Different Philisophical Ways of Looking at StarFox?

[The Green Fox]

I have, in my own mind, thought of several possible interpretations of the real meaning behind the plot of Star Fox.

1.) The Star Fox team represents the animals, the evil Andross and his apelike minions represent humans who are abusing Nature (Corneria). Why? Chimps are the most closely related animal to the human being. Just a wild theory.

2.) The Star Fox team, as well as all the furries in the games represent us humans in the far future, where we have become our own fursonas (because in this particular reality, EVERYONE has one whether they know it or not), battling an alien threat attempting to destroy us. In order to win, we must trust our instincts.

3.) The Star Fox team could represent......anything?

4.) Cornera is Earth. Venom is Mars. Mars is a barren deserted planet just like Venom, and like Venom, according to certain UFO conspiracy theorists, Mars once was a beautiful green planet long ago.

Discuss. Or scoff. Or both.

Has anyone else here thought of things like this, thought of Star Fox in this way?

[Drasiana]

I'm pretty sure they've said that Andross is an ape because of a Japanese phrase that's something along the lines of "fighting like dogs and monkeys", hence, the Cornerians are also dogs.

Interesting theory though, it works with the SNES comic to some degree, as well as Command.

[Zzz]

Zzz

[Ala1n-J]

I don't think there is a precise meaning in the Starfox plot (seeing how messy its plot has become, is there any meaning to find out now?...). More like a few themes put here and here.

About the machine vs environment thing, I don't think it's main thing here : while Andross is a master in advanced technology, Starfox uses advanced technology as well to defeat him. It's more like taking the bad aspects of technology (pollution, mad experciences...) and giving these attibutes to the bad guy, but no real environmental message in the game.

The mad experiences part were more revelant in the SNES and Command as Dras said. Actually, the environment problem could be the main thing in Command, as the Anglars were born from the polluted waters of Venom, but Command happened twelve years after the Lylat Wars, so the Cornerians had a lot of time to terraform the planet (And why only the seas? Why not the land creatures as well?). And honestly, I'd feel bad giving a reason to the mess Command's plot was (or even to the Anglars weird design).

About Cornerian being dogs and Andross being an ape, it might not be a tech vs nature problem :

I'm pretty sure they've said that Andross is an ape because of a Japanese phrase that's something along the lines of "fighting like dogs and monkeys", hence, the Cornerians are also dogs.

I've checked and it's true. "Fighting like dogs and monkeys" is the japanese version of the english "fighting like cats and dogs". So if the good guys are dogs, the bad guys are likely to be monkeys. Starfox has some other things related to japanese folklore : Fox McCloud himself was inspired by a statue of a fox (Kitsune deity?) wearing a cape or a scarf.

If that theme is more like tech vs instinct, then I agree with R3D. It's revelant in SF64 which could be SW "A new hope" with animals (as much as I love the original trilogy, I hated the fact SF64 looked too much like Episode 4). But unlike A new Hope, where Luke learns to use the Force and change history, the "trust your instincts" part is just thrown at the escape of Andross's lair, in an optional ending. And you still use technology to defeat the bosses (thanks to Slippy and his boss analysis) and some weak points are so obvious there's not much left for instinct.

Two things that could be developped in the series :

- the spiritual thing : we have Andross who has learned telekinesis and has used spiritual forces to come back; we have James's soul or presence; we have Krystal and her telepath abilities; something can come up with these (and some tribes that want to get closer to nature rely on the animals' spirits or shamanism to achieve this goal), though I highly doubt this would feel good for a space shooting game...

- the father/son relationship : much more revelant in the SF universe, we have Fox and his father James who disappeared, we also have Andross and his nephew Andrew who considers him a father; we can work those details : what can Fox learn about his father's life? How will he be like him? Or be different? How has Peppy become Fox's paternal figure? What can Andrew show about Andross that we might not know (it was Dash's role in Command but when it gets developped, Dash repeats Andross's mad path, so all is ruined)? Was Andross the real "murderer" of James? That could be interesting.

But again, these are mainly little themes in the plot, not the big thing. I'm not saying the plot should be mind-blowing or complicated as heck, but a few themes revelant for the SF universe and its characters could be a good idea.

[DZComposer]

Searching for deep meaning in the Star Fox canon is like looking for gold in the bottom of a fast food restaurant grease dumpster.

Though, Star Fox Adventures, if looked at in the right way, can be argued to be a Monomyth. It's pushing it, though it is doable (I did it back in Freshman English Class, lol).

[Luminous-red]

While it may not have a deep meaning, and may actually be based on a japanese phrase and folklore, i still think is good to search for different interpretation of the meaning of the series, as it makes our creativity develop and we sometimes create owr own "real" meanings, like the "humans VS nature" theory, while it may not actually be about that, it can be a message you can get from the game if you think of it in that certain way, in other words, i think it is more valuable to find things that mean something for you, that make you learn, because, in the end, it all comes down to what you really comprehend from what you see.

[sroberson]

I feel like if the writers of StarFox had a philosophical meaning to the franchise, it wouldn't have gone so astray in Command. Also, Krystal wouldn't be such an awkward character if she had some deep meaning behind her (not suggesting she doesn't deserve game time, just better game writers). I like the point about the "Trust your instincts" vs "May the Force be with you"...Only slightly more related is the words Wolf said to Fox "Don't hesitate. When the time comes, just act". Feels like it has some sort of tie-in if it insinuates trusting your feelings instead of overthinking and complicating issues....without any better understanding of Japanese culture, would that mindset adhere with their philosophies?

Not exactly related to "philosophy"...but related to Japanese culture, I wonder if the tension between Fox and Krystal will ever be resolved with Japanese animation writers focusing on making male characters weak or foolish around women and only prolonging tension between their love interests. (If considered off-topic I apologize)

[Gestalt]

starfox deserves a deeper moral meaning to it....however as of now it holds nothing deep at all that we may ponder over.... :(