Ness (SSBB)

Ness in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Universe	EarthBound
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Melee in SSB4 in Ultimate
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	PK Starstorm
Tier	D (26)

Ness (ネス, Ness) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Ness was initially confirmed in Brawl through leaked on January 18th, 2008 through a topic in the game site's message board about an official trailer in a promotional video on the Japanese Wii website about sticker power-ups that leaked him being playable in the game, alongside Lucario and Jigglypuff. He was officially confirmed on February 1st, 2008 on the Smash Bros. DOJO!! website, the day after Brawl came out in Japan. He is once again voiced by Makiko Ōmoto, with a combination of new voice-clips and recycled ones from Melee.

Ness is ranked 26th out of 38 on the tier list, a notable improvement from his placement in Melee, where he was ranked 23rd out of 26. Ness possesses a strong aerial game with a strong, quick and disjointed set of aerial attacks capable of racking up damage and comboing at lower precents and KOing at higher ones, alongside possessing arguably the best grab game across the entire cast (even competing with the Ice Climbers) due to possessing the fastest grabs in the game, a quick pummel and effective throws; in particular, back throw is the most common killing throw in the series. Furthermore, Ness boasts a flexible special moveset: PK Fire is versatile for racking up damage and leading to free follow-ups, PSI Magnet is capable of edgeguarding and leading to early KOs, PK Thunder is useful for mindgames, and PSI Magnet absorbs energy-based projectiles while healing Ness himself. Despite being a small middleweight, Ness boasts high overall KO potential and damage output, courtesy of his aerials, forward smash, back throw, PK Flash and PK Thunder 2. Ness is greatly hindered, however, by his exploitable recovery by either hitting Ness to an undesirable angle or nullifying the projectile, alongside the poor reach in his normal attacks, which allows characters with disjointed hitboxes (such as Ike and Mr. Game & Watch) to easily outrange him, possessing a limited grounded game (due to his aforementioned poor range, his almost non-existent approaching options on the ground, sub-par mobility and situational smash attacks), and by the 10 additional frames of lag he suffers when grab released, leaving him extremely vulnerable to followups out of a grab release from almost every character, as well as infinites and zero-to-death chain grabs out of a grab release (most infamously from Marth and Donkey Kong). Overall, Ness overall has below-average matchups with several counters, but he has acheived above-average tournament results regardless.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play 5 VS. matches.
• Reflect 10 projectiles.
• Have Ness join the player's party in the Subspace Emissary (Subspace (Part I)).

With the exception of the third method, Ness must then be defeated on Onett.

Attributes

Generalizing Ness is difficult. He has a unique moveset that borrows from various archetypes: while his three projectiles allow for some zoning, his fast moveset and punishing grab game make him most dangerous at short distances. Although his grounded mobility is relatively poor — his walking speed, initial dash, and dashing speed are below-average — his aerial mobility shines thanks to his excellent air acceleration, above-average jumping height, slightly above-average air speed, and unique double jump cancelling ability. Further bolstering his aerial game, Ness' low gravity and below-average falling speed allow him to perform multiple aerials in a single short hop, and all of his aerials can be auto-canceled. Despite his small stature, Ness is a middleweight, tied with Lucas and Pit.

Ness is perhaps best known for his flexible special moveset. His neutral special, PK Flash, is a large projectile that travels in an arc from Ness' head, gaining strength and distance depending on how long the input is held for. Because it has low ending lag and freezes opponents briefly when successful, PK Flash has great utility as a combo starter and juggling tool. In addition, it boasts extreme power at full charge, KOing Bowser, the heaviest character, under 70%. However, similar to Lucas' PK Freeze and Zelda's Din's Fire, PK Flash sends Ness into helplessness after usage in midair, making it risky for offstage usage as it will lead into inadvertent self-destructs. Ness' side special, PK Fire, is a tiny projectile that travels horizontally a short distance and bursts into a pillar of flames on contact with an opponent, dealing multiple hits. When performed in the air, PK Fire has a diagonal trajectory and less landing lag, bolstering its safety in neutral, especially on platforms. The move is infamously spammable and can set up combos, condition opponents to jump, or simply rack up damage itself. Ness' up special, PK Thunder, doubles as a versatile projectile and Ness' primary means of recovery. The move sends a ball of electricity upward from Ness' head that can be guided with the control stick, costing Ness his mobility while active, but granting him the ability to pressure deep offstage, juggle opponents repeatedly, or occasionally KO an opponent into the upper blast zone. Ness can also send the lightning into himself at any angle, launching him in that direction for an extremely powerful attack (PK Thunder 2), which both KOs rather early and allows Ness to recover from deep offstage. Ness' down special, PSI Magnet, creates a psychic field around Ness that absorbs energy-based projectiles and heals Ness a proportionate percentage. PSI Magnet also alters the momentum of Ness' double jump, a form of double jump cancelling that makes for a unique aerial burst option and a stylish way to start or extend combos.

Ness' outstanding aerial mobility is supplemented by possessing one of the best aerial games in Brawl. Ness is one of the few characters in the game who can perform a pair of aerials in a snigle short hop (Double Aerial Shuffle). This requires practice though because the player needs to performs the aerial immediately when jumping off the ground. His neutral aerial is a sex kick that possesses minimal startup and ending lag, and hits on both sides of Ness, making it a useful out of shield option. It also sets up tech-chasing situations at medium precents, while the clean hit also deals decent knockback, allowing it to KO at high precents while eddgeguarding. His forward aerial has quick startup, a disjointed hitbox, and traps opponents, essentially allowing it to chain into either itself or another move. It is a powerful spacing tool, making it useful in approaching, racking up damage and edgeguarding opponents. His up aerial, one of the strongest in the game, can be used to combo at lower percents and KO reliably at higher percents. It possesses a large hitbox and little lag, making it low-risk, high-reward tool in his kit. His back aerial is another reliable KO move that possesses low lag when clean, while the late hit is useful for performing a wall of pain. Lastly, his clean down aerial is among the strongest meteor smashes in the game, and when hit late, it is a steep semi-spike, making it good for edgeguarding.

