Captain Falcon
- For fighter info, see Captain Falcon (SSB), Captain Falcon (SSBM), and Captain Falcon (SSBB).
| Captain Falcon | |
|---|---|
 Captain Falcon's artwork from F-Zero GX | |
| Universe | F-Zero |
| Debut | F-Zero (1990) |
| Smash Bros. appearances | SSB Melee Brawl SSB4 Ultimate |
| Console/platform of origin | Super Nintendo Entertainment System |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Male |
| Place of origin | Port Town |
| Created by | Shigeru Miyamoto, Takaya Imamura |
| Voice actor | Video games Ryô Horikawa TV Series David Wills (2004-2005) |
| Japanese voice actor | Video games Ryô Horikawa Anime Hideyuki Tanaka (2003-2004) |
Captain Falcon (キャプテン・ファルコン, Kyaputen Farukon), whose full name is "Douglas Jay Falcon", is the main playable racer from the F-Zero series of futuristic Nintendo racing games, and is the iconic "mascot" of the franchise. He has featured as a playable character in Super Smash Bros., Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. His voice actor in all three games is Ryo Horikawa.
Character description
Nintendo originally meant Captain Falcon to be the flagship character of the then new Super Nintendo Entertainment System. However, this never panned out, and Captain Falcon was rarely seen in Nintendo media.
The first F-Zero game was released in 1990 for the Super Famicom in Japan and its American counterpart SNES, and it introduced the first character design of Captain Falcon along with the other three F-Zero-series characters that appeared in the game as racing pilots, along with their respective futuristic racing machines such as Captain Falcon's Blue Falcon. The manual to the game featured an eight-page comic featuring these characters, with the comic's story revolving around one of Falcon's trademark bounty-hunting missions in his Falcon Flyer transport ship. Captain Falcon's design and backstory would be revised in future iterations of the F-Zero series; his design in F-Zero X for Nintendo 64 would be used for his appearances as a playable fighter in 1999's Super Smash Bros. and 2001's Super Smash Bros. Melee, and his most recent "main" design is in F-Zero GX for GameCube. In all these appearances, Captain Falcon and his machine are touted as the most balanced and easy-to-play-with machine for that game, so players of a new F-Zero game almost always play as Captain Falcon first. He is also the main game character.
Captain Falcon is described as "an accomplished F-Zero pilot, a renowned and talented bounty hunter", and is also an eccentric man in his late thirties (36 in F-Zero X and Melee, 37 in F-Zero GX). His "Captain" title is rumored to originate from his being perhaps an officer in the Internova Police Force in the past. He is a resident of Earth, coming from the city of Port Town. His bounty hunting exploits have yielded him enough of a reputation that he has gained many enemies across the galaxy; to avoid the constant danger from his adversaries, when he's not racing or bounty-hunting he lives in seclusion in his personal island chain off the coast of Port Town. His need to shield himself from outsiders borders on paranoia (albeit not necessarily unwarranted), because whenever he wins a race he has to dash home to his islands with his award money before others can get him. Living comfortably in solitude in his islands, Captain Falcon practices his F-Zero racing with a separate track built on each one of his islands.
His outfit consists of blue, form-fitting racing suit and a red helmet with an opaque visor as well as a single pauldron on his right shoulder and a scarf around his neck. He always carries a sidearm in a holster on his right hip (although he has only been shown to use it once). When Captain Falcon removes his helmet, it is obvious that he has a scar above his left eye. His hair color is usually dark brown, but was depicted as a lighter brown in the anime cartoon F-Zero GP Legend. He has brown eyes in the anime, but it is not so obvious what color his eyes are in the video games.
The F-Zero series' chronology has many vague elements up for debate, but it is stated by F-Zero X that Captain Falcon was involved in a huge accident that caused the suspension of the F-Zero Grand Prix; while he was hospitalized, his DNA was stolen and used by someone else to create his evil clone Blood Falcon, who races against him in hopes of taking him out. The story mode of F-Zero GX shows Captain Falcon winning several races, then saving fellow pilot Jody Summer. He ends up in a heroic role when he races against and defeats the super villain Black Shadow, then a superior villain named Deathborn, and he goes on to even defeat the Creators of the F-Zero world.
The F-Zero anime spinoff F-Zero GP Legend casts Captain Falcon in a main role in an alternate-reality take on the franchise, where he is the best friend and rival to a pilot named Rick Wheeler. He is a reluctant hero who seems to be no longer very active in bounty hunting and racing, instead content in running a small shop in Mute City, but he is given as his main goal the task of capturing Black Shadow, and his life is complicated by the appearance of his clone, Blood Falcon. In the last episode of the show, Falcon actually does a "Falcon Punch" on Black Shadow, but it looks nothing like the Smash Bros. version. He dies afterward and is replaced by Rick Wheeler. Only 15 episodes were dubbed for American fans before it was canceled. Falcon's English voice was provided by David Wills and his Japanese voice by Hideyuki Tanaka (who is not the same as the voice behind Falcon in his appearance in the first two Smash Bros. games, Ryo Horikawa). Soon after F-Zero GP Legend was produced, a new F-Zero installment of the same name based on the anime was released for the Game Boy Advance.
