Kid Icarus: Uprising



""Sweep the heavens, Scourge the earth!""

- Quote from the blurb of Kid Icarus: Uprising

Kid Icarus: Uprising is a game for the Nintendo 3DS. It was developed by Masahiro Sakurai (known for the Kirby and Super Smash Bros. series) and his Project Sora development team, and was released 21 years after the last Kid Icarus title.

Twenty-five years after Medusa's defeat, Medusa has returned to wreak havoc on the world. Now Pit - with the help of Palutena - must once again venture to stop her and her Underworld army.

In addition to the singleplayer campaign, there is a mode for collected AR (Augmented Reality) cards to battle each other, and, of course, since it's by the designer of Super Smash Bros, there's a multiplayer mode. Players who preordered the game in the US got a code for a free download of a 3D-remastered version of the original Kid Icarus, and the Nintendo Video application on the 3DS featured three short Kid Icarus: Uprising anime videos called Thanatos Rising (part 1, part 2, part 3), Medusa's Revenge (link), and Palutena's Revolting Dinner (part 1, part 2).

"Hewdraw 2: Look how far you've come, Pit! I'm proud of you. *dies* Pit: Huh. You don't usually meet such nice bosses..."
 * Abnormal Ammo: While mostly firing things like arrows, cannonballs, or generic balls of light, certain weapons have Pit fire bouncing pawprints, jumbled chunks of skyscraper, or crescent moons.
 * Action Bomb: Quite a few. Shulms, Bumpety Bombs, Trynamites...
 * Affably Evil: Thanatos.
 * One of the Hewdraw heads might say this after the end boss battle in Chapter 3:

""Don't forget to take a break now and then.""
 * Arlon the Serene is also one of these, with a little Quintessential British Gentleman thrown in.
 * Faux Affably Evil:
 * Affectionate Parody: Of Greek Mythology, as well as video games and all related conventions.
 * Anachronism Stew/The Genie Knows Jack Nicholson: In the "Thanatos Rising" anime short, Palutena jokes that she found the coordinates for Thanatos's location from his blog. Yep, gods keep blogs.
 * "RAGE QUIT! RAGE QUIT!"
 * The game itself is rife with these, partially due to there being No Fourth Wall (after all, video games didn't exist in the days of Greek myth). There are mentions of laser eye surgery (for Palutena's "Eye of Palutena"), parking lots and Nintendogs. Some of the weapons include jet engines, laser blades, clubs shaped like skyscrapers, and excavation drills. Then at the end, you get
 * Even "Divinipedia" was mentioned, with Pit asking for the site's link.
 * Pay close attention to the bickering of the three Hewdraw heads in Chapter 3, and you'll hear one of them mention that he just wants to go home and watch TV.
 * One of the trailers gives the impression that Pit and Palutena like playing Smash Bros together.
 * American Kirby Is Hardcore:
 * Pit's English voice in Super Smash Bros.. Brawl noticeably sounds older than his original Japanese voice (video comparison). His voice is even deeper than that in the English trailer for Uprising.
 * Take a good look at one of the TV commercials.
 * And Now for Someone Completely Different:
 * Angels, Devils, and Squid: Pit and the Centurions,, and , respectively.
 * Anime of the Game: The Nintendo Video anime shorts by Production I.G, Studio 4°C, and Studio Shaft.
 * Anti-Hero: Magnus and, later on,.
 * Anti-Poopsocking: As with most Nintendo 3DS games, Uprising advises you to take a break after extended play. Justified, since there's a very real chance that you'll get hand cramps. The game actually ships with a free 3DS stand to make extended play more comfortable.

"Pit: Do you hear that?! Do you hear the people's cheers? They are celebrating the return of their goddess Palutena!"
 * The Archer: The Centurions. Pit can also be this if you equip him with a bow.
 * Arm Cannon: The Cannon weapon class.
 * Artificial Stupidity: In level 8, a Belunka (troop transport for the Underworld Army) comes by and drops off a Clubberskull, the toughest enemy in the game. Luckily, it starts out sealed within a skull. Unluckily, 2 Space Pirates just so happen to be nearby, and they're always stupid enough to break the seal.
 * Almost always, the Clubberskull is nice enough to charge at them and then leap off the edge of the platform immediately after, unless you can kill it first.
 * Ascended Extra:
 * Dark Pit, who was just a Palette Swap in Brawl.
 * Thanatos, who was just a snake enemy that would attack during the final battle of the original Kid Icarus, is now a major player in the Underworld Army.
 * Attack Drone: The Orbitar weapon class.
 * Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Medusa
 * Attack Its Weak Point: Played with. Almost every boss in the game has weak points that sustain more damage, but you can do damage without needing to target them. Some are more obvious than others—you can tell you've found one because it makes a different on-hit noise.
 * Boom! Headshot!: As Palutena reveals in the Chapter Four boss fight, this technique works on the vast majority of large enemies.
 * Attack Reflector: There are a couple enemies that are only really vulnerable to smacking their own attacks back at them. Melee strikes also can potentially deflect projectiles, but each weapon has its own "sweet spot" to successfully do so - unsurprisingly, the huge clubs consistently have the largest.
 * Ascended Meme: The Stinger of "Thanatos Rising".
 * Authority Equals Asskicking: Pit, being the captain of Palutena's personal guard, of course has this and also some of the bosses he fights.
 * Awesome Yet Practical: The are this, especially the  which can kill the ever-so-annoying Ornes, and the  which grants random shielded protection.
 * Awesome Yet Impractical: However, it turns out using the equipment is less powerful than your actual weapon in higher difficulties, so it'd be recommended to use your actual weapon. The horrible trade-off is that many Ornes like to live in the Chapters where the are effective against them.
 * Back from the Dead: Medusa was killed by Pit in the first game, but comes back in the third. Along with some of her old underlings.
 * Bacon Addiction: compares  to how good bacon is - tastes good with everything.
 * Badass Normal: Magnus.
 * Bait and Switch Boss: Chapter 8 sets you up to face the Space Pirate Captain. When you get to him,
 * Subverted in Chapter 5:
 * Baleful Polymorph:
 * Like in the first game, Pit can be turned into an eggplant, but now he can be turned into Tempura as well.
 * Bandit Mook: Plutons can steal Pit's collected loot in a level. Thankfully, you can now destroy them to get your stuff back.
 * Batman Can Breathe in Space: Pit.
 * Beam Spam: Happens a lot in aerial battles. It might also happen in multiplayer if multiple people activate the Mega Laser power at once, or use the Beam Claws' continuous fire.
 * BFG:  The Daybreak Cannon in multiplayer mode also fits, since it can One-Hit Kill fighters and almost kill angels.
 * BFS: Magnus has one. It's so huge that if Pit manages to fuse a copy of it, it's treated as a Club, instead of a Blade.
 * Any sword that's too huge to fit in the Blade class will always end up in the Club section. The Hewdraw Club is another example.
 * Better Than a Bare Bulb: This game lampshades typical video game cliches and tropes with rapid-fire frequency (see also No Fourth Wall).
 * Bifurcated Weapon: All Bow-type weapons can turn into this when used for melee hits.
 * Big Bad:
 * Big Damn Heroes: Once you reach the city in the first level, you hear the people cheering for the appearance of Pit and Palutena to save their day.
 * Big Damn Heroes: Once you reach the city in the first level, you hear the people cheering for the appearance of Pit and Palutena to save their day.