Ness' grab game is outstanding and among the best across the cast. All of his grabs are characterized with extreme speed, albeit short range. His pummel is tied with Lucas for the second-fastest in the game (surpassed by only Wolf), allowing him to inflict decent damage before throwing his opponent, and all of his throws have useful applications. His down throw is a solid combo starter, easily following into an aerial attack or multiple forward aerials. His forward throw has disproportionate base knockback, allowing it to easily set up edgeguards. His up throw has similar applications of utility to down throw: being a solid combo starter. However, it can KO at very high precents and can lead to solid mix-ups that can set up juggling with PK Thunder or PK Flash, leading to mindgames. Most notorious, however, is Ness' infamous back throw, which is the most consistent and common KO throw in the series.

Although less effective than his aerial prowess, Ness' grounded game is still respectable. His forward tilt and dash attack are fast and strong enough to KO at high percents, and the latter has considerable range. His up tilt is a good combo tool at low percents and can even KO at higher percents. His down tilt, which is extremely fast and highly spammable, can be used to two-frame, jab lock, pressure shields, confirm into a grab, or deal immense damage if the opponent is trapped at the ledge. His forward smash (baseball bat) has high start-up and ending lag, but is among the strongest in the game, especially when sweetspotted with the tip of the bat. The bat itself is also a long-lasting reflector. Ness' up and down smashes (yo-yo) deal damage while charging, and can hang below the stage, making them some of the best and easiest-to-use edgeguarding tools in the game. However, while his up smash is useful out of shield and his down smash is useful as an edgeguarding option to two-frame opponents, both KO considerably later than his other KO options in a neutral situation.

Ness' major problems are his awful grounded grab release and exploitable recovery. He and Lucas both suffer from possessing 10 additional frames of lag on their grab releases. Most characters have some sort of detrimental exploits upon grab releasing Ness, and/or Lucas, leading to chain grabs, infinities in walls, and other moderate/major exploits. A pair of examples of this would be Marth and Donkey Kong's zero-to-death on Ness and Lucas. Another example is Wario using his forward smash out of the grab release, which Ness cannot avoid. As mentioned above, Ness' other major problem is his exploitable recovery. Although Ness has the second-highest double jump in the game (surpassed by Yoshi), Ness' PK Thunder, though faster than Lucas' PK Thunder, has a much wider turning angle, thus requiring more room for Ness to recover than Lucas. Ness' PK Thunder 2 also travels less distance than Lucas'. In addition, PK Thunder will stop in its tracks when it hits most projectiles, walls, or a character. As such, some opponents might take a risk and jump in front of PK Thunder's path to intercept Ness' recovery, giving Ness little/no hope of returning it onstage, which is easier with attacks with disjointed hitboxes. It is also notably difficult to angle correctly, and it can easily curve under lips of stages, especially on Battlefield. However, this is a risky method of intercepting Ness' recovery, due to PK Thunder 2 dealing an extreme amount of knockback, KOing below 50% in most situations, although a projectile could still be useful to halt his recovery, especially if it is controllable.

Ness' double jump has a unique quality that differs itself from the other characters in the game, aside from Lucas. It consists of four PSI flashes that propel him upwards. If Ness perform an aerial or air dodge at the beginning of the jump, he will obtain a directional boost depending on the aerial performed, and if it is performed on the first or second flash (his up aerial gives the longest boost, and the boost is longer if activated on the first flash). He can also use his double jump from the ground if the jumping button is pressed during lag, which is useful for starting up aerial combos. Using an aerial will cause Ness to move up faster, which complies for his slow double jump and floatiness. After this, he will take a small pause in the air as a "filler" for the frames lost by the faster double jump.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. Melee

Near the end of Melee's metagame, Ness was considered one of the worst characters in the game due to his lack of range, underwhelming grounded game, non-existent approaching options, poor KOing ability and a catastrophic recovery. As such, Ness has received a mixture of buffs and nerfs during the transition from Melee to Brawl, being noticeably buffed overall. While he has received relatively few direct changes compared to the other returning characters, he has nevertheless received improvements.

Ness' aerial game has received noticeable improvements, as his aerial mobility has been improved, the reduction of landing lag improves the safety and combo potential of his aerial attacks, his forward aerial connects more consistently to make it a more effective spacing tool at the expense of the final hit's weaker power, and his back, up and down aerials have more range and are overall more effective KO options due to the changes to Brawl's mechanics, partially reducing his most glaring weaknesses from the previous games: his range. The utility of his grounded game has been considerably improved: neutral attack and down tilt benefit from jab locking and tripping, respectively, while forward tilt remains a relatively strong KOing tool and up tilt is a more versatile anti-air due to its extended hitboxes while being able to KO at high precents. His smash attacks have all been comparatively improved, as his forward smash, while slower, has much more range while remaining its high power, while up and down smashes can now KO at very high precents. His underwhelming special moves have all received notable improvements. PK Flash's hitbox is much less misleading, improving its overall utility. PK Fire is much harder to SDI out of. His recovery, while still exploitable, is more reliable due to his faster air speed, slower falling speed, PK Thunder's tighter arc and slower speed, and the removal of double jump canceling. PSI Magnet's new windbox enhances its defensive utility, and can now be canceled with a roll, a spot dodge or a jump, drastically improving its saftey and allowing it to lead into punishes. Finally, a number of moves deal stronger knockback; some examples being his up and down aerials, his smash attacks, and PK Thunder 2. These give him much more reliable and stronger KO potential.

However, Ness also received a few drastic nerfs that not only magnify his flaws, but also feature new unique weaknesses and tone down some of his most potent key strengths. The most fatal of which is the 10 additional frames to his grounded grab released animation, which is widely detrimental for Ness as it makes him vulnerable to inescapable KO confirms and even infinite chain grabs from some characters. Additionally, his combo potential has also been drastically toned down—due to the introduction of hitstun canceling, the universal reduction to falling speeds and the removal of double jump canceling. Altogether, this drastically changes the way his neutral game works: while his neutral game still remains decent, Ness is forced to rack up damage easily with either over-reliance on PK Fire or multiple aerials instead of relying on combos to successfully do so. Furthermore, several of his notable buffs have failed to completely alleviate most of his most glaring flaws; his improved recovery remains extremely easily to gimping or edgeguarding, his approaches can still be stuffed out due to his non-existent grounded approaching options and his sub-par overall grounded mobility, while his marginally better overall range is still short relative to the cast, which is exacerbated by the loss of his powerful yo-yo glitch. This, alongside his overall sub-par mobility, still causes him to heavily struggle in approaching most of his opponents. Finally, while his KOing ability is much better than in Melee, Ness still struggles to KO opponents consistently, as his slightly better smash attacks are still sluggish and somewhat situational compared to the rest of the cast, while his other most powerful KOing options still suffer from his aforementioned poor range.

