This is the characters' page for the Contra franchise.
Warning: Beware for unmarked spoilers. Specifically, Shattered Soldier and Neo Contra are hard to discuss without giving away spoilers.
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Main Characters
Recurring
Bill
Bill Rizer
Voiced by: Rikiya Koyama (Contra 3D, Japanese), P.M. Seymour (Contra Returns, English)
"It's time for revenge."
The main character of the series and a member of the Contra Force.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: Of a sort. in Operation Galuga, he has a tendancy to say "Let's attack aggressively!" as a stage begins. Thing that make this borrowed? It was Lance who said it in the opening of Contra III. Heck, the phrase is even listed in Lance's folder here!
- The Dreaded:Bill Rizer is now a symbol. He is the never-ending desire for conquest, aggression incarnate. Power that exceeds all, pure destruction." — Project C.
- Expy: Of John Matrix from Commando, though the cover art of the first game portrays him as Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer from Predator.
- Heroic BSoD: Goes through a brief one in Neo Contra due to Master Contra's Break Them by Talking speech.
- Human Popsicle: The man was sentenced to ten thousand years in cryogenic prison in retaliation for wiping out about 80% of the global population and the supposed murder of Lance Bean.
- Lovable Jock: This is his personality in Contra Returns. He's happy to help anyone in need and friendly to almost everyone he meets, including some enemies. Here he's very laid back, likes to kid around when he's not in battle and he's often nostalgic about old missions. While he's intelligent, he loves being an action guy and prefers not thinking about things, to the annoyance of his old pal Lance.
- My God, What Have I Done?: His overall reactions after having to take down Lance Bean in Shattered Soldier and Lucia in Neo Contra might qualify as this — most notoriously, when the former reveals the truth behind the Alien War.
- Mythology Gag: Bahamut in Hard Corps: Uprising could be Bill Rizer, given the similar role across the games (if he's not the same Bahamut in Contra: Hard Corps).
- Naked on Arrival: He appears like this for a few cutscenes in ReBirth.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Bill's appearance is based on Arnold Schwarzenegger's likeness.
- Oral Fixation: Is portrayed chewing on a cigar in several official artworks, just like Arnie.
- Say My Name: He shouts the names of Lance in Shattered Soldier and Lucia in Neo Contra when he kills them.
- Shout-Out Theme Naming: Is named after Bill Paxton and Paul Reiser, both of whom had starred in Aliens.
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: Bill's response to Master Contra claiming to be the ultimate form of Bill Rizer]] is this:Bill: No, you're a joke. You're just a heap of metal with an inflated ego.
- Trauma Conga Line: The negative outcome of the Alien War had an ultra-magnetic weapon suffering a Convenient Misfire, which led to the absolute eradication of four fifths of Earth's population, potential environmental collapse, and the supposed murder of his partner in the middle of the rampant chaos — to which Bill Rizer was then mis-blamed for and imprisoned. Fast-forward five years later, Lance Bean had apparently underwent a Face–Heel Turn during the time Bill was out of commission, and became a terrorist leader with a secret. Come the inevitable battle, and after Bill defeated him, as Lance died a slow, agonizing death, he revealed that he only created the Blood Falcon organization to overthrow the Triumvirate and expose their true plans. Granted, the man did exact his revenge, and yet... he felt no better, once realizing that nothing would bring his dear friend back. In short: by the end of the game, we get to understand why his being called shattered couldn't be any more fitting.
- Neo Contra continues the thread. Turns out that Lucia, the female partner he had during the events of Shattered Soldier was revealed to be one of the members of the Neo Contra organization, and unlike what happened with Lance, was killed without giving any real explanation behind her Face–Heel Turn. Her boss in question, Master Contra, delivered a hurtful speech by claiming that he was the real Bill Rizer and that our protagonist's memories were pieced together by a military database with the sole purpose of creating a weapon designed for complete genocide. It was only after Mystery G was slashed open by the gloating leader, and the elderly man's last words of encouragement when he was promptly freed from a devastating Heroic BSoD.
Lance
Lance Bean
Voiced by: Kazuhiko Inoue (Contra 3D, Japanese), Kestin Howard (Contra Returns, English)
"Let's attack aggressively!"
Bill's primary partner during the first few games.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Dyes his hair blue in recent games/remakes. Quite understandable, if you consider the title screen for the
NES port of the original Contra. - Cannot Spit It Out: An Aborted Declaration of Love, if the cutscnes showing their interaction during the events of Shattered Soldier are any implication.
- Didn't Think This Through: Let's all agree that allowing an alien's embryo to have a safe birth, development and reproduction inside his body clearly wasn't as reliable as he had hoped, something even he eventually lampshades.
- Disc-One Final Boss: He's not the real villain of Shattered Soldier. The Triumvirate is.
- The Dreaded: The Triumvirate didn't send off Bill Rizer to get rid of him by mere whim.
- Expy: Of Rambo. In Shattered Soldier, he looks like Heinrich Himmler.
