Not to be confused for Pac-Baby (Pac 'n Roll).
Baby Pac-Man (ベビー・パックマン Bebī Pakkuman), also known as Pac-Baby or Baby Pac, is the second-born, infant child of Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man, and the younger sibling to Jr. Pac-Man.
History
Arcade Games
Mr. & Mrs. Pac-Man
Main article: Mr. & Mrs. Pac-Man
The first appearance of Baby Pac-Man was in Mr. & Mrs. Pac-Man. This was a very small cameo however, only appearing on the pinball playfield.
Original Baby Pac sprite.
Baby Pac-Man
Main article: Baby Pac-Man (game)
Baby Pac-Man got his own starring role in Baby Pac-Man. Just like his mother and father, he had to escape a Maze while collecting Dots and avoiding Ghosts - but poor Baby had to navigate a pinball table as well.
Animated Series
Main article: Pac-Man (TV Series)
Pac-Baby is a major character in the Pac-Man TV series. He gets into crazy shenanigans, often when Ms. Pac-Man is not watching him. The cartoon is the only instance where Pac-Baby can speak.
World Series
Pac-Man World
Main article: Pac-Man World
Baby Pac-Man, along with the rest of the Pac-Man family, is kidnapped by Toc-Man and locked in a cage; eventually, Baby Pac is rescued by Pac-Man. In the intro, Baby Pac-Man is shown to be friends with Pooka from Dig Dug. In Pac-Man World Re-Pac, Baby Pac-Man is replaced with her "Pac-Sis" counterpart.
"Multiplayer" games
Main articles: Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness, Pac-Man: Adventures in Time, Pac-Man All-Stars
Baby Pac-Man appears as a playable character in the multiplayer modes of Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness and Pac-Man: Adventures in Time. Baby Pac-Man also appears in Pac-Man All-Stars, but needs to be unlocked.
"Replacement" characters
There are several characters in recent Pac-Man-related media that serve the same role as Baby Pac-Man, but feature different names and altered designs. These "replacements" of Baby Pac-Man were created due to legal issues regarding the Ms. Pac-Man property; which, in turn, also effects Baby Pac-Man. For further information on this subject, see History of Ms. Pac-Man legal issues.
Pac-Sis
"Pac-Sis" (left) alongside Pooka (right)
"Pac-Sis" is the most recent replacement for Baby Pac-Man, appearing in several pieces of media. She was conceptualized around late 2021, following the Bandai Namco v. AtGames lawsuit and an undisclosed settlement regarding the Ms. Pac-Man royalty rights. Her creation was alongside "Pac-Mom" and "Pac-Boy", counterparts to Ms. Pac-Man and Jr. Pac-Man, respectively.
Pac-Sis has a pink flower in her hair, and carries a rattle. She does not have a pacifier, bonnet, or hairbow, which were key elements of all other Baby Pac-Man designs. In 3D appearances, Pac-Sis has eye whites (as opposed to the long-standardized "Pac-Man eyes"), and lacks a nose. In 2D appearances, she has standard "Pac-Man eyes" like the rest of the cast.
In a rather drastic procedure, Pac-Sis' role is generally to replace Baby Pac-Man entirely in re-releases of older Pac-Man titles. Her first appearance was in the Arcade Archives version of Pac-Land, released in April 2022; this port replaces Baby Pac-Man's end-of-level graphic with Pac-Sis. Pac-Sis would also appear in Pac-Man Museum + with largely the same purpose; as well as in Pac-Man World Re-Pac, once again as Baby Pac's stand-in.
Notably, Pac-Sis refers to Pac-Man as her “daddy” in in Pac-Man World Re-Pac; indicating she is still meant to be Pac-Man’s child.
Others
- In Pac 'n Roll, a character named "Pac-Baby" appears. This character cannot logically be Baby Pac-Man; as she is stated to be Ms. Pac-Man's sister, and the entire game takes place in Pac-Man's childhood. Despite this, there is a slight possibility that the Pac 'n Roll baby was intended to represent Baby Pac-Man.
Characteristics
Appearance
Baby Pac-Man, as one would expect, looks like an infant Pac-Man, with a mixture of Mr. and Mrs. Pac-Man's traits. Pac-Baby is often seen wearing a bonnet or a hairbow, and almost always has a pacifier. Baby Pac's hair-poof is sometimes shown as being colored yellow, while other times it is brown.
Gender
In most of Baby Pac-Man's appearances, no gender is explicitly stated, but the character is generally thought of to be a girl, with her gender being stated a few times. The most prominent example is in 1994's Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures, where Pac-Baby is referred to as a "she" in the opening intro. However, Baby Pac-Man is specifically referred to as a "he" in most 80s media; including the Hanna-Barbera cartoon, the promotional flyer(s) for the arcade machine, and several pieces of merchandising (such as the Kid Stuff record albums). Even the internal documents for the canceled Count Pacula game refer to Baby Pac-Man as being male.
Trivia
- In the Hanna-Barbera episode "Pac-Van-Winkle", Baby Pac-Man grew up to be 20 years old after Pac-Man slept for 20 years. This older Pac-Baby has a full head of brown hair.
- It appears that the Jr. Pac-Man arcade game was originally going to star Baby Pac-Man. This is evident by both the U.S. Copyright Office, and legal papers from the Namco-AtGames lawsuit, showing that Jr. Pac-Man's planned title was "Pac-Baby". The name and character were presumably changed to avoid confusion with the already released Baby Pac-Man game.
- It is possible that the initial basis of the Baby Pac-Man character was the baby delivered in the cutscenes of Ms. Pac-Man. However, the cutscene is specifically labeled "Junior", making it commonly attributed to Jr. Pac-Man instead; who, while an older child, did not properly debut until a year after Baby Pac-Man's release.
- In the coding for Pac-Man World Re-Pac, Pac-Sis's files are referred to as "pacbaby". This may imply that Re-Pac was going to properly feature Baby Pac-Man initially, but she was eventually replaced (presumably as Ms. Pac-Man needed to be changed either way).
Gallery
Character Artwork
.png "Pac-Baby in Pac-Man (TV Series).png (60 KB)")
Group Artwork
Wallpapers
| Pac-Man Characters | |
|---|---|
| Main Characters | Pac-Man • Ms. Pac-Man • Jr. Pac-Man • Baby Pac-Man • Professor Pac-Man • Chomp-Chomp |
| Other Characters | Miru • Sour Puss • Pac-Devil • Sir Pac-A-Lot • Pac-Master • Ms. Pac-Master • Krystal • Buttercup • Fairy |
| Pac-Ghosts | Blinky • Pinky • Inky • Clyde • Sue • Funky • Spunky • Kinky • Tim • Orson • Yum-Yum |
| Main Antagonists | Ghost Witch • Toc-Man • Mesmerelda • Mollusc • Spooky • Wandy • Erwin • Golvis • Ink Master • Mezmeron |
| Minor Antagonists | Gobblin • Jack • Wormwood • The Fiend |
| Pac-Man Party | Mr. Cookie • Patra • Roger • Woofa • Bearserk |
| Ghostly Adventures | Pacster • Cylindria • Spiral • Betrayus • Fuzbitz • Sir Cumference • Spheros • Dr. Buttocks • Butt-ler |
| Crossovers | Pooka • Fygar • Dig Dug • Mappy • Mr. Driller • The Prince • Mario |