Overall, Ness' Brawl iteration is considered to be a vast improvement over Melee and Smash 64. However, his lengthened grounded grab releases, watered down combo game, the loss of advanced techniques from DJC and yo-yo jackets, and his retained flaws have all prevented him from rising up into the game's higher tiers.

Aesthetics

• The overall universal graphical boost from Melee to Brawl gives Ness much more detail.
  • Due to this, Ness' design has been drastically altered: his skin is darker and noticeably more paler in-color, his blushy cheeks are less visible on his face, his eyes are marginally bigger with a slightly more visible blue hazel tint on them, his smile his lower, and the details on Ness' design, attire, clothing, shoes and schoolbag are aesthetically more graphic. Additionally, his aforementioned clothing is also brighter.
  • Altogether, these alterations collectively make his appearance more in-line wit his Japanese design in EarthBound.
• Ness' tumbling animation has been changed: he is now more expressive while tumbling, as he winces and faces slightly more away from the AI, and his arms and head are positioned lower during it.
• Ness emits a different voice-clip when performing PK Fire.
• His voice is slightly slowed down and lower-pitched.
• His double jump and his special moves (PK Flash, PK Fire, PK Thunder, by extension, PK Thunder 2, and PSI Magnet) emits different and more aesthetic sound effects.
• Ness has received two new alternate costumes (a blue and black costume, respectively) and his costumes have been tweaked: his first yellow alternate costume is now his white costume instead of his blue one, his blue costume has been replaced with his yellow one, and his second blue costume is now his fifth alternate costume.
  • Additionally, his black alternate costume provides a potrait of Mr. Saturn on his shirt.

Attributes

• Ness walks slightly faster (0.84 → 0.86).
• Ness' traction is lower (0.06 → 0.0546), going from the 15th highest in Melee to the 24th highest in Brawl. Compared with the returning veterans, however, Ness' traction is higher, making it easier for him to punish out of shield.
• Ness dashes slightly slower (1.4 → 1.393).
• Ness' air speed is higher (0.093 → 0.09588).
• Ness' air acceleration is significantly higher (0.06 → 0.1).
• Ness' jumpsquat is longer (4 frames → 5).
• Ness' grounded grab released animation is 10 frames longer (FAF 30 → 41), which makes him vulnerable to chain grabbing releases and combos as the entire cast now has a 10-frame advantage upon ground releasing him (instead of only Bowser, who now has a 20-frame advantage over Ness due to this). He is also more vulnerable to aerial follow-ups off of aerial grab releases due to the general changes to air releases.
• As with the returning veterans, Ness' falling speed is slower (1.83 → 1.31). Compared to the returning veterans, however, Ness falls faster. While this improves his endurance, it worsens his recovery and makes him more vulnerable to combos.
• Ness' gravity is lower (0.09 → 0.0711).
• The removal of double jump canceling greatly hinders his already poor approach and weakens his combo ability, but significantly improves his recovery's safety and the versatility of his aerial prowess.
  • The loss of double jump canceling now allows Ness to perform aerials while rising from the momemtum of his double jump, allowing him to juggle/chain and rack up damage with his aerials much easier, as well as improving the combo ability of his aerials. This also gives him much safer options out of a ledge getup without the risk of leading to self-destructs.
• Spot dodge grants more intangibility (frames 2-18 → 2-20) and has less ending lag (FAF 28 → 26).

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • The third hit of neutral attack has increased base knockback (16 → 40).
  • The introduction of jab locking also improves the first and second hits' utility.
• Up tilt:
  • The reduction to falling speeds improves up tilt's KO potential, but hinders its combo potential.
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt deals more damage (3% → 4%), but deals less knockback (4 (base), 50 (scaling) → 3/20).
  • It has less ending lag if Ness performs another down tilt (frame 8 → 6).
    • Altogether, this improves its damage-racking ability.
  • It now has a 30% tripping chance, improving its versatility.
  • Down tilt has a shorter duration (frames 3-5 → 3-4).
• Dash attack:
  • Dash attack deals more damage due to changes to stale-move negation (12% → 13%).
  • All of dash attack's hits connect more consistently due to the weakening of SDI.
• Forward smash:
  • Forward smash has much more range (offset: 2.3436u, 2.9295u, 3.1248u, 3.3201u → 2.9u/3.6u/3.8u/4.1u).
  • Forward smash has more startup (frame 16 → 22) and ending lag (FAF 50 → 56).
  • Forward smash now produces a more realistic sound of a bat hitting a baseball instead of using the sound effect of the Home-Run Bat.
• Yo-yo (up and down smashes):
  • Up smash now provides a clean hit and a late hit, now possesssing the properties of a sex kick.
  • Both up and down smashes deal more knockback (up smash: 60 (base), 45 (scaling) → 90/60 (clean), 70/60 (late), down smash: 70 (base), 60 (scaling) → 90/60), drastically improving their KO potential, now being able to KO at high percentages (though the former is still among the weakest up smashes, while the latter now boasts only average power).
  • Up and down smashes deal more damage (9%/4%/6%/6% (up), 11%/4%/7%/7% (down) → 4%/9%/13%/4%/13%), when combined with the previous point, drastically improves their KO potential and increases up smash's total damage output (25% → 26%).
  • Up and down smashes have longer hitbox-durations (frames 12-31 → 13-35 (down), 13-36 (up)).
  • Down smash has less ending lag (FAF 62 → 57).
  • Up and down smashes' hitboxes are larger (2.34/1.9/2.34/2.34u → 3.5/4.0/4.2u (up), 4.0/5.0u (down)), improving their range.
  • Up and down smashes' charging hitboxes have altered knockback (20 (base), 50 (scaling), 0 (set) → 0/100/90), now dealing fixed knockback instead of minimal knockback, allowing it to connect into the unleashing hitbox with more consistency.
  • Up and down smashes' charging hitboxes launch at a more favorable angle (80° → 110°), allowing the former to connect with the second hit more consistently.
  • Down smash launches at a much lower angle (70° → 55°).
  • Up and down smashes' charging hitboxes have less start-up (frame 12 → 10) and can be charged earlier (frames 13-14 → 11-12), combined with its longer duration.
    • However, up smash's total duration was not fully compensated (FAF 49 → 55), giving it six more frames of ending lag.
  • Both up and down smashes' start-up hitboxes have been removed, which greatly decreases down smash's damage output (29% → 17%), though its increased knockback was compensated.
  • Both up and down smashes no longer increase their damage or knockback when charging. This notably prevents Ness from making utility of a charged up up/down smash to greatly increase their power to KO under high precentages, and prevents them from mitigating their nature of being among the weakest smash attacks in the game.
  • Up smash and down smashes have more start-up (frame 12 → 13).
  • Up smash has more ending lag (FAF 49 → 64).
  • The yo-yo/jacket glitch has been fixed.
    • The removal of the yo-yo/jacket glitch has significantly hindered his previously poor range.
  • His yo-yo has gained an aesthetically new, less saturated, more realistic, detailed and brighter design.

