Pudgy: Unfounded Theories
What is the deal with that Minch clan? With the virtues and valor of Frank Stallone, I've wondered about this bunch as much as anyone else in the game. Out of all of the places in Eagleland, they chose to live near Ness and his family. Why? What's the deal with the loans? Why was the marriage between Lardna and Aloyious on the rocks? Oh, and what's the story behind that young chap, Picky? After I finished EarthBound for the first time, I recall thinking about the Minch family more than any other loose end in the game.
Think of the placement. Now, what are the odds that the main human antagonist would live next to the Earth's unlikeliest protector? It just doesn't add up, in my opinion. Contrary to a common stereotype, neighbors don't exactly always equate to being mortal enemies. You are even asked by a police officer if you two are friends. Where was my "don't care" option then? A little Mortal Kombat-style background information would've been great. Would Ness not let Pokey in his club? Was the Cartman esque neighbor an outsider in his peer group? If so, why would the loner be so content in calling Ness a friend when he requested assistance for finding Picky? He sure did seem loud and brash for an obese cherub that wasn't accepted in his social crew. Who knows, maybe lardo wanted in on Ness's little clique, but jealousy could certainly also be a factor. Then again, if Pokey wanted the respect and acceptance that Ness had, why was it that he didn't want to be one of the boys in the chosen four? Personally, I'd have no problem being the weak link if I had a chance to save the world. Pokey just wasn't that sensible.
Then, you have Picky. Although he is the younger brother, he's easily more rugged than his sibling. So rugged, he wouldn't mind sleeping against a tree when there are various dogs and crows wearing sunglasses running about. He just wanted a good time. A nice night in which he could take a gander at a meteorite before scooting home to wait for his parents. The kid wasn't even bothered by the Sharks. How could such a down to Earth person be pitted in such a horribly unbalanced family? At first, I pondered the unthinkable. After reading one of Anthadd's old articles claiming that Ness's Father could've indeed been Giegue, I began to wonder if the Minch clan could've had some type of influence on Ness and his powers.
It wouldn't be impossible that Giegue could indeed be Aloyious Minch. He gives Ness's family money, and conceivably uses his sons to influence Ness. Perhaps he even teaches Ness the ways of PSI through telepathy. That, or he predicted that Ness would indeed be the "chosen one" to lead a counter-strike against Giygas. By that logic, it's within the boundaries of sensible thought that he, the Apple of Enlightenment, or Buzz Buzz are the same entity. If you recall Ness's pre-Magicant flashback, however, Ness already had the concept of PSI. Since the Minch's weren't neigbors at the time, it'd lead you to believe that my "Aloyious taught Ness PSI" claim was a bit empty. Quite the contrary. Since the Minch family didn't live next to Ness's family during the early years, where could they have lived? Onett? Not by my estimation. It is my belief that Aloyious (Giegue), Lardna, and maybe baby Pokey lived in Twoson during this period. From there, the hypothesis could be made that baby Paula was able to be taught PSI at an earlier age than Ness. While Ness's family and the Minch family moved to Onett at approximately the same time, Paula became famous for her PSI exploits at a younger age while Ness faced years of preteen obscurity until Aloyious was able to brush up on those unpolished PSI skills through telepathy of some type during childhood. That would lead one to believe, however, why and how would they both move next to each other in the same town?
I'm not a Star Wars expert, I'm not even an EarthBound expert, but events in the game would lead you to believe that the PSI system would be very similar to "the force". Aloyious "felt" when Ness was born because they shared a rare medium. Since Aloyious had the ability to control Ness's father (in taking all of the "loaned" money to give Ness), I believe Aloyious broke into the subconscious of Ness's parents by causing a move to Onett. It'd work perfectly. Onett and the area around Ness's house was a hot bed of activity relevant to the adventure. Agerate's house in which Mani Mani was first revealed, the location of the meteor, and in the same town in which the weakest Sanctuary boss, Titanic Ant, was located. It is my belief that this was all the due to the influence of Aloyious. That way, he could essentially keep his cover as the obese, lazy whiner, and he'd still be pointing Ness in the right direction. However, I think clues were left in his two boys.
I'm not sure if Picky or Pokey had any PSI abilities. It's something that'd just be too hard to speculate at this juncture. It would be mildly apparent that Pokey knew about his father and uncle. Although he could've been a hybrid human/alien, Pokey may have sympathized with his power-hungry uncle to the point in which he decided to join him. There is even the slim possibility that Pokey wanted to speak with Buzz Buzz because of his eagerness to see the dangerous meteor in the beginning of the game. But, by the time he was with Ness, he was perhaps to afraid to reveal any intentions he had (to kill Buzz Buzz before he got to Ness?). Still, once your realize that Pokey and Picky are never harmed in battle, it would lead one to realize that they are both powerful beings that simply didn't want the secret to get out (take note of Picky's weak attacks in the beginning). The charade continues.
