Ness (SSB)

Ness in Super Smash Bros.
Universe	EarthBound
Other playable appearances	in Melee in Brawl
Availability	Unlockable
Tier	C (9)

Ness (ネス, Nesu) is a secret character in Super Smash Bros. He is well-known for his unique second and third jumps. He, along with Yoshi, can double jump cancel, allowing them to use quick aerials.

Ness ranks 9th on SSB's tier list for a predictable and at times unreliable recovery, which many foes use to their advantage, as well as some range issues. However, he does have a decent amount of combos, due to the aforementioned double jump cancel.

How to unlock Ness

To unlock Ness, play 1-Player mode in Normal with 3 Lives without continuing, then defeat Ness in a match. He is fought on Dream Land.

Attributes

File:Ness ending.jpg

Ness's ending picture in Super Smash Bros.

Ness is a fairly small, light character with very high damage attacks. His greatest metagame comes from his air game. He has the game's lowest double jump cancel, which can be used to perform devastating combos, and a quick spike as a finisher to many of them. Ness' special attacks serve a variety of purposes; his neutral and up specials are projectiles, and his down special can absorb energy projectiles such as fireballs or Charge Shots. However, his special moves are slow. Ness himself is somewhat slow normally, but his fast roll and certain advanced techniques can help this problem. Perhaps his greatest disadvantage is his overall poor range, which can results in rather sub-par combo ability. In addition, Ness possesses some of the most powerful throws in the game, and if followed up with edgeguarding can make it extremely difficult for characters such as Link and Samus to recover from him.

Ness's recovery, distance-wise, is one of the greatest recoveries in the game due to PK Thunder 2's large distance, coupled with his enormous double jump, whose maneuverability makes it difficult to gimp. However, he is disadvantaged by the fact that PK Thunder 2 is fairly easy to gimp, due to taking some time to complete. To solve this, many Ness players use their double jump away from the stage, and then use their third jump. At this distance, it is difficult for most of the cast to follow up with an edgeguard, as it will result in an SD for them. However, for the select few characters who can safely recover from that distance, such as Kirby, Pikachu, or another Ness, it can be very difficult for Ness to recover.

On a competitive level, Ness has dropped the most since he was 3rd on the original Super Smash Bros. 64 tier list. Ness's combos are excellent but Ness has problems dealing with excessive range such as facing Captain Falcon's up smash, or Kirby or Pikachu's up tilt. Ness's approach is also easily read and has extremely short range.

Moveset

Ground Moves

Normal

• Neutral attack: One-two punch and side kick. Fast, looks similar to Mario/Luigi's combo, but has a short range. 2%, 3%, 4%.
• Forward tilt: Roundhouse kick. He kicks in front rapidly, his body moves with it, giving it minor ending lag. Decent close-up spacer. 9% damage.
• Up tilt: Two-handed open-palm uppercut. Thrusts both his hands directly upwards above him, which is a great aerial setup, especially because of its good speed and decent power. 7%
• Down tilt: Low kick. Ness does a fast kick while crouching, which can chain into itself, or a grab. 3%
• Dash attack: Puts both of his hands in front of him with good duration. Usually launches foes in front of him. 10% damage.

Smash attacks

• Side smash: Homerun swing. Takes out a bat and swings it, making a pinging sound if it connects. Decent speed and range, but great power. Also as a reflector. 18% damage.
• Up smash: Yo-yo semicircle, 17%. Ness does a "round the world" yo-yo swing, which acts as a good anti-air move. Strange hitbox, does not hit short characters on ground. Above average speed.
• Down smash: Yo-yo back and forth. 19% Extremely low hitbox, though extremely long range. Longest horizontal range of all down smashes. Fast startup in back, average speed to reach front.

Other

• Ledge attack: Lunges upwards and twirls. 6% damage.
• 100% ledge attack: Gets up and punches slowly. 6% damage.
• Floor attack: Gets up and twirls around with his foot extended. 6% damage.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial: Split kick, 14%. Ness does a falling Split Kick, somewhat similar to Jigglypuff's. The hitbox is Ness's entire body. Has similar properties to a Sex kick. Good spacing move.
• Forward aerial: Two-handed open-palm lunge, 12%. Similar to his dash attacks, puts both hands in front of him for good damage and knockback. Quick attacking move, though the range is restricted to his small opened hands.
  

  Ness' Aerial Attacks
• Up aerial: Headbutt, 15%. He does a quick and short ranged headbutt above him with good power. Good for juggling.
• Back aerial: Back kick, 16%. Thrusts his feet backwards for tremendous KO power.
• Down aerial: Spike kick, 15%. Comes out extremely quickly with short range. With double jump cancel, it can be used to rack up extremly high damage, in some cases being used in 0-death combos.

Grabs & Throws

• Forward throw: 16%. Takes foe, lifts them with PSI, and twirls them whilst launching them forward for great power. High Knockback.
• Backward throw: 16% Similar to his forward throw, only he takes the foe and launches them behind him.

Special Moves

Ness's special moves

Neutral special	PK Fire	PK Flash
Up special	PK Thunder
Down special	PSI Magnet

Taunt

• Says "Okay!" while turning to his right, then nods his head while putting hands on hips.

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. (N64) Character Matchups

Avg.

Description

Ness was a seemingly-average kid from Onett, but in truth, he was destined for much more. When a strange meteorite landed near his hometown, the little boy with psychic powers set out to save the world. Little has been said of Ness' character, and much remains hidden.

Works:

• EarthBound (SNES)

Costumes

File:Alt-ness.jpg

Ness' changeable clothing in SSB

Trivia

• This is Ness' only appearance on the Nintendo 64. The only other playable character to share this distinction is Samus.
  • This also marks the first appearence of Ness in 3-dimensional format. As with the above trivia, this distinction is only shared with Samus.