It is now 2201. Radical advances in transportation technology have transformed the world. Interplanetary travel has put mankind in touch with new planets, new lifeforms, new dangers. And a thrilling new sport grips the galaxy, fueled by fans across the universe, and driven by the need for speed!
In the year 2051, Rick Wheeler, New York City police detective and two-time winner of the Big Apple Grand Prix, was about to propose to his girlfriend, Haruka Misaki, when he was informed that Zoda, a criminal, had escaped from prison. Rick joins up with police forces pursuing Zoda, who was driving a brown sedan, and chases the criminal into a narrow alley. As Zoda exits the alleyway and rounds a corner, he shoots out one of the sedan's doors, causing it to fly straight into Rick's pursuing cruiser. With no way to dodge it, Rick's last thought was of his girlfriend as the door smashes into his face...
150 years later, Mobile Task Force members Jody Summer and Dr. Stewart proceed to rebuild Rick's badly damaged body and revive him from coldsleep. As Rick awakens, he learns that, in the 150 years that he spent as a Human Popsicle, technology has advanced tremendously, and New York City is now known as Mute City. At the same time, humanity has made contact with alien species across the galaxy and become part of the wider galactic community. However, even in this new age, criminals exist—Dark Million, an organisation run by Black Shadow, plans to take over the galaxy, and it is primarily funded using the prize money awarded to the winner of F-Zero races, a high-speed motorsport that takes place in multiple locations across the galaxy. One of Dark Million's key players is Zoda himself, who had been recaptured and put into permanent coldsleep following the incident in 2051, but was busted out from prison and revived by Dark Million in the present-day, and enhanced with cybernetic implants. Taking control of the Dragon Bird, Rick joins the Mobile Task Force on their mission to thwart Dark Million's schemes by participating in and winning F-Zero races, beating them at their own game.
F-Zero: GP Legendnote is a 2003 anime based on the F-Zero series of games, but set in an Alternate Continuity. In the U.S., it aired as part of 4Kids Entertainment's "Fox Box" slate of Saturday Morning Cartoons, but was cancelled after only 15 of the 51 episodes were aired.
This anime provides examples of the following:
- Action Girl: Aside from Jody Summer, Canon Foreigner Lisa Brilliant shows her mettle as the wife of Samurai Goroh in this anime.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: In Legend of Falcon, many characters have their hair colors as slightly lighter shades. The most noticeable change comes from Captain Falcon, whose hair is now brown instead of black.
- Adaptation Explanation Extrication: Because the "Big Accident" is not present in the anime, how Black Shadow managed to create Blood Falcon goes unexplained.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Two examples from the anime:
- In the games, Zoda is the Arch-Enemy of the Arrows. In the anime, He is Rick's Arch-Enemy instead. Also, Zoda is one of Black Shadow's Co-Dragons in the anime, while in the game they're individual villains.
- Captain Falcon and Samurai Goroh are rivals in the games, even if it's one-sided on Goroh's part. The rivalry is omitted in the anime.
- John Tanaka was a Dogged Nice Guy in the games, but in the anime he has no attraction whatsoever to Jody Summer and their relationship is purely professional. He does, however, have a crush on Kate Allen.
- Adaptational Villainy: The anime notoriously did this to half the cast. In order of severity:
- Antonio Guster, Michael Chain, and Zoda, while already being bad guys, were made far nastier than they are in the games. Antonio was a sympathetic Anti-Villain, while the other two were all-bark-and-no-bite losers.
- Jack Levin, despite being one of the show's heroes, was a former member of the Bloody Chain.
- While they never went full-on evil, Mighty Gazelle, James McCloud, and Draq all worked for Black Shadow at some point, with James also getting a decent dose of Adaptational Jerkass.
- Pico, Billy, and Beastman were originally well meaning but morally questionable characters who had their negative qualities exaggerated.
- Bio Rex and The Skull were obviously made into villains just because they looked scary.
- Baba, Gomar, and Shioh had no qualities that could be construed as sinister or villainous at all. They were apparently made villainous just because.
