Gray Fox

Gray Fox (グレイ・フォックス), formerly known as Null (ヌル), was the codename of FOXHOUND agent Frank Jaeger (フランク・イエーガー). Originally a child soldier for FRELIMO. He was the only active field agent of FOXHOUND to achieve the "Fox" codename, FOXHOUND's highest commemoration and was decorated five times. Fox was Solid Snake's war buddy and best friend after Operation Intrude N313, but Fox's loyalty to Big Boss, forced him to betray Snake during the Zanzibar Land Uprising. He survived his injuries during his battle with Snake and was outfitted with a powered exoskeleton and given intense gene therapy. He confronted Snake as a neutral force in the Shadow Moses Incident before dying at the hands of Liquid Snake via Metal Gear REX.

Early Life and Career
Only a small amount of information is known about Frank Jaeger's childhood. Born from German-American and Vietnamese parents, they died during the early stages of the Vietnam War while Frank was still a child. As a result, he was discriminated due to his half-Caucasian heritage and was forced to work hard labor for the war effort.

Eventually, he ended up being transferred to Mozambique to participate in the country's war of independence. During his years fighting in the Mozambican War of Independence, Frank was known for his cruel war tactics: acting with "the frank-ness of a young boy", he would trick enemies into letting their guard down, allowing him to kill them with "the ruthlessness of a hunter". This earned him the nickname "The Frank Hunter" by his enemies, but because he could speak a little German, his comrades called him Jaeger, giving him the proper name of "Frank Jaeger".

In 1966, Big Boss became acquainted with him as a nameless child soldier in the FRELIMO, a Marxist guerrilla group, in Mozambique. Big Boss took Frank as a young child after stopping him in battle and left him at a rehab facility, thinking he would be safe.

While at the rehab center, he was taken by the C.I.A. (The Philosophers) and used as a test subject for the "Perfect Soldier Project". The project turned the boy into a more efficient killer, capable of killing his targets without remorse, however it was at a cost. When he was not fighting, he was kept in a coffin-shaped sensory deprivation water tank which would reset his memories, and suppress his emotions. Also, this intense treatment seemed to enhance his reflexes allowing him to deflect bullets and become incredibly agile. Because Frank was the only surviving test subject of the project, he was deemed a lost number and was given the codename of "Null".

As a teenager, Null became a member of the FOX Unit when it was under the leadership of Gene during the San Hieronymo Takeover. He helped the Unit capture Big Boss, and confronted him during the operation, but was unable to defeat him. Despite being laid back into his stasis-tank, his memories of the battle with Big Boss couldn't be erased. He first escaped from the stasis-tank shortly after Gene's call with Ocelot, killing several officers before finally being subdued quickly by Gene by stabbing his hands and knees with knives and telekinetically pushing Null. Driven by a need to kill Big Boss, he broke free of his chamber a second time and after slaughtering many of his own comrades he confronted Big Boss again at the Subpower station, and, after explaining his views and thoughts stemming from the Perfect Soldier project (including his mind being "littered with corpses" and having an almost fatalistic and nihilistic view on life) asked "Why won't you die? What do you hope to accomplish by living?". It was only after this second battle that Big Boss realized who Null really was. Big Boss defeated Null again and convinced him to seek help somewhere outside of the FOX Unit. Afterwards, he was sent to the hospital, and while he did ultimately survive the events of the San Hieronymo Takeover, he was severely wounded both physically and mentally. The doctors and Roy Campbell were also unsure if, after his eventual release from the hospital, he would ever live a normal life after that.

Post-Null and FOXHOUND
After Frank was saved by Big Boss again, he joined Big Boss's FOXHOUND unit and participated in the Mozambican Civil War, this time as a soldier for the RENAMO. During one of his missions, he was captured by FRELIMO soldiers and heavily tortured, having his nose and ears cut off. He was rescued a few days later by none other than Big Boss, and presumably underwent reconstructive surgery afterwards, in order to disguise the horrific injuries he sustained (as evidenced by his later appearances).

It was around this time that Frank killed two people in Rhodesia, during the Rhodesian Civil War, before discovering they had a young girl. Feeling immense guilt, he adopted her, and cared for her as a younger sister. In 1980, Big Boss took Frank Jaeger and Naomi to the United States. Afterwards, Frank and Big Boss returned to Africa to continue fighting a war, leaving Naomi behind in America.

