Achilles

This article's name isn't actually the official subject's name, but will be used as a quick reference until SNK is kind enough to provide us the official name.

"Achilles" is an unused support prisoner from Metal Slug 5

Gameplay

He was supposed to be a support character like Hyakutaro and Utan, who would cover the players' back after being rescued and run away when the player dies. However, due to SNK Playmore rushing the game, he ended up being unused, as he needed a lot more programming added to his AI to be of any real use.

He tries to keep positioning himself behind the character's back, so if enemies come from both sides and the players are turning a lot, he is rendered useless. His weapon supposedly has massive destructive power (his gun firing explosive rounds), but it does nothing in the game. He has the inability to shoot upwards, he will only fire when an enemy is in front of him, and, while he does turn his head around to check on his partner, he won't attempt to react towards enemies behind him. He cannot distinguish between enemies and destructible objects, like Hyakutaro does.

Unlike other support POWs, he has no unique end tally sprite nor an official given name. The game treats him as a standard POW (worth 10,000 points) with a randomized name and rank in the Recaptured Prisoners screen.

Using debug, this character is only found in an unused arena of Mission 3 (Area 3:9), alongside the Flame Shot (also unused). He appears standing still waiting for a player to tag him. One player can rescue both him and Hyakutaro in the area, and both prisoners follow that player until the player reaches a new area, dies, or leaves them stranded. Unlike Hyakutaro, he also leaves when the elevator "crushes" him.

Trivia

• The name "Glen Achilles" was dubbed by Ragey, the owner of the fansite Metal Slug: Missing In Action. Ragey was among the first to discover the unused POW, and apparently, the name that appeared after rescuing him was "Achilles". Ragey added the first name "Glen" because the character reminded him of an old music teacher of his.
• The name Achilles comes from a long list of randomized POW names present from Metal Slug: Super Vehicle-001 to Metal Slug 5.
• "Achilles" and his partner appear in the PlayStation 2 port's and Microsoft's ACA NeoGeo flyer of Metal Slug 5. His partner, fan-named "Tabomba", does not have any sprites in the game's files.
• When "Achilles" is shooting, he uses Marco and Tarma's backward shooting sprites from the first game.
• While "Achilles" himself is absent in Metal Slug Attack, Special Allen Jr's artwork bears a slight resemblance to him, sporting shades and an identical hair color to his.

Gallery

"Achilles"

"Achilles" walking

Gameplay Gallery

"Achilles" in action at Area 9:3

"Achilles" in the Recaptured Prisoners screen