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—Yaru de Pon

Yaru de Pon (ヤル・デ・ポン), is a tanuki that appears in Star Fox 64 and its 3DS rerelease. According to Slippy Toad's information on the Japanese Star Fox 64 official website he is actually the president of Space Dynamics. Slippy knows this because he works closely with his father, Beltino Toad. He is unnamed outside the Japanese Star Fox 64 site and only appears in the game's Training Mode, acting as a trainer, teaching the necessary techniques to pilot the Arwing in both standard "Corridor Mode" and All-Range Mode.

Appearance[]

As seen in the more detailed 3DS release, Yaru is a tanuki with a green and red cap, similar to the one worn by Slippy Toad, while wearing a grey uniform resembling that of the Star Fox team's. A theory is that he may be a flight instructor for the Cornerian Army. He holds up a wrench showing that he is also some type of mechanic.

Portrayal[]

  • Yaru is the only character in the Nintendo 64 version of the game to not speak in an actual language (he instead speaks in an almost Morse code-esque manner). He could be speaking in Lylat Language, as his voice remains the same in both the Europe and Australian release's alternative voice option and the standard English voice option.
  • Yaru is given a speaking voice by Jay Ward, in Star Fox 64 3D. His voice is very similar to the one Ward gave Wolf O'Donnell in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
  • Yaru is among many Tanuki's in Nintendo's series, following in the footsteps of Mario, and is also a predecessor to Tom Nook, a Tanuki character in the Animal Crossing series. 

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • Yaru is often mistaken for a raccoon. However, a tanuki is a Japanese raccoon dog, which is a canine animal, making it fit with most of the Cornerian forces.
    • The site also describes him as being "scheming" which fits with folklore and popular culture depicting tanukis as being mischievous and jolly. It also states that Slippy thinks he should not say it out loud, but Beltino knows that Mr DePon is a scheming tanuki who trades weapons in the darkness, meaning that Space Dynamics is profiting on both sides of the Lylat Wars by dealing under the table.
    • According to Takaya Imamura, the character's design was inspired by his soon-to-be wife's face, which is tanuki-shaped. This follows his habit of basing the species of his characters off fellow staff members, such as Miyamoto's fox-shaped face.
  • In the 3DS remake, he and ROB 64 share the same background in the Communications Channel.
  • The name "Yaru de Pon" may be a reference to Henry du Pont, whose family made their fortune selling gunpowder. At the time they were the largest manufacturer in the world and eventually expanded into motor vehicles. A popular rumor is that Henry du Pont secretly sold gunpowder to the Confederacy during the Civil War, resembling Yaru's backstory. Their surnames, Pon and Pont, are written the same in Japanese (ポン).
  • Alternatively, "Yaru de Pon" might be a Japanese pronunciation of "Yaru the Pawn", meaning his last name could be Pawn.

References[]

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