Editing Ness (SSBM)

|tier        = D

'''Ness''' ({{ja|ネス|Nesu}}, ''Ness'') is a [[starter character]] in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]''. He was officially announced at [[E3]] 2001.

Ness is currently ranked 23rd out of 26 on the [[tier list]], placing within the D tier. This is a slight fall from his already very low placement in ''Smash 64'', where he was 10th out of 12 characters in the NTSC version, and his worst placement to date. While still possessing great throws and a great aerial and combo game thanks to his double jump cancel, Ness is strongly held back by having almost non-existent approach options on the ground due to significant range issues in most of his attacks; having one of the worst recoveries in the game, and he also has significant trouble KOing opponents, due to him possessing some of the worst smash attacks in the game, having overall very weak KO power and due to his aforementioned poor range. As a result of these significant weaknesses, Ness has terrible [[matchup]]s across the cast, is considered non-viable in competitive play, and has nearly non-existent representation in the modern metagame.

Ness is an unusual blend of character archetypes; many of his attributes are unique in comparison to other characters, such as his projectiles, his [[recovery]] and his midair [[jump]]. Ness has below average [[traction]] and a below average [[falling speed]], giving him an above-average [[wavedash]] that is relatively quick. Ness is a projectile-heavy character, as he has 3 projectiles: [[PK Flash]], [[PK Fire]], and [[PK Thunder]], while also having a healing move in his [[PSI Magnet]].

Arguably Ness's greatest strength is his combo game. Despite a poor [[SHFFL]] due to his high short hop and low falling speed, Ness has many ways to pressure and combo in the air thanks to his [[double jump cancel]] (often abbreviated DJC). By cancelling out of his midair jump with an aerial, Ness can quickly and efficiently use his multiple aerial attacks; this is especially important considering the utility of his aerial attacks. His [[neutral aerial]] and [[forward aerial]] attacks acting as potential combo starters (especially the latter) and his back, up and down air attacks serve as good KO moves. Due to this, his air approach is considered to be much better than his ground approach.

Ness' greatest flaw, however, is his significant range problems. All of his attacks (especially his tilts) have little range or small hitboxes, making hitting an opponent very difficult. Although wavedashing can help out this problem somewhat, Ness' ground based options have too little utility overall to be consistently applicable. When combined with his somewhat slow movement, Ness has significant trouble approaching opponents. Thus, his dash attack is considered to be his only reliable ground approach option, due to its decent range unlike most of his other attacks. Also, Ness's grab has the second shortest range in all of the game (only to {{SSBM|Pikachu}}), thus making it difficult for him to take advantage of his versatile throws, while his dash grab is extremely laggy and barely improves its range. Finally, against opponents with particularly good spacing games, most notoriously {{SSBM|Marth}}, Ness can be easily overwhelmed in his attempts to approach opponents in the air despite the power of his DJC.

Even when attempting to approach his opponents, Ness suffers from noticeable KOing problems, largely due to his poor power and range. He possesses a terrible set of smash attacks in the game: his up and down smashes are by far the weakest of their kind and his forward smash relies on a sweetspot at the tip of the bat to KO effectively. Outside of his smash attacks, most of his strongest finishers suffer from poor range (his back, up and down aerials, along with his back throw), long start-up and ending lag (his down aerial), low base knockback (up aerial and back throw), having small, unreliable sweetspots (his aforementioned forward smash), or simply being unsafe and situational (PK Flash and PK Thunder 2).

