Kid Icarus
Developed by Toru Osawa and later Masahiro Sakurai.
Core elements of Kid Icarus include:
Characters and settings from Greek-Roman mythology
Pit’s ability to fly (or lack thereof) and his use of a bow
Story elements typically involve the Three Sacred Treasures
Kid Icarus can be categorized into the original games and the reboot by Masahiro Sakurai.
Original: Kid Icarus, Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters
Reboot: Kid Icarus: Uprising
Kid Icarus (1986)
In the distant past, in an age when the gods and man lived together in harmony. There was once a kingdom called “Angel Land”. This kingdom was ruled by two beautiful goddesses, Palutena who administered light and Medusa who ruled darkness. Palutena lived in the Palace in the Sky and administered light so that man could live in happiness. And bathed in this light, man grew food and lived in peace. However, Medusa the goddess of darkness was different. Medusa hated mankind. She took great pleasure in drying up the crops that man took great pains to grow and in turning people into stone statues. In her anger, Palutena changed Medusa into an ugly monster and banished her to the deep, dark Underworld. For being changed into this ugly monster and forced to live in the Underworld, Medusa promised to take over the Palace in the Sky where Palutena lived.
So great was Medusa’s anger that she joined forces with the monsters and evil spirits of the Underworld and Medusa’s army soon began to surpass Palutena’s army in strength. Soon a war between Palutena and Medusa began. Medusa led a surprise attack on Palutena’s army which could barely fend off the attack. Palutena’s army suffered major losses and was heavily defeated in the final battle. What's more, Medusa's army took the Three Sacred Treasures - the Mirror Shield, the Arrow of Light, and the Wings of Pegasus - away from them. Almost all of the warriors in Palutena's army were turned into stone statues and Palutena herself was imprisoned deep in the Palace of the Sky. The peaceful realm of Angel Land came to be inhabited by the foul and terrible monsters and was turned into a land of darkness ruled by the wicked Medusa. Locked in the depths of the Palace in the Sky, Palutena's strength was drained to its last. As a last resort, she sought the help of the angel youth Pit who was being held prisoner locked in a deep dungeon in the Underworld.
Pit was a valiant warrior who used to be in charge of Palutena's personal bodyguards. Armed with a bow and arrow brought to him through Palutena's magical strength, Pit attempted an escape from the Underworld. The guard at this time was low in number as Medusa's army had advanced to the Palace in the Sky. Pit succeeded in his escape and set out on his long adventure to rescue Palutena. Yet to defeat Medusa he had to get the Three Sacred Treasures.
Pit travels through 3 areas: Underworld, Overworld, and Skyworld. In each of these areas, Pit defeats it’s Fortress Gatekeeper—Twinbellows, Hewdraw, and Pandora who each guard one of the Three Sacred Treasures.
With all Three Sacred Treasures, Pit arrives at the Palace in the Sky and defeats Medusa thus saving Palutena and Angel Land. Palutena transforms Pit to make him taller and gives him a kiss on the cheek.
F.A.Q.
To Unlock Best Ending: to unlock the best ending, the player must fulfill all 4 requirements when defeating Medusa—999 Hearts, 5 segments of health, 5 strengths, and possess all 3 enchanted weapons (Fire Arrow, Protective Crystal, and Sacred Bow).
Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters (1991)
A long long time ago, in an age when the gods and man lived together in harmony. At that time, there was a kingdom called Angel Land which was founded by the Goddess Palutena. Angel Land was a place where the sun was always shining and the people peacefully raised their crops. It was a good and happy place and a smile never left the face of Palutena as she watched over the country from the Sky Palace. But, one day, her smile was wiped away as a result of a dream. A terrible dream, which seemed so real and was much more horrible than the worst nightmare. Calling a soothsayer to her, she asked him to unravel the dream and foretell what was to pass. Seemingly in pain, the soothsayer began to speak, "Angel Land will be attacked. Attacked by an invasion of demons from another world. Terrible demons by the name of O...Or...Orcos!" Upon uttering this name, the soothsayer was struck speechless, as voiceless as a stone.
