| “ | A rugged warrior sent from the isolationist planet of Oh! Edo to join Bill Rizer in his fight against the Neo Contra. Despite carrying on the samurai code of ethics and combat techniques, Jaguar insists, "The sword is the final weapon." His full name is Yagyu Jaguar Genbei. | „ |
| ~ Official background |
Genbei "Jaguar" Yagyu (柳生・ジャグワァ・玄兵衛 Yagyu Jaguwa Genbei?), commonly referred to as Jaguar or simply Yagyu (Yagyuu[2]), is a mysterious human-alien hybrid who follows the traditional code of the samurai. He is Bill Rizer's partner in two games, Neo Contra and Contra ReBirth.
He was voiced by Beau Billingslea in Neo Contra.
History
In 4444 A.D., Jaguar partnered with operative Bill Rizer (later revealed to be a clone of the original) to stop the Neo Contra order.
In Contra ReBirth, which takes place in an alternate timeline, both soldiers partnered one more time and battled against Chief Salamander and his Neo-Salamander Force. With the additional help of Newt Plissken, a lizard-like alien, BR-W9, a robot, and Lance Bean, Bill's old partner, they managed to take down Neo-Salamander, although Chief Salamander was nowhere to be found. In the true ending of the game, it is revealed that Plissken was actually Chief Salamander all along, who infiltrated the "Contra" force under an assumed name.
Appearance
In Neo Contra, Jaguar appears as a samurai wearing red armor and equipped with a bionic eye patch. His unlockable Jaguar II outfit has him in a skin-tight speedo with a large red sash or cloth covering around his waist. He also wears white cloth wristbands as well as long white socks with sandals. He retains his sword on his back along with his short black gloves, attached to the red waist cloth.
His appearance in Contra ReBirth is vastly different from his Neo Contra design. Labeled as Yagyu, he appears shirtless with short hair, wearing red pants and sunglasses. His overall appearance more closely resembles Lance Bean, the famous Player Two character who gets replaced by Yagyu as the second player option but still makes a non-playable appearance in ReBirth. All of Yagyu's quotes are spoken in Japanese.
Gameplay
In Neo Contra, he essentially mimics his war partner's gameplay in movement and actions, the only differences being visually and his voice clips. He acts as the default Player 2 choice but can be played by Player 1 via the Options menu. He has the most unlockable variants of him, being an additional 2 for a total of three different Jaguar variants to select from. Jaguar II simply changes his appearance to a bathing suit appearance (also seen from unlockable in-game artwork). Katana Jaguar is identical to his default appearance but changes his weapon sets to accommodate the use of his Katana, which he has always unsheathed on his left hand. All 6 of Katana Jaguar's weapon sets use one Katana weapon each.
Gallery
Screenshots
Sprites and models
.png "Velociraptor Jaguar (katana).png (149 KB)")
.png "ReBirth Yagyu (Character Select).png (24 KB)")
(non-highlighted shadow)
.png "Nano Breaker - Jaguar (In-game).png (553 KB)")
Artworks
.jpg "Neo Contra cover artwork (full).jpg (179 KB)")
Audio
Neo Contra
| Voice clip | Description |
|---|---|
| Defeated |
Contra ReBirth
- Note: Some of Jaguar's lines are spoken in Kansai dialect.
| Voice clip | Description |
|---|---|
| "Wai ga Yagyuu ya-!" (ワイが柳生や～～っ！, lit. "I am Yagyuu!") | |
| "Uchikata, hajime!" (撃ち方、はじめっ！, lit: "Commence fire!") | |
| "Uso-n" (うそーん, DEFEATED) |
Trivia
- Yagyu Genbei is based on legendary samurai Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi.
- According to the legend, Jubei could only see with one eye and is therefore sometimes portrayed wearing an eyepatch. Fittingly, Jaguar has some kind of optical enhancement attached to his left eye, probably meant as a reference to this legend.[3]
- Jaguar is from "Oh! Edo", a planet where humans were relegated to live in, as they were not allowed to go to Earth. Justified, since the space colonization policies took place before the events of Neo Contra.
- The name "Oh! Edo" is a reference to Oedo Town, Goemon's hometown in the Ganbare Goemon series, another popular Konami franchise.
- Jaguar appears to be left-handed, as evidenced by his Neo Contra appearances where he always holds the sword in his left hand.
- In his cameo appearance in NanoBreaker, Jaguar holds the sword in his right hand.
- According to Contra Returns's official website, Senbei Yagyu is Jaguar's ancestor. However, it should be noted that all events in that game take place in an alternate universe, different from those of the original timeline.
- Jaguar makes a cameo appearance in NanoBreaker, a hack-and-slash action game also by Konami. To unlock him, the game must first be finished with Jake and then with Keith.
See also
References
- ↑ As seen on the Neo Contra box back cover.
- ↑ Spelled YAGYUU within the internal files of Contra ReBirth.
- ↑ Contra Database: General trivia