Pac-Man Wiki
For other uses of Jr. Pac-Man, see Jr. Pac-Man (disambiguation).

"You're awesome dad. Thanks! Let's rock!"

— Pac-Jr., Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures

Jr. Pac-Man (パック・ジュニア Pakku Junia), also known as Pac-Man Jr., Pac-Jr., or simply Junior, is the first-born son of Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man. He is also the older brother to Baby Pac-Man.

History[]

Arcade Games[]

Ms. Pac-Man[]

Main article: Ms. Pac-Man (game)

Junior makes his first appearance in Ms. Pac-Man (albeit as a minor character) in the Act 3 intermission "Junior", where he is delivered by a stork to Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man. He appears as a smaller version of Pac-Man with no distinct features.

Jrpac8bit

Original Jr. Pac sprite.

Jr. Pac-Man[]

Main article: Jr. Pac-Man (game)

Jr. Pac-Man would return to star in his own game, Jr. Pac-Man. As with the rest of his family, he had to collect Pellets in a Maze while dodging ghosts Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Tim.

In this game, he is first portrayed with his signature hat.

During his adventure, Junior fell in love with Yum-Yum, the daughter of Blinky. Not accepting of the relationship, Blinky attempts to capture Junior, but both of them escape, allowing the two to be together.

Pac-Man World series[]

Pac-Man World[]

Main article: Pac-Man World

In Pac-Man World, Pac-Jr. is captured by a robot and sent to Toc-Man's lair, where he is then imprisoned in a cage. He is found in the level Down the Tubes, and is eventually rescued by his father. In Pac-Man World Re-Pac, Jr. Pac-Man is replaced with his "Pac-Boy" counterpart. Once all of Pac-Man's friends are rescued, he suggests his father that they can all enjoy Ghost Island.

Pac-Man World 2[]

Main article: Pac-Man World 2

Junior has a minor cameo in Pac-Man World 2, seen celebrating in the ending cutscene.

Pac-Man World 3[]

Pac world 3

Junior in Pac-Man World 3.

Main article: Pac-Man World 3

Junior has a minor appearance in Pac-Man World 3, appearing in the opening/closing cutscenes. He is rather quiet in this game, and likes to read.

Other appearances[]

Pac-Man World Rally[]

Main article: Pac-Man World Rally

In this game, Jr. Pac-Man rides a rocket-powered skate board. He is the slowest, but the best at turning and has highest at acceleration in the game.

Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures[]

Main article: Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures

In Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures, Junior's guitar is stolen by Inky, Pinky, and Clyde (Blinky is not shown), and Pac-Man leaps to the rescue and gets the stolen item back from the ghosts.

Pac-In-Time[]

Main article: Pac-In-Time

Junior (alongside Ms. Pac and Pac-Baby) appears in the opening and ending cutscenes in Pac-In-Time, showing concern when Pac-Man disappears.

Pac-Man Pinball Advance[]

Main article: Pac-Man Pinball Advance

Pac-Jr. is the sixth of eight Pac-Land residents kidnapped by the Ghost Gang in Pac-Man Pinball Advance, and must be rescued by Pac-Man.

"Multiplayer" games[]

Main articles: Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness, Pac-Man All-Stars

Pac-Jr. appears as a playable character in Pac-Man All-Stars. Junior also appears in the multiplayer mode of Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness, but needs to be unlocked.

"Replacement" characters[]

There are several characters in recent Pac-Man-related media that serve the same role as Jr. Pac-Man, but feature different names and altered designs. These "replacements" of Ms. Pac-Man were created due to legal issues regarding the Ms. Pac-Man property; which, in turn, also effects Jr. Pac-Man. For further information on this subject, see History of Ms. Pac-Man legal issues.

Pac-Little[]

Pacstore-paclittle2

Pac-Little from "Pac-Store"

"Pac-Little" (パックリトル Pakku Ritoru) is a character created for Pac-Store; a series of pop-up retail stores, originating around 2016 in Japan. He was created alongside "Pac-Marie", a counterpart to Ms. Pac-Man.

Pac-Little has a light-blue, brimmed cap, lacking the tri-color scheme; as well as matching blue gloves and boots. He is always shown with drooping eyelids. Notably, he is not stated to be Pac-Man's (or Pac-Marie's) child at all, only being referred to as one of their "longtime friends". Pac-Little was not utilized outside of the Pac-Store locations and merchandise, though Pac-Store itself continued until 2019 (in certain regions).

