So, as you may or may not be aware of, I can assure you at least have heard of the following angel: Pit. Cute little soldier with a loyal alignment with the light goddess Palutena...and yet he can't fly. Or at least, not on his own. But have you ever wondered why this is? Well, I'm going to discuss it today. This is a VideoGamer13 theory: why Pit can't fly without help.
So in the Kid Icarus series, you see in the actual gameplay that Pit can't fly in any game: the original, Of Myths and Monsters, or Uprising. Why this is is has never been explained in full detail, but I'm going to go over three theories that might explain this inability of flight. The first theory is one that is likely false but I decided to go with anyway, the second theory is one that could be right but probably isn't, and the last one, my personal favorite, is the one which is probably correct and has the most evidence to support it. But anyway, let's get right into it.
Theory Number 1: Pit became an angel too early
This theory is probably the least likely of the three theories since there's no actual evidence to back it up. So this first theory is that Pit can't fly on his own because he became an angel too early to have fully-developed wings that, well, allow him to take to the skies. Again, there is no solid evidence to back this theory up aside from the fact that according to Icaruspedia, Pit seems to be around thirteen years of age. But angels seem to be really rare in media such as this, both in Kid Icarus and the Bayonetta games. But this does seem like a fully plausible theory that could be proven or at the very least tested one day.
Theory Number 2: Pit's wings were crippled in the past
This is the theory that mostly goes hand in hand with Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters. At the end of the game- spoiler alert!- Pit draws inspiration from the Greek myth of Icarus and flies too close to the sun. The Divinipedia page says that Pit burnt his wings off, but in the game they literally just fall right off! And this event isn't even mentioned in Uprising, so it's probably the least likely correct answer.
Theory Number 3: Pit's wings aren't large enough to carry him far distances
This is the theory I fully agree with, as not only has it been proven by Icaruspedia and Divinipedia pages, but also in the side series Pit has appeared in more that once, Super Smash Bros. The theory is this: Pit's wings are too small. This theory seems like it could be the most correct of the three theories I just mentioned, since on Pit's page on Icaruspedia it says Pit 'has small white wings incapable of flight.' This message also goes hand in hand with the Smash Bros. games, where in Brawl, Pit can glide but now actually fly without using his up special. The power of flight doesn't help this theory, surprisingly, since in SSB4, it can be used indefinitely for both angels without anything going wrong. This is also proven since, when you look at Pit's wing size in comparison to Pit himself, they're actually small compared to what you may think. Also, in Chapter 21 of Uprising, it is fully shown that when Pit's wings burn up there isn't actually a skeleton for the entire wing, just a small bone on either side. Again, this theory has the most evidence supporting it, which is why it's my number one.
