The
silent protagonist (nonverbal central character) of the 1994 video game (released by Nintendo) Earthbound, also known as Mother 2 in Japan.
The game is set in 199X. Ness was awoken by a
meteor crash in his hometown of
Onett and subsequently thrust into a journey across
Eagleland where he meets with three friends who help him on his journey to defeat an evil entity known as
Giygas. Ness and his friends (Paula, Jeff, and Poo) eventually defeat Giygas (with the help of a very special and important character).
His name, much like the name of his predecessor,
Ninten (Mother 1 in Japan, fan-named Earthbound 0 in America), is derived from Nintendo. NES, the acronym of Nintendo Entertainment System, sound as "Ness" when read (Ninten is the first two syllables of Nintendo).
Ness primarily uses a variety of baseball bats in battle (along with other toy-like objects such as yo-yos and slingshots). He is often seen wearing a red baseball cap (with blue visor), yellow and blue striped shirt, blue shorts, red sneakers, and a yellow back pack.
He occasionally suffers from homesickness and therefore needs to call his mother who is back in Onett. He also calls his father to save the game and check on EXP stats and his sister to store/deliver objects for him.
Example:
"Your attention please, would the customer from
Onett, Mr. Ness, please proceed to the office on the
fourth floor. That was customer Ness, fourth floor office...Gwaaaaaaaaagh!" -Department Store Spook
"Listen Ness. I'm going to tell you something very important. You may want to
take notes. Ready? ......You're the chosen one." -Talking Rock, in the Underworld