James McCloud

Template:Star Fox member infobox

“Never give up. Trust your instincts.”

—James McCloud

James McCloud (ジェームズ・マクラウド) was a legendary and astonishing pilot who became the founder and leader of the legendary Star Fox Team, a mercenary-for-hire squadron in the Lylat System. James was talented in terms of fighting, piloting, and adventuring. He was well known for holding an unwavering loyalty to his friends. After his apparent and supposed death, James was later succeeded as leader of Star Fox by his only son, Fox McCloud. Fox McCloud was a cadet at the Cornerian Defense Army Academy when he heard the news that his father, James McCloud, had met a violent end at the hands of the twisted genius, Andross. The senior McCloud had been betrayed by his own wingman, Pigma Dengar, and delivered into a deadly trap from which there was seemingly no escape. Only James's wingman, Peppy Hare, managed to limp home in his badly damaged starfighter. As the only survivor of the original Star Fox Team, Peppy insisted that the young Fox take on the leadership of the group and form a new team of pilots. Thrust into the leadership role that he wasn't prepared for, Fox recruited the hot-tempered Falco Lombardi and the mechanical genius Slippy Toad to make up the new Star Fox Team in his father's honour.

Biography

Formation of Star Fox

As an ace pilot and avid adventurer, James served in the Cornerian Army with his friends Peppy and Pepper, before pulling out to start an elite commando unit of mercenaries-for-hire, known as the Star Fox team, initially working on a freelance basis. The team consisted of James himself, who was the leader and founder of the mercenary squadron, Peppy Hare, who was already a close friend, and Pigma Dengar, who proved himself to be a cunning teammate 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 disputes. The team earned overflowing wealth to the point that James decided to upgrade the team's headquarters and purchased a mothership called the Great Fox, which was so expensive that James took an 80-year loan from a bank to transport the trio across the system faster and more efficiently. For a price, this crack group would fight against any threat to the Cornerian star system. Although it may have appeared that the Star Fox Team is motivated only by financial gain, it would only accept missions that serve to uphold justice.

Betrayal

James and Peppy, betrayed by Pigma and ambushed by Andross' forces.

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 it just a few years before. General Pepper, worried for the safety of the entire system, hired the original Star Fox team to go on a scouting mission to Venom and determine the cause of the strange activity.

Upon their arrival, Pigma betrayed the team to Andross, who had bribed him with the promise of immense riches. James and Peppy were immediately captured by Andross at the onset of the betrayal. Peppy managed to barely escape, and flew his damaged Arwing back to Corneria. When he returned, he informed General Pepper and James' son, Fox, of what happened to James, Pigma, and himself during the failed scouting mission. While it is unknown what exactly happened to the missing James, he was declared dead. The Star Wolf leader Wolf O'Donnell was also suspected to have been involved in James' disappearance as well. Upon hearing this, Fox eventually vowed to get revenge on Andross and for murdering his father and bring the traitorous Pigma to justice.

Legacy

After Peppy returned and delivered the news of James' fate to Fox and General Pepper, Fox decided to follow in his father's footsteps and resume leadership of Star Fox. Even though Peppy was older than all the other Star Fox Team members, he declined the leadership role and insisted that the younger Fox McCloud take over the team after Fox's father was slain by Andross. 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. General Pepper, still feeling guilty of sending his old friend James to his doom, decided to take responsiblity of his son Fox's career. Pigma Dengar succeeded at his mission, got paid 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. He was later assimilated by the Aparoids and was apparently destroyed by Fox. The Aparoid Queen later used James McCloud's likeness to attempt to trick Fox into surrendering. However, it ironically exposed her deception due to "James" telling Fox to effectively give up, something Fox knew full well his father would never tell him to do. In most Star Fox: Command endings, Star Fox remains together and may even have a new generation.

The legacy that James McCloud left behind is one that the citizens of the Lylat System are indebted to, but the ultimate fate of James and the current Star Fox team is yet to be revealed.

Possible Return?

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. While some fans take this to mean that James McCloud is still alive, it was heavily implied that this was a vision or ghost that came to his son. If one watches closely, there is a shooting star that likely represents James on the right corner of the screen in this ending, which is symbolism for his passing. The player also cannot interact with James' Arwing during the escape sequence. If the route taken leads to Venom 1 rather than Venom 2, however, there will be more references to James' death. When doing the Bolse mission with Star Wolf's arrival, Pigma, when giving his entry transmission, will taunt "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). While Fox is traversing the base's tunnel and is about to face the Andross decoy, Andross will taunt "You will die just like your father!" The Japanese Star Fox 64 manual also uses more explicit wording to refer to James' doom.

• James' latest appearance was possibly nine years later, during the Anglar Blitz, where Star Fox made its final raid on Venom to defeat the Anglar Emperor. In the Venom mission that leads to the Dash Makes a Choice ending, James suddenly appeared in his Arwing, and aided Fox, Falco and Dash Bowman in their battles under the Venom oceans. Oddly, Fox seemed to be the only one that was able to see him, despite Falco asking: Fox! you seein' things or what? There's no one there!. After defeating the Anglar Emperor, James says: …Well done… and disappears afterwards.

