Jeff

"You don't have to explain a thing... I'm Jeff. I came because you called me. I'm not very strong, really near-sighted, kind of shy, and I tend to be a little reckless. This is just the way I am... I hope you want me to be your friend... okay?"

— Jeff

Jeff Andonuts (ジェフ Jefu) is one of the playable characters in EarthBound and is the second to join Ness on his journey. Jeff is the only permanent party member who is unable to use PSI abilities. To compensate for that, he can repair broken objects to turn into useful machines and weapons for battle, although what exactly he can repair is based on his IQ level and the broken items he has in his inventory. He usually uses Guns as his primary weapons, along with Bottle rockets and the aforementioned repaired gadgets such as the Hungry HP-Sucker, Heavy Bazooka, Neutralizer, and Shield Killer. He also has the Spy ability, allowing him to look up enemy attributes and snatch away their drop item if they have one. He educates at Snow Wood Boarding School, before being called by Paula via dreams to go to Threed and save both Ness & Paula.

Biography

Jeff is the genius son of the great scientist Dr. Andonuts, and attends the Snow Wood Boarding School in Winters, FoggyLand. Paula communicates with him telepathically to rescue them from captivity in Threed. After acquiring the Sky Runner from his father, Jeff travels to Threed and rescues Ness and Paula, securing his place as one of the chosen four.

Physical Appearance

Arguably, his most notable physical feature is his square glasses which obscure his eyes. Another unique design element that only comes up in his clay model and the Himitsu no Takarabako artwork are three stylistically placed freckles on both of his cheeks. He has yellowish/blonde hair is cut in a bowl cut.

As for his outfit, he wears an aqua (in his clay model, the Himitsu no Takarabako artwork, Super Smash Bros. model) or a dark jade green (game sprite) suit with a white undershirt that notably lacks buttons as well as a black bow tie. He also wears brown formal shoes with red brown laces.

Battle Tips

Jeff can be an interesting character to have in battle, depending on how you use him. He has generally average stats, other than his Offense and IQ, however, IQ does nothing for Jeff in battle; Jeff has both the inability to land SMAAAASH! attacks, as well as not being psychic. This may seem terrible for Jeff's usefulness, but luckily Jeff has the ability to not miss (as long as Jeff is not crying, or the enemy is dodging). Meanwhile, Jeff's ultimate capabilities lie on his item-usage. Outside of battle, Jeff's IQ can make great items that only he can use, and some items, such as the Heavy Bazooka and Defense Shower, can do wonders in battle. Along with these rebuildable items, buyable items such as his Multi-Bottle Rockets can inflict notoriously extreme damage in a pinch.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee

Jeff appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee, with the text,

Another of Ness's close friends in EarthBound, Jeff is the only son of the famous scientist, Dr. Andonuts. Jeff is a mechanical genius, able to turn common, broken tools into complex weapons like the Hungry HP-sucker and the Slime Generator. He's a bit on the shy side but incredibly intelligent and brave in the heat of battle.

• EarthBound 6/95

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Jeff appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a sticker based off his clay model, with the distinct change of his outfit's color and that he is looking up. Attaching this sticker to the bottom of Ness or Lucas's trophies in The Subspace Emissary increases their PK attack by 24. He also appears as an Assist Trophy, launching bottle rockets at his opponents.

Unlike Ness, although Jeff talks in EarthBound, he is completely silent in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

Jeff reappears as an assist trophy.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Along with reappearing as an assist trophy, he now has his own spirit battle where he is represented by Inkling in his light blue alt on Onett. Additionally, he appears as a profile picture for a player's online tag.

Gallery

Jeff riding on the head of Tessie in a boat

Jeff with his unused outfit and Bicycle examining a simplified Stonehenge

Jeff with his Bicycle and unused outfit near the original idea for Dr. Andonuts and his laboratory.

A scene similar to the final EarthBound version; Jeff now has his regular outfit

Jeff in Brawl as an assist character.