During the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, while living under the alias of "Frank Hunter", Frank became romantically involved with Czech figure skating champion Gustava Heffner. The two tried to elope together, but American authorities rejected her bid for asylum and she was sent back to her country, where she was stripped of her competition rights. Following this incident, Frank developed a great deal of resentment for his superiors.

During the 1990s (or perhaps earlier), Frank became the only active field agent in FOXHOUND to receive the codename, "Fox" (the highest commemoration given to any member of the unit), due to his extraordinary soldiering skills.

In 1995, Gray Fox was the agent assigned to Operation Intrude N312. Fox's objective was to gather data on a top-secret nuclear weapon that the fortified state of Outer Heaven was secretly developing. After successfully infiltrating Outer Heaven, Gray Fox scouted the first building of the fortress, noting the locations of the inner courtyard, cameras and elevators, along with various weapons and equipment, such as card keys and Beretta handguns. Sometime afterwards, he stumbled upon information relating to the new weapon being developed. However, the mission ended in failure when Gray Fox was captured, though not before relaying the details of his reconnaissance back to FOXHOUND. His final words before his transmission was cut were simply: "Metal Gear..." In the follow-up mission, known as Operation Intrude N313, Fox was rescued by rookie FOXHOUND member, Solid Snake. Fox provided Snake with all the known facts about Metal Gear; a nuclear-equipped walking battle tank. Together, they successfully destroyed the Metal Gear prototype under development in Outer Heaven.

However, shortly after the destruction of Metal Gear, it was revealed that Big Boss himself was secretly the commander of Outer Heaven's forces all along. Sometime after the destruction of Outer Heaven, Fox deserted the FOXHOUND unit and disappeared along with Big Boss (who was presumed dead after his battle with Snake). Around this time, Fox followed him and helped in the formation of Zanzibar Land by becoming an active participant of the Mercenary War. After his success in the war, he was assigned as commander of Zanzibar Land's Mercenary Force, also known as the "Dogs of War."

It is never explained if Gray Fox knew that Big Boss was the leader of Outer Heaven prior to its downfall, and if so, whether he intended to get captured or not.

In 1999, Fox began hijacking several nuclear disposal sites with the revised Metal Gear D. This act, along with Zanzibar Land's kidnapping of Dr. Kio Marv, led to a retaliation from FOXHOUND, which was now under the command of Col. Roy Campbell. Snake was pulled from retirement and was the sole agent sent out to neutralize Zanzibar Land. During the course of Snake's mission, Fox began transmitting anonymous messages to Snake, claiming to be his "Number #1 Fan," in order to help him overcome certain obstacles and traps. Fox and Snake met again after four years when the bridge leading to the detention camp where Dr. Marv was being held was destroyed by Fox himself. Ironically enough, Fox also caused the death of his former lover, Gustava Heffner (who was in Zanzibar Land, now serving as an STB agent and Marv's bodyguard), when he destroyed the bridge, though he was possibly unaware of this. Shortly thereafter, when Snake tried to access floor 20 of the Tower Building, Gray Fox stopped the elevator and arranged for an assassination squad to eliminate Snake. Later, Snake successfully destroyed Metal Gear D with him at the helm. However, not only did he survive the explosion, but he had stolen the OILIX cartridge from Snake after the latter's equipment was immolated by Metal Gear D's explosion. Snake then gave chase after discarding all of his equipment and confronted Fox barehanded in a minefield. Snake won the battle and escaped the facility, leaving a presumed dead Gray Fox behind.

Rebirth
After the supposed death of Big Boss and the downfall of Zanzibar Land, Fox's remains, blown apart by a landmine, were recovered on-site by a "clean-up" crew. He was taken by FOXHOUND's chief medic at the time, Dr. Clark, and became a guinea pig for Clark's gene-therapy project. In order to improve his mobility, an experimental exoskeleton was grafted directly onto his body along with his limbs or at least his right lower arm replaced with a metallic prosthetic. Aside from improved agility and strength, the suit also allowed Fox to "cloak" at will, using a new form of Stealth Camouflage technology. Also, he was drugged during the four years of his experimentation while Dr. Clark and her team experimented on him (Roy Campbell was disgusted when he learned this).

