Pop stars, gangsters, soldiers, scientists, beasts, superheroes, sorcerers, robots, undead, aliens, time-travelers... F-Zero has many colorful pilots, each having their own goals and backstories in a rather unique future.
So many that we need a few extra pages to list them all. This page not only lists an index for character subpages, but also the characters present in the original F-Zero. Check the following pages for characters who debuted in:
Crossovers
open/close all folders
Introduced in F-Zero
# 07 - Captain Falcon
Click here to see his F-Zero machine
"The Blue Falcon is the fastest machine on the Circuit."Voiced by: Eric Kelso (F-Zero GX)
The main character of the F-Zero franchise. Captain Falcon is a man in his mid-30s who's said to be one of the best bounty hunters, as well as one of the best pilots, in the universe. Most of his past is shrouded in mystery, although it's known that he was born in Port Town. He has a small facility in Mute City where he trains via virtual reality, as seen in GX.
His Machine is the Blue Falcon, rated B-C-Bnote and weighing 1,260 kg (approximately 2,800 lbs.); its creator and engine(s) are unknown, adding further to the mystique. It is considered to be the most well-rounded machine in the games it appears in. Its driving style is average too, so anyone playing can (theoretically) use it well. However, the Blue Falcon is usually ranked 10th or lower when controlled by the A.I. It has appeared in many a Nintendo games, most notably in Mario Kart Wii as a lightweight kart, Mario Kart 8 as a DLC kart body, and as a decoration in several Animal Crossing games.
- The Ace: Falcon is considered one of the best F-Zero pilots in-universe, if not the best.
- Animal Motifs: A falcon, of course. It's a play on his speed and hunting capabilities.
- Animal-Themed Superbeing: Has a falcon-themed name, crest and vehicle.
- Art Evolution: One notable change in his machine's design over time is the number of engines. In F-Zero (1990), it has four engines. In F-Zero X and F-Zero GX, it has two engines. And in F-Zero: GP Legend and F-Zero Climax, it has only a single engine.
- Badass Boast:
- To do this to the creators of the universe and back up his claim, it's pretty badass.Captain Falcon: Come off it! You think you can beat me? No way!!
- This line from the original game's manual.Captain Falcon: There are two kinds of drivers in this race— Me and the losers!
- To do this to the creators of the universe and back up his claim, it's pretty badass.
- Bounty Hunter: When he's not on the track, which seems to be never.
- We do see him doing some bounty hunting work in the GX Story Mode, the second mission to be precise, in which he has managed to track down a group of criminals to the middle of the Red Canyon. This later turns out to be a trap set up by Goroh, which he, of course, uses to challenge Falcon to a race. The original game, however, included a comic in which Falcon did, in fact, do his specified profession.
- Said comic
also featured, to date, the only time in F-Zero history that Falcon has bothered to use his gun.
- Captain Space, Defender of Earth!: A somewhat straighter example than most. While his profession is that of a Bounty Hunter, which tends to be more on the roguish side, Falcon is more or less a superhero in practice.
- Character Celebrity Endorsement: In-universe, Falcon was apparently featured in a commercial (with him uttering the final words, "Let's try") that inspired Billy to join the races.
- Characterization Marches On:
- In the games, not much is known about Falcon other than his sense of justice. Super Smash Bros. then transforms the guy into a campy, over-the-top brawler with a Falcon Punch.
- In the SNES manual, he is portrayed less like a hero and more like an actual Bounty Hunter, prioritizing targets with actual rewards on their heads.
- Clothing Damage: In his GX Pilot Video, he saves Mrs. Arrow's baby from a speeding locomotive. Afterwards, his pants rip, revealing his Goofy Print Underwear. This leaves Falcon in an awkward and compromising position as Mrs. Arrow chuckles at his misfortune.
- The Comically Serious:
- Portrayed this way in GX, where his stoic attitude contrasts with the often campy situations he finds himself into.
- Story Mode. Chapter 3. Nuff said.
