My goodness, it seems like you kids will find all sorts of ways to derail threads nowadays. I thought all this Ness discussion was done, but I guess that's what I get for doubting smashboards. People always find a way to complain... my better side tells me I should have left this hostile wasteland a while ago, but I can't help but keep coming back. Especially with silly debates like this going around with ME contributing to the mess!
Ok, so this argument is about Ness being a deserving character, or not, and I suppose both sides have made some pretty good points now... well, I'll throw in a big wall of text just to provide my views. I know it's going to get debunked left and right by certain individuals, but I honestly don't care. I feel like I need to say something as a fan of the entire MOTHER series.
I personally feel that Ness an
OK character, as far as things go. At the basic heart of it all, he is just meant to be a small twist on the usual idea of a silent RPG protagonist, which were very popular back in the day. Luke is right in that he really does not have much development at all besides the usual growing up business that is in most RPGs... but you can make out a small bit of Ness out of his adventures if you just look at what he actions and relationships with the colorful cast of characters that accompany him. Oh, and a little interpretation goes a long way too, and I think Itoi really wanted people to think a little bit about these games.
Besides whatever secrets to Ness you can unlock from how he and the world interacts around him, he really was the silent hero who spoke through actions instead of words. Unlike others of his kind though, he kept it slightly interesting by just being a chubby little kid from the 90s, and hanging out with some REAL eccentrics.
I'm not as familiar with MOTHER 1 as I'd like to be, but I'll take Luke's word on it because I do know for a fact that there's a whole lot of backstory compared to MOTHER 2, and I suppose there are some more clearly written facts written here and there too. I'm also going to vouch that MOTHER 1 also has a bright cast that might also add some insight into what Ninten is like, but I'm really gonna have to play it again just to see, though... thanks for inspiring me to do just that!
Now, MOTHER 3 also has a whole lot of story to it as well, mostly going forwards though. There is plenty of growth involved in a physical and emotional scale. Lucas even has one or two speaking lines from what I've heard, but it's nothing out of the norm... he also goes through a lot more tragedy than Ness as well which gives him a lot more development as well. Lucas isn't a perfect messiah like Ness is, and I guess that makes him a lot more accessible to people because of his delicate little flaws. I happen to like Lucas a little bit more too, and I feel like I could just give him a great big hug.
(Ness and Ninten are welcome too)
This is all trivial though, I actually only wanted to say that Ness was deserving for his place in Brawl because he happened to be in both Smash 64 AND Melee. It was a little odd in the first game, but seeing him again in Melee made things a lot more interesting, especially with the higher representation for the MOTHER series and also because of how awesome and high-profiel Melee is/was. Anyway, thanks to Smash Brothers, Ness and MOTHER 2 have become quite significant icons now among several other RPG greats, and especially the Smash series itself, as Sakurai puts it on Ness's DOJO update...
As this is Ness’s third appearance in a Smash game, I imagine he’s quite the veteran fighter at this point. Maybe he’s even used to this by now.
Sakurai pretty much acknowledges that the kid's extended presence pretty much gave him a free pass to Brawl, and possibly for every other Smash game to come... too many people care about him now. If there was ever a time to remove him, it would have been in Melee, but due to complications, that never worked out, and the fanbase for Ness just skyrocketed because of Lucas never quite making it in time.
Luke, don't get me wrong, I think you're a reasonable guy and somewhat more intelligent then some of the trash that lurks around Smashboards, but I think you're being a little too critical about Ness... he's an alright kid. He's quite generic but he's far from terrible. Why would so many people like Ness if he was a terrible character?