Ness

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For other uses, see Ness (disambiguation).

Ness
Ness's original clay model
Game series	EarthBound series
First game	Mother 2/EarthBound (1994/1995)
Creator(s)	Shigesato Itoi
Designed by	Benimaru Itoh
Voice actor(s)	Makika Ohmota

Ness (ネッス, Nessu^?) is a fictional character and the hero of the EarthBound video game. He is an unassuming young boy, gifted with special powers. He comes from Onett, a small town in Eagleland, and lives next door to a boy named Pokey Minch, who becomes one of the main antagonists later in the game. Ness is a silent protagonist though his thoughts are shown at one point.

[edit] EarthBound

Ness is the first controllable character in EarthBound. His appearance is simple: most of the time he wears a striped blue and yellow shirt, blue pants, a red and blue baseball cap, and a yellow backpack. His hair and eyes are completely black, and his most unique trait consists of three spikes of hair coming out from the front of his hat. He is considered somewhat overweight, even though his sprite physique does not reveal it; a policeman calls him "fat boy" and some characters remark that he has lost weight on his journey.

His arsenal in EarthBound is composed of baseball bats, and miscellaneous toys such as yo-yos and slingshots. His "armor" consists of various kinds of hats and badges. Ness has below average Speed (until Magicant), high Offense (determines attack power) and Guts (determines frequency of critical attacks, and also determines the probability that fatal attacks against the character will not kill them, but will instead leave them with 1 hp), high HP, and average PP (analogous to MP). He's the only character with recovery PSI until Poo joins. Ness is the most versatile character, with a powerful PSI attack based on what the player inputs as his or her favorite thing (Rockin' by default), healing abilities, and good physical power.

Occasionally, he will become "homesick", causing him to skip turns in battle (thinking about his home and his favourite food, chosen by the player, the default setting being steak) and requiring a call to his mother from one of EarthBound's plentiful pay phones or the use of a Chick item to heal. His father adds money to his bank account throughout the game (more money is added as enemies are defeated, the amount being generally related to how much experience Ness receives), and his sister provides storage for the player's items through the Escargo Express service, where she works part-time.

Ness is chosen by an alien named Buzz Buzz to save the world from Giygas, a malevolent entity which is causing the citizens and animals of Onett to become hostile. To do this, he must first travel to eight sanctuaries and record the eight melodies there in his Sound Stone (given to him by Buzz Buzz), then he must combine those melodies and make the "Sound Stone melody", which will give him the power of the Earth (and thus a huge boost to his stats and a large amount of experience, both of which make him the most powerful member of the party). Over the course of the game, he makes many friends, three of which become permanent members of your team (Paula, Jeff, and Poo).

The name "Ness" may be an anagram of the acronym "SNES" (Super Nintendo Entertainment System). This idea is more supported by the fact that the main character of the first Mother was named Ninten, which is a shortened form of Nintendo. However, in Japan, where the game was developed, his name is still Ness, although the video game console is called the Super Famicom. The name may also be a reference to the original Nintendo Family Computer which was sometimes referred to as the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System).

[edit] Super Smash Bros.

Ness in action in Melee.

Ness has also appeared in Super Smash Bros. as a hidden character and Super Smash Bros. Melee as a base character. He uses moves like PK Fire and PK Thunder (PK stands for psychokinesis and is the original name of PSI), which he does not actually use in EarthBound; they are only used by Paula and Poo. (Paula's trophy suggests that she taught him the moves beforehand.) Ness's own PK Flash move was introduced in Super Smash Bros. Melee. His taunt mocks his clay appearance above, as he takes the exact stature, bows towards the screen, and says "Okay!" (Although, in Melee, it sounds more like "Hokay" because of his weird accent, which is also referenced to in Earthbound.)

In the Super Smash Bros. series, Ness is voiced by female voice actor Makiko Ohmoto, who also voiced Kirby.

It is currently unknown if he will return in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

[edit] Mother 3

Ness makes a cameo appearance in Mother 3, along with the rest of the EarthBound characters. A theater in New Pork City displays screenshots of Ness and his friends in action taken directly from EarthBound. One of the weapons that every party member can use in the game is a yo-yo which is said to have belonged to Ness, called the "Friend's Yo-Yo" with 40000 ATT. Also, one of the equip items is the "Red Hat" (Which is the same as Ness's hat), that can be equipped by Luca and Boney. In Chapter 2, the "Zombie Man" Duster fights, though clearly not Ness, is dressed like him. Also, a snack vendor who appears at several points has been noted to resemble an adult version of Ness.