Ness (SSBM)

Ness in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Universe	EarthBound
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Brawl in SSB4
Availability	Starter
Tier	F (23)

“	A psychic boy with a distinct midair jump.	”
—Description from Melee's manual.

Ness (ネス, Ness) is a default character in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Announced at E3 2001, he was originally going to be replaced by Lucas from Mother 3; the ultimate cancellation of the game for the Nintendo 64, however, caused Masahiro Sakurai to retain Ness.

He is currently ranked 23rd in the F tier. While still having fantastic throws and a great aerial game due to his double jump cancel, Ness has a poor approach on the ground and in the air due to significant range issues in most of his attacks; his recovery is also easy to intercept and edgeguard against, and he also has significant trouble KOing opponents, again owing to his poor range. As a result of these significant weaknesses, Ness has terrible matchups, with six unfavorable, one even (against Yoshi), and only three favorable (against Bowser, Kirby, and Pichu).

Attributes

Ness is an unusual blend of character archetypes; many of his attributes are unusual in comparison to other characters, such as his projectiles, his recovery and his midair jump. Ness has above average traction and a moderately low falling speed, giving him an average wavedash that is relatively quick.

Arguably Ness's greatest strength is his double jump cancel (often abbreviated DJC). By cancelling out of his midair jump with an aerial, Ness can quickly and efficiently use his multiple aerial attacks; as Ness's ground-based options are poor, his various aerial attacks can act as superior alternatives to them, with his neutral aerial and forward aerial attacks acting as potential combo starters and his back and up air attacks acting as potent KO moves. Furthermore, Ness has access to the unusual Yo-yo glitch, which can significantly increase his range and options when performed properly. While Ness's up and down smashes's knockback are poor, they can be very versatile when used properly, being the only smashes who can damage opponents while charging; they have powerful juggling, tech-chasing and spacing ability.

Ness also has some good KO options. On the ground, Ness's forward smash is very powerful, moderately fast, has a long, safe disjointed hitbox and has the ability to reflect some projectiles. Within the air, Ness's up and back air attacks are short-ranged, but very powerful, with the former acting as an excellent replacement for his weak up smash when DJCed and the latter powerfully semi-spiking opponents. Ness's back throw is one of the most powerful in the game, and it acts as among Ness's best KOing options. Ness's forward throw has poor knockback scaling; while this makes it weak at high percentages, this low knockback growth can set up edgeguarding affairs and gimps. Ness's up and down throws can begin new combos, with the former easily comboing into his DJC'd up air at some damage percentages.

Ness, however, suffers from a poor ground-based approach in the game, which, in turn, significantly increases his difficultly in KOing opponents. Ness's tilts have little range or knockback, with only his up tilt acting as a practical combo starter; furthermore, while Ness does have a decently-lengthed wavedash, his existing smash attacks are all too situational for use in wavesmashing. While his forward smash does contain a long and safe disjointed hitbox, Ness's up and down smashes have poor knockback, making them ineffective for KOing. Ness's ground-based approach also suffers by his lack of an effective projectile; while Ness has three projectiles, none can be effectively used in all cases. PK Flash has long starting and ending lag, and it can only KO reliably after being charged for a long time; as a result, it can only be utilised as a situational edgeguard technique. PK Fire has multiple hits, but it is easy to DI out of, has high starting and ending lag, and has short reach for a projectile. PK Thunder is slightly more useful, as it is controllable and can be used for mindgames; however, it suffers from long windup and cooldown lag, and it also cannot be cancelled out of, making it very easy to punish. As a final flaw for Ness's ground-based approach, Ness's grab has the second shortest range in all of the game, thus making it difficult for him to KO opponents via his powerful throws; while his dash grab does slightly increase its range, it also features considerable lag if it whiffs.

Furthermore, despite the high potential power of his DJC, Ness's aerial approach is also below-average. Like his ground approach, it also suffers from the short range in many of his attacks, and against opponents with particularly good spacing games, like Marth, Ness can easily and quickly be overwhelmed in his attempts to approach opponents. As two of Ness's best finishers are aerial based attacks, KOing in the air requires a good read in order to potentially pull off a DJCed aerial. As Ness has a high short hop and a low falling speed, he also has a very poor SHFFL.

