Star Fox Command
Star Fox Command
August 3, 2006
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subdirectory_arrow_right Star Fox Adventures (Game), Star Fox: Assault (Game), Star Fox (Game), Star Fox 64 (Game), Star Fox (Franchise)
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Attachment Star Fox, Star Fox 64 and Star Fox Adventures are the only Star Fox titles to provide official ages for the main characters, primarily within their Japanese ancillary material. In the Original Soundtrack box released for the first game, Fox, Falco, Peppy and Slippy are said to be 25, 28, 36 and 19 respectively. Star Fox 64, being a remake of the first game, would retcon these ages and make Fox 18, Falco 19, Peppy 41 and Slippy 18.

The "Farewell Beloved Falco" midquel manga, which is set right in the middle of the eight years between Star Fox 64 and Star Fox Adventures, also gives the original Star Fox crew ages, with Fox now being 22, Slippy 22, Falco 23, and Peppy 45.

Star Fox Adventures takes place eight years after Star Fox 64, which means that Fox is now 26, Falco 27, Peppy 49 and Slippy 26. Japanese Star Fox Adventures ancillary material also reveals Krystal's age to be 19, making her distinctly the only Star Fox character outside of the original four Star Fox members to have a known age. Going by this, she would be 11 and 15 years old during the events of Star Fox 64 and Farewell Beloved Falco, respectively.

After Adventures' release, Nintendo, specifically Takaya Imamura, made a deliberate decision for future Star Fox games to not provide any official age numbers for any of the characters. However, Star Fox Assault officially is said to take place only year after the events of Star Fox Adventures, so this would make Fox 27, Falco 28, Peppy 50, Slippy 27, and Krystal 20. Similarly, according to Takaya Imamura in a 2007 interview, Star Fox Command takes place 2-3 years after Assault, which would make Fox 29-30, Falco 30-31, Peppy 52-53, Slippy 29-30, and Krystal 22-23.

Although Wolf O'Donnell has never had any age officially listed for him, Takaya Imamura implied on Twitter that he is within the same generation of Peppy and James.
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person Dinoman96 calendar_month October 30, 2023
Star Fox OST box contents:
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/starfox/images/c/c9/S-l1600.jpg

User's English translation of official Japanese Star Fox 64 guidebook:
https://www.reddit.com/r/starfox/comments/y8cwc9/finally_got_around_to_doing_translations/

Star Fox "Farewell Beloved Falco" manga:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Fnk1t-4Uw_VaFTeWTpvsCaFQDFEK1psW

Official Japanese Star Fox Adventures character bios:
https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ngc/gsaj/chara/index.html

Star Fox: Assault Instruction Booklet:
https://archive.org/details/StarFoxAssaultInstructionBooklet/page/n3/mode/2up

Nintendo Dream Star Fox Assault interview:
https://shmuplations.com/starfoxassault/

Nintendo of Europe Star Fox Command developer interview:
https://www.nintendo.co.uk/News/2007/Interview-Star-Fox-Command-249670.html

Takaya Imamura Wolf generation tweet:
https://twitter.com/ima_1966/status/1491699675074039813
subdirectory_arrow_right Star Fox 64 3D (Game), Star Fox 64 (Game), Star Fox (Franchise)
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Attachment Contrary to popular belief, and also contrary to the Star Fox 64 Official Player's Guide, Solar is not a star, but merely a lava planet with an exposed mantle, according to both the official Japanese guidebooks for Star Fox 64 and Star Fox Command. Even the official Western Star Fox 64 website clarifies it being a planet. The Western localization of Star Fox Command would also reiterate this in-game, with one of its missions on Solar being named "The Red-Hot Planet".

In a 2011 Nintendo Dream magazine interview with the Star Fox 64 3D development staff, Takaya Imamura once again clarified that Solar is a planet, and that the star Lylat exists somewhere in the Lylat System not visible on the map screen. Apparently, the development team did consider changing Solar into being a sun for Star Fox 64 3D, but this was passed over.
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person Dinoman96 calendar_month October 30, 2023
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Star Fox Command's director and long time series collaborator Dylan Cuthbert wanted to include more traditional rail-shooter stages in this title, but Shigeru Miyamoto was adamant that the development team stick with all-range stages for the majority of the game. According to Cuthbert, this was part of Miyamoto's 'Star Fox should explore new things' initial direction on the project, as he wasn't interested in it just being a copy of the first Star Fox game on SNES, or Star Fox 64.
person Dinoman96 calendar_month October 30, 2023
subdirectory_arrow_right Star Fox (Franchise)
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Attachment According to the official Japanese Star Fox Command guidebook, Slippy's home world is the water planet of Aquas.
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subdirectory_arrow_right Star Fox Adventures (Game), Star Fox (Franchise)
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Attachment In a 2002 interview with Takaya Imamura regarding Star Fox Adventures, in which he explains his reasoning for having the characters age over the eight years since Star Fox 64, Imamura had this to say:

"This time around the story is set 8 years in the future. Characters like Mario and Bowser never age, but I feel that Fox needs to change in various ways over time. Maybe 10 years from now, we'll have the same face we've always known, but the character is actually Fox's son."

