Opinion of Wolf's Advice?

[Wolf O'Donnell]

I am wondering how many of you had an opinion of the scene where Wolf gave advice to Fox in Assault? "Don't hesitate! When the time comes, just act!"

I'm not sure what Wolf said in Japanese; I presume that he said something similar, if not word-for-word, since Fox's flashback to the event in Mission 10 wouldn't make much sense if it were something else.

On one hand, I believe it was a defining moment for his revamped character in Assault. Admittedly, some people that I know in real life have called the scene arrogant (I guess because he had his arms crossed), but that's part of his personality, I suppose.

On the other hand, I feel that some have placed too much emphasis on this scene, especially since the advice is only a reiteration of what Wolf stated in the earlier in the mission.

What's your opinion?

[Blaze the Sage]

Honestly, it reflects well on Wolf's personality.  He doesn't like to spend a lot of time thinking things through; he prefers to act and get results rather than sit around talking things out.  Look at the level where you fight him in Assault.  He doesn't know *or* care why you're at his base.  You're there, he knows it, he doesn't like it.  So, he shoots first, and asks questions later.  Or in this case, shoots first, GETS asked questions later.

 

This type of ruthlessness has been a key to his success and survival as a criminal and fighter pilot; and when Fox is reluctant to shoot down General Pepper,despite the fact that Pepper has been taken over by the enemy and is actually SHOOTING AT FOX (and not to mention Wolf as well), Wolf is both disgusted and disappointed with his rival's show of weakness.  Wolf sees first-hand that sentimentality is one of Fox's bigger weaknesses in a confrontation like this, and knowing that they're going to need to take the fight to the Aparoids and that they can pull this sort of stunt, Wolf throws out this bit of advice in hopes that Fox doesn't falter like this again when it REALLY matters - like, say, against the Aparoid Queen if she starts screwing with Fox's emotions? 

 

Wolf may hate Fox and want to take him down, but he also has a vested interest in survival, both his own, and the Lylat system as a whole (it is his home after all, and what would he do if it got wiped out, criminal or no?).  He's also smart enough to know that Fox is bound to be central to that survival, and thus has an interest in making sure a common enemy doesn't get the better of him.

[geoprimedonna]

Dunno about you, but that quotes for life, folks! :p

[unoservix]

i think his advice is terrible. i say when the time comes, you should form a committee that is tasked with laying down initial preparatory guidelines towards the investigation of looking into the feasability of conducting a long-term impact study on the cost-benefit analysis of establishing operational procedure for the consideration of the possibility of just acting.

[Drasiana]

I don't really see the profound depth in a line that exists so Fox actually remembers to launch the game-winning genocide bomb into a giant alien broodmother when she's just kind of sitting there vulnerable.

 

Like, "when the time comes, don't hesitate--just act" is pretty much literally translated as "when the big boss alien stops and waits for you to shoot it, you should probably shoot it so we can roll credits".

[Wolf O'Donnell]

On 7/7/2014 at 4:14 AM, unoservix said:

i think his advice is terrible. i say when the time comes, you should form a committee that is tasked with laying down initial preparatory guidelines towards the investigation of looking into the feasability of conducting a long-term impact study on the cost-benefit analysis of establishing operational procedure for the consideration of the possibility of just acting.

So...you really think his advice is bad?

[InfinitySquared]

Honestly, it's just not really that profound or significant. Hell, it's almost as cliché as "never give up! Trust your instincts!".

[Gestalt]

Hopefully, I can invoke the relevancy clause with my reply since I only missed the boat by two weeks and some change. Even still,

 

So...you really think his advice is bad? 

 

It is an interesting train of thought, in and of itself, to explore. I think the quote tried to be more of an extension of "trust your instincts" by explicitly answering why one might lead themselves to think this way: the weakness of hesitancy. If you think too long, you might forget to act. (I arrive at 'think too long' for 'hesitate' assuming that Wolf would view anything that is not swift action as hesitant)

 

 

The problem is that the very nature of the game is to "just act". Nothing in the mechanic suggests you could do otherwise. Aaand..you play a fox. The descriptive words that come to mind when thinking of a fox are acting words. As it stands, the quote comes across more like: "hey Fox don't forget to keep doing what you are doing."

 

If you want to create real conflict, then perhaps show the downsides of acting in pure instinct despite how far James or Wolf may have gotten off it. Have Fox go on a mission that seems instinctively right (that he succeeds at given his instinctual piloting skill) but ultimately, he ends up in a worse spot because his skill was not directed down the proper channels. Or, include a mechanic for a boss where acting without the least bit of consideration has consequence. 

 

But they were trying to justify swift action, which could work too but was in no way set up right. You would have to convince the audience more so that either Fox, his team, or the SF world is consistently at fault because one or the other is failing to act. I could see this happening with a few tweaks to the story^{[ 1 ]}, or you could drop the quote entirely given that it was sorta resolved by ultimately shooting Pepper down.

 

^{[ 1 ]} For instance,

i think his advice is terrible. i say when the time comes, you should form a committee that is tasked with laying down initial preparatory guidelines towards the investigation of looking into the feasibility of conducting a long-term impact study on the cost-benefit analysis of establishing operational procedure for the consideration of the possibility of just acting.

 

 

Something along the lines of this can not possibly work in at a moment's notice without a large sum of computational power. In fact, the "long line" of such a system its my headcanon on why Corneria never gets anything done- Hence, Star Fox.

[Giladen]

It's a poorly written attempt to show how much of a goody two-shoes mentor Wolf is. When it really made Fox, somebody who should be an experienced mercenary leader look like a dope who can't remember how to blow up something without a bunch of other characters reminding him how to.

