Star Fox (series)

From left to right: Slippy, Peppy, Falco and Fox.


Do a barrel roll!
—Peppy Hare

Star Fox is a long-running Nintendo space shooter franchise starring the Star Fox mercenary team, and their leader, Fox McCloud. Usually set in the Lylat System, they battle Mad Scientist Andross, their rival counterpart Star Wolf, and other threats.

There are currently five games in the series, only four of which are "true" Star Fox games. Some of the games had different names for European releases due to trademark issues.

  • Star FOX (released as Starwing in Europe), for the Super NES. Technologically advanced for the time - Nintendo put a coprocessor chip on the game cartridge to handle the 3D rendering - but looks quite dated today. Had some of the most memorable music in the entire series though, composed by Hajime Hirasawa who then left Nintendo. An SNES sequel, Star Fox 2, was produced in 1995 and had extra features such as evasive maneuvers and free-roaming levels, but was ultimately never released and most of the new features were incorporated in the next game in the series:
  • Star Fox 64 (released as Lylat Wars in Europe), a Killer App for the Nintendo 64, was a remake of the original game, and is usually considered to be the strongest game in the series, with frenetic and fun dogfighting and good gameplay variety. It's short, though, and the difficulty swings wildly between too easy (on normal mode) and cheaply difficult (on Expert). Notable as the first game to support the N64's Rumble Pak (the first mainstream vibrating controller accessory; yes Nintendo started that trend), which came bundled with it.
    • A remake was released for the Nintendo 3DS in September 2011.
  • Star Fox Adventures, also known as Dinosaur Planet, is generally the black sheep of the series. This isn't so much because it was poorly regarded by critics or fans (in fact, the game got fairly good reviews - better than both Assault and Command - and it's consistently cited as one of the best-looking games on Gamecube) but due to not originally being a Star Fox game at all. Instead, its origins lie in an unrelated N64 adventure game moved into the franchise (and to the Gamecube) by Nintendo's urging during development. The game did introduce Fox's on-again-off-again love interest, Krystal, who was integrated into the main series. Incidentally, this game was the last Rare-developed game for a Nintendo console before they were bought out by Microsoft.
  • Nintendo pawned Star Fox off to a third party once again in 2005, with the Namco-developed Star Fox Assault. While the return to the traditional shooter gameplay was well-received, the game suffered from too many missions on foot as well as a general lack of gameplay depth. In spite of that, the multiplayer is quite amazing, even for Star Fox standards. It also suffered from nicking its plot more or less wholesale from Silpheed: The Lost Planet, but it finally gave characterization to non-Star Fox characters. It also introduced Star Wolf's newcomer, Panther Caroso. To date, Assault is Star Fox's worst-reviewed game.
  • Finally, the most recent installment in the series is also its first portable installment, Star Fox Command for the DS. Featuring mostly free-roaming combat, the game introduced a well-executed touch screen control, a strategic map and customized aircrafts for nearly every character. It also had Multiple Endings, nine, to be exact. However, the plot isn't anything to write home about, and repetition sets in fairly quickly. This is the least-selling game of the series.

The series is also notable for its long-rumored but never actually released second installment (that has had a late beta version leaked), Star Fox 2. Elements of that game were recycled into Star Fox 64 and (much more obviously) Star Fox Command. An arcade game was also planned during the development of Star Fox Assault made by Namco, a la F-Zero AX, but was canceled some time in the middle of development. The series protagonist Fox has also appeared as a starting character in all three Super Smash Bros. games, and was joined by his teammate Falco in Melee and his rival and sometime ally Wolf in Brawl.

There were also two official comics releases:

There is a character sheet, as well as a voluminous YMMV section.

Tropes used in Star Fox (series) include:
  • Action Girl: Krystal, Katt, Amanda, and Lucy; the canned Fay and Miyu from Star Fox 2 also qualify.
  • Airborne Aircraft Carrier: The Great Fox, Star Fox's base of operations from Star Fox 2 onward, as well as several bosses.
    • The bases in Command may also count, though they are mostly stationary.
  • Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: It's not clear what kind of bird Falco is, but if he really is a falcon, well... there aren't too many bright blue examples of those. Krystal is a fox, but foxes aren't blue either (except for arctic foxes in the summer, which are kind of blue). Don't forget pink frogs and cats too.
    • According to the Star Fox 64 3D Iwata asks, Falco is actually a pheasant believe it or not. Which would make his head, at least, very accurate.
    • Katt was pink in 64 and suddenly changed to black in Command. Maybe she used to dye her fur or something...
    • Slippy's kids in one of the endings in Command all have different colors.
  • Anti-Hero: Star Wolf team, particularly in the later games.
  • Art Evolution: While the main characters follow a mildly consistent appearance throughout 5-9 games and 3 comic books, they still change appearance a whole lot more than, say, Mario or Kirby.
  • Art Shift: Does Fox McCloud have blue or green eyes? That depends on what game you're looking at. They appear to have settled on green, but interestingly, in an early promo art for Assault, they appeared to be both.
  • The Asteroid Thicket
  • Asteroids Monster: Mostly literal asteroids, but also a straight example in Command.
  • Attack! Attack! Retreat! Retreat!: In Star Fox 64, during the boss battle in Macbeth.

Train driver: Step on the gas!

  • Fox hits the lever to switch the rails, setting the train on a colission course with the factory*

Train driver: No! HIT THE BRAKES!

