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Great Fox
Template:Featuredarticle Template:Ship infobox The Great Fox is the space aircraft carrier/battleship that serves as mobile headquarters, launching platform, tactical support and residence of the elite Star Fox Team squadron, who travel across space defending the peace and innocent lives from other-worldly threats
History
Nintendo Power Star Fox 64 Guide Description
Developed by Arspace Dynamics Co., Ltd., manufacturer of the Arwing fighter, Great fox was custom built under the direction of James McCloud. Featuring 3 NTD-FX9 Plasma Engines, Great Fox is light-speed capable and has a real-space cruising speed that nearly matches the Arwing's. Power for its 2 T&B-h9 hyper laser cannons is routed directly from the plasma engines, giving the ship the ability to punch through even a Zeram-class Cruiser's shields. ROB 64 was developed in conjunction with Great Fox and is hard-wired to the ship's primary computer. James McCloud took out a low interest, 80-year mortgage to purchase Great Fox, a debt that his son is doing his best to repay.
Construction
The original Great Fox, a Dreadnought-class heavy cruiser, was constructed on the order of James McCloud by Space Dynamics. The ship was so expensive, James had to take out an 80-year loan. James never used it, disappearing and presumably perishing on Venom while on a mission with the Star Fox Team, before the ship was completed. However, due to the fact that it was destroyed in Star Fox Assault a decommissioned Cornerian Assault Carrier was purchased and was equipped with missiles in Star Fox Command.
First Missions
The Great Fox was still relatively new when James' only son Fox McCloud, having re-formed the Star Fox Team following his father's apparent death, took ownership of the ship. The Great Fox was originally used as a carrier & repair facility for the team's Arwings, Landmaster, and Blue-Marine, as well as acting in a logistical capacity by transferring supplies to the combat zone when needed. In terms of combat, the Great Fox used it's powerful weapon systems (in the form of 2 powerful laser cannons) to aid the squadron's progression during missions, blowing apart asteroids and causing serious damage to massive battleships (such as the Venomian battleships that guard the Area 6 access corridor to Venom). The ship's own defenses allow it to survive in a variety of environments, allowing it to be able to enter a planetary atmosphere, and land on planet-side spaceports, as well as having a limited aquatic capability (e.g. on Aquas, where it half-submerged itself to deploy the Blue Marines).
The ships' major assignment was first breaking the invasion of Corneria by Andross' Venomian Army, and then re-capturing the occupied territories of the Lylat System, and ultimately invading Venom itself, where Andross was defeated by Fox.
Degradation
In the years following the defeat of Andross, the Great Fox soon fell into a state of disrepair, due to lack of funds (with freelance work becoming harder to come by) to keep up maintenance. Its exterior armor began to deteriorate, and it's engine power decreased considerably, to the point where the ship was only able to drift with its boosters. Also, the weapon systems ceased to work, as such Fox was unable to count on space support while chasing down and battling the resurrected Andross out in space above Sauria, where the Great Fox was orbiting.
Final Battles
With the money received by General Pepper for successfully saving Dinosaur Planet from destruction and the Lylat system from devastation, the team were able to overhaul the Great Fox. It now appeared as a much sleeker and cleaner looking ship, inside and out, and also added new equipment. This included a long-range transfer system that can send Arwings and Landmasters to a planet's surface when needed, though the team's leader Fox McCloud indicated that it had poor targeting systems.
The ship served the team well, allowing Star Fox to appear where needed throughout Lylat during the Aparoid Invasion. Eventually, the Great Fox led a fleet of Cornerian Defense Force warships to the Aparoid Homeworld, where in the conclusion of the battle, a large swarm of Aparoids attacked the Great Fox out in space, while the team was trying to gain access to the planet's core. Its systems compromised and, due to the lack of proper weaponry on exposed areas of the ships' hull, it soon fell prey and was infected by the machine-assimilating aliens. Before it could be compromised, Peppy and ROB, despite knowing it would mean their deaths, heroically sacrificed the ship by deliberately ramming it into the Anti-Laser Shield blocking the main entrance to the core. Peppy and ROB escaped at the last moment, escaping in the ship's bridge, which could also serve in an escape pod function. The pod, rejoining the team following the destruction of the planet, flew back to Corneria.
Great Fox II
Faced with the loss of their mothership during their invasion of the Aparoid Homeworld, the Star Fox Team had to purchase a new one.
