A Real Nowhere Man
Before beginning this article, I'd like to say that yes, although I've only played Earthbound Zero once, I'm analyzing this WAY too much. Also, if you want to write something overanalyzing a part of Earthbound or Earthbound Zero, feel free to use the alternate title to this article (The Overanalyzation of Earthbound and Earthbound Zero-Part 2 (or however far they might go up to) because I probably won't write another one, and I don't want to see the title limited to simply my article. A big thank you to Xodnizel for having the Earthbound Zero text dump up; that really really helped me get exact quotes right and saving me the time of not having to play the game all the way up to that point. Finally, if you haven't heard the song 'Nowhere Man' by The Beatles, you really should, and I suggest you go download it now. Well, on with the article.
Many of you know about Earthbound Zero. Some of you remember quite a bit about the dream-world of Magicant. Very few of you probably remeber the man who stood in front of the exit at the very end of the road leading from Magicant. He's always stayed in my mind, for some reason. I don't know why, but he always stuck in my mind. Perhaps it was because he was so odd... He sits on his own, isolates himself from the world. Maybe it was because, unlike many RPG weird people, he doesn't change, and really rejects you. If you say you won't leave him alone, he simply gets mad at you until you say you will, when he thanks you for leaving him. He is a very odd character, indeed.
Now, back to the title: I'm sure we all know about the Beatles (those who don't must be poor deprived children.) Most of us remember the song 'Nowhere Man'. Now, I know I'm sounding really strange here, but this is something about Earthbound Zero that has just stuck in my mind forever! I feel that the man at the end of Magicant represents the Nowhere Man.
I know you're all thinking 'Skul, you're a psycho' or other thoughts like that, but think about it! First, we know that lots of people on the Mother 2/Earthbound staff are fans of The Beatles. One set of 'Don't Care' names in Mother 2 are made up of John, Yoko, Paul, George, and Ringo (possibly others, I honestly don't know. I also probably messed up the order.) They also include the 'pop quiz' from the house in Onett. The Mother 2/Earthbound staff also like putting weird quirky references just about EVERYWHERE in the game. I'm guessing that the same would hold true for Mother 1/Earthbound Zero, so it really would make sense for there to be a reference such as this to a 'Nowhere Man'.
Now, lets do a little cross-examination of both what the man says and does and the lyrics to the song Nowhere Man.
Lets begin simply with the title of the song and what the man first say. The first thing he says is "I am a forgotten man. I'm not really here." He also says "I am a man who does not exist" and "I've been alone from the moment I was born..." This is right out saying that he is a nowhere man.
Moving on, we'll look at some of the lyrics:
He's a real nowhere Man,
Sitting in his Nowhere Land,
Making all his nowhere plans
for nobody.
Alright, lets examine this: You find this man (whom I will make all further references to as 'the nowhere man') very deep in the caves under magicant. This is pretty much a comparison to a Nowhere Land. He really isn't doing anything, hence 'nowhere plans', and obviously, since he is on his own, with noone else, he's making these plans for nobody.
We'll continue with the next verse of the song:
Doesn't kave a point of view,
Knows not where he's going to,
Isn't he a bit like you and me?
Nowhere Man, please listen,
You don't know what you're missing,
Nowhere Man, the world is at your command.
Now, this part itself doesn't pertain to the nowhere man as much as some other parts of the song do, but it still makes some reference to it. The nowhere man simply does nothing but isolate himself from other people, so he holds no point of view, and since the only place he goes is away from others, he doesn't know where he's going. One thing the nowhere man says, which goes with the third line of the 2nd verse., is "Why do you insist on talking to me? Are you a forgotten man, too?" This is somewhat like the lines in the song, because it is sort of a way of asking "are you like me?" which traces back to the line in the song "Isn't he a bit like you and me?"
Look at the other part of that verse: It is like they are pleading to the nowhere man to come back to the rest of the world. This is much how the player feels upon encountering the nowhere man. The player wants to reach out to him, try and make him listen, and make him realize that the rest of the world is there, and it is wonderful.
He's as blind as he can be,
Just sees what he wants to see,
Nowhere Man can you see me at all?
This part also doesn't really pertain to the nowhere man as much, but there are references. The nowhere man shuts himself out of the rest of the world, putting himself in a cave (filled with many dangerous random encounters) where people won't get to him. He isn't physically blind, but limits himself to what he can see in his 'nowhere land.'
Nowhere Man, don't worry,
Take your time, don't hurry,
Leave it all till somebody else
lend you a hand.
Doesn't kave a point of view,
Knows not where he's going to,
Isn't he a bit like you and me?
