Pokey

Pokey in Earthbound
Pokey
Real Name	Pokey Minch
Species	Human
Hair color	Yellow
Relatives	Aloysius Minch (Father) Lardna Minch (Mother) Picky (Brother)
Debut	Earthbound

Pokey Minch (also known as Porky in the original Japanese version as well as in Super Smash Bros. Brawl) is one of the villains of Earthbound, as well as its sequel, Mother 3.

Background

Earthbound

Pokey Minch was a resident of Onett Town and the next-door neighbor and (when he wanted to take advantage of it) friend of Ness. He lived with his family, parents Aloysius and Lardna, as well as his younger brother Picky. His parents were not often around due to going out to fancy restaurants and other high-class non social events, although at the beginning of the game Aloysius claimed they were living in "poverty" after loaning an apparently large sum of money to Ness's family. His parents were abusive, as his father would beat both boys for even minor misbehaviors, and Lardna pressured Aloysius to be even harsher with them.

Pokey wound up growing into a cruel and manipulative young boy. He only acknowledged his friendship with Ness whenever he wanted something, and he would act as nice as possible in order to persuade others to do what he wants them to. And whenever he got what he wanted, Pokey would reveal his true colors to taunt the person he had fooled. When a meteor landed near Onett, Pokey went out to investigate because his parents weren't home, leaving Picky behind at the house, although he wound up being stopped at a police barricade. He returned with Picky later in the night, but when they reached the meteor site, Pokey was scared and ran off, leaving Picky behind. He then ran to Ness's help and implored him for help, acting as polite to Ness's mother as he could, claiming simply that he had lost Picky and did not wish to endure his parents' punishment. Ness and Pokey made their way back to the crash site with Ness's dog and found Picky, but then the bug from the future Buzz Buzz emerged from the meteorite and told Ness of the prophecy that Ness would be the leader of a group of three boys and one girl who would defeat Giygas, the intergalactic destroyer. Pokey's simple reaction to this news was to say that he was not into this hero stuff at all. They then returned to Pokey's home after a brief confrontation with a Starman Jr. in which Buzz Buzz protected them. Upon returning to their home, their parents were present, and Aloysius proceeded to prepare Pokey and Pinchy's punishment.

While Ness went out to gather his friends, Pokey fell under Giygas's influence and left Onett under his own power, seemingly following the Mani Mani statue at first. He first showed up at the Happy Happy Village, where he was working to become an important person within the Happy Happyism cult under Mr. Carpenter and helped to capture Paula for them. When Ness freed Paula, Pokey confronted him to flaunt his new position and then walked off, leaving behind several cult members to fight Ness. After Ness defeated Carpainter and broke his hold over the minds of the cultists, Pokey confronted Ness again, pretending that he also awoken from a spell and wanted to be friends, but he quickly revealed that he was playing with Ness and working under his own power before leaving.

Pokey then showed up in Fourside with the next holder of the Mani Mani statue, Mr. Monotoli. He obtained an important position as Monotoli's partner who dispensed political and economical advice, although he likely actually provided a link to Giygas. He also gave his father a position with its own share of wealth and had his bodyguards kick out Ness after taunting him. However, Ness and his friends were able to destroy the Mani Mani statue, at which point Monotoli repented and let Paula go, then offered them his helicopter. Pokey stole the helicopter before they could board it and left Fourside, with Monotoli now being useless to Giygas. This was the last time Ness and Pokey directly confronted each other for a while, although in each area Ness found a sign that Pokey had been there, indicating that he was always a step ahead of Ness. He also stole the prototype Phase Distorter created by Dr. Andonuts and eventually ditched its wreckage as well as the Mr. Saturn operating it in a hidden cave within the Lost Underworld.

It is uncertain at what point in the game that this occurred, but Pokey eventually became Giygas's top servant. Giygas had become the embodiment of all evil and could no longer think rationally, so Pokey was needed to interpret his will and look over him while Giygas was held within the Devil's Machine, which kept him under control. It was uncertain which of them was the true servant, although Pokey considered himself to be in control and claimed that Giygas was nothing more than "an all-mighty idiot". At the end of the game, Pokey's alliance with Giygas was revealed, and they were shown to be operating in a cave of the Lost Underworld in the distant past.