  • Badass Bookworm: Lucy Hare, she teaches Astrophysics when she's not flying with Fox against evil space fish fish.
  • Badbutt: About half the cast, but most noticeably Falco "Time to kick some tail!" Lombardi and Wolf "What the heck!?" O'Donnell.
  • Battle Couple: Fox and Krystal, at least part of the time. Slippy and Amanda count too.
  • Battleship Raid
  • Big Bad: Andross for the first ever (now non-canon) game, as well as the first game of the rebooted series. General Scales appears to be this throughout Adventures, before he gets replaced by Andross right at the end. The Aparoid Queen for Assault. And the Anglar Emperor for Command.
  • Big Badass Bird of Prey: Falco Lombardi.
  • Big Badass Wolf: Wolf O'Donnell, leader of the Star Wolf team.
  • Big Damn Heroes: The Star Fox team is doing that on the Corneria level, and a couple other levels too.
    • Star Wolf also did the same thing upon arriving in Corneria to save Fox.
  • Bottomless Bladder: Played straight mostly, notably in 64 and the original, where Fox, Falco, Peppy, and Slippy fight through seven airborne missions without a break. Possibly averted in Assault, where the team takes a long break after the fifth mission.
    • Although since they travel from planet to planet between most levels, they probably had some time to rest. However, the last two levels in both Star Fox 64 and Assault are pretty much back to back.
  • British Accents: Krystal and pretty much the entire population of Sauria besides Tricky. This can be attributed to Star Fox Adventures being created in the United Kingdom.
    • Wolf's English dubbing in 64 has some British accent in it. His recent dubbing is closer to an American accent.
  • Bullet Hell: While most of the game is just a standard shoot-em-up, the penultimate level on the "Hard" path of Star Fox 64 gets a special mention. Area 6 is probably one of the most difficult levels in the franchise, probably because you might be so busy dodging the fire that you could run into the enemy ships which take up half the screen.
    • Its still no Venom on the original game though. But then, that's less of a bullet hell and more of a pillar hell. At least until you run into the Great Commander.
    • They're both eclipsed by the "Easy" side of Venom (Star Fox 64) on Expert mode. There are times when you face literal walls of enemies, who proceed to spew literal walls of lasers, and your only real option is to hope you have enough bombs.
  • Canon Discontinuity: Command. Word of God states that should the next Star Fox game be made, it will take place either immediately after Assault, or will simply keep the prologue from Command and ignore everything else that happened in the game (which, considering the Multiple Endings, would probably be a good thing).
    • Also, the original Star Fox for the SNES. But that's because Star Fox 64 was a Continuity Reboot.
  • Canon Foreigner: Fara Phoenix, and all the other exclusive characters, from the comics. Also Fay and Miyu, who only appeared in the canceled Star Fox 2. It is unlikely that these characters will ever appear in a future game.
  • Canon Immigrant: Technically Krystal, since she the original protagonist of the Rare game Dinosaur Planet before it was made into a Star FOX game.
  • Captain Obvious:

Fox: ROB, can you confirm Slippy's location?
ROB: Distress signal coming from Titania.
Peppy: Looks like he's on Titania.

  • Car Skiing: The player can pull off this maneuver using either one of the Landmaster's jets.
  • Charged Attack: From 64 onward.
    • Was also in the cancelled Star Fox 2, but, yeah, it wasn't released so...
  • Chasing Your Tail: Pretty much every dogfight, although it is possible to trick some enemies with loops. If you tried this in both Star Wolf battles in 64, they would double-team you in the second battle; baiting you into looping behind your pursuer, only to be hammered by his teammate. And you're all out of boost to try the maneuver again, because you just looped.
    • "What the heck?!"
  • Command Roster
  • Conservation of Competence: The size of a force of spacecraft is inversely proportional to its effectiveness. Thus, Corneria's massive fleet is useless [at one point being destroyed by one Aparoid, a creature so flimsy it's Assault's second boss], while five mercenaries can do anything.
  • Continuing Is Painful: Star Fox and Star Fox 64 are usually pretty good about continue points. They push you far enough back so you have time to restore your extended shield and blue lasers before you reach the boss. Usually. The times they don't (64's Venom 2 dogfight against Star Wolf, for example) dives right into this trope.
  • Continuity Nod: The page picture, a piece of artwork from Command, is essentially a redrawing of original promotion material for the original SNES Star Fox (Which was actually the boxart for the European release.) Given that the SNES game(s) were RetConned out of the continuity by 64, and the somewhat Off-Model appearance of Slippy and Peppy, this is more of a nod than anything else.
    • Also, Andrew Oikonny, ex-Star Wolf, is the first boss in Assault, where he is striving to become a good Big Bad like his uncle was. His ship even transforms into a big head with two flying fists as a callback to Andross's boss fight. Falco is not impressed.

Falco: What's this, an Andross wannabe?

  • Conveniently an Orphan: Fox. His dad was killed by Andross (most likely). And one of the old Nintendo Power comics reveals Andross (accidentally) killed his mother as well.
    • Krystal as well, and she even one-ups Fox by having her entire planet be destroyed as part of her origin (how hasn't been made fully clear yet, although her recognizing Andross shortly before she got sealed in a crystal implies that Andross may have been involved in its destruction).
    • Aside from those two, Falco is the only other team member who does not appear to have any family. Like Brother and Sister Except Katt.
  • Cool Old Guy: Peppy Hare, also Fox in one of the endings in Command, in which he's seen sporting sunglasses like his father and a goatee. General Pepper tries for this, though he falls short.
    • In another of the endings of Command, Falco serves this role, playing mentor to Fox's son Marcus just as Peppy was Fox's mentor. And like Fox above, Falco wears awesome sunglasses.
  • Cores and Turrets Boss: Bolse (and how!)
    • Also the "Atomic Base" cores in the original.
  • Crew of One: The Landmaster and the Blue Marine. The Great Fox might also count, being operated solely by Rob64 in most games.
  • Darker and Edgier: Assault. The Aparoids weren't like any of the other antagonists of the series, as if successful, they literally would have wiped out every single form of life in the Lylat System, replacing it with their own, and then moving on to wherever else had life. And unlike the other villains, Andross had absolutely no involvement in their scheme at any point (Even the Anglars, the villains in Command, were implied to be one of Andross's creations.)
    • The original SNES game also stands out as being Darker And Edgier next to the subsequent games. Even though the basic plot was the same as Star Fox 64, it was delivered in a much grimmer, less humorous style. The only real laughs in the game come from Falco's dialogue, and even that's a lot less pronounced than in the following games.
  • Deadpan Snarker: A number of characters, depending on the game and situation. Falco is the most common, though Fox has his moments.
  • Defeat Means Friendship: Happens a lot to Star Wolf in Assault and Command.
  • Distress Call: Several missions in Assault begin with one.
    • Adventures begins with Krystal answering a distress call.
      • She gets another one, in the same way (Telepathic contact) from Sauria in Assault.
      • The first game of the current continuity (Star Fox 64) began with a call for assistance. You are playing as a mercenary team, so it makes sense that most games start with your services being called for.
  • Do a Barrel Roll: The Trope Namer. Although technically it isn't a barrel roll.
  • Dodge by Braking: Possible in some cases, though usually with mixed results.
  • Double Entendre: Some lines play this straight, but others just seem hilarious.
    • Leading to this.
    • And this too.
    • "Fox, get this guy off me!"
      • "Fox, get off me!"
    • "I think you look better in a tank."
      • "Why don't you come down here, Falco?"
      • "I'll pass, Fox."
    • And in Assault "If things get dicey, use a barrier".
    • Krystal's been trying to get on a land mission with Fox since the start of the game.