The new ship, christened the "Great Fox II", was a decommissioned Cornerian Assault Carrier, which, as a result, had all of its weapons and military grade hardware pulled, leaving just a basic hull. As a result, the ship is taxed in terms of defense, and is significantly weaker than the original Great Fox, to the point it can't withstand an assault by even the weakest of enemies for a prolonged period of time. However, this makes it more cost-effective and much less expensive than its predecessors. The ship was restored, somewhat, upon purchase, as it was able to use missile strikes on clusters of attacking enemies, which proved useful, as attacking and defeating enemies from afar rather than attack them directly with a pilot was far safer.
The new ship looks completely different from the past models of the Great Fox, resembling more of a space-faring aircraft carrier than a battle-cruiser.
In Star Fox 2
A ship called the "Mothership" was featured in the unreleased Star Fox 2. Most people consider the Mothership to be Great Fox. The Mothership was only a carrier-ship without weapon-capacity, so it meant it could only be outside the battle, but could hold and repair up to six fighters.
Appearance in other games
The ship was also featured in the Super Smash Bros. series as an arena. In Super Smash Bros., the Star Fox 64 stage Sector Z is featured as a stage where the Great Fox acts as the platform on which the players fight each other. The players can only traverse the ship length-wise. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, the Great Fox is greatly reduced to a smaller, unrealistic size(however if the game mode is "Tiny Melee", where all characters are smaller the characters are roughly to scale to the ship). It is featured on two stages; In the Corneria level, the Great Fox acts as a platform as in Super Smash Bros. Melee but doubles as a hazard. Occasionally, the cannons on the bottom-side open fire. The blasts from Great Fox can trap and instantly KO any unlucky combatant who flies into its line of fire. The cannons are also platforms of the stage that can be destroyed, afterwards they are no longer platforms. Also if a player is standing on the cannons when they fire the player will take serious damage and most likely die. The Venom level has players traversing the Great Fox width-wise as it skims along the barren plane. It also briefly appears in both places' introductions, in Melee shown along with the Captain Falcon's Blue Falcon and Samus Aran's starship while in SSB, it is shown very briefly before the camera zooms into the bridge to show Fox. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the trailer revealed at the Nintendo World Tour on November 3rd, 2006 revealed a new Star Fox stage, with the fighting taking place atop an new space craft called the Pleiades which flies through the atmosphere of Corneria, through an asteroid belt and a space battle, along with the original Great Fox flying in the background with Arwings. The Corneria stage (including the Great Fox) from Super Smash Bros. Melee makes a return in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, as part of the returning Melee Stages. The Great Fox also appears in The Subspace Emissary, Brawl 's adventure mode, where it engages the Halberd, Meta Knight's battleship prior to being hijacked by the Subspace Army, in battle. The Halberd grapples the Great Fox with a chain and rams it into a mountain peak, heavily damaging the ship.
Trophy Info in Melee
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Great Fox | The mother ship of the Star Fox team. When in battle, the ship's robot, ROB, can assume control of the bridge, allowing all hands to take to their Arwings or combat positions. The ship runs plasma engines capable of warp speeds, and its front lasers are effective both in battle and in clearing paths through asteroid belts. |
Trophy Info in Brawl
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Great Fox | The mother ship of Team Star Fox. Its oversized plasma engines let it warp during interplanetary voyages. It carries the team's Arwings and Landmaster in its cargo hold, kept unlocked in case of emergency, and is equipped for emergency Arwing landings. Its two laser cannons can be used to blast asteroids. It's piloted by the robot ROB 64, who also issues directions to the team. |
| Great Fox (Assault) | The Great Fox as it appears in Star Fox: Assault, looking more streamlined than in previous appearances. It takes a horrible amount of damage at the hands of the parasitic Aparoid army, and in a last, desperate attack, Peppy crashes it into the Aparoid home world. In the nick of time, Peppy and ROB 64 are whisked to safety. |
Image Gallery
The Great Fox in Super Smash Bros. Melee
- Foxyhair4 640w.jpg
The original Great Fox in Star Fox Adventures, orbiting Sauria. The ship, eight years after the Lylat Wars, is in great disrepair.
References
- Star Fox 64 Players Guide
- Spanish Wikipedia: Great Fox
- Japanese Wikipedia: グレートフォックス
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