Ness (SSB4)

Ness in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	EarthBound
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Melee in Brawl
Availability	Unlockable (3DS) Starter (Wii U)
Final Smash	PK Starstorm
Tier	C (24)

Ness (ネス, Ness) returns as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. Ness was officially confirmed on October 3rd, 2014, alongside Falco and Wario, coinciding with the Western release of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS. As in every previous Smash Bros. installation, Ness is voiced by Makiko Ōmoto, who has now recorded new voice clips for both versions of the game.

Ness currently ranks 24th out of 58 characters on the tier list, placing him at the very start of the C tier and the top of mid tier. This is a vast improvement from his 26th out of 38 in Brawl, and his best placement compared to previous Smash Bros. games. Ness no longer suffers from having 10 extra grab release frames, which was a huge detriment to his survival. Besides that, Ness possesses arguably the best grab game among the entire cast (competing with Mewtwo's), with his forward and up throws leaving opponents in very unfavorable positions, his down throw being a great combo starter and his back throw being the most powerful throw in the game, on top of being difficult to DI properly. Other notable strengths include an effective projectile game with PK Fire and PK Thunder, a formidable air game courtesy of his powerful aerials, and a versatile combo game thanks to his throws and aerials. Despite being a middleweight, he also has high raw KO power and high damage output, a prime example being his aerials, forward smash, PK Flash and PK Thunder 2. Finally, due to the strengths above, Ness possesses very useful options to cover getups from a ledge or on the ground.

However, Ness has rather sub-par mobility and range, which often forces him to be methodical with his approaches, or play defensively in order to gain the lead, which can leave him at a disadvantage against characters with greater range on their attacks such as Cloud. His KO power, while consistent, is relegated to only his back throw, as most of his powerful attacks are hard to land in the neutral game. Lastly, the last and the most problematic, is his recovery. Despite being greatly improved, PK Thunder remains quite gimpable as the lightning bolt can clang with other attacks, while opponents can forcibly push Ness out of the way or even take a hit from the lightning bolt, making his recovery fail.

Despite having poor matchups against Cloud, Rosalina & Luma and Sheik, Ness's favorable traits have led him to gain strong tournament representation and use by many top players, such as FOW, Shaky and NAKAT. However, Ness's results have been stagnant as of late, mainly due to professional Ness players being considerably less active than before, most noticeably FOW, while his hardest matchups have continued to develop in the metagame. As such, it is debatable of whether or not Ness will continue to stay in the middle tier, or if he will drop again into low tier. Ness's spot is a high topic of debate as some smashers claim he deserves to be lower than this, or even lower than his fellow EarthBound representative Lucas.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play 10 VS Matches.
• Clear Classic Mode on any difficulty.

After completing one of the two methods, Ness must then be defeated on Magicant.

In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Ness is playable from the start.

Attributes

Ness is an unusual blend of character archetypes, being a short, projectile-heavy character with a lot of versatility with his moves. Ness's weight is average and his falling speed is rather slow, giving him no disadvantage with weight alone. His walking speed is slow while his dashing speed and air speed are both sub-par, but his air acceleration is very high.

Ness possesses three projectiles: PK Flash, PK Fire, and PK Thunder. PK Flash can be used as an extremely powerful punishing or edge-guarding option, dealing huge knockback which can Star KO even Bowser, the heaviest character under 60%. PK Fire is fairly quick, possesses a good amount of range, and the projectile holds opponents in it when it hits them (while being difficult to SDI out of), allowing Ness free follow-ups (it can combo into a grab, a PK Fire or down tilt infinite and a forward smash to finish the opponent) as long as he acts quickly enough, also, it can be used off-stage to gimp fast-fallers and heavyweights in conjunction with down air. PK Thunder is one of the more unique projectiles in the game. When used, the player will lose control of Ness and instead take control of a large and powerful thunder ball for a few seconds. PK Thunder can essentially be used to knock opponents towards Ness for follow ups, to mindgame opponents in conjunction with PK Thunder 2 to finish them, edgeguard and juggle opponents. The knockback it provides can also hit an opponent over the upper blast line (especially light and floaty characters), allowing it to be used as a situational KO move as well, and it can allow him to use the massively powerful PK Thunder 2. His down special move, PSI Magnet, provides a psychic shield that can heal him when hit with an energy based attack and is extremely effective against characters such as Samus or the Mii Gunner, quickly healing him until very low percentages.

