F-Zero

F-Zero (Formula Zero) is a racing phenomena that came to exist sometime in the 22nd century and typically consists of over thirty racers per competition. In F-Zero, cars—or rather 'machines'—are designed with high performing 'supercharged' engines that rocket racers over 1,000 km/h and also allow for kinetic combat roles in the form of spin and side attacks. Each year, an annual Grand Prix is hosted by the F-Zero committee featuring five tracks and very few rules, with a significant cash prize for the winner. By the 23rd century, F-Zero has become a cultural obsession among human planets and even many alien ones, so much so that even the Galactic Federation begrudgingly recognizes F-Zero as its own nation with its own jurisdiction and laws. Due to the immeasurable wealth and prestige a state gets from participating in F-Zero affairs, few governing bodies dare interfere with the doings of the F-Zero committee, thus inviting even the most criminal of characters to show up to watch or participate in races.
==History==
===Early F-Zero===
'“I- I’m not racing here, am I?”
Earl began to laugh, “Hell no! This was before boost power used up your machine’s energy. If you were to use a modern F-Zero machine here, you’d be done with your three laps two or three minutes maximum.”' ―Earl Bendek, Part 3/3, Lap 17
As the Galactic Space Federation achieved great success with its expansion of human life onto other planets, the ambitious call for a universe encompassing sporting league came into the minds of many entrepreneurs. The obvious route humanity went was to expand the popular game of football (soccer) across the stars, thus beginning the Universe Cup, where whole planets would compete. Although the Universe Cup would initially fail to pick up interest due to the dominance of Earth's team, the successful organization of the football league did encourage other sporting bodies to give their own attempt at it.
The F-Zero committee, taking full advantage of new powerful racing technology, designed the Formula Zero machine, which was built to run entirely on renewable energy that could be easily recharged simply by hovering over a restoration pad. This new kind of machine was built for massive continuous speed, quick turns, and limited combat including an innovative emergency shutdown system that would automatically power off the machine if there was risk of death to the driver, or severe enough damage to the machine's systems or energy storage. Most popularly, early F-Zero machines possessed boost capsules that could be fired once per lap to grant the racer a substantial boost.
In the beginning stage of F-Zero, the F-Zero committee placed greater concern over race integrity, thus requiring all of its racers to compete with nearly identical machine specs, as well as putting the safety of its racers before all else. In the earliest stage of the league, the F-Zero committee erected tracks in Mute City, Port Town, Big Blue, Sand Ocean, and Silence, all of which were colonies of the Federation (with the latter quickly being abandoned.) The cash reward during this time for winning an F-Zero Grand Prix was only a fraction of what it would pay in modern times, and in fact did not allow F-Zero pilots to live solely off of racing. For this reason, the F-Zero Grand Prix existed as a rich man's hobby more than a reliable source of income.
The earliest pilots in the league were Captain Falcon, Samurai Goroh, an alien known as Pico, and Dr. Kevin Stewart.
===Pre-modern F-Zero===
Jody laughed, “Where’s the Hot Violet, Megan?”
Megan grunted loudly and clenched her fist, “I- I don’t have time to F-Zero race anymore!”
“Sure, Megan, sure…” Jody puckered her lips and wiggled her fingers, “Or is it more likely that the implementation of boosters and combat modules scared you off?” ―Jody Summer and Megan Valhalla, Part 3/3, Lap 22
As F-Zero grew in popularity, so too did the F-Zero committee's treasury. With greater revenue came greater funding of tracks, staff, and most importantly, greater rewards for winning the Grand Prix. Winning the Grand Prix would go on to promise a similar reward as winning a lottery ticket, hence the brief ambitious declaration that one had to "win the ticket."
This era of F-Zero could be categorized as one of chaos, however, for new rules were being enforced sometimes even mid-competition, most controversially the eventual encouragement of modern booster equipment rather than the traditional loadout of boost capsules, which would consume machine energy rather than dispense a capsule. This period saw the introduction of several new racers, such as Megan Valhalla and Silver Neelsen, and due to the increased roster would give birth to the culture of F-Zero alliances, where racers would ally and rival based on point standings on a race-to-race basis. It became commonplace during this time to see Captain Falcon and Samurai Goroh rival each other, while alliances between Falcon and Stewart, or Pico and Goroh also became common.
