Mother 3/Unused Graphics
This is a sub-page of Mother 3.
 | To do: Many graphics still need to be ripped and posted. |
 | Backgrounds A dazzling gallery of backgrounds, with added effects included. |
Contents
Unused Battle Sprites
Since they cannot be approached from behind, many bosses and mini-bosses have unused back sprites. They include the Strawberry Slime, the Cactus Wolf, the Forlorn Junk Heap, the Surprise Box, the Almost Mecha-Lion, the Steel Mechorilla, Master Eddy, and the Firefly.
The Masked Man also has a "back sprite" during the first fight with him, which shows him unmasked. It's similar to the one where he reveals his true identity, but still holding his arm cannon. It's notable that he doesn't hold a sword. It's most likely that this was the original sprite used for when he removes his mask.
This enemy, Alkaline Man, is an extremely interesting and original palette swap of Battery Man. He is sadly unused, and thus we never get to see his wonderful sprites.
An unused mini-boss called the Tiny Forest. According to unused Battle Memory text, it was meant to be fought in the Mole Cricket Hole.
An unused bear sprite with some honey on his claws and teeth. In the game, an item named Honey Shower allows you to summon bees to hit enemies, but sometimes the narration says that a bear showed up instead; no bears actually appear graphically, though. This bear is associated to enemy 00, an enemy that can't be fought.
A palette swap of a Navy SQUEAL. This Pigmask is associated to enemy 100, an enemy that can't be fought because of how the RAM handles enemies. (MAX value FF) This can be seen by using
this branch of Jeffman's Funland. This is also the last enemy with a sprite.
Unused Character Sprites
Party Members
Claus
An animation of Young Claus climbing.
Young Claus pulling on something & falling over. Originally intended for the early version of the "F-F-Fire!" scene.
Young Claus playing Stone-Sheet-Clippers, used in the unused Masked Man flashbacks.
Unused sprites of Young Claus knocked out in different directions.
An unused sprite of a fallen Young Claus without his shoes. Although he does lose his shoes in the final game, they still appear on his fallen sprite.
Unused sprite of post-timeskip Claus just sitting.
Unused sprites for Claus in his Commander outfit. In the final, only a down-facing one is used.
Unused walking animations of Claus in his Commander outfit.
Unused talking animations for Claus in his Commander outfit.
Flint
Unused directions for Flint ramming. The up and left animations are used in-game.
Unused burnt variants of Flint walking while K.O.'d. In the final game, Flint is the only playable party member during the forest fire, which prevents you from viewing these.
Charred variants also exist, and just like the burned ones, these also go unused.
Unused burnt variants of Flint talking. Due to Flint being the sole protagonist while he is covered in soot, he never talks.
Unused charred variants of Flint talking. The top-left and top-right animations' second frame is one pixel off-center.
Unused sprites of burnt Flint crouching in all manners of directions.
Another set of kneeling Flint, but he's only charred this time.
Unused animation of Flint looking up. The final game has Flint angled to look at the top-right during the cliff scene. Note this animation matches the N64 version of the cliff scene.
Flint hopping & stabbing downwards with the Drago Fang. This could be a number of things, but it's most likely connected to the Mecha-Drago.
An animation exists of Flint clinging to the airship at the end of Chapter 5 who, according to the Mother 3 (EarthBound 64) trailer at Spaceworld 1999, would have replaced Kumatora in the party at this point in the game.
Unused animation of Flint talking while crouched.
Unused animation of Flint tipping his hat lower than usual, almost taking it off.
Unused animation of Flint knocking.
Unused animation of Flint doing... something. It almost looks like the pushing sprites Lighter & Isaac have in Chapter 1.
Another weird unused Flint animation of him talking while doing some weird pose.
Unused animation of Flint sleeping.
Unused sprite of Flint dodging the train. This is actually fully functional by putting him in the second party-member slot using debug and bringing him to the train in Chapter 4.
Unused animation of Flint walking to the right while holding a piece of wood. Found with the sprites for the campfire scene before Ollie being hit, it suggests Flint would've walked to Ollie in order to attack him.
Unused animation of Flint doing either an uppercut or jumping.
Unused animation of Flint looking up & walking.
Unused animation of Flint looking up & just... floating up? The final two sprites are moved up a pixel.
Unused animation of Flint talking while looking up.
Apparently an unused sprite of an unconscious Flint, very similar to its hatless counterpart.
Unused sprites of a hatless Flint standing, with angles never seen in-game.
Unused animations of a hatless Flint walking in multiple directions. In the final, Flint never walks while hatless.
Unused animations of a hatless Flint talking in multiple different directions. In the final, he only talks facing down.
Unused sprite of a hatless Flint crouching. He kneels similarly in Chapter 8, but never in this direction.