Ness's biggest strength is found in his superb aerial game. All of Ness's aerial moves can be used to either space, combo, or KO. All except down aerial are capable of auto-canceling in a short hop. His neutral aerial possesses very little startup and ending lag, and hits on both sides of Ness, making it a very useful out of shield option. His forward aerial has quick startup, a large, disjointed hitbox, and traps opponents, essentially allowing it to chain into either itself or another move. It is a powerful spacing tool and very useful in approaching opponents. His up aerial can be used to combo at lower percents and KO reliably at higher percents. It possesses a large hitbox and little lag, allowing it to be of low risk to use. His back aerial is another reliable KO move that possesses low lag. His down aerial has long range and can be useful in edgeguarding and breaking juggles, although it has significant startup in comparison to his other aerials.

While Ness's aerial make him a formidable fighter at close quarters, he can also pressure from afar. His dash attack has an exceptionally long range and is useful to approach. PK Fire covers a lot of ground and can be used to perform a PK Jump, which has amazing range and is very rewarding, yet very risky.

Ness's grab game is also very strong. His standing grab has decent range and is fast, his pivot grab is surprisingly disjointed and his dash grab gives him a substantial speed boost. Also, Ness can easily trap careless opponents with aforementioned PK Fire and PK Jump in order to set up for a grab combo. Ness possesses one of the fastest pummels in the game, allowing him to deal a decent amount of damage before throwing. His down throw easily sets up for aerial attacks, leading into a forward air at lower percents (which can be used multiple times by following the opponent's DI) or an up air at higher percents. Ness's forward throw has very high base knockback and can set up edgeguards. Up throw can be used to play situational mindgames with PK Thunder. Ness's infamous back throw is the strongest throw in the game; while it has very low base knockback, it has extremely high knockback scaling and is often regarded as his most effective and commonly used KO option.

Ness is not completely infallible, however. He possesses below average speed in both the ground and the air, making it hard for him to chase faster opponents. His ground game is also generally weak as he possesses short-ranged tilt attacks. His up and down smashes are also lackluster. While his up smash can be used as an out of shield option and his down smash as a situational edgeguard, both KO considerably later than his other KO options in a neutral situation, and his forward smash, while extremely powerful, possesses high ending lag and is easily punishable if it misses. Ness's biggest flaw, however, is his recovery. While there have been various buffs to his recovery that make it much more reliable and viable than in previous Smash games, it is still relatively easy to gimp for characters with multiple jumps, such as Jigglypuff, Kirby and Meta Knight, or with moves that reflect or absorb, such as Rosalina, Fox, Villager, and Pit.

Custom moves can give Ness great advantages and brand new options. PK Freeze can freeze opponents, allowing free follow-ups, especially with PK Fire. PK Fire Burst has more range and power and always goes straight, making it a spacing tool rather than a combo tool. Lasting PK Thunder goes right through opponents and moves slower, allowing for better control. Recovery with PK Thunder 2 is also longer, significantly improving Ness' offstage survivability. Rolling PK Thunder travels much slower but is much stronger. While the recovery with PK Thunder 2 is mediocre due to the drastically decreased distance of it, the move is also significantly stronger, which allows it to KO even earlier than normal PK Thunder 2. Forward PSI Magnet is the same, but has a semi-spike hitbox in front of Ness, functioning similar to Fox's Reflector. Finally, if the opponent has no energy projectiles, PSI Vacuum is the optimal choice, as it draws opponents in and is the strongest of Ness's down special moves damage-wise.