Krystal: A mission together at last.
Fox: Oh... Uhhhh... Yeah.

  • Dub-Induced Plot Hole: The original script contained no references to a human scientist that shouldn't exist in the game's world. Falco's equivalent line is something akin to "Agh! Can't you tell the difference between friend and foe?" when translated.
  • Enemy Mine: Wolf and Fox have teamed up on several occasions to fight a greater threat.
  • Enemy Scan: Slippy does this for you in most games against bosses, allowing you to see the enemy shield. Other characters (Peppy, mostly) provide you with hints about how to beat the enemy.
  • Escort Mission: Basically every mission if you don't want to lose teammates, but there are more classical examples as well. Assault had a unique variant where Fox is rescued by others and rides on their wing while shooting down pursuing enemies.
    • Command kinda does this for every level, since you have to protect the Great Fox, especially from missiles that specifically target it.
  • Even Hero-hating Mercenaries Have Standards: The Star Wolf team kicked Pigma off of the team sometime between 64 and Assault, replacing him (and Oikonny, who left of his own accord) with the much less repulsive Panther.
  • Even the Guys Want Him: Wolf seems to attract this, both from Leon and in Fan Yay.
  • Everyone Can See It: In Adventures and Assault, Fox tries to keep a lid on his blatant attraction to Krystal. It doesn't work very well. Falco, Slippy, R.O.B., and even Tricky (who hadn't seen them in over a year and had never seen them together in Adventures) manages to figure it out.
  • Everything's Better with Dinosaurs: Star Fox Adventures and Star Fox Assault (if only briefly).
  • Executive Meddling: The catalyst for Adventures, which began life as an unrelated Nintendo 64 game called Dinosaur Planet. There are two versions of this story, and the one you believe depends upon who you ask and how cynical you feel about modern game design, but both eventually result in the game's development schedule being drawn out past the end of the N64's life cycle and then being pushed to the upcoming Game Cube:
    • Version 1 holds that while examining preview material for Dinosaur Planet, Shigeru Miyamoto was struck by the similarity of Rare's designs for the protagonist, Sabre (a fox), to Fox McCloud. Miyamoto was reportedly so impressed with how the game was turning out that he called up the Rare development team and personally requested that they change the game to include Star Fox characters, and Rare agreed.
    • Version 2 is less amiable, and claims that while Dinosaur Planet was in development, Nintendo was working on an in-house Star Fox title of their own, one that used planetary exploration as a game mechanic, but which was also far behind schedule. Nintendo began searching their third-party dev projects for more complete games that could be modified to suit their needs, and upon noticing the similarities between Dinosaur Planet's character designs and those of Star Fox, pressured Rare to change the game to use the Star Fox setting and be ready as a launch title for the Game Cube. This caused a split among the Rare leadership, half of whom wanted to obey Nintendo's wishes, and the other half who wanted to continue working on their own original IP. The debate dragged on so long that the N64 ceased production, which effectively ended development of Dinosaur Planet. Nintendo's strong-arming in this instance, combined with their low-key promotion of Rare's family-unfriendly Conker's Bad Fur Day, purportedly caused some bad blood between the two companies, ultimately leading Nintendo to sell their interest in Rare to Microsoft just after Adventures was released.
      • There's also the less popular Version 3, in which the Rare buy-out from Microsoft was actually done much earlier than it was publically announced. Rare was just going to finish Dinosaur Planet first. Nintendo didn't want Rare to have a brand new IP to bring to Microsoft, so they pressured Rare to change it to one of their own IPs.
    • The SNES Star Fox and Star Fox 64 were no exception to executive meddling. The European versions of the games were renamed Star Wing and Lylat Wars, respectively, because the creators of an 1983 Atari game, coincidentally named "Star Fox", had placed a trademark on the title in Europe, which, despite it never being released due to the failure of the system, it retained the trademark laws several years afterwards. Ironically, the meddling of the series name ended with Star Fox Adventures, it being the first Star Fox game to actually keep its name in Europe.
  • Expy: Tricky resembles another triceratops called Tricky from another Rare-created game: Diddy Kong Racing.
    • If one thinks about it enough, the entire Venomian fleet in Sector Y of Star Fox 64 could be considered as expies from Mobile Suit Gundam. You have a force of what are essentially mobile suits backed by capital ships tearing their way through the Cornerians, suits that look a lot like a more simian version of the RX-78 (especially the boss of the level), and about 2/3 in you encounter a red version of the attacking mecha that moves three times faster. As an added bonus, while not the pilot of the red mech, the boss is also wearing sunglasses. Hmmmm...
    • The Aparoids are an expy of the QB from Slipheed: The Lost Planet, themselves based on R-Type's Bydo Empire.
      • They also steal some lines from the Star Trek Borg. "Resistance is useless!"
      • And while we're on the subject, Krystal in Assault is a telepath who tends to sense the blindingly obvious, dresses in a way solely designed to show off her rack, and is pretty useless as a character. Troi, anyone?
    • The mothership in Katina in Star Fox 64 is an Expy of the flying saucers in Independence Day, right down to their weak point.
    • Don't forget all the obvious Star Wars expys, namely the Space Armada Star Destroyer-alikes (also other ships with cores And Turrents Boss to destroy in a similar manner to Return of the Jedi) and similar ships in Area 6 (which in itself is an expy of the Space Armada stage to a certain extent).
  • Eyepatch of Power: Wolf.
    • Although according to some fans who've studied his Assault model, he really isn't missing an eye.
      • This screenshot from Star Fox 2 shows that Wolf does indeed have a left (right?) eye. However, it has a scar over it, and seems to be in pretty bad shape, which is why he wears an eyepatch over it.
  • Fake Brit: Alesia Glidewell as Krystal.
  • Fanfare: The first game, and Assault.
  • Fighter Launching Sequence: The launch in the original, with a voice (still a rare thing in the 16-bit days) shouting "Emergency! Emergency! Incoming enemy fighters! Prepare for launch!"
  • Five-Man Band:
  • For Massive Damage: This editor can't think of a boss that doesn't use this and isn't in a ship barely larger than the player.
    • Command has this giant enemy crab... and you shoot its face for... oh forget it.
  • Four-Philosophy Ensemble: Ditto the above.
  • Four-Temperament Ensemble: Before the team became the Five-Man Band.
    • Sanguine - Falco
    • Choleric - Fox
    • Melancholic - Slippy
    • Phlegmatic - Peppy
      • Krystal is arguably a Supine.
  • Freudian Trio: Star Wolf.
    • Wolf - Superego
    • Leon - Ego
    • Panther - Id
  • Friendly Fireproof: In the original and Assault, your wing men will yell at you when you shoot them, but they aren't otherwise harmed by your blasts. Some minor characters in Star Fox 64 are also immune to your fire, but otherwise it's generally averted.
    • Especially on Katina, where you have to help out an allied squadron. If you manage not to shoot down one ally, you're rewarded with a special cutscene.
  • Fun Personified: Panther, at least when compared to the rest of the cast. Japanese videos tend to show him as one too *points at the Okay! dance*.
  • Fun with Acronyms: Has nothing to do with the games themselves, but rather the special chip that was used to created the original Super NES game. The Super FX chip was originally called the "Mathematical, Argonaut, Rotation, (and) I/O Chip 1", or the "MARIO" Chip 1 for short.
  • Gameplay Ally Immortality: Some allies in Star Fox 64 and pretty much everyone in Assault, averted otherwise as your teammates can and will be defeated if you don't help them.
