Star Fox (comics)

A monthly Star Fox comic strip, illustrated by Benimaru Itoh, was printed in issues 45 to 55 of Nintendo Power in 1993. It was a sort of background covering of events in the original Star Fox, with some exclusive characters not currently seen in any of the games to date. One such character was Fara Phoenix, a vixen who becomes the fifth member of Star Fox after they saved her from Venomian forces. The story followed the Star Fox team as they went from outlaws on Papetoon, to an elite Arwing fighter squadron. Fox, Falco, and Andross were the only 3 characters whose backgrounds were fully explained in the story.

Tropes used in Star Fox (comics) include:
  • Air Vent Passageway: Inside Andross' base, Slippy and Peppy manage to break into Venom's control center via a vent.
  • Almost-Dead Guy: As the crippled freighter ship crashes, a lizard stumbles out of the smoking wreck. He cryptically says, "Beware the Stingrays...!" before collapsing.
  • And There Was Much Rejoicing

Fox: Flat as an ape crepe!
Falco; Yahoo! Papetoon pancakes!

  • Angels Pose: Just look at the header pic.
  • Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Andross warns General Pepper that McCloud is trying his patience. "He has destroyed my Cornerian Army, wiped out my space defenses, and kidnapped my favorite android pig, Herbert."
  • Attack Its Weak Point: Fox spots some blinking red transmitters on the stingrays' tails, and orders his team to target those. This comes in handy later when Andross sics a dragon on them.
  • Badass Biker: Falco used to be one.
  • Badass Damsel: Fara in Chapter 3.
  • Batman Cold Open: Fox and his desperadoes shooting down one of Andross' ships in the prologue.
  • Berserk Button: Do NOT imply that Fox McCloud and the band that he leads are thieves, or suggest raiding anything other than Imperial freighters. He does NOT take kindly to it.
    • "[[Punctuated! For! Emphasis! WE
      ARE
      NOT
      THIEVES.]]      "
    • Also, don't call him Junior.
    • Fox gets even more furious upon finding out that his mother was killed by a car bomb Andross intended to use on his father.
  • Belligerent Sexual Tension: Fox and Fara dogfighting in their arwings.
  • Best Served Cold: Andross rose up the ranks in the Academy to get revenge on those who wronged him.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Star Fox leaping out of a cargo container to kick some lizard tail. Falco comments that they probably weren't expecting such "hazardous cargo."
  • Big "Shut Up!": Andross does not take kindly to his sanity being questioned.
  • Bond One-Liner: After Slippy takes out the kidnapper, Falco complains that they could have used his help earlier. Peppy cheerfully says to go easy on him; "He really cleaned up!"
  • Bow Ties Are Cool: Fara's dad.
  • Call to Adventure: General Pepper's holo-telegram.
  • Call Back: When Fox radios Slippy to ask if he has enough legroom, Slippy replies, "It's better than Peppy's saddle-bag!" (Slippy was crammed behind Peppy's cockpit seat in a previous chapter.)
  • Canon Foreigner: Fara Phoenix, Fox's mother Vixy and many others. Fara was in early alpha builds of the unreleased Star Fox 2, but she got replaced by two new female characters in later builds.
  • Chekhov's Boomerang: Herbert I.
  • Child Prodigy: Fox Jr. was in the best of his class at the academy. "He could fly circles around a flea, endure days of gravity training, recite the Cornerian Constitution backwards and belch on command." Fox Sr. was justly proud.
  • Cliff Hanger: The team cockily chases Slippy's kidnapper to Sector Y, only to find that he's disappeared from radar. Making matters worse, they're running low on fuel. And the stingrays are moving in...
  • Cloning Blues: After Fox kills Andross in the second arc, he gets cloned into two Androsses.
  • Crazy Enough to Work: The team laments that they can't get to Andross without first getting to Venom, which is impenetrable. Fox knows of a route that Andross might not have considered: "We'll go through the Black Hole!"
  • Custom Uniform: Fara's black Arwing. After it's blown to pieces, she gets a pink replacement.
  • Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon: Andross promises to "shatter [Fox's] soul like glass."
    • "Rip out their lying lizard tongues!"
  • Cut the Juice: Peppy blasts Herbert to smitherreens, removing Andross' energy during his duel with Fox.
  • Dead Herring: At the start of Act 6, we learn that the lizards are now good guys. The owl captain observes that they "almost seem to be too reformed!" Almost immediately, their ship is attacked by Stellar Stingrays and Jellyfish, killing the lizard onboard as well.