When Ness, Paula, and their two friends Jeff and Poo finally faced Giygas in the final confrontation, Pokey was there, too, riding a monstrous spider-like machine to help Giygas in battle. Pokey gleefully explained Giygas's madness to Ness and the others, seeming to see the alien as nothing more than a tool for his own advancement, but he eventually stepped out of the battle after taking enough damage and then turned off the Devil's Machine, hoping that the horror of Giygas's true form would be enough to disturb and destroy them.

Pokey taunted, them saying that there was no hope for them anymore even if they tried using telepathy to call for help, which he encouraged them to do just to see it fail. But his plans were derailed when Paula's prayers reached everyone on earth who wished for Giygas's destruction, causing the mad alien to die. Pokey, however, was not willing to give up, and used the last of the dying Giygas's power to escape into another time era, where he would carry on his plans for domination, while assuring Ness that he had not won. After the credits, it was shown that he sent a letter for Ness to Picky in which he further taunted Ness and dared him to find him.

Mother 3

Pokey's escape landed him in the era of Mother 3. He created for himself the identity of King Pig and founded the Pig Mask Army, making him the unseen villain of most of the game. As a side effect of his time travel, he had apparently aged thousands of years and needed a machine to keep him alive, though later on he claims that his time traveling has actually made him immortal. This may have been simply to discourage the group from attacking or implying that his life support systems could keep him alive indefinitely.

Near the end of the game, Pokey declared himself ruler of the world. He sent the Pig Mask Army's commander, the Masked Man, to pull seven needles and awaken a fierce dragon in hopes that he'll be able to control the beast as a result. He was unconcerned with the apocalypse that the dragon would bring, reasoning that he could not die and so even if the dragon caused the end of the world, he and it would be the only things alive, and Pokey would be rid of everyone who hated him. He also built New Pork City and moved the people of the Nowhere Islands to it. The city was like an amusement park with many pictures of a younger Pokey and references to his life in Earthbound. He also used the band DCMC to hypnotize the people into worshiping him with their music.

Pokey lured Lucas and co. into the Empire Pokey Building shortly after their arrival and dared them to find him on the 100th floor. He then changed several of the floor numbers to 100 to trick them into thinking that they've succeeded in finding him, while actually leaving various traps for them (including a toilet dungeon and robotic versions of his younger self). When finally found, Pokey offered to race them to the final needle. Despite taking a shortcut, the group caught up to him. He mocked their connection to the Masked Man (at this point revealed to be Claus) and attacked. As the battle drew to a close, Pokey encapsulated himself and his life-support in Dr. Andonuts's Absolutely Safe Machine, assuring Lucas that he had not won. Dr. Andonuts then revealed that the Absolutely Safe Machine was actually designed to keep everyone else absolutely safe from Pokey and rolled him away, feeling sorry for the boy as there was no way for him to leave the machine.

After the fake-out destruction of the world, it was possible to locate Pokey on the "End?" screen. He did not speak to the player, but the narration made a reference to a ball rolling around. It also stated that the person inside seemed happy, implying that Pokey might have actually found enjoyment by being the sole person in his own little universe.

Abilities

Pokey's greatest strength is his ability to get into positions of power. His actual fighting abilities are very poor due to Pokey being out of shape, and during his brief period accompanying Ness in the beginning of Earthbound, he will apologize or make excuses instead of actually fighting. Instead, he pilots mechanical devices in battle, which sometimes use flatulence-like devices.

Other Appearances

• Pokey appears as in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a boss in the Ruined Zoo level of The Subspace Emissary. Initially a giant Pig King Statue statue appears and chases Lucas, until Ness arrives to save him with a PK Thunder which shatters the statue and reveals Pokey in his spider mech within (seemingly from Mother 3). This leads to a boss battle against Pokey with Ness and Lucas. During the battle, Pokey will also deploy exploding robot duplicates of himself. It is uncertain whether or not he is working for any of the other game's villains, or if he was simply attacking Lucas for his own purposes. Trophies of both The Pig King Statue and Pokey appear in the game.
• The same two trophies are split between the two versions of Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 3DS/Wii U; the Pig King Statue appears only in the 3DS game, while the Pokey statue appears in the Wii U game. Those trophies are the extent of Pokey's appearance in that installment. Pokey's trophy description also teases that it would take "another two full games" to explain his transformation between Earthbound and Mother 3.

Trivia

• In the Japanese versions of Earthbound and Mother 3, Pokey is actually called Porky, which further hints at his connection to pigs. The name Porky is used in his Super Smash Bros. appearances.
• Mother 3 includes sprite rips of Pokey dying at the end of the game which were never used.