Ned Banks was originally portrayed by Tyler Patrick Jones, but starting with season 3 episode Slam, Christoph Sanders took over the role. Ned is a relatively nice guy that has dedicated his life to helping Melinda with the occult. He is the son of Delia and Charlie Banks. The events of his adolescence have been part of the plots of some episodes.

Ned was caught shoplifting at Melinda's antique shop, stealing Grateful Dead tickets. Melinda realized that his behavior was the result of a spirit's urging. Ned found out Melinda's secret before his mother did when he overheard Melinda in the episode "Curse of The Ninth". He is always eager to help Melinda with her ghosts. A few episodes later, when his deceased father Charlie visits him and his mother, Melinda helps his father go into the Light. In the season three episode No Safe Place, Ned gets into a private school.

In Slambook, Ned (played by Christoph Sanders from then on) is on the basketball team when a ghost begins tampering with the scoreboard. In the episode "Home but Not Alone", Ned has his first girlfriend and (probably) his first kiss. In season 4, there was a plot that involved his mother suspecting him of smoking marijuana, but as it turned out, it was his mother's friend's joint. As of season five, he is a student at Rockland University.In Dead Air he is a host of a radio show, and has cheated on his girlfriend TJ (which he later regrets and apologizes for.)