Falco Lombardi

"Personally, I prefer the air!"

- Falco Lombardi

Falco Lombardi is Fox McCloud's right hand man, and second in command of Star Fox. He, like Fox, is from the Star Fox series. He has a very mysterious past, as he prefers not to mention it. What is known is that Falco used to be in a gang, but bailed out to join the Star Fox team. Falco leaves the Star Fox team on occasion. However, he always appears again to help his old buddy out. He is the best pilot on the team and is rivals with Fox because of his flying skills. He has a very laid back attitude and is smart mouthed. Despite this, nothing gets in the way of Falco and Fox's friendship.

Super Smash Bros. Series
Falco is an playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Melee. He is, however, unlockable, and is unlocked by beating 100-Man Melee, and then beating Falco. His moves are exactly the same as Fox's, except that his Blaster has more of a forceful effect, and isn't rapid fire and his Reflector attack blasts people upwards instead of sideways. He has the highest initial jump in the game, but the rest of his recovery is poor and is considered one of the worst.

Falco also appears in Stage 6 of Adventure Mode. In this, he, Slippy and Peppy will appear in their Arwings in the second half of the battle. They will proceed to shoot the player and Fox. Additionally, if Falco is unlocked, he will sometimes replace Fox in the second battle, forcing Fox into the Arwing.

Falco also returns in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, with a different moveset this time around. His Special Moves have also taken a slight change. To unlock him, the player has to play 50 brawls, complete 100-Man Brawl (much like how the player unlocks him in Melee), or get him to join the player's team in The Subspace Emissary. His voice actors in Super Smash Bros. Melee are Hisao Egawa, during battle, and Ben Cullum during the Stage 6 cutscene. Ben Cullum also voiced Falco in Star Fox Adventures.

Solid Snake Codec Conversation

 * Snake: This is Snake...
 * Slippy: Copy, Snake! This is Slippy!
 * Snake: Whaa--! Who is this? What are you, some kind of frog?!
 * Slippy: Easy there, buddy! Just thought I'd hop on the wireless and give you a holler. Don't get mad!
 * Snake: Hacked right into my channel, huh...
 * Slippy: But I'm not here to mess nothin' up. Don't worry.
 * Snake: ...
 * Slippy: Just so ya know, Falco uses a Blaster and Reflector that I designed, just like Fox does. But Falco will kick his Reflector and send it flyin' around. Just showin' off, if you ask me.
 * Snake: No reason a weapon can't have more than one use. In fact, I'd say its versatility shows how well you designed it.
 * Slippy: Hey, maybe so! I feel all fuzzy now! Thanks, Snake!
 * Snake: Maybe next time we meet, you can design me a weapon...

Role in the Subspace Emissary
In the Subspace Emissary, he appears after Bowser shoots Diddy Kong (and uses him and some Shadow Bugs to create False Diddy Kong) and almost shoots Fox. Falco comes in with Arwing and jumps out with his guns to shoot and destroy Bowser's Dark Cannon (causing Bowser to retreat) and sees False Diddy Kong, Fox revives Diddy Kong and they all fight the evil clone. After defeat, Falco attempts to leave but Diddy Kong tries tells him Donkey Kong has been kidnappd and turned into a trophy. Falco however ignores him, so Diddy Kong grabs Falco and drags him, just how he did with Fox when he ignored Diddy Kong. After Falco understands, he jumps inside his Arwing so they can follow Donkey Kong. Falco drops Diddy Kong off on the plane Donkey Kong is on, and he (with Captain Olimar and Captain Falcon) rescues Donkey Kong. Falco flies by in his Arwing giving a thumbs up at Diddy Kong.

After this, he wasn't seen again until the battle at the Battleship Halberd Bridge, where he joins Fox, Princess Peach, Sheik, Lucario, and Solid Snake in defeating Duon. Once all of the teams unite, they enter Subspace, where they are defeated by Tabuu, with Falco being among the victims. King Dedede, however, comes to his aid with the help of Luigi and Ness, who were revived by Dedede's badges and are helping him revive most of the others. The newly revived Falco then heads with the others to stop Tabuu at the Great Maze once and for all.

Appearance in Other Media
Falco made a brief appearance in the Club Nintendo comic "Super Mario: Verloren in der Zeit". He is watching the Olympics together with Fox McCloud and Peppy Hare.

Trivia

 * Falco's last name was named after Paul J. Lombardi by Shigeru Miyamoto in thanks of the work he did on Super Mario Bros.
 * Falco appeared in Nintendo Monopoly, where he took the place of Vermont Avenue. He costs $100.
 * In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Falco is the only opponent about which none of Snake's team members give information to him. Instead, Snake is contacted by Falco and Fox's fellow wingman, Slippy Toad, who hacked the channel.
 * He, along with Zero Suit Samus is the only character that speaks during all of his taunts.