    • From the café window, the group notices Fara's Arwing flying around. Falco assumes that Slippy is test-driving the Arwing, but Peppy mind-reads the pilot and determines that it's actually not a frog, but a lizard. Fox jumps to the conclusion that the reformed lizard mechanic was "just a clever ruse." In the hangar, however, they find the lizard who was assisting with Slippy's repairs on the floor, having also been attacked.
  • Deceased Parents Are the Best: Fox Sr. and Vixy.
  • Derelict Graveyard: Fox notices many other floating ships that have gotten lost in the Black Hole, freaking him out.
  • Die Hard on an X: Fox, Falco, and Peppy stowaway on a cargo tube being loaded into a star freighter. After the ship exits Papetoon's atmosphere, the three climb out of the cargo hold to hear a battle happening on the floor above them. Some lizards have taken over the ship.
  • Died Happily Ever After: Inside the Black Hole, Fox finds himself lost, unable to find a way out. Suddenly, the image of his father appears in front of him, calling out "Junior! Follow me!" Fox flies into a white light at the end of the tunnel.
  • Dude in Distress: Poor Slippy gets nabbed by Andross in Act 6.
  • Divided We Fall: The leaders of Corneria were too scared of Andross, and Fox and his friends were denounced for inciting a rebellion. They fled Corneria and lived as outlaws on Papetoon.
  • Dissonant Serenity: Even with her arwing on fire, Fara acts as if everything is peachy keen.
  • Do Not Call Me Paul: Do not call Fox "Junior." Just don't.
  • Don't Sneak Up On Me Like That: General Pepper's lieutenant bursts into his room to alert that Fox has hijacked an Arwing; Pepper is so surprised that he spills his coffee.
  • Driven by Envy: Falco chafes at Fox's leadership. Hasn't he gotten enough glory?
  • Dynamic Entry: At the Papetoon spaceport, Peppy mentions that Slippy is spending the trip in a cyro-mud bath. Later, as the hostage-taken is about to escape, Slippy bursts out of one of the bath tanks. The lid falls on top of the lizard's head, knocking him out cold.
  • Ejection Seat: Fara is able to bail out of her arwing as it goes down. Her cockpit deploys helicopter rotors to slow her decent, while Fox swoops in with his Arwing and catches her between his wing.
  • Elaborate Underground Base: Star Fox's hideout on Papetoon.
  • The Empire: This version of Andross is explicitly said to rule an empire, with friends and foes alike referring to him as "Emperor" Andross.
  • Evil Gloating: Fara's hostage-taker. "Some hero you are, Fox McClown!"
    • Andross can't resist crashing General Pepper's HQ to deliver one of these.
  • Evil Laugh: Andross, of course. We also see a lizard laughing after stealing Fara's arwing, with Slippy in tow.
  • Exact Eavesdropping: Fara overhears Falco's intent to usurp Fox as team leader.
  • The Exile: As per the SNES game, Andross was stranded on Venom. In a dramatic twist, the Star Fox team fled to Papetoon after being "dangerous radicals"on Corneria.
  • Expospeak Gag: "I'm thinking it is our sacred duty to relieve these lizards of the burden of command."
    • "Call it a professional assessment."
  • External Combustion: Fox's mother Vixy Reinard's death was because of a car bomb rigged for James. Not to be outdone, Andross rigged James' Arwing to blow.
  • Faux Action Girl: Fara. May be due to a combination of The Worf Effect and, well...getting kidnapped.
  • For Great Justice: General Pepper calls on Fox to prove that he stands for "honor, decency and freedom of species."
  • Forgot to Pay the Bill: General Pepper's telegram remarks that the "Communications Cartel" shut off Fox's phone service due to nonpayment.
  • A Form You Are Comfortable With: The starship which saved Fox Sr. can only manifest in our reality as a Space Whale.
  • Freudian Excuse: Andross is steamed about his pig foster parents getting blown up in a military accident.
  • Glad I Thought of It: Fox's "insane" plan to modify the arwing to survive the Black Hole. After knocking Fox unconscious and sticking him solitary confinement, Falco tells Slippy to get to work on the modifications. Gee, thanks.
  • Glory Days: Falco reminiscing about being a thief. He's never happy.
  • Glowing Eyes of Doom: Fox gets these whenever he gets really pissed.
  • Hero Insurance: General Pepper's lieutenant reports the team's success on Venom. Pepper marvels that he was "going to discharge the lot of them," but now he predicts parades and medals.
  • His Name Is--: General Pepper starts to reminisce about Fox Sr. way back in Chapter 3, but is interrupted by Andross shattering the windows.
  • Hot-Blooded: Fox, particularly where Andross is involved.
  • Hoverbike: Fox and the rest of the Star Fox team attack a freighter in the opening, using speederbikes of some sort.
  • Huge Holographic Head: Andross first appears to General Pepper in this form. For added effect, he smashes all of the windows.

