History Headscratchers / StarFox

** This troper thought the military would grant the captor (or killer) of Leon a free favor to be frank.

* The changes made to the characters in ''Star Fox Command'' bug me: Bill's change from surfer dude to southern hick (same goes with Wolf, if ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'' is to be believed), Kat's fur color change from pink to gray, Panther suddenly channeling the speech patterns of Doctor Doom, etc. Then again, that concerns me less than the fact that the creators hinted the next game will supposedly be set in the middle of ''Command'', essentially making ''half the game and all of its endings moot''.
** Tell me about it. I miss Wolf's British-ish accent. Come on, a one-eyed mercenary with a British accent! You can't lose with that!
*** My mate's wanting to poke his eardrums out at the sound of Panther in ''Brawl''; he had such a... "Garr Gay" voice to him (don't ask; it would be too hard to explain; just think if a British accent could create perpetual EvenTheGuysWantHim moments) in Assault, and they just ''had'' to ruin it... That reminds me of another complaint I noticed with Wolf's new accent; why is it that American voice actors seem to be obsessed with giving their characters Southern or Texan accents? Wolf has one now, Bill had one in ''Command'', they gave Johan from ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'' one...
*** I guess it has something to do with Panther's original VA not being available.
*** Does anybody want to explain to me how Wolf's accent in ''Brawl'' counts as Texan? There's hardly any southern drawl to it in the least. Yes, it's not his British accent, but I found the accent in Brawl to somewhat fit him better.
*** There's a bit of it in there, but there's so little actual vocalization in Brawl that it's kind of pointless to make a big deal of it.
** To be fair, Jay Ward, Wolf's VA in Brawl (who also does Meta Knight's VA) does emulate Wolf's Assault VA pretty well... and I think Wolf's Assault VA is his best as it fits his personality. He doesn't really have a personality at all in 64, and people stereotyped his "British" voice as him having character.
** Where did that "in the middle of Command" rumor came from? The creators stated in an interview that Command is supposed to be at the end of the timeline (of course, if it gets shuffled to yet another company, who knows) and that other SF games will probably take place before it. But either way, unless the next game declares one of the endings (or a mix of it) canon, it's up to the individual to decide what the real ending is, anyway
*** [[http://ds.ign.com/articles/731/731088p2.html This interview for IGN with the developers of ''Command'']] pretty much confirms that the next game will most likely be in the middle of ''Command'' (and that none of the various endings of the game are in fact canon).
*** Anyone want to place bets for when they'll finally break down and have more than one "timestream" (like the 2009 Star Trek)?
** You might as well take into account the screwy Command translation. Oh, and Panther rocks.
** On the subject of changing voices, I didn't like the switch between Leon in 64 and in Assault. In 64 he had this smug, deep, aristocratic tone but in the latter game, he had a cartoony, high-pitched voice. I really liked his first one better, as I just thought the voice was really badass. Was it changed to not contrast with Panther?
*** Perhaps they figured that it made him sound more unhinged. Or maybe they figured they already had Wolf and Panther with deep, smooth voices, so they could use some contrast.
*** Or Leon has *become* more unhinged further down the line, possibly due to damage/destruction of his ship in SF64
* If the Warpstone can't warp dinosaurs, what the hell is he doing on ''Dinosaur Planet''?
** Maybe he was somehow there before the dinosaurs. Or just was there but rather useless. It would explain why he bitches at Fox for waking him up after a thousand-year rest, or why the one dinosaur calls him "a disgrace".
* Speaking of Dinosaur Planet, what the hell was Scales hoping to accomplish by removing the Spellstones and blowing up his own planet?
** Nothing. He was possessed by Andross. And that guy is just a DICK.
*** But returning the spellstones and Krozoa spirits allowed Andross to be revived. Maybe he's actually a MagnificentBastard, but Fox is just better.
*** Wait a sec, if putting the Spellstones and Krozoa spirits back was what it took to revive Andross, why would he remove them in the first place?
*** Perhaps what Andross needed was the energy that would be released when the Spellstones and Krazoa Spirits were specifically used? Perhaps the energy wave that restored the planet was key.
** You're all forgetting the biggest question: How does a spacefaring species MISS AN ENTIRE PLANET IN THEIR SYSTEM until it's in danger?
*** We've been in space for like... 4 decades and only found out about Eris 5 years ago. How a species that can readily travel between planets missed it, however...
*** Perhaps it wasn't "missed" so much as "overlooked". No valuable resources, not a strategic point, no species advanced enough to make contact, thus it was simply passed over for more valuable planets and ignored
** This troper had a theory about that, which lends itself to FridgeBrilliance. Look at the chunks of planet that were hacked apart. By removing the Spellstones, General Scales successfully divided the planet, to keep the dinosaur tribes separate. Andross had found out about the Krazoa spirits, and hung around until some hero shows up to put together the planet. He catches Krystal, who can channel the power, then just has to taunt Fox with the idea of [[RescueRomance rescuing a hot vixen]]. Bam - he's got the dude who beat him before unknowingly working his tail off to revive him.
* Something that's bugged me since the end of ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures'' - did Krystal learn English? Or does the whole team still use a translator to understand her?

