Kid Icarus

Kid Icarus is a series of platformer/shooter games made by Nintendo, known in Japan by the title Hikari Shinwa: Parutena no Kagaminote (Myth of Light: The Mirror of Palutena). These games take place in Angel Land, though largely influenced by Greek mythology, in which a Goddess named Palutena rules the heavenly Skyworld and Medusa rules the Underworld. You play as the erstwhile angel Pit, escaping from the Underworld, gathering up the three sacred relics, and defeating Medusa and her legions of monsters.

The original Kid Icarus game was released on December 19, 1986, and was later followed by a sequel for the Game Boy (Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters) in which Pit had to train himself to use the sacred relics once more to defeat an invading army of monsters lead by Orcos. Pit also starred as a character in Captain N: The Game Master starting from 1981 to 1991. After that, the series dropped completely off the radar for over ten years, despite a small but regular desire for a sequel pretty much since the days of the SNES.

All of that changed, however, when Pit was announced as a newcomer in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, complete with a total makeover. The success of Brawl paved the way for the first new installment in the franchise, Kid Icarus: Uprising, in March 2012.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Pit
Not to be confused with the Pit, the character Pit is the leader of Palutena's personal guard. Though he's young, around 13 years old, he is the greatest warrior angel in Palutena's forces. While Pit has wings, they're just for decoration, and he can't actually fly – it's a bit of a touchy subject.

Pit first appeared in the original Kid Icarus game, as a young angel with a simple bow who had to fight his way through the Underworld to get to Medusa. His makeover in SSBB changed that completely, turning him into waifu bait among a significant portion of the Smash community and integrating him into the Smash roster almost overnight. Pit is frequently paired with Link in Smash Bros. fanfic, although he has been involved in pairings with almost every other character in the roster to date. Pairings with OCs, of course, are also quite common.

Pit has been aware of the PPC since Uprising, in no small part due to his tendency to break the fourth wall almost every other minute in the actual game. As such, despite the risk of having him become controlled by badfics like any other character, it may be worth asking him to help out against Mary Sues in the future, in missions both to Smash Bros. and to Kid Icarus itself.

Palutena
The goddess of light and ruler of Skyworld, Palutena goes to great lengths to protect her people, and those who dwell on the surface lands below. While elegant and immensely powerful, she has a bit of a trollish, geeky personality and loves to mess with Pit almost as much as the antagonists do. She acts as a damsel in distress in the original Kid Icarus game, and later serves as Pit's main guide in Uprising.

Palutena has become increasingly involved in fanfic since Uprising, and especially since her reveal as a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U/3DS. She is almost as involved in fan pairings as Pit is. A prominent example is Palutena/Lucina, which gained a lot of ground after the game's creator posted a screenshot of the two of them together online.

Being a goddess, Palutena is, needless to say, aware of literally everything in existence, including the PPC. Again, asking her for help may be a good idea in the future, although given her tendency to become affected by the badfic, the value of this is debatable.

Medusa
The main villain of the original Kid Icarus game, and a supporting villain of Uprising (see below), Medusa is infamous for her serpentine hair and chilling gaze. Her goal is nothing less than total domination, at least in the initial game, as she ends up being the main villain for the first nine chapters of Uprising. Unlike the mythological Medusa, she's the Goddess of Darkness, and on the same level of power as Palutena herself.

Medusa doesn't show up in fanfic as often as other characters do, thanks to her being sidelined by the real main villain, but she does show up every once in a while. Expect her to be paired up with Pit or Palutena most of the time.

Dark Pit
A mysterious black-winged angel, able to soar through the skies without being granted the power of flight, Dark Pit (a.k.a. Pittoo) was created in Kid Icarus: Uprising after Pit destroyed the Mirror of Truth. Though fiercely determined to fight the original Pit and prove his worth, he ultimately became allies with him after the attack of the Chaos Kin, during which Pit risked his life to save him.

Originally a palette swap of Pit in SSBB, he became his own character in Uprising – and popular enough to become a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U/3DS as well. Dark Pit sees a lot of involvement in Kid Icarus fanfic because of this popularity, and is most commonly shipped with Viridi (see below) and Pit himself.

Viridi
Viridi is the proclaimed Goddess of Nature, and first appears in Chapter 11 of Kid Icarus: Uprising. In this game, she desires the obliteration of mankind for their numerous offenses against nature, and proceeds to act upon it once they impulsively start an international war over Hades' rumors about the Wish Seed. After several misadventures, Viridi is forced to cooperate with Pit when the Chaos Kin subjugates Palutena, and ultimately parts with Palutena's army on slightly better terms – the keyword being 'slightly', since she still has her old grudge against humanity at the end of the game.

Viridi's snarky, tsundere personality earned enough of a following from World One gamers that she has a minor role in Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U/3DS, showing up as a supporting character in Palutena's Guidance (Pit's custom taunt in the Palutena's Temple stage). In fanfic, she's frequently paired with either Pit or Dark Pit (especially the latter, who is known in canon to have joined her army after the events of Uprising). Her rivalry with Palutena also leads to a romantic attachment with her in some fanfics, though whether or not that's a good thing is anybody's guess.

Hades
The true villain of Kid Icarus: Uprising, Hades is implied to have instigated all of the events of the first game as well. All of the other villains, such as Medusa, are merely his pawns, and his intention is to wipe out humanity and fill the Underworld with human souls. The entire conflict of Uprising is because of him, and it's only ended once Pit vaporizes him with the Great Sacred Treasure, leaving only his disembodied voice behind.

Despite his evil ways, Hades' wit has wormed its way into the hearts of a lot of fans of the series, who tend to portray him as a trollish mischief-maker even after his destruction at Pit's hands. He flirts with just about everyone in the game, including Pit himself, so it's no surprise that on the occasions when he shows up, there's a risk of him becoming attached to any character he pleases. It's probably best not to think about what would happen if he did.

In the PPC
Because of the obscurity (and difficulty) of the original game, Kid Icarus isn't as well known as The Legend of Zelda is, but it did undergo a bit of a fanfic explosion after the release of Uprising. Despite this, most fanfic of this continuum appears to be deeply integrated with the larger Smash Bros. fanfic community, not unlike the way the Kid Icarus franchise itself is heavily indebted to Super Smash Bros. as a whole.

Although the first known mission into this continuum would not occur until early 2015 (three years after Uprising and six months after Smash Bros. for the 3DS), it was nonetheless a rather fruitful expedition which brought back two new agents, two new staff members, and the first recorded instance of the official mini of this continuum, the mini-Monoeye.

Agents Native to this Continuum

 * Cupid Carmine
 * Violet Rose Greenfield
 * Panacea
 * Sister January

Missions in this Continuum

 * "Go Home Canon, You're Drunk," Agents Sarah Katherine Squall and Rashida Mafdetiti (DF)