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Ness (ネス) is the main protagonist of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game, EarthBound (otherwise known as Mother 2 in Japan). He is a young boy of about age 10, from the fictional town of Onett, in the fictional country of Eagleland. Gifted with psychic abilities referred to as PSI, and enlisted by the insect-like alien from the future, Ness embarks on a quest to save the universe from the Universal Cosmic Destroyer; the alien antagonist of Mother, known as Giygas.

Worldwide, Ness is the most popular of all of the heroes of the Mother series. This is largely due to the fact that no Mother game, other than Mother 2 (in which Ness first appears), has been released outside of Japan. In 2007, EarthBound (Mother 2) was ranked as the 3rd best video game of all time, according to IGN.com

Conception and Creation
Like many of the main protagonists of RPG's, Ness is mostly silent throughout the game, engaging in little more dialogue than simple replies of "Yes" and "No". This leads many to believe that Ness is mute, however, there is no in-game evidence of this notion. In the fighting game Super Smash Bros. wherein Ness appears, he says the names of his PSI powers when he uses them.

Shigesato Itoi, the creator of the Mother series, who is known for his use of light-hearted and eccentric humor, made it so that the main character in EarthBound could be personalized to a then unprecidented depth, allowing the player to not only name the protagonist and his allies, but also choose his or her favorite homemade food, and name the player's "Favorite Thing." (which essentially assigns a name to the character's most powerful PSI ability. He created Ness intending for him to be like an actual person. He is quoted as saying, "I wanted to create a game (EarthBound) with real characters; characters whom players would recognize in the people around them."

Not unlike the young male protagonists of many Nintendo games, Ness is initially portayed as as just a regular kid, and begins his journey as a seemingly ordinary boy, though it becomes evident early in the game that he is destined to be much more. Ness is very similar in appearance to the protagonist of the previous game in the Mother series, Ninten. Another trait that the two share is that both of their names make reference to the platforms on which their video games appear (Ninten's name being the first two syllables of the name of both the company and the platform, and Ness' being an rearrangement of the letters in the acronym SNES).

Character Development
Ness is portrayed as a friendly, unassuming youth, who is generally altruistic, similar to the protagonists of many of Nintendo's video games. His altruism is shown early in the game, when he opts to help his obnoxious (and ultimatly villanious) neighbor and supposed best friend, Pokey Minch, despite his opportunistic nature, conceit and his snide personality. In this respect, Pokey is Ness's antithesis; while Ness is friendly, brave, and selfless, Pokey is traitorous, cowardly, and gluttonous.

He often assists people in their troubles, at no benefit to himself, and ultimately for the sake of the universe itself, displaying true heroism. Ness has a very affable nature; he is generally well recieved (with the exception, of course, of people who are under the influence of the evil emanating from Giygas). Ness quickly becomes friends with the three children destined to be his allies in the fight against evil, despite their varying personalities, which is a testament to his forthcomingness. Ness even considers Pokey to be a friend, until Pokey allies himself with the forces of evil, ending their already feeble friendship.

Ness is first made aware of his role as hero when Buzz Buzz, an alien from 10 years in the future, tells Ness of his destiny as prophecized by the Apple of Enlightenment. He tells Ness that "when the chosen boy reaches the point, he will find the light. The passing of time will shatter the nightmare rock and will reveal the path of light," which is an allusion to events leading up to Ness meeting Buzz Buzz, and the events to come later in the game. Buzz Buzz reveals that in the future that he escaped via time-travel, Giygas has devestated the universe, and sentenced all to "the horror of infinite darkness." He also states that only Ness can prevent that from future coming into being.

Abilities
Ness is a remarkably potent fighter, able to damage enemies made of various materials (including various unknown metals) using either a weapon that he has equipped, or his bare fists. He also has more stamina than his accomplices; in RPG terms, Ness's maximum amount of Hit Points is vastly higher than that of his allies. However, Ness's most valuable asset is his mind; his vast PSI powers are what make him most formidable.

PSI Powers
Throughout the course of EarthBound, Ness learns eight different PSI powers.

PSI Lifeup
The most basic of the PSI powers is PSI Lifeup, the first power that Ness realizes. This power has four levels: α, β, γ, and Ω. On the first level, α, Ness can restore his or one of his allies HP by up to 125 points. On level β, he can restore 275 points, and at level γ, he can restore all of one character's HP. On the final level, Ω, he can restore up to 500 HP of all of his allies. This is perhaps the most useful power in the game.

PSI Healing
This PSI power allows Ness to cure himself and his friends of status conditions. Like PSI Lifeup, this power has four levels. On the highest level Ness can attain, level γ, it cures all status conditions in the game aside from Mushroomization, Possession, Solidification, Lack of Concentration, and Homesickness.

