Star Fox, also referred to as the Star Fox Team or Team Star Fox, is a legendary team of mercenaries and adventurerers-for-hire which has repeatedly defended the Lylat System in times of peril. Founded by James McCloud, the leadership passed through to his son, Fox, after his apparent death.

Fox McCloud was a cadet at the Cornerian Defense Army Academy when he heard the news that his father, James McCloud, had met a violent end at the hands of the twisted genius, Andross. The senior McCloud had been betrayed by his own wingman, Pigma Dengar, and delivered into a deadly trap from which there was seemingly no escape. Only James's wingman, Peppy Hare, managed to limp home in his badly damaged starfighter. As the only survivor of the original Star Fox Team, Peppy insisted that the young Fox take on the leadership of the group and form a new team of pilots. Thrust into the leadership role that he wasn't prepared for, Fox recruited the hot-tempered Falco Lombardi and the mechanical genius Slippy Toad to make up the new Star Fox Team. For a price, this crack group will fight against any threat to the Cornerian star system. Although it may appear that the Star Fox Team is motivated only by financial gain, it will only accept missions that serve to uphold justice.

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Star Fox was founded by James McCloud and his best friend, Peppy Hare. Shortly into their new career, they were joined by a new member: Pigma Dengar. The team flew abound the Lylat System, finding work wherever they were. They earned so much that James decided to upgrade the team's headquarters and purchased the building rights to a new mothership that would transport the trio about the System, but had to wait a while until it was completed. Star Fox tangled in battle after battle with Wolf O'Donnell during an uprising threat from an evil mad scientist named Andross.

Meanwhile, Andross was banished by General Pepper to the far, desolate planet of Venom for performing dangerous experiments in Corneria. The Star Fox team was hired by General Pepper to investigate these reports. But upon their arrival Pigma betrayed his teammates to Andross, leading to James and Peppy's captures. Wolf O'Donnell of the future Star Wolf team was also suspected to have had a hand in the involvement. Peppy was barely able to escape, but his friend James was not so lucky. Peppy returned home to Corneria and informed Pepper of the danger Andross posed to the Lylat System. He also told James' son Fox of his father's fate. He took Fox under his wing and guided him in his quest to become a pilot.

Years later, Andross's army began to gather strength, and war was imminent. General Pepper decided to re-form the Star Fox team, and set up a high budget around it. With new weapons, an automated robot, and James's Great Fox finally complete, Pepper recreated the team, with the now 18-year-old Fox McCloud as the new leader. With his dear friend Peppy Hare, Fox chose new members, including the skilled mechanic Slippy Toad and former gang member Falco Lombardi. Still feeling guilty about sending James to his doom, Pepper began to worry for Fox's future and decided to take the young McCloud's career into his own hands.

Starting at Corneria, the team fought through Andross's minions throughout the Lylat, making their way to their main base on Venom. Star Fox's service proved very valuable: since Corneria's defense forces did not have a tank corps, the Star Fox Team's Landmaster was the only vehicle that got to do the jobs on Macbeth and Titania. Slippy's Blue-Marine experimental battle submersible was the only available craft that descended to the depths on Aquas and discovered what Andross was up to. Peppy's expertise piloting advice and prior knowledge of Andross's forces was essential help, after he managed to escape from captivity at their hands. Falco was an aggressive fighter who helped knock out enemies while also always looking for shortcuts and alternate routes to get to the action quicker. As a member of the Star Fox Team, Slippy invented a wide variety of gadgets and vehicles including his "Bossometer" to detect the life force of Andross's powerful lieutenants, and his Blue Marine battle submersible allowed the Star Fox team to venture into the depths of the water world, Aquas.

After many vitreous battles, the mercenaries reached the enemy stronghold on the planet Venom, where they encountered the infamous Star Wolf and accumulated quite some time in dogfighting with them. Finally, the crew made it to Andross's base, where Fox single-handedly challenged Andross in single combat. After a pitched battle, Fox narrowly defeated the warlord Andross and the threat was vanquished.

The team returned to Corneria, where Pepper commended them and offered them positions in the Cornerian Army. Fox refused his offer, claiming they preferred working solo. They flew off, looking for jobs just as they had in the days of old, looking forward to a bright future.

