Falco Lombardi

Falco in Star Fox Command.
Falco Lombardi
Species	Bird
Eye color	Blue
Voiced by	Bill Johns (1997) Hisao Egawa (1997-2008, 2014; Japanese) Bem Cullum (2001-2002) Mike Madeoy (2005) Dex Manley (2008) Mark Lund (2011-Present)
Debut	Star Fox

Falco Lombardi is one of the primary supporting characters of the Star Fox series. He is known as the hotshot pilot from the Star Fox Team who likes to fly solo, but he always has Fox's back.

Background

Not much is known about Falco Lombardi's background, aside from his past contact with Katt Monroe. When the original Star Fox team was reduced to just Peppy Hare, Falco joined the reborn team led by Fox McCloud. In the Arwing, Falco was a better pilot than even Fox, making him quite cocky when dealing with the other members.As such, it was always a source of humiliation whenever he would have to get backup from Fox or his other teammates. To that extent, he also got on Slippy about his poor pilot skills. Regardless, Falco was a loyal member of the team.

Team Star Fox's first mission was against Andross's fleet. Falco inevitably led the team on a more dangerous route that eventually led the group to Andross's true form. Along the way, Falco met Leon Powalski, a cold-blooded assassin from Star Wolf that took to targetting Falco. He also met Katt Monroe again, although their past relationship is unknown. Together they worked their way to Planet Venom, where Fox went in alone to defeat Andross. Afterwards, the team reunited, they turned back to the Great Fox.

In the eight years that followed, Falco eventually left the team to pursue a solo career. However, when he heard Fox was on a mission on planet Sauria, he came to Fox's aid during the battle with Andross. Together, the two were able to defeat Andross. As a result, Falco rejoined the team. A year later, the Star Fox team was pitted against Andrew's forces and afterwards the Aparoids. In the battles, Falco fought only as a pilot and did not engage in any on foot missions. After teaming up with Star Wolf, the team was able to defeat the Aparoid Queen, but only at the cost of losing the Great Fox.

In Star Fox Command, Falco had left Star Fox and begun exploring the galaxy in search of a more thrilling lifestyle, though he couldn't find anything that compared to Star Fox. He willingly rejoined the team after a rendezvous at the Asteroid Belt, where he showed up just in time to save Fox from the Bio Brain. Depending on Slippy's location, Falco and Fox either went to Aquas to recruit their third member, or the three of them instead went straight to Katina in search of Krystal.

While Fox went off to bring Krystal back, Falco and Slippy were contacted by Bill Grey, in need of assistance protecting Katina, and the three of them fended away the Anglars. Falco and Slippy then met up with Fox and Krystal at Titania, where they recovered a device that would neutralize the toxicity of the Venom Sea, then went on to Venom to defeat the Emperor Anglar.

Possible Fates

• 

  The older Falco in Ending 2
  In Endings 1, Ending 3 and Ending 6, Falco eventually rejoins Star Fox.
• In Ending 2, Falco rejoins Star Fox for the final battle with the Anglar Emperor but it is disbanded afterwards. Years later, an elderly Falco is shown as a member of Marcus McCloud's new Team Star Fox.
• In two separate endings, Falco is prevented from joining the effort against the Anglars by Pigma, preventing him from taking any glory in defeating the Anglar Emperor. In Ending 8 he becomes depressive, but Katt convinces him to start his own team: he, Katt, and Dash Bowman form Star Falco.
• In Ending 9, Fox is waylaid by Pigma with Falco and the one to become depressed until Falco brings him out of it by persuading him to join G-Zero races.

Other Appearances

Other Games

• In Yoshi's Woolly World, a Yoshi design based on Falco's appearance could be unlocked by scanning an amiibo of Falco.
• In Super Mario Maker, Falco was among the costumes that Mario could transform into using the Mystery Mushroom. His costume could be unlocked by completing a 100-Mario Challenge on Expert or harder, or by scanning an amiibo of Falco.
• In the Nintendo Switch version of Starlink: Battle for Atlas, Falco (as seen in Zero) appeared with the rest of Star Fox as part of Fox's playable guest appearance. As in the games, he acted as one of Fox's wingmen in battle.