[Pharaoh Shadon]

Sometimes you don't have time to think. When things are going fast, you need to just act or else you and/or a close one will also get hurt. So his advice is right (Also out of your control and the "Just act" is probably just instinct at a moment

[Wolf O'Donnell]

It's a poorly written attempt to show how much of a goody two-shoes mentor Wolf is. When it really made Fox, somebody who should be an experienced mercenary leader look like a dope who can't remember how to blow up something without a bunch of other characters reminding him how to.

Ah, so I take it that you do not like Wolf?

[Snys93]

To me when he said, "Don't hesitate! When the time comes, just act!", I felt he was speaking about their next encounter. Currently they were fighting a mutual evil to survive, but in the end things would return to normal. Basically, "I'm a black hat and you're a white hat" kind of deal.

 

I don't know, maybe I was reading too much into it. It just sounded like the prelude to gunfight, where only one will succeed.

[Icy]

I always just took it to mean exactly what he said. Giving him cheesy advice for later in the game when the Aparoid Queen imitates James.

 

Good advice, though. Best not to hesitate with anything, really.

[Blaze the Sage]

Honestly, it's a bit of good advice when you consider their professions.  Granted Wolf is a criminal, but he's a mercenary at his core, just like Fox.  He's a soldier.  Soldiers live on the battlefield, and in a combat situation, hesitation due to emotional attachments derailing your focus on the situation at hand can and eventually *will* get you killed.

 

Simply put, Wolf isn't trying to suggest that Fox be more reckless or brash, or stop thinking things through.  He's telling Fox to focus on the mission, and put his personal opinions and attachments out of his mind when he needs to, in order to get the job done.  Wolf saw Fox whine, moan, and HESITATE when it came time to fight General Pepper, and Wolf recognised what a problem that was, especially given the nature of the Aparoids.  Given that they were working together at the moment, Wolf acted as a fellow soldier, rather than a rival or enemy, and commented on it, giving Fox some advice that, it turns out, Fox would need later on.

 

If your enemy is able to distract you by preying on emotions, then that's a weakness they can exploit, and use to take you down.  It's not necessary to be cold, heartless, and emotionless, but you need to be able to ignore those emotional soft spots when you're in a dangerous situation.  When you're in a combat situation, you can't just stop fighting when a friend goes down, or if an enemy turns an ally against you.  If you do, you give the enemy the opening they need to finish you off.  And Wolf doesn't want Fox going down that way.  Wolf O'Donnel's pride demands two things: First, that HE be the one to defeat Fox McCloud, some some ugly brainwashing bugs.  And second, that he beat Fox fairly, in a true test of skill.  If Fox is hampered because emotional trauma is distracting him from the fight, a victory for Wolf would mean nothing to him.  Wolf didn't defeat Fox, whatever had him distracted did.

 

So Wolf gave Fox some advice, from one soldier to another.  Don't hesitate.  When the time comes, just act.

[Roonifer]

Sure, Wolf's advice could be considered cliche and is definitely foreshadowing the climax of the game, but I still think his words held some pretty solid meaning when you're looking past the scene as a plot device. I mean, it's already been said: Fox couldn't handle it when the Aparoids started hitting too close to home and Wolf, having recognized Fox's position as the only person that could save Corneria and even the Lylat System--you know, besides Wolf himself--he wanted to keep Fox from faltering again. Pepper's attack was brutal and I think it's pretty safe to say that, considering the damages done on Corneria (this is seen during the end credits), Fox and co. only won that by a hair.

 

Still riding on this train of thought, that leads me to wonder why Wolf would even offer the advice to his rival anyways. Hasn't it always been Star Wolf's perogative to beat Fox? One of the endings in Command demonstrates how Wolf and his team trick Fox, neutralize Venom and become hailed as heroes. Why didn't Wolf just wait for Star Fox to fail so he could reach fame sooner?

[Blaze the Sage]

Simple: Wolf recognizes the Aparoids as an enemy he can't beat by himself.  He understands that Fox and him need to work together... so for now, he'll need Fox at his best.

[Jeroscope]

I think he was talking to the player saying "SHOOT ALL THE THINGS"

[Redeemer]

Tbh I think that line was really just a display of Wolf's character and his answer to everything - to act quickly, and as a result, brashly. We all know that he's not the most reasonable of people and would rather shoot first and interrogate a dead body later. I don't think there's much else he'd really say to Fox.

 

But Wolf is also a very intelligent, highly trained pilot and soldier and honestly perfect in a situation where you need to simply "just act". He's got that irrational, trigger-happy flare that Fox generally lacks and that line sort of highlights the contrast between the two characters, but also how they can learn from each other.

 

So idk.

[Dr. Orange]

There's some logic to Wolf's advice but for the most part I'm going to piggyback off of what Red said a bit in the sense that it's just his character. Also in the sense that it's just really cliche.

 

I always saw it as, on one hand you have Fox, a thought through pilot. Wolf, while still intelligent is more head strong on situations and doesn't over analyze. Key word there Over Analyze. the saying was just foreshadow to the scene of fox and the aparoid and the voices and the yadda yadda. Regular Fox would like Sit down and grab a tea to gather those thoughts. The Fox with Wolf's advice put Fox in that moment to haul ass back to Aparoid land. It just put him straight for the right moment. When that moment came.

[InfinitySquared]

Relax, don't do it, when you wanna go to it.

Relax, don't do it, when you wanna come.

 

By overanalyzing the scene in question,

by picking apart Wolf's intention.

It's of no use, it's in your dreams.

There are no (are no are no)

Hidden theeeeemes.

 

Relax, don't do it, when you wanna go to to it

Relax, don't do it, this game's dumb.