I absolutely subscribe to the theory that General Scales’s eye color change is because he has a Krazoa Spirit in him the whole time. Which, I will admit, 99% of why I subscribe to that theory is because I love the idea that there’s this Krazoa Spirit just stuck in General Scales’s body, forced to watch him and all of his bad decision making.
“Oh look... he’s monologuing again... cute...”
“He’s gonna toss her off the side of the boat? Why doesn’t he just stab her? You... you have a sword... General Scales, please...”
“Oh he just gave the SpellStone to those two cronies and they’re gonna jetbike away... wait... isn’t this track a loop? Does he know that?”
Let’s Talk About Andross and His Plan in Adventures
This post is brought to you by the fact that when I was doing my huge Venom headcanons post, I started critically analyzing Andross in Star Fox Adventures and came to the conclusion that his plan was perhaps more thought-out than I had originally realized. I mean, of course it’s well thought-out, it’s a plan made by Andross, but when you really put a magnifying glass up to it, you begin to see that it was perhaps so well planned that by the time the game starts, Andross can’t really lose. His revival is inevitable. Except then, you know, Fox McCloud shows up and does his thing.
Disclaimer: Obviously, Andross’s inclusion in Adventures was very last minute, which caused a lot of plot points to get cut and story bits to get revised. There’s a lot of evidence that implies that the Krazoa and Kamerians still had a hefty role to play in the story until very late into development but I still think it’s important that we really look at Andross and his absolutely off-the-wall plan because it can be kind of telling about both his desperation to be revived and other lore bits as well that often get overlooked. Despite there being huge meta influences on why the game played out the way it did, it’s still fun to talk about and speculate over. And y’know, we’re here to have fun, so let’s get into it.
To understand his plan, we need to go over what bits we know and don’t know about Sauria, the SpellStones, and the Krazoa:
Sauria has a huge amount of magic that’s constantly trying to rip the planet apart.
The SpellStones are guarded by GateKeepers and usually they sit at the planet’s core, brought there via a Force Point Temple.
SpellStones can block the magic flow (presumably absorbing it) and cause the planet’s energy to stabilize.
If the SpellStones are removed, the planet will fall apart.
The GateKeepers have the ability to move the SpellStones in a time of need.
The Krazoa Spirits also somehow keep the planet together.
The Krazoa Spirits live in Krazoa Palace but when things get perilous, they hide at their own shrines to await a person of pure heart to escort them back to the Palace.
Pure heart can mean pure good or pure evil. This isn’t overtly stated but it’s implied because Scales has a Spirit in him.
With all of that being said, let’s look at Andross’s main goal-- revival. Through means we don’t really know, he can revive himself using the Krazoa Spirits. But to get to the Spirits, he would obviously need some form of army. That’s where General Scales comes in.
Scales is smarter than the average SharpClaw but we really don’t know if that’s because Andross got his hooks into him or if the Spirit he’s got his claws on has anything to do with it. But Scales’s intelligence doesn’t really matter because he’s malleable and Andross understands this early on. He convinces Scales to attack Krazoa Palace -- presumably to get the Krazoa Spirits. At first, I thought Andross’s plan was to get the Krazoa to flee to their shrines but now that I really think on it, his plan from the start could have been to nab the Spirits in the first attack... but maybe he realized he couldn’t do that so easily? I mean, how does a ghost nab... other ghosts... Unless he was hoping the SharpClaw would suffice?
Anyways, if that was his plan, it wasn’t well-thought out and the Krazoa fled to their protective shrines all over the planet, which I’m sure he was just positively thrilled about.
Before, I’ve stated that I was pretty sure that Andross had led Krystal to Sauria for the express reason of collecting the Spirits but I think there’s a chance that he didn’t for that exact reason. We already know Scales was able to ferry the Spirits around and was able to pass one of the tests. Andross had his perfect pawn in Scales by him having a pure heart of evil and in being the leader of a dinosaur tribe.
Krystal however, seems most definitely baited to Sauria because of her channeling powers. I think her collecting the first Spirit was a bonus for Andross and that he only had her captured because he knew Scales would be up for the task. And, you know, Krystal had her part to play in his plan as a sort of magic medium to put him back onto the mortal realm in a more corporeal state. I think otherwise, he would’ve just let Krystal go around and collect all of the Spirits for him and then had her captured at the end.
Overall, I think this plan is ultimately a pretty good plan except for two glaring factors: 1) I don’t think it was common knowledge where the Shrines are located and 2) Fox McCloud shows up and begins wrecking the SharpClaw.
I kind of wonder if Andross hoped Star Fox would arrive so he could have his chance at revenge but ultimately, if you take into consideration that Scales could have just run around and done all of the Shrines then Fox showing up was actually kind of a thorn in Andross’s side. After all, what are the odds that two people with pure heart would just happen to end up on Sauria in such a close time frame?