The team flew many missions freelance during the years following the Cornerian-Venomian conflict. However, all was not well as time passed: After a close call on Titania that nearly involved Andross' revival, Falco left the team in search of a solo career. The Great Fox and the Arwings became very aged while ROB also suffered from lack of new parts and had trouble keeping himself together, and in dire need of repair. Peppy has retired from active flight duty but remains as mentor. Slippy has traded in his role as active pilot and starts to develop various weapons and gadgets for the Cornerian forces.

Eight years after the Lylat Wars, the team received a briefing from General Pepper of a crisis at Sauria: chunks of the planet had broken off and may pose a threat to the welfare of the Lylat System. Realizing their finances needed improvement, alongside their aged vehicles and weapons, Fox, Slippy and Peppy took the job and traveled to Sauria, known as the Dinosaur Planet. However, only Fox made contact with the planet while Peppy stayed behind to work on his maps and Slippy continued work on developments and giving Fox vital advice. But by the end of the game, Falco rejoins after saving Fox from being used as Andross's chew toy. In Adventures, Fox teams up with Tricky, the EarthWalker's crown prince. Later, after finding the fifth Krazoa Spirit, Fox parts ways with Tricky but not before saying that his mission would have been a failure without him. He then gives Tricky an official Star Fox member badge, declaring Tricky an honorary member. With the reinstatement of Falco and the addition of the mysterious young woman, A new telepathic member, Krystal, a new Star Fox team was born.

A year after the Saurian Crisis, Andross's nephew and former Star Wolf pilot Andrew Oikonny had gathered all that remained of Venom's forces and challenged the Cornerian forces in orbit near Fortuna. The more organized Cornerians had Oikonny on the run despite constant surprise guerilla attacks from stealth forces. General Pepper called in the team to cut through the ongoing space battle and finish off Oikonny. After cutting through and hampering the Venom Forces, the team chased Oikonny's flagship to the surface of Fortuna. Oikonny, after a bit of boasting, attempted to continue his attack, but was blasted by a new hostile: an Aparoid After the butterfly-like creature fired on the team, they fought back. They discovered and retrieved a core memory from the wreckage just before more of the same Aparoids appeared, poised to attack. Fox grabs the core memory and the team makes a break for it.

After returning the core memory to Corneria R&D, the team gets word from General Pepper and Beltino Toad (father of Slippy Toad) about the Aparoids, how one destroyed an entire Cornerian fleet, and how the core memory they recovered is partially damaged and not yielding a lot of information. Pepper then dispatches the team to Katina where their outpost has triggered a distress signal. After defeating numerous waves of Aparoids, a giant Aparoid appears and attacks. Fox defeats the creature, and goes to retrieve its core memory, which appears to be fully intact. Then the distress signal stops transmitting and Fox and Peppy's old nemesis Pigma Dengar shows up, revealing that he triggered the SOS signal. He then steals the Core Memory and flees.

Peppy tracks Pigma down to the Sargasso space station, a pirate and criminal safe haven controlled by Star Wolf leader Wolf O'Donnell. Wolf's minions attempt to take on the team with battleships and gateway spawners, with no success. Then Wolf arrives with Star Wolf's new recruit, Panther Caroso, and challenges Fox, Falco, and Krystal. After a dogfight, the six pilots call time-out and Fox demands Wolf turn over Pigma. But Wolf claims Pigma is not only no longer a part of Star Wolf, he's not even welcome in Wolf's territory. Ultimately, Panther, being infatuated with Krystal, points the team toward Fichina.

The team proceeds to Fichina only to find that Pigma tampered with the planet's climate control center and triggered a massive blizzard. Fox goes in first in a Landmaster to manually reactivate the climate control center so the Arwings can safely fly on the surface. But after resetting the system, the security sentry bots attack Fox, likely because of Pigma's tampering with the ID system. Falco arrives in time to save Fox from the bots and carry him out on his wing. The two proceed to attack the Aparoids that have infested the area while Slippy investigates the sentry bots. He then surmises that Aparoids can infect and control machines. Pigma arrives and shows that he's controlling them by infesting part of the center's engineering and triggers an overload of the climate control center's power reactors. Star Fox decides to let Pigma go for now and focus on saving the Climate Control center, the only thing keeping Fichina habitable. After destroying the infested machinery, the overload is halted.

After continuing to track Pigma, Star Fox corners him at an unfinished base located inside an asteroid belt. They find his ship abandoned, but find Pigma now fully infected by the Core memory and transformed into a living Gorgon-like creature. The Aparoids, through Pigma, warn the team to cease hostilities and surrender to them. But they attack and destroy Pigma, recovering the stolen Core Memory. They send it to Pepper and Beltino, who use it to discover the location of the Aparoids' home planet, and information on their leader, the Aparoid Queen. Before they can return, Krystal senses trouble on Sauria and the team rushes to investigate.

