Nintendo Stars Section

[icymatt]

I started editing parts of the DK write-up, but I need a clearer explanation of Jungle Beat's story...

[Flip]

The DKC universe is canon, and if it says that "Super" Donkey Kong is really DK Jr., I buy it. I mean, he goes from DK Jr. Math to Super Mario Kart to adult DK in DKC1. He even has that tie, which the original DK did NOT have (except in the art for the GB DK '94, but that doesn't count). Makes sense that he's the son. And in a cartoon universe, characters only age when the creator wants them to And who's to say Mario wasn't... 20 when DK '81 happened, and has aged himself over the years? Gorillas age faster than humans, only living to about 50 years, FYI.

Also, I have some Bios lying around for the SSS Bios section (we've got over 30 fighters, only 4 non-Nintendo), so if you need blurbs for any of the ones I've finished [I'm currently in the process of revamping the section], I can field that. So far, for ones you DON'T have: Link the First (OoT), Mario, and Kirby. You probably want a bigger bang for Mario's, and my Kirby one is kinda terse, but here's Link I:

Link is the original Hero of Time, the savior of Hyrule, wielder of the Master Sword, and destined owner of the Triforce of Courage. Link truly is a decorated hero, and a star adventurer. However, Link is not the only Link to be in existance; Link's journey through Hyrule during the events of the Imprisoning War were followed by numerous encounters with new and old evils, who were duely met and destroyed by latter descendants of Link. With that in mind, the Link whom you see now fighting at the Stadium is the original Link, or Link I.
Link was just a child when he was awoken by the fairy Navi per order of the Great Deku Tree. Link grew up in the forest-village of the Kokiri, but he soon discovered that his future did not lie there. Link was sent on a journey to recover the Spritual Stones, and thus prevent a warlock from the desert, Ganondorf Dragmire, from ever gaining the power of the sacred Triforce, a symbol of the gods that would grant its bearer any wish their heart desired. Along the way, Link would meet the individual with whom his future, and thus the future of all his descendants, would be most closely tied: Princess Zelda.
Unfortunately, neither Link nor Princess Zelda had predicted that Ganondorf was well aware of their intentions to stop him, and tricked them into giving him easy access to the Sacred Realm, where the Triforce as stored. Link followed, but was kept in stasis for 7 years, allowing his body to age to adult form, and thus transforming him into the Link we now see before us at the Stadium. Link fought valiantly against the future Ganondorf and his monsters, freeing Princess Zelda and banishing Ganon to the Sacred Realm with the help of the Six Sages. The Triforce was then split, with Link obtaining the Triforce of Courage, which would be passed down through the generations to all his descendants. Link was then returned back 7 years to his own time, and went about his way, resulting in a sidequest in the land of Termina. Otherwise, Link, who has now fully regained his age, has continued protecting Hyrule from any danger, and spends much of his time training for the fateful day where Ganondorf will return. Little does he know, though, that Ganon's revenge is set aside for his descendants to deal with...

I need to spruce it up so it's more like the others, and I'll get on that when I can. But I have an urge to draw Hakkun right now

[Haunter27]

I own and love Jungle Beat, but honestly, it has no story. There's not even a blurb about it in the manual. All you do in the game is platform a whole mess of levels in search of bananas, and at the end of each pair of levels, you fight the king of that kingdom, who's either a pig, a gorilla, an elephant, or a giant bird. That's it. There's no intro or outro FMV.

EDIT: This is sort of shameless advertising, but what the hell. Check out my review of the game for as much information as you'll need: www.ngeb.net/rev83.shtml

[Fryguy64]

fliptroopa said:

The DKC universe is canon, and if it says that "Super" Donkey Kong is really DK Jr., I buy it. I mean, he goes from DK Jr. Math to Super Mario Kart to adult DK in DKC1. He even has that tie, which the original DK did NOT have (except in the art for the GB DK '94, but that doesn't count). Makes sense that he's the son. And in a cartoon universe, characters only age when the creator wants them to And who's to say Mario wasn't... 20 when DK '81 happened, and has aged himself over the years? Gorillas age faster than humans, only living to about 50 years, FYI.

This issue will never go away, really. For a start, let's not go around using the 'Canon' card. Who decides what is and is not canon? Nintendo does. If Nintendo chooses to selectively ignore their own canon sources? Well, that leaves us in a sticky situation... the kind of situation that gets fanboys (like us) so worked up. How can we enjoy a game series with a glaring plot hole? So we patch it up as best we can with the information we have... until Nintendo comes and undoes the whole thing again (yeah, thanks a lot, Wind Waker!!)

Anyway, back to DK. You automatically discounted DK94 for some reason... the game was a complete rewrite of the original games, and from the pen of the original game's developer. You don't get more 'canon' than that.

DKC, on the other hand... Look at it this way. At no point in time surrounding the game did a Rareware representative say "We wanted to tell the story of DK Junior when he grows up"... instead it was said with (an awful lot of) hindsight, when questions were asked about the plot holes. Basically, Leigh Loveday, the guy who writes Rare's website, was doing the same thing the rest of us are... plugging a hole.

