Ned Nickerson is a fictional character in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series written under the collective pseudonym "Carolyn Keene".
(When introduced in the 1932 storyline, Nancy was sixteen, but it could be assumed that Ned was not greatly older, but possibly three to four years.)
Aside from being a good student, Ned also plays for three of his school's varsity teams – basketball, baseball, and football.
In some stories, he pursues outdoor interests including rowing and swimming, as well as scuba diving.
In The Clue in the Diary, Ned is at first mistaken for a car thief, but Nancy warms to him after he proves trustworthy later in the story.
Throughout the revised yellow hardcovers (which include the first 56 books of the series), Ned is often described as Nancy's "special friend."
In the 1944 version of The Secret in the Old Attic elements of Gothic romance exist: Nancy, while exploring a spooky old house, is worried about Ned's recent behavior.
Ned and friends often coincidentally have college or fraternity events near locales where Nancy, Bess and George are sleuthing, and are included in the action.
Fidelity, as well as Nancy's apparent lack of time to spend with Ned because of her cases, sometimes becomes an issue between them (one example of this is in SMILE AND SAY MURDER).
In volume twenty-four, Till Death Do Us Part, Ned proposes to Nancy even though the probability is that she will reject him.
Save for several books, Ned is almost completely absent from this series, which is targeted at a more mature audience.
The first book, New Lives, New Loves, called for readers to dial in an 800 number to decide whether or not Ned should be kept as Nancy's boyfriend.
A 9-year-old 4th grader Ned appears in the following books: The Lost Locket, The Wedding Gift Goof, The Lemonade Raid, The Day Camp Disaster, Ned sometimes seemed to be mean to Nancy but in the last book in which he appeared (The Day Camp Disaster), he wasn't mean but really nice to Nancy.
In the Nancy Drew games presented by Her Interactive, Ned can be called and can give hints.
Ned was voiced by Ryan Campbell in Stay Tuned for Danger and by Scott Carty starting with Treasure in the Royal Tower.