James McCloud

Template:Star Fox member infobox

“Never give up. Trust your instincts.”

—James McCloud

James McCloud was a legendary pilot who became the founder and leader of the legendary incarnation of the elite Star Fox Team, a mercenary-for-hire group in the Lylat System. James was talented in terms of combat, piloting, adventuring, and unwaveringly loyality to his friends. After his apparent and supposed death, James was later succeeded as leader of Star Fox, by his only son, Fox McCloud.

History

Early life in the SNES comic

James was born and grew up on the planet Corneria. Much of his past remains unknown, but he did graduate the Cornerian Flight Academy and eventually he took a wife, Vixy Reinard McCloud, founded the Star Fox Team, and had only one child, a son named Fox, whom he raised on his own since according to the Star Fox comic (1993), it says that Vixy Reinard McCloud was killed by Andross. How it happened is Andross rigged a bomb into Jame's car but since Vixy's car was out of gas and James offered to let Vixy use his car, oblivious to Andross's scheme. When she turned the car on, the bomb exploded and Vixy was killed in the process. Both Andross and James were stricken with grief at this sudden death.

Formation of Star Fox

The legendary Star Fox team, as they appear in Star Fox 64.

An ace pilot and avid adventurer, James became a mercenary-for-hire, initially working on a freelance basis, but eventually he formed the original Star Fox team, an elite commando unit that usually took orders from General Pepper and other branches of the Cornerian Army. The team consisted of James himself, who was the leader and founder of the group; Peppy Hare, who later became a close friend of his and also a co-founder of Star Fox as well; and Pigma Dengar, who proved himself a cunning teammate and mercenary in the Star Fox Team. In the course of their duties, James and Star Fox traveled the length and breadth of the Lylat system, pursuing jobs and settling minor disputes, eventually coming into contact with Star Wolf and its leader, Wolf O'Donnell, who would maintain a rivalry with James that would last until Fox McCloud's time. The team earned so much, James decided to upgrade the team's headquarters and purchased a mothership called the Great Fox which costed so much, James had to take a 80-year loan from the bank. Eventually though, all of that would change on a simple scouting mission to Venom where something surprisingly happened to the team But in Star Fox that is the original SNES game, the story is slightly different, as that game is no longer part of the canon series. In this game, James McCloud is known as Fox McCloud Sr. instead. In the plot, Fox McCloud Sr. volunteers to haul the Gravity Bomb created by Dr. Andross near the asteroid belt and detonate it. However, Fox McCloud Sr. did not know what Dr. Andross was planning for him and the unthinkable happened. When Fox McCloud Sr. detonated the bomb, it created a black hole in the Lylat System and Fox McCloud Sr. subsequently was last seen flying there as the black hole was sucking him and the Arwing in towards the centre of the black hole. Most people just assumed he was dead by the black hole sucking him in the event horizon plus the pressure of it collapsing the Arwing but no one knows what really happened to him though. In that game, it's a complete mystery and no direct reference is made, but however General Pepper does state that this area (the Black Hole) is consisted of warped space looping over and over again and this is the last time anyone had saw Fox McCloud Sr. in the Lylat System. In reality the Black Hole serves as a warp point in the Lylat System and some people think it may lead to our system, the Solar System. However, the Black Hole has not appeared in any other Star Fox game and is now considered non-canon to the rest of the games in the entire series since the original Star Fox on the SNES was completely rebooted and changed dramatically in the reboot on the Nintendo 64 in a game called Star Fox 64. So there are two complete stories on the history of James, but the Star Fox 64 story is canon and is probably the real story rather than the one that was told by the original Star Fox game on the SNES.

Betrayal

File:Jameshead.jpg

James McCloud, as he appears in Star Fox 64.

Reports of strange activity were detected on Venom, a barren, inhospitable, and desolate planet on the far edge of the Lylat System, where the mad scientist Andross had been exiled to a couple years before. General Pepper, worried about what danger may have been present in the Lylat System, hired the original Star Fox team to go on a scouting mission to Venom and determine the cause of this strange activity that was going on in Venom.

Upon their arrival, Pigma betrayed the team to Andross since Andross offered to give Pigma more money than he had ever recieved before to do what he wanted, bribing Pigma to betray the entire team. James and Peppy were immediately captured by Andross at the onset of the betrayal, where James was shot down by Andross and assumed dead by most people in the Lylat System. Peppy however on the other hand managed to escape just barely, and flew his heavily damaged Arwing back to Corneria to inform. When he returned, he informed General Pepper and James' son Fox of what happened to his father, Pigma, and himself during the failed scouting mission. Fox upon hearing this, vowed to get revenge on Andross for murdering his father later on in the series.

Legacy

Peppy returned home to Corneria and delivered the news of James' fate to Fox and General Pepper. In time, Fox would follow in his father's footsteps and take over Star Fox himself as the new leader. Using both the Great Fox and ROB 64, a robotic humanoid purchased by James for the team but never given the chance to be utilized, Fox recruited Peppy, Slippy Toad, and Falco Lombardi to fight together and defend peace wherever it was threatened, thus creating a new Star Fox Team to be formed. Pigma Dengar succeeded at his mission, got payed a huge sum of money, and instead joined Star Wolf, a rival mercenary-for-hire group. However, he was kicked out due to his incredible greed and distrustful nature after the Lylat Wars. After that he was assimilated by the Aparoids and fought the Star Fox Team. However, he was destroyed and nothing but merely a cube that had his spirit inside it in Star Fox Command. He also appeared as a boss depending on certain decisions one made in the game. The legacy that James McCloud left behind is one that is a huge and important one that almost all the people in the Lylat System know. But what the fate was of James, that is still to be revealed.