Aerial attacks

• All aerials excluding down aerial have less landing lag (22 frames → 18 (neutral), 18 frames → 12 (forward/back/up)), although due to the removal of L-canceling, their landing lag was not fully compensated.
• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial has increased base knockback (15 → 20 (clean), 0 → 10 (late)), improving its utility as a get-off-me option.
  • Sourspotted neutral aerial deals less damage (8% → 7%), although its base knockback was compensated.
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial's multi-hits have less knockback scaling (100 → 60). When combined with the weakening of SDI, this allows them to connect more consistently.
  • Forward aerial has a lower hitlag multiplier (1x → 0.5x), and the multi-hits have a higher SDI multiplier (1x → 1.5x). This makes the move harder to SDI, but makes SDI more effective against it.
  • The move deals much less damage (3%/2% → 2% (loop hits), 5% → 3% (final hit), 15.74% → 11% (total)), although the final hit's knockback scaling was somewhat compensated (135 → 145).
  • The move has less range due to only having a single hitbox per hit, although it is larger than the previous hitboxes (6.8u/4u → 8.1u (loop hits), 9u (final)).
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial has a slightly bigger sweet-spot compared to Melee version. And its sourspot is also much larger, greatly increasing the move's overall range.
  • Back aerial deals less damage (16% (clean), 10% (late) → 15%/8%) hindering its KO potential.
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial has a larger hitbox (5.964u → 7.2u).
  • The universal reduction to falling speeds have improved up aerial's KO potential, allowing it to used as a effective vertical finisher.
  • The removal of double jump canceling allows the move to be used safely as a edge-guard breaker out of a ledge getup without the risk of leading to unintentional self-destructs, and makes the move more versatile as a juggling tool.
  • The universal reduction to falling speeds and the removal of double jump cancelling has significantly hindered the move's juggling ability.
    • The loss of double jump canceling has also weakened the move's combo ability.
• Down aerial:
  • Sweetspotted down aerial has more effectiveness due to the changes to meteor canceling and the universal reduction to falling speeds.
  • The move has much larger hitboxes (5.452u → 6.54u), making it easier to meteor smash with.
  • It also has a powerful sourspot which sends opponents horizontally, which can KO grounded opponents earlier.
  • Sourspotted down aerial deals less damage (12% → 9%).

Throws/other attacks

• Grabs:
  • All grabs have less startup lag (frame 8 (standing)/10 (dash) → 6/8).
    • In addition to this, Ness now possesses a frame-6 pivot grab, which is the fastest in the game.
  • Dash grab has less ending lag (FAF 41 → 36).
  • Dash grab grants Ness a much more faster and substantial speed-boost, and covers significantly more distance in a shorter amount of time, making it much easier to land.
  • Ness' grabs have larger hitboxes (3.32u/2.34u (standing)/3.32u/2.73u/2.32u (dash) → (4u/3.5u)/(4u/3.5u/3.5u)) and the furthest grabboxes are positioned further outwards (z offset: 6.65 (standing)/7.81 (dash) → 6.8/8), slightly improving their range.
  • Standing grab has more ending lag (FAF 31 → 35).
• The universal reduction of falling speeds and the introduction of hitstun canceling hinder up throw and down throw's ability to combo and chain grab.
• Pummel:
  • Pummel has much less startup (frame 16 → 3) and ending lag (FAF 25 → 10), making it tied with Lucas for the second-fastest pummels in the game (surpassed by Wolf).
  • Its hitbox is now rendered static, rather than being attached to Ness' head.
  • It deals less damage (3% → 1%).
  • It has a smaller hitbox (6.25u → 5u), hindering its safety against bystanders.
• Back throw:
  • Back throw now emits the same sound effect as PSI Magnet.
• Up throw:
  • The universal reduction of falling speeds improve up throw's KO potential, especially on platforms.
    • However, this also hinders its combo and chain grabbing potential, even on fast-fallers.
• Down throw:
  • Down throw's hitboxes are larger (3.51u → 4.32u), resulting in them now connecting against all characters and no longer flatting out whiff against Mr. Game & Watch.
• Ledge attack:
  • Fast ledge attack launches at a much higher angle (361° → 45°).
  • Fast ledge attack deals more damage (6% → 8%).
  • Ledge attack deals more set knockback (90 → 110).

Special moves

• • Ness is now capable of B-reversing all of his special moves (excluding PK Thunder), improving their versatility.
• PK Flash:
  • PK Flash activates faster, charges and travels further, improving its safety.
  • PK Flash deals slightly more damage at full charge (36% → 37%) without compensation on knockback, improving its KO potential and overall utility, especially for edgeguarding.
  • It no longer activates automatically once it hits the ground, slightly hindering its edgeguarding potential and the ability to punish ledge rolls.
  • Uncharged PK Flash deals less damage (11% → 9%).
  • PK Flash hits in a smaller radius.
  • PK Flash's graphics feature a more blueish coloration instead of green.
  • PK Flash's explosion is smaller, matching the size of its hitbox.
• PK Fire:
  • PK Fire activates faster and can trap opponents more consistently due to the weakening of SDI, improving its damage-racking utility.
• PK Thunder:
  • PK Thunder travels/curves in a tighter arc and has much less angling issues, making it easier to hit himself to recover with. When combined with the universal reduction to falling speeds in Brawl and Ness' increased air speed, this allows Ness to connect PK Thunder into himself and travel into the desired direction to recover much easier, considerably improving his recovery.
  • PK Thunder 2 has drastically less ending lag (FAF 70 → 56).
  • PK Thunder 2 deals significantly stronger knockback (60 (base), 70 (scaling) → 83/80), now KOing at around 50%, and the late hitbox deals 1% more damage (20% → 21%) with more knockback scaling (65 → 70), allowing it to KO under 100%.
  • The camera no longer follows the ball of lightning as it moves away from Ness.
  • The lightning ball is now indigo instead of blue in color.
• PSI Magnet:
  • PSI Magnet now has a weak windbox when released, making it slightly safer, as well giving it a bit of extra utility.
  • PSI Magnet has a shorter ending animation (20 frames → 19).
  • After absorbing a projectile, PSI Magnet can now be cancelled with a roll, spot dodge or jump. This greatly improves PSI Magnet's safety as it not only heavily limits the opponent's ability to punish Ness if he absorbs a projectile, but it can even allow Ness to punish opponents after absorbing projectiles if he is close enough.
  • PSI Magnet heals less damage (x2.0 → x1.6).
  • PSI Magnet can now only heal up to a maximum of 30% damage.
  • PSI Magnet is now colored indigo instead of blue. It also has a different sound effect
• PK Starstorm:
  • As with the rest of the cast, Ness now has a Final Smash: PK Starstorm. Using PK Energy, Ness yells "PK... Starstorm!" to summon a series of multiple meteorites falling straight down from the sky, which each deal 20% to opponents.

