Jr. Pac-Man

Jr. Pac-Man (パック・ジュニア Pakku Junia), also known as Pac-Man Jr., Pac-Jr., or simply Junior, is the first-born son of Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man. He is also the older brother to Baby Pac-Man.
==History==
===Arcade Games===
====Ms. Pac-Man====
Junior makes his first appearance in Ms. Pac-Man (albeit as a minor character) in the Act 3 intermission "Junior", where he is delivered by a stork to Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man. He appears as a smaller version of Pac-Man with no distinct features.
====Jr. Pac-Man====
Jr. Pac-Man would return to star in his own game, Jr. Pac-Man. As with the rest of his family, he had to collect Pellets in a Maze while dodging ghosts Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Tim.
In this game, he is first portrayed with his signature hat.
During his adventure, Junior fell in love with Yum-Yum, the daughter of Blinky. Not accepting of the relationship, Blinky attempts to capture Junior, but both of them escape, allowing the two to be together.
===Pac-Man World series===
====Pac-Man World====
In Pac-Man World, Pac-Jr. is captured by a robot and sent to Toc-Man's lair, where he is then imprisoned in a cage. He is found in the level Down the Tubes, and is eventually rescued by his father. In Pac-Man World Re-Pac, Jr. Pac-Man is replaced with his "Pac-Boy" counterpart. Once all of Pac-Man's friends are rescued, he suggests his father that they can all enjoy Ghost Island.
====Pac-Man World 2====
Junior has a minor cameo in Pac-Man World 2, seen celebrating in the ending cutscene.
====Pac-Man World 3====
Junior has a minor appearance in Pac-Man World 3, appearing in the opening/closing cutscenes. He is rather quiet in this game, and likes to read.
===Other appearances===
====Pac-Man World Rally====
In this game, Jr. Pac-Man rides a rocket-powered skate board. He is the slowest, but the best at turning and has highest at acceleration in the game.
====Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures====
In Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures, Junior's guitar is stolen by Inky, Pinky, and Clyde (Blinky is not shown), and Pac-Man leaps to the rescue and gets the stolen item back from the ghosts.
====Pac-In-Time====
Junior (alongside Ms. Pac and Pac-Baby) appears in the opening and ending cutscenes in Pac-In-Time, showing concern when Pac-Man disappears.
====Pac-Man Pinball Advance====
Pac-Jr. is the sixth of eight Pac-Land residents kidnapped by the Ghost Gang in Pac-Man Pinball Advance, and must be rescued by Pac-Man.
==== "Multiplayer" games ====
Main articles: Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness, Pac-Man All-Stars
Pac-Jr. appears as a playable character in Pac-Man All-Stars. Junior also appears in the multiplayer mode of Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness, but needs to be unlocked.
== "Replacement" characters ==
There are several characters in recent Pac-Man-related media that serve the same role as Jr. Pac-Man, but feature different names and altered designs. These "replacements" of Ms. Pac-Man were created due to legal issues regarding the Ms. Pac-Man property; which, in turn, also effects Jr. Pac-Man. For further information on this subject, see History of Ms. Pac-Man legal issues.
=== Pac-Little ===
"Pac-Little" (パックリトル Pakku Ritoru) is a character created for Pac-Store; a series of pop-up retail stores, originating around 2016 in Japan. He was created alongside "Pac-Marie", a counterpart to Ms. Pac-Man.
Pac-Little has a light-blue, brimmed cap, lacking the tri-color scheme; as well as matching blue gloves and boots. He is always shown with drooping eyelids. Notably, he is not stated to be Pac-Man's (or Pac-Marie's) child at all, only being referred to as one of their "longtime friends". Pac-Little was not utilized outside of the Pac-Store locations and merchandise, though Pac-Store itself continued until 2019 (in certain regions).
Some promotional artwork shows Pac-Little riding a skateboard, as Junior had in some later Pac-Man titles. Additionally, most Japanese Pac-Store locations featured original Ms. Pac-Man and Jr. Pac-Man machines in the store (imported from the United States) to play, likely to connect the characters further.
=== Pac-Boy ===
"Pac-Boy" (パック・ボーイ Pakku Bōi) is the most recent replacement for Jr. Pac-Man, appearing in several pieces of media. He was conceptualized around late 2021, following the Bandai Namco v. AtGames lawsuit and an undisclosed settlement regarding the Ms. Pac-Man royalty rights. His creation was alongside "Pac-Mom" and "Pac-Sis", counterparts to Ms. Pac-Man and Baby Pac-Man, respectively.
Pac-Boy's design is somewhat of a mix of various prior Junior designs; he most closely resembles the Pac-Man 2 design of "Pac-Jr.", though his sneakers are replaced with regular Pac-Man boots. His hat, while tri-colored, has a Pac-Man emblem on it instead of the striped pattern.
