Ness

Ness (ネス, Nesu) is the main character of the cult-hit RPG EarthBound, the most popular and successful game in the Mother franchise. He appears as the sole representative of both the game and the series in Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee.

See Ness (SSB) and Ness (SSBM) for fighter info.

Character description
Ness is a young boy from the fictional town of Onett. He possesses strong psychic powers and utilizes his abilities to defeat an evil monster known as Gigyas.

In Super Smash Bros.
right Ness was a bit of surprise addition to the roster for the original Super Smash Bros.. Many players had never expected such an obscure character to turn up in the game, which seems to be reflected in-game as he is a secret character, unlocked by completing the 1P Game on a difficulty of Normal or higher, with three lives or less and using no continues.  Strangely, only one of Ness' special moves, the PSI Magnet (B + Down), is one of his own; his other attacks, PK Fire and PK Thunder, B and B + Up, respectively, were originally used by ally Paula in EarthBound.  A possible explanation for this discrepancy is offered in the sequel to this game, Super Smash Bros. Melee.

He is widely considered to be one of the best characters in the game, although quite hard to master.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee
Ness returns in Super Smash Bros. Melee as a default character. He keeps all of his special moves and, as all other veterans, gains a fourth one: PK Flash, which is assigned as his B attack. PK Flash is Ness's first "true" special attack, as his other two offensive moves were not used by him in EarthBound. PK Fire is now Ness' B + Forward.

Unlike Captain Falcon, who also made the transition from unlockable to default without being affected much, Ness appears to have been "nerfed"; that is, his fighting ability has been decreased, making him a much lower-quality character, much to the dismay of Ness fans, most noticeably his dair.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Ness and his possible reapperance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl is a hot topic of debate in the Smash community. Many suggest that Ness will be excluded from the roster, citing a long-standing claim that Sakurai once planned to replace Ness with Lucas in Melee, the protagonist of Mother 3, prior to its (then-)cancellation. As Mother 3 has now been released (albeit, only in Japan), it would be a wise decision on Sakurai's behalf to include Lucas in Brawl as it may lead to increased interest in the game with a possible international release following, a la the appearance of Marth and Roy of Fire Emblem in Melee.

However, some feel that Ness has made a name for himself as the unofficial mascot of the Mother series, meaning that his returning would only be appropriate. Additionally, replacing Ness, whose game received an international release, with Lucas, whose game received a Japan-exclusive release, would go against a statement made by Sakurai in which he expressed reluctance in including characters who are only popular and/or known in a certain region (note:right after this statement Sakurai reconsiders it, taking into account the popularity the Fire Emblem series has received internationally due to Marth and Roy's appearances in Melee). Nevertheless, the debate continues as fans eagerly await word of Ness' inclusion in or exclusion from the game.

On October 1, 2007, Lucas was confirmed as being the ninth newcomer to Super Smash Bros. Brawl. However, in the character description for Lucas, Sakurai makes a reference to Ness:

"While he is timid in nature, he fights splendidly. Is it possible he can surpass even Ness?!"

This may or may not be a subtle hinting of Ness' return in Brawl.