You also say Junior wears a tie... he doesn't. He wears a vest with a "J" on it.

But this is an issue that will now never be resolved. The hole widened, started closing, and then flew open again when Rare handed the character back to Nintendo. Now there seems to be one DK. The line has been blurred beyond recognition. There is no ultimate answer to fill the hole, so we just have to go with what Nintendo are going with... which is that there is one DK. Simple.

Of course, some websites (*cough*DK Universe*cough*) wouldn't even consider the original DK games canon, but would treat Conker's Bad Fur Day: Live and Reloaded on X-Box as canon because Conker appeared in Diddy Kong Racing once. Double standards abound, as people pick and choose the stories they're most happy with and then become militant over them.

[TrustTheFungus]

admin said:

This issue will never go away, really. For a start, let's not go around using the 'Canon' card. Who decides what is and is not canon? Nintendo does. If Nintendo chooses to selectively ignore their own canon sources? Well, that leaves us in a sticky situation... the kind of situation that gets fanboys (like us) so worked up. How can we enjoy a game series with a glaring plot hole? So we patch it up as best we can with the information we have... until Nintendo comes and undoes the whole thing again (yeah, thanks a lot, Wind Waker!!)

Anyway, back to DK. You automatically discounted DK94 for some reason... the game was a complete rewrite of the original games, and from the pen of the original game's developer. You don't get more 'canon' than that.

DKC, on the other hand... Look at it this way. At no point in time surrounding the game did a Rareware representative say "We wanted to tell the story of DK Junior when he grows up"... instead it was said with (an awful lot of) hindsight, when questions were asked about the plot holes. Basically, Leigh Loveday, the guy who writes Rare's website, was doing the same thing the rest of us are... plugging a hole.

But this is an issue that will now never be resolved. The hole widened, started closing, and then flew open again when Rare handed the character back to Nintendo. Now there seems to be one DK. The line has been blurred beyond recognition. There is no ultimate answer to fill the hole, so we just have to go with what Nintendo are going with... which is that there is one DK. Simple.

Nintendo can change things if they want(like what Wind Waker did with the Zelda timeline), but they haven't said anything different about Donkey Kong. If a game were to come out and say they were the same I would accpet that they are the same. Until they do that why believe any different? DKC should be "canon" until another game comes out that says differently. I don't see any evidence that Nintendo is going with the "DK is just DK" theory. They haven't really said he is Cranky in any recent games, but how many games have you seen recently that need to point out that Mario is Jumpman?

[Flip]

I meant the new DK Jr./Super Donkey Kong wears a necktie. The original DK in the arcade games (Cranky, supposedly) did not, except in the art for the GB Donkey Kong 94. But that was after DKC, and was done by Nintendo without Rare, so obviously there was miscommunication there or something.

The point is, even if they are the same, Cranky relentlessly refers to himself as being the original. Maybe he's senile, maybe there's a bloodline of Donkey Kongs and he was there pre-Mario, maybe... I don't know. Though it is interesting that in the DKC GBA remakes, Nintendo has done a lot to make them feel more "Nintendo," so people forget about Rare almost. Case in point, giving them Super Mario World style backgrounds and Mario Party style minigames. Also the addition of the Nintendo logo to Diddy's hat in the Mario Sports titles (and his inclusion, for that matter). Nintendo obviously was eager to nab back the franchise when Rare left them... Dixie is appearing Mario Baseball, Kremlings in Strikers, and, fyi, Cranky is nowhere to be found amongst the mess, only in the spinoff titles done by third parties.

One other note: You can't argue that DK and DK Jr. aren't one in the same because they've appeared in a game together, because that would make Baby Mario a separate character, and that's insane (and a whole nother really messy matter...)

And I didn't mention DK64 because that game was terrible

[Haunter27]

Alright then, this is the Ness write-up I've been promising. Tell me if it's way too long or anything. I can edit it down.
Be sure to get the last little part of it in my next post (not all of it fit here). Also, don't forget to use that art I did on page 2 or 3! Thanks.

NESS

Name: Ness
Species: human
Gender: male
Role: prophecised savior of the Universe
Game series: Mother (aka EarthBound)

Ness was once an average thirteen-year-old boy in the northern hills of Onett, Eagleland, a town plagued by brainwashed animals bent on destruction and a street gang not even a wealthy police force could deal with. One early morning, when a meteorite crash-landed near his home, Ness's life was changed forever. An alien insect named Buzz Buzz emerged from the crash to guide Ness to his destiny. This was that, according to an age-old prophecy, four young friends were to save the Universe from the evil alien megalomaniac Giygas. Two of Ness's neighbors, Pokey and his little brother Picky, were there when the prophecy was recounted and neither seemed willing to take on the task like Ness was; Pokey in particular. On their way down from the summit, a metallic being fell down from the sky and challenged to destroy Buzz Buzz in Giygas's name. Using his awesome psychic powers, Buzz Buzz defended Ness from and managed to defeat the evil Starman. Upon returning his neighbors home safely, their mother unknowingly murdered Buzz Buzz, thinking him a common house bug. The alien used his last breath to explain and hand Ness the Sound Stone, an item which would channel the powers of the Earth from eight different sanctuary locations that Ness was to someday visit. It was Buzz Buzz's belief that only with this power could Ness finally destroy Giygas.

