Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Porky Minch (ポーキー・ミンチ) is the secondary antagonist of Mother 2/EarthBound, and the main antagonist of it's sequel Mother 3. He also appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a boss.
Porky's battle music in Mother 3 are known to fans as "Master Porky's Theme" and "Absolutely Safe Capsule", and are played during the initial confrontations with him and following his retreat into the Absolutely Safe Capsule, respectively.
Personality[]
Porky Minch is shown to be very immature and childish in EarthBound, even when his body ages beyond his own measure. He can often be obnoxious, and is also shown to be very selfish and egotistical, which Shigesato Itoi says is likely due to how terrible and abusive his parents were[1]. Porky does not appear to be self-conscious about his weight, or his resemblance to a pig (as King P, the naming of virtually every facet of his empire refers to pigs, such as the Pigmask Army, and New Pork City). Though he is naturally mischievous, after Porky is corrupted by Giygas, his childish sense of humor becomes increasingly malicious.[1] He actively abets the destruction of the universe in EarthBound, and in Mother 3 his antics nearly wipe out the Nowhere Islands, ruining and even ending the lives of an untold number of the island's inhabitants, especially in Lucas' close family. Porky's actions were more than likely due to wanting friendship, according to Shigesato Itoi, and that Porky himself is like a poem.[1]
Story[]
Porky as he appears in Mother 3.
Throughout most of Mother 3, Porky's presence is never explicitly mentioned, though it is implied. In the fan translation, he switches over to his Japanese name, "Porky", to better fit in with his pig-themed affiliations, as well as to match the numerous graphical assets in the game boldly displaying his name in English text. As early as Chapter 4, there are references to "King P.", such as a mention in the DCMC song title. Throughout the game, there are also references to "Pork" in different scenarios, such as "Pork Troopers" or "Bag of Pork Chips". In the Thunder Tower in Chapter 5, his personal playroom is visited, with numerous references to EarthBound in it, though it is merely talked about as "the King's playroom". There is also a sold-out sign in the Chimera Laboratory for a creature called PORKY 08. Finally, at the end of Chapter 7, it is clearly stated that the King is indeed Porky, and Lucas and his friends are brought to his city of New Pork City. Here, Porky's presence is emphasized, with many statues and dolls of him appearing, as well as a theater that shows pictures from EarthBound. According to Leder's speech, Porky arrived to the Nowhere Islands prior to Chapter 1 through a time distorter, kidnapping and taking various items and people to bring through time, including Dr. Andonuts. In this period, he began splicing animals together to form Chimeras and eventually came in contact with Fassad, the two forming a partnership to pull the Seven Needles and awaken the Dark Dragon with the Masked Man's help.
The aforementioned playroom and Leder's speech, as well as the appearance of the Porky idols, imply that Porky is somehow still a child in the time. Throughout the Empire Porky Building, Porky taunts Lucas and co. through his intercom. When the top of the tower is finally reached, Porky himself appears, looking just like his EarthBound self, only with a different attire. He then asks the player if they want to befriend him, but once they answer, he explodes, revealing himself to only be a robot version of Porky. Several other Mecha-Porkies join, battling Lucas all at once. When this is over, the actual Porky arrives in a new, fully inorganic machine. However, his appearance has changed significantly; he has become extremely old and frail, coughing in nearly every sentence, as a result of his misuse of time travel. He explains how his loyal follower is about to pull the final needle, and that there is nothing Lucas company can do about it. After that, he leaves in a shortcut to the location.
Porky soon confronts them in a large spider Mecha near the final battle location. During the battle, he explains that due to time travel, he has become immortal, as well as invincible, stressing that when the Dark Dragon is awakened, he and the Dragon will be the only ones left and everyone who does not like him will be gone, saying that he is prepared for such a fate. When he sees he is to be defeated, he calls upon the Absolutely Safe Capsule and climbs inside. It seals Porky inside, and being true to its name, it protects Porky from all harm. However, Porky finds that he cannot harm the heroes, either. When the battle ends, Dr. Andonuts reveals that he built the Absolutely Safe Capsule with the specifications that once someone is inside, the machine cannot be opened by anyone, including the person inside of it. So while Porky is indeed "absolutely safe," he is trapped in the machine forever, doomed to spend eternity in isolation. Dr. Andonuts even feels sympathy for the tyrant, as in his own words, "...All he can do now is spend eternity inside the capsule, in absolute safety." Dr. Andonuts also briefly theorized that being permanently trapped in absolute safety may have in fact been Porky's intention behind the device all along. Shigesato Itoi, the developer of Mother 3, stated in an interview that Porky will still be alive 5.5 billion years from now even when the sun becomes a red giant and engulfs the Earth.[1]
Porky stuck inside the Absolutely Safe Capsule until the end of time
At the end of the game, when the player is traveling in the darkness, they come into contact with an object that rolls with glee. While they may not be able to tell what it is, it is most likely Porky having survived the destruction of the land, as the Pig Mask theme plays when you touch it. It is possible that he actually felt better after the events that took place or simply doesn't understand what has transpired.