* Am I the only one who liked ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures'' (Dinosaur Planet, if you really can't stand that name)? I never understood why people found it so bad.
** This troper will be glad to share what he didn't like about the game: the unintuitive button-mashing combat, the numerous plot holes (how did Fox know Tricky's dad had been captured, for starters), the wasted opportunities (an epic battle with Scales would have been more interesting than a remake of the previous game's final battle with Andross), the frustratingly annoying challenges (THAT GODDAMN VOLCANO LEVEL WITH THE PTERODACTYL), as well as the inescapable FridgeLogic (how do they put on their jewelry?). Don't get me wrong, the game looks really pretty, but it just seems to be missing a lot of life in it. Oh yeah, and that damn cackling bat-demon that you could never avoid no matter what.
*** Well, This Troper liked it, you big complainer you.
*** I know; I was just explaining why people found it so bad.
*** Well that's actually one of the most constructive complaints about Dinosaur Planet/Adventures I've actually read - namely for the fact that you're actually pointing out flaws of the game that are actually part of the design. For a good what, eight nine years, a good 90-100% of the criticisms I've seen of the game have been some variant of "It's not Starfox 64" or "It's a Zelda ripoff".
*** The cackling bat-demon (among other things) is what the R button is for. Though there are places where you can't use it, like in water and on ladders. (And a couple of the shrines put one of the other kinds of bats up there where it can attack you while you're on a ladder! For crying out loud, I'm trying to climb here!) But it's not like you're often hurting for health, or even at that, [=BaFomDads=], right?
** Dinosaur Planet is to Star Fox what Spirits Within is to Final Fantasy, basically. Except Rare didn't basically sink into financial ruin because of it. Only Star Fox's reputation did.
*** Star Fox's reputation is fine, and you'd be hard-pressed to find any critic who finds Assault a better game than Adventures. It's just a TheyChangeditNowItSucks kind of thing. The game itself is actually a fairly well done, the reviews were good, and much better than either of the two games that came after it. Also, I prefer Fox's characterization in Adventures than any other game.
** [[Tropers/{{Starshine}} I]] loved it, but I've always been more of a puzzle game person and the Arwing levels drove me crazy, so maybe I'm not the best judge of what makes a good Star Fox game. (Although what was up with the goddamn Test of Fear? That was basically just dumb luck!)
*** No it's not, it's just insanely misleading on how to work it. This troper nearly threw her controller out the window trying to beat it, until she went for a strategy guide.
*** No, it is also somewhat down to luck -- the indicator seems to move at different strengths, so sometimes you pretty much can't counter its movement before it hits the edge of the green -- in addition to being misleading without actually telling you how it does work. For those who don't know or don't remember, this test comes near the end of a section that started with a required minigame with an indicator on a gauge that looked extremely close to the one used in the Test of Fear. But while the indicator swung back and forth over the green area and you pressed A to stop it -- hopefully while it was over the green area -- in that minigame, in the Test of Fear, the A button is not used; instead, you use the Control Stick to move the indicator in an attempt to keep it from hitting either edge of the green area. But nothing in-game tells you this. You either have to intuit it somehow, or be told by someone who knows.
** This troper liked the game, but actually found that the Arwing and Andross additions felt tacked on. Yes, she ''knows'' they were, but she would have been fine if it were Fox doing an on-world mission with a ninja staff, as a sort of BigLippedAlligatorMoment game.
** This troper agrees with the one above and wants to add that in addition, the game feels like a shell added onto another game. Heck, I liked the game overall, I thought it was actually a reasonably decent adventure game on its own merits. And I don't even mind that it was co-opted by the Star Fox universe (and in my opinion, Fox's character model in Adventures is VASTLY superior to Assault or Command - YMMV of course). But it doesn't feel connected to the Star Fox universe. It's hard to explain, but it feels like the game doesn't add any depth to the universe or characters (an ongoing problem with the series - see another JBM below). By the end of it, while I liked the game, I had the sense that TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot.
** I like it overall, but there are a few things I don't like, such as the aforementioned Test of Fear, the shoddy Dino subtitles, the poorly-implemented Sound Test (seriously, why not give us names for these tracks? Even a number, either decimal or hexidecimal, would have been better than nothing at all. And what's up with Slippy snapping his fingers regardless of what's playing?) But, y'know. I've replayed it multiple times
* In ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures'', why does Krystal's staff work on so many things? It's like a universal lock pick on Dinosaur Planet. There are even places all around the world where you can upgrade your staff using compatable magic. However, Krystal acts like the staff is hers and has been all along, like it came from Cernia. So why is it that her staff interacts so well with Dinosaur Planet?
** In fact, a lot of things don't make sense on Dinosaur Planet. The warpstone, for one, all the doors that the dinosaur inhabitants can open but YOU can, why they needed gatekeepers to access places on the planet when the planet was still in one piece (and why you need them in order to fly up into space, when you have a perfectly functioning starship), how the Dinosaurs built ANYTHING given the whole "No Thumbs" deal...
*** Possibility one regarding Gatekeepers: Contingency. They knew the planet was being pushed apart, hence the Spellstones and Force Point Temples. Possibility two... well, have you seen any paths that lead where the chunks go? I mean, I understand why they wouldn't want to use up disc space on it, but it would have been kind of neat to be able to walk to the spots where they were, or for that matter, when you're on a chunk, walk down the path that would connect it to someplace in the foot-accessible world. As it stands, without Gatekeepers, the chunks are isolated regardless of whether they're in orbit or returned to the planet.
*** One possibility is that the various areas WERE connected, but by paths that Fox wouldn't be able to make use of (being a small, bipedal Canidae, rather than a Saurian species)
** Maybe Krystal's ancestors on Cernia colonized this planet long ago, but either died out or moved on?
*** Or, possibly, the inverse. Perhaps the would-be Cerinians originally came from Sauria a long time ago (either leaving voluntarily for some reason (cultural schism, ecological shift, etc), or were forced to flee (perhaps in the event that split the planet)).