""You having a private conversation with yourself, angel face?""
 * Black and Grey Morality: The whole series falls into this category. The Underworld Army are indeed evil. However, every other force Pit deals with all have their reasons for attacking humans. Even Palutena and Angel Land are in the Grey section. Pit is the only character that sees the world in black and white and, therefore, is the only "morally good" person in the series.
 * Non Sequitur Episode: For three chapters,
 * Blatant Lies: claims that he is going to use the   to revive an orphan's parents, give them oodles of cash, and make them royalty. Nobody buys it for a second.
 * Body Horror: Getting turned into an eggplant... or tempura. Not only do you get "deep-fried" by the Tempura Wizard's attacks, you can also be eaten alive!
 * Played for Laughs, since Pit can talk, walk, and breathe just fine. The "horror" part comes from the fact that you're completely defenseless and, if turned into tempura, can be killed in one hit.
 * Book Ends:
 * Boom Stick: The Staff weapon class.
 * Bootstrapped Theme: The main theme is largely overshadowed by Underworld at this point, even being used in Uprising's trailer. Though this may be because very few people ever got past that level.
 * Boss Banter
 * Boss-Only Level: The final level is this.
 * Boss Rush: There's one in Chapter 9 and 24, the latter including a Dual Boss battle. Then after beating the game, there's a new Boss Rush mode unlocked that's similar to the ones in Sakurai's previous works.
 * Boss Subtitles
 * Broken Angel:
 * Call Back: A lot in this game, to the point where they use screenshots of the original game when pointing out returning characters.
 * Also, if there was a piece of music in the first game, chances are it gets an orchestral remix in this game.
 * Pit's air battle special attack when using a bow resembles his level-end pose from the original game.
 * Came Back Wrong: You wouldn't know to look at her, but Medusa does indeed come back weaker than in the first game, her memory is also slipping and "[her] life force is much weaker than it once was."
 * Camp Gay: Thanatos in the English version sure acts the part in terms of mannerisms and voice. It's made more apparent in the Thanatos Rising short.
 * Canon Immigrant/Early-Bird Cameo: Dark Pit was a Palette Swap for Pit in Brawl before appearing in Uprising.
 * Cannibalism Superpower: The more of its allies and enemies it eats, the stronger and larger a Guttler gets.
 * Carry a Big Stick: The Club weapon class.
 * Casual Danger Dialog
 * Character Select Forcing: Done to varying degrees with the various Treasure Hunt challenges. Some simply require clearing a level with a particular type of weapon (such as a bow). Some require beating a boss with a specific weapon (like beating Hewdraw with the Bomber Arm). And then there are some of the "beat the level in X minutes" challenges, which can range from "don't use a club or a speed-reducing weapon on this stage" to "you must have Brawler Claws with an extra speed modifier to have a chance at this."
 * Cheeky Mouth: The Character Portraits do this so much it puts Sonic the Hedgehog to shame.
 * Chest Monster: Mimicuties. The "treasure box" grows legs, and starts rapidly kicking Pit and chasing after him. They are very, very fast, take more hits to kill than just about any other Mook in the game, and they hit HARD.
 * The Chew Toy: Pit.
 * Cloning Blues: Dark Pit.
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Pandora.
 * Color Coded for Your Convenience: In the main game, all on-screen characters and monsters (save Pit) have a colored arrow over them. Yellow for Palutena's Army and items, purple for the Underworld Army, dark grey for the Space Pirates, White arrows are used to mark neutral characters, and jump pads have orange.
 * Color-Coded Multiplayer: In Light vs. Dark, the Light team has white armor and the Dark team has purple.
 * The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: In Together mode, when you select Nearby, you can set up a game of Light vs Dark or Free-For-All using bots with random weapons attached to them. Only issue is, when playing Light vs Dark the game sometimes ignores its own value rules even though you still have to follow them. Watch as the computer completely demolishes you [on high levels] with high-value weapons and barely receive any punishment for it upon death.
 * The bots' dodging reflexes are also far higher than a normal human's. They will perfectly dodge attacks on all but the lowest difficulty settings. They even have the ability to dodge shots a human person wouldn't be able to see.
 * Convection, Schmonvection: In Chapter 10. Justified by Palutena's "power of cooling."
 * Cool Horse:
 * Cool Versus Awesome: Chapters 15 through 17 could be described as "Greek gods versus ".
 * Corridor Cubbyhole Run: Multiple parts in the run through the reapers' castle; you can simply hide from the reapers each time instead of fighting them.
 * Crap Saccharine World: Sure, the world looks bright and cheery, The Legions of Hell notwithstanding, but as the game's plot goes on, we're shown just how screwed up both the humans and the gods are. Even Palutena, the Big Good, is pretty much a Troll in her dealings with Pit.
 * Cute Shotaro Boy: Pit and Dark Pit.
 * Dark Is Evil: The residents of the Underworld are Exclusively Evil, and Medusa is the Goddess of Darkness.
 * Darker and Edgier: One would think that this trope would apply after, but even then, the game remains lighthearted with lots of comedy throughout all the chapters.
 * Deadpan Snarker:
 * Pit and Palutena take their turns dabbling in this during their exchanges throughout each mission.
 * Magnus also has his fair share of snarky comments, mainly aimed at Pit.
 * Magnus also has his fair share of snarky comments, mainly aimed at Pit.