Captain Falcon and/or his material possessions have appeared in media outside the F-Zero series. His Blue Falcon ship cameos in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars as a pair of models alongside one model of rival ship Fire Stingray belonging to Samurai Goroh, his visor is one of the collectible treasures in Kirby Superstar's "Great Cave Offensive" subgame, his boots appear to be worn by Falco Lombardi in one of the various endings in Star Fox Command for DS, and most recently, a kart based on Blue Falcon appears in Mario Kart Wii. More notably, however, is that Captain Falcon appears as a near-primary playable character in the Super Smash Bros. series, namely as an unlockable character in SSB and as a default character in SSBM. His appearance is modeled off his F-Zero X incarnation. He also appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl., with his design being a darker version of his F-Zero GX incarnation, with his scarf being derived from F-Zero GP Legend. The Super Smash Bros. series also introduced the famous "falcon punch".
In Super Smash Bros.
As a playable character
- Main article: Captain Falcon (SSB)
Captain Falcon has appeared in the Smash Bros. series from the start, but as his incarnation from F-Zero X for N64. He is an unlockable fighter, and his unlocking condition is for the player to complete the One-Player mode within 20 minutes, and defeat him in a match to earn him. He does not make an appearance in the game's One-Player mode. His entrance into a battle is to zoom in on the Blue Falcon and park for him to jump out, and the machine zooms into the background to vanish. One of his alternate costumes is colored to resemble Blood Falcon.
Captain Falcon's special B-moves are his Falcon Punch as his B-move, a slow but powerful charge-up punch attack; his up-B is his Falcon Dive, where he jumps up into the air as his first jump, and if he comes in contact with a target he'll grab it, attack with an explosion of sorts, and can use the Falcon Dive again; and his down-B Falcon Kick, a maneuver where he shoots downward from midair or forward on the ground with a flaming kick extended.
Captain Falcon is 4th on the SSB Tier list for powerful and very swift fighting ability. His dash is the fastest in the game, and his combo ability and grabbing ability are both nearly as good. He is heavy and thus harder to KO, his aerial attacks feature low lag, his Up-B is usefully deceptive, his short hop is good, and he can spike. He lacks a quick KO move, though, and also lacks any projectile, and he has a bad recovery and is easily comboed due to his large size. For this he must be able to short hop extremely well. But Captain Falcon in this game is famous for his versatility as both an offensive character and a counter-attacking character.
In Super Smash Bros. Melee
As a playable character
- Main article: Captain Falcon (SSBM)
Captain Falcon makes a return appearance in the sequel, still in his incarnation from F-Zero X. This time, he is a default fighter, and as before, one of his alternate costumes is Blood Falcon in both coloration and the logo on his suit's back. His new Forward-B move is the Raptor Boost, a rushing uppercut attack.
Captain Falcon ranks 6th on the Smash Back Room tier list. Captain Falcon remains the most maneuverable character in the game, with the fastest running speed which lends itself to a fast and long dash-dance as well as a short hop that can cover great distances, a high falling speed, and the longest moonwalk. This complements his offenses well, particularly his aerial offenses: his fair, called the Knee Smash, is a powerful, low-trajectory finisher, and his aerial attacks in general are low-lag and good at comboing in tandem with his throws. Despite this strong aerial moveset, Falcon's ground attacks are generally slow and lack range, which is exacerbated by his lack of projectiles. Captain Falcon is a fastfaller which lends him the game's highest resistance to attacks of vertical trajectory, making him resistant to upward KO's but vulnerable to combos. Since his Up-B can not attack targets who may be hanging on a ledge he can be easily edge-guarded.
In Single-player
Captain Falcon appears in Stage 8 of the Adventure mode as the opponent in the second half, as a straight-up duel on the Mute City stage. His Blue Falcon machine appears in both segments of the stage racing with all 29 of the other F-Zero machines. Captain Falcon is also one of the most extensively used characters in the Event matches, appearing in as many separate events as Mario:
- Event 5: Spare Change: You play as Ness and your opponent is Captain Falcon on the Onett stage; it is a standard Coin match with unlimited stock and a time limit of 1:20.
- Event 12: Seconds, Anyone?: Your character is pit against Captain Falcon on the Mute City stage, with both combatants at one stock each, at 100% damage, and with seven seconds on the timer.
- Event 17: Bounty Hunters: In this original scenario, you play as Samus teamed up with Captain Falcon (with Friendly Fire turned off), and your shared opponent is Bowser on the Jungle Japes stage. With everyone receiving one stock and 2:00 as the time limit, your aim is to be the one to KO Bowser; you fail if Falcon delivers the finishing blow.
- Event 20: All-Star Match 2: Captain Falcon is the fourth opponent you must fight in this series of staged battles. Your character battles him on the Mute City stage (as always), and your character has 2 stock while Falcon has 1. With a timer of four minutes, you must defeat him and the other four characters one-by-one with the overall time and life you have: Samus, Link, and Zelda/Sheik beforehand, and Fox afterwards.
