Ness

* Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
* Super Smash Bros. 4

**Ness**, also aliased as the **PSI Powerhouse**, is the titular main protagonist of Nintendo's 1994 SNES video game series, *EarthBound.*

Ness is a 13-year-old psychic preadolescent boy gifted with a high possession of psychic powers (PK and PSI). When a meteorite crashes in the outskirts of his hometown, titled Onett, Ness investigates the debris and finds a bug, titled Buzz Buzz, who sends Ness on a globe-trekking journey to recruit three friends into the "Chosen Four" and save the world from Giygas, an "embodiment of evil" that exists outside of spacetime. He is typically compared with the hero of *EarthBound Beginnings*, Ninten. Although just a young and average-livde boy, Ness eventually became the hero of his country, Eagleland. Ness relies primarily on PSI, his baseball Bats, and yo-yo as his means of offense and/or defense.

Throughout the *Super Smash Bros.* series, he is voiced by Makiko Ōmoto, who also voiced Kirby.

## Physical appearance

Ness is a short, black-haired, 13-year-old boy and light-skinned boy, sharing the skin tone from Monika, Sayori, Natsuki and Yuri, who wears a blue shirt with yellow stripes, a brown backpack that is described as yellow by some NPCs, blue jean shorts, red sneakers with white socks, and a red baseball cap with a blue bill turned to its side. According to the *EarthBound Player's Guide*, his cap has his favorite baseball team's logo on it. Likewise, according to the lyrics for Smiles and Tears, his shoes are described as worn and faded. Ness is implied to be overweight by several NPCs, plus in the game's epilogue a person says that Ness has lost weight further implying this. While his original papier mâché model and appearance in *Super Smash Bros. Melee* and *Brawl* depict him to be overweight, his American papier mâché model and appearance in *Super Smash Bros. 4* and onward depict him as being more slender. Like several characters in the series, his eyes are depicted as black and button-like, but are shown to have a purple hue in *Super Smash Bros. Brawl*, and he is often shown with pink blushes along his cheeks.

Ness shares several similarities to Ninten, the protagonist of *EarthBound Beginnings*, although with a few minor differences: Ness's cap is pointed left while Ninten's is pointed right, Ness's hair is rounded whereas Ninten's is more spiky, Ness wears white socks and red shoes while Ninten wears red socks and blue shoes, and Ness carries a backpack which Ninten lacks. Shigesato Itoi confirmed Ness was intentionally designed to be similar to Ninten in appearance to allow the player to choose whether they were the same person or different.

## Personality

Little is said about Ness' personality, much with most silent protagonists, but this case exclusively holds in *EarthBound*. Ness is shown to be kind, selfless and helpful, while also being strong and courageous. Ness is implied to be willing to put others' needs before his, one implied example being when he used the wad of bills to free the Runaway Five of their debt instead of using it for himself. Throughout the game, Ness is shown to be willing to endure all dangerous situations to save the world or those in need. While the level of canonicity and selflessnes is debatable, this can also be seen in *Super Smash Bros. Brawl*'s Subspace Emissary, where he risks his life to save Lucas from being hit by the Dark Cannon from Wario. Ness is implied to be close to his home and his family, as implied by how he starts feeling homesick if he is nowhere near home for long. Outside of certain events that automatically heal the entire party at the fullest (such as Dr. Saturn or reaching a Sanctuary), the only method to cure his homesickness is talking to his mother, implying he is in particular close to his mother.

Ness is willing to assist his friends by all means necessary, such as the Literature Club. He known to be brave and sweet, as well as super caring and strong. Ness can stand for himself extremely easily; in particular, although he relies on PSI less than Lucas, he nevertheless trades powerful blows against his opponents by using his baseball ball and yo-yo. In turn, these are often cited as the reasons Monika and Natsuki befriend him the most out of the rest of the Literature Club. While he is shown to be competitive, he shows good sportsmanship, although this can often lead to naivety occasionally.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.deviantart.com/mickmick247/art/Stagnating-air-foreshadows-something-terrible-985435956
2. ↑ Weekly Famitsu – June 19, 1992