Night turned to day, and Ness set off on his big adventure. Although his mother and sister Tracy would miss him, they were willing to help in any way possible. Tracy offered to hold items Ness couldn't find room for, and Mom extended a free room and his favorite home cooking whenever he needed a rest. He could also call her to cure his infrequent homesickness. His father, too, would offer assistance even from his distant office job. Whenever Ness dialed his number, Dad would deposit money into his son's ATM account based on the journies he'd traveled since their last call, as well as record said journies for later.

The first sanctuary Buzz Buzz spoke of was located on a remote hill in Ness's home town. In order to gain passage there from the Mayor, Ness had to do him an immense favor in defeating the leader of the local gang of ruffians, the Sharks. In the caves leading up to the top of the first sanctuary hill, Ness was faced with the Titanic Ant, one of the many thousands of creatures motivated by Giygas's evil ways. Upon crushing him with his trusty baseball bat and newly budding psychic powers, Ness's Sound Stone recorded the melody of Giant Step, the first sanctuary location, thus harnessing its power.

The crooked police force of Onett felt belittled by Ness's display of strength in ridding the town of both the Shark gang and the Titanic Ant, and so before granting him passage to the next town on his way, they cornered him into an abandoned room in the police station and fought the teenage boy in hand-to-hand combat. Ness emerged scarred but victorious - not even the most trustworthy of people could be counted on with Giygas's influence about. Satisfied, Captain Strong parted the barricade to the town of Twoson, where Ness soon heard rumors of a kidnapped girl with psychic powers similar to his. Renting a one-man bicycle and briefly employing the help of a local inventor named Apple Kid, Ness set off into the wilderness east of Twoson where he faced even more monstrous enemies than in Onett.

Finally, he reached Happy Happy Village, where the Happy Happyists, a cult obsessed with the color blue, reigned. Ness worked his way into the cult headquarters only to be bested by a lightning attack from the leader known as the Carpainter. Trekking just outside the village, Ness found the rumored psychic girl, Paula, locked behind bars in a small shack. She handed him the Franklin Badge, which would reflect any lightning attacks shot at him. Just outside, Ness's neighbor Pokey appeared, revealing his intentions to join the growing fight against him, only to flee just as suddenly. Holding the Franklin Badge, Ness was able to ward off the Carpainter's lightning bolts and put up a real fight, to which the cult leader resigned. He handed Ness the key to Paula's shack and vowed to give up the item that was granting him control over the village, a golden statue called the Mani Mani. Paula and Happy Happy Village alike were free of the cult's evil. With Paula by his side, Ness ventured into the nearby cave of the Lilliput Footprints, managed to defeat the Mondo Mole, and recorded the second melody into his Sound Stone.

Ness returned Paula back to her home in Twoson, but she refused to stay for long. Paula became Ness's first companion on his great journey. Her psychic powers were mostly offensive in nature, commanding the forces of ice and fire, but she could also protect herself and her friends with psychic shields. She liked to swing a frying pan and sometimes used a teddy bear to take damage for herself.

The next town on their journey, Threed, was only accessible via a tunnel which was currently teeming with ghosts. The bus drivers refused to drive Paula and Ness through. Ness again brought a stop to crime when he took down the crooked manager of the local public market. For this he was rewarded a handsome stack of bills. He then used that money to pay off the traveling band, the Runaway 5's, debt to Twoson's Chaos Theater. Eternally grateful, the band fearlessly drove the two kids through the haunted tunnel to Threed.

Threed was a town experiencing an invasion of zombies when Ness and Paula happened upon it. They were led to a hotel room where a group of zombies had set a trap for them. Having been knocked out, they awoke in a locked cellar below the graveyards of Threed with no way to get out. Paula used her gift of prayer to send a psychic message out for someone to come rescue them.

Eventually someone came. He was a boy in a boarding school suit with freckles and glasses and he arrived crashing from the sky in an aircraft his father invented. This boy Jeff reportedly felt compelled to come searching for them and had traveled through the icy wilderness of his home in Winters to do so. Using one of the many gadgets he employed, Jeff unlocked the door to their prison cell and joined the party as Ness's second companion.

Looking for a way to help rid the Threed townsfolk of their zombie woes, Ness received a timely call from Apple Kid, who'd just invented something called "zombie paper", to which zombies stuck much like flies to fly paper. The forces of evil intercepted the delivery man on his way to deliver said paper to Ness, so he, Paula, and Jeff had to defeat the Boogie Tent, a spectral circus tent, to retrieve their parcel and bring a stop to the zombie invasion. Upon doing so and using the zombie paper, the streets were cleared of zombies, but evil ghosts still haunted the tunnels to and from town. A separate cave once blocked off by zombie guards was then opened, so the team bravely ventured in.