Moveset

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			3%	A pair of one-two combo punches, followed by a side kick. The first hit is capable of jab locking at low precents.
			2%
			4%
Forward tilt	↗		12%	A roundhouse kick. Can be angled. It has surprisingly good power for a tilt attack, being able to KO middleweights at around 150% by the edge of Final Destination. It can also lock at low percents.
	→		11%
	↘		10%
Up tilt			7%	A vertical double-palm thrust. Ness' head gains intangibility during 2 frames while the hitboxes are active, giving it pseudo-disjointed range. A decent anti-air and juggling tool with high knockback scailing for a tilt attack similar to Ness' forward tilt, allowing it to KO at around 150%.
Down tilt			4%	A swift shin kick. Due to the move's lack of start-up lag and ending lag, it is extremely spammable and is useful for jab resetting, locking, pressuring shields, two-framing and racking up quick damage while the opponent is trapped at the edge. The move is a sourspot located on the tip of his foot. Has a 30% chance of making the opponent trip. If it trips the opponent, it combos well into his up smash, a forward tilt, forward smash, or another down tilt.
Dash attack			5% (hit 1), 4% (hits 2-3)	A double-palm thrust that launches three PSI sparks out in front of him, with the final spark knocking the opponent up into the air and KOing at high precentages. The first spark deals more damage to aerial opponents. The move is useful for setting up juggles and pressuring from afar. It is difficult to punish on shield if only the last hit connects. The disjointed hitboxes have considerable distances, giving it impressive range for a dash attack and giving it decent utility for approaching, as well as pressuring from a distance. The first hit is more damaging on opponents in the air.
Forward smash			18% (body), 20% (bat base), 22% (bat mid), 24% (bat tip)	Swings his baseball bat. It is the second-strongest forward smash in the game when sweetspotted at the tip of the bat, KOing even the heaviest characters under 97% by the edge of Final Destination, and is still one of the strongest forward smashes when sourspotted, KOing middleweights at around 102% by the edge of Final Destination, but it has considerable start-up and ending lag. The bat itself will reflect incoming projectiles when he swings it.
Up smash		Around The World (シャトルループ, Shuttle Loop)	4% (startup & charge), 9% (front), 13% (back)	Sends his yo-yo forward and performs an "around-the-world," hitting first in front then above and behind. It has a hitbox while charging and can hang from the ledge, which makes it effective for edgeguarding and two-framing, but can only be held for an additional half of a second instead of two. A decent anti-air and a good out of shield option. It is more powerful if the opponent is behind Ness, but it is among the weakest up smashes in the game, KOing roughly around 137%.
Down smash		Walk the Dog (ヨーヨーショット, Yo-Yo Shot)	4% (startup & charge), 13% (attack)	Sends his yo-yo backward and performs the "walk-the-dog" with it, hitting first behind then in front. It has a hitbox while charging and can hang from the ledge, which makes it effective for edgeguarding and 2-frame punishing, but can only be held for an additional half of a second instead of two. It covers get-up options greatly, but it occasionally has troubles linking correctly if the opponent is at the furthest point of the back-hit.
Neutral aerial			11% (clean), 7% (late)	Spins diagonally in the air with arms outstretched. It has minimal start-up lag and low ending lag, and functions like a sex kick. It is relatively useful for breaking combos and as an out-of-shield option. It auto-cancels from a short hop. The clean hit deals decent knockback, making it a good edgeguarding and KOing option at high precents, being able to KO middleweights at around 135% by the edge of Final Destination. It also sets up tech-chasing situations at medium precentages.
Forward aerial			2% (hits 1-4), 3% (hit 5)	Performs a double-palm trust while generating a stream of PSI out of his hands. It is tied with up aerial for the second-fastest startup out of Ness' aerials. Due to Ness' excellent air acceleration, it functions as an excellent approaching and spacing tool as Ness is capable of retreating while the opponent gets hit by the move's long-lasting and relatively large hitboxes, and it is useful for starting and extending combos. It auto-cancels from a short hop. Can chain into itself multiple times at low percentages, making it a useful wall of pain tool. Its sourspot can sometimes trip opponents, leading into a jab lock. Its range changes depending on the direction Ness is traveling: possessing decent reach while approaching, good reach while remaining still, and is Ness' longest-ranged aerial attack while retreating.
Back aerial			15% (clean), 8% (late)	A dropkick with PSI embedded on his feet, functioning like a sex kick. The clean hit boasts immense power, KOing middleweights at 125% on Final Destination and even lower at the ledge, thus being Ness' strongest aerial. The late hit is also useful for walls of pain at lower precents in conjunction with his neutral aerial. Despite its power, it also has relatively fast start-up and low ending lag compared to other aerial attacks with comparable properties. Auto-cancels from a short hop.
Up aerial			13%	An upward-arcing headbutt. It is considered one of Ness' best aerials, due to its rather quick startup, power and low ending lag that makes it effective for comboing and juggling at low percentages and KOing at high ones, starting at 115% against middleweights. Like the rest of Ness' aerial moveset, it auto-cancels from a short hop. It bolsters Ness' outstanding aerial game, as its low base knockback gives it good combo ability, which, combined with its high damage output, can rack up damage quickly. It gives the furthest directional boost when performed in tandem with his double jump, giving him a slightly larger recovery. Can be used as a follow-up to an up throw or down throw at low percentages and leads into several tricks with PK Thunder. It can also be used as a finisher to combos from PK Fire.
