Iroquois Pliskin

"I'm not an enemy. Calm down. My name is S... My name is Pliskin."

- Iroquois Pliskin

Lieutenant Junior Grade Iroquois Pliskin was a supposed Navy SEAL who assisted Raiden during the 2009 Big Shell Incident.

Biography
Pliskin didn't appear to be a normal Lieutenant, as SEAL officers normally gave orders from the command post using the radio headset which Pliskin wore. He was quite knowledgeable on various "black" military subjects, particularly FOXHOUND, Dead Cell, and the Gurlukovich Mercenaries. Pliskin also used the Marine and SAS mottos, "Semper Fi" and "Who Dares, Wins," respectively.

Pliskin first encountered Raiden in the Strut B transformer room of the Big Shell, which was strewn with the bodies of SEALs who had been killed by Dead Cell member Vamp. Raiden was nearly attacked by Vamp, but only received a scratch thanks to an intervention from Pliskin. Vamp then went to attack Pliskin, but stopped short, remarking that Pliskin smelled just like "him." After Vamp is ordered to retreat, Pliskin explained a bit about Vamp's origins to Raiden, as well as Dead Cell. However, he wasn't able to continue on because he needed a few moments to recover from Vamp's attack, having become disoriented from blood loss. However, he also exaggerated slightly to Raiden, as he intended to go separate ways and watch him from afar, until he could gauge whether Raiden was trustworthy enough for him to ally with.

Pliskin later met Raiden and bomb disposal expert Peter Stillman within Strut C. Stillman provided the two with a coolant spray and sensor to disarm the C4 that had been planted throughout the facility. After Pliskin left to begin his bomb disposal of Shell 2, Stillman immediately figured that he was no SEAL due to the headphones and his use of other military organizations' mottos. Raiden wondered if Pliskin could have been one of the terrorists, but Stillman replied that for some reason, he didn't think so.

At some point later, Pliskin was contacted by Peter Stillman and requested that he investigate Shell 2 in case there were C4 planted that the C4 sensors couldn't pick up. Pliskin managed to stumble upon a large cache of C4 explosives that both were vapor-sealed and didn't contain any of Fatman's cologne, at the bottom of Strut H, and contacted Stillman and Raiden. However, he also ended up inadvertently activating the same C4 cache when he disarmed the last of Shell 2's decoy C4 explosives due to the same cache being rigged to activate when all of the decoy C4 were disarmed. Pliskin ended up knocked out in the resulting explosion shortly after Stillman's final message warning Pliskin and Raiden about the proximity microwave trigger with a seven foot (two meter) radius, on the C4. He ended up surviving the blast with the help of a friend. In addition, after Raiden questions about the toxins released after Shell H was heavily damaged, to which he reveals he never heard of that (and thus revealing that the dioxyn release was actually one of the Colonel 's lies) and decided to investigate, also revealing that Shell 2 did not contain any hostages, meaning they are most likely in Shell 1. He also implies to Raiden when telling him that their mission was to save U.S. President James Johnson and the hostages that that actually wasn't Pliskin's mission, and thus was most likely not a SEAL member, before signing off. After doing a thorough investigation of Shell 2 based on Raiden's tip, and also managed to procure a Kasatka.

Pliskin later revealed himself to be Solid Snake, who had supposedly died two years prior in the sinking of the U.S.S. Discovery, thus verifying Stillman's suspicions, after overhearing the terrorist leader, Solidus Snake, using Snake's name as an alias.

