Starfox-James McCloud

And now here's a sketch I did of James McCloud, the father of Fox McCloud and the original leader of Team Starfox. Not much is known about James except that he was the founder of the team and was the best Arwing pilot and combatant in the Cornerian Armed Defense Forces. His team consisted of only two members; Peppy Hare, and Pigma Dengar. During a mission to planet Venom, James was betrayed by Pigma Dengar, and met with a mysterious demise. However, seeing as James McCloud's story has never really been explored before, his fate is highly dubious and ambiguous as nobody knows what really happened to him. Though he is presumed dead by most.

In appearance, James McCloud looks virtually identical to his son Fox, but is considerably older, and is most recognizable by his dark glasses which he always keeps on. As far as I know, we never see him without his glasses. So we technically don't know what his eyes might look like. In the Nintendo Power Comics released in 1993, James McCloud is seen in flashback scenes depicting the days when he was training his son Fox in the Cornerian Flight Academy. In this particular continuity, he was referred to as Fox McCloud Sr. Because of this, Fox himself was referred to as Fox McCloud Jr. However, he strongly disliked being called Junior even by his friends. Later in the story, it is revealed that Fox's father was indeed alive, but was a spirit who resided within the black hole, which Fox and his team took to take them straight to planet Venom.

Depending on the difficulty setting in Starfox 64, the player will be rewarded with a more dramatic and engaging ending after defeating the final boss at the end of the game. After beating Andross in the hardest setting, he threatens to take Fox down with him as the whole fortress is engulfed in flames. But at that very same moment, James McCloud suddenly appears out of nowhere to guide his son to safety and to escape from planet Venom. After that, he mysteriously disappears as Fox returns with his team back to planet Corneria to be rewarded. But he turns down the General's offer, and declares that he prefers to explore the galaxy to engage on new adventures. Because of this particular sequence with James helping his son escape from Venom, it is unknown as to whether or not James is really dead or if he could still be alive. For all we know, the James McCloud who helped Fox escape from the exploding fortress might have been his ghost, or a fragment of Fox's imagination. Just in my opinion though, I always believed that it was a ghost that helped Fox escape. Of course I could be wrong.

James McCloud was voiced by Mike West in Starfox 64, and by Jim Walker in Starfox Assault. The Interesting thing about this that is both actors also voiced James's son Fox in their respective games. Another thing worth mentioning is that there is even a character from the F-Zero race car series with the exact same first and last name as Fox's father, who bares strong resemblance to the James McCloud of the Starfox universe. The only difference in his appearance is that he is human rather than a fox. Anyway, I always thought that James's story would be an interesting saga to engage on seeing as it was never really explored and was only explained in the game's instruction manuals, strategy guides, and online sources. If anybody plans on doing a Starfox TV show, or theatrical film, I believe that the first chapter in the saga should revolve around the legend of Fox's father for the sake of further character and story development. Because I still see a lot of potential in his story even now.

Starfox, James McCloud, is the property of Nintendo.
Illustration by MDTartist83.