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"Wha-! Oh! You woke me up... Pokey! I've been looking all over for you... You see, Pokey got scared and ran away... Well, I'm glad that you're okay at least... Let's go home now. I bet Mom and Dad are worried sick about us. Geez! Sometimes I wonder which one of us is the real big brother."
— Picky Minch

Picky Minch is a character in EarthBound. He is a boy from the suburbs of Onett, the son of Aloysius Minch and Lardna Minch, and the younger, though far more mature brother of Pokey Minch. He is the youngest member of the Minch family. He plays a small role during the beginning of the game when he is lost on the mountain behind Onett. Picky temporarily swears his allegiance to Ness's party after the latter finds him on the mountain and Ness brings him home. Unlike Pokey, Picky provides some small aid to Ness in battle during this initial part of the game, although his attacks only cause 1 point of damage (unless he gets a SMAAASH!! attack), and sometimes he can "chant a magic spell", having no effect on the battle at all.

After Ness brings him home, he stays in front of a bed on the second story of his family's house for the remainder of the game. It is also implied that Picky alongside Porky ended up severely punished by their father for "causing Ness trouble", either by being yelled at or by being repeatedly spanked depending on the version of the game. He and his mother, Lardna Minch, also stay behind when his brother Pokey and his father go to Fourside. Like Lardna, he has no clue as to why his father and brother left. Once Pokey steals the helicopter, however, if you return to the Minch's home Picky is alone in his house with Lardna no where to be seen. He later appears in Magicant, where he complains to Ness that his snack was stolen from him by Pokey. At the end of the game he gives Ness a letter written by Pokey Minch telling him to find him if he can. Picky then wonders "where his brother is now..."

Trivia[]

  • Picky's in-game sprite has an 'M' on his shirt, while the shirt of his clay model is adorned by a 'P'. This is because the developers saved memory space by making the north and south walking animations of every character (except Ness's southward walking animation) simply mirror one sprite to face a given direction (hence the reason why one foot is always raised in the air). Since Picky's last name is "Minch" and Mother's name, which both start with the symmetrical "M", the graphical change worked out.
  • Picky bears an extremely close resemblance to Bateau from Mother 3, although it is unknown if they are related in any way.
  • Picky is implied to be the only person that Pokey truly cares about, besides Ness.

Gallery[]

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