- Octoman and Leon make the least sense: they're made into petty crooks despite not only being explicitly good-guys ingame, but also probably the nicest and friendliest members of the cast. Leon admittedly doesn't get it as bad, but it's compounded by the fact that he has nothing in common with the game's Leon.
- Adapted Out: All the machines and pilots from F-Zero GX/AX (except Deathborn and Don Genie) and Maximum Velocity are ommited in the anime.
- Alternative Foreign Theme Song: The English version of the anime used an instrumental for its opening,
as opposed to Hiro-x's "The Meaning of Truth" in the original Japanese version. - Ambiguously Gay: Jack. He is either that, or Camp Straight.
- Announcer Chatter: Mr. Zero himself (or his animated equivalent) seems to indulge in this himself throughout the anime. He's much more subdued in the games.
- Arch-Enemy: Aside from the obvious one between Captain Falcon and Black Shadow, there's Rick and Zoda in the anime.
- Ascended Extra: While GX did this with racers that had debuted in X, the anime provides more focus on and goes even deeper into the backstory of some characters, Jody, Jack, and Zoda in particular.
- Ascended Fanboy: Lucy Liberty is a female version of this trope, with her official bio stating that she's a huge fan of the sport.
- Ascended Meme: The Falcon Punch, which originated in Super Smash Bros., is used by Captain Falcon in the Grand Finale of the anime.
- Badass Driver: Since this is based on F-Zero, pretty much everyone
- Badass Long Robe: Berserker, The Dragon to Don Genie in the anime. He's really Captain Falcon in disguise, infiltrating Dark Million.
- Balance Between Good and Evil: Most notably in the anime, where Captain Falcon and Black Shadow are the current representations of good and evil, perpetually deadlocked. Falcon cannot turn the tides without the help of Rick, The Savior.
- Barbie Doll Anatomy: When Rick discovers that Jody is a Cyborg due to losing body parts in an explosion that presumably killed her older brother, she's shown in a stasis tube with a small amount of smoke and liquids surrounding her. Of course, it's still Bowdlerised in the dub.
- Battle Couple: Samurai Goroh and Lisa Brillian overlaps this trope with Outlaw Couple.
- Becoming the Mask: Falcon's "Bart Lemming" identity. Falcon may be a paragon of strength and courage, but as Bart he's gentle, soft-spoken, and even a bit of a goof.
- Big Brother Mentor: Bart Lemming, in regards to several characters, Rick being the most prominent. He's also Captain Falcon, teacher to Rick. Jack also takes up this role to Rick, in addition to being Vitriolic Best Buds with him.
- Bittersweet Ending: Downplayed. Captain Falcon dies, but it is a Heroic Sacrifice and he manages to destroy Black Shadow for good. He also finds the perfect successor in the form of Rick, who becomes engaged with Haruka.
- Bowdlerization: In the dub, Miss Killer is renamed as Luna Ryder. The latter
actually works to a degree, considering that she drives the Moon Shadow, but it's also a case of Never Say "Die". - Brain in a Jar: Look at Deathborn. Look at him! Also, Roy Hughes/Mighty Gazelle.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Haruka was turned into Luna Ryder and forced under Black Shadow's orders. She breaks free of his psychic probing, only to be carbonized like Han Solo. She gets over that, too.
- Breather Episode: Lap 40, set in-between Blood Falcon's attempt at dissolving the team from the inside and a direct confrontation with all of Dark Million's heavy hitters, takes a moment to have the cast goof off.
- Canon Foreigner: The anime sub-series, Falcon Densetsu, has Rick Wheeler, Lucy Liberty, Luna Ryder, Lisa Brilliant and Clank Hughes.
- Canon Character All Along: The anime introduces two new characters called Bart Lemming and Roy Hughes. Both characters turn out to be resident F-Zero pilots Captain Falcon and Mighty Gazelle, respectively.