- Cool Car: While it's not a car in the strictest sense, the Blue Falcon is one awesome ride. The Blue Falcon is such an incredible machine that its stats misrepresent its performance. A novice could drive it and appear to be a pro.Samurai Goroh: That's a fine looking machine you're driving, Falcon.
- Cool Helmet: His red helmet with a golden falcon emblem is iconic at this point.
- Cool Shades: As seen in his original design,◊ which was reused for the Japanese commercial for X.
- Cool Starship: The Falcon Flyer, Falcon's ship which he uses for interplanetary travel.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: His Blue Falcon is numbered #111 in the SNES original, but is renumbered to #07 from X onwards.
- Expy: His design bears a not-so-subtle-resemblance to Judge Dredd.
- The Fettered: You would expect a guy fitting his profile and appearance to deliver some street justice whenever a villain crosses his path, but no, Cap is compelled to settle his business in a fair race. Unfortunately, Falcon's honorable ways almost get him killed by Black Shadow in GX, who proceeds to tie Falcon up and send him off with a speed-sensitive bomb strapped to the Blue Falcon.
- Fragile Speedster: The Blue Falcon has good acceleration and turn speed at the expense of weak armor and bad traction in the original F-Zero, but those attributes are not as bad as the corresponding attributes in the Golden Fox.
- A Friend in Need: F-Zero GX. Story Mode. Chapter 5. Jody Summer.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: He's consistently depicted as outclassing Samurai Goroh in every way, but in the original F-Zero the Blue Falcon is just plain second-rate compared to the Fire Stingray. While Blue Falcon is good for novice players and has better acceleration, Fire Stingray can take more punishment, has a higher top speed and much better cornering abilities.
- Genius Bruiser: His overall character type, background and in-universe reputation suggest this, but it's outright stated that he knows every inch of the Blue Falcon's specifications and can make it perform as if it has the best ratings.
- The Good Captain: It's never said where exactly the moniker comes from.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Sports a scar on his left eyebrow.
- Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Should you beat the GP on Master Class (F-Zero X) or beat the final chapter of Story Mode (F-Zero GX), you'll be treated to a brief shot of Falcon without his helmet. This is significant because, while Falcon isn't the only character to conceal their features behind some sort of headgear, he's hardly seen without it.
- Hero with a Unique Name: Certainly so in the first game. While Dr. Stewart is also addressed by a title, Falcon is the only racer to share his name with his vehicle. Later entries would reduce the uniqueness of both conventions due to the introduction of numerous other F-Zero pilots.
- Informed Loner: Falcon is a man shrouded in mystery, cast away from the common eye for their own safety. And yet, there he is, trying to enjoy a drink at a bar in Mute City (Chapter 3 of GX's Story Mode) in the company of half of the cast. Jack even toasts to him like they're good pals.
- Jack of All Stats: In all the games, the Blue Falcon's stats are the standard for the rest of the competition.
- Keep the Reward: In GX, he returns his share from Silver's winner bet once news of Black Shadow causing trouble break out, probably because it would just slow him down.
- Large Ham: In GX, along with everyone else. And don’t even get us started on his Super Smash Bros. self.
- Let's Fight Like Gentlemen: He tries to convince Black Shadow to lay off on their grudge until the Grand Prix. It doesn't work.Captain Falcon: "Let's settle this at the Grand Prix. Not like this, it's the coward's way."Black Shadow: "'The coward's way'? You make it sound so noble."
- People seem to forget he has a gun. He used it in a comic that came with the first game, but that's it. He handles it in GX, but never pulls it out against anyone, not even in Smash Bros.
- Living Legend: Falcon is considered this both as a racer and as a bounty hunter.
- Mysterious Past: Falcon is an enigma. What little facts that games disclose about him might not even be true. It is believed that he was born in Port Town.Silver Neelson: "You're the famous Falcon?"
- Primary-Color Champion: Red, blue and yellow are all part of his heroic ensemble.
- Rage Against the Heavens: The Grand Finale of Story Mode in GX. He wins.
- The Rival: Captain Falcon is treated as a serious opponent by many racers. His rivals notably include Samurai Goroh, Blood Falcon, and Black Shadow.
