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"It was our Magypsy ancestors who sealed away the Dark Dragon. Magypsies have guarded the seven Needles for many generations since. But the Needles will be pulled when "the time" comes. And that time is now... The heart of the person who pulls the Needles will be passed on to the Dark Dragon. And then something big will happen... Something big enough to recreate the entire world."
Ionia

The Dark Dragon is a creature in Mother 3 that was put to sleep by the ancestors of the current Magypsies. It resides underneath the Nowhere Islands, and is described as being roughly the size of the islands.

An ancient time ago, the Dragon once lived in harmony with humans, but as time passed and as mankind grew advanced, their bond grew distant; as a result, the Dragon was put to sleep using seven Needles that are guarded by the current Magypsies because its power was too great for humans to control.

The Dragon itself is said to be the vessel of the power of the very earth itself, and, while its own powers are not described at length, its tremendous flow of energy allowing the continued existence and protection of the Nowhere Islands after the destruction of the world. Legends of the Dragon posit it being capable of even restoring the world after its end, as a testament to its untold and incredible power.

So long as the Dragon is asleep, the Nowhere Islands are free from disaster. A Magypsy prophecy, however, says that someday someone who can wake the Dragon will appear "when its power is needed." However, there is no precedent in who may wake the Dragon. As long as they have the power to pull the Needles, the Dragon will obey their intentions, good or evil. The examples set by the Magypsy Ionia to illustrate this are that "the fate of all evil [can] be washed away, and life as we know it will shine brightly," or "everything could be completely destroyed simply to satisfy wicked ambition." Shigesato Itoi has revealed a third possibility in an interview, that if the Dragon is summoned by a person with no heart (such as the Masked Man), then all life would simply cease to exist, including the Dark Dragon itself.[1] This was also briefly implied by Pokey during the final battle, where he admits that should the Masked Man, who literally lacked a heart, were to pull the needle, he'd probably end up wiping all of existence out before laughing insanely anyways.

As Lucas and the Masked Man continue to pull the Needles, the Dragon begins to stir in its rest. At the end of the game, after Lucas pulls the final Needle, a massive figure rises from the devastated Nowhere Islands, confirmed to be the Dark Dragon, and the world is entirely reborn.[1] Though the residents of the Islands claim to be alright, their ultimate fates are unknown.

There is absolutely no evidence on what the dragon completely looks like. Only two vague silhouettes are visible in-game.

Trivia[]

  • The final battle and Dark Dragon cutscene was originally meant to be much more vague and left to the imagination as to what is happening in EarthBound 64.[1]
  • Within the Forest Prayer Sanctuary, an emblem presumably representing the Dark Dragon can be found. Two dragons make up the image, referring to either of the wills, good or evil, the Dragon could follow.
    Dragons

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 http://mother3.fobby.net/interview/m3int_08.html Page 8 of a translated interview with Shigesato Itoi, held by Nintendo Dream magazine
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