In the games

Star Fox 64/3D

In Star Fox 64 and the 3DS release, James is present in the games's backstory where he is armed with a blaster. Taking the route to Venom via Bolse frequently implies that James is deceased, such as taunts from Pigma and Andross. However, taking the rotue to Venom via Area has James appear to help save his son from an explosive doom. After battling and destroying Andross's true form, the screen will fade out into a blank white picture. Seconds later James will report in on the Communications channel to tell Fox: "Don't ever give up, my son." The game will then cut to Fox's Arwing following James's Arwing to escape from Andross's collapsing palace. The player will need to closely follow James's Arwing and take the same routes, or else taking the wrong route will lead to an instant death. Once the long slow flight out of the entrance is over, James remarks that "You've become so strong, Fox." before his ship vanishes. Affer reaching Venom's orbit, Fox takes one last look for what appeared to be his long lost father, but responds to Peppy's concerns with hidden disappointment that "Nothing… nothing's wrong". When speaking on the Communications channel, James now has a tear in his left ear, suggesting possible torture during his capture by Andross.

Strategy Guide description

“Once the leader of the Star Fox team, James was betrayed by Pigma Dengar on Venom. His son, Fox, can't believe that his father is truly gone.”

—Official Nintendo Power Player's Guide, pg 9.

Star Fox Adventures

James somehow contacted his son again during Fox's mission to save Dinosaur Planet 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...". It is possible that the other Cheat Tokens are messages from James, though this is the only direct indication.

Star Fox: Assault

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.

Star Fox Command

James appears in the Venom Sea in the third ending (♙Dash Makes a Choice") in which his Arwing is located on-screen. Strangely, neither Falco nor Dash can see him, only the Anglar enemies and possibly Fox. Also odd is that his ship is a physical object, unlike in Star Fox 64. In addition, James pilots a newer Arwing model from Star Fox: Assault. This is because he shares the same statistics as Peppy, as well as the same character theme (which is a remix of the Aparoid Homeworld penetration and Peppy's sacrifice cutscene during Star Fox: Assault).  His quotes are spoken with ellipses, such as when his Arwing is shot down, he will respond with "Farewell…". The fact that his ship can be shot down is mainly for gameplay reasons, but may add more controversy over his presumed death.

James will always appear in this ending, but under certain conditions (two bases cleared and no spare ships remaining) Fox will briefly acknowledge his arrival by saying "Dad?" Falco and Dash can't see him, however, so when questioned Fox replies with "No it's... it's nothing," despite the fact that from this point on James can be controlled. Another strange detail is that Fox will occasionally say "You're all over this!" when playing as James, though he does say this line for other characters as well.

After the battle, James disappears once again. This is his only playable appearance in any Star Fox game to date.

Other appearances

Early depictions

Fox Sr. with his young son Fox.

• In the original Star Fox SNES game, no direct reference is made to Fox's father or his name, although General Pepper does vaguely lament that the Black Hole is the last place anyone had seen him alive. In reality, the Black Hole is a warp point in the Lylat System, so the exact details behind the disappearance of Fox's father is uncertain.

• Fox's father was given a name and backstory in the non-canon Star Fox comic adaptation by Benimaru Itoh. In it, Fox McCloud Sr. (as he is known here) was born and grew up on the planet Corneria. Much of his past remains unknown, but he graduated from the Cornerian Academy, married Vixy Reinard McCloud, and had only one child, whom he raised on his own. Jealous, Andross rigged a bomb into Fox Sr.'s car and since Vixy's car was out of gas, Fox Sr. offered to let Vixy use his car, unaware of Andross's scheme. When Vixy turned the car's ignition, the bomb exploded, resulting in her death. Both Andross and Fox Sr. were stricken with grief by the sudden loss. Later, Fox Sr. was presumed dead when an experimental bomb testing "went wrong." Designed by Andross, then a Cornerian scientist, the bomb was secretly supposed to detonate when Fox Sr. reached critical velocity. However, the Black Hole was created from the explosion. This resulted in his exile to the planet Venom. Fox Sr. is later seen to be alive in some form when the hidden Space Whale who releases items from Sector Y is revealed to have Fox's father on board. While he is still alive, he is confined to exist only inside the Black Hole and is unable to return to the other side.

• Meanwhile, in the Japan-only Star Fox Mission File Printout guide book (also illustrated by Benimaru Itoh), another background for Fox's father was given. Fox Senior-Gunsō (or "Sergeant"), apparently a high-ranking member of the Cornerian military and dear friend of General Pepper, was chasing space pirates in the Asteroid Belt. He narrowly missed a mysterious smiling asteroid, which suddenly turned into a Black Hole vortex that swallowed him in. The appearance of a foreign Black Hole is believed to be due to the presence of Andross's experiments in the area. After hearing the news, his son Fox McCloud dropped out of the Cornerian Academy. Fox's close friends -- his former rival Falco, Fox Senior's associate Peppy, and the mechanically-inclined Slippy -- all joined him in the struggle against Andross.

