Draft:Pit (Kid Icarus)

Pit (ピット) is a character and protagonist of the Kid Icarus series created by Nintendo. Pit is a resident of Angel Land and is a member of the royal guard tasked with the responsibility of defeating the ultimate evil. Pit made his debut in the original Kid Icarus (1986), with the mission to rescue the Goddess of Light, Palutena. Since then, she has become an adviser for him. Pit's other notable appearances include the Super Smash Bros. series, Captain N: The Game Master, WarioWare microgames, F1 Race, and Nintendo Entertainment System version of Tetris.

History
Pit, a character in Kid Icarus, was created and designed by Japanese video game designer Toru Osawa. After studying arts and animation at Kyoto Seika University, Osawa was given the chance to create his own game, which he developed single-handedly. The game's concept was inspired by Hiroji Kiyotake's athletic spirit and combined the "running and shooting" style of Metroid with Greek myths. Osawa's dark humor was evident in the bizarre characters and Pit's death cry, "I'm finished!". Japanese video game designer, Masahiro Sakurai, gave Pit a major redesign in Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008). Sakurai felt he would be a noteworthy character to be included in the game, commenting, "I felt like too much time had passed since then and that if I brought Pit to 'Smash Bros.' without any modifications, he wouldn’t be popular, nor have the kind of impressive moves that he would need for 'Smash Bros'." Sakurai redesigned the character while thinking of how he would look after his disappearance from the Kid Icarus series for a long time. According to Sakurai, the reception to the character was well received.

Origin
Among the first video games to draw inspiration from Greek mythology was Kid Icarus. The game's English title refers to Pit, who draws inspiration from Icarus. His name, which derives from Cupid, is another source of inspiration for him. Pit is called after Cupid, a Roman god who has a Greek counterpart named Eros, therefore the name Cupid is still a nod to Greek mythology.

Kid Icarus games
Pit made his first appearance in Kid Icarus (1986). In the game, Pit plays a role in rescuing the Goddess of Light, Palutena, from the clutches of the wicked Medusa. Pit escapes his Underworld prison and descends the steep cliffs, fending off the armies of Medusa's troops, including snakes and the deadly God of Death. Along the way, Pit overcomes Zeus' challenges and gains stronger weapons to combat the Underworld's hordes. In conclusion, once Pit had completed the stage, he would explore a gigantic stronghold filled with traps and puzzles.

Pit returns in Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters (1991). A fortune-teller interprets Palutena's nightmare as a sign that the demon Orcos and his henchmen are about to invade. Pit, the commander of her army, is called by the goddess, who also orders him to report for special instruction that would enable him to use the three precious treasures of Angel Land. Palutena has these under the protection of three fortress guards to keep them secure from Orcos while Pit is on his mission. Pit receives the precious treasures from the goddess after he defeats the guards and completes his training. After two decades of hiatus, Pit appears in Kid Icarus: Uprising (2012), which takes place 25 years after the first game. Pit is working with Palutena once again to defeat the returning Medusa and her unpleasant army.

Other games
Besides his appearances in the Kid Icarus series, Pit has notably appeared in four Super Smash Bros. titles, including Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001) (as a trophy), Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008), Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U (2014), and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018). Pit made a cameo appearance in the Nintendo Entertainment System version of Tetris, in which he can be seen playing the violin. He has been featured in several WarioWare microgames as well as F1 Race.

Other media
Pit's first non-video game appearance was in GoGo Pit-Kun!, a manga based on the original Kid Icarus. He has additionally appeared in an animated television series, Captain N: The Game Master, although in the series he is never referred to as Pit but instead his "Kid Icarus" title. He also had difficulties speaking simple sentences and always ended the sentence with "-icus". For instance, "Hey there, Kevin-icus! Do you want to play some basketball-icus? Me and Mega Man totally love shooting hoops-icus". The Mad animated television series features Pit along with other characters from different franchises in the episode "Diary of a Wimpy Kid Icarus". In 2012, Nintendo collaborated with three anime studios to produce animated shorts based on Kid Icarus Uprising. A short created by Production I.G features Pit fighting with one of Medusa's minions. Pit and his doppelgänger Dark Pit each have their own Amiibo figurines from the Super Smash Bros. series.