Looking at the first four, they contain more references. In the song, they are telling the Nowhere Man to not worry or hurry, because he has nothing to worry about or hurry to in his nowhere man. The nowhere man in the game also doesn't have to worry about that. The other 2 lines have a reference to what he says: "If I miss people, I cannot live alone anymore." It is sort of an expression of the nowhere man subtly reaching out to get someone else to lend him a hand, but he feels he is too weak to make something happen, and someone else must help him.
Finishing up the song is simply the first verse repeating again, and I don't need to go into that. However, I'd like to talk about more of what the 'nowhere man' says which makes him a lot like the Nowhere Man described in the song, and sum up some other points I mentioned.
First of all, as I said earlier, he says "I am a forgotten man. I'm not really here." This directly points to him being a nowhere man. He goes on to shun you and try to make you go away, by saying "You didn't have to notice me...." and "Please ignore me." Also as I said earlier, he makes reference to him being a nowhere man by saying "I am a man who does not exist." He talks about his lack of social abilities (he has none because he was a nowhere man) by saying "You talk so kindly, I don't know what to do." He hints at an escape from his solitude, by saying "If I miss people, I cannot live alone anymore." He makes another mention to how alone he is by saying "My conversation is always a monologue.", "I've been alone from the moment I was born...", and "Lucky, unlucky... It makes no difference to me." He does express his sadness of being a nowhere man by saying "Sometimes, even breathing becomes too much." After this, he gets rather mad at the player for invading his solitude, and says "Why do you insist on talking to me? Are you a forgotten man, too?" I believe you can answer him here, and answering 'Yes' makes him say "Don't give me that garbage. Just leave me alone." He expresses how he wants to be a nowhere man in that part. Answering 'No' makes him say "That's right. That is right, right?" (I could be wrong on what is what. Talking to him again, he says "Go ahead, ignore me, like everyone else." He wants to be alone, and he wants to be a nowhere man. You have another chance to answer here. If you choose not to leave him alone, I believe he goes back to his earlier quote of "Don't give me that garbage. Just leave me alone." When you finally answer Yes, he says "That's right. Thank you." That was all the text that the nowhere man says to you. All in all, there's a very interesting and complex enigma surrounding the extremely small part of this NPC known as the 'nowhere man'.
Before beginning this article, I'd like to say that yes, although I've only played Earthbound Zero once, I'm analyzing this WAY too much. Also, if you want to write something overanalyzing a part of Earthbound or Earthbound Zero, feel free to use the alternate title to this article (The Overanalyzation of Earthbound and Earthbound Zero-Part 2 (or however far they might go up to) because I probably won't write another one, and I don't want to see the title limited to simply my article. A big thank you to Xodnizel for having the Earthbound Zero text dump up; that really really helped me get exact quotes right and saving me the time of not having to play the game all the way up to that point. Finally, if you haven't heard the song 'Nowhere Man' by The Beatles, you really should, and I suggest you go download it now. Well, on with the article.
Many of you know about Earthbound Zero. Some of you remember quite a bit about the dream-world of Magicant. Very few of you probably remeber the man who stood in front of the exit at the very end of the road leading from Magicant. He's always stayed in my mind, for some reason. I don't know why, but he always stuck in my mind. Perhaps it was because he was so odd... He sits on his own, isolates himself from the world. Maybe it was because, unlike many RPG weird people, he doesn't change, and really rejects you. If you say you won't leave him alone, he simply gets mad at you until you say you will, when he thanks you for leaving him. He is a very odd character, indeed.
Now, back to the title: I'm sure we all know about the Beatles (those who don't must be poor deprived children.) Most of us remember the song 'Nowhere Man'. Now, I know I'm sounding really strange here, but this is something about Earthbound Zero that has just stuck in my mind forever! I feel that the man at the end of Magicant represents the Nowhere Man.
I know you're all thinking 'Skul, you're a psycho' or other thoughts like that, but think about it! First, we know that lots of people on the Mother 2/Earthbound staff are fans of The Beatles. One set of 'Don't Care' names in Mother 2 are made up of John, Yoko, Paul, George, and Ringo (possibly others, I honestly don't know. I also probably messed up the order.) They also include the 'pop quiz' from the house in Onett. The Mother 2/Earthbound staff also like putting weird quirky references just about EVERYWHERE in the game. I'm guessing that the same would hold true for Mother 1/Earthbound Zero, so it really would make sense for there to be a reference such as this to a 'Nowhere Man'.
Now, lets do a little cross-examination of both what the man says and does and the lyrics to the song Nowhere Man.