Some promotional artwork shows Pac-Little riding a skateboard, as Junior had in some later Pac-Man titles. Additionally, most Japanese Pac-Store locations featured original Ms. Pac-Man and Jr. Pac-Man machines in the store (imported from the United States) to play, likely to connect the characters further.

Pac-Boy[]

Img chara boy mom

"Pac-Boy" (left) alongside "Pac-Mom" (right)

"Pac-Boy" (パック・ボーイ Pakku Bōi) is the most recent replacement for Jr. Pac-Man, appearing in several pieces of media. He was conceptualized around late 2021, following the Bandai Namco v. AtGames lawsuit and an undisclosed settlement regarding the Ms. Pac-Man royalty rights. His creation was alongside "Pac-Mom" and "Pac-Sis", counterparts to Ms. Pac-Man and Baby Pac-Man, respectively.

Pac-Boy's design is somewhat of a mix of various prior Junior designs; he most closely resembles the Pac-Man 2 design of "Pac-Jr.", though his sneakers are replaced with regular Pac-Man boots. His hat, while tri-colored, has a Pac-Man emblem on it instead of the striped pattern.

In a rather drastic procedure, Pac-Boy's role is generally to replace Jr. Pac-Man entirely in re-releases of older Pac-Man titles. His first appearance was in Pac-Man Museum +; in the Museum + version of Pac-In-Time, Pac-Boy replaces Junior in the intro and ending cutscenes. Pac-Boy also appears in Pac-Man World Re-Pac, once again as Jr. Pac-Man's stand-in.

As with Pac-Little, Pac-Boy is not directly stated to be Pac-Man's son. This is somewhat strange, as Pac-Sis and Pac-Mom are both outright shown to be his family in Pac-Man World Re-Pac.

Others[]

Jr. Pac-Man's legal issues stem much earlier than the 2000s Ms. Pac-Man disputes; existing before the Jr. Pac-Man arcade game had even finished development. Possibly as a result of this, Jr. Pac-Man did not appear in any derivative works until Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures, released in 1994. However, in Jr. Pac-Man's appearances from 1994 onward, his name was always shortened (generally to "Pac-Jr." or something similar).

While Pac-Jr. is generally considered "one and the same" as Jr. Pac-Man, it is possible that he was actually some sort of loophole character. However, the lack of many actual differences between the two (save for slight design tweaks) make this difficult to determine.

Characteristics[]

Personality[]

As Pac-Little, he's described as a very good dancer and is often seen dancing. He likes watching variety shows and mimicking popular personalities. He’s also a frivolous boy whose hobby is skateboarding.

Appearance[]

Jr. Pac-Man looks nearly identical to Pac-Man, but has a striped hat and sneakers on. Sometimes he also wears jeans, making him the only Pac-Person to actually wear clothes. His hat has undergone several design changes in between games. Most games have him wearing a propeller beanie, which has been blue and red, red and white, and blue and white, while the propeller has been either white or red. In Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures and a few other games, he wears a baseball cap with a brim. In Pac-Man World Rally, he wears a hat with both a brim and a propeller.

Trivia[]

  • In the 2nd season of the Pac-Man TV series, a character known as P.J. joins the cast. He shares some similarities with Jr. Pac-Man, and even states his full name as "Pac Junior". However, P.J. is specifically stated to be the nephew of Pac-Man, and as such is considered a different character.
    • It is possible that P.J. was created due to the legal issues regarding Jr. Pac-Man; though given the TV series was licensed directly through Bally Midway, it is more likely that P.J. was just a creative decision by the Hanna-Barbera staff.
  • In Namco Museum Vol. 3, Jr. Pac-Man (alongside the rest of the Pac-Man family) appears in the audience of the Theater area, as well as in a framed picture in the Ms. Pac-Man exhibit. He also appears in the theater crowd in Namco Museum Vol. 4, accompanied by Baby Pac-Man and Miru.
  • Some later rounds of the Namco Anthology 2 remake of Pac-Attack feature what appears to be Jr. Pac-Man in the background, specifically the "Pac-Jr." design seen in Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures.
  • In the opening intro to Pac-Man Bounce, an unnamed character resembling Jr. Pac-Man appears, surrounding Pac-Man's birthday cake; however, his skin is colored teal instead of yellow.
  • In the coding for Pac-Man World Re-Pac, Pac-Boy's files are referred to as "pacjunior". This may imply that Re-Pac was going to properly feature Jr. Pac-Man initially, but he was eventually replaced (presumably as Ms. Pac-Man needed to be changed either way).

Gallery[]

Character Artwork[]

Group Artwork[]

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