- The Cast Showoff: Ai Maeda was not only the seiyuu of Kate Alen in the anime, but also sung both of the series' ending themes, "Resolution" and "Forever." In-universe, Kate is a singer, so it's very fitting. This is not the first time it's happened for Maeda either.
- Interestingly, the anime also has Nana Mizuki as one of the main characters (Lucy), but for unknown reasons, she doesn't even have an image song.
- Characterization Marches On: In the games, there isn't much to go on from Captain Falcon except for his righteousness. Then, Super Smash Bros. turns the guy into a campy, over-the-top brawler with a Falcon Punch. Come F-Zero: Legend of Falcon, Captain Falcon is a fusion of both personalities (being a stoic hero as Captain Falcon, but something of a lovable and well-meaning goof as Bart Lemming) and even uses the Falcon Punch in the Grand Finale.
- Chekhov M.I.A.: In the anime, Andy Summer, Jody's supposedly dead older brother is actually Bart Lemming, the current Captain Falcon.
- Child Prodigy: The anime has Clank Hughes. He probably remained the same after the Time Skip, but we'll never know for sure.
- Co-Dragons: Zoda and Luna Ryder for Black Shadow.
- Cool Starship: Captain Falcon has one in the form of his Falcon Flyer (which, according to Super Smash Bros. Melee, is his primary form of transportation). It finally gets an on-screen appearance in the anime. Samurai Goroh and his crew also are in possession of one, and Goroh uses the ship's mammoth space katana attachment to hack away at the villains.
- Damsel in Distress: Pretty much every female suffers from this at some point or another, but they can all fend for themselves otherwise.
- Dating Catwoman: To a degree, this is the relationship between Rick and Luna Ryder. It jumps between this and Foe Romance Subtext (mainly, Luna's resolve to face-off with him during a race) at multiple points. This is then subverted as it turns out Luna is Haruka, his actual girlfriend.
- A Day in the Limelight: A few characters get this treatment in the anime. Even some of the villains.
- Deadly Delivery: Pico was hired to assassinate Tanka, so he tries delivering a bomb to the director.
- Diabolical Mastermind: Black Shadow plays this role in the anime. He occasionally gives off Evil Overlord vibes, too.
- Dirty Old Man: Silver Neelson in the anime, although he manages to repress it for most of the episode focusing on him. Bonus points: He was an attractive guy back in his (distant) prime.
- Distant Reaction Shot: The famous scene in the anime has the light from the explosion of Black Shadow's Dark Reactor able to be seen from outside the galaxy. As part of its memetic status, people like to say that it was Captain Falcon's Falcon Punch that created the all-encompassing destruction.
- Distressed Dude: Rick towards the end of the anime. Might actually be a Badass in Distress, as he and Captain Falcon continue to undermine Dark Million afterward and Rick even gets an awesome moment in the Grand Finale.
- Dogged Nice Guy: Leon may count in regards to Lucy Liberty, seeing as he risked transforming into a werewolf (and subsequent capture by Beastman) to save her. A possible subversion, as Lucy seems to slightly reciprocate his feelings. Sadly, we'll never know, considering that Leon appeared for all of one episode, and there'll never be a sequel series.
- Dub Name Change: Ryu Suzaku becomes Rick Wheeler in the dub. Miss Killer being changed to Luna Ryder also invokes Never Say "Die".
- Earn Your Happy Ending: At the conclusion of the anime, Rick finally, finally proposes to Haruka at their planned meeting point 150 years ago, and gives her the wedding ring he had bought for her way back then, with them proceeding to marry shortly afterwards.
- Earth Is the Center of the Universe: The anime states that Mute City is, in fact, New York City (yes, the New York City) in 2201. However, the first game taking place in 2560 instead stated that Mute City's original name was Mutant City.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Two examples:
- Black Shadow, not surprisingly.
- Same goes for Blood Falcon.
- Explosive Punch: The Falcon Punch employed in the Grand Finale.
- Fangs Are Evil: In addition to Blood Falcon, Zoda sports a pretty sharp pair of these in the anime.
