Pokey Minch

Porky Minch (), or Pokey Minch in the English version of EarthBound due to a translation error, is the secondary antagonist of EarthBound and the main antagonist of Mother 3 being one of the overall main antagonists of the series alongside Giygas, but also appears non-canonically in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a boss. One example of his personality is shown when he tells Ness that he was under the control of the Happy Happy cultists, but was lying to run away without fighting them. A portly, rude, and arrogant boy, he is Ness' neighbor in the suburbs of Onett, the son of Aloysius Minch and Lardna Minch, and the older brother of Picky Minch.
Porky's battle music in EarthBound is known to fans as "Cease to Exist" in Japan, and "Pokey Means Business" elsewhere, but no official name for the track exists. His themes in Mother 3 are "Master Porky's Theme" and "Absolutely Safe Capsule", and are played during the initial confrontations with him and following his retreat into the Absolutely Safe Capsule, respectively.
== Biography ==
=== In EarthBound ===
Porky's family acts bitter towards Ness's, because his father, Aloysius Minch, apparently loaned a few hundred thousand dollars to Ness's father (though Aloysius admits it could have been a lot less), and was never repaid. Porky and his father later on found work in Fourside as consultants for the city's mayor. However, when the player defeats the mayor, he quits the job.
At the beginning of EarthBound, Porky lives with his parents, Aloysius and Lardna, and his younger brother Picky in the house next door to Ness's. He likes to play practical jokes, and Shigesato Itoi has stated that he does not have any friends and therefore likely played only with Ness most of the time.http://mother3.fobby.net/interview/m3int_09.html Page 9 of a translated interview with Shigesato Itoi, held by Nintendo Dream magazine When a Meteorite lands north of their houses in Onett, Porky and Picky sneak out of their house to investigate. When Ness talks to him, Porky tells him not annoy the officers and go back home, while he will tell him more about the Meteorite tomorrow. 
When Picky turns up missing, Porky turns to Ness, pleading him to help him find his younger brother, afraid to go alone. After sweet-talking Ness's mother and convincing Ness to help him, they head off to look for Picky. At the meteorite landing site, Ness, Porky and Picky meet Buzz Buzz, an alien from ten years in the future. Porky learns of the impending destruction of the universe at the hands of Giygas, but convinces himself that he is not one of the heroes that the alien speaks of. On the way back home, they are confronted by one of Giygas's underlings, Starman Junior. Porky cowers in fear while Ness and Picky assist Buzz Buzz in defeating the alien. After Ness escorts Porky and Picky safely home, Porky isn't seen again for some time. 
Porky first resurfaces as a high priest of the Happy Happyist cult, led by Carpainter. Porky kidnaps Paula with the intention of performing a human sacrifice. After Ness meets with Paula, Porky appears and orders two of the cult's followers and a Spiteful Crow to attack them. After the cult is disbanded, he tries to befriend Ness again, only to run off. His sincerity regarding his attempt at befriending Ness during this time varied between versions. In the English version, it is indicated he was trying to trick Ness into letting him escape, while in the Japanese version, he did genuinely try to make amends, but misinterpreted Ness's silent protagonist status as him refusing and decided he'll have to continue being evil because Ness wouldn't buy his apology. Porky and his father are later seen working as business consultants for Fourside's mayor Geldegarde Monotoli. He uses the money to live a luxurious life, but he eventually steals Monotoli's helicopter after Monotoli is confronted by Ness. Following this, Porky is not seen again onscreen until the end of the game, although his tracks can still be followed throughout the journey; his helicopter is shown to have crashed in the Deep Darkness, for instance. Nevertheless, Porky still causes trouble for Ness behind the scenes: it is revealed that Porky stole the first Phase Distorter in order to escape to The Cave of the Past, and has apparently played a part in strengthening Giygas's power.
Porky finally reappears as Giygas's right-hand subordinate within the Cave of the Past, his skin pale and discolored, piloting an organic, spider-like machine. At this point, Porky reveals to Ness his true allegiance, taunting Ness and his companions before attacking them alongside Giygas. Ironically, one of his taunts to Ness, specifically telling him to cry for his parents, helped defeat Giygas for good due to Ness and his friends doing essentially that. Once Giygas is destroyed, Porky uses time travel to escape into another era, but not before taunting Ness one last time. His final lines of dialogue in the game come through Picky in a suspicious hate letter that says, "Come and get me, loser! Spankety spankety spankety!"