In a rather drastic procedure, Pac-Boy's role is generally to replace Jr. Pac-Man entirely in re-releases of older Pac-Man titles. His first appearance was in Pac-Man Museum +; in the Museum + version of Pac-In-Time, Pac-Boy replaces Junior in the intro and ending cutscenes. Pac-Boy also appears in Pac-Man World Re-Pac, once again as Jr. Pac-Man's stand-in.
As with Pac-Little, Pac-Boy is not directly stated to be Pac-Man's son. This is somewhat strange, as Pac-Sis and Pac-Mom are both outright shown to be his family in Pac-Man World Re-Pac.
=== Others ===
Jr. Pac-Man's legal issues stem much earlier than the 2000s Ms. Pac-Man disputes; existing before the Jr. Pac-Man arcade game had even finished development. Possibly as a result of this, Jr. Pac-Man did not appear in any derivative works until Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures, released in 1994. However, in Jr. Pac-Man's appearances from 1994 onward, his name was always shortened (generally to "Pac-Jr." or something similar).
While Pac-Jr. is generally considered "one and the same" as Jr. Pac-Man, it is possible that he was actually some sort of loophole character. However, the lack of many actual differences between the two (save for slight design tweaks) make this difficult to determine.
*In the opening intro to Pac-Man Bounce, what is clearly intended to be Jr. Pac-Man appears, surrounding Pac-Man's birthday cake; however, his skin is colored teal instead of yellow.
== Characteristics ==
=== Personality ===
As Pac-Little, he's described as a very good dancer and is often seen dancing. He likes watching variety shows and mimicking popular personalities. He’s also a frivolous boy whose hobby is skateboarding.
=== Appearance ===
Jr. Pac-Man looks nearly identical to Pac-Man, but has a striped hat and sneakers on. Sometimes he also wears jeans, making him the only Pac-Person to actually wear clothes. His hat has undergone several design changes in between games. Most games have him wearing a propeller beanie, which has been blue and red, red and white, and blue and white, while the propeller has been either white or red. In Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures and a few other games, he wears a baseball cap with a brim. In Pac-Man World Rally, he wears a hat with both a brim and a propeller.
== Trivia ==
*In the 2nd season of the Pac-Man TV series, a character known as P.J. joins the cast. He shares some similarities with Jr. Pac-Man, and even states his full name as "Pac Junior". However, P.J. is specifically stated to be the nephew of Pac-Man, and as such is considered a different character.
**It is possible that P.J. was created due to the legal issues regarding Jr. Pac-Man; though given the TV series was licensed directly through Bally Midway, it is more likely that P.J. was just a creative decision by the Hanna-Barbera staff.
*In Namco Museum Vol. 3, Jr. Pac-Man (alongside the rest of the Pac-Man family) appears in the audience of the Theater area, as well as in a framed picture in the Ms. Pac-Man exhibit. He also appears in the theater crowd in Namco Museum Vol. 4, accompanied by Baby Pac-Man and Miru.
*Some later rounds of the Namco Anthology 2 remake of Pac-Attack feature what appears to be Jr. Pac-Man in the background, specifically the "Pac-Jr." design seen in Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures.
*In the coding for Pac-Man World Re-Pac, Pac-Boy's files are referred to as "pacjunior". This may imply that Re-Pac was going to properly feature Jr. Pac-Man initially, but he was eventually replaced (presumably as Ms. Pac-Man needed to be changed either way).
== Gallery ==
=== Character Artwork ===
PacmanJrOriginal.jpg|Jr. Pac-Man
Junior.png|Jr. Pac-Man
Jrpcmn.png|Jr. Pac-Man
Jr2.png|Pac-Man World
Pacjr.png|Pac-Man World
Jr-pmw3-fixedhand.png|Pac-Man World 3
JrPacman.jpg|Pac-Man World Rally
Pacstore-paclittle.png|Pac-Store
Pacstore-pizza.jpg|Pac-Store
Pacstore-bath.jpg|Pac-Store
Pacstore-pencil.jpg|Pac-Store
=== Group Artwork ===
Ms jr baby pm2.png|Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures
Group pmw.png|Pac-Man World
PacmanUnited.jpg|Pac-Man World 3
Pacstore.png|Pac-Store
Pacstore-bubble.jpg|Pac-Store
Pacstore-fireworks.jpg|Pac-Store
Pacstore-pot.jpg|Pac-Store
Pacstore-tug.jpg|Pac-Store
es:Jr. Pac-Man
Category:Pac-People
Category:Characters
Category:Heroes
Category:Males
Category:Kids