Falco possibly based on the tengu

[14432]

We know that Fox was supposedly inspired by a Shinto Kami and the Kitsune but Does anyone here think that Falco is inspired by the Tengu?

Tengu (天狗?, "heavenly dog") are a type of legendary creature found in Japanese folk religion and are also considered a type of Shinto god (kami) or yōkai (supernatural beings). Although they take their name from a dog-like Chinese demon (Tiangou), the tengu were originally thought to take the forms of birds of prey, and they are traditionally depicted with both human and avian characteristics. The earliest tengu were pictured with beaks, but this feature has often been humanized as an unnaturally long nose, which today is widely considered the tengu's defining characteristic in the popular imagination.

Buddhism long held that the tengu were disruptive demons and harbingers of war. Their image gradually softened, however, into one of protective, if still dangerous, spirits of the mountains and forests. Tengu are associated with the ascetic practice known as Shugendō, and they are usually depicted in the distinctive garb of its followers, the yamabushi.

 

So is there any possibility of Falco being based on the Tengu? specifically the Bird-like Tengu?

[Leon]

Miyamoto said that Falco was a pheasant, so I always imagined him being based on the companion from the folktale Momotaro. 

[That Ain't Falco]

The art director who drew up the first concept art of Falco also said he was a falcon, though. The world may never know.

[DZComposer]

He was originally envisioned as a pheasant, but as his character design developed, he became a falcon with the facial markings of a pheasant.

As far as a Shinto connection to Falco, I haven't heard of one from an official source. Just because Fox was inspired by Shinto imagery doesn't mean the whole team is. Slippy, for instance, came about because one of the dev team members for SF1 liked to draw frogs on everything.

[14432]

On 3/28/2016 at 7:55 AM, DZComposer said:

He was originally envisioned as a pheasant, but as his character design developed, he became a falcon with the facial markings of a pheasant.

As far as a Shinto connection to Falco, I haven't heard of one from an official source. Just because Fox was inspired by Shinto imagery doesn't mean the whole team is. Slippy, for instance, came about because one of the dev team members for SF1 liked to draw frogs on everything.

I didn't mean the whole team, just falco. Also Tengu are more buddhist than shinto