Thanks to Wolfman for helping with edits.
When I was little, my favorite video game franchises were Mario, Donkey Kong, Pokémon, and Sonic the Hedgehog. If you’ve been following my writing for any length of time, that won’t come as a surprise. There is another franchise I grew up loving, however. Surprisingly, it took me until last year to finally start covering it here, and today I’m doing something I’ve meant to do for years and discuss one of its characters. Now, Pac-Man is a storied franchise, so let’s roll out the red carpet for its leading lady:
Ms. Pac-Man, seen in re-releases of her eponymous debut game (Image: Bandai Namco)
Several Pac-Man knockoffs hit during the Eighties, few of which carry any prestige today (I doubt you’ll find many fan tributes celebrating Streaking). Unsurprisingly, one of the games that successfully built upon Pac-Man’s groundbreaking formula was its sequel, Ms. Pac-Man. It graced arcades forty one years ago, two years after its forebear, and developed a venerable legacy of its own…
Ms. Pac-Man’s History
Over four decades ago, General Computer Corporation began working on an edited version of Pac-Man called Crazy Otto. They were also embroiled in a lawsuit with Atari; GCC had modified Atari’s Missile Command into Super Missile Attack, and the resulting settlement prevented the studio from altering any other games unless their original manufacturers were consulted. Seeking to salvage Crazy Otto, GCC met with Pac-Man’s Western manufacturer, Midway. Considering Pac-Man’s overwhelming success, Midway was ecstatic about publishing a sequel, especially since Namco’s own follow-up was progressing slowly.
Initially, Midway suggested reworking Crazy Otto into “Super Pac-Man.” Namco’s internally-developed Pac-Man sequel would later use that moniker. (Image: Bandai Namco)
According to former GCC developer Steve Golson and chairman Doug Macrae, Crazy Otto’s cinematics—where Otto meets, courts, and has a baby with a female member of his species—were instrumental in influencing its makeover. “Wow, we’ve got a whole storyline here about how a character meets a red character that’s female,” Macrae recalls discussing. “Why don’t we turn this into a male and female Pac character, and build a bit more personality into them?”
Afterwards, GCC, Midway, and Namco began converting Crazy Otto into a proper Pac-Man title. Over the course of “just two weeks,” it evolved into Super Pac-Man and then Miss Pac-Man. Briefly, it was also Pac-Woman before Ms. Pac-Man was settled upon. Artist Mike Horowitz, whose wife didn’t take his last name, notes the prominence of the woman’s rights movement during the Eighties; “Ms. was the new thing.” Additionally, Pac-Man was popular with women; Midway’s Stan Jarocki said they were “thanking all those lady arcaders who have played and enjoyed Pac-Man” through this new protagonist.
Like Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man’s lead roams ghost-infested labyrinths while munching dots. She can briefly turn the tables on her aggressors by eating Power Pellets. (Image: Bandai Namco)
Horowitz drew Ms. Pac-Man’s artwork, stabilizing its star’s design. His first take on her gave the budding mascot “shoulder-length red hair,” something then-Namco president Masaya Nakamura disliked (though Macrae believes Namco harbored some “embarrassment” over not handing Pac-Man’s successor internally, he stresses that they were entirely supportive of Ms. Pac-Man). Other details, like Ms. Pac-Man’s beauty mark, survived, and she was capped off with a red bow.
Ms. Pac-Man instantly became a franchise mainstay. A 1982 pinball machine, Mr. & Mrs. Pac-Man, stars the newly-weds. She tends to their children in Jr. Pac-Man, Baby Pac-Man, and Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures. Pac-Man Carnival, Pac ‘N Party, Pac-Attack, and Pac-Man Pinball Advance incorporate her, and she competes in Pac-Man Fever, Pac-Man: Adventures in Time, the 2005 Pac-Man Arrangement (re-releases of this game cut its multiplayer mode, though Ms. Pac-Man’s cameo in its credits sequence is surprisingly preserved in last year’s Museum+), and Pac-Man World Rally. A canceled spin-off, Puzzle Club, would have also included her.
