For fighter info, seePalutena (SSB4) andPalutena (SSBU).

Palutena
Official artwork of Palutena fromKid Icarus: Uprising.
Universe	Kid Icarus
Debut	Kid Icarus (1986)
Smash Bros. appearances	Brawl SSB4 Ultimate
Most recent non-Smash appearance	Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition (2024, cameo)
Console/platform of origin	Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom Disk System)
Species	Goddess
Gender	Female
Place of origin	Skyworld
Created by	Toru Osawa[1]
Designed by	Toru Osawa[1] (NES) Masahiro Sakurai[2] (Wii)
Englishvoice actor	Brandy Kopp
Japanesevoice actor	Aya Hisakawa
Article on Icaruspedia	Palutena

Palutena (パルテナ,Palutena) is acharacter from theKid Icarus series. As the goddess of light and the patron deity toPit, the captain of herArmy, Palutena assists him viaPowers and her vast knowledge in order to protect humanity and maintain celestial balance.

After making cameos inSuper Smash Bros. Brawl as atrophy and during bothAdventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary andPalutena's Army (Pit'sFinal Smash), Palutena transitioned into a playable character inSuper Smash Bros. 4, and remained as such inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Origin[edit]

Artwork of Palutena fromKid Icarus. This design is used for a large statue inSkyworld.

Palutena (a derivative ofPallas Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and justice) is the goddess of light fromSkyworld. Not much was known about Palutena's personality in the first twoKid Icarus games, aside from her wisdom and kindness. She is shown to wield a magical staff and a mirror-like shield. In the plot of the originalKid Icarus, she is the ruler ofAngel Land along with the Goddess of Darkness,Medusa. After she punishes Medusa for her hatred of humans by turning her into a monster and banishing her to theUnderworld, Medusa rebels by joining forces with the Underworld Army and attacking Skyworld. A distressed Palutena calls upon Pit as her last hope. As he adventures through the Underworld to Skyworld, Pit gathers theThree Sacred Treasures, defeats Medusa, and rescues Palutena, who rewards him in various ways depending on his performance.

InKid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters, Palutena has a premonition of an army of monsters attacking Angel Land, and tasks Pit with preventing this disaster by recovering the Three Sacred Treasures. When he gathers the treasures, the archdemonOrcos appears and petrifies Palutena, leaving Pit to defeat him and rescue the Goddess of Light once more. This game went largely unnoticed, partially due to the fact that it was not released in Japan until 2012 via theVirtual Console.

Much like the rest of her series, Palutena was formerly a minor footnote in gaming history and a curious obscurity of Nintendo's library. Even compared to Pit, who made several cameos and minor appearances in other media since his inception, Palutena was a relatively unimportant character with very little involvement in the first twoKid Icarus games and virtually no representation otherwise. This is in spite of the fact that her name is in the series' Japanese title,Mirror of Palutena.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl marked Palutena's 3D debut, appearing alongside Pit in several minor gameplay roles. Like Pit, she was redesigned to appear as if she had drastically changed during the gap betweenKid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters andBrawl. Her original design featured her with long, green hair, a blue robe-like dress, a matching blue tiara, and gold accents and accessories. The 3D redesign retained most of these basic aspects, but changed the color of her dress to white with red trim, altered her tiara to resemble a golden halo, and added a number of additional accessories. Her staff and mirror shield were further redesigned, while retaining the original gold-and-blue color scheme. This look would be kept and refined for her future appearances.

With Pit's positive reception inBrawl leading to the development ofKid Icarus: Uprising, the team atProject Sora were able to further develop Palutena as a character. Rather than being simply a damsel-in-distress, she is in constant communication with Pit via telepathy. It is shown that, as previous installments imply, Palutena is very wise and dignified when she wants to be; however, she is actually quite cheerful and playful most of the time, contrasting with her nature as a goddess. While she is the ruler of Angel Land, and ergo Pit's mentor and "boss" of sorts, she treats him more like a kid brother than an actual servant. She can even be mischievous, and she will often place Pit in very dangerous situations purely to amuse herself.

During their psychic communication, she is prone to speaking casually to Pit's adversaries, and she is also known to improperly use modern-day colloquialisms (something that confuses others, particularly Pit himself). One trait she shares in common with Pit is her ravenous appetite, as simply mentioning food will make her hungry; in one of the game's early chapters, she speculates on what Pit's wings would taste like if they were fried during a thunderstorm. On another note, she is sensitive about her age despite her youthful appearance, to the point that she becomes agitated when being called "ma'am".Hidden conversations inSuper Smash Bros. imply that she is older than she looks, and that her outward appearance may not be her true form.

As the goddess of light, she has great power over the element, and therefore is capable of performing powerful magic. One of her most powerful attacks is a giant beam of vaporizing light that can disintegrate enemies. She is also the one who supplies Pit hisPower of Flight, alongside his other powers. Another notable trait Palutena possesses is a degree of omniscience, and she demonstrates her godly insight to look into the weaknesses of enemies and even the pasts of total strangers. Aside from this, Palutena has the typical supernatural powers shared by other deities from theKid Icarus series, such as the aforementioned telepathy, and the ability to summon large projections of herself.