- Event 33: Lethal Marathon: Probably the most unique scenario in the Smash Bros. franchise, this places you as Captain Falcon on the F-Zero Grand Prix racetrack that you normally must cross in stage 8 of the Adventure mode each time you play, but with two important twists: you only have 45 seconds, and everything is sped up to occur twice as fast: the speed of the F-Zero machines, the speed of Falcon's actions, the speed of the timer, and so on. Crossing the finish line on foot may seem more than twice as hard as doing it in the normal Adventure mode.
- Event 36: Space Travelers: An event similar to the All-Star Matches: your character, Ness, must battle five opponents in succession: First Samus, then Kirby, and then Fox on the Fourside stage, and then Captain Falcon and then Falco on the Battlefield stage. All characters involved have one stock each, and unlimited time.
- Event 43: Birds of Prey: This event pits you as Fox against a team of Captain Falcon and Falco (friendly fire turned off) on the Big Blue stage, with all three characters receiving two stock each and unlimited time.
Trophies
By tradition, Captain Falcon, as a playable character, is featured on his personal 3 trophies. His normal trophy is acquired by beating the Classic mode with Captain Falcon on any difficulty, and his Smash Red and Smash Blue trophies are acquired the same way by beating the Adventure and All-Star modes, respectively. Note that his normal trophy depicts both Falcon and his vehicle, the Blue Falcon, and that his Smash Red trophy depicts his Blood Falcon alternate costume.
Captain Falcon's Classic mode trophy says:
- Captain Falcon
- Usually a relentless bounty hunter, Captain Falcon shifts gears to become a race pilot once the F-Zero Grand Prix begins. His beloved racer, the Blue Falcon, can exceed the speed of sound, and he knows how to drive it; he'll go down as one of the all-time greats. Now 36 years old, Captain Falcon wears his F-Zero X visor. (F-Zero, 8/91)
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl
As a playable character
- Main article: Captain Falcon (SSBB)
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, he has reverted back to secret character status and has since lost his title of fastest character to Sonic. His moves are largely unchanged from the previous games, except he can do a reverse Falcon Punch. His Final Smash is his Blue Falcon, which he calls for then rams into opponents. His home stages are Port Town Aero Dive and Big Blue.
Falcon's position has fallen from one of the highest to one of the lowest in the tier list in Brawl. He ranks 35 on the current Brawl tier list because his reduced priority and the physics changes have severely hindered his efficiency, and his Knee aerial (F-air) is now harder to sweetspot.
Trophy Info
A skilled F-Zero pilot and resourceful bounty hunter. All that's known of his past is that he hails from Port Town. He's won fame and fortune outracing his opponents in his beloved Blue Falcon. His incredible athleticism and never-say-die attitude makes him the pilot to turn to in times of trouble.
- F-Zero (1991)
- F-Zero X (1998)
- F-Zero GX (2003)
Trivia
- It is unknown how Captain Falcon gained his moves, as he was only designed as a racer. His moves are mostly related to falcons, relating to his name. Similar fighting tactics are seen in the comic that came in the F-ZERO instruction manual (SNES).
- On F-Zero for SNES, the person in the front car depicted on the cover is Captain Falcon.
- Captain Falcon has a gun in his holster, but he never uses it. This is similar to Ganondorf and his sword, Sheik and her knife, and Snake and his gun.
- Captain Falcon, as well as his signature Falcon Punch and Falcon Kick from the Super Smash Bros. games, has become a meme of sorts on the internet that depicts Captain Falcon in a manner not unlike the famous Chuck Norris jokes, as a being whose power is god-like and unrivaled.
- The F-Zero series, the Yoshi series, and the Metroid series are the only three series to have appeared in all 3 Smash Brothers games with no more than one playable character (though Yoshi can be considered a part of the Mario franchise).
- For some reasons, Captain Falcon has always had the exact same weight as Link in each of the Super Smash Bros. games.
- Unlike most characters in the Smash Series, whose popularity gained them a position as a fighter, Captain Falcon has gained popularity as a result of being a Fighter. In fact, his TV series even has him use the Falcon Punch, a move that originated in SSB. However, this does not seem to be the case with Ness, a character that similarly comes from an obscure series, as his series has not gained much popularity since SSB.
- Captain Falcon is ranked very high in the SSB and SSBM tier list but in Brawl he got severely nerfed and is ranked 3rd from bottom in Brawl's tier list.
- Most think that Captain Falcon's nerf from Brawl is worse then Kirby's nerf in Melee.
External Links
 F-Zero universe
| |
|---|---|
| Fighter | Captain Falcon (SSB · SSBM · SSBB · SSB4 · SSBU) |
| Assist Trophy | Samurai Goroh |
| Stages | Mute City · Big Blue · Port Town Aero Dive · Mute City SNES F-Zero Grand Prix (Adventure Mode) |
| Vehicles | F-Zero Racers (Blue Falcon) · Falcon Flyer |
| Trophies, Stickers and Spirits | Trophies (SSBM · SSBB · SSB4) · Stickers · Spirits |
| Music | Brawl · SSB4 · Ultimate |
| Masterpiece | F-Zero |
