F-Zero/YMMV

The Franchise in general

• Angst? What Angst?: For a guy whose homeworld is in shambles due to an interplanetary war that cost him his parents and his left eye and forced him to carry the burdens of the Zou on his back, Leon seems to be relatively unfazed, taking it all in stride. No Survivor Guilt, no nothing.
• Awesome Music:
  • Rainbow Road, F-Zero X-style. Hear it to believe it.
  • The song that plays at the climax of the anime. Why it wasn't on here before? Moreover, why wasn't it in Brawl?
  • Big Blue. Super Smash Bros. Melee, in particular, has an orchestral album which has a medley containing Big Blue. The result is just breathtaking.
  • The first question fans will ask is why wasn't Captain Falcon's GX theme included in Brawl. We honestly don't know why they skipped out on it either.
  • EEE-YOOOOOOH! That is all.
  • Dr. Stewart's theme song from GX. Pure trance gold.
  • HE IS THE HERO! LEADER OF THE TEAM! DARK GREEN AND SILVER! IT'S THE SUBTLETY!
  • Leon's theme in GX is as hard rock as you can get. Keep rockin', baby!
  • Super Arrow's GX theme. It'll make you wanna save the world...!
  • Blood Falcon's theme song from GX. Arguably one of the best songs in the game.
  • Lift what you lift what you lift what you load!
  • TOO FAST! YOU LOSE, I WIN!
  • Lily's theme.
  • Phoenix's theme song is one of the best in the game. Period.
  • GX's OST has quite a number of great tracks: ZEN (Aeropolis), Cover of Big Blue's Theme, and two songs that made it into Super Smash Bros. Brawl: Shotgun Kiss and Planet Colors.
  • Let's just go ahead and say the whole series has awesome music, because it does.
• Badass Decay: Black Shadow gets hit with this stick hard in GX. The moment Deathborn appears on the scene, Black Shadow goes from "imposing, nefarious villain" to "shrewd, sniveling wimp". Justified, in that it's Deathborn. He's back on top of his game in the anime, though.
• Big Lipped Alligator Moment: Several of the bonus movies in GX count as this. Dr. Stewart's clip, in particular, is what happens when a bunch of developers get together after a shroom rave.
• Complete Monster: The games were setting up Black Shadow to be one, but then came Deathborn. We rest our case.

Deathborn (to his fans): "You're all going to die. Say goodbye to your loved ones."

• • It's implied that his soul was ripped out of his body and then corrupted due to the tinkering of The Creators, who might actually outdo Deathborn in terms of sheer malevolence.
  • Black Shadow is back to being one in the anime.
• Crazy Awesome: Zoda. He is riding around in a modified missile. We repeat, he is riding around in a modified missile. Once, when the Death Anchor flipped over, two racers died.
  • He's beaten handily by Spade, though. His Magic Seagull has no doors. Sure, The Skull's Sonic Phantom has no steering wheel, but at least he can actually escape from his vehicle. It's like Spade is giving the entire concept of safe driving a middle finger and then shouting, "Screw the Rules, I Have Supernatural Powers"
• Ear Worm:
  • Jack Levin's theme song from GX. I know where it's at!
  • Mrs. Arrow's theme song in GX. Beware of cavities.
  • Digi-Boy's theme song. It WILL get into your head, and it WILL stay there.
  • Princia's theme song.
• Ensemble Darkhorse: Everybody loves the AX racers, who haven't appeared since the days of GX/AX.
  • Of the above group, Phoenix, Princia, and Lily seem to get the most attention.
  • Samurai Goroh must be one, considering the treatment he received in the anime, as well as the fact that he was the only character outside of Captain Falcon to get some sort of non-trophy representation in Super Smash Bros. Brawl (he was an Assist Trophy).
  • Let's face it, every racer is one of these. Everyone has their own personal favorite.
• Epileptic Trees: Is Deathborn Jay Gonso Snarky, the voodoo priest that allegedly bestowed Black Shadow with immortality and the ability to reincarnate?
  • Although its chance of occurring is low, one well-thought out theory suggests that Phoenix and QQQ are the villains Phoenix was sent to capture due to QQQ being unable to return them to the future.
• Even Better Sequel: X was the point in the series where everything took off. GX ramped this up even more: the speed was cranked up to insane levels and the previously one-dimensional characters were fleshed-out. Oh, and it was a very polished, very fun game to play. There's a reason that critics lauded it as one of the best racers of its time.
• Evil Is Cool: Averted with Zoda. He has five fans, which is amazing in itself. Zoda himself is shocked by these new developments.

Zoda: "I have fans? Hey, raise your hand if you're my fan. 1... 2... 3... 4... 5... I have five fans!"