 * Death Is a Slap on The Wrist: Can be either played straight or heavily averted depending on how many hearts are put into the fiend's cauldron.
 * Death Is Cheap: Gods are apparently able to resurrect their champions. Palutena can resurrect Pit instantly,, and
 * If The Stinger is anything to go by,
 * Demonic Possession:
 * Desperation Attack / Critical Status Buff: The "in-peril attack boost" effect. If your weapon has it, you'll get more powerful when your health's gotten low.
 * Deus Ex Machina: A more classical example in the final chapter:
 * The Dev Team Thinks of Everything:
 * Try replaying Chapter 3.




 * When you go against Dark Pit in Chapter 6, there are 9 possible locations where you can fight him, but they randomly select three locations. The dialogue is even written to reflect that.
 * During the part of the game where
 * None of Palutena's idols can be rotated far enough to get a Panty Shot. This is in spite of the fact that most other idols can be viewed from below, with most of the exceptions being locations. Medusa has the same restriction, although you can clearly see that nothing inside of her dress has been modelled.
 * Dialog During Gameplay
 * Disc One Final Dungeon / Disc One Final Boss:
 * Dolled-Up Installment: Uprising wasn't originally planned to have anything to do with the Kid Icarus series. Nintendo and Sakurai were just working on a Nintendo 3DS action game involving sky and land combat when they suddenly realized that Pit would be the perfect character for such a title.
 * Double Meaning Title: The short "Palutena's Revolting Dinner", referring to the fact that she's a Lethal Chef and the food is literally revolting.
 * The subtitle Uprising alludes to both the rise of Medusa and the Underworld forces, as well as Pit's flight segments, during which he rises up into the air.
 * Dual Boss:
 * Dual-Wielding: Pit's bow, like in Super Smash Bros Brawl, can be split into two swords.
 * Easter Egg:
 * Moving around the menu icons on the touch screen, though they'll go back to place after you release them.
 * Pressing the A, B or Y button during cutscenes will have the camera zoom in and you can move it around with the the control stick.
 * Repeatedly touching the Fiend's Cauldron will get it annoyed until it finally turns around and faces away from the player.
 * During flight sections, if Pit is close enough to a flat surface like the ground, he'll start running instead of flying. You even get points for doing it.
 * If you hold down on the circle pad after dying, you get to see where all the hearts go after they spill out of the Fiend's Cauldron.
 * Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette/Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Medusa.
 * Eldritch Abomination: The Orne. An invulnerable blue skull surrounded with purple fire with a dislocatable jaw that holds multicolored skulls of several shapes in its mouth. It has horns and six eye sockets. And it kills you on contact.
 * Clubberskulls are giant monsters shaped like fleshy human hearts with skulls for fists. Ew.
 * Eldritch Location/Mind Screw: Pandora's Labyrinth of Deceit was deliberately designed to confuse intruders. As such, it comes complete with tricks such as.
 * Enemy Mine:
 * The primary factions in the game all reluctantly team up when the Aurum invade the planet.
 * Enemy Summoner: In the original game, The Grim Reaper enemies were very hated for it. Uprising introduces a boss version, the Great Reaper.
 * Energy Being: The Space Pirates, as mentioned on the standard Space Pirate idol.
 * Even Evil Has Standards: The morally-ambiguous and even  despise  with a passion.
 * Everybody Hates Hades: Thanatos, the god of Death, is a high-ranking, and highly evil, member of the Underworld Army. The fact that the Underworld is constantly invading the Earth and Heavens also qualifies..
 * Everything's Sparkly with Jewelry: Palutena.
 * Evil Counterpart/Evil Knockoff/Evil Twin/Shadow Archetype: Dark Pit.
 * Exact Words: Some of the chapter titles make more sense in hindsight.
 * Extreme Omnivore:
 * Palutena doesn't seem to ever have food far from her mind. She often speculates on the culinary qualities of various enemies and bosses, and at one point even theorizes about spicy angel wings, when Pit is in danger of being electrocuted. In the short animation, Palutena's Revolting Dinner, she is completely unperturbed by the fact that the carrots she was preparing gained sentience, and was still intent on cutting them up and cooking them.
 * Facial Markings: Medusa sports some on the left side of her face in her Uprising design.
 * has these as well.
 * Fake-Out Fade-Out: After Medusa gets taken down in Chapter 9, it looks like the adventure's over and a retro 8-bit credit starts rolling.
 * Fake Ultimate Hero:
 * Fallen Angel: Dark Pit.
 * Family-Friendly Firearms: The various staves Pit can wield, especially the Flintlock Staff, bear a striking resemblance to sniper rifles.
 * Family-Unfriendly Violence:
 * Fan Service:
 * Probably the only reason why the second part of Palutena's Revolting Dinner starts with Palutena in a hot spring. To give you a basic idea of what the scene looks like, look here.
 * If the female public was disappointed,
 * Fantasy Pantheon: This game has a mix between this and Greek/Roman gods.
 * Five-Bad Band: Medusa's Army forms one:
 * Big Bad: Medusa
 * The Dragon: Thanatos
 * Evil Genius: Pandora
 * The Brute: Hewdraw
 * Dark Chick: Dark Lord Gaol
 * Team Pet: Twinbellows
 * Sixth Ranger Traitor: Dark Pit
 * Flaming Hair: Also Twinbellows, who has flaming fur.
 * Flash Step: The Bumblebee Power and the In-peril AutoDodge mod as well.
 * Fluffy Cloud Heaven: While it's probably not actually supposed to be heaven, Skyworld certainly looks the part.
 * Fluffy the Terrible: Some of the have jarringly cutesy names. Lampshaded twice with Bumpety Bombs.
 * Foil: Magnus is one for Pit, even down to the designs of the two characters. Magnus is a deep-voiced adult while Pit is visually and vocally a teenager at best, has a black color scheme contrasting Pit's white, is buff compared to Pit's "thin" frame. They are different in personality as well; Pit fights to defend the humans, while Magnus is only in it for the reward money.
 * Palutena's relationship with Medusa, her co-ruler-turned-Evil Counterpart.
 * Foreshadowing
 * In Chapter 9, Medusa briefly alludes to having severe amnesia, not knowing why or how she came back from the dead.
 * When mentions the "Book of Divine Prophecy" foretelling the coming of  says she doesn't remember that passage.
 * There’s this subtle bit of dialogue during the flight section of.
 * Fluffy Cloud Heaven: While it's probably not actually supposed to be heaven, Skyworld certainly looks the part.
 * Fluffy the Terrible: Some of the have jarringly cutesy names. Lampshaded twice with Bumpety Bombs.
 * Foil: Magnus is one for Pit, even down to the designs of the two characters. Magnus is a deep-voiced adult while Pit is visually and vocally a teenager at best, has a black color scheme contrasting Pit's white, is buff compared to Pit's "thin" frame. They are different in personality as well; Pit fights to defend the humans, while Magnus is only in it for the reward money.
 * Palutena's relationship with Medusa, her co-ruler-turned-Evil Counterpart.
 * Foreshadowing
 * In Chapter 9, Medusa briefly alludes to having severe amnesia, not knowing why or how she came back from the dead.
 * When mentions the "Book of Divine Prophecy" foretelling the coming of  says she doesn't remember that passage.
 * There’s this subtle bit of dialogue during the flight section of.

