Katie "Pidge" Holt is a former communications cadet at the Galaxy Garrison.
In order to search for her missing family and find out the truth about the Kerberos mission without being recognised, she cut her hair short and enrolled into the Garrison under the fake name "Pidge Gunderson". She was initially mistaken for a boy, which was fine with her because it helped to significantly lower the odds of her being recognised.
It is only after she joined Voltron that she finally revealed her true identity, along with the fact that she is actually a girl. She is a highly intelligent and versatile mathematician, hacker and inventor, as well as the Paladin of the Green Lion.
Appearance
Pidge is the slimmest and shortest of the Paladins. She has brown eyes and fair skin, owing to her Italian heritage. Her hair is light brown, short, and disheveled. She makes no obvious effort to style it, so her hair spikes outwards at the back and obscures her face as unruly bangs. Outside her Paladin armor, she dons thin, wire-framed, circle glasses. Although they appear to be half-moon, it is revealed they are actually round when light reflects off of them. These glasses are stated to have almost no effect and are simply important because she was gifted them by her brother.
Pidge's paladin armor is the same as her teammates', but with green accents to match her Lion.
Her casual wear is boyish and comfort-oriented. She wears a white long-sleeved shirt with green shoulders and pockets in the front. The shirt has a high, loose collar secured with a grey neck brace, and orange accents. She also wears grey shorts and orange, white-capped shoes.
Before entering into the Garrison, Pidge had long hair and wore a purple dress. The dress had puffy sleeves, and a white pinafore layered over it. She accessorized with Mary Jane shoes and a purple headband. She received her glasses from her brother, Matt, during this time.
Personality
Sharp-witted, sarcastic, and a genius with human and alien technology alike, Pidge is the small firecracker of the Voltron team who values truth, honesty, and viable facts. What she lacks in physical size and strength she makes up for in brains and personality. Pidge can be rebellious, stubborn, and temperamental with little fear of consequences, even the prospect of treason.[6] She trusts the objective data of what technology tells her so strongly that she not only believes her family still lives, but that aliens exist.[7][6] Pidge has a love of technology that initially surpasses her ability to engage with people, making her quickly fawn over and bond with robots and mourn their loss.[7][6][8]
Pidge's preferred means of interacting with people is through teasing and firing well-aimed quips, but she wants to believe in those around her. She can become lonely when separated from her friends, enjoying their presence even if she dismisses them as annoying, or will feel deeply and bitterly betrayed when she feels she has misjudged someone as good.[9][10] Pidge also has a habit of collecting data around her knowing that it will be helpful in the future, such as having a file of the weaknesses of the other Paladins.[11]
She has her own goals in mind of finding her missing family and struggles to balance the immense love she feels towards them with her opportunity to change the fate of the universe.[12] Her unwavering determination to see her family reunited, and her concealed identity of a girl, leads Pidge to be intensely private, protective of her things, and a stand-offish person with little interest in spending time with her teammates, even during her days at the Garrison.[12][6] An ambitious girl who does not take any slights from anyone, Pidge is used to working alone and nearly leaves the team because of what she feels she must do herself.
Pidge is able to come to an understanding of what she can do for everyone, embracing her father's foresight that she would do something great for the universe. She has since openly bonded with the rest of the team. This is especially true once she reveals her identity - believing she should stop keeping secrets and own all of who she is, as a Paladin - and learns almost everyone knew her gender already and happily accepted her. She retains her temper and personal mission of finding her family, but cooperates well with the team's larger missions, providing keen insight and support.
Abilities
Apart from piloting the Green Lion, Pidge utilizes this equipment:
Bayard
Takes the form of a grappling hook with a knife head for close-combat, ensnaring enemies, and traversing distances. Her Bayard can deliver a high-voltage shock on contact.[7]
Paladin Armor
Armor that allows for safe travel in space; it contains a highly advanced computer system, a communication system, a laser gun, a grappling hook and tether, holographic capabilities, an energy shield for defense, breathable air, and a jetpack for brief sustained flight.[13]
Laptop
A computer from Earth that she uses for various tasks, including hacking and analyzing data. With the use of her laptop, Pidge is able to study and adapt Galra and Altean technology to her needs.
Skill Set
Combat
Pidge is an agile close-range combatant who combines swift movements with her intellect and versatility to take down enemies far stronger than her.[6] Her diminutive size allows her to move more stealthily than her other teammates and remain undetected.
Pidge's official agility stats are above average, while her strength stats are the lowest of the Paladins.[5] She makes up for what she lacks in strength and size with tactical planning to outwit opponents and use both ally and enemy technology to her advantage, as well as an enemy's lack of scientific understanding.[6][14] Her official intelligence stats are maxed and the highest of the Paladins.[5] She values recording combat data even on her own allies and keeps files on their strengths and weaknesses.[11]
Piloting
While not studying as a fighter pilot officially, Pidge read all the flight manuals she could find at the Galaxy Garrison and shows immediate skill piloting the Green Lion. She used the Lion's adaptability and the advanced Altean technology available in the Castle to upgrade it for increased stealth and communication capability. Her weakness at piloting lies in her nervousness and self-doubt, but over the course of the show, she grows as a Paladin and strengthens her bond with her Lion. She is especially good at reconnaissance missions.
Other Abilities
Hacking
Pidge is a highly skilled hacker who can decipher both Earth and alien code with ease, and even make use of Shiro's arm for accessing Galra data and hack it remotely to render him vulnerable.[15][11]
Intelligence
Pidge's nearly unmatched scientific knowledge and skills with technology allow her to create entirely new armaments for herself or for alien spacecraft in a minuscule amount of time. She built equipment on Earth strong enough to pick up radio transmissions from aliens as far away as Kerberos and affixed the Green Lion with a cloaking device, later applying it to all of Voltron.[7][16][17]
Trivia
Pidge is known to be the youngest of the Paladins, aged 14 during Season 1.[18][19] Her age was published as being 15 in The Paladin's Handbook, which was not reviewed by executive series staff.[20][21] The Voltron Coalition Handbook states that a year has passed since Shiro's return to Earth, making Pidge 16 at the youngest by the time Season 7 begins.
The Holt family has a dog named Bae Bae, which was changed from Gunther by show producers.
While not studying as a fighter pilot, Pidge read all the flight manuals she could find at the Galaxy Garrison[7]
Pidge has been described as "a bit of a hoarder" by Lauren Montgomery, and her gender identity was on Lauren's "must-haves" list for the series.[22][23]
Pidge and Hunk are two equally tech-savvy characters described as being "two sides of the same coin": while Pidge is the more creating, engineering, "figuring out" side, Hunk is the "build it and make it work" side.[24]
On Coran's height ranking for the Paladins of 1-5 (tallest to shortest), Pidge is ranked the shortest at "Number Five".[25]
Pidge is based on the character Pidge of the previous Voltron franchises, who in turn was based on the character Hiroshi Suzuishi of Beast King GoLion. She is the only incarnation of Pidge to be female.
Pidge's favorite type of metal is palladium.
