Onett

Location from EarthBound by Shigesato Itoi / Nintendo

The first town — a sleepy American suburb where the adventure begins with a meteorite crash and ends with alien invasion, all under the watch of an incompetent police force.

Onett is home. It smells like cut grass and hamburgers. The library has maps of EarthBound. The arcade was taken over by the Sharks gang until Ness cleaned them out. The police force answers to Captain Strong, who fights Ness in his office to test whether the kid deserves to leave town. The town sign reads: 'Local survey shows most popular career among kids in Onett is adventurer.' Later in the game, Onett is invaded by Giygas's forces — the streets go dark, powerful enemies roam, and the once-safe hometown becomes one of the most dangerous areas. The meteorite that started everything still sits on the hill. Ness's mom still makes steak. The juxtaposition of suburban normalcy and cosmic horror is EarthBound's thesis statement, and Onett is where it's written clearest.

Appearance

Bright green hills, thick forests, winding paths. A small suburban town with houses, a library, an arcade, a burger shop, and a drugstore. The northern hills hold Ness's house, the Minch house, Lier X. Agerate's place, and the meteorite crater. Giant Step looms in the caves to the west.

Also known as: One-tt

What They Know

• First town — name comes from 'one' plus Swedish 'ett' (also meaning one)
• Giant Step is the first Your Sanctuary location, found in the caves northwest of town
• The Sharks gang operated out of the arcade until Ness defeated Frank Fly
• Captain Strong commands the police and fights Ness as a boss to open the road to Twoson
• The meteorite that carried Buzz Buzz crashed on the hilltop north of town
• Later invaded by Giygas's forces — Ghost of Starman and other powerful enemies roam the streets
• Cannot be reached by bus — the only major town not connected to the bus route

Connections

• home_of — ness
• home_of — pokey-minch
• home_of — lier-x-agerate
• home_of — frank-fly
• connects_to — twoson

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