Super Smash Bros.

Falco appears as a playable fighter in most of the Super Smash Bros. games, appearing in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Falco's designs throughout these games are based on his appearances in Star Fox 64 (Melee), Command (Brawl and the 3DS/Wii U game) and Star Fox Zero (Ultimate), His moveset is a clone of Fox's with some variations, such as being known for faster movement and a moving Reflector.

In Melee, he is unlocked by playing 300 Vs. Mode matches or completing 100-Man Melee. In Brawl, he is unlocked by completing 50 Vs. Mode matches, clearing the 100-Man Brawl or by having him join the party in "The Subspace Emissary". In the 3DS Smash, he is unlocked by playing 20 Vs. Matches or by clearing Classic Mode without the use of continues, while in the Wii U version he can be unlocked by playing 10 Vs. Matches or by clearing Classic Mode with any difficulty. In Ultimate, he can be unlocked through the game's variable-based system for unlocking characters or by awakening him within Adventure Mode.

Trophies/Stickers/Spirits

Throughout the series, Falco has also been represented by three unlockable trophies in Melee, four trophies (one being for his Final Smash and two for his appearances in Assault and Command) and four stickers (for each appearance from 64 on) in Brawl, two trophies in the 3DS/Wii U game, two extra trophies (of his Final Smash and his Assault appearance) in the Wii U game and a Fighter Spirit in Ultimate.

Brawl: The Subspace Emissary

In Brawl's Adventure Mode, "The Subspace Emissary", Falco first appeared to help Fox fight off a giant shadow clone of Diddy Kong in the swamp. As he entered, Falco destroyed Bowser's Dark Cannon and caused him to retreat. After defeating the giant shadow Diddy Kong, they restored the real Diddy Kong, who then literally dragged Falco into helping him search for Donkey Kong in the same way he had done to Fox earlier. After spotting Donkey Kong being transported to the Island of the Ancients aboard a Smash Skiff, Falco gave Diddy Kong a lift there in his Arwing, and then he left to join in on the air battle with the Halberd. He eventually ejected from his ship to participate in the battle with the Duon. Afterwards, he became part of the main party for the final battles against Tabuu.

Ultimate: Adventure and Classic Modes

In the Adventure Mode of Ultimate, "World of Light", Falco appeared during the opening cutscene, where he was among the forces that had assembled to confront Galeem and his Master Hand army. Once Galeem unleashed his beams of light upon them, Falco was seen trying to evade them from within his Arwing. However, his Arwing was still overtaken by one of the beams, and he fell under Galeem's control. He could later be found on a planet in the outer space portion of the Light Realm. By defeating him in battle, he would be awakened and unlocked for that mode.

Falco's Classic Mode route was called "Soar Above the Darkness", It followed the theme of pitting Falco against opponents who were dark versions of other characters (such as Dark Samus or Dark Pit) and characters in costumes based on their dark versions (such as Link in his Dark Link costume). The last pre-boss battle was against a large Mr. Game & Watch, and the boss faced in this route was Crazy Hand (with Master Hand on higher difficulties).

Other Media

• Falco appeared with the rest of the Star Fox team in the 1992 Star Fox comic adaptation.
• He also appeared in the 1997 Star Fox 64 manga adaptation.
• Falco appeared in the 2002 Star Fox manga (which serves as a prelude to Dinosaur Planet). The 2002 manga showed Falco leaving the Star Fox team four years prior to Dinosaur Planet.

Trivia

• His name is a simple play on the word 'falcon', a type of bird. 'Lombardi' is a common Italian surname.
• He was intended to be a pheasant, despite some official sources referring to him as his namesake bird, the falcon. The confusion is referenced in the Palutena's Guidance conversation for Falco in the Super Smash Bros. games, wherein Palutena says that Captain Falcon already has the "falcon motif" and that Falco looks more like a pheasant to her.
• Falco apparently knows both Katt and Leon from the past, although to what extent is never established beyond the backstory with Katt depicted in the manga.