"Palutena: A space kraken? Well, THAT came out of nowhere!"
 * Four Is Death: The fourth chapter of the game is entirely devoted to the Reapers. Even the boss is an absurdly large Reaper.
 * Genre Shift: Uprising is a Third-Person Shooter rather than a regular platformer.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: Has its own page.
 * Giant Foot of Stomping:
 * The "Atlas' Foot" item.
 * One of the forms Thanatos takes during his boss battle.
 * Giant Space Flea From Nowhere:
 * The Space Kraken in Chapter 8:

"Palutena: Pit:"
 * Gimmick Level: A few levels have small changes to keep things interesting, such as one level which continues the on-foot combat along the same path as the flying part of the level, giving Pit a limited amount of space to move on a floating platform.
 * God and Satan Are Both Jerks: There is not a single god or goddess who does not enjoy trolling Pit at every opportunity.
 * Also lampshaded in the final cutscene, where Pit jokingly states the gods are far more selfish than humans could ever hope to be.
 * God of Evil: Medusa.
 * God of Good: Palutena.
 * Gone Horribly Right/Gone Horribly Wrong: technically managed to
 * Grid Inventory: Used for powers.
 * Grind Boots: Gods are capable of creating "Grind Rails" for Pit to use during land battles. Apparently, only the one the rails are created for can even see them, much less use them.
 * Gross Up Close-Up: Considering how family friendly Uprising is, you get a surprisingly graphic view of
 * Half the Man He Used To Be: Chapter shows
 * Hard Mode Perks: The Intensity levels in Uprising increase the amount of enemies you face and the usefulness of the rewards for completing the level. However, the difficulty decreases every time you die, along with some of the hearts spent on increasing the difficulty.
 * Heart Beat-Down: The Angel Bow and Viridi Palm have heart designs and shoot out heart-shaped projectiles.
 * Heel Face Turn:
 * He Knows About Timed Hits: Palutena and Pit mention the game controls quite a bit.
 * Hell Hound: Twinbellows. Like his name implies, he has two heads.
 * Heroic Sacrifice:
 * Hot Amazon:, obviously.
 * Hot Goddess: Palutena, Medusa,
 * High Speed Battle: The fight with the is one.
 * Hive Mind:
 * Hot-Blooded: Pit, more so here than in the original games.
 * Hulking Out: The Clobbler is a fairly harmless and adorable apple with legs... unless you hit it.
 * Humans Are the Real Monsters: Something of a recurring theme. Palutena notes, when talking about Magnus, that humans are fundamentally driven by desire, using the mercenary as an example..
 * Hot-Blooded: Pit, more so here than in the original games.
 * Hulking Out: The Clobbler is a fairly harmless and adorable apple with legs... unless you hit it.
 * Humans Are the Real Monsters: Something of a recurring theme. Palutena notes, when talking about Magnus, that humans are fundamentally driven by desire, using the mercenary as an example..

