Ness (SSB17)

**Ness** is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. OC Future. He was revealed on July 18th, 2016 alongside Freddy Fazbear, Little Mac, Spongebob Squarepants and Kirito.

## Attributes

### Strengths

* PK Thunder is a very versatile ability; it can be used for both recovery and anti-recovery. If used on Ness and he hits an opponent, it will cause extreme damage and knockback. Good for airdodge reads.
* PK Fire can stop combos and can also create opening combos for Ness and can setup tech chase situations.
* PSI Magnet absorbs energy projectiles and heals Ness, forcing energy-projectile users such as Samus to get into close combat.
* Has one of, if not the best grab game in the game, having a throw allowing tons of followups in down throw and can also set up tech chases. He also has the best kill throw in the game in back throw.
* His attacks flow very naturally into each other, giving him one of the strongest combo abilities in the game.
* Has a very good aerial game due to his aerials' large range, ability to combo, juggle, kill and edgeguard and their high damage output.
* Ness being a middleweight and floaty gives him resistance to combos and dies at reasonable percents.
* Ness's small hurtbox makes him hard to hit.
* Neutral aerial is a fast move, and can set up for frame traps.
* Forward aerial comes out fast, is multi hit, has a big hitbox, maing it great for edgeguarding and allows followups into itself or his other aerials. Also great for keeping pressure.
* Back aerial is a phenomenal kill move as it comes out very fast, and when sweetspotted, has great knockback. Can also be used for frame traps due to its little to no endlag.
* Up aerial makes a great juggle move with its high damage output and a good kill move as it KOs rather early.

### Weaknesses

* PK Thunder makes a terrible recovery. While it goes fairly far and has adjustable angle, when colliding with another hitbox, the distance Ness goes will be shortened and it leaves him vulnerable when steering the thunder ball. This makes him being hard countered by Rosalina, due to her long range and being able to gimp him effectively using Gravitational Pull.
	+ In addition, if used as an offensive attack, should the projectile misses or Ness hits himself but fails to damage the target, he's left with heavy endlag, which gives the opponent an opportunity to punish.
	+ PK Thunder can also be reflected or absorbed, and can also be pocketed by Villager, making him fall if used to recover, causing a SD
* PSI Magnet is useless when facing non-energy projectile users, reducing the amount of offense that he has in matches.
* Has a weak ground game with short ranged tilts and lag heavy smash attacks give him a bad ground-based approach.
* Lack of good landing options, due to them either being heavy on landing lag or being short ranged.
* Has a mediocre neutral due to the aforementioned range problems.
* Has a below average mobility, creating difficulties keeping up with faster characters.
* His double jump, while going higher than most of the other double jumps, is also slower than most of them, making it easy to interrupt.
* Down aerial is a slow move, being hard to hit with the spike hitbox and has very high endlag, making it situational and is now Ness's worst aerial.

### Summary

Ness's jab is a relatively weak combo that should only be used to increase damage on the opponent. His forward tilt is an effective side kick that has good attack power and can be useful during combos. Ness's down tilt is effective for combos as well but doesn't have quite as much launch as the forward tilt. Ness's up tilt is a powerful attack with decent range above Ness; it is useful for combos and can kill most characters at around 180%.

Ness's forward smash is an extremely effective attack; it has great launch and attack power and is also a reflector. The attack is also a good kill move. His up smash covers a considerably wide range when taken into account Ness's size. It is useful as a combo finisher or can be used to continue combo strings at lower percentages. His down smash is very effective, covering a good range and dealing some good damage; it is best used for edge-guarding or for catching roll-happy opponents off-guard.

Ness's dash attack goes farther out than just in front of his hands; it has great range and catching an opponent with all hits of the attack is useful for starting or continuing combos.

Now for Ness's aerial attacks. His aerials are the most effective attacks in his arsenal, besides possibly his special moves. They all have a use.