Trivia

 * When Raiden asked Pliskin how he entered the Big Shell, he responded with: "Fast rope descent from a navy chopper." Shortly thereafter, a bug crawled out of Pliskin's clothes, indicating that he had actually infiltrated the facility via the same route as Raiden, as the Deep Sea Dock of Strut A was filled with them.
 * At the beginning of his mission, Raiden was told by the Colonel that he would be unable to use either the terrorist's or the SEAL's weapons due to the ID lock feature. However, Raiden was able to use both Pliskin's M4 carbine against Vamp, and the SOCOM that Pliskin gave him. Both weapons should have been ID locked had they been SEAL weapons.
 * Upon closer inspection of Pliskin's equipment, there were a few shotgun shells tucked into his vest.
 * The last name of "Pliskin" was based on the protagonist Snake Plissken from the movies Escape from New York and Escape from L.A., while "Iroquois" was the Algonquin word for "black snake."
 * During his C4 hunt on Shell 2, Pliskin located: the first C4 on the Strut H heliport behind some cargo; the second C4 on the ceiling of another strut (which required him to get onto a stand to reach it with the coolant spray); the third C4 planted on the back of a Gurlukovich mercenary; the fourth C4 in an area so narrow he needed to crawl inside to reach it; and the fifth C4 that required a much closer inspection to locate.
 * Olga Gurlukovich became alerted to Pliskin's presence aboard the Big Shell, after seeing "a man in a cardboard box." This unorthodox tactic clued Solidus Snake in to Pliskin's possible identity.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
An early rendition of Iroquois Pliskin (イロコィ・プリスキン) was to have blond hair, much like Solid Snake's originally intended hair color in Metal Gear Solid, as seen in the Briefing. The idea made it as far as actual game testing, and was also included in the official script but was shelved in favor of dark hair. Testers cited a lack of association to Snake from Metal Gear Solid as the reason.

In Hideo Kojima's Grand Game Plan for Metal Gear Solid 2, Pliskin was originally to have come off as seemingly bumbling in order to have the player doubt that he was Solid Snake. He was also to have worn a cross around his neck, which is what saved him from being killed by Vamp (as Vamp was afraid of crosses/crucifixes due to the church bombing in Romania). His true identity would have been revealed after Fortune identified his blood. In addition, he was originally supposed to hold the rank of Master Chief Petty Officer.

Pliskin's attire is almost identical to Snake's appearance in Metal Gear right down to the headset and the color of his clothing. The appearance of Naked Snake in the Olive Drab camouflage is also similar to Pliskin. If the player equips the Young Face Camo with the South American guerrilla disguise in Act 2 of Metal Gear Solid 4, Snake's appearance is similar to Pliskin.

Gameplay
During Raiden's first meeting with Pliskin in Strut B, the player has the opportunity to directly interact with him:
 * If the player points their weapon at Pliskin while he is asleep, the blue "!" will be displayed above his head, and he will point his M4 at the player immediately, asking "Think you can shoot that thing?!/I wouldn't do that if I were you?/What are you thinking!?"
 * If the player punches Pliskin after he falls asleep, he becomes confused upon waking and the blue "?" will appear above his head.
 * If the player calls Pliskin by Codec while he is sleeping, he will start to mumble in his sleep. He can even be heard saying "Meryl..." and later shouting "Liquid!" before falling back asleep.
 * Shooting at Pliskin with the SOCOM pistol, or punching him two times, will cause him to shoot back and yell "Damn Kid/Moron!" Shooting him enough times will cause him to remain alert and shoot on sight until the player either leaves the area or tranquilizes him with the M9.
 * If the player shoots Pliskin and calls him on the Codec, he will yell "Raiden, I am on your side!" However, during the last cutscene on the Big Shell, right before the player is attacked by Olga Gurlukovich and Pliskin, Raiden will ask "You're changing sides now?", to which Pliskin responds "Changing sides? I don't recall saying I was on yours."


 * Exiting to the CD connecting bridge immediately after the meeting, will cause the player to see a man in a cardboard box sneaking across to Strut D. Shooting or closely appoaching the box will cause a red "!" to show above the man's head, who will then run away to escape. If the player calls Pliskin, he will feign ignorance, with Raiden humorously commenting that the man in the box "must be completely insane," and a "psycho," to be seen like that.

Other appearances
Snake's Pliskin alter ego was used in Snake Tale D: Dead Man Whispers.

An unlockable Pliskin trophy is available in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It has the following description:

"A SEAL member who infiltrates the Big Shell to suppress a terrorist group threatening to destroy it. He joins forces with Raiden, a new recruit in the special-forces unit called FOXHOUND. Disguised in order to secretly infiltrate the Big Shell, Pliskin is actually Solid Snake."

In DreamMix TV World Fighters, Solid Snake has an alternate costume that makes him look like Pliskin.