Poo

"My name is Poo. I am the one who will fight beside you. I am the servant of Ness. I will obey Ness. Ness! My life is in your hands."

— Poo

Poo (プー, Pū^?) is a playable character in EarthBound. He is the fourth and final playable character to join Ness. Poo has a wide variety of offensive and defensive PSI, along with being decent at attack and defense, and has a noticeable resistance to PSI Fire and PSI Freeze. His drawback is that he can only equip items from the "of Kings" set (the Diadem of Kings, the Cloak of Kings, the Sword of Kings and the Bracer of Kings). Poo cannot use any weapons except his fists, the yo-yos, Slingshots (both of which lower his attack) and a weapon exclusive to his use, the Sword of Kings. He has a unique ability called mirror, which allows him to become any enemy in the game during battles, with the notable exception of bosses.

Poo undergoes on a special diet, meaning that he can't eat any Western-style foods and thus recovers only a few hit points or psychic points from ingesting such items. However, he can drink bottles of water to recover much more psychic points than other characters would, and Eastern foods more effectively restore his HP than they do for any other character. Despite this aversion to Western food, Poo is a very good friend to Ness. At the end of their journey, he says "PSI Farewell!", and then uses PSI teleport β to teleport back to Dalaam. Ness can then meet him again to Dalaam, and Poo will congratulate him once their quest is over.

Biography

As the Crown Prince of Dalaam, he has undergone strict martial arts training. Poo is first introduced after Ness eats the Magic Cake, and he completes his training by meditation, which he maintains despite a spirit breaking various parts of his body. Poo then teleports to Summers and declares his allegiance to Ness. Poo is taken from the party after they come up from the exit of the Pyramid in Scaraba by the Star Master, who shows him the powerful PSI Starstorm α, which he uses to defeat Master Barf after his sudden arrival. Poo is a solemn dedicated warrior, but is loyal to his friends and bringing peace to the world. Interestingly enough, Poo is very popular with the girls in Dalaam.

Physical Appearance

One of his most notable physical features is his hairstyle, the queue. It is a hairstyle that originates from China and Mongolia and was worn by nomadic groups like the Xiongnu and Manchurians. The hairstyle has been worn from the 3rd century BC up to the early 19th century^[1]. His eyebrows are very arched, giving him an angry looking appearance. Both his eyebrows and hair are black in color.

In terms of clothing, he wears a nearly all white outfit, reminiscent of many martial arts uniforms with oddly puffed up pants and black shoes. Along with this, he wears a black belt along his waist, used most often in East Asian martial arts to symbolize competency and/or a high skill level in their respective martial art.^[2]

Battle Tips

In battle, Poo is pretty interesting. Poo's best stats come with his Speed and Luck, often outpacing fellow party member Paula, as well as faster enemies. Poo's PSI catalog is also a hybrid of Ness's and Paula's powers. He is able to use recovery powers Lifeup and Healing, along with offensive powers Freeze and Thunder. Poo's HP is also better compared to Paula and Jeff, but is a far second to Ness. However, Poo's ultimate weaknesses come with his naturally weak Offense and IQ, leading him to inflict lower physical damage and have less total PP. His Dalaamese diet can also annoy newcomer players who are prone to using healing items. Despite this, Poo is a very versatile character in Ness's party.

In the Super Smash Bros. Series

In Super Smash Bros. Melee

Poo appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee, with the text

Poo, the crown prince of the mysterious eastern country of Dalaam, joined Ness after completing rigorous training in his home country. While he doesn't stand out among Ness's friends, his vast experience and strong willpower make him a key to their success. Poo can assume the form of an enemy to gain its powers.

• EarthBound 6/95

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Poo appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a sticker. Attaching this sticker to the bottom of Ness or Lucas's trophies in The Subspace Emissary increases their PK attack by 9.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Poo appears with Paula when Ness uses PK Starstorm. He also appears as a Spirit, where he is represented by Ryu in his white costume. The stage is Skyworld, as a reference to Dalaam. He also appears as a profile picture for your online tag.

Trivia

• Using the Don't Care naming option, possible names for Poo are "Poo", "Kato", "Kai", "Omar", "Ramin", "Aziz", and "Lado". In the Japanese version, possible names for Poo are "プー (Poo)", "べんぱつ (Pigtail)", "しんご (Shingo), "ジョージ (George)", "チンパ (Chimpa)", "キノピオ (Kinopio)" and "ふせ (Fuse)".
  • In Japan:
    • Kinopio is the Japanese name for Toad, a character in the Super Mario Bros series.
• In Mother 3, when Lucas is trying to enter Club Titiboo, Kumatora, in her Violet disguise, claims that his name is Poo in order to get him in.
• Poo can use PSI Freeze (except Ω) and PSI Thunder, but not PSI Fire.
• Poo can use all recovery moves in EarthBound, except Lifeup Ω, which is exclusive to Ness.
• It is possible that his last name is "Dalaam", due to him being the prince of the country and also because it's a monarchy.
• Despite the description of the food item "Bowl of rice gruel" saying it's a staple food of Dalaam, Poo only recovers 6 HP from it. This might be because of his royalty and refuses to eat "low class" food.

References