Down aerial			12% (clean), 9% (late)	Tightens his legs together before stomping down below himself. If clean, the move is among the strongest meteor smashes in the game, and can is useful for starting combos on the stage fairly reliably if landed against grounded opponents. It auto-cancels from a short hop. Ness' slowest aerial in terms of start-up lag, coming out on frame 20, as well as somewhat high ending lag, and some landing lag (the highest out of all his aerials) so this can be a risky move to use. On the other hand, it auto-cancels the entire time the hitbox is inactive, which is a step above most other aerials. It functions as Ness' meteor smash to edgeguard or gimp, and has excellent base knockback, making it a powerful KOing tool offstage, especially against characters who have poor meteor canceling windows, such as Wolf, but has low knockback scaling, so it cannot KO until 200% on grounded opponents. It also has a late hit that semi-spikes and deals less damage, but it still has high base knockback, and it KOs grounded opponents earlier.
Grab			—	Clinches the opponent. All of Ness' grabs are extremely quick with the lowest ending lag in the game, but are burdened with poor range; in particular, his standing grab is the shortest in the game.
Pummel			1%	Headbutts the opponent. It is the second-fastest pummel in the game, tied with Lucas and surpassed by Wolf.
Forward throw			11%	Ness psychokinetically swings his opponent in a small circle in front of himself before sending them off forward. Has extremely high base knockback, but incredibly low knockback scaling, which gives it little/no KO potential even after Sudden Death-inflicted percentages. It is useful for setting up an edgeguard, however, or KOing an opponent early on if near the horizontal blast zone.
Back throw			11%	Ness psychokinetically swings the opponent overhead before sending them off backwards, in a diagonally vertical motion. It is the opposite of his forward throw; possessing minimal base knockback, but incredibly high knockback scaling, making it one of the strongest back throws in the game, and considered the most versatile KO throw overall, as it can KO much more reliably anywhere onstage at higher percentages than most other back throws at its level of strength, like Luigi and Mario's, due to its much stronger knockback scaling.
Up throw			10%	Ness psychokinetically spins the opponent above his head before sending them straight upwards. Leaves the opponent in an unfavorable position where they can be juggled, most commonly by PK Thunder.
Down throw			1% (hits 1-5), 4% (throw)	Ness throws his opponent onto the ground and scorches them with PK Fire. In combination of pummeling and PK Fire, it is useful for racking up a high amount of damage quickly. A solid combo starter, having guaranteed follow-ups into neutral aerial, forward aerial, up aerial and down aerial. If Ness successfully reads the opponent's air dodge, Ness can chain grab using down throw at lower precents and can perform a zero-to-death by following up into down aerial after using down throw at the edge, which is able to KO at even 0% regardless of weight. Unlike in Melee, the hitboxes no longer whiff against Mr. Game & Watch.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			6%	Sweep kicks in front of and behind himself.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			6%	Planting a hand on the ground, Ness sweeps kicks behind and in front of himself.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Performs a dropkick behind and in front of himself with both hands planted on the ground.
Edge attack (fast) Edge getups (fast)			8% (leg), 6% (body)	Flips onto the stage and performs a sweep kick in front of himself.
Edge attack (slow) Edge getups (slow)			10%	Drags himself up, and delivers a powerful punch while sliding forwards.
Neutral special		PK Flash	9-37%	Ness generates a greenish-light blue, energetic pulse of plasma-like projectile that appears above him. As the special input is held, the sphere curves downwards and increases its power, until the attacking input is released or until the move's level of charge is maxed out, it explodes. PK Flash is effective at edgeguarding and gimping characters with predictable or linear recoveries, like Zelda and Sonic, respectively. PK Flash boasts extreme power at full charge, KOing even the heaviest characters under 75% on Final Destination. PK Flash is also a hard punish if reading the opponent's options from a ledge.
Side special		PK Fire	4% (lightning), 1-2% (fire)	Fires a yellow, lightning-bolt shaped projectile, that travels in a straight line until it hits an opponent or destructible portion of a stage, at which point, it explodes into into a gradually-fading and quick-hitting pillar of fire, making said opponent vulnerable to guaranteed followups or KO confirms. However, the pillar of flames can still be easily SDI'd out of, although at a lesser extent than in Melee, making it a viable tool for racking up quick damage. When performed in midair, Ness fires the bolt at a 45° angle.
Up special		PK Thunder	PK Thunder: 8% (head), 1% (tail); PK Thunder 2: 25% (clean), 21% (late)	Creates a stream of lightning that can be aimed into opponents to deal damage with the head and stun with the tail. It can be aimed into opponents to deal damage and launch them in the direction they got hit from, or into Ness to turn him into a powerful human-projectile. Aiming the head of the projectile into Ness himself will launch him in a trajectory opposite to the side the projectile collided onto Ness, which is referred to as PK Thunder 2. PK Thunder 2 has brief invincibility during the first half of the move. Ness' primary means of recovery, but it can be easily gimped during startup. However, PK Thunder is much easier to connect with Ness than the game's predecessors due to the projectile's tighter arc and slower speed in Brawl.
Down special		PSI Magnet	0%, heals x1.6 the damage of absorbed projectiles.	Surrounds himself with a purple field of energy, allowing him to absorb energy-based projectiles (such as Mario's Fireball, Fox's Blaster or Samus' Charge Shot) or explosions (including all of Snake's explosives) and heal for a multiplier of 1.6× from the damage he would have received, but only at a maximum of 30% damage per projectile. Upon absorption, the magnet can be canceled with a jump, roll or spot dodge. PSI Magnet is also useful as a fall break to stall Ness' vertical momentum slightly in the air.
Final Smash		PK Starstorm	20% (each star)	Summons stars to fall from the sky to annihilate his opponents, yelling "PK... Starstorm!" in the process. The comets descend in a straight line over Ness and can sweep the screen with directional inputs to the left and right.

Announcer call

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• English/Japanese

• French

• German

• Italian

• Spanish

Wii Remote selection sound

• Ness says "Okay." like his up taunt.

Ness's selection sound

On-screen appearance

• Ness teleports onto the stage with PSI Teleport, ending in an explosion leaving him covered in soot after crashing, which he then shakes off his body.