HOWEVER, I will say there’s a chance Andross was actually kind of happy about Fox showing up because of two big reasons: 1) Fox literally did all of the leg work for Scales, which actually kind of frees up Scales to do other things like ransack CloudRunner Fortress a bunch and expand his tyranny and 2) Fox would be close in proximity to the revival so Andross would have a quick chance at revenge.
Okay, okay, at this point, you’re probably asking, “So... what about the SpellStones? Isn’t Scales really just looking for those?”
The answer: Yes but also no. I’m pretty sure the SpellStones are a distraction.
Now if you really look at his plan, Andross doesn’t really have a need for the SpellStones. Having them get removed is just additional chaos to be added and if you notice, it’s the thing that both General Pepper and Star Fox hone in on. Funnily enough, it’s implied that Scales didn’t even remove them all-- the CloudRunner Queen hid hers in the treasury of her fortress, Garunda Te hid his in the mines... the one at Walled City and the one at Dragon Rock seem to be the only ones Scales formally got his hands on. But it didn’t matter because when the other two were removed, the Saurians just played into the chaos even more, giving further distraction. I think maybe Andross’s initial plan was that while Fox was hyper-focused on the SpellStones, Scales would be trying to find the Shrines and getting the Spirits.
But then he realized that Fox was doing the exact thing he wanted Scales to do (and more efficiently) and honestly? I would like to theorize he just lets Fox do it because the outcome is literally the same regardless.
I can only imagine how elated Andross must have been when he realized Fox was unwittingly playing right into his hands. Because sure, Fox was doing the right thing. He was saving the day. But Andross had already been a couple steps ahead and had set the stage for his own arrival.
I think Fox showing up made Andross realize he didn’t need Scales after all and that was why he was so quick to get rid of him at the end. Because at the end of the day, it didn’t matter who brought the Spirits back, just that they were back. And Andross would just let Fox do whatever with the SpellStones because they had no real value to him. Andross, by the end, doesn’t care about Sauria being put together or pulled apart-- he wants everything to die, which is presumably part of his madness from being a lingering ghosty spirit for most of a decade.
So Andross is revived because that’s the only inevitable outcome other than Sauria being destroyed. He rises up, filled with Krazoa Spirits and vengeance. And he... proceeds to fail in the fight that he ought to have won, if only because of Falco showing up to rescue Fox. Falco, the wildcard. Falco, who Andross did not account for, but, granted, no one else really did either.
Wow, that’s a lot of text. Confused yet? Here’s the recap of my making sense of Andross’s plan:
Andross picks Scales as a pawn because Scales is politically powerful and has the capabilities to take in Krazoa Spirits.
He lures a suitable channeling mechanism (Krystal) to Sauria to use as a medium. She gets the first Spirit and Andross is pleasantly surprised but still captures her regardless as Scales and his buddies rampage across the planet, looking for Shrines and SpellStones both.
Star Fox gets called in. Andross gets kinda spooked by this but realizes Fox is effectively doing what he wants anyways so he just keeps his eye on Fox and lets Scales continue his rampaging. I think he’s figured he’s already won at this point anyways.
Andross gets all of the Spirits and his plan for revival effectively works...
... All up until he dies fighting Fox and Falco.
This does include a hefty bit of speculation but seeing as they leave only bits and pieces of lore to sink your teeth in, I feel like it’s within the realm of possibility. Of course, there’s other possible explanations, some of which I did poke at within my theorizing. However, this is the breakdown that I can make the most sense out of. I know in the past my theories have been 1) Krystal being his chosen puppet to get the Spirits but then I realized he wouldn’t have just turned around and imprisoned her immediately if that was the case and then 2) Fox being his chosen puppet but then I realized that there would’ve been no point to Scales having a Spirit in the first place if that were even the case so it felt a little janky as a theory.
Anyways, that’s my analysis of Andross’s crazy plot, thank you for reading the ramblings of a madwoman thinking way too hard about space dinos and space monkeys.
Was looking for something totally unrelated and stumbled across this wonderful re-imagining of the Krazoa Shrine containing the Test of Observation by Mabel Shen. It absolutely overjoyed me to see this area brought back to life! What a fantastic job! :D
Here is their Artstation Page, where I found this video!
I was thinking about the infamous Test of Fear earlier today and why it’s designed the way that it is. I would say Adventures suffers from both Rareware thinking hard into its lore and simultaneously leaving a lot of plotholes or just weird gaps without any explanation-- be it oversight or just the fact that the game went through developmental hell. One of these sort of weird holes is why the Test of Fear is designed the way it is designed. After all, if you were to create a Test of Fear... wouldn’t you want to target in on an individual’s fear to truly test them?
Under cut, because LONG.
The main focus of the Test of Fear is, unsurprisingly given the setting...