* I can understand Fox vs. Wolf and Peppy vs. Pigma, but what exactly is the story behind Falco vs. Leon and Slippy vs. Andrew?
** Matching types: Falco/Leon are both (in the fluff) considered the best pilots in both teams, and act as highly-competent lancers to their leaders. Slippy/Andrew are both the least skilled pilots in their relative groups and only given a position in Star Fox/Wolf for somewhat suspect reasons (Slippy due to being a better mechanic than a pilot, and Andrew because Andross was paying Wolf to have him in the team).
** The above post is probably right, it also just makes sense. Slippy and Andrew are portrayed as fairly weak pilots, so naturally they're go after eachother rather than someone more competent. It's probably not hard for full-time mercenary fighter pilots to visually pick out the proverbial weak animal in the herd. It's possible that Falco and Leon either go at it because of the above-explained nature of both being the best or just because everyone else is taken (Fox and Wolf in a leader v. leader fight, Pigma and Peppy in an old blood feud, Andrew and Slippy being the lowest common denominator of their teams)
*** In addition to that, Falco and Leon are directly serving as wingmen. They're both going after the next-biggest threat to their leader. Leon is a close second to Wolf in piloting skill and threat, and Falco is equal to or better than Fox behind the controls of his Arwing. Thus, they would be the biggest threat to the team leaders, and are priority targets.
*** There's a bit of a match-up in their personalities, too. Both of them are somewhat arrogant and the most eager to fight among their teammates.
* In Star Fox Command, Fox uses the Arwing Mk. II, which is JackOfAllStats of ships and has a single laser. Fair enough. However, in a few missions it's possible to play as Peppy and [[spoiler:James]], and they pilot the Arwing (note the lack of "Mk. II"). What's the difference? Well, the Arwing Mk II has a single laser, while the Mk. I has a double laser. Let me repeat that. The only real difference is that the Arwing II has a ''weaker'' laser. No other differences. How is making your ship weaker an "upgrade"?
** Fox is still technically a mercenary, while Peppy is drawing in a fat General's commission (And [[spoiler:James]] may not exist, so I'm ignoring him in this argument). Fox's financial commitments are involved with owning and running both a personal starfighter and a carrier, while completely manning and maintaining both pretty much solo. Peppy has a regular wage, and probably a personal hangar and support crew. Fox ''might'' have commissioned a new Arwing model from Space Dynamics, but the situation is that he can't either maintain it at peak performance or purposely bought a ''cheaper'' model in order to save a few bucks. Peppy has no such financial limits. It's also largely hinted that Fox is still paying his ''father's'' debt on the ''first'' Great Fox, which is now debris. Fox's Arwing is ''newer'', but not necessarily ''better'', while Peppy probably could maintain his first generation Arwing and probably have it upgraded. Expanding further, the big problem with the "Mk. II" designation is that it's ''wrong''. There's been several generations of Arwings: The first being those flown by the original Star Fox (James, Peppy, Dengar) and probably in the original Star Fox game (Which Assault still counts as canon). Ignoring [=SF2=], [=SF64=] introduced a whole new generation of Arwings with an all-range mode, and Adventures featured this same Arwing albeit stripped down to the bare bones (And Peppy and Slippy's sold off to earn some cash) in order to keep running costs and maintenance low. Assault featured ''another'' generation of Arwings (And Landmasters), bought for with the commission from the Sauria job, minus whatever Fox kept aside for other running costs and paying off daddy's fat debt. Three canonical generations of Arwings with different specifications have shown up in the games ''before'' the Mk. II. The Mk. II designation is wrong (Or correct in that it's a cheaper, more generalized version for commercial sale rather than specific contract commission) and should be ignored. In the Japanese version, Fox didn't fly an Arwing Mk. II, he flew an Arwing "Fire Fox", while Peppy stuck with his his classic Arwing. That's probably more accurate, and I personally propose that, while we don't strike Command from the canon, we strike the ''English'' version and keep the more accurate, makes-more-sense, Japanese Special Editionâ„¢.
** Or, more simply, Peppy picked up the dual-laser powerup from the three bridges and gate.
** To be honest, I just simply chalk up the Arwings as a case of YouDontLookLikeYou. I.e., it's the same Arwing each time until Command, each with a different mecha designer at the helm.
** The question was answered yet ignored. Fox pilots an Arwing MK II, but there are more than two generations of Arwings.
*** It may be that the variations in Arwing design aren't new generations of Arwing, so much as modifications on an existing MK-I frame. As an analogue, it's similar to the RX-79 Ez8. Still the same model, but extensively retuned and rebuilt with newer parts and improved technology (which would make sense, as getting new parts or having Slippy install new tech would be cheaper than commissioning an entire new model of ship).
** Perhaps Fox pilots an Arwing Mk II... but the model that has been used (which the series calls simply "Arwing") is of a higher mark? If he's strapped for cash, buying a cheaper fighter might seem like a better option than having no fighter at all. Like buying a used car.
** Mk-II doesn't always imply "better", either. Just newer. (See the Gundam Mk-II). Maybe Space Dynamics dialed back the armament of the Mk-II to put military brass at ease in the wake of the Lylat Wars.