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Jeff with Ness in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Trivia

• At the "Drug Store, Best Friend" right next to Snow Wood Boarding House, one of the items sold there is the T-Rex's bat, a much more powerful weapon for Ness that is normally accessible a little later in the game. However, Jeff is actually able to save money to buy Ness the bat early on by earning item drops from enemies and selling them.
• Jeff's equivalent in EarthBound's prequel, EarthBound Beginnings, is said to be Lloyd. Both Jeff and Lloyd share similar roles in their corresponding games, in addition to having similar appearances. These similarities extend to both characters being very intelligent, skilled at building inventions and wearing glasses. They are also both unable to use PSI. In addition, both characters are found at schools.
• Jeff's equivalent in EarthBound's sequel, Mother 3, is said to be Duster. While neither Jeff nor Duster share similar roles in their corresponding games, in addition lacking similar appearances, there are similarities extending between each other's use of tools as their primary weapon and their lack of PSI.
• Jeff is the only permanent party member other than Ness to never temporarily leave the party.
• Using the Don't Care naming option, possible names for Jeff are "Jeff", "Dan", "Henry", "Isaac", "Ralph", "Sean", and "Rob". In the Japanese version, possible names for Jeff are "ジェフ (Jeff)", "メガネ (Glasses)", "つよし (Tsuyoshi)", "ポール (Paul)", "オラン (Oran)", "ルイージ (Luigi)", and "おあずけ (Oazuke/Fetch)". Tsuyoshi is a reference to Tsuyoshi Kusanagi of SMAP, Paul is a reference to Paul McCartney of the Beatles, and Luigi is a reference to the brother of Mario from Nintendo's Mario series. Oran and Fetch are also in line with the other Japanese Don't Care naming schemes of including a primate related name (due to Ape's involvement in developing the game, and Oran is short for "orangutan") and a name based on a command you would give to a trained dog.
• Jeff seems to have a very strained relationship with his father; when Jeff mentions him, he will often say "Dad", followed by, "I mean, Dr. Andonuts," indicating something along the lines that he does not consider Dr. Andonuts to actually be a fatherly figure and only calls him "Dad" out of habit. Additionally, when Jeff stops by Dr. Andonuts's lab, he doesn't seem to recognize Jeff at first, stumbling on his words before stating it's been "maybe 10 years since he last saw him". He also doesn't show much fatherly love towards his son aside from complimenting how he's grown before sending him on his way in the Sky Runner and making a last-second suggestion to meet again in "another 10 years or so". Something similar happens when Jeff is in Ness's party and they go see Dr. Andonuts so they can get to Summers; Jeff is mostly unnoticed by Dr. Andonuts. Jeff seems to want to begin the process of trying to mend this relationship after Giygas is defeated, where during the party's goodbyes in Saturn Valley, he says, "I'm going to stay here for a while and see if I can learn more from Dr. Andonuts. I mean, from my dad."
• Jeff cannot perform any SMAAASH!! attacks with his regular weapons, most likely due to the ranged projectile nature of his guns as opposed to the more physical nature of Ness' bats, Paula's frying pans, and Poo's fists/sword. However, in Mother 1 + 2, Jeff can hit SMAAASH!!es with his guns. This is likely an error in the game's programming.
• In the Mother 1+2 Art Book, Jeff is shown in concept art to have been wearing a red t-shirt and brown shorts before using his finalized outfit, which made him look very similar to Lloyd. He is also shown by himself with a yellow Bicycle several times, which could show that either Jeff was supposed to have his own bicycle, or to have Ness's altogether.
• Jeff is the only character in Earthbound that the Camera Man can take a picture of without Ness, as reading a sign in Brick Road's dungeon triggers a photo shoot. (Note that the picture in Brick Road's dungeon is avoidable if you simply don't read the sign, meaning you can return later to take the picture with Ness and the whole party if you so wished.)
• It has been speculated that Jeff's father, Dr. Andonuts, may be Lloyd from Earthbound Beginnings. This is due to their similar hair color, spectacles, and the fact that they both hide in trash cans when scared.
• Jeff's last name is a reference to the an-doughnut, a Japanese donut (or doughnut) filled with red bean paste. It is unknown when the an-doughnut was first made.
• If you collect Tony's Letter and present it to Jeff, he will mention that Tony is a very caring person.
• According to a line of dialogue from Dr Andonuts, Jeff wets the bed sometimes.
• According to the official Earthbound novel, Jeff wears a prosthetic leg due to a boating accident. This is never seen in any games, though, as he’s always wearing pants.
• If Jeff is feeling strange, It is possible for him to spy on himself.