Andross

File:Andross.jpg

In Star Fox 64, Andross appears in the form of a giant, disembodied floating head and two equally huge floating hands.

Andross (Andorf, or Andolf in Japan) is a fictional character from the Star Fox universe.

Like the other inhabitants of the fictional Lylat System, Andross is an anthropomorphic orangutan-like creature. His most common appearance is that of a giant disembodied head accompanied by 2 giant disembodied hands. In Japan he is voiced by Daisuke Gori.

Andross in Nintendo Power

Template:Spoiler A comic appeared in serialized form via several issues of Nintendo Power magazine at the time of the original Star Fox game's release.

Andross is an adopted son. His foster parents were upstanding Android Pigs living on the planet Corneria. Andross followed in his robo-parents' footprints as a scientist. His brilliant mind was soon well-known across the Lylat System, mostly for his medical work.

Yet Andross turned his back on serving his beloved homeworld when his parents were killed, victims of a cruel military experiment by the Cornerian government itself. Unknown to anyone, Andross swore a vow of revenge that day. In time he became Head Scientist of the Cornerian Academy, his focus having changed to completely military technologies.

He also met, and fell in love with, the vixen Vixy Reinard. There was just one hang-up to their relationship: She was already married to Fox McCloud (billed as James McCloud in the games). Vixy and Fox had recently had a son together as well.

Vixy regretted her actions, but the arrogant Andross refused to let her go. His bid to keep her was to remove her husband from the equation. Unfortunately for Andross and Fox Sr. alike, it was Vixy and not the elder McCloud who fell victim to Andross' car bomb.

Refusing to admit defeat, Andross bitterly hatched a new plot. Fox Sr., still unaware of his wife's affair to start with, was blissfully ignorant of the danger when he volunteered for Andross' assignment. Fox Sr. was given the task of hauling the newly developed Gravity Bomb to a field laboratory in the Meteos Asteroid Belt for testing.

Thanks to Andross' sabotage, the experimental weapon went off mid-flight. Fox Sr. disappeared, along with half the asteroid belt, into a black hole created by the Gravity Bomb.

The scientist's victory was bittersweet. An investigation of the "accident" led back to him. The trial ended with Andross being exiled from Corneria to the barren world of Venom for the rest of his days.

Most scientists, Andross included, thought Venom an uninhabited world. He was shocked to find a race of anthropomorphic lizards living in the depths of the planet. The natives had devolved from a once-mighty race; Andross put his great intellect to deciphering their ancient ruins and forgotten technologies. He was able to build a Telekinetic Amplifier from the knowledge thus acquired, among other things, and used it to brainwash the Venomians.

Over the next few years, Andross transformed Venom into a power base and proceeded to invade Corneria with his new Venomian Army of Imperial Lizards. This first attempt at revenge was undone by Fox McCloud Jr. and the rest of his Star Fox team. The mercenary pilots managed to destroy the Telekinetic Amplifier itself, shattering Andross' hold on his "loyal" followers.

Andross managed to escape, fleeing to the world Fortuna. He soon had one of Fox's teammates, Slippy Toad, kidnapped for use as bait. As Andross hoped, the Star Fox team soon followed Slippy to Fortuna. There, Andross unleashed his greatest weapon, the bio-mechanical beast Monarch Dodora (who bears a suspicious resemblance to another fictional monster, King Ghidorah and even has a similar name), to kill the Star Fox team once and for all.

The mad scientist's plans went awry again. Star Fox's efforts cost Andross control of the Dodora, which accidentally stepped on him (in Fox's own words, "Flat as an ape crepe!").

But not even death can keep any self-respecting villain down. Having planned for just such an occasion, Andross had safeguarded some of his own DNA and, apparently, a copy of his mind somehow. Two clones of Andross were reborn, little different from his previous lease on life. They attempted to rule jointly, but soon grew tired of one another, and one clone killed the other.

Andross' last attempt to destroy Star Fox involved deploying the tattered remnants of his Imperial Guard to attack the planet Papetoon. This attempted trap also backfired, and in the end Andross tasted defeat. The scientist fled into the very black hole that had claimed his rival Fox Sr.; never to be heard from again.

Andross in Star Fox & Star Fox 64

Template:Spoiler Andross was formerly a scientist whose experiments had devestated the entire planet of Corneria. For this, he was exiled to the barren planet of Venom by General Pepper.

Five years later, General Pepper received interesting and conflicting reports of bizarre events in Venomian airspace. The general hired the Star Fox mercenary team to investigate. Soon, all three pilots (James McCloud, Peppy Hare, and Pigma Dengar) were probing Venom's skies.

When they arrived in Venom, Pigma betrayed the team and joined Andross. James and Peppy tried to escape, but only Peppy was successful. This left Peppy with the inenviable task of telling James' son, Fox, about his father's fate.

Back on Venom, Andross proclaimed himself emperor of the planet Venom and soon the entire Lylat System. With an army of mass-produced androids, bio-mechanical warriors, anthropromorphic lizards and apes, as well as hired thugs like the Star Wolf Team, Andross unleashed a blitzkrieg on his neighboring worlds.