  • Gameplay Roulette: The series has had 3D Rail Shooter, Action Adventure, Third-Person Shooter, and Turn-Based Strategy elements throughout the various installments...
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: Pigma has claw marks on his head in Assault. It doesn't take much to figure out where he must have gotten those.
    • Meanwhile, Panther has a stylized white "scar" on his right cheek. How does one get white scars? Depigmentation is a common effect of scarring.
  • Gosh Dang It to Heck: Not that there are a lack of vocal outbursts, but the sheer volume of G-rated curses is as corny as any Utah slang.
  • Green Hill Zone: Welcome to Corneria, planet of Greenishness™.
    • Fortuna in Assault, though the first half of the level is set in space.
  • Heel Face Turn:
    • Star Wolf in Assault. By this time it consists of Wolf, Leon, and Panther.
    • Command disregards this, which further supports the Canon Discontinuity listed above.
    • Command shows that they are alive and well. Although it seems to disregard their role in Assault, it is presumed they survived either way.
    • Reverted in Assault. It initially looks like you're up against Andross's nephew following in his footsteps, but then he gets shot down by a Giant Space Flea From Nowhere and the real plot fires up.
  • Hello, Nurse!: Krystal.
  • Hired Guns: the Star Fox team. Though it's a little unclear how this works, since only the Cornerian military ever seems to hire them.
    • They have standards on who they work for, but they probably take jobs from others as well and are probably in high demand considering they have what is arguably the most powerful warship in Lylat under their command.
    • Also Star Wolf. They probably got a fatter paycheck from Andross than the Star Fox team earned from the Cornerian Military, though that didn't last and they had to do some high-paying, illegal mercenary stuff.
    • The opening of Assault indicates that a large amount of Andross's army was composed of hired guns, mostly criminals.
  • Homage: One of the Star Fox 64 levels is inspired by the movie Independence Day. Another level features Mobile Suit Gundam-like enemies. Both elements show up again, to a degree, in Command. Some lines might well pay homage to Star Wars (like the one directly below).
    • Assault has music from Star Fox 64 mixed into orchestrated versions. Command also has a lot of music based on it.
    • And the team Star Wolf itself is a homage to an old space-themed Toku show Star Wolf.
  • Hot Mom: Krystal in one of Command's endings.
    • Arguably, Fox's mother Vixy Reinard also fits this trope as she was described as very beautiful. Even Andross wanted her!
  • I Got You Covered: Happens in nearly every Star Fox game. A notable one occurs in Star Fox Adventures, when Falco comes to help Fox during the final boss fight.
    • Star Wolf also does an important role since Mission 7 in Assault, with Star Fox ultimately failing had they not intervened in succeeding missions.
    • At least one level in Star Fox 64 has the freaking Great Fox cover you. Is it any more helpful than your wingmen? Not really, but it's still awesome.
  • I Work Alone: Falco's reasons for leaving the team numerous times. He also states this as the reason why he'll never want a girlfriend.
  • Inertia Is a Cruel Mistress: The fate of the "Train boss" if you manage to shoot all of the junction switches—trust us, it's worth the effort.
  • Intercontinuity Crossover: Octoman from F-Zero appears as a boss in Command.
    • While one of the other drivers in F-Zero looks like a human version of Fox's father and another having the Star Wolf features (lupine head, Leon name, feline tail).
      • And in the F-Zero anime, James had a friend with a last name "O'Donnell" who sacrificed his life after they were both ambushed by enemies.
    • Command also brings the crossover to full circle in one of the endings, with Fox and Falco becoming G-Zero racers; Falco also wears Captain Falcon's boots in a separate ending.
  • Interplay of Sex and Violence: When Wolf thrashes an enemy, Leon envies the enemy for being punished by Wolf.
  • It's Quiet... Too Quiet: "Be careful, it's a trap!"
  • Just a Kid: The English dialog of Assault has Wolf refer to Fox as "pup". Depending on your interpretation, it could mean that he's belittling the hero or it's some other things.
    • Brawl suggests that Wolf is in fact older than Fox, old enough to have been James' rival when James was still alive.
      • It didn't specify what encounter Wolf and James had, though. Yes, Wolf is definitely older than Fox, but it is never stated that he is as old as James. He could be a punk during James's tenure.
  • Kaizo Trap: When you destroy the Blade Barrier in the original game, the blade flies off the station as it's disintegrating, and heads straight towards you. If you're directly in its path, and low on health... well, sucks to be you, you have to repeat the last third of the level and the boss fight all over again.
  • Kansai Regional Accent: Pigma Dengar speaks with Kansai-dialect in Japan. His name "Dengar" itself is a reference to it.
  • Killed Off for Real: Your wingmen won't be harmed by your own blasts in the original SNES game, but they will die permanently if you don't save them. On the plus side, their kills do count towards your final score in this game, and even Slippy is a fairly competent pilot compared to the N64 version.
    • Pretty much all of the bosses in Star Fox 64 minus Andross and Star Wolf.
    • The Aparoids.
    • Pigma. Presumably in Assault. Whether or not you count Command as canon, he only even appears as a final boss replacement for the true Big Bad (Anglar Emperor) in two possible endings, both of which are the least likely of any to be canon. And even so, he is destroyed at the end of it.
    • Vixy Reinard McCloud and Vivian Hare.
    • It remains to be seen whether James McCloud is actually dead since they Never Found the Body. Some believe that He's Just Hiding. There's arguments for both sides, really.
    • The Anglar Emperor.
    • Apparently, Andross did finally die in Adventures, but he still returns as a ghost (probably a recording, though) in Command.
    • General Scales.
    • Andrew Oikonny could possibly apply, but on this other hand his presumed death in Assault is retconnable (although no sequels aside from Command have been made since Assault). Yet after the aparoid shoots him down.
  • Killer App: The original game showcased the Super FX chip, which was necessary for its 3D graphics (the Super Nintendo was nowhere strong enough to do the necessary math calculations, so the chip handled that). The N64 version was the first major console game to feature force feedback vibration (other companies tried minor attempts, but it was Nintendo that really got it right and pushed it on the populace). This game also had extensive voice acting for a cartridge-based game, a massive technical achievement of its time.
  • Late to the Party: In Star Fox 64, the team arrives when Andross already conquered most of the system. In Assault, the team is arriving late in several missions.
    • Falco is late in Adventures and Command (in the storylines where he shows up at all, that is). Even in Brawl, he joins much later than Fox.
  • Latin Lover: Panther.
  • Leather Man: Wolf... vibes and all.
  • Legacy Character: Fox McCloud is the son of James McCloud. Both are considered the best pilots of their universe and generation and both leaders of their teams. There's also Marcus McCloud, the son of Fox and Krystal and leader of a new Star Fox team, as a possible future opened up by Command.
    • Lucy Hare is Peppy's daughter, and she also has a daughter who appears in the same future mentioned above.
    • Slippy has over 8 kids, and one of them is also seen similarly to the other two.
      • Moreover, Falco seems to take over Peppy's role in this future.
    • Andross also has a grandson, and one of the endings of Command leave the possibility of him following in his granddaddy's galaxy-conquering footsteps.
  • Lighter and Softer: Star Fox 64 was this compared to Star Fox and Star Fox 2. The series became Darker and Edgier again with Assault.
    • Once change that went lighter and has (thus far) not come back is that in the original SNES game, a wingmate who was shot down was Killed Off for Real.
  • Like Father, Like Son:

