The Dark Story That Inspired Mother 3 (ft. Cybershell)

[@MonkeyNess]

Many have been expressing confusion about the final book, The Third Lie. To help, I've put together a flowchart linked here that explains what's revealed. Obviously massive spoilers for the video. Hope this helps. :) The Third Lie Flowchart: docs.google.com/document/d/1-dd6OKAaqXiA61i1fBUYiE7X0LSPhlKSSXnV6NE-E_E/edit?usp=sharing

[@randomrants83]

Okay, this helps insanely. I've been reading the trilogy, and I am currently working my way through The Third Lie. (Again, spoilers for the third lie, if you care stop reading) I was under the impression that the entire book was entirely from the perspective of Claus, maybe I missed something while reading. Leading me to believe that the twin who stayed at the hospital away from his family *was* Claus, and the brother he was talking about living with before going to the hospital was Lucas.

[@nessdbest8708]

Wait? Klaus? I thought it was Claus!

[@shu7429]

Cybershell is like Rayman, he's had a couple returns after being missing for ages, and nowadays just shows up randomly in crossovers

[@Moony_7860]

LOL perfect analogy 😂

[@SurmenianSoldier]

the only difference is that he doesn't snort crack

[@Moony_7860]

@@SurmenianSoldier or DOES HE?!?

[@EchidnaSharp]

@@SurmenianSoldier you have no evidence of him not snorting crack

[@carlosemilio5180]

@@Moony_7860 no, he consumes copious amounts of Lemon Sundrop Dandelion (Rip in piss you stupid ass bee couldnt even handle one hit fr)

[@Mr__Jack]

Jeez, the book that inspired MOTHER 3 makes it look like Sesame Street in comparison… Somehow that makes perfect sense,

[@yellowstarproductions6743]

Agreed

[@yellowstarproductions6743]

Agreed

[@timmyjimmy7413]

I like how Itoi was bragging about how dark Mother 64 was going to be before he made Mother 3, but from what we have seen from early builds of Mother 64, there is no evidence in any of it's screenshots or advertising that it would have come even close to as dark as this novel series was.

[@ThaneGaming]

I think it isn't apparent in screenshots or advertising because Itoi spoke a lot about the ending specifically being "much, much darker", so it would've been a surprise. He described it as dirty, saying he wanted to "dig in the direction that would upset people." Because of this, and his initial desire to "betray the player", my theory is that Itoi envisioned a scenario more akin to the plot twist of The Third Lie, where it's revealed that the storyteller has been an unreliable narrator, and most everything we've been tricked into believing is fact has actually been a web of fabrications (imagine a heavier version of what’s revealed in Leder’s speech). I also think that because the ending of the book trilogy was so grim, the N64 version would've ended on a much more bleak note without any of the "End?" text implying that everyone survived the Dark Dragon's awakening.

[@fishdubx]

@@ThaneGamingHow would that work in the form of an RPG where you literally choose everything happening on-screen tho? No hate or anything, just genuinely wondering

[@ThaneGaming]

@@fishdubx you don't choose everything happening on screen though, there are different dialogue trees but it's ultimately a linear story so the plot is made up of scripted events. Unless you're talking about the choice to pull the final needle, but it has the same outcome whether you say yes or no. I just imagine the N64 version having a much more pessimistic ending

[@sboinkthelegday3892]

You can always end on a light note, like Migi & dali.

[@shikitohno1756]

@@fishdubx Simple, the events of the RPG were a lie. FF7 did that with one of it's segments. Even if you 'Choose what's going on' that doesn't mean what's being presented is truthful. You only control what you're presented.

[@Remie_REM_Sleep]

So glad to see the Notebook trilogy getting more recognition in the Mother community these days. Its crazy how evident some of the influences are once you read through it. Great video as always!

[@yellowstarproductions6743]

Agreed

[@seibetsu]

Wow recreating the story of the book with the game was genius.

