Mother 3/Characters/Lucas

Lucas (リュカ, Ryuka) is a character in the Mother/Earthbound series of RPGs published by Nintendo and created by Japanese video game designer Shigesato Itoi. The character serves as the main playable protagonist of Mother 3, the third and last game in the series. He also appears as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl where he is voiced by Lani Minella.

Lucas is depicted as a young boy with blonde hair who resides in the fictional Tazmily Village located on the Nowhere Islands. His family consists of parents Flint and Hinawa, his twin brother Claus, and his dog Boney. In Mother 3, Lucas develops psychic abilities referred to as PSI, which he uses in order to battle the Pigmask Army, forces led by antagonist Porky Minch that take control of the village and islands.

Creation and conception

Lucas was created by EarthBound series creator Shigesato Itoi. Lucas and his twin brother Claus are based and named after the twin characters from Agota Kristof's novel The Notebook. Though Mother 3 features five "main" playable characters in addition to Lucas, Itoi has stated that Lucas is the most important.

Lucas has blonde hair, a red and yellow striped shirt, and is capable of using PSI, a magical ability found in other games in the series. He is characterized as a crybaby during the first few chapters, but matures once the game reaches Chapter 4 and after he aides in fighting the Pigmask Army.

Appearances

Mother 3 is the only title that Lucas stars in. The game begins with Lucas and his brother Claus as prepubescent children, visiting their grandfather with their mother, Hinawa. Upon leaving, it switches perspectives to his father, Flint. During the first chapter, Hinawa is killed and Claus goes missing, owing their fates to a mechanized Drago, a normally gentle creature. The game's perspective switches between other main characters at this point. He later gets over his crybaby nature when he assists four allies, namely Duster, Kumatora, Salsa, and Wess, against the Pigmask Army, becoming the main character for the remainder of the game. As Lucas and Boney reunite with Duster and Kumatora, the four of them battle the Pigmask Army and attempt to pull all seven needles, which will revive a Dark Dragon resting under the islands. He must race with a mysterious person called The Masked Man to do so.

Lucas was featured in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a newcomer playable character. He has unique physical moves, while his special moves are based on Ness', the protagonist of Mother 3's predecessor. He was originally going to replace Ness in Super Smash Bros. Melee, but due to the delays and eventual cancellation of EarthBound 64, Masahiro Sakurai decided to keep Ness. There was debate whether Lucas would replace Ness in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, or if they would be playable together due to the similarity in their movesets and the fact that he was going to replace him in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Ness was eventually confirmed to be playable as well. He received multiple trophies and a sticker.