They arrived at the banks of Grapefruit Falls, near which a secluded valley rested. Wandering into the valley, Ness and his friends met and befriended its residents; a race of tiny people with huge noses and no arms, all calling themselves Mr. Saturn, according to whom, several of their kind had been indentured in a factory behind the water of Grapefruit Falls. This factory was ruled by the giant gooey creature known as Master Belch, who was no match for the combined strength of Ness's growing fellowship. The Mr. Saturn were free and vowed to help the trio someday. Behind Saturn Valley was a cave where the third sanctuary, Milky Well, was guarded by the Trillionage Sprout. The plant was soundly defeated and Ness recorded the third of eight melodies.

Returning to Threed, Ness and his friends found it cleared entirely of ghostly presence. Giygas's power had finally lost its influence on the town. The trio caught a bus to their next destination on the road that ended up stuck in a massive traffic jam in the middle of Dusty Dunes Desert. With nothing better to do, they got off the bus and trekked through the sands on foot, finally crossing the bridge to the grand city of Fourside.

The show at Fourside's Topolla Theater was deja vu for Ness and Paula - the Runaway Five still played and partied hard, owing the management an even heftier sum than at the Chaos Theater in Paula's home town. Ness and his friends made it their personal mission to pay off the band's debts again. They returned to the Dusty Dunes Desert's gold mine in search of riches and instead found it infested with Giygas's filth - five giant mole beasts were preventing the local miners from doing their work. After defeating the moles, the three teens were rewarded with a large diamond, which they then used to pay off the Runaway Five's second debt.

Word of a re-opening sale lured Ness and his friends into the Grand Department Store in Fourside, but not all was as it seemed. The lights all the sudden shut off, and in the confusion of things, Paula went missing. Jeff and Ness worked their way up the many floors of the shopping mall to face off with the Department Store Spook. Their battle ended in victory, but Paula had already been taken elsewhere, reportedly by the Mayor, Geldegarde Monotoli.

Following a rumor that the Mayor frequented the local cafe, Ness and Jeff went in, only to discover a backwards parallel dimension of Fourside called Moonside. Taking teleportation routes around town and befriending an invisible man, the boys made it to the ruler of Moonside, which turned out to be the evil gold Mani Mani statue the Carpainter had used to gain power in Happy Happy Village. Upon shattering the statue, Moonside faded away to reveal nothing more than the storage room at Jackie's Cafe - it was all just an elaborate illusion.

Outside the cafe, a monkey approached Ness and requested his presence in the caves on the west end of the Dusty Dunes Desert. By bribing a series of monkeys with various items he had in his backpack, Ness made his way through the network of caves, at the end of which he met a psychic guru named Talah Rama. This man seemed to know a great deal about Ness and his journey, and helped him by teaching a new psychic teleportation technique. Now Ness could teleport to anywhere in the world he'd already been.

Once again receiving a strangely appropriate item from Twoson's Apple Kid, Ness and Jeff bribed one of the maids at Mayor Monotoli's office tower with her favorite dessert, trout yogurt, granting them access to the upper floors of Monotoli's empire. Here they faced a clumsy but powerful little robot whose defeat came at the hands of none other than the Runaway Five (who owed Ness and Jeff a swift victory at the very least). Past this guard was Monotoli, about to take his exit via helicopter. Feeling a change of heart, he returned Paula to Ness and Jeff instead, but out on the helipad, the helicopter blades began spinning away. It was none other than Ness's neighbor Pokey, who was now a fulltime agent of evil, manipulating Monotoli to Giygas's evil will. Again Pokey made his escape one step ahead of Ness. Their conflict would end another day.

Back on the ground, the Runaway Five offered a ride to Threed, where Jeff planned to repair his crashed Sky Runner and liftoff for the trio's upcoming destinations, first of which was his icy home country, Winters. Ness and Paula met Jeff's father, Dr. Andonuts, who grew fond of them and begged them to look out for his son. Nearby, a cave that Jeff had discovered on his way to originally seek out Ness and Paula was open for exploration. In it they defeated the terrible Shrooom!, and behind him found the fourth sanctuary, Rainy Circle.

The group then traversed the skies to reach the resort town of Summers. Managing to make their way into one of the town's most exclusive clubs, they met the Captain's wife and learned of her fabled Magic Cake. Always eager to try new things, Ness asked for a bite. The cake immediately put him into a dreamlike state in which he entered the persona of a young prince named Poo in the far off mountain country, Dalaam. When this happened, Poo happened to be on his way to complete his training in the ancient art of Mu. Climbing a tall spire to meditate and tap into the Mu spirit force, Poo was met with the apparition of his ancestor who tried to persuade him from his training. Knowing this a test of patience, Prince Poo maintained to the point where the spirits had even convinced him his body no longer lived. He passed his training and was thus instructed to fulfill his great destiny in helping a boy named Ness. Poo used his psychic teleportation to reach Summers, at which point Ness awoke to be joined by the fourth and final member of his party.