General Pepper: What an ape!

  • Human Shield: Peppy wonders aloud why imperial troops were sent to hijack a freighter. Suddenly, they notice a lizard holding a woman hostage. Fox asks Peppy who she is, and he replies that she is Fara Phoenix, the spaceship magnate's daughter.
  • Hypno Trinket: Andross' transmitters.
  • I Have You Now, My Pretty: The lizard attempting to kidnap Fara has shades of this. "Move your tail, precious."
  • I Take Offense to That Last One: General Pepper states that Corneria needs all the help it can get, even if it's from "mangy outlaws."

Fox: Who is he calling mangy?

  • I Work Alone: Fara, concerned about Fox, follows him into the Black Hole against his wishes. Needless to say, the rest of the team is in hot pursuit.
  • Identical Stranger: When Fara gets into one of Fox's mother's outfits, Fox remarks that she could be his mother's twin sister. This sets up an important reveal when the first Andross clone mistakes Fara for Fox's mother, whom the original Andross loved long ago but mistakenly killed in his attempt to Murder the Hypotenuse.
  • In the End You Are on Your Own: In Andross' lair, a Force Field goes up right after Fox's Arwing flies through an entryway. The others are left behind.
  • Incredibly Lame Pun: Fox radioing General Pepper for some salt -- because "these ships can really cook!" Pepper says to quit being a wise guy.
  • Insistent Terminology: Fox's gang aren't thieves! They are a "People's Appropriation Committee."
  • Invisible to Normals: As they exit the Black Hole, Fox asks if Fara saw his father, too. Fara says she just followed Fox into the light; she saw no one.
  • It Runs in The Family: Peppy glowingly (and sometimes not-so-glowingly) draws comparisons from Fox to his father. "Impatient like your dad."
  • Just Like Robin Hood: The story begins with Fox and co. irking out a meager living on Papetoon, raiding Imperial scows for loot. Peppy lampshades this by comparing them to Robin Hood.

Peppy: Friends of the poor. Heroes to downtrodden aliens. Snappy dressers.

  • Keep the Reward: Following Fara's rescue, Mr. Phoenix's valet comes over to inform Fox that Mr. Phoenix is very grateful. His teammate's eyes light up with dollar signs. Fox, remembering his uncomfortable stay in a cargo pod... asks for First Class tickets.

Falco: You could have asked for a MOON!

Fox: Moons aren't nearly as comfortable.