Google, The Simpsons, Futurama, and many other works honor Ms. Pac-Man. She’s emblematic of the coin-gobbling arcade era. (Image: Disney)
Unsurprisingly, Pac-Man’s platforming forays feature Ms. Pac-Man. She greets her husband throughout Pac-Land and appears alongside her family in Pac-In-Time. She tries celebrating Pac-Man’s twentieth birthday in the first Pac-Man World, a photo of her can be seen in the second, and she tries celebrating his twenty-fifth birthday in the third. A prequel, Pac ‘n Roll, explains that she met Pac-Man when they were children.
On special occasions, Ms. Pac-Man heads out on her own adventures. 2000’s Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness deals with her traveling across Pac-Land while fending off ghosts and the irritating witch Mesmerelda (its multiplayer mode later inspired Pac-Man All-Stars, which Ms. Pac-Man also enters). A year later, she would explore ancient ruins once again in Ms. Pac-Man: Quest for the Golden Maze. Regrettably, a proper sequel to Maze Madness was shelved (as was at least one other game set to include the heroine).
Though it’s since been removed from some digital storefronts, Ms. Pac-Man has been re-released many times across many platforms. How many versions do you own? (Image: Bandai Namco)
A wealth of supplemental materials enrich Ms. Pac-Man’s résumé. She’s a regular in Hanna-Barbera’s animated 1982 Pac-Man cartoon, where she’s affectionately nicknamed “Pepper.” Obscure puzzler QuickSpot includes a picture of Ms. Pac-Man, even in its Switch port. Sonic Dash’s Pac-Man event included her as an unlockable character. She joins Pac-Man and their nemesis, Blinky, in Mario Kart Arcade GP and Arcade GP 2. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Ultimate give her a cameo in their Pac-Land stage; the latter is her most recent “new” appearance.
Unfortunately, Ms. Pac-Man’s presence in her home franchise began waning over time. In 2013, the Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures multimedia reboot hit. Only the series’ original hero and ghost quartet survived, albeit with heavy redesigns (spin-off Pac-Man Party curiously features an early—and, frankly, better—take on the former’s new look). Surprisingly, Ms. Pac-Man cameos in the cartoon, whose “new” Pac-Man has been explicitly called the arcade couple’s son (regardless, his parents, Zac and Sunny, don’t resemble the iconic heroes at all).
Pac-Man happily references his wife throughout World 3, even making a surprisingly risque joke. (Image: Bandai Namco)
Of course, the primary reason for Bandai Namco jettisoning Ms. Pac-Man, even after abandoning the Ghostly Adventures continuity, is presumably the legal disputes concerning third-party company AtGames. In 2019, AtGames announced they obtained “all the rights” pertaining to Ms. and Jr. Pac-Man from GCC, spurring Bandai Namco to file a lawsuit that seemingly ended unfavorably for them. As early as 2015, Bandai Namco began making a conscious, seemingly cautious effort to avoid using Ms. Pac-Man, opting to create legally distinct knockoffs instead. Of these, Pac-Mom is the latest and most prominent.
So, what’re my thoughts on Ms. Pac-Man?
Ms. Pac-Man carries a rare distinction among the characters we’ve discussed in this series: she’s older than me. There was never a time in my life when she didn’t exist; Ms. Pac-Man and its star are industry staples. I can, however, reminisce about how I felt when I was introduced to the character, and… honestly, I didn’t pay her much mind. Visually, she takes Pac-Man’s template and adds feminine amenities, and her character is largely defined by her relation to him and their kids. Overall, she’s more of a brand extension of her namesake, not an inherently exciting, unique individual all her own.