[@MonkeyNess]

I appreciate that comment, the visuals were definitely the hardest part of making this video. Re-edited it like three times lol

[@seibetsu]

@@MonkeyNess haha, I imagine. You even had to hack the game to make it work.

[@MonkeyNess]

@@seibetsu Actually it was just through use of the debug room! A simple cheat code and a little patience :)

[@seibetsu]

@@MonkeyNess that's even crazier. I thought that the debug room would be too grueling for you to have done. Hacking would have been so much easier

[@KhaledWhathappened]

This book will actually make an interesting game like those 2003 rpg maker games with no real combat just some puzzles and story focused experience

[@MonkeyNess]

This is a REALLY interesting idea honestly.

[@yellowstarproductions6743]

Agreed

[@yellowstarproductions6743]

​@@MonkeyNess glad it interests you

[@ThaneGaming]

Excited to see this in my feed--I’m glad more people are talking about these books. There were a lot of plot beats I left out of my own video comparing the book trilogy to MOTHER 3, so having a 50 minute analysis detailing Ágota Kristóf's story is a boon for the community. If any of you are curious about reading it for yourselves, I recommend picking up the version with all three books included as seen at 0:45 (I bought mine for under 20 dollars). Once you get through them, there’s a conversation with the author that is a must-read, much like the Nintendo Dream interview with itoi about MOTHER 3. Disturbingly, lot of what happened in the Notebook was autobiographical...she was simply describing her childhood and the harrowing things she witnessed with her brother. “There are many sad stories, but nothing is as sad as life.”

[@Outliers4Life]

fuuuuck thats heavy man. you like to believe someone is writing these messed up scenarios and making them messed up as a way to make the audience feel something. in reality, they are actually making the story less messed up than what happened in real life so the audience doesn't feel too uncomfortable.

[@spitymatt5277]

Cybershell hasn’t uploaded in months, and here he is with Monkey Ness to talk about mother 3, this is amazing!

[@yellowstarproductions6743]

Agreed

[@Tendo641]

I suppose if anything can be learned from Mother 3 and the Notebook Trilogy, it'd be to never name your twins Lucas and Claus/Klaus respectively or terrible things will happen

[@yellowstarproductions6743]

Agreed

[@masked_katz2450]

monkeyness and cybershell in one 50 minute video? we in for a banger

[@yellowstarproductions6743]

Agreed.

[@Mnemoniforma9.00]

I'm getting such whiplash from hearing about the warped going-ons in this book while looking at the cheery Mother 3 visuals. Like a goregrind song is playing in one ear and a Disney musical is playing in the other.

[@LuckyTheMotherFan]

Not gonna lie, the last 20 minutes made me burst into tears, and the end too, i hate how for the last time Lucas and Claus met they just drinked and left eachother alone after talking for awhile, and then after, Lucas Comitting suicide as a form of not dealing with the inside pain he had bottled up for over 50 + years, and then Claus feeling the same way is just such a heart tearing scene, both in reading and hearing i couldn't stop thinking about it after hearing this video. Not only did this feed more my obsession over the Mother series but it also makes me learn more about the poor stories of Lucas and Claus, the poor little boys who were just born to not learn any pain and deal with it, which makes my heart explode of how sad it makes me feel over these guys. Loved the video, keeping up on the updates on any future Monkeyness video.

[@Arietolon]

Very nice of monkeyness to do a collaboration with a smaller creator.

[@yellowstarproductions6743]

Agreed ❤

[@caprinori]

I decided to check out the first two books from my campus library (or at least english translations of them, and they didn't have The Third Lie) since I heard Itoi's comment on them, which as I recall it was just simply "It's a story about the connection between twins". Needless to say, I was pretty shocked when actually reading it and how much Mother 3 deviates from it. It's clear that there's inspiration, but I think it's also probably for the best that it did that with the whimsical nature that is present throughout the entire trilogy not meshing entirely well with the many heavy subjects of Kristof's books. The books themselves were still really interesting though

[@darknessakamrbutter]

I literally got those three novels this week and finished reading them a day before this video came out

[@twistedchicken7203]

Honestly this video made me want to get the books and I haven’t sat down and read a book since I was in high school. The interesting perspective, unique writing style, and child protagonists in a horrible world sounds interesting

[@Tyler-ob4qp]

Read it ASAP, everyone who gets back into reading only has one regret: not doing it sooner

[@8BitCutman]

It will be a min before I’m able to watch but I gotta thank this channel for getting me to read The Notebook trilogy (especially The Third Lie). I’m not a reader and those three books had me gripped from beginning to end and I never thought a damn Earthbound iceberg vid on KZbin would be what convinced me to start reading again.

