What did Andross do to himself?
Most of us are used to seeing Andross like this:
Just a giant head and hands with no body to connect them. It is believed Andross became this way due to his experiments. However, in Star Fox Zero we were given this render:
A full body Andross! The only look we get at him with a body. We can see this towards the end of Hidden Plans, the Corneria revisit. It's the hologram that's projected when he talks to Star Fox after the Gigarilla's defeat.
Once Fox actually faces Andross however, he is once again just a floating head and hands. Albeit a very metal version of the head and hands.
I don't think Zero Andross actually ever had a body. The robes obscure this well. Making it appear as though there is a body beneath. However Mighty Andross 64 on Bluesky gave us a better look at the renders here.
I wanted to highlight this image in particular:
What looked a bit like a pedestal or base that Andross is standing on in the full body render is actually a bunch of cords and wires. All of which go up into the robes.
These aren't the only tubes we see on Andross. You can clearly see them hanging under his arms. The full sheet by Mighty Andross 64 also gives us a look at one coming out his back.
Whatever Andross has done to himself, I don't think there's a body under those robes. I think it's a machine. This is further supported by his lack of feet beneath the robe. (Though I acknowledge that might be because no one was ever supposed to look up there so maybe they didn't think adding the feet was necessary? At the same time though, we don't even see the full model in the game. They didn't need to include all the tubes and wires down there either.)
Also, when you fight Andross, his head and hands are all made of metal. The head has a phase where it looks organic still, but then it shifts to the metal one.
Mighty Andross 64 has another post showing that in the shape you shoot to damage the head, Andross' brain can just barely be seen. I suspect Andross reduced himself to his 'true form' from 64. His brain.
The head and hands we see - the full body we see - is just a machine meant to house and protect this brain. Perhaps the full body is a sort of life support system that he can separate from temporarily? We'll never know.
It is interesting to think about, however. Just what was Andross trying to do with his experiments? Did he mean to reduce himself to being just a brain or was it an accident? His unchecked experiments going too far?
If Andross must come back again in yet another reboot for the series, I hope this idea gets some exploration. Though I doubt it will. (Also if we could keep the story moving forward instead of rebooting again, that'd be great.)
Special thanks to Mighty Andross 64 on Bluesky for allowing me to use that image of the Andross render ripped from Zero. (P.S. Andross isn't the only one with a refence sheet posted on Bluesky! Go check them out if you want to see more. And just cool Star Fox images/posts/information in general!)