Overall, Ness is viewed as a very potent character in tournament play. He is believed to have a very solid matchup spread, with Rosalina and Luma and perhaps Villager being the only characters that truly counter him solidly.

Changes from Brawl

Ness has been heavily buffed in the transition from Brawl to SSB4. His 10 extra frame grab-release animation, which was one of his most detrimental flaws, has been removed, and many of the other flaws he had have been addressed. Ness also greatly benefits from the general changes of SSB4, as the new edge-trumping mechanic makes his recovery much harder to gimp, and the changes to hitstun canceling allows him to combo with his moves much more efficiently. Overall, Ness is significantly better than he ever was in previous Super Smash Bros. games and he has also seen very strong tournament representation as a result of his vast improvement.

Aesthetics

• Ness has a brighter color palette, and has lost the blushes on his cheeks and the purple hue in his eyes. He is also has slightly taller and thinner, with a smaller and more proportionate head, and a smaller backpack. He also lacks the partial yellow stripe that he had at the bottom of his shirt.
• Ness has become more expressive, like most other characters.

Attributes

• Ness dashes faster (1.39 → 1.46265).
• Ness walks slightly faster (0.86 → 0.8635).
• Ness no longer has an extra 10 frames of lag from being grab-released, bringing him in line with everyone else, and making him significantly less vulnerable to grab-release follow-ups.
• All of Ness's electric attacks except for his specials are now a normal effect except for his back aerial's sweetspot, as it is actually a magic effect, so they no longer have the 1.5 freeze frames multiplier. They use a graphic effect similar to Lucas's attacks (forward aerial, up smash, etc.) instead of using the same graphic effect as his double jump.
• The changes in shieldstun makes some of his attacks slightly less safe on shield compared to the cast.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack deals 1% less damage (9% → 8%).
• Dash attack now launches at a vertical trajectory in front of Ness (80°) instead of behind him (100°), making followups easier.
• The first hit of dash attack no longer deals consistent damage (5% → 4%/7%/3%). Dash attack also has more intense lighting effects.
• The second hit of dash attack deals less damage (4% → 2%).
• Forward tilt does 2% less damage un-angled (11% → 9%) and 1% less damage when angled (11% → 10%). Now has a more notable ending animation where Ness holds up his left hand.
• Up tilt has more range.
• Up tilt starts up slightly slower (frame 5 → 7) and now has a sourspot that deals 2% less damage.
• Up tilt's animation is more similar to that of Smash 64, and its sweetspot now has a magic sound effect instead of a punching sound effect.
• Down tilt now has a sourspot at the end of Ness's foot that deals 2% less damage (4% → 2%).
• Forward smash deals drastically more knockback (50 base/62 scaling → 70/67), going from a below-average powered forward smash in Brawl to one of the most powerful forward smashes in Smash 4. Its reflector now has a speed and power multiplier, drastically improving its punishing utility.
• Forward smash's tipper hitbox has been completely removed, so that its maximum damage potential when uncharged is 22% instead of 24%, and its reflector now has a limit, where if he tries to reflect a projectile that is too strong to reflect, Ness will experience about 300 frames (5 seconds) of ending lag.
• Yo-yo smashes (up smash and down smash) now deal properly-increased damage when charged and are now stronger.
• Yo-yo smashes are charged while still in Ness's hand, removing their pre-charge hitboxes.
• Yo-yo is colored green instead of yellow.
• Up smash now has a small hitbox behind Ness that comes out on frame 6. While this new hitbox is considered a sourspot, dealing less damage and knockback, it is a buff as it puts out a hitbox earlier and covers his back during startup, strengthening the up smash's use as an out of shield option.
• Down smash now sends opponents at a low semi-spike angle instead of diagonally, greatly improving its edgeguarding utility.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial's hitbox is shorter in duration.
• Forward aerial's individual hits now chain significantly better, and can now result in multiple forward aerials in a row, improving Ness's combo and damage capabilities.
• Forward aerial deals 4% less damage (11% → 7%) along with significantly more landing lag (12 frames → 20 frames).
• Back aerial has moderately increased landing lag (12 frames → 17 frames).
• Back aerial has more range.
• Up aerial has slightly more landing lag (12 frames → 14 frames).
• Down aerial now has an extra spin in its animation, with Ness facing at a different orientation as he kicks downward with his toes instead of the stamp of his foot; the new special effect at his toes gives its hitbox more range, along with having its sourspot deals 1% more damage (9% → 10%).
• Down aerial's sweetspot and sourspot have drastically decreased base knockback (90/90 → 20/30), with sourspot and sweetspot now being incapable of KOing at realistic percentage. The meteor smash is much harder to hit with and the autocancel window is now a massive 21 frames later in the animation. Its sourspot is also moderately slower (frame 21 → 28), and as a result, it is generally inferior to his other aerials.
• Down aerial uses the magic sound effect on hit instead of a punch sound effect in prior games.