Taunts

• Up taunt: Turns toward the screen, positions his arms on his hips and nods while saying "Okay." The pose is similar to that of his clay model from EarthBound. When the player confirms the name one is giving a character, the player hears a sound effect of the game's creator, Shigesato Itoi, saying "Ok desu ka." This means "Is this okay?" in Japanese.
• Side taunt: Point his bat outward in front of him and strikes a pose, similar to how baseball players use it to indicate they are hitting a home-run.
• Down taunt: Waves his hand in an S-motion while emitting a sparkling stream of PSI from his finger.

Up taunt	Side taunt	Down taunt

Idle poses

• Closes his eyes and places his fingers on his forehead, concentrating his PSI, and then points it forward, similar to Lucas' down taunt.
• Looks around cautiously while frowning.

Crowd cheer

	English	Japanese
Cheer	File:Ness Cheer NTSC Brawl.ogg	File:Ness Cheer JP Brawl.ogg
Description	Ness Ness Ness OOOO!	Ness Ness Ne-su!
Pitch	Group chant	Group chant

Victory poses

A flourished, sped-up remix of a portion of the title theme from the original MOTHER for the Famicom.

• Up: Skips in place of the victory screen, then nods slightly while facing the screen with his arms akimbo, holding a pose similar to his official clay model, up taunt, and his official Brawl render. The pose is similar to that of his clay model from EarthBound.
• Left: Looks around quickly while exclaming twice before facing the screen, rubbing the back of his head with his hand (his "character chosen" animation in Super Smash Bros., albeit much more subtle).
• Right: Swings his bat multiple times before holding it with his right hand, outstretched and pointing it diagonally upwards.

Up	Left	Right

In competitive play

Notable players

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See also: Category:Ness players (SSBB)

•  FOW - Considered one of the best Ness mains in the world before switching to Meta Knight.
•  Fsann - Japan's top Ness player.
•  Shaky - Considered the undisputed best Ness following FOW's switch to Meta Knight.

Tier placement and history

Ness' competitive standing in the metagame initially had been somewhat intact, despite his notable buffs in the transition to Brawl. He was originally considered to be a low-tier character, lying as low as 31st on the third tier list. In the early days, players immediately noticed the presence of the 10 additional frames to his grab released animation, making him very vulnerable his grab-releasd combos by several characters in the cast, where common characters (like Marth) could easily exploit such detriments, resulting in his quality-of-life buffs being insufficient to alleviate his most significant problems (most notably his exploitable recovery, his barely improved mobility, range, and his overall awkward neutral game), as well as the loss of double jump canceling, the overall reduciton to falling speeds and the ability to act out of hitstun having severely decreased his combo ability. In addition, Ness also suffered from lackluster fundamental advantages as well, such as his poor range, inconsistency in KOing opponents despite his strong KOing ability, mediocre grounded game (due to his situational smash attacks, non-existent approaching options, and his aforementioned poor range) and sub-par mobility.

However, the general consensus later discovered the potency of Ness' strengths overtime, such as his disproportionate KOing power, strong combos, excellent damage output combined with his quick frame-data, formidable aerial and grab games, as well as the versatility of his special moves (such as PK Fire and PK Thunder's zoning abilities, and PK Flash and PK Thunder 2 capable of leading into early KOs, and PSI Magnet giving Ness a healing move by absorbing energy-based projectiles), which makes his neutral game dominant when combined. In turn, new Ness professionals were discovered and Ness received surprisingly above-average tournament results for a character of his own viability. While he suffers from poor matchups against certain characters who can abuse his long grab releases, such as Donkey Kong, Marth and King Dedede, Ness performs reasonably well against most other mid/high-tiers, such as Kirby, Pokémon Trainer, R.O.B., Fox and Pikachu, as well as some top-tiers, such as Olimar, Diddy Kong and Ice Climbers, since they lack the tools to outmatch Ness' devastating aerial game because of their poor aerial mobility. As such, he has risen up to 27th place by the fourth tier list, and he remained there for every single tier list in Brawl, until the last one, where he was slightly bolstered by a single tier. Overall, while Ness had heavily struggled throughout the game’s competitive lifespan in the early days because of his amplified consequences upon getting punished that made it extremely hard for him to approach most of the cast, those few achievements have allowed Ness to find a rather solid placement as a mid-tier in the current tier list due to the expansion of tiers.

His current ranking, however, remains a high topic of debate: most of the community argues that Ness is underrated and should be ranked higher due to the potency of his aforementioned strengths, with a few considering Ness to be high-tier at least despite the notable detriments to his long grab releases.

Role in The Subspace Emissary

Ness in SSE.

Ness shows up rescuing Lucas from the giant Pig King Statue, by knocking it over using PK Thunder. The Pig King Statue recovers and flies into the air, intentionally attempting to crush Ness, but the latter causes the Ping King Statue to explode using PK Flash, which reveals to be their mutual nemesis, Porky Minch (in his spider-like bed-mecha), from MOTHER 3, who immediately challenges Ness and Lucas. The latter two team up to defeat Porky Minch, including his machine. Shortly thereafter, though, the pair encounter Wario on top of a pillar, who attempts to trophicate Ness using the Dark Cannon. Ness successfully evades each shot. Proving himself to be a difficult target, Wario shrugs and attempts to trophicate Lucas instead (who is too scared to react). Noticing this, Ness sacrifices himself, pushing Lucas out of the shot's range while Ness transforms into a trophy himself. Unconcerned with who exactly he got, Wario acheives Ness' trophy, and Lucas (terrified to challenge Wario due to the Dark Cannon) flees while Wario cackles in the rain, before bumping Pokémon Trainer and teams up with him in an effort to rescue Ness and retaliate on Wario.

As Wario is driving his Cargo with Ness' and Peach/Zelda's trophies on board, he finds Luigi's trophy and prepares to steal it, which is interrupted being ambushed by an army of Waddle Dees, who throw Luigi's trophy into the cargo, which is stolen by King Dedede. At his hideout (his castle), King Dedede applies a brooch on Luigi's, Ness', and Peach/Zelda's trophies before the roof collapses on them caused by the Koopa Troop, knocking out and transforming King Dedede into a trophy in the process, and Bowser steals Peach/Zelda's trophy, while Luigi's, Ness's, and King Dedede's trophies are left abandoned and covered in rubble. Soon afterward, the Ancient Minister detonates a Subspace Bomb that consumes King Dedede's castle into the Subspace, along with Ness', Luigi's and King Dedede's trophies.