Peppy Hare: This brings back memories of your dad! Your Father helped me like that too! Your becoming more like your father!

  • Lizard Folk: The inhabitants of Dinosaur Planet, to some degree. Also, according to the backstory of the original Star Fox, Andross made a shocking discovery that Venom hosted life-forms of humanoid lizards, which he used for his army against Corneria.
    • While 64 doesn't mention this, about half of his henchmen with dialogue are some sort of Lizards.
  • Love At First Sight: Fox was awestruck at how beautiful the sleep-induced Krystal was when he first saw her. Likewise, upon freeing her and catching her from falling to her death, there is an instant where they both look into each other's eyes for a moment.
  • Mad Scientist: Andross.
  • Maniac Monkeys: Andross, Andrew, Dash Bowman in a couple of endings in Command.
  • Market-Based Title: Due to a series of title trademarks for home computer games, the series went through three names in Europe. The original Star Fox was released as Star Wing due to sharing a title with an Atari 2600 game, and some references to "Star Fox Team" in text were changed to "Star Wing Team". Unfortunately, it turned out this was also the title of an existing game, and Star Fox 64 was duly released under the much-ridiculed title of Lylat Wars. By Star Fox Adventures, the whole mess had been sorted out, and other than the Star Fox 64 Wii re-release all EU games have shared the US titles.
  • May–December Romance: Between Fox and Krystal; by Assault, the latter is twenty and the former is 27. If Krystal were to get with Panther as shown in some routes in Command, she would have a similar romance since he's presumably older than Fox.
  • Meaningless Lives: Adventures, where there are more Bafomadads (the 1-Ups) in the game than you can carry at once. Brutally averted in all of the other games, though.
  • Mighty Whitey: Assuming Fox is "white", which his overall green-eyed redheadness and action hero attitude seem to imply, the tests of strength on Dinosaur Planet definitely invoke this.
  • Missing Mom: Fox's mother, Vixy, is never seen or mentioned in the actual games. One comic series reveals she was accidentally killed by Andross.
    • Lucy Hare's mother (Peppy's wife), Vivian, was revealed to have died sometime after the events of Star Fox 64 due to an unknown illness.
    • Slippy's mother is absent with no exaplanation; only his dad, Beltino, is ever seen.
  • Mission Control: Primarily Rob, who controls the Great Fox, and to a degree General Pepper and Peppy (especially in Assault, where he made room for newcomer Krystal).
  • Mordor: Venom. Command proves that terraforming it is possible, though.
  • The Mothership: The Great Fox.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Krystal, especially in her first appearance in Star Fox Adventures. The skimpy tribal outfit aside, the game actually played cheesy sexy saxophone music whenever Fox looked at her.
  • Multiple Choice Past: Were Fox, Falco, and Slippy CDF expellees who lived years of exile as bandits on Venomian-occupied Papetoon who rejoined the CDF to fight the Lylat War in their late 20s? Or were they mercenaries who inherited daddy's private battle arsenal and contracted with the CDF to defeat Andross in their late teenage years? Depends on the Continuity Reboot.
  • Multiple Endings: Good and Standard in Star Fox 64, no less than nine in Command.
  • Nintendo Hard: Star Fox 64 on Expert. The "Easy" side of Venom (approaching from Bolse) is possibly the most gratuitously vicious thing in the series on this setting. Also, the Macbeth level in Star Fox 64.
    • Portions of the original also count (though perhaps not to the same extent - your wings can survive a few hits at least!). In particular, the draw distance on later levels (closely-spaced pillars popping into frame just in front of you?) and Andross having a RIDICULOUS amount of HP.
  • Nitro Boost: "Use the boost to get through!"
  • No Ontological Inertia: All Aparoids are destroyed along with the Aparoid Queen.
    • Although to be fair, destroying the Aparoid Queen allows the virus to kill them all via apoptosis and taking advantage of their Hive Mind.
  • Nobody Poops: Most likely the reason for the Bottomless Bladder listed above.
  • Non-Lethal KO: If your teammates are shot down, they're just forced to take a break for repairs. Fox himself crashes and explodes while one of his teammates calls out "FOX!!!" or simply "NOOO!".
    • The same apparently applies to Star Wolf, who manage to survive their Wolfen exploding every single time. The only time they appear to be hurt by this is in 64, where they are seen with bandages and cybernetic eyepieces in your second encounter with them.
    • Wolf's Joker Immunity is subverted in Mission 7 at Assault. If Fox fails to protect Wolf's ship while riding it, Wolf's Wolfen explodes while Fox plummets to his death.
  • Not Me This Time: In Assault: Star Wolf was initially suspected of being involved in Pigma's theft of the Core Memory. Turns out that, not only were they not involved at all, but they actually kicked Pigma off the team long before it happened.
    • Also a meta-example in the same game: Thanks to the previous games, especially Star Fox Adventures, and to a certain extent the next game (since it is implied that Andross created the Anglar Menace), you'd think that Andross might somehow be pulling the strings on the new menace. Turns out, the Aparoids have absolutely no affiliation with Andross.
  • Nubile Savage: Krystal's original outfit.
  • The Obi-Wan: Peppy. In Assault, Wolf also advises Fox, which helps him in the final battle.
    • James, even, in 64. "Never give up. Trust your instincts."
    • This line was also spoken earlier by Peppy, one of several references to his being an "original member" of the team.
  • Oedipus Complex: Fox's female supporting character in the comics, Fara Phoenix, apparently looks very much like his mother, Vixy, despite Fara being a Fennec Fox and Vixy being a Red Fox. But twin-like enough to fool Andross.
  • Official Couple: Slippy and Amanda. Peppy and Vivian. And, in spite of their unclear status due to Command, as far as Nintendo is concerned, Fox and Krystal seem to be this for now (whether that will change in later installments is unknown).
  • Oh Crap: The Star Fox team's reaction to Star Wolf's advanced craft in Venom.

