"After tasting defeat, this solider underwent intense training to power himself up."
— Battle Memory, second encounter
The Pork Trooper (コワモテブタマスク Kowamote Butamasuku; lit. "Scary Look Pigmask"), more commonly known as the Fierce Pork Trooper, is a high-ranking soldier in the Pigmask Army (although there are higher-ranked soldiers). He fights against Lucas and company twice during the game. He can also be seen at DCMC concerts.
The Fierce Pork Trooper is a muscular soldier who wears a short-sleeved pink Pigmask uniform altered to fit his bulky figure. The helmet is outfitted with horns and a facemask, and he also wears two large gold 'bracelets'.
When fought the second time, his uniform is now blue and long-sleeved with steel gauntlets fully covering his hands. The horns are much longer and more curved.
Personality[]
According to the Battle Memory, the Fierce Pork Trooper is a rather competent leader, as it states that he takes good care of his men. Like all Pigmasks, he is also a fan of DCMC.
In fact, he is shown to be one of their biggest fans, to the point where showing him DCMC-related items during battle will utterly mesmerize him to the point of forgetting that he's even fighting in the first place. This is a parallel to Master Belch from EarthBound and his weakness to Fly Honey.
He was most likely brainwashed by Porky.
Encounters[]
The Pork Trooper first appears at Club Titiboo in Chapter 4, where he attends the DCMC concert. When spoken to, he sniffs out Lucas (and the disguised Boney) as "some dog-smelling kid", but pays them no mind.
The next time he appears is on the Highway in Chapter 5, where he spots Lucas and company exiting a tunnel. Mistaking him and his party for his commander and fellow Pigmasks, the Pork Trooper gives the party a Pork Bean to traverse the highway with. He then reappears after the party drives it over a banana peel and crashes it, and he offers to replace it; at this point, however, his keen sense of smell reveals to him who the party really is (identifying Lucas as the "dog-smelling kid" from before), and he attacks them for "fooling" him. Upon defeat, he retreats using the spare Pork Bean.
The Pork Trooper reappears in Thunder Tower, and surprises the party as they prepare to climb to the top of the tower. He blows the party's cover (which, ironically, he was responsible for establishing when they first met) and reveals that he is prepared for a rematch, donning a "fiercer" blue outfit and declaring that it's "Handle With Care" time. However, he is defeated again and lets them through.
The Fierce Pork Trooper appears one last time in New Pork City in Chapter 8, where he attends the upcoming DCMC concert in his normal outfit. He will not challenge the party here, as he wants to focus on enjoying the show.
Battle[]
The Pork Trooper is a powerful physical fighter who uses his bulk and high Offense stat to great effect. His battle theme is the aptly-named Misplaced Revenge.
Highway[]
During the first battle, he can bum rush a party member for (relatively) low damage, swing both arms around for medium damage to multiple targets, and use a powerful swing that also does medium damage and may induce forgetfulness. He can also jump onto a target and punch away at them for several low-damage hits.
Like most Pigmasks, the Pork Trooper can say nasty and horrible things to a party member to lower their Offense. He can also raise his own Offense with a Bufferizer and restore health with a Bag of Pork Chips. He may waste a turn smelling one of the characters.
The Fierce Pork Trooper is weak against Fire, but has a much more crippling weakness to DCMC items; as mentioned before, showing him one will cause him to be mesmerized for a few turns, which he wastes by stewing in jealousy, before turning back to normal. Upon defeat, he drops a Pickled Veggie Plate.
In this batle, his battle sound is Battle Sound 39 which falls under Code Numbers 876 for regular attack, 877 for Smaaaash! and 878 for Miss.
Thunder Tower[]
The Fierce Pork Trooper and retains most of his initial attacks, save for the stat-changing moves. However, when damaged enough, his anger will peak, his Offense will rise, and his moveset will change. In addition to keeping the bum rush and jumping punch attacks, the Trooper may also go berserk and deal moderate damage to several targets; he may also waste turns beating his chest like a gorilla.
Despite his higher stats, the Fierce Pork Trooper still retains his weaknesses to fire attacks and DCMC items.
In this battle, his battle sound is Battle Sound 1 which falls under Code Numbers 439 for regular attack, 440 for Smaaaash! and 441 for Miss.
Trivia[]
Both versions of the Pork Trooper have unused sprites in the game's code, probably as placeholders for back sprites. One of them is the normal sprite just a bit more to the left and the other is a mirrored version of the second front sprite.
During the second encounter with the Pork Trooper, he refers to being in his "Handle With Care" time. This is a reference to the song, "Handle With Care", by the Traveling Wilburys, a band who included famous Beatles member, George Harrison.
The Pork Trooper was once planned to be a boss in Chapter 2. Most likely replacing the fight with the Clayman, A screenshot from EarthBound 64 shows Duster and Wess in battle with a Pork Trooper, In the sound player of Mother 3 the battle music of the Pork Trooper, Unfounded Revenge, is placed in Chapter 2, much earlier than it is first heard in-game.
The Unused Pork Trooper
The Pork Trooper is used as the name of an unused enemy in the game's data, suggesting that a third encounter was planned.
