The Earthbound/Mother Iceberg(s) Explained

[@SimpleFlips]

Thank you

[@andreibratosin]

Shoutouts to Simpleflips

[@jureigeeksoutoccasionally]

“I watched my first SimpleFlips stream today-

[@jet-it9cr]

hi dad

[@9years361]

Shoutouts to pimplenips

[@JonahZgo]

father

[@cgrn17]

"Itoi didn't actually see a rape scene" oh thats fine then "all he saw was a woman being strangled to death and then cut up into pieces" oh

[@gay4sswhovian]

And interpreted it as a rape that's the whole point actually

[@gdskulll4875]

@@gay4sswhovian a

[@starkid4299]

@@gay4sswhovian Yeah

[@holyspectator3830]

I mean...it is called the policeman and the dismembered body after all

[@gravityuser07]

Not sure if that is better or worse...

[@NdieCity]

"This is a theory suggesting that Ness, Paula, Jeff, and Poo are all little kids" Man, that would be something if it were true

[@JonahZgo]

their ages differ between sources but they're all in the 12-14 range

[@quarreneverett4767]

hold on there we are pushing boundaries with this mystery

[@Sickcrazyneet]

Wild if true

[@maskofthedragon]

Big, if true!

[@wistfulanthophila9317]

they're rats, aren't they?

[@minerturtle45]

"it's supposed to be a, y'know." "ᵖᵘˢˢʸᵎ" that deserves the like by itself

[@GHE_05]

I laughed so hard at that part for some reason lmao

[@Stage_Puppet]

The way its said is just hilarious

[@ericvandenavond8748]

Where is this in the video? I'm too lazy to check all 58 minutes.

[@Stage_Puppet]

@@ericvandenavond8748 its at 2:46

[@ericvandenavond8748]

@@Stage_Puppet thanks :)

[@Aidan_B_Young]

Regarding Nintendo never taking down the Mother 3 fan translation, it probably has something to do with the fact that Shigesato Itoi still has partial ownership of the series, and he generally doesn’t seem to mind unofficial projects.

[@flintfrommother3gaming]

Also it's an patch that PROBABLY doesn't include any code fron the game so that is something.

[@thomasvettikad]

yea he said he would rather play mother 4 rather than make it

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

@@thomasvettikad You mean Oddity?

[@michaelroot682]

Lol I'll believe Oddity is real when I play it. Winter 2014

[@quadpad_music]

Itoi must be protected at all costs

[@Cacemomarerona]

“This is a subtle reference to how Earthbound is a work of fiction” made me chuckle

[@screm1471]

Instant like

[@vincentjonesvr]

I actually scrolled down specifically to mention this.

[@saifuusuri]

@@atomyiik Yeah you're right about that! *laughs* *crys*

[@Cristopheruz]

@@screm1471 r

[@FunnyFany]

r slash ShittyGameDetails

[@adyn8811]

"It's so sad Apple Kid died of ligma." "Who the hell is Apple Kid?" "Ligma balls."

[@infinityheart_tm9270]

Is that pfp who I think it is or is this extremely awkward

[@adyn8811]

@@infinityheart_tm9270 Yeah, it is

[@ohitsstar1241]

Homestuck

[@strangent404a7]

*que psi starstorm*

[@stupiderandunnecessarier]

@@ohitsstar1241 homieschmuck

[@GeneralDisarray666]

"Why is America never mentioned at all in Earthbound?" BRUH EAGLELAND cmon now.

[@fatandsassy1510]

THANK YOU

[@LilacMonarch]

I thought this one was kinda obvious lol

[@whichcache2517]

Yeah, but Mother 1 refers to its setting as "rural America", which is where the confusion comes in. If both games take place in the same universe, then is Eagleland just a nickname (or renaming) of America, or are there two America-themed continents in the Mother series for some reason?

[@OriginalGameteer]

@@whichcache2517 its probably just a retcon or something Similar to how older pokedex entries referred to real world countries, but was stopped later on

[@aguynamedlynx6397]

@@OriginalGameteer Yeah, I guess it can be easily be retconed to “Rural Eagleland”

[@pikaforce64]

im with you on hating "X is a dream/X is in a coma" theories. theyre so lazy and it just feels like the people making them couldnt be bothered to think of something plausible

[@smt64productions40]

Same boat with ya

[@Ness_Dreemurr]

Or "x character is dead"

[@kiirolozanogarcia3003]

I fucking hate those types of theories

[@thatoneguywiththevoice328]

I hate them But even if most of them suck, I kinda like some of the well written ones are fun but I refuse to believe in any of them

[@bakrobertjohnston4889]

I hate the coma ones like “HaHA What IF tHiS woRk oF fiCtioN Is FiCtiOn”

[@Mr__Jack]

The whole America vs. Eagleland thing is the result of a retcon. Eagleland is the name of an America-esque country in the MOTHER universe. It was actually called America in MOTHER, but later got retconned to Eagleland for MOTHER 2. It’s sorta like how Jeff’s country (I think it’s called Foggyland) is pretty much supposed to be the UK except not the UK.

[@trolledfrog678]

Why does his name remind me of the ballid of gay tony

[@elbebetoen4kfullhd147]

So i found a thing that explains this: Eagleland - America Foggyland - UK (Other one was antartic, up to you) Scaraba and Dalam - Asia (Middle asia for Scaraba) This are the ones i found

[@elbebetoen4kfullhd147]

Fun fact: Eagleland is America cuz theres a secret in the cafe in Fourside, here's a video that explain it kzbin.info/www/bejne/oaTKomefqZdsm80

[@DogDogGodFog]

@@elbebetoen4kfullhd147 Scaraba sounds Egyptian and Dalam sounds Indian...

[@elbebetoen4kfullhd147]

@@DogDogGodFog ik. Thats why i said middle asia

[@ladsworld]

An Iceberg video with decent narration that doesn't assume the audience has the intelligence of a 4 year old? Now this is one for the ages right here. Amazingly well researched too. Just top shelf shit all around.

