Fox McCloud
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| Fox McCloud | |
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| Star Fox character | |
| File:FoxSFA.jpg Fox McCloud as seen in Star Fox Command. | |
| First game | Star Fox (1993) |
| Created by | Shigeru Miyamoto, Takaya Imamura |
| In-universe information | |
| Family | James McCloud (father-deceased), Krystal (girlfriend), Marcus (son). |
Fox McCloud (フォックス・マクラウド, Fokkusu Makuraudo) is an anthropomorphic video game character 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 an anthropomorphic fox and the main protagonist of the series. According to the Star Fox 64 Player's Guide, Fox's image was modeled after the Japanese god Inari's foxes (kitsune), although they are white while McCloud bears Red Fox markings. Fox usually wears a red "scarf" around his neck, much like the statues at the Inari shrines.
In each game the player controls Fox, either on the ground or in his Arwing. He is the leader of the Star Fox team, and is joined by his wingmates on various missions.
In the English release of Star Fox 64, he was voiced by Mike West. In both the Japanese release of Star Fox 64 and 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
In the original Star Fox, Fox wears an orange suit with a flight jacket and gray boots, along with a communication device on his head. In Star Fox 64, his suit is green instead of orange, his jacket sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, and now bears green eyes. In Super Smash Bros. and its sequel, Melee, Fox appears as he did in Star Fox 64. In Star Fox Adventures, he has a white vest instead of a jacket, his headgear is replaced with a device on his wrist, and wears a knee pad on his left leg. He also wears a large backpack for carrying items, such as Krystal's Staff and the CloudRunner Flute. In Star Fox: Assault, his appearance changes drastically. He wears a green and red jumpsuit, a white vest, pads on his knees and shoulders, and his boots are red and black instead of gray. As in Adventures, his communication device is on his wrist. In Star Fox Command, Fox has gone back to his Star Fox 64 attire, but without his sleeves rolled up. In the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Fox has a similar appearance of his Star Fox 64 and Command designs.
History
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 never giving up and trusting his instincts; 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.
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 a final showdown, and successfully defeats him. They then head back to Corneria.
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 and others. Once Star Fox reaches Venom, they fight through its defensive lines or Star Wolf all the way to Andross's base, depending on which route the player takes. 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. 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.
In Star Fox Adventures, set eight years after the events of Star Fox 64, a cockier Fox McCloud calmed the conflict on Dinosaur Planet (also known as Sauria) 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.
It has been a year since the events of Star Fox Adventures, and a new enemy has arisen. Now the Star Fox team must destroy the aparoids, a creature of the unknown, able to take over machines, battleships, and even bodies of others. Fox plays 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.
Once again, the Lylat System falls under peril in Star Fox Command, this time under attack by 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 Emperor. This time, he begins the battle with only ROB at his side, as the team has been disbanded for various reasons. Along the way, other characters will join Fox and the team becomes whole again. In a special ending, Fox finds a deep secret about his father but it seemingly doesn't phase him.
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 might ignore the endings and pick up the story from the middle.[1]
Super Smash Bros. series
Fox McCloud has appeared in every Super Smash Bros. game to date. He wears his Star Fox 64 outfit in the series. His "Fire Fox" special move is a fire attack which he can use to gain (or lose, if need be) altitude (usually to recover from off of the edge); which he hovers in the air and charges it up. It can be directed using the analog stick on the controller. His "Reflector" (also known as the "Shine," or "Deflector"[2])is a blue hexagonal structure that returns enemy projectile attacks and damages opponents. Super Smash Bros. Melee, the second game of the series, makes him lighter (although also making him fall more quickly), and adds a "Fox Illusion" dash attack. His blaster was sped up but also no longer stunned enemies.
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Fox in the new Super Smash Bros. Brawl
He was confirmed on November 3, 2006 at the Nintendo World Tour to be in the upcoming part of the series, Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Fox's outfit in Brawl is similar to, though not completely the same as, his 64 and Command designs. Additions include a holster for his gun, a green lens over his right eye, and his Reflector device is now visibly hung on his belt.[3] His headset's microphone also appears on the right side of his face instead of the left which was the case for all of its previous appearances.
Love life
In the 1993 Nintendo Power Star Fox comic, Fox had a romantic relationship with Fara Phoenix. While slightly ambiguous, it is obvious that they held mutual affections for each other, by the way they 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 an older 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.
Fox's enemies and rivalry
Fox's principal antagonist is Andross. This may be for personal reasons, as Andross killed Fox's father, or simply because of the threat Andross poses to the Lylat system. Fox has shown great dislike--even loathing--of Andross in every game (including games Andross isn't even in).
Fox also shares a rivalry with Wolf O'Donnell and his team, Star Wolf. In Star Fox 64, there was great enmity between them. However, in Star Fox Assault, Wolf helped Fox and his team in some of the game's final missions. He remains very bitter toward Fox and doesn't balk at unkind remarks such as "You stupid dog!" and "Wipe that stupid look off your mug!", although he has given advice to Fox, "Don't hesitate! When the time comes, just act!" This helped Fox in his toughest battle. In Star Fox Command, Wolf retains his respect for Fox, although some paths clearly shows more of it, which depends on the player's choice.
Fox has only clashed with three other antagonists: General Scales, the Aparoid Queen, and Emperor Anglar. Unlike Andross and Star Wolf, he had no personal connection to any of the above.
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 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 character named James McCloud is a playable racer, bearing the name of Fox's father. He has a similar appearance to Fox, with his hair looking like ears, and wears sunglasses as well. His profile describes his "wife and son waiting for him at home". 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.
References
External links
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