Outside of his poor approach, Ness also suffers from a catastrophic recovery. Ness's recovery has its merits; he has the second highest midair jump in the game (second to only Yoshi) and his midair jump has unusual properties in its trajectory; PK Thunder 2 also grants a rather long distance, with a moderately large sweetspot and a long period of invincibility frames. The move is also very risky to block due to possessing KO power that reliably KOs at 90%. Despite these benefits, however, Ness's recovery still is cited as arguably the worst in the game, in spite of its long length, due to possessing many notable flaws. If Ness uses an aerial to fend off edgeguarders, his double jump is cancelled and can prevent him from recovering if unable to act soon enough. PK Thunder's projectile instantly disappears upon hitting opponents, and this is very easily abusable by edgeguarders, further worsened by PK Thunder 2's slow startup. In the process of having to start PK Thunder 2, characters with good recoveries (such as {{SSBM|Jigglypuff}} or {{SSBM|Samus}}) can merely jump into the projectile and take minor knockback and damage, immediately sending Ness into a state of [[helplessness]], though this is a risky strategy. Projectiles such as {{SSBM|Link}}'s Boomerangs and the {{SSBM|Ice Climbers}}' [[Ice Shot]] can easily disrupt the projectile as well, and in these cases, damage is not even inflicted to the opponent. PK Thunder 2 also suffers from a number of problems. Notably, it is difficult to angle correctly, and it can easily curve under lips of stages, most notably on {{SSBM|Battlefield}}. Its linear nature can also make it easy to read and edgeguard for many characters, despite the invincibility frames found within it, and attacks like Mario's [[Cape]] or Link's [[Spin Attack]] can easily intercept the attack as Ness charges to the stage. Finally, PK Thunder 2 has significant ending lag, and if Ness recovers directly onto the stage after using it, opponents can easily capitalize on this ending lag by landing a powerful hit on Ness that he cannot hope to counter.

==Changes from ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]''==

While Ness is considered to be a low tier in ''Smash 64'' owing to his poor range, mobility and most notably; his poor recovery, he was initially considered to be top tier character in the game's early meta due to the strength of his [[double jump cancel]] which gave him a powerful combo game as well as giving him excellent [[shield]] pressuring potential. Likely as a result of this, Ness received a mix of buffs and nerfs in his transition from ''Smash 64'' to ''Melee'' but was ultimately [[nerf]]ed overall.

Ness received a number of helpful buffs; his range was increased as a whole to help alleviate one of his main flaws from the previous game. This can most notably be seen with his altered dash attack and forward aerial which have now become disjointed multi hitting moves. The former has become a decent combo starter and an edgeguarding tool while the latter in particular has now become a solid spacing move with good combo potential (something he sorely lacked in the previous game).

Ness' mobility has been drastically improved, possessing a much faster dashing speed and air speed, making it much easier for him to approach, run away and chase opponents. Ness also benefits from the introduction of [[air dodging]] for two reasons; it gives him a much needed additional recovery and it gives him access to [[wavedash]]ing. Ness overall has a solid wavedash due to his average traction and short jumpsquat giving him a useful movement option. Ness overall has a better recovery outside of [[PK Thunder]] due to his aforementioned increased air speed and ability to air dodge meaning that Ness does not have to rely on PK Thunder to recover as much.

Ness is also significantly heavier which considerably improves his endurance along with his higher falling speed, though these factors also make him more vulnerable to combos. Ness has also gained a useful up throw and down throw with both throws being decent combo starters. Lastly, Ness now has access the Yo-yo glitch if he charges his up smash and releases it at the right time. When performed correctly, Ness has access to much greater range, as well as having hitboxes attached to him and new mindgames giving him a unique and unpredictable option.

However, Ness has received a much greater quantity of nerfs which along with universal changes, have drastically crippled him overall. Ness' damage output has been reduced which has also hindered the KO potential of many of his moves. Some moves such as up aerial, forward smash and back throw simply KO later than in the previous game while moves such as up smash, down smash, forward aerial and forward throw are now practically useless moves for KOing. This naturally hinders Ness' damage racking capabilities as well as his ability to close out stocks and as a result of these changes, Ness' ability to KO opponents has gone from being disproportionately high to rather low.

Ness' aerial game has also been considerably toned down both due to nerfs to his key aerials in the previous game as well as various universal changes. All of Ness' aerials have increased landing lag and (with the exception of neutral aerial) worse auto-cancel windows. Due to the weakening of [[L-canceling]], these changes do impact Ness hindering his aerial combo game when combined with the reduction of hitstun and the introduction of [[DI]] as well as making his aerials easier to punish. Ness is also one of the characters who was the most affected by the changes to [[shield]]s. With shields having more HP, taking less damage from attacks and with shieldstun being significantly lower; this combined with the aforementioned weakening of L-canceling has greatly hindered Ness' shield pressuring potential with his DJC, completely removing his ability to perform [[shield break combo]]s. Ness' own out of shield options are also worse due to his longer jumpsquat, slower grab and his slower down aerial.