Unused sprite of an unconscious Flint without his hat. Probably intended for the aftermath of an attack by the Masked Man.
Duster
Animations of Duster using the wall staples... without the staples.
A weird animation of Duster talking while doing some weird pose, which matches the unused Flint one mentioned previously.
Animation of Duster getting electrocuted & collapsing onto the ground. Originally intended for Chapter 5, as a frame of it can still be seen in the credits.
Duster sleeping. The first half is used in the second unused attract animation and his naming screen.
Alternate animation of Duster sleeping.
Unused diagonal variant of the Rope Snake animation.
Two animations of Duster holding onto a rope, which both match up to animations Rope Snake also has, used in Chapters 5 & 7. This animations are found in an earlier sprite bank (Bank 0, Character 1E7) than all the Rope Snake graphics (Bank 0, Character 1F9). This suggests that Rope Snake might not have existed at one point, & instead Duster used rope.
Sprites for Duster in his DCMC outfit with the second, black wig.
Animations for Duster talking in the same outfit.
An unused animation of Duster seemingly being teleported. Matches Kumatora's.
Kumatora
Unused sprites of Violet kneeling.
Unused animation of Kumatora teleporting. Unused Memo text mentions PSI being able to assist with transportation, which possibly relates to these sprites. Kumatora is also using an unused design, possibly her early post-timeskip design.
Unused animation of older Kumatora yelling with her early design.
Another unused animation with older Kumatora in her early design, yet again. This graphic shows her throwing something or probably using some sort of PSI power in a cutscene.
Salsa
Tiny sprites of Salsa. Since they're in the same style as the small player sprites during the refrigerator scene, it's possible that Salsa would have originally been in the party during Snowcap Mountain or might have had more of a longer role somewhere in Chapter 7.
Fuel
Unused burnt variations of sprites for Fuel stuck in his burning house.
Unused sprite of post-timeskip Fuel closing his eyes. Other NPCs do blink, but they have multiple directional sprites for it. Fuel only has a down-facing one.
Alec
A weird animation of Alec picking something up? Maybe Claus' shoe?
Wess
These sprites would be used in the overworld if Wess were to be unconscious. As this can never happen (due to him being a non-playable party member), this set of sprites go unused. By editing a save file to set his HP to 0, these sprites can be seen.
Interestingly, Wess seems to be the only non-playable party member with such sprites. This might be a remnant of Wess' original playable party member role, as seen in the N64 version.
Wess does have a rocking chair in his house, but he never sits in it.
At the end of Chapter 2, there is a graphic that closely resembles to this unused one, but it lacks the bubble. This animation is used in the second unused attract mode cutscene.
NPCs
Hinawa
Unused animation of Hinawa pulling on something & falling over. Originally intended for the early version of the "F-F-Fire!" scene. These also match the unused Claus animations.
Unused animation of Hinawa talking while pointing at something.
Unused animation of Hinawa's ghost turning around. A variant exists with her bottom-half missing, probably meant to be used for Chapter 6.
Unused animation of Hinawa's ghost putting her arms out.
Unused animation of Hinawa's ghost disappearing.
Unused animation of what appears to be a mad Hinawa's ghost.
Lighter
Unused animations of Lighter swinging his Lumber in different directions.
Lighter looking back & talking.
Animation of Lighter falling.
Bronson
Sprites of Bronson crouching in multiple different directions. When Bronson is loaded as a party member, this plays as his pre-run sprite, which is only reserved for party members. Maybe Bronson was a guest member originally?
Sprites of Bronson blinking in multiple different directions. When Bronson is loaded in-game as a party member, it plays as his idle animation. Supporting the idea that Bronson was in your party at some point.
Unused animation of Bronson punching to the side.
Unused sprites of Bronson unconscious. Could be used for anywhere, maybe Chapter 1?
Unused animation of Bronson breathing. Probably a part of the punching animation above.
A pretty strange animation of Bronson bending over, closing his eyes, and most likely talking.
Unused sprite of Bronson ducking. Probably a part of the campfire scene.
Unused set of sprites for Bronson crouching in his worker outfit.
Brainwashed NPCs
These are very creepy animations of Bud, Lou, Jackie, Lighter, Abbot, and Isaac. Due to the characters facing only one direction, they weren't meant to be talked to casually and were meant for a cutscene, likely in Chapter 8. Since it is indicated in Chapter 8 that Porky has a method of brainwashing people, it is likely that many of the Tazmily villagers were meant to be brainwashed. It's noted that Isaac becomes a Pigmask voluntarily in the final rendition of Chapter 8, so the brainwashing could've taken before Lucas and co's arrival, or Isaac becoming a Pigmask was a late change.