[@ectoblade8521]

I just had an epiphany… The family deaths in the game are inverses of the deaths in the books. In the game, the mother is the one to die first, and Claus dies at the end of the game. And in the books, the father is the one to die first, and Lucas dies at the end. Further parallels that can be drawn. Such as both Hinawa and the twins father get murdered in a very brutal way, with Hinawa getting chomped on by a mechanical dinosaur, and the twins father getting shot several times. Then there’s the fact that both Claus in the game and Lucas in the book die by ending themselves.

[@fishdubx]

Oh man, I'm not ready for this..

[@yellowstarproductions6743]

I was and I am adult who is expecting the story to be dark simply by the video title

[@maskofthedragon]

The super edgy stuff flashbangs you so quickly that it feels like a parody

[@yellowstarproductions6743]

I Àgreed

[@compactmar-s-4145]

ngl sounds like the same guy using a different mic. ik yall are different and great vid! also Joe I did finish it.

[@grinkobaba9226]

It’s because they’re brothers

[@youkaijsgb]

​@@grinkobaba9226real????

[@Blitz8566]

​@@grinkobaba9226source: the voices from my head

[@PinClockFuntime]

Really makes me think about not only what inspired my favorite works, but getting me to think more about what inspires me myself.

[@BrandonTheFanGuy]

Watched part of the iceberg video half awake when it came out and thought the part about the Sonic Underground guy was Cybershell narrating because you two sound so similar, so seeing this notification had me lose my shit Finally my two hyperfixations come together for a book report, truly a peak moment

[@MisticFog]

I love The Notebook. The story is told in a very non linear and twisted way, not allowing you to trust a word you see before flipping it all inside out, until you can piece once again the elements of fiction and reality, and the way they parallel each other (Mattias's disability parallels Lucas's, the half-sister etc.) It's also fascinating to read such a disturbing and shocking (sometimes just for the sake of being shocking, Harelip is in this story just to make you say "what the fuck was that") story knowing it was an inspiration for... a game for children. A very mature and scary game for this demographic, but still for children

[@yellowstarproductions6743]

I Àgreed

[@Monkachii]

Hoi, latin Mother fan here! (srry I'm translating this with Google). A few months ago I had the opportunity to get the book and it was impossible for me not to compare every little action the twins did with the game. I mean, even from the beginning I found the similarities between the descriptions of the places and events, I must admit that imagining the Lucas and Claus of the game instead of those of the book was... Sadder than Mother 3 already is. The ending, although I already knew it wouldn't be pleasant, still surprised me and I couldn't help but feel bad for a few days, just like what happened when I finished Mother 3. I'm really glad someone else (even if it's in another language) talks about the comparison between the book and the game! (And maybe the movie in the bckgrnd???) So yeh, tysm for this video ^^

[@golisopaus]

Sat through all of this and my brain is just so confused on everything I just listened to, but in a good way. Thanks for making a video on this, I'm definitely going to try and check out this novel now!

[@foxxarie]

Who knew it would pay off to be both a Mother and Cybershell fan. My autism enjoyment is OFF THE CHARTS! Amazing work as always, MonkeyNess!! Beautifully crafted and masterfully made!

[@MonkeyNess]

Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@tobexomega]

LET'S GO. I didn't expect this crossover in a million years! Also Cybershell's channel was created 27 days before MOTHER 3 released.