Falco: I see you have new ships.

  • Old School Dogfighting: Somewhat averted by the use of homing lasers, but still used frequently, especially for any encounter with Star Wolf.
    • While averted in levels where the player is flying within the atmosphere of a planet, this becomes glaringly apparent when you see an Arwing or Wolfen execute a banking turn in a supposedly zero-G vacuum environment.
  • One-Hit-Point Wonder: The wings of the Arwing in Expert Mode. Bruise something and you lose a wing and any laser upgrade.
  • The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Fox is so determined to get revenge on Andross, that when they reach his lair, he tells the rest of the team to back off.
    • This is the excuse Wolf gives Fox for saving him from a large group of Aparoids in Assault.

Fox: Wolf?! What are you doing here?
Wolf: You're the one who dropped in unannounced... And if anyone's gonna tan your hide, it's gonna be me.

  • The Other Darrin: The entire cast in every game, most notable in the English voice-cast, but the Japanese voices aren't exactly free from this.
    • Shinobu Satouchi originally voiced Fox McCloud and Leon Powalski in Star Fox 64. In Assault, however, he continued to voice only Leon, as Fox was then voiced by Kenji Nojima. Similarly, Hisao Egawa originally voiced Wolf O'Donnell and Falco Lombardi in Star Fox 64. In Assault, he gives Wolf to Mahito Oba.
    • Bound to happen with Pigma's Japanese voice, after the tragic death of Daisuke Gouri.
    • The English version of Star Fox 64 3D subverts this. Mike West (Fox and James McCloud) and Lyssa Browne (Slippy and Katt) reprise their roles from the N64 original. Everyone else was recast however, which didn't go well for some fans.
  • Parental Bonus: A comic explained General Pepper's past some... and he was a busy Sergeant.
  • People's Republic of Tyranny: Corneria's outward appearance is of a military dictatorship, with huge posters of General Pepper everywhere. Civilian leadership doesn't even get a mention until the end of Assault, and even then barely warrants a footnote.
  • Petting Zoo People: Animal jokes aside, the characters are strikingly human in lifestyle. This is more in line with the Japanese Kemono aesthetic.
  • Plot Hole: It's never particularly clear how Andross's exile is supposed to have worked; he was either a dangerous megalomaniac sent to go screw an inhabited planet with massive natural resources around, or Venom went from being barren and deserted to fully industrialised within five years.
  • Polluted Wasteland: Zoness's entire ocean and atmosphere was polluted horribly by Andross in its first sight in 64, but by Star Fox Assault, most of the pollution was cleaned up.
  • Polygonal Graphics: The original for the SNES is probably one of the first games to popularize this.
  • Putting the Band Back Together: Poor Fox ends up all alone by the time Command starts, leading him to do this. Exactly how the band gets back together depends. For extra fun, one ending will get the entire original Star Fox team together, including Peppy, who's been retired since the past two games. This is also the one that ends with the whole team officially disbanding, however.
  • Race Lift: Katt Monroe changed from a pink cat in Star Fox 64 and Farewell, Beloved Falco to a Siamese cat with different colorings and markings in Star Fox Command. Unknown if this change will be Canonical.
  • Record Needle Scratch: Happens when Fox first sees Krystal. After a little while gawking at her beauty and thinking what an idiot he'd been, he is snapped out of it by Peppy, reminding him he still has a job to do. When it happens, the Sexophone music playing in the background cuts out with a scratch.
  • Remember the New Guy?: Command introduces Lucy, Peppy's daughter. You would think that she would have been mentioned in previous games...
    • Considering in the previous games your team is busy fighting for their lives. Small talk about family doesn't really seem like the thing they would be doing.
  • Rescue Romance: Fox falls in love with Krystal when he sees her trapped in a crystal. After he rescues her at the end of the game, the two become a couple.
  • The Rival, Evil Counterpart, and Worthy Opponent: The Star Wolf team.
    • In Assault and Command, they are less evil and more antiheroic.
  • Rivals Team Up: Wolf and Fox do this in the recent games, though usually after a short dogfight.
  • Rock Beats Laser: Brutally averted in Assault. The high-technology hive-minded Aparoids attack the calm, magical, dinosaur planet Sauria, where the last game took place. The Aparoids just steamroll the dinosaurs. The dinosaurs mount a resistance, but it's said that they suffer horrific loses. To quote Slippy:

"This planet is totally defenseless!"

