Palutena (SSB4)

Palutena in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	Kid Icarus
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Black Hole Laser

“	Palutena Alights!	”
—Introduction Tagline

Palutena (パルテナ, Palutena) is a character from the Kid Icarus series. She was confirmed as a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. 4 during E3 2014 on June 10th, 2014. She fights using powers she would grant Pit (and other angels in the multiplayer) in Kid Icarus: Uprising.

In her appearance in SSB4, respectively, she is voiced in Japanese by Aya Hisakawa (who reprises her role from Uprising) and Brandy Kopp in English, who replaces Ali Hillis (who had previously voiced Palutena in Uprising).

Attributes

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Palutena is a lightweight character with low air speed and average falling speed; while she has a decent walking speed, she has one of the fastest running speed in the game, being the 10th fastest runner of all characters. Palutena also suffers from a combination of being tall and light, making her susceptible to knockback.

Palutena's moveset notably varies when using her in the air or on the ground. Her ground attacks mostly involve the use of her staff or light-based moves, meaning all her ground moves are disjointed. All of her tilt attacks are, in general, long-lasting but have very poor frame date and limited utility. Her side tilt covers a big hitbox in front of her while doing low damage and multiple hits, though its long duration makes it hard to use properly. Her up tilt is a multi-hitting move that can add pressure to landing opponents, and like her side tilt, it deals low damage; however, it has a lower duration than her side tilt. Her down tilt is her fastest tilt: while it's weaker than her other tilts, it has slow startup and less ending lag. It's also her fastest spacing tool; since it isn't as laggy, it can't be punished as easily as the others, although it still has some prolonged duration. Her smash attacks all have a notable amount of range, having disjointed hitboxes, and two of them having windboxes at the tip, but since all of them have long ending lag, they can be easily punished if not spaced correctly.

Palutena's style in the air is very different from her style on foot, since most of her moves have lower range but higher speed. Her neutral and up aerial can be used for racking up damage and KOing; and since it also has decent knockback, it can combo into other moves (and itself) at low percentages. Her down aerial can be used as a spike for catching an opponent off guard; it also has low startup but a notable amount of ending lag.

Palutena's specials can be very versatile if used correctly. Her neutral special, Autoreticle, while being easy to avoid and having a long duration and ending lag, can be used as a way for stopping direct approaches. When short hopped and B-reversed, this move can be harder to avoid and punish, its also able to hit behind Palutena and be used for Jab locks, though this can be tricky to do, depending on the opponents position. Her side special, Reflect Barrier, can deal 5% if the opponent is too close while piercing shields and can reflect projectiles; while also covering a good range in front of her and keeping its momentum forward. Palutena's up special, Warp, while being a good ranged recovery move that can be angled and ledge canceled, which allows Palutena to act almost immediately out if it. This can be used as a strategy technique, as it allows Palutena to quickly move throughout the stage, allowing for stage control, positioning, retreating and movement. While her down special, Counter, is a counter with decent knockback, its low speed and range makes it very punishable, yet it has a higher damage multiplier than many other counter type moves.

Overall, Palutena, particularly with her default moveset, is a defensive-minded character, with useful and fast movement options thanks to her abilities with her ground speed and up special. She possesses both a reflector and a counter, allowing her to deal with both aggressive and camping foes, but she lacks ground attacks with quick execution, meaning she must look for gaps in the opponent's strategy to press the offensive, although her ground movement is still able to close in order to make this easier. However, she can still be a very offensive character, since when her fast moves are used correctly along with her ground speed, she can force the opponent for defensive options, making her ground moves useful for punishing these properly. Palutena generally suffers from KO problems, as her smashes have long punishable ending lag, up aerial being avoidable and punishable, and other attacks that aren't that powerful and requires proper spacing, as well as a considerably laggy grab should it miss.

With customs turned on, Palutena gets significant amount of approach, mix-ups, recovery, and follow up options. Most notably, with the proper use of Super Speed and Lightweight customs as a recovery, Palutena will have one of the best recoveries in the game when combined with Wrap or Jump Glide. Although Palutena takes more damage under Lightweight effect, her speed and jumping are increased, improving her off stage game. It also addresses her KO problems from her up aerial. She can nearly guarantee landing her KO set ups from her down throw to up aerial at high percentage. Super Speed can be used as a mindgame, mix-ups, and mobility. It allows her to damage opponents and set up an attack. In the air when canceled with a jump, its momentum is maintained with huge horizontal distance, allowing Palutena to approach with an aerial attack or escape pressures above. Jump Glide has great horizontal and decent vertical recovery. It can be used as an approach by acting out of it with an aerial attack.