"Pit: Floor ice cream gives you health!"
 * Hyperactive Metabolism


 * Hypocritical Heartwarming:

"Palutena: What was THAT all about?"
 * I Am Not Shazam: Parodied, in-universe. At the beginning of the instruction videos, Pit looks at the title and wonders who this Icarus person is and if he'd get to meet him.
 * Idiosyncratic Difficulty Levels: The difficulty settings for the Solo Mode levels: "Effortless", "Easy", "Standard", "Tougher", "Challenging", "Heatin' Up", "Extra Spicy", "Infernal", "White Hot", and "Nothing Harder!".
 * Ignoring by Singing:
 * Thanatos does this when Palutena and Pit are talking about him.
 * when Pit says the Komaytos look like Metroids.
 * I'm a Humanitarian: Tempura Wizards, though they turn their prey into shrimp first.
 * Incoming Ham:
 * In-Series Nickname: Courtesy of Palutena, "Pittoo" for Dark Pit, much to his annoyance.
 * Insult to Rocks: apparently believes that comparing Palutena and snakes is an insult to snakes.
 * Interface Screw:
 * In the Name of the Moon: Delivered by Pit, including snappy poses and sparkly background in what can be called a love letter to the Trope Namer. and Palutena are not amused.
 * In the Name of the Moon: Delivered by Pit, including snappy poses and sparkly background in what can be called a love letter to the Trope Namer. and Palutena are not amused.


 * Invincible Minor Minion: The Orne, in addition to being able to One-Hit Kill you. Subverted in that you CAN kill them... but only with . Chapters that use them often place a lot of Ornes around to make it more difficult if you choose to play the Chapters without them.
 * There's also the . Luckily, they don't perform a One-Hit Kill... less fortunately, when they appear, there tend to be much more of them at once.
 * Ironic Echo:


 * Jerkass Gods: Most of them.
 * Jump Scare: Happens a few times throughout the game, such as when the new enemies are introduce in Chapter 13, or later when
 * Kill All Humans:
 * Knight of Cerebus: For a while, the game is pretty comedic, with the characters being flagrant parodies of certain archetypes and the witty banter in between.
 * Knight Templar:
 * Lampshade Hanging:
 * The first thing Pit says in the announcement trailer for Uprising is "Sorry to keep you waiting!"
 * At one point in the demo, Palutena mentions that it's been "about 25 years" since she last battled Medusa. Guess when the original Kid Icarus was released in America. Go on, guess.
 * Between the No Fourth Wall and Medium Awareness, there's hardly a surface left without a lampshade on it by the game's end.
 * Large Ham:
 * Tanatos' name was changed to Thanatos between Kid Icarus and Uprising. He claims the "H" stands for "Hamaaazing".
 * and most definitely qualify, as well,.

"Pit: You know, these Komaytoes sure look a lot like Metroids.
 * Last Chance Hit Point: Crisis Mode. If Pit's health bar is depleted, the next hit will, regardless of the enemy's strength, cause the bar to shatter. While it's possible to survive a single, very weak attack in this mode, the next hit you sustain will most likely finish you off. Any healing items or spells you use while in Crisis Mode won't take effect until Crisis Mode is over.
 * The Last of These Is Not Like the Others: In-real life example, the box of the game has multiple emotional looks Pit does in the game around the cartridge's area. Then you look at the bottom-left corner to see a grinning Dark Pit.
 * In-game,
 * Laughably Evil: Several antagonists, but especially Thanatos.
 * Leitmotif: Many characters have their own theme when they are in the spotlight, examples are Magnus and Dark Pit.
 * Hilariously, Pit does not have a theme of its own...but a random dog does. Ouch.
 * Lethal Lava Land: Chapter 10: The Wish Seed takes place entirely in and around the Immortal Phoenix's volcano. Pit says he got a little sweaty.
 * Light Is Good: Palutena, in direct contrast to Medusa, is the Goddess of Light.
 * Light Is Not Good / Dark Is Not Evil: An interesting subversion regarding the Light Fighters and Dark Fighters. The Light Fighter idol describes them as being not always the nicest of guys. The Dark Fighter idol, in contrast, describes them as "pretty sweet dudes to hang out with". See also Good Is Not Nice.
 * Not to mention that
 * Luck-Based Mission: You can only get to the Zodiac chamber in Chapter 6 if Dark Pit spawns in one location, and there's a 50% chance on any given run in that chapter that he will spawn there. Fortunately, you only need to access it once.
 * Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me:
 * The Mirror Shield, one of the three Sacred Treasures.
 * The Back Shield, which temporarily protect the wearer from all hind damage, allowing him to focus more ahead of him.
 * The Guardian Orbitars, which look like two small, floating shields. Their main attack involves throwing gigantic shields at the enemy.
 * Made of Explodium:
 * Tombstones in Multiplayer mode explode upon taking enough damage. This can be used to a player's (dis)advantage.
 * Some objects and even enemies in the singleplayer also have a tendency to blow up with the slightest strike.
 * Magitek: The sleek, visor wearing, Laser Blade equipped fighters in Uprising, especially when compared to the Centurions.
 * The Man Behind the Man:
 * Market-Based Title: Uprising's Japanese title is Shin Hikari Shinwa: Parutena no Kagami, which, when compared with the original game's Japanese name (Hikari Shinwa: Parutena no Kagami) implies it to be either a remake or a reboot, even though it's neither.
 * Medusa: The Big Bad of the game.
 * Melee a Trois:
 * Palutena's Army vs..
 * Pit vs. Dark Pit vs. Medusa's Underworld Forces in Chapter 6.
 * Pit vs. Space Pirates vs. Medusa's Underworld Forces in Chapter 8.
 * Metal Slime: Souflees are really fast and hard to hit, but not very durable, completely unarmed, and give tons of hearts when you kill them. Pit even points out how profitable killing them is in Chapter 3.
 * Mini Game Credits: You can shoot the names to turn them red, and it counts how many you get. One of the treasure hunt goals is to hit at least a certain number.
 * Mini-Mecha:
 * The Cherubots in certain levels. The Aether Rings and Exo Tanks to a certain degree.
 * Transforming Mecha:
 * Mission Control:
 * Palutena, who converses quite frequently with Pit, even during heated firefights.
 * Mistress and Servant Boy: Palutena's and Pit's relationship, though Pit's actual title is the Captain of her guards.
 * Monster Clown: Thanatos.
 * Mood Whiplash: Uprising may be funny one moment and then dead serious the next.
 * Mook Maker: The Belunka serves as a troop transport for the Underworld, so naturally it does this.
 * Mother Nature:
 * Ms. Fanservice:.
 * Multiple Head Case: Hewdraw has three heads with distinct personalities. Twinbellows also has multiple heads, though it can't talk.
 * Multi Stage Battle: The battles against Dark Pit, Medusa,
 * My Friends and Zoidberg:
 * Mythology Gag: Sakurai also worked on Super Smash Bros Brawl, and one enemy projectile resembles the trophy creating arrows from The Subspace Emissary.
 * Never Learned to Read:
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Congratulations, you defeated
 * Nightmare Face/Butter Face:.
 * Nintendo Hard: This game has a toggle for this, called the Fiend's Cauldron, where players can adjust the "intensity" themselves, and can up the stakes for rewards such as stronger weapons.
 * No Arc in Archery: Present with the arrow shots fired from most of the weapons.
 * No Fourth Wall/Medium Awareness:
 * One bit of banter in the tutorial of the demo has Pit equating Dashing in the game to Dashing in Super Smash Bros Brawl. They go off about wanting to play the game, with Pit wanting to play as Mario and Palutena wanting to play as Kirby.
 * In the same tutorial video, Pit is informed that he has to stop and take a breather after extended periods of running. Palutena explains that if he was able to run nonstop, he could just zoom past every enemy, to which Pit replies "Curse you, balanced gameplay!"
 * One particularly memorable exchange later in Uprising features a Metroid Shout-Out:
 * No Arc in Archery: Present with the arrow shots fired from most of the weapons.
 * No Fourth Wall/Medium Awareness:
 * One bit of banter in the tutorial of the demo has Pit equating Dashing in the game to Dashing in Super Smash Bros Brawl. They go off about wanting to play the game, with Pit wanting to play as Mario and Palutena wanting to play as Kirby.
 * In the same tutorial video, Pit is informed that he has to stop and take a breather after extended periods of running. Palutena explains that if he was able to run nonstop, he could just zoom past every enemy, to which Pit replies "Curse you, balanced gameplay!"
 * One particularly memorable exchange later in Uprising features a Metroid Shout-Out:
 * Don't say that! That game universe has nothing to do with this gaming universe!"