  • Ryu and Ken: Fox and Wolf.
    • Depending on how Wolf has been balanced in a given game, this may be more Ryu And Akuma.
  • Sarcasm Mode: Falco Lombardi. Almost all the time. But especially when he's being shot.
    • Fox himself seemed to very much be on this at the beginning of Star Fox Adventures. He uses less as the story develops, but even by the end he isn't completely 'cured'.
      • In their cameo appearances in Super Smash Bros Brawl, Panther attempts flirting with Krystal. One of his lines involved the declaration that he would fling himself in front of an asteroid to protect her should one come near her ship. Her response of 'Oh I feel so much better hearing that. You're such a gentleman, Panther', sounded very sarcastic to say the least.
      • In the Japanese dub, it's apparently a different matter, as Krystal appears to be sincere.
    • Panther utters this towards Wolf in Assault after the canine catches Fox from the Aparoids, knowing that Wolf was just hiding his intentions for saving the main character.

Wolf: And if anyone's gonna tan your hide, it's gonna be me.
Panther: Riiiiight...

  • Scanlation: The only way Farewell, Beloved Falco made it to English.
  • Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale: This video briefly analyzes the Landmaster. Apparently ,it's an enormous target with relatively thin armor. No wonder Falco prefers the sky.
    • Of course, that video forgets the tank has an Energy Shield in the place of armor and the fact that the armor could be an advanced alloy far stronger than anything the modern military uses.
      • Never understimate Applied Phlebotinum.
  • Secret Character: Wolf in Assault. James in Command.
  • Sexophone: Almost every time Fox meets Krystal in Adventures, this happens.
  • Sexy Walk: Krystal does one of these in Adventures. Used to great effect at the end of the game when she arrives to "say thank you" to Fox, as it causes him to start stuttering in his words.
  • She Is Not My Girlfriend: In Assault, when Tricky makes the suggestion that Fox and Krystal can return to Sauria for their honeymoon, this amusing exchange occurs:

Fox: (stuttering) What are you nuts?! We aren't... we're not yet...
Tricky: Not yet?
Fox: (noticing Krystal curiously awaiting his response) I mean... I mean... This isn't a conversation for children!! (Krystal begins laughing)
Tricky: You said you weren't gonna treat me like a kid anymore!
Fox: Then stop acting like one!
Tricky: You're just mad 'cause you don't wanna talk about it.
Krystal: All right. Thats enough, boys.

  • Ship Sinking: Falco Lombardi and Katt Monroe, per Farewell, Beloved Falco.
  • Shout-Out: The Star Fox series seems to have a number of reciprocal Shout Outs in relation to F-Zero. For starters, Fox McCloud and Falco Lombardi may have originally been Shout Outs, being an anthropomorphic Golden Fox and Blue Falcon respectively. Then, James McCloud (outfit and all, but in non-anthropomorphic human form) became a character in the F-Zero series starting with F-Zero X. Then Star Fox Command references F-Zero yet again, where one of its nine possible Multiple Endings has Fox and Falco becoming racers in a high-speed racing league called G-Zero.
    • General Pepper not only owes his name, but also his very outfit, to the landmark album by The Beatles; Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band.
      • Lampshaded in the Nintendo Power comic.
      • Captain Shears, a character from "Farewell, Beloved Falco", is similar in both physical appearance and attire to Pepper and appears to have a name derived from "Billy Shears", the fictitious leader of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
    • Falco is wearing Captain Falcon's boots in one of the Command endings.
    • In Farewell, Beloved Falco, one of the Hot Rodders (Falco and Katt's old gang) is Mouser—Mouser's name is even on the back of his jacket.
    • In Assault, there are classic Namco arcade references and cameos littered in the game, one being the yellow S flag from Rally X; after all, Namco did develop this game.
    • In Star Fox 64, shortly after you enter Meteo's Warp Zone, you'll be treated to several waves of bee/butterfly-like enemies that fly in formations very reminiscent of Galaga. You get bonuses if you can nail them all.
    • Star Fox 64 has Katina, which is pretty much the climax scene from Independence Day, complete with Bill Gray, a nod to Gen. William Grey, Robert Loggia's character in the movie.
    • "It's a Trap" is, of course, a reference to Return of the Jedi; also, Fox's escape from Andross' lair (moreso in the easy ending).
    • The boss of sector X says "where is the creator?", and in its death throes, says "I must be complete." A referance to V'ger from Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
  • Sigil Spam: Giant posters of General Pepper are everywhere in 64, leading some to conclude that he's a Big Brother-esque military dictator. This theory was Jossed by the epilogue of Assault, however, which mentions civilian government.
  • Single Biome Planet: Basically everywhere.
    • Zoness (planet of toxic waste) is justified in that Andross has apparently been using it as his personal waste dump. This leaves the crewmen simply aghast when they arrive there:

Peppy: THIS is Zoness?!
Falco: I can't believe they did this.
Slippy: What a dump!
Falco: I hear ya, Slip.