- Insufferable Genius: Downplayed, in Contra Returns he's usually a pretty nice guy but he's temperamental when he's in thought, which is often, and Lance can be rather bitchy about how kids nowadays have it easy. They can practice with his latest inventions through VR, while he had to build everything and then go test them in field.
- Gadgeteer Genius: In Contra Returns, several times in the story it mentions that almost all the fancy hardware that the Contra Force uses has been developed by Lance. He's currently working on a new secret personal project that Bill believes to be a booster pill.
- Genius Bruiser: As mentioned above, he's the genius behind Contra Force's equipment and he's got the muscles of an elite bodybuilder.
- Leitmotif: Lance Lullaby.
- Mythology Gag: Leviathan in Hard Corps: Uprising could be a young Lance Bean, but then there comes Unexplained Recovery if Leviathan is Not Quite Dead after his Knight Lunata battle.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Lance's appearance is based on Sylvester Stallone's likeness.
- One-Winged Angel: After being defeated for the first time in Shattered Soldier, he fuses with the alien's DNA.
- Power Floats: Among other unusual abilities, thanks to his willing corruption.
- Shout-Out Theme Naming: Is named after Michael Biehn and Lance Henriksen, both of whom starred in Aliens.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: He teleports out when he first encounters Bill (or Lucia) in Shattered Soldier, but not before vowing that he won't show any mercy the next time they meet.
- We Used to Be Friends: With Bill Rizer. To what depth their bond went throughout the games was left in the air.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: As an undercover agent in ReBirth.
- Worthy Opponent: Halfway through his battle and in the real outcome, Lance isn't ashamed to admit he truly underestimated how powerful Bill (or Lucia) has become — an indication that he isn't as villainous as it has been assumed. On the other hand...
- You Bastard!: Should you get an average rank lower than A, Lance can't help but laugh at your lack of foresight and fades away without saying a word explaining his Face–Heel Turn... Not that it is going to matter, anyway.
Lucia
Lucia
Voiced by: Wendee Lee (Neo Contra, English)
Lucia, a.k.a. Bioroid LCR, was a female cyborg who was created by Dr. Geo Mandrake, but was unable to complete her as he had died. She served as Bill's partner during the events of Shattered Soldier.- Expy: She is quite possibly one to Ellen Ripley from the Alien film franchise.
- Fallen Heroine: After the war against Blood Falcon several millennia ago in Shattered Soldier, Lucia was disposed of after presumable staging a rebellion against the federal government. It's implied that she was retrieved and reprogrammed afterwards.
- Knight of Cerebus: Compared to the other members of the Quirky Miniboss Squad in Neo Contra, she's the only one to be treated fully seriously.
- Male Gaze: The shots used in her introduction as Pheromone Contra were probably intentional.
- Should you complete Neo Contra with an S-Rank, it is entirely possible to put the player characters back to action in their undergarments. As for Lucia, she'll be seen wearing a bikini.
- In Contra 4, she becomes one of the two post-Contra III female characters ascended to playable by looks alone (with the other being Sheena Etranzi from Hard Corps).
- Mirror Boss: In Neo Contra, if the player chooses her as a player character once she's unlocked.
- Rogue Protagonist: She's one of the villains in Neo Contra, but unlike Lance, her reasons behind her Face–Heel Turn are unknown.
- We Used to Be Friends: Arguably the reason why her battle was treated in a fully serious tone, to contrast with previous encounters.
- You Don't Look Like You: Her design in 4 differs greatly from her original incarnation.
Others
Contra: Hard Corps
Ray
Ray Poward
"Locked and loaded!"
First appearing in Hard Corps, he is a member of the Hard Corps and the main character of the game. Along with Sheena Etranzi, Brad Fang, and Browny, his mission was to stop the former war hero Colonel Bahamut from using the Alien Cell for his nefarious purposes. He also appears in Legacy of War and C: The Contra Adventure.
- Divergent Character Evolution: In Contra Returns, he look younger and wears a hoodie to distinguish himself from Bill Rizer.
- Expy: Of Bill Rizer. His weapons are all classic Contra standbys or variations therof.
- The Protagonist: He's the main character in Hard Corps.
Sheena
Sheena Etranzi
"Let's rock!"
She makes her first appearance in Hard Corps. She is a fierce warrior who is skilled in guerrilla tactics, and in jungle combat she is said to be equal to an entire squad.
- Action Girl: As the deuteragonist of Hard Corps.
- Male Gaze: She becomes one of the two post-Contra III characters ascended to playable by looks alone (with the other being Lucia from Shattered Soldier).
- One-Man Army: More like one-robotic-woman army, with her reputation as this trope getting referenced in the Contra: Hard Corps biography.
- Stripperiffic: Sheena's outfit in Contra 4 is akin to a bikini. See it here.◊ Her original outfit◊ was only slightly more modest, with a few belts around her midriff and her breast plate covering her cleavage.
Brad Fang
Brad Fang
Voiced by: P.M. Seymour (Contra Returns, English)
"It's payback time!"