PSI Rockin
Discribed as a "deadly psychokinetic wave", this attack is the most powerful attack of all. On it's highest level, Ω, PSI Rockin as capable of doing nearly 1,000 Hit Points of damage to each opposing enemy. PSI Rockin' is the default name for the attack, as set in the beginning of the game when the player is asked to name his or her "Favorite Thing."

PSI Flash
This PSI power is a psionically generated brilliant flash of light that can cause all enemies to feel strange, or start crying. At it's highest level, Ω, this attack can defeat an enemy with just one hit.

Shield
Ness can only learn Shield α and β; Shield α protects the shielded from PSI attacks, and Shield β protects him or her from physical attacks.

PSI Hypnosis
Ness is the only one of the protagonists who can use this sleep inducing PSI power. It has just two levels; PSI Hypnosis α puts one enemy to sleep, and PSI Hypnosis Ω puts all enemies to sleep.

PSI Paralysis
Once again, this is a PSI power that only Ness can use. This power causes the enemy's body to become numb, making them unable to move. Like PSI Hypnosis, PSI Paralysis has two levels; level α paralyzes one enemy, and level Ω paralyzes all enemies.

PSI Teleport
This power can only be used outside of battle. It has two levels, α and β, both of which serve the same purpose. The difference lies in the fact that using PSI Teleport α requires a good running start, and thus an expanse of clear space, while PSI Teleport β requires relatively little room.

Item Usage
As in many Role-Playing Games Ness uses various items, most of which are used to recover his health, some are used as weapons, and others serve various other quirky purposes.

Weapons
Ness's weapon of choice is a Baseball Bat, and throughout his travels, he comes into the possession of baseball bats of various power levels, the weakest being the Cracked Bat, and the most powerful being the Gutsy Bat, which drastically increases his offensive capabilities. Ness employs other toys in his arsenal, such as various yo-yos and slingshots.

Armor
In the place of actual armor, which is commonly used in RPG's, Ness wears various baseball caps, bracelets, and charms to protect him from enemy attacks. Thes increase Ness's various statistics, such as Defense, Guts, Vitality, and Luck.

Sound Stone
The Sound Stone is an item given to Ness by the alien Buzz Buzz shortly before his demise. It's purpose is to record the eight melodies of Ness's "My Sanctuaries", which hold the power of the Earth, necessary for defeating the immensely powerful being, Giygas. Once Ness records the melodies of Giant Step, Lilliput Steps, Rainy Circle, Milky Well, Magnet Hill, Pink Cloud, Lumine Hall, and Fire Spring (experiencing a personal memory and familiar sense each time one is recorded), he is drawn into a realm within his own mind called Magicant. After defeating Ness's Nightmare in the Sea of Eden at the center of Magicant, Ness's mental power is radically increased, preparing him for the final battle against Giygas.

Appearances
Aside from his first appearance in Mother 2, Ness has appeared in three games to date.

Mother 3
In Mother 3, a game wherein Lucas (an unrelated character) is the protagonist, Ness does not actually appear, but he is refferred to. He, as well as Paula, Jeff, and Poo, appears in a movie created by King P (who is actually Pokey Minch from Mother 2, though he has aged drastically due to his abuse of time-travel), that the protagonist views in a theatre in King P's amusment-park-like metropolis known as New Pork City.

Super Smash Bros.
Ness appeared as a secret character in the first installation of the fighter series, unlockable by completing the game on normal difficulty without losing a stock life. He appears alongside his fellow Hal Labs character, Kirby, and both are voiced by the same voice artist. In this game, however, Ness possesses none of the PSI powers that he possessed in Mother 2, but instead, he possesses three powers that his partner Paula knew: PSI Fire (which is instead called PK Fire, as it was in the original japanese game), PSI Thunder (PK Thunder), and PSI Magnet. It is notable that Ninten, Ness's predecessor, didn't know any of these moves either, and his female counterpart, Ana, did.

Super Smash Bros. Melee
Ness returns in the sequel of Super Smash Bros. not as a secret character, but as one of the primary characters. Few changes have been made to his appearance aside from an upgrade consistant with the change of graphics quality due to the platform transition. However, Ness's moveset does change; with the advent of the Side + B special moves, Ness gains another PSI power. Instead of having PK Fire for his B special, PK Fire is moved to Side + B and Ness gains PK Flash (called PSI Flash in EarthBound), as a B special. PK Flash is Ness's most powerful attack in Super Smash Bros Melee, and it is among the strongest in the game.