Though Ms. Pac-Man‘s fun and laudable for broadening the medium’s appeal, aspects of its title character show their age. (Image: Bandai Namco)
Still, she was a known, recognizable character. Other lady-led games during the Eighties and Nineties, like Puyo Puyo and Panel de Pon, were rebranded with other properties when or if they left Japan (companies were concerned that brazenly feminine leads would alienate boys, their target demographic, and this industry admittedly doesn’t have an immaculate record with women characters). That’s something Ms. Pac-Man transcended, though. While I might have felt self-conscious playing a game starring a frilly fairy during my grade school years, Ms. Pac-Man was never an issue. And yes, she’s a glorified model swap, but her inclusion as Pac-Man’s second protagonist was significant, even helping grow its still-nascent world.
I should also stress that I did like Ms. Pac-Man; she’s perfectly charming, just like the mascot she takes after. The fact she’s as adventurous and capable as him was also valuable, teaching me that girls can be just as tough as boys (later heroines, like Dixie Kong and Samus, would reinforce this). The Misses’ arcade stablemate Pauline certainly couldn’t make that claim. And while gripping narratives aren’t exactly a Pac-Man hallmark, it’s disappointing when Ms. Pac-Man gets relegated into the damsel-in-distress role; it’s regressive.
It’s kind of ironic that Ms. Pac-Man‘s creation is the result of a lawsuit and now she’s basically being held hostage by one. (Image: Bandai Namco)
Now, it’s one thing for Ghostly Adventures’ Pac-Man to be single; that’s a new take on Pac-Man that doesn’t override Ms. Pac-Man’s place in the original continuity. And her presence therein was always comforting, something we all took for granted. After all, why would she ever leave? She’s nakedly indebted to Pac-Man; how could gaming’s first power couple ever split up?
That’s what makes the AtGames situation so shocking—it swiftly tore down that decades-long unspoken assumption. A similar thing happened to Diddy Kong, who was separated from his Microsoft-owned pals. But that break’s nowhere near as big; Banjo and Conker can still headline games without him, nothing’s stopping Diddy’s other Racing colleagues from remerging, and their short history together hasn’t ever been denied. Ms. Pac-Man, though? One of the medium’s most iconic figures is getting cut from her franchise—even in re-releases of legacy games—and it’s impossible to imagine her ever headlining a new one. Bandai Namco’s thorough purging of her also raises concerns over preservation and accessibility. Will they, for example, give Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness the makeover it’d need to get re-released?
Pac-Mom outright replacing her predecessor is the regrettable price we have to pay to see older Pac-Man titles hit modern platforms. (Image: Bandai Namco)
Plus, I dislike Pac-Mom. Though I’m sure she’s on par with Pac-Man physically and will eventually prove that through a playable role, how Bandai Namco visually distinguished her from Ms. Pac-Man yielded a less appealing design. It’s hard to imagine Pac-Mom running on those brittle twigs that are her legs. While her Pac-Land sprites are simply edits of Ms. Pac-Man’s, 3D games depict Pac-Mom’s eyes as being more detailed than other Pac-People and she lacks a nose (quirks she shares with her daughter); she looks comparatively alien. At least her hat homages the one worn by Ms. Pac-Master, Ms. Pac-Man’s mother—and now, presumably, Pac-Mom’s. That’s a nice touch.
And hey, Pac-Man’s original wife isn’t completely gone: some merchandise still features her, and official Bandai Namco Twitter accounts keep her memory alive. And she’ll always eclipse her replacements, boasting a celebrated career they never will—she’s arguably the most famous character to grace this column. Hopefully, she’ll return home someday, but even if she doesn’t, her forty-one-year legacy can never be taken away. That, too, is worth celebrating.
Congratulations, Ms. Pac-Man! Waka waka!
Generally, I close “Character Chronicle” articles with an image that summarizes how I remember a character and their legacy. This is how I remember Ms. Pac-Man: as one of Pac-Land’s champions. (Image: Bandai Namco)
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