A Wolf Man who was created using genetic engineering and cyborg technology. He's well trusted by the members of the Contra Force and is good at close range and hand-to-hand combat.
- Ambidextrous Sprite: His Arm Cannon changes sides when he faces left.
- The Big Guy: The biggest of them all, and wields a minigun directly attatched to his arm.
- Cool Shades: Which become Sunglasses at Night in the underground levels of Hard Corps.
- Difficult, but Awesome: He possesses no homing weapons so you really have to aim well while dodging the enemy attacks, not to mention, he's got the biggest hit box in the game. One of his weapons is a short explosive punch that forces you to stand still when you fire and cannot be aimed, and his 4th weapon, Psychic Blaster, forces you to stop and fires a pathetically weak orb that only be fired forward. Those who knew how he works and juggle well between dodging and aiming, are rewarded with one of the most powerful characters in the game: That punch takes a huge chunk of damage especially to stationary bosses and can be rapid-fired too, and Psychic Blaster is actually a Charged Attack, charge it and see bosses that dare to get into Brad's horizontal line of sight get reduced to ashes in one to three blasts. Not to mention, his rapid-fire weapon also acts as a powerful spreadshot at long ranges.
- Infinity +1 Sword: His Beast Shot, Psycho Blaster, and Explosive Punch are pretty powerful.
- Necessary Drawback: While he has the most powerful weapons of the four, he's also the largest of the four which means that his larger hitbox makes him more susceptible to getting killed.
Browny
Browny
Let's party!
He is the Model CX-1-DA300 Combat Robot, though he is referred to as "Browny" by the Contra Force due to his warm personality. His ability to link up with numerous systems makes him an unsurpassed intelligence tool.- Death Throws: He's the only playable character in the entire Contra series who dies in this manner.
- Double Jump: Out of the four playable characters, he has the capability of doing a second jump in midair thanks to his jetpack. To compensate, he has the lowest jump height otherwise.
- Necessary Drawback: His ability to Double Jump is compensated with his low jumping height. While he's the smallest of the four heroes, allowing him to avoid attacks easily, his invincible slide is also the shortest.
- Killer Yo-Yo: His Super-Electromagnet Yo-Yo is an electromagnetic yoyo that is surprisingly powerful, dealing heavy amounts of continuous damage on contact and homing in on enemies to boot.
- Robot Buddy: A warm and friendly robot of the Hard Corps.
Neo Contra
Jaguar
Genbei "Jaguar" Yagyu
Voiced by: Beau Billingslea (Neo Contra, English)
Jaguar is a human-alien samurai who serves as Bill's partner during the events of Neo Contra.
- Bilingual Bonus: In ReBirth, all of his voice lines are in Japanese.
- Divergent Character Evolution: Jaguar inverts this trope between Neo Contra and Contra ReBirth. In Neo, he's slower but more powerful than Bill Rizer, and you can unlock the option to replace one of his guns with a powerful but melee-range katana. In ReBirth, he not only plays identically to Bill, but dresses like him, too.
- Expy: Takes direct inspiration from the historical samurai Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi — with some cues from Getsu Fuma Den.
- Human Aliens: He is from the planet called "Oh! Edo". Justified since Neo Contra was set after a major space colonization.
- Infinity +1 Sword: Jaguar's katana is pretty powerful, just enough to destroy a single machine on its own.
- An ending in Neo Contra shows him slicing down hordes of enemies with just his katana instead of his guns.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Lance Bean, thanks to the extensive redesign he acquires in ReBirth.
Contra 4
Probotector
"Probotect and serve."
Voiced by: Aaron J. Nurse (Contra: Operation Galuga, English)
Initially a replacement for most of the human characters when the Contra games were released in Europe in the 1990s due to censorship concerns raised by the Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons (BPjM) on violent games at the time.
They're integrated into the mainstream storyline where Probotector androids are used as scout and combat support units in the Alien Wars.
- Adaptational Explanation: The presence of the Probotectors in the mainstream storyline is explained; they were originally training robots for Contra trainees (which, owing to their agility, may explain how Contra operatives possess impressive capabilities), before they are retrofitted for combat.
- Canon Immigrant: Originally created as the replacement player characters for the European releases of the 8-bit and 16-bit era Contra games, they found themselves in games under the Contra titles, although as only a Secret Character and not a main character.
- Robot Soldier: Probotectors are deployed to support Contra ops as frontline troops when needed.
Mad Dog and Scorpion
- Decomposite Character: Originally, Mad Dog and Scorpion were simply the codenames of Bill and Lance in American regions. With the release of Contra 4, however, they have become characters in their own right within the Japanese continuity.
Solomon Caesar
A former soldier of fortune during the Alien Wars, Solomon was captured by the Red Falcon army and experimented on, removing his eyesight and ability to process oxygen. After he was rescued by the Contra Force, Solomon decided to join the force himself. Bill's partner during the events of Contra 4 Redux. Official Fan-Submitted Content created by young artist Stephen Hetrick for a contest held during the development of Contra 4 Redux.
- Delinquent Hair: Wears his hair in a bright green mohawk.