=== In Mother 3 ===
Throughout most of Mother 3, Porky's presence is never explicitly mentioned, though it is implied. In the fan translation, he switches over to his Japanese name, "Porky", to better fit in with his pig-themed affiliations, as well as to match the numerous graphical assets in the game boldly displaying his name in English text. As early as Chapter 4, there are references to "King P", such as a mention in the DCMC song title. Throughout the game, there are also references to "Pork" in different scenarios, such as "Pork Troopers" or "Bag of Pork Chips". In the Thunder Tower in Chapter 5, Porky's playroom is visited, with numerous references to EarthBound in it, though it is merely talked about as "the King's playroom". There is also a sold out sign in the Chimera Laboratory for a creature called PORKY 08. Finally, at the end of Chapter 7, it is clearly stated that the King is indeed Porky, and Lucas and his friends are brought to his city of New Pork City. Here, Porky's presence is emphasized, with many statues and dolls of him appearing, as well as a theater that shows pictures from EarthBound.
The aforementioned playroom and Leder's speech, as well as the appearance of the Porky idols, imply that Porky is somehow still a child in the time. Throughout the Empire Porky Building, Porky taunts Lucas and co. through his intercom. When the top of the tower is finally reached, Porky himself appears, looking only slightly older than his EarthBound self. He then asks the player if they want to befriend him, but once they answer, he explodes, revealing himself to only be a robot version of Porky. Several other Mecha-Porkies join, battling Lucas all at once. When this is over, the actual Porky arrives in a new, fully-inorganic machine. However, his appearance has changed significantly; he has become extremely old and frail, coughing in nearly every sentence, as a result of his misuse of time travel. He explains how his servant is about to pull the final needle, and that there is nothing Lucas company can do about it. After that, he leaves in a shortcut to the location.
Porky soon confronts them in a large spider mecha near the final battle location. During the battle, he explains that due to time travel, he has become immortal, as well as unkillable, stressing that when the Dark Dragon is awakened, he and the Dragon will be the only ones left and everyone who does not like him will be gone, saying that he is prepared for such a fate. When he sees he is to be defeated, he calls upon the Absolutely Safe Capsule and climbs inside. It seals Porky inside, and being true to its name, it protects Porky from all harm. However, Porky finds that he cannot harm the heroes, either. When the battle ends, Dr. Andonuts reveals that he built the Absolutely Safe Capsule with the specifications that once someone is inside, the machine cannot be opened by anyone, including the person inside of it. So while Porky is indeed "absolutely safe," he is trapped in the machine forever, doomed to spend eternity in isolation. Andonuts even feels sympathy for the tyrant, as in his own words, ". . . All he can do now is spend eternity inside the capsule, in absolute safety." Andonuts also briefly theorized that being permanently trapped in absolute safety may have in fact been Porky's intention behind the device all along. Shigesato Itoi, the developer of Mother 3, stated in an interview that Porky will still be alive 5.5 billion years from now even when the sun becomes a red giant and engulfs the Earth.
At the end of the game, when the player is traveling in the darkness, they come into contact with an object that rolls with glee. While they may not be able to tell what it is, it is most likely Porky having survived the destruction of the land, as the Pigmask theme plays when you touch it. It is possible that he actually felt better after the events that took place, or simply doesn't understand what has transpired.
== Personality ==
Porky Minch is shown to be very immature and childish in EarthBound, even when his body ages beyond his own measure. He can often be obnoxious, and is also shown to be very selfish and egotistical, which Shigesato Itoi says is likely due to how terrible and abusive his parents were. Porky does not appear to be self-conscious about his weight, or his resemblance to a pig (as King P, the naming of virtually every facet of his empire refers to pigs, such as the Pigmask Army, and New Pork City). Though he is naturally mischievous, after Porky is corrupted by Giygas, his childish sense of humor becomes increasingly malicious. He actively abets the destruction of the universe in EarthBound, and in Mother 3 his antics nearly wipe out the Nowhere Islands, ruining and even ending the lives of an untold number of the island's inhabitants, especially in Lucas' close family. Porky's actions were more than likely due to wanting friendship, according to Shigesato Itoi, and that Porky himself is like a poem.