Ness does not make another reappearance until after Tabuu trophicates all of the fighters using his off waves, where he and Luigi are miraculously revived from the Dedede Brooches. Upon inspecting Luigi's badge, he notices that it replicates King Dedede's appearance, and, assuming that Dedede made them, proceeds to revive him. Upon being revived, King Dedede, his plan being successful, grants both of them a hug in elation before teaming up and reviving Lucas, along with the other fighters the trio come across. Upon reaching the staircase at the Great Maze's entrance and spotting Bowser's trophy lying there, they revive him as well, only for him to challenge King Dedede, while Ness and Luigi spectate. Dedede wins the subsequent fight and revives Bowser again; Bowser tries to initiate another fight, but is flicked in the face by Dedede, who directs Bowser to Master Hand's motionless form. Bowser begrudgingly decides to join the group to retailiate on Tabuu. Kirby, who was revived by the Dedede Brooch he swallowed earlier that fell off from the trophicated princess King Dedede had collected, revives whatever characters that Ness, Luigi and King Dedede group did not come across, including Wario. The latter then confronts Dedede by bashing him in the head as revenge for King Dedede stealing his cargo and trophies. He taunts over it, but after witnessing Ness and Luigi on Dedede's side, Wario became surprised to the point he stopped fooling around. The trio offer to let Wario join them, and after a bit of reflection, he agrees and rides his bike up to the entrance of The Great Maze.

Upon completing the Great Maze and confronting Tabuu altogether, Tabuu attempts to trophicate the fighters once again, but Sonic shatters his wings and teams up with the other fighters, including Ness. In the end, the fighters successfully defeat Tabuu, both restoring the World of Trophies and annihiliating the existence of the Subspace.

Playable appearances

Ness was captured by Wario during The Ruined Zoo, and he is brought into King Dedede's castle after he previously stole Wario's trophy cart. After The Cave, a Subspace Bomb was detonated near King Dedede's castle, bringing Ness into the Subspace.

• The Ruined Zoo
• Subspace (Part I)
• The Great Maze

In Solo Modes

Classic Mode

In Classic Mode, Ness can appear as an opponent or ally in Stage 4 if he has been unlocked along with Marth, Ike, and Lucas on Castle Siege or New Pork City. Ness can also appear as an opponent in Stage 11, but only if he hasn't appeared in Stage 4.

All-Star Mode

In All-Star Mode, Ness is fought in Stage 10 alongside Lucas on New Pork City.

Solo Events

• Event 21: Visit to Onett: The player controls Lucas and must defeat Ness on Onett.
• Event 25: The Aura Is With Me: As Lucario at 182% damage, the player must defeat Sheik and Ness on Spear Pillar.
• Event 26: The Slow and Easy Life: Ness must defeat three tiny Olimars on Smashville before K.K. Slider's song ends.
• Event 29: All-Star Semifinal Regulars: Ness is one of the opponents fought in this event. All opponents are characters that were unlockable from the original Super Smash Bros. game.

Co-op Events

• Co-Op Event 9: Those Who Wait in Onett: Lucas and Ness must defeat Luigi and Yoshi on Onett.
• Co-Op Event 16: Jigglypuff's Great Comeback: Jigglypuff and Mr. Game & Watch, who are tiny, must defeat Lucas and Ness, who are giant, on Castle Siege. As the stage changes to different backgrounds, Jigglypuff will grow and Lucas and Ness will shrink.
• Co-Op Event 21: The True All-Star Battle: Both players select a character and take on the entire roster on Battlefield.

Trophies

Ness's main and Final Smash trophies can be obtained by clearing Classic Mode and All-Star mode respectively with Ness.

Classic Mode trophy

Ness

An average boy whose life changed when he found a meteor and an alien on a nearby mountain. The alien warned him of a future threat, and adventure ensued. He can use psychic energy known as PSI and also wields a bat and yo-yo. This brave youth gives his all to defeat the evil Giygas.

: EarthBound

: Super Smash Bros.

: EarthBound (Japan and US Only)

: Super Smash Bros.

PK Starstorm (Ness) trophy

PK Starstorm (Ness)

Ness as he calls down a host of damage-dealing stars in his Final Smash. Everyone on the screen must dodge like crazy to avoid getting hurt, but that's no easy task. This attack appeared in the Mother series, but it was Poo, not Ness, who wielded it. Perhaps Poo taught Ness the secret of the attack for use in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

: Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Alternate costumes

Gallery

• 

  Using his up smash on Smashville.

• 

  Taunting alongside Lucas on Skyworld.

• 

  Using his forward tilt on Olimar on Distant Planet.

• 

  Taunting on Bridge of Eldin.

Trivia

• Despite being the first character to be unlocked in the game, Ness is one of the last unlockable characters by playing Subspace Emissary. He is also the first unlockable character to be playable in the Subspace Emissary, despite not joining the player's team until near the finale of the game.
• Strangely, Ness possesses visible teeth during the cutscenes of the Subspace Emissary, but not during the actual gameplay. Lucas shares this distinction as well.
• During his metailic period while under the effect of the Metal Box, Ness' baseball bat is also metailic, but his yo-yo is not, remaining the same design when Ness is non-metailic.
• Ness' yo-yo possesses a noticeable dialouge on it, reading "Super Nintendo 2008" along the top, above "MOTHER."
• Ness and Captain Falcon are the only two characters to have their unlockability status change between Melee and Brawl. In Ness' own case, Ness was previously able to be unlocked by playing 1P Game on normal difficulty or higher with three stocks or less without continues in Smash 64. In Brawl, he can be simply unlocked by either playing 5 VS. matches or reflecting 10 projectiles.
• Ness is the only fighter to provide his trophy list another Super Smash Bros. game for his game appearances. This is most likely due to the fact that outside of the Super Smash Bros. series, he only made a playable appearance in EarthBound. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U instead lists the second appearance as Mother 1+2, released in 2003 for the Game Boy Advance.
• Ness is the only character to be fought on a Melee Stage (Onett) when being unlocked.
• Ness is one of the only four unlockable characters to make an appearance in the opening cinematic of Brawl upon starting the game. The three others sharing this attribute are Marth, Snake, and Sonic.

External links

• Image still from the trailer leak confirming Ness' presence
• DOJO!! page
• Ness Character Guide on SmashBoards
• Ness' hitbox size of each of his moves