Funnily enough, four years later, the "Goodbye Fox" ending in Star Fox Command shows Fox McCloud and Krystal settling down and having a son named Marcus, who then goes on to form an all new Star Fox team, comprising of Slippy's son, Peppy's granddaughter, and even Falco Lombardi, who takes Peppy's place as the older mentor of this new team.
person Dinoman96 calendar_month November 5, 2023
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In the "The Worm" mission on Titania in the Fox and Krystal story route, Krystal goes more in-depth about Andross' plans to terraform Venom.

KRYSTAL: After Andross fought you, he dedicated his remaining days to planet Venom. He wanted to leave some sort of legacy. That's all.

Peppy Hare has a similar line in the "Andross' Legacy" mission, also on Titania during the Goodbye Fox story route.

PEPPY: Well, after our last battle with Andross, he started thinking. He put together a plan to terraform the whole environment. He wanted to make Venom a more hospitable place to live.

These both seem to bizarrely imply that even after being destroyed by the end of Star Fox 64, Andross was somehow still physically alive somewhere on Venom, which is where he began to plan out terraforming Venom into a beautiful green world.

Re-translating the Japanese text for both of these, however, reveals:

KRYSTAL: 彼はあなた達に復讐した後 後世に新しいベノムの創造主として名前を残したかったのよ (He wanted to take revenge on you and leave his name as the creator of the new Venom for posterity.)

PEPPY: かつてアンドルフは我々との戦いの後 ベノムを住みやすい環境に変える計画を立てていたんじゃ (Andorf once had a plan to turn Venom into a livable environment after the war with us.)"

Which makes it much more clear that what Krystal and Peppy had intended to say was that Andross (or Andorf as he's called in Japan) had always intended on terraforming Venom for posterity after he had enacted revenge against General Pepper and Corneria for banishing him there. One could say it was essentially Andross' retirement plan.
person Dinoman96 calendar_month November 28, 2023
Japanese fan website featuring Japanese/English/fan translations of Star Fox Command script:
https://ljmixoeqeunl4vov8m9k6q.on.drv.tw/starfoxcommand/06_Titania_The_Worm.html
https://ljmixoeqeunl4vov8m9k6q.on.drv.tw/starfoxcommand/06_Titania_Andross's_Legacy.html
subdirectory_arrow_right Star Fox 64 (Game), Star Fox: Assault (Game), Star Fox (Franchise)
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Attachment The official Japanese Star Fox 64 guidebook reveals that Andrew Oikonny was essentially forced onto the Star Wolf team purely out of nepotism on Andross' part, and that he was actively disliked by his teammates due to his poor piloting skills and also massive ego in regards to his relationship with Andross. Effectively, the only reason Wolf put up with him during the events of Star Fox 64 was due to the fact that he was using said connections to Andross to provide his team with immeasurable technological and financial backup.

A timeline of events provided in Star Fox Command's official guidebook claims that after Andross' defeat at the end of SF64, the Star Wolf team moved away from the Venom army effective immediately and in turn kicked out Andrew, who no longer had the support of his now deceased uncle, hence why at the beginning of Star Fox: Assault, he's on his own trying to rebel against Corneria using the remnants of Andross' forces.
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person Dinoman96 calendar_month October 29, 2023
User's English translation of official Japanese Star Fox 64 guidebook:
https://www.reddit.com/r/starfox/comments/y8cwc9/finally_got_around_to_doing_translations/

User's English translation of official Japanese Star Fox: Assault guidebook:
https://www.reddit.com/r/starfox/comments/10m82rq/for_all_you_star_fox_assault_fans_some_pictures/

User's English translation of official Japanese Star Fox Command guidebook:
https://www.reddit.com/r/starfox/comments/ysr1ip/behold_translations_of_characters_stages_bosses/
subdirectory_arrow_right Star Fox 64 3D (Game), Star Fox (Franchise)
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Attachment When asked about the canonicity of Star Fox Command in relation to its predecessors (those in particular being Star Fox 64, Star Fox Adventures and Star Fox: Assault) in a Reddit AMA, Dylan Cuthbert had this to say:

Canon is something the fans like to try to follow but Command was meant to be an alternate timeline kind of game, hence the choices you make. It let us have a lot more fun with the characters.