Poo carried with him little besides the tiny ruby that the group used to bribe a guard in the upper floor of the Summers Museum. Behind him, they found a slab covered in ancient hieroglyphic writing that Poo was able to decipher and copy down. On their way out, the museum's phone began to ring. With no one there to answer, Ness picked it up. It was the Fourside Museum's curator, Mr. Spoon, with urgent news of a discovery he'd made right under the Museum grounds. When the kids teleported to Fourside to meet Mr. Spoon, he refused to show them his discovery without an autograph from Venus, the singing diva every man in town seemed enamored with. Using their unstoppable charm and wit, the four managed to get backstage and receive an autograph from the singer on a banana peel. Ness also received what may have been his first kiss. Handing over the peel to Mr. Spoon, Ness and his friends found the great secret he'd uncovered - a sewer infested with a variety of ghosts and mindwarped creatures, the leader of whom, the Plague Rat of Doom, happened to be guarding the fifth sanctuary location, Magnet Hill. Several rare items surrounded this sanctuary, one of which was the especially strange and seemingly useless Carrot Key.

In Dalaam, Poo had found a cave where terrible beasts guarded a place of great power, but the entrance was sealed off by unmovable rabbit statues. Teleporting to Dalaam, it turned out the Carrot Key was just what they needed to get through. This new cave extended deep into the mountains of Dalaam. At its bottom lay Thunder & Storm, conjoined twin forces of destruction, whose lightning attacks were reflected back by the Franklin Badge Ness received from Paula when they first met. With their terror extinguished, Ness gained access to the magical Pink Cloud, where his Sound Stone recorded the melody of this sixth sanctuary location.

Just beside Summers in the port town of Toto, the Captain offered Ness and his friends a boat ride to their next destination in return for their motivating his wife, the creator of Magic Cake, to start up her cake business again. On the seas, a large firebreathing Kraken serpent raced towards the boat and engaged them in battle, only to find defeat at Ness and his friends' ever-growing prowess. Finally, the quartet reached the northern coast of Scaraba - a desertic land steeped in ancient history and superstition. Following the clues given by Summers Museum's hieroglyph, the group made their way to the Sphinx and solved the puzzle it presented to enter Scaraba's great pyramid. In its catacombs, they were met with living hieroglyphic creatures, statues, and mummies, and found the mystical item, the Hawk Eye, said to someday be their guide through great darkness.

Emerging from an exit in the southern Scaraba desert, the group was met by Poo's Mu instructor flying down from the sky in an awesome dervish. He'd come to take the prince away from his companions briefly in order to instruct him on one last psychic power - an order Poo was honerbound to follow. Now three again, the team found an oasis, where a few kind natives offered water and the key to a great tower. This tower, the kids soon discovered, was in fact a colossus of bricks and earth built as an exoskeleton by the famous and unusual maze architect, Brick Road. Having made their way up the construct's labyrinthian innards to meet Brick Road himself, now going by the name of Dungeon Man, the group was joined by the living tower on their trek through the desert. Unfortunately, it got caught in the palm trees near the southern shores and had to give up fighting for the time being. Brick Road offered Ness and his friends a means to pass the seas below if they could find it in his dungeon of a body. Eventually they came upon a totaled yellow submarine which Jeff was able to fix in no time. Using it, they took off for new and perhaps more grievous lands.

The submarine found its way to the shores of Deep Darkness, a swamp at the edge of the largest jungle on the planet, all but completely shrouded in its own shadows. Using the Hawk Eye to light their way, the group waded through miles of muddy water before they came upon Master Belch, now calling himself Master Barf, who proved more powerful than any enemy they'd faced before. Just as their defeat seemed inevitable, Poo teleported onto the scene and demonstrated his awesome new power, Starstorm, deadly enough to destroy Master Barf once and for all.

In the caves at the far end of the swamp, the group discovered Tenda Village, a community of small green folk who were so shy they could barely introduce themselves. One Tendite was brave enough to strike a conversation with the four strangers. He knew of a book called "Overcoming Shyness" that would help them out, but knew not where to find it. Exiting this dead end cave, Ness received another call from Apple Kid, who conveniently had a copy of Overcoming Shyness and was working at Dr. Andonuts' lab in Winters. Just then, the line was cut off, and it sounded as if Apple Kid had been abducted. The group teleported back to Winters only to find the professor gone as well. Ness again made use of his strange ability to converse with animals when Apple Kid's pet mouse explained that the scientists were taken to Stonehenge where they disappeared underground. He also handed them Apple Kid's latest device, the Eraser Eraser, which would erase any eraser-shaped object it came upon. Lo and behold, a large iron eraser blocked the group's path underneath the Stonehenge and once again Apple Kid's handy and timely inventions helped the team get through.

Beyond this obstruction was the most vast and foreboding cave the group had ever stepped into, and deeper still, a technological fortress manned by Giygas's dark minions, the Starmen. Here they discovered their friends, Apple Kid, Dr. Andonuts, and Mr. Saturn held in stasis tubes. All this, they soon revealed, was to lure the group into Starman Deluxe's grasp. This beast of an enemy was designed for the sole purpose of destroying Ness and his friends, and just barely failed to do so. With the power of the Starman Deluxe vanquished, the fortress ceased functioning and the stasis tubes were opened. Just before getting back to work, Apple Kid explained that he'd already returned Overcoming Shyness to the Onett Public Library.

