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Characteristics

The characteristics of Fox McCloud, including design concept, physical appearances and vocal performers.

Physical appearance and traits[]

Fox has green eyes (which sometimes appear to be blue), orange-brown fur, and his golden-brown white-highlighted hair is cut into a crew cut. The rest of his skin is a cream-colored tone. He additionally has a bushy white-tipped tail. Fox is of medium/short height and medium weight, but this is contradicted in the Super Smash Bros. games, where he is a mid-sized target, but additionally very light.

WhatAboutAWeapon

Fox questions General Pepper in regards to self defence without his Blaster.

Before Star Fox Adventures, Fox's eye color was inconsistently erratic. In-game, it was yellow-orange in Star Fox, but blue in puppets and most artwork (and infrequently green). It is also blue in Star Fox 2, which was originally in development for the SNES. It was black in Star Fox 64 (along with the other characters), and given a consistent green afterwards.

Along that, Fox seems to have robotic-like feet. It's especially remarkable in his artworks for Star Fox, where the shape of them are abnormal and don't seem natural and have a robotic aspect. It can also be seen in Star Fox 64, even tho the shape looks more natural than in the previous game. But for the rest of the games, the shape of his feet looks much more like actual boots than the previous ones, even tho they always kept their robotic aspect.

Star-fox-assault-image2

Fox's strict, dedicated character portrayed in Assault.

Fox is an overall strong minded and responsible leader, displaying fierce loyalty to his team and to the Cornerian Empire. Albeit scarcely of a cocky rogue with a propensity to disregard rules and regulations (and to repine if he's not being paid enough), he is ultimately, according to Star Fox Adventures, "pure of heart". Fox is also shown to be very protective of his friends, as visually perceived in the games, of his team. Fox's countenance is always either a stoic look or cocky smile. In contrast to his personality and traits portrayed in Adventures, Star Fox Assault depicts Fox as a professional and decisive mercenary.

Fox speaks in a rather youthful voice in all games, but the style and personality differs with each voice actor.

Relationships[]

Ever since they were fellow students in the Cornerian Flight Academy, and later fellow members of the Star Fox team, Slippy Toad has always been one of Fox's truest friends. Compared to the rest of his teammates, Fox is more tolerant of Slippy, always saving him when he's in trouble, and doesn't show annoyance the way Falco and the others do. In turn, Slippy is very loyal to Fox, and the second most active member in the team, and his help, by creating technological gadgets or vehicles, or analyzing particularly tough enemies, greatly contributed to Fox's success. Fox does sometimes get irritated at Slippy's lighthearted recklessness, such as when throwing a wrench to turn off the jukebox, and when showing admiration for the Aparoid City decoration. Before their Mission to save Sauria, Fox beat Slippy at his own flight simulator, finding Slippy to be a lame competitor for him, compared to the absent Falco.

Peppy Hare is a family friend of Fox, as well as his mentor and father figure. Since Peppy had no son of his own, he effectively became a second father to Fox, taking the relatively young Fox under his protection after the disappearance of James, and continued to give Fox his precious advice. His wisdom and experience greatly helped the team in general. When Peppy sacrificed himself in Star Fox Assault, Fox was saddened and horrified, but had to accept that, although he survived.

Falco Lombardi is one of Fox's best friends, and they share a friendly rivalry. Despite that, his arrogance sometimes puts him in danger, leading Fox to rescue him. He can also be quite sarcastic even when thanking him for saving him. Despite this, Falco will always lend Fox a wing and will back him up in his time of need.

Abilities[]

Pilot Skills[]

Because of the influence of his upbringing, Fox was been trained his entire life, by his father and the Cornerian Academy. This was expanded on in the Nintendo Power Comic issue;Act 2: Silver Wings, where he was at the top of his class and could fly circles around a flea as well as endure days of gravity training. His behavior influenced a more rowdy Falco to become enrolled into earning his wings as well.

