Physics Department

An Analysis on the Physical Properties of Fox

McCloud’s Lasers in Super Smash Bros. Melee
for the Nintendo GameCube

Author Supervisor
T. Shameem Dr. M. Mario

Abstract
The beam ejected through Fox’s blaster travels at approximately 46ms−1 , which is much lower
than the speed of light through air. Discussion of the possiblity of the composition of the beam
led to the belief that the beam is in fact made up of light that has been slowed down to visible
travel velocities.

July 4, 2018
1 Introduction
It is commonly stated that in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Fox McCloud is the strongest character when
considering the vast number of options the character holds; one of such options is Fox’s only projectile,
being his laser. With this move, Fox pulls out a firearm that is used to fire, what seems to be, red
monochromatic beams of light that deal damage to the opponent but do not provide any hit stun.
In reality, the word ’laser’ is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radi-
ation [1]; meaning that the number of photons produced by the source are increased by allowing the
same photons to cause more electrons in the chamber to excite and de-excite, triggering the photo-
electric effect, thus creating more photons of the same phase relationship [1]. As such, lasers are very
intense beams of constant monochromatic light that are directed in a single direction.
Since it has now been noted that lasers do in fact produce light, it is now necessary to revise the
key properties of light itself. To begin with, with the differences between the single slit and double
slit experiments it is now known that light holds the properties of both particles and waves. This
characteristic has since been dubbed wave-particle duality [2]. Another property is the ability for light
to undergo refraction and diffraction through different media. A major point to note is the speed of
light. Whilst the speed of light does not change despite the perspective, the speed of light can decrease
in different media. This is due to Equation 1.
1
c= √ (1)
µ
where c is the speed of light, µ is the permeability of the medium, and  is the permittivity of the
medium.
Due to the permittivity and the permeability of a vacuum being the lowest possible values of
permittivity and permeability, the maximum value of the speed of light is when light is travelling in
a vacuum. The next property is much more commonly known, that in being light not being able to
pass through opaque objects. Finally, the last property requires an explanation on what photons are.
Photons are the subatomic particle that has no mass. It is the force carrier of electric magnetic waves,
and in extension, of light. However despite them being a force carrier they do not hold any mass as
they must also act as waves. However, since it is known that photons do have a momentum Equation
2 was derived.

h
p= (2)
λ
where p is the momentum of the photon, h is Planck’s constant, and λ is the wavelength of the photon.

2 Assumptions Made
It can be assumed that Fox McCloud, whilst is humanoid, is of some sort of fox based species. Thus
it isn’t unreasonable to say that the respiratory system works the same way. With this it can be said
that Fox must breathe air. This is further supported by other human characters such as Marth and
Roy also being able to breathe. Thus the stages in Melee must have an atmosphere of air. Due to
this the permittivity to be used and permeability used are that of free space as the permittivity and
permeability of air are approximately equal to in a vacuum. Therefore, c = 3 × 108 ms−1 in this case.

3 Analysis of the Beam

It is important to note that the method for the acquisition of data was done through the use of
recorded footage [3] and the times used were taken directly from the in-game timer as it provides an
accurate representation of the times in the Melee universe.

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 Figure 1: Initial frame of the laser beam appearing from Fox’s blaster.

Figure 2: Frame of the same laser beam (top beam) after it has travelled a large distance.

As depicted in Figure 1, the laser beam first appears from Fox’s blaster on the stage Final Desti-
nation when the match has 7 minutes 29 seconds and 32 centiseconds; then in Figure 2 the laser beam
has travelled a large distance from the blaster in 26 in-game centiseconds.
875px
d=( ) · 1.73m = 11.73m ≈ 12m (3)
129px
In Figure 3 it is shown that the displacement of the beam at the beginning vs the end of its journey
is approximately 875 pixels. Fox McCloud’s height is canonically 173sm (space meters), where 100sm is
approximately equivalent to 1m. In Figure 4, Fox is seen to have a height of approximately 129 pixels.

