As the only survivor of the original Star Fox Team, Peppy insisted that the young Fox take on the leadership of the group and form a new team of pilots. Only James's wingman, Peppy Hare, managed to limp home in his badly damaged starfighter. The senior McCloud had been betrayed by his own wingman, Pigma Dengar, and delivered into a deadly trap from which there was seemingly no escape. Fox McCloud was a cadet at the Cornerian Defense Army Academy when he heard the news that his father, James McCloud, had met a violent end at the hands of the twisted genius, Andross. After his apparent and supposed death, James was later succeeded as leader of Star Fox by his only son, Fox McCloud.

He was well known for holding an unwavering loyalty to his friends. James was talented in terms of fighting, piloting, and adventuring. James McCloud was a legendary and astonishing pilot who became the founder and leader of the legendary Star Fox Team, a mercenary-for-hire squadron in the Lylat System. Corneria James McCloud is one of the non-playable characters in Lego Dimensions 2: The Rise of Enoch, from Nintendo's subfranchise Star Fox.