Artist Takaya Imamura Reveals the Origins of ‘Star Fox’s Animal Characters

The original Star Fox on the SNES introduced us to Fox McCloud and his team of animal pilots, but their designs have an unexpected backstory. According to artist Takaya Imamura in Edge magazine issue 407, these characters were never meant to be animals at all.

At first, the team envisioned a more traditional sci-fi setting, closer to F-Zero, complete with space pirates. But one day, Shigeru Miyamoto suggested a wild idea: ‘Let’s make these characters animals.’

The decision to make the main hero a fox wasn’t random either. Near Nintendo’s headquarters, there’s a famous shrine called Fushimi Inari, dedicated to a fox deity.

But here’s where things get really interesting. The Star Fox crew wasn’t just pulled from thin air—they were inspired by the people making the game. Fox McCloud reflects Miyamoto’s essence, while Peppy Hare takes after director Katsuya Eguchi. Falco Lombardi?

He was based on graphics team member Tsuyoshi Watanabe, whose prominent nose gave Imamura the idea for a bird. And Slippy Toad came from assistant director Yoichi Yamada, who happened to be a frog fan.

So how did the developers feel about being turned into cartoon animals? Apparently, they didn’t say much. Imamura remembers their reactions being something like, ‘Hmm, OK,’ since they were deep in development at the time.

It’s been a long time since Star Fox had a big release. The last major game, Star Fox Zero, came out on the Wii U in 2016, and there’s been no word of a comeback since. But even if the series stays in limbo, its characters have made sure some Nintendo legends are remembered forever.

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