... dinosaurs. Which both makes sense and doesn’t make sense at all. After all, I think just about anyone would be afraid of dinosaurs snapping at their face and lunging at them. But the test seems... oddly generic. Maybe that’s intentional. Maybe the Krazoa aren’t powerful enough to delve into one’s innermost thoughts to discover their deepest, truest fear? I’m... actually not convinced of that at all. I think the Krazoa definitely could see what Fox is afraid of the moment he entered the shrine.
Before I continue, disclaimer: I think there were rumors that Fox’s prototype counterpart, Sabre, was scared of dinosaurs and that is why the Test of Fear is designed in this fashion. However, I’ve never seen any solid proof of that being a thing within the game’s beta stages. If this was true somehow, I’d have a lot of questions about how Sabre was able to tolerate Tricky’s presence, much less get through the game’s events without having multiple mental breakdowns. That being said, I’m pretty sure Krystal was the one that did the Test of Fear anyways in the game, not Sabre. Facing General Scales would make more sense for her character arc. I’m not sure how much of the test changed between DP and SFAdv.
Moving on.
Other than the dinosaurs and fire jets (which are almost a dime a dozen on Sauria’s surface), there’s two things that stand out to me about the Test of Fear. The first is obviously General Scales, who picks Fox up like he’s nothing.
General Scales’s appearance makes me think the test is different for everyone who takes it. After all, if, say, an individual a thousand years ago had to take the test, General Scales probably wouldn’t be as scary because they wouldn’t know who he is. Remember: They never claim Krystal or Fox are “chosen ones” who are the only people that can be possessed by Krazoa. General Scales has a Krazoa the entire game. It’s anyone with a heart of pure good or pure evil. So, really, anyone with that quality could bring the Krazoa back from their shrines.
Back on track. To Fox, General Scales is... arguably a little more scary because at that point in the game, Scales had bested Fox once at CloudRunner Fortress a la spy robots shocking Fox into unconsciousness while the General continued to take over the fortress.
And then there’s Andross’s cameo in the Test of Fear, which you could argue might not be part of the test at all but the actual appearance of Andross watching Fox from the shadows. And that leads me to my theory... We don’t really... know if that’s actually Andross or part of the test, which is something I didn’t really think too hard on until today. There’s some evidence that makes me think Andross is actually not an illusion:
For starters, he doesn’t show up in any of the other tests. Not even the Test of Combat. He doesn’t even show up during parts of the game outside of the shrines or in the palace except for the beginning and end.
He shows up only after General Scales is introduced, which ups the ante in the test. It’s clear the Krazoa started with the dinosaurs first because while they do appeal to natural, instinctual fear, they don’t hit home as much as General Scales in particular. The next step after General Scales (or a “lesser” villain) would be... Andross, really, who is the big bad for all of Fox’s adventures up until this point. (You could argue Pigma as he’s responsible for James’s death but note at how the series never really seems to pit Pigma against Fox... it pits Fox against Wolf and Peppy against Pigma. You could maybe argue Wolf but I don’t see him as any worse than Scales because I don’t think it’s canon that Fox ever loses to Wolf).
Although we don’t see the perspective of the dinosaurs lunging at Fox, we do see the perspective of General Scales as he’s swooping down to grab Fox-- meaning that just because the player sees the perspective, it doesn’t mean that the perspective is from a real person. We only see Andross’s perspective for a split second-- it could very well be a fake perspective.
But he could also be actually there, and this is the evidence for it:
He doesn’t interfere with the Test at all and seems to be passively watching as a bystander. The laughter in the background if Fox fails could arguably be his. I’d have to check the laugh audio versus Scales’s VA, however, because it could be Scales laughing. He could also not be wanting to interfere because he wants Fox to win the Krazoa Spirit.
Andross could be showing up because he wants to see Fox be afraid-- this is actually quite in character for him, even as a ghost form. I’m not... entirely sure how he would have gotten to the shrine but you could wave it off as “Andross is a ghost, he can do what he wants”. Alternative but same basic idea -- he’s watching Fox because he wants to keep track of his progress.
His presence isn’t necessary to the test being completed. After General Scales roars in Fox’s face, the test kind of... just ends. He doesn’t pop out, he doesn’t try to scare Fox. He evidently just disappears and isn’t shown again until the game’s ending. I actually think this might’ve been an oversight on the developer’s part. The one-and-done flash over to Andross’s perspective with no payoff feels like something was supposed to be there but was unfortunately cut.
In all honesty, I’m on the fence as to what I believe. Part of me actually wants to think that Andross was an illusion at that point because I find that so much more interesting that him just happening to swing by at that particular moment. But I’m not entirely convinced that’s the case.
Anyways, post your thoughts if you have any on this... frankly infuriating challenge in SFAdv. I don’t know about you guys but as a kid, this test absolutely frustrated me and I quit the game several times because I couldn’t beat it. Nowadays, I still freak out but it usually only takes me a few tries. :P