- Series Mascot: The face of F-Zero.
- Shout-Out: If you think that Falcon looks suspiciously like Judge Dredd, you're not alone.
- Showy Invincible Hero: You will never beat him. And even if it looks like you've won, look again. Falcon himself sums it up quite nicely:Captain Falcon: Black Shadow! I'll show you, you'll never beat me!
- So Last Season: In GX, Falcon reveals that he's going to use the prize money to build the Neo Blue Falcon.
- The Stoic: Even his bombastic speeches in GX are delivered with as little emotion as possible, sometimes to Dramatic Deadpan levels.
- To Hell and Back: The penultimate level of GX's Story Mode has Falcon dueling Deathborn in a high-stakes race through the Underworld, a literal Fire and Brimstone Hell. Of course, Falcon wins.
- Virtuous Character Copy: As mentioned earlier, Captain Falcon, especially in the SNES manual◊, looks like a family-friendly Judge Dredd and is a honorable bounty hunter instead of a cop for a corrupt government.
# 05 - Samurai Goroh
"Pedal to the metal! Samurai Goroh stops for no one!"
Click here to see his F-Zero machine
"The Power of two RS-5060 Engines knows no equal!"Voiced by: Ryan Drees (F-Zero GX)
A Japanese-American samurai and criminal, Samurai Goroh is the main rival to Captain Falcon. The rivalry between Goroh and Falcon began a long time ago, and is the reason he became a F-Zero racer and, probably, a bounty hunter as well. He now leads a group of interstellar bandits whose main headquarters is located in Red Canyon. His illegal activities have made him a target of many; of note Antonio Guster, his old right-hand man that he let get arrested by the Galactic Space Allies.
His Machine is the Fire Stingray (although rumors say that he stole it), rated A-D-B and weighing in at a hefty 1,960 kg (approx. 4,320 lbs.), it was created by Toramon Echigoya and uses two RS-5060 engines, aka "The Pride of the Universe." The driving style is more focused on speed and stability, however this leads it to have cruddy acceleration.
- Acrofatic: Pudgy, yet he's able to perform multiple backflips in a row.
- The Alcoholic: Loves to drink to his successes... however few they are.
- Always Someone Better: Goroh wants to become a well-known bounty hunter, but Captain Falcon usually beats him to the newest and most valuable bounties.
- Animal Motifs: A stingray. A broad, ambushing animal armed with a sharp weapon.
- Anti-Role Model: For his son.
- Badass Crew: The leader of an intergalactic gang of bandits stationed in Red Canyon.
- Bilingual Bonus: The kanji on his shirt, 激 (pronounced "geki"), has a few similar meanings, "violent, furious, intense, extreme".
- Boisterous Bruiser: You can see he's very enthusiastic when it comes to racing, especially if Falcon becomes involved.
- Bounty Hunter: Of course, when your competition is Captain Falcon... Connect the dots.
- But Not Too Foreign: He's American of Japanese descent.
- Butt-Monkey: GX is rather cruel to him.
- To put this one into perspective, he's caught in the explosion of his Fire Stingray after losing to Falcon. At the GP, he receives almost as many "boo"s from the crowd as Black Shadow. Most of the racers hate his guts (especially Antonio Guster). Yet, things seem to be looking up for Goroh. He has a son (which means that he was somehow lucky enough to score or even have a wife) who idolizes him, and Princia, of all people, has taken a fancy to him.
- His Butt-Monkey status even followed him into Super Smash Bros. Melee, where the opening cinematic shows Falcon bashing the Fire Stingray off of the Mute City course into the ground below. Goroh is seen with a shocked look on his face as his vehicle explodes.
- To put this one into perspective, he's caught in the explosion of his Fire Stingray after losing to Falcon. At the GP, he receives almost as many "boo"s from the crowd as Black Shadow. Most of the racers hate his guts
- Card-Carrying Villain: Downplayed. While he's not evil, he's damn proud of being the leader of a gang of bandits.Mr. Zero: "Are you really the boss of a gang of thieves?"
