Gaming’s Greatest Moms

Matthew Hadick
Games Super Mario
Games Super Mario Pokémon

Mothers have always gotten the short end of the stick in video games. They’re either seeing their children off, getting killed, going to the dark side, or suffering some other terrible fate. That said, they’re not all bad! In honor of Mother’s Day, we’re taking a look at some of the best, strangest, and most tragic mothers in all of gaming!

Ol’ Sweethearts

These moms are as sweet as apple pie. They’re supportive, helpful, and always there when you need them most. They set a great example for mothers everywhere, and are the kind of ladies we’re celebrating this Mother’s Day!

Mom (Pokémon)

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While some may question the fact that she allows her son or daughter to travel the world alone, searching the wilderness for wild beasts, there’s no denying the sweetness of mom from Pokémon. Her love is so powerful that every time you speak with her, she heals your entire party, without the need of any of that newfangled technology they use in the PokeCenters.

Mom (Animal Crossing)

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Though you never actually see your mom in Animal Crossing, she sends you sweet supportive messages while you begin your own adventure in a new town. These messages feature gameplay tips and nuggets of wisdom — and they often include items for sprucing up your new pad. Thanks Mom!

Rosalina (Super Mario Galaxy)

Rosalina

In addition to her duties as the commander of the Comet Observatory, Super Mario Galaxy mainstay Rosalina serves as the adopted mother of all of the universe’s adorable Lumas. There seems to be an endless supply of these star-like creatures, so she’s a mom who certainly has her hands full.

Vanessa Caulfield (Life is Strange)

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Max’s mother, Vanessa Caulfield, is a kind and caring mother who does everything she can to relieve the Life is Strange world of some of its, well, debilitating strangeness. Vanessa sends texts to Max throughout the game and tells Max she’s allowed to visit Seattle any time. In the alternate timeline, the only real difference is Vanessa’s scolding Max for her reckless spending. Shame on you! Otherwise, the maternal kindness is still readily apparent.

Unconventional Mothers

There’s no “normal” as far as motherhood goes, and these moms are case in point. We’re celebrating them as well — even though some of them are willing to kill you if you even think about laying a hand on their babies.

Jenova (Final Fantasy VII)

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The “mother” of Sephiroth, this alien creature is pure, unadulterated evil. The “calamity from the skies” has the ability to insert its cells into any life form, and it did so with Sephiroth when he was in the fetal stage. “She” is also responsible for most of the bosses in Final Fantasy VII. While it’s difficult to know if her obsession with destruction is born of a protective impulse or it’s simply in her genetic makeup, we’ll give her the benefit of the doubt and say that it’s her maternal instinct fuels her destructive tendencies.

Samus Aran (Metroid)

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Samus didn’t ask to be The Last Metroid’s adopted mother, but you won’t see her protesting its imposition. There was no questioning the little alien’s affinity for its mama during the ending segment of Super Metroid, where it destroys Mother Brain, sapping its energy and using it to resuscitate Samus, nearly dead from her skirmish with the game’s final boss. It’s a true shame that the little tyke is soon after blown to bits. Oh, the things we do for our mothers!

Broodmother (Dota 2)

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Black Arachnia the Broodmother is, well, the mother of her brood, and her brood consists of an endless stream of damage-dealing spiders that she doesn’t hesitate to inject into her enemies as a contender in DOTA 2. That’s brutal.

Dr. Bridgette Tenenbaum (Bioshock)

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Bioshock‘s Dr. Brigid Tenenbaum is a geneticist who discovered ADAM and helped develop it into products for commercial sale. She is also the “mother” of the Little Sisters. She created them, and eventually came to care a great deal about their safety, calling them her “little ones,” acting as a mother to them and regretting her part in helping create them. The player is able to win her allegiance by saving the Little Sisters instead of harvesting them for ADAM.

Tragic Moms

Not all maternal situations are hunky dory. Let’s remember the mothers with some very painful pasts.

Cubone’s Mother (Pokémon)

Cubone

Cubone wears the skull of its dead mother as a protective helmet, who it lost shortly after its birth. No one really knows what that Pokémon mother was like, but she must have been special, because Cubone cries every time it sees her likeness in the moon. It’s not until Cubone evolves into Marowak that it overcomes the grief of its mother’s passing.

Isaac’s Mom (The Binding of Isaac)

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A terrifying spin on an already-haunting Old Testament tale, Mom from Binding of Isaac is told to sacrifice her son by the voice of God. She’s the one who sets Isaac on his violent basement odyssey to begin with. She’s also the final boss for the game’s prologue: if the character is armed with The Bible, she can be defeated in a single hit.

Otacon’s Stepmom (Metal Gear Solid)

Otacon

There’s really no softening this up: Otacon was seduced by his stepmother when he was a teenager and they had an affair. The story is told in painstaking detail in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. Upon learning of this, his father commits suicide by drowning himself in a pool and dragging his stepdaughter, Emma, with him. Emma expected her brother to rescue her, but he was preoccupied with his stepmother. Emma was able to wriggle herself away from her stepfather’s grasp, but she will always hate her stepbrother. Talk about a tragedy!

The Queen (Ico)

The Queen Ico

In Ico, The Queen intends to cheat death by using her daughter, Yorda, as a spiritual vessel. Her plan is thwarted when Ico, the horned protagonist and last component of the sacrifice required for the ritual, escapes from his prison and rescues Yorda. Ico, who we think might have a bit of a crush on this Yorda girl, stabs the Queen in the heart, causing the imminent destruction of the castle — and allowing the pair to live happily ever after. Or so we want to believe.

To all the loving mothers out, happy mother’s day!

Matthew Hadick