Ness's up air is an effective juggling and kill move, killing most characters at just over 100%. His back air is also an effective kill move, killing most characters at just around 100%. The back air is also useful for combos and edge-guarding. Ness's neutral air is good for combos and a useful attack when short-hopping. His down air has good meteor power when sweet-spotted and has good attack power overall. His forward air is the best out of his aerial moves for combos. It combos into itself; Ness can usually hit an opponent three times with it, carrying them off-stage as he does so (the double jump is required to pull this off though).

His throws are all good moves, but his forward and down throws will want to be used for starting combos and his back throw for getting kills. If an opponent is climbing back onto the stage from the ledge, roll towards the ledge, grab them, and back throw. Ness is the champion of back throws, killing most characters between 80 and 95%.

Ness's special moves can be hard to hit an opponent with, but when they do coinnect, they can be very useful. It is crucial that a player not spam these moves or an opponent will be able to attack Ness during the ending lag of the attacks.

PK Flash is an extremely powerful attack but also moves quite slowly. It gets more powerful the longer a player holds down the special attack button; maneuver it towards the opponents to catch them in the blast; the center of the blast is the most powerful part and the move can kill at percentages as low as 60%. Due to its slow speed, PK Flash is hard to hit an opponent with. Ness can hit an opponent with it more reliably if they are suffering shield break or when they are helpless. PK Flash is very useful for edge-guarding; when the opponent is recovering low, move PK Flash off the edge of the stage. When they reach the peak of their recovery, release the special attack button to hit them with the blast. This is most effective with characters like Link, Falco, Mario, and Little Mac.

PK Fire can rack up lots of damage but also has some other uses. When edge-guarding, jump up and PK Fire off the stage to hit the opponent with it; the multi-hits keep them from being able to recover, giving Ness time to get in that lethal back-air. However, PK Fire has some combo uses as well. It is a great combo starter; once the move successfully hits, dash in and grab the opponent and immediately down throw. This will get them airborne, allowing Ness to unleash some neutral or forward airs.

PK Thunder is terrible as a recovery unless a player can use it accurately. If a player finds themselves close to the edge of the stage but have fallen down too far, get away from the edge (a short distance) and then use PK Thunder. However, PK Thunder has some offensive uses as well. When Ness hits himself with it and becomes an electrified human missile, it has deadly capabilities. If an opponent is recovering to the stage, PK Thunder is an effective way to edge-guard. When an opponent is hit by PK Thunder, they are hurled in the direction the projectile came from. This means when Ness uses it as they are recovering, they will be hit towards the edge. This is when Ness has the opportunity to run in for the meteor. Multiple PK Thunders can be used, but using them too often will result in Ness missing with it, leaving him vulnerable to attack. PK Thunder is also good for juggling opponents that are too high for Ness to simply jump up and up-air. When Ness is descending down on the stage, use PK Thunder and aim it towards the opponent that is on the ground; once they are hit by it and suffering the hitstun, fast fall to the ground to prevent being juggled.

Here is where we get to the projectiles I talked about earlier. PSI Magnet will absorb energy-based projectiles; fire, electricity, and lasers are fair game for the PSI Magnet. If a player finds themselves being pelted with energy-based projectiles, use PSI Magnet; it heals Ness a lot especially when absorbing Wii Fit Trainer's fully-charged Sun Salutation. If Ness is facing down lots of non-energy-based projectiles, use the forward smash, Ness's bat, to reflect them back.

Ness is a combo king, particularly in the air. Use Ness's combos effectively to trap opponents in a state of helplessness and then finish them off with one of his many kill options.

## Moveset

### **Taunts**

* Up Taunt: Nods his head and says "OK".
* Side Taunt: Holds his baseball bat in front of him.
* Down Taunt: Gives off electric sparks from his hand.

## Alternate Costumes

* *See: Alternate Costumes (Super Smash Bros. OC Future)*

File:Ness Palette (SSB17).png