Contra 4 - Playable Characters

Playable Characters

Contra 4 features the return of the original Contra duo, Bill Rizer and Lance Bean, who were last seen fighting together side-by-side in Contra III: The Alien Wars. Two original characters were also introduced named Mad Dog and Scorpion. Created just for this game, the characters take their names from the American localizations of Contra and Super C for the NES in which Bill and Lance were given the nicknames Mad Dog and Scorpion respectively. This is justified by portraying "Mad Dog" and "Scorpion" (the new characters) as having fought against Black Viper in the past (particularly during the events of Operation C), although this revision is not taken into account in the Japanese localization of the game. There are no differences in terms of gameplay or ability between the four main characters, as they all use the same character sprite with a different color pattern for each. Bill and Lance are depicted wearing blue and red respectively, their colors from the NES versions, while Mad Dog and Scorpion wear green and purple, the colors Bill and Lance wear in the arcade version of Super Contra. In addition to the four main characters, there are also five hidden characters that are unlocked after completing certain numbers of missions in Challenge Mode. They include the Probotector, who is based on the robot characters RD008 and RC011 that replaced Bill and Lance in the PAL versions of the Contra games for the NES and Super NES; Lucia, a female cyborg who first appears as the secondary playable character in Contra: Shattered Soldier, taking Lance's place as Bill's partner-in-arms; Sheena Etranzi, the female soldier from Contra: Hard Corps; and Jimbo and Sully, the sprite renditions of Bill and Lance respectively as seen in Contra III: The Alien Wars.