Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-166.137.88.23-20130610185107/@comment-98.23.20.144-20130612004255

I'd say the possibility of Eli being Liquid Snake is very probable, but the theory that supports my thinking is really going out on a (phantom) limb. Still, the parallels are interesting.

If my theory even proves remotely true, it seems that Kojima may be really running deep with the whole idea of Big Boss playing the role of Captain Ahab. Of course, Captain Ahab from the novel Moby Dick was named after the Israeli king of the same name. According to Biblical accounts, Ahab, at some point during his reign, has an encounter with a prophet named Elijah who would eventually engage Ahab and his followers in battle. Eli is a dimmunitive form of the name Elijah.

It's also interesting to note that Big Boss's real name, John, has a connection to the Bible (John the Baptist) and other religious Middle Eastern texts, such as the Qur'an, in addition to a connection to the prophet Elijah (in fact, in the Bible, John the Baptist and Elijah are sometimes identified as essentially being one in the same ... sort of like Liquid and Big Boss).

Solid Snake's real name, David, also has Biblical connections, and the story of David versus Goliath is a rather fitting parallel to Solid's story.