Palutena immediately summoned Pit, the leader of the Icarus Army. The personal bodyguards of Palutena, the Icarus Army was responsible for guarding the peace in Angel Land and none took their job lightly. Upon arriving, Pit was asked to have a seat, a liberty not usually given by a Goddess. Looking directly into his eyes, Palutena began, "Pit! Thank you for coming. I have a task for you," she then told him of her dream and of the soothsayer. "Pit, this dream will come to pass. And, I believe that it will happen in the not-too-distant future. I trust you, but, you must tell no one else! News of these terrible demons will cast our peaceful Angel Land into chaos. I bid you now to begin training so that you may gain special magical power. I am placing all of my hopes and fate of Angel Land on you Pit. You must be the one to battle the demons." Sitting back in her chair, Palutena continued, "Since the days of old, Angel Land has possessed the Three Sacred Treasures - the Wings of Pegasus, the Arrow of Light, and the Silver Armor. These treasures, when worn, will give the wearer the special magical powers to battle any demon. Yet alas, poor Pit you do not yet have sufficient power to wear these Three Sacred Treasures."
So Pit, with the help of Palutena, devised a mission so that he might attain the power needed to wear the Three Sacred Treasures. This mission was threefold: To battle his way up under the Underworld Tower, storm the Overworld, and conquer the dizzying heights of the Skyworld Tower. Only then would Pit have sufficient power to enter the Sky Palace and wear the Three Sacred Treasures.
To keep the Three Sacred Treasures safe in case Angel Land was attacked while Pit was away on his mission, Palutena sealed them and sent one to each of the Fortress Guardians. She knew that once they had their hands on the Three Sacred Treasures, they would not give them up without a fight. After Pit's mission of training was complete, and he had gained the ability to use the Three Sacred Treasures, the job to defend Angel Land from the Orcos would be his. With this plan in mind, Palutena then dispatched Pit to the darkest depths of the Underworld Tower.
After defeating all three fortress guardians, Pit is granted the Three Sacred Treasures by Palutena—however, Orcos suddenly appears, revealing himself to actually be a single entity. After introducing himself as the "king of the Evil Land," he turns the goddess of light to stone and informs Pit that he must defeat him in order to free Palutena. He then flies off to await Pit's arrival deep within the Sky Palace.
Pit fights his way to Orcos and defeats him. Palutena is restored, and she praises Pit for bringing peace back to their realm.
F.AQ.
To Be Gifted All Three Sacred Treasures by Palutena: by default, Palutena will always allow Pit to use the Wings of Pegasus upon reaching the Sky Palace however if the player is able to max out Pit’s stats (5 life blocks, 8 power arrows, and 999 currency?) then Palutena will allow Pit to use all Three Sacred Treasures. Otherwise, the player can earn the right to wear the other two by passing the each of the Sacred Training Chambers in the Sky Palace level.
Kid Icarus: Uprising (2012)
25 years after Kid Icarus, Medusa has been resurrected and once again attempts to eradicate mankind while seeking revenge on Goddess of Light Palutena and angel captain of her royal guard Pit. Upon learning this, Palutena summons Pit to stop the Underworld Army and bring peace to their realm once more.
Medusa retaliates by putting forward her faithful watchdog, Twinbellows, and her commanders, Hewdraw, Pandora, and Thanatos. However, before Pit defeats the goddess of calamity Pandora, she clones him using the Mirror of Truth, bringing about the creation of Dark Pit.
After a brief fight between the two angels, Palutena decides to refocus her efforts on the Underworld Army. She then sends Pit to the Galactic Sea, where he fights a faction known as the Space Pirates in order to reclaim the Three Sacred Treasures. Once Pit obtains the treasures, he immediately heads for the Underworld and faces off against Medusa. However, it is only after her defeat that they realize their enemy was not actually Medusa, but rather Hades, the true ruler of the Underworld.