Throws/other attacks

• Pivot grab's range is now large and disjointed.
• Pivot grab comes out slower.
• Pummel is faster.
• Up throw's ending lag has been significantly decreased.
• The changes to hitstun canceling significantly benefits down throw, as he can now use it to set up into his aerials much more effectively.
• Down throw does less damage (9% → 7%).
• Down throw has less fire graphics.

Special moves

• PK Flash travels faster. It travels even faster and gains even more distance if directed behind Ness. Turning around before using this move might prove useful, depending on prediction.
• PK Flash is of a much darker green color.
• PK Fire travels slightly farther.
• PK Fire has 1 more frame of ending lag. It now travels much farther back to Ness if reflected rather than petering out after traveling its set distance.
• PK Fire's effect after hitting an opponent produces darker colored flames and more smoke.
• When interrupted whilst starting up PK Fire, Ness stops reciting the attack's name.
• PK Thunder travels faster, has less cooldown, a much larger hitbox, is more powerful, travels in a drastically tighter arc and goes through opponents until the tail disconnects from Ness with 1% more damage, making him less susceptible to being gimped. PK Thunder 2 is much faster, much stronger (now KOing at around 30%), and when Ness bounces off a wall while recovering with it, he can initiate PK Thunder again during the bounce.
• PK Thunder 2 has increased ending lag.
• PK Thunder and PSI Magnet are now light blue like in Melee.
• PSI Magnet has significantly less ending lag, with Ness now being able to act out of it much quicker. It's also larger, increasing its range.
• PSI Magnet swirls projectiles around it, causing a slight delay until Ness can actually be healed. If Ness were to drop PSI Magnet and/or be launched, the absorbed projectiles may take even longer to reach him, but they will still heal him eventually.
• The swirling of captured attacks by PSI Magnet utterly nullifies even projectiles that would continue past Ness, including Thoron and Pikachu's Thunder.
• PK Starstorm now fires a thin, aimable line of meteors from the top-center of the stage, similar to how Aura Storm functioned. This enables it to deal damage more reliably at the cost of having blind spots.
• PK Starstorm has now a flame effect instead of an electric effect.

Update history

Ness has been slightly nerfed overall in game updates. His most notable nerfs are the reduced damage output to his down throw and PK Fire having slightly more endlag. The changes to shield mechanics also hamper him slightly due to the majority of his non PSI-based moves having a rather low damage output. Ness has also got some other useful buffs, however, such as a faster PSI Magnet and his down aerial having a bigger hitbox and lasts one more frame (though it's still his least useful aerial), and while the buffs do not truly compensate for his nerfs, he remains a strong character.

1.0.4

• The period Ness can be at his maximum fall speed before using hard landing lag has been lengthened: 4 → 5 frames.
• PK Thunder and all custom variations have 6 frames more ending lag.
• Down throw's five hits have gained additional hitboxes, allowing them to hit Mr. Game & Watch.
• Down throw's five hits before release deal less damage: 1% → 0.6%.
• Down throw's release has increased knockback: 90 base/30 growth → 70/80, hindering its combo ability at high percents.