Possible Death

File:James mccloud.jpg

James McCloud as he appears in Star Fox: Assault.

James has, temporarily, returned on occasion, to help his son and his friends in their time of need. Below are some instances when James makes an appearance in the games:

• The first was on Venom, where Star Fox was concluding their mission during the Lylat Wars to re-take the conquered Lylat system from the Venomian Army and defeat Andross. Fox ventured into the subterranean command center to fight Andross himself, and was poised to defeat him. The dying mad scientist self-destructed, intending to destroy the base and take Fox with it. James, riding in his Arwing, came and saved Fox, guiding him out of the base as the destructive flames raged behind him and led him to safety. James expressed his pride in his son, saying how strong he had become and also saying some helpful hints to him, and upon emerging from the exploding base, James disappeared into Venom's sky. Fox was somewhat saddened by him leaving again, but when questioned by his teammates, Fox insisted nothing was wrong, as his father was still watching over him. If one watches closely, there is a star that flies over the right corner of the screen after the Venom 2 mission that does not appear after completing Venom 1. This could mean that James McCloud is still alive since it is never directly stated (though it is still implied) in the beginning or in the Area 6 and Venom 2 course that he is dead or imprisoned by the true form of Andross. If the route take is Venom 1, however, there will be direct references to James' death. When doing the Bolse mission with Star Wolf's arrival, Pigma, when giving his entry transmission, will state "Daddy screamed REAL good before he died!" (although he only says the "died" part if Andrew Oikonny isn't present, as otherwise Andrew Oikonny will cut in.), and android Andross, while Fox is traversing the base's tunnel, will state "You will die just like your father!" just before fighting Fox. The Japanese Star Fox 64 manual however, explicitly says that he was killed.

• James contacted his son again during Fox's mission to save Sauria from destruction. One of the Cheat Tokens Fox found revealed a message from James: "I can see you have matured into a strong leader. I am always there with you. Never give up... Trust your instincts... My son...".

• While technically not a hint towards his being alive or dead, the Aparoid Queen mimics James McCloud occasionally, along with the other lifeforms infected by the Aparoids (Pigma, General Pepper, ROB, and Peppy), which hints that the Aparoids might have come into contact with him at one point. Or the image of James could have been taken from the mentioned character's memories, since they all knew him before. Falco was about to mention that he was dead before Fox cut him off, though.

• James' latest appearance was nine years later, during the Anglar Blitz, where Star Fox made its final raid on Venom to defeat the Anglar Emperor. James suddenly appeared in his Arwing, and aided Fox, Falco and Dash Bowman in their battles under the Venom oceans. Oddly, Fox didn't react in anyway when his father appeared. After the battle was done, James disappeared once again. None of the characters appear to be able to see him, suggesting he is a ghost. That is his only playable appearance in any Star Fox game.

Physical Appearance

James and Fox appear strikingly similar. The telltale sign that one is looking at James McCloud is that he is never seen without his sunglasses. However, Fox is sometimes seen with sunglasses. Besides the sunglasses, there have been various other differences between Fox and James. In Star Fox 64, James has a narrower head and darker fur, while in Star Fox Command James wears a yellow scarf rather than a red one.

Other appearances

F-Zero series

A human clone of James McCloud debuted in F-Zero X as an unlockable racer. As a direct reference, James dons the exact same clothes his Star Fox counterpart wore. His machine, Little Wyvern (#10), is a clone of the Arwing. His ending in the Grand Prix reads 'I drive like a sly fox' is another direct reference to his original counterpart. In F-Zero GX, more references are made as well. He is redesigned to have his hair spiked up in two different directions, resembling fox ears. He also mentions of a mercenary group called Galaxy Dog, another reference to Star Fox. James also mentions a son (though not by name) as his inspiration to participate in the F-Zero races. He also makes an appearance in the series anime in his self-titled episode which shows a flashback of him during his mercenary days. His partner went by the name of O'Donnell, an ironic reference to Wolf. F-Zero X abbreviated is F 0 X, which could be another clue.

Trivia

• Until Star Fox 64, James was not necessarily known as James McCloud. An example of this would be in a comic published by Nintendo Power, where he was referenced as Fox McCloud, Sr.
• James McCloud was voiced by Mike West in Star Fox 64 and by Jim Walker in Star Fox: Assault. These are the same actors who voiced his son Fox McCloud in the same games. In the Japanese versions of these games, James is voiced by Tomohisa Asô and Hirohiko Kakegawa, respectively.
• On the Expert difficulty mode in Star Fox 64, Fox wears a pair of sunglasses and looks almost indistinguishable from James. Also, Fox's name doesn't appear during transmissions he sends out during the course of Expert Mode, further referencing his appearance as James, as James has the same color box around his mugshot as Fox's.
• In Star Fox 64, if the game is completed on the Venom 2 course, there is no direct mention of James dying. The implication is still there, however.

Leader(s)
Member(s)
Allies
Others	Free-As-A-Bird • Marcus • Slippy's son • Peppy's granddaughter • Fara Phoenix
	Armoured Arwing • Light Arwing
Other Vehicles	• Roadmaster