Fox

Lore & Background

In the Star Fox universe, Fox McCloud is the ace pilot of the Star Fox squad, a hot-blooded young fox who grew up on the planet Corneria. He inherited his love of flight and combat from his father, Peppy Hare, a veteran pilot and mentor who served as the team's co-pilot in the early days. Fox's natural talent and reckless courage made him the undisputed leader of the team, though his rivalry with the cocky falcon Falco Lombardi adds a constant undercurrent of competitive tension to their missions. Together with Slippy Toad and the rest of the crew, Fox has repeatedly thwarted Andross, the self-proclaimed galactic emperor who seeks to conquer the Lylat system and beyond.

In Their Own Story

The hangar bay on Corneria hummed with the low thrum of engine diagnostics. Fox stood at the cockpit of his Arwing, tail flicking once, twice, as he ran a final systems check. Through the canopy glass, the twin moons of Lylat hung low and bruised in the violet sky. Somewhere out in the dark, Andross's fleet was regrouping. Fox could feel it the way a hound smells blood on the wind—a wrongness in the static, a silence where there should have been chatter on the comms band. He pressed his paw to the throttle, felt the Arwing shiver to life beneath him, and barked a single sharp command into the comm. "Star Fox, all stations—let's go get our galaxy back." The engines roared, the hangar doors split open like a jaw, and the red-and-white ship shot into the stars before the last echo of the blast doors had faded.

Reader's Guide

FOX — FIGHTER DOSSIER Source Franchise: Star Fox (Starwing) Unlock Method: Playable from the start in all mainline Super Smash Bros. titles (N64, Melee, Brawl, 3DS/Wii U, Ultimate). No unlock required.

NEUTRALS: Fox's neutral attack is a rapid five-hit jab combo with extremely short reach but the fastest startup in the game. His dash attack is a quick forward swipe that can pop opponents off stage. His aerials are all short, fast kicks—forward, back, up, and down—designed to link into each other for aerial combo strings. His forward smash is a straight punch, back smash a spinning kick, and up smash a rising punch. All smashes are short-range but hit hard on clean contact.

SPECIALS: Neutral Special (Blaster) fires a small, fast laser projectile with limited range but useful for spacing and edge-guarding. Side Special (Falcon Punch) is a dashing punch that covers a large horizontal distance, making it a primary recovery and approach tool. Down Special (Wave Dash) slides Fox along the ground or water surface, useful for quick repositioning and edge-guarding. Up Special (Fox Illusion) spawns a clone that dashes upward while the real Fox can reposition, creating a double-recovery option.

GRABS & THROWS: Standard grab with quick pummel. Throws are short-range and low-damage, designed to set up follow-up combos rather than deal standalone damage.

ALTERNATE COSTUMES: Fox carries multiple palette swaps in each Smash title, including his classic red-and-white, a blue variant, a green variant, a yellow/gold variant, a white variant, a black variant, and a purple variant. Specific available palettes vary slightly by title.

UNIQUE MECHANICS & COMBO NOTES: Fox has the smallest hitbox of any fighter, making him extremely difficult to hit. His attacks have the fastest startup frames in the game, enabling combo strings that no other character can replicate. His recovery is considered top-tier: Falcon Punch covers roughly a full screen-width horizontally, and Fox Illusion provides a vertical escape. His main weakness is his low knockback resistance—he is launched far by even moderate hits, making him highly punishable if his fast attacks whiff. Mastering Fox requires precise input timing, strong stage awareness, and the ability to read an opponent's positioning within a single frame window.

Did You Know?

• Fox was one of the very first characters playable in the original 1999 Super Smash Bros. on the Nintendo 64, placing him among the founding roster alongside Mario, Link, and Captain Falcon.
• Fox's vocalizations in every Smash Bros. game are a series of barks and yips rather than spoken words, a tradition carried over from his Star Fox appearances where his voice is non-verbal.
• Fox and Falco share the same body model and move set in most Smash Bros. titles, differing only in color palette and minor visual details—a design choice that has sparked endless fan debate about their rivalry.
• In competitive Melee play, Fox is widely regarded as one of the most technically demanding characters to master, with his combo potential and short hitboxes requiring frame-perfect execution to use effectively.