Ness (PM)

Ness is a playable character in the Brawl mod Project M. His moveset combines attributes from his appearances in the first three Smash games. 
Ness is ranked 19th out of 41 on the official tier list, at the top of B tier. This is an improvement over his placements in Melee and Brawl where he was 23rd out of 26 and 26th out of 38, respectively. He ranks slightly lower in Project+, being ranked 27th in the , now in the middle of the B tier. His placing on the tier list comes from having one of the best punishes in the game, as well as a solid neutral. However, he is held back due to a susceptibility to crouch canceling from most of his moves, being easily outranged by a lot of the cast, and a recovery which is generally easy to edgeguard despite sending him far.
==Attributes==
Ness is a flexible character suiting both aggressive and zoning oriented playstyles. With an average weight and fall speed, he remains somewhat susceptible and exasperates his unreliable recover. His aerial moves lead into each other well, giving him a strong combo game once he can get his opponent off the ground.
Ness's smash attacks all have unusual properties. His forward smash can reflect projectiles if timed correctly, and deals extreme damage and knockback if the sweetspot near the tip of the bat is hit, similar to 's Sword. It can be angled up or down by a few degrees if the control stick is tilted during startup. The down angled forward smash is especially useful for intercepting opponents attempting to sweetspot the ledge. 
His up smash involves his yo-yo, sending it whipping around his body in a circle. Although it does not grow stronger as it is charged, it maintains a weak hitbox on the yo-yo, sitting in front of and disjointed from Ness's body. This makes it useful for flinching approaching opponents comboing into the strong hit on upward swing the up smash release. The upswing itself is useful for intercepting aerial opponents due to it's disjoint. These combined properties mean that this move is useful near the ledge. Hanging the yo-yo off of the ledge can make it difficult for some characters to sweetspot and if the opponent passes close above or in front of Ness he can still intercept without moving. However, it can no longer be used to perform the yo-yo glitch like it could in Melee.
Ness's down smash is similar to his up smash when charging, except that the weak hitbox comes out behind him. This makes it useful if Ness is being pursued on the ground. The release drags opponents in front of Ness, setting up for an aerial follow up. 
His forward tilt is a quick kick that is useful in it tight situations where there is no time to initiate a smash attack, while still putting space between Ness and his opponent.
Down tilt is fast and combos into itself if the opponent does not smash DI. Against experienced opponents only a few hits are possible to land, but the move retains usefulness in that it can be used to mix up timing before using a different move. 
Up tilt is useful for its high base knockback at low percents. Useful for aerial followups, but does however lose out to double jump cancelled up air for sheer utility. 
Ness's aerial moves have a mix of their properties from Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee. 
His neutral aerial comes out quickly and deals moderate knockback, making it one of Ness's best moves. It is very similar to Peach's neutral air. In addition to being a good choice for interrupting combos, it can 
also serve as a K.O. move in many situations. On stages with narrower blast lines, hitting an opponent with neutral air on stage, than following with another off stage can K.O. an opponent by pushing them into the side blast line at medium low percents. Characters with short recoveries can also be killed very early regardless of the distance to the blast line. 
His forward air has multiple disjointed weak hits, making a useful combo starter, before chaining another forward air to continue the combo, or a neutral air to launch opponents away. It is also useful for dragging opponents down to the ground before using a grab or grounded attack. 
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. It easily combos out of down throw at lower percents setting up for an edgeguard. It can be used as in a reverse aerial rush, giving it similar utility to 's knee somewhat reduced due to Ness's slower speed. 
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. This is often possible after landing a down air on a grounded opponent at high percentages, due to the high hitstun of an opponent bounced off the ground. 
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. In addition it has great utility out of shield and for pressuring shielding opponents. If two players are shielding back to back, Ness can jump and use down air to cover his escape upwards or pressure his opponent's shield.
Ness's ability to double jump cancel advances his already potent air game by giving him even more combo options and allowing him to do multiple aerials in quick succession close to the ground.
Ness's specials are vastly improved from their other iterations. 