* I don't know a lot about dogs, but why would they change General Pepper's look in Star Fox: Assault? He doesn't even look like the same type as 64 and Adventures!
** He was supposed to be really old by Assault, hence his wrinkly look.
* Everything about James [=McCloud=] in ''Command''. Nobody else even seems to notice he's there, he only appears after the strategy segment of the stage ends (meaning there's no longer any concrete advantage to having a fourth character), and he's not even a better pilot than Fox because that path includes a laser upgrade for the Arwing Mk. II. What the heck is the point?
** If you take enough turns in the strategy segment (five I think), he shows up and Fox gives a WTF reaction. You can move him on the map like any other fighter you control.
*** Crutch character; it's been a while since I've cleared ''Command'', but I seem to recall always taking less than five turns that mission if I was, y'know, actually ''trying''. You either have to drag out that encounter purposely to trigger the newcomer or you're really struggling and need an extra set of wings to help clear the mission.
* Lucy Hare. While Peppy being married and having a daughter isn't unlikely, why is it that she's the same age as Fox, and a skilled pilot, but only brought up NOW, in Star Fox Command? Why hasn't she (and Vivian) been brought up before?
** Probably because of one of three reasons, your to busy fighting for your life to chat about family and the like, Lucy was an astrophysics teacher (or something of the like) with apparently only bare minimum pilot training so she wouldn't be showing up for much in the way of military actions (and she apparently only gets in a plane to help Fox look for her dad) and Peppy might have been divorced at the time of Star Fox 64 with no visitation rights to his daughter so it might have been a sore spot for him at the time.
*** I was under the impression that Vivian died rather than divorcing Peppy. One of Command's endings, if memory serves, involves Peppy and Lucy reminiscing about Vivian, implying that she died at some point, probably before Star Fox 64. Most likely, the topic just never came up because they had other things to deal with, such as Andross's invasion in 64 and the Aparoids in Assault (though you'd think Peppy would show a little concern for his daughter with all the chaos going on).
* Is it just me, or did Nintendo made Star Fox like an excuse to hate on monkeys? We knew Donkey Kong would have made that line, but it seems that SF made something that would cross it.
** Well, monkeys ''are'' evil.
** That, and it's a complicated way of saying HumansAreBastards without the confusion that would ensue from including actual humans. Just look at [[MeaningfulName Andross' name]].
* Falco, when shot in Star Fox 64, says "Hey Einstein, I'm on YOUR side!" How does he know who Einstein is?
** Someone wrote into Nintendo Power asking this. If I recall correctly, their answer was, "Because the people who developed the game know who Einstein is."
** Alternatively, it could be part of the TranslationConvention; Falco didn't actually name-drop Einstein, he used a figure of speech that is equivalent to calling someone "Einstein" sarcastically in English.
*** On THAT note, how does your teammates know it was YOU specifically who shot them? Sure, the computer AI will know, but story-wise, in the heat of battle, how can Falco be so certain that it was you who accidentally shot him? He shouldn't be instantly angry at you, he should think it was the enemy.
*** That depends solely on if they can tell ''where'' the ship gets shot, and how their radar works. If it's from behind and their radars don't pick anybody else but their wingmates up, then they would come to that conclusion. And as they don't bring up Fox specifically - they just say "you" which could mean anybody - this could be seen as them only knowing that it was somebody on their team, not necessarily Fox, and calling out to everyone in order to avoid future shooting. But if there are enemies as well... you got me there.
*** Maybe they can also tell which direction specifically the offending shot came from, even if it hit the same spot.
*** Also, IFF transponders. It's quite possible that friendly fire is directly tagged as such by onboard systems and displays a warning.
** Maybe theres a famous scientist named Einstein in the Star Fox universe that did the same things for animal society that he did for humans. He's probably some kind of shih-tzu.
* Is it just me, or after 64, does the series try to dance around the issue that the Star Fox team is essentially a [[HiredGuns PMC]]? Star Fox Adventures even went so far as to call them [[WesternAnimation/AdventureTime adventurers]].
** [[Franchise/MetalGear Colonel]] described them as one in ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl]]'', calling them a "commando-for-hire" group.
** Even in 64, they allude to it without actually bringing it up. At the end of the game, Pepper asks Star Fox to join the Cornarian fleet but they turn him down. And after the credits, we see the bill General Pepper has to pay the Star Fox team for their efforts (If you kill a heavy number of enemies, he'll remark, "This is one tough bill, but it's worth it" and if you kill even more enemies then that, he'll let out a dumbfounded, "WHAT?!"). Assumingly Star Fox just works exclusively for Pepper or noble causes and can't be outbid to someone like Andross, making them good guys in spite of their profession (as opposed to Star Wolf, who will work for Andross but still have some sense of honor, or Pigma, who will just do anything for money).
** This one has always seen them less as a PMC, and more as Cornerian Privateers. They work more-or-less exclusively with the Cornerian government, but act outside of the military structure. This is a fairly beneficial agreement for both sides, allowing Corneria to functionally contract them for missions where small teams of elites are needed, and, if needed, disavow knowledge in the event of a misstep, while Starfox is able to maintain their autonomy and (theoretically) make far more than they would on a military salary.
* In 64, it is possible to enter Sector X and then enter a Warp Zone before you get to defeat the "Secret Weapon". Then it's as if they forget that big robot and just go on with their mission. It would have made sense if you atleast got a cutscene "after the end" with them getting interrupted on the journey back, and either letting the computer take care of it or you doing it.

