Ness (SSBB)

This article is about Ness's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For other uses, see Ness.

Ness
Ness
Universe	EarthBound
Appears in	SSB SSBM SSBB
Availability	Unlockable

Ness (ネス, Nesu) is an unlockable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play 5 matches in Brawl, then defeat Ness
• Reflect 10 projectiles, then defeat Ness
• Get Ness to join your party in The Subspace Emissary

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Most of his attacks are fairly fast with little lag (other than his f-smash)
• Three projectiles of varying usefulness
• Can absorb energy projectiles such as fire with down B, restoring health, and can reflect any projectile with forward smash
• Much more like his SSB self in terms of speed and power
• Forward Smash has long range, high knockback, decent damage, a disjointed hitbox, and a sweet-spot at the tip of the bat.
• Up Smash can set up for aerial combos and kill at higher percentages
• Up and down smashes deal damage while charging and can also block projectiles while charging
• Large second jump
• PK Thunder is a fast projectile, which can be used to annoy your opponent
• PK Rocket has long range and superior knockback, killing Mario at 30%.
• Forward Aerial is a quick, disjointed, multi-hit attack with decent knockback on the end
• Down Aerial is a very powerful spike
• Back Aerial has a powerful sweet-spot
• Down tilt used repeatedly can trap opponents
• Small target
• Strong Throws, especially his Back Throw
• Up aerial now a good finisher
• Dash A can set up for aerial combos
• Standing-grab range much better than in Melee, can outreach some attacks.
• Excellent dash-grab and powerful throws
• Side B has a great wavebounce
• PK Flash can KO at average percent when fully charged
• PK Fire racks up damage quickly
• If used in mid-air PK Fire may bring opponents downward with it
• Can perform any two mid air attacks at short hop height (first attack must be a nair, fair, or bair) including the flying stomp negating any lag while still hitting an opponent on the ground
• Fair and bair have good priority, along with decent priority on most attacks.

Cons:

• PK Flash and PK Thunder can leave you open
• F-smash is on the slow side
• Back Aerial is somewhat weak if not sweetspotted
• D-air has starting lag
• PK Flash has limited usefulness due to its slow speed
• Up and Down Smashes are weak (but much stronger when compared to their Melee counterparts)
• PK Thunder can be intercepted, gimping his recovery, and requires specific conditions to work properly (i.e. no "trenches). Hitting Ness while he steers the PK Thunder towards himself will put him into a Helpless state.
• Easy to KO being medium-light
• Can be chaingrabbed easily due to his breaking free animation (this can be avoided by jumping out of the grab by mashing the shield button)
• Slow dash speed. (6th slowest along with Olimar, Wolf, and Ice Climbers)

Changes from Melee to Brawl

• PK Flash activates faster and charges and travels further, but is less controllable in horizontal direction. Also, it goes further down than where it starts (it doesn't activate automatically once it hits the ground) and hits in a smaller radius.
• Back Air is slightly weaker and has smaller sweet-spot compared to Melee version
• No double jump cancel (except with special moves)
• PK Thunder travels tighter, making it easier to hit self
• PK Thunder 2 is much deadlier, almost as powerful as in SSB64, but still has same range as in Melee
• PK Thunder 2 has a sweetspot at Ness's feet at the beginning of it.
• Up aerial now quite low-range, but much more powerful, and can be used as a finisher.
• Running Grab Animation no longer has Ness leaning forward hopping if missed.
• Forward Smash produces a "CRAAAACK!!" sound, similar to a baseball bat hitting a baseball, when connecting with the opponent instead of the echoing "PIIIING!!" sound of the Home-Run Bat.
• Up and Down Smashes are stronger, have greater knockback and are able to kill at high percentages (though they are still the weaker smashes in Ness's arsenal)
• So far, there is no known way to do the yo-yo glitch, however, the SLAPAYO glitch is very similar
• Forward throw sends foes at a higher angle
• Victory Theme changed from an orchestrated version of the second half of the "Soundstone Melodies" (from EarthBound/Mother 2) to a sped-up section of the Earthbound Zero/Mother Title theme. Both Ness and Lucas share the same Victory Theme.
• No longer a starter character like in Melee
• New yo-yo design
• Ness's PSI Magnet can be canceled with USmash, Jump, Grab or Spot Dodge.
• No more lag in final of Human Missile.
• Down spike is faster and stronger.
• Dash grab has excellent range and is faster
• Back throw slightly more powerful
• PK Fire activates faster
• PK Flash has slightly different animation.
• New costumes, as he no longer has just striped shirts for alternate colors.
• When Ness activates PK Fire, his voice sounds different.
• PSI Magnet's color changed from blue to purple.