"Pit: What are we talking here? Mini Boss? Final Boss?"
 * Also this line:

"Shh! They'll hear you! We're not supposed to talk about things like that!"
 * Pit makes note of the fact that the is so tall that there's a loading screen in the middle of it.

"Thanatos: I go by Thanatos now. The H stands for hamaaaazing!"
 * There are also lots of references to gameplay mechanics from the first game, along with screenshots.
 * Non-Indicative Name:
 * Non-Standard Character Design:
 * Magnus. He's less stylized than the other characters, and wears darker clothing, and has a more normal, deep male voice.
 * Dark Lord Gaol's design clashes with the rest of the game, being more akin to a Final Fantasy boss than anything.
 * Nonstandard Game Over: This game has quite a few.
 * Failing to destroy the Reset Bomb in Chapter 12.
 * During Chapters 17, 21, and 25, Pit . Failure to do so results in an instant Game Over.
 * Also in Chapter 17,
 * In Chapter 20,
 * In Chapter 21,
 * Chapter 24 has one
 * At Chapter 25,
 * Not Me This Time:
 * Oddly-Shaped Sword: The Blade weapon class have some.
 * Offhand Backhand: Dark Pit's Establishing Character Moment.
 * Older Than They Look: According to Word of God, Pit is supposed to have the body of a 13-year-old human, Palutena that of a 22-year-old, Viridi that of an 8-year-old, and Phosphora that of a 16~17-year-old. But it can be gathered that Pit is at least over 25, and being gods and angels, they are all very likely centuries old.
 * One-Hit Kill: Ornes. They're invincible unless you use the . They just need to touch Pit and down he goes. Good luck with the levels that drop more on your head on higher difficulties!
 * Tempura Wizards technically perform a two-hit kill by turning you into a shrimp and then eating you, but it's in the same spirit.
 * The Daybreak weapon in Together Mode.
 * 108: The total number of weapons, being twelve for each of the nine types.
 * Orchestral Bombing
 * Orichalcum: is made from this.
 * Outside Context Villain:
 * Our Angels Are Different: They can't fly—at least Pit can't. It's a bit of a sore spot with him.
 * Our Dragons Are Different: Hewdraw.
 * Peninsula of Power Leveling : In general, chapter 1 and . The former is quick and easy to finish and gives out plenty of Hearts at higher intensity; the latter is a simple level with high level loots, allowing you to farm for high value weapons with ease. Both are also some of the simpler stages to do on Intensity 9.0.
 * Chapter 6 and, to a lesser degree, also qualify, as the air battles in both stages give you a chance to attack the boss for bonus hearts.
 * Perma-Stubble: Magnus.
 * Pimped-Out Dress: Both Palutena and Medusa sport some rather elegant attire in this game.
 * Pinata Enemy: The Souflees drop lots of hearts; the Treasurefish will drop an item, a weapon, or a power; and the Rare Treasurefish will always drop a weapon or a power.
 * Playing Possum: One of the gifts allows you to pull this out on your enemies.
 * Playing Tennis With the Boss: In all cases, this is optional, since you can still damage the enemy normally. Pandora spews bombs and gems that you can melee back at her. One of Thanatos' forms is an urn that shoots skulls; you can melee the white skulls back at him, but the red skulls blow up in your face.
 * Pocket Dimension:
 * The pot that Sinistew resides in contains a one-dimensional universe, and has no qualms over pulling Pit inside if he happens to stray too close. The Captain Flare enemy also has an alternate universe inside his cape, which he uses to disappear and reappear at will.
 * Power Fist: The Arm weapon class.
 * Power Tattoo: The Palm weapon class.
 * Powerup Mount: Pit gains access to three Vehicles of the Gods throughout his adventure: the Exo Tank, the Cherubot, and the Aether Ring.
 * Plotline Death: It's outright stated that gods can and often do resurrect their generals.
 * Progressively Prettier: Medusas, compared to her appearance in the original game.
 * Psychopathic Manchild: Thanatos
 * Punny Name: Clobblers. They're apples (i.e. the ingredients to a cobbler) that clobber you.
 * Rain of Arrows: Pit's special ability when using a bow in the flight stages, as well as Dark Pit's strongest attack in Chapter 6.
 * Randomly Drops: Each level's treasure chest has a list of what it can drop - certain weapon classes and certain power-ups. One reliable rule of thumb is that the chest always has a chance to drop a weapon type that has one of its class patterned after the level boss (for example, since there's a cannon patterned after Twinbellows, level 1 chests always have the chance to drop cannons). The Intensity Level also affects what can drop and the power of what does drop.
 * Rapid-Fire Comedy
 * Rapunzel Hair: Palutena.
 * Reconstruction: Of the arcade-style action game, especially since the genre has become so dark. This game, while still acknowledging the flaws, still manages to keep its lighthearted tone while not forgetting the darker implications that these games bring up.
 * Recycled in Space: The Space Pirate ship level..
 * Reptiles Are Abhorrent: Medusa, the God of Evil Big Bad, has snakes growing in her hair.
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter:
 * Rule 34: Not enough of it for.
 * There's plenty of it for Palutena as well.
 * Rule of Funny
 * Running Gag:
 * Palutena's near constant teasing of Pit.
