Mother Analysis-Part 1

Note:This analysis is using Tomato's translation of Mother 1, to be more faithful to the original Japanese version.


The game begins with character select. The main characters are Ninten, Ana, Lloyd, and Teddy.

Ninten's favorite food is probably Prime Rib, based on the Mother Encyclopedia. https://kenisu.webs.com/motherencyclopedia.htm

I'm not sure if this was the real deal, but I'll just use Prime Rib as a placeholder anyways. (You can't actually type that in English, but it fits in Japanese:プライムリブ)

In the early 1900's, a dark shadow fell over a rural town in America.

Based on this Encyclopedia, room ornaments started flying around, and a person who had abruptly gone missing returned home the next morning with no recollection [of what had happened].

Shortly after, George and Maria, a married couple, vanished.

Two years later, George returned, but told no one anything. Instead, he deeply immersed himself in strange research. Maria never returned.

According to the Mother Encyclopedia, George was originally employed for The Mothersday Times, and became "The Conscience of This Town", and had a Protestant Lineage.

Also according to said encyclopedia, the abduction has all but disappeared from people's memory. And George lost his parents at a young age.

Still basing things off of the encyclopedia, his biggest reason for working for a newspaper company is curiosity. But opposing the Editing Officer got him fired, making him move to his current job. This would be where he met Maria.

The same thing happened with kids who vanished while taking a hike-They lost all memory of what happened. ...It's quite important whether or not the encyclopedia is official:If it is, it has lots of story to it.

Based on the encyclopedia, Ninten is the great-grandson of George.

--------------------------------

I've done some research on what the Easy Ring is actually supposed to do... It halves random enemy encounters, and doubles experience/money gain.

It also probably increases Ninten's defense as much as the Goddess Ring does. Several sources say it does, and Ness takes 1 damage per hit in the start of the playthrough.

Unlike your typical RPG, there's actually a massive power boost for each level. It's no wonder Ninten is very powerful, for leveling up way faster.

---------------------------------

Mother 1+2 actually has several changes from the original Mother 1. The fan translation reversed some of them, but not all of them:https://earthbound.fandom.com/wiki/Mother_1_%2B_2

---------------------------------

The game begins in 1988, with the lamps in the house going crazy, similarly to what apparently happened in the 1900's. A doll also went crazy.

So Ninten tries to find out what happened, and his father calls him, speculating it was a poltergeist, and asking Ninten to find the basement key.

The key happened to be placed on the dog by said father. Yes, seriously, the dog. PSI is learned by level, so Ninten learns Telepathy early. Based on the comments, it normally takes around 20 minutes to reach level 2.

Danger is nearby in the basement, and George's Diary is there. It's mostly unreadable, but one part stands out..

"The password… Where is the god’s tail, that which was left behind by the ship that soars the heavens?"

Ninten starts with $100 ($216 in 2019 money) deposited in the bank by his dad. We learn Ninten's mom likes to work hard as well, but his father doesn't think Ness should work too hard.

This, however, was a response to continuing the game, so it's likely a message to the player, to take breaks from the game.

The run button does not exist in the original Mother 1... But it does in the fan translation. We also have "Ninten's House".

We also learn that "Pippi" has gone missing. Perhaps in the same way George and Maria did?

Houses with round doors or signs are the ones that can be gone into. ...This is almost certainly a gameplay quirk:There's nothing magical about door shapes.

Random Enemies in Mother's Day: "Redneck", Centipede, "Hippie", Crow, and more.

If we presume that Wally replaced said "Redneck", and nothing else changed, than Stray Dog and Snake are the other two enemies.

Defeating enemies make them "return to normal" if human, or "become tame" if animals. So Ninten gains experience from resolving conflict, not killing.

This also means that the people, and potentially animals, were being controlled before Ninten sets them free by fighting. Zombies may have been created too.

The hotel costs $39 per night. In 1988. That's $84.25 now, taking inflation into account. It's considered cheap, and that's correct:Average hotel prices are $128.94 as of February 2019

Canary Village admission is free! (...Admission into a village?) Unlike Ferret's notes, the ATM technology is not considered new. (It also first came to America in 1969)

The Bugspray costs $300 ($648.05 taking inflation into account). What a rip-off. An antidote is only $20 ($43.20). Bread costs 6 times as much as orange juice.

You get a canary chick for free if you're interested, but say no to the $85 price. ...The shopkeepers here are bad at business.

The first quest is to save a child who strayed into the cemetery... And the time for re-election is near. Ninten is also revealed to be that "snot-nose kid"..

It is revealed that yes, the animals have gone berserk. Probably Giygas' doing. There's also "Pseduozombies" that return to the dust of the earth when defeated. No bones, though. This creature is likely a magical construct.

At this point, we have reached the cemetery. So we're ending Part 1 here.

--------------------------------------------

TL;DR-George, the great-grandfather of Ninten, and Maria. both vanished in the early 1900's, when a dark shadow fell over a rural town.

George came back, but he had changed, conducting research, and never spoke of the event. Maria didn't return at all. Ornaments went crazy. When people vanished and returned, they often lost their memory of what happened. Could this have happened to George? We don't know, but probably not, since he changed.

In 1988, the lamps go crazy, just like before, meaning the shadow likely returned. Ninten's father says it's probably a poltergeist.

There's also mention to a "god's tail". Pippi has gone missing, and she may be the missing child the mayor asks us to rescue.

Animals, and possible people, were put under control, and defeating them in battle restores them to normal, and grants experience.

Psuedozombies are likely magical constructs, rather than physical creatures.