- Disability-Negating Superpower: His face mask allows him to safely breath oxygen again as well as give him superhuman levels of eyesight.
Contra ReBirth
BR-W9
BR-W9
BR-W9, a.k.a. Brownie, is a small android girl who talks in a high-pitched voice and is affiliated with the Contra Force.- Child Soldiers: She's only half her partners' height, with a demeanor as mature as you'd expect.
- Dub Name Change: In the Japanese version, her name is Tsugu-min.
- Shout-Out:
- She's basically a parody of Fireball's Drossel von Flügel. Even her Japanese name is a reference to the character (Tsugu-min is a play on "Tsugumi," a dusky thrush in Japanese, just like Drossel is in Deutsch).
- Whenever she falls in battle, she leaves a flower on her body, like Konami Lady from Wai Wai World.
- Something Else Also Rises: Holds a wilting flower anytime she gets herself killed.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Of Browny from Hard Corps, even having almost the same name. They're also some of the best characters in the series, gameplay-wise.
Hard Corps: Uprising
Bahamut
Bahamut
Voiced by: Mike Ishibe
The main character of Hard Corps: Uprising. Former soldier of Commonwealth, he deserted it after realizing that it was evil. Leader of the Union Force. One of the two playable characters in the base game.- Jack of All Trades: He is the most balanced out of all characters with his speed, health bar, and dash all sitting comfortably in the middle.
Krystal
Krystal
Voiced by: Takako Ishizuka
A woman who joined the Union Force to fight against The Commonwealth after her village was destroyed by Tiberius. She partners with Bahamut. The other playable character in the base game.- Fragile Speedster: Her playstyle. With the exception of Leviathan she has the lowest health out of all playable characters with only two bars. As a trade-off she has the fastest dash which mean if you are good with dodging and know the layout of the level, she is the optimal choice for clearing a stage the fastest.
Harley Daniels
Harley Daniels
Voiced by: Yvan Pilette
An elite soldier of the Federation Tribe who acts in tandem with Bahamut. Looks for the fun and beauty of battle despite not liking violence. One of the three DLC characters.- Badass Biker: He can be seen riding a bike in the opening cinematic.
- Delinquent Hair: Has a pompadour to go with it.
Sayuri
Sayuri
Voiced by: Mayuki
A mysterious wandering swordswoman who joins the fight against the Commonwealth. Seems to have a connection with Tiberius. One of the three DLC characters.- Katanas Are Just Better: To the point of Game-Breaking, as with proper use, she can decimate all enemies in one hit and boss in seconds.
Contra: Rogue Corps
Hungry Beast
Kurt "Hungry Beast" Steiner
Voiced by: Sam Black
- Brain Transplant: Was once a human scientist who saw no other option than to have his brain implanted into that of a cyborg panda to escape an exploding building.
Contra: Operation Galuga
The following are characters from a reboot timeline unrelated to the original Contra games.
Bill Rizer
Voiced by: Steve Blum (English)
- Adaptational Dumbass: In Operation Galuga, he suggested to the other Contra members to shoot the Lemris Core after Varanis set it to overload out of spite, only for his teammates to understandably shout "NO!" to him. This is something that most versions of him wouldn't even dare.
Lance Bean
Voiced by: Alejandro Saab (English)
Bill's Partner and a member of the Contra Force.
- Out of Focus: Lance doesn't get too much of a backstory or role in the game itself save for being Bill's sidekick.
- Related in the Adaptation: He is Ray Poward's foster father in Operation Galuga.
- The Smart Guy: He is good with computers, and is the one who accesses the terminal inside an outpost after defeating the Red Falcon Lieutenant.
Rachel Lucia Drake
Voiced by: Kira Buckland (English)
One of the navigators for the EMC who is also a member of X-FLO.- Adaptational Species Change: In the original timeline, Lucia was a robot. Here, Lucia appears to be a human.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Does this at the end of the game, however, the team doubt that she is dead, and the game ends with them preparing to begin their search.
Ariana
"I have no choice."
Voiced by: Angelita Esperanza (English)
Skilled guerilla warrior who native to the Galuga Archipelago, Ariana's people have served as the guardians of the island's temple since ancient times. However, after her village was struck by the threat of Red Falcon, she would wage a one-woman war against the enemy, both out of duty, and for revenge.- Ambiguously Brown: She's native to Earth and has a darker skin than most characters, but it's not clear what race she's supposed to be, with her people only described as a warrior tribe.
- Mr. Exposition: In Operation Galuga, she takes this role to explain to Bill and Lance the history of Galuga Island whenever necessary.
- Only One Name: Is the only non-robotic player character who only has one name.
Stanley Ironside
"Need another hand?"
Voiced by: Isaac Robinson-Smith (English)
A first lieutenant within the GX Army, Stanley Ironside led an armored platoon against the threat of Red Falcon prior to the arrival of the Contra Unit. Donning a powered Hercules exosuit, Ironside allies himself with the duo of Bill and Lance to take out the terrorist threat.- Powered Armor: Wears one for combat, but unlike previous robotic player characters, he's not a robot at all. You can see him taking his helmet off in the ending of Operation Galuga.
