Palutena

Player Name: Incardine
Contact Info: NekoIncChan on AIM, NekoIncardine on Plurk
Other Characters Played:
* Megaera D'Ashland, OC
* Kallen Stadtfeld, Code Geass
* Redcloak, The Order Of The Stick
* Lina Inverse (AKA Caster), Slayers (by way of Fate/stay night)

Character Name: Palutena
Canon: Kid Icarus

Canon Background: http://www.kidicaruswiki.org/Palutena is the recommended resource for Palutena's four-game canon.

AU Background: Lady Palutena, some untold centuries ago, was worshipped as one of the Fates - commonly referred to as the Goddess of Light, beloved for the miracles she brought to humanity. The details always seemed to vary from town to town - some cast her as more than a little capricious, prone to reacting in great fury, while others perceived her as pure of heart, yet more than a little scatterbrained - only a rare few treated her as absolutely perfect, but fewer viewed her as 'insufficient'.

When the Church began to rise in Dagaria, finding Palutena to be very commonly worshipped, the Church chose to co-opt her imagery. Some elements went to the Crystal King, but most treated her as one of the Crystal King's greatest angels - prone to bringing great miracles to mankind, often in the form of bringing great blessings to champions the world over.

The complex nature of worship and its relationship to divine power meant that Palutena, more or less, shifted into the role of angel over the centuries. Really, if you asked her to compare her time being called a Goddess and her time being called an Angel, she'd shrug and basically refer to it as kind of an issue of semantics.

In a time of incoming civil war, she's chosen to start bringing miracles to individuals of potential for great light, in hopes that they might be able to save innocent lives - and create peace once more. How successful she'll be, on the other hand... Is less clear.

Personality:
Palutena, first and foremost, cares for humanity (here meant to include most all humanoids) - and for the safety of humanity, especially against the horrors of war - or, moreso, of the Rift. Most frequently, she will use her powers to bring miracles to help innocents either be protected, or protect themselves, against these greatest threats. However, she's usually more than a little cautious with these miracles - in part because she knows that she can't let humanity be dependent on her, and that the wrong choice of champion could easily make the war worse. Her genuine caring for humanity made her a rarity among the Fates, though among the Angels she finds herself in better company. This caring is borne of a faith in humanity's potential - and an understanding that they are the closest to the gods.

Speaking of which, she's one of a very few who could take a "demotion" in confident stride. As her imagery was co-opted by the Church, she was happy to accept the shift in role. In the strange, metaphorical terms of divinity, she accepted the change from being a god herself to an elite servant of one with grace. (It meant less responsibility, for one, which was nice.) It really works out much the same - she keeps her Centurions, she maintains a section of the Crystal Palace for her work and research, and if anything, the great celestial hot springs are larger and more luxurious now.

Palutena is far from perfect in practice, though. She's very calm and focused in situations... Until something chooses to target, mess with, or insult her personally, at which point she quickly gets quite annoyed - occasionally to the point of wanting to make trouble for someone. (Yes, at one point, she does specifically get annoyed when a specific character significantly out-chests her...) She's also very, very prone to messing with her champions in various subtle ways - though this is usually simple playfulness. When she's not focused, she can also occasionally be prone to spacing out in little ways - one moment of putting attention in the wrong direction can cause her a world of trouble.

This isn't even accounting for Palutena's occasional lack of empathy for non-humanoids. This one's just left to a quote - when she animated some carrots and they moved to escape... "You're still on the menu so slicey-dicey and into a nice hot oil bath!" (And no, she completely did not see the ensuing chaos they inflicted on her as a result coming...) Or her flat-out lazy streak, choosing to go bathe in the celestial springs and have Pit deal with things... That were in the same building as her.

Palutena's also prone to fourth wall ignorance, casual talking about technologies from far in the future (after all, she can enjoy them to an extent now - and no, that isn't just jokes, she ACTUALLY HAS an uses a PDA for recipes in canon), and general proclivities for confusing people by talking about things they can't know about, including occlusive use of Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness.

So, yeah. Trollish, angerprone, lazy, and yet she's still the Goddess of Light and genuinely on the side of good. Just about sums up her world.

Combat Style:
Palutena knows how to use angelic weaponry... But that doesn't mean she's willing to fight unless she is either cornered, or deeply annoyed by something that is right in her face. Instead, she pretty much exclusively relies on combat by champion - granting miracles, sacred tools, etc. to aid them in battle. To do this, she must be able to see the miracle's location... Which means one of her first gifts to any potential champion is usually a laurel cross symbol of one or another sort (crown, brooch, necklace, etc.), which she can then activate to see through.

Canon miracles include Caging (basically forming steel cages around, say, animated carrots), Maelstrom (which is capable of generating vast rains even indoors), Flight (granting a champion wings... But they only work for five minutes a go, and Palutena has to guide their general path), Gifts (dropping snacks or single-use items near her champion in conveniently placed locations), the Celestial Super Scanner (exactly what it sounds like - capable of identifying enemy names for example), and a technique for marking the weak points of targets.

She's also one of the greatest apothecaries among celestial beings - capable of mixing all sorts of miraculous potions. Unfortunately, she is sometimes a wee bit of a mad scientist about this, and it has turned on her hilariously before. Pretty much every potion she makes, if used improperly, will have a very strange side effect. For example, if she were to pour too much of a potion of rejuvanation on vegetables, they would animate... And promptly acquire a survival instinct capable of causing a series of incidents capable of destroying much of her palace.

Good thing she's immortal... Not that she won't run away if threatened, or resort to flat out bluffing. (She's become pretty good at that one over time.)

