Mother Director Finally Reveals Where The Name Came From

thegamer.com:

Director of the Mother series Shigesato Itoi has finally told the story of where the name for the iconic RPG series comes from, and it's not as simple as the other explanations that have spread over the years.

Speaking in a recent blog post, Itoi says that the name stems from the fact that he didn't have a relationship with his own mother, meaning the word always held a special significance to him. He goes into detail about how his parents' divorce when he was young influenced the naming of the series, as the word "mother" has stuck with him throughout his life.

"I'm sure I've explained this many times before, and people probably don't ask anymore because they figure they already know why. And yet, all of a sudden I found myself wondering: did I ever have a real reason to use the title MOTHER?", writes Itoi.

"I'm 75 now, but in contrast to my big age, my answer was quite simple," he says. "I think I just wanted to say MOTHER. Maybe I just wanted to shout 'mom' for all the world to hear [...] I'm pretty sure that's my answer."

Itoi continues, explaining why the word "mother" was on his mind so much. "Ever since I was a kid, I kind of forbade myself from thinking about the idea of 'mother.' My parents divorced before I was old enough to remember, and growing up without a mom was just a given. [...] I was okay not having a relationship with my mom, and I got used to growing up without her. It's been decades at this point, but I wonder if that lack of feeling toward my mother was putting some kind of strain on my heart.

"And at last, I finally found the opportunity to shout that word I had forbade myself from saying: 'mother.'"

Mother is called EarthBound outside of Japan. However, since the third game was exclusive to Japan, we only know it as Mother 3.

Itoi's confirmation as to how he came up with the name Mother comes just after Mother 3's long-awaited Nintendo Switch port. Unfortunately, much like the original game, the port is exclusive to Japan, and won't be