Ness (SSBU)

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

“	Ness has a variety of moves, from long-range attacks using psychic powers known as "PSI," to short-range attacks with his bat and yo-yo. Ness can also unleash PK Thunder, a guided attack that can launch him like a rocket or help him recover!	”
—Super Smash Blog, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site

Ness (ネス, Ness) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was revealed along with all other previous fighters on June 12, 2018. Ness is classified as fighter #10.

Makiko Ōmoto reprises her role as Ness through archived voice recordings from Super Smash Bros. 4.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play VS. matches, with Ness being the first character to be unlocked.
• Clear Classic Mode with Kirby or any character in his unlock tree, being the first character unlocked.
• Have Ness join the player's party in World of Light.

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

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

While he had already grown stronger in the previous two installments in the Super Smash Bros. series, Ness was buffed significantly for his appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Among his most notable buffs are his increased damage output, his lethal up smash, his enhanced movement speed, and his expanded variety of zoning tools, which now include his yo-yo smashes. Some of his kill moves, such as his up aerial, PK Flash, and PK Thunder 2, may have been nerfed, but buffs to his aerial and edge-guarding games and airdodge mechanics changes have made Ness a more viable and frightening fighter than ever.

Aesthetics

• Ness' model features a more subdued color scheme, and some of the detailing on his clothes and weapons are more prominent, such as the stitching on his socks.
• Ness always faces the screen regardless of which direction he turns, causing his animations to be mirrored.
• The text on his yo-yo now reads "SUPER NINTENDO 2018 MOTHER". The yo-yo also produces trailing aftereffects when in motion.
• Many of his PSI moves now have their respective PSI graphics from EarthBound.
• Ness's eyes bulge and grow more circular when he is hit or frozen.
• Ness is much angrier in battle than he was in the previous installment.
• Ness's dash animation is different; he now bounces slightly when dashing.
• Ness has a new idle animation where he bounces in place with his arms to the side.
• His air dodge now resembles its Melee iteration more closely.
• Ness' victory poses have been slightly altered:
  • When Ness poses with his bat, he swings his bat only once instead of multiple times.
  • Ness skips into the victory area instead of hopping in place.
  • He has a more astonished expression during his look-about victory pose.

Attributes

• Like all characters, Ness's jumpsquat animation now takes three frames to complete (down from 5).
• Ness runs faster (1.46265 → 1.609).
  • Ness's initial dash is faster (1.3 → 1.826).
• Ness walks slightly faster (0.8635 → 0.907).
• Ness's air speed is higher (0.9588 → 1.007).
• Ness jumps higher.
• The new air dodge mechanics significantly improve Ness' edgeguarding with PK Thunder, allowing him to pressure opponents more reliably and force them to spend their air dodge, leaving them open to punishes.
• Ness can use the directional air dodge to recover instead of using PK Thunder, giving him a potent recovery mixup if he's close enough to ledge.
• Conversely, the new airdodge mechanics also render Ness more vulnerable than ever to edgeguarding.

Ground Attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • Neutral attack connects more reliably.
  • Neutral attack deals slightly less damage.
• Forward tilt:
  • Forward tilt deals more damage.
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt has less startup (6→4).
  • Up tilt has less endlag (31→19).
  • Up tilt has a larger hitbox, extending its horizontal range.
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt has an altered animation, instead of kicking fully crouched, he now gets up slightly and kicks.
  • Down tilt deals more damage.
  • Down tilt no longer has an increased chance to trip opponents.
• Up smash and down smash once again have their pre-SSB4 spool-up hitboxes. The yo-yo can also hang below the ledge, improving Ness's edge-guarding abilities significantly.
• Up smash:
  • Up smash deals significantly more knockback, allowing it to KO much earlier.
  • Up smash deals more shield damage.

Aerial Attacks

• All aerials have less landing lag (Neutral: frame 18 → 8, Forward: 20 → 12, Back: 17 → 10, Up: 14 → 8, Down: 28 → 12).
• Neutral aerial:
  • Ness now emits PSI from his hands to indicate the move's increased range. It also produces a magical sound effect.
  • Neutral aerial has increased range.
  • Neutral aerial now has disjointed hitboxes.
  • Neutral aerial deals more knockback, making it a more reliable KO move.
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial deals more damage.
  • Forward aerial has slightly less endlag (19→17).
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial deals more damage.
  • Back aerial has less endlag (35→26).
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial is now a different move that has Ness waving his hand in an arc over his head while emitting PSI from his index finger, hitting 5 times.
  • Up aerial has significantly reduced horizontal range.
  • Up aerial now has worse KO potential
  • Up aerial deals more damage when all hits connect.
  • The first four hits of the up aerial have minuscule knockback, allowing for combos at a wide range of percentages.
  • Up aerial has significantly less endlag (41→17).
• Down aerial:
  • Down aerial has significantly reduced end lag (60→30) and its animation is faster overall.
  • Down aerial is much stronger, with its knockback now being more in line with other meteor smashes.
  • Down aerial autocancels sooner, allowing Ness to auto-cancel it out of a shorthop much like it could in earlier Smash titles. This grants the move combo potential and greatly improves its utility.

Throws/other attacks

• Ness now grabs and pummels his opponents using PSI with accompanying sound effects.
• Pummel:
  • Pummel deals slightly more damage.
  • Pummel is slower.
• Down throw has more endlag, reducing its combo potential, and reducing its safety in doubles.

