Pac-Man (character)

Pac-Man is a fictional character and the titular protagonist of Bandai Namco Entertainment's multi-media franchise Pac-Man. Created by Toru Iwatani, he first appeared in the arcade game Pac-Man (1980), and has since appeared in more than 30 licensed sequels and spin-offs for multiple platforms, and spawning mass amounts of merchandise in his image, including two television series and a hit single by Buckner & Garcia. He is the official mascot of Bandai Namco Entertainment. Pac-Man's most common antagonists are the Ghost Gang — Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde that are determined to defeat him to accomplish their goals, which change throughout the series. Pac-Man also has a voracious appetite, being able to consume vast amounts of food in a short timespan, and can eat his enemies by consuming large "Power Pellets".

The idea of Pac-Man was taken from both the image of a pizza with a slice removed and from rounding out the Japanese symbol 口 (kuchi, lit. "mouth"). The character was made to be cute and colorful to appeal to younger players, particularly women. The title was derived from the Japanese phrase paku paku taberu, which refers to gobbling something up. The title was changed in international releases to avoid it sounding too similar to an expletive (the Japanese pronunciation of paku being similar to 'pucku') and due to fear of arcade cabinets being vandalised by altering the P in 'Puck-Man' to an F.

Pac-Man has the highest-brand awareness of any video game character in North America, becoming an icon in video games and pop culture. He is credited as the first video game mascot character and the first to receive merchandise. He also appears as a playable guest character in some other games, most notably in the Super Smash Bros. series (specifically in the fourth and fifth installments) and in the Ridge Racer series.

Pac-Man's origins are debated. According to the character's creator Toru Iwatani, the inspiration was pizza without a slice, which gave him a vision of "an animated pizza, racing through a maze and eating things with its absent-slice mouth". However, he said in a 1986 interview that the design of the character also came from simplifying and rounding out the Japanese character for a mouth, kuchi (口). Another belief is that Pac-Man's simple design was a result of hardware limitations. The character's name comes from paku-paku (パクパク), an onomatopoeic Japanese word for gobbling something up. The character's name was written in English as "Puck-Man", but when Namco localized the game for the United States they changed it to "Pac-Man", fearing that vandals would change the P in "Puck" to an F (as in fuck).

When the game was being developed, Iwatani wanted all of its characters to be likable, with the decision to make Pac-Man yellow being a result of Iwatani believing the color represented neither an enemy or a hero. When the game was nearing completion, Iwatini presented the character to Namco artist Tadashi Yamashita, who added a large mouth, arms, and legs to the character. He also added eyes, which are enlarged versions of Pac-Man's basic circular design. A later game in the Pac-Man series, Pac-Land (1984), used this design as his in-game appearance, while also giving him a large nose.

Pac-Man is the main character of the Pac-Man franchise, first appearing in the original Pac-Man game in 1980. Also introduced in that game were the ghosts Blinky, Inky, Pinky, and Clyde, which serve as his predominant nemeses. Later in 1981, Ms. Pac-Man was introduced through the release of the Ms. Pac-Man arcade game, with the character later being established as Pac-Man's significant other. Other members of Pac-Man's family were introduced throughout the series, including their child Baby Pac-Man.

Despite Pac-Man's legacy, Pac-Man himself did not appear again until the 1982 arcade release of Super Pac-Man, which introduced a change into Super Pac-Man (Pac-Man increased in size and invulnerability). Later arcade games included Pac-Land, Pac-Mania and Pac-Man Arrangement, a remake of the original Pac-Man. Pac-Man World was released in 1999 on the PlayStation, and introduced new abilities to him (reminiscent of Mario's and Sonic the Hedgehog's abilities). The game contributed heavily to the series as well as the character and spawned two sequels, a spin-off, and a remake as well. Pac-Man World 2 features Pac-Man on an adventure to rescue Pac-Land from an ancient spirit known as Spooky. Pac-Man World 3 was released in 2005 to celebrate Pac-Man's 25th anniversary. In Pac 'n Roll, a young Pac-Man is being trained by the great Pac-Master.

Several spin-offs have been released, such as a racing game called Pac-Man World Rally. Midway Games established a spin-off titled, Ms. Pac-Man (featuring Pac-Man's wife of the same name), which was created without Namco's consent. Pac-Man appears in Street Fighter X Tekken as a playable guest fighter, riding a giant Mokujin robot, and in Everybody's Golf 6 as a playable guest golfer (through DLC). Pac-Man has appeared in Mario Kart Arcade GP installments as a playable racer, as well as in the Ridge Racer series.