Moveset

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			3%	Holds her staff out and releases a multi-hit flash from the orb before knocking the enemy away with an upwards swipe. Long range and Palutena's best ground attack. It is useful for spacing. When jab canceled, she can combo into grabs, another jab at low percent, and back aerial and up smash at high percent.
			1% (loop), 3% (last)
Forward tilt			6% (staff head), 4% (staff tail)	Makes her staff spin in the air in front of her, hitting the enemy up to three times. Long duration, good range, and can be used to punish spot-dodges and rolls. However, it leaves her vulnerable to other attacks due to its long duration.
Up tilt			1% (loop hits), 2.5% (last hit staff head), 1.5% (last hit staff tail)	Kneels and makes her staff spin in the air above her, hitting the enemy up to seven times. Long duration and decent vertical range. Palutena's hitbox is very low, allowing her to stop most aerials above her. It also can be used for punishing opponents air dodge. However like her forward tilt, it leaves her vulnerable to other attacks due to its long duration. It also has little horizontal range.
Down tilt			8.5% (staff head), 5% (staff tail)	Makes her staff spin along the ground in front of her. Palutena's fastest tilt. Has less ending lag. Great spacing tool and can be used to catch spot dodgers and rolls. Good for ledgeguarding. It has less vertical range.
Dash attack			9% (clean), 5% (late)	Bashes the enemy with her shield. The shield can block attacks due to having invincibility frames. Large hitbox. Can be used to catch landing opponents and combo into fair. Has a decent KO potential at very high percentage.
Forward smash			16% (near), 13% (far)	Creates ethereal wings and swings them in front of herself. Comes out quickly. It has high knockback and long horizontal range. Has a small wind effect at the tip of the wings. It has sour spot near the tip, which it deals less knockback. High ending lag.
Up smash			16% (bottom), 12% (middle), 9% (top)	Conjures a blue beam of light from the ground in front of her, firing it high up into the air. Comes out quickly and has good KO potential. Excellent for edgeguarding. Can be used in a conjunction with a down throw by reading opponent's air dodge. It has thin horizontal range and high ending lag.
Down smash			15% (clean), 13% (late)	Creates ethereal wings and flaps them down on either side of her. Has a small wind effect at the tip of the wings. High knockback. Can be used to catch rolls. High ending lag and it is less safe than her forward smash.
Neutral aerial			1.5% (loop hits), 4% (last hit)	Spins her staff around her. Good for pressuring opponents on platform above and catching out of air dodge. Can combo into aerial or ground attacks at low percentage.
Forward aerial			7%	Dropkicks in front of herself. Long horizontal hitbox and low landing lag. Good spacing tool and can combo into grabs and other attacks. It can also be auto canceled from SHFF. It is less safe on shield since it delivers less shield stun.
Back aerial			12% (shield), 9% (arm)	Hits with her shield behind herself. The shield can block attacks due to having invincibility frames. Good for edgeguarding and can beat out most aerial attacks and certain projectiles. Low landing lag and can be auto canceled from SHFF. However, it is easy to miss if the opponents is too close to her since it does not have a hitbox around her.
Up aerial			1% (loop hits), 5% (last hit)	Spins, and lifts her staff upward, hitting up to five times. Long duration and can be used to pressure aerial opponents above her. Has a great KO potential at high percentage. However, it has high ending lag (24 frames). If she uses this attack in certain distance above the ground, she receives landing lag from this attack, even if she finished using this move. This can be avoided by using other attack before she hits the ground. Has weak meteor properties when fast-falling, making it possible to combo into another grab at low percentages.
Down aerial			9%	Kicks in an arc below herself. Meteor smashes if the hit is clean. Can be used for out of shield. It has short duration which is difficult to land, however, as well as long ending lag.
Grab			—	Holds her staff vertically in front of herself, magically trapping the enemy. Fairly large grab range.
Pummel			3.1%	Blasts the enemy with light. Somewhat slow.
Forward throw			9%	Pushes the enemy away with her magic. Palutena's weakest throw in terms of knockback.
Back throw			10%	Kicks the enemy in a 180 degree angle behind herself. Palutena's strongest throw. Can KO at high percent, depending on weight and rage effect.
Up throw			8%	Sends the enemy into the air with her staff. Can be used to pressure opponents in the air with aerial attacks.
Down throw			5%	Magically shoves the enemy into the ground. Ideal for combos and KO set-up, depending on opponent's DI.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	Swings her staff in front and behind her.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Swings her staff 180 degrees along the ground.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Similar to her other floor attacks.
Edge attack Edge getups			7%	Climbs up the stage and hits with a leg swipe.
Neutral special	Default	Autoreticle	2.9% (per hit)	Takes aim with a scope which appears over the enemy, then fires three light shots at that location. Can be initiated only if an enemy is close enough.
	Custom 1	Explosive Flame	0.6% (loop), 4% (last)	Creates a Smart Bomb-like explosion at approximately 3 character lengths away. The last hit cannot be blocked.
	Custom 2	Heavenly Light	1% (per hit)	Projects a huge rectangular field of supernal light above her and to the sides. It deals damage in the whole area without producing knockback or flinching, as well as repelling all enemies from the sides.
Side special	Default	Reflect Barrier	5%, 1.2x damage (reflected projectiles)	Raises her shield forward, casting a rectangular shield which pushes opponents away and reflects projectiles. The initial shield bash can damage opponents.
	Custom 1	Angelic Missile	13%	Shoots herself forward to attack with her head, similar to Skull Bash and Green Missile.
	Custom 2	Super Speed	2.6%	Performs a charging attack where she glides along the ground very quickly and for a long distance. She can damage enemies by ramming into them. While in the air, the move will send her diagonally downwards. It is considered her best side special move due to its speed and ability to retain its momentum after canceling the attack, which it gives Palutena plethora of options from her mix-ups, recovery, potential pressure, and mobility. Can be cancelled with her jump, up smash, grab, dash attack, and other attacks. A downside however, is that it has a small cooldown duration.
Up special	Default	Warp	0%	Disappears and then reappears in a chosen direction, much like Teleport.
	Custom 1	Jump Glide	0%	Jumps a fair distance up, then glides similarly to Peach Parasol.
	Custom 2	Rocket Jump	12% (ground), 10% (air)	Creates an explosion that boosts Palutena upwards and damages nearby enemies. The explosion meteor smashes airborne enemies below Palutena.
Down special	Default	Counter	1.3x damage of countered attacks, 10% minimum	After hiding behind her shield, she performs a counterattack with her staff, similar to that of many of the Fire Emblem characters. It has a rather long range and surprisingly high knockback. Will One-hit KO anyone if she managed to counter an attack that deals at least 40% damage.
	Custom 1	Lightweight	0%	Increases her speed and jumping height. While in this effect, it significantly improves her off stage game and allows her to have more follow ups and an access to her near guaranteed KO set ups from down throw. However in exchange for this effect, she will only take an increased damage (knockback remains the same), while under this effect. Before it wears off, she will have an reverse effect of this move for a very short time.
	Custom 2	Celestial Firework	3.2% (toss), 1.2% (blast)	Shoots an explosive firework upwards in front of her.
Final Smash		Black Hole Laser	2.4% (loop), 12% (last)	Attracts foes towards the center of the stage with Black Hole, putting them in a tumbling state, then fires the Mega Laser into the Black Hole to deal damage, concluding with a final hit to knock the victims away as Black Hole dissipates.

