Ness (Japanese: ネス) is the teenage hero of EarthBound. He is an unassuming young boy, never without his red cap. He comes from Onett, in Eagleland, and lives next to an annoying, fat boy named Pokey. Ness is chosen by an alien named Buzz Buzz to save the world from Giygas, a malevolent entity which is causing the citizens and animals of Eagleland to become hostile. To do this, he must first travel to eight sanctuaries and record the melodies there in his Sound Stone (given to him by Buzz Buzz). Over the course of the game, he makes many friends, three of which become permanent member of your team (Paula, Jeff, and Poo).

Ness is the first controllable character in EarthBound. His arsenal in EarthBound is composed of baseball bats, and miscellaneous toys such as yo-yos. His "armor" consists of various kinds of hats. Ness is mostly average in stats, although he has slightly below average speed, but he does receive bonuses in offense (determines attack power) and guts (determines frequency of particularly strong attacks). Travelling far from Onett for too long will make him "homesick", causing him to skip turns in battle and requiring a call to his mother from one of EarthBound's plentiful pay phones. His father adds money to your bank account throughout the game, and his sister provides storage for your items.

Ness has also appeared in Super Smash Bros. as a hidden character and Super Smash Bros. Melee as a non-hidden character, where he used moves like PK Fire and PK Thunder, which he doesn't actually use in his game. Paula's trophy suggests that she taught him the moves beforehand. To unlock Ness in Super Smash Bros., you must beat one-player mode on medium, with a stock of 3, using no continues. Ness's PK Flash move was introduced in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

The name "Ness" may be an anagram of the acronym "SNES" (Super Nintendo Entertainment System).