[@merkquavious2]

yes

[@that1robloxplayer11]

Agreed!

[@codymitchell3017]

Not really.

[@LordZemosa]

Can you give an example of "assuming the audience aren't that smart" please? I don't think I've noticed anything like that in most Iceburg videos I've watched

[@astralchimera]

@@LordZemosa probably over explaining things (especially about obvious things) is a good example of what they mean

[@PkmariO64]

The funny thing is that being the inspiration for Giygas is pretty much the only reason that one movie is even remembered.

[@PkmariO64]

@Bruh - Well half of the information on the Wikipedia page is dedicated to it being the inspiration for Giygas, yet nobody could be bothered to give a plot synopses, and other details (release date, genre, actors, etc.) are only briefly touched upon. Even disregarding that, the film is usually only brought up when talking about influences on EarthBound.

[@ExtremeWreck]

Even funnier is that before even Mother came out, there was a movie called Earthbound.

[@ExtremeWreck]

@Bruh IDK if you think I'm making that up, if you already knew that, or you're actually laughing.

[@JonahZgo]

@@PkmariO64 always kinda weird seeing something only be remembered for inspiring another thing. i feel like theres a word for it tho

[@Willty64]

I’ve always wanted to watch it at some point, or at least the iconic scene.

[@BeatRiceIsHere]

“This is a subtle reference to how Earthbound is a work of fiction” I don’t know man, that’s pretty out there

[@JonahZgo]

its true. next time you play the game, look at it a little closer, you might notice it

[@penskii_yt]

You mean it’s not real? Cmon man really

[@xale_4456]

@@JonahZgo bro I literally saw it happen outside my window wdym

[@theresawambach773]

Big if true

[@GorillaFan_32]

I think that comment references how that quote is funny, very funny comment. Thank you, really cool.

[@CaioXG002]

Dang, "Giegue is Ninten's father" was hilarious.

[@elosolosyou]

Very

[@user-ym9fq1ko3s]

George and Mary are Ninten's grand-parents They don't have any other child, except "adopted" Giegue :) (yeah, i know about Ninten's dad in the ending, but...)

[@expendableround6186]

*W H A T ?*

[@matthewroyer1561]

That sounds rather plausible and whatever. I like giegue’s alien species

[@Ranixo286]

It would make sense if grandfather...George and Maria are his great grandparents so It could technically be possible that he spent time with an earth woman...and it's why Ness has inherent PSI making him part Alien in his lineage, driving Geige insane that he didn't know he had a child and that child's child would defeat him.

[@UliZombie04]

For some reason Itoi was the first person ever to come up with the idea for a JRPG to take place in a modern setting, you know, cars, telephones, baseball, trashcans and hamburgers... Up until mother 1 we only had Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy and many other JRPG's taking its setting in a medieval world with dragons, castles and swords. I remember hearing that Itoi was playing Dragon Quest and wondering "How come these games only take place in medieval towns and not in a modern city?" He's literally the grandad of this kind of rpg's

[@crystalheart6620]

Actually im pretty sure the first megami tensei game released before mother and that's also a modern day jrpg

[@ixaac453]

also phantasy star existed too which took place in a scifi setting

[@iwannaseehowlongyoucanmakethis]

​@@crystalheart6620 although, the first megaten game takes place almost entirely in the demon world. So while the main characters are modern humans (they use computers after all) it doesnt really feel modern.

[@justaspectator9762]

"as it turns out that movie didn't even have a rape scene" *oh thank god* "What he actually saw was a women being strangled to death and then having her body being cut into pieces by her killer" *oh god that's even worse*

[@nitronikolai]

What did you think the dismembered beauty part meant?

[@Nikku4211]

Honestly, I'd rather be strangled to death and then having my body being cut into pieces by my killer than be raped. I would not be able to stand the trauma that follows.

[@justaspectator9762]

@@Nikku4211 honestly. That's understandable.

[@rajeshofficial1657]

JUST A SPECTATOR I JUST SAW YOU IN THE COMMENTS OF A GEOMETRY DASH VIDEO WHAT

[@justaspectator9762]

@@rajeshofficial1657 wow how crazy. I have an earthbound pfp. and I watch earthbound videos. but I also happen to like something else. what a shock

[@thestickopia4619]

I really hope iceberg images never die. Their fantastic and a great way to learn something new about some of your favorite games

[@somedragonbastard]

I love listening to icebergs on stuff I don't even have interest in. I just get to absorb trivia about stuff in a clear and simple format

[@Kurisu545]

I coudn't agree more!

[@RCK_Gaming42069]

Not just games, but pretty much anything! Bound to think about it, there might be an iceberg about me out there!

[@squidluma9259]

@@RCK_Gaming42069ikr? As a light writer, my favorite thing to do is make iceberg charts on the lore of what I write, especially since everything I write orbits around one canon.

[@ProtoMario]

Love me some Earthbound

[@Solaire-official]

who doesnt

[@oatboi]

I've always been a bit lukewarm

[@BrandenFudgey]

BUT PROTOOOOOOOOOO!

[@KingTKalimari]

B...but .. but proto!!!

[@jefflanong8361]

No ones saying Mario except proto so I'm doing it.....BUT MARIOOOO

"Oddity, coming out in the near future" Oh god, can't wait for winter 2014! :D

[@cashbanooca1071]

"I got stuck in this stupid-ass trap. I was just thinking about cuttin' off my leg." Okay, I _might_ have to get the fan-translation of Mother 3.

[@AdianPronouncedAiden]

"ness is" theories: exist me: ness is ness

[@JonahZgo]

no way

[@disarisumbrus4492]

nonsense

[@tatltails3923]

insert that Incredibles 2 meme here

[@gay4sswhovian]

Ness is Tyler, Hat, Alec, Roger and Lane

[@herospeed9270]

me: ness is sans

[@johtojedi5328]

Could it be that Shigesato Itoi is actually an all-knowing being and was aware that aliens existed in the world ages ago? Ancient astronaut theorists say yes.

