Pit

Pit (, Pit) is the main protagonist of the  series. As the captain of Palutena's Army, Pit fights on her behalf while receiving her assistance via and her vast knowledge in order to protect humanity and maintain celestial balance.

After making a cameo as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Pit transitioned into a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and has been a mainstay in the Super Smash Bros. series ever since.

Origin
Pit is an angel from. His wings are only strong enough to fly for short distances, unless he uses the. Taking up his trademark bow to stop the dark goddess Medusa after she attacked his home of and imprisoned Palutena, he set out to gather the Three Sacred Treasures: the Light Arrow, the Mirror Shield, and the Wings of Pegasus. Fighting his way through the, and Skyworld, Pit was able to gather the three treasures and defeat Medusa, ending her threat.

Pit reappeared again in  for the Game Boy, which served as the only sequel in his series for nearly twenty years. In this game, Pit was sent to train and gather the Three Sacred Treasures again so that he could defeat a demonic monster called. This game went largely unnoticed, partially due to the fact that it was not released in Japan until 2012 via the Virtual Console. However, aspects of Pit's design that were introduced in this game, such as his redesigned blue eyes, brown hair, and laurel crown, as well as the design of the series' logo, made reappearances years later in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Due to all of this, Of Myths and Monsters is considered canon.

Pit was given a significant redesign for his inclusion in Brawl. Masahiro Sakurai attempted to design him as if the Kid Icarus series had continued, with minor changes adding up to drastically change and modernize Pit's appearance, in analogy to the various tweaks that had been made to Link over the course of the series.

Following a surge of fan interest in the series due to Pit's appearance as a playable character in Brawl, Pit appeared again in , a sequel for the Nintendo 3DS which was released on March 23, 2012 and was also directed by Sakurai. Pit's design in this game is taken directly from his redesign as featured in Brawl. In this game, Pit can't fly at all, and is once again tasked with defeating Medusa, who has been revived, and her army of monsters from the Underworld, along with numerous other foes. After, it is revealed that was actually behind all the havoc caused, using Medusa as a puppet leader. After many brutal encounters, Hades is finally defeated, leaving only his voice and soul to dwell.

This game also greatly expands upon Pit's personality through story and dialogue. Pit is a headstrong warrior that is fiercely loyal to those he has sworn to protect. However, he is extremely gullible and easily manipulated, having difficulty understanding sarcasm and metaphor. He is also a massive glutton, to the point where most of his decisions revolve around food and he gets upset when food is taken away.

Pit reappears in Super Smash Bros. 4 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a playable character. He has also made many minor crossovers with fellow Nintendo characters (Tetris DS, the WarioWare series, Club Nintendo comics, and Captain N: The Game Master), all of which occurred before his reintroduction to the gaming community in Brawl. Nevertheless, Pit's relevance in the realm of video games has been reestablished thanks to his appearances in the Super Smash Bros. series. As of now, Pit is rather iconic in his own right.

In Super Smash Bros.
Pit does not appear in the original Super Smash Bros. in any capacity. A popular rumor, though, claims he was planned to be playable in the game, along with Bowser, King Dedede, Mewtwo, and many other characters, before being cut for space/time constraints. However, unlike the aforementioned three characters, no definitive official source has ever been found that proves Pit was ever planned to be included as a playable character.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee
Pit appears as a collectible trophy within Super Smash Bros. Melee. It can be collected on the Snag the Trophies Bonus Stage, the All-Star Rest Area, and side-scrolling Adventure Mode stages. The trophy features Pit's older design from games predating Brawl, although it features body proportions that are closer to his modern design. While Brawl was still several years away, a note which some believe to be foreshadowing of his appearance as a playable character in the next game is found in his Melee trophy: his trophy info cryptically asks, "Will Pit ever fight again?".

In the Nintendo poll for characters requested for Melee posted after the original game, Pit ranked sixth in the miscellaneous Nintendo characters bracket, with 5 votes, tied with the main characters of and.

