Ness (PM)

Ness in Project M and Project+
Universe	EarthBound
Base game appearance	Brawl
Moveset inspiration	Ness (SSBM), Ness (SSB)
Alternate costume	Pajama Ness

Ness is a playable character in the Brawl mod Project M. Because of his very low position on the Melee tier list, he has been significantly buffed from his Melee version for his appearance in Project M.

Attributes

Ness is a very versatile character. He has many moves that lead into each other, giving him a strong combo game.

Ness's aerial moves are all effective. His neutral aerial comes out quickly and deals moderate knockback, making it a good choice for interrupting combos. It can also serve as a K.O. move in some situations. The individual hits of his forward aerial cause low damage, but the move can advance combos. Ness's back aerial is very strong when sweetspotted, and is a great aerial for getting a K.O. off of the side blast lines. His up aerial is a juggling move at lower percentages, and makes a great combo finisher for K.O.ing foes above the upper blast line at higher percentages. Ness's down aerial now functions similarly to how it did in Super Smash Bros. The move is a powerful, quick, and easy to sweetspot meteor smash, making it effective for edgeguarding opponents. Ness's ability to double jump cancel advances his already potent air game by giving him even more combo options.

Two of Ness's specials were vastly improved from their other iterations. PSI Magnet inflicts damage and Ness can jump out of it, giving the move a pseudo-waveshine capability and greatly advancing his combo game. PK Flash does not travel as high and still has a slow startup, but it is much faster, meaning it can be an effective finisher or edgeguarding move.

Ness's smash attacks all have unusual properties. His side smash can reflect projectiles if timed correctly, and deals extreme damage and knockback if the sweetspot near the tip of the bat is hit. His up and down smashes both involve his yo-yo, which do not deal more damage after charging but rather have a hitbox on the yoyo during the charging period, dealing a little damage and slight knockback. However, Ness's up smash can no longer be used to perform the yo-yo glitch like it could in Melee, making the move less useful than before.

Ness's grab game is generally effective. His back throw is a very reliable K.O.ing move at high percents. Ness's forward, up and down throws can be used as combo starters, sending opponents into the air and setting up for an aerial attack. PK Fire is a punishing option that can lead to a grab or a smash attack. Although good as a punishing move, PK Fire is also very punishable if it fails to reach its target, due to having relatively high endlag. Ness maintains momentum after using PK Fire in the air, making the move occasionally useful for protection when landing.

Ness's primary recovery move, PK Thunder, can be both helpful and harmful. PK Thunder 2, deals massive damage and knockback and sends Ness a very far distance, at the cost of being easy to gimp, relatively hard to control, and having a huge amount of ending lag. The ending lag can be mitigated by sweetspotting the ledge with PK Thunder 2, however this can be difficult, and does not help the fact that any projectile that causes knockback can destroy the PK Thunder and leave Ness helpless. PK Thunder can also be used as an offensive projectile to juggle or KO airborne opponents or knock grounded opponents closer to Ness.

Aside from a sometimes punishable recovery, Ness's weaknesses include his lack of range. His grab range is very short, and his standard attacks also do not go far. These traits hinder Ness's approach. Additionally, his relatively floaty falling speed makes him vulnerable to many vertical finishers (i.e. Fox's up smash).

Changes from Melee to PM

Ness received many considerable buffs from Melee to Project M, having many more options for racking up damage and KOing.

Ness's down aerial in Project M.

Aesthetics

• Forward smash's sourspot produces the "wooden bat" SFX from Brawl, while the sweetspot displays a ping sound like in Melee and Smash 64.
• Ness now has a Smash Taunt that can be done using his up taunt: he poses at the screen and a "photo" flash is displayed, based on the iconic Fuzzy Pickles moments in his origin game, EarthBound.

Attributes

• Ness retains his double jump cancel ability, though it is now optional; just pressing and then releasing the jump button when attacking will cause him to DJC, while holding the jump button causes him to perform a rising aerial, just like characters who cannot use this technique. Special moves will always DJC.
• Midair jump speed increased.
• Ness's additional lag from a grounded grab release has been removed.

