The first installment, Kid Icarus, was released in 1986 for the Nintendo Entertainment System and was received to critical acclaim despite poor sales.

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.

[11] In Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters (1991), Palutena's nightmare is interpreted by a fate teller as an imminent invasion by the demon Orcos and his goons.

The goddess summons Pit, the leader of her army, and tells him to report for specific instructions so that he might use the priceless treasures of Angel Land.

[15] GamePro identified Pit's gameplay mechanics as taking elements from three of Nintendo's biggest franchises: Mario's jump, Link's ability-enhancing objects, and Samus Aran's projectiles.

[11] Shigeru Miyamoto and Masahiro Sakurai both consider the character key to the enduring popularity of the Kid Icarus series.

He compared the enemy to the Hammer Bros. from the Mario franchise because they often come in pairs and throw projectiles at the player character, but also noted that the Eggplant Wizards were worse because they would target Pit.

The staff also wrote that any gamer who has received the curse understands how terrible it is which after becoming an eggplant, players can't deal damage to enemies.

[22][32][33] Chris Morgan of Yardbarker named Eggplant Wizard as the true cult icon of early Nintendo and he noted of how could readers resist espousing his many charms.

Jason Cipriano of MTV Multiplayer Blog wrote that he described Eggplant Wizard as the emblematic of series' wacky design and stated that fans would be excited to see him appear in Kid Icarus: Uprising.

[36] Ishaan Sahdev of Siliconera reported about a GameStop promotion for Kid Icarus: Uprising gave away a selection of augmented reality 3DS cards, one of which features Eggplant Wizard.

Palutena, Viridi, Hades, Magnus, Dark Pit, Medusa, Pyrrhon, Pandora, Arlon, Poseidon, Phosphora, Dyntos, Thanatos, Cragalanche, and the Centurions are the few additional common characters in the series.