They arrive to find Sauria under severe attack from Aparoids. Krystal and Fox hit the surface of the planet while Falco and Slippy clear the skies. With the Aparoids defeated, Falco and Slippy return to the Great Fox. Fox and Krystal stay behind to check on their old friend Tricky, who is all grown up and now the king. Tricky offers to help, but Fox insists he stay to care for Sauria. He vows to do so, that way the two foxes could come back on their honeymoon, to which Fox is sent into a nervous panic.

General Pepper then contacts Star Fox and warns them that Corneria was attacked while they were handling Sauria's Aparoid crisis. Pepper's transmission is cut off and the crew races to Corneria City. The Aparoids jam their radar with powerful jammers, so Fox must destroy them first. Afterwards, Peppy transmits an Arwing for him to use. But the Aparoids destroy the ship and surround Fox. They are ready to blast him, but then Wolf shows up and rescues him. Wolf claims he still owes Fox for attacking his base. After clearing out the remaining Aparoids, ROB spots an unknown vessel quickly approaching. Peppy recognizes it as General Pepper's flagship. It has been taken over by the Aparoids, and Pepper is infested and controlling the machine. He orders Fox to destroy him, but Fox panics, inadvertently allowing the Aparoids to wrest control of the machine from Pepper. Once the ship is destroyed, it plummets to the surface. Peppy shows up in an Arwing and takes the brunt of the crash, saving the General and routing the Aparoids. Beltino and the research team discover the location of the homeworld, and discover that they have a tendency for apoptosis (cells designed to self destruct). Beltino hurries to create a program that will set off a chain reaction in the Aparoids once fired at the Queen. The Aparoids attack Corneria's orbital facility to try and cut them off from the homeworld and destroy the self-destruct program. But Star Fox, the remnants of the Conerian Fleet, and Star Wolf fight them off until the program is ready.

With the program ready, Star Fox rallies all available forces to invade the Aparoid Homeplanet. After proceeding through Corneria's Orbital Transmission Gate, they attack in full force. Once the base is secure, the team prepares to enter the planet and attack the Queen, but the Aparoids form an impenetrable barrier of energy, closing off the entrance. The Great Fox arrives, clearly being taken over by the Aparoids and damaged, and rams into the shield wall, shattering it. Fox resolves to press on into the planet. Behind them, the Great Fox is apparently crushed by the reforming wall and explodes. Star Fox and Star Wolf (who just barely made it through the hole in the shield) fight down to the Queen's lair. The Queen sends her strongest forces to stall them, but Wolf, Leon, and Panther volunteer to draw them off while the others proceed to the queen. They find the Queen, who attempts to null the team with voices from the memories of beings she's absorbed including Pigma, Pepper, Peppy, ROB, and even James McCloud. Fox and the team power though the voices and fire the program into the Queen. At first, it seems to be working, but then the Queen suppresses it, trying to escape and find a treatment. They chase after her and fully trigger the program. The chain reaction is successful and destroys the planet, the Queen, and any remaining Aparoids in the Lylat System, thus ending the Aparoid Wars.

Some time after the Aparoid invasion the Star Fox team once again went into decline as the whole team went their separate ways with only Fox and ROB staying on. Falco left to find the thrills which he had during the past events which mirrors what he did before the incident on Sauria. Slippy left because he fell in love. Peppy was appointed the new General of the Cornerian forces after Pepper became confined to his sickbed. Krystal disappears after being ashamed and heartbroken after Fox asked her to step down from the team. And the Great Fox, which was destroyed during the Aparoid invasion, has been replaced by a new model which is considerably weaker.

During the Anglar attack on the system, the Star Fox team rejoin in most storylines. One even includes Amanda, Slippy's fiancee, joining the team. It is also possible that, sometime after the events in Star Fox Command, Fox settled down with Krystal and had a son named Marcus. Inspired by his parents, he enrolled in the Cornerian Academy like his father, then soon started a new Star Fox team with Slippy's son and Peppy's granddaughter, with Falco serving a role similar to Peppy's as an adviser. However, it is unknown which ending is the true one, as Star Fox Command is currently the last game in the series chronologically.