Ground Attacks

• Forward smash has slightly more range and is much more powerful (went from on par with Mario's to being slightly stronger than Captain Falcon's forward smash).
• Up smash is much faster and deals better damage and knockback, being more reliable at juggling and KOing.
• Down smash covers more distance and also deals higher damage and knockback, serving as a powerful on-stage edge-guarding tool.
• Both up and down smashes can now be held even when near an edge.
• Down tilt now sends opponents at a more vertical angle, making it able to combo into other moves at higher percentages.
• Due to an increased base knockback, down tilt can no longer infinite.
• Yoyo/Jacket glitch has been fixed.

Aerial Attacks

• Neutral aerial initiates slightly faster.
• Up aerial and the sweetspot of back aerial were given more KO power.
• Down aerial reverted to Smash 64 speed, which almost removes its startup lag entirely. It also has much higher knockback scaling and deals 2% more damage.

Grabs and Throws

• Dash grab range from Melee increased.
• Back throw is slightly stronger from Melee.

Special Moves

• PK Flash moves farther horizontally and is faster, greatly improving its use as an edgeguarding move. It also no longer enforces helplessness.
• PK Fire's flame effect has the same power as in Brawl. Ness also keeps his forward momentum when using it in midair. The move can additionally "Fobble": the knockback of other hitboxes that hit within a 3 frame window of one of the PK Fire's repeating hitboxes gets completely canceled due to Project M's new knockback engine, allowing the player to rack up deadly amounts of damage.
  • The pillar has been reduced from being active for 100 frames to being active for 45 frames.
• PK Thunder 2 travels farther and keeps its hitbox throughout the move.
• Ness can jump out of PSI Magnet (like how the space animals can jump out of their Reflectors), and the move additionally deals consecutive damage, with a strong initial hit that sends foes above Ness and link into aerial attacks. When absorbing a projectile, he can also cancel the move to go into the ending animation afterwards, preventing rapid-fire projectiles such as Fox's Blaster from trapping him into the move indefinitely.
• PK Flash, though retaining its powerful knockback, is smaller and deals much less damage.

Ness' alternate costume.

Revisions

v2.1

• Ness' PK Flash no longer puts him in a helpless state.

v2.5b

• Dash attack cannot be DI'd down or shielded in between hits.
• Up tilt has better coverage in front of Ness, and can be interrupted earlier.
• Down tilt can be interrupted into itself quickly like in Melee and Brawl.
• Forward smash can now be angled, and its tipper hit has increased knockback scaling.
• PK Flash can be charged for slightly longer.
• PK Fire travels for slightly longer.
• PK Thunder has a hitbox during startup, and the thunderbolt no longer vanishes when entering the horizontal blast lines. It also no longer dies when Ness is hit, and instead becomes unfriendly towards any player and continuing in the same direction before he got hit.
• PK Thunder 2 travels a bit faster over the same distance, and its hitboxes have more coverage over Ness.
• PSI Magnet's healing multiplier was slightly increased, and the move can be jumped out of. It additionally causes Ness to float for much longer at the start when used in midair.
• PSI Magnet was given damaging hitboxes; a weak launching one at the start, then repeated non-flinching ones afterwards.
• Down throw has more ending lag.
• PK Thunder does not clip stages as easily.
• PSI Magnet's absorb collision is decreased in size (matching the graphic better).
• Midair jump animation touched up near the end.
• Forward air animation touched up near the end.
• Back air animation touched up.
• Dash grab has a new animation.
• Up Smash Taunt implemented.

v2.6b

• Up tilt has a slightly reduced cooldown.
• Up and down smashes' refresh time between hits while charging has been slightly reduced.
• PSI Magnet can be released during the absorb lag to go into the end animation afterwards, preventing rapid hitting projectiles like Fox's Blaster shots that can re-hit before the absorb lag ends from trapping him into it indefinitely. The absorb lag was also reduced greatly.
• Pivot grab has more startup, matching other pivot grabs.
• PSI Magnet no longer allows Ness to roll, sidestep or jump upon absorbing a projectile while grounded.