* I'm surprised nobody else has brought this up yet but.... What is up with Andross's One Wing Angel transformation? Everything we get about him before that is that he's a MadScientist-slash-EvilOverlord-slash-monkey. Then.... it turns out not only is he a giant head, but also a giant brain? Normally I would just think "Well, that's a very ego-driven flagship, sort of like the kind Brainiac flies," but then Fox remarks "So, Andross, you show your true form!" Did he transform himself into a giant brain? Was Fox joking? Is there some manga that explains this? It kind of seems like the kind of thing that would pass in an old NES game without anyone blinking an eye, or even a satirical game like No More Heroes, but Star Fox is oddly rooted in realism (anthropomophic animals not withstanding). I'm just confused.
** Andross had experimented on himself so much that he became a giant brain. His head and arms were mechanical.
* So how does General Pepper feel when Star Fox counts random rocks and asteroids as "enemies", thus raising their income?
** Given how close in proximity they are to Corneria, he might actually appreciate him cleaning them up so that it's less likely their planet will get hit by one. That or he simply doesn't know that Fox is artificially inflating his count and trusts Fox's data.
** I was wondering if his thought might be, "Holy crap, these four guys totally defeated a conquering, invading force I couldn't repel with my entire army. I'm just going to give them what they want and not risk either pissing them off or thinking they should go work for someone else."
** This is the brilliance of Star Fox taking advantage of the Cornerian government's bureaucracy (which has undoubtedly inconvenienced them in the past), cooking the books by counting random rocks as "enemy defenses" or "weapons".
** Not only that, but all those giant space rocks in orbit around Corneria could be turned into ''actual'' enemy weapons [[Main/ColonyDrop very easily]]. I wonder if Andross [[FridgeHorror ever thought of that...]]
** Another possibility is that the asteroid destruction money is coming from some other organization as a civil service fee. The only reason it's not more common is that for most space jockeys, they don't have the means to quickly destroy asteroids (while an Arwing can shred through with the laser cannons, most ships probably would need to either stock shipboard ordinance (which cuts into the profit), or the crew would need to manually blast through with conventional explosives)
* Okay, so in Starfox 64, Cornelia has an entire, trained army; Peppy Hare is an experienced pilot while Falco's an ex-mercenary; and at least once per playthrough, the team encounters Star Wolf, an elite team of mercenaries. And yet, Fox [=McCloud=] is the only person who can do easily done flying maneuvers and take down an entire army of ships that can be taken out in a few shots. Oh, also Wolf won't get confused by your maneuvers until after he gets cybernetic parts.
** I think it's because Fox's considered the greatest among every good guys as you're controlling him (Well, you can do anything that he's supposed to do,) while most of Cornelia army are filled with RedShirtArmy who get frighten easily when someone's on their tails. For Star Fox team, the whole "crew rescuing'' stuff that happens during linear mode is supposed to be some sort of obstacle to test if you can fully control your ship in a tight situation. They probably do fine offscreen since their shield rarely drop unless they're asking for a help. In All Range mode, however, [[ArtificialStupidity you can blame their AI for their stupidity]]. Wolf's "What the heck?" only appears on easy route, so you may count it as a signal for "Get ready to attack" or something for beginners.
** Do you remember how pathetic all the Cornerian ships besides Bill's were on Katina?
** One possibility is that Fox has the ideal combination of ship and capability. Bill and Katt have the skill and level-headedness to be skilled pilots, but are hampered by ships that aren't capable of pulling off the same maneuvers as an Arwing (neither the Cornerian Fighter nor Katt's ship seem to have the bigger G-Diffusers, for one). Meanwhile, team Star Fox is hampered by their own personalities (Falco's cockiness and ego tends to lead to him pushing too far and getting in trouble, Slippy's relative inexperience in combat leads to him panicking if he's in an unexpected situation, Peppy's age likely has dulled his reflexes and reaction time, and Krystal is still unfamiliar with the Arwing).
* Does anyone else feel like the star Fox series as a whole hasn't been developed very well? I don't mean game-wise, but rather continuity-wise. The characters up through Assault haven't been given a lot of in-game depth (this troper hasn't played Command; the word from a relative who has is that it's only marginally better in that game), and the universe as a whole doesn't feel developed beyond a series of things for you to shoot at. If there's backstory, it's AllThereInTheManual, and almost never explored in-game; this seems wholly dissatisfying to me, because there seems to be a lot of potential avenues of exploration here. It seems like the Star Fox series cries out for some expansion and depth that other long-running Nintendo series don't really need so much (e.g. Mario, Legend of Zelda, Metroid).
** Well you are busy fighting for your life for the majority of the games, not exactly time to sit down and chat about your past with your friends over drinks.
*** CasualDangerDialogue would like a word with you.
* Why did Andross feel the need to put a bunch of bioweapons on the sun? It's way too hazardous to consider building a garrison or something there, very few people are willing to even go there and it's a waste of resources. (Yes, I am aware that some sources say that Solar is not the sun, but I think my point still stands.)
