Ness: Difference between revisions

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

Official papier mâché 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 mostly [[nerf]]ed from ''Smash 64'' to ''Melee'', similar to {{SSBM|Kirby}}, and arguably {{SSBM|Yoshi}}. One major reason is his very weak [[grab]] range. Though his nerfs were not as drastic as Kirby's, his tournament representation is weak and his viability is still poor. He is ranked 23rd out of 26 on the [[tier list]] in D tier, somewhat lower than his placement in the original ''Super Smash Bros.''

|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].

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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. Despite this, however, he is currently ranked as a upper mid-tier character in the B+ tier at the 40th place of 82 on the current tier list, although it is currently his highest placement in the series.

==In other languages==

*The "PK" (standing for "Psychokinesis") 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. Moves that affect healing and PSI Point (PP) restoration instead start with "PSI", such as [[PSI Magnet]]. In the American localization for ''Earthbound'', however, translators changed this naming convention and all offensive moves start with "PSI" rather than "PK". Therefore, the names "PK Flash" and "PK Starstorm" (which did not appear in ''Earthbound Beginnings'') are actually different from what those moves are named in their only official English-language games from the ''Mother''/''Earthbound'' series.  

*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.