Samurai Goroh: "Yes, I am! And I've stolen this victory!" (laughs) - Cool Car: "I can't lose in my Fire Stingray!" It doesn't hurt that, in the first F-Zero game, the Fire Stingray is just plain better than Blue Falcon in terms of performance.
- Cool Helmet: His iconic Rising Sun helmet.
- Cool Shades: They're round, making him look somewhat like Ozzy Osbourne when seen without his helmet.
- Everything's Better with Samurai: Racing Samurai.
- Fat Idiot: Not quite in the games, but he shows a few signs here and there.
- Friendly Pirate: In the Falcon Densetsu/GP Legend continuity, Goroh lives by a code of honour, namely, he does not kill the people he robs. He also becomes something of a mentor to protagonist Ryu/Rick.
- The Gambling Addict: He talks about spending prize money on casinos, thinking he's lucky enough to win and make more (he isn't).
- Katanas Are Just Better: He's a samurai, so it's kind of a no-brainer.
- Lightning Bruiser: While it was really slow to start in the original installment, later games nerfed the Fire Stingray's boost so that it is more of a tool to get to this vehicle's normal top speed. Its slow turn speed in the original game which ties into this trope is more than offset by its maximum traction in the same game, making its handling the best of all of the playable vehicles.
- Mighty Glacier: In the original game, Fire Stingray is the "slow to start, hard to stop" variant: its weak acceleration makes it hard to gain its max speed, but it reaches it, Samurai Goroh becomes nearly impossible to stop.
- Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: He fits both as a Pirate and Samurai.
- No Honor Among Thieves: Antonio learned this the hard way when Goroh sold him out.
- Patriotic Fervor: In GX, when he signs an autograph, he leaves an imprint of his hand, just like any professional sumo wrestler would.
- Real Men Wear Pink: The Fire Stingray is famously pink with a Hot Paint Job.
- The Rival: To Antonio Guster, his former right-hand man. With Falcon, on the other hand...
- Stout Strength: Anyone mind explaining how he's simultaneously ripped and obese? Though he's depicted as blatantly overweight in the first game, he would slowly shift into being muscular with a large frame by GX, as his abs would become sharply defined.
- Sunglasses at Night: It's extremely rare to see Goroh without his sunglasses.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Not completely, but his ego definitely overshadows his actual ability.Samurai Goroh (on the key to his victory): "Being so handsome!" (laughs)
Samurai Goroh: "Goroh is the greatest man in racing. In fact, the whole galaxy!" - Unknown Rival: He wants to be considered a serious rival by Falcon, but the Captain considers him more as a nuisance than a serious threat.
- Wake-Up Call Boss: In GX's Chapter 2, the race against him consists of a treacherous course while Goroh himself is souped up with one of the worst cases of Rubber-Band A.I. possible, making it nearly impossible to win without intentionally lagging behind him until you can boost ahead during the very last stretch of the race.
- Wearing a Flag on Your Head: The Rising Sun flag, no less. The design is a bit stylized, though. His appearance in Ultimate as an Assist Trophy and Spirit changes the design to the kanji for "Samurai", as the rising sun is considered offensive in the rest of Asia due to its association with World War II Japanese imperialism.
- We Can Rule Together: Mr. Zero informs him that more and more people want to join his gang, and he doesn't hesitate to encourage them.Samurai Goroh: '"Come with me if you dare! WE'LL RULE THE UNIVERSE!"
# 03 - Dr. Stewart
"Who wants guaranteed success? All I'm interested in right now is the thrill of F-Zero!"
Click here to see his F-Zero machine
"The Golden Fox — just as my late father designed it."Voiced by: Jack Merluzzi (F-Zero GX)
Dr. Robert Stewart is a licensed medical doctor who took up racing on the F-Zero circuit after the mysterious death of his father, Kevin Stewart, a university professor and F-Zero pilot in his own right. When the Great Accident occurred, he was brought in to perform surgery on all those injured in the crash. And despite some very gruesome and horrible injuries, every operation was a success and Dr. Stewart didn't lose a single patient.