[@JonahZgo]

i wouldn't doubt it

[@MegasMan10]

"Takeshi's challenge nearly cancelled mother 1" This is confirmed in an blog post from '08 by itoi where he talked about his first pitch of mother 1 to Shigeru Miyamoto. Its talked about in DYKG's earthbound video at 1:30

[@ohitsstar1241]

Oh yeah, that was it. Thanks for reminding me

[@MaxLebled]

I believe I've also heard something similar from the "NES Works" series by Jeremy Parish

[@plaguekidd6902]

I came up with a Mother 3 theory . The Nowhere Islands are a Magicant: The Nowhere Islands are a form of Magicant, formed from the dream of the dark dragon. This stems from some coinciding evidence, mostly around the the Magypsies. The Magypsies are similar to the residence of Queen Mary's Magicant. They live in pink, shell like houses, have a connection to PSI and magic, and disappear as the Dark Dragon wakes up. It could also explain how the island was hidden for so long, and why everyone survives in the end, since they aren't native to the island. An an interesting detail is that both Magicants from the previous games have something to do with music and melodies, with the names of the Magypsies being references to musical modes in music theory. There is the obvious hole of the Magypises placing the 7 Needles, but it could be that the Dark Dragon created them to place and guard the needles. This also insinuates that the Dark Dragon is associated with PSI, which in lore is a power innate only to the Starmen, but the Dark Dragon is already a vague creature in it of itself. I acknowledge is one of those theories that relies on coincidental evidence, so feel free to poke holes in my theory.

[@psychic_digit]

This seems fairly plausible as a theory actually. There are some details that might dispute with it, but overall it’s interesting

[@tezcanaslan2877]

This series is possibly the only series where the iceberg is actually fitting

[@MegasMan10]

"Mother 3 fantranslation is still up becasue nintendo will never release a translation" I like to think its because in order to DCMA anything Mother related, they have to acknowledge they own it. Though more likely its because Itoi owns half and he's stopping them

[@Mr__Jack]

The fan translation issue is really, really strange. The Itoi stopping them theory makes sense until you stop and realize Nintendo has absolutely no problem taking down Pokémon fangames when they only own a third of The Pokémon Company. Nintendo also knows about the fan translation. There's no way they don't and apparently higher ups at Nintendo have commended it's quality. I personally do sub to the whole "Nintendo turns a blind eye because everybody can be happy that way" theory. They don't have to put any effort into the game (even though it would easily become an eShop best-seller if they decided to translate it like EarthBound did) and they don't have to censor it and we the fans get to enjoy the game uncensored in English. If Nintendo ever does release it, it'll inevitably be censored and then you'd have a split between whether the translation patch or the official version are superior. The fan-translation we have is genuinely a perfect game just the way it is. To most people, that is MOTHER 3 and changing even a little bit of it would stray from what MOTHER 3 is. Another reason why they might be "fine" with it existing is because it exists in a way that's "true" to the MOTHER brand. Fan-games or mods take Nintendo properties and characters and use them in a way that Nintendo could potentially see as misrepresentative of what they desire (basically a whole bunch of stupid corporate legal crap). The translation's entire goal was to be as true as physically possible to the game except with English text.

[@girlballsyuri]

Really, it's not about having Mother 3 localized, because we have the translation. It's moreso about having Nintendo just acknowledge that the game exists.

[@captainpep3]

Nintendo isn’t afraid to acknowledge their games existence, they’ve made jokes about mother 3 being localized. The point made in the video made sense

[@juxyper]

@@Mr__Jack I guess it is also very related to the fact that Pokemon is almost synonymous to Nintendo in its existence, it is too valuable to Nintendo as a figurehead to let others copy it. Game Freak/The Pokemon Company could also be in on this idea along with Nintendo, or Nintendo might be forcing their hand much more than Itoi's. There's also the past troubles and potential localization related hurdles that neither Nintendo or Itoi would like to go through as you have mentioned

[@the-NightStar]

No, it's just becuase Nintendo knows the translation exists, they don't care, they're never going to release Mother 3, they know it would be inferior to the fan-translation even if they did (and would have to censor the game for a more inclusive age rating), and they just don't care about the Earthbound franchise and they don't think it's an IP worth protecting at this point, and thus they just want people to play the fan-translation because they know it's all they're ever going to get. Itoi has nothing to do with it and has no say in what Nintendo does with the IP. The fact is that Nintendo just doesn't care, and it's been up for over 10 years at this point without a C&D because they're just encouraging people to patch it and download it, because they've written it off as something they'll never make a dime off of.

[@swordofcoffee]

43:05 One theory that I've heard posited is that the Psychic Psycho and Major Psychic Psycho are other humans who have PSI powers that heard the prophesy of the Apple of Enlightenment. (Jeeze, that barely makes sense IN context.) The psychos think that they are the chosen ones and so they also set out to find the sanctuaries. I could reason out why they don't appear elsewhere, but that would make this too long.

[@Josuh]

why

[@yourlocalterrariamage2046]

But why do they wear salt shakers

[@swordofcoffee]

@@yourlocalterrariamage2046 I think they're supposed to be tinfoil hats or colanders. You know, to keep out enemy brain waves?

[@Alec11_43]

I believe cognitive dissonance had a theory that they were humans that giygas transformed to be his psi minions.

[@kiwami5604]

A theory I heard regarding the human enemies in Fire Springs is that they're other psychics who believe they're the chosen ones as well, so they've come down to the last sanctuary. Sort of like a Champion's Road in Pokemon.