1.0.6

• Forward smash now makes a hit-sound when projectiles are reflected.
• Screen shakes more violently when down throw is used.

1.0.8

• Ending lag of PSI Magnet significantly reduced.

1.1.0

• Down aerial's meteor hitbox size increased (3.5u → 3.9u) and lasts an additional frame.
• PK Fire has 1 more frame of endlag.

1.1.1

• Portions of Rising PK Flash knockback scaling increased: 30 → 80.
• Rising PK Flash has less base knockback: 80 → 50.
• Rising PK Flash's first hitbox duration decreased: 3 → 2.
• Rising PK Flash minimum charge increased.
• Rising PK Flash range increased: 10 → 13.
• PK Freeze range increased: 10 → 11.
• PK Fire Burst damage on hit increased 1% → 2%. Damage on trigger increased 8% → 9%, hits sooner smaller size and closer.

1.1.3

• PSI Magnet heals halved damage from absorbing teammates' projectiles.

Moveset

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			2%	Punches twice, then kicks. The first hit can lock at low percents.
			2%
			4%
Forward tilt	↗		10%	A roundhouse kick. Can be angled, making it deal 1% more damage. It can also lock at low percents.
	→		9%
	↘		10%
Up tilt			7% (arms) 5% (hands)	Pushes upward with both hands that produces a PSI spark. Has a sourpot located on his hands that deals 5%.
Down tilt			4% (foot), 2% (toes)	A swift shin kick. Extremely spammable and can be used to jab reset. Has a sourspot located on the tip of his foot. Has a chance of making the opponent trip.
Dash attack			4%/3% (hit 1), 7% (hit 1 aerial), 2% (hit 2), 4% (hit 3)	Sends three PSI sparks out in front of him with the third spark knocking the opponent up into the air. The first spark deals more damage to aerial targets. Good to set up juggles and pressuring from afar. Difficult to punish on shield if only the last hit connects.
Forward smash			18% (low), 20% (mid), 22% (tip); 2x damage (reflected projectiles)	Swings his bat. It is the second strongest forward smash in the game when sweetspotted at the tip of the bat and still one of the strongest forward smashes when untippered, but it has some start-up and ending lag. The bat itself will reflect incoming projectiles when he swings it. However, reflecting a projectile that is too strong to reflect can cause him to have terribly long endlag, making it incredibly unsafe if the opponent is nearby.
Up smash			9%-13%	Sends his yo-yo forward and performs "around-the-world" over himself. A decent anti-air and a good out of shield option. It is more powerful if the opponent is behind Ness, but it's still the weakest up smash in the game, not KOing until roughly 137%.
Down smash			1% (hit 1, front and back) 1% (hit 2, front and back) 10% (hit 3, front and back)	Sends his yo-yo backwards and "walk-the-cat" with it before pulling the yo-yo back. Covers get up options well, but cannot connect well if the opponent is at the longest range of the move.
Neutral aerial			11% (clean), 7% (late)	Spins diagonally in the air with his arms outstretched. Quick, and acts like a sex kick. Can be followed-up after a down throw. Rather useful to break combos and as an out of shield option.
Forward aerial			1% (hit 1-3) 4% (hit 4)	Sticks his palms out, sending a stream of PSI sparks in front of him. Decently safe on shield if Ness retreats during the attack, useful to start and continue combos.
Back aerial			15% (clean), 8% (late)	Ness kicks out backwards with both feet. The initial hit is immensely strong, KOing at 125% onstage and even lower at the ledge.
Up aerial			13%	An upwards headbutt. It is considered one of Ness' best aerials, due to its rather quick startup, power that makes it effective for comboing at low percentages and KOing at high ones, starting at 115%.
Down aerial			12% (sweetspot), 10% (sourspot)	Pulls his legs to his body before stomping down into the air, producing a PSI spark. This attack can meteor smash on the first frame. Slow start up as it comes out on frame 20 and has lots of landing lag (28 frames). It autocancels before the hitbox comes out, making it useful to cancel the tumble animation when Ness is near the ground.
Grab			—	Grabs with both hands. Fast, but below average range.
