About

Final Falcon Punch, sometimes known as Galactic Falcon Punch, is an exploitable video meme from the final episode of the anime F-Zero: Falcon Densetsu. The meme recreates the final scene with edits using scenes from different shows.

Origin

The scene (shown below) comes from the 51st and final episode of F-Zero: Falcon Densetsu, which is titled "Final Lap: The Legend of Falcon," aired in Japan on September 28th, 2004.^[1] The anime was also known as F-Zero: GP Legend in the United States, but was cancelled well before it reached its final episode. In the episode, F-Zero pilots Captain Falcon (Andy Summers) and Ryu Suzaku work together to destroy Black Shadow's dark matter reactor. Black Shadow tries to stop them but is interrupted by Captain Falcon who tells Ryu that only his vehicle's dual reactors can destroy Black Shadow's reactor. After Ryu destroys the Dark Matter Reactor by maxing out his vehicle's Boost Fire, Black Shadow and Captain Falcon are swept up by its explosion. Captain Falcon then passes on the title of Captain Falcon to Ryu before exiting his vehicle to finish off Black Shadow in one final Falcon Punch before they're both wiped out in the reactor's explosion. The explosion of the reactor is so powerful that it can be seen from outside the galaxy. The earliest known upload to YouTube was on April 30th, 2006, by RQL.^[2] The video received over 5.5 million views until its deletion in 2013, but has received several reuploads to the site since.

Spread

On July 13th, 2012, YouTube user marothon^[3] posted a Source Filmmaker video recreating the scene using Team Fortress 2 characters Heavy, Scout, and Soldier. The video (shown below, right) received over 1.4 million views in over twelve years. On February 27th, 2013, YouTube user Swordz^[4] posted a Source Filmmaker video recreating the scene using DOTA 2 characters Tusk, Brewmaster, and Doom. The video (shown below, right) received over 1.5 million views in eleven years.

On December 21st, 2015, YouTube user Random AMVs^[5] posted a recreation of the scene using parts of the anime One Punch Man. The video (shown below, left) received over 39,000 views in over eight years. On June 10th, 2019, YouTube user RetroRage^[6] posted a Source Filmmaker video recreating the scene, but with Captain Falcon fighting Ganondorf in Super Smash Bros. The video (shown below, right) received over 22,000 views in over five years.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References