Snake Plissken

Fictional biography

Snake Plissken was a former U.S. Green Beret lieutenant who served in the "Black Blight" unit during World War III between a Sino-Soviet alliance and the United States. His actions in Leningrad and Siberia earned him two Purple Hearts, making him the youngest serviceman decorated by the president for bravery at the time. He was discharged and turned to crime, believing the federal government had betrayed him during a ruse de guerre in Leningrad that cost him the use of his left eye and led to his parents' deaths in a failed hostage rescue attempt.

He traveled with war buddy Bill Taylor and later partnered with Harold Hellman (later known as "Brain") and Bob ('Fresno Bob'). In Kansas City around 1993, Hellman allegedly allowed Plissken and Fresno Bob to be cornered by police, resulting in Fresno Bob's brutal torture and death. After escaping New York, Plissken went to Cleveland and met Jack "Carjack" Malone (later known as Hershe Las Palmas) and Mike "Texas Mike" O'Shay; Texas Mike was killed and Carjack was caught.

Plissken evaded capture and became a gunfighter-for-hire in New Vegas, Thailand, before being apprehended by the United States Police Force and scheduled for deportation to Los Angeles, now an island due to earthquake flooding. The criminal community widely believed him dead after the Kansas City incident, a running gag in Escape from New York: "I heard you were dead." In Escape from L.A., the joke changes to "I thought you'd be taller." He has a cobra tattoo on his abdomen and is skilled in martial arts due to his military training.

Appearances

In 1997, Snake was arrested for breaking into the U.S. Federal Reserve in Denver, Colorado, and sentenced to life in the New York maximum security prison, the entire island of Manhattan. Air Force One was hijacked and crashed into Manhattan, and the President, played by Donald Pleasence, was captured by the "Duke of New York" (Isaac Hayes). Bob Hauk (Lee Van Cleef), the United States Police Force Commissioner, offered Snake a full pardon if he would rescue the President.

Hauk enforced a 24-hour deadline by implanting microscopic explosive capsules in Plissken's carotid arteries. Plissken rescued the President with help from Harold Hellman (Harry Dean Stanton, now known as Brain), Brain's "squeeze" Maggie (Adrienne Barbeau), and taxi driver Cabby (Ernest Borgnine). Only Plissken and the President survived; disgusted by the President's lack of empathy, Plissken walked away, shredding the time-critical information tape.

In January 1997, Marvel Comics released the one-shot The Adventures of Snake Plissken, set between the two films. Snake robbed the Centers for Disease Control of engineered metaviruses and sought buyers in Chicago.

After a deal turned into a setup, he escaped and took revenge. A government lab built a robot called ATACS (Autonomous Tracking And Combat System), programmed to predict Snake's moves. ATACS copied Snake's personality and sided with him, but Snake destroyed it, saying, "I don't need the competition."

Cancelled projects

In July 2000, Tribune Entertainment announced plans for an Escape from New York television series, canceled in September 2001 due to the September 11 attacks. Other Snake Plissken Chronicles projects included a Namco-produced video game, canceled possibly due to Debra Hill's death, and an anime film by Production I.G based on the Escape From Earth concept, which never materialized. John Carpenter and Kurt Russell would have executive produced the anime, with Russell providing voice and likeness.

A proposed second sequel, often mentioned by Carpenter and Russell before Escape from L.A., involved Earth being the only place left to escape, but the project never materialized after the film's poor box office. In August 2006, a rumor that Paramount was pursuing the sequel at Russell's urging proved untrue. A rumor that the script for Ghosts of Mars began as a Snake Plissken sequel titled Escape from Mars was later confirmed false via tweet.

References in other media

In Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Solid Snake uses the alias "Iroquois Pliskin" and was heavily inspired by Snake Plissken. Kurt Russell was reportedly offered the role of Naked Snake for Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater but declined, stating he preferred to create new characters rather than expand financially on an existing one, and that a project not written by John Carpenter "doesn't smell right." John Carpenter retroactively gave his blessing to Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima for the adaptation. In Bubsy 3D, Bubsy appears dressed like Snake Plissken. The game Broforce includes the playable character Snake Broskin.