MOTHER 3 Handbook

What is the Mother 3 Handbook?

EarthBound, an SNES RPG known as MOTHER 2 in Japan, languished without a sequel until April 2006 when MOTHER 3 was released for the GBA. It soon became clear that the game was not going to be translated into English, so the fans took matters into their own hands with the Do it Yourself Devotion project.

In the summer of 2008, the fan translation patch was nearing completion and the folks at Fangamer were lamenting the fact that the game wouldn’t come with a players guide like EarthBound had. In keeping with the long tradition of EarthBound fans, they decided to do something about it.

On October 17, 2008, version 1.0 of the MOTHER 3 Fan Translation was released. In parallel with the fan translation, we began taking preorders for the MOTHER 3 Handbook. After a short delay, the Handbook was completed and released in late March 2009. Preorder customers were treated to custom-minted "Courage Badges", variants of which can now be purchased, alongside a digital copy of the Handbook.

Design

By far the most time-consuming and talent-heavy undertaking, the design of the MOTHER 3 Handbook was the work of Jon Kay, literally a one-man production studio. Throughout the project, Jon’s design sense was rivaled only by his work ethic. Rather than slapping each chapter into a template, he designed a completely custom theme for every chapter of the book, working late and sometimes completely forgoing sleep in lieu of a chapter deadline.

Jon’s iconic design work permeates each page, supported by countless logos and custom typeset features. His work not only creates a perfect harmony between the writing and art, but also nurtures emotional ties to the game which EarthBound fans can appreciate.

Clay Models

One of the defining features of the MOTHER2/EarthBound Players Guides was the clay models. Even today, 14 years after its release, fans of the series find new appreciation for the clay models which, unlike the in-game sprites, ‘age’ very gracefully and give the game an entirely new dimension that 2D artwork simply can‘t capture.

Camille Young (aka Meeellla), one of the EarthBound fan community’s oldest and most respected artists, agreed to tackle the daunting task of creating clay characters to decorate the Handbook. Starting in June 2008 and working until March 2009, Camille crafted, painted, and photographed a total of 55 characters and items. Her brother Steven Campos handled the editing, carefully ‘cleaning’ and preparing each model for inclusion in the guide.

Illustrations - characters

Knowing that it would be impractical (if not impossible) to create a clay model for every character and enemy in the guide, the team approached Emilio Orsi, a well-known and well-loved Italian artist from Starmen.Net. Emilio accepted the challenge, steadily drawing hundreds of characters in his clean, signature style.. Thanks to his gargantuan efforts, every page of the Handbook is adorned with faithful representations of MOTHER 3’s colorful characters.

Illustrations - inventory

The task of illustrating the more than 250 items scattered throughout MOTHER 3 was undertaken (in record time!) by Sebastian Hardy, an Englishman reknowned in the MOTHER community for a wit as quick as his sketches.

Writing

The writing of this 240-page behemoth was a task that could only be undertaken by a team of fans. Each of the 9 people involved in the book’s editing were careful to crawl through every corner of the game, unearthing the clues and treasures which lie buried throughout the World of MOTHER 3.