Taunts

• Makes a sweeping gesture with her arms while she creates her ethereal wings and her halo appears, smugly saying "You shall be purified."
• Spins around her staff, dancing with her foot in the air, laughing.
• Her staff floats beside her while she brushes her hair aside and makes her halo shine, saying "Ready when you are."

Idle Poses

• Touches the ground with the tail of her staff and shield in front of her, briefly making her halo shine
• Looks away while crossing her staff and shield in front of her, briefly making her halo shine

On-screen appearance

• Walks out of a heavenly golden door surrounded by a glowing light.

Victory fanfare

• Shared with Pit.

Reveal trailer

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Update history

1.0.4

• Up tilt and down tilt have less end lag.
• Up Smash's hitbox lasts for three frames longer.
• Pivot grab range reduced.

1.0.6

• Fixed where Super Speed's momentum being maintained after jump canceled attacks.

Alternate costumes

Trophies

Palutena

In Kid Icarus: Uprising, the goddess of light uses telepathy to communicate and grants miracles to support Pit on his adventure. In Smash Bros., she has special moves like Warp and Heavenly Light at her disposal. She's very adaptable—you can customize her into a long- or close-range fighter!

Said to be able to perform miracles, this goddess supports Pit in battle, using telepathy to communicate with him. She's no slouch on her own, either. She has a huge variety of moves you can customise and use to your advantage. Short or long range, the sky's the limit! Or maybe not. After all, she can teleport.