Fox McCloud was forced to hastily step into his father's shoes and lead a new Star Fox team against Andross. With Peppy Hare, Slippy Toad, and Falco Lombardi at his side, Fox battled across the Lylat System to stop Andross.

But in the end it was Fox alone who flew into the depths of Venom to face Andross.

In Star Fox, Andross takes a metallic appearance resembling a human face (or, in the third route, a bull or demon). In battle, Andross would inhale tiles then spew them at Fox, as well as firing them from his eyes. Disabling the eyes made Andross reveal the form of a "Core Brain". Fox must quickly inflict damage on the Core Brain before it summons tiles to regenerate the protective form. After the Core Brain explodes, Fox had succeeded in stopping Andross. Note that this Andross may have been a fake, as hinted in Super Smash Bros. Melee and the ellipsis after his name in the boss analysis. Star Fox 2 directly states that it is the real Andross, but that was cancelled.

In Star Fox 64, Andross' first form is a giant head with 2 hands. After dealing enough damage, Andross will take on his second form. On the easy path, it is a giant robotic head (a fake Andross). On the hard path, it is a giant brain with 2 disembodied eyes.

After defeating his second form, Andross initiated his final defense. He set off a time bomb intended to destroy Fox. (If the player only fought the robotic head, the bomb is then only meant to cover Andross' retreat. Otherwise, it is truly meant to kill Fox.) However, Fox is led out of the base by a being which appears to be his father, though it is unknown if it is really him, a ghost, or a vision.

Andross in Star Fox Adventures

Template:Spoiler Andross survived the destruction of his Venomian base, but at a cost. Weak and wounded, reduced to a disembodied spirit, Andross fled to the planet Sauria (Sauria is only known as the Dinosaur Planet in Star Fox Adventures.) There he was able to enlist followers among the Sharpclaw clan of dinosaurs to keep him alive, but not much more.

For eight long years Andross tried to revive himself, failing time and time again. This was at least partially due to his mistrust of his Sharpclaw helpers, particularly their nominal leader, General Scales. Scales would happily take Andross' power for his own at the drop of a hat.

Finally, Andross found a solution. To Scales' delight, Andross gave the dinosaur all the power that Scales had long coveted. The domination of Sauria was within Scales' grasp. And Andross' price seemed simple. All he wanted was a couple of artifacts and the capture of a young, anthropomorphic, blue-furred vixen named Krystal, the only survivor of the lifeless planet Cerinia.

Unknown to Scales, of course, was that Krystal had the ability to channel the long-forgotten Krazoa power. Said power was contained in the artifacts Scales was gathering for Andross as well. Unaware he was being duped, Scales succeeded in acquiring most of the Krazoa Spirits and reducing Krystal to be Fox's damsel in distress. Andross trapped Krystal, in a truly ironic fashion, inside a large crystal and sent her atop the Krazoa Palace. Andross then proceeded to steal her life-force, in order to restore his own...

Rebels to Scales' rule sent out a distress call that General Pepper did not ignore. His own troops spread thin, Pepper once again hired Star Fox to dive into the breach. Unfortunately for all concerned, team Star Fox was a pale shadow of its former self. Only Fox himself remained on active duty.

Once on the planet's surface, Fox found a helper in the form of a local named Tricky. Together the duo fought a two-animal war against General Scales and his forces. Finally, Fox and Tricky defeated Scales himself...only to unveil Andross as the dinosaur's puppet master. The duo raced to release Krystal from her imprisonment atop Krazoa Palace.

They succeeded, but it seemed the damage had been done; Andross awakened. Fox quickly boarded his Arwing starfighter to battle Andross once again. Infused with the great Krazoa power, Andross had Fox on the brink of defeat... until Falco appeared. Fox's old wingman rejoined the Star Fox team, not to mention the battle, and Andross was defeated once again.

Other appearances

Template:Spoiler Andross does not appear in Star Fox: Assault, making it the first time in the series where he plays no direct role. His nephew Andrew leads the remains of Andross' fleet as his own. Mentioning his uncle, Andrew even dares lay claim to Andross' title of "Emperor", calling himself Andross's heir, but there's no sign of the real ape himself. Interestingly, Andross's name appears in the end credits as an enemy character; Andross might have been included in the game at one point and then dropped, or this could refer to Andrew's mech, which in itself is an homage to Andross's appearances in earlier Star Fox games.

Andross does have a small cameo as two different trophies in another game, Super Smash Bros. Melee. The first is as his Star Fox 64 self (with polygon count upgrade) and the next as his original character model in Star Fox.

Andross makes an appearance in Star Fox Command, but not as the final boss. This time, he possesses a King Ghidorah-like boss on Titania. He is only seen as a ghost, however. It is revealed that when fought with the character Dash on Titania, that Andross had children and evidently a grandchild-Dash. When the boss is defeated, the team learns that the item being protected by the Anglars was a machine that would be used to purify the acidic Venom Ocean. This now allows ships to fly in the ocean without corrosion.