InUprising, Palutena's increased role compared to previous installments gave her more significance, allowing her to become a fully-realized character. As a result, she rose in popularity among fans, which is reflected by her being promoted from an ancillary character inSuper Smash Bros. Brawl to a playable fighter inSuper Smash Bros. 4 andUltimate. Palutena is a relatively well-known character as of now, though not to the same extent as Pit.

Palutena was amongst the small collection ofKid Icarus characters to have had their voice actors changed fromUprising toSmash due to scheduling conflicts. Originally voiced by Ali Hillis inUprising, Brandy Kopp takes over inSSB4 due to Hillis not being available at the time of the recording, and she retains the role inUltimate.

InSuper Smash Bros. Melee[edit]

Palutena is mentioned in the description ofPit's trophy.

InSuper Smash Bros. Brawl[edit]

As a background character[edit]

Palutena as she appears inSuper Smash Bros. Brawl as part ofPalutena's Army.

Though she does not appear in battle as a playable character, she does appear in Pit's Final Smash. An image of Palutena appears in the background when activated, and she summons manyCenturions to help Pit in battle.

InAdventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary[edit]

InThe Subspace Emissary,Pit is seen inSkyworld watchingKirby andMario fighting in theMidair Stadium courtesy of a Reflecting Pool. When he sees theSubspace Bomb being detonated, Palutena appears. She gives Pither sacred bow and sends Pit to help save theWorld of Trophies from theSubspace Army. Palutena is the only character in The Subspace Emissary who is neither playable nor an antagonist.

Trophies[edit]

Palutena has two trophies, with the first being unlocked after clearing the "Cleaning House in Skyworld" event. The second is unlocked by clearingAll-Star Mode as Pit.

Palutena's trophy inBrawl

Palutena

The ruling goddess of Angel Land. Palutena showered the earth with rays of light, using her powers for the good of mankind. But Medusa, who in her hate for mankind was banished to the underworld, makes war on Palutena and wins, capturing and holding the goddess deep within a temple. Palutena entrusts Pit with a sacred bow and the task of defeating Medusa.

:Kid Icarus

Palutena's Army's trophy inBrawl

Palutena's Army

Pit's Final Smash. An image of the goddess Palutena appears, heralding the arrival of Pit's legions, the Centurions. These flying warriors proceed to attack all enemies with fierce savagery. Once a Centurion strikes an enemy, he falls from the sky, never to fly again. Centurions are so fast that dodging them is very hard. Take heart, Centurions! Your deaths are not in vain!

:Super Smash Bros. Brawl

InSuper Smash Bros. 4[edit]

As a playable character[edit]

Palutena, as she appears inSuper Smash Bros. 4.

Palutena was announced as a playable character at E3 2014 during the Nintendo Digital Event. Prior to her announcement, in early 2014,rumors of Palutena being included as a playable character within the game had spread across the Internet, consisting oftwo images of her in theNintendo 3DS version. However, the images were eventually proven false when it was revealed that they were created in an external program and digitally manipulated to resemble those fromSuper Smash Bros. 4.

Palutena's home is featured as an available stage inSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U, calledPalutena's Temple. Designed to resemble its appearance inKid Icarus: Uprising, a large, golden statue of herself appears on the stage. Palutena uses various Powers that she would grant Pit and the Fighters inKid Icarus: Uprising. According to one of her trophies, these moves help her by customizing her into a long or short ranged fighter, due to their variety. The most notable of these moves includeSuper Speed andLightweight, both of which increase her mobility. Like the Mii Fighters, these powers are unlocked from the start as custom moves.

However, custom moves were an object of controversy at tournaments, most notably atEVO 2015, due to how they gave most fighters unfair advantages, and as such, they have been banned from tournament play. Due to this, Palutena cannot make use of them to compensate for her weaknesses, including the limited utility of her default special moves. Outside of this, Palutena's very poor frame data (most notably her grounded and special moves), unimpressive KO potential, and vulnerability to juggles, combos, and being KO'd early.

Although Palutena possesses some notable strengths, such as her very solid air and grab games granting her good combo and spacing capabilities, her weaknesses mostly outweigh these strengths. This has been reflected by her suffering from poor tournament representation and results, although the latter have improved over time. As a result, Palutena is ranked 45th out of 55 characters on the currenttier list, which places her in the E tier and posits her as the lowest ranked mid tier character.

Trophies[edit]

Palutena's trophy inSuper Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

Palutena's trophy inSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U

Palutena

In Kid Icarus: Uprising, the goddess of light uses telepathy to communicate and grants miracles to support Pit on his adventure. In Smash Bros., she has special moves like Warp and Heavenly Light at her disposal. She's very adaptable—you can customize her into a long- or close-range fighter!

:Kid Icarus (08/1987)

:Kid Icarus: Uprising (03/2012)

Said to be able to perform miracles, this goddess supports Pit in battle, using telepathy to communicate with him. She's no slouch on her own, either. She has a huge variety of moves you can customise and use to your advantage. Short or long range, the sky's the limit! Or maybe not. After all, she can teleport.

