Athena

For The King of Fighters character, see Athena Asamiya.

Athena (アテナ姫, Atena Hime), also known as Goddess Athena, is a character from the SNK arcade game Athena (being the protagonist of this game), which was later ported to several platforms.

She became very popular after her debut due to the lack of bikini wearing heroines in the market at the time. According to an interview with Gamest, the developers state that the planner from Alpha Mission wanted to create a brand new heroine to separate his next project from the mass produced shooting games he's done. Her bikini outfit was made due to artistic bias for the female figure and to also help her change into different outfits. She was voted as the 12th best idol character in the 1993 issue of Gamest's Gals Island 2.

She is voiced by Haruna Ikezawa and Mie Itou.

Story
Athena is the selfish princess of the Kingdom of Victory, which inhabits a mysterious world. She was bored with the monotonous life day by day in her castle and desired exciting adventures. One day she opened the Door Which Shoudn't Be Opened in the basement of Castle Victory, and fell to another world called Fantasy World which was dominated by an evil emperor Dante, a creature based on Cerberus.

After Athena defeated Dante (in the sequel Athena: Full Throttle), she is again bored with the peaceful days without adventures. This time she opens the Door Which Shoudn't Be Opened: B, disregarding the advice from her loyal maid Helene, and they both fall to the Elysium World to face a bunch of new villains.

Then she becomes the secret boss of the dream match game SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos as an angelic being guarding the entrance to the Heaven World, which is supposed to be one of the stages of her arcade game. Contrarily, the Capcom character Red Arremer is the secret boss who guards the entrance to the Hell World.

She is still the guardian of Heaven in Neo Geo Battle Coliseum, but has been kicked out of Heaven for an undisclosed reason and must redeem herself by fixing problems on Earth. In her ending, Athena is prepared to return to Heaven when a voice tells her that defending the world from WAREZ has only earned her only 15 of the 100 points necessary to return to her previous job in Heaven much to Athena's dismay.

Personality
Athena seems to share a lot of personality traits with Athena Asamiya. She seems to be more naive though.

Powers

 * Telepathy: Athena can project her thoughts to other minds.
 * Telekinesis: Athena can move objects with her will force.
 * Psychic Projectile: Athena can fire a ball of psychic energy.
 * Psychic Aura: Athena can attack enemies with a psychic aura around her hands to increase punching damage.
 * Teleport: Athena can teleport herself and others.
 * Psychic Reflector: Athena can create a barrier that deflects projectiles.
 * Psychic Healing: Athena can heal herself and other with psychic powers.
 * Fire Ball: Athena can send a fire ball with her sword.
 * Summon Creature: Athena can summon magical creatures.
 * Transform: Using a magical amulet, Athena can transform into a mermaid.

Fighting Style
She fights with a sword and a heart-shaped shield.

Music

 * SVC Poem of Heaven - SVC Chaos: SNK vs Capcom

Game Appearances

 * Athena (game)
 * The King of Fighters 2000 - As a Striker for Athena Asamiya
 * SVC Chaos: SNK vs Capcom - hidden boss
 * Neo Geo Battle Coliseum
 * Days of Memories 3 - as Athena Hatsushiro; DS only character

Mobile Appearances

 * Athena: Full Throttle
 * SNK Gals Rhythm Combo Yudanshinaide!

Cameo Appearances

 * The King of Fighters XI - PS2 only; Athena concert stage
 * The King of Fighters '94: Rebout - background cameo
 * KOF Maximum Impact 2
 * The King of Fighters (pachinko)
 * The King of Fighters 2

Similar Characters

 * Athena Asamiya

Trivia

 * She is Athena Asamiya's Another Striker in The King of Fighters 2000. Whether it is this Athena or is meant to resemble her, both characters are nearly identical. This resemblance is also apparent in a few of Asamiya's supers, such as her un-lockable one in SNK vs Capcom: Match of the Millenium for the Neo Geo Pocket Color.