[@user-ym9fq1ko3s]

or they just some kind of elite troopers in human's part of Giygas army, who sent to FS to stop Ness from obtaining the last part of melody

[@Davin-rp1nf]

@@user-ym9fq1ko3s Man, he must be desperate if he’s teaching humans stuff that was stolen from them, which was the reason why he wanted them destroyed.

[@Ougerosity598]

Anybody else think they all kinda look like Porky?

[@Kyumifun]

You mean Victory Road

[@flatP_]

i had no idea tony was ACTUALLY gay, aside from speculation by fans like me (who is also a gay man). that quote from Itoi made me so happy. tony’s a good boy.

[@zanabandgirl]

omg you keep scaring the shit out of me on all these earthbound videos

[@mikicerise6250]

Tony's awesome but ... How is this speculation? Tony and Jeff are so obviously a couple. I mean it's obvious from the very first scene involving them. I played the uncensored version and it makes me wonder if the obvious tells were censored by NOA?

[@ZizZap4]

I think the doorknob could represent happiness. It's such a mundane thing that's so easy to take for granted, but things can quickly spiral out of control when it's not around. Happiness can also be unwelcome -- some people can't stand to see others happy, others may not be able to accept it at certain points in their lives and may resent its presence in themselves or others, and some may simply be unable to hang onto it for very long. But you can always find happiness if you stick things out to the very end.

[@uraalice]

For Psychic Psychos in Fire Spring, I saw a theory once that the helmets on their heads are mind control devices. The core point of the theory is that Giygas gets desperate seeing Ness is approaching the final sanctuary, so his forces kidnapped any humans with latent PSI powers and brainwashed them.

[@Dr0dd]

They remind me of stories about people with psychic powers being experimented on by secret agencies, like in Firestarter by Stephen King. Hell, wasn't King already an influence on Mother?

[@Samrules888]

So he does the very thing he feared, teaching humans PSI, to stop humans from learning PSI Also we see other humans gain PK powers from other things. martial arts, exposure to the manimani statue, or being *ahem* "touched" by the magypsies

[@torrashinjiro4196]

@@Samrules888 You know what they say. Desperate times calls for desperate measures

[@taleseylad1249]

​@@Samrules888i thought Lucas was being drowned and they never shew it for some reason

[@philip-op6de]

@@Samrules888that’s why it’s called desperation…he was desperate even going against his very core nature

[@ne0space]

When I think of Earthbound, the first thing that comes to mind is Alex Jones saying "Destroy the Child".

[@joshshrum2764]

Well it’s basically the game in a nutshell, but what i mainly think of is Giygas.

[@ortherner]

i think of porky

[@randomguyontheinternet7940]

@@joshshrum2764If Giygas could talk, Alex Jones' voice would actually fit him, atleast to me.

[@lemonsmug]

@@randomguyontheinternet7940 "You're a fake and a fraud!" - Giygas, probably.

[@samuelaviles824]

Alex Jones when observing Tazmily Village: "God those communists are amazing".

[@reneerodriguez7368]

Accidentally read "Duster's broken bass" as "Duster's broke ass"..hehe Thanks for making this video!

[@ganaham9144]

"Apple of Enlightnment" gives me some Adam and Eve vibes

[@Sev1138]

“Itoi didn’t saw a rape scene, he saw a women getting cut into halfs” “Ness...It hurts” It explains a lot

[@IBL15]

Raping hurts too though?

[@TheChillAlien]

Timestamp?

[@MrTheMasterX]

If it makes you feel any better, the "it hurts" line was inspired by ANOTHER traumatic childhood incident of Itoi's, where he witnessed a car crash. According to him, the only thing the sprawled out victim could say after the accident was "it hurts."

[@XSlimSxadyX]

@@MrTheMasterX Jesus Christ that is some heavy shit

[@hchich2528]

The Beach Boys' “Deidre” literally made me *shook* (yes I said “shook” on purpose) because of how close it sounded to the Earthbound version, well obviously it was a reference, BUT IT SOUNDED SPOT ON.

[@vinilla02]

It sounds so similar because it’s a sample. They took the audio and distorted it until it sounded good for their purposes

[@hchich2528]

@@vinilla02 I knew that but like, WOW. Even when it was distorted and used for Earthbound it still sounded pretty scary in the original, haha. Not to mention, Undertale, Earthbounds edgier cousin that has a trash fanbase but an alright story, uses a sound similar to that in the battle theme “Amalgamate.” But everybody knows that!

[@hchich2528]

Haha... yeah... I found out about Undertale first and never knew that the one Amalgamate was a reference to Giygus (however tf you spell his name) and that sound was a reference to another game that sampled that sound from a song...

[@masicbemester]

@@hchich2528 not to sound like I'm making fun of your spelling, but I have something to say. Biggus Giygus wait no Giygus Dickus this is it

[@hchich2528]

@@masicbemester Naw it’s fine. *not Mewtwo’s name* is hard to say

[@danielbueno8474]

15:55 "Shatter the nightmare rock" seems to be a direct reference to *Ness' Nightmare,* which took shape in the form of the Mani Mani Statue, and how Ness would have to destroy it. Since Ness' Nightmare, aka the statue, represented the evil side of himself, he would have to get rid of that first in order to become able to absorb the Earth's power through the completion of the Sound Stone.

[@MrTheMasterX]

Glad to know I'm not the only one who thought of that. Although, this falls apart somewhat since the name of the enemy in the original script in MOTHER 2 is "Ness' *Demon*" instead. It can still be ascertained that the 'nightmare rock' is the Mani Mani Statue though since Ness literally shatters it as opposed to figuratively shattering his Nightmare/Demon in Magicant.

[@phantom2450]

I think the "EarthBound is actually an imaginary adventure" headcanon would be a lot less appealing if a) more players actually played M1 and thus considered it important to have a theory that supports the connections between the two games, and b) if EarthBound's lore taken at face value wasn't so ridiculous.

