When does Ness show up in The Notebook trilogy? « General Discussion « Forum

Bokee

Hi there! My name is Bokee, and I come with a question—when does Ness show up in The Notebook trilogy? The Notebook, The Proof, and The Third Lie is a trilogy of books written by Agota Kristof and is the inspiration for MOTHER 3. However, I also hear that it inspired EarthBound too, and I was wondering if Ness was named after a character in it too. I been reading and made it to The Proof, and I yet to find Ness. I guess it could be Mathias? I’m not so sure…Oh well. Please, I just want to know! I’m tired of reading!

Drake Inferno
Court-recognized cheese yoinker

Well, about that… I haven’t read the series through myself, but I know enough about it to tell you you aren’t going to find a Ness or analogue thereof. Ness’s name is based on the NES like Ninten’s is on Nintendo. And while there are some parallels between Agota Kristof’s books and Mother 3, including the names of the twins, it should be noted that they’re not at all similar in tone and it’s not very likely that the game was significantly based on the books. The tone certainly doesn’t match, but I’m sure you probably already see that much. Mother 3 has its moments, but the Notebook trilogy is DARK.

What is love, if not sharing food with someone, and then running away from that someone,
as they chase after you, shouting “That was my food, give me back my food”?

StarstorDandee

Having read the books, I can confirm that Ness, or anyone he could be based on, does not appear in the trilogy at all.

Generally The Notebook trilogy is attributed to have inspired multiple elements in MOTHER 3. It is confirmed that it inspired the names of the twins, and it is possible that it inspired an unused scene where Hinawa seems to be killed by a bomb, just as the twins' mother did in the first book. People associate a number of other things, too. When you read the third book (The Third Lie), you will probably see a few more strong similarities too, which I will not spoil for you here.

However, in my opinion, most of these similarities are superficial. Although you have twins with the same names, a boy with a limp, and the things in the third book… Well, they are not really meaningful, in my opinion. There is no similarity in the tone, the message…

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