Outside of his poor approach, Ness also suffers from a flawed recovery. Ness has the second highest midair jump in the game (second to only Yoshi) and his midair jump has unusual properties in its trajectory; PK Thunder 2 also grants a rather long distance, with a moderately large sweetspot and a long period of invincibility frames. Despite these benefits, however, Ness still has a very predictable and inflexible recovery, in spite of its long length. In the process of having to start PK Thunder 2, characters with good recoveries (such as Jigglypuff or Samus) can merely jump into the projectile and take negligible knockback and damage, immediately sending Ness into a state of helplessness. Projectiles such as Link's Boomerangs and the Ice Climbers' Ice Shot can easily disrupt the projectile as well, and in these cases, damage is not even inflicted to the opponent. PK Thunder 2 also has significant angling issues, and it can easily curve under lips of stages, most notably on Battlefield. Additionally, should Ness end up parallel to the ground while using the attack, the ending lag can easily be abused and punished. Finally, its linear nature can make it easy to read and edgeguard for many characters, despite the invincibility frames found within it; attacks like Mario's Cape or Link's Spin Attack can easily intercept the attack as Ness charges to the stage.

Changes from Smash 64 to Melee

Ness received a mix of buffs and nerfs in Melee. Ness's nerfs, however, significantly counter the various buffs he received, with his nerfs impairing his already-poor recovery, and significantly reducing his KO options. As a result, Ness has a lower tier placing in Melee; initially placing in the low tier of Smash 64, Ness is currently bottom tiered in Melee, and he is not regarded as tournament viable.

Aesthetics

• Ness's grounded jump is no longer psychokinetic.
• Ness has new voice samples.

Attributes

• Ness is heavier, now being a middleweight.
• Air speed and dashing speed were greatly improved. Walking speed was improved to a lesser extent.
• The speed and reach of Ness' attacks was generally decreased.

Ground Attacks

• His forward smash now has longer reach and is faster.
• Ness now has access to the Yo-yo glitch.
• Down tilt is much faster.
• Forward tilt is much stronger.
• Dash attack does more damage and has more range.
• Forward smash now has 2 sourspots, although those are still very powerful.
• His up and down smashes have less range, and they have been drastically weakened to the point where they can no longer KO at realistic percentages.

Aerial Attacks

• Down aerial has much higher base knockback, making it a deadly 0-death KO tool if not meteor-canceled.
• Up aerial has more reach with a bigger hitbox.
• Forward aerial does more damage and has more range.
• Ness's head when doing his up aerial is no longer intangible.
• Just like Yoshi, his DJC'd combos are slower and harder to perform, although those are still relatively powerful.
• Ness's down aerial, like most other meteor smashes, now has significantly more start-lag, and it also has much lower knockback scaling.

Grabs and Throws

• Ness has been given an up throw and a down throw, providing him with more options.

Special Moves

• Ness now has a new neutral special, PK Flash. PK Fire got moved to Ness's side special.
• PSI Magnet is considerably faster, improving Ness's defensive game.
• PK Thunder travels faster, and it has a tighter radius which it can travel.
• PK Fire travels a smaller distance, and it is now considerably easier to DI out of.
• Ness's PK Thunder 2 travels a shorter distance, damage when hitting an opponent is 5% less, and has a lot more end lag. As such, despite the projectile prior to PK Thunder 2 moving faster (while also having a tighter radius), Ness's recovery is considered to be worse overall.
• The color of PSI Magnet is now blue instead of green.
• The crowd no longer cheers when Ness absorbs a projectile with PSI Magnet.

Moveset

For a gallery of Ness's hitboxes, see here.