===The New F-Zero===
“No, you listen! It’s bad enough there’s a chance of you handing over one billion credits in prize money to the likes of Black Shadow, but now you are doubling the risk by adding this fiend to the competition.” Jody, as Falcon did, sidestepped forward with a finger up. “As a Major of the Galactic Space Federation, I demand Blood Falcon’s removal from the Grand Prix, else I will recommend sanctions against F-Zero to the Chief Commander.” ―Jody Summer, The Blood Hawk
As F-Zero reached a new height in its popularity, the reward for winning the annual Grand Prix had reached its peak, with a grand payout of one billion credits. This astronomic reward led to the mass expansion of the F-Zero roster to a point where races now contained over thirty racers at a time. During this time, the F-Zero committee discarded much of the traditional rules, now encouraging racers to push their machine specs to the maximum, permitting alliances of any size, and most controversially, allowing any person—regardless of criminal status—participate in the league. This latter point put committee relations with the Galactic Space Federation at an all-time low, officially making an enemy of the state, even more so as the F-Zero committee reached out to hostile planets such as Mysteria for new racing venues. The committee had the Federation in a difficult position at this time, however, as F-Zero popularity had become so eclipsing at this point that there were genuine fears that Federation intervention into the league could result in protests of such scale that mass destruction could occur. The Federation, henceforth, aspired to work within the F-Zero system by introducing many of its ranking officers into the league as racers, most notably Jody Summer, who could go on to become Chief Commander of the Federation.
The most notorious addition to F-Zero was a man known as Black Shadow, taking on the self-proclaimed 'Emperor of Brutality' title. Black Shadow had history with Captain Falcon, as he was credited with the slaying of his father years ago. Black Shadow raised extreme concern among the Federation for his radically anti-human philosophy and manifesto, backed by his cult of personality known as Dark Million. Black Shadow employed many of his Dark Million cultists as fellow F-Zero racers, all of whom defended him on the track as unconditional allies, regardless of point standing.
===The Great Accident===
'Chiya widened her eyes at the mentioning of the 'Great Accident', an F-Zero event that occurred in the final race of a Grand Prix that left many, including Captain Falcon, injured. This event led to the temporary banning of F-Zero.' ―Part 1/3, Lap 25
Sometime prior to the F-Zero X Grand Prix, an infamous disaster occurred on the track of the Grand Prix's final race, leaving behind several high profile injuries, massive damage to F-Zero machines, and even death. Given the graphic detail that the audience was subjected to—including countless children—the Great Accident had finally provoked a controversy too big for the F-Zero committee to sponge, thus the Galactic Space Federation seized upon the public's moment of fury by threatening the committee with a ban. Unable to withstand the amounting pressure that the public and Federation was throwing at the league, the committee folded, and thus F-Zero entered a period of banishment with any further F-Zero racing being conducted underground and illegally. As the universe wholly expected this ban to be temporary, virtually all F-Zero pilots used this time to recover from their injuries and continue upgrading their machines for the eventual ban lift. Consequentially, however, it was the criminal F-Zero presence that continued to gain experience through underground racing while the law abiding racers did not, something that would give the criminal F-Zero body an advantage when the ban was eventually lifted.
One major event to have come out of the Great Accident was the transformation of Mighty Gazelle, who went from being in critical condition to living within a cyborg shell. Overtime, however, Mighty Gazelle's ascension into near robot status would play excellently into his brand, making him a fan favorite, as well as making him an extremely talented person.
A second and more significant event to come from the Great Accident was the creation of Blood Falcon, a Dark Million clone of Captain Falcon created by Black Shadow using the DNA a heavily wounded Falcon left behind on the track. Blood Falcon was created as a foil to Captain Falcon, as well as a brain map, as all of Captain Falcon's memories up to that point would now be directly relayed to Black Shadow through Blood Falcon. Because of this, Captain Falcon's exodus from Port Town would be forced, as Blood Falcon knew the location of his Port Town home, passwords, accomplices, and more. With the eventual return of F-Zero, Blood Falcon would be warmly welcomed into the league by the F-Zero committee, ripping open new wounds between them and the Federation.
