Varik is the main protagonist of the EarthBound Halloween Hack. He replaces Ness. However, unlike Ness, he is not psychic and uses magic instead. He comes from Brandish.
Appearance[]
Varik's appearance is the same as in Brandish, with the exception of red hair, which was made red due to SNES's color limitations/28 years.
Personality[]
Toby Fox noted that Varik is supposed to be a blank slate and have whatever personality the player wants him to have, even through he has unintentionally given him some personality in the hack's ending. Varik likes to drink alcohol as mentioned during the very beginning of the game.
Connection to Ness[]
Varik is hinted at being Ness several times in the hack:
- The game over screen still shows Ness, rather than Varik. Toby stated that this was initially a way to make himself look lazy, but eventually became intentional.
- An old lady in Twoson mentioned a boy who saved the world from Giygas but refers to him as Varik instead of Ness before stating the name didn't sound right.
- The scene where Varik climbed into Dr. Andonuts's Machine defined him as being "Giygas destroyer".
- The place where Ness's statue should be in the museum is missing a statue, has text relating to Varik and Varik can climb on the top of it.
- There is a Ness in Magicant, who's confused about Varik's and his identity.
- Dr. Andonuts claims Varik reminded him a lot of his "son's friend".
- In the Onnett level a memory of Ness' mom talks to Varik as if she is his mother and confusedly questions if he is her son.
- If Varik reaches a certain level, there's an increased chance that he randomly gets homesick like Ness. However, due to not having an in-game mother to call in order to cure this status as a kid told Varik that his mother died, this is very difficult to heal, unless a Fresh Egg in his inventory hatches into a Chick. (Contrary to popular belief, this method actually works.)
- Varik has no family or real bonds in the story which has lead to a popular theory. While never confirmed, it is possible Varik is an alternate or future version of Ness, given that the hack implies he is a young adult, that found a way to return to the year 199X. This would explain the many characters that confuse him for Ness and his lack of clear memories for his friends and family.
Trivia[]
- All of Varik's ultimate equipment comes from Brandish and Brandish 2: The Sol Armor, the Star Shield, and the Planet Buster.
- Varik doesn't have any diagonal sprites, as opposed to the main protagonist of Arn's Winter Quest, a hack Toby made before the Halloween hack. They were likely omitted to support the hack's overall lazy feeling.
| EarthBound Halloween Hack Characters | |
|---|---|
| Main Characters | Varik ● Dr. Andonuts |
| Enemies | Amalgamate ● Anxiety Attack ● Brain Buster ● Desperate Survivor ● Evil Ecto ● Giegue League ● Monster ● Overrecycled ● Psycho Psource ● Remember Me? ● Transdimension Terminate ● Vladula ● Uberhaunt |
| Bosses | NO, NO, NO ● Dearkhart ● Phase Destrortur ● Dr. Andonuts |