Other NPCs
Unused animations of Jonel struggling to stop Flint during the Campfire scene. This, along with an earlier table of that scene shows that Jonel was originally the one telling Flint about Hinawa's death, and trying to stop him instead of Bronson.
Two matching sprites of a shocked Jonel; one for his regular outfit and another for his work uniform. Note how there is white in Jonel's eyes, which is something that isn't even present on his unused sprites for the Campfire scene.
A weird sprite of Brenda either screaming or sticking out her tongue.
Butch eating an entire loaf of bread.
This animation is of Bateau knocking on a door. It resembles Thomas' knocking animation that is used in the first chapter. This animation is actually used in the second unused attract mode cutscene.
8 Animations for post-timeskip Angie running, each in a different direction. Their purpose is unknown.
A very similar unused sprite to Fuel's of Angie closing her eyes. Note Fuel and Angie are using their older designs, and that they both work together at the bakery.
Unused sprite of Ollie absolutely destroyed, with his glasses fallen off.
Unused sprite of Matt seemingly laying unconscious.
Unused sprites of Mike in the worker uniform. In the final game, he lives in the Old Man's Paradise, which means he doesn't ever work in the Factory.
A full set of unused crouching sprites for Jackie in his worker uniform.
Unused sprites of Bud kneeling.
Bud... with an AXE! This was meant for the unused Attract mode.
More unused crouching worker sprites, this time for Bud.
A matching set of crouching sprites for Lou.
Unused matching sprites of Paul & Linda, which seems to be of them kissing each other.
Unused animations of Biff fishing, losing the catch, & leaving. Seeing how he only walks in one direction, this might be intended for the attract mode?
An apparently unused sprite of Biff laughing. Or maybe he's in shock.
Unused animation of Elmore pushing on something.
Unused sprite of half of Elmore's head--maybe for sitting in a seat?
Two very similar sprites of what seem to be OJ & Baccio laying on the ground. Note the other D.C.M.C. members don't have these.
A pair of animations of Andonuts falling/crawling out of his trash can.
Dr. Andonuts entering his trash can, probably related to the two animations above.
Walking & talking animations for a generic old-guy wearing Lucky's wig. This might explain why Duster wears a black wig in Chapter 8.
Unused sprites of the Item Guy's tent pitched to the ground.
Sprites exist of the Item Guy's cart door open, revealing a person inside. According to an unused memo, this was meant to be a healer.
Sprites exist of the Dryer Chimera inflating.
Magypsies
Found in Aeolia's graphic bank, unused animations of an early design for them. The walking & talking forwards is missing a frame that was overwritten with the final design.
Found in Phrygia's graphic bank are an early design for them walking & talking. Walking is missing a frame in each direction, & two of the talking sprites seem to have been partially overwritten and missing a frame as well.
Enemies
Pigmasks
Unused animation of the Pigmask Captain trying (and failing) to pull something from the ground
Unused animation of the Pigmask Captain emerging from the water, almost loops perfectly.
Unused animations of the Pigmask Captain & Major picking something up from the ground. Its left shoulder has a hole in it.
Unused animations of a Periscope found within the Navy SQUEAL's graphic's bank. In the final, they never have a periscope.
Follow-up animation of a Navy SQUEAL popping up from the water, which plays immediately after the previous one.
Follow-up animation of a Navy SQUEAL which plays immediately after the previous one.
Master Eddy
Sprites of Master Eddy facing in the other 3 cardinal directions. He only faces upwards in the final due to his positioning, which leaves these sprites unused.
Sprites of Master Eddy drawing the party in with a whirlpool. Same as above, these go unused due to the position you encounter him from.
Barrier Trio
The Barrier Trio walking in multiple different directions. In the final, they stay stationary in the same pose, & never look forward.
A member of the Barrier Trio facing forward and moving its hips. Same as above, they don't even animate in the final game.
An odd animation of the back Barrier Trio, looks like it's readying up?
Masked Man
An unfinished looking animation of the Masked Man walking with his sword drawn.
Unused animation of the Masked Man shooting his arm cannon to the side.
Unused animation of the Masked Man collapsing & exploding. While the first half is used in the final game after defeating him at Chupichupyoi Temple, the second half of him exploding goes completely unused.
Unused animation of the Masked Man being lifted or floating. It seems to follow the previous animation, and it pairs well with the animation of the Pigmasks picking up something from the ground.
A very interesting unused sprite of the Masked Man being repaired, seemingly after exploding. It's possible it was meant as a background detail in Chapter 8.
Porky
Animation of an early Porky...floating. Which is weird, as the spider mech existed back during development of the N64 version. Perhaps it was changed back to the spider mech later in GBA development?
More animations of the early Porky closing/opening his pod. Note that, while the sprite editor shows it closing, in-game it's opening.
