Pit (Kid Icarus)

Pit
Kid Icarus series character
File:Kid Icarus Pit.jpg Pit as he appears in Kid Icarus: Uprising
First game	Kid Icarus (1986)

Pit (ピット, Pitto) is a fictional character and the main protagonist from the Kid Icarus series of Nintendo games, first appearing in Kid Icarus on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986 and then in Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters on the Nintendo Game Boy in 1991. Most recently Pit has appeared as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii console and will appear as the main character in the upcoming Kid Icarus: Uprising for the Nintendo 3DS. Pit is Palutena's most loyal servant, the captain of her army and the leader of her royal bodyguard. He is sometimes misidentified by some as "Kid Icarus", in reference to the English title.

Games

• Kid Icarus (1986)

In Kid Icarus, Pit began as a young angel boy trapped in the underworld. He had been tasked by Palutena, the imprisoned Goddess of Light, to defeat Medusa, the Goddess of Darkness. Already wielding the Three Sacred Treasures (the Pegasus Wings, Mirror Shield, and Light Arrows), Medusa commanded an army of terrible power, which threatened Angel Land and Palutena's Palace in the Sky. Gifted with a magical bow, Pit set out to reclaim the Three Sacred Treasures and restore peace to Angel Land.

• Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters (1991)

In Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters, Pit is charged with training for the defense of Angel Land against an invasion of demons led by the evil Orcos. His training also involves uniting the Three Sacred Treasures, but due to a dire emergency Palutena entrusted them to the fortress guardians. Thus, in order to prevent Orcos's campaign, Pit goes forth in pursuit of the Three Sacred Treasures.

• Kid Icarus: Uprising (TBA)

In the upcoming Kid Icarus: Uprising, Pit is due to battle against Medusa's forces once again with the help of Palutena's magic. More information will be announced as the release date approaches.

Other appearances

Captain N: The Game Master

He is one of the main characters in the cartoon Captain N: The Game Master In the cartoon the character does not go by the name of Pit; he is instead referred to as "Kid Icarus." In the series he is a member of the N-Team, a group that mostly comprises video game characters. Similar to the Kid Icarus games, he is armed with a magical bow, yet is provided with the use of a quiver of special arrows that each possess unique properties. Kid Icarus was not constantly airborne, something that could only occur in-game if he were in possession of the Wings of Pegasus. In terms of personality, he is not quite the seasoned warrior he appears to be in his own games. Instead, he is essentially a child, and is naive and impressionable, but nonetheless brave.

Kid Icarus also appeared in the Captain N Valiant Comics book series.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

After a long absence as a playable character (around sixteen years), it was announced at E3 2006 that Pit would return flame in Nintendo's 2008 fighting game, Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii. Pit's main weapon is his bow, called the "Sacred Bow of Palutena". This bow also acts as his symbol.

Pit's bow has a brand-new feature for this game, one that was previously absent in the Kid Icarus series. At will, Pit can separate and unite the two halves of his bow, creating powerful dual swords. He can perform many quick, strong combos with the twin blades, and he uses both bow and blade forms for his Standard, Smash, and Aerial attacks.

Most of Pit's Special Moves are based on the Sacred Treasures from Kid Icarus. Also, with the Smash Ball, Pit can unleash his Final Smash (Palutena's Army). Once activated, the Goddess Palutena appears in the background and a multitude of winged Centurions fly into battle to attack Pit's opponents. Because of his wings, Pit is one of three characters in Brawl to be able to glide, a useful recovery technique. Some of his best qualities are that he has several mid-powered combos, the ability to glide, a deflector special move, and an impressive recovery special move, which he can attack out of.

Pit is also shown to have a speaking voice, besides grunts and yells. Minami Takayama is voicing Pit in the Japanese version of the game, with Lani Minella voicing Pit in the American version of the game.

There is also a Kid Icarus stage in the game called Skyworld, based on the skyworld level from the corresponding game. It contains a few platforms held up by clouds. These platforms are breakable making it easy to knock players through the clouds. In the background, there is a temple in a style reminiscent of Greek architecture as well as a godly statue.

