Characterization
Pac-Man is often portrayed as a family man, as a result of the multiple spin-offs of his games which star family members. He is often seen married to Ms. Pac-Man, and the father to either one or two pac-children. In many incarnations he also has a pet dog, Chomp-Chomp. They are often seen living inside of a house shaped like Pac-Man's face with windows for eyes and a door in place of his mouth. In the cartoon series, this house was painted white, while often in the games it is painted yellow. The 2011 animated pilot portrays Pac-Man as being a small kid who goes to school with a group of friends unrelated to the series.
Many of the characteristics associated with Pac-Man come from the Hanna-Barbera cartoon series, with some slight alterations. In the series he nicknames Ms. Pac-Man "Pepper," Baby Pac-Man is a boy (in the games, she is a girl with a bow like her mother's) and he also had a pet cat named Sourpuss. The second season of the cartoon introduced Pac-Man Jr. as a greaser who was actually Pac-Man's nephew, and Super Pac-Man who was not Pac-Man himself, but a separate character who came into scenes after unzipping a zipper in the middle of the open sky. Pac-Land marks the first official use of Ms. Pac-Man and Pac-Baby in a Namco title. Once Namco retained the rights to the characters from Midway, they continued much of the characterizations of the show, only they made Pac-Man Jr. and Pac-Baby separate characters closer to their game incarnations, while they retained Pac-Man and Super Pac-Man were one in the same. The first game to illustrate this was Pac-Man 2, an adventure game where the player indirectly controlled Pac-Man as he performed chores for his family.
Pac-Man himself is often characterized as happy-go-lucky and fun loving, often with a voracious appetite, who enjoys adventure but often prefers a quiet family life. His first platforming title, Pac-Land, illustrating him taking frequent breaks between levels at signs that said "Break Time" while ending three-level arcs by returning to his home, leading to cutscenes where he is seen sitting with his family at dinner and sleeping in his bed. Pac-Man 2 begins with Pac-Man doing chores for his family, with various elements of the game causing him to abruptly change his mood from happy, to sad, to angry, to silly, and even flaky. It culminates with the Ghost Witch's plot to create a monster made of chewed bubble gum sparking a sense of heroism in Pac-Man causing him to seek out the witch and put a stop to her plot. The Pac-Man World series portrays Pac-Man as being a generally happy, slightly egotistical; protecting his family, and ultimately his whole world from an evil-doing ghost named Orson and his plans to take-over Pac-Land from the spectral zone, where the Ghosts from his games are said to come from.
Pac-Man's job varies from game-to-game. In the Hanna-Barbera animated series he is said to be the protector of the Power Pellet Forest, which the main villain Mezmaron hopes to infiltrate and steal power pellets for energy to use in his evil schemes. In the games, he is often portrayed as not having a job, but is recognised throughout Pac-Land as a hero who constantly rids them from the threat of ghosts. Pac-Man World indicates that he has a job, since he is seen walking home from work with a lunchbox in hand, but it is never specified exactly what his job is. The new animated series portrays Pac-Man as a student.
Pac-Man has had a variety of arch enemies through the years. The mysterious Mezmeron, the villain of the Hanna-Barbera series, used the five main ghosts from the game (Inky, Blinky, Pinky, Clyde and Sue) as henchmen in his plot to steal the power pellets from the Power Pellet forest. His second nemesis, the Ghost Witch, appeared in Pac-Man 2 and Pac-In-Time, also using the main five ghosts from the games as henchmen. In the first game, she attempted to take over Pac-Man's city by creating a monster out of pre-chewed gum. In the second, she attempted to rid herself of Pac-Man by banishing him to a time warp. The Pac-Man World games' main villain was Erwin, an ordinary ghost who was also an inventive genius. Erwin was the villain in the first two titles, but assisted Pac-Man in the third game against a greater threat to the both of them. In the 2011 pilot the main villain is not seen, rather, the threat to Pac-Land comes in the form of ghosts merely crossing over from the spectral plane into their world.
Pac-Man's relationship to the original five ghosts who appeared in his game is usually one of friendly antagonism. In virtually every game and cartoon Pac-Man sees the ghosts as a nuisance rather than a threat, and often has a power pellet handy to dispatch their bullying attempts in an instant. The ghosts in turn are often portrayed as being crude, boorish, and bullying but ultimately bumbling and useless in their attempts to get the better of Pac-Man. What happens to Pac-Man when he is caught by the ghosts varies. The cartoon made the claim that if the ghosts "chomped" Pac-Man it would leave him temporarily without a skeleton, but seeing that as being too graphic for children, later seasons only made Pac-Man temporarily weak after being chomped. Pac-Man 2 indicated that the Ghosts were actually adept at scaring Pac-Man, often by making funny faces, and Pac-Man was powerless against them unless he had a Power Pellet. Pac-Man World simply indicates that when Pac-Man touches a ghost, it is similar to them coming to blows with one another. The 2011 cartoon pilot suggests that Pac-Man could actually eat the ghosts without the aid of a power-pellet, but if he does the ghost turns into tasteless goo in Pac-Man's mouth which he would prefer not to eat.
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