[@KuuchWizard]

I really thought Tony’s character from EarthBound was sweet. The orphanage sequence in that game is really heartfelt. It’s funny how much Tony cares about Jeff

[@DefinitelyNotTheGOAT]

It's not an orphanage It's a boarding school

[@WeirdBrain]

This is the mother of all icebergs.

[@brodycoffey910]

I get it

[@bloxxotheidiot]

ayyyy

[@finnruel1813]

Im a huge nerd for both Evangelion and Earthbound and I'd like to point out that the similarities between the two go far deeper than what's described. First is the role of the father in all three games. All three of the father characters correspond to an aspect of Gendo Ikari (the protagonist's father in Evangelion). In Mother 1 Ninten's father is absent for most of his son's life and lost his wife due to messing with alien technology he didn't understand (though in Evangelion's case the wife died). In Mother 2, Ness' father is emotionally distant and only contacts his son via telephone, and spends most of the time in conversations reflecting on his wife. In Mother 3 Flint is driven half-mad by the loss of his wife, causing him to neglect his son and hurt others around him while going on a futile quest to reclaim his lost family. Lucas also shares a lot in common with the protagonist of Evangelion, Shinji Ikari. Like Lucas, Shinji lost his mother and is deeply sad about it, the two of them are both picked on and have few friends, and the two of them were both ostracized from their remaining family. The endings of Mother 2 and 3 share similarities with the End of Evangelion. In Mother 2 there's psycho-sexual element to the ending with the entrance to Giygas' lair resembling a vagina and the interior looking like a cervix, and in Mother 3 the game ends with the world ending, with a very ambiguous scene at the very end.

[@aclonymous]

30:22 Mixed gender bathing? crrringe! **Crusty, off-key guitar riff**

[@QualityInternetTrash]

Bathing with the *homies* is obviously better

[@LiamLimeLarm]

*broken bass plays*

[@ThePhantom4516]

its astounding how many people understand a reference to a stupid meme video

[@Ehibika]

one small thing I would have liked to add on this iceberg is the official appearance of buzz buzz, which I think is still a fairly obscure factoid even after Cuggaconoroy's revisitation of earthbound revealed it.

[@tamioconnor3765]

Yaaaaaa!!! Someone mentions Cugga

[@masicbemester]

ain't that the band behind Thumbtupping Edit: Do not click read more lest the joke be ruined It's about Chumbawamba - Tubthumping

[@tripledyou9580]

My only issue is the constant “look it up yourself”. Some things could have done with a brief summary, a sound clip, or image.

[@swr3603]

What I liked about this video is it doesn't do that as much as the other icebergs but it still happens

[@tripledyou9580]

@@swr3603 For sure. It’s mainly in the first half of the iceberg that it’s a problem.

[@LMC764]

Yes

[@ERRORDownBad]

I actually seen one of the Mother 3 unused terrifying enemies as a MUGEN stage.

[@M0XJade]

This shit an hour long im happy that this happened to you Or sad that you are going through this

[@polkaducc]

Im not reading this whole comment im happy for u tho or sorry that happened

[@wistfulanthophila9317]

baby

[@al_fuzzy9280]

I'm new to the Mother series and absolutely trying to milk out ANY information about these games, this video was sooooo good!

[@blazingtimeblazer9004]

Welcome to the club! Also, I love you icon! What is your favorite game from the series? Mine is Mother 3.

[@akirbyobsessee7396]

Hey, I’m here for the same reason! Looking forward to Oddity so I can experience a “Mother” game totally blind

[@rat_mikey]

the bird of light countering the dark dragon might refer to the two contraries (and thus yin and yang). two dragons, one feathered and white, the other black and scaly, biting each other's tails. the imagery is right.

[@tsukara]

reshiram and zekrom

[@rat_mikey]

@@tsukara yes exactly :)

[@FelipeJaquez]

The whole series is a metaphor for Ying and Yang Generation spanning story of a hero vs a seemingly infinitely reacquiring evil

[@crazybot1123]

N hhh, vgg

[@RushStudios101]

My theory on the Egg of Light is that the people in the old world knew PSI and used it to put their memories into the egg, and thus forgot how to use PSI. The Magypsies awakening Lucas, Claus, and Kumatora's PSI is actually a "re-awakening" of their forgotten power.

[@IrvinCascade]

I always thought that the "Consider" option would've been somewhat like a "hint" option. Where depending on the characters' combined IQ, they would have some sort of back-and-forth about the enemy the player targets, and if a character is equipped with an item influencing it, the enemy's stats would be displayed with the hint. So, the "hint" for Giygas's final form being something about how at the rate you're going, you don't have the slightest prayer of defeating it. The use of the word "Prayer" being a hint to use that skill, since nothing else really pushes you to do so.

[@GhostSilk]

I've been waiting a while to see someone make an iceberg on this series, and it's only icing on the cake that the video isn't plagued with editing errors, horrible audio mixing, or constant failed jokes like 70% of the other iceberg videos out there. Cheers dude, it was a good watch.

[@erililil]

38:18 Actually, at the end of Mother 3 when the logo made of wood shows up the “O” is an actual photo of Earth. So maybe that does mean that this is the same earth as ours?

[@Artemis-jw5ue]

It could be an alternative universe, similar to ours.

[@anthonyvelasco5288]

No, that's just the game saying that you brought back the world to normal

[@ohitsstar1241]

Hey, glad to have helped you out bro EDIT: working on the sequel list EDIT2: canceled

[@dunno6161]

You know, there is a good bit of evidence that Nintendo actually appreciates the fan translation of Mother 3 I mean, it does keep the game as the original release, outside of language. Most of Nintendo's ban hammering was for alterations of the experience, outside of most mario hacks (but that's for a different reason that they'd have little to no legal footing with) Plus, like the video mentions, there's no way they could rerelease it without heavliy altering it and maybe cutting out entire important parts of the game by now. Since they hate changing the setting or experience of existing works....the fan translation is probably gonna stay safe. Mother 3 might even count as abandonware in certain aspects or regions anyway, and that's legally grey.