== In the Super Smash Bros. Series ==
Despite his canon fate at the end of Mother 3, Porky Minch appears in the adventure mode of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, The Subspace Emissary, as a boss. Here, he is seen as a high-ranked member of the Subspace Army who attacks Lucas in The Ruined Zoo using his Pig King Statue and a fleet of Primids. Before the Statue can kill Lucas, Porky's "best friend" Ness appears and destroys the Statue with PK Flash. From the exploding Statue emerges Porky in a gigantic version of his Mother 3 spider mech, but he is quickly defeated by Ness and Lucas in a boss battle. Once Porky is defeated, Ness and Lucas celebrate, but not for very long, as Wario soon arrives to turn Ness back into a trophy.
Porky Minch also appears as a sticker. Attaching this sticker to the bottom of Ness or Lucas's trophies in The Subspace Emissary increases their PK attack by 15.
In this appearance he is referred to "Porky", a more proper translation of his name, even on the label for his sticker, which uses his EarthBound clay model for the image.
Porky Minch appears in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U as a trophy, as well as a Smash Tour item. When collected in Smash Tour, he grants the player who picked him the ability to steal an effect of an item used by another player. 
Porky can be seen riding Monotolis helicopter on the Fourside stage in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. 
== List of Quotes ==
=== EarthBound ===
*"Spankety, spankety, spankety!"
*"Hey, Ness. Don't be rubbernecking. You're gettin' in the cops, oops... I mean the officer's way! You can go home now. Tomorrow, I, Pokey, will tell you more about the strange meteorite. I'm fine here, but you're bugging the officers."
*"Ness, let's be friends again. Please answer me. I promise to be good. ...uh...okay... (walks away slowly) Hah! I lied! See you, sucker!"
*Response to Buzz Buzz: "Three boys, he said? ...Uhhh...I'm not one of those three, am I?...'Cause... I'm not into this kind of thing at all..."
*(after punishment,) "My dad really came after me... he said I don't get dessert for an entire decade..."
*"Heh heh heh heh. You must really be at the end of your rope."
*"In this bizarre dimension, you four are the only force fighting for justice..."
*"And here you stand, ' waiting to be burned up with all the rest of the garbage of this universe..."
* "Haaaaah! That's so sad. I can't help but shed a tear."
*"You know, my heart is beating incredibly fast."
*"Ness, you pin-headed idiot, you're just a half step too slow!"
*"...I must be experiencing absolute terror!"
*"Isn't it terrifying? I'm terrified too."
*"Do you want to scream for help here in the dark?!"
*"Ha ha ha ha ha!"
*"Why not call your mommy, Ness! Say, "Mommy! Daddy! I'm so frightened! I think I'm gonna wet my pants!"
*"I know you have telepathy, or something, so just try and call for help, you pathetically weak heroes of so-called justice!"
*"No one will help you now!"
*"Ha ha ha haah..."
* "Ness! Now, I...well...it's going to seem like I'm running away. But perhaps I'll just sneak away to another era to think about my next plan. It's a good bet that we'll see each other again... All right! I'll be seeing you! So now which one of us do you think is the cool guy?!"
*(through Picky's message) "Come and get me, loser! Spankety, spankety, spankety!"
=== Mother 3 ===
*"*cough* *cough* *wheeze* *wheeze* You resorted to blanking your memories to create a new world where humanity's past failure's will no longer be repeated...How stupid can you be?!"
*"It seems the Seventh and final Needle has just been located deep underground, below here."
*"*cough* *cough* *cough* *cough* This is really no time for games anymore. I don't feel like letting you go any further."
*"If you're after the needle, then don't worry. My adorable monster is on its way to it as we speak."
*"Huh? That monster's name is Claus? It's name was Claus? That almost sounds like a person's name! But now it's my robot. Not even a fragment of life remains inside it. It's Master Porky's slave robot! It does whatever I say! It acts on my will alone. It's my double. It doesn't know anything about who you are."
*"Let me fill you in on something. No matter how much you attack me, I'll never die. Even if I somehow wind up beaten, I'll never die. Bet you didn't know that, did you?"
*"If the dragon wakes up, it might end up destroying everything and extinguishing all life. Even so, ahaha aha ahahahahahaha!! I am more than prepared for that possibility."