Aloyious isn't encountered too often in the game. Perhaps it was because he was feeding Ness's father so much money. Then again, you have the meeting in Fourside. If Pokey was going to go against his father's wishes by joining his uncle, why would the two be so cordial in Fourside? My guess? Aloyious was trying to plead with Pokey to not join his uncle, or Pokey may have indeed people powerful enough to control even his father. This is basically open to interpretation, but I feel Aloyious still tried to help Ness and Co. Remember how I said Aloyious could use a type of telepathy to speak with Ness? Well, if you recall the coffee and tea scenes, it would lead you to believe that they were placed there strategically to inspire the chosen four. I feel Aloyious left his essence in the form of a message in the two items. Much like recording a psychic message in the item. That would also explain why the two can be used an indefinite amount of times.
In case you are just tuning in, I don't have much proof, but the end of the game could certainly make the theory a bit more interesting. I'll be glad to oblige. After defeating Giygas, we all know about the odd situation between Aloyious, Lardna, and a certain Mr. Prettyman. Let's break it down, and take it to the streets the only way I know how.
In Fourside, when you encounter Aloyious, he says:
"Wheeee! Hic! Ness. Pokey left me, his own dad, and just disappeared. If you see him, tell him that he should take better care of his father. Don't tell my wife in Onett that I've been spending my time here. Hic! Wheeeee!"
Drunk or not, he sounded quite secretive. I believe he was on a hidden agenda to find Pokey. Since he had just "disappeared", perhaps he even searched Jackie's back room to see if Pokey was in the illusion that is Magicant. Pokey "leaving" him could also be more figurative than it seems. It could mean that Pokey had "left" the good side to plot other evil (perhaps he didn't want Pokey to make the same mistakes he had). It was his way of saying that he couldn't talk sense into him while they were both in Fourside. Taking better care of him could mean that Pokey and perhaps his minions held his father captive for a brief period. A perfect alternative for the theory that Aloyious was trying to bring Pokey back to good. Then again, he may have also been hiding out from Mr. Prettyman, but I'll get to that in a moment.
Lardna, by my estimation, was a pawn with a big mouth. I very well doubt she even knew she was related to so many universal cosmic destroyers, but hey, that's Lardna. More unassuming than the local guy, she also had something slightly cryptic to say:
"My son isn't at home now. He's walking around somewhere. My husband is also gone. Oh yes, this is Mr. Prettyman. He always has great advice. He's a real gentleman, he is. You'll be happy that you met him"
Oh, that Prettyman. Always has great advice, does he? Maybe that's because he began to control the mind and behavior of Lardna. Since she wasn't the sharpest around, I would like to play my "jedi mind trick" card here, please. While she was under control of Prettyman, she fed him all she knew about Ness, his family, Aloyious, and Pokey. The proof, as they say, is in the magic pudding. Prettyman probably made the biggest cryptic revelation:
"Salutations! You're the boy living next door. I heard that your family is in debt. Ms. Minch told me about it. Well, live and learn. You just have to keep plugging away."
I believe with all of my heart that Mr. Prettyman is also an alien; probably related to Aloyious (Giegue) and Giygas. For the sake of arguement, I'll go out on another limb with the hypothesis that he is the third brother. The reason I feel that Prettyman isn't your average slimeball would be that he obviously got information about Ness's family from Lardna. Why would he do that? Seems to me, if he was your average, run-of-the-mill homewrecker, he wouldn't be concerned with the neighbors too much. He'd be much more focused on Lardna. Perhaps Mr. Prettyman came to destroy the boy that killed his brother. By visiting his other brother's wife, he could find out more information, and perhaps later destroy Onett, it's hero, or Earth's biggest sympathizer, Aloyious, his brother, in Fourside (all similar to the destruction pictures we saw in the EarthBound 64 preview screenshots). Prettyman's incoherent rage could lead him to believe the death of Giygas was caused by his other brother funneling money and such to Ness. He saw it as his purpose to end both of them; just as soon as Pokey and his "pig army" could mobilize to attack Onett (http://starmen.net/mother3/screenshots/onettdestroyed.JPG, http://starmen.net/mother3/screenshots/buildings.JPG) and Fourside. Maybe Aloyious predicted his impending destruction at the hands of his son and his minions when he said, "If you see him (Pokey), tell him that he should take better care of his father." All up for speculation.