James McCloud (ジェームズ・マクラウド, Jēmuzu Makuraudo) is the father of Fox McCloud and the founder of the Star Fox team. On a scouting mission to Venom, he is betrayed by Pigma Dengar and captured by the evil Andross. Though his true fate is ambiguous, he is presumed dead by most sources.

Peppy Hare (ペッピー・ヘア, Peppī Hea) is a member of the original Star Fox team, with leader James McCloud and wingmate Pigma Dengar. After Pigma's betrayal and James' capture, Peppy narrowly escapes to return to Corneria to inform Fox McCloud of his father's fate. Ever since then, Peppy serves as Fox's mentor and frequently gives Fox instructions and advice throughout the course of the games.

Pigma Dengar (ピグマ・デンガー, Piguma Dengā) is one of the original members of the Star Fox team, and after he betrays the team to help Andross, he joins Star Wolf. He is an exceptionally greedy pirate who does not care who he hurts so long as he ends up with a large paycheck in the end.

Fox McCloud (フォックス・マクラウド, Fokkusu Makuraudo) is the main character of the Star Fox series, and leader of the Star Fox team since his father, James McCloud, went missing after his capture by Andross. When he heard about his father's death, he dropped out of the Cornerian Air Force. At the start of the series, Fox was young and still learning under the training of Peppy Hare, his father's friend and wingmate. He has since become an expert pilot, and has repeatedly brought tranquility to the Lylat System. Fox is skilled in both air and ground based attacking, as seen in Star Fox: Assault.

Falco Lombardi (ファルコ・ランバルディ, Faruko Ranbarudi) is an expert pilot and a friend of Fox. Falco often joins and leaves the Star Fox team throughout the series of games and is seen as somewhat of a sidekick to Fox as they are very close. After Star Fox 64, Falco leaves the team, because of boredom and tiredness (though also because of the events of "Star Fox: Farewell, Beloved Falco", see below), but returns at the end of Star Fox Adventures. During the final battle against Andross in Star Fox Adventures, Falco comes to Fox's rescue. Leon Powalski of the Star Wolf team is considered to be his rival.

Slippy Toad (スリッピー・トード, Surippī Tōdo) is a longtime friend of Fox. Young, kind, and intelligent, he serves as the inventor of the team. Slippy's father, Beltino Toad, the Research Director for the Cornerian Defense Forces, invents and constructs many inventions for the team, including the Blue Marine and the Landmaster.

Krystal (クリスタル, Kurisutaru) is the sole survivor of her doomed home planet, Cerinia. She makes her first appearance in the series in Star Fox Adventures, where in search of answers to her planet's destruction, and the death of her parents, she comes across a distress signal from Dinosaur Planet. In Star Fox: Assault, it is shown that Fox allowed Krystal to become a full-time member of the Star Fox team. In Command, Krystal was forced off the team because Fox was concerned about her safety.

Katt Monroe is not an official member of Star Fox, but for the sake of her crush and history with Falco, she'll lend a blaster when it suits her. Evident in her Star Fox Command piloting biography, she secretly wants to join the team just to allow her to fly with him.

Prince Tricky is the prince of the EarthWalker tribe. He and Fox McCloud worked together to save Dinosaur Planet. Nearing the conclusion of the mission, Fox McCloud made him an honorary member of the Star Fox team, even placing the Star Fox badge on his head.

Amanda (アマンダ, Amanda) is Slippy's fiancée, who first appears in Star Fox Command. They meet two years prior to the events of Star Fox Command, and instantly fall in love. Amanda occasionally helps the team out in various missions, and pilots the Tadpole (タッドポール, Taddopōru), a ship armed with a multi-lock. She considers herself more of the leader in her relationship with Slippy, and always wants to be on his side during a fight. In two endings, she and Slippy settle down with children, one of whom joins Fox and Krystal's son, Marcus McCloud, as well as Peppy's granddaughter and Falco Lombardi himself in forming a new Star Fox team. In another ending, she herself joins the Star Fox team to be close to Slippy.

Lucy Hare (ルーシー・ヘア, Rūshī Hea) debuts in Star Fox Command, and is Peppy Hare's only daughter. Her mother, Vivian Hare (ビビアン・ヘア, Bibian Hea), died shortly after the Lylat Wars due to an illness. She is a bit of a tomboy, but is still very polite to her elders. Although pleased with her job as an astrophysics teacher on the planet Fichina, she does wish to become an expert pilot, like her father. It is said as well that she and Krystal are good friends. In some missions, she fights the Anglar attackers in her aircraft, the Sky Bunny (スカイバニー, Sukaibanī), armed with plasma lasers and a single lock. While she does not formally enter the team, one of the endings shows that Peppy's granddaughter (presumably her own daughter) becomes a member of the new Star Fox team, led by Marcus McCloud.