*"I've gone through time and space so many times I haven't aged like a normal person. Who knows, I might be 1000 years old, or even 10,000 years old. But despite that, I'm still the same kid at heart! Is that funny? It is, isn't it? Does it make you laugh? *cough* *wheeze* Are you laughing at me?!"
*"Now do you see?! Now do you understand the sadness Master Porky bears now that he's Godlike?"
*"I'll never die. I'll never die, nor will I be beaten... but it appears my machine has run out of energy for the moment. Ahaha. Lucas... you haven't won, just so you know. I'm going to duck inside this "Absolutely Safe Capsule for the time being. When I'm inside, no attack will have any affect on me whatsoever. I'm sure you're thinking to yourself, "Yeah right. There's no such thing as 'absolutely...'" But there is such a thing... and it's this! The Absolutely Safe Capsule I tricked Dr. Andonuts and the Mr. Saturns into making for me! Me! ME! All for me! *cough* *cough*
== Gallery ==
 Pokey_Minch_Secret_Treasure_Box.jpg
== Trivia ==
* As with Giygas before him, Porky's attacks in Mother 3 are stated to be inexplicable ("What did Porky do?!") although one is described as "spraying" ("Porky sprayed something from some sort!"), while another is described as "sucking" in nature. Another one has an animation as if a party character was throwing a bomb (Though Porky's animation shows him "throwing" lots of bombs).
* Despite his rivalry with Ness in EarthBound, it's likely that Porky actually admired his neighbor, and desperately wanted to be his friend, but Giygas’s evil influence on Porky convinced him to go against Ness and the world in favor of power over Eagleland. After leaving the Cave of the Past, Porky’s destructive mindset was then brought into Mother 3’s world. Despite this, he still has a soft spot for Ness even with their moral differences. For example, the cinema in New Pork City shows a film chronicling Ness's adventures in EarthBound, and a cinema employee states that Porky hand-selected the film to be shown. Porky also has a large collection of EarthBound memorabilia in the playroom in Thunder Tower and on the 100th floor of the Empire Pork Building. Finally, the yo-yo weapon that Lucas can obtain in Porky's play room in Thunder Tower is called the Friend's Yo-Yo, meaning that Porky may have still thought of Ness as a friend. It is apparent that he also treasures it, and possibly misses Ness, as his robotic maid only cares about that specific object. This theory is supported by the fact that when Ness is in Magicant, Porky expresses his desire to be Ness's friend forever. This likely symbolizes the innocence Porky had before Giygas attacked.
* In the Japanese version of EarthBound known as Mother 2, Porky states that if his parents find out he and Picky were out late, he would get spanked 100 times; this had to be changed because of child abuse/violence. In the American version of EarthBound, he only says that if his dad gets back he'll really get it. (He gets no dessert for the rest of the decade.) Likewise, when Porky and Picky are being punished by their father offscreen, the sound heard is changed in America, from haphazard battering sounds to the same sound effect used for speech-based enemy actions.
* In an unused set of sprites found in Mother 3, Porky's Bed Mech breaks.
* Porky's "skills" as a temporary party member in EarthBound are as follows, with none of them doing anything:
** Complains to Ness.
** Uses Ness as a shield.
** Pretends to cry.
** Smiles insincerely.
** Plays dead.
** Thinks to himself.
** Apologizes profusely.
** Tries to edge closer to the enemy.
** Acts all innocent.
* According to Ness's mother, Porky hates Ness's favorite food.
* Although Porky has not appeared in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, it is possible the Absolutely Safe Capsule is meant to represent him.
** However, the Absolutely Safe Capsule sprite variant used in the game is the empty variant.
* Porky's trophy description in Super Smash Bros. for the 3DS and Wii U, referring to his spider mech form, claims it would require two additional games between Earthbound and Mother 3 to properly explain how he ended up a chubby kid and a frail old man.
* While his age was never revealed in Earthbound, he is revealed to be 14 years old in the official Earthbound Novel.
== References ==
it:Porky Minch
Category:EarthBound
Category:Temporary party members in EarthBound
Category:EarthBound Characters
Category:EarthBound Bosses
Category:Mother 3
Category:Mother 3 Characters
Category:Mother 3 Bosses
Category:Pigmask Army
Category:Characters with unused sprites
Category:Temporary party members
Category:Male Characters
Category:Characters
Category:Bosses