Special moves

• PK Flash:
  • PK Flash has a more aquamarine colour and emits its respective EarthBound graphic upon detonating.
  • PK Flash travels faster.
  • PK Flash can now travel through soft and semisoft platforms.
  • PK Flash no longer dissipates upon making contact with hard platforms and can instead be held on the ground until the move is fully charged.
  • PK Flash's explosion has more active frames.
  • PK Flash no longer causes helplessness when used in the air, this helps Ness to punish enemies near the edge that try to edgeguard him, being able to recover more safely.
  • PK Flash deals considerably less knockback.
  • PK Flash has a much smaller hitbox without charge.
• PK Fire:
  • Ness now uses one hand to fire the projectile while emitting a red spark from his index finger. Diamond-shaped PSI energy also rises up within the fire pillar, resembling PK Fire's graphics from EarthBound.
  • PK Fire does more damage on its initial hit.
  • PK Fire has less startup (20→17), endlag (58→38) and much less landing lag (30→12).
  • The projectile's hitbox is larger.
  • The flame pillar engulfs opponents more reliably.
  • PK Fire pushes Ness back slightly, similar to Lucas's PK Fire.
• PK Thunder:
  • PK Thunder more closely resemble its appearance in EarthBound.
  • PK Thunder now has an angle indicator when the ball of lighting moves close to Ness. While this allows for the player to more accurately determine the trajectory Ness will travel during PK Thunder 2, it also makes the trajectory much more predictable to opponents.
  • PK Thunder now has a window of intangibility during its startup frames.
  • PK Thunder 2 travels further.
  • PK Thunder 2 has more intangibility frames during the move, significantly improving its safety against counterattacks.
  • The window for using PK Thunder again after bouncing against a wall is much bigger.
  • PK Thunder 2 deals less knockback.
• PSI Magnet:
  • PSI Magnet more closely resembles its appearance in EarthBound and features a visible suction effect around the magnet.
  • PSI Magnet is larger.
  • PSI Magnet no longer halts Ness's horizontal momentum in the air, now functioning as it did in Brawl
  • PSI Magnet now has a weak hitbox on startup and deals damage to opponents who enter it. This lingering hitbox can destroy weak projectiles, improving its safety when used for absorption.
  • PSI Magnet has less start-up (17→7) and less endlag (29→11).
  • Thanks to all the changes mentioned above, Ness can use PSI Magnet in combos.
• Final Smash:
  • PK Starstorm summons slower meteors that spread out over the stage, similar to its Brawl iteration. Paula and Poo now accompany Ness during the move. PK Starstorm particle effects from EarthBound accompany each meteor, and the Sound Stone's background pattern appears in the stage's background.
  • However, unlike in Brawl, PK Starstorm can be angled slightly left or right via the control stick, similar to its Smash 4 iteration.

Classic Mode: Home to Onett!

Ness fights opponents largely based on his journey in EarthBound in reverse from Magicant to Onett.

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music	Notes
1	Ness	Magicant	Magicant (for 3DS / Wii U)	The opponent has his 5th alternate costume equipped
2	Lucas	New Pork City	You Call This a Utopia?!
3	3 R.O.B.s	Fourside	Fourside
4	Sheik	Gerudo Valley	Bein' Friends
5	2 Dark Toon Links	Luigi's Mansion	Unfounded Revenge / Smashing Song of Praise
6	Villager and Isabelle	Onett	Onett Theme / Winters Theme
Bonus Stage
Final	Master Hand	Final Destination	Master Hand (Less than 7.0 intensity) Master Hand / Crazy Hand (7.0 or higher intensity)	Crazy Hand teams up with Master Hand on Intensity 7.0 or higher.

Note: Every stage plays a track from the EarthBound universe, no matter what universe the stage originates from.

Role in World of Light

Although Ness does not appear in the World of Light opening cutscene, he was vaporized and later imprisoned alongside the rest of the fighters (sans Kirby) when Galeem unleashed his beams of light.

The imprisoned Ness can be found in a pink cloud area reminiscent of Magicant.

Alternate costumes

Gallery

• 

  Ness' fighter card.

• 

  Ness idling on the Bridge of Eldin.

• 

  Performing his up smash on Kalos Pokémon League.

• 

  Performing PK Flash on Frigate Orpheon.

• 

  Throwing Fox on Tortimer Island.

• 

  Crouching next to Jeff in Onett.

• 

  Dashing in Smashville.

• 

  Dodging Bowser's Bowser Bomb with Ike on Gaur Plain.

• 

  Diddy Kong trying to steal Ness' banana on Moray Towers.

• 

  Ness crouching under a Bomber next to Ganondorf on Gaur Plain.

• 

  Ness striking Bowser Jr. with Death's Scythe on Yoshi's Story.

• 

  Expelled by a Super Launch Star on Yoshi's Island.

• 

  Frozen by Alolan Vulpix on Tortimer Island.

• 

  Taunting in Onett.

• 

  Ness being teleported away by Abra on Arena Ferox.

Character Showcase Video

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Trivia

• Ness is the only one of the four original unlockable characters from Smash 64 to be playable in the E3 demo.
  • Ness is also the only one to appear on the box art. However, Captain Falcon is featured in the full group artwork.
• Ultimate is the first Smash game where Ness does not receive any new voice clips.