Ness's aerial attacks

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			2% punch, 4% kick	Punches forward then kicks.
Forward tilt			11%	Does a roundhouse kick forward.
Up tilt			7%	Thrusts his hands upward.
Down tilt			3%	Thrusts his leg downward, then pivots his foot to hit the opponent. Can combo into itself by mashing A after the move is executed.
Dash attack			12%	Throws his hands forward, psychic energy extending from them. Has three hits. Good, disjointed range. Sends opponent in random directions. Semi-spike if this attack sends opponent horizontally.
Forward smash			14%	Swings his bat forward. Has high knockback and damage, but a little bit of start-up lag. Can reflect some projectiles.
Up smash			4% (while charging); 6%	Does a variation on the "Around the World" yo-yo trick, swinging his yo-yo above his head. Has good range, speed and knockback. Can be used to perform the powerful Yo-yo Glitch and has very potent juggling, tech-chasing and spacing ability. Like his down smash, this attack is incapable of K.O.ing unless his opponents is under 200%. The attack has a hitbox while charging.
Down smash			4% (while charging); 7%	Swings his yo-yo backward then forward, in a trick that vaguely resembles a combination of the "Walk the Dog" and "Walk the Cat" yo-yo tricks. Has good range, speed and knockback, however, this attack is incapable of K.O.ing unless his opponents is under 180%. It has very potent juggling, tech-chasing ability and spacing ability. More powerful than the up smash in terms of knockback. The attack has a hitbox while charging.
Neutral aerial			11%	Spins around, arms stretched out. Has good knockback and is very fast with high combo potential. Poor range.
Forward aerial			15% (total)	Throws his hands forward, psychic energy extending from them. Is a fast, multi-hitting move, with good range and high knockback on the last hit. Generally used as a spacing move. Hits 5 times.
Back aerial			16%	Thrusts his feet backward. If sweetspotted, it electrifies the opponent and semi-spikes them with extreme power. Is fast with very high knockback albeit poor range. The fourth most powerful back aerial in Melee.
Up aerial			13%	Headbutts upward. Has amazing juggling potential and a good KO move with very low lag, but poor range. Unlike in Smash 64, Ness`s head is no longer intangible.
Down aerial			12%	A Stomp attack. Ness kicks downward. Is a meteor smash, and has a decent amount of start-up lag. Great range, extremely high knockback at 0% (most powerful meteor smash at 0% in Melee), but it also has very low knockback scaling, being unable to KO grounded opponents at even 200%, and is relatively easy to meteor cancel. It also has no IASA frames (being interrupted on the same frame as Mario's forward aerial, but Mario's seem slower compared to Ness's).
Grab			—
Pummel			3% per pummel	Headbutts the opponent.
Forward throw			11%	Psychically throws the opponent forward. Very strong base knockback, but very low knockback scaling.
Back throw			11%	Psychically throws the opponent behind him. Has extremely low base knockback but very high knockback scaling. This is Ness's strongest throw and its one of the strongest back throw in the game, KOing reliably at 110 % and above.
Up throw			10%	Psychically spins the opponent above his head and throws them upwards. Can chain into some of his aerials. Decent knockback.
Down throw			8%	Slams the opponent to the ground and hits them with fire. Low knockback but allows a decent amount of followups, including being able to lead into an up aerial to KO. Hits 4 times.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			6%	Punches on both sides whilst getting up.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			6%	Punches on both sides whilst getting up.
Edge attack (fast) Edge getups (fast)			8%	Somersaults onto the stage, both feet stuck out.
Edge attack (slow) Edge getups (slow)			10%	Picks himself up and kicks.
Neutral special		PK Flash	9%-37%	A sphere of green light appears above Ness. As the attack button is held, the sphere moves downwards and increases in power, until the attack button is released or until it is fully charged, it explodes. Has transcendent priority.
Side special		PK Fire	4% (lightning), 2% (fire)	Fires a yellow, lightning-bolt shaped projectile, that travels in a straight line until it hits an enemy or destructible portion of a stage, at which point it explodes into flames. Hits 8 times.
Up special		PK Thunder	8% (PK Thunder), 1% (Thunder's tail), 25% (PK Thunder 2 initial hitbox), 21% (PK Thunder 2 late hitbox)	Creates a stream of lightning that can be aimed into opponents to deal damage with the head and stun with the tail. Aiming the head into Ness himself will launch him in a trajectory opposite to the side he was hit on, which is referred to as PK Thunder 2. PK Thunder 2 has invincibility frames during the first half of the move. PK Thunder 1 has transcendent priority.
Down special		PSI Magnet	0%	Creates a blue energy field around him which allows him to absorb almost any incoming projectile. It can be held in order to use it repeatedly.