- Femme Fatale: Luna Ryder—who is Rick's Brainwashed and Crazy girlfriend. Lisa Brilliant is a lighter version of this trope. Despite being Goroh's wife and the second-in-command of an intergalactic band of thieves, she isn't so much evil as she is opportunistic. Still, she can and will use her womanly wiles to get what she wants.
- Genki Girl: Lucy Liberty exhibits these traits to a degree.
- Go Out with a Smile: Captain Falcon, having Falcon Punched Black Shadow in the face and knowing that both of their deaths are imminent, smiles with the satisfaction of knowing he saved the universe before the both of them are disintegrated by the exploding Dark Reactor.
- Grand Theft Me: Pulled off on many of the heroes in the anime by a clone of Blood Falcon who could assume an amorphous shape resembling the T-1000. They all got better.
- Gratuitous English: Shows up in the anime, natch.Hyper Zoda: JI ENDO!
- Handsome Lech: Jack, who says that all of his female fans are his girlfriends. This does get him in hot water, as Lisa Brilliant flaunts her charms to get access to the Mobile Task Force HQ and then ransack the place.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Captain Falcon at the end of the anime. Wanna see it? Watch it here.
- Hidden Eyes: The usually kind and gentle Lucy gets one of these in Episode 21 of the anime. Let's just say that Luna Ryder pressed her buttons a bit too much. In response, Lucy goes from this to a glowing Death Glare and proceeds to open up a can of concentrated whup-ass in the form of a Macross Missile Massacre. She then goes mad with laughter. Scary...
- Human Popsicle: This was the backstory for Rick — a policeman from 2051, horribly wounded in a car chase against Zoda (and it is just to give him a reason to race), frozen and restored to health in the future (2201) to race in F-Zero. Episode 36 confirms that Haruka, Rick's girlfriend was also frozen in time... and ends up Brainwashed and Crazy by Black Shadow.
- Idiot Hero: Super Arrow. Although he does have some flashes of brilliance.
- Kavorka Man: Silver Neelson at the end of the anime episode focusing on him. Subverted with the anime's version of Samurai Goroh and his wife Lisa, who serve as an anti-heroic Outlaw Couple.
- Katanas Are Just Better: Samurai Goroh uses one, and his wife Lisa Brilliant has also been seen with a katana at least once in GP Legend, but seems to prefer firearms.
- In an earlier episode of the anime, Super Arrow (alongside several other characters) is imprisoned behind a cage of laser beams by the Bloody Chain gang. In retaliation, he pulls out a katana to slash through and deflect the lasers, earning the admiration of his peers and wife. Of course, Super Arrow is just snoozing. It never happens.
- Legacy Character: According to the anime, Captain Falcon is one; we even see the mantle passed on in the final episode (see Take Up My Sword below).
- Local Hangout: The main characters like to hang out at the "Falcon House", a café that caters to fans of F-Zero, run by Bart Lemming, who is secretly Captain Falcon.
- Long-Lost Relative: In the anime, Captain Falcon is Jody's older brother Andy, believed to have been killed at an earlier date.
- Lovable Rogue: Samurai Goroh and his entire crew in the anime. Goroh, in particular, is a badass Samurai who is a complete 180 degrees turn from his Butt-Monkey status in GX. He even helps out Rick on several occasions and is something of a mentor to him.
- Manly Tears: The heroes do this in response to Falcon's Heroic Sacrifice.
- Meaningful Name:
- Ryu Suzaku. Suzaku is the name of a legendary bird, foreshadowing his true destiny. Alternatively, "Ryu" could also mean "one step ahead", which is indicative of Rick's eventual driving abilities while essentially being Back from the Dead. This overlaps with Meaningful Name. Additionally, Ryu Suzaku roughly translates to Dragon Bird, which is the name of his F-Zero machine.
- Rick is short for "Richard", which means "king" or "powerful". Even if "Wheeler" has no specific meaning to it, being derived from the word "wheel", this still means that Rick Wheeler's name can be roughly interpreted to mean king/powerful wheel, alluding to him being a Badass Driver regardless of time period.