• • Some of the other villains (Blood Falcon, Black Shadow, Deathborn) possibly play this trope straighter.
• Evil Is Sexy: Blood Falcon.
  • From the anime, Miss Killer.
• Fan Nickname: "Batman from Hell" for Black Shadow in some circles.
  • Also, Black Batman.
• Fanon:
  • Silver Neelson's first name being Mortimer.
  • Likewise with Phoenix. His last name is not Lestrade.
• Faux Symbolism: The two numbers that make up Blood Falcon's pilot number (2 and 5) look like the reflection of one another. When added together, you get 7, Captain Falcon's number.
• Foe Yay: Zoda and the Arrows, in spades. Allegedly, Zoda had the hots for Mrs. Arrow, wanting to make her his #2 in his Evil Empire. Luckily, she turned him down. Thank GOD.
  • From the anime, there's Ryu/Rick. He has so much of this with both Zoda and Miss Killer. So much. To twist the knife further, it's later revealed that Miss Killer's true identity is that of Misaki Haruka: his girlfriend from the past who was also put into cold sleep.
• Fountain of Memes: Captain Falcon. All his campy lines are memes. YESZ! Show me ya MOVES! Falcon PAWNCH!
• Fridge Brilliance: Ryu Suzaku, who took so much heat for not being Captain Falcon inherits the title at the end of the anime.
  • Also, the incredibly twitchy controls of GX suddenly become justified when you remember that these are supersonic rocket-powered hover-sleds: no traction, tons of balance issues, extremely high speeds. GX cars handle the way such vehicles would actually handle! (Doesn't make the game any less hard, though.)
• Fridge Horror: If the Great Star really is EAD's "brother" scrapped and recycled as a racing machine, then F-Zero just took Luigi's status as a Butt Monkey/The Chew Toy to freakishly terrible new heights. Damn... even in a different series, Luigi gets no respect.
• Fridge Logic: His vow in the games to kill Captain Falcon in the GP notwithstanding, if Black Shadow has Captain Falcon's DNA in the form of nearly-identical clone Blood Falcon (in both the games and the anime), why doesn't he just find out who Falcon is under the mask?
  • Perhaps because Falcon's secret identity is, you know... a secret? Like he's not a famous billionaire playboy and he wouldn't look any more recognizable to you than a random homeless person? You could unmask Falcon's clone and you wouldn't have any idea of who he was. Or, if you don't like that explanation, perhaps some terrible facial scarring on CF prevents his clone from looking exactly like him. Who cares?
  • How are the racers able to withstand speeds surpassing 1000km/h?
    • Some kind of acceleration compensation, one assumes. Fortunately there's enough antigravity-type tech apparent in the series that such a thing isn't all that farfetched...
  • If the White Cat was still inside the building when it exploded, how could Jody participate in the F-Zero GP two chapters later?
    • The same could be asked about Samurai Goroh, whose machine exploded earlier that day (in Chapter 2).
      • They all had spare machines. That's the same reason you can smash them in one race in the Grand Prix and they're back by the next race. Hell, your retries in the Grand Prix are even referred to as spare machines.
• Funny Moments: Episode 21 of the anime digresses into one big racing equivalent of a Cat Fight, complete with No Fair Cheating in the form of Lisa calling for her crew's Humongous Mecha and Lucy performing a Macross Missile Massacre. The best example comes from Jody, who tricks out her White Cat with a positron cannon and nonchalantly opens fire on the other female racers. Even Black Shadow is at a loss of words.
  • Some of the bonus endings in GX qualify.
  • The Bullshit Battles: F-Zero, which is pretty much a Let's Play of F-Zero X. Unfortunately, J-man isn't all that great and only seems to win when Azura overshoots. As time goes on, J-man creeps closer and closer to the brink of madness. By the time they reach Fire Field, he's lost it. He starts producing high-pitched whines and screams as he speaks of "dying a horrible death" and drops Cluster F Bombs. Eventually, he plummets to a fiery death below. Meanwhile, Azura is eating this up and shouts, "Who's the Captain now, bitch?!" Parodied here.
  • The other Let's Play, as described on the main page. Most notably, The Tale of Sephiroth Goku the Stampede has its own page at this very wiki.
• Game Breaker: Every 3D title has some sort of exploit that lets you take a huge advantage, such as grinding the wall for massive bursts of speed in X and the notorious snaking technique in GX.
  • Also, Space flying. There's a reason sites like Mr. Fixit Online have ladders for both Snakers, Flyers, AND non-Snakers.
  • In GX, putting together a custom machine with the lightest parts in the game creates a racer with god-like handling. Conversely, building together the heaviest parts in the game creates an unsteerable brick.
    • An unsteerable brick that goes faster than any other machine in the game, generally. You can use the drift turns and spin turns for most corners, but you may have to apply the brakes on the tighter ones.
• Gameplay Derailment: See directly above. World-record runs of 3D F-Zero games look NOTHING like how a decent player would play.
• Good Bad Bugs: The aforementioned glitches.
  • Occasionally, the randomly generated tracks in the X cup will produce a track that the AI racers can't react to; causing most of them to careen off the edge.
• Heartwarming Moments: Several in the anime, but most notably the Grand Finale, where Rick/Ryu finally pops the question to Misaki.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • In the original F-Zero, Dr. Stewart is portrayed as something of a Handsome Lech. In the dub of the anime, Dr. Stewart is voiced by Dan Green. Keep in mind a particular set of Hilarious Outtakes from Samurai Deeper Kyo.