Returning to his home town, Ness and his friends scoured the library in search of the shyness book. Upon retrieving it, the group teleported back to Tenda Village and gave the book to the village chief to read to the entire community. Free of their crippling shyness, the tendites offered help to the travellers. One particular tendite was the only one strong enough to lift the boulder that sealed the village off from the treacherous underworld below. In a display of manlihood, the seal was lifted. The group ventured downward, where in the first layer of caves they encountered the powerful steel creature, Electro Specter who guarded the seventh sanctuary, Lumine Hall. With one last location left to find, Ness and his friends continued into the depths of the great world below.

The Lost Underworld turned out to be the most expansive uncharted area on the planet, populated largely by dinosaurs rather than men. A second Tenda dwelling provided refuge for the travellers, weary after numerous battles with the land's gargantuan and highly territorial beasts. Two talking rocks guided Ness, reminding him of his destiny and erstwhile adventures as well as pointing him in the direction of the final sanctuary location. Ness, Paula, Jeff, and Poo entered the Fire Spring in the southwest pocket of the Lost Underworld, ready to face some of Giygas's most terrible underlings. At its summit stood Carbon Dog, a fierce flame-covered animal whose defeat only transformed him into Diamond Dog, the group's strongest psychic foe yet. With this monster out of the picture, the four approached the Earth's eighth and final sanctuary, where the Sound Stone's power reached its maximum.

The eighth and final melody collected, Ness all of a sudden passed out on the crater of Fire Springs. He entered a psychic realm within his mind known to him as Magicant. There he saw friends and enemies both old and new and encountered a race of birdlike men called the Flying Men who were his guardians through the wilds of his subconscious. In a shallow pool strangely called the Sea of Eden, Ness faced off against his deepest nightmares in the form of the Mani Mani statue he helped destroy so long ago in Moonside, and emerged victorious. On his way back to reality, the Sound Stone shattered, granting Ness the full power of the Earth that it had been harnessing since the start of his adventure. He was then finally ready to confront Giygas.

Apple Kid, Dr. Andonuts, and the Mr. Saturns finally finished their project, the Phase Distorter, designed to instantly transport Ness and his crew to Giygas's lair. Unfortunately, it exploded during its first trial run. Andonuts determined that a special material called Zexonyte was needed for the vehicle to run properly, but also that this material could not be found on Earth, aside from in chunks of fallen meteorites. Ness traveled with his friends back to Onett once more to retrieve a piece of the meteorite that landed near his home, only to find the city overrun by some of Giygas's strongest forces. Work had to be done quickly before Ness's family was in real danger. With a Zexonyte sample retrieved, the refurbished Phase Distorter II transported the team to a cave in the northwest of the Lost Underworld. Unfortunately, when they arrived, no sign of Giygas was to be found. Andonuts was able to determine that indeed this cave was the location of Giygas's headquarters on Earth, but 10 years in the past. Hastily, Dr. Andonuts converted the Phase Distorter II to a full-fledged time machine. However, this new Phase Distorter III had a drawback in that it obliterated any life forms that would step into it. Andonuts' proposal was to turn Ness and his friends into robots so that they could complete their long adventure. Ness had to make the life-altering decision quickly. He chose to sacrifice himself and his friends for the sake of the Universe.

[Haunter27]

As robots, Ness, Paula, Jeff, and Poo traveled through time and into Giygas's alien fortress. Fending off the final wave of Starmen, krakens, and other dark minions that protected their mind-washing master, Ness and his company finally stood face-to-face with their ultimate foe, the megalomaniacal ultra-being, Giygas. To his side stood Pokey, heavily armed in a spider-like tank of alien design and well-equipped for battle. At this phase of their encounter, Giygas stood protected in the massive Devil's Machine, taking on Ness's face to display an eery humanity. With both sides at the peak of their power, an epic battle took place. Poo summoned the stars, Paula shielded the party from Giygas's immense psychic attacks, Jeff launched wave after wave of bottle rockets and bombs, while Ness wielded the strength of the entire planet. Pokey eventually took one too many beatings and had to stand down, while the Devil's Machine was being completely drained of its power to contain Giygas's essence. Spiraling around them, the alien's demonic red face continued to fend off the group's attacks more strongly than ever, simultaneously pummeling them with its own. They had no defense left but the power of prayer, so while the others maintained with life-restoring psychic spells, Paula sent out her cries for help. Nine times their friends responded, each good intention destroying Giygas's great evil little by little. Finally the will of the one controling Ness and his friends' very destiny was the one to bring an end to Giygas's terror.

As the world around them began to collapse, Pokey again made his timely escape, but our four heroes weren't so fortunate. Although their robot bodies were utterly destroyed, their spirits lived on, traversing space and time to re-enter their original bodies ten years in the future where they stood in Saturn Valley. Their mission a complete success, Dr. Andonuts, Apple Kid, and other allies and friends celebrated the group's return. Jeff and his father rekindled their relationship. Poo returned to Dalaam, where he would someday be King. Paula and Ness traveled through the many lands they'd visited on their journies before eventually stopping at home. Paula thanked Ness for his protection and guidance, and the two seemed forever smitten with love. Ness, finally back in his home on the high hills of Onett, took rest with his mother to recount his grand quest to save the planet Earth.

