Fay

A canine pilot in the Star Fox franchise who debuted as a playable character in Star Fox 2.

Action

Games

1993

Years

Platforms

About

Fay is a white dog pilot who joins the Star Fox team in Star Fox 2. She pilots an Interceptor-class Arwing, which features high speed and unique defensive capabilities. Alongside Miyu, she is one of the two new female recruits introduced in this installment of the franchise.

Originally designed for the unreleased Super Nintendo Entertainment System sequel in 1995, Fay's official debut was delayed for over two decades. During this interim period, she gained a cult following through leaked beta builds and fan-made Star Fox 2 [Homebrew] (2017) patches that circulated online. Her canonical introduction finally occurred with the official release of Star Fox 2 on the Super NES Classic Edition in 2017, and later on the Nintendo Switch Online service.

While Fay does not appear in the original Star Fox (1993) or its promotional spin-off Star Fox: Super Weekend [Not For Resale] (1993), her creation is rooted in the technical leap those titles established using the Super FX graphics chip. Character designer Takaya Imamura gave her a distinct appearance, often interpreted as representing an aristocratic background, which contrasted with the established mercenary aesthetic of the original team. Her inclusion represented an effort by Argonaut Games and Nintendo to diversify the playable roster and introduce distinct ship configurations to the franchise's real-time tactical gameplay.