Standard Moves

Ground Attacks

Normal

• Neutral Attack - Jabs twice and kicks.
• Dash Attack - Sends three sparks out in front of him with the third spark knocking the opponent up into the air.
• Strong Side - Kicks out in front of him. Can be tilted upward or downward.
• Strong Up - Raises his hands, which grow large, up into the air.
• Strong Down - Ness crouches and very quickly kicks out in front of him. The quickest Strong Down attack and one of the quickest attacks in the game.

Smash

• Side Smash - Ness swings his bat. The bat has a sweet-spot at the tip of it. Similar to Lucas's Forward Smash, but with a slower start-up time, much more power, and a longer range. One of Ness's best killing moves. Also functions as a reflector when timed right.
• Up Smash - Ness sends his yo-yo forward and performs "around-the-world" over himself, with the yo-yo ending behind him before he pulls it back. If connected properly, the opponent hit by the forward yo-yo will then be sent up to be hit by the swinging yo-yo and then sent up into the air.
• Down Smash - Ness sends his yo-yo backwards and "walks-the-dog" with it before pulling the yo-yo back.

Aerial Attacks

• Neutral Air - Spins diagonally in the air with arms outstretched. A single hit with moderate knockback.
• Forward Air - Ness sticks out his palms in front sending a stream of PK sparks in front of him. Very similar to his dash attack and is an excellent at disrupting opponents.
• Back Air - Kicks out backwards with both feet. Has a sweet-spot that could, if landed correctly, send the opponent a fair amount of horizontal distance while electrified. One of Ness' killing moves.
• Up Air: Headbutts up into the air. High knockback and can Star KO at moderate percents another of Ness' killing moves.
• Down Air - Ness pulls his legs to his body before stomping down into the air. This attack can meteor smash but has a lot of start-up lag.

Grabs and Throws

• Grabs - Ness's standing grab has fairly short range but little lag. His dash-grab has a large range without much increase in lag over the standing grab.
• Pummel - Ness pummels the opponent with headbutts that deal a max of 2%.
• Forward Throw - Ness psycho-kinetically swings his opponent in a small circle in front of himself before sending them off forward. The knockback of this throw is not set, but does not increase with damage at an expected rate: it changes from Ness's best throw to his worst as the enemy's damage increases. However this throw can score cheap KOs on walk off stages.
• Back Throw - Psycho-Kinetically swings the opponent over his head before sending them off backwards, in a diagonally upwards motion. The strongest throw in the game.
• Up Throw - Psycho-Kinetically spins the opponent above his head before sending them up.
• Down Throw - Throws his opponent down and psycho-kinetically shoots out fire onto his opponent.

Role in the Subspace Emissary

Ness shows up saving Lucas from the giant King P. statue, which is soon revealed to be his nemesis, Porky Minch. Both Lucas and Ness team up and defeat Porky and his machine. Afterwards, Wario attacks him with his Dark Cannon, but Ness successfully dodges each shot. Wario, however, then aims at Lucas, forcing Ness to push Lucas out of harm's way and take the trophy-izing arrow from the Dark Cannon. As Lucas is too scared to face Wario, he leaves Ness behind as Wario cackles in the rain.

As Wario is driving his cargo with Ness and a princess's trophies on board, he finds Luigi's trophy and prepares to take it until he's ambushed by an army of Waddle Dees, who throw Luigi's trophy into the cargo,on his head as a joke, which is stolen by King Dedede. At his hideout, Dedede puts a badge on Luigi, Ness, and the princess's trophies before the roof collapses on them and Bowser takes the princess's trophy.

Later on, he and Luigi are revived, thanks to the Dedede Badges. Upon inspecting Luigi's badge, he notices that it looks like Dedede, and, assuming that Dedede made them, proceeds to revive him. Upon being revived, King Dedede gives both of them a hug before they team up and rescue Lucas and the others in order to defeat Tabuu. [1]

Snake’s Codec Message

Colonel: That kid... isn't that Ness?

Snake: Ness?

C: He may look like a mere boy, but don't let that fool you.

C: He has PSI abilities that defy all scientific explanation.

S: Just like Psycho Mantis...

C: Exactly. He can use teleportation, levitation, pyrokinesis and psychokinesis.

S: Yeah, but the question is, can he read minds?

C: Not to my knowledge, no.

S: Good. Then I won't have to worry about him predicting my every move.

C: Even if he had telepathic powers, I don't think he'd use them to mess with you like that. I hear he's a good kid.'

