Earthbound question do you name the characters canonically or give them new names

[JaminBean]

i have my own headcanon were i named them all fruit names

ness= Mac
paula= Raz
jeff= Wik
poo= Fig

mac is for macintosh a type of apple
raz is for razberry
wik is kiw backwards and if you add an i to the end is kiwi
fig is for fig

+ some art of mr saturn i made

 

[Neb]

I used to name them after people I knew in real life, but nowadays I just use the official English names for the characters.

 

[windloft]

I'm weird about getting the 'intended' experience for first time playthroughs, so I kept the kids' names as is - though I did change Ness's favorite food to Pasta. Because Pasta is Good.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

It’s a mix. Some characters I think have truly horrible names for themselves and so I change it to something better.

 

[Geoni]

With Earthbound/Mother 2 I usually go with default names but rename PK Rockin and favorite food to something else. With Mother 3 I will go with default names except Boney who I will rename after one of the dogs I grew up with. I'll keep PK Love but rename the food in this game as well.

Fun fact is that the creator of Mother 3 hoped kids would rename Hinawa after their actual mother because of reasons I won't spoil but it adds an extra layer to the experience I imagine.

Edit: I can't remember if you can rename characters in Mother 1 but I revisit that title less often than 2 and 3 due to how grindy it can get. Don't remember renaming Ninten though.

 

[-Blue-]

It really depends on the game. And if the main actually has a name. Some games they don't have names like Harvest Moon or Dragon Warrior 7 or is it Quest? His default name was just Hero from what I remember.

But for Earthbound and Mother 3 I left all of their names as they are.

 

[JulianSG16]

For Earthbound I’ve done both. My first go-around was with the defaults and I usually switch it up whenever I revisit it. …Which is often.

 

[DarthGohan1]

not an earthbound specific answer, but if there are official names for characters in a game that i can rename, i feel wrong not going with the official names

 

[LambdaDelta]

It’s a mix. Some characters I think have truly horrible names for themselves and so I change it to something better.

smh, what do you have against poo?

 

[Fridaynightcatlady]

I always give them different names! Usually my friend's names!