Lets begin simply with the title of the song and what the man first say. The first thing he says is "I am a forgotten man. I'm not really here." He also says "I am a man who does not exist" and "I've been alone from the moment I was born..." This is right out saying that he is a nowhere man.
Moving on, we'll look at some of the lyrics:
He's a real nowhere Man,
Sitting in his Nowhere Land,
Making all his nowhere plans
for nobody.
Alright, lets examine this: You find this man (whom I will make all further references to as 'the nowhere man') very deep in the caves under magicant. This is pretty much a comparison to a Nowhere Land. He really isn't doing anything, hence 'nowhere plans', and obviously, since he is on his own, with noone else, he's making these plans for nobody.
We'll continue with the next verse of the song:
Doesn't kave a point of view,
Knows not where he's going to,
Isn't he a bit like you and me?
Nowhere Man, please listen,
You don't know what you're missing,
Nowhere Man, the world is at your command.
Now, this part itself doesn't pertain to the nowhere man as much as some other parts of the song do, but it still makes some reference to it. The nowhere man simply does nothing but isolate himself from other people, so he holds no point of view, and since the only place he goes is away from others, he doesn't know where he's going. One thing the nowhere man says, which goes with the third line of the 2nd verse., is "Why do you insist on talking to me? Are you a forgotten man, too?" This is somewhat like the lines in the song, because it is sort of a way of asking "are you like me?" which traces back to the line in the song "Isn't he a bit like you and me?"
Look at the other part of that verse: It is like they are pleading to the nowhere man to come back to the rest of the world. This is much how the player feels upon encountering the nowhere man. The player wants to reach out to him, try and make him listen, and make him realize that the rest of the world is there, and it is wonderful.
He's as blind as he can be,
Just sees what he wants to see,
Nowhere Man can you see me at all?
This part also doesn't really pertain to the nowhere man as much, but there are references. The nowhere man shuts himself out of the rest of the world, putting himself in a cave (filled with many dangerous random encounters) where people won't get to him. He isn't physically blind, but limits himself to what he can see in his 'nowhere land.'
Nowhere Man, don't worry,
Take your time, don't hurry,
Leave it all till somebody else
lend you a hand.
Doesn't kave a point of view,
Knows not where he's going to,
Isn't he a bit like you and me?
Looking at the first four, they contain more references. In the song, they are telling the Nowhere Man to not worry or hurry, because he has nothing to worry about or hurry to in his nowhere man. The nowhere man in the game also doesn't have to worry about that. The other 2 lines have a reference to what he says: "If I miss people, I cannot live alone anymore." It is sort of an expression of the nowhere man subtly reaching out to get someone else to lend him a hand, but he feels he is too weak to make something happen, and someone else must help him.
Finishing up the song is simply the first verse repeating again, and I don't need to go into that. However, I'd like to talk about more of what the 'nowhere man' says which makes him a lot like the Nowhere Man described in the song, and sum up some other points I mentioned.
First of all, as I said earlier, he says "I am a forgotten man. I'm not really here." This directly points to him being a nowhere man. He goes on to shun you and try to make you go away, by saying "You didn't have to notice me...." and "Please ignore me." Also as I said earlier, he makes reference to him being a nowhere man by saying "I am a man who does not exist." He talks about his lack of social abilities (he has none because he was a nowhere man) by saying "You talk so kindly, I don't know what to do." He hints at an escape from his solitude, by saying "If I miss people, I cannot live alone anymore." He makes another mention to how alone he is by saying "My conversation is always a monologue.", "I've been alone from the moment I was born...", and "Lucky, unlucky... It makes no difference to me." He does express his sadness of being a nowhere man by saying "Sometimes, even breathing becomes too much." After this, he gets rather mad at the player for invading his solitude, and says "Why do you insist on talking to me? Are you a forgotten man, too?" I believe you can answer him here, and answering 'Yes' makes him say "Don't give me that garbage. Just leave me alone." He expresses how he wants to be a nowhere man in that part. Answering 'No' makes him say "That's right. That is right, right?" (I could be wrong on what is what. Talking to him again, he says "Go ahead, ignore me, like everyone else." He wants to be alone, and he wants to be a nowhere man. You have another chance to answer here. If you choose not to leave him alone, I believe he goes back to his earlier quote of "Don't give me that garbage. Just leave me alone." When you finally answer Yes, he says "That's right. Thank you." That was all the text that the nowhere man says to you. All in all, there's a very interesting and complex enigma surrounding the extremely small part of this NPC known as the 'nowhere man'.