Kingdom or Faction: The Church... However, it is critical to point out that Palutena serves the Crystal King, not his earthly apparatus. If she perceived the church as corrupt, she would actively work to purify it, even if it meant choosing champions who were enemies of the Church.

Primary Role: Engineer/Commander.

Soldier or Siege Company: Technically, Lady Palutena has the Centurions - a sizeable army of bronze-armored soldiers. Unfortunately, the vast majority of them are frankly worthless in a fight - even the big and burly ones would have a hard time fighting animated vegetables.

As a result, when Palutena needs to get things done, she either relies on mortal champions, or uses her divine power to create seige devices - or, more to the point, seige miracles - for herself. (Or, if one should ever app in, has Pit do the head-on work while she focuses on support from afar.)

Tarot Cards:
PAST: The Emperor - Palutena is a servant of the Crystal King, who accepted - and accepts - governance from him.
PRESENT: The Heirophant - Palutena's very nature as a high angel ties her to the Church... But virtually guarantees she will come into conflict with it, as well.
FUTURE: The Star - Palutena will, through miracle and action, seek to bring hope and happiness to the world. She fights - or at least, aids proxies - in the genuine hope of creating peace.

Title: "The Angel of Light."

Artifacts: Quite simply - when it comes to artifacts, Palutena is loaded. She has access to the Crystal King's celestial storehouses, and she's willing to use its contents every so often. (This is a potentially running plot device.)

Setting Considerations: Palutena's godlike/angelic power allows her to see the underlying mechanics of reality. Quite simply, if someone's a fourth waller, she can keep up with them without difficulty. Further, she's prone to making comments about future issues in the weirdest contexts - like observing that her flight-granting miracle has terrible fuel economy, to only work for five minutes at a time. (She's not alone, either. It appears that Gods and their servants in Kid Icarus basically recurringly use tech from the future for the fun of it.)

This consideration is a massive spoiler for Kid Icarus: Uprising, and has been run through rot13. Decode only if you don't care about the game's plot being spoiled! Ng bar cbvag, Cnyhgran fubhyq rapbhagre fbzrguvat fvzvyne gb gur Punbf Xva - n fgenatr ornfg gung Cvg nppvqragnyyl hayrnfurf. Vg'f fplgur-yvxr gnvy nyybjf vg gb gnxr rgurerny sbez "vafvqr" fbzrbar - pbagebyyvat gurve obql pbzcyrgryl nf vg fybjyl qribhef gurve fbhy. Gur perngher frrzf gb ybir gb pnhfr nf zhpu fhssrevat nf cbffvoyr. Vg vf hapyrne ubj njner gur ivpgvz vf juvyr fb cbffrffrq. Gur perngher vgfrys vf engure sentvyr, naq nalbar jvgu tbbq creprcgvba pna fcbg - naq fgevxr - vg rira juvyr vg vf jvguva nabgure. Guvf pbhyq or n evsgornfg, be fbzrguvat be fbzrbar ryfr pbhyq fho va sbe gur ebyr bs pbeehcgvat ure naq gheavat ure sbeprf - GRZCBENEVYL - vagb sbeprf bs rivy.

Sample Post: http://testrun-box.dreamwidth.org/31162.html

Your liege has called upon you to perform a task of great importance. Upon what do you rely to complete it?
I rely upon the champions that I have chosen, and entrusted with the miracles that I bring.

Your rival in court knows something that you do not, and this knowledge is giving them the advantage. How do you address this issue?
If we're talking Viridi, one wisecrack about her being a tsundere oughta do the trick nicely.

What does your presence bring to your kingdom?
My presence brings resplendant miracles and divine beauty, capable of guiding the people of Dagaria out of the dark times that have befallen them!

Why do you deserve to rule this land?
Because, to be frank, I have yet to see anyone else capable of the job. Who is alive and active right now, at least. Terenas was a good man whose efforts will be missed.

What is god to you?
God is my sleeping neighbor and boss. A capable being worthy of following, but by circumstances forced to rely on powers not his own.

It is the eve of a great battle, and the troops have made camp for the night. Where are you and what are you doing?
I rest in the Crystal Kingdom, beyond and outside the battlefield, ready to grant miracles upon my champions and their allies, that they might find victory.

You are presiding over a murder trial where both suspects claim innocence. What do you do?
Clearly, this calls for the reading of their hearts... For it is very possible that both are innocent. Justice is not a zero-sum game, nor is it a choice of either or.

The pressures of court have become too much for you to bear, what do you do?
Find a nice hot spring and get away from the world for a while.

You are given the opportunity to bet everything you have for great fortune, should you win you will be granted the wealth of kings but should you lose you will lose everything. What do you do?
What use would an angel have for the wealth of kings? I'm perfectly fine as it stands. And anyone running such a chance shouldn't be trusted anyways.

What do you do in the face of great adversity?
Have you heard it said that "when the going get tough, the tough get going?" Well, when an angel gets going, the adversity tends to turn around. Fast.

A celebration is being held in your honor. Lavish food, gifts, and even people are offered at your table. What do you take or do in celebration of your achievements?
To see people honor me - whether angel or goddess - is a wonderful occasion that I must observe from beyond. The knowledge of the people's appreciation is enough for me.

What are your aspirations?
Humanity's advancement represents my greatest aspiration. Though on a personal level, developing as a chef would be nice.

Who deserves to pass judgement upon you, and who do you deserve to judge?
It is my role - perhaps undeserved - to judge humanity and seek to find it unwanting. Ultimately, I am judged by one - the Crystal King himself.