In turn, many within the Star Fox fandom figured that he was implying that the game itself was not canon to the previous installments. However, years later, Cuthbert would clarify on what he really meant by Command being an "alternate timeline kind of game":

Each play through is an alternate reality, play through multiple times until you get the reality /you/ want. In this sense none of them are canon and they are just a few possible realities based on your subjective experience and choices.

In reality, it seems what Cuthbert really meant was that each playthrough and story path is meant to represent an alternate timeline, not that Command itself was in a separate timeline from 64, Adventures, and Assault. Nintendo Dream's guidebook for Star Fox 64 3D from 2011 would actually include an entire chronological timeline of the series up to that point, beginning with Star Fox 64 and ending with Star Fox Command.

Essentially, all of the game's branching story paths are canon and non-canon at the same time, as there's said to be no true ending as it's up to the players to decide how Command, and perhaps the entire series' chronology as it truly began in 1997, ends. A 2011 Nintendo Dream magazine interview with Dylan Cuthbert, as well as Takaya Imamura, would reiterate this sentiment.

Which of the endings in "Command" is considered the canonical one?

Imamura: I think that's going to be up to each person who plays through the game.

Dylan: But the ending picture you drew, Imamura, had an impact. Like the one with Fox crying (laughs).

I definitely figured that was Imamura-san's work. That means that whenever you make the next game, I assume that one of these endings will end up being canon.

Dylan: I'm pretty sure that one will be picked when that time comes.

Fox's son, Marcus, could also potentially be the main character in that case?

Imamura: Yeah. But really, part of me does want to end Fox's part of the story with "Command." So, going forward, if we made a sequel it might be set between "64" and "Adventures," or maybe even a prequel to "64." With "Command," there's no "this is it, it's over" moment, which I think makes for a better video game experience.
person Dinoman96 calendar_month November 7, 2023
subdirectory_arrow_right Star Fox (Franchise)
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Attachment According to Takaya Imamura in a 2011 Nintendo Dream magazine interview, planet Papetoon, the homeworld of Fox McCloud as well as his father James and also Peppy Hare, actually exists outside of the Lylat System, approximately 10,000 light years away from it and Corneria. Imamura even states that the characters have to use warps to come and go.

This was alluded to in "The Curse of Pigma" ending in Star Fox Command, where Falco says:

FALCO: Papetoon, eh? Yeah, that's pretty much the edge of everything right there.

For comparison's sake, in the Japanese script, he says:

FALCO: はあ?パペトゥーン? ずいぶん遠いな… (Huh? Papetoon? That's a long way...)
person Dinoman96 calendar_month October 27, 2023
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Attachment One of Star Fox Command's new characters is Dash Bowman, the grandson of Andross who, ironically enough, is a pilot in the Cornerian Defense Force and also an admirer of the Star Fox team.

In the Japanese version of the game, his first name is アッシュ (Asshu), or Ash, which is more in line with the naming conventions of his relatives, Andross and Andrew Oikonny, whose names also start with "A". It's possible that his surname, Bowman, is a reference to the character of David Bowman, the protagonist of the film "2001: A Space Odyssey", though this is unconfirmed.
subdirectory_arrow_right Star Fox (Game), Star Fox 64 (Game), Star Fox 2 (Game)
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Attachment In the original Star Fox on SNES, Venom was once a lush, green world like Corneria until Andross, exiled for dangerous experiments, invaded and polluted it, enslaving its inhabitants and turning it into a militarized wasteland. Star Fox 2's Expert mode briefly showed Venom returning to its green state, suggesting terraforming.

Star Fox 64 retconned this, portraying Venom as a desolate world from the start; Andross was banished there by Corneria specifically because of its harsh conditions. However, Star Fox Command later revealed Andross had actually built a terraforming device to turn Venom into a green, livable planet for his descendants, reversing his SNES role from destroyer to would-be savior.
person Dinoman96 calendar_month November 18, 2023
subdirectory_arrow_right Star Fox Adventures (Game)
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Attachment Star Fox character designer Takaya Imamura illustrated the back boxart of Star Fox Adventures for its Japanese release. Notably, it's one of the first notable instances of Fox's head being drawn with a more stylized, Noh Kitstune mask look, as opposed to the more animalistic proportions he had in-game and also in prior installments such as Star Fox on SNES and Star Fox 64. This design has often been described by certain fans, often in a derogatory manner, as a "bellhead", due to it being somewhat shaped like a bell.

Star Fox Command would be the first time Fox would sport this head design in-game, and it would go on to influence his appearances in later Super Smash Bros. games and to a certain extent, Star Fox Zero.
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