 * Pit's obsession with hot springs.
 * Pit can't fly on his own.
 * Say My Name: Plenty of it in Chapters.
 * "" "PIT!"
 * Almost anytime shows up, Pit dramatically shouts his name. Listen closely and you'll notice that they're actually using the same sound clip every time throughout the whole game.
 * Samus Is a Girl:
 * Sealed Evil in a Can: Clubberskulls are enemies who start out trapped within a skull bound in chains, but if their skull is attacked, they get loose and begin chasing Pit... Oh, did we forget to mention that they're extremely strong and durable?
 * Scenery Porn
 * Scenery Gorn: The ravaged Skyworld definitely falls into this.
 * Schizo-Tech:
 * Many of the weapons in Uprising look like futuristic firearms, in a universe clearly based on Greek Mythology.
 * The presence of, and what brings it home is that this doesn't seem odd to the Gods or Pit at all.
 * Pyrrhon and Pit seemed to imply in Chapter 17 that there exists an internet, or at least one for celestial beings.
 * Schmuck Bait: A treasure chest in level 2, sitting right in the open, which Magnus outright tells you is guaranteed to be a trap.
 * She's Got Legs: Mimicuties have these, except they're the kind of legs you'd WISH to stay away from ASAP.
 * Shield Bearing Mook: Boogities literally have shields for backs, making them invincible until they spin around to attack.
 * Shifting Sand Land / Under the Sea / Slippy-Slidey Ice World: Surprisingly, Chapter 7 is all of these.
 * Ship Tease:
 * At one point when comes to help, Palutena points out that she must really care about Pit. Pit says that he doesn't think she's all that bad either, and  whispers for him to be quiet before loudly announcing that she's definitely not doing this to help him.
 * Additionally, according to the the Palm's idol, only someone who is completely devoted to  can use it.
 * Depending upon how you look at it, Pit and Palutena get some as well. Especially in later chapters.
 * Shout-Out: It has its own page.
 * Show Some Leg: Palutena.
 * Siege Engines:
 * In the Thanatos Rising first short, the humans have something that looks like a mix of the Trojan Horse and an AT-AT walker. Thanatos hijacks one to take out the rest and then gave it wings and heads for the town.
 * Sinister Geometry:
 * Slapstick Knows No Gender: The two animated shorts centering on Palutena feature a surprising amount of physical comedy at her expense.
 * Slasher Smile: Medusa in Studio 4°C's short.
 * Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Despite how funny Uprising is, the plot leans back and forth between the two. On one hand, you have Pit, whose idealist nature to destroy evil and protect the humans would seem to shine in this type of game. On the other hand, everyone else seems to have the opinion that either Humans Are the Real Monsters or God Is Evil.
 * Sniper Rifle: The Staff weapon class fills this role for the most part.
 * Some Kind of Force Field:
 * Soul Power: Souls are treated like a natural resource in this game,.
 * Space Is an Ocean: Literally. Space actually is an ocean called the Galactic Sea, where the constellations are held and Space Pirates steal them.
 * Spell My Name with an "S": Most names were left unchanged from the classic game, even if they were originally mistranslated. "Tanatos", however, gets an in-game update to match the mythical God of Death.
 * Space Is an Ocean: Literally. Space actually is an ocean called the Galactic Sea, where the constellations are held and Space Pirates steal them.
 * Spell My Name with an "S": Most names were left unchanged from the classic game, even if they were originally mistranslated. "Tanatos", however, gets an in-game update to match the mythical God of Death.

"Pandora: Hand-holding is strictly prohibited!"
 * Spiritual Successor: Uprising's multiplayer feels like a 3D Super Smash Bros., due to its emphasis on fast-paced action and unpredictability, with some ideas from team-based shooters thrown in for good measure.
 * The aerial gameplay segments are extremely reminiscent of Star Fox and the on-foot gameplay shares some similarities with Star Fox Assault. The aerial segments of Chapter 5 are basically one big long Star Fox homage, taking the player through a polygonal space-station-esque place then briefly into outerspace.
 * Serious Sam, another game involving the player taking down waves of enemies, was probably an influence on the ground sections.
 * Sprite Polygon Mix: Virtually everything is composed of polygons... except some of the items.
 * Standard Status Effects: A full assortment of nasty effects that you can suffer from or inflict on your opponents with the right weapons or powers, including Poison, Burning, Paralysis (jerky movement making it difficult to dodge), Shaking (jiggling your aiming reticle to disrupt your aim), Confusion, Freezing, Petrification (which tends to last longer than Freezing, but you take less damage while petrified), and Weakening (your lifebar shrinks by half, making you take double damage from everything). And let's not forget the dreaded Eggplant or Tempura Curse...
 * Stealth-Based Mission: Chapter 4 has sections where you have to avoid the Reapers, even having little alcoves to hide in.
 * The Stinger: On the screen after the credits with the feather, wait a few minutes, and you'll hear.
 * Stop Helping Me!: Parodied:

"": There are some latrines that need to be cleaned, private!""
 * Stop Poking Me: Tap the Fiend's Cauldron enough, and it'll get mad and turn it's "back" to you.
 * Start of Darkness: The subject of Studio 4°C's short is Medusa's Face Heel Turn and her banishment to the Underworld.
 * Stealth Pun: The title. Uprising: Medusa revolts and Pit flies.
 * Story to Gameplay Ratio: In the evens, since the bulk of the story is told while the gameplay is actually going on, mostly averting conventional cutscenes.
 * Super-Persistent Predator: According to their profile, once you anger a Clobbler it will take him three days to calm down and stop pursuing you.
 * Suspicious Videogame Generosity: The Drink of the Gods, which usually appear right before boss battles.
 * Taken for Granite: The "Petrification" status ailment.
 * Tall, Dark and Handsome: Magnus.
 * That's No Moon:.
 * The Theme Park Version: Of Greek Mythology, even more so than before.
 * The Three Trials:
 * Time Skip:.
 * Tin Tyrant: Dark Lord Gaol, who dons some rather spiffy armor with a Badass Cape and Spikes of Villainy.
 * Toilet Humor:

"Pit: TMI! No one wants to hear about your loins."
 * The same character also warns Pit to be careful when bathing in a hot spring found within an base, in case it might be some other yellow liquid.
 * Tons of it, naturally, made by while you're.
 * Too Fast to Stop: If Pit has too many buffs to his speed active (like using the already speed-enhancing claw weapons with a further speed boost, then getting Mercury's Sandals), particularly in areas that don't have an Invisible Wall blocking off a bottomless pit, this can pop up.
 * Too Much Information: Pit says the acronym for this when addressing Arlon about his... loins.


 * Took a Level in Badass: Pit used to be a weakling, but "countless trials over the years have toughened him up", according to Snake and Otacon's conversation about him in Brawl.
 * Trailers Always Spoil: Averted hard.
 * Tranquil Fury: While Pit normally has a fiery, passionate personality, when  Pit doesn't have any kind of snappy comment. He just calmly, and bluntly tells him to go home.
 * Troll: Palutena.
 * Turns Red: Pandora does this during one of her attacks in the Chapter 5 boss fight against her. She turns back to normal afterwards.
 * The boss of Chapter 23,
 * Unexpected Gameplay Change:
 * Unexpected Shmup Level:
 * In Chapter 18, the flight segment takes place at the end after, instead of the beginning.
 * Unique Enemy: There is exactly one in the entire game.
 * The Unfought:  Though she presents herself as another antagonist, there is never a direct confrontation between her and Pit. Even   gets to take a swing at our angelic hero while fighting together with
 * The Unpronouncable:
 * The Space Pirate Captain's true name is impossible for human tongues to pronounce.
 * The names of the are unpronouncable, so Palutena gives them names that are close approximations.
 * Urban Legend of Zelda: Donating Hearts to the Offering screen. These do absolutely nothing to help your game (which the game reminds you of each time you visit the screen), but rumors have arisen.
 * Victor Gains Loser's Powers: Of sorts - several weapons are based off of bosses, and these cannot be found or purchased until that boss is defeated. Some (like the Twinbellows Cannon) simply require beating the boss in question, while others require more difficult tasks accomplished through the Treasure Hunt. Also, Dark Pit takes Pandora's powers after both he and Pit defeat her.
 * Villains Out Shopping: When you find a hot spring, you sometimes see enemies chilling out there. The Reapers even have their own designated hot spring... which happens to be poisonous.
 * Voice of the Legion: Gaol has this.
 * Walking Spoiler: Showing up as early as Chapter 9, and being a particularly memorable character, it's hard to discuss the game without revealing that
 * Wave Motion Gun: The Mega Laser power.
 * has one, as first demonstrated in Chapter, and it covers most of the arena you're fighting in to prove your worthiness of wielding it.
 * The Lunar Sanctum opens up to reveal one.
 * And the Daybreak gun.
 * Western Zodiac: There are 9 weapon and 3 powers based on it. It also appears on your file when selecting your birthday.
 * Wham! Episode: This game has several, notably.
 * Wham! Line:
 * Widget Series
 * Wild Card: Dark Pit.
 * Winged Humanoid: Pit and Dark Pit.
 * Wings Do Nothing: Pit is incapable of flight, and Palutena has to personally bestow the "Miracle of Flight" upon him, in order to let him fly for 5 minutes at a time.
 * Wolverine Claws: The Claws weapon class.
 * Womb Level:
 * Woman in White: Palutena, further cementing her status as the Goddess of Light.
 * Worf Barrage: Viridi drops a Reset bomb on  It doesn't take.
 * World of Ham/World of Snark
 * World's Strongest Man: Magnus is the strongest of the human race.
 * Writing Around Trademarks: Subtly lampshaded during the tutorial, when Palutena misremembers a title as Super Bash Sisters, but Pit doesn't hesitate to correct her.
 * X Meets Y: Space Harrier meets Star FOX meets Sin and Punishment with a mix of Greek Mythology.
 * The weapon system is a combination of Pokémon's Gotta Catch Em All mentality and breeding chains, Team Fortress 2's crafting and Random Drops, and Borderlands's randomized features and stats.
 * Xanatos Gambit:
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair:
 * Palutena (green; also a case of Curtains Match the Window).
 * Your Princess Is in Another Castle:
 * Palutena (green; also a case of Curtains Match the Window).
 * Your Princess Is in Another Castle:
 * Your Princess Is in Another Castle: