EarthBound/Fridge

Fridge Brilliance

• The only way that I can truly appreciate the Final Boss fight of EarthBound (at least in terms of plot) is as a partial Deconstruction. Essentially, Giygas has become a Cosmic Horror. Physical attacks don't work on him. While Paula's Pray command appears to be effective, not even the entirety of Eagleland's Power Of Love is enough to destroy him. Ultimately, there is only one reason that Ness and them are able to defeat him... He's the final boss of a video game. Giygas loses so that the player can win.
  • By extension, it could even be said that it takes divine intervention (which is to say, the will of the player - a being who exists outside of, and controls, the reality in which these events are occurring) to finally take Giygas down.
  • One better- the term Deus Ex Machina means something along the lines of "god from the machine," but here it's the other way around. The "god" or source of divine intervention is the player, who is outside the game machine. An interesting reversal.
• Meanwhile, I wasn't able at all to appreciate the game the first time I played it. It felt like it was taking the "children saving the world" thing way too far. It wasn't until later that I realized that the game was thematically about Cassandra Truth, the loss of innocence, and the consequences of abandoning one's humanity. It's now one of my favorites.
• The first time you fight Master Belch, you can (and must) use "Fly Honey" to distract and defeat him. Later, he comes back for a rematch as the bright pink Master Barf, and "Fly Honey" no longer works on him. In the same area as the rematch, you can find Demonic Petunias, which both in and out of battle greatly resemble a Rafflesia, or corpse flower. These flowers smell like rotting flesh to attach flies in order to exchange their pollen amongst each other. They also happen to be a bright red color. That's why Master Barf is immune to "Fly Honey;" he's been gorging himself on the source of the stuff.
  • Could be Fridge Logic as well though, since Master Belch is first fought in a factory where he forces Mr.Saturns to make Fly Honey, so he'd be just as near to a source of his addiction in both situations.
• When Porky gets hired by the Happy cult and Monotoli it dosent add up why would they hire a little kid? because they both were brainwashed by the statue that serves Giygas and Porky serves Giygas.
• I, like several others, was annoyed by the camera man and his apparent uselessness in the plot of the game. Then I realized that it's yet another of Nintendo's jabs at video game tradition. EarthBound is famous for these, like the bathrooms that are always full making fun of the lack of bathrooms in video games, or the characters who actually call our heroes out if they act like kleptomaniac heroes. In this case, the reference is to all those games where the end credits include several pictures or videos of what was going on during the adventure, with no explanation. EarthBound is showing us how those pictures came to be, and how annoying it was for the heroes to have to constantly pose for them just to make your end credits more enjoyable. Considering Ness doesn't seem to mind posing for the pictures, though it's hard to tell, and all the hate the camera man receives, maybe this game even reverses the roles.-- Gamer4
• In the Dusty Dunes Desert, you can encounter an enemy called the Criminal Caterpillar that gives a lot of exp. when defeated. I wondered why a silly caterpillar would give so much experience, especially since it's one of the easiest enemies in the area (although it runs away quickly, making it difficult to catch). Then I found out the enemy's name translates literally as "Wanted Bug". "Wanted", in an area that's basically an expy of the Wild West? The bug is on the lam and is wanted by the law, which is why it runs away from you and gives a big reward (it makes sense that the reward is in experience and not money, given that money is not really in short supply in the game).
• The Guardian Diggers all claim they're the third-strongest of the group. They're all exactly the same strength... so they're all the strongest... and the weakest... and all of the other positions in the group of five, so they are actually all the third-strongest!
• When the Onett Theme plays for the first time, it starts off with a sample of "Pollyanna" as the sun rises. "I believe the morning sun is always gonna shine again"!

Fridge Horror

• EarthBound - According to one theory, the final boss Giygas looks vaguely like a fetus. As you defeat it, it starts dividing. That is, you're killing off a baby from ten years in the future.
• The fact that the Church of Happyology characters are named the "Happy Happyists" can be a bit less funny if you consider the fact that Scientology used to own a facility nicknamed "Happy Valley" near San Jacinto, which was used for their slave labour The Rehabilitation Project Force. (The site was sold in 2002 to the Soboba Band of of Luiseño Indians, whose reservation was nearby, and it's been converted into a casino).

Fridge Logic

• When Ness goes into his new robot body, he puts on his cap. But when he gets back, he has it back.
  • Triplicate on this page! Since the cap is an Iconic Item, who's to say Dr. Andonuts didn't make the robot's head in the shape of Ness's cap? The third one comes because things that are appropriate multiple times over usually create Fridge Brilliance. Well played.