NOTICE: This is a Recap page, so all spoilers will be left unmarked, per wiki policy. Read ahead only with caution! You Have Been Warned.
Boomstick: Probably some brain-sucking aliens who need an introduction to my fist!
Wiz: But what if the final frontier was a little more... furry?
Boomstick: Fox McCloud, captain of the Star Fox commandos.
Wiz: And Bucky O'Hare, captain of a galactic-wide rebellion.
Wizard and Boomstick kick the episode off by studying the history behind Fox McCloud, heir to the legendary Star Fox mercenary unit, founded by his father James. While Fox was training in the flight academy in Corneria, James McCloud led his team in missions across the Lylat System. Aided by partners Pigma Dengar and Peppy Hare, the Star Fox team was dispatched by Corneria to investigate rumors of an uprising led by Andross, the tyrant ruler of planet Venom. Tragedy struck when Pigma, who was secretly an accomplice of Andross, betrayed and killed James. When word got out of the covert mission, Fox dropped out of the academy and took matters into his own hands. Peppy, who survived Pigma's ambush, became a mentor to Fox and, alongside Fox's fellow drop-outs Falco Lombardi and Slippy Toad, trained the group into becoming a new generation of Star Fox mercenaries.
The crown jewel of the Star Fox unit, both past and present, is a lithe spacecraft they have become renowned for piloting, the Arwing. A single-seating starfighter, each Arwing possesses dual lasers and a capacity for roughly ten smart bombs, explosives that can destroy entire fleets of ships each. In addition, its size and acceleration allow it to deflect projectiles via an aileron roll (and not a barrel roll as the game labels it), though such speed comes at the cost of higher g-forces that push blood away from the pilots' brains to their lower extremities, potentially causing them to black out in mid-flight; to counteract this, the Star Fox team amputated their legs, replacing them with cybernetic prosthetics. When on the ground, Fox has an arsenal akin to his aerial vehicle, namely a blaster pistol that can both rapid-fire and charge plasma shots, a pair of g-diffusors much like those on his Arwing that allow him to reflect projectile attacks (at the cost of leaving him immobile) and serve as a jetpack, both of which play a role in allowing him to perform his signature techniques of the Fox Illusion and Fire.
However, the tools he has at his disposal on both land and space can only make up for his shortcomings so much. Less of a stragetist than his wingmen, Fox's physical attributes are decidedly average, neither excelling nor lacking in any field. Again, he relies heavily on his teammates for a plan of attack, given his own tend to backfire horribly. His flaws, however, do little to hinder him. Fox has used his strong will and brave nature to stop entire alien invasions, end wars, fight a planet of dinosaurs, and avenging his father, defeat Andross twice, almost always by himself. The son of one of the greatest pilots in the galaxy, Fox has become a legend in his own right, bringing grand victories to the Star Fox team's name, and indeed proving that you don't fuck around with him.
With Fox McCloud having undergone study, Wizard and Boomstick move on to the second of the space animals, Bucky O'Hare, introducing him with quite the opening theme
. Everything slowly starts to simmer down afterwards as the hosts describe Bucky's training in the Genus academy under the tutelage of Damaron Jabok. Aided by his other graduates, Bucky protects his home galaxy from the Toad Empire.
The ship of choice for Bucky and his associates is the Righteous Indignation, a frigate with twin-mounted laser cannons and a speed drive that allows it to reach sub-light speeds. Much like McCloud, Bucky has a laser pistol of his own, which fires projectiles hot enough to cut through metal, and also has a set of grenades on him at all times which generate large blast radii. To round out his arsenal, Bucky carries a jetpack that propels him to speeds of up to mach 5.
His small set of tools, though useful, cannot cover certain shortcomings. His lack of reliable defenses turns him into something of a glass cannon, as does his overreliance on his squadmates to help him lead his fight against the toads. Still, it should not be overlooked that he has managed to gather an assortment of heroes ready to fight against the Toad Empire, and, combined with his genius intellect and acrobatic feats, managed to overthrow Komplex, the ruler of the toads, twice. He may not be as known as Fox, but Bucky is just as deserving of the admiration he receives for his heroics.