The following morning, a pounding on the door awoke Ness in his pajamas. It was Picky, Pokey's innocent little brother, with a letter from none other than the evil genius himself. In it, Pokey promised his revenge. It seemed Ness's long adventure was not quite over yet.


Interesting Facts:
- Ness has only starred in one game in America, EarthBound for the SNES, but the Japanese version of EarthBound was the second game in the Mother series. The first Mother, for the Famicom, also starred a psychic boy in a red hat, but his name was Ninten. Although the characters and storylines of Mother and Mother 2 are very similar, it's maintained that they're unrelated and Mother 2 is more like a retelling than a true sequel.
- Ness appeared as a playable character in both Super Smash Bros. for the N64 and Super Smash Bros. Melee for the GameCube, the latter of which featured two EarthBound-themed levels and a Mr. Saturn combat item. To American players, he's probably the most obscure character to be featured in both games.
- A Mother 3 has been in the works off and on since 1994. Originally planned for the Nintendo 64, then for the 64 Disc Drive, then back to the N64, then cancelled, and now announced for the Game Boy Advance, Mother 3 is perhaps the most delayed Nintendo game of all time. Screenshots hinted at one point to the game having Ness as a minor playable character, but this was never confirmed.

[Fryguy64]

Haha, that's longer than all the other ones written so far combined

I'm going to read through it and put up a few of these today... including Ness

[Haunter27]

Well, not quite - I counted. ^_^ But yeah, it is a bit long. I don't know whether it's long-winded or not, though. I think it may just be EarthBound that's longer than most Nintendo games. Like I've said before, tell me if you want it edited down. I'll understand. I've already moved some of the information I cut from it onto bios for Paula, Jeff, and Poo that I might finish someday.
About that Wario drawing I've been promising, I can do that one now that I'm done with this.

EDIT: Nevermind about the editing. I see you put it up anyway. Thanks man. That was actually a lot of fun for me.

[Fryguy64]

No worries. Glad you liked. And yes, a Wario pic would be loverly

[almort27]

Kamek

Kamek is a very talented Magikoopa who was assigned to raise Bowser. Kamek one night had a vision about two future babies (Mario and Luigi) that would be born in the mushroom kingdom that morning. He then feared they would cause a lot of trouble to Bowser. While a stork was carrying the two babies, Kamek flew to the stork and attempted to kidnap the two babies but he only managed to get Luigi. Mario fell and landed on Yoshi’s back. Kamek, who was outraged knowing that he got one baby, ordered his troops to search for the other baby. To stop Yoshi, Kamek used his powers to make some of his troops bigger. Even Baby Bowser in the end. Kamek failed and the Mario Twins were born. Kamek appeared again in Yoshi’s Touch and Go and tried to kidnap the Mario twins but failed.

I might do a donkey kong jr. one too.

[Fryguy64]

It's a bit over-simplified that one... no mention of Kamek's actions throughout SMW2:YI at all...

[Flip]

Haha. Funny he does a Kamek Bio. I was just going to offer to draw him for the Ninty Villains section

But if you don't mind, I'll stir something up for a Kamek bio right now...

Kamek the Magikoopa

Profile/History:

Decades before they would become the heroes we know them as today, Mario and Luigi were two little tots being delivered by the stork to their mom and pop somewhere in the Mushroom Kingdom. Little did they know, however, that out there, somebody was plotting their demise, and would ultimately determine their future as heroes...

Somewhere in the Dark World, an area far from the Mushroom Kingdom, lies the Valley of Koopa, a vicious land of thunder and fire. Here the Royal Koopa Line has ruled with an iron fist, amassing great wealth and massive armies for their eventual conquest of the Mushroom World. However, in this time of strife, all that remains in their bloodline is a baby: Prince Bowser Koopa. A spoiled brat, Bowser could never handle an entire kingdom by himself. And, thus, he was assigned a mentor, an advisor, and a nanny: Kamek. Kamek was a well-respected seer and magician, one of the best Magikoopas around, having been a royal counselor to the family for generations. So, it was natural that the Koopa Klan would elect him to raise the little tyke who would become their future King. Kamek took the child to Koopa Island, a smaller castle and surrounding badlands the Klan had used before they moved to the Dark World. Through tantrums, cravings and naptime, Kamek handled baby Bowser without incident until he was just a toddler, when something unexpected happened.

In his observatory located in the highest reaches of the Koopa Castle, Kamek saw in his magic cauldron something he didn't expect: two babies who would, one day, topple the Koopa Empire. With broomstick and wand in hand, Kamek set out to stop the problem at its source. His lackeys, the Toadies, were also sent as backup, in case Kamek somehow failed this secret mission. In the dead of night, Kamek soared from the castle tower seeking the stork that carried the twins. When it came into sight, he swooped and stole the babies, knocking the stork straight out of the sky. But, in his haste, Kamek only nabbed one child, dropping the other below into the sea. Assuming the worst (or best, in his case), he flew back to the keep with both the stork and Luigi as his captives, sending his Toadies out into the ocean to find the other baby, if he was still alive.

