The original F-Zero SNES established four playable pilots — each with a distinct machine, backstory, and handling profile. F-Zero X expanded the roster to 30, but the original four remained the series icons. Jody Summer, introduced in F-Zero X, became the fifth member of this core group.
Captain Douglas Jay Falcon is the face of F-Zero — a legendary Grand Prix champion who moonlights as a bounty hunter on Port Town, using racing prize money to fund his law enforcement work. His Blue Falcon is the most balanced machine in the original game: good acceleration, solid boost, and reliable grip, making it the recommended choice for new pilots and competitive on all circuits.
His global fame came not from F-Zero but from Super Smash Bros. (1999), where HAL Laboratory invented the Falcon Punch — a devastating flaming uppercut that became one of the most recognisable attacks in fighting game history. A generation knew Captain Falcon from Smash Bros. first and discovered F-Zero second.
Samurai Goroh is the most dangerous man on the F-Zero circuit — a katana-carrying space bandit who was once an F-Zero Federation officer alongside Captain Falcon before turning to a life of crime. His Fire Stingray is the heaviest machine in the original game: exceptional body strength, effective for ramming opponents off the track, but poor cornering that demands an aggressive, attrition-based racing style.
His rivalry with Captain Falcon is personal as well as professional. Two colleagues who chose opposite sides. Goroh respects Falcon’s skill while actively trying to destroy him in every race.
Pico is the most violent personality on the circuit — a former soldier from Tortiz 3 who became a contract assassin after leaving the military. He races in F-Zero not for prize money or competition, but because the Grand Prix provides legitimate cover for his true profession. Several of his victories have coincided with the accidental deaths of high-profile targets attending the same event.
His Wild Goose has the best body and grip ratings in the original game. Pico’s strategy is entirely about using the machine’s mass as a weapon: eliminate obstacles rather than navigate around them.
Dr. Robert Stewart is the most conventionally heroic of the four original pilots — a gifted surgeon from Mute City who races to honour his late father, himself a legendary racing champion. He sees no contradiction between healing and high-speed racing: both require precision, calmness under pressure, and split-second decisions with life-or-death consequences.
The Golden Fox is the lightest and fastest-boosting machine in the original game. Its C-rated body makes it extremely vulnerable to contact — Stewart must win by outpacing opponents rather than outlasting them.
Jody Summer is an officer of the Galaxy Mobile Platoon, a law enforcement organisation that operates in parallel to the F-Zero Federation. She enters the Grand Prix as part of her investigation into criminal activity on the circuit — specifically the network of space bandits that includes Samurai Goroh. Her White Cat machine has excellent grip, making it reliable on technical circuits.
Introduced in F-Zero X (1998), Jody Summer became one of the series’ most prominent new pilots. In F-Zero GX she receives a full story arc that explores her law enforcement work and her history with the F-Zero Federation. Her rivalry with Goroh’s criminal organisation provides the series with a genuine law-versus-crime narrative thread.