v3.5

• Forward tilt has less endlag.
  • It has a more horizontal angle.
  • It deals slightly less knockback.
• PK Thunder can no longer hit Shy Guys and Smashville balloons.
• PK Thunder 2 has a constant landing lag of 20 frames instead of it being height dependant.
• PK Thunder 2 can now be properly edge cancelled.
• PK Fire no longer activates on shielded opponents.
  • Opponents can no longer shield between the fireball hit and 1st pillar hit.
• PK Fire pillar duration has been reduced by half.
• PK Fire's bolt now does 8% but the three pillar hits does 1% each to compensate.
• PK Fire pillar has higher gravity, preventing opponents from whiffing between the first few hits.
• Can no longer reverse ledge grab after missing PK Thunder 1.
• The knockback values for Ness' down throw has been altered making it a slightly worse combo starter.
• Dash attack, forward aerial, and PK Thunder all have normal hitlag.

v3.6 Beta

• While using PK Thunder 2, Ness can now reverse ledge-grab at the peak.
• PSI Magnet causes more damage and has more base knockback.
  • The move's knockback growth has been significantly decreased, making it a better combo tool at higher percents.
• Down throw has slightly higher base knockback, but less knockback growth which enables followups at higher percents.
• Up and down smash charging hitboxes have less base knockback.
• Up and down smash charging hitboxes have had their angles changed, making it harder to gimp with them.
• Forward aerial now does more damage at the beginning of the move and less later on, as opposed to doing the same amount of damage the whole way through.