** He might've just been hiding the bioweapon on Solar. If I remember right, Command says that Andross had quite a few bioweapons on several planets (including Titania). He might have been developing a bioweapon as an ace in the hole against the Cornerian army and decided that no one would think to check on Solar, so it would be a pretty good place to hide a weapon capable of surviving its temperatures.
** Alternatively, that bio-weapon could've somehow had the power to manipulate how the Solas functioned and could've caused it to go nova or something if so commanded. Maybe if Andross was killed it was programmed to do so as a way of getting revenge on the ones who did it.
** Another few possibilities include that it was a test- after all, if something is strong and powerful enough to survive and ''thrive'' on the ''surface of the sun'', that's good information to know, which could probably be used to increase the strength of other bioweapons. Or, perhaps Andross' ego is so massive, that someone once told him "No life can live on the sun!" and he responded "I'LL F***ING SHOW YOU!"
* Why does the team make so many stops on the way to Venom in Star Fox 64? Yes, if they didn't, there wouldn't be much of a game, but why don't they just go straight to Venom in the Great Fox? Really, the only levels that are strictly necessary are Area 6 (as it takes place in Venom airspace and has Andross throwing everything at you to stop you from reaching the planet) or Area 6 (as it seems to be some sort of defense system protecting Venom) and then Venom (where you have to go to take out Andross). Corneria might be justifiable, as Fox would probably want to protect his homeworld, but there doesn't seem to be much sense in stopping at, say, Solar or Zoness, considering that the only threats there are the bioweapons, which don't exactly seem like they'd be going to attack any time soon. They could just go to Venom, blow Andross up, then double back through the other planets to clean up the remaining threats.
** Personally, I assumed that the Arwings needed regular maintenence and refueling. And as proven by Sector Z, Venom's Armies are perfectly capable of intercepting Star Fox. Also, they probably don't head straight for Venom for the same reason that in war, we don't have our first battle in the enemy capital: there's a lot of other stuff in the way that needs to be taken out first. Also also, as demonstrated by the beginning of ''Assault'', Venom's armies can be a decent threat by themselves.
** General Pepper hires the Star Fox team not only to zip along and kill Andross, but also complete several other objectives along the way (depending on which route you take, of course). While the team attacks specific locations, the Cornerian Army is presumably fighting a bigger war off-screen, and every mission you complete strengthens their position by either freeing up ally resources or breaking up the enemy's organization and logistics. Note that, at the start of most missions, Fox reports to General Pepper for a new mission (Titania probably being the only exception, which you would have to go to to save Slippy). Killing Andross isn't going to do a whole lot if his army is left to run rampant across the system. He even pays the team by kills! (Including asteroids)
** To elaborate on the above, each of the missions, regardless of path, has a specific military objective.
*** Sector Y and and the Asteroid Thicket seem to be Cornerian Airspace, and the battles there are breaking through a "blockade" of the planet, and/or destroying another Attack-fleet En-route to Corneria - Failure to complete those missions result in Corneria getting destroyed behind you.
*** [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Katina/Katinara]] and Fichina/Fortuna are both critical Cornerian assets - even disregarding civilian population centers on each, the former seems to be a major Cornerian Fleet "Harbor", and Fortuna's a Supply Depot. Losing either would put the [[RedShirtArmy Cornerian Military]] at a severe disadvantage.
*** Aquas, Solar, and Sector X house extremely powerful Superweapons that have enough firepower to destroy the Cornerian Fleet.
*** Zoness and Macbeth are logistically critical to Andross' war effort.
*** Sector Z is an [[LuredIntoATrap unavoidable ambush]].
*** Bolse and Area 6 are Venom's last line of defense.
** We could also take a hint from the Star Wars expanded universe- once the Emperor died in "Return of the Jedi," his massive armies and fleets practically self-destructed, with various officers turning into warlords, grabbing as much power as possible for themselves and causing ''massive'' collateral damage. Now, given how many superweapons and the numbers and tech avaliable to Andross' forces, and how we've seen the kind of horrible damage that can be done to the environment with Andross' forces already (Corneria in Flames, Venom's atmosphere is toxic, Zoness and Macbeth are environmental disaster areas), would you ''really'' want to risk an Andross-Empire Civil War?
*** Also, there's the matter of "Not wanting an enemy fleet showing up behind you and frying your butt."
* Something that really bugs me: Why did they [[{{Bowdlerization}} Bowdlerize]] Falco's "Hey Einstein, I'm on your side" line in Star Fox 64 3D to "Hey genius, I'm on your side?"
** I seem to recall ''Nintendo Power'' getting a letter asking how a falcon in a distant galaxy could possibly know who Einstein was. Weird, but might be that.
** Einstein is from the Lylat system?
*** [[FanficFuel As a Cornerian scientist, before being exiled to another planet, much like Andross.]]
* In Command, if you have Fox ask where Falco is, the spotlight shifts to Falco who is suddenly in command of his own copy of the Great Fox and Rob-64, where the hell did he get all that?
** [[WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents Internet.]]