[@Jurt619]

36:31 Man why’d you have to add that music that made is so much creepier 😭

[@fishdubx]

Jesus Christ... wow, that's... those books are VERY messed up. Like, more messed up than Mother 3 itself. Oh my god..

[@scrappy2082]

I've always heard about this novel being mentioned whenever talk of mother 3's development is brought up. Interesting to finally see a video on them

[@SergioFlores-xx4sm]

I really hope you cover the MOTHER novels soon. I’d love to see your reactions to them.

[@ThaneGaming]

That would be fun, the MOTHER novels are WILD and I want to see more opinions about them. I enjoyed reading them myself, but I know they aren't very beloved 😆

[@MonkeyNess]

Planning on it at some point! Just wanted to cover these before those so people wouldn't be disappointed if after covering the official ones the next in the series was completely unrelated to the material in any official way.

[@SergioFlores-xx4sm]

@@MonkeyNess makes sense

[@ThaneGaming]

@@MonkeyNess That makes sense! I'm glad you gave these books time to shine, they're better reads than the MOTHER novels haha. I hope more people check them out

[@MonkeyNess]

Despite how aggressively harrowing they are, I stand by they're some of the greatest books I've ever read.

[@Maceyoshiman]

Two of my favorite channels collating. You guys have an excellent flow together.

[@SergioFlores-xx4sm]

11:55 WHAT DID SHE DO TO BONEY?!!!

[@MonkeyNess]

Page 37. archive.org/details/notebook0000kris/page/36/mode/2up

[@SergioFlores-xx4sm]

I just read it and……….oh dear god…….poor Boney.

[@shigeokageyamathemob]

Você é Brasileiro? ​@@SergioFlores-xx4sm

[@cptnomar492]

@@MonkeyNessI miss the person I was 5 minutes ago prior to reading that page 😭😭

[@parappa922]

Getting vibes of the last frame of the Sonic Adventure 2 intro from this, dunno why

[@ThaneGaming]

Somebody drew Lucas & Claus in the Sonic & Shadow pose...I have the picture but I can't find the original artist (I think they may've removed the post, it came from Twitter)

[@javelincoms4278]

​@@ThaneGaming I'd like to see that possibly do you have a link to it?

[@ThaneGaming]

@@javelincoms4278 pbs.twimg.com/media/GJcY__ZXIAAxzMZ.jpg

[@mathinho1237]

Get this horrible game away from here

[@MegaBoiLu]

Thank you, you two made this book a lot more bearable to hear about, and I love the parallels you guys made to mother 3.

[@Anthaneus]

Holy crap Lois! Cyber’s Hell and monkey ness collab???

[@VCV95]

My wife just played and beat Earthbound for the first time. So excited to watch her play mother 3. That game destroyed me. It's literally a magnum opus of storytelling. I'm glad Itoi saw his masterpiece and realized it, in my opinion.

[@aech7150]

Im so glad I found your channel, theres so many videos I didnt know I needed until recently

[@battybowers5124]

The real twist here is that Monkeyness and Cyber's Hell are actually twin brothers.

[@drenched.0224]

so glad you were able to finish this project! I know it's been something you've talked about for a while. I love the context this adds to mother 3, and the little peak into itoi's mind. thanks for the video!!!

[@ern1813]

What’s this? 2 of my favorite cozy channels making collab and talking about mother 3? Oh i died and gone to monkey heaven..

[@durgeess9490]

These books are insane holy shit that twist was crazy

[@SparkNitr0]

MonkeyNess in a netlore video would be my shit

[@pngchicken]

ive seen both netlore and cybershell but didn't even realise they were the same person

[@RalseiFan]

5 minutes in, already another MonkeyNess banger

[@hotlikewow]

so excited to watch this omg these are my favorite books of all time

[@Frenchball-cu4ve]

These videos are so detailed and Relaxing

[@Mmmm-ds4sm]

Yeah baby this is the one ive been waiting for as a Hungarian Mother fan. Also Cybershell

[@SleekGoose]

You got cyber shell. LOL incredible! You the goat monkeyness

[@allens.6085]

I picked up these books expecting something more like mothers weird and optimistic nature and in some weird ways It was but at the same time I was so caught off gaurd by the matetial i couldn't stop reading it. Like not being able to look away from a horrible accident, they were honestly some of the few books that captured my attention which is really saying something when you're someone who always found books a hassle to read. Still tho im glad this trilogy is getting more notoriety its underrated imo. Ps: when i was reading these books I was listening to a lot of bloodborne music at the time and it couldnt have been anymore perfect, Gerhams' theme was especially fitting for the real obsene moments. Thanks for reading new sub here!!!!

