Palunetta

"Enough talk, goddess! Don't mess with a witch!"

- Bayonetta in her reveal trailer

Palunetta is the femslash ship between Palutena and Bayonetta from the Kid Icarus and Bayonetta fandoms.

Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U
In Bayonetta's reveal trailer, Pit is fighting two opponents when Palutena warns him that a challenger is approaching. Bayonetta then appears and when Pit asks Palutena who Bayonetta is, Palutena expresses amazement at seeing a living Umbra Witch, believing them to be extinct. Bayonetta then snarks at Palutena, calling her comment "cheeky, coming from an endangered species". Palutena warns Pit from Bayonetta's bullet arts, commenting that sue uses four guns at ones. When Pit calls Bayonetta's smash attacks "huge", Palutena explains that her wicked weaves attacks summon the limbs of demons. Witnessing Bayonetta slowing down time, Palutena warns Pit that witches can control time itself. When Pit struggles against Bayonetta, Palutena sends in Dark Pit to assist him. When Bayonetta presents her Final Smash, Palutena explains that Bayonetta can also summon huge demons. At the end of the trailer, Bayonetta tells Palutena not to mess with her.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Palutena and Bayonetta were both parts of the resistance against Galeem, though after Galeem's attack, they both held a bit more of their own weight, with Bayonetta even able to dodge Galeem's light multiple times. After their defeat, Palutena and Bayonetta are both trapped on the last map, representing Light and Darkness respectively. Should the player choose to play as one of them, they have the option to save each other.

Neither game allowed for a Palutena's Guidance for DLC characters, so Bayonetta finally got one with her being a "veteran" in Ultimate: Pit freaks out at the thought of an Umbra Witch being in Skyworld, Palutena gives him every reason to do so. She calls Bayonetta the "nemesis of angels", "slaughter of centurions" and makes a comment about her questionable outfits. When Pit asks why Bayonetta hunts angels, Palutena guesses that she drags them to the Underworld for demons to devour their souls. When Pit insists that the angels Bayonetta hunts aren't nice like him, Viridi snarks that both angels and goddesses take many forms and that Palutena's current form isn't her true form. Palutena returns the favor and both laugh at it, leading to Pit interrupting them, telling them he's actually looking for advice on how to fight Bayonetta.

Fanon
People have enjoyed the thought of shipping them ever since Bayonetta's reveal trailer, due to the heavy contrast between the characters and the fact that they actually interact, with Bayonetta's part of the conversation being seen as both spiteful and weirdly flirtatious. It helps that Bayonetta is often thought of as sapphic in her own game and Palutena, being based on the gods of Greek Mythology, probably wouldn't mind the idea of dating a woman.

Ultimate would give the ship a major boost, because of Masahiro Sakurai's comment that both of them could've survived the Galeem attack, saying that they're both powerful enough to do so. This is inspired an AU scenario where Palutena and Bayonetta accompany Kirby in the World of Light, having nobody else to talk to, they strike up a conversation and realize how much they actually have in common. After the world is saved, some have Palutena and Bayonetta settling down, forming a happy "Found Family" and adopting Kirby, alongside Pit, Joker (who is often joked to be Bayonetta's son) and sometimes Dark Pit.

On AO3, it is the second most popular ship for both Bayonetta and Palutena in the "Super Smash Brothers" tag.

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Trivia

 * Sakurai has said that he genuinely considered for Kirby, Palutena and Bayonetta to survive Galeem, but chose against it for gameplay reasons: Kirby was considered the perfect beginner character, while said beginners might've struggled with the more complex controls of the other two.

Variations

 * World of Light Family, the blended family of Palutena being the mother of Pit and Dark Pit, Bayonetta being Joker's mother and Kirby being the child they adopted together.
 * World of Light Mothers, Palutena and Bayonetta acting like mothers to Kirby.