Ness' down aerial in particular has seen rather drastic nerfs. Previously, it was an extremely fast and powerful meteor smash which was a good combo starter as well as an excellent combo ender, edgeguarding tool and shield pressuring tool. In ''Melee'', the move has about 5x as much startup lag and 3x as much ending lag and the move no longer auto-cancels while its hitboxes are out now having decently high landing lag (although it still has one of the most lenient auto-cancel windows in the game). Being a [[meteor smash]], it also suffers from the addition of meteor cancelling making it significantly easier to survive against despite its much higher base knockback. When combined with the aforementioned changes to shields and L-canceling, this removes most of its KO potential and completely removes its use in shield break combos and DJC combos in general, significantly hurting its damage racking ability.

Despite already being an exploitable recovery move, PK Thunder has been made much worse. PK Thunder itself travels faster but has received angling issues due to this change and Ness can no longer auto-snap the ledge while using it making it completely useless to use at the ledge if Ness does not hit himself. PK Thunder 2 travels a much shorter distance and has increased ending lag making it even easier to exploit than it already was. PK Thunder 2 is also much weaker as a KO move and has received a weaker late hit reducing its utility outside of recovering. This makes Ness' recovery arguably the worst in the game.

Lastly, Ness' weaknesses from the previous game were not properly addressed. While the range in some of his attacks has increased, his range is still among the absolute shortest in the game and his mobility is still mediocre even though its not quite as poor as it previous was. As a result, Ness still has a difficult time approaching opponents and winning the neutral as he can still easily be outspaced. His recovery also is now among the absolute worst as while he has better aerial mobility and he can airdodge to avoid having to use PK Thunder, PK Thunder retains all of the issues it had in the previous game and has even become a considerably worse move/recovery option overall.

Overall, Ness still retains the weaknesses he had in the previous game while the strengths he had were either toned down or removed. As a result of these changes, Ness is one of the most severely nerfed characters and he remains one of the worst characters in the game.

*{{change|Ness's default costume have been slightly changed (red cap has blue instead of purple, beige and blue striped shirt and blue shorts instead of yellow/purple and purple, blue cap has purple instead of violet, tan and purple striped shirt and purple shorts instead of yellow/violet and violet, and green cap has orange and brown striped shirt and green shorts instead of light green/orange and orange like Mario's team battle costume.)}}

*{{nerf|Ness' [[traction]] is slightly lower (0.0667 (2) → 0.06). Compared with the returning veterans, however, his traction is significantly lower, making it harder for him to punish [[out of shield]].}}

*{{nerf|Ness' [[jumpsquat]] is longer (3 frames → 4).}}

*{{buff|Ness' [[air speed]] has been unchanged (0.933 (28) → 0.93). Compared with the returning veterans, however, his air speed is faster, going from the 2nd (JPN/NA) / 4th (AUS) / 3rd (EUR) slowest out of 12 characters to the 11th fastest out of 26.}}

*{{nerf|Ness [[jump]]s much lower (40.15 (1204.5) → 35.98).}}

**{{buff|Compared with the returning veterans, however, he jumps significantly higher, going from the 3rd lowest out of 12 characters to the 5th highest out of 26.}}

**{{change|Ness' [[short hop]] is drastically lower (23.5367 (706.1) → 13.26), improves his ability to hit opponents low on the ground with short hop aerials, as well as his ability to quickly land and continue aerial pressure, but also hinders his ability to [[auto-cancel]] his aerials.}}

*{{nerf|Ness' [[fast-fall]]ing speed is significantly slower (2.95 (88.5) → 2.2). The difference between his falling speed and fast falling speed is much lower (increase: 60.5% → 20.2%), which makes it more predictable when landing and gives him fewer options in the air.}}

*{{buff|Ness is drastically [[weight|heavier]] (81.818181 (1.1) → 94) which significantly improves his endurance.}}

**{{buff|Neutral attack transitions sooner into the later hits (frame 10 → 5 (hit 1), frame 8 → 6 (hit 2)).}}

**{{nerf|All three hits of neutral attack have more startup lag with the second and third hits also having a shorter duration (frames 2-3 (hit 1)/3-5 (hit 2)/6-11 (hit 3) → 3-4/4-5/7-10).}}

**{{nerf|All three hits have more ending lag (FAF 18 (hit 1)/20 (hit 2)/ 25 (frame 3) → 20/21/31).}}

**{{nerf|Ness's head has less [[intangibility]] (frames 5-19 → 5-6) further hindering up tilt's use as an anti-air.}}

**{{nerf|Dash attack has a shorter duration (frames 8-11 (clean)/12-25 (late) → 8/15/22) and each hit has high base knockback making it extremely difficult to connect properly.}}

**{{buff|Forward smash has increased horizontal range.}}

**{{buff|Forward smash has less startup lag (frame 18 → 16).}}

**{{nerf|Forward smash deals less knockback (70 (base), 65 (scaling) → 50/62) drastically hindering the sourspots' KO potential at high percentages.}}

**{{nerf|Forward smash has a shorter duration (frames 18-21 → 16-17), increasing its ending lag.}}

**{{nerf|Forward smash's reflector can now only deal up to 50% damage and the reflector will break if Ness reflects a projectile which deals over 50% (much like Fox's).}}

**{{nerf|Up smash deals significantly less damage (17% → 9% (clean), 15%/13% → 6% (late)). The clean hit's knockback was not fully compensated (20 (base), 100 (scaling) → 80/80) while the late hit deals less knockback (0 (base), 100 (scaling) → 60/45) completely removing its KOing capabilities and making it completely useless and unsafe.}}

**{{nerf|Up smash has more ending lag (FAF 40 → 49).}}

**{{nerf|Down smash has a much shorter duration (frames 13-52 → 12 (clean), 13-31 (late)) and now has a drastically weaker late hit.}}

**{{nerf|Down smash deals drastically less damage (19% → 11%/7%) and its knockback was not fully compensated (0 (base), 100 (scaling) → 70/80 (clean), 70/60 (late)) completely removing its KO potential.}}

*{{nerf|All aerials have increased landing lag (14 frames → 22 (neutral), 16 frames → 18 (forward), 15 frames → 18 (back), 4/8 frames → 18 (up), 4/8 frames → 28 (down)).}}

*{{nerf|The weakening of [[L-canceling]] has hindered Ness's combo game with landing aerials as well as their safety with the increasing landing lag and worse auto-cancel windows on his aerials only further exacerbating this.}}

**{{nerf|This combined with the changes to [[shield]]s has severely harmed Ness's shield pressuring potential; making his aerials much less safe against shield and completely removing his ability to perform [[shield break combo]]s.}}

***{{buff|However this combined with Ness's superior aerial mobility improves its combo potential.}}

**{{change|Forward aerial has been altered: Ness now produces five PSI rings in front of him with the move being a multi hit.}}

**{{buff|Forward aerial deals more damage if all hits connect (12% (clean)/10% (late) → 3%/2% (hits 1-4)/5% (hit 5)/15.74% (total)).}}

**{{nerf|The sweetspot now has an electric effect, giving it more hitlag (1x → 1.5x) and making it easier to DI.}}

**{{nerf|Ness's head is no longer intangible while performing up aerial.}}

**{{nerf|Up aerial no longer auto-cancels for its entire duration, now having 18 frames of landing lag (9 if L-cancelled).}}

**{{nerf|Down aerial deals 3% less damage (15% → 12%) and has much lower knockback scaling (120 → 70), weakening the meteor smash's power at high percents and removing its KO potential on-stage..}}

**{{nerf|Down aerial no longer auto-cancels while the hitbox is out, now having 28 frames of landing lag (14 if L-cancelled).}}

**{{nerf|Ness's grabs have more startup lag (frame 6 → 8 (standing), 10 (dash)) and ending lag (FAF 16 → 31 (standing), 41 (dash)).}}

**{{nerf|Forward throw deals less damage (16% → 11%) and while it has increased base knockback (90 → 120), it also has drastically lower knockback scaling (70 → 10) completely removing its KO potential (no longer being the strongest forward throw).}}

**{{nerf|Back throw deals less damage (16% → 11%) and its knockback was not fully compensated (90 (base), 70 (scaling) → 15/130), hindering its KO potential although it still remains one of the most powerful throws in the game.}}

**{{change|Ness now has a new neutral special: PK Flash. A chargeable green ball of light that increases in power and moves downward the longer the button is held. Once it reaches full power, it explodes, dealing huge knockback. It grants Ness a new powerful KO and edgeguarding option, although the move is ineffective due to its extremely poor speed and how vulnerable it leaves Ness when he uses it.}}

**{{change|As a result of PK Flash now being Ness's neutral special, PK Fire is now Ness's side special.}}

**{{buff|PK Fire pillar's duration is slightly longer (frame 98 -> 100).}}

**{{buff|PK Fire pillar's hitboxes are larger and no longer shrink as its lifetime decreases.}}

**{{buff|PK Fire spark travels farther.}}

**{{nerf|PK Fire spark has a smaller hitbox and now relies on the assistance of a hurtbox to activate the fire pillar.}}

***{{buff|However, this also means that the PK Fire spark can absorb projectiles with transcendent priority.}}

**{{nerf|PK Fire deals less damage (4% (spark)/3% (pillar hits 1-7) → 2% (spark)/3% (pillar hit 1)/2% (pillar hits 2-7)), and it is now considerably easier to SDI out of.}}

**{{buff|PK Thunder now auto-cancels once Ness enters free fall; drastically reducing its landing lag (42 frames → 4).}}

**{{buff|PK Thunder 2 has a longer duration (frames 1-18 → 1-36).}}

**{{change|PK Thunder 2 now grants Ness intangibility rather than [[invincibility]].}}

**{{nerf|PK Thunder 2 now has a drastically weaker late hitbox that deals less damage (30% → 20%) and knockback (40 (base), 84 (scaling) → 45/65).}}

**{{nerf|PK Thunder 2 has much more ending lag (FAF 44 → 100 (ground)/70 (air)) especially if Ness ends PK Thunder 2 on the ground or if he lands while in the middle of the animation of PK Thunder 2 and before he transitions into free fall.}}

**{{buff|PSI Magnet has less startup lag (frame 15 → 11).}}

**{{change|The color of PSI Magnet is now blue instead of green.}}

**{{change|The crowd no longer cheers when Ness absorbs a projectile with PSI Magnet. The screen additionally no longer flashes when this occurs either.}}

|neutralname=Hook ({{ja|ジャブ|Jabu}}, ''Jab'') / Straight ({{ja|ストレート|Sutorēto}}) / Kick ({{ja|ミドルキック|Midoru Kikku}}, ''Middle Kick'')

|ftiltname=Short Kick ({{ja|ショートキック|Shōto Kikku}})

|utiltname=Push Up ({{ja|トス|Tosu}}, ''Toss'')

|dtiltname=Squat Kick ({{ja|クラウチングキック|Kurauchingu Kikku}}, ''Crouching Kick'')

|dashname=PK Shove ({{ja|ＰＫハンドスタンプ|Pīkei Hando Sutanpu}}, ''PK Hand Stamp'')

|fsmashname=Home Run Swing ({{ja|バットスイング|Batto Suingu}}, ''Bat Swing'')

|fsmashdesc=Swings his bat forward. Has high knockback and damage at the tip of the bat, but has very weak knockback for a smash attack when untipped and has a little bit of start-up lag. There is a hitbox around Ness which can [[reflect]] projectiles,  but it is only out for 2 frames, so it's near-impossible to use reliably.

|usmashname=Around the World ({{ja|シャトルループ|Shatoru Rūpu}}, ''Shuttle Loop'')

|usmashdesc=Does a variation on the "around-the-world" yo-yo trick, swinging his yo-yo above his head. Has good range and speed. Used to perform the extremely powerful [[Yo-yo Glitch]], but has little utility otherwise. Like his down smash, this attack is incapable of KOing unless his opponent is over 200%, and the swinging part even has almost non-existent knockback not KOing until at least 500%, though this allows it to act an unorthodox combo-starter at mid to high percents. The attack has a hitbox while charging and can hang over ledges if spaced correctly, allowing for potential edgeguard situations. If Ness is too close to the ledge, however, and facing said ledge, he cannot charge the move.

|dsmashname=Walk the Dog ({{ja|ヨーヨーショット|Yōyō Shotto}}, ''Yo-Yo Shot'')

|dsmashdesc=Sends his yo-yo backwards and "walks-the-dog" with it before pulling the yo-yo back. Has good range and speed, however, this attack is incapable of KOing unless his opponent is over 180%. More powerful than the up smash in terms of knockback, but still extremely weak. The attack has a hitbox while charging. The swinging part of the attack has barely any base knockback and can't KO until the 430% range. Overall less utility than up-smash due to the Yo-yo starting out behind Ness. If Ness is too close to the ledge, and facing away from it, he cannot charge the move.

|nairname=Ness Spin ({{ja|ネススピン|Nesu Supin}})

|fairname=Flying PK Shove ({{ja|空中ＰＫハンドスタンプ|Kūchū Pīkei Hando Sutanpu}}, ''Aerial PK Hand Stamp'')

|fairdesc=Throws both his hands forward, sending multiple sparks PSI energy in front of himself. Is a fast, multi-hitting move, with good range and high knockback on the last hit KOing under 130% off-stage. Generally used as a [[spacing]] move and can chain into itself several times at low to high percents.

|bairname=PK Drop Kick ({{ja|ＰＫドロップキック|Pīkei Doroppu Kikku}})

|bairdesc=Thrusts both his feet backwards. If sweetspotted, it electrifies the opponent, dealing massive damage. Is fast with very high knockback albeit somewhat poor range. Can shield poke if fastfalled out of a DJC. The fourth most powerful back aerial in the game, beaten by {{SSBM|Zelda}}, {{SSBM|Ganondorf}}, and {{SSBM|Samus}}.

|uairname=Jumping Headbutt ({{ja|ジャンピングヘッドバット|Janpingu Heddobatto}})

|uairdesc=Headbutts upward. Has amazing juggling potential when DJC'd and a good KO move with very low lag, but poor range. Unlike in ''Smash 64'', Ness's head is no longer intangible.

|dairname=Meteor Kick ({{ja|ニードルキック|Nīdoru Kikku}}, ''Needle Kick'')

|grabname=Grab ({{ja|つかみ|Tsukami}})

|pummelname=Captive Headbutt ({{ja|つかみヘッドバット|Tsukami Heddobatto}}, ''Grab Headbutt'')

|fthrowname=PK Throw ({{ja|ＰＫスルー|Pīkei Surū}})

|bthrowname=Reverse PK Throw ({{ja|リバースＰＫスルー|Ribāsu Pīkei Surū}})

|uthrowname=Cowboy PK Throw ({{ja|カウボーイＰＫスルー|Kaubōi Pīkei Surū}})

|uthrowdesc=Psychically spins the opponent above his head and throws them upwards. Can chaingrab {{SSBM|Fox}}, {{SSBM|Falco}} and {{SSBM|Captain Falcon}} at low % and has a decent amount of followups. Good knockback.

|dthrowname=PK Inferno ({{ja|ラピッドＰＫファイヤー|Rapiddo Pīkei Faiyā}}, ''Rapid PK Fire'')

|dthrowdesc=Slams the opponent to the ground and hits them with fire. Low knockback but allows a decent amount of followups, including being able to lead into an up aerial to KO. The fire hitboxes are fairly small (so small in fact that they flat out whiff against {{SSBM|Mr. Game & Watch}}).

|ssdesc=Fires a yellow, lightning-bolt shaped projectile that travels in a straight line until it hits an enemy or destructible portion of a stage, at which point it explodes into flames. The bolt has a [[hurtbox]], which is what activates the pillar upon contact; the surrounding [[hitbox]] deals 2% and little vertical knockback. The fire pillar also has a hurtbox which slowly shrinks in size and appears to have a windbox.

|desc-1=Looks to the left and right of him, then places his right arm on the back of his head.

==In [[competitive play]]==

===Most historically significant players===

<!--This character has a ten player limit for this section. Before adding and/or removing a player, read these guidelines: https://www.ssbwiki.com/SmashWiki:Notability#%22Most_historically_significant_players%22_guidelines -->

:''See also: [[:Category:Ness players (SSBM)]]''

*{{Sm|Simna ibn Sind|USA}} - Considered the best Ness player from 2006 to 2008, from 2015 to 2020, and of all time. He holds the best major results for Ness with 13th at {{Trn|EVO World 2007}} and 17th at {{Trn|Super Champ Combo}}. Mainly only attended {{Trn|EVO}} and [[GENESIS (tournament series)|GENESIS]] before his inactivity from competition. Simna ibn Sind is also known to be the person who discovered the [[Thunder Jacket]].