That would lead you to wonder what part the survivors would have in a sequel. As previously stated, Lardna was a pawn. Once Aloyious (and Fourside) were destroyed, could she have married Mr. Prettyman? If so, in theory, she could have also spawned more children to aid in the destruction of Earth. Maybe these children were also the "chapter bosses" intended for the game (similar to the Koppa kids of Super Mario Bros. 3). And what of Picky, you ask? It is my belief that he turned from good to evil once he found out that Ness had destroyed his uncle. At the end of the game, he says this:
"A letter arrived from my brother, Pokey... it is addressed to Ness. There's no stamp, and it's not time for the mailman to come..."
The pauses lead me to believe Picky wasn't his usual self. Whether he was tired, enraged at Ness, or flat out in awe because of the letter really is hard to define, but you've got to wonder about his timing. It isn't known what time Picky visited Ness. One could make the hypothesis that it was fairly early (Ness would obviously be very tired from such a long, tough adventure), but it was still at night. Since I doubt Picky kept his eyes glued to the mailbox at night, I believe one of Pokey's minions either informed Picky or made quite a bit of noise in the delivering process. I also wonder why the letter wasn't delivered directly to Ness. By any token, Picky couldn't wait until morning to deliver the letter. By my theory alone, I feel this was a way of taunting Ness before his untimely death. I feel that shortly after delivery, Picky joined Pokey, Prettyman, and the pig army as they set out to destroy our hero, Picky and Pokey's father, and at least the two cities they were in at the time.
I know my complete thesis can (and knowing you anal retentive aces, will) be debunked, and there are plenty of things that stand in the way of being true. Why did Pokey join Carpainter and Monotoli? Why didn't he exhibit any alien powers? Why didn't Aloyious make his Buzz Buzz-type teacher role known during the game? All just unfounded theories. Then again, can your really blame me for making this when our local KindarSpirit ran away, and took her theories to boot? This case is far from closed, but that's my story, and I'm sticking to it. At the very least, it's certainly more sensible than me thinking the "fuzzy pickles" photographer could actually be Wolf Blitzer. Another article for another time. Thanks for your patience.
What is the deal with that Minch clan? With the virtues and valor of Frank Stallone, I've wondered about this bunch as much as anyone else in the game. Out of all of the places in Eagleland, they chose to live near Ness and his family. Why? What's the deal with the loans? Why was the marriage between Lardna and Aloyious on the rocks? Oh, and what's the story behind that young chap, Picky? After I finished EarthBound for the first time, I recall thinking about the Minch family more than any other loose end in the game.
Think of the placement. Now, what are the odds that the main human antagonist would live next to the Earth's unlikeliest protector? It just doesn't add up, in my opinion. Contrary to a common stereotype, neighbors don't exactly always equate to being mortal enemies. You are even asked by a police officer if you two are friends. Where was my "don't care" option then? A little Mortal Kombat-style background information would've been great. Would Ness not let Pokey in his club? Was the Cartman esque neighbor an outsider in his peer group? If so, why would the loner be so content in calling Ness a friend when he requested assistance for finding Picky? He sure did seem loud and brash for an obese cherub that wasn't accepted in his social crew. Who knows, maybe lardo wanted in on Ness's little clique, but jealousy could certainly also be a factor. Then again, if Pokey wanted the respect and acceptance that Ness had, why was it that he didn't want to be one of the boys in the chosen four? Personally, I'd have no problem being the weak link if I had a chance to save the world. Pokey just wasn't that sensible.
Then, you have Picky. Although he is the younger brother, he's easily more rugged than his sibling. So rugged, he wouldn't mind sleeping against a tree when there are various dogs and crows wearing sunglasses running about. He just wanted a good time. A nice night in which he could take a gander at a meteorite before scooting home to wait for his parents. The kid wasn't even bothered by the Sharks. How could such a down to Earth person be pitted in such a horribly unbalanced family? At first, I pondered the unthinkable. After reading one of Anthadd's old articles claiming that Ness's Father could've indeed been Giegue, I began to wonder if the Minch clan could've had some type of influence on Ness and his powers.