His machine is the Golden Fox, ranked D-A-D, weighing 1,420kgs (approx. 3,130 lbs.; originally 1,020, or approx. 2,250 lbs.) and was passed down to him by his father. Its lightweight construction and weak grip makes it ideal for drifting through corners, even if its high speed and top-notch boost make it a touch difficult to control.
- Age Lift: 31 in the original F-Zero. 41 in X.
- Animal Motifs: A fox. GX went the extra step to redesign his hair to resemble fox ears as well. He also keeps his Eyes Always Shut, like the typical depiction of a kitsune (see Meaningful Name below).
- Badass Normal: Of the original four playable characters, he's the only one without any sort of combat aptitude. Falcon is a bounty hunter, Goroh is a bandit swordsman and Pico is an ex-military assassin; meanwhile, he's just a surgeon.
- Brought to You by the Letter "S": By the book. There is a literal "S" on his jumpsuit.
- Chekhov's Skill: Even if he's largely retired from medicine in favor of racing, he's still kept his skills sharp. He joined in treating many of the people injured in the Great Accident, and didn't lose a single patient.
- Combat Medic: He's a licensed doctor with fabled surgical skills, best seen during the Horrific Grand Finale, where his medical expertise prevented all of his patients from dying. He's also one of the more seasoned racers, with over ten years of experience under his belt.
- The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: In the original game, no matter what tricks you would make to get as far as possible from it, the Golden Fox would always be just behind you, ready to steal your first place.
- Crippling Overspecialization: Professor Kevin Stewart emphasized acceleration and turn speed over everything else when designing the Golden Fox. In the original game, this meant the Golden Fox had the weakest body, lowest top speed, and the worst traction. It's better in later games, but piloting the Golden Fox still requires a light hand.
- Disappeared Dad: His father, Kevin Stewart, died during one of the F-Zero races, possibly due to murder. Robert highly respects his father and races in memory of him.
- Eyes Always Shut: From X onwards.
- Fragile Speedster: The Golden Fox is the original "quick to start, hard to catch up" version of this trope in the original game and in F-Zero X (however, it is easier to catch up in the latter). It retains its good acceleration and excellent boost, but it's still fragile and difficult to handle.
- Grave-Marking Scene: It would seem that he does this on a regular basis.
- Handsome Lech:
- Oddly enough, the comic included with the instruction manual for the first game painted him in this light."I shall win to honor beautiful women everywhere!"
- His Pilot Video seems to parody this.
- Oddly enough, the comic included with the instruction manual for the first game painted him in this light.
- Idiot Crows: One shows up at the end of his GX Pilot Video, right after he falls off his... special effects?
- Insufferable Genius: He's one of the more skilled and experienced racers, and he knows it. He'll brag about his skills if he wins, but it's downplayed in that he doesn't constantly rub people's noses in it.
- Jack of All Stats: The Golden Fox in GX, bordering on Master of None if its boost wasn't above-average. Previous games had him as more of a Fragile Speedster.
- Keep the Reward: He turns down the prize money in GX whenever he wins a cup, claiming to race solely for honor. Justified as he's already rich due to being a doctor.
- Meaningful Name: An example that got Lost in Translation. In Japan, characters whose eyes are always closed are referred to as having "Kitsune no Me" ("fox's eyes" in English). The name of Stewart's vehicle? The Golden Fox.
- Primary-Color Champion: Of the other original three racers, he's the closest to Captain Falcon in terms of morality. This is shown by his golden jumpsuit with red and blue highlights.
- Professor Guinea Pig: If Mr. Zero asks him why he became a racer in his GX interview, he'll say it was to test his father's theories. It's implied that Professor Kevin Stewart created and raced the Golden Fox to see if his theories about physics and racing were true, and that Dr. Stewart took up the cause after his father's passing.
- Rich Boredom: Implied. Dr. Stewart, despite being quite wealthy thanks to his medical profession, doesn't seem to be as dedicated to it as he is to his racing performances. Some of his GX interviews all but suggest that Stewart doesn't professionally practice medicine anymore, and he even outright refuses the prize money at one point, stating that he's racing for honor and thrills.