PK Fire is Ness's primary offensive projectile allowing him to control space and prevent opponents from approaching recklessly. Ness fires it horizontally when grounded, and downward diagonally when in the air. Upon hitting an opponent, projectile or destructible object, the projectile ignites. It deals doing one strong hit, followed by successive weak hits, and engulfs opponent in place. Ness maintains momentum after using PK Fire in the air, making the move useful for protection when landing.
PSI Magnet inflicts damage and Ness can jump out of it, giving the move a pseudo-waveshine capability while greatly advancing his combo game. 
PK Flash does not travel as high and has a much faster but still very slow startup, but it travels very quickly if Ness sends it forward. Fully charged it covers a very large area and launches very powerfully upwards. Though difficult to time, it can cover the ledge while an opponent is trying to recover and force opponents to recover low or air stall. It is a very large commitment as the long cool down prevents Ness from moving in time to attempt another edgeguard, even if PK Flash forces the opponents with a slow recovery close to the blast zone. Regardless, it still remains an effective finisher or edgeguarding move in certain matchups.
Ness's up special PK Thunder, has two phases. The first phase, is much more useful than in previous games. It has a hitbox on its tail allowing it to trap opponents in certain situations. The angle of collision determines the angle at which Ness is launched. PK Thunder can also be used as an offensive projectile to juggle or KO airborne opponents or knock grounded opponents closer to Ness. Characters with slow recoveries are especcially vulnerable to it while trying to recover. It does competes with PK Flash in this utility though. The second phase in which Ness's movement takes place occurs if Ness directs his thunder into himself. 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. Furthermore, projectiles that are not transcendent 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.
Ness's grab game is generally effective. His back throw is a very reliable K.O.ing move at higher percents. Ness's forward throw has very low knockback scaling, giving it a decent launch power even at 0 setting up for very early edgeguarding. Up and down throws both can be used as combo starters, sending opponents into the air and setting up for an aerial attack depending on the weight, damage, and fall speed of the opponent. Ness's grab range is very short, limiting the usefulness of his standing grab. 
Ness's recovery, despite its length, has significant weakness as it can be intercepted before and after initiation. Additionally, his relatively floaty falling speed makes him vulnerable to many vertical finishers (i.e. 's up air) and gives him some difficulty getting back to the stage. Ness tends to fare poorly against characters with large disjoins and a strong edgeguarding game. Marth and are notable examples. Characters with fast, solid projectiles like can make it very difficult for him to recover low because of the long start up time of his recovery. He also has limited options for dealing with pressure, giving him weaknesses against fast characters with aggressive playstyles. Ness tends to have favorable match ups against heavy, larger, slower characters due to the extensive length of combos he can pull off on them, and the strength of his zoning tools.
==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.
===Aesthetics===
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===Attributes===
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===Ground Attacks===
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===Aerial Attacks===
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===Grabs and Throws===
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===Special Moves===
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==Revisions==
===v2.1===
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===v2.5b===
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===v2.6b===
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===v3.5===
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===v3.6 Beta===
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==Moveset==
Up to date as of version 3.6.
 	 	Name 	Damage 	Description
Neutral attack 	Neutral attack 	 	3% 	Punches twice, then kicks.
Neutral attack 	Neutral attack 	 	2% 	Punches twice, then kicks.
Neutral attack 	Neutral attack 	 	4% 	Punches twice, then kicks.
Forward tilt 	↗ 	 	12% 	Kicks forwards with a foot. This can be angled up or down.
Forward tilt 	→ 	 	11% 	Kicks forwards with a foot. This can be angled up or down.
Forward tilt 	↘ 	 	10% 	Kicks forwards with a foot. This can be angled up or down.
Up tilt 	Up tilt 	 	7% 	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 	Down tilt 	 	3% 	Kicks his foot out slightly. Short ranged attack, but can be used in quick succession.
Dash attack 	Dash attack 	 	5% (hit 1), 4% (hits 2-3) 	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 	Forward smash 	 	(body), (bat base), (bat mid), (bat tip) 	Takes out his bat and swings it the opponent horizontally. The sweetspot is located at the bat's tip. The bat can reflect projectiles.