It wouldn't be impossible that Giegue could indeed be Aloyious Minch. He gives Ness's family money, and conceivably uses his sons to influence Ness. Perhaps he even teaches Ness the ways of PSI through telepathy. That, or he predicted that Ness would indeed be the "chosen one" to lead a counter-strike against Giygas. By that logic, it's within the boundaries of sensible thought that he, the Apple of Enlightenment, or Buzz Buzz are the same entity. If you recall Ness's pre-Magicant flashback, however, Ness already had the concept of PSI. Since the Minch's weren't neigbors at the time, it'd lead you to believe that my "Aloyious taught Ness PSI" claim was a bit empty. Quite the contrary. Since the Minch family didn't live next to Ness's family during the early years, where could they have lived? Onett? Not by my estimation. It is my belief that Aloyious (Giegue), Lardna, and maybe baby Pokey lived in Twoson during this period. From there, the hypothesis could be made that baby Paula was able to be taught PSI at an earlier age than Ness. While Ness's family and the Minch family moved to Onett at approximately the same time, Paula became famous for her PSI exploits at a younger age while Ness faced years of preteen obscurity until Aloyious was able to brush up on those unpolished PSI skills through telepathy of some type during childhood. That would lead one to believe, however, why and how would they both move next to each other in the same town?
I'm not a Star Wars expert, I'm not even an EarthBound expert, but events in the game would lead you to believe that the PSI system would be very similar to "the force". Aloyious "felt" when Ness was born because they shared a rare medium. Since Aloyious had the ability to control Ness's father (in taking all of the "loaned" money to give Ness), I believe Aloyious broke into the subconscious of Ness's parents by causing a move to Onett. It'd work perfectly. Onett and the area around Ness's house was a hot bed of activity relevant to the adventure. Agerate's house in which Mani Mani was first revealed, the location of the meteor, and in the same town in which the weakest Sanctuary boss, Titanic Ant, was located. It is my belief that this was all the due to the influence of Aloyious. That way, he could essentially keep his cover as the obese, lazy whiner, and he'd still be pointing Ness in the right direction. However, I think clues were left in his two boys.
I'm not sure if Picky or Pokey had any PSI abilities. It's something that'd just be too hard to speculate at this juncture. It would be mildly apparent that Pokey knew about his father and uncle. Although he could've been a hybrid human/alien, Pokey may have sympathized with his power-hungry uncle to the point in which he decided to join him. There is even the slim possibility that Pokey wanted to speak with Buzz Buzz because of his eagerness to see the dangerous meteor in the beginning of the game. But, by the time he was with Ness, he was perhaps to afraid to reveal any intentions he had (to kill Buzz Buzz before he got to Ness?). Still, once your realize that Pokey and Picky are never harmed in battle, it would lead one to realize that they are both powerful beings that simply didn't want the secret to get out (take note of Picky's weak attacks in the beginning). The charade continues.
Aloyious isn't encountered too often in the game. Perhaps it was because he was feeding Ness's father so much money. Then again, you have the meeting in Fourside. If Pokey was going to go against his father's wishes by joining his uncle, why would the two be so cordial in Fourside? My guess? Aloyious was trying to plead with Pokey to not join his uncle, or Pokey may have indeed people powerful enough to control even his father. This is basically open to interpretation, but I feel Aloyious still tried to help Ness and Co. Remember how I said Aloyious could use a type of telepathy to speak with Ness? Well, if you recall the coffee and tea scenes, it would lead you to believe that they were placed there strategically to inspire the chosen four. I feel Aloyious left his essence in the form of a message in the two items. Much like recording a psychic message in the item. That would also explain why the two can be used an indefinite amount of times.
In case you are just tuning in, I don't have much proof, but the end of the game could certainly make the theory a bit more interesting. I'll be glad to oblige. After defeating Giygas, we all know about the odd situation between Aloyious, Lardna, and a certain Mr. Prettyman. Let's break it down, and take it to the streets the only way I know how.
In Fourside, when you encounter Aloyious, he says:
"Wheeee! Hic! Ness. Pokey left me, his own dad, and just disappeared. If you see him, tell him that he should take better care of his father. Don't tell my wife in Onett that I've been spending my time here. Hic! Wheeeee!"
Drunk or not, he sounded quite secretive. I believe he was on a hidden agenda to find Pokey. Since he had just "disappeared", perhaps he even searched Jackie's back room to see if Pokey was in the illusion that is Magicant. Pokey "leaving" him could also be more figurative than it seems. It could mean that Pokey had "left" the good side to plot other evil (perhaps he didn't want Pokey to make the same mistakes he had). It was his way of saying that he couldn't talk sense into him while they were both in Fourside. Taking better care of him could mean that Pokey and perhaps his minions held his father captive for a brief period. A perfect alternative for the theory that Aloyious was trying to bring Pokey back to good. Then again, he may have also been hiding out from Mr. Prettyman, but I'll get to that in a moment.
