Tony from EarthBound/Mother 2

Tony is the best friend and roommate of Jeff, one of Ness’s party members in EarthBound. He is rumored to have an unrequited crush on Jeff. This is evidenced by a letter Jeff reads at the end of the game (image below is a recreation from a fan site).

After the release of Mother 3, the series creatorsaid explicitly that Tony was meant to be a young gay character. The relevant part of the interview is translated here: “Itoi: Well, for example, there’s a gay person in MOTHER 2. A really passionate friend who lives in an England-like place. I designed him to be a gay child. In a normal, real-life society, there are gay children, and I have many gay friends as well. So I thought it would be nice to add one in the game, too.”

LGBTQ References in this series:

EarthBound/Mother 2 (1994): Tony

Mother 3 (2006): The Magypsies

See also QRM’s entry for this game series

Citations:

  1. Euthanasian. (2012, February 16). Unrequired Love: EarthBound’s Gay Tony. Gay Nerds. http://gay-nerds.com/site/videogames/unrequited-love-earthbounds-gay-tony/
  2. Mackie, D. (2009, April 12). Tony has to hide his love away. Back of the Cereal Box. http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2009/04/tony-has-to-hide-his-love-away.html
  3. Jaime M. (2013, April 22). EarthBound and the first gay Tony. Gay Gamer. http://gaygamer.net/2013/04/earthbound-and-the-first-gay-tony/
  4. Tony. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://earthbound.wikia.com/wiki/Tony
  5. Tony. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.wikibound.info/wiki/Tony
  6. Yes, Tony is gay. And Mr. Saturn is innocent. (2008, Jun 21). Earthbound Central. http://earthboundcentral.com/2008/06/yes-tony-is-gay-and-mr-saturn-is-innocent/