: Kid Icarus (08/1987)

: Kid Icarus: Uprising (03/2012)

Palutena (Alt.)

Palutena's Reflect Barrier side special deflects any attacks and projectiles that come at her from the front. Unlike other reflective moves, you can leave this barrier in place and it will keep reflecting. If you really want to ruin someone's day, you can push them over an edge using this move.

Palutena's Reflect Barrier special deflects any attacks and projectiles that come at her from the front. Unlike other fighters' reflective moves, you can deploy this barrier and then leave it to its own devices. You can also push opponents with it, so use it on someone who's teetering on the edge of the stage to push them off.

: Kid Icarus (08/1987)

: Kid Icarus: Uprising (03/2012)

Black Hole Laser

Palutena's Final Smash. After doing a divine twirl, she creates a black hole in front of her, drawing in her opponents. When she's got 'em where she wants 'em, she follows up with a wide laser beam that reaches from one edge of the screen to the other. It even changes direction slightly, just in case someone managed to avoid the black hole.

Palutena's Final Smash. After doing a divine twirl, she creates a black hole in front of her, drawing in her opponents. When she's got 'em where she wants 'em, the next step is a wide laser beam that reaches from one edge of the screen to the other. It even changes direction slightly, for that extra chance of taking out her foes.

• 

  Classic (3DS)

• PalutenaAllStarTrophy3DS.png

  Alt. (3DS)

• 

  Classic (Wii U)

• 

  Alt. (Wii U)

• 

  Black Hole Laser

In Event Matches

Solo Events

• New Challengers 2: Palutena is one of the seven opponents fought in this event alongside Greninja, Robin, Shulk, Dark Pit, Mega Man, and Pac-Man.
• The Demon King and the Goddess: Ganondorf must defeat a giant Palutena, who arrives after defeating Link and Zelda.
• The Destroyer Cometh: Palutena must defeat a giant Ganondorf and 2 other Ganondorfs before they destroy all the terrain on Skyworld.

Co-op Events

• The Ultimate Battle: Two players select a character and must defeat the entire roster.
• Unlikely Allies: Palutena and Ganondorf must defeat 16 Mr. Game & Watches.

Gallery

• 

  Artwork of Palutena used on the website.

• 

  Palutena's splash art.

• 

  Reveal image from the Director's Room.

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  Palutena's amiibo.

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  In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

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  Using Explosive Flame.

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  With Phosphora, who appears as an Assist Trophy.

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  On Mario Galaxy.

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  Fighting Marth.

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  Taunting.

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  With Kirby, who copied Palutena's ability.

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  In Battlefield.

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  With Mario in Arena Ferox.

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  In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

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  Palutena's Final Smash, Black Hole Laser.

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  Palutena taking part in the Home-Run Contest in the 3DS version of SSB4.

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  One of Palutena's special moves, Heavenly Light.

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  Palutena's up smash attack.

Trivia

• The anime portions of Palutena's reveal trailer were created by Studio Shaft, who also worked on the Kid Icarus: Uprising animated short Palutena's Revolting Dinner. One member of Studio Shaft, Hideyuki Morioka, also drew the illustration found on Palutena's page in the official Smash Bros. site; Morioka was credited as "Animation Character Designer" in said animated short.
• Palutena and the Mii Fighters are the only characters that have their customizable special moves unlocked from the start.
• Unused sound files exist for Kirby using all three of Palutena's neutral special moves, suggesting either that it was not until late in development that it was decided which would be the default, or that Kirby was originally able to copy customizable moves.
• Palutena is the only character who can use both a reflector and a counterattack at the same time.
• Palutena is the only character who was once in a Final Smash of the previous game and then to become a fighter in the next game.
• Palutena is the only Kid Icarus character to be treated as a "realistic" character in-game (subdued tripping sound and serif font congratulations screen message).
• Excluding Snake and Villager, who possessed the highest upwards projectile up smash and highest downwards projectile up smash respectively, Palutena holds the record for the highest vertical-ranged non-projectile up smash due to her beam of light attack.
• Palutena is the only character (excluding the Mii Swordfighter with the Link Costume) in Smash 4 with a visible shield that does not protect her while idle: Link and Toon Link have versions of the Hylian Shield which are able to block projectiles while standing and walking, while Palutena's shield does not have this property. Her shield does give her dash attack and back aerial invincibility frames, however, meaning her shield isn't entirely aesthetic.