Lardna, by my estimation, was a pawn with a big mouth. I very well doubt she even knew she was related to so many universal cosmic destroyers, but hey, that's Lardna. More unassuming than the local guy, she also had something slightly cryptic to say:
"My son isn't at home now. He's walking around somewhere. My husband is also gone. Oh yes, this is Mr. Prettyman. He always has great advice. He's a real gentleman, he is. You'll be happy that you met him"
Oh, that Prettyman. Always has great advice, does he? Maybe that's because he began to control the mind and behavior of Lardna. Since she wasn't the sharpest around, I would like to play my "jedi mind trick" card here, please. While she was under control of Prettyman, she fed him all she knew about Ness, his family, Aloyious, and Pokey. The proof, as they say, is in the magic pudding. Prettyman probably made the biggest cryptic revelation:
"Salutations! You're the boy living next door. I heard that your family is in debt. Ms. Minch told me about it. Well, live and learn. You just have to keep plugging away."
I believe with all of my heart that Mr. Prettyman is also an alien; probably related to Aloyious (Giegue) and Giygas. For the sake of arguement, I'll go out on another limb with the hypothesis that he is the third brother. The reason I feel that Prettyman isn't your average slimeball would be that he obviously got information about Ness's family from Lardna. Why would he do that? Seems to me, if he was your average, run-of-the-mill homewrecker, he wouldn't be concerned with the neighbors too much. He'd be much more focused on Lardna. Perhaps Mr. Prettyman came to destroy the boy that killed his brother. By visiting his other brother's wife, he could find out more information, and perhaps later destroy Onett, it's hero, or Earth's biggest sympathizer, Aloyious, his brother, in Fourside (all similar to the destruction pictures we saw in the EarthBound 64 preview screenshots). Prettyman's incoherent rage could lead him to believe the death of Giygas was caused by his other brother funneling money and such to Ness. He saw it as his purpose to end both of them; just as soon as Pokey and his "pig army" could mobilize to attack Onett (http://starmen.net/mother3/screenshots/onettdestroyed.JPG, http://starmen.net/mother3/screenshots/buildings.JPG) and Fourside. Maybe Aloyious predicted his impending destruction at the hands of his son and his minions when he said, "If you see him (Pokey), tell him that he should take better care of his father." All up for speculation.
That would lead you to wonder what part the survivors would have in a sequel. As previously stated, Lardna was a pawn. Once Aloyious (and Fourside) were destroyed, could she have married Mr. Prettyman? If so, in theory, she could have also spawned more children to aid in the destruction of Earth. Maybe these children were also the "chapter bosses" intended for the game (similar to the Koppa kids of Super Mario Bros. 3). And what of Picky, you ask? It is my belief that he turned from good to evil once he found out that Ness had destroyed his uncle. At the end of the game, he says this:
"A letter arrived from my brother, Pokey... it is addressed to Ness. There's no stamp, and it's not time for the mailman to come..."
The pauses lead me to believe Picky wasn't his usual self. Whether he was tired, enraged at Ness, or flat out in awe because of the letter really is hard to define, but you've got to wonder about his timing. It isn't known what time Picky visited Ness. One could make the hypothesis that it was fairly early (Ness would obviously be very tired from such a long, tough adventure), but it was still at night. Since I doubt Picky kept his eyes glued to the mailbox at night, I believe one of Pokey's minions either informed Picky or made quite a bit of noise in the delivering process. I also wonder why the letter wasn't delivered directly to Ness. By any token, Picky couldn't wait until morning to deliver the letter. By my theory alone, I feel this was a way of taunting Ness before his untimely death. I feel that shortly after delivery, Picky joined Pokey, Prettyman, and the pig army as they set out to destroy our hero, Picky and Pokey's father, and at least the two cities they were in at the time.
I know my complete thesis can (and knowing you anal retentive aces, will) be debunked, and there are plenty of things that stand in the way of being true. Why did Pokey join Carpainter and Monotoli? Why didn't he exhibit any alien powers? Why didn't Aloyious make his Buzz Buzz-type teacher role known during the game? All just unfounded theories. Then again, can your really blame me for making this when our local KindarSpirit ran away, and took her theories to boot? This case is far from closed, but that's my story, and I'm sticking to it. At the very least, it's certainly more sensible than me thinking the "fuzzy pickles" photographer could actually be Wolf Blitzer. Another article for another time. Thanks for your patience.