- Rank Scales with Asskicking: He's the commander of the GX Army and is the most competent, being the only soldier to last long enough to help out the Contra during the Story Mode of Operation Galuga.
Ray Poward
A recent Contra operative who graduated from college.
- New Meat: Implied. According to Bill, he recently graduated from college and just joined the Contra force.
- Related in the Adaptation: In Operation Galuga, he is the adopted son of Lance Bean.
Sheena Etranzi
Voiced by: Valerie Arem (English)
One of the three operatives dispatched to retrieve Bradley only to see him mutate into a cyborg werewolf.- The Cameo: In The Stinger for Contra: Operation Galuga, she can be seen spying on Bradley as he mutates into a werewolf.
- Tamer and Chaster: Her appearance in Operation Galuga (pictured here) is this compared to her original Hard Corps outfit as well as her Contra 4 outfit.
Bradley (Unmarked Spoilers)
Voiced by: Kaiji Tang (English)
A new Red Falcon recruit who signed up for easy money, only to be horrified by their horrific experiments and escape.
- Adaptational Backstory Change: The original Brad Fang was a genetically modified half-wolf cyborg developed by an experiment. Here, he's a normal human being before being modified by Red Falcon.
- Canon Character All Along: In Contra: Operation Galuga, we are introduced to Bradley, who appears to be a Punch-Clock Villain working for Red Falcon before calling it quits after seeing their true colors. In The Stinger, we later see him mutate into a werewolf, thus revealing him to be the same Brad Fang in Hard Corps.
- Mechanically Unusual Fighter: In Operation Galuga, Bill and Lance wield the "standard" versions of every weapon as well as their Overloads, while other characters may use alternative variations instead (for example, Lucia's spread is a charge blast instead of the usual spread gun). Brad plays into this trope by having the variant weapons and overloads for literally all of his weapons.
Browny
Voiced by: David Errigo Jr. (English)
A robotic operative sent alongside Sheena to retrieve Bradley.
- Double Jump: Triple Jump, more like. As a nod to his then-unique ability to Double Jump in Hard Corps, he's the only one who can Triple Jump in Operation Galuga.
- The Cameo: Same as Sheena.
Non-player Characters
Red Falcon Organization
An evil organization of brainwashed humans and alien lifeforms seeking to dominate the world. Or do they?- Determinator: If their goals in Shattered Soldier were to go by, they won't give up until humanity is annihilated or they're all annihilated.
- Homage: To the Alien series. Many of their enemy designs are Xenomorph Xeroxes and based on other things in the movies.
- Nebulous Evil Organisation: Initially they appear as an evil force out to conquer the world. We do learn their true goals eventually however, in Shattered Soldier.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: One possible angle you can interpret their invasion of the planet, given how in Contra: Shattered Soldier we learn they're invading Earth to reclaim an artifact the Triumvirate stole. It's just that they've gone overboard about it.
Java
Demon Dragon God Java/Gomeramosking/Red Falcon/Para Slug
The commander of the Red Falcon forces in the first game.- Big Bad: Of the first game, where he's the one behind the Red Falcon invasion.
- Dub Name Change: Was renamed "Red Falcon" in the localization of the original game. In Contra III it was renamed again to "Para Slug", likely because Gava was already given the name "Red Falcon" in that game.
- Evil Is Visceral: The Final Boss of the game is Java's still-beating heart.
Gava
Emperor Devil Gava/Red Falcon
The leader of the Red Falcon organization and the mastermind behind most of the invasions on Earth.- Big Bad: Of most games, as the overall leader of Red Falcon. In particular it serves as this in the arcade version of Super Contra and Contra III.
- Brain in a Jar: You fight his brain in Contra III and Neo.
- Cognizant Limbs: Tends to have two destructible snake-like skeleton aliens for "arms" in almost all appearances.
- Demoted to Dragon: Is not the Final Boss in the NES port of Super C.
- Dub Name Change:
- The English manual for Contra III identifies him as Red Falcon.
- Super C's English manual implied his name was Jagger Froid.
- Eldritch Abomination: A mass of teeth and flesh, several stories tall.
- Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: He appears as a boss in Neo under the hands of Master Contra.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Presumably for the first Contra, where the Red Falcon forces are led by Java, who in later games is a mid-boss under Gava.
- Recurring Boss: He appears at least once per game since Super C.
- Slasher Smile: His default expression is a toothy, sinister grin.
- Xenomorph Xerox: Resembles the Xenomorph Queen from Aliens. His appearance in ReBirth resembles the Predalien from Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem.
Kimkoh
Shadow Beast Kimkoh/Golden Beast
A creature in the Red Falcon army who serves as a recurring boss in the series.- Dragon Ascendant: Considering Gava is defeated right before it, it would appear Kimkoh was the one leading the Red Falcon army for the remainder of the game.
- Recurring Boss: Starting with Super Contra, it's appeared in a boss in nearly every Contra game.
