Flint

Flint is a character in Mother 3. He lives in Tazmily Village with his wife Hinawa, and twin sons Lucas and Claus. He is the main playable character of Chapter 1. Flint's primary weapons are sticks.
==In Mother 3==
In Chapter 1, he first appears waiting for his family to come back from their vacation in the mountains; however, the forest is on fire, and Thomas demands that he helps with getting Lighter and Fuel out safely. Later he realizes that Hinawa and the kids have not returned, so he and the other residents of Tazmily Village begin a search to find them. Along the way he discovers a strand of Hinawa's dress on top of a cliff, so Wess sends Boney to bring Duster to assist him on scaling the cliff using wall staples. At the top they find Pigmasks then get attacked by a strange chimera, once defeated the Pigmasks flee, dropping a note about the Chimera project which Flint reads.
Unable to continue due to a section of a cliff having crumbled away, Flint and Duster return to the forest. Later he discovers Claus and Lucas have been found and are resting at a campfire by the river. However, it was discovered that Hinawa was killed by a Mecha Drago. Upon hearing the news, he is sent into a state of shock and depression. Several residents try to comfort him, however he begins lashing out on then using a stick, until Lighter knocks him unconscious with a log. He then dreams about the last time he saw Hinawa, before she is seen walking into the afterlife.
Flint then wakes up in Tazmily Jail, being the first person to have been put in. Bronson notes Flint's poor way of coping with his emotions, but still expresses his condolences regarding the death of his wife. Claus arrives with an apple for Flint, saying he will get revenge on the Drago who killed his mother. Using the Hard File found in the apple core, Flint opens the cell to visit Hinawa's grave. At the grave, he finds out that Claus did indeed go to the mountains alone to avenge Hinawa, so taking the Drago Fang Bronson made into a weapon, he heads out to Mt. Oriander to search for him. He arrives at Alec's house, where Alec tells him about a group of strange individuals who may know where Claus went. Alec joins Flint in his search for Claus, arriving at the house of the Magypsys, where Aeolia tells that they have given Claus a special ability to help him. Flint and Alec then climb the mountain to Drago Plateau in hopes of finding Claus. Instead, they find the Mecha Drago responsible for Hinawa's death. Once defeated, Flint attempts to kill the Drago as revenge, until the baby Drago comes to protect it. Alec tells Flint that killing the Drago won't fix anything, and instead make the baby suffer the same trauma which overcame Lucas, as such Flint decides to let the Drago live.
For the next three years, Flint's everyday life consisted of mourning for Hinawa and offering her flowers, and searching for Claus. He spends very little time with Lucas because of this, however in Chapter 7, he does give him his old Courage Badge as a good luck charm, albeit indirectly by telling Nippolyte to give it to Lucas the next time he sees him.
After the main party and the DCMC defeat the Porky robots, Flint regroups with the party followed by various of the party's other allies. Once the elevator begins to plummet down to the bottom of the Empire Porky Building, Flint in addition to the main party head down to the Empire Porky Building Underground. Flint then explains that there is something difficult Lucas needs to know, and then runs on alone until reaching the strange dimension where the final Needle is located. When Lucas catches up to him, he has lost his signature hat and it is revealed to the player that he is bald underneath his hat. When spoken to, he reveals that the Masked Man is actually Claus, saying he had finally found Lucas's brother after all these years. At the plateau where the Needle stands, he tries to communicate with the Masked Man during the final battle, but is severely injured by the Masked Man's usage of PK Love Ω twice. After the battle, he asks Lucas to forgive his "hasty brother" and to pull the seventh and last needle.
Many fans have theorized that there is a connection between Flint and Ness, due in large part to Flint having possessed the Courage Badge. Shigesato Itoi explained that this was intentionally left open-ended, so that players who thought there was a connection "could go on thinking it if they liked." Nindori.com interview with Shigesato Itoi, translated
===Game data===
====Brute Force====
Brute Force is a set of battle skills which are Flint's special non-PSI ability. They all are related to the Flint's sheer physical force, they are:
*Swing: Hits all enemies with a slightly lower accuracy than the standard attack, but lacks combo ability.
*Power Smash: The strongest of Flint's attacks. It will miss often, but deals a powerful hit if successful.
*Strengthen Up: Raises Flint's offense.
*Toughen Up: Raises Flint's defense.
==In the series==
Flint appears as a in Super Smash Bros. Brawl which can be used by Lucas and Ness. When applied, it increases their attack power by 4.
Flint also makes an appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a Spirit. Flint's spirit is primarily an attack type Spirit. In the Spirit Battle, his puppet fighter is who starts off with a Franklin Badge.
==Gallery==
Flint.png|Flint|Flint's regular appearance.
FlintSooty.png|Soot|Flint covered in soot.
FlintSootyHead.png|Soot|Flint with his head covered in soot.
FlintHatless.png|Hatless|Flint's hatless appearance.
Flint EB64.jpg|150px|Flint as he would have appeared in EarthBound 64.
==Trivia==
*Various unused elements in the game imply Flint would have accompanied Lucas through Chapter 4 and onward instead of Boney. Evidence includes unused sprites for dodging the Railway train in the second player slot, viewable using debug mode, and scrapped dialogue dialogue, including whoever is in the second party slot telling Lucas to not leave Murasaki Forest and dialog from Mapson at the ropeway greeting Flint and Lucas. https://tcrf.net/Mother_3/Unused_Text
**This adds up with what has been seen of his much more prominent role in EarthBound 64.
**Flint was planned to have a role in the White Ship story. In the final game, Flint isn't mentioned during Leder's speech. https://www.tcrf.net/Prerelease:Mother_3/Differences#Story
*If spoken to multiple times after losing his hat, Flint will make a comment surrounding his baldness.
*In an unused cutscene in which Flint talks with Kumatora, Duster and Lucas during their elevator trip down to the Empire Porky Building Underground, Flint talks about how he believes Hinawa is still watching over them and that he is certain that Claus is still alive and that he will continue to look for him. He then tells Lucas that he will always be behind him the entire wayhttps://tcrf.net/Mother_3/Unused_Text.
==References==