Tactics and Strategies

• Since it is so slow, PK Flash is almost useless in regular combat, but can be used to cover you is case of enemies dropping from above. It is also very good for edgeguarding, but only in one-on-one matches (if playing with more than one, other enemies besides the one you are trying to edgeguard will hit you as you try to intercept the target.
• After hitting a target with PK Fire, you can often get a free forward smash on them as they are immobilized, dealing a total of 40 or more damage.
• Quick KOs can be gained by throwing the opponent off the stage, and then spiking them with Down Aerial
• Ness has strong throws with potential to perform off-the-stage KOs
• Use PK Fire to set off Blast Boxes and other ordinance from a safe distance, and try to get opponents caught in the blast.
• Use PK Fire on an opponent when an they are over a pit or over the edge. They will sometimes (at lower damages or when playing larger characters) be unable to escape the pillar of flame as it falls and will fall to their death.
• Use PK Thunder to interrupt the recovery of characters like Pit, or to interrupt Lucas or another Ness while they steer PK Thunder into themselves to recover. They will be put in a helpless state and fall to their doom. With good prediction, you can also interrupt Lucas's or Ness's recoveries by intercepting their PK Thunder with a PSI Magnet to give yourself some health.
• Hitting yourself with PK thunder is a very powerful attack which can KO at as little as 50%. It is also much easier to aim and can be very useful in finishing juggles.
• Having another Ness or Lucas as a teammate in team brawls will allow you to heal each other easily (using PK Freeze, PK Flash, PK Fire, or PK Thunder)and PSI Magnet, provided that Friendly Fire is on.
• PK Fire over the ledge, and dair. This can kill at low damage.
• Utilize PK Thunder to steer it into opponents to juggle them towards the top of the screen

Special Movements

Taunts

Up: Turns to the screen, nods and says "Okay." (Same as in SSB and Melee)

Side: Poses with his bat, Babe Ruth style.

Down: Waves PK shots from his fingers in the air.

On-Screen Appearance

Teleports using PK Teleport and shakes off some soot after crashing into the stage.

Idle Stance

• Turns and puts two fingers between his eyes. He then opens his eyes pointing his fingers forward.
• Looks left and right.

Wii Remote Choice

Says "Okay". (Same as his taunt)

Victory Pose

Victory Theme: Mother/Earthbound Zero Eight Melodies Theme

• He jumps up and down twice, swinging his arms, before quickly nodding twice towards the screen with arms akimbo.
• He swings his bat many times before holding the bat with his right hand, outstretched and pointing diagonally upwards.
• He looks to his sides quickly before facing the screen, putting his hand on the back of his head.

Credits Music

• Snowman

Trivia

• Ness is one of five characters to have a small speaking role in The Subspace Emissary. He says "PK Flash!" and "PK Thunder!".
• Ness relies on his PSI powers far less than Lucas, using them only for his specials, throws, dash attack, and forward aerial. His back aerial also seems PSI powered if it connects. Lucas uses his PSI powers for two smashes (up and down), all specials, all aerials, all throws, his dash attack, and forward and up tilts.
• Ness was confirmed in a sticker screenshot via leak.
• Ness closes one eye while performing his forward smash, while Lucas closes both eyes.
• Ness cannot charge his down smash while on the edge of any platform.
• Despite being one of the first characters unlocked by playing Brawls, Ness is one of the last characters unlocked by playing the Subspace Emissary, perhaps in homage to SSB64, where Ness was the hardest-to-unlock character.
• When in metal form, Ness's bat is also metal, but his yo-yo isn't.
• In the scene where Ness hits the King P statue with PK Thunder, PK thunder is white instead of a dark purple.
• Ness' yo-yo says "Super Nintendo 2008" along the top, above "MOTHER."
• Many believe that Lucas' attacks are faster and weaker, but Ness's attacks tend to be faster, weaker and combo better. Some exceptions are PK Freeze and Lucas' f-smash.
• Ness' Trophy is the only Trophy thats origin says Super Smash Bros. on it besides the real game he's from.
• Both Lucas and Ness Use PK Starstorm as their Final Smashes Although they never learned these moves, they would be better suited from Poo or Kumatora, both of whom actually learned these skills in the progression of the Mother games. The trophies state that Poo and Kumatora, respectively, may have taught these moves to Ness and Lucas sometime after the events of their games.
• Ness' red and white color change makes him look like Fuel from Mother 3, although Fuel did not have yellow pants.

External Links

• Image still from the trailer leak confirming Ness's presence
• Screenshots (Spoilers)
• DOJO!! page