Up smash 	Up smash 	 	2% (charging hits 1-7), 12% (swing) 	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 	Down smash 	 	2% (hits 1-7 [hold]), 12% (swing) 	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 	Neutral aerial 	 	11% (clean), 8% (late) 	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 	Forward aerial 	 	4% (hits 1-2), 2% (hits 3-4), 3% (hit 5) 	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 	Back aerial 	 	15% (clean), 10% (late) 	Thrusts both his feet backwards. The sweetspot deals electrical damage and possess high KO potential.
Up aerial 	Up aerial 	 	13% 	Headbutts upwards. Good for juggling at lower percents and a good KO move at higher percents.
Down aerial 	Down aerial 	 	14% 	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 	Grab 	 	— 	Grabs the opponent with both hands. The fastest grab in the game, but has short reach.
Pummel 	Pummel 	 	3% 	Headbutts the opponent.
Forward throw 	Forward throw 	 	11% 	Psychokinetically swings his opponent in a small circle in front of himself before sending them off forward.
Back throw 	Back throw 	 	11% 	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 	Up throw 	 	10% 	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 	Down throw 	 	1% (hits 1-5), 4% (throw) 	Throws the opponent onto the ground and scorches them with PK Fire.
Floor attack (front)	Floor attack (front)	 	6% 	Does a low kick going from back to front.
Floor attack (back) 	Floor attack (back) 	 	6% 	Does a low kick going from back to front.
Floor attack (trip) 	Floor attack (trip) 	 	5% 	Kicks with both of his feet from back to front.
Edge attack (fast) 	Edge attack (fast) 	 	6% (body), 8% (foot) 	Fips onto the stage and does a sweep kick.
Edge attack (slow) 	Edge attack (slow) 	 	10% 	Slowly climbs up onto stage and throws out a punch.
Neutral special 	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 	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 	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 	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 	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===
* - Ranked 1st on the Washington Project M Power Rankings and 28th on PMRank 2018.
* - Very strong player from Connecticut, placed 17th at Undertow with a win over Malachi.
* - Formerly ranked 1st on the Massachusetts Project M Power Rankings and 27th on PMRank 2022.
* - Ranked 38th on PMRank 2018.
* - Ranked #39 on PMRank 2023.
* - Ranked 47th on PMRank 2018.
==Alternate costumes==
===Project M===
Ness' alternate costume is his blue-striped pajamas he wears in the beginning of EarthBound and while in Magicant in the international releases of EarthBound.
3.5 gave Ness' pajamas additional recolors to be used for team battles, and a purple costume based off of .
							
							
							
===Project+===
Ness receives more recolors in Project+ inspired by other characters from the EarthBound franchise.
*Pink: Inspired by Paula from EarthBound. The shirt includes her sprite.
*Brown: Inspired by the Runaway Dog, an enemy from EarthBound. The shirt includes its sprite.
*Black and White: Inspired by Starman from EarthBound. The shirt includes the Starman's button.
*Black and Orange (Pajamas): Inspired by the visual effects of certain PSI attacks from EarthBound.
Secret costumes:
 
Z-Secret Costume (Poo): Wears an alternate costume inspired by Poo from EarthBound. The costume includes his headband.
R-Secret Costume (Ninten): An alternate costume that turns Ness into Ninten, the protagonist of EarthBound Beginnings. The red bandana and the stripe colors on his shirt originate from a commercial for EarthBound Beginnings, and help to differentiate him from Ness.
==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 has been fixed in the 3.6 update.
**This issue also happened when Ness performs his Smash Taunt, even if it is not in his alternate costumes. This glitch still exists, but there are unofficial patches that exist to address this problem.
*While in his pajamas costume, Ness wields the , the first bat he received in as a gift from his sister.
**Similarly, the secret Ninten costume has Ness wield the Aluminum bat from EarthBound Beginnings, which is sold at the department stores of and .
==External links==
*Labbing Discord Tech Post
Category:Ness
Category:Characters (PM)