* How do the locals shop at the Thorntail Store? Even Tricky never enters. The Lightfoots (Lightfeet?) seem the most capable of patronizing it, though they'd probably end up trying to force the Shopkeeper to play that minigame, only to give up on account of teleportation. Anyway, it seems like 100% of business comes from Fox.
** I should clarify. "That minigame" is not the gambling one, but the one where the Lightfoots tie you to a totem pole and surround you with Lightfoots with spears, rotate the pole some random amount, and have a Lightfoot approach and jab you with a spear if you haven't fended him off, rotate it again, and so on until you're all the way dead or all his troops have given up. This is apparently what they do to thieves, and the Shopkeeper is demonstrably not above theft to gain wares for his shop; at least three of his items were stolen from others: Tricky's Ball, the Hi-Def Display Device, and the Golden Root. (I would even count it likely that the Fuel Cells he stocks are some of the ones ROB beamed down.) Given this propensity, he would likely run afoul of them... but as he can teleport, they wouldn't be able to hold him for long.
* Why is it that, in Star Fox 64/3D, if you get less than 100 hits/kills at Sector Y, you're sent to Katina/Kakinara (unless you restart the level and try getting at least 100 hits/kills)? Is it (still) suppose to be a test to see if you are capable of taking on the red path levels, like the dialogue you hear during the level?
** On a Meta Level most likely but in universe the enemies you fight at Sector Y are for sure not only sent to Corneria but as well to Katina as both Planets neighbour Sector Y. In this Tropers eyes meeting 100 kills means that you weakend Andross forces enough to ease things a bit for Bill and his guys. If you don't hit that (psychologically important) mark of 100 kills, General Pepper thinks that Katina needs help ans Asks fox to go there, as saving Katina is more important then the Bioweapon on Aquas.
* In ''Star Fox Guard'' a bunch of robots try to steal precious metals from Grippy. Who do these robots belong to?

