Fox McCloud
 |
| Fox McCloud | |
|---|---|
| Star Fox series character | |
| File:Foxcommand.jpg Fox McCloud in Star Fox Command. | |
| First game | Star Fox (1993) |
| Created by | Shigeru Miyamoto |
Fox McCloud (フォックス・マクラウド, Fokkusu Makuraudo) is a fictional anthropomorphic fox from the Star Fox series of video games. He was created by Shigeru Miyamoto and designed by Takaya Imamura. As his name implies, he is a fox (although anthropomorphized), and the protagonist of the Star Fox series; despite confusion that he was originally understood to be a human whose name was Fox, Imamura has since made it clear that he is indeed a fox. According to Star Fox 64 Player's Guide, Fox's image was modeled after the Japanese god Inari's foxes (kitsune), though they are white while McCloud bears Red Fox markings. Fox even wears a red "bib" around his neck, much like the statues at the Inari shrines.
Fox McCloud was born on the planet Corneria in the Lylat System and pilots the Arwing space fighter as leader of the mercenary Star Fox team, summoned by General Pepper. He is the son of the late James McCloud, founder of the Star Fox team. His father was killed by his archnemesis Andross, making his son step up as leader of Star Fox.
In Star Fox and Star Fox 64, Fox was around the age of eighteen, and was naturally still learning. Now he has become an expert pilot, and is much more confident, as evident in his appearance.
In Star Fox 64, he was voiced by Mike West (contrary to popular belief, Charles Martinet did not provide the voice for Fox, nor was he even involved with the game). In the Super Smash Bros. series, Fox's voices were done by Shinobu Satouchi. For English dialogue of Super Smash Bros. Melee and Star Fox Adventures, Fox's voice was done by Rare's Steve Malpass. In Star Fox: Assault, his voice was done by Jim Walker in the English release and by Kenji Nojima in the Japanese release.
Physical appearance
Fox wears a flight jacket and a communication device on his head in Star Fox, Star Fox 2, and Star Fox 64,. This can also be seen in the Super Smash Bros. series. In Adventures, his look was updated. He loses the communication device, has brighter green clothes, wears a vest instead of a jacket, and wears fingerless gloves. He also wears a knee pad on his left leg. In Star Fox: Assault, Fox wears a green and red jumpsuit and a white jacket and belt, apparently lightly armored. He also wears more pads on his elbows and knees and has a communicator on his arm. He also has a back pack for carrying items, including rock candies and Krystal's staff in Adventures to weapons in Assault. In the most recent installment, Star Fox Command, Fox has gone back to wearing his flight jacket and communication device from the older Star Fox games, however, the cuffs of his jacket are now green.
History
Template:Cleanup fiction-as-fact
Early life
Fox is the son of the Star Fox team's founder, James McCloud. His mother has never been mentioned in the actual games, but the Nintendo Power comic detailed her as Vixy Reinard, who was accidentally killed by Andross. Many fans, however, do not believe this to be part of the actual games' storyline, so his mother remains a mystery. James taught Fox under the lifestyle of not giving up; something that Fox recalls often. During his early teens, Fox was a member of the Cornerian flight academy, along with his friend Bill Grey. When General Pepper sent the Star Fox team to investigate Venom's strange activity, Pigma Dengar betrayed his team, causing James McCloud and his close friend, Peppy Hare, to get captured by Andross. Peppy barely escaped Venom, and returned to Corneria to inform Fox of his father's fate. Upon hearing this news, Fox dropped out of the academy to avenge his father, and Peppy took Fox under his wing and began to train him.
Star Fox
In the original game, Fox is still an amateur pilot in training. His father had just gone missing after pursuit of Andross, and was last seen in "The Awesome Black Hole" (a result of Andross' experiments) before his disappearance. Fox McCloud decided to step up and create the Star Fox team, which includes Falco Lombardi, Peppy Hare, and Slippy Toad. Soon, he and the rest of the Star Fox team are hired by General Pepper to stop the threat of Andross. With a strategic route in mind, they tackle Andross' forces until they reach the planet Venom. After several more hardships, Fox decides go to Andross' base alone at the last moment. He goes against Andross in the final battle alone, and successfully defeats him. They then head back to Corneria.
Star Fox 64
Star Fox is called upon to stop Andross and save the Lylat System. Fox leads a new Star Fox throughout the battles in the Lylat System, running into allies and enemies alike. His friendship with Bill Grey is revealed during one of these missions, and he also goes toe-to-toe with Wolf O'Donnell of Star Wolf in others. Once Star Fox reaches Venom, they fight through its defensive lines all the way to Andross's base. Despite the protests of his team, Fox enters alone. Fearlessly, he defeats Andross one on one, but Andross refuses to fall alone and attempts to take Fox with him. Fox is then shocked to hear his father's voice intone 'Don't ever give up, my son' and follows his father's Arwing as Andross' base explodes behind him. It is unclear whether James was actually alive or whether this was some sort of ghost or other apparition; but one can see a beam of light (be it a spirit or an actual Arwing) flying away in the distance as the team congratulates Fox for a job well done. This "beam of light", if the said beam is red, is actually the Great Fox's lights all around the ship. It appears to be moving away because the camera is rotating and changing the position of the light. If you cannot see the wing connected to the light, turn up the brightness on your monitor/tv screen. They head back to Corneria, where Pepper offers to officially integrate Star Fox into the Corneria Army. Fox declines, saying that they prefer the way things are now. Fox is soon told by ROB via communicator that the Great Fox is prepared to leave. Fox and team then leave Corneria to go to their next job.
