In 2007, Konami held a character design contest for the mobile port of Contra 4, allowing fans of the franchise to create someone that you could play as other than series mainstay Bill Rizer. The winning entry of this contest was the character of Solomon Caesar by Stephen "Teben" Hetrick from Tampa, Florida.
According to his official bio, Solomon was once a marksman and soldier of fortune during the Alien Wars who was captured and experimented on by the Red Falcon forces. These experiments would debilitate his health, robbing him of his eyesight and even the ability to properly process oxygen, and he was thrown out only to be rescued by a government agency. Wishing to redeem himself for his time as a merc and desiring revenge on the alien invaders, Solomon would join the Contra task force, who would supply him with a gas mask that helps him breath normally and even gives him superhuman vision.
Solomon has not appeared in any Contra games since the sequel Contra 4 Redux, but that's to be expected with characters who debut in mobile installments. Not everyone can be Yaya Panda from Crash Bandicoot, y'know? His creator, Stephen Hetrick, is still active, though, having worked as a cleanup animator and artist for Skullgirls among other things. He has an Artstation portfolio under the name "RANSOM" for some reason, but any work he may have done under the username of "Teben" is few and far between since he shut down his Tumblr and DeviantArt.
