"In the early 1900's, a dark shadow covered a small country town in rural America. At that time, a young married couple vanished mysteriously from their home. The man's name was George, the woman's name was Maria. Two years later, as suddenly as he left, George returned. He never told anyone where he had been or what he had done. But, he began an odd study, all by himself. As for Maria, his wife... She never returned. 80 years have passed since then"(MOTHER)

It is with this cryptic message that your journey into the unknown begins. When I first popped Mother into my new Famicom I was greeted with this enigma.

I often theorize why it was I chose a game called "Mother" in the first place. It was Japanese, yes, and I was young and bilingual already (at the time I was five). Nine years later, I look back upon that game with a theory to what the land of Magicant was and is.

I was amazed when I was 1.045/7 of the way done with the game and I stumbled upon the land of Magicant. "Wait! A voice is speaking into (Character Name)'s mind"(MOTHER). This statement pops up when you check the conch shell marked XX in the cave right of the Ruined Zoo. It prompts you to talk with the voice through telepathy. What does it say? No one actually knows, but it works and you are sent to Magicant.

As the name implies, Magicant is a realm of magic. It's main population is the witch or wizard, which is defined clearly by the use of a pointed hat with a wide brim, and the use of broomsticks throughout as a reference to wiccan transport. Gyiyg(or as you Americans know Giegue or Giygas) may have murdered Maria, as it implies when you speak with the XX tombstone on Mt. Itoi. "...I will go to the place where Maria is now..."(MOTHER George's ghost to Ninten). This leads me to believe that Magicant is a pergatory of sorts, a holding place for lost souls.

However, I wish to believe that Magicant is a place of forgotten memories, a physical representation of the finding of oneself's personal identity. A representation of the stage in between childhood and adulthood, the stage some call the self realization stage. Ninten is charged by Queen Mary with the task of recording eight melodies on a sound stone.

In ancient Japan ideology, inanimate objects are accepted as being alive. The stone, for example, can 'remember' events. This is brought about by stone in the river. Over time, the stone is ebbed and washed over by the waves of the river, creating impressions that can never be erased. Upon reviving the ancient memory, Magicant is promptly destroyed, as shown by broken pillars and other debris.

A stone, a boy, and a world of memory. Whatever inspired this, these means of storytelling are quite common in Japanese storytelling. The main character in a Japanese story is usually a young boy who has hardly anything to his name, but he eventually saves something very important. The Japanese god of plants and animals, Inari, is usually included in these stories told by Japanese farmers.

A similar land by the same name exists in Mother 2. However, do not be confused, this land is much different. It is quite simply the plain existence of elements from Ness' world, which takes place in 199X. This means that the destruction of the previous Magicant prevents this Magicant from being possible... but wait.

Magicant is a land of memories that are waiting to be awakened. In Ness' Magicant, upon reaching a thorn, he is transported to a swamp destined to become a battleground. After traveling a distance, Ness comes upon the Mani Mani statue, a representation of the evil that lied within him this whole time. Ness was knocked unconcious, which leaves only one answer to this- Magicant is a land created by memories embedded within the subconcious shortly before a self realization occurs.

These memories become active and influence elements around locations that were important to the person who's mind encapsulates this subconcious. Ness clearly was unconcious due to the scene that follows Ness' final battle with the Mani Mani statue, in which his three comrades are shown crowding around him, trying to awaken him. Upon his awakening, he realizes his soundstone is gone. As with Maria's awakening in Mother, in Mother 2 Ness' awakening destroys his Magicant also. This is the link between the two Magicants.

- onakagapekopekodesu

Magicant is actually a place that exists in all of our minds, but it can only be tapped into by something incredible, like the alien sculpture in the first Mother game or the ultimate fulfillment of the Sound Stone, which allowed Ness to enter this manifestation of our own memories and imaginations. It is somewhat a place also to represent our racial memory, an idea concocted by Jung that claims we all have common history passed down genetically by our ancestors. The impossibility of us being able to tap into the knowledge and magic of the place gives it the simple name "Magic-can't." Our heroes lose access to the place once they rid it of what didn't belong there, aka Queen Mary and Ness's Nightmare.

As for Queen Mary, she was sealed away into the mind of her son, or Ninten's grandfather in attempt to hide away from the evils of Giegue. She lived in a castle in the middle of the mind, thinking of the place as a reality, and she just continued into the minds of the "dynasty" or lineage of the family.

- Absoltastic

This is basically just a bunch of ideas I came up with while playing EarthBound and reading about Mother 1. So yes, it’s half EarthBound stuff and the other half Mother stuff, but it all applies to both games and I am going to compare the two Magicants in them.

