Ness (character)

Ness (ネス) is a fictional character in the EarthBound role-playing video games published by Nintendo, created by Japanese video game designer Shigesato Itoi. His first appearance was in the 1994 Super NES game EarthBound (known as Mother 2 in Japan), the second game in the series, in which he serves as the game's main playable protagonist.

Ness is depicted as a thirteen-year-old boy who resides in the fictional town of Onett in Eagleland, gifted with psychic abilities referred to as PSI. In EarthBound, Ness teams up with several other characters to battle Giygas, the main antagonist of the game and a recurring character in the series.

Ness appears as a playable character in the Super Smash Bros. series of fighting games where he is voiced by Makiko Ohmoto.

Conception and creation


Ness was created by Shigesato Itoi, the creator of the EarthBound series, who intended the character to be like an actual person: "I wanted to create a game (EarthBound) with real characters; characters whom players would recognize in the people around them." In EarthBound, the player is able to rename all playable characters including Ness before beginning the game's story. Itoi has stated that by doing so, it allows the players themselves to decide if Ness is the same character as Ninten, the main protagonist of Mother, the previous game in the series. Ness's favorite food and favorite thing are also decided by the player.

EarthBound
Ness appears in EarthBound as the main playable protagonist, living in the town Onett in Eagleland. Ness possesses psychokinetic (PSI) abilities latent from birth that develop as the game progresses. Ness primarily utilizes baseball bats as offensive weapons against enemies. In the beginning of the game's story, a meteorite crash-lands near Ness's house. Upon inspecting the crash site Ness meets a time-traveling alien called Buzz-Buzz, who states that Ness is the "chosen one" that can defeat the entity Giygas, who in the future destroys the universe. In order to prepare for the battle against Giygas, Buzz-Buzz instructs Ness to travel to eight sanctuaries in different areas of Eagleland, where he can absorb their psychic energies in order to unite his power with that of the earth. During his journey, Ness teams up with Paula and Poo, who also possess PSI, and Jeff, a boy-genius. Ness's next door neighbor Pokey Minch, however, allies with Giygas and antagonizes Ness throughout the game.

After Ness, Paula, Jeff, and Poo visit all eight sanctuaries, Ness falls unconscious and enters Magicant, a realm within his mind. There, Ness vanquishes a personification of his evil thoughts. Ness's mind then clears, causing his psychic powers to unite with each of the eight sanctuaries and greatly expand. Ness awakens, after which the four characters learn that to battle Gigyas they must time travel to the past. The four time travel to the past using a time machine built by Jeff's father Doctor Andonuts, where they confront Giygas and Pokey. Giygas is defeated but Pokey flees. The four characters return to the present, and the game ends with Ness returning home.

Super Smash Bros. series


Ness appears as a playable fighter in all released Super Smash Bros. games. In these games, Ness possesses PSI attacks used by Paula and Poo in EarthBound; in Super Smash Bros. Melee the description of a collectable trophy depicting Paula states that she had taught her attacks to Ness. Ness was originally going to be replaced by Lucas, the main protagonist of EarthBounds sequel Mother 3, in Melee but was retained after Mother 3s development was delayed considerably. Both Ness and Lucas appear in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Ness is voiced by Makiko Ohmoto in all Super Smash Bros. games.

Reception
UGO.com stated that Ness was cool because "Like Lucas, Ness' childlike appearance belies his potent psychic abilities." They later listed Ness ninth on their list of "The Coolest Helmets and Headgear in Video Games", describing him as an "adorable boy adventurer". IGN called Ness "one of the biggest surprise additions to the original Super Smash Bros. lineup." He was named as the 17th best Nintendo character of all time by GameDaily. Joystick Division cited his rivalry with Giygas as seventh of the ten greatest in video games.