Newt Plissken is a playable character in Contra ReBirth. Although initially posing as an elite member of the Contra Force, at the end of the mission he actually reveals himself to be the leader of the Neo-Salamander Force, Chief Salamander, making him the main antagonist of the game.
Background
Newt Plissken is a reptilian-like alien who was member of the Contra task force sometime around the year 4444 AD.[1] He fought alongside a (presumably) clone of the legendary Contra commando Bill Rizer and Genbei Yagyu in a conflict that involved an attack from a new antagonistic army known as Neo-Salamander, which traveled through time back to the year of 1973 in order to attack the Contra Force in a period when their weapons were still no match to theirs.
By their combined efforts, they were able to put an end to Neo-Salamander's evil plans and called the mission a success. However, after Bill was put back into cryostasis (as he initially was prior to the mission), Plissken revealed at gunpoint to the ship's navigator, BR-W9, that he was actually none other than "Chief Salamander", the leader of the Neo-Salamander Force and the mastermind behind all this enterprise, presumably to fight Contra from the inside.
Seeing herself cornered, BR-W9 offered Plissken to work together; whether she really betrayed the Contra Force or if this was a scheme quickly devised to buy her some time is unknown, as this storyline was never further explored in any sequel, leaving this cliffhanger as one of the biggest plot holes in the history of the Contra series.
Gallery
Trivia
- In the Japanese version, Chief Salamander visually resembles Adolf Hitler. This was censored out in the North American and European releases.
- The name "Salamander", which is shared between Plissken and his army, is a reference to Konami's Salamander series.
- The name "Newt" is likely a reference to Rebecca "Newt" Jorden, a character from the Alien franchise, a series that has been of great inspiration to the Contra series since its inception.
- The surname "Plissken" is a tribute to the character Snake Plissken from the films Escape from New York and Escape from L.A.
- Furthermore, Newt makes a similar speech to the one Snake makes at the end of the film, refraining from killing his employer alleging that he was "too tired".
References
- ↑ 4444 AD is the year when Neo Contra takes place and when Plissken's contemporary soldier partners, Bill's clone and Genbei Yagyu, were known to be active, taking their lifetimes as reference.