* In ''Star Fox 64'', there's those two warp zones that serve as alternate routes that you can take. However, what sort of space pilot interested in their own self-preservation would knowingly fly into one of these anomalies? What if it's a gravitic singularity that rips your ship to shreds instantly? What if you come into contact with antimatter and get vaporized? What if you end up trapped in a pocket dimension and are forced to fight a giant slot machine for all eternity?
** Warps are known in the Star Fox universe, even before ''Zero''. In the SNES comic, the idea to use the Black Hole to warp to Venom is only opposed due to heavy gravitational pressure, something easily remedied with modifications to the G-Diffuser. Furthermore, lore on the official site for ''64'' has orders from Pepper that Star Fox is to investigate these warps in case Andross is using them in his attack. Strictly in-game, however, there's this line from Falco in Sector X in ''64''.
--->'''Falco''': I found the gate! Looks like a warp!

* Why doesn't Star Fox just [[TwoDSpace fly "above" or "below" Area 6 on the way to Venom?]] I guess it could be that the entire planet is surrounded by spaceships and robots like the area they go through, but there's nothing in-universe to suggest this.
** Bypassing Area 6 leaves their flank vulnerable. If they cripple the main defensive line, then there's less chance of the Venomian army coming in behind them and dealing major blows (say, shooting down Great Fox or launching a pincer attack)
* In ''Star Fox Assault'' it's mentioned that an Aparoid entered the Lylat system about 17 years ago. So why are they attacking in the present? Why did they not launch a full scale attack back then? Why wait 17 years?
** It could be that the scouting force relayed info to the main force that Lylat was on the verge of civil war, and the Aparoid Queen decided to hold off on engaging until both forces were worn down to pick off the winner.
*** Even then, they waited at least eight years after said war ended, the losers were on their last legs with incompetent Andrew leading due to nepotism, and their attack finished off the last of Andrew's forces anyway. They could have approached Andrew during that eight-year period, built up their forces, launched their offensive while Star Fox was messing around on Sauria, and they'd have won. Granted, we wouldn't have a game, but it would still have allowed the eight-year gap to make sense. Alternately, the scout could have been discovered recently instead of 17 years ago.
* In Command, Krystal has two variations in game, one with her in a custom Arwing and wearing a flight suit akin to the one she wore in Assault, and one with her in a Cornerian army uniform and flying one of their standard ships. The former is used for routes where she rejoins Star Fox, and the latter is used for routes where she’s with the Cornerian army. But there are routes where she’s joined Star Wolf, who are wanted fugitives by Corneria, yet in those routes, she uses her Cornerian army variant. How does she have access to military equipment when she’s effectively a fugitive by proxy? Maybe the devs didn’t have the time and/or desire to give her a Star Wolf variant, but wouldn’t it at least make more sense for her to be using her personalised ship with them instead?

** Warps are known in the SNES and 64 timelines. Lore on the official site for ''64'' has orders from Pepper that Star Fox is to investigate these warps in case Andross is using them in his attack. Strictly in-game, however, there's this line from Falco in Sector X in ''64''.

*** CasualDangerDialog would like a word with you.

*** It may be that the variations in Arwing design aren't new generations of Arwing, so much as modifications on an existing MK-I frame. As an analogue, it's similar to the RX-79 Ez8. Still the same model, but extensively retuned and rebuilt with newer parts and improved technology (which would make sense, as getting new parts or having Slippy install new tech would be cheaper than commissioning an entire new model of ship.

** One possibility is that Fox has the ideal combination of ship and capability. Bill and Katt have the skill and level-headedness to be skilled pilots, but are hampered by ships that aren't capable of pulling off the same maneuvers as an Arwing (neither the Cornerian Fighter nor Katt's ship seem to have the bigger G-Diffusers, for one). Meanwhile, team Star Fox is hampered by their own capabilities (Falco's cockiness and ego tends to lead to him pushing too far and getting in trouble, Slippy's relative inexperience in combat leads to him panicking if he's in an unexpected situation, Peppy's age likely has dulled his reflexes and reaction time, and Krystal is still unfamiliar with the Arwing).

** This one has always seen them less as a PMC, and more as Corneian Privateers. They work more-or-less exclusively with the Cornerian government, but act outside of the military structure. This is a fairly beneficial agreement for both sides, allowing Corneria to functionally contract them for missions where small teams of elites are needed, and, if needed, disavow knowledge in the event of a misstep, while Starfox is able to maintain their autonomy and (theoretically) make far more than they would on a military salary.

* Why doesn't Star Fox just [[TwoDSpace fly "above" or "below" Area 6 on the way to Venom?]]. I guess it could be that the entire planet is surrounded by spaceships and robots like the area they go through, but there's nothing in-universe to suggest this.

** Could be a matter of power supply. Perhaps even with the increase in power from an external source, using all three guns or firing dual charge shots taxes the power systems, which could either result in severe damage (internal components frying, or possibly even blowing up), or the system overheating/overloading (either resultinh in total destruction of the Arwing or a failsafe forcing it down). Since most missions are prolonged engagements in hostile airspace, any of those outcomes could be fatal. Thus, Star Fox won't use them except in dire straits.