Snake Plissken

S.D. Bob "Snake" Plissken is the main protagonist from the films Escape from New York and Escape from L.A. He is a former Special Forces operator/war hero in World War III turned criminal. His apprehension and coercion by the United States Police Force to secure top-secret material from the ex-cities turned maximum security prisons of New York and Los Angeles.
He is portrayed by Kurt Russell (who also played Gabriel Cash in Tango & Cash, Jack O'Neill in the original movie version of Stargate and Santa Claus from The Christmas Chronicles duology) and created by director John Carpenter and screenwriter Nick Castle.
==Background==
Snake Plissken is a former U.S. Army First Lieutenant, serving under Special Forces Unit "Black Light", as stated by Hauk in Escape from New York, often misheard as Black Flight ("Gullfire" was the name of the glider Snake used). He has two Purple Hearts and is said the youngest soldier to be decorated by the U.S. President for bravery during campaigns in Leningrad and Siberia in World War III against the USSR.
Some time later, he turned to a life of crime, probably due to the perceived betrayal of the United States government during the "Leningrad Ruse" (which were the events that caused him to lose the use of his left eye) and when his parents were burned alive in their home by the United States Police Force. He traveled with his war buddy and only friend, Bill Taylor. Snake took up with partners Harold Hellman (later known as "Brain") and Fresno Bob. In Kansas City around 1993, Hellman apparently let Plissken and Fresno Bob get cornered by police, at which time Fresno Bob was brutally tortured and killed by sadistic law enforcers within the United States Police Force.
Possibly as a result of the Kansas City incident, it was widely believed in the criminal community that Plissken was dead. This is a running gag in Escape from New York: "I heard you were dead" (a homage to the John Wayne film Big Jake). In Escape from L.A. the recurring joke is changed to "I thought you'd be taller."
Snake has a tattoo of a snake on his stomach, possibly as a reference to the Man with No Name, on whom Snake is partly based, who had metal snakes on the grip of his pistol in Sergio Leone's Dollars trilogy.
==Personality==
Snake is shown as being very cynical, most likely due to the hypocrisy of the American government, and appears to be willing to do anything to survive. He is short and stern in his speech, and holds nothing sacred or even important. He does, however, hold a loose code of honor.
==Overview==
Snake Plissken is a special forces soldier with a dark past, sent in to rescue the President from Manhattan after its conversion to a violent maximum security prison. Performing his mission, Snake is so disgusted at the President's ambivalence towards those who died saving him that he sets him up to be humiliated on the world stage and destroys the tape he would have used at a peace summit. Recruited in the sequel, Escape from L.A. to retrieve a Doomsday Device's key, Snake again performs his mission and prepares for betrayal by fooling the corrupt President's men, using a hologram to disguise his true location and shutting down the world to cripple the President and the revolutionaries. Though extreme, Snake's action gives humanity a chance to start over while he himself plans to simply disappear.
==References in other media==
*Snake Plissken is the main inspiration for the creation of Snake from the Metal Gear series, and he was referenced in the series. The main protagonist of the games, Solid Snake, is named after Plissken and like him, is a former special forces operative. In Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Solid Snake names himself Iroquois Pliskin upon meeting with Raiden for the first time, Iroquois meaning 'Snake'. Naked Snake (Big Boss) and Solidus Snake also wear an eyepatch just like Plissken and Solid Snake comes to wear the pseudo-eyepatch 'Solid Eye' in the sixth entry of the series.
*In Duke Nukem 64 on Level 3 (Death Row) it is possible to find the mutilated body of Snake Plissken. Upon doing so Duke mutters "I guess he didn't escape from L.A."
*In Contra ReBirth, the humanoid snake-like character Pliskin is a homage to Snake Plissken. What's more, he makes a similar speech to the one Snake makes at the end of the film, refraining from killing his employer because he was 'too tired'.
*In the music video "New Lands" by electronic artist Justice, Snake Plissken can by seen leading a 'young' team against the 'pros' in a sport that is a combination of football, baseball, roller derby, and others. Snake scores the winning point at the end of the game. (Released July 2012. Directed by Canada. Music by Justice.)
*Hoss Delgado, a minor recurring character in The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, is a lighthearted parody of Snake Plissken.
*Snake Plissken is on the cover of the 2004 thrash metal EP, Tango and Thrash.
*In Super Robot Wars, there is a character named Ingram Prisken, who is often believed to be named after Snake Plissken.
*In the world of Mirage in the MMORPG Wizard101, a humanoid snake character named Snake Plizkin assists the player through Istanboa, one of the world's areas, after escaping from a prison.
==External Links==
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