Star Fox Adventures
In Star Fox Adventures, supposedly set eight years after the events of Star Fox 64, a cockier Fox McCloud calmed the conflict on Sauria (also known as "Dinosaur Planet") by teaming with Prince Tricky of the EarthWalker tribe and returning the SpellStones to their rightful positions in two of the planet's temples, freeing an imprisoned Krystal by returning the five remaining Krazoa Spirits to their rightful positions, and defeating a reawakened Andross, who was behind the troubles on Sauria. After that, he returned to Great Fox, and General Pepper paid him for saving Sauria. He and Falco Lombardi (who had mysteriously disappeared) were reunited, and Krystal joined the Star Fox team. Immediately afterwards, the Star Fox team apparently used the money that Fox received to repair the Great Fox, as well as upgrade the Arwings and Landmasters.
Star Fox: Assault
In Star Fox: Assault, Star Fox is called upon by General Pepper to assist in crushing Andrew Oikonny's rebellion against Corneria. However, during the fight with Oikonny, an Aparoid descends upon the battle and blasts Oikonny's flagship. After its defeat, Star Fox learns of the new menacing threat caused by the Aparoids. Thus Fox and company trek across Lylat to battle the Aparoids and defend the system from complete "assimiliation." However, during one of these missions, Pigma steals the Core Memory of an Aparoid and flees. Fox tracks him down to a space station belonging to none other than Wolf O'Donnell. Star Fox and Star Wolf have yet another battle, resulting in Star Wolf's defeat. Fox's continued pursuit of Pigma eventually leads him to the Asteroid belt where he confronts the infected Pigma in their final battle. Pigma is then destroyed by Fox (though it is not certain that this was actually Pigma he was confronting due to the fact that Pigma's mind was taken over by the Aparoids and mutated/fused with a space station).
While en route to Corneria, Krystal senses that Sauria is under attack. Worried about Tricky, Fox and Krystal go to Sauria's surface to battle the Aparoids. Afterwards, the Aparoids appear to be too much for Cornerian forces and eventually invade Corneria. Fox goes to the planet to help, but eventually gets surrounded on all sides. He is surprisingly saved by Wolf, who then assists him in defeating an infected General Pepper. Fox and Wolf temporarily put aside their differences in this war with the Aparoids. With a noble sacriface of Peppy and ROB crashing the Great Fox in the surface of the planet, Fox and team manage to enter to the core of the Aparoid Homeworld. Wolf comes to Fox's aid once again while defending a Gate from Aparoid missiles. Fox and co. manage to destroy the Queen using a special apoptosis program created by Beltino Toad, Slippy's father. After the defeat of the Aparoid Queen, the Star Fox team barely escapes from the destruction of Aparoid Homeworld. There is no signs that Star Wolf escaped from the explosion, but Fox believes that they somehow managed to escape. Suddenly, Fox and his friends discovered that Peppy and ROB escaped from the destruction of the Great Fox. With the Aparoid Wars finally over, Fox thanks all of his friends for all of their support and friendship.
Fox played a crucial role in defeating the Aparoids, firing the final shot to bring down the Aparoid Queen. It is due to the Aparoid threat that Fox and his team joined forces with their rivals, Star Wolf, to defeat the Aparoids. Something interesting to note is that this is the first Star Fox game where the rest of Star Fox joins Fox in the final battle, though for only part of it.
Star Fox Command
Once again, the Lylat System falls under peril in Star Fox Command, this time under a new foe known as the Anglars, who originated from Venom's acidic oceans. It is up to Fox McCloud to save the galaxy once more by slowly liberating invaded territory and arriving at Venom to defeat the Anglar leader. This time, he begins the battles with only ROB at his side, as the team split up for separate reasons. Along the way, other characters join Fox, and the team becomes whole again. Even the most unexpected people have a common goal. The game has nine different endings which show Fox taking a different route in his life:
- Ending 1: Fox and Krystal - Fox rekindles his relationship with Krystal and reinstates her in the team again.
- Ending 2: Goodbye, Fox - Fox rekindles his relationship with Krystal and disbands the Star Fox team. They marry and have a son named Marcus, who later reforms the Star Fox team.
- Ending 3: Emperor Anglar - Fox rekindles his relationship with Krystal, but she leaves him two months later and joins the Star Wolf team to start a relationship with Panther Caruso.
- Ending 4: Star Wolf Returns! - Fox permanently ends his relationship with Krystal, who becomes a bounty hunter. They later meet in the planet Kew, but Fox doesn't recognize her.
