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Playtime is over, Star Fox!
97 Wolf

Wolf O'Donnell is the leader of Star Wolf and archrival of Fox McCloud. In parallel to Fox and his team, Wolf is also known to go by the name of Star Wolf, as seen in Star Fox 2. He was initially hired by Andross during the Lylat Wars to take down the Star Fox team, due to his dedication of proving he is just as good a pilot as Fox if not better, but ultimately failing. During the years between the end of the war and the beginning of the Aparoid Invasion, they hid in an illegal hideout called the Sargasso Space Zone, recruiting various criminals from all corners of the Lylat System who proudly named Wolf as Lord O'Donnell. His motives changed when the Aparoids invaded Corneria as he rescued Fox and aided Star Fox in their retaliation.

Biography

Not much is known about Wolf O'Donnell's early life other than he used to be the leader of a gang of space pirates, presumably the same pirates that duelled with the Cornerian army at Sector Z in a battle that left much space wreckage. It is also known that Wolf has been wanted by the Cornerian army for years, because of crimes such as larceny and treason. Before the Lylat Wars, Team Star Fox and Star Wolf shared a long and bitter history with one another, despite mutual respect. It was believed that Wolf had somehow been involved in the disappearance of James McCloud, who was Fox's father. Following the ape's exile, when Andross offered Wolf money to lead a mercenary team against Fox McCloud and the Star Fox team, he jumped at the chance to see Fox fail. He teamed up with Pigma Dengar, Andross's nephew, Andrew Oikonny, and found the mysterious Leon Powalski in a rough bar on Venom. Wolf then sought to destroy Star Fox and protect Andross, so that he may be feared throughout the galaxy. When Wolf's team was hired by Andross to take down Star Fox, Wolf wanted nothing more than to fulfill these orders and prove himself to be as good, or better, than Fox McCloud.

Other Appearances

Lylat Wars Comic

Wolf appears in the Lylat Wars Comic with the rest of Star Wolf. His role is much smaller compared to Pigma and Andrew. Star Wolf first appear when they ambush the Star Fox team at the Asteroid Belt, but piloting superiority beats Wolf's team back with Fox hot on Pigma's tail for his treason towards his old team. Wolf intervenes the chase to let Pigma escape, and threatens to send Fox to see his father, to which Fox concludes the rumors surrounding Wolf's involvement with the mystery over James McCloud's fate.

Pigma and Andrew later make another attempt to take down Star Fox over Solar in revenge for their humiliation towards Andross. But they acted without Wolf's approval or knowledge, infuriating him, to which he then expels them from the team for disobedience and opens fire on them. Wolf explains that Fox is his rival and that their grudge has not yet been satisfied. This act of saving Fox's life to continue their conflict predates the famous event that occurred years later in Star Fox Assault.

Trivia

  • Wolf's iconic intro statement in Star Fox 64: "Can't let you do that, Star Fox," has become an internet phenomenon over time. Websites such as Halolz post images of Wolf photoshopped into other images.
    • Though Wolf's above quote comes from Star Fox 64, most representations show him with his Assault artwork, likely because no character artwork of Wolf in Star Fox 64 was ever released by Nintendo.
  • Grant Goodeve, who voiced Wolf in Assault, and the late Rick May, who voiced Peppy Hare and Andross in Star Fox 64, both voice a character (the Engineer and Soldier classes, respectively) in the Valve game Team Fortress 2.
    • Furthering this coincidence, the June 2014 TF2 short Expiration Date had both characters' actors replaced by Nolan North, the former due to Goodeve's absence, and the latter being a single line done because of Rick May's inability to perform it.
  • His last name, O'Donnell, appears to be Irish in origin and may be a reference to the cultural phenomenon of Wolves in Ireland. Wolves are extinct in Ireland, but were important to their culture and are significant to Irish mythology.
  • The fact that Wolf is a bounty hunter in Event Match 36 of "Brawl" is exceptionally ironic considering that he himself was the subject of a bounty in "Command".
  • It was planned to create a girlfriend for him, but that was discarded.
  • It can be clearly seen that he is not a total villain, since he has shown empathy even with his enemies, giving us the impression that he is an antihero.
  • Wolf's two lines "You're good. But I'm better!" and "Playtime's over, Star Fox!" in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate were both recycled from Star Fox 64 and Star Fox 64 3D.
  • Takaya Imamura based Wolf off his grandfather, who was a "bad man."[1]

Names in Other Languages

Language Name
Japanese ウルフ・オドネル (Urufu Odoneru) Wolf O'Donnell
(スターウルフリーダー Star Wolf Leader)
Chinese 沃爾夫・歐唐納 (Wòērfū Ōutángnà)
Korean 울프 오도넬 (Ulpeu Odonel)
Russian Вольф О'Донелл (Volf O'Donell)

References

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