More of a mystery or an Easter Egg (hidden message).
Star Fox Adventures was actually planned for the N64 titled as Dinosaur Planet, but would have nothing to do with the Star Fox Universe. The main characters were Sabre (who was replaced by Fox) and Krystal, and Tricky, Kyte, and Randorn were their helpers. But after a review, they asked Rare if it could be turned into a Star Fox game. They wanted to place another Dinosaur Planet behind Adventures, but that never happened. And there may also be a connection to other games, referring to Tricky and all the other Easter Eggs.
Tricky was a Boss in
Diddy Kong Racing, but it's not known if it's the same person, although Diddy Kong Racing was also made by Rare. In the F-Zero race, there is a racer named James McCloud, just like Fox's father, and he also wears the same clothing. And Mr. EAD looks quite a lot like Mario. And in the opening of
Super Smash Bros. Melee, you saw them one after the other. Maybe they all live in one cozy Nintendo Universe, but in their own galaxy.
Sorry for a bit of rambling, but this is my fiction.
But about Tricky, it's true. Believe me.
Check out more about Tricky and Dinosaur Planet on:
wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Fox_Adventures.