- Megaton Punch: Two Words: "FALCON PUNCH!"
- Mythology Gag: In the episode focused on him, James McCloud — an Expy of the character of the same name from Star Fox — has more references to his original series included: he has a former comrade named O'Donnell (a reference to Wolf O'Donnel, leader of Star Wolf), and two allies named Peppy Hare and Pigma Dengar (other members of the original Star Fox team, before Pigma's betrayal and James' disappearance).
- Nebulous Evil Organisation: The Dark Million, which also skirts the line between this and Standard Evil Organization Squad.
- Noble Wolf: Leon, more or less.
- "No More Holding Back" Speech: An unexpected inversion. Zoda of all people swallows his pride and hatred to give one to Rick.
- Onee-sama: Jody plays this role in the Mobile Task Force, specifically towards Rick, Lucy, Jack, and (to a lesser extent) Clank. She later becomes the Team Mom.
- One-Winged Angel: Hyper Zoda.
- Our Werewolves Are Different: Leon (who is normally a bishie teenager) becomes a werewolf after experiencing an adrenaline rush. He usually manages to keep some of his lucidity, but fears losing control of himself.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Played with in two cases:
- Subverted with Bart Lemming/Captain Falcon, who Jody easily recognizes as her brother Andy. Eventually, Falcon gives up the farce and reveals what Jody already had gathered. A similar event occurs when Clank Hughes also finds out.
- Inverted with Berserker, the alias Falcon adopted in the later half of the series. Rick and Clank are able to deduce his identity due to his racing style.
- Physical God: Black Shadow, especially in the anime. For example, Zoda inexplicably transforms his vehicle into a fiery dragon and devours Black Shadow whole (and then says the above Gratuitous English quote), only for him to reappear unharmed a few episodes later. Fittingly so, only Captain Falcon, his polar opposite, can defeat him with the help of Rick, The Savior.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Haruka. As the Brainwashed and Crazy Luna Ryder, she's more of an Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Captain Falcon plays the Blue Oni to Rick's Red Oni in the anime. Although Rick wears a blue jacket, he's wearing red under it, playing up the color-coding. As the new Captain Falcon, Rick now seems to be playing the role of Blue Oni to Clank.
- Related in the Adaptation: In the original game, Captain Falcon and Jody Summer don't have much of a direct relationship, although she is believed to have a crush on him. In the anime however, Jody and Falcon are siblings, since in this universe Captain Falcon's identity is Andy Summer.
- Retired Badass: A much younger than the norm example comes from James McCloud in the anime. The heroes comes to him in search of guidance and training. Unbeknownst to them, he also trained members of Dark Million in the past.
- Revenge: Part of the plot of the anime involves Rick's revenge against Zoda. Haruka also wanted to kill Zoda 150 years ago to avenge Rick's death. It doesn't work well for her.
- Scarf of Asskicking: As expected, both Captain and Blood Falcon have one. The former's is made even more badass in an eyecatcher from the latter half of the anime.
- And when multiple Bloods show up in the anime, their scarves are colour-coded.
- Second Super-Identity: Captain Falcon is at one point killed. After that, the mysterious racer Berserker joins Dark Million. It is eventually revealed that Berserker was actually Captain Falcon, alive, and in disguise, spying on Dark Million.
- Sequel Hook: The ending of the anime pulls this by mimicking the first episode's race, showing that everything comes full circle. It even ended with "To be continued...?" Unfortunately, the sequel in question never came to fruition due to the anime ultimately tanking.
- Shout-Out:
- In Episode 32, Zoda uses the power of the Reactor Might lodged into his stomach to suck up all the Blood Falcon clones into himself to transform himself into Hyper Zoda in a similar fashion to a certain pink puffball who also sucks up his opponents to gain their power. The suction effect even resembles that of the anime staring said pink puffball.
