Pac-Man (character)

This article is about the character. For the TV series, see Pac-Man.

Pac-Man
Species	Pac-Person
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Chomp-Chomp Sour Puss
Cousin(s)	P.J.
Marital status	Husband to Pepper Pac-Man
Son(s)	Pac-Baby
First appearance	PM: "Presidential Pac-Nappers" (1982)
Played by	Marty Ingels (1982-83)

Pac-Man is the titular protagonist of the Pac-Man animated television series. He serves as a residential hero of Pac-Land and is the husband of Pepper Pac-Man. When not dealing with the daily struggles of family life, he wards off Pac-Town from the mischievous Ghost Monsters, with the additional help of consuming Power Pellets. He is voiced by Marty Ingels.

Character description

Pac-Man is often seen taking care of his family, or going to work at the Power Pellet Forest, or defeating the Ghost Monsters when he feels like it. He acts as a sole guardian of the Power Pellets; spherical objects used as both an energy source for Pac-Town and a regular food item. By using the Power Pellets, Pac-Man gains a strength increase ("Pac-Power" in this case), causing the Ghost Monsters to temporarily become vulnerable and allow him to eat them.

Pac-Man's personality is rooted in his role as both a working-class average Joe and dedicated father figure. Despite being flustered or overwhelmed by the challenges around him, he remains consistently protective and helpful towards his wife Pepper, and their infant son Pac-Baby. His devotion to his family shows a willingness to help those he cares about, and especially when he seeks to aiding the residents of Pac-Town. When Pac-Man is empowered by Power Pellets, he also gains a confidence boost, transforming from a somewhat cautious and easily startled figure into a fearless force ready to take down the Ghost Monsters.

Appearances

TV series

Expand

• 1.1A "Presidential Pac-Nappers"
• 1.1B "Picnic in Pacland"
• 1.2A "The Great Pac-Quake"
• 1.2B "Hocus-Pocus Pac-Man"
• 1.3A "Southpaw Packy"
• 1.3B "Pac-Baby Panic"
• 1.4A "Pacula"
• 1.4B "Trick or Chomp"
• 1.5A "Super Ghosts"
• 1.5B "The Pac-Man in the Moon"
• 1.6A "Journey to the Center of Pacland"
• 1.6B "Invasion of the Pac-Pups"
• 1.7A "Sir Chomp-A-Lot"
• 1.7B "The Day the Forest Disappeared"
• 1.8A "Neander-Pac-Man"
• 1.9B "Backpackin' Packy"
• 1.9A "The Abominable Pac-Man"
• 1.9B "The Bionic Pac-Woman"
• 1.10A "Chomp-Out at the O.K. Corral"
• 1.10B "Once Upon a Chomp"
• 1.11A "The Pac-Love-Boat"
• 1.11B "The Great Power-Pellet Robbery"
• 1.12A "A Bad Case of the Chomps"
• 1.12B "Goo-Goo at the Zoo"
• 1.13A "Nighty Nightmares"
• 1.13B "The Pac-Mummy"
• 2.1A "Here's Super-Pac"
• 2.1B "Hey, Hey, Hey... It's P.J."
• 2.2A "The Super-Pac-Bowl"
• 2.2B "Journey into the Pac-Past"
• 2.3A "Public Pac-Enemy No. 1"
• 2.3B "The Old Pac-Man and the Sea"
• 2.4A "The Greatest Show in Pacland"
• 2.4B "Pac-A-Thon"
• 2.5A "The Genii of Pacdad"
• 2.5B "P.J. Goes Pac-Hollywood"
• 2.6A "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Pac-Man"
• 2.6B "Around the World in 80 Chomps"
• 2.7A "Super-Pac vs. Pac-Ape"
• 2.7B "Computer Packy"
• 2.8A "Pac Van Winkle"
• 2.8B "Happy Pacs-Giving"

Specials

• Christmas Comes to Pacland

Books

• Pac-Man and the Ghost Diggers

Biography

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Development

Pac-Man originated as the playable character in Namco's 1980 arcade game of the same name, though his origins are a subject of conflicting sources. According to the character's creator Tōru Iwatani, the inspiration came from a pizza without a slice, which gave him a vision of "an animated pizza" that raced through a maze and ate things "with its abscent-slice mouth." However, Iwatani said in a 1986 interview that the character design came from simplifying and rounding the Japanese character for mouth, kuchi (口). Pac-Man's name comes from the onomatopoeia paku-paku (パクパク), a Japanese word for gobbling something up.

The idea of Pac-Man powering up using Power Pellets (or Energizers, as they were originally called) was borrowed from Popeye the Sailor Man and his temporary strength boost from consumuing spinach, as well being partially inspired by a Japanese children's story about a creature that protected children from monsters by eating them.

Pac-Man's name was originally "Puck-Man", but when Namco localized the game for a North American release, they changed it to "Pac-Man" due to fears that the name would be vandalized by changing the P in "Puck" to an F. (And if you've seen or read Scott Pilgrim, you may already know this fact by now.)

When Marty Ingels auditioned the role of Pac-Man for the cartoon, he incidentally came into contact with voice director Gordon Hunt while Hanna-Barbera was auditioning for 173,000 people. At one point, when Ingels made a suggestion to have a catchphrase for the character ("PacapacaWowie!"), it became a major problem with executives who came up with a dozen other alternatives, which caused Ingels to have a panic attack while driving back home. Ingels described his portrayal of Pac-Man as "a cross between Fred Flintstone, Captain Marvel, William Bendix, Popeye," and himself.

Gallery

Main article: Pac-Man (character)/Gallery

Behind the scenes

• Pac-Man's design in the cartoon would serve as inspiration for his look in the 1984 side-scrolling arcade game, Pac-Land. Whereas the Japanese version uses Pac-Man's standard look with the addition of a red hat, the character's design was modified for the North American release to closely resemble the one seen in the cartoon.