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This article is about Palutena's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For the character in other contexts, see Palutena.
Palutena
in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Palutena SSBU.png
KidIcarusSymbol.svg
Universe Kid Icarus
Other playable appearance in SSB4


Availability Unlockable
Final Smash Black Hole Laser
PalutenaHeadSSBU.png
With her wings and staff, this goddess's attacks cover a wide range. With her up smash, neutral special, and side special, she can create a ranged attack in almost every direction except for directly beneath her! Keep the pressure on your opponents from a distance with ranged attacks!
Super Smash Blog, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site

Palutena (パルテナ, Palutena) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, officially confirmed on June 12th, 2018. Palutena is classified as fighter #54.

Brandy Kopp reprises her role as the voice of Palutena in English speaking versions of the game through reused voice clips from Super Smash Bros. 4.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

With the exception of the third method, Palutena must then be defeated on Palutena's Temple.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

Aesthetics

  •   Palutena's model has a more subdued color scheme. Her chiton and armor feature simple detailing, and her face appears more realistic and expressive.
  •   Palutena's sidestep now causes a visible warping effect when she disappears.

Attributes

  •   Like all characters, Palutena's jumpsquat animation now takes three frames to complete (down from 5).
  •   Palutena walks slightly faster (1.21 → 1.271).
  •   Palutena dashes much faster (1.888 → 2.077).
  •   Palutena's air speed is slightly faster (0.91 → 1).
  •   Palutena's max additional air acceleration is higher (0.1 → 0.105).
  •   Palutena's falling speed and fast falling speed are higher (1.4 → 1.55) and (2.24 → 2.48) respectivelly.
  •   Palutena's gravity is higher (0.105 → 0.12). When combined with her higher fall speed, this improves her vertical endurance but makes her more susceptible to combos.

Ground attacks

  •   The first hit of neutral attack has slightly less ending lag (frame 26 → 25).
  •   The first hit of neutral attack has a shorter duration (frames 8-10 → 8-9).
  •   Forward tilt and up tilt have fewer startup frames (frame 17 → 14 (forward), frame 10 → 8 (up) and less ending lag (frame 68 (both) → frame 60 (forward), frame 56 (up).
    •   Forward tilt and up tilt have flashier motion effects.
  •   Down tilt has a longer duration (frames 14-24 → 14-27).
  •   Dash attack has less ending lag (frame 52 → 38).
    •   Dash attack deals more damage.
    •   Dash attack travels a shorter distance and gains invincibility later (frame 4 → 5).
  •   Forward smash has less ending lag (frame 67 → 64).
    •   Forward smash deals more damage.
  •   Up smash has less ending lag (frame 68 → 64).
  •   Clean forward smash and up smash have longer durations (frame 18-19 → 18-20 (forward), frame 18-26 → 18-35 (up).
  •   Clean down smash has less startup with more active frames (18-19 → 17-19). It also has less ending lag (frame 72 → 69).

Aerial Attacks

  •   All aerials have less landing lag (20 frames → 12 (neutral), 12 frames → 7 (forward), 16 frames → 10 (back), 24 frames → 14 (up), 18 frames → 11 (down).
  •   Forward aerial, up aerial and down aerial all deal more damage.
  •   Neutral aerial's final hit comes out faster (frame 31 → 29). [1]
  •   Back aerial's invincibility starts later (frame 3 → 7).
  •   The last hit of up aerial has less startup lag (frame 25 → 24).
  •   Up aerial now hits 6 times instead of 5.
  •   Up aerial has more startup lag and a shorter duration (frames 8-23 → 10-22).
  •   Down aerial has a longer duration (frame 10 → 10-11).

Grabs and throws

  •   Dash and pivot grabs are slower (frame 9 → 10 (dash), frame 10 → 11 (pivot).
  •   All grabs have more ending lag (frame 32 → 40 (standing), frame 40 → 48 (dash), frame 40 → 43 (pivot)

Special Moves

  • Autoreticle:
    •   Autoreticle's animation is overall faster, with the projectiles being fired sooner (frame 29/35/41 → 25/31/37).
    •   Autoreticle deals more damage per hit.
  • Explosive Flame:
    •   Explosive Flame, previously one of her alternate neutral specials, is now her side special. Since Reflect Barrier has been merged into her down special, she has effectively gained an additional move. This provides Palutena with an another long-ranged attack option.
    •   Explosive Flame deals more damage.
    •   Explosive Flame's distance can be controlled depending on smash input.
  • Warp:
  •   Warp has one extra frame of invincibility (frames 16-31 → 16-32).
  • Counter and Reflect Barrier:
    •   Down special now functions as both Counter and Reflect Barrier. If she's hit by a melee attack, Counter activates; if she's hit by a projectile, Reflect Barrier activates. This allows her to respond to a larger variety of attacks using only one move while also freeing up her side special for an additional move.
    •   Both Reflect Barrier and Counter have fewer startup frames and a longer duration (frames 10-31 → 7-34). They also have less end lag (frame 75 → 71).
    •   Reflect Barrier has fewer active frames.
    •   Palutena can no longer directly access Reflect Barrier. As a result, she can no longer use its windbox on command to gimp opponents.
  • Black Hole Laser
    •   Palutena's Final Smash, Black Hole Laser, produces a larger black hole and a wider laser, making the attack harder to avoid.

Role in World of Light

Palutena was among the fighters that were summoned to fight the army of Master Hands.

During the opening cutscene, Palutena was present when Galeem unleashed his beams of light. She attempted to block a beam with Reflect Barrier, which the beam completely pierced, disintegrating her. Her defeat causes Pit and Dark Pit to lose their Power of Flight, making the duo fall victim to the beams as well. They were all placed under Galeem's imprisonment alongside the rest of the fighters, excluding Kirby. A puppet fighter cloned from her is later seen alongside ones cloned from Greninja, King Dedede, Pokémon Trainer and other fighters.

Alternate costumes

 

Gallery

Character Showcase Video

<youtube>0yD_B4ZkdME</youtube>

Trivia

  • Palutena's down special is the only down special to function as two completely different moves with different animations depending on what kind of attack she is struck with.
    • She is also the only character to have two previously separate moves merge into one.
  • Palutena's artwork was one of three to have been updated on the official site, alongside Falco and Shulk. Compared to her original artwork, her halo was added, and her chiton now covers up more of her thigh.
  • Due to age rating issues, the slit in her chiton was changed to cover up more of her thigh beginning in the 1.0.6. update for Japanese releases of SSB4. This change was retained in Ultimate.
    • While her official artwork depicts the top of the chiton's slit as fused together, it appears to be stitched together on her in-game model.
  • Palutena is the only fighter boss character that doesn't transform after they've been defeated.
  • Palutena is one of the last characters to unlock no matter which method is chosen. She's the last unlockable character in Kirby's Classic Mode column, she is the final opponent in the timed encounters, and in World of Light, she is in the Final Battle map.