Black Viper
Black Viper
She is an alien leader and the sister of Red Falcon/Emperor Devil Gava. She is behind the invasions in Operation C and 4.
- Big Bad: She serves as the main antagonist of the American release of Operation C and Contra 4.
- Canon Immigrant: An odd variant of this. Black Viper was something made up for the American version of Operation C, but was seemingly added to the Japanese canon by way of Contra 4. Though in Japan, the name "Black Viper" was instead associated with a playable aircraft in Sexy Parodius, in which it serves as a Shadow Archetype of Vic Viper.
- Expy: Of Emperor Devil Gava. She isn't the sister of an Eldritch Abomination for nothing.
- Kaiju: She is initially ten times larger than a Contra during her initial fight with them - but, after sustaining enough injuries, she falls into a human disposal plant and, by absorbing the barely alive bodies of human victims, grows into a massive size that serve as the real stage area for the rest of the level.
- Named In The Adaptation: In the original Japanese version of "Operation C", the enemies were an unnamed enemy organization that somehow obtained an equally unnamed alien cell. The English manual randomly decided to say the enemies were under an alien force known as "Black Viper".
Operation Galuga
In General
- Adaptational Villainy: The Aliens in the original timeline only wanted their Relic of Moirai back. In the reboot, they're stated to be genocidal alien conquerors from Zagard who want to take out and control all life on earth.
- Adaptational Backstory Change: In the original timeline, the Aliens did not invade before the Triumvirate stole the Relic of Moirai from them. Here, the Lemris relic was around at least a millennia ago and the residents of Galuga had fought over the relic with them for centuries.
- The Heavy: Red Falcon and Varanis are merely a front for the Zagard Empire.
General Varanis
General Varanis
Voiced by: Brett Gipson (English)
The ruthless leader of Red Falcon in Operation Galuga. His origins are shrouded in mystery.- Archaic Weapon for an Advanced Age: Despite being an interstellar alien with cutting edge technology, one of his attacks is to draw a bow and shoot an arrow at the player's direction.
- Boss Subtitles: On the official site, "Cold-Blooded Commander".
- Disc-One Final Boss: Despite being the Big Bad and being fought in the final stage, he is not the Final Boss; shortly after you kill him a Giant Space Flea from Nowhere (implied to be Java) devours Varanis' ship along with you, where you must fight your way through its intestines, and eventually fight the giant alien as the real Final Boss.
- Evil Laugh: Several times, most notably after stealing the Lemris from the ruins.Varanis: I'm glad you were able to speak with Beowulf before I secured the Lemris. So you can comprehend the totality of your defeat! Ha ha ha ha!
- Expy: Appears to be inspired by the Predator. Both wear armor and a helmet and are unmasked for the climax, both are seeking a Worthy Opponent, and upon defeat, they activate a Self-Destruct Mechanism on their wrist in a final act of taking their opponents with them.
- Knight Templar: In his introductory scene, he claims to be a vanguard bringing order and justice to Earth.
- Posthumous Villain Victory: Despite his defeat, Lucia vanishes with the Lemris and Zagard can now order a full-blown alien invasion on earth.
- Taking You with Me: Overloads his ship's core in his dying moments after being defeated by the Contra to take them down with him. Before it can, however, Java appears out of nowhere and devours the ship along with the heroes.
Red Falcon Lieutenant
Red Falcon Lieutenant
Voiced by: Andrew Frankel (English)
The unnamed second-in-command of Red Falcon and the boss of Stage 2.- The Dragon: To Varanis.
- Hulking Out: He mutates into a Hulk-like monster for the players to fight at the end of the stage.
- No Name Given: He is the only notable antagonist to have characterization and dialogue aside from Varanis, but he is only referred to as the "Lieutenant".
Emperor Demon Dragon God Java (Unmarked Spoilers)
- Adaptational Badass: In the original Contra, Java was just a giant alien head stuck on a wall. In Operation Galuga, it's now a giant alien akin to a Kaiju, and is a Composite Character with its successor Gava.
- Expy: Its Operation Galuga incarnation seems to have a lot of similarities with Doom Eternal's version of the Icon of Sin. In both of their original appearances, they were simply heads stuck on a wall that attacked by throwing projectiles at you. In Operation Galuga, much like the Icon of Sin, it's now a Kaiju-sized monster that was created as a mindless weapon by the Big Bad.
- Final Boss: Of Operation Galuga.
- Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: In Operation Galuga, it appears out of nowhere and devours Varanis' ship along with the team after Varanis is defeated, forcing you to fight your way through its intestines.
- Kaiju: In Operation Galuga, it's the size of a skyscraper, and you actually have to fight your way through its guts.
Zagard Empire (Unmarked Spoilers)
- Greater-Scope Villain: Varanis' goal is to steal the Lemris and switch off the gravity shield, thus paving the way for them to invade Earth. He succeeds, and the game ends with them staging an all-out assault on Earth, setting the stage for the Alien Wars.
