Question about James

you never know. he may or may not be dead considering in star fox 64 he shows you the way out. but in star fox command he disappears after you battle the anglar emperor which most likely means he appeared as a ghost in the games. but like i said, we may never know...

James is actually dead as stated in the game, but he can either appear as a ghost or by Fox's imagination, this is not sure. I think Nintendo wanted a way to make him appear more often since he is so mentioned in the series.

well first of all in the game when you are beginning the game it says he been captured (also peppy)then said peppy bearly escaped venom and returned home to tell jame's son fox about his father's fate(he died)but when you went to venom 2(when andross regular form turns to brains)and when you defeat andross he says something about going down with fox then fox says ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! then james comes in a ghost then shows fox way out and when you go right outside he disappers that means he was a ghost soooooo he was actully really dead-starfox fan :P

Because the Aparoids were around James in the start of star fox 64 but, nintendo didn't really want to show them untill star fox Assault But, in star fox command he was said to be alive!

I seriously think that James McCloud is dead. If everything is going by the original Starfox Story "lineup", and I would say that by the Story and parts where James actually DOES show up, he is just a Figment of Fox's Imagination (Meaning he's pretty much just seeing him in his head). With that being his dad and all, Fox can't and probably will never let go and except the fact that his father is actually dead.