Critical reception
Hayes Madsen, a writer for Inverse, described Pit as "Nintendo's most underrated shooter". Madsen highlighted the unique and engaging gameplay mechanics of Pit, praising its combat and strategic elements. Kyle Orland of Ars Technica criticized Pit's movements in Kid Icarus: Uprising but also praised his characterization, noting, "I especially liked Pit's characterization as the kind of dweeby, reluctant hero that I would have totally aspired to be up through the age of 15 or so. It's a child-friendly style that's not for everyone, but it made me grin quite a bit and even laugh out loud a few times". Savannah Malerba of The Odyssey Online considered Pit a male version of herself and found Pit's personality relatable to her, noting, "I am all of those things in about the same ways as Pit and Pit is a great character that I relate to because of that". Savannah also drew multiple sketches of Pit and Dark Pit. Pit's determination received recognition from Marc Kaliroff of Goomba Stomp Magazine, despite the character being unable to fly. Pit's disability is one of his most important traits, according to Marc, who said of him: "Pit’s disability is a shining factor of the character that is not only used to create five-minute cinematic rail-shooter scenarios each mission opens up to but it is also a legitimate reason to further define him as a hero. Despite his weakness, the hero is able to always overcome his problems and ultimately make the higher powers above him look weak. Pit is what every player dreams to be–the believer that can accomplish anything despite the presence of what is seemingly insurmountable odds". Digital Spy's Matthew Reynold considers Pit and Palutena's banter "a constant source of humor". While stating that it was well worth the wait for Pit's reappearance after a decades-long absence. In his review of Kid Icarus: Uprising, Jack Devries, a writer for IGN, criticized Pit's slowness in the game and said that Pit has a very birdlike feel to him, which makes him look weird. In addition, two notebooks, "I Love Pit: Pit Designer Notebook", published in July 2018 by Perfect Papers, and "I Love Dark Pit More Than Chocolate (Or About The Same, Which Is A Lot!): Dark Pit Designer", published in May 2019 by Gorgeous Gift Books, are named after him and his evil counterpart, Dark Pit. Jeff Cork of Game Informer initially had negative feelings towards Pit, but over time, he found himself warming up to him due to his "enthusiastic approach" and sense of humor. Andy Hoover of Nintendojo appreciated Pit's design in Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008), describing it as "colourful" and "lively". canonball, an author of The Fwoosh, in review of Pit's Kid Icarus: Uprising figma, canonball expressed how the figma does not resemble Pit's original appearance from Kid Icarus and Pit looked more athletic. In accordance with canonball, they described the figma as better than the Link and Samus ones; they were "super impressed" by the figure; and they commented: "If you’re even the most casual fan of Kid Icarus, then this Pit is an absolute must. It’s a better figure than we could have ever hoped to get based on the character, and it holds its own in comparison to almost any other figure on the market today". Henry Gilbert of GamesRadar+ stated that Pit is no longer an innocent boy, as he was in previous games; in fact, he has a playful personality, and when it comes time to "kick ass", Pit is prepared for whatever comes his way. In 2012, Nintendo Blast featured Pit on the front cover of their book titled "Nintendo Blast Ano 3 Edições 25 a 36", written by Rafael Neves. Wired Z specifically criticized Pit's voice and childish behavior in Kid Icarus: Uprising. Expressing their disappointment: "Admittedly I may be prejudiced, as a friend of mine was slated to be the voice of Pit before the team decided to "go another way," but the hammy voice acting is almost enough to offset an otherwise stirring soundtrack. Still, poor writing and juvenile overacting isn't the worst of the game's trespasses". Ozzie Mejia of Shacknews stated that Pit delivers some of the worst jokes that he has ever experienced in any video game, while comparing him to popsicle sticks. GameZone's Vito Gesualdi found similarities between Pit, The Legend of Zelda's Link, and American filmmaker Woody Allen, stating that "Pit is equal parts Link and Woody Allen, a handsome young warrior with all the self-confidence of our favorite neurotic Jew". Pit is a childhood hero of Jonas Mäki, an author of Gamereactor. Romendil of Jeuxvideo.com compliments Pit's courage, his skills using the bow to shoot arrows, and his personality overall.