With the combatants having been studied and analyzed, there's no point in delaying any longer (at least beyond another Lumosity advertisement on the YouTube version). It's time for a death battle!
The stars in the sky set the stage for the opening in this death battle; the Star Fox team patrols a piece of space as their signature theme plays. At the head of the team is none other than the legendary soldier of fortune himself, Fox McCloud. On his sides are fellow wingmates Falco Lombardi and Peppy Hare; at the back of the pack, Slippy Toad. As the team perform a status update, Falco's insistence that Slippy keep up with the gang becomes a dangerous omen as the Righetous Indignation appears behind the Arwings. Bucky sees Slippy, and mistaking him for one of Komplex's henchmen, readies the spaceship's cannons. The maser cannons blast the toad mechanic's Arwing without mercy until the ship is blown to oblivion. Bucky prides himself on a job well done, until a Smart Bomb floats towards the Righetous Indignation, trapping it in its explosion. Falco confirms the Indignation's destruction, before Fox takes the Arwing to follow the crashing spaceship to a random ass planet, ready to finish what he started. "Good luck" indeed, ROB...
Bucky, the lone survivor of Fox's attack, leaps down onto the planet's surface, while the Arwing follows suit. The Star Fox captain jumps out of his spacecraft, and, bent on exacting revenge for the loss of Slippy, daunts Bucky with a simple cry of "come on!"
FIGHT!
The first move in the fight goes to Fox, rushing towards the Aniverse defender, whose leap back fares him no good once he finds himself caught off-guard by a Fox Illusion and trapped in a volley of kicks. As Fox vaults in front of Bucky, the hare turns the tables around, knocking Fox across the planet with kicks of his own before throwing a punch that tosses the mercenary into a pile of rocks. Bucky fires off a shot with his laser pistol, assuming the end has come, but Fox puts up a reflector, the blast barely missing Bucky. Bucky leaps behind a nearby boulder, Fox's own blaster shots not even scratching the stone. He changes strategies, charging a shot, but also giving Bucky a frame of opportunity to check on Fox's actions. Bucky vaults away from the rock using his jetpack just moments before the blaster shatters it. Now safely out of the range of Fox's blaster in the air, Bucky drops in on Fox, stomping him into the ground. Attempt after attempt of the Fire Fox is cut short by Bucky continuing to jump onto Fox until an attempt to stomp him further is stopped by Fox wreathing himself in flames and lunging at the hare.
It becomes clear the two foes are evenly matched, the distance Fox gained between himself and Bucky being enough to start up a g-diffuser. Another charged shot fails to defeat the hare. A third fares little better, the only benefit being destorying what little remains of the Righetous Indignation. The fight soon takes to the air afterwards, both Fox and Bucky with jetpacks online, trading blaster shots as they dart above the ground. Bucky tosses a grenade at Fox, but a use of the reflector sends the explosive right back at Bucky, who seems no worse for wear. He is, however, quite stunned after the blast, an opening Fox takes. Rushing towards Bucky, Fox launches another onslaught of rapid-fire punches and kicks, only to be stopped when Bucky can evade a Fox Illusion and take ahold of the mercenary. Fox tries to shake Bucky off with more Illusions, but to no avail, not even sharp changes of direction with the jetpack can deter him; it is only when the rebel is momentarily stunned by the reflector that he releases Fox. With laser pistol shots well-aimed, Bucky manages to destroy Fox's jetpack, leaving him stranded on the ground.
A climax soon mounts, Bucky's offenses soon rendered inert thanks to Fox activating the reflector again. With a grenade tossed in for good measure, Bucky continues to fire the laser pistol. The mercenary spots the grenade, and tosses his reflector upwards before using a Fox Illusion to evade the blast, but was only moments to late in seeing the grenade, as part of him is caught in the blast.
