Gray Fox
| Gray Fox | |
|---|---|
Official artwork of Gray Fox from Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes. | |
| Universe | Metal Gear |
| Debut | Metal Gear (1987) |
| Smash Bros. appearances | Brawl Ultimate |
| Most recent non-Smash appearance | Astro Bot (2024, cameo) |
| Console/platform of origin | MSX2 |
| Species | Human (cybernetically and genetically augmented via The Patriots' gene research program) |
| Gender | Male |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Created by | Hideo Kojima |
| Designed by | Yoji Shinkawa |
| English voice actor | Rob Paulsen |
| Japanese voice actor | Kaneto Shiozawa |
| Article on Wikipedia | Gray Fox (Metal Gear) |
Gray Fox (サイボーグ忍者, Cyborg Ninja), civilian name Frank Jaeger, is a character from the Metal Gear series. Debuting in the first title of the series, he later appeared in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake as a primary antagonist, and in Metal Gear Solid as the Cyborg Ninja.
Origin[edit]
Gray Fox first appeared in Metal Gear for the MSX2, where he is an operative of FOXHOUND who infiltrated the rogue state of Outer Heaven. Before his capture, he manages to transmit a message with the cryptic last words of "Metal Gear..." FOXHOUND commander Big Boss sends rookie Solid Snake to finish Fox's mission. During the course of his infiltration, Snake is purposely captured and jailed in a cell next to Gray Fox. Snake breaks into Fox's cell and learns of Metal Gear and its creator Dr. Pettrovich. Gray Fox is not seen outside of this one instance.
Gray Fox next appears in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, also for the MSX2. Gray Fox is a more active participant in this sequel's story, as he serves as one of the main antagonists responsible for the Zanzibar Land uprising, and the right hand man of Big Boss. Fox first appears in-game piloting the new Metal Gear to destroy a bridge to prevent Snake's progress, killing his old lover Gustava in the process. Fox warns Snake to turn back or be killed, and later faces Snake both piloting Metal Gear, and in a fistfight after Snake destroys the mech. Fox is seemingly killed by one of the mines lining the room where he and Snake fight.
Metal Gear Solid reveals that Fox was revived by unethical experiments after his last encounter with Snake, being turned into a Cyborg Ninja by Dr. Clark (formerly known as Para-Medic). The ninja infiltrates Shadow Moses Island to fight Snake again, wreaking a path of death through the facility. Fox puts an end to the confrontation between Snake and Revolver Ocelot by severing Ocelot's hand, and later menaces Dr. Hal "Otacon" Emmerich. However, Fox also assists Snake as the anonymous "Deepthroat", warning him of hazards, and ultimately lays down his life for Snake in order to stop Metal Gear REX.
Gray Fox's main weapon is his sword, which he uses to slice through the Genome Soldiers and weaken the Metal Gear REX that was controlled by Liquid Snake. When Snake and Gray Fox battle each other, Gray Fox initially uses his sword, but later switches to hand-to-hand combat. If Snake tries using any guns against him, he will always use his sword to block the bullets (unless he is "paralyzed" by chaff grenades). In Brawl, Gray Fox uses his sword against his opponents. Gray Fox's projectile-reflecting ability is a possible reference to how he blocks projectile attacks in Metal Gear Solid.
When Gray Fox is summoned, he will say either "Make me feel alive again!", "You can't defeat me with a weapon like that,", or "Hand-to-hand. It is the basis of all combat." Whenever Gray Fox is summoned while Snake is on the battlefield (regardless of whether Snake or the opponent summons him), he either says "Like old times, Snake..." or "That's it! I've been waiting for this pain." All of these quotes are some of the things that Gray Fox says in Metal Gear Solid when battling Snake.
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl[edit]
As an Assist Trophy[edit]
Gray Fox appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as an unlockable Assist Trophy, unlocked as soon as the player unlocks Snake. He is voiced by Rob Paulsen in English and Kaneto Shiozawa in Japanese using re-purposed voice clips from past Metal Gear Solid games.
Gray Fox's appearance in the game is based on his Cyborg Ninja form. His attack involves moving quickly around the stage and swinging his sword, dealing up to 11 low knockback hits of 2% damage and a 5% finisher on the ground, or 3% in the air with no finisher. He can reflect projectiles with what seems to have an invisible reflector in front of him, referencing his introduction cutscene in The Twin Snakes where he deflects gunfire by swinging his sword so quickly that there is no apparent motion from his arm. If he falls off a stage, he can come back from the top. He can also teleport from anywhere in the stage and come back from the top. While falling he has a very low knockback hitbox that deals 6%. His skill, according to DOJO!!, is so great, that it makes a few smashers want him as a playable character.
Gray Fox is active for 660 frames (11 seconds). His reflector has a radius of 10 units, is 10 units above his root bone (roughly the center point between his feet if standing), doesn't affect projectile damage or speed, halves projectile duration, and fails if the projectile exceeds 100% damage. He runs at 2.2 units per frame (u/f; 0.02 faster than Captain Falcon) and has a 90% chance to attack if an opponent is in a given range relative to his root bone, being 30 units ahead, 5 units below, and 25 units above. He jumps with a jump force of 4.2 and has an air speed of 1.2 u/f. In the air he has a 75% chance to attack if an opponent is within the range of 15 units ahead or behind, 30 units below, and 20 units above. When dropping through soft platforms he has a fall speed of 2.1 u/f (higher than any regular fighter normal fall speed and the same as Marth and Squirtle's fast fall).
