Forever Train engineer

“Here come the little hyenas, now!”

—Forever Train Engineer

The Forever Train engineer is the unnamed engineer of the Forever Train, and appears as a boss in Star Fox 64 and its 3DS renake and in Star Fox Zero.

Appearance

The engineer is an ape, in green uniform, wearing an army officer's peaked cap, and possessing white fur. In the original version, the engineer had a white beard on the lower jaw that resembled that used by Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, although this was removed in the 3DS version.

In the games

Star Fox 64/3D

As one of the most powerful and intelligent of Andross's followers who had been promoted to positions of leadership in Andross's military machine, the engineer was a high ranking officer in the Androssian Army, given command of a specialized supply train known as the Forever Train, and usually brought supplies to a supply depot to be transported to Venom. He was also secretly in charge of the construction of the Mechbeth, an experimental weapon. Andross had dispatched this key lieutenant to seize a strategic location throughout the Lylat system by shipping the supplies and manufactured weapons to the Macbeth Weapons Factory on the Venomian held planet, Macbeth, including the interplanetary cruise missiles Andross was using to assault Corneria.

When Team Star Fox came to destroy the enemy stronghold on Macbeth, the engineer drove as fast as he could to the supply depot to outrun Fox McCloud in a Landmaster, while dropping rocks onto Fox. In his hurry to get to the depot, the train engineer was also forced twice to detach the train's rear cars due to the train being stopped while they were still connected. Fox was able to destroy the cars that connect to the train, and finally forced the engineer to use the Mechbeth on him. The engineer was eventually killed, when Fox either destroyed the Mechbeth, making it fall on the train and killing the engineer, or if Fox was able to hit the switches, and turn the tracks to a fuel bunker, making him crash inside of the bunker, which caused a tremendous explosion, instantly killing the engineer.

Star Fox Zero

He later reappeared in Star Fox Zero and acted as the main antagonist in two levels: The first as the commanding officer of the flagship of Sector α, where he overconfidently ordered his subordinate to release the attack robots upon being notified that he broke into the ship, and later in a panicked tone ordered him to lock down the ship to prevent Fox from reaching the ship's main reactor after receiving a similar report; the second as the commanding officer of the superdreadnought Salvadora, the bonus boss of Titania, who overconfidently challenged Peppy Hare to fight him due to thinking one ship can't be too much of a problem, and later expressing disbelief that one ship could take his ship down before Peppy tells him it's unwise to underestimate Star Fox. His comms icon was derived from his redesign from Star Fox 64 3D.

Personality

The engineer of the train was shown to be arrogant and insulting, such as referring to the Star Fox team as being "hyenas" upon their arrival, as well as claiming that they weren't "taking him seriously." He also had some command over the weapons factory, as he was implied to have ordered the base to close bars on the Landmaster to deter it from pursuit. He also gets somewhat angered easily regarding delays, as evidenced by his cursing when one of the rear vehicles was unable to move, forcing him to detach it. His arrogance ultimately proved to be his downfall as he constantly sped up the train when trying to lure the Star Fox team, unaware that they were going to switch the tracks to the fuel bunker. His ignorance led to his train destroying a major outpost. Based on some of his dialogue, he may have been in command of a crew onboard the train, as he constantly gave orders to detach a rear vehicle and to step up on the gas and hit the brakes.

Portrayals

In both Star Fox 64 and Star Fox 64 3D, the character was voiced with an Alabaman accent. In both of his appearances in Star Fox Zero, he spoke with a posh British accent instead of the Alabaman accent, complete with r-rolling.

Gallery

The engineer's old style look on the Communications Channel.

The Forever Train engineer as he appears in Star Fox 64 3D.

The Conductor spots Fox.

The Conductor feels they're not taking him seriously.

The Conductor doesn't hesitate to detach vehicles to slow Fox down.

The Conductor taunts Fox to "Come a little closer'.

The Conductor didn't count on using the Mechbeth.

The engineer is unable to do anything as his Train comes crashing into the depot.

The engineer orders attack robots to send Fox to his doom since he's wanting to meet it.

Add a photo to this gallery

Trivia

• The train engineer was significantly redesigned in Star Fox 64 3D, where his Castro-esque beard was removed, and his train uniform (resembling a military uniform) was more clearly identified.
• When saying "You're very lucky!" unveiling the Mechbeth in both Star Fox 64 and Star Fox 64 3D, although the words themselves were the same, his tone when saying them were significantly different between the two versions. In the former, the engineer said the words in a low, almost intimidating growl, while in the latter, he gave a more master of ceremonies-style tone when saying the words.
• His name might have been Benjamin, as the Japanese name for Mechbeth was Benjamin.

References

• NINTENDO POWER Star Fox 64: Official Nintendo Player's Guide. Redmond, WA, Nintendo of America. 1997.
• http://f.starfox-online.net/archives/starFox64.comReconstructed/lieutenants.html
• http://f.starfox-online.net/archives/starFox64.comReconstructed/minions.html