The Bond Between Ness and his Father
We've all wondered at some point in time just who Ness's father is. The only image we have of him is just a black telephone hooked to the wall. There are countless theories, conspiracies, and otherwise outright silly explanations for his story. But all (or most) of these theories leave the boundaries of the information given to us as players in the story of EarthBound. Using pieces of overlooked knowledge, I have formulated my own explanation as to who the father of the brave young boy known as Ness could be.
First, let's look at the character of Ness's dad. From what we can tell, he is a workaholic, striving to support his family. He obviously loves them very much, otherwise he wouldn't be working so hard for them! Because he's never home, telling Ness to call him periodically might have helped morally support Ness on his journey, AND so his dad could stay in touch for his own sake. It's easy to see that there's a strong father/son bond with this. A father offering support to his son is one of the most important things he can do for him.
So Ness's father is trying to strike a balance between supporting his son as well as his entire family, and he appears to do this quite well. Of course, the love between a mother and her son registers on a completely different level of affection, which is why Ness gets homesick every so often on his adventure. A father could never cover both roles of parenthood for his child, so this is why Ness calls his mother when he's missing home..
Now, I think his father was aware of this, and he probably wanted to support Ness in more ways than just "recording his progress," or depositing however much money his son needed into his bank account. He would have really wanted to be there for his son, who was embarking on a quest to save the world (that can be very emotionally taxing!). ANYTHING could have helped Ness out when the Earth's existence was at stake, and putting these things in cute little gift boxes would certainly help him find them faster...
Yes; Ness's father could have very well been the one who placed the gift boxes all over the EartBound world for him. Think about how much more difficult Ness's journey would have been without some of the useful items he found along the way. It's very unlikely that some random do-gooder accidentally dropped so many gifts that happened to be exactly what Ness needed in exactly the right place at the right time. Many of these gifts were (most likely) expensive, too. And who could afford them but a workaholic father who makes money around the clock??
Now there is a gap in this theory. How would Ness's father have known when and where to put these gift boxes that had exactly what Ness needed? You could argue that his father was tracking Ness based on his locations from where he called from, but there's another explanation that ties things up better..
There was only one person throughout Ness's entire journey who was following him. This person knew exactly where he was, exactly what he needed, and was always waiting for a place with good lighting and nice scenery to pop out of NOWHERE and capture the moment. And that person was the Photoman!
Although we all thought it was border-lining creepy, this man (Ness's father) was silently watching Ness and his friends; constantly making sure that they did not fall into the hands of the enemy, and he did so by subtly showing up to take their picture. No one would show that amount of care and concern except the one who loves that person most: his father. Who knows why he would have decided to disguise himself as photographer. Maybe the reason he stopped by at the end of Ness's journey and gave him the photo album was so that, one day, after his dad explained everything, Ness could look back at the photos of one of the most trying experiences in his life and think, 'My dad was there the whole time; supporting me, helping me, loving me...'
After going over the amazing story of Ness's journey countless times, I think I finally understand how a 13 year-old kid could have possibly saved humanity from certain destruction. The bond that a father and his son shares can truly be something not even the embodiment of evil can break..
We've all wondered at some point in time just who Ness's father is. The only image we have of him is just a black telephone hooked to the wall. There are countless theories, conspiracies, and otherwise outright silly explanations for his story. But all (or most) of these theories leave the boundaries of the information given to us as players in the story of EarthBound. Using pieces of overlooked knowledge, I have formulated my own explanation as to who the father of the brave young boy known as Ness could be.
First, let's look at the character of Ness's dad. From what we can tell, he is a workaholic, striving to support his family. He obviously loves them very much, otherwise he wouldn't be working so hard for them! Because he's never home, telling Ness to call him periodically might have helped morally support Ness on his journey, AND so his dad could stay in touch for his own sake. It's easy to see that there's a strong father/son bond with this. A father offering support to his son is one of the most important things he can do for him.
So Ness's father is trying to strike a balance between supporting his son as well as his entire family, and he appears to do this quite well. Of course, the love between a mother and her son registers on a completely different level of affection, which is why Ness gets homesick every so often on his adventure. A father could never cover both roles of parenthood for his child, so this is why Ness calls his mother when he's missing home..
Now, I think his father was aware of this, and he probably wanted to support Ness in more ways than just "recording his progress," or depositing however much money his son needed into his bank account. He would have really wanted to be there for his son, who was embarking on a quest to save the world (that can be very emotionally taxing!). ANYTHING could have helped Ness out when the Earth's existence was at stake, and putting these things in cute little gift boxes would certainly help him find them faster...
Yes; Ness's father could have very well been the one who placed the gift boxes all over the EartBound world for him. Think about how much more difficult Ness's journey would have been without some of the useful items he found along the way. It's very unlikely that some random do-gooder accidentally dropped so many gifts that happened to be exactly what Ness needed in exactly the right place at the right time. Many of these gifts were (most likely) expensive, too. And who could afford them but a workaholic father who makes money around the clock??
Now there is a gap in this theory. How would Ness's father have known when and where to put these gift boxes that had exactly what Ness needed? You could argue that his father was tracking Ness based on his locations from where he called from, but there's another explanation that ties things up better..
There was only one person throughout Ness's entire journey who was following him. This person knew exactly where he was, exactly what he needed, and was always waiting for a place with good lighting and nice scenery to pop out of NOWHERE and capture the moment. And that person was the Photoman!
Although we all thought it was border-lining creepy, this man (Ness's father) was silently watching Ness and his friends; constantly making sure that they did not fall into the hands of the enemy, and he did so by subtly showing up to take their picture. No one would show that amount of care and concern except the one who loves that person most: his father. Who knows why he would have decided to disguise himself as photographer. Maybe the reason he stopped by at the end of Ness's journey and gave him the photo album was so that, one day, after his dad explained everything, Ness could look back at the photos of one of the most trying experiences in his life and think, 'My dad was there the whole time; supporting me, helping me, loving me...'
After going over the amazing story of Ness's journey countless times, I think I finally understand how a 13 year-old kid could have possibly saved humanity from certain destruction. The bond that a father and his son shares can truly be something not even the embodiment of evil can break..