- Ending 5: Lucy and Krystal - Fox rekindles his relationship with Krystal and reinstates her in the Star Fox team.
- Ending 6: Dash Makes a Choice - Fate unknown.
- Ending 7: Slippy's Resolve - Fate unknown.
- Ending 8: Pigma's Revenge - Fate unknown.
- Ending 9: The Curse of Pigma - Fox disbands the team and, along with Falco, becomes a racer.
As Command has nine different outcomes, it is uncertain which is the true path Fox and crew take; but the developers have suggested that any sequel would ignore the endings and pick up the story from the middle.[1]
Super Smash Bros. series
Fox McCloud is also one of the characters in the original Super Smash Bros. game for the Nintendo 64 and its GameCube sequel, Super Smash Bros. Melee. He wears his Star Fox 64 outfit in the Super Smash Bros. series. He is a fast, fierce character with an extremely powerful up smash. His "Fire Fox" special move is a fire attack which he can use to gain altitude; his "Reflector" (also known as the "Shine") returns enemy projectile attacks and also damages opponents if the player can hit them with it; and he also uses his rapid-fire blaster. Super Smash Bros. Melee makes him lighter and adds a "Fox Illusion" dash attack. Falco Lombardi, added for SSBM, plays far more similarly to the N64 Fox.
Fox is considered a top-tier character in tournament level games, due to his unparalleled speed and agility. His Reflector (or Shine) is considered one of his deadliest moves, as it is the fastest move in the game(among others), requiring only one frame to execute. It is often used to KO opponents who are off the side of the field, as well as for fast combos (often referred to as "Shine-Combos"). He was confirmed on November 3, 2006 at the Nintendo World Tour to be in the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Brawl, with his outfit modified but still based on his Star Fox 64/Command look.[2]
Love life
In the 1993 Nintendo Power Star Fox comic, Fox had what fans considered to be a romantic relationship with Fara Phoenix. While slightly ambiguous, it is obvious that they held mutual affections for each other, by the way flirt and hold each other on several occasions throughout the comics. Still, the comics are considered non canon, since Star Fox 64 replaced the original SNES Star Fox title.
In Star Fox Adventures, it was hinted that there was a relationship growing when he met Krystal (referring to her as "beautiful" and staring at her for several seconds before Peppy contacts him, telling him to stop goofing off and to get back to the mission), and there was some mutual interest shown in Krystal. According to some unused audio in Adventures, Fox and Krystal originally were going to have a much deeper relationship, but this was ultimately scrapped for unknown reasons.
In Star Fox: Assault, Krystal and Fox's relationship is advanced (though not a major part of the story). Krystal's affection for Fox can been seen in her constant desire to help Fox, and the way she flirtatiously tells Fox that they "finally have a mission together" during Sauria's invasion. Fox is quite shy about anything personal between the two, stammering if Krystal flirts with him. Fox's affection for Krystal can be most notably seen during the cutscene after the Sauria mission. When Tricky tells Fox to bring Krystal to Sauria on their honeymoon, Fox frantically tells Tricky that "we're not yet..." and he continues to stutter with his tongue tied. Tricky playfully pointed out that Fox just said "not yet," resulting in Fox trying to change the subject. Krystal giggled to herself during their conversation, showing that she is entertained and not bothered by this exchange.
In the opening of Star Fox Command, it is revealed that Fox and Krystal did pursue a romantic relationship, and that the two never wanted to be without each other. Fox knew the dangers of their profession, and had to ask Krystal to step down; Krystal was heartbroken by Fox's request, and left him. Some of the endings feature Fox and Krystal making up while some others show them both taking a different path. It's possible that the next Star Fox game reveals the true fate of their relationship.
Appearance in games
Fox McCloud has been featured in several games, beginning with the original Star Fox for the Super Nintendo/Super Famicom:
- Star Fox (Scrolling shooter, 1993, SNES)
- Star Fox: Super Weekend (Scrolling shooter, Friday April 30 to May 2, 1993, SNES)
- Star Fox 2 (Unreleased scrolling shooter, 1995, SNES)
- Star Fox 64 (Scrolling shooter, 1997, Nintendo 64)
- Super Smash Bros. (Fighting game, 1999, N64)
- Super Smash Bros. Melee (Fighting game, 2001, Nintendo GameCube)
- Star Fox Adventures (Adventure game, 2002, GCN)
- Star Fox: Assault (Action/adventure game, Action, 2005, GCN)
- Star Fox Command (Scrolling shooter, 2006, Nintendo DS)
- Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Fighting game, 2007, Wii)
Fox also has small cameos in other games, notably Stunt Race FX, where a portrait of him can be found in track-side billboards. In F-Zero GX, a Fox McCloud custom paint job can be applied to the vehicles. In The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, a hack in the game to change an enemy into an Arwing complete with flight and lasers. Another cameo is in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars where his Arwing can be seen on a crate. In Animal Crossing, there is a piece of furniture modelled after his Arwing from Star Fox 64.