Pummel			1.2%	Headbutts the opponent. A fast pummel.
Forward throw			11%	Psychokinetically swings his opponent in a small circle in front of himself before sending them off forward. Very high base knockback, but incredibly low scaling, KOing at percents generally not even seen in a standard match (starting at around 850%). However, it can KO very easily on Smashville or Town and City at 0%, depending on the platform's position.
Back throw			11%	Psychokinetically swings the opponent over his head before sending them off backwards, in a diagonally upwards motion. Possesses very low base knockback but incredibly high knockback scaling, making it the strongest throw in the entire game, KOing Bowser, the heaviest character in the game, with optimal DI at 122% near the ledge without rage.
Up throw			10%	Psychokinetically spins the opponent above his head before sending them up. Leaves the opponent in an unfavorable position where they can be juggled, most commonly by PK Thunder.
Down throw			0.6% (hits 1-5), 4% (final hit)	Throws the opponent onto the ground and scorches them with PK Fire. A strong combo starter, having guaranteed follow-ups into neutral aerial, forward aerial and up aerial.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%
Edge attack Edge getups			7%	Flips onto the stage and does a sweep kick.
Neutral special	Default	PK Flash	9%-37%	A green plasma-like energy projectile appears above Ness. As the special 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. Can KO as low 37% fully charged.
	Custom 1	Rising PK Flash	8%-24%	A magenta colored PK Flash that keeps rising, hence the name. Has minimal control and deals less damage, but has a larger hitbox.
	Custom 2	PK Freeze	10%-19%	Inflicts less damage, but freezes opponents. Works like Lucas's neutral special, except with the same movement as PK Flash. His voice clips also changes.
Side special	Default	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 a gradually-fading pillar of fire, making said enemy vulnerable. Fires at a downward 50 degree angle if used in the air.
	Custom 1	PK Bonfire	2% (lightning), 3%-5% (fire)	The lightning-bolt doesn't travel as far, but the flame pillar is stronger and it sticks around longer. Has much less combo potential due to its increased ending lag and knockback.
	Custom 2	PK Fire Burst	2% (lightning), 9% (fire)	Releases a single flame when it hits and knocks opponents farther. It will always travel horizontally even when used in the air, similar to Lucas's variant of PK Fire. It also travels further distance.
Up special	Default	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. Ness' recovery move, but it can be easily gimped during startup.
	Custom 1	Lasting PK Thunder	7% (PK Thunder), 1% (Thunder's tail), 1.5% (PK Thunder 2, each hit), 10% (PK Thunder 2, last hit)	Functions identically to Lucas's counterpart, with tighter turning and both the projectile and Ness piercing enemies. Deals less damage, but launches Ness further. The thunder is dark purple instead of blue.
	Custom 2	Rolling PK Thunder	12% (PK Thunder), 1% (Thunder's tail), 30% (PK Thunder 2)	Creates a slower, yet larger mint green colored PK Thunder. Both the projectile and Ness do more damage and knockback. However, the distance Ness moves with PK Thunder 2 is significantly shorter, making this a high-risk, high-reward move.
Down special	Default	PSI Magnet	0%	A purple energy field around him which allows him to absorb any energy-based projectile (like Samus' Charge Shot). It can be held in order to use it repeatedly. Heals 1.2 times the demage Ness would have taken.
	Custom 1	PSI Vacuum	10%	Ness draws opponents in, releasing an explosion that damages nearby foes when the move is released. It cannot absorb projectiles.
	Custom 2	Forward PSI Magnet	9%	The magnet appears in front of him, just like Lucas's version. It damages an opponent inside the magnet when the move is released.
Final Smash		PK Starstorm	8% per hit	Summons stars to fall from the sky to annihilate his enemies. The comets descend in a straight line over Ness and can sweep the screen with directional inputs to the left and right.