- Roadside Surgery: This may have happened during the Great Accident, going by the few details we have about it. All victims were lucky to have a rival who happened to be a skilled surgeon.
- Scarf of Asskicking: It's unknown as to who the scarf is meant to symbolize, but it might be Gomar & Shioh, given their comments.
- Smug Super: The original game manual played up his being part of the wealthy elite, as well as his bragging about how he's a master racer, while Captain Falcon should stick to making his money with his gun. Falcon simply smirks back and tells him to buckle his chinstrap. These traits aren't really prevalent in later games.
- Spiky Hair: From GX onwards, he was redesigned to have two hair spikes protruding from the back of his head. Before, his hair was fairly mundane.
- Take Up My Sword: A downplayed example, but he inherited the Golden Fox from his father and races it to prove his father's theories, presumably about racing and physics.
# 06 - Pico
Click here to see his F-Zero machine
"Next time, no one will make it home alive!"Voiced by: Paul Lucas (F-Zero GX)
An alien assassin resembling a humanoid turtle (the name of his species is still a mystery). Pico used to serve in the military, but now he uses his skills to accomplish hitjobs. His aggressive driving is believed to have caused the Great Accident during the Grand Prix, leading to many injured victims. Because of this, Pico became very unpopular, although that hasn't deterred him from racing, much less change his driving style.
His machine is the Wild Goose, ranked A-B-C, weighing 1,620 kg (approx. 3,570 lbs.) and equipped with three ES-8302 engines. It is a modified military vehicle that was awarded to Pico upon his retirement from the army. It is one of the most durable ships, with a good top speed and high grip, but low acceleration and turn speed.
- Age Lift: He goes from 34 in the original F-Zero to a whopping 123 in X.
- Alien Blood: Implied in the original game's comic:Pico: "I hate losing to any driver whose blood is red!"
- Animal Motifs: A turtle, although his machine is themed after a goose (which are known to be aggressive, like Pico is).
- Blade Enthusiast: He collects 'em.Pico: "And they all cut veeeeeery well."
- Blood Knight: Literally! Joining the F-Zero races quenches his thirst for blood.
- His theme in GX is probably the closest one could get to capturing such malevolence in audio form.
- His homeworld's theme, Death Wind, in the original was no slouch either. With wind (or heavy breathing) buzzing by as the percussion goes mad, it's clear that anybody living there would be crazy enough to be a killer.
- His theme
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: Pico definitely adheres to his own alien honor code, but he doesn't seem to be evil, just hard to understand. Extremely hard to understand. Also, his Pilot Video in GX has Pico opening fire on targets; you'll notice that he avoids the civilians and snipes a cutout shaped like Black Shadow, which is interesting in the very least.
- Creepy High-Pitched Voice: Paul Lucas' impression in GX makes him sound hilarious and menacing at the same time.
- Early Installment Character-Design Difference: This◊ is Pico circa F-Zero. This is Pico circa F-Zero GX. For those who can't see the images, Pico in the original F-Zero looked like a generic reptilian alien wearing vaguely human clothing. By F-Zero GX, Pico has bulked up in muscle considerably, wears more exotic clothing and looks closer to a humanoid turtle. He was also said to be in his 30s in the original game whereas current Pico is around a hundred years older than that.
- Good Is Not Nice: His GX pilot cinematic shows that he's anything but evil, but remains an intimidating and violent psychopath, so much that he's the only character who isn't an outright villain that terrifies Mr. Zero.
- Green and Mean: He's all green, and while not necessarily a villain, he's definitely not a nice guy.
- Hitman with a Heart: His F-Zero GX Pilot Video has him at a target practice, labeling shades as targets and businessmen as civilians, which he deliberately skips over. However, he aims just above a civilian's head, only to hit Black Shadow's head directly on the back of the same cutout. Perhaps Pico was practicing a hostage situation?