  • Something About a Rose: Panther Caroso. He even proves this by having the best weapon in Command!
  • Space Fighter: The Arwings.
  • Space Mines: The first few seconds of Sector X has a cloud of mines you have to go through.
    • Area 6 has a huge minefield that you have to fly through.
  • Space Whale: Makes rare completely random appearances in the original game, dropping a trail of free powerups. And in the Nintendo Power comic, this is said to actually be the visual manifestation of James McCloud permanently shifted to a different dimension.
    • Not completely random, as Sector Y takes Space Is an Ocean to ridiculous levels. It appears if you shoot every small stingray.
  • Space Zone: Lylat System.
  • Speaking Simlish: In the first game and Command. Optionally in the PAL version of SF 64.
  • Species Surname: Or, more typically, first name.
    • Well, for Peppy and Slippy, the actual trope title is more appropriate here.
  • Spin to Deflect Stuff: The iconic Barrel Roll move. In Command, deflecting enemy projectiles earns you bonus seconds, and rolling also attracts nearby items. It's even the only way to destroy an enemy mothership.
  • Sssssnaketalk: All of the lizards and reptiles in the Nintendo Power comic speak like this.
  • Stop Helping Me!: Mostly Slippy, who tends to get in trouble very quickly.
    • These guys may annoy players to the point where they may turn on their teammates just to shut them up for a while.
    • To add insult to injury, in the cases where the team manages to be genuinely helpful, they may end up stealing important kills from you.
    • Sector Z in 64 was a big example of this. It's difficult to unlock medals mainly because the already thin number of enemies is shaved further by your teammates. Not to mention when they get the last shots on those missiles.
    • In the original SNES version, their kills actually did count towards your score, and Peppy and Falco could just as easily get into trouble as Slippy. The problem here is that your wing men have an infuriating tendency to fly right into your line of fire, so they end up bitching at you on the radio even as they're absorbing blasts that would have destroyed your enemies.
    • Lampshaded in Assault where Fox himself tries to help Wolf in the Aparoid Homeworld by giving advice, with Wolf only being annoyed and saying, "Keep your eyes to your front and your business to yourself, pup."
  • Stuff Blowing Up
    • The KABOOM of a defeated enemy is really satisfying.
      • More like "PEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW" actually, making the noise instantly recognisable. Gotta love those sound engineers.
    • The cluster explosion after the train crash in MacBeth is freaking excellent.
  • Sure, Let's Go with That: After Wolf says that he only saved Fox because he wanted to be the one to "tan" Fox, Panther replies with "Riiight..."
  • Tank Goodness: The Landmaster.
  • Theme Music Power-Up: Done for Star Wolf and their kick-ass music. A short theme also plays when a minor character shows up in Star Fox 64.
    • In Command, virtually everyone gets their own theme (the core team gets two each), save two certain characters. Wolf, however, hogs the Star Wolf theme, whereas his two other teammates get their own theme.
  • This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: Star Fox 64. And in the Nintendo Power comic, after he learns that Andross killed his mother.
  • Throw a Barrel At It: The robots in the Sargasso Space Hideout roll metal barrels down the ramps you have to walk up. Fortunately, Fox has a blaster.
  • Timed Mission: Often defending something against missiles. Command has a timer for combat in general (fuel) and a turn limit for each mission.
  • Took a Level in Badass: While technically Badass already, the Star Wolf as a whole have become better in Assault, and has been like that since. It was also the first game where Wolf gained personality (not counting the non-canonical Star Fox 64 comic).
  • True Companions: Fox and his team, and Wolf and his team. Fox's team, however, slowly shows signs of separation (Falco wanting to fly solo, etc.) Ironically, Wolf's removed the two dishonorable characters in his original team, replacing them with a loyal, funny-personified Panther, and the team's been solid since.
    • How the separation turns out is one of the key elements in Command's multiple endings. From the team coming together again to Krystal joining Star Wolf, Slippy settling down and Fox and Falco becoming racers. Anything is possible.
    • Star Fox 64 didn't develop most of the characters much at all.
  • Try Not to Die: "Don't go dying on me!"
    • Beltino: "Do your best... But try to come back alive."
  • Tsundere: Would you believe it if I say it's Wolf? It shows up in Assault and Command.
  • Turns Red: Several bosses, sometimes literally.
  • Underwater Ruins: Aquas again, as well as Venom in Command.
  • The Unfought: Oh boy, were the players upset when the long-awaited fight with General Scales in Star Fox Adventures ended before either side landed a single hit. Might be the most infamous example of this trope.
    • A more minor example occurs with the Attack Carrier in the original game. You fight it at the end of Corneria if you take the first or second routes, but if you take the third route Andross's attack fleet get the opportunity to deploy their Devastator attack tank along with the Attack Carrier. Falco ends up fighting the Attack Carrier himself off-screen, leaving you to deal with the Devastator.
  • Unresolved Sexual Tension: Fox and Krystal throughout the majority of their scenes together. Hell, the end of the first game even has sexy saxophone music playing in the background.
  • Vaporware: The sequel to the SNES Star Fox, Star Fox 2, eventually cancelled and to give way to Star Fox 64. Although there are ROMs that contain the unfinished game...
  • Video Game Cruelty Potential: In 64, you can shoot down your own allies and force them to retire. This is averted in Assault, where your allies won't take damage if you shoot them, whether you're in a vehicle or not.
    • 64's two NPCs, Bill and Katt, are invulnerable, but you can chase them off if you shoot either of them long enough. There's also the Cornerian soldiers in the Katina level, but shooting them down won't impact you negatively.
    • Actually, both Bill and Katt can be shot down if you are persistent enough.
      • Adventures partially subverts this by allowing you to hurt the dinosaurs with your staff; they cry out in pain, but they won't die. If you whack Tricky enough, though, he'll try to hurt you back with his Flame command.
  • The Virus: The Aparoids.
  • Visual Pun: In Adventures, Krystal is sealed inside a giant crystal.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: Fox and Falco.
  • What Do You Mean It Wasn't Made on Drugs? (Out of this Dimension in the original, and the OotD-style warps in 64.)
    • Pigma's borg version, especially in Command. Some pigs don't know when to give up...
  • What the Hell, Hero?: If you happen to be trigger-happy enough; you can actually shoot at your team-mates. This is the reaction you're given if you do.
    • "Fox! That was one of ours!"
      • "Hey, Einstein, I'm on your side!"
      • "Enemy down. Wait! That was one of ours!"
    • Also, the allies get mad if you steal their kills ("Hey, he was mine!"), which is pretty easy to do, since it's often surprising that they'll kill anything at all in the first place.
    • Fox gets a lot of this from other characters for his callous treatment of Krystal prior to Command; several reviewers commented on just how much flak he catches from just about everyone for dumping her.
      • Lucy: So, Fox, let's talk about Krystal. You really screwed that one up!
  • You Gotta Have Blue Fur: Krystal.
    • Falco himself is blue feathered, which people seem to forget easily.
  • You Will Be Assimilated: What the Aparoids, or at least their Queen, say.
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