- Episode 40 involves a comical Show Within a Show involving the F-Zero machines belonging to the Mobile Task Force docking into Combining Mecha that form something akin to what you'd see in Macross. Not to mention, Jack quotes Shinobu in the finale.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Again, Rick and Haruka.
- Super Cop: Rick, who is recognized as a extremely competent cop due to the skills he picked up as a Grand Prix champ. Unfortunately, he bites off a bit more than he can clew when attempting to apprehend Zoda.
- Supporting Leader: Captain Falcon in the anime.
- Take Up My Sword: In the Grand Finale of the anime.Captain Falcon: The name "Captain Falcon" is a title given to those worthy of it. Rick Wheeler... as of today, you are the new Captain Falcon.
- Team Mom: Jody Summer goes from a somewhat icy Onee-sama to this in the anime.
- The Starscream: Zoda in the anime. And his track record is just as bad as the Trope Namer.
- Theme Music Power-Up: If the BGMs for Mute City and Big Blue or Hiro-x's "The Meaning of Truth" plays, you know that something grand is going to happen in Legend of Falcon.
- There Can Be Only One: Taken quite literally in the episode "Only One Falcon" (Episode 30) from Legend of Falcon, as it revolves around Captain Falcon and Blood Falcon duking it out during a high-stakes race. Blood Falcon's machine blows up, but he gets better... sorta.
- 20 Minutes into the Future: A more lighthearted example comes from the finale of the anime, which takes place seven years after the defeat of the Big Bad.
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Subverted with Samurai Goroh and Lisa Brilliant, as that Goroh is far more handsome than his game counterpart. The Arrows are a possible example, but we don't know what Super Arrow looks like under the mask.
- Villainous Breakdown: Black Shadow gets an epic one while the Dark Reactor is Going Critical. He starts ranting about how he won't allow his dream to end. Captain Falcon's rejoinder? Falcon Punch.
- Villainous Glutton: Zoda in the anime has a major sweet tooth; to the point of making boisterous demands for chocolate sundaes and other desserts as a reward for winning a race, or simply to torment his minions.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Black Shadow in the anime. He is not only the head of Dark Million, but Deathborn and Don Genie at the same time!
- The Watson: Rick invokes this trope a lot, especially in the beginning when he was a Fish out of Temporal Water.
- We Can Rebuild Him: As expected, Mighty Gazelle, since this incarnation is really Roy Hughes, the presumed-to-be-dead father of Child Prodigy Clank. Well, actually, it's his brain. Gazelle malfunctions and shuts off after remembering his life as a human and saving his son from time bombs only to inexplicably return at a later date. By the Grand Finale, Roy is back in his own body.
- Wham Episode: Episode 35, Falcon's Confession — Captain Falcon is not only Bart Lemming, but also Jody's brother Andy Summer!
- Wham Line: From Episode 35: "Get out of here, Falcon! No! Andy Summer!
- Wholesome Crossdresser: In Episode 21 of the anime, Rick and Jack dress up as women to sneak into the all-females race. They notice the futility of their endeavors after tripping over their heels. In the same episode, Zoda disguises himself and even strikes a pose that you'd probably see in Sailor Moon. Yes, it's just as creepy as it sounds.
- World of Buxom: Much like the games, all grown women in the anime sport very large and very round breasts that are further emphasized by their clothes.
- You Can't Fight Fate: This is underlying theme of Legend of Falcon, although you don't notice it until The Reveal.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: In the anime, Black Shadow is prone to doing this to everyone and anyone, especially Luna Ryder when she regains her memories as Haruka Misaki and is horrified by her actions. Keep in mind that this was a person who previously referred to him as "Black Shadow-sama" a ridiculous number of times and was his most faithful follower.
- Zeerust: The anime (set in 2201) plays this a bit straighter (and is a bit more justifiable compared to the games), as 20th/21th century innovations such as automobiles still exist alongside newer technology (although they're antiques sold at vintage retailers).
Even if I'm confused and hurt,
On the other side of this horizon,
There's the answer I can't see yet.
Searching for the truth...