===Modern F-Zero===
“Listen, you idiots. If they were good, they wouldn't let mass murdering criminals like Blood Falcon in the Grand Prix. The committee hosts its own army to protect villains like Blood Falcon during races, and along with that, a massive fan base ready to fight in the event that the Federation tries to defy the committee. The old saying is 'F-Zero is its own nation', and it's true. Nothing can stop the committee—not anymore.” ―Lt. Seppuku, Part 2/3, Lap 12
F-Zero returned due to expected public demand, and the Federation permitted largely from fear of what lawsuits the F-Zero committee would be able to field, mixed with an expectation that the people would back the committee's case en masse. The league was restored on the condition that it return with strong regulations. While the committee accepted all of the Federation's regulation demands, virtually every one of these demands would be eradicated via loophole just in time for the first Grand Prix.
In reality, F-Zero returned worse than ever, with the criminal underworld running rampant in the stands and track alike, and experience gained through illegal underground races meant that the early races were dominated by criminals such as Michael Chain, Black Shadow, and Samurai Goroh, leading to a great surge in criminal support. Captain Falcon was the lone exception, as his skill in the sport was so good that he could heroically combat every one of these criminals on the track. This was what raised Captain Falcon's public status as something of a superhero, as well as a talented F-Zero pilot, something the F-Zero committee capitalized on tremendously.
A second scare would occur not long after the ban was lifted, when incredible pre-race drama led to Black Shadow not just brutally murdering one of the pilots, but doing so in a way that proved he was a genuine supernatural threat to the universe. Black Shadow's crime was so disturbing and unprecedented, that F-Zero faced yet another threat of being banned. This time, however, the committee cut their losses by going after Black Shadow, declaring him as the one and only exception—the single person in the universe not allowed to race in F-Zero. Furthermore, all Black Shadow merchandise would be cut and banned in F-Zero events, a move that was complimented by the Federation, who similarly banned Black Shadow and Dark Million cult items, justifying it as a matter of security.
Modern F-Zero is characterized by a competitive war fought between justice, villainy, and all of those in-between. Justice seekers such as Captain Falcon, Jody Summer, and Dr. Stewart regularly clash with the criminal likes of those such as Michael Chain, Blood Falcon, and Samurai Goroh. While some compete with the primary intention of using the track as a place to fight a war, others race in hope of winning the one billion in prize money, something even Jody Summer wishes to do, recognizing that even the Federation could benefit from the prize. Others, such as Blood Falcon, desire the prize money to help fund Dark Million's terror, or in the case of Michael Chain, to turn his street gang into an empire of thugs.
==Racers==
===Modern Roster===
These are racers who are present throughout the three-part saga of F-Zero: Seppuku:
* Mighty Gazelle/Red Gazelle
* Jody Summer/White Cat
* Dr. Stewart/Golden Fox
* Baba/Iron Tiger
* Samurai Goroh/Fire Stingray
* Pico/Wild Goose
* Captain Falcon/Blue Falcon
* Octoman/Deep Claw
* Mr. EAD/Great Star
* James McCloud/Little Wyvern
* Billy/Mad Wolf
* Kate Alen/Super Piranha
* Lieutenant Seppuku/Red Dove
* Zoda/Death Anchor
* Jack Levin/Astro Robin
* Bio Rex/Big Fang
* The Skull/Sonic Phantom
* Antonio Guster/Green Panther
* Beastman/Hyper Speeder
* Chiya Flower/Purring Kitten
* Super Arrow/King Meteor
* Mrs. Arrow/Queen Meteor
* Gomar & Shioh/Twin Noritta
* Silver Neelsen/Night Thunder
* Michael Chain/Wild Boar
* Brock Blaskovitz/Stalin's Might
* Blood Falcon/Blood Hawk
* John Tanaka/Wonder Wasp
* Draq/Mighty Typhoon
* Roger Buster/Mighty Hurricane
* Dr. Clash/Crazy Bear
* Don Genie/Fat Shark
* Princia Ramode/Spark Moon
* Lily Flyer/Bunny Flash
===Former Racers===
These are former racers who pre-date the three-part saga: 
* Black Shadow/Black Bull
* Kevin Stewart/Golden Fox
* Megan Valhalla/Hot Violet
* Pope Marinus III/Holy Grail