Gray Fox has a spawn chance of 30/760.
Trophy[edit]
- Gray Fox
- An enigmatic soldier with great physical and combat skills. Calling himself "Deepthroat" and equipped with an enhanced environmental camouflage suit, he dedicated his life to fighting Snake. In a twist of fate, Gray Fox ends up protecting his sworn rival from Metal Gear REX. Long ago, Gray Fox fought Snake in Zanzibarland.
- Metal Gear Solid
: Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
Sticker[edit]
| Name | Game | Effect | Fighter(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gray Fox | Metal Gear Solid |
Gray Fox (MGS: The Twin Snakes) |
In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]
As an Assist Trophy[edit]
Gray Fox returns in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as an Assist Trophy. His appearance in the game has been updated to be based on the downloadable Gray Fox costume seen in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Like with Snake, his series logo has also changed. His behavior is largely unchanged, however he can now be attacked and KO'd, lasts longer, deals more damage, but has also been slowed down compared to Brawl.
Gray Fox is active for 1200 frames (20 seconds) up from 660 in Brawl and has a base HP of 35. His ground attack now deals 2.2% per hit with a 10% finisher, up from 2% and 5% respectively. His grounded check range is taller, checking 10 units below (up from 5) and 25 units above (up from 20). His attack in the air deals 2.8% down from 3% and attacks 9 times instead of 11. His aerial check range was shifted up 5 units, going from 30 units below 20 above to 25 below 25 above. His falling hitbox deals 5.6% down from 6%. His has a running speed of 2 u/f (down from 2.2), a jump force of 3.5 (down from 4.2), and drops through platforms with a fall speed of 1.3 (down from 2.1).
Gray Fox has a spawn chance of 38/2086. He can be summoned on all stages in a standard versus match.
Spirit[edit]
Gray Fox also appears as an Ace-class primary spirit, using artwork from DLC for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.
In Adventure Mode: World of Light, Gray Fox is presumably one of the countless spirits captured by Galeem during his takeover of the universe. After Galeem's defeat, Dharkon takes control of Galeem's spirits, including Gray Fox. Gray Fox's spirit is located in the southeastern area of The Dark Realm.
Gray Fox's Spirit Battle uses a Sheik puppet fighter and is fought on the Shadow Moses Island stage. During the battle, Gray Fox appears as a hostile Assist Trophy and Sheik has increased move speed, referencing Gray Fox's superhuman movement speed.
Gray Fox can be summoned using the cores of Mighty Gazelle and Shadow Man.
| No. | Image | Name | Type | Class | Slots | Base |
Max |
Base |
Max |
Base |
Max |
Ability | Series |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 751 | Gray Fox | ★★★ | 3 | 2528 | 7606 | 1264 | 3803 | 1264 | 3803 | No Effect | Metal Gear Solid Series |
Gallery[edit]
Gray Fox's Brawl render.
Gray Fox as an Assist Trophy in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Gray Fox preparing to attack Lucas on Golden Plains.
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name |
|---|---|
| サイボーグ忍者, Cyborg Ninja | |
| Gray Fox | |
| Gray Fox | |
| Gray Fox | |
| Gray Fox | |
| Gray Fox | |
| Gray Fox | |
| 사이보그 닌자, Cyborg Ninja | |
| Gray Fox | |
| Грей Фокс |
Trivia[edit]
- Gray Fox is the only Assist Trophy to have a specific line for when a specific character is in the battlefield.
- If Gray Fox is summoned on PictoChat while a drawing with at least two walls is currently on the stage (e.g. Blocks or Spears), he will be stuck in his running animation and will be unable to escape until he disappears.
- Gray Fox is the only Assist Trophy from Brawl cut in Smash 4 who was from a universe with a playable character in Brawl.
- The artwork used for Gray Fox's spirit in Ultimate isn't actually him, but rather Raiden in his Gray Fox DLC costume from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.
- Gray Fox and Isaac are the only Assist Trophies to skip a game in the series before returning.
- Both are also the only veteran Assist Trophies to receive promotional screenshots on Ultimate's website section devoted to the item.
- In Ultimate, when the language is set to Korean, Gray Fox uses his Japanese voice clips, despite Snake using his English voice clips. This distinction is shared with Guile, who also uses his Japanese voice clips despite Ryu and Ken using their English voice clips.
External links[edit]
- Article on the Metal Gear Wiki.
|
| |
|---|---|
| Fighter | Snake (SSBB · SSBU) |
| Assist Trophy | Gray Fox |
| Stage | Shadow Moses Island |
| Item | Cardboard box |
| Other | Colonel Roy Campbell · Mei Ling · Otacon |
| Trophies, Stickers and Spirits | Trophies · Stickers · Spirits |
| Music | Brawl · Ultimate |