For the character codenamed "Mad Dog" in the American localization, see Bill Rizer.
The night when the Black Viper's great army descended upon the Earth, Contras Mad Dog and Ray Poward were at a party. Needless to say, Black Viper's invasion ended the party. Now they're pissed. This "dog" may not have much actual experience compared with the other Contras, but if this mission did not have Bill Rizer, the next best slaughter candidate would definitely be this guy.Contra 4 translated official description
Mad Dog is a character in the Contra series. He is a commando, member of the Contra force, who made his debut as an individual character in Contra 4.
According to Contra 4ʼs partially re-written chronology of Contra, Mad Dog first appeared in Operation C alongside his friend Scorpion. (Note: Mad Dog and Scorpion were originally the American codenames for Bill Rizer and Lance Bean, respectively. Moreover, Mad Dog's appearance was based on Bill Rizer's in the arcade version of Super Contra.)
Although it is unclear whether it was Mad Dog or Scorpion in the role of the playable character, Operation C lets the player control a character in all-green clothes (like Mad Dog) and slightly tan skin (like Scorpion). He wears a black headband and has somewhat cropped, blond hair (like Bill Rizer).
In Contra 4, Mad Dog wears dark green pants and a white bandanna. He is also the only African-American member of the Contra team.
In the official Contra 4 manga, he favors wearing his bandanna in a durag style and has a fondness for heavy weapons; the comic shows him repeatedly taking foes down with a bazooka/rocket launcher.
Mad Dog may be based on Mac Eliot from the 1987 guerrilla/science fiction-themed action film Predator (a film that strongly inspired the Contra series). In the film, Mac was one of the surviving commandos during the climax before his demise and was constantly shown wielding heavy weaponry, most notably a minigun named "Old Painless".
Mad Dog's design in Contra 4 also resembles Lt. Cunningham from Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (another game made by Konami). Both U.S. soldiers bear similar attire (such as wearing a bandanna), and also wield heavy weapons in combat. Coincidentally, the way Mad Dog wields a large rocket launcher in the comics is similar to a hand drawn image of Cunningham wielding a Davy Crockett.
