and the sky begins to flash different colors for a short time, then Aeolia begins to disappear. It explains that its needle has been pulled and is now time for it to disappear from existance. As Aeolia disappears it gives Lucas a razor and lipstick, and uses the last of its power to open a secret passageway to the location of its needle in Osohe Castle.

Lucas and Boney reach the former location of Aeolia's needle and see that it was pulled out. Ionia appears to teach Lucas about the Seven Needles. Pulling the Seven Needles will release a seal on the Dark Dragon, a being that rests below the islands, which inherently possesses massive power. In the wrong hands it could destroy the islands, while it could heal the world in good hands. Ionia worries that whoever pulled Aeolia's Needle has a dark or unpure heart, and urges Lucas to pull the other needles before he does. He finds a transceiver phone like Fassad's nearby, and answering the call find the location of the next needle being near Chimera Laboratory. The party races against the Pigmask Army to activate the needles.

From here on the Needles 2-5 can be pulled in any order. Below is the chronological order of the story.

Upon returning to the surface, Boney brings Lucas to Hinawa's grave where the gravekeeper Nippolyte gives Lucas the Courage Badge, a present from Flint. The duo then head to the Chimera Laboratory in the Murasaki Forest. Lucas and Boney soon find themselves in the genetic-engineering laboratory where Dr. Andonuts and other scientists work. To infiltrate the lab, the two disguise themselves with Pigmask helmets and are tasked to find Salsa and his girlfriend Samba, who were intended to be used for an experiment but escaped. While searching, they learn about the brutally abusive experiments performed on the once innocent and harmless creatures, turning them into dangerous chimeras. They later find the two monkeys, but then they run off due to mistaking Lucas for a Pigmask, and so the duo must continue chasing throughout the lab.

They also find out that several chimeras have accidentally been let loose in the lab. After battling an escaped unfinished mechanical lion chimera, they learn that the lab is in a state of emergancy because their most dangerous creation, the Ultimate Chimera, is still on the loose (being the last one) and is terrorizing the workers in the lab. The Pigmasks explain that the Ultimate Chimera is a deadly monster that will stalk its victims and murder them with its razor sharp teeth. There is no way to beat it so they warn Lucas to stay away from it at all costs. Lucas and Boney then continue their search, while simultaneously trying to avoid the monster. Eventually they find a strange man named Dr. Andonuts hiding in a trash can, presumably hiding from the Ultimate Chimera. He explains that he is being forced to work as the Pigmasks' chief technological developer by King P. Soon the duo manage to corner Salsa and Samba, only to realize they themselves have been cornered by the Ultimate Chimera. As they flee for their lives they drop their helmets, causing Salsa to recognize Lucas as the boy who rescued him from Fassad three years ago. While Lucas and Boney are trying to stay alive, Dr. Andonuts reveals the Ultimate Chimera has one weakness that he added as a precautionary measure, being the button placed on the monster's back that incapitates it when pressed, and wasn't able to be removed when it escaped. Salsa, wanting to repay Lucas for rescuing him, rushes in and presses the button as the monster is about to attack Lucas and Boney. As they leave to find the next needle, the yellow bird that rides on the Ultimate Chimera jumps onto the button, waking it back up and allowing it to escape into the wild.

The party then reach a previously un-openable door, of which Salsa performs a dance to open it, leading to the house of the next Magypsy Doria. Inside they also find Kumatora, who was found by Doria after she fell off the aircraft. She rejoins Lucas and then they locate the next needle, at the bottom of a pond near Doria's house. To reach it they must move the water from that pond into the empty one beside it, with the help of a chimera created by Dr. Andonuts, they succfully drain the pond and Lucas pulls the second Needle. In the process Lucas learns PK Love β and Doria disappears, leaving behind its memento. Meanwhile Kumatora and Salsa say farewell and as they part ways, Salsa gives Kumatora a nut as a goodbye gift.

Upon leaving the area, Lucas and co. encounter Okera, the mole cricket from the prologue of the game. He challenges Lucas to another match, and leads the party down into the lair where the mole crickets live. After an easy battle, the party is allowed to travel through the maze-like caves that lead up into a tall mountain. After traveling up the mountain, the group meets the next Magypsy, Lydia, who has allowed a captured Pork Colonel-turned-good to rest in the house. Lydia reveals the location of its Needle, being behind the house. As Lucas the party is about to go outside, they hear the sounds of Pigmask aircrafts and rush outside, just as the Masked Man arrives and pulls the Needle, revealing he is the heartless person pulling the Needles. After Lucas forms a telepathic link with the Masked Man, they enter a battle with the Steel Mechorilla. After defeating it, Lydia arrives while disappearing, urging Lucas to be the one to pull the Needles. Then the party finds the Pigmask Captain is seen tending for Lydia's pet rabbits after disappearing. He is also unmasked, revealing that the Pigmasks are just regular people who've sworn their ultimate allegiance to the Pig King. Finally to leave the mountain, the party ramps off the mountains in a refrigerator and crashes in Tazmily Village's cemetery.

The party then finds a series of notes with strange handwriting that ask for help, and they are led through a new route on the Pork Highway atop a strange coffee table vehicle. Near the now closed Thunder Tower, they arrive at their destination, which is an occupied Saturn Valley where a race of strange beings called Mr. Saturn reside. In the village, the Mr. Saturns are being forced by the Pigmasks to tell the location of the next Needle with the use of Frightbots. In one house a Mr. Saturn, Duster, and Rope Snake are being interrogated by the Pigmask Army on the whereabouts of the nearby Needle, however the Mr. Saturn insists he doesn't know it's location. Once all of the Pigmasks and Frightbot s are destroyed, the village is freed and Duster rejoins the party. The Mr. Saturn admits that he actually does know the location of the next Needle, inside Fire Mountain The Mr. Saturns help the group enter the volcano by using themselves as a ladder to allow the party to reach the entrance.

Inside they find the next Magypsy, the more serious and detailed orientated Phrygia, who is asleep. It gives Lucas some "Encouraging Words" to speak to the boulders blocking the path so they can go farther into the volcano. They continue through until they reach the end, where the next Needle is guarded by a rebuilt Fassad, now sporting trumpets as weaponry, introducing himself as "New Fassad". Fassad cannot speak on his own anymore, instead he blows into his trumpets while an Interpreter translates the sounds into words. He is ultimately defeated, allowing Lucas to pull the Needle, and learning PK Love γ in the process. Phrygia comes to witness the pulling of its needle. It gives Lucas the locations of the other Needles, then leaves a memento and disappears as with the others. The reunited party returns to Saturn Valley and has some coffee while resting in a hot spring in a familiar manner, then afterwards a Mr. Saturn offers to borrow Lucas's Courage Badge to polish it, and return it later. As the team is about to leave, a Pigmask Major blows up the only exit from Saturn Valley to trap the party members. With the help of the Mr. Saturns, the party uses a flock of birds in a cage to return to Tazmily Village, as the party holds on to Rope Snake. Once again, his jaws are unable to hold the party's weight and they are dropped into the ocean at Cerulean Beach.

They learn the location of the next needle on Tanetane Island, and lacking a form of transportation they must travel on the ocean floor to reach there, and so they dive in. Here they encounter rather questionably designed oxygen machines which supply them with oxygen, with even all but one Pigmask not being fond of their mermen-like appearence. As they near the island, they encounter Master Eddy who battles them. Upon being almost defeated, Master Eddy attacks the party with a gigantic whirlpool leaving them unconscious on the beach with all their goods lost. After waking up, Lucas, Boney, Duster, and Kumatora are low on energy and are unable to proceed due to a Zombieshroom blocking the path. Their only source of food are some strange-looking purple mushrooms, and despite feeling skeptical about eating them, decide this is the only source of food to allow them to survive. Boney opts out, leaving the human party members to experience a drug-induced hallucination in the jungle. Alongside seeing bizzarre nonsensical things throughout the island, the party also find that all the chimeras on the island appear as people they know, and they make strange speeches reflecting the group's tragic memories and fears, or other negative feelings, especially to Lucas. When battled they appear as Eerie Smiles that turn into the actual creatures they are as they're being defeated.

Eventually the party makes its way to the next Magypsy, Mixolydia ("Missy" for short), who at first appears to look more beautiful in the illusion compared to the other Magypsys. Mixolydia then snaps them out of their hallucination and tells where the 5th Needle is located, in top of the mountain and guarded by the Barrier Trio. After defeating it, the Pigmasks and their commander, the Masked Man arrive. After Lucas has another telepathic link with him, the Masked Man shoots a bolt of lightning which incapitates the party, and then pulls the Needle. Mixolydia arrives in distress to see the Masked Man succeeding in pulling the Needles, then along with its memento it gives the Jar of Yummy Pickles to give to Ionia, and let's them be ferried back to Tazmily Village on the back of its octopus friend Ocho, who also found and returned their items.

By the time they return to Tazmily Village, they find that almost all of the residents have moved on to live in the big city, leaving the village deserted. Traveling through Argilla Pass they reach Ionia's house. Giving the Jar of Yummy Pickles Mixolydia left them, Ionia gives Lucas the Waters of Time so they can sprinkle it on the time-locked vines and allow them enter the Chupichupyoi Temple nearby. Along the way to the temple, they meet a hooded Mr. Saturn who gives the polished Courage Badge, now revealed to have been a Franklin Badge. At the temple, they meet the Masked Man, who tries to destroy the vines blocking the entrance to the temple, but is umable to due to them being frozen in time. He then notices Lucas and his friends, then Lucas has yet another telepathic link with him, and finally the Masked Man shoots them with lightning once again, but this time Lucas's Franklin Badge reflects the lightning back to him, and a battle starts. The Masked Man is defeated and then retreats, leaving Lucas to pull the next Needle. After sprinkling the Waters of Time on the vines, they enter a cycle of flowering and wilting, then the entrance to the temple is open. Just before Lucas pulls the Needle, Ionia comes and teaches Kumatora PK Starstorm. Lucas pulls the Needle and learns PK Love Ω, the strongest tier of the attack. Ionia disappears, orphaning Kumatora, who was taken and raised by Ionia many years ago.

As they exit the temple, a limousine pulls up driven by a well-dressed man. The man introduces himself as representing the king who he calls "Porky". He then claims that the Pig King has invited them to New Pork City, which is where Tazmily's inhabitants have migrated to. Ultimately they accept the invitation expecting to find the final Needle there.

Chapter 8: All Things
Riding in the flying limousine the team arrive in New Pork City. Outwardly the city appears as a massive utopia for everyone to live in, however it also invokes the image of a capitalist life. Notably throughout the city are images of the fabled Pig King, as well as a gigantic statue of him. It is revealed here that the Pig King is none other than Porky Minch from EarthBound. He set up the Pigmask Army to brainwash the residents of the Nowhere Islands, and made himself as the ruler of them all.

In New Pork City, Lucas and friends go to the movie theater, which shows some of the Porky's past adversaries (including Ness, Paula, Jeff, and Poo from EarthBound). A stinkbug gets the attention of Boney, which he chases into a broken speaker. Behind the speaker is a hole in the wall which leads to the sewers, and the party chases him into the sewers via the entrance at the New Pork Arcade. Once there, they follow Boney's barks to find him in an abandoned apartment complex. Inside one of these apartments Leder, the bell ringer from Tazmily Village, who disappeared after Tazmily was modernized. He tells them the long history of their world which was kept a secret until the time is truly needed for it to be told, and that time was now.

Long ago there once existed another world. It's never specified what the world was, how it was like, or what it was called, but the world was immensively larger than the Nowhere Islands. The world wound up destroyed in a cataclysm, it was never revealed what caused it, but it was the result of the people. A select few foresaw the destruction happening and built and climbed aboard the White Ship to escape the cataclysm, which the ship made its way to the Nowhere Islands where they were protected by and co existed with the Dark Dragon. The people eventually realized that they could not live together with the Dragon anymore, and so it was put to sleep under the Islands and sealed by the Seven Needles guarded by the Magypsies, and was not to be awakened until it's power was truly needed.

The White Ship people believed the cataclysm was caused by the lifestyle the people lived in the previous world, so fearing another cataclysm they erased all their memories of the previous world and stored them inside the Egg of Light. They founded Tazmily Village where everyone could live in peace and harmony and, while still keeping their original names, they replaced the spaces in their memories with a made up "story" of the village where everyone was given "role" in their life, with no memories of the past world (according to Leder, they wanted to create a plethora of myths and legends, but were unable to due to the memory alteration process being done in haste). Before clearing their memories, they believed it was necessary for one person to keep the memories of the previous world as a way to prevent the people's memories from reverting. Leder was chosen because he was unnaturally tall and stood out among the people. He served as Tazmily Village's bell ringer, where the sound of the bell was to keep the people's new memories intact, and he was tasked to keep the memories of the original world a secret until the time to reveal it was truly needed, as it is now.

Leder also tells that once a kingdom existed on the Nowhere Islands long ago, the kingdom being Osohe. By the time the White Ship arrived on the Islands the kingdom ceased to exist. However the former kingdom was used as a vital part of Tazmily Village's "story": Kumatora was an orphaned infant when the Ship arrived on the Islands, and she was given to the Magypsies to raise. Her role in the story was to be the princess of Osohe Castle, with Wess and Duster being her retainers.

Despite not knowing the outcome of their plans, the people were able to have a peaceful life in Tazmily Village for a while, until Porky arrived and set things amok. Using the Phase Distorter he stole from Dr. Andonuts, Porky traveled through time and space until he arrived in the era of the Nowhere Islands. Porky viewed the Nowhere Islands as his personal toy box to reshape into his own liking, by bring people from various time periods to live there, transforming the once harmless creatures into dangerous chimeras via the Fascinating Chimera Project, modernizing Tazmily Village, and finally setting himself up as the king of the world.

Porky then learned about the Needles and the Dark Dragon from a Magypsy who betrayed the others and joined Porky's side, the Magypsy being Locria. Porky sought to pull the Needles and use the Dragon's power for himself, however only those who have the power of PK Love can pull the Needles, which neither Porky or even the Magypsies are able to. The only ones who can pull the Needles are Lucas and the Masked Man, as such it is revealed Porky is using the Masked Man as his proxy to pull them and Lucas must stop them. Should Porky succeed there is a possibility that another cataclysm destroying the world could take place. With this knowledge Leder, honoring the meaning of his name as "leader", lives up to his name tasking Lucas to infiltrate the Empire Porky Building, where Porky resides, to put an end to his dastardly plan and pull the final Needle before the Masked Man does.

On the way out of the sewers, Fassad returns to once again, now known as Miracle Fassad. He expresses his hatred towards the group and again attempts to get his revenge on them. He is now revealed to be able to use PSI as he attacks them with PK Starstorm. In the end he is once again defeated by the party, this time for good.

They now exit and find themselves back on New Pork City's streets where more and more people began to gather, indicating something big is about to occur. As the group climbs the Empire Porky Building, which is the tallest building in New Pork City, they meet the DCMC who is now about to hold their final concert. Duster temporarily rejoins them for one last concert. However, the concert is cut short by z power outage committed by Porky himself. Porky, knowing the plans of Lucas and his friends, tells them to come up the 100th floor of the building.

As they climb up they travel on different floors that are not the 100th, There's one room containing a pool filled with Hippo Launchers, followed by a fan room with women who are Porky's fans. One is a maze of bathrooms with most occupied. The Ultimate Chimera also managed to make its way here, and is hiding in one of the stalls, coming out if Lucas opens the door. However now it is a smaller threat as it's confined in one hallway.

On one level the party discover a Magypsy house. Upon entering, they find items which include a turban like Fassad's, a pair of trumpets like the ones Fassad has after being rebuilt, many crates filled with luxury bananas, which Fassad ate throughout the game, and banana peels lazily tossed on the floor like Fassad did. Outside nearby is a mouse who says it was cared for by Locria. It remarks that despite Locria being more unsettling than the other Magypsys, along with having a creepy "Nwehehehehe" laugh (like Fassad's), he was actually kind and a good friend of the mouse. The mouse continues to await the return of Locria. This all reveals that Fassad was actually the Magypsy traitor Locria.

Continuing they find themselves on other floors that aren't the 100th, such as a level that is somehow under construction despite the floors above it being completed. Farther up is a lab of sorts where at the end is the Nice Guy Hot Springs, here there are liquid filled tanks with people inside, similar to the ones found in Mt. Itoi and Stonehenge Base. It appears to be used to brainwash people into obeying Porky. When the party makes its way to the next room, they discover a robot that resembles Porky. They are greeted by the chauffeur who took the group to the city, where he explains that Lucas must complete a few mini-games in order to meet Porky. The chauffeur acts as the host, and Lucas is competing with the Porky robot named Mini-Porky, however the aim of the game is to actually allow Mini-Porky to win by a very small margin. After completing the games they are granted access to the next room, where Porky call out they finally reached the 100th floor. Before they can meet Porky they are attacked by the Natural Killer Cyborg.

Once beating it, they go into a long hallway, where the background music is a familiar ambient theme: the title music of EarthBound Beginnings, Mother Earth. In the next room, they find the Hall of Memories, showcasing many items from EarthBound, which include the Runaway Five's tour bus,, the helicopter that Porky flew away from the Monotoli building in, the submarine which Ness and co. used to enter Deep Darkness swamp, the black and white sesames from the Dusty Dunes Desert between Threed and Fourside, and Porky's original spider-mech from the battle with Giygas, before ending up in a long hallway leading to Porky.

Porky greets them and attempts to have a friendly negotiation with him, but regardless of the answer he explodes. It is revealed that the Porky was actually one of many more complete Porky robots, which attack the group. During the fight, more mechanical Porkys appear back to back along with other enemies. Eventually, Duster's former bandages, the DCMC, rush into to the room and defeat the remaining Porky robots. After several of the townspeople of Tazmily Village enter the room with Dr. Andonuts and Flint, the real Porky descends from the vines on the roof where his outward appearence has aged drastically. After having a long speech, they are all alerted that the last Needle has been found and can be reached from a cave system deep below the city, Porky then challenges Lucas and friend to beat him to it via the express elevator. Lucas, Boney, Kumatora, Duster, and Flint rapidly descend the elevator shaft to a mine-like environment.

Flint goes ahead through the cavern first while Lucas and his friends follow behind. Eventually they exit the cave into an ominous mountainous area, where Flint's hat can be seen blowing away in the wind. When the party reach him, Flint tells Lucas that the Masked Man is actually his brother Claus, who has been changed by the Pigmask Army. They have been using him because he is the only other one besides Lucas who is capable of pulling the Needles and awakening the dragon.

Continuing onwards, Porky soon confronts them in his spider-mech. Porky has another speech boasting how his servant the Masked Man will pull the final Needle. When Porky hears that the Masked Man is Claus, he doesn't care about what he has made Claus into. Finally he battles the team. During the fight Porky reveals more about himself, such as his constant back and forth time traveling caused his outward appearance to accelerate in aging to the point where he is dependent on his Spider Mech bed to move. He also reveals that he is immortal and no matter what happens, he will never die. He even knows that pulling the final Needle could possibly result in the destruction of everything except Porky (as he is immortal) and the Dark Dragon, despite this he admits he is will to see everyone who hates him be destroyed leaving him and the Dragon as the only beings in existence. When Porky seems to be defeated, he calls upon the Absolutely Safe Capsule and climbs inside. It seals Porky inside and being true to its name, it protects Porky from all harm. However, Porky finds that he cannot harm the heroes, either. When the battle ends, Dr. Andonuts reveals that he built the Absolutely Safe Capsule with the specifications that once someone is inside, the machine cannot be opened by anyone, including the person inside of it, he even warned Porky not to use it for this very reason. The capsule was built not to protect the one inside it from the world, rather to protect the world from what is inside of it. While Porky is indeed "absolutely safe", he is trapped in the machine forever, and as Porky's wish was to be isolated from anyone who dislikes him, Dr. Andonuts admits this may have granted exactly what Porky has asked for, and proceeds in a childish payback by rolling the capsule around.

Lucas, Kumatora, Duster and Boney finally reach the final Needle, where the Masked Man attacks again in a one-on-one battle with Lucas, who stays safe from his lightning attack thanks to the Franklin Badge, however the other three were knocked out by the attack. During the fight Lucas, heartbroken at the fact that this is his long lost brother, cannot do anything to the Claus, who continues to attack him with PK Love. During the fight, the voice of Hinawa is heard. She pleads with Claus from beyond the grave, trying to get him to stop attacking Lucas, while Flint blocks the effects of the PK Love attack. As the fight progresses, Claus slowly but steadily begins to regain his senses due to Hinawa's pleas. After a flashback of the birth of the twins and receiving their names, the Masked Man removes his helmet revealing himself as Claus, and regaining his own will, he sends a final bolt of lightning at Lucas so that it would reflect back at him and end the fight.

After Claus collapses, he regains his sense of self. He then apologizes for what he has done, then acknowledges that he is going where mother is, and finally gives his final breath and passes on. Lucas rises up as Flint asks Lucas to forgive Claus, then he gains his courage and pulls the final Needle, and the player is shown a grim outlook of what appears to be the end of the Nowhere Islands.

A secret on the final screen of the game, in which the word "END?" appears, where moving the d-pad will actually reveal that everyone is alive and the world has been restored, they then thank the player for all their help. As the residents of the Nowhere Islands give their thanks, the player finds a Doorknob, likely the doorknob that was pulled off Flint's door in Chapter 1. Lucas is the last one to say thanks and bids the player farewell to the player as they leave.

Playable characters
Unlike the two games before it, having a set of four playable characters and rarely deviating from it, Mother 3's playable cast changes often before settling on a team of four in Chapter 7.


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Antagonists

 * Pigmasks and the Pigmask Army - The main threat in Tazmily Village, the Pigmask Army does various things such as reconstructing wild animals, hypnotizing people with Happy Boxes and set Sunshine Forest on fire, and other evil tasks.
 * Porky - The leader of the Pigmask Army, his tasks are fueled by a simple desire to destroy everything.
 * Masked Man - The commander of the Pigmask Army, a cyborg controlled by Porky as a fighting machine and to also pull the Seven Needles.

Gameplay
The gameplay is mostly unchanged from EarthBound, enemies appear on the overworld and will engage in a battle should a playable character come in contact with one. One change is that a run button has been added to speed up movement on the overworld, similar to the English and Mother 1+2 release of EarthBound Beginnings. Pressing the B button puts the character in a "preparation" pose, then releasing B will slow them to run in any direction, no longer requiring the B button to be held down. Running allows players to bash into objects, for example a breakable door can be ran into and broken down. Running is disabled when a party member is unconscious.

PSI is no longer learned through battles. Instead when a party member reaches the level in which they learn a new PSI move, they will begin feeling feverish (which also disables running), then when the fever wears off they learn the PSI move.

Battle
The battle system is mostly the same, however there is one new feature. Each music theme has a beat, when performing a standard attack, pressing A in sync with the beat will allow players to perform a combo attack up to 16 times. Each character also has a special combo instrument.

Like EarthBound some characters also have special techniques, examples include Boney's Sniff and Duster's Thief Tools.

Finally, at high enough levels the player can run into enemies and knock them away. Once knocked away they either run away or, at very high levels, will instantly be defeated like in EarthBound. Instantly beating enemies no longer reward the party EXP points.

Status ailments
All status effects other than unconsciousness can be healed by all forms of Healing. However, the amount of status effects healed depends on the level of healing that is used.








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 * Crying - Lowers the accuracy of the affected character in battle. Wears off after the battle.
 * Feeling strange - Causes party members to perform a random battle command including on other party members. Also inverts directional controls on the overworld.
 * Engulfed in flames - Flames damage the character each turn. Wears off after battle.
 * Fever - Disables running on the overworld, until it wears off in which the affected character learns a new PSI move. Only affects Lucas and Kumatora. Has no affect in battle.
 * Fleas - Prevents characters from using PSI or other special techniques. Wears off after battle.
 * Forgetful - Prevents characters from using PSI or other special techniques. Wears off after battle.
 * Nausea - Prevents characters from eating.
 * Numb - Prevents characters from using standard attacks. Wears off after battle.
 * Poisoned - Damages the affected characters each turn and when walking on the overworld.
 * Sleeping - Renders a party member or enemy unable to do anything. Wears off after battle. While an enemy is sleeping, a "heartbeat" can be heard, telling the player when to press the A button or L button to achieve extra hits more easily with a basic attack.
 * Unconscious - Renders a party member unable to do anything, if all party members are unconscious a game over occurs.

Enemy exclusive ailmemts
These status ailments can only affect enemies.
 * Turned around - Most enemies turned around will be prevented from attacking for one turn, however the Mecha-Turtle will actually benefit from this due to having weapons on its back.
 * Jealous - Stops the Fierce Pork Trooper and other members of the Pigmask Army from attacking for several turns.

Stats

 * HP (hit points) - Shows the amount of damage a party member can withstand.
 * PP (psychic points) - Shows the amount of PSI a party member can use.
 * Offense - Shows how powerful a party member's standard attack is.
 * Defense - Shows how much resistance a party member has against standard attacks.
 * Speed - Characters with higher speed will attack sooner in battle.
 * IQ - Raises the amount of damage a PSI attack will will deal.
 * Kindness - A hidden stat which is increased whenever the party "feels something warm inside". It affects the amount of HP Lifeup will recover, however because there are rare and very few opportunities to raise kindness, it's affects are difficult to notice.

Release
Mother 3 was released on April 20th, 2006 for the Game Boy Advance, however it was also playable on older Nintendo DS models released at the time. The game was only released in Japan and to this day has not had an official English release.

At the time of the release, a limited time Deluxe Box was also released only in Japan that sold for 18,000 yen. Packaged inside was the game itself in a white box (as opposed to the regular red box), a Franklin Badge pin, and a Mother 3 themed Game Boy Micro.

On December 17th 2015, the game was released on the Wii U's Virtual Console exclusively in Japan.

Fan Translation
A team from the fansite Starmen.net created a fan translation of Mother 3 in 2008. It can be found at mother3.fobby.net

Reception
Compared to the first two games, Mother 3 recieved overall mixed reception in Japan. The gameplay and story were enjoyed by players, with some considering the game just as good as its predeccors. However, it is often considered the weakest of the series, with some criticizing the game for taking a vastly different direction from its predeccors. Players also criticized the story for being too depressing, preferring the lighthearted quirkiness of Mother and Mother 2, as well as having "rough edges", in particular the writing leading up to New Pork City. It sold 200,000 copies during the first few weeks of its release, being one of Japan's top 20 bestselling games for the first half of 2006. By the end of the year, it sold 368,000 copies and was one of Japan's top 20 bestselling games for the first half of 2006.

Opinions of the game are noticeably more positive outside of Japan, however. One of the most commonly praised aspects is the storyline, praising how it is possibly the deepest and most depressing story among the series and Nintendo games overall. Fans also praise the music, stating it as being just as great as with the previous titles, yet still feeling completely new. Mother 3's combo system was a welcoming twist among players, with critics citing it as both "useful and difficult". Mother 3 is often reguarded as one of the best RPG games on the Game Boy Advance, much like its predecessors it has a massive following. Fans have longed to have the game localized into their language. Many sites consider Mother 3 to be one of the most wanted game to be officially translated ever. As it seemed that Nintendo had no plans to localize the game, the fan translation was created and released in 2008. This translation was recieved with strong positive reception, with having 100,000 downloads within the first week of the release, not including downloads from other locations. It was praised for being well written, while staying accurate to the Japanese version. Fans of the series consider it to be the best installment in the series, and continue to long for the day it recieves an official localization.

Gallery

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Trivia

 * Mother 3 was originally going to be released on the Nintendo 64DD add-on under the name EarthBound 64. However, the add-on flopped, and although some games originally planned for the N64DD were continued on the original N64, EarthBound 64 was scrapped and moved to the GBA.
 * Near the end of the game, there is a room that shows off various objects from EarthBound. It also plays the song Pollyanna, from EarthBound Beginnings.
 * In the games files there is an unused boss that seems to resemble Claus and Lucas.
 * The end screen showing the Mother 3 logo restored to its natural look instead of being half metallic possibly references how in the end the world is now restored, especially given the "O" previously being fully metalic, but is now changed back into the Earth (with the design being the actual picture of The Blue Marble).