[@FirstLast-mn4re]

You know, this seems like a great book to base children's video game on.

[@SunkySilly]

This was really good, presentation was amazing

[@rustingflamberge]

I realllly want to see the original script for mother 64

[@promaster424]

I'm surprised how Itoi read the three books and then decided to invert interpret a lot of themes. These book don't seem like something a lot of people would be willing to read until the end because of all the horrifying themes and event that are being portrayed, and those things definitely wouldn't have been possible to get included without it being rejected to get sold by most video game distributors

[@benjaminvanderhulst3249]

Great analysis!

[@randomjar6934]

These books are very interesting and I can definitely see how Mother 3 was inspired by them. I’m surprised this trilogy doesn’t come up more often.

[@sprucemoose5056]

Always love to learn about the influences that went in the creation of a piece of media

[@crazycowcraft350]

"...the stove blew up-" and then I had to pause the video There was no better time to pause than there.

[@sydneymorrow4675]

MokneyNess and Cybershell!

[@seibetsu]

Not CYBERSHELL. Force him to let you host a netlore episode so he gets off his lazy ass and starts doing it again

[@ShadowedKami]

We are so god damn back. MonkeyNess AND Cybershell?!

[@arclo63]

At 30:10, Itoi himself said in an interview that everyone is alive (with the implication that Hinawa and Claus are excluded, as they "had to make sure to tell everyone their goodbyes" in order to "bring out the strength in these human beings"). The idea that the ending is the afterlife never made sense, as it would mean that Lucas's wishes was to kill everyone. Also the fact that, had the Masked Man pulled the final needle, everyone WOULD have definitely died and Lucas was always displayed as the counter to that fighting on behalf of Life. If Lucas also kills everyone then what even is the point lmao

[@commanderclaus.]

25:55 I don't know if the twins have confirmed ages but they've always struck me as 15-16-ish, since they just feel more mature than the other protagonists to me, and my little headcanon seems to be backed up by Lucas's age in the second book. Feel free to correct me if there's any evidence towards a confirmed age though

[@eminebru]

sprite looks too short to be teenagers, i assume they were 12 post skip

[@commanderclaus.]

@@eminebru this comment was 3 months ago and ive changed my headcanon to 14, a bit younger than before but still older than ness and ninten

[@jajadingo]

Very well done video.

[@MonkeyNess]

Thank you!

[@sem_aki]

The book seems really interesting, very entertaining video guys thank you

[@genyakozlov1316]

I would watch this, but I can't stand Cybershell so bad I wrote a poem about how much I hate him. No one dares say such garbage about Knuckles Chaotix and Sonic 4 as well as other trash he said about the comics all the while being such a self assured aggregating annoying piece of Sonic community and have me let it slide, especially with how popular he is. I will give a dislike for reminding me he exists. I would repost my poem here but it's saved on the PC not on this phone. I did already watch a video with the Notebook novel overview from another Mother 3 loving creator, so I won't loose anything here.

[@Cybershell13]

What the fuck, post the poem already

[@glueboy]

Please post the poem bro

[@removehandlesplease]

POST THE POEM MAN

[@theAFFhole]

i love poems

[@iquemedia]

@genyakozlov1316 PLEASE DROP THE POEM I WANT THIS TO BE MY NEW KENDRICK

[@frealish6622]

Thank you Monkeyness for the feast

[@maemsy]

Man, listening to this while playing as Lucas in Smash bros was weirddd

[@Lanius17]

Great video! I’m getting the book trilogy tomorrow.