As a playable character
Pit debuts as a new playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He has been heavily redesigned from his original appearance and Melee Trophy, taking on more realistic proportions, having an anime-like look to him, and looking much more elegant overall. The Three Sacred Treasures from Kid Icarus serve as his neutral special move, up special move, and down special move respectively, albeit with changes from the original game. He is also seen splitting Palutena's Bow into two sharp blades for his standard attacks, something that was not done in any previous game in the series. His Final Smash is Palutena's Army, where he calls on Palutena to send her army of angel centurions against the other characters.

Pit is ranked 17th on the tier list in C tier.

The design created for Pit in this game is used in the third game in the Kid Icarus series, Kid Icarus: Uprising, which largely owes its existence to Pit's appearance in Brawl.

As a playable character
Pit returns once again as a playable character in SSB4. His design is that from , itself a slight refinement of his Brawl redesign. He is also no longer the sole fighter of his series, as he is joined by the inclusion of and. Pit's special moveset has been heavily revamped, as he only retains Palutena's Arrow from Brawl as his neutral special; however, it is now known as the Palutena Bow. His side special now has him lunge forward with the Upperdash Arm, allowing Pit to deal damage and even reflect some projectiles. His new up special is the Power of Flight, which is an angleable recovery that travels a good distance, but has no hitbox. Mirror Shield has been replaced with the Guardian Orbitars, which serve as both a reflector and a second shield of sorts. Due to Palutena being made playable in Smash 4, Pit's Final Smash was also changed and involves him wielding the Three Sacred Treasures all at once. Both the Upperdash Arm and Guardian Orbitars are weapons from Kid Icarus: Uprising.

Pit is tied with his clone, for 32nd/33rd place out of 55 on the tier list for Smash 4, placing within the D tier. His recovery, while still long-distanced, was made weaker due to the loss of gliding, as well as his jumps gaining less height. He was also nerfed in regards to damage, start-up and ending lag. However, some of his attacks were given more knockback, granting Pit improved KO power compared to Brawl. While seen as a respectable choice for tournament play, Pit currently has a relatively small player base.

As a pallette swap
Dark Pit has a costume that resembles Pit.

As a playable character
Pit returns as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Unlike in Brawl and Smash 4, he is an unlockable character rather than a starter character. He largely keeps his moveset from Smash 4, but his Final Smash has been changed to the Lightning Chariot, where he rides the Lightning Chariot and fires onto opponents on the stage, similar to the Dragoon item.

Pit was notably buffed in the transition from Smash 4 to Ultimate. Many of his normal attacks connect more reliably or have greater utility, and the universal reduction of landing lag improves the safety of his aerials. His KO potential has also greatly improved, addressing his arguably biggest weakness in Smash 4. Despite the buffs however, Pit's continued lack of major strengths and general perception as an "honest" character has resulted in poor representation and results in tournaments, with many players considering him to be lower-mid or even low tier.

As a palette swap
Dark Pit retains his Pit-inspired costume albeit with minor color differences.

Trivia

 * Pit is one of the four characters to have a different Final Smash across every entry since Final Smashes were introduced; the other three are Zero Suit Samus, R.O.B., and King Dedede.
 * Pit and Dark Pit are the only characters whose movesets contain two different reflection special moves: in Pit's case, being Angel Ring and Mirror Shield in Brawl, and Upperdash Arm and Guardian Orbitars in Smash 4 and Ultimate.
 * Despite being able to crawl in their respective home series, Pit, Mario, Donkey Kong, Young Link, Link, and Toon Link are unable to do so in the Super Smash Bros. series.
 * Pit, under the name "Kid Icarus", previously appeared alongside many Nintendo characters in the series Captain N: The Game Master. He was one of the series' main characters, along with Samus Aran (in the comic books) and Mega Man and Simon Belmont (in the TV show). Pit's appearances in Smash 4 and Ultimate, respectively, marks the first time Pit appears alongside Mega Man and Simon in a video game.
 * As of Ultimate, Pit and Dark Pit are the only Kid Icarus characters to retain their English voice from Uprising.