Taunt

• Ness turns to the screen and nods his head while saying "Okay".

Victory Theme

An orchestrated version of the final four Soundstone Melodies from EarthBound.

In Competitive play

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Melee Character Matchups

Avg.

Notable players

See also: Category:Ness professionals (SSBM)

Active

•  Crono
•  Hungrybox
•  Simna ibn Sind
•  Vrud

Inactive

•  Mofo
•  Nessby

Tier placement and history

Ness was initially viewed as low-mid tier character in the metagame, with a peak of 15th place on the second tier list. Following this, however, Ness's standing on the tier list constantly fell, with most players noticing that his nerf from Super Smash Bros. hindered his ability to combo and safely approach foes, while his buffs did not address his extremely short range on many of his attacks or his linear, predictable recovery; this was especially noted in the earlier Smash 64 metagame, as Ness was initially viewed as top-tiered character.

On the current tier list, Ness places at 23rd, in the F tier, and he is considered non-viable for tournament play. Dedicated Ness players are rare in the current metagame, with most Ness players often using the character as a situational counterpick; Hungrybox only used Ness once in all of Apex 2013, in an attempt to counter Armada's Young Link, and he mostly used Jigglypuff for the rest of the tournament. Other players of Ness are semi-active and generally do not place very well with him, even with the powerful Yoyo glitch.

In single-player modes

In Classic Mode

Ness can appear in ordinary one-on-one matches, as an opponent or ally in team battles (paired up with either Mewtwo, Peach, or Yoshi), as part of a multi character fight, or as an opponent in the metal fight. Ness appears on either Onett or Fourside when the latter is unlocked; when on a team with Yoshi, he appears on Yoshi's Island.

In Adventure Mode

Ness's appearance in the Adventure Mode is in Stage 9. In the stage, the player must fight against three computer players, each one being Ness, on Onett; in the fight, the only item that appears in Mr. Saturn. The player must defeat all three opponents within five minutes to continue.

In All-Star Mode

In All-Star Mode, Ness and his allies are fought on Onett.

In Event Matches

Ness is featured in the following event matches:

• Event 5: Spare Change: In this match, the player controls Ness against Captain Falcon in a Coin battle on Onett; in 80 seconds, the player must accumulate 200 coins before Captain Falcon does.
• Event 30: All-Star Match 3: Ness is the third opponent the player must fight in this series of staged battles. Their character battles him on the Onett stage, and the player's character has 2 stock while Ness has 1. With a timer of four minutes, the player must defeat him and the other three characters with the overall time and life they have: Kirby, Pikachu and the Ice Climbers.
• Event 36: Space Travelers: As Ness, the player must defeat five opponents in a row: Samus, Kirby, Fox, Captain Falcon, and Falco. For the first three opponents, the fights are done on Fourside; after this, the player is then sent to Battlefield to fight against the last two.

Ending images

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  Classic Mode.

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  Adventure Mode.

• 

  All-Star Mode.

Trophies

Ness is a young boy who's mastered the psychic power known as PSI. Ness was living a normal life in the suburbs of Onett until a meteor crashed into a nearby mountain and sent him on a wild adventure. Believing in the ultimate powers of wisdom, courage, and friendship, Ness proves that some heroes come in small packages.

Game: EarthBound (06/95)

Smash Red

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.

Smash Blue

Ness's mind is his best weapon. PK Thunder is a PSI missile weapon that can be guided using the Control Stick, and if Ness hits himself with it, he turns into a living missile capable of doing massive damage. This move can also be used for recovery. PSI Magnet turns energy missile attacks into health; try out certain Pokémon for stamina replenishment.

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Alternate costumes

Ness's changeable clothing in Melee

Trivia

• Ness is one of 3 characters whose neutral special changed during his jump to Melee, the others being Link and Jigglypuff. In the original Super Smash Bros., his neutral special was PK Fire; from Melee onward, he now uses PK Flash.
• Ness's amiibo description on the North American amiibo website is based on his trophy description from Melee.