Kyo: "That's what I'm all about: gettin' f***ed."

• • Super Arrow's bonus movie is entitled "Magnificent Guitar Hero Super Arrow!" and this was years before Guitar Hero.
  • Look at QQQ, who debuted in 2003. Now compare him to WALL-E (2008).
• Iron Woobie:
  • In X, Gazelle deserved a bone-crushing hug (don't worry about hurting him; he's a cyborg, remember?). After being reformatted as a cyborg, his fiancée was horrified by his new appearance. Devastated, Gazelle became a (tragic deconstruction of a) Blood Knight and turned his attention to F-Zero, as it was the only thing left in life that he had to live for. He came dangerously close to playing Cybernetics Eat Your Soul straight. By the time of GX, however, he seems to have gotten out of his funk, with a new girlfriend and a more positive outlook on life. Heck, he even seems to enjoy his new body!

Mr. Zero: "Don't you miss having a human form?" Mighty Gazelle: "Not at all. You have no idea how good a coat of oil feels or a good jolt of electricity!"

• • Leon. This guy will never lament his lot in life, preferring to stay optimistic. He also happens to be extremely selfless, perhaps moreso than any other character.

Leon (on the key to his victory): "Racing for someone other than myself."

• Jerkass Woobie: Zoda in the anime. When it turns out that you're not only an Unwitting Pawn to Black Shadow, but to fate itself, you do become a bit more sympathetic.
• Love to Hate: Between his thunderstorm of cheese, him being so unapologetically evil, and the vocal stylings of Norio Wakamoto, Black Shadow is this. As such, he was always the first choice for this series in "Who do you want to see in Brawl?" lists.
• Magnificent Bastard: Deathborn. Black Shadow qualifies in the anime.
• Memetic Badass: "FALCON PUNCH!"
  • That's only really in Super Smash Bros., though.
    • It nearly came full circle when he used it in GP Legend.
    • Falcon Punch may very well be one of his canon abilities, since it's actually mentioned in F-Zero GX story mode's closing credits song.
    • In the words of the ending song of GX; "Thank Heaven he's on the right side or else there'd be nowhere to hide."
• Memetic Molester: Captain Falcon. Try not to think about it too hard. Most likely stems from his Falcon Dive special in Super Smash Bros.

"YESZ!"

• • Variation with Mr. Zero. He's seen as a Memetic Molester Ephebophile due to his interviews with Princia Ramode and Lily Flyer, neither of whom are legal.

Mr. Zero: "You've got a fantastic body [Princia]. How do you keep it so beautiful?" Mr. Zero: "What do you [Lily] consider to be your best features?" Mr. Zero: "What kind of guys do you like [Lily]?"