[@naomiomiom]

two other books that share first person plural narratives “sabbatical” by john barth and “xorandor” by christine brooke rose. weirdly enough both of those books also touch on the connection between twins! xorandor in particular may be of some interest to mother 3 fans (a story rife with puns and wordplay about two very brainy twins attempting to stop nuclear destruction is something i think mother 3 fans would like lololol)

[@theblarneystone1023]

I had no idea cybershell heard of/cared much about the mother/earth Bound Series.

[@GiffanyCD]

You got Cybershell!!!

[@aidanfurbee3649]

I love the video all the heart and love it was really good 10/10

[@Wrench55154]

Cybershell jumpscare

[@yellowstarproductions6743]

Somewhat true

[@teaoftraffic]

oh hi cybershell

[@yellowstarproductions6743]

Same here

[@RobClober]

Cybershell Sighting

[@yellowstarproductions6743]

True

[@EmeraldBlade98]

cybershell????? I swear this guy shows up in the most random places lol. Cybershell is one of my favorite youtubers so I'm happy with it

[@nathantheman5572]

This video dropped while I'm at work damn At least I have a video to watch later on when I'm eating

[@Kukalooka]

cybershell and cybershell jr. collab... no way

[@randomrants83]

Really is a shame that The Proof and The Third Lie weren’t adapted to film

[@kyaban5192]

CYBERSHELL JUMPSCARE

[@redhouse_quote]

Based pfp

[@ZambatoMaster2o]

I thought you meant that they found a prototype, and I was about to make a joke about how they found it before eb64.

[@Henry-bd6ls]

I wanna buy these books so bad, but my mom looked into it, and she was just like, nope

[@GlerpidyGlarson]

I believe shigesato Itoi lied about the source of the ending of Earthbound. He knew what he was doing and honestly he's one of the most creative minds in gaming.

[@SoshuTheGnome]

ft. cybershell? he's in a mother 3 video??? must watch.

[@Lute01]

great vid!

[@Skypatroller_BenCD]

Honestly i knew that the books were mess up but not THAT mess up

[@ThaneGaming]

Hi Skypatroller! Yeah, I left a lot of grizzly details out of my analysis that didn't have a direct parallel to the games, but the books are absolutely not for the faint of heart...I've read through the series twice now but I will admit some of the scenes are difficult to get through

[@Skypatroller_BenCD]

@ThaneGaming you can call me BenCD or Benjamin and yeah i planned on checking your analysis too at some point

[@big-wade]

This is the crossover of the CENTURY!

[@little_sun_band]

Tysm for taking the time to make this!

[@-mp64-56]

49:03 fuck this got me off guard

[@kylebennett789]

14:16 Aw finally something goes right- 14:19 AW COME ON ON!

[@SkylandPirate]

Oh boy a video about the book that inspired Mother 3! Surely this book isnt worse than the game in terms of depression!

[@catwithnoname7041]

I will never see Mother 3 as an initiallh good and kind-hearted game with that messed up book in mind

[@XxdoctoerbugatackxX]

Damn cybershell jumpscare

[@Hardrian_Hardrada_Cicero]

What a mind fuck of a book series. That's all I can say really.

[@sahilhossian8212]

Lore of The Dark Story That Inspired Mother 3 (ft. Cybershell) momentum 100

[@NOIDEDU]

>instagram for dogs >shows cats How embarrassing!

[@aortaplatinum]

Hungarians be wildin 💀💀+💀 The true series of events as revealed by the final book is actually COMFORTING compared to what Lucas wrote in his journals. Harelip's story and Mathias' suicide in particular fucked me up for hours, I really regret listening to the summaries of both books in one day. Learning what actually happened, that 99% of the first two books was Lucas' delusions due to his trauma, injury, and illness, somehow makes me feel better. Kristof was an incredible writer, I can understand why Itoi was so effected by her work.

[@murilosampaio1264]

So, i think i know how harelip died, yes, intensely fucked up