As luck would have it, Mario fell right onto the back of a Yoshi who was out enjoying the day on Yoshi's Island. Confused, the Yoshi found a map with the infant, which pointed to the stork's expected destination for delivery. After showing this to the other Yoshies of the island, they decided it was time for an adventure. With the map in their possession, and using a relay system to move Mario across the island, the Yoshies followed the infant's cries to find both the stork and his lost brother.

Kamek, whose Toadies had given him this information they recovered during their scouting, fumed at the thought of having to fend off Yoshies. They apparently have caused him trouble in the past, as Koopas and Yoshies have an eternal blood feud. So, off Kamek went once again, this time to thwart the Yoshies on Yoshi's Island and kidnap the missing baby. Using his magic powers, Kamek turned regular foot soldiers into giants. The Yoshies took care of these threats without much trouble, and so when Kamek finally saw the Yoshies had arrived outside the castle doors, he mustered all his energy to try and take them himself. Sadly, being feeble and somewhat old, Kamek was a pushover. In the last room of the castle, Bowser's nursery, the Yoshies came face to face with the tyrant tyke himself. Kamek tried to stop the Yoshies from upsetting Bowser, but the koopa, thinking Yoshi was a "gween donkey," and completely missing the struggle Kamek was so distraught over, kicked Kamek out of their and took the Yoshi and Mario on himself. Also a pushover, Bowser sobbed at his loss. But Kamek returned once more to help his "master," and used his magic to super-size the tot as well!

In the final battle, a gargantuan baby Bowser destroyed his own castle on the Koopa Island. Yoshi mustered all his strength to take down the giant brat, and eventually forced the magic out of him. Exhausted and battered, Bowser fell to the ground with a cry. Kamek grabbed him and yelled to the Yoshi and Mario that they would be back...someday. Yoshi and Mario went on to rescue the stork and Luigi, and the twins were delivered to their parents. But what became of Kamek?

Kamek took Bowser back to the historical home of his royal family, the Valley of Koopa in the Dark World. It was there that Bowser lived the rest of his childhood, and trained himself in the black arts for his up and coming takeover of the Mushroom Kingdom. After he hit adulthood, Kamek wasn't needed much anymore, and so Bowser, being a tyrant afterall, demoted him to Head of Magikoopas. Embarassed, but still respectful of his master, Kamek accepted the downgrade, and began training new Magikoopas. During Mario's stint in Dinosaur Land, he fought the first batch of Kamek's students, and he would later cross paths with them when he fought Smithy in Super Mario RPG, Bowser in Paper Mario, Bowletta in Mario & Luigi, and Grodus in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door.

Kamek himself appeared once more in Tetris Attack, once again as Bowser's loyal servant. It's unknown why he was back in such a high position, but it's possible Bowser was having a streak of kindness. He appeared as a boss against Mario and Yoshi, still holding a grudge, in Yoshi's Safari, and also as a boss in Super Mario RPG, although the characters recognized him as Magikoopa, not Kamek. Interestingly, Kamek appears in Mario Parties 5 and 6 as one of the characters you receive as an item (as do his Toadies), and he has recently been seen as a hypnotist named Psycho Kamek in Mario & Luigi (wearing a White Mage outfit from Final Fantasy, no less) and as the "Game Master" in Mario Party Advance living in a large pyramid in the desert.

Kamek has seemingly been replaced by Kammy in the Paper Mario games. Kammy acts as Bowser's chief advisor and sidekick in those games, but her relation to Kamek is unknown. Speculation says they may be siblings, but nothing can be certain in the Mario Universe. It appears, however, that Kamek's negative relations with the Mario Bros. and Yoshi have been resolved in recent years. He no longer threatens to destroy them like the good old days. Whether this is from accepting that destiny has taken its course or senility is anyone's guess. But Kamek has certainly left his mark on the Super Mario Bros. Universe, and fans of the games. An oustanding mage and villainous mastermind, Kamek stands as one of the most intelligent, and coolest looking, Nintendo Villains. Keep reachin', Kamek.


Cool Facts:
--In the recently released Mario Superstar Baseball, one of the playable characters from the getgo is a Magikoopa. Whether this is Kamek or not is anyone's guess, but it's good to know Nintendo hasn't forgotten its classic Mario enemies just yet.
--Kamek actually had a voice in Tetris Attack, and was the only character to speak actual words other than Yoshi. He would regularly say "Hocus Pocus!" whenever he dropped a Garbage Block onto his opponent, and, like every other character, he yelped a lot
--In the Super Mario Adventures manga, illustrated and written by Charles Nozawa and published in Nintendo Power in the early '90s, there was a head Magikoopa hired by Bowser to hypnotize the Princess. This particular Magikoopa was very old with a long, gray moustache, and he apparently had a past with Bowser as suggested by another Magikoopa. He also had an intense hatred for Yoshies, but rarely spoke. It's possible Nintendo got the idea to use Kamek as Bowser's caretaker from that very comic, wouldn't you say?

I'll have the pic later

[TrustTheFungus]

admin said:

It's a bit over-simplified that one... no mention of Kamek's actions throughout SMW2:YI at all...

And no mention of Mario & Luigi.