Others
Commander Doyle
Commander Doyle
The leader of the Contra unit.- Big Good: Serves as the player's commanding officer in Hard Corps and Operation Galuga.
Bahamut
Colonel Bahamut
The main antagonist of Hard Corps. He was once a war hero, but he suddenly attempted to overthrow the government. While the coup d'état failed, he went into hiding, but later resurfaced to use the Alien Cell for his own plans.- Body Horror: In one path, he'll merge with the Alien Cell but he'll eventually mutate into an alien monster.
- Face–Heel Turn: While he was formally a war hero, Hard Corps: Uprising is actually a prequel to Hard Corps before his supposed Face–Heel Turn. However, the Bahamut in Uprising could not be the same Bahamut, only sharing the same name.
- Fallen Hero: If he and the protagonist in Hard Corps: Uprising are the same person.
- Final Boss: There are two paths where he becomes the Final Boss in Hard Corps.
- Fusion Dance: In order to further enhance his combat capabilities, he absorbs the Alien Cell and transform into an ultimate being. Unfortunately, as he takes damage his powers go unstable.
- Karma Houdini: One of the endings has him flying off in a helicopter after the Alien Cell is destroyed.
- My Death Is Just the Beginning: In one path, when he's defeated, he'll say that upon his death, a missile loaded with the Alien Cell will launch and destroy the planet.
- Schrödinger's Gun: His plans to use the Alien Cell depends on which path you took. Either he wants to use it to power a Kill Sat, turn it into a bio-weapon, merge with it, or load it on a missile and launch it into civilization.
- The Unfought: One of four main story paths ends with an outbreak of alien organic matter, providing a distraction for the main antagonist, Colonel Bahamut, to escape to fight another day.
- We Can Rule Together: Offers this to the player in one of the paths. Saying yes will give you a Non-Standard Game Over where you become his Dragon, while saying no will give you a Boss Battle with him.
Deadeye Joe
Deadeye Joe
A mercenary hired by Colonel Bahamut during the events of Hard Corps.- Dragon Their Feet: In one path, he will personally fight the Hard Corps while in a Jet Pack and armed with a rifle. This is the only time he doesn't rely on war machines to do the fight.
- Dragon with an Agenda: He seems to have his own plans. He also states he doesn't care that Bahamut is dead in the Missile Path.
- Worthy Opponent: If you choose to surrender to Dr. Mandrake, he'll break you out of your cell in a military train so he can fight you later on.
Dr. Mandrake
Dr. Geo Mandrake
He was a scientist who was affiliated with Colonel Bahamut to do research on Gava's DNA. He also built Lucia (from Contra: Shattered Soldier) as one of his plans, but died (presumably assassinated) before her creation.- Adaptational Heroism: He doesn't betray the player in the Sega Genesis version of Probotector.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: In the path where the player resists capture in Hard Corps, he stays behind to use teleporter-fused monstrosities against you. When he tries mashing them all together at once, the resulting miserable-looking husk immediately eats him.
- You Have Failed Me: In one path, an irate Bahamut punishes him for his failure by transforming him into an alien, while tied and suspended with a rope above Bahamut's flying platform.
The Triumvirate (Unmarked Spoilers)
The Triumvirate
They are a trio of ancient men who governed the Earth in Shattered Soldier. Their names are Gaius, Nero, and Commodus.- Asshole Victim: In their attempt to harness the relic's power, all three get consumed by the resulting chimera. Considering that they were responsible for the past wars and framed Bill for the slaughter of nearly the entire world's population, all three of them had this death due.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: They're the true main antagonists of Shattered Soldier.
- Corrupt Politician: They were the ones responsible for the Alien Wars since they stole a mysterious artifact from the aliens, called the Relic of Moirai.
- Destroy the Evidence: They were the ones commanding the '''immediate execution''' of Lance Bean, when he casually stumbled upon the by-product of their plans. Unfortunately for them, the man found a way to survive the ordeal, and became their worst enemy. Bill Rizer would follow suit eventually...
- Evil Laugh: In the Downer Ending of Shattered Soldier, they laugh after disposing of Bill using a Kill Sat.
- Evil Old Folks: The individual members of the Triumvirate are several hundred years old and are responsible for the alien war as they stole the Relic of Moirai.
- Fat Bastard: Gaius is the most overweight of the three and is just as depraved.
- A God Am I: They obtained the Relic of Moirai to get god-like power.Gaius: We now possess the relic and its power, making us virtual gods.
- Greater-Scope Villain: For most part of the entire franchise. They caused the invasions in the first three games by pilfering the Relic of Moirai from Jupiter, leading the Red Falcon to invade to retrieve it.
- Karmic Death: Once they finish analyzing the Relic of Moirai, their plan to use it backfires when it merges with them, becoming the Final Boss.
- Leitmotif: Senator.
- One-Winged Angel: When the Relic of Moirai merges with them.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: The Triumvirate pretty much gave Bill Rizer enough motivation to actively hunt them down, when they forced him into killing his former partner, Lance Bean.