Possible talking animation for the early Porky design.
The early Porky wobbling in his floating contraption before floating back up.
Early Porky falling from the ground, breaking the glass from his contraption all over the floor.
Follow up to the previous animation, Porky struggling after falling to the ground. Possibly calling the Absolutely Safe Capsule?
Porkybots
Unused sprites for a Porkybot sitting and talking.
Unused animation of a Porkybot falling or stomping its foot.
Unused animation for a destroyed Porkybot.
An unused sprite of the destroyed Porkybot without the electric effects, and a completely destroyed Porkybot.
Unused animation of an early Porkybot shining its eyes. Maybe a form of brainwashing?
Unused animation of the same early Porkybot falling over & breaking apart.
Others
Some text that resembles the "End?" text that appears in the ending.
Found in the graphics bank for the Osohe Castle statue, graphics of an unused variant/early design for it exist.
Found in Bank 0 - Character 1F6, graphics of a trash can falling over. This might be related to the graphics of Andonuts falling over in the Trash Can.
A rocking chair that is found with the previous graphic of Wess.
An animation exists of the pig-shaped vending machines dispensing an item.
A dummy graphic, whose sprites are copied at least 24 times in the ROM, that is often used as the overworld sprite for unused enemies, such as the Tiny Forest. It resembles a Slime from the Dragon Quest series. Some of these sprites appears on an unused cutscene.
Another dummy graphic, depicting an immobile naked man, which could have been used as the placeholder for NPCs on the overworld. It appears if the party gets a game over when Kumatora is in the lead (impossible to happen without the use of the Debug room).
Unused Background Graphics
In Chapter 8, in the toilet dungeon, there is an inaccessible room which contains an unanimated toilet overflowing. The animation of it overflowing is loaded with the other room graphics.
An alternate sign for the Sheriff's Office exists, with more compact letters and a star.
Unused signs exist for the Yado Inn and Thomas's Bazaar with the name "Hotel & Saloon" and "General Store". For the "Hotel & Saloon", it's possible that the graphic could've been used somewhere in Chapter 3 as Tazmily Village starting to get modernized in Chapter 4. The Yado sign was probably meant to be displayed on the right side of the building, while the Bazaar sign "General Store" seems to be a leftover from the N64 version, where it was called "Thomas' General Store".
A sign that says "JUNGLE DOME" and has a bunch of arrows pointing up. It was possibly displayed right before the party entered the Hippo Launcher floor in the Empire Porky Building.
Larger, custom sprites exist for the Sky Runner, the Runaway Five tour bus, a taxi, and the Yellow Submarine in the Hall of Memories. In the final game, their sprites are directly taken from EarthBound.
A very jagged rock that wouldn't look out-of-place in an area such as Drago Plateau or the location of the final Needle.
A statue of Buddha.
A pig version of a bear skin rug.
Some text saying "MONSTER CHECK".
Some sort of pedestal. Possibly for holding a needle?
These are certainly graphics for something. They resemble the illustrated concept art for the game.
Miscellaneous unused graphics, including some numbers, the letter "F", and an unused "END" graphic.
More miscellaneous graphics, including a cardboard box, and what appears to be a pillow?
What appears to be a pile of papers, or a bush. People appear to be hiding inside of it.
Unused graphics for a "Pork Company".
Other Graphics
This is loaded while the game is showing Nowhere Islands in the intro. However, it's covered up by the body of water surrounding the islands, making it invisible unless the player uses an emulator's tile viewer. It says 仮, which means "temporary".
A low-quality picture of the Ostrich Burgers Historic Summit Inn Cafe on Route 66. It's possible that it was simply inserted into the game to test how the game displayed graphics. It seems to closely resemble the Dur-T Cafe found during the Highway section of Chapter 5.
These unused graphics are actually more remnants of the lost coupon mechanic!
A giant grey pig attached to a ship; likely an early Pigmask zeppelin. This would probably explain the "waste products" the party will find occasionally around Pigmask-occupied locations. Interestingly, the game's art director posted a concept art of an early Pork Tank that is similar to this without the body; just the head.
Smaller size variations for the crashing Pork Heli used in the ending sequence.
A weird yellow Pigmask. Interestingly, the "foot" of the left sprite is actually a fix for the Pigmask's left eyebrow, which uses the same bottom pixels as the right eyebrow. The right sprite shows what the Pigmask should look like with the eyebrow fix added. Yellow Pigmasks, outside of a mask Boney wears during the Chimera Lab sequence and the unused Navy SQUEAL palette swap above, do not exist in the final.
This game has an entire small kanji font for displaying names, but there is no way to input kanji, so it goes unused.
Credits Images
Six ending images go unused. The fourth image is optional and not the correct solution for that scene.