[@StriderVM]

Sometimes it can be boiled down. IMO its basically "not worth it" because "it won't make money". The people who want it have probably played it. The effort they will need to do it will be superceded by the fan translation and lastly, it won't make money because of points 1 and 2, and then how would you market it beyond those people?

[@PhantomOfficial07]

They wouldn't alter or it anything. It's not a controversial release, Reggie said the reason Mother 3 never got an English release on the Virtual Console was purely a business decision and had nothing to do with the game itself. ...Maybe they just thought it wouldn't be worth the effort of translating because it wouldn't sell well?

[@randoviewer5212]

@@PhantomOfficial07it’s because of all of the musical references most likely

[@PhantomOfficial07]

@@randoviewer5212 I later saw a video on it after I made that comment and you may be right

[@cyanidepizza]

31:34 I know I'm 2 years late, but there's an explanation for this. The explanation is that that's not unused text. When making the MOTHER 3 Fan Translation, the text for certain sequences was too long for the text injector they used and crashed the program, so they used external text files to translate those certain lines of text. The text [FILE=".-8e.txt"] is read by one of the programs to build the translated ROM and injects the text from the external file named "0-8". It works this way for a few sequences. Kinda weird that this is the only [FILE="______.txt"] that was misunderstood to be unused text, as they're all in the same text block. My source is the download page and guide for the Translation Tools in case anyone's wondering.

[@CorvodaPop]

First iceberg video I've seen in a very long while that has been this good. Even as someone who thought they knew everything there was to know about the mother series, this taught me a ton. Thanks for the great vid!

[@BryansAdventures]

42:47 Finally someone pointed this out because it still haunts me everytime I encounter it.

[@rds46]

*T H E O R B*

[@rybo4663]

“What the fuck is this thing?”

[@jerppursh7570]

I haven't gotten there yet and now I'm scared

[@DarkHero-nn9xr]

What really haunts me is 48:13

[@charleskruger8607]

What haunts me the most is that one of the characters in Earthbound is gay. That ruined my childhood if you know what I mean. I never expected anybody to be gay in that game and I’ve been a fan of Earthbound for years. So when I found out about this, it just ruined my childhood and maybe even life because I’ve been a fan for years

[@TheHogfatherInvades]

hearing the beach boys say Deirdre gave me shivers

[@camsons]

Wonder if Bruce Johnston knows that Itoi used that song in Earthbound

[@Minkerdoodle01]

funny enough, if you listen to the full song... after that very creepy opening the song is very upbeat and bubbly.

[@stonethemason12]

@@Minkerdoodle01 dierdre makes me cry

[@Jetsetlemming]

52:28 The Fan translation is completely legal, the same as any other fan patch or game mod. There's a reason it's a patch that has to be applied to a ROM you have to find somewhere else. There's technicalities they could try to bully them with, like demanding they stop using Mother 3 art on their website, but nothing really substantial that makes such an action risk-free, nor is there anything about the fan translation patch that threatens their copyright or trademark, thus requiring them to act. You'll notice they've never acted against the Link to the Past or Super Metroid randomizers, either. edit: Also there's no reason a fan translation patch would discourage an official release. There's absolutely no reason to assume an official translation would be "inferior" without actually seeing it, and a fan translated copy would at most be free advertisement to a new audience who is unfamiliar with the game, and more likely a tiny drop in the bucket of the potential players.

[@SeanStrife]

Well, now we can expand the "Earthbound's influence on modern RPGs" to "Earthbound's influence" since apparently the visuals in the movie Turning Red were inspired by Pokemon... and Earthbound. Earthbound's influence has now expanded its sphere into the realm of film.

[@CopiousDoinksLLC]

41:07 My interpretation of the weird layout of these areas was that Giygas' close proximity was messing with reality itself 42:10 The whole Lost Underworld section is a tongue-in-cheek reference to 'Journey to the Center of the Earth', a movie from 1959. The idea was that dinosaurs had survived underground after the meteorite that wiped them out sealed them underground. Stupid, I know

[@cellophanezebra4663]

Surprised none of them mentioned that in Mother 3 the forest were they get high on shrooms was gonna be way darker and fucked up

[@BioMega96]

It was? Didn't know that, know where I can find more on that?

[@cellophanezebra4663]

@@BioMega96 It was from the creator himself (Itoi) when in a interview, He explained that it was gonna be way darker but had to cut it to possibly keep the rating of the game.

[@simonmagus2199]

that would have been great, but for a nintendo game, it's already pretty dark

[@girlballsyuri]

Itoi: the fetus theory isn't real stop believing it some random people: red swirly baby haha

[@nessthepsycho6252]

Believing the theory or not, is it the clear distinction of baby. With it being non-canon and purely coincidental is honestly amazing.

[@EdgeOfEntropy17]

Okay, the game series is called Mother. Kinda obvious this was intentional. No matter what anyone says, they can't hide something so obvious.

[@girlballsyuri]

@@EdgeOfEntropy17 if the creator of the series denies it, it's not real.

[@EdgeOfEntropy17]

@@girlballsyuri Perhaps he is trying avoid negative publicity. Entirely possible.

[@girlballsyuri]

@@EdgeOfEntropy17 I still say it's not real

[@lilseizy5922]

This guy was so calm up until he got to the dream theory lmao.

[@PorkyMinch]

so many people coment on it

[@superdean9966]

This was basically my introduction to the MOTHER series. And here I am now. Thank you.

[@johnofonett8036]

Me hearing Pippi being pronounced as “Peepee”: hahaha funny Great video, btw! Nice to see someone finally covering this iceberg!

