Ness: Difference between revisions

|caption      = [[File:EarthboundSymbol.svg|50px|class=invert]]

Official clay model of Ness from ''{{s|wikibound|Mother 2}}''.

|lastappearance= ''{{s|wikibound|Mother 3}}'' (2006, cameo) {{Flag|Japan}}

In ''{{b|EarthBound|game}}'', Ness is a courageous, kind, and helpful boy from the fictional town of [[Onett]], located in north-western Eagleland. His {{s|wikibound|favorite food}} is steak and his signature PSI move, named for his favorite thing, is {{s|wikibound|PSI Rockin}}. He possesses strong psychic powers, and in the year 199X, utilizes his abilities to defeat an alien invasion by the forces of {{s|wikibound|Giygas}}, the villain of ''{{iw|wikibound|EarthBound Beginnings}}''. Ness is the successor to {{s|wikibound|Ninten}}, the hero of ''EarthBound Beginnings'', sharing a very similar design and some abilities; however, the two are distinct characters.

On a dark night in the year 199X, Ness gets woken up by a meteorite crash. He investigates the crash site, where he meets his neighbor [[Porky Minch]] and an alien named {{s|wikibound|Buzz Buzz}}. Buzz Buzz tells him that he is the boy who will save the world, and sends him on a mission to collect the {{s|wikibound|Eight Melodies}} that tie together the Earth's power. He is joined in this quest by [[Paula]], [[Jeff]], and [[Poo]]. By recording and collecting the Eight Melodies using his {{s|wikibound|Sound Stone}}, Ness gains access to the realm of [[Magicant]] within his mind and unlocks the power necessary to defeat Giygas.

Although capable of wielding several types of weapons, such as {{s|wikibound|slingshot}}s and {{s|wikibound|yo-yo}}s, Ness's signature weapon is a {{s|wikibound|baseball bat}}. Ness's PSI powers include [[PK Flash]], PSI Rockin, {{s|wikibound|Lifeup}}, and a variety of status moves. Several PSI techniques used by Paula and Poo ([[PK Fire]], [[PK Thunder]], [[PSI Magnet]], and [[PK Starstorm]]) would be borrowed by Ness for combat in the series.

Ness was a bit of surprise addition to the roster for the original ''Super Smash Bros.'' Many players had never expected such an obscure character to turn up in the game, which seems to be reflected in-game; he is a secret character, unlocked by completing the 1P Game on a difficulty of Normal or higher, using three lives or less and no continues. Strangely, none of Ness's special moves are his own; his special attacks, the [[PSI Magnet]], [[PK Fire]] and [[PK Thunder]], (B + Down, B and B + Up, respectively), were originally used by one of his party allies, Paula in ''{{b|EarthBound|game}}''. A possible explanation for this discrepancy is offered in the sequel to this game, ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'', which states that Paula may have taught him these techniques. Ness is ranked 10th out of 12 on the current [[tier list]].

:''Ness was a seemingly-average kid from Onett, but in truth, he was destined for much more. When a strange meteorite landed near his hometown, the little boy with psychic powers set out to save the world. Little has been said of Ness' character, and much remains hidden.''

During the development of ''Melee'', Ness was going to be cut as a playable character and replaced with [[Lucas]], the protagonist of ''Mother 3''. However, as a result of the cancellation of ''Mother 3'' for the Nintendo 64, Ness instead returned as a veteran fighter.

|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.

On January 20, 2008, Edible, a [[GameFAQs]] member, made a topic in the site's Brawl message board about an official trailer on the Japanese Wii website that leaked Ness (as well as {{SSBB|Lucario}} and {{SSBB|Jigglypuff}}) being playable characters in the game. In [http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/3259/iup542612bd3.jpg this screenshot] taken of the video, a Ness icon can clearly be seen in the lower right hand corner when the Claus sticker is selected, confirming Ness's return as a playable character. The video in question can be viewed [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfuGSKXA20w here].

Ness is currently ranked 26th on the [[tier list]] in D tier, being [[buff]]ed from ''Melee'', with a general increase in the power and speed of his attacks and a vastly superior grab. However, he gained a major flaw in the additional 10 frames of lag he gets when grab released, making him very vulnerable to [[grab release]] combos, most infamously the [[Zero-to-death combo|zero-to-death]] grab releases from {{SSBB|Marth}} and {{SSBB|Donkey Kong}}.

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Ness currently ranks 28th out of 55 on the [[tier list]] (being tied with {{SSB4|Lucas}}), making this his highest tier placement to date. He has been heavily buffed from his ''Brawl'' incarnation, with not only his extra grab release frames removed, but also the general changes brought about by ''SSB4'', such as the removal of [[hitstun]] cancelling and [[edge-hogging]], proving beneficial to him as well, as now he possesses an efficient and strong aerial combo game, and he can more easily recover with PK Thunder, since he can grab hold of an edge regardless of whether or not an opponent is hanging from it. Slamming into a wall during [[PK Thunder 2]] no longer leaves Ness immediately helpless, as he is now capable of initiating PK Thunder a second time, and PK Thunder's projectile now goes through opponents until its "tail" leaves Ness' body, improving his overall recovery further. Yet, his reliance on using PK Thunder to recover is still susceptible to being intercepted and foiled, especially by newcomers {{SSB4|Rosalina}} and {{SSB4|Villager}}. Nonetheless, as a result of his vast improvement from the three previous games, Ness has gained decent results in tournaments.

Ness returns as a playable character in ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate''. Ness retains his status as an unlockable character like in ''SSB'', ''Brawl'' and ''Smash 3DS''. Many of his attacks now feature effects that are more reminiscent of the ''EarthBound'' games, such as PK Fire having diamond-shaped PSI effects. Paula and Poo now accompany him for his Final Smash. As the first character in {{SSBU|Kirby}}’s unlock tree, he can potentially be the first character to be unlocked.

Ness was greatly buffed in his transition to ''Ultimate'', with his speed and power increased. The return of directional [[air dodge]]s provides Ness with a reliable mixup in place of [[PK Thunder]] for a safer [[recovery]]. Not only do his up and down yo-yo smash attacks function the way they did prior to ''SSB4'', but they now also hang off [[ledge]]s providing him with a new powerful [[edge-guarding]] technique. His special moves have also been improved with [[PK Flash]] no longer making him helpless, [[PK Fire]] having less endlag, [[PK Thunder]] dealing more damage and knockback, and [[PSI Magnet]] receiving a damaging hitbox.

Overall, Ness has achieved some very positive tournament results in the early metagame of ''Ultimate'', with many professional players such as [[ESAM]], [[Marss]], and [[Void]] considering him to be a high tier character.

==In other languages==

*The "PK" prefix in most of Ness's (as well as Lucas's) special moves originates from ''EarthBound Beginnings'', where it is used to denote PSI moves that directly inflict damage on an enemy (thus, [[PSI Magnet]] is excluded due to being unable to do so, barring customization). All instances of "PK" were changed to "PSI" in ''EarthBound'' for unknown reasons.

**However, in ''Ultimate'', PSI Magnet gained a hitbox, making its name technically incorrect.

*Ness was considered being replaced by [[Lucas]] in ''Melee'', and [[Jigglypuff]] was considered to be cut in ''Melee'' and ''Brawl''<ref>http://www.sourcegaming.info/2015/08/17/sakuraibrawlquestions/</ref>, making them the only known members of the "Original 12" that were considered being cut at certain points in the development of subsequent games in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series.

*Ness, [[Lucas]] and [[Min Min]] are the only characters to have a [[Reflection|reflector]] outside of [[special move]]s. Coincidentally, all three are a [[smash attack]].