User:Cukie Gherkin/Flint

Concept and creation

Extra dialogue was given to Flint near the end of development at the end of the game. with Itoi stating he begged to be able to add it in. During the development of the cancelled Nintendo 64 version of Mother 3, rumors spread regarding whether Flint and Ness are the same person. It had been discussed by the production team, and they ultimately decided to make it so that players could interpret Flint this way. Nintendo Dream staff speculated that him receiving the Franklin Badge, wearing a hat, and being able to talk to animals caused more people to believe this.

Reception

IGN writer Esra Kurabe discussed Flint's anger over the loss of his wife in the context of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, stating that Flint punching the ground in anger symbolized to him the loss of life in the incident. Destructoid writer chose this moment as a particularly strong moment in video games, praising the scene for depicting Flint's rage visually without needing any dialogue to convey, finding it the most powerful scene in Mother 3. RPGFan staff discussed how shocking the scene was for the early moments of a Game Boy Advance game, discussing how the town reacts to his grief. They felt it was particularly shocking due to seeing a protagonist attack their friends, adding that Flint's anger from his grief contrasted his sons' grief, where Lucas grieves by crying and Claus grieves by getting revenge. They also discussed how a hallucination featuring Flint threatening to assault Lucas may indicate that Flint is a violent father. Paste writer Dave Tomaine discussed how Lucas related more to Hinawa than Flint, noting how the two differ in how they approach things. He also discussed Flint's absence, where he focuses more on searching for Claus than he is raising Lucas. AV Club writer William Hughes discussed the absence of fathers in the Mother series, noting how Flint is initially an exception to this trend before falling into the trend after the loss of his wife and son. He argued that it was telling that Wess, Duster's abusive father, cared more for Duster than Flint for Lucas due to at least being around.