is a fictional anthropomorphic bird from the Star Fox series of video games. He was created by Shigeru Miyamoto and designed by Takaya Imamura. Falco acts as the wingman and best friend of the titular Fox McCloud for the majority of the series. Falco first appeared in the 1993 video game Star Fox. Since then, he has appeared in multiple Star Fox games. A variety of voice actors have lent their voice to the character in English language releases, whereas Hisao Egawa portrayed Falco in the majority of the Japanese language releases. He was, however, replaced by Kōsuke Takaguchi, starting with Star Fox 64 3D. Hisao briefly reprised his role in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. Besides the Star Fox games, Falco has starred in his own manga, and also appears as a playable character in the Super Smash Bros. games beginning with Melee. Falco was based on the model designer of the original Star Fox game. Reception to the character has been mixed, with popularity among fans. He has been mainly criticized for his appearance and contentious attitude, but praised for being far less annoying than other characters in the series. The reaction to his appearance in the Super Smash Bros. series was also been similarly mixed, with some reviewers objecting to his moves being cloned from Fox, citing it as an example of low effort on the part of the developers. Characteristics Falco's name and hooked beak suggests that he is a falcon of some kind, with some official material referring to him as a falcon, most likely a red-throated caracara. On the contrary, the color of his feathers and the shape of his tail feathers resembles that of a pheasant, more specifically the Mikado pheasant and Edwards's pheasant. Interviews with the original developers reveal that Falco was originally intended to be a pheasant. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate make reference to this in the Palutena's guidance easter egg. Falco's body feathers are blue, with red caruncles around his eyes. His beak is large, yellow and hook-shaped. His build has varied from being somewhat stocky in Star Fox to more of a slim build in Star Fox Assault. Falco originally wore a jumpsuit with a flight jacket and gray tanker boots in Star Fox, like the other characters. His jumpsuit was orange in color, which he retained in