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

Ness is depicted as a thirteen-year-old[i] boy residing in the fictional town of Onett in Eagleland who has psychic abilities referred to as PSI.

He has received generally positive reception, and his appearance in the Super Smash Bros. series has contributed to a rise in popularity in both him and EarthBound.

He was created by Shigesato Itoi, the creator of the Mother series, who intended the game to have real characters whom players would recognize in the people around them.

Ness possesses extremely powerful PSI abilities latent from birth that develop as the game progresses.

[11] Ness, now fueled with unlimited power, awakens, after which the four characters learn that to battle Giygas they must time travel to the past.

[20][21][22][23] Ness has received generally positive reception, considered one of the best Nintendo characters by Destructoid writer James Herd.

[25] He has been a popular character in the Super Smash Bros. series, where he was considered to be partly responsible for players becoming interested in EarthBound by Polygon.

He discussed Ness' relationship with his parents, saying it was the most important factor in his character due to how Itoi utilized them to tie into gameplay.

He felt that this relationship resonated with him strongly, partly due to Ness acting as a silent self-insert character for the player.