On-screen appearance

• Ness teleports on the screen using PSI Teleport. He then shakes the ash off of his body.

Taunts

• Up taunt: Turns to the screen and nods his head while saying "Okay".
• Side taunt: Takes his bat out and points it in front of him.
• Down taunt: Releases a wave of PSI from his finger.

Up taunt	Side taunt	Down taunt

Idle poses

• Looks around curiously.
• Closes his eyes and places his fingers on his forehead, concentrating his PSI, and then points it forward.

Crowd cheer

	English	Japanese
Cheer
Description	Su-per Ness!	Ness! Ness! Ness!
Pitch	Group chant	Group chant

Victory poses

A flourished remix directly from Brawl. It is a sped-up remix of a portion of the title theme from the original MOTHER for the Famicom.

• Skips in place and then nods similar to his up taunt.
• Looks to his sides quickly before facing the screen, putting his hand on the back of his head.
• Swings his bat multiple times, then points it forward.

In competitive play

Official Custom Moveset Project

Character	Custom sets available
Ness	1112	1121	1122	1311	1312
	1321	1322	1212	2111	1113

Notable players

Active

•  Awestin
•  Deimos
•  FOW - The best Ness in the world. Noticeably placed 7th at EVO 2015, 5th at GENESIS 3, 4th at PAX Arena, & 4th at 2GGT: Fresh Saga. He noticeably beat Larry Lurr, ANTi, VoiD, Captain Zack, Mew2King, Saj, Xzax, K9sbruce, Hyuga and more. He was formerly ranked 12th on the Panda Global SSB4 Rankings.
•  Fsann - A Japanese Ness player.
•  Gackt
•  MASA - One of the best Japanese Ness players. He placed 7th at Sumabato 7 & placed 9th at Sumabato 15.
•  Mik!
•  Ribs
•  S1 - Best Ness player in Europe. Placed 7th at B.E.A.S.T 6, 9th at Syndicate 2016 & 5th at B.E.A.S.T 7. He noticably beat iStudying & once made a reset in Grand Finals against Mr.R.
•  Shaky - One of the best Ness players in the world. Noticeably placed 7th at CEO 2015 and 9th at GENESIS 3. He noticeably beat Ally, ESAM, Mew2King, MVD, Tyrant, Ito, Xzax, Cacogen, & NAKAT.
• SS - Mains Ness & Villager. Noticably beat Captain Zack while using Ness.
•  taranito - One of the best Japanese Ness players. Placed 5th at Umebura 25.

Inactive

•  Greward
•  DSS
•  NAKAT - One of the best Ness players in the world before dropping him in favor of Fox. With his Ness, he has defeated Nairo, ANTi, False, & Zenyou. He noticeably placed 2nd at Smash the Record 2015 & 9th at CEO 2016 while using Ness as one of his mains.

Tier placement and history

During the early life of SSB4, players immediately noticed the buffs made to Ness. He was widely considered to be a top tier character due to his amazing throw game and his fantastic KO power and damage output. Many players used to consider him as one of the best characters in the game at the time. However, overtime, many people have learned about Ness's bad matchups against many of the top tier characters in the game, including many ways to exploit his recovery despite the improvements made to it. Regardless, Ness's expectations have been strong, leading to great tournament representation and results, and securing the 13th position on the first official 4BR tier list, at the bottom of the B tier.

While his results slightly fell since the first tier list, as well as the release of Bayonetta, the significant buffs to Mewtwo and the increased representation for Mega Man having a strong impact on the metagame, he remains a viable character on the second tier list, placing at 16th at the bottom of the B tier.

Recently, Ness results have been declining since many Ness players have been significantly inactive than ever before. Despite Ness able to slowly gain results on winter 2016 and 2017, most noticeably FOW's 17th placement in 2GGT: ZeRo Saga and S1's 5th placement in B.E.A.S.T 7, it pales in comparison to his formerly great placements on 2015 to early 2016. Even worse, more characters such as Marth, Corrin, Lucario, and even his fellow Earthbound representative Lucas started earning better results than Ness resulting in a much larger tier drop to 24th. Despite his current placement however, some smashers still claim this is too high for Ness. Some going as far as saying Lucas is better, (although this is highly debatable). This leaves Ness's current spot as a high topic of debate.