Marcus is the son of Fox McCloud and Krystal. Following the defeat of the Anglars, Fox and the rest of the Star Fox team vote to disband the squadron following, with Fox, immediately upon destroying the Anglars, departing the Great Fox forever and meeting Krystal again on Sauria, intending to re-build the relationship he ended due to Fox forcing Krystal to leave the team due to his fears for her safety. Krystal accepted Fox's advances, and they soon settled down to a quiet life. The rest of the Star Fox team went their own ways as well.

At some point, the Fox and Krystal had Marcus. In terms of appearance, Marcus physically appears much like his father, and inherits his strong sense of leadership, though inherits his mother's blue fur & eyes (and possibly her telepathy). Marcus was raised by his parents, becoming a fine young pup, and they enjoy a happy life together.

When he is old enough, Marcus enrolls in the Cornerian Academy, intending to follow in his father's footsteps. Marcus soon proves that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree during his training. His flying skill, a gift passed down through his family, is considered "unbelievable".

The main air craft of the Star Fox team, it has appeared in all Star Fox games to date. Throughout their appearances the Arwings have had considerable changes, though all versions have retained the basics such as simple lasers that can be upgraded and Smart Bombs.

The Walker is activated when the Arwing transforms and touches ground into it. This allows players to explore sections that would be too small for the Arwing or require slowed down exploration. The Walker is useful in areas such as the inside of the Androsa fortress because the tunnels would be too small for the fast flying Arwing, and the Walker can remain stationary when attacking the main reactor.

This white-and-blue fictional vehicle first appeared in Star Fox 64 as a tracked light tank in two of the game's missions and one of the game's multiplayer maps. It appeared again in Star Fox: Assault, although with wheels replacing the tank treads for this game only, the tanks were also modified somewhat and acted as anti-air craft tanks.

The Blue-Marine is a submarine vehicle, it has only been used once by Fox McCloud on the planet, Aquas. Instead of shooting bombs, the Blue Marine has an unlimited source of torpedoes. Strangely enough, this vehicle was never used again. It is unknown if it is even still in their arsenal. It is equipped with lasers like the Arwing, essentially performing the same way the Arwing would, only underwater.

The Gyrowing is a new slow-flying hovercraft ship that can deploy a tethered robot to gather item pickups such as medals during a mission and simultaneously collect various items on platforms using a robot on a tether, such as medals. The robot can also fire at enemies to defend itself.

The Star Fox team are elite commandos-for-hire, therefore they are not restricted to serving any one client, yet they will only work for commitments that serve justice. The team are known to have a long standing, even personal connection with the Cornerian Millitary.

Their payments are known to be very steep at times, evident by General Pepper acknowledging in Star Fox 64 after looking at the team's service invoice, "This is one steep bill! But it's worth it." or even an astounded "What?!". In Star Fox Adventures, it is only after Pepper notes to Fox that "your fee has been approved" that the team start to show immediate interest in their expedition on Dinosaur Planet. This is because they require a lot of money to make upgrades to their armoury and especially to pay off the 80 year loan James McCloud took out to purchase the original Great Fox.

The Star Fox team's successful, reputable work seems to have a positive, moral boosting effect on friendly Cornerian pilots, evident by the above quote. Krystal's change of employment to Star Wolf apparently made her unpopular with the Cornerian public as two dogs mock her behind her back, believing her to have betrayed the Star Fox team in the Star Fox Command's ending 4 Star Wolf Returns.

The original Star Fox team's basic motto has still remained a trademark motive throughout the team's years of service. Peppy Hare still continues to use and rephrase this quote. Fox chose to hold onto this phrase when denying the Apaorid Queen's immitation of his father.

In promotional materials for the original SNES game, the entire team had what appeared to be metallic-looking feet and ankles rather than boots. It was theorized that the Star Fox team had their legs amputated and replaced with futuristic prosthetics to prevent loss of consciousness while flying, as gravity tends to force blood away from the brain and toward the lower extremities. It is also likely that this was done not as a conscious artistic choice but rather a budget concern.

However, this is no longer considered a plausible trait, as character artwork made by third party developers such as Rare, changed this theory by incorporating organic limbs with large boots instead.