Relishing in the chaos and destruction of others, Hades tricks the humans into thinking that the mythical Wish Seed has been taken, causing a massive war to break out amongst their own species. This, in turn, draws out the goddess of nature, Viridi, who launches a Reset Bomb onto the Overworld to restore the balance of nature by eradicating mankind.
As Pit fights these new enemy forces, the destruction grabs the attention of the Aurum, an alien species that seeks to destroy the earth and harvest its resources for their own agenda. The self-proclaimed Sun God, Pyrrhon, joins in soon after, and the previously warring gods unite to eliminate the alien threat. However, Pyrrhon betrays his allies, fusing with the Aurum Brain in order to take control of their fleet. Pit then defeats Pyrrhon, forcing the god to retreat back into space along with the rest of the Aurum.
In the aftermath of the Aurum invasion, Pit awakens 3 years later and finds that his soul is sealed inside of a ring. While trying to figure out what happened, he takes control of the bodies of a girl, a dog, and eventually the human warrior Magnus, who informs Pit that Palutena's Army began attacking mankind during the angel's absence. Afterwards, Pit fights and reclaims his own body, then attempts to contact Palutena in order to sort out what had happened during the last 3 years. However, Viridi answers Pit's calls instead and uses the power of flight to fly him to Skyworld, where he encounters the projection of a possessed Palutena. After Pit discovers that a force-field surrounding Palutena's Temple is preventing him from reaching his goddess, Viridi extracts him and brings him back to her own headquarters to regroup.
Viridi sends Pit to the Lightning Chariot Base in order to borrow a vehicle known as the Lightning Chariot, which possesses the ability to break through the force-field surrounding Palutena's Temple. However, the Chariot Master is reluctant to hand it over, forcing Pit to fight him for it. After the Chariot Master's death, Pit takes control of the Lightning Chariot and uses it to break through Palutena's barrier. Viridi then tells Pit of the Chaos Kin, the creature that is controlling Palutena. Pit travels through the temple and engages Palutena in battle, defeating the Chaos Kin and freeing her of its control. However, the Chaos Kin snatches Palutena's soul away, causing her body to turn to stone as it flees into the Chaos Vortex.
With the help of Dark Pit, Pit pursues the Chaos Kin into the Chaos Vortex and engages it in battle, ultimately reclaiming Palutena's soul. As Pit and Palutena reunite, the ashes of the Chaos Kin spring to life and latch onto Dark Pit, pulling him from the platform they were standing on and sending him plummeting through the air below. Pit rushes after him and uses the power of flight to save him, but because he had already exhausted his flight prior, his wings catch fire. The injuries to Pit's wings leave the angel in critical condition, forcing Dark Pit to travel to the Underworld in order to save him. With Palutena's help, Dark Pit brings Pit's unconscious body to the Rewind Spring, which returns his wings to their original state.
Having been brought back from the brink of death, Pit equips himself with the Three Sacred Treasures and faces off against Hades. However, the lord of the Underworld destroys the treasures, prompting Pit and Palutena to seek out the god of the forge, Dyntos, for a new weapon with which they can use to defeat Hades. After Pit undergoes the god's tedious trials, Dyntos grants Pit the Great Sacred Treasure, a strong robotic suit.
Pit faces off against Hades once again, engaging him in a massive battle that spans from the Underworld to the Overworld. Along the way, Hades gradually breaks down the Great Sacred Treasure, forcing Pit to destroy him using the treasure's cannon alone. Upon Hades's defeat, Pit begins to celebrate his victory against the god, only for Viridi to reiterate her stance on humanity. Palutena tells Viridi that she should let Pit enjoy his victory for the time being, and both he and Dark Pit fly off into the sunset together.
F.A.Q.
12 Zodiac Chambers: throughout the game, there are 12 Zodiac Chambers which unlock weapons or power items that are based on the twelve constellations of the Zodiac and include: the Sagittarius Bow, Taurus Arm, Gemini Orbitars, Cancer Claws, Leo Cannon, Virgo Palm, Libra Sponge, Scorpio Staff, Aries Armor, Capricorn Club, Aquarius Blade, and Pisces Heal.