[@ExtremeWreck]

*What if Pippi is actually a boy?*

[@johnofonett8036]

@@ExtremeWreck *holy shit*

[@Zeggladore]

Some quick music trivia I'm surprised didn't make it in: 1. *Dalaam's Musical Origin* Dalaam's theme is lifted straight from Keiichi Suzuki's "WORDS, COLOURS, NOISES AND BOOMS ," which was also sampled for the sound you hear when you step on a panel in front of the sphynx in Scaraba. 2. *The Suzuki Tapes* A pair of albums by Keiichi Suzuki from 1993 and 2011 included a collection of demo versions of several of the MOTHER vocal tracks, a few of which are sung by Suzuki himself. The first of these albums contains a song "You are Cancer," written by Shigesato Itoi. 3. *MOTHER 3+ iTunes version* Two arranged soundtracks for MOTHER 3, called _MOTHER 3i_ and _MOTHER 3+,_ were released *globally* on iTunes before eventually being pulled from the shelves in 2012. Although both albums were given physical releases, the iTunes release of MOTHER 3+ comes with an exclusive arrangement of the game's credits music. 4. *MOTHER lyrics* All three main themes have official lyrics: MOTHER's "Eight Melodies" was given English lyrics by Linda Hennrick for the St. Paul Cathedral Choir version found in the original soundtrack, while 2's "Smiles and Tears" and 3's "We Miss You - Love Theme" had Japanese lyrics written by Itoi that were provided in MOTHER 2's instruction manual and performed by Taeko Onuki in MOTHER 3+, respectively. 5. *Life is but a twinkle, a winking of an eye* EarthBound's "Flying Man" theme derives from an original song from the _MOTHER_ arranged album. Though the instrumental track is a dead ringer for the song's appearance in EarthBound, the melody for the lyrics performed in the song seems to come out of nowhere. However, you actually hear this melody in EarthBound's death screen.

[@Jepegish]

Amazing video! I actually played Earthbound for the first time ever 2 weeks ago after having heard OMORI was heavily inspired by it and I'm still mindblown by the fact that Earthbound still, to this day holds up surprisingly well.

[@Slenderquil]

Hopefully you'll enjoy the wonderful rabbit hole that is earthbound! Mother 3 is my favorite game of all time, so I highly recommend you play it after EB

[@Skallva]

You can see traces of Mother all over the RPG Maker community. That game's influences are truly massive.

[@xxProjectJxx]

'Earthbound still holds up well' Debatable

[@8bitsniper568]

“Giygas fetus is most widespread around EarthBound theory around” Sans is Ness: Am I a joke to you?

[@bloxxotheidiot]

ssas moment

[@roland.w]

yes

[@nacnud2115]

I’m surprised there is no mention of the tent corner in earthbound. That thing feels like it could get its own mini iceberg.

[@TCT2023]

DID YOU SERIOUSLY. PUT DRIP NESS. IN THE ABYSS SECTION INTRO. ... you absolute madman I LOVE YOU XD

[@masicbemester]

Drip Ness Bottom text

[@resarfjomes1807]

I always just assumed the apple of enlightenment was the orb on the center of the Devil’s Machine. I also always thought that the “nightmare rock” was just another name for the apple of enlightenment.

[@HughAverageHomoMan]

"nightmare rock" could also mean the Mani Mani statue.

[@wistfulanthophila9317]

i thought "nightmare rock" was the sound stone since you lose it after reaching the last sanctuary

[@0megazeero]

I don't see many people talking about it so I will In super mario odyssey, there's this kingdom named "ruined kingdom" and there's something that kind of remind me of mother 3, like nails that remind me a lot of the mother 3 nails and... *A dark dragon.* I'm not saying that they're in the same universe but... Don't you think THAT is how the dark dragon was supposed to look like in mother 3?

[@lennyfrogger]

Holy shit, I think you're onto something

[@quillllly]

Didn't even acknowledge the fact that the dragon in odyssey has needles in it that you have to pull to damage it.

[@0megazeero]

@@quillllly oh yeah I had forgotten about that

[@alt7837]

@@quillllly theres only six pins on him though, so sadly maybe its not connected :(

[@IBL15]

@@alt7837 maybe one was already pulled?

[@SuperCrazf]

54:30 If you ask me. The Earthbound series (and more specifically, Mother 3) are not only the greatest RPGs of all time, but are the games that transcend the genre and have become like a trascended being that every single RPG from past, present and future, aspires to one day become. These games will be my vigil, my personal compass through adversity, until the day I die. I hope more people play them.

[@RowletGameing]

we can't forget the most obscure Earthbound Fact: Ness can beat Goku

[@Ness_Dreemurr]

How?

[@SpathiCaptainFwiffo]

​@@Ness_DreemurrI dunno, PSI Flash and get lucky?

[@revolverocelots291]

54:20 "Pee your pants" that should not have made me laugh as fucking hard as i did with the shadow billboard

[@TheRealSuperKirby]

YES! Finally some one that agrees that the mani mani statue sprites are mixed up. And amazing video man, you put way more effort into this than other ice berg videos

[@starman-9543]

Dude this was so well made! Having watched the other MOTHER Iceberg video that you mentioned prior, I felt disappointed and the guy didn't even seem like a MOTHER fan. This video though was really great and I can definitely see the effort. Nice job

[@themightysomeone9604]

This is the best iceberg video I have ever seen. Good narration, good exposition and great research. Great job with this amazing video!

[@firionkaiser8291]

I'd also like to add that you can see the shape of Giygas Mother 1/Earthbound Beginnings as the stance he appeared in during the fight in Earthbound when looking at it upside down.

[@knojangles]

Sheesh, this really reignited my love for the series, I've learned so much as a result of this video, It's just so good!