- Humanoid Aliens: Pico in the original F-Zero looked very human, save for his alien head and claw like fingers. By F-Zero GX, Pico's appearance looked more turtle like (due to him having gained more muscle and his armor having a shell-like look on his back), but still retained a humanoid body.
- Master of All: The Wild Goose has maximum armor, high top speed, good grip, mediocre acceleration, and mediocre turn speed in the original game. The good grip more than offsets its mediocre turn speed, making this vehicle's handling good.
- Mighty Glacier: As a classic example of this trope, the Wild Goose is always a tough machine to deal with. While it actually can be fast, it usually has to deal with weak boosting and accelerating (especially in GX)
- Primal Stance: In the Machine Setting screen from GX/AX. His arms sway lifelessly as he cocks his head back and forth before either wiping his mouth with his gloves or randomly pouncing at nothing.
- Professional Killer: Pico takes pride in his work as a hitman and isn't afraid to ask people to hire him if they need someone silenced. While Pico has likely been paid to kill people before, his occasional blood lust may also have contributed to his hitman life. There's no "likely" about his being a hired killer in GX-if Mr. Zero asks Pico about being a hired killer in their interview, he openly admits that he is.
- Psycho for Hire: He's Trigger-Happy at the very least, but the psychotic part may be a bit of a stretch. Maybe.
- Retired Badass: A former mercenary for the Poripoto Army's Special Fighting Unit, Pico no longer in the military, but continues to do a few hits on the side.
- Throat-Slitting Gesture: Does this as one of his idle animations in his GX bio page, a la Chris Benoit.
- Token Non-Human: The only non-human pilot of the original game.
- Underwear of Power: He wears a red pair in GX.
- We Are as Mayflies: He's 124 in human years. Likely a reference to several varieties of tortoises outliving even humans.
- Would Not Shoot a Civilian: Despite being a certified psycho with combative tendencies, his GX cinematic shows him training, and he specifically does not shoot the "civilian" targets.
Mr. Zero
Voiced by: Jim Wornell (F-Zero X), Jack Merluzzi (F-Zero GX)
The announcer for the F-Zero Grand Prix.- Announcer Chatter: In GX. F-Zero X is a bit more ambiguous about it since the voice that comments on the race is different from Mr. Zero's, who gives the starting countdown.
- Bring My Brown Pants: The poor guy is scared witless if he has the misfortune of interviewing some of the more intimidating racers (Specifically: Pico, Zoda, Blood Falcon, Black Shadow, and Deathborn).
- Butt-Monkey: It's both funny and saddening to see this guy have to put up with evil and/or jerkass racers.
- Cool Helmet: He wears this funky headpiece with goggle-like extensions that covers his eyes and half of his forehead.
- Cowardly Lion: While he's scared of some of the competitors he has to interview, the fans give Mr. Zero his due, as it takes guts to even be in the same room with guys like that.
- Black Shadow compliments Mr. Zero on having the courage to ask him for his autograph or requesting that he unmask, going as far as to inquire, "You want to come work for me?", for the former, or that it's brave of him to even ask the latter.
- Dialogue Tree: You have the choice of what he says to his interviewee, and the options available are based on your difficulty level. On lower difficulties, he'll offer mere congratulations, praise of the driver's vehicle, or ask why they became a racer. A level up, and Mr. Zero will ask for an autograph or for some words for the driver's rivals or fans. At the hardest difficulty, he'll finally ask questions actually tailored to each specific racer.
- The Generic Guy: He exists to flesh out every other character. He's most likely the Unfazed Everyman of the cast.
- Large-Ham Announcer: His in-game callouts always sound very enthusiastic, regardless of who's voicing him:"YOU GOT BOOST POWER!"
"Pour it on! You're way out in front!"
"YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!"
"YEAHHHH, THE FINAL LAP!"
"TOO BAD! You LOST your MACHINE!"
"FINISH! ALL RIGHT, FIRST PLACE!!"
"FINISH! WAY TO GO, IT'S A NEW RECORD!" - My Hero, Zero: Averted. He's an average Joe, nothing more.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: That tuxedo is pretty stylish. He even changes the color of it for each difficulty level!