Star Fox 64 manga

While James himself did not appear in the manga, he was mentioned. When Fox chases after Pigma in revenge at the Meteo Asteroid Belt, Wolf delays him to let the traitorous Pig escape while making snide threats about sending Fox to join his father, thus Fox concludes the rumours surrounding Wolf's involvement with the ultimate fate of James. Later at the Great Fox's hanger, Peppy retells the backstory of the original Star Fox Team to Slippy. The Rabbit blames himself for losing his best friend, calling himself a coward and only hoping that someday he'll see "Jimmy" again. The affectionate nicknaming indicates just how close James and Peppy were together.

F-Zero series

His F-Zero racer.

A human resembling 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), resembles 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 obvious reference to Wolf.

Super Smash Bros. series

• Fox's fighter biographies in the instruction booklet and in-game gallery of Super Smash Bros. does not reference James by name, only that his father is widely accepted as deceased. In all Super Smash Bros. titles, Fox has an alternative green pallet swap, making him resemble James.
• In Super Smash Bros. Melee, Peppy's trophy retells the story of Star Fox 64's opening backstory, where its mentions James and that only Peppy escaped Venom.
• James McCloud does not actually appear in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, although he was alluded to during the Lylat Cruise when Falco uses the comm link in one of the areas. Peppy will say "Never give up, trust your instincts", with Fox and Slippy recognizing the line, causing Peppy to apologize and mention he channeled James McCloud. This also references the fact that both Peppy and James McCloud used this phrase in Star Fox 64.
• In Super Smash Bros for 3DS, James appears as a trophy for the first time, based on his look from specifically Star Fox 64 3D. His appearance is taken from the in-game's backstory and his look the Communications channel, where he has the tear in his ear. His eyes are truly visible from behind his sunglass by rotating the trophy. It's info also relates to his unrelated look-a-like from the F-Zero series. The trophy ambiguously references that James was widely accepted to have died at the hands of Andross, a fact that still has not yet been clarified in the games.

Trophy descriptions

James McCloud's Trophy in the 3DS release.

“Fox's father and the founder of Star Fox. He was betrayed by Pigma Dengar while scouting the planet Venom. James died a hero, caught in Andross's clutches. The F-Zero series also has a racer named James McCloud (also with dashing shades!), but Fox McCloud's dad isn't related to that human.”

—3DS Trophy description (NA release)

“Fox's father and the founder of Star Fox/ He was betrayed by Pigma Dengar while on a scouting mission to Venom. James died a hero, caught in Andross's clutches. The F-Zero series has a racer of the same name (with suitably dashing sunglasses to boot), but that James McCloud is certainly not of the fox persuasion.”

—3DS Trophy description (PAL release

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 64/3D, James has a narrower head and darker fur, while having a noticeable nick in the skin of his left ear. This tear only appears when Fox is leaving Andross's exploding Palace, possibly due to torture from his capture on Venom and presumed excecution. The tear is missing in later games, possibly due to the influence made by the developer change.
  • On the Expert difficulty mode 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 Command James wears a yellow scarf rather than a red one. Fox references James's trademark appearance when he too wears sunglasses again in his own fatherhood, as seen in the Star Fox Command ending, Goodbye Fox.

• Also in Star Fox: Assault, James is grey fringed, in comparison to his son, Fox's white striped forehead.

Portrayals

Each time James is voiced, it is the same voice actor as Fox McCloud. James McCloud's dialogue has been preformed by the following:

• Mike West in Star Fox 64/3D.

• Jim Walker in Star Fox: Assault.

• In the Japanese versions of these games, James is voiced by Tomohisa Asô and Hirohiko Kakegawa, respectively.

Gallery

James, Peppy and Pigma, the original Star Fox team.

In the remake.

James McCloud's 64 style Communications Channel icon.

James appears with the rest of the series characters in Star Fox 64 when completing Venom in Expert Mode.

The Aparoid Queen imitates James McCloud, creating another mystery.

James McCloud's pilot biography in Star Fox Command.

James McCloud now has a yellow scarf.

James McCloud in Star Fox Assault.

Another James McCloud in the F-Zero series.

James's Communications Channel icon in Star Fox 64 3D. Notice the notch in his ear.

The higher detailed character roll call in Star Fox 64 3D. Notice the notch in James's ear.

CommandJamesDialogueFalco.jpg

CommandJamesDialogueDash.jpg

CommandFoxNoticesJames.jpg

JamesMcCloudCommandDialogue01.jpg

Trivia

• In early Benimaru Itoh illustrations (seen in the Star Fox comic adaptation and Star Fox Mission File Printout guide book), "Fox Senior" is depicted without shades, showing that this version of Fox's father had blue eyes. Until his trophy in Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 3DS/Wii U, this is the only appearance to date where James's eyes have been revealed.
• Wolf's advice to Fox "Don't hesitate, when the time comes, just act!" is a spin on James and Peppy's own catchphrase.

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/fox.html
• http://f.starfox-online.net/archives/starFox64.comReconstructed/peppy.html
• http://sfc.krystalarchive.com/text/venomDashMakesAChoice.html
• http://starfox64.baldninja.com/sf64cast.htm

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