An antihero, Plissken is a former U.S. Green Berets lieutenant who served in the Soviet Union during World War III, for which he was awarded two Purple Hearts, before turning to a life of crime.

In both movies, Plissken is approached by U.S. federal officials, who offers to pardon him if he agrees to perform dangerous missions in New York City and Los Angeles, both of which have been transformed into maximum security penal colonies to contain the criminals that have arisen from the massive increase in crime.

The character went on to appear in John Carpenter's Snake Plissken Chronicles, a four-part comic book miniseries released in 2003, and has frequently been referenced in popular culture.

He was deployed to the Soviet Union as part of World War III between a Sino-Soviet alliance and the United States, where his actions in (then-named) Leningrad and Siberia resulted in him being awarded two Purple Hearts; at the time, he was the youngest serviceman to be decorated by the president of the United States for bravery.

Plissken was subsequently discharged from the military and turned to a life of crime, in part due to his belief that he was betrayed by the federal government of the United States during a ruse de guerre in Leningrad which caused him to lose the use of his left eye and the death of Plissken's parents at the hands of the police as part of a failed hostage rescue attempt.

He is eventually apprehended by the United States Police Force and brought to California, where he is scheduled for deportation to Los Angeles ― now an island due to the flooding of the San Fernando Valley in an earthquake, and a place of exile for criminals and undesirables.

[citation needed] This is a running gag in Escape from New York: "I heard you were dead" (homage to the John Wayne film Big Jake).

He was sentenced to life in New York maximum security prison, that is, the entire island of Manhattan, surrounded by an impenetrable wall, and then abandoned to fall into anarchy.

At this time, Air Force One is hijacked and crashes into Manhattan, and the President, played by Donald Pleasence, is captured by the "Duke of New York" (Isaac Hayes), the de facto leader of the prisoners.

Bob Hauk (Lee Van Cleef), the United States Police Force Commissioner, offers Snake a full pardon if he will go in and rescue the President.

Hauk enforces the time limit by implanting microscopic explosive capsules in Plissken's carotid arteries, which will detonate at the deadline.

Finding himself in a deal that is really a set-up, he makes his getaway and exacts revenge on the buyer for ratting him out to the United States Police Force.

Left for dead in a sinking crab cage, Snake escapes and is luckily saved by a passing fisherman named Captain Ron.

After some trouble, Snake manages to finally get the car to the buyer's yacht with Ron's boat and is then attacked by Marrs.

Following the fire fight the yacht and car are destroyed, Marrs and Captain Ron are dead, and Snake makes his escape in a helicopter with the 30 million credits owed to him for the job.

On March 13, 2007, it was announced that Gerard Butler would play the role of Snake Plissken in a remake of Escape from New York.

On October 12, 2015, 20th Century Fox hired Luther creator Neil Cross to write the film's script.

[17] In February 2019, new development surfaced when Leigh Whannell was hired to write a new script, with the option to replace Rodriguez as director.