What a place to battle! Andross has turned Zoness into a toxic waste dump and is rumored to be building a supply base there! Fox, see what kind of trouble he is brewing up there. Watch out for mutated native life-forms- they're tough! Andross's refinery installations have security systems with high powered searchlights to scan through Zoness's tainted atmosphere. Don't let the searchlights spot you or you'll lose the element of surprise.
—General Pepper's Flight Log, pg 90

Zoness is one of two oceanic worlds of the Lylat System, the other being Aquas, although unlike Aquas, it has many islands that break the water's surface.


Nearly covered with ocean, small groups of islands and Cornerian-made bases are the only ground that breaks above the crashing waves of Zoness. The planet is near the stars of Lylat, so it is tropical in nature. Zoness was home to a wide array of aquatic animals, including the dragon-like Todora, Troika fish, and Z-Gulls. A favored dish of many seaside restaurants were Kani. Zoness was the second most-visited planet in the Lylat System at one point, Corneria being the first.

Planetary compendium

Zoness was once the aquatic vacation world of the Lylat system. The planet is nearly covered with ocean, with only small groups of islands breaking the watery surface. However, Andross's bio-weapon has polluted the once beautiful oceans and transformed the beautiful sea creatures into hideous monstrosities.
—Star Fox


Lylat Wars

Before the Lylat Wars, Zoness was the premier holiday planet for anyone who could afford it. However, the planet was secretly conquered by the Venomian Army[1] and was transformed from a paradise to a nightmare. Toxic dumping turned the ocean into a sickly-green color and mutated the native life forms tremendously. Andross began construction on new supply depots and refinery stations when the Star Fox team attacked the planet.

Rather than taking its defenses head-on, the team attempted to sneak in quietly. It was a hit-and-run attack. A series of Radar Buoys protected the main supply areas, scanning the skies with powerful flood-lamps, and formed an extensive early warning network. The team was able to destroy the buoys, with some surprise assistance from Katt Monroe, before they could alert the system and proceeded to lay waste to the infrastructure.

In the final moments of the attack, Fox McCloud confronted Sarumarine, one of the sources of the planet-wide pollution. In a hard-fought battle, Fox destroyed the poisonous submarine and put an end to the one of the origins of the toxic waste. It is also implied in this mission that Falco Lombardi may have originated from Zoness (or at least spent a significant amount of time at the planet), due to him showing an almost rare form of depression and disgust at Zoness's polluted state.

Aparoid Invasion

Nine years after the Lylat Wars, Corneria City news made information about a large environmental clean up of Zoness known to the public, by the use of noticeboards, however, the planetary fate was undisclosed due to the large scale annihilation of Corneria.


  • Actual footage of Zoness before its mass pollution was recorded during the working stages of Star Fox 64 seen in trailers.
    • In the same footage, an unknown character appears on the transmittion but its photo is corrupted and he says, "I found Star Fox captain" meaning he is a minor character reporting to the captain of the Sarumarine.
  • Zoness, in a way, bears resemblance to Raxus Prime, a planet in the Star Wars universe that had long since been the galaxy's junkyard.
  • Although Zoness was not a target of the Anglar Blitz, it is nowhere to be seen on the Lylat Map in Star Fox Command.
  • Falco acts rather out of character in a certain line on Zoness, "I can't believe they did this...", which may imply that Zoness was his home planet or he at least spent some time there.
    • Peppy's entry on the Japanese Star Fox 64 site tells that he took his wife Vivian on their honeymoon to Zoness, explaining his shock at seeing the state of the planet.

Notes and references

  1. In the briefing message before playing the level, General Pepper exclaims "There's an enemy base there?!" with surprise, indicating that the Cornerian Army did not know that Zoness had been captured by the Venomian Army.

Names in other languages

Language Name
Japanese (ゾネス, Zonesu)