Fox stumbles across the ground, but soon recovers and sees only his prosthetic legs were lost in the explosion. He takes out his other g-diffuser and readies it, before putting it on and rushing towards Bucky at breakneck speeds. With a swift hook, Fox manages to dislodge and destroy both jetpacks as they hurtle towards the ground. Fox grips Bucky's neck and slowly starts throttling the hare, Bucky gagging and gasping for air. With a twirl, Fox brings out the blaster, which starts glowing blue. A charged shot with a final shout from Fox is all it takes to splatter Bucky's brains across the ground, his head a shattered mess. With the hare defeated, the fox gives a final grunt and falls on his back, calling the rest of his team for assistance in getting him off the random ass planet.
K.O.!
Back in space with the rest of the Star Fox team, Fox is atop his Arwing alongside Slippy's corpse. He rips the cybernetic legs off his fallen friend and attaches them to himself before leaping into the Arwing and soaring off. Meanwhile, Blinky, an android who survived the destruction of the Righetous Indignation, studies Bucky's corpse and can only express calamity and woe at the fate of the rebel leader. A short-lived moment of recognition squandered, the destiny of Bucky and Fox is no different than that of other hares and foxes. For reasons that go beyond the food chain, Wiz clarifies on Fox's victory, specifying that the Arwings outclass the Righetous Indignation in agility, defenses, and weaponry. With their spacecraft a matter explained, their personal skills are then re-analyzed and compared. Fox's blaster could be avoided by Bucky's acrobatics, while Bucky's laser pistol could be countered with Fox's reflector. Fox knows no fear, Bucky is more clever. Fox is superior on the ground, Bucky is superior in the air. With the scores tied, it all comes down to experience. Fox, having a total of four conflicts to his name, has been in more wars than Bucky, and ended all of them by himself. In addition, Fox has further experience in solo field work, having saved an entire planet from destruction, fighting off the planet's native wildlife of dinosaurs while doing so. In comparison, Bucky always had his teammates by his side on field missions. Both sides would be worthy to be crowned, but the simple matter of experience was something that cost Bucky the victory.
Wiz: The winner is Fox McCloud!
Fox McCloud vs. Bucky O'Hare contains examples of:
- An Arm and a Leg: Fox loses his prosthetic legs near the end of the fight, but it's not enough to slow him down.
- Bittersweet Ending: Fox kills Bucky and destroys the Righteous Indignation but Slippy has died, depriving the Star Fox team of a valuable member.
- Boom, Headshot!: The fight ends with Fox blowing Bucky's brains out.
- Fantastic Racism: Bucky mistakes Slippy as part of the Toad Empire and shoots him down, instigating the Death Battle between him and Fox.
- Leitmotif: Fox's rundown uses the Adventures version of the series theme, the Corneria stage theme from the original game, and the Assault arrangement of Star Wolf's theme.
- Irony: Bucky's ship is called the Righteous Indignation, exactly the kind of emotion he instills on Fox after killing Slippy.
- Mythology Gag: The title card shown before Fox and Bucky touch down on the planet is white text on a black screen as ROB 64 says "Good luck!", much like in Star Fox 64.
- Oh, Crap!: In the fight, Bucky's reaction to seeing Fox charge at him with a spare jetpack, punctuated with the Metal Gear Solid alert sound.
- Robbing the Dead: Despite mourning for Slippy, Fox decides to take the late toad's prosthetic legs to replace the pair he lost.
- Talk to the Fist: The opening narration has Boomstick summarize his plan for meeting aggressive aliens thusly.
- Taught by Experience: The deciding factor in the fight, which tilts the battle in Fox's favor.
- White-and-Grey Morality: The Star Fox team is just minding their own business until the Righteous Indignation barges in and kills Slippy. Fox is not happy his friend got killed over a misunderstanding and immediately goes on the warpath.
