Fanservice sells. Heck, there's an entire fighting series that makes money solely because of that (and Ninjas).I often think that the reason why many females characters are only supported simply on the grounds due to their fans being sexually attracted to them.
Which is why I think Palutena and Medusa are going to have huge fanbases.
Just stay away from Gamefaqs.It will be more "OH SNAP THERE IS AN ADVANCE WARS STAGE! IT HAS IT'S OWN ICON TOO; MUST MEAN THERE IS AN ADVANCE WARS CHARACTER! ANDY CONFIRMED?!"
Still, people tend to not learn their lessons so I could see the exact same confusion ultimately leading to disappointment.
In the original manual it states that because Palutena was pissed at Medusa for harming people, so she turned her ugly.Yep. I always found it weird that Medusa's design in the actual Kid Icarus game differed so much from the artwork.