Flying Man

Flying Men (Japanese: フライングマン Flying Man) are a mythical species of birds with distinct human qualities. Flying Men are bipedal creatures that live in groups in different Magicants. They are very kind and are always ready to help. Ninten or Ness may decide to take a Flying Man with them while in Magicant, where they will help them in battle with enemies. They cannot be taken out of Magicant, however. If a Flying Man happens to fall in battle, a grave will be set up by their home. In Earthbound, their tombstone has different inscriptions for each Flying Man, getting more dismal with each death. The fourth Flying Man warns the player not to 'treat us like trash'. Flying men cannot be revived. In both EarthBound and EarthBound Beginnings, there are only five Flying Men available. Flying Men are said to represent either Ninten or Ness's courage.

EarthBound Beginnings

 * Leftmost tombstone: 'Ninten's faithful and loyal servant, The brave soldier, Flying Man, rests here in peace.'
 * Center-left tombstone: 'Ninten's strong and powerful ally, The brave soldier, Flying Man, rests here in peace.'
 * Center tombstone: 'Ninten's benevolent buddy, The brave soldier, Flying Man, rests here in peace.'
 * Center-right tombstone: 'To Ninten's great sorrow, The brave soldier, Flying Man, rests here in peace.'
 * Rightmost tombstone: 'To Ninten's horror and dismay, The brave soldier, Flying Man, rests in peace here.'

Earthbound

 * First Tombstone: 'Ness's Courage is resting here. He fought well and died.'
 * Second Tombstone: 'Another one of Ness's courage is resting here. He damaged evil terribly, and finally died.'
 * Third Tombstone: 'Here he rests... I didn't have time to have his name chiseled into the tombstone.'
 * Fourth Tombstone: 'Someone's tombstone.'
 * Final Flying Man: 'Of course, we're your courage. But we warned you not to treat us like trash! Didn't you get it?! This isn't courage, it's desperation. If you don't understand "courage," look it up in the dictionary. Okay? My name's The Final Flying Man.'

Status in Mother
As a temporary party member, Flying Men have stats that can't be seen in game.

Status in EarthBound
As a temporary party member, Flying Men have stats that can't be seen in game.

Super Smash Bros.
Flying Men make an appearance in the stage of Super Smash Bros. 4, as well as its reapperance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Here, they play a similar role to their Earthbound appearance, helping the first player to touch them. They can be killed, and a grave will appear whenever a Flying Man appears. Five Flying Men will appear in a single match.

Flying Men also appear as a Mii Brawler Costume, being released in the third wave of DLC costumes in Smash 4. They make a reappearance in Ultimate, this time purchasable from the shop.

Trophy description

 * ''The Flying Men are a team of five birdmen. Each time a Flying Man appears, he'll help the first person to reach him with Flying Cross Chops and Somersault Kicks. A small memorial stone will be erected for each one defeated. Once all five are gone, they're done fighting forever until the next battle.

Trivia

 * In EarthBound Beginnings, the enemy, Groucho, by saying hello and walking away, can allow a Flying Man to gain experience points. This, however, does nothing, as Flying Man is already at the max level of 99 in Mother. It is the only uncontrollable player character able to visibly gain experience points.
 * The Flying Men are the only temporary party members in the series to be entirely optional.
 * They are also the only potential party members that appear in more than one game.
 * In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS the Flying Men were originally going to have 3D models, making it the first time they would've appeared in 3D. However because of the hardware limitations of the Nintendo 3DS they were changed into 2D sprites.
 * Interestingly despite the Switch's improved hardware, the Flying Men still use 2D sprites in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
 * Interestingly, in EarthBound Beginnings, the rightmost tombstone ends with "rests in peace here" rather than "rests here in peace" as the other four do.