• Memetic Mutation: Aside from all the Falcon-related examples hailing from Super Smash Bros., Ryu/Rick's yelling of Captain Falcon's name during Falcon's Heroic Sacrifice in the Grand Finale has been misheard as "CAPTAIN HOTDOG!", sometimes on purpose. In the same vein, there's "You suck," a Mondegreen of Ryu Suzaku.
  • And of course, the anime actually giving Falcon his trademark move. From the same video, Black Shadow's "I will not die, NOR WILL MY DREAM!!!" (provided in Japanese by Norio Wakamoto, of course).
  • Most of the other James' words of wisdom (i.e. "Don't ever give up, my son...") gets tacked onto James McCloud. Unlike Leon (see below), it works.
  • Speaking of Leon, expect Wolf and Leon's cheesy one-liners from Star Fox 64 to be grouped with this guy (i.e. "I am the great Leon!").
• Memetic Sex God: Again, Captain Falcon.
  • Most of the women get this kind of clamor, including anime-only characters such as Lisa Brilliant. Of special note are Princia Ramode and Lily Flyer, who are minors.
• Moment of Awesome: A bevy of them pop up in the anime, and you can create several of your own in the games.
  • Most notably in the anime is when Captain Falcon jumps straight out of his Blue Falcon and pulls the famous Falcon Punch on Black Shadow, doing so in a manner that causes his helmet to come off, revealing his whole face. The move causes an explosion so huge it can be seen on the lip of the galaxy from far away. This also happens to be Captain Falcon's Heroic Sacrifice/Dying Moment of Awesome.
• Moral Event Horizon: Black Shadow crosses this threshold in the anime. His screwing with and (temporarily) offing of Miss Killer is sadistic and twisted considering how devoted she was to him.
• Most Annoying Sound: Failing a Nitro Boost start in GP Legend and Climax. "3, 2, 1, BOOST FIRE!!"
• Narm: Usually of the So Bad It's Good variety.
  • This video shows a good example. As the description puts it, "Black Shadow is dancing around like a moron." Hilarious!
• Needs More Love: GX is still heralded as one of the greatest racers of its decade, but this series is highly unappreciated. For the record, the last new F-Zero was 2004's Climax.
  • Nintendo doesn't even acknowledge the GBA games as part of the series any more, stating that F-Zero GX was the last F-Zero' game.
  • Lostalgia at its finest. ;_;
    • Even Maximum Velocity? The other two were based on the Canon Dis Continuity anime, but Maximum Velocity wasn't.
    • Maximum Velocity was released in 2001, before GX (or even Melee, for that matter).
  • The possibility of a Wii U title has been brought up by Shigeru Miyamoto, though time will tell if that's followed up on.
• Nightmare Fuel: The Skull. He's a little bit creepy.
• Nightmare Suppressant: Zoda. He's one insane SOB, but his voice in GX is equal parts Helium Speech and Narm Charm.
  • Used intentionally for Black Shadow's GX video, showing Hilarious Outtakes from the prologue of Story Mode. Whether or not this means that the characters of F-Zero are Animated Actors is up to you.
• Replacement Scrappy: Ryu Suzaku/Rick Wheeler. On the basis of not being Captain Falcon. Later mitigated (for most) by Character Development, a string of CMOAs, and eventually becoming Captain Falcon himself.
• Robo Ship: Technically speaking, Mighty Gazelle is a part of one. He's a cyborg, his Second Love is a human. Lampshaded when Gazelle asks "I hope you don't think she's a cyborg too?".
• Star Boarding: Princia --> Samurai Goroh. Yeah, we don't get it either.
• "Stop Having Fun!" Guys: In regards to snaking.
• Tainted by the Preview: The reveal of the "F-ZERO 99", a Nintendo Switch Online-exclusive game that is an updated (and still retro-like) version of the first game with online multiplayer feature, is seen as a Monkey Paw's wish for those who wanted a new title for the F-Zero franchise.
• That One Level: Death Wind (F-Zero), Story Mode Chapter 7 (GX), and Illusion: Abyss Drop (Climax) are often-cited offenders. Here's a NSFW rant about Chapter 7.
• That One Mission: In GX's Story Mode, Chapters 1, 5, and 7 usually get this treatment.
  • Aside from the difficulty and the pacing necessary to persevere (three laps on Normal, four laps on Hard, five laps on Very Hard), Chapter 7's biggest challenge is that it's one big Luck-Based Mission. If you manage to retire Black Shadow at the very beginning of the race (as in, right after the 3-count start) or somehow catch up to him so that you can ram him, the race becomes much more manageable (Blood Falcon--usually second behind Black Shadow--and a few other racers such as Dr. Stewart and Mrs. Arrow tend to zip into the Top 6, but they don't seem to be running on the same engine as Black Shadow). However, there's a good chance that some overly-aggressive racer will spin into you, knocking the Blue Falcon off-course. Conversely, there's also a chance that the A.I. will cause other characters (or even Black Shadow and Blood Falcon themselves) to push Black Shadow off of the track. It's half luck, half skill.
• Too Good to Last: A general consensus about the anime's dub (which lasted for all of 15 episodes), despite the mass Bowdlerization by 4Kids.
• Ugly Cute: Several of the extraterrestrial characters qualify.
• Viewer Gender Confusion: Despite the fact that his name reads--as clear as day--Digi-Boy and he has a distinct, if not high-pitched, voice (he is a pre-pubescent boy after all), Terry "Digi-Boy" Getter (did you notice the "Boy?") sometimes receives this.
• Watch It for the Meme: Even if you don't like F-Zero GP Legend, people generally tell you to watch it for two key words: Falcon. Punch.
• The Woobie: Misaki Haruka, especially once a) we see the flashback of her reaction to Ryu's "death" and b) she breaks free of Black Shadow's control. She is utterly mortified by her time as Miss Killer.