  • Leeroy Jenkins: Fara makes ready to polish off an Attack Carrier, but as Fox warns, she's badly outmatched.
  • Loners Are Freaks: Andross literally has only a robot pig for a friend.
  • Love Triangle: Between Fox Sr., Vixy Reinard, and Andross.
  • Murder by Mistake: The first Andross clone mistakes Fara Phoenix for Vixy Reinard, the woman the original Andross loved, which sets up The Reveal about their past and sends Fox into Unstoppable Rage mode.
  • Oh Crap: The team realizing they're adrift in space, with stingrays about to chow down on their Arwings.
    • Andross losing contact with his Dodora. Whoops.
  • Opaque Lenses: General Pepper.
  • Our Time Travel Is Different: Slippy proposes using a gravity dilator in Black Hole to create a shortcut through space. This fits into the real-life "gravity donut" theory of time travel.
  • Ow, My Body Part: When Fox saves Fara's escape pod, Slippy is stunned at the stunt; his brain hurts just thinking about it.
  • Parental Bonus: When first told about General Pepper, Fox recalls him being a sergeant. And in case this is too stealthy, it is reused and expanded upon when Pepper explains James and Andross's backstory, ending with the revelation that he was unable to help because he was only a sergeant at the time. Complete with a picture of him and his associates, resembling a certain album cover.
    • General Pepper was also shown singing "Hound Dog" while shaving.
    • General Pepper isn't the only character who likes lollies. At the start of Act.6, we see a freighter captain enjoying one -- the Captain is an owl.
  • Percussive Prevention: Falco expresses concern that Fox is "beyond reason" and that unless they stop him from going into the Black Hole, he'll kill himself. Better knock his lights out, then. *cracks knuckles*
    • And Fox later returns the favor!
    • Falco's real motive is revealed a few pages later, when he tries to steal Fox's arwing to go make history himself.
  • Phantom Zone: The Black Hole.
  • Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner: Fara cockily compares one of Andross' carriers to a trash compacter. "Time to take out the garbage!" (Subverted; she gets shot down immediately.)
    • Falco, sitting in Fox's cockpit, says to himself, "I've got to concentrate. This isn't going to be easy." Fox suddenly pops up and says "Easy enough, Falco!" He jumps in and knocks Falco out on his ass.
  • Pre-Mortem One-Liner: "How about some stir-fry?" [zaps a lizard]
    • See that they get the message!
    • Slippy reminds Peppy of the android pig they captured on Papetoon, and says that the pig they're looking at is a literal "Piggy Bank" of data and the nerve center for the base. Peppy says it's time they "made a withdrawal," and shoots Herbert with his blaster.
    • Fox taking out both of the Andross head's eyes. "Keeping an eye out, Andross?"
  • Reformed Criminal: As a cadet, Fox met a gangster "with enough street savvy to fill an encyclopedia." Falco wanted to fly, too, so he cleaned up his act and enrolled in the acedemy.
  • Reptiles Are Abhorrent: The Imperials consist entirely of red-eyed lizards. Partially inverted, as they were once a peaceful people before Andross brainwashed them.
  • Rescue Romance: Fox and Fara. Although the first time, Slippy technically did the saving.
  • Robot Buddy: Herbert I and II.
  • Rule of Cool: Falco dislikes Fox always getting the last shot.
  • Samus Is a Girl: Fox mistaking a black arwing for an enemy bogy ("Who is that clown?"). Turns out it's Fara Phoenix, and she's the Chief Test Pilot.
  • Sci Fi Name Buzzwords: Hyper-Twinkies.
    • Holo-telegram.
    • Anti-gravity underwear.
    • Cryo-mud baths.
    • Astro-Hockey.
  • Single Biome Planet: Titania is an icebox with great frozen yogurt.
    • This is odd in a modern context because Fichina is generally considered the coldest planet in the Lylat system, and Titania is a desert planet.
  • Slave Mooks: Andross' lizard henchmen. The majority return to civilian life once Venom is destroyed; the remaining few are still under the Telekinetic Amplifier's thrall.
  • Sound Off: "Land of my species pride / World without ecocide / Evolution we won't abide / Let freedom bark!" ♪
  • Squashed Flat: Andross by the Dodora.
  • Speech Impediment: Almost all of Slippy's dialogue contains stuttering.
  • Sssssnaketalk: All of the lizards and reptiles under Andross' command.
  • Sufficiently Advanced Aliens: The Black Hole aliens.
  • Suicide Mission: Everyone thinks going through the Black Hole is this. Disingenuously, the team quickly agrees to snub Fox (who is too passionate) by having Falco lead the mission.
  • Techno Babble: Falco asks if they can modify the Arwing to be strong enough to withstand the Black Hole. Slippy holds to his theory that they could "triple the output of the G Induction Coils."
  • Tap on the Head: Falco lays out Fox with a few punches.
    • While the rest of the team grab some ice cream, Slippy continues to work on Fara's Arwing. Suddenly, he is approached by an unseen figure and knocked out with crowbar.
  • Tempting Fate: Fox is warned not to attempt one of his "famous last-second rescues" (as the lizard puts it) when Slippy ambushes him from behind.
  • Telepathic Spacemen: In this incarnation, Peppy is a psychic.
  • Terms of Endangerment: Andross is impressed that Fox made it all the way to Venom. "Your valiant effort should be rewarded, Junior!"
  • Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Slippy shows off a photo of his girlfriend "Croakella," who gave him his first wart. (She has red ribbon in her hair.)
  • Tracking Device: Falco and Peppy are next to emerge from the Black Hole. Falco gloats, "I told you I'd get us through the hole!" Peppy reminds him that Slippy's tracking device was what locked onto Fox's route.
  • Training Accident: Fara boast that she's "been flying since [she] was a kit," and challenges Fox to a race. Peppy notices they're headed the wrong way, though. back at base, General Pepper is alerted that two arwings have entered Imperial Space.
  • Unstoppable Rage: Fox goes into a supremely awesome one of these near the end of the comic when the first Andross clone reveals that not only was the original Andross after his father from the very beginning, but that he was responsible for killing his mother with a bomb that was meant for his father. "Payback time is overdue," indeed.
  • Vehicular Sabotage: Fox and co. are a bit hasty in chasing down Fara's stolen Arwing. When they arrive at Sector Y, they find their fuel tanks have been emptied.
  • Walk in Chime In: Peppy does not initially see who kicked Falco out of the Arwing. Fox pokes his head out the cockpit to remind them that he's the only one qualified to navigate the Black Hole. Fara chimes in and says that he's "not the only one qualified!" She and Fox start up their Arwings.
  • With Friends Like These...: Fox and Falco.
  • A Worldwide Punomenon: Fara performing — wait for it — A BARREL ROLL and waving at Fox through her cockpit window. "Mind if I drop in?"
    • Falco is impressed at the length to which Fox wil chase a girl. "Talk about flirting with danger!"
  • You're Insane!: You're m-m-mad! Fox will stop you!
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