SNES classic Star Fox introduced the world to Fox McCloud and the rest of his anthropomorphic animal flight team, and it seems those characters have a deep connection to some notable Nintendo developers. In fact, Fox himself channels the “essence” of Shigeru Miyamoto.
Star Fox’s character designs were originally “an extension of the whole F-Zero world,” artist and character designer Takaya Imamura explains in Edge magazine issue 407, so it was a more realistic sci-fi world with “space pirates and that kind of thing. Then one day Miyamoto-san came along and said, ‘Let’s make these characters animals.'” Fox McCloud’s species was settled on because near Nintendo HQ “there was a shrine called Fushimi Inari, which enshrines a fox deity.”
The animal characters would then be further inspired by the game’s developers. “The [designs] are based on the game’s staff – not like a caricature of them so much as their essence,” Imamura says. “Fox is based on Miyamoto-san, and the rabbit, Peppy, is based on the game’s director [Katsuya] Eguchi-san. I think, if you look closely, you can see the similarities.”
Gotta be honest – I’m not sure I’m seeing the resemblance. Either way, the game’s staff inspired pretty much the entire core cast. “Falco was based on [Tsuyoshi] Watanabe-san on the graphics team,” Imamura continues. “When I looked at his face, his nose was quite big, like a Roman nose. And Slippy was based on the assistant director, [Yoichi] Yamada-san – he just kind of gave me that impression, and he liked frogs as well.”
How did each of those developers feel about being turned into a cartoony animal mascot? “None of them reacted much at all, to be honest,” Imamura says. “We were in the midst of development and maybe they just thought, ‘Hmm, OK.'”
Star Fox is one of Nintendo’s most venerable series, with entries appearing sporadically throughout the years. The last major entry – the combo pack of Star Fox Zero and Guard – hit Wii U in 2016, and nearly a decade later there’s no sign of a revival on the way. Only time will tell if that’ll change, but at least the series has managed to immortalize some Nintendo legends along the way.
“I couldn’t resist”: Nintendo legend Takaya Imamura on trying but failing to keep a huge console secret, his hopes for the future of Star Fox, and a lot more.
