Palutena

"No one can hide from the light."

- Palutena

Palutena is the goddess of light and female lead of the Kid Icarus series. She serves as the damsel in distress in the original games, but takes on a more proactive role in Masahiro Sakurai's Kid Icarus: Uprising, providing protagonist Pit with guidance and powers from afar. In contrast to her serene, elegant appearance, and unlike Rosalina, Palutena has a playful "trickster" personality that she uses to tease Pit and other characters on occasion.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Palutena is featured in Pit's Final Smash, Palutena's Army. Pit calls her forth to assist him in battle, to which she then appears as a giant (not her actual size, but her chosen manifestation for this appearance). She will then summon an army of Centurions to attack Pit's opponents, who attack by dive bombing at incredible speeds.

Palutena is also a supporting character in the Subspace Emissary. After witnessing the Subspace Bomb's effects, Palutena sends Pit to the World of Trophies to help stop the Subspace Army. Before he departs, she gives Pit her bow.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U
In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, Palutena appears as a playable fighter and newcomer. Unlike most other fighters, though like the Mii Fighters, Palutena's custom special moves are not variations of the default moves but rather entirely different moves, and all of them are available from the start.

All of Palutena's custom moves are based on the Powers that appear in Kid Icarus: Uprising. Her neutral special moves are Autoreticle, Explosive Flame, and Heavenly Light. Her side specials are Reflect Barrier, Angelic Missile, and Super Speed. Palutena's down special moves are Counter, Lightweight, and Celestial Firework, and her up specials are Warp, Jump Glide, and Rocket Jump. Finally, her Final Smash is the Black Hole Laser, a combination of the Black Hole and Mega Laser powers.

A statue of Palutena also appears in her temple. Pit can also contact her to talk about all of the fighters with her guidance during the match at her temple in the Wii U version.

Super Mario Maker
Palutena appears in Super Mario Maker as a costume available for Costume Mario. Her sprite is based upon her appearance in Kid Icarus: Uprising, rather than the one seen in the original Kid Icarus. All of her sound effects, including the transformation, jumping, and fanfare, are taken from the Famicom Disk System version of the original Kid Icarus. Pressing up on the d-pad causes her to stand facing the player.

Trophies
Red indicates exclusive to the Nintendo 3DS version. Blue indicates exclusive to the Wii U version.

Palutena's Guidance

 * Pit: Wait a minute! Lady Palutena, you're fighting me?
 * Palutena: Don't sound so dismayed. Think of it more as a sporting event and less as...a massacre.
 * Pit: I really don't want to hurt you...
 * Viridi: That's awfully presumptuous of you, Pit!
 * Pit: Please! I know better than anyone else what Lady Palutena's capable of. After all, I fought her once before.
 * Palutena: Good luck, Pit. You're gonna need it. Of course, I won't be giving you any hints during this battle. And no powers or centurions, either!

Trivia

 * Palutena's newcomer artwork is the only one not to feature any Mario characters (unless Little Mac's artwork is counted, which features himself and Donkey Kong); it only features herself, Pit, Dark Pit, and Link. Consequently, her artwork is the one that features the second-fewest number of characters.