Paula, full name Paula Jones,[4] is a girl from Twoson, and is one of the main playable characters in EarthBound. She has advanced psychic powers, specializing in offensive elemental PSI. Paula is well-known throughout Twoson for both her psychic abilities and her help at Polestar Preschool.
Paula is a blonde-haired girl with pale skin and blue eyes. She wears a pink dress with a white belt, a red ribbon in her hair, and red shoes with white socks. Her clay model depicts her holding a handbag, but her in-game sprites never depict her with one.
Paula lives in the town of Twoson in Polestar Preschool, which doubles as her home. Paula is a member of the Jones family along with her mother and father.
In terms of her personality, Paula is a very kind and helpful young girl. The children at Polestar Preschool look up to her as a motherly figure. Paula appears to have an interest in Teddy bears, as she has one in the cell with her when she is imprisoned by Carpainter, and she also has a Teddy bear in her room at her house, inside a present.
In the Japanese release of Mother 2, Paula is depicted as more passive than she is in English, saying that she would have cried if Ness hadn't come to rescue her when she was locked up. In the English version, however, this line was changed to say that she would have had to bust her way out instead. According to EarthBound's head localizer, Marcus Lindblom, this was an intentional change to make her seem less weak and more like a forceful American girl with a "willing to destroy" personality.
In EarthBound
History
Spoiler warning:this article or section may contain major plot or ending details! Proceed with caution.
Ness rescuing Paula from the cell
In EarthBound, Ness first receives a telepathic message from her in his sleep after defeating the Titanic Ant. She has been kidnapped, and needs his assistance to break out. He travels through Peaceful Rest Valley and to a cabin owned by Everdred, where she is being held. Mr. Carpainter had kidnapped her, in hopes to use her as the "high priestess" for Happy Happyism. Paula tells Ness that Mr. Carpainter holds the key to her prison, and gives him the Franklin Badge for protection from his otherwise-deadly lightning attacks. After he retrieves the key, Paula joins his party, and accompanies him for the rest of the game. When the two of them get imprisoned in Threed by zombies, she sends a telepathic message to Jeff, urging him to go south from Winters to rescue them.
Later, in Fourside, she is kidnapped in the department store by the Dept. Store Spook, working for Mr. Monotoli. Ness and Jeff defeat the Dept. Store Spook, although by the time they do so, it is too late, and Paula is trapped in the Monotoli Building. The two of them go through Moonside, and destroy the Mani-Mani Statue that was possessing Mr. Monotoli. They then ascend the Monotoli Building, and upon reaching the 50th floor, Mr. Monotoli gives Paula back, and apologizes for the ordeal. Paula uses her gnostic abilities to sense that they must go back to Threed to reach Summers, where they find the now-repaired Sky Runner to fly.
In the final battle against Giygas, Paula uses her praying abilities to contact various characters they met on their journey, including the player. With everyone's powers combined, they all manage to defeat Giygas. At the end of the game, Paula receives a letter from the children at the Polestar Preschool, and Ness escorts her back home to Twoson.
Paula has the ability to pray (Japanese いのるPray) in-battle, which has a variety of random effects. (For the unique event in the final battle, see above.)
Paula is a PSI master who used her incredible psychic abilities to call Ness from afar. Ness rescued Paula from the blue-stained clutches of the Happy Happyistcult, and she became integral to his EarthBound adventure. Originally, Ness didn't know either PK Thunder or PK Fire, so Paula probably taught him these techniques.
Contrary to popular belief, Paula's last name is not Polestar, but rather it's Jones. The name of the preschool being Polestar is instead a pun on the Japanese spelling of her name (ポーラ Pōra) and the name of Polestar Preschool (ポーラスター Pōrasutaa), both of which share the same three katakana.
Paula is the only playable PSI user in the EarthBound series that never learns Healing and Lifeup.
Paula is the only party member who does not have a party of their own for a short time.
The clay models for Ness and Paula for the US release of EarthBound are different from the original Japanese Mother 2 models, and early magazines use an entirely separate model for Paula. This is because the American clay models for both Ness and Paula are actually photo-edits of their Japanese Mother 2 models. In Paula's case, this may have been done to make her appear more strong and capable in appearance to appeal more to US audiences.
Her American clay model does not have her ribbon. It may have been removed to make her appear less feminine for EarthBound's American audiences.
Paula's normal appearance.
Paula's unconscious sprite.
Clay model for Paula.
Alternative clay model for Paula used in the US.
An early version of Paula's clay model.
Paula's trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee.
Artwork of Paula from the MOTHER 2 Secret Treasure Box Guidebook.
Ness • 
Jeff • 
Poo
