from that exact location, but from innumerable years in the past. The only way the protagonists can get to Giygas' time period is to alter the Phase Distorter to transport them back in time. When the group finally reaches Giygas, he initially resembles Ness while in the device called the "Devil's Machine". Pokey eventually turns the Devil's Machine off, thereby destroying Giygas' body and mind by releasing his power and driving him mad. At this point, Giygas' words and attacks are nondescript and nonsensical. Giygas is eventually destroyed by Paula, who prays to the protagonists' friends and family for help. Her praying eventually reaches the player, and the combined prayers do enough damage to Giygas to kill him. Reception Since appearing in EarthBound, Giygas has received largely positive reception. His role and design was regarded as contrasting with the otherwise lighthearted tone of the rest of EarthBounds story by Brittany Vincent for G4TV. Cassandra Ramos for RPGamer identified him as one of her favorite villains, while 1UP.com staff listed the battle with Giygas as one of the 25 best boss battles, citing the audio and imagery of Giygas as well as the final portion of the battle. Jeremy Parish for 1UP.com used the battle as an example of how games subvert expectations, where the protagonists employ prayer instead of their most powerful attacks to win. IGN staff included the battle with Giygas in their list of the 10 most cinematic video game moments. NGamer UK staff listed Giygas as one of the most iconic boss encounters in Nintendo history, stating that the defining moment was his design and the method of defeating him. GamesRadar+ staff named him one of the best video game antagonists, finding him creepy and a more imposing villain than Kefka Palazzo from Final Fantasy VI. Staff for Complex, GameSpot, and UGO Networks listed the fight against Giygas as one of the hardest in video games, with the latter and Chloi Rad for IGN calling him one of the most frightening video game characters. He was featured in a GameSpot user-voted poll of the greatest villains in video games, where he lost in the first round to Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic antagonist Darth Malak. Nadia Oxford for IGN listed the battle with Giygas as one of the most memorable moments in EarthBound and stated that its significance resonated with people who had not played