*{{Sm|JoeyBats|Canada}} - The current best Ness player in the world, gaining notoriety during online tournaments through [[Slippi]]. He boast the highest tournament placements and highest rates of tournament participation among Ness players in 2021 on [[Project Slippi]] netplay and offline placed 17th at the superregional {{Trn|Rise 'N Grind 2023}}.

Ness was initially viewed as low-mid tier character in the metagame, with a peak of 15th place on the second tier list. While he originally not considered terrible, his strengths never outshined his weaknesses; as the metagame went on, his glaring issues in range, inconsistent KOing potential, and terrible recovery caused his competitive perception to tank. This is reflected following the third tier list, where he has consistently been ranked as a bottom tier.

On the current tier list, Ness places at 23rd, in the D tier, and he is widely considered non-viable for tournament play. Dedicated Ness players in high-level play are extremely rare in the current metagame, with most Ness players using him only as a situational counterpick. {{Sm|Hungrybox}} only used Ness once in all of {{Trn|Apex 2013}}, in an attempt to catch {{Sm|Armada}}'s {{SSBM|Young Link}} (which was developed specifically to fight Hungrybox) off-guard, and he mostly used {{SSBM|Jigglypuff}} for the rest of the tournament. Other players of Ness are semi-active and generally do not place very well with him.

==In 1-P Mode==

===[[Congratulations_screen#Super_Smash_Bros._Melee|Congratulations Screens]]===

NessClassicMode.jpg|Classic Mode

NessAdventureMode.jpg|Adventure Mode

NessAllStarMode.jpg|All-Star Mode

==[[Trophies]]==

|name=Ness

|desc=Ness is a young boy who's mastered the psychic power known as PSI. Ness was living a normal life in the suburbs of Onett until a meteor crashed into a nearby mountain and sent him on a wild adventure. Believing in the ultimate powers of wisdom, courage, and friendship, Ness proves that some heroes come in small packages.

|gamelist-ntsc={{Trophy games|game1=EarthBound|release1=6/95}}

|gamelist-pal={{Trophy games|game1=EarthBound|release1=Not Released in Europe}}

|name=Ness

|image=Ness Trophy (Smash).png

|desc=The key to mastering Ness is controlling his unique midair jump, which makes up for what he lacks in speed. His PK Flash attack may seem weak at first glance, but it grows more powerful the longer you hold down the B Button. To do a lot of damage with PK Fire, try to burn your opponent as many times as possible.

|gamelist=:B: PK Flash

:Smash B: PK Fire

{{Trophy/Fighter

|name=Ness

|image=Ness Trophy (Smash) 2.png

|mode=All Star

|desc=Ness's mind is his best weapon. PK Thunder is a PSI missile weapon that can be guided using the Control Stick, and if Ness hits himself with it, he turns into a living missile capable of doing massive damage. This move can also be used for recovery. PSI Magnet turns energy missile attacks into health; try out certain Pokémon for stamina replenishment.

|gamelist=:Up & B: PK Thunder

SSBM Ness HQ.jpg|Official artwork of Ness.

LuigiAdventureMode.jpg|Standing with {{SSBM|Donkey Kong}}, {{SSBM|Kirby}}, and {{SSBM|Luigi}} on [[Great Bay]].

KirbyAdventureMode.jpg|Posing with Kirby on [[Temple]].

FoxAdventureMode.jpg|[[Taunt]]ing with Kirby and {{SSBM|Pikachu}} on Temple.

MewtwoAllStarMode.jpg|Using PSI Magnet near {{SSBM|Mewtwo}} on {{SSBM|Final Destination}}.

*If one looks closely at Ness's yo-yo, they can see the words ''DOLPHIN LOOP'', with it being made by HALLAB NINTENDO in 2001 (''Melee''{{'}}s release year), Dolphin being a reference to the [[Gamecube]]'s codename, and the "makers" a reference to the developer and publisher of ''Melee'' respectively. His bat reads NETT SPORTS.