Four pieces of music from the Kid Icarus games are selectable on the stage as well as some others. The main song playing on the stage is the Underworld theme based on the underworld area in the game combined with the Game Over theme. There is a remix of the Title Theme, Overworld theme mistakenly credited as the Skyworld theme, and a medley containing unchanged sounds and songs from the game in its regular synthesized state.

In the Subspace Emissary mode, Pit is sent by Palutena to fight against the Primid after witnessing the events during the fight between Mario and Kirby. Pit and Mario meet and team up, eventually forming a larger team with Link, Yoshi, and Kirby. During the invasion of the Subspace, he and every other character get turned into a trophy by Tabuu but is later released thanks to King Dedede, Luigi, Ness and Kirby. Pit joins in the final battle against Tabuu along with everyone else.

Cameo appearances

• Tetris (NES) - 1989 - Pit is playing a violin when the player completes Game B on Speed 9, Height 0.
• F-1 Race (Game Boy) - 1990 - Before Course 8, Pit appears to cheer the player on. He also appears during the ending sequence.
• Super Smash Bros. Melee (GameCube) - 2001 - Pit is one of the trophies that can be earned in the game, resembling how he originally appeared in the NES game as opposed to his new design.
• WarioWare: Twisted! (Game Boy Advance) - 2004 - In one of 9-Volt's games, the player directs Pit left or right to dodge Shemums (snakes) and eggplants thrown at the player from above. Pit is also seen on the cover of the Kid Icarus record box. The theme for Kid Icarus is an unlockable record in the game. When the cursor is placed on it, the text describing it says, "This is the closest thing to a sequel you're gonna get! Har har!"
• WarioWare: Smooth Moves (Wii) - 2006 - In the conducting game, Pit is playing a cello. Also, the Kid Icarus theme is one of the songs that must be conducted.
• WarioWare D.I.Y. Showcase (WiiWare, localized versions only) - 2010 - One of 18-Volt's microgames depicts the treasure room from Kid Icarus, where you have to open the treasures dotted around the room in the limited time using the Wiimote. Like all Showcase games, it can be transferred to the DS game and be edited by the player. The DS game also contains an unlockable record that is a remixed medley of music from Kid Icarus.

Character design

Pit is loosely based on Icarus and Eros (also known as Cupid), figures from Greek mythology. The clothes that he wears and the fact that he is an angel resembles Perseus, Bellerophon, and Hercules, the last also being an archer. His character design has changed very little over the years, having always included elements associated with classical antiquity (such as the chiton and sandals). His primary weapon is the bow and arrow. In Of Myths and Monsters, Pit first received a crown of laurel, as well as revealing his eye color, blue. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Pit is seen garmented in an exomis and black tights underneath. On the official Super Smash Bros. Brawl website, it is said that Pit is an angel that cannot normally fly. Much like Samus Aran in Metroid and Link in Zelda, Pit had no spoken dialogue in that either.

As part of the evolution of the character, the designers of Super Smash Bros. Brawl saw it fit to update his character design by combining parts of his looks from the promotional artworks of both Kid Icarus titles with new ideas. Pit now appears older than the child-age designs from prior games and now has a more anime/manga-like appearance, although he still seems to have a childish voice in the Japanese version. In The English version of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, he has a deeper-sounding teenaged voice. Nintendo has described the redesign as "a giant leap forward in his evolution". It is also stated on the Smash Bros. Dojo that one of Pit's color changes is black, a "Fallen Angel color" option.

Pit will appear in Kid Icarus: Uprising with his new physical design as he appeared in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and will have a speaking role. His voice actor is most likely going to be someone other than Lani Minella, as the game's teaser video that was unveilled at E3 2010 featured Pit with an obviously more masculine voice.

Reception

IGN listed Pit as one of the characters who "deserve a spot on the Wii", saying he "made quite the impression with Kid Icarus on the NES." They said in a different article that "Pit is a sorely under-used hero that deserves a second chance on a system that has already helped put him back in the spotlight."

External links

• Pit's character biography at the official Super Smash Bros. Brawl website.
• The first Super Smash Bros. Brawl trailer, as seen at E3 2006, at the game's official website.
• Pit's descent from Angel Land on Super Smash Bros. Brawl official website