Trophies

Ness

Hailing from Onett, a small town in Eagleland, this young boy's ordinary looks hide his psychic powers. Ness fought against the evil Giygas in Earthbound, and in Smash Bros. he unleashes some of the same PSI moves. Watch out for PK Thunder, a guided attack that can also launch Ness like a rocket!

From Onett in Eageland comes this young lad. He may not look like much, but he has powerful psychic abilities, and they really come in handy in EarthBound. They come in handy in this game, too. Did you know you can control his PK Thunder bolt? Aim it at Ness himself to send him flying, absolutely clobbering anyone in his path!

: EarthBound -- 06/1995

: Mother 1+2 -- 2003 (JP)

Ness (Alt.)

Ness may have psychic powers, but that doesn't mean he shies away from getting physical. His side smash packs a real punch if you hit enemies with the end of his bat, and it can even deflect projectiles! His up and down smashes also have a lot of range - Ness can land his strikes with ease!

Ness may have psychic powers, but that doesn't mean he shies away from getting physical. His side smash packs a real punch if you hit enemies with the end of his bat, and it can even reflect projectiles! His up and down smashes have a lot of range, meaning when you play as Ness, it's always easy to land hits on your foes!

: EarthBound -- 06/1995

: Mother 1+2 -- 2003 (JP)

PK Starstorm

In EarthBound, this PSI ability belonged to Poo, the Crown Prince of Dalaam and one of Ness's friends. Ness must have learned it especially for Smash Bros.! The attack makes a shower of meteors fall onto the stage, damaging any foes it hits. While the attack's in progress, Ness is invincible and can adjust the meteors' trajectory.

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  Classic (3DS)

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  Alt. (3DS)

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  Classic (Wii U)

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  Alt. (Wii U)

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  PK Starstorm

In Event Matches

Solo Events

• All-Star Battle: Secret: Ness is one of the opponents fought in this event. All opponents are characters that have been unlockable in previous Super Smash Bros. games.
• It's Past Your Bedtime!: As Jigglypuff, the player must make Ness, Bowser Jr. and Toon Link fall asleep at the same time by using Sing.
• Playing Tricks: Ness must bury two Villagers at the same time with Pitfalls.

Co-op Events

• The Ultimate Battle: Two players select a character and must defeat the entire roster.
• Visiting Onett: Ness and Villager must defeat Kirby, Meta Knight, Fox, Falco, Olimar, and Rosalina & Luma.

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Ness's amiibo.

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  Posing with Jeff.

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  Posing with Pikachu.

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  Showing off his yo-yo.

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  Posing with Toon Link.

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  Posing next to Mr. Saturn.

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  Attacking Sheik with PK Thunder.

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  Using PK Starstorm.

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  On Battlefield.

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  On Magicant.

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  Attacking Starmen.

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  Using PSI Magnet.

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  Using PK Flash on Bowser.

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  Using PK Fire.

Trivia

• Ness and Palutena are the only characters in SSB4 with different voice clips for custom moves; in Ness's case, he has a unique voice clip when using PK Freeze.
• Ness's amiibo description on the North American amiibo website is based on his trophy description from Melee.
• Ness's yo-yo in this game reads "SUPER NINTENDO 2014" and "MOTHER", in reference to his console of origin, SSB4's year of release, and his home series.
• Ness's custom special PK Freeze is one of only three custom specials in the game that have a preview images featuring a non-silhouetted character besides the user of the attack (alongside Mega Man's Ice Slasher and Lucas's PK Freeze). This is likely due to the characters being frozen.
• Ness and Jigglypuff are the only original 12 characters to be excluded from newcomer poster art.
• One set of Ness's custom moves reference Lucas's moveset in Brawl (and as later included in Smash 4).