  • Arwing: The Arwing is Fox's favorite ship and often the most used method of vehicular combat in all games and other media. Unlike Falco's more self-confident and reckless attitude, Fox has shown himself to be very responsible in the Arwing cockpit, such as ordering a Communications lines or G-Diffuser checks before entering a battlefield.
  • Landmaster: Fox has demonstrated incredible skills in the Landmaster, earning recognition from his team, including Falco's remark about him looking better in a tank (this was contradicted in "Assault", when taking out multiple airborne enemies with the Landmaster in Mission 6, this time Falco is under the impression that Fox can do better in an Arwing).
  • Blue-Marine: Fox successfully managed to helm Slippy's unpredictable, experimental sub-marine, even before the sub was approved for mass production.

Combat Skills[]

Even before he uses Krystal's staff in "Adventures" and his inclusion in the "Super Smash Bros. series", Fox has been known to be highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat, evidently in the Versus Mode of "Star Fox 64", and taking up a sword against Captain Shears in Farewell, Beloved Falco. Like the "Star Fox 64" Versus Mode, Fox is perfectly capable of using several weapons in both the Story Mode and in Versus Mode of "Star Fox: Assault".

In the "Super Smash Bros. games", Fox demonstrates multiple fighting and defensive abilities against other characters, often using his unique speed and agility in contrast to being a more well-rounded character in the Main Games.


Portrayals[]

Language Game Voice actor
English StarFox 1993, Super Mario Maker Daniel Owsen
Japanese Star Fox 64 logo, Ssb logo, Super Smash Bros Melee logo Shinobu Satōchi
Japanese Assault logo, Super Smash Bros Brawl logo, Logo EN - Super Smash Bros. Wii U 3DS Kenji Nojima
Japanese Star Fox 64 3D logo, CM88vmz, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Logo Takashi Ōhara
English Star Fox 64 logo, Star Fox 64 3D logo, Logo EN - Super Smash Bros. Wii U 3DS, CM88vmz, Sl logo , Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Logo Mike West
English Super Smash Bros Melee logo (cutscenes), Star Fox Adventures, Super Smash Bros Brawl logo (cutscenes) Steve Malpass
English Assault logo, Super Smash Bros Brawl logo Jim Walker
English Star Fox Zero: The Battle Begins Joe Zieja
Spanish Star Fox 64 3D logo Daniel Galo (Latin America)
Spanish Star Fox 64 3D logo Ángel de Gracia (Spain)

Concept and Design[]

In 1992, Argonaut Games and Nintendo collaborated to engender a 3D space shooter for the Super Nintendo, provisionally titled 'SnesGlider'. The development team, led by Shigeru Miyamoto, redesigned what had been a tech demo into a rail shooter, with Nintendo designing the game and Astronaut handling the technical aspects.

Miyamoto determinately settled on having a fox as the main character after visiting Fushimi Inari-taisha in Kyoto, the head shrine of Inari, a Japanese kami associated with foxes. Inari is portrayed as being able to fly, and its shrines, particularly the one in Kyoto, are circumvented by red arches (torii), giving Miyamoto the conception of a fox that could fly through arches.

Fox's face was modeled after Inari's, and always wears a red "scarf" around his neck, like the statue, with the exception of his design from Star Fox: Assault. Fox's personality is modeled after Miyamoto's, with the denomination 'Fox McCloud' being suggested by Dylan Cuthbert, one of Astronaut's members.

Reception and popularity[]

Since the relinquishment of the pristine Star Fox, Fox McCloud has gained a cult following. Early in the Nintendo 64's lifespan, he has been ranked fifth in IGN's top five best Nintendo 64 character list. IGN accoladed Fox's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee, verbalizing that he featured some of the best texture work and modelling in the game. In their preview of Star Fox: Assault, IGN editors Juan Castro and Matt Casamassina described Fox's voice as "juvenile yet tough". Fox ranked eighth on GameDaily's Top 10 Smash Bros. characters list. In an IGN poll for voting from a list of ten Nintendo characters for favorite Nintendo character of all time, Fox came in fourth, behind Link, Mario, and Samus respectively. His quotes from Star Fox 64, along with Falco's and Wolf's, are withal popular and well-kenned.

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