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Thus it is reasonable to assume that 129 pixels roughly translates to 1.73m. With this knowledge
and using Equation 3 the distance travelled by the beam can be calculated to be approximately 12m.
Thus we can conclude that the laser travels 12m in 26cs, travelling at 46ms−1 .

Figure 3: Displacement between the tip of the beam at the beginning and the end (the ”glow” of the
beam has been ignored).

Figure 4: Fox McCloud’s in-game full body depiction

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4 Further Developments
Since we know that light speed through air is approximately equal to c (3·108 ms−1 ), we know that this
laser is far too slow to be made of light. However what’s interesting is that Fox’s laser has no knockback
or hitstun and thus negligable force, similar to light. Further, the laser itself is monochromatic and is
glowing as though it were a laser.
A possible solution to this conundrum is that Fox’s gun may simply propagate forward a small
”beam” of KE (kinetic energy) with specific magnitude that is strong enough to excite the air molecules
to releasing red light. Since the KE itself would have no force it would be able to deal damage without
dealing hitstun or knockback. Furthermore, if the vast majority of the KE is of a specific energy level,
only a certain band would get excited in air thus creating only (what would seem to the naked eye)
red monochromatic light. However this does not work due to the fact that the entire air molecule
would be affected by the increase of KE and not just the electrons within the atoms.
As such it was then hypothesized that perhaps the blaster is actually an electron gun that fires
electrons of specific energy. However, it’s far more likely for beta radiation to simply ionize air than
it is to achieve the photoelectric effect.
Finally as such it was thought that perhaps the laser is simply being slowed [5] to a visible speed.
This would make more sense as the beam holds all relevant properties of light other than the speed
at which it travels at. Although whilst it is most likely that the blaster is a laser that slows down it’s
beam to that of a visible speed, it makes no mechanical sense as to why the engineer of the weapon
would want to do that for a laser based weapon and does not seem ideal. However to discuss the
ideologies of the development of the laser is not the place of this paper.

5 Conclusion
To conclude, by comparing the pixel lengths of Fox and the distance travelled by the beam it was
possible to convert the distance travelled to SI units by utilizing the knowledge of Fox’s height. Thus
by dividing this distance by the time taken for the beam to travel the length (shown by the in-game
timer) the velocity of the beam was found to be approximately 46ms−1 . This result is much lower than
c and so as such the beam cannot be composed of light or other EM waves. Thus it was hypothesized
that the blaster actually propagates KE of specific magnitude. However this would mean that the
entire air molecule would gain energy and not just the electrons and so would not be able to produce
light. It was then proposed that the blaster was actually an electron gun however this also would not
make sense as beta radiation is much more likely to ionize air than it is to cause the photoelectric
effect. Thus it was finally put forward that perhaps the beam is made of light but has simply been
slowed down. This would make sense as the beam holds all relevant properties of light other than the
speed that it travels at. However the mechanical value of this is currently not yet known.

References
[1] Lasers, R. Nave; <http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/optmod/qualig.html>; Accessed
1st March 2018

[2] ”The Dual Nature of Light as Reflected in the Nobel Archives”. Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB
2014. Web. 1 Mar 2018; <http://www.nobelprize.org/nobelprizes/themes/physics/ekspong/>

[3] ”How To Laser Effectively With Fox” by Remix. Published on 16th May 2016;
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNC5ITn7MbA>; Accessed 4th July 2018

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[4] ”Fox McCloud”; Nintendo Power Collector’s Card; can be seen depicted in it’s entirety on
<http://starfox.wikia.com/wiki/File:SF64FoxClassCardNintendoPower.jpg>; Accessed 4th July
2018

[5] D. Giovannini, J. Romero, V. Potoček, G. Ferenczi, F. Speirits, S. M. Barnett, D. Faccio, M. J.

Padgett, Spatially structured photons that travel in free space slower than the speed of light (2015).
DOI: 10.1126/science.aaa3035