[@Rolli_Zolli]

It's my personal theory that Kumatora became the princess of Oshoe to replace someone else. So, who would that someone else be? Hinawa! Upon the arival of the white ship, Hinawa fell in love with Flint and decided to join the people of Tazmily. In return, an orphaned girl was to be raised by the Magypsies to take Hinawa's place if the needles were ever to be pulled. This also explains how Lucas and Claus learn PK Love from the Magypsies, but Kumatora couldn't despite being raised by them. She was supposed to be the hero of the story, but because she didn't have the same power as the true princess, that role had to be taken up by Lucas. It also might be why Hinawa seems to have "Force Ghost" powers in Chapter 6 and the final battle. Idk, any thoughts, am i missing anything? Edit: This is all in response to 40:32 btw

[@JonahZgo]

if im not mistaken, the whole "princess of the castle" role was made up as part of the story, as osohe castle had long since been empty by the time the white ship arrived

[@Rolli_Zolli]

@@JonahZgo Good point, but i still defend the idea that there had to be some reason Kumatora was given to the Magypsies and not just adopted by another island resident. I feel like "the story the Tazmily citizens made was rushed" is a bit too much of a cop-out for such an odd decision. Even if Hinawa's title wasn't "Princess of Osohe", i still believe Kumatora is filling her previous role.

[@randomguyontheinternet7940]

The comparison between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates being the Apple and Orange Kids' I think is supposed to be a commentary on how valuable their work is compared to how the public treats them.

[@Kurisu545]

This video is amazing, it really covers most obscure trivia and theories perfectly, it's well edited and researched, honesly I coudn't think of a better Iceberg video for the Mother series, the iceberg meme is a gift that keeps on giving. Anyway, subscribed!

[@42thecakeisalie]

I remember an old silly fan theory that said Porky was actually Giygas transformed after all the years passed in the absolutely safe capsule, and the mother timeline actually go like a neverending cycle. I also remember a cute fan comic about the "white boat" people background.

[@aclonymous]

Even as someone who’s never properly played any of the Mother games (apart from the Earthbound demo built into Smash 4), this is actually really interesting and informative. Not what I expected from our resident composer/shitposter.

[@aclonymous]

@Blue Snow Guy It was somewhere in games & more, idk i haven’t touched that game in 3 years

[@aclonymous]

@Blue Snow Guy Actually, just looked up a video, it’s games & more > vault > masterpieces > earthbound. There are a ton of other retro games you can play in there too.

[@aclonymous]

@Blue Snow Guy kzbin.info/www/bejne/jHq0pYOXrLRjrrM

[@MrFoxInc]

19:50 Yes, thank you. Theories that are "It was all a dream", "They're in a coma" or "It was a fantasy" were interesting initially but have outstayed their welcome almost immediately. You're not alone in your bias. Also, great video! Thanks!

[@JonahZgo]

i swear some ppl really be like "this fictional story is fictional" wow outstanding theory bitch now delete your account

[@nameless8937]

Dope video! The only thing this Iceberg was missing is the Hollywood-esque lady from Threed who is only seen twice in the whole game and has a really mysterious vibe around her

[@Protofall]

*Twice*?

[@nameless8937]

Protofall She is first seen quietly luring you in the trap in Threed and then all the way around in Summers, you can actually spot her again on the Beach, where she asks you to leave her alone if you interact with her (if i’m not mistaken)

[@Protofall]

@@nameless8937 Oh yeah, I vaguely recall hearing about the summers encounter. Although I'm not sure if its the same person or just two NPCs with the same sprite.

[@nameless8937]

Protofall General consensus is that it’s the same woman, since unlike any other NPCs, the sprite isn’t used for anything else

[@Rolli_Zolli]

Also missing "Welcome to th :|" from the Mother 3 fan translation

[@SerButtley]

"Why would you be here if you aren't a fan of the series" My good dude, I never played the game in my entire life. And yet, that was an enjoyable vid, thank you so much for the hard work into this~

[@curlycane_]

ohmygod thank you for mentioning the cliff that time forgot!! it’s not talked about a lot & it makes me sad. ive always had a feeling for that place, not only because it’s “weird”, but because it felt like a place where we shouldn’t have stumbled upon (or rather the place shouldn’t exist at all).

[@markyb4333]

30:20 On my first (and current) playthrough of Mother 3, I actually encountered the Lady in the hot spring of the chimera lab. I thought it was just some cute gag, had no idea it was apparently super rare.

[@carmineknight9123]

O M G, I just so happened to be in an Earthbound mood and found this completely randomly, I am SO happy. Very well done. Lots here that I didn't know.

[@superbad8008]

I gotta say, I kind of hate the “It was all a dream” theories too.

[@L_Aster]

6:33 I've never played Earthbound but it's 2 am and I like having noises to draw and write to

[@Symboite3099]

Im glad you spend 100 hours for this

[@Minkerdoodle01]

About this scene at 49:20, I believe this is wildly misinterpreted because of the fade to black. When the black goes away, Lucas comes up out of the hot spring. Ionia wasn't doing anything sexual to him, she was holding his head under and telling him to endure holding his breath for a while, to induce the PK abilities... somehow. Maybe dunking him in the hot spring caused a PSI fever.

[@StriderVM]

Also Japanese media tends to make jokes like this. Even in other video games. I do remember other RPG games like Breath of Fire and Dragon Quest having similar jokes.

[@tristanlagrate9817]

I don't trust that pigmask who "knows about Giygas"...imagine if he was a descendant of a family of people who didn't get rid of their old memories. *GAME THEORY: GIYGAS IS PIGMASK CONFIR-*

[@peopleperson3599]

30:10 the “Happy End” screen could also be a reference to the Japanese folk-rock band of the same name, which is notable for one of its members being Haruomi Hosono, a very influential artist in the world of Japanese pop music. One of their songs was also used in the soundtrack for Lost in Translation.

[@formerlyknownasmousecopp4367]

"This is a subtle reference to the idea that Earthbound is a work of fiction" DAYUM the shade 😂

[@forgettablePyromaniac]

"Shoutouts to SimpleFlips" at the bottom of the description. Nice.

[@masicbemester]

"yeah Simpleflips, the man, the myth, the legend." - Joel