Super Smash Bros./Ness

Introduction

Ness ranks 8th on SSB's tier list for a predictable and at times unreliable recovery, which many foes use to their advantage, as well as some range issues. However, he does have a decent amount of combos, due to the aforementioned double jump cancel. On a competitive level, Ness has dropped the most since being 3rd on the original Super Smash Bros. 64 tier list. Ness' combos are excellent but Ness has problems dealing with excessive range such as facing Captain Falcon Up smash or Kirby or Pikachu's up tilt. Ness' approach has very high priority but is easily read and has extremely short range. His recovery has also been proven to be a lot worse than is first appears, due to its low sweet spot and sliding nature. However, Ness still has one of the best throws in the game, a great up tilt and can still compete vs the higher tiers better than the other characters in his tier.

Normal Move Analysis

Ground Moves

Normal

• Neutral attack: One-two Punch and Side Kick. Fast, looks similar to Mario/Luigi's combo, but short range. 2%, 3%, 4%.
• Forward tilt: Roundhouse Kick. He kicks in front rapidly, his body moves with it, giving it minor ending lag. Decent close-up spacer. 9% damage.
• Up tilt: Two-handed Open-palm Uppercut. Thrusts both his hands directly upwards above him, which is a great aerial setup, especially because of its good speed and decent power. 7%
• Down tilt: Low Kick. Ness does a fast kick while crouching, with can chain into itself, or a grab. 7%
• Dash attack: Puts both of his hands in front of him with good duration., usually launches foes in front of him. 10% damage.

Smash attacks

• Side smash: Homerun Swing. Takes out a bat and swings it, making a pinging sound if it connects. Decent speed and range, but great priority and power. 18% damage.
• Up smash: Yo-yo Semicircle, 17%. Ness does a "round the world" yo-yo swing, which acts as a good anti-air move. Strange hitbox, does not hit short characters on ground. Above average speed.
• Down smash: Yo-yo Back and Forth. 19% Extremely low hitbox, though extremely long range. Longest horizontal range of all down smashes. Fast startup in back, average speed to reach front.

Other

• Ledge attack: Lunges upwards and twirls. 6% damage.
• 100% ledge attack: Gets up and punches slowly. 6% damage.
• Floor attack: gets up and twirls around with his foot extended. 6% damage.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial: Split Kick, 14%. Ness does a falling Split Kick, somewhat similar to Jigglypuff's. The hitbox is Ness's entire body. Has similar properties to a Sex kick. Good spacing move.
• Forward aerial: Two-handed Open-palm lunge, 12%. Similar to his dash attacks, puts both hands in front of him for good damage and knockback. Quick attacking move, though the range is restricted to his small opened hands.
• Up aerial: Headbutt, 15%. He does a quick and short ranged headbutt above him with good power. Good for juggling.
• Back aerial: Back kick, 16%. Thrusts his feet backwards for tremendous killing power.
• Down aerial: spike kick, 15%. Comes out extremely quickly with short range. With double jump cancel, it can be used to rack up extremly high damage, in some cases being used in 0-death combos.

Grabs & Throws

• Forward throw: 16%. Takes foe, lifts them with PSI, and twirls them whilst launching them forward for great power. High Knockback.
• Backward throw: 16% Similar to his forward throw, only he takes the foe and launches them behind him.

Special Move Analysis

Neutral Special

PK Fire: Ness fires a yellow, lightning-bolt shaped projectile, that travels in a straight line until it hits an enemy or destructible portion of a stage, at which point it explodes into flames. If it does not hit either of the aforementioned objects within a few feet or hits a wall, then it dissipates.

Ness' PK Fire has been the same through the entire Smash Bros. series. The angle at which Ness would shoot PK Fire would be horizontal, although angled down a bit, on the ground, while diagonally downwards if used in mid-air. If Ness' PK Fire hits, it explodes into a stationary pillar of fire that hits his enemies several times. In mid-air, however, it falls down slowly until it hits the ground or dissipates. DI is not very effective against it, allowing Ness to combo his opponent or use one of his finishers while the enemy is stunned. Ness can use this move in conjunction with his second jump to perform the PK Jump, which slightly boosts the air speed of his second jump at the expense of height, giving him a slightly better approach. The main difference is the damage within the games and the lag/speed of the move.

Up Special

PK Thunder: When used, it creates a stream of lightning whose direction can be controlled using the control stick or d-pad. As such, using PK Thunder will result in Ness not being able to move or defend, because the control stick or d-pad is used to aim PK Thunder. The head of Ness' PK Thunder does 8% damage when hitting an opponent. The tail has infinite priority and cannot be cancelled. Ness's PK Thunder hits once and disappears if it hits an enemy. Both sides of the head have more priority than the front and they have a direction of knockback perpendicular to the direction the thunder is moving. The sides can hit a shield safely without the thunder disappearing, and due to hitbox renewal (the head can only hit once every 48 frames) it is possible for the thunder to go through shields.

PK Thunder 2 or "PK Rocket" is the term used for hitting Ness with his own PK Thunder while it is still under his control. Doing so will transform Ness into a human projectile, which will move in different directions depending on what part of the body is hit. If the Ness makes contact with an enemy, he will deal 25% damage and extremely high knockback, KOing opponents at high percentage.

Down Special

PSI Magnet: It absorbs certain projectile attacks (mostly energy type). Upon absorption, the attack lowers the user's percent. The user cannot be healed to a percent lower than zero. Ness' PSI Magnet is formed centered around his body, covering his entire body with it. When released, Ness's Magnet pushes enemies and some items (such as Snake's Grenades) away from his body. In Super Smash Bros. 64, the move has very high starting lag, making it nearly useless. In Melee and Brawl, it has changed appearance and is much faster, making it reliable.

Matchups

Matchups	Pikachu	Fox	Kirby	C.Falcon	Mario	Yoshi	DK	Ness	Puff	Luigi	Link	Samus	Total
Ness	3	4	4	4	4	5	4	-	5	6	5	6	50	Ness
	Pikachu	Fox	Kirby	C.Falcon	Mario	Yoshi	DK	Ness	Puff	Luigi	Link	Samus	Total