In the Super Smash Bros. Series[]
Porky Minch in his bed Mecha, as seen in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
Despite his canon fate at the end of Mother 3, Porky Minch appears in the adventure mode of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, The Subspace Emissary, as a boss. Here, he is seen as a high-ranked member of the Subspace Army who attacks Lucas in The Ruined Zoo using his Pig King Statue and a fleet of Primids. Before the Statue can kill Lucas, Porky's "best friend" Ness appears and destroys the Statue with PK Flash. From the exploding Statue emerges Porky in a gigantic version of his Mother 3 spider Mecha, but he is quickly defeated by Ness and Lucas in a boss battle. Once Porky is defeated, Ness and Lucas celebrate, but not for very long, as Wario soon arrives to turn Ness back into a trophy.
Porky Minch also appears as a sticker. Attaching this sticker to the bottom of Ness or Lucas' trophies in The Subspace Emissary increases their PK attack by 15.
In this appearance he is referred to "Porky", a more proper translation of his name, even on the label for his sticker, which uses his EarthBound clay model for the image.
Porky Minch appears in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U as a trophy, as well as a Smash Tour item. When collected in Smash Tour, he grants the player who picked him the ability to steal an effect of an item used by another player.
Porky can be seen riding Monotolis helicopter on the Fourside stage in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
List of Quotes[]
- "*cough* *cough* *wheeze* *wheeze* You resorted to blanking your memories to create a new world where humanity's past failure's will no longer be repeated...How stupid can you be?!"
- "It seems the Seventh and final Needle has just been located deep underground, below here."
- "*cough* *cough* *cough* *cough* This is really no time for games anymore. I don't feel like letting you go any further."
- "If you're after the needle, then don't worry. My adorable monster is on its way to it as we speak."
- "Huh? That monster's name is Claus? It's name was Claus? That almost sounds like a person's name! But now it's my robot. Not even a fragment of life remains inside it. It's Master Porky's slave robot! It does whatever I say! It acts on my will alone. It's my double. It doesn't know anything about who you are."
- "Let me fill you in on something. No matter how much you attack me, I'll never die. Even if I somehow wind up beaten, I'll never die. Bet you didn't know that, did you?"
- "If the dragon wakes up, it might end up destroying everything and extinguishing all life. Even so, ahaha aha ahahahahahaha!! I am more than prepared for that possibility."
- "I've gone through time and space so many times I haven't aged like a normal person. Who knows, I might be 1000 years old, or even 10,000 years old. But despite that, I'm still the same kid at heart! Is that funny? It is, isn't it? Does it make you laugh? *cough* *wheeze* Are you laughing at me?!"
- "Now do you see?! Now do you understand the sadness Master Porky bears now that he's Godlike?"
- "I'll never die. I'll never die, nor will I be beaten... but it appears my machine has run out of energy for the moment. Ahaha. Lucas... you haven't won, just so you know. I'm going to duck inside this "Absolutely Safe Capsule" for the time being. When I'm inside, no attack will have any affect on me whatsoever. I'm sure you're thinking to yourself, "Yeah right. There's no such thing as 'absolutely...'" But there is such a thing... and it's this! The Absolutely Safe Capsule I tricked Dr. Andonuts and the Mr. Saturns into making for me! Me! ME! All for me! *cough* *cough*
Trivia[]
- As with Giygas before him, Porky's attacks in Mother 3 are stated to be inexplicable ("What did Porky do?!") although one is described as "spraying" ("Porky sprayed something from some sort!"), while another is described as "sucking" in nature. Another one has an animation as if a party character was throwing a bomb (Though Porky's animation shows him "throwing" lots of bombs).
- Despite his strong rivalry with Ness in EarthBound, it's likely that Porky actually admired his neighbor, and desperately wanted to be his friend, but Giygas' evil influence on Porky convinced him to go against Ness and the world in favor of power over Eagleland. After leaving the Cave of the Past, Porky's destructive mindset was then brought into Mother 3's world. Despite this, he still has a soft spot for Ness even with their moral differences. For a good example, the cinema in New Pork City shows a film chronicling Ness's adventures in EarthBound, and a cinema employee states that Porky hand-selected the film to be shown. Porky also has a large collection of EarthBound memorabilia in the playroom in Thunder Tower and on the 100th floor of the Empire Pork Building. Finally, the yo-yo weapon that Lucas can obtain in Porky's playroom in Thunder Tower is called the Friend's Yo-Yo, meaning that Porky may have still thought of Ness as a friend. It is apparent that he also treasures it, and possibly misses Ness, as his robotic maid only cares about that specific object. This theory is supported by the fact that when Ness is in Magicant, Porky expresses his desire to be Ness's friend forever. This likely symbolizes the innocence Porky had before Giygas attacked.
- In an unused set of sprites found in Mother 3, Porky's Bed Mecha glass breaks.
- Although Porky has not appeared in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, it is possible the Absolutely Safe Capsule is meant to represent him.
- However, the Absolutely Safe Capsule sprite variant used in the game is the empty variant.
- Porky's trophy description in Super Smash Bros. for the 3DS and Wii U, referring to his spider Mecha form, claims it would require two additional games between Earthbound and Mother 3 to properly explain how he ended up a chubby kid and a frail aged old man.
- Porky is the only enemy in Mother 3 with in-battle dialogue.
- Despite Porky being human, Boney's Sniff identify him as "Mechanical", a classification mostly used to robots.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 http://mother3.fobby.net/interview/m3int_09.html Page 9 of a translated interview with Shigesato Itoi, held by Nintendo Dream magazine