- That Man Is Dead: Though, to be fair, Bill is also at fault for assassinating Lance...Nero: Avenge him? When it's your hands that are red with his blood, you threaten us?
- Theme Naming: The members of the Triumvirate in Shattered Soldier (Gaius, Nero and Commodus) are named after three of the most infamous Roman emperors (you may know Gaius better as Caligula).
- The Unfought: Unless you count the Relic of Moirai merging with the Triumvirate and overwhelming them.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: They attempt to kill Bill with a satellite move on the heroes at the end of the game. Their level of success depends on your performance throughout the first five stages.
Master Contra (Unmarked Spoilers)
Master Contra
Voiced by: Steve Blum
The leader of Neo Contra and the main antagonist of Neo.- Actually a Doombot: Once Master Contra is defeated, it turns out to be a machine. The real Master Contra is the facility itself, Project C.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Gives one of these to Bill during his Break Them by Talking speech.Master Contra: What do you remember from before they put you in cold sleep, hmm? How much? You probably remember missions and battles fairly accurately. But beyond that, any personal memories? Disturbing how little you can recall, isn't it?
- BFS: Owns one whom he uses to murder Mystery G. Later, he uses it in Stage 6.
- Break Them by Talking: When he's revealed, he taunts Bill about how he claims to be the real Bill Rizer, and that Bill's memories were pieced together by a military database.
- Hannibal Lecture: He loves giving these. His speech in Stage 6 about winning wars and ultimate soldiers is an example.
- Hold the Line: The final stage has you fighting Master Contra in his final form. Unusual for a typical Contra Final Boss in that attacking him is optional, just dodge the bullets and wait for him to burn up in atmosphere.
- It's All About Me: As Bill Rizer put it, he's just a "heap of metal with an inflated ego".
- A God Am I: He claims to have far surpassed the original Bill Rizer, even going as far as to declare himself as the ultimate form of him.
- Kick the Dog: His Break Them by Talking speech as well as his killing of Mystery G.
- Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: He claims to want to destroy Earth as a means to demolish all structured society and their morals. In reality, him destroying the planet is simply For the Evulz.
- Slasher Smile: This ending pic◊ has him sporting one of these which looks rather similar to Sigma or M. Bison.
- True Final Boss: You can only fight him and his final form if you have a high enough ranking.
G
Mystery G
Voiced by: Doug Stone
A mysterious soldier who knows all about Bill Rizer and about the Contra. He fights Bill and Jaguar in Stage 2 to prove if the former is Bill Rizer.- Big Damn Heroes: He pulls off one of these if you have a high-enough ranking, which culminates in a Heroic Sacrifice.
- Clones Are People, Too: He considers Clone!Bill to be a true Contra.Mystery G: Listen, Rizer! Don't let his words rattle you. You know who you are. And how you live your life dictates who you are. You're not a fake if you risk your life fighting for your ideals. You are a true hero. You are Contra.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: He dies in Bill’s arms after being fatally wounded by Master Contra, but not before giving Bill some words of encouragement.
- Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: After getting fatally wounded by Master Contra, he attempts to lift the spirits of a demoralized Bill Rizer by stating that he should see himself as a fake if he risked his life fighting for his ideals. It works.
- Heroic Sacrifice: If you have a high-enough ranking, he'll save Bill and Jaguar from Master Contra and get fatally wounded by him.
- Lone Wolf Boss: He's the only opponent you'll encounter who isn't affiliated with Master Contra in any way.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: And it doesn't take long for him to be brutally slain.
Salamander
Chief Salamander
Chief Salamander is a reptilian alien who fights against the Contra Force.- Bowdlerize: Naturally, this had to happen to him when Contra ReBirth was brought overseas. In the Japanese version, when a photograph of Chief Salamander is shown at the beginning of Stage 3, he looks strikingly like Adolf Hitler.
- Heel–Face Turn: Presumably undergoes one in The Stinger of ReBirth.
- Tuckerization: Chief Salamander and his Neo-Salamander Forces are named after Salamander, while the name Plissken is a direct reference to Snake Plissken from Escape from New York and Escape from L.A..
Tiberius
- The Dictatorship: He is the supreme commander of the Commonwealth Empire who rules over the people with an iron fist.
- Parrying Bullets: He can deflect bullets, but not by striking it with a sword, by grabbing each bullet with his hands and casually drop them after the Hard Corps stop firing at him.
- One-Winged Angel: After losing to the Hard Corps during the first phase of the fight, he stabs himself with a sword and transforms into a monstrous abomination.
Leviathan
- Call-Forward: Gameplay-wise, if you play as him, the entire gameplay goes in the style of the original Contra, such as One-Hit-Point Wonder and only one weapon at a time.
- Undying Loyalty: Tiberius' most faithful soldier. This is especially evident when you play as him, and find that he's still loyal to Tiberius even after finding out the truth of the Capital Laboratory in stage 5.
- We Used to Be Friends: With Bahamut, before he betrayed the Commonwealth organization.
Beowulf
Voiced by: Colby West (English)
- Greater-Scope Paragon: He is the first human Contra.