Moveset

Up to date as of version 3.6.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			3%	Ness punches twice, then kicks.
			2%
			4%
Forward tilt	↗		12%	Ness kicks forwards with a foot. This can be angled up or down.
	→		11%
	↘		10%
Up tilt			7%	Ness quickly extends both his arms upwards. Can be used to juggle fast fallers up to 70% which can then lead into an aerial attack. Ness's head is intangible when performing the attack.
Down tilt			3%	Ness kicks his foot out slightly. Short ranged attack, but can be used in quick succession.
Dash attack			5% (hit 1), 4% (hits 2-3)	Ness runs forward and creates three disjointed PSI bubbles from his hands. The first two hits have a semi-spike trajectory, while the last hit sends opponents straight upwards which can lead into aerials.
Forward smash			18% (body),20% (bat base), 22% (bat mid), 24% (bat tip)	Ness takes out his trusty bat and swings it the opponent horizontally. The sweetspot is located at the bat's tip. The bat can reflect projectiles.
Up smash			2% (charging hits 1-7), 12% (swing)	Ness takes out his yo-yo and swings it above him, performing the "around the world trick". Pretty fast for an up smash; covering a wide area above his head. It is also affected slightly by gravity when used near an edge. Can be charged, but doing so does not increase the attack's damage.
Down smash			2% (hits 1-7 [hold]), 12% (swing)	Ness takes out his yo-yo and swings it across the floor, performing the "walk the dog" trick. Strong power, can be used to safely edge-guard from the stage. Similar to his up smash, the yo-yo doesn't increase in damage or in knockback when it's "charging".
Neutral aerial			11% (clean), 8% (late)	Ness spins diagonally in the air with arms stretched out. Has good knockback and is very fast with high combo potential, but has poor range.
Forward aerial			4% (hits 1-2), 2% (hits 3-4), 3% (hit 5)	Ness sticks his palms out, sending a stream of PSI sparks in front of him. This move hits multiple times, making it harder to so towards enemies at high percents.
Back aerial			15% (clean), 10% (late)	Ness thrusts both his feet backwards. The sweetspot deals electrical damage and possess high KO potential.
Up aerial			13%	Ness headbutts upwards. Good for juggling at lower percents and a good KO move at higher percents.
Down aerial			14%	Ness kicks one foot downwards. A fast meteor smash, useful for edge-guarding. Combined with double-jump canceling and L-canceling, it can also pressure shields efficiently.
Grab			—	Grabs the opponent with both hands. The fastest grab in the game, but has short reach.
Pummel			3%	Headbutts the opponent.
Forward throw			11%	Ness psychokinetically swings his opponent in a small circle in front of himself before sending them off forward.
Back throw			11%	Ness psychokinetically swings the opponent over his head before sending them off backwards, in a diagonally upwards motion. Has low base knockback, but a surprisingly strong knockback scaling, becoming a powerful KO move and also one of the strongest throws in the game.
Up throw			10%	Ness psychokinetically spins the opponent above his head before sending them up. Can chain grab at very low percentage and set up for aerial followups.
Down throw			1% (hits 1-5), 4% (throw)	Ness throws the opponent onto the ground and scorches them with PK Fire.
Floor attack (front)			6%	Does a low kick going from back to front.
Floor attack (back)			6%	Does a low kick going from back to front.
Floor attack (trip)			5%	Kicks with both of his feet from back to front.
Edge attack (fast)			6% (body), 8% (foot)	Ness flips onto the stage and does a sweep kick.
Edge attack (slow)			10%	Ness slowly climbs up onto stage and throws out a punch.
Neutral special		PK Flash	8-22%	Ness generates a green ball of light that slowly rises vertically above Ness before descending. The downward arc can be controlled by moving either left or right on the control stick. This can be used as an effective edge-guarding move, due to its range and power. The explosion can be absorbed and reflected, though the latter only affects Ness if he's close to it.
Side special		PK Fire	8% (bolt), 1% (pillar hits 1-5)	Ness shoots a lighting bolt forward that bursts into a pillar of flames upon hitting a foe. When used in midair, Ness instead shoots it at a diagonally downward angle while keeping his forward momentum. The pillar is affected by gravity and can be hit by attacks. The bolt vanishes upon hitting a surface, and can be reflected or absorbed.
Up special		PK Thunder	4% (startup), 8% (thunder head), 1% (thunder tail) PK Thunder 2: 25% (clean), 21% (mid), 15% (late)	Ness produces ball of lightning from his head, which he can then control freely. When the projectile is first produced, a brief hitbox covers his body, repelling foes attempting to stop the attack. If the projectile hits Ness, he will be propelled in the same direction it was last travelling in, surrounded by a powerful electric hitbox, known as PK Thunder 2. If the tip of the projectile hits a surface, foe, a disjointed hitbox that deals knockback, or gets absorbed, the projectile will disappear and leave Ness helpless (in midair). If the projectile is reflected or if Ness is hit while controlling the beam, he will lose control of the projectile and will continue flying in the same direction he was guiding it in. When hitting a wall or ceiling with PK Thunder 2, Ness will either travel parallel to it or rebound off it, depending on how perpendicular to the wall he was when he blasted into it. When PK Thunder 2 is launched towards the ground, he will lie on the floor. Though an effective recovery move, it's difficult to recover with it between tall walls (such as the buildings in Fourside).
Down special		PSI Magnet	6% (startup), 2% (loop), heals 1.6x the damage of absorbed projectiles	Ness creates a purple energy field around him which allows him to absorb all energy-based projectiles. As an attack, it first launches enemies diagonally upwards, then hits consecutively with no knockback. When used in the air, it resets Ness's falling speed. He can jump out of the ending lag of the move to string it together with aerials.
Final Smash		PK Starstorm	20% (each star)	Ness calls down a rain of stars from the sky, yelling "PK... Starstorm!"

In competitive play

Notable players

• Aki
•  Awestin
•  Boiko
•  Delicious Octorok
•  DeezNutz
•  Reslived
•  Stereo_Kidd
•  Tetraflora
•  The_NZA
•  Zeej

Alternate costumes

Ness' alternate costume is his striped blue pajamas he has been seen wearing in the beginning of EarthBound and while in Magicant in the non-Japanese version of EarthBound.

3.5 gave Ness' pajamas some recolors to be used for team battles, and a purple costume based off of Yes Man Jr.

Ness's alternate costumes in PM

Trivia

• Prior to 3.6, there existed two cosmetic issues:
  • If Ness gained a Smash Ball while in any of his pajama costumes, there will appear to be an eerie dark area over his eyes. This issue also happened when Ness performs his Smash Taunt, even if it is not in his alternate costumes. The former one has been fixed in the 3.6 update while latter one still exists. There are, however, unofficial patches that exist to address this problem.
• While in his pajamas costume, Ness wields the cracked bat, the first bat he received in EarthBound as a gift from his family.