I think Magicant is really a manifestation of a person’s mind, filled with thoughts and memories literally cluttered all over the place. I think a Magicant exists in everybody, but it can only be reached as a result of certain experiences. So how does Ness’ Magicant differ from Queen Mary’s (Maria’s)? Well, I think Ness’ Magicant is sort of a final test for Ness to unlock his mind once he has taken control of his Sanctuaries; he manually has to enter his own mind and purge it of evil thoughts and fears- personified as the Mani Mani Statue. However, I don’t think this necessarily means the Mani Mani statue’s influence actually existed in Ness, but it’s more of a symbol for evil. Once Ness destroys this evil and fear, his mind becomes free and he can tap in to the power hidden inside of him (which obviously would include PSI). Notice that Magicant also disappears after Ness realizes his true power. This is why I also think Magicant is a cloud or block in our minds that keeps us from unlocking our true potential through the evil existing in them. In other words, it’s keeping us from taking full control of our brains and posssibly becoming super humans with psychic powers (in EarthBound, at least)!! Ness was able to conquer Magicant, however. This may be simply because he is part of the Chosen Four, or because of the PSI powers he was born with, or it could just be some Apple of Enlightenment prophecy thing. But most importantly, Ness was able to defeat the evil inside him, clear the clouds away from his mind, and enlighten himself to greater power. That’s why Magicant disappears afterwards.

However, in Maria’s case, she could not conquer her Magicant without Ninten’s help. Remember how Ness’ Mom tells Ness he can remain in Magicant forever, if he wishes? I think this was the fate Maria was subject to, until Ninten intervened: being trapped in Magicant. While Ness conquered his nightmare, Maria was constantly being tormented by hers (“I am scared! I am scared!”) in a perpetual mental limbo. But how did she get there in the first place? I think Maria was capable of entering Magicant due to her interactions with Giegue and his race of advanced beings, which made her capable of a higher level of thinking, and maybe even PSI! But once her memories of George and the 8 melodies were shattered by Giegue, her mind retreated into Magicant until it could be sorted out. Once she recalls the melody with the help of Ninten, all her memories of George and Giegue come flooding back to her… and Magicant disappears, because Maria had finally cleared the clouds in her mind, just like Ness did!

So, that’s my interpretation of Magicant.

- AmateurGamer

From the ashened questions we let burn out, Pheen-X tries to bring these questions back to life, with an inferno of answers. This weeks question, Magicant, Ninten visits it in his dreams in Mother...and then Ness sees it in his in Earthbound, years later. And yet...they were different in some way. And as tired as I truly *yawn* am...I'm gonna *yawwwnnnn* tell you...tell you abou...zzzzzzzzz.

From the ashened questions we let bur-wait a minute, didn't I already do the intro? Oh great, I'm sleep theorizing again. Ah well, This theory came from dreams, might as well be typed while in one. Now, Magicant is a land of dreams, that are said to disappear for good when the dreamer wakes up. Magicant is known to hold the well known flying men, and known to have some sort of music within them. Now, can you guess which Magicant I'm talking about? I'm talking about ALL of them. Yep, just like I've been saying, it's a land of dreams...and everyone has their own little Magicant in one point of their lives.

At this point, I'm guessing some are nodding their heads in agreement, while others are thinking I'm a crazy lunatic. "If you're telling the truth, why haven't I seen it, huh?!" Simply because, the flying men serve a bigger cause than just being your fellow fighter of courage. They are also the ones that watch over our thoughts and other dreams, judging every emotion we share, and every thing we do.

What does this have anything to do with this? Well, as I reminded before, once you see Magicant in your dreams, once you wake up, its gone forever. So the bigger job of the flying men, is telling when we need to see Magicant the most. Once the decision is made, they know fully well, that this is becoming the last part of themselves, knowing that the person will need more strength, then any of the flying men's bretheren.

So, you're in Magicant now. My guess is that something big is going in your life, and you need something to give you strength to see through it. What prevents early awakening though? The music. It soothes us, keeping us relaxed and out of conciousness until we open our real strength within. Once we are willing to take on our biggest fears, the music stops, and awakens us once more, filled with more courage and strength to take on the current challenge you're needing to take on. The flying men choose the time wisely, feeling that once the dream is had, the dreamer is able to face a lot of bigger challenges, or find help to face them.

Of course, not every obstacle is physical, or a battle...and Mother 3 gave a great example of this. Magicant was making an appearance for Lucas, when he was able to see his mother, Hinawa, amongst a garden of sunflowers. After making one final jump to reach her, he awoke, knowing that she'd always be watching over him. So, where was the flying man in that case? Simple...Hinawa. No one can truly say that all flying men...where male after all, or required the goofy get up.

And thus, another *SNORT!* Gah! Dang it, fell asleep again. Huh? Oh yeah, my whole sleep typing dilemma. Okay, well, everything seems to be in order. So, another question is left to burn, in a hypnotic, relax-ing....zzzzzzz

Finish it in dream mode, that's always plan B. So, this is Dreaming Pheen-X saying...Keep Your Dreams.

- firej7