:Kid Icarus (02/1987)

:Kid Icarus: Uprising (03/2012)

Palutena (Alt.)'s trophy inSuper Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

Palutena (Alt.)'s trophy inSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U

Palutena (Alt.)

Palutena's Reflect Barrier side special deflects any attacks and projectiles that come at her from the front. Unlike other reflective moves, you can leave this barrier in place and it will keep reflecting. If you really want to ruin someone's day, you can push them over an edge using this move.

Palutena's Reflect Barrier side special deflects any attacks and projectiles that come at her from the front. Unlike others' reflective moves, she can move a bit while this barrier is active. If you really want to ruin someone's day, you can push him or her over an edge using this move.

:Kid Icarus (08/1987)

:Kid Icarus: Uprising (03/2012)

Palutena's Reflect Barrier special deflects any attacks and projectiles that come at her from the front. Unlike other fighters' reflective moves, you can deploy this barrier and then leave it to its own devices. You can also push opponents with it, so use it on someone who's teetering on the edge of the stage to push them off.

:Kid Icarus (02/1987)

:Kid Icarus: Uprising (03/2012)

InSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]

As a playable character[edit]

Palutena, as she appears inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Palutena returns inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate, as with all previous fighters. Like most characters inUltimate, Palutena is an unlockable character. Notably, she is one of very last characters to be unlocked, with theClassic Mode placing her as the final character in Kirby’s unlock tree,Versus Mode always resulting in her being the final unlockable character and inAdventure Mode: World of Light she is one of the four characters found in the last area,The Final Battle, guarding the pathway leading toGaleem.

Due to the removal ofcustom moves (except forMii Fighters), some of her custom moves were swapped or combined with her default moves. Herside special is nowExplosive Flame, which was previously one of her customneutral specials. Herdown special now consists of bothCounter andReflect Barrier (the latter of which was previously her standard side special), allowing her to either counterattack or reflect projectiles depending on the incoming attack.

Additionally, whileLightweight does not return as a move, Palutena's mobility has been greatly improved to compensate for its loss. Palutena's buffs have greatly benefited her, so much so that she is widely considered one of the best characters in the game. This perception has been reflected by her acquiring a sizable playerbase and a plethora of successful tournament results.

Spirit[edit]

Gallery[edit]

• 

  Palutena's image in Pit's Final Smash inBrawl.

• 

  Palutena's idol fromKid Icarus Uprising.

• 

  Palutena's Skyworld statue infor Wii U.

• 

  Palutena's Temple statue infor Wii U.

• 

  Palutena's first official artwork forUltimate, shown in E3 2018, only differentiated by the lack of her winged halo.

Names in other languages[edit]

Language	Name
Japanese	パルテナ,Palutena
English	Palutena
French (PAL)	Palutena
French (NTSC)	Paluténa
German	Palutena
Spanish	Palutena
Italian	Palutena
Chinese	帕露蒂娜,Palutena
Korean	파르테나,Palutena
Dutch	Palutena
Russian	Палютена
Portuguese	Palutena

Trivia[edit]

• Despite not being a playable character inSuper Smash Bros. Brawl, Palutena is featured in more trophies than Pit, appearing in her own trophy as well as thePalutena's Army trophy.
• Palutena is the first fighter to become playable after debuting in theSuper Smash Bros. series via another character's Final Smash. The second isChrom, who appears inPair Up (Robin's Final Smash).
• Palutena is the only playable character in theSuper Smash Bros. series who, despite always carrying a shield, does not use itpassively. Prior toMelee, this applied toLink as well.
  • This is not counting a small number ofMii Fighter costumes that feature shields.
• Palutena is the only character in the series to have two of herspecial moves change theirdirectionalinput, and is also the only character to have twospecial moves merged into one.

References[edit]

v • d • e Kid Icarus universe
Fighters	Pit (SSBB ·SSB4 ·SSBU) ·Palutena (SSB4 ·SSBU) ·Dark Pit (SSB4 ·SSBU)
Assist Trophies	Magnus ·Phosphora
Stages	Skyworld ·Reset Bomb Forest ·Palutena's Temple
Items	Back Shield ·Daybreak ·Killer Eye ·Ore Club ·X Bomb ·Staff
Enemies	Boom Stomper ·Bumpety Bomb ·Clubberskull ·Daphne ·Flage ·Lethinium ·Lurchthorn ·Mahva ·Megonta ·Mimicutie ·Monoeye ·Nutski ·Orne ·Reaper & Reapette ·Skuttler ·Souflee ·Zuree
Other	Centurion ·Viridi
Trophies,Stickers andSpirits	Trophies (SSBB ·SSB4) ·Stickers ·Spirits
Music	Brawl ·SSB4 ·Ultimate
Masterpiece	Kid Icarus
Related content	Drill

• Characters
• Background characters
• Kid Icarus universe
• Palutena
• Trophies (SSBB)
• Trophies (SSB4-3DS)
• Trophies (SSB4-Wii U)
• Spirits