- Signing-Off Catchphrase:
- In normal circumstances, he says:"That's it, everyone! We'll see you at the next Grand Prix."
- He does change it up when he's stuck with baddies, as he wants to hightail it out of there as soon as possible:"Unfortunately, it's time to say good-bye on F-Zero TV. Good-bye, everyone, and keep on racing!"
- In normal circumstances, he says:
- Starfish Language: If he asks for the racer's autograph, he'll make it available to a lucky winner who mails the F-Zero TV address, which is shown as a bunch of gibberish symbols.
Bumpers
Generic F-Zero machines driven by a wide variety of different Red Shirts. Gameplay-wise, Bumpers exist mainly to get in the player's way and were mostly phased out after the first game, though they returned in F-Zero: Maximum Velocity and F-Zero 99.
- Action Bomb: Often there is a variant of bumpers that serve this.
- In the first game, there are flashing bumpers — lore wise meant to represent racers that are badly damaged —, that'll explode whenever the player's machine touches them.
- In 99, Red Bumpers are explicitly there just to blow people up, but now the player can actually knock other machines into them.
- Ascended Extra: Bumpers are very central to the gameplay of F-Zero 99 and even have several new variants.
- Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: Sometimes mixed with Palette Swap, as the palette of each Bumper tells the player its purpose within the game.
- F-Zero (1990), BS F-Zero Grand Prix, and BS F-Zero Grand Prix 2:
- Orange bumpers represent backmarkers.
- Flashing pink and yellow bumpers are heavily-damaged backmarkers that will explode upon taking one bump from the player vehicle.
- All other colors represent racers who started off behind 4th place and are serious competitors who have great stats, and can outrank you. Fall far enough behind that you see these racers, and you will know that coming back from behind will become more difficult since these machines will sometimes outrank the other 3 main machines.
- F-Zero: Maximum Velocity:
- Blue and yellow bumpers are serious racers that started out between 11th and 19th place.
- Yellow bumpers are backmarkers.
- Green bumpers are either serious racers that started at 20th place or behind, or are heavily-damaged backmarkers that have entered the power down state. Fast ones are serious racers that should never exist under the rules that the player races under since falling to 20th place gets the player instantly ranked out, and slow ones represent heavily-damaged backmarkers. Fast ones tend to appear on disaster-prone tracks that cause many of the computer players to crash out by falling off the track such as Tenth Zone East: Plummet Circuit. However, the backmarker versions of these green bumpers do not immediately blow up when bumped into.
- F-Zero 99:
- Gray bumpers get in the way, but can be killed to extend your Life Meter and give you a small top-up of Hit Points.
- Red bumpers are action bombs that blow up if any player vehicle touches them. Killing them nets you nothing but damage that could cause you to crash out.
- Golden bumpers are large, Helpful Mooks that drop Super Sparks as they travel along, and release a considerable cache of them if you hit them.
- F-Zero (1990), BS F-Zero Grand Prix, and BS F-Zero Grand Prix 2:
- Helpful Mook: Unlike the other bumpers, golden bumpers help out players in the middle of the pack by dropping Super Sparks as they travel with the pack, and drop a bunch more when hit.
- The Law of Conservation of Detail: In the original game, the BS F-Zero games, and Maximum Velocity, they represent opponents other than the playable ones, but they have generic designs and their pilots' identities are not stated, so as to give more emphasis to the main characters.
- Promoted to Playable: Downplayed in 99, where a player that lost their machine, can temporarily control a "Lucky Bumper" to attack other players, preferably via exploding.
- Mook Mobile: An odd racing game version of this, most bumpers have no chance of actual placing first or even second, but exist solely to annoy the player by getting in their way, bumping into them, or even damaging the player's machine by exploding. The drivers of these machines are also shown to a wide variety of nameless people in contrast to all the other machines which are driven by important characters.
- Nominal Importance: None of their drivers have any sort of name and aren't even introduced by Mr. Zero in the promotional comic unlike the four main characters.