In 2000, Fox's foster sister (now going under the alias of Naomi Hunter) joined FOXHOUND as Dr. Clark's assistant. She helped Fox escape his containment, and summarily covered up his actions when he killed Dr. Clark in 2003, reporting it as a laboratory accident, as well as faking his death in the accident. In reality, Fox was requested to kill Dr. Clark by EVA as Dr. Clark was one of the founding members of The Patriots, as well as partially out of revenge for what he had to endure as being a test subject for the Cyborg Ninja project.

In 2005, during the Shadow Moses Incident, Fox (now the first Cyborg Ninja) infiltrated the island in search of Solid Snake, who was on a mission to neutralize the now-renegade FOXHOUND unit led by Liquid Snake. He first made contact with Snake after releasing ArmsTech President Kenneth Baker from captivity and attacking Revolver Ocelot, severing his right forearm. Later, after taking out a large group of genome soldiers, Fox confronted Snake once again in the laboratory of Hal Emmerich, demanding that they fight to the death. At first, Snake did not recognize the man in the exoskeleton, but after engaging him in hand-to-hand combat, Snake realized who he was. After a time, Snake began to prevail in the battle but before its ultimate conclusion was reached, Fox cried out in pain (presumably due to feedback from the experimental exoskeleton) and fled the laboratory. Fox later helped Snake in his mission by transmitting anonymous messages regarding dangers to Snake under the alias of Deepthroat (much as he did during Snake's Zanzibar Land mission).

When Snake is drawn into battle with Metal Gear REX, Gray Fox manages to damage it further by attacking REX's radome, interfering with the sealed cockpit's sensory input. As Liquid fought to locate Fox and Snake with REX's damaged sensors, Fox revealed to Snake that many years ago, he had been the one who had killed Naomi's parents in Rhodesia but he was unable to bring himself to kill Naomi, who had been too young at the time to remember the incident. Fox begged Snake to tell her the truth. Following this exchange, Fox leapt from his hiding spot and again attacked Metal Gear REX, eventually destroying the Radome completely, and forcing Liquid to open the cockpit up. This made the tank vulnerable to well placed Stinger Missiles.

During a second assault on REX, Fox was severely injured when one of his arms was sliced off by the tank's laser. He was then pinned against a wall by REX before being released to fall to the ground. During this time, he managed to completely overwhelm the Radome, declaring that "a cornered fox is more dangerous than a jackal!" Fox ordered Snake to fire the stinger, but Liquid informed Snake that if he tried, then Fox would die from the resulting explosion. As Snake hesitated, Fox told him about how after Zanzibar Land, he was recovered on site and was neither truly alive nor truly dead, and that he could finally die in peace with Snake around to witness it. As Fox lay on the hanger floor, Liquid tried to kill off Fox once and for all by crushing him under one of Metal Gear's massive feet, however Fox's grafted exoskeleton meant that this first attempt failed. With REX's second stomp however, the only man to ever achieve the "Fox" codename was no more. His last words were directed towards Snake,

"We're not tools of the government or anyone else. Fighting was the only thing... the only thing I was good at, but... at least I always fought for what I believed in. Snake... farewell..."

After escaping the Shadow Moses facility, Snake contacted Naomi, informing her that Fox's last message had been that he would always love her and Snake decided not to tell her that Fox killed her parents. Four years later, Solid Snake later references Gray Fox's last words to Raiden when explaining why he was motivated to commit grassroots resistance.

Trivia

 * It should be noted that Frank Jaeger is not the real name of Gray Fox: this was originally the nickname given to him as a child soldier. His real name is never revealed, and it can be assumed that he, just like his adopted sister Naomi Hunter, doesn't remember. "Jaeger" is an actual German surname meaning "Hunter".
 * Frank Jaeger's unique Sneaking Suit color during his time as Null was red.
 * The code-name "Deepthroat", which Gray Fox uses when he would call Snake on the Codec. and offer him advice, was also the name of an FBI Agent who exposed US President Richard Nixon's involvement in the Watergate scandal. FBI Agent William Mark Felt was the real Deepthroat, and he revealed himself to the public in May 2005.
 * The revelation of Gray Fox's identity in Portable Ops is much like his revelation in Metal Gear Solid. In both cases, his identity was unknown until he was engaged in battle and defeated.

Behind the Scenes

 * In the original release of the MSX2 Metal Gear, Fox's name originally had the British spelling of "Grey Fox."
 * In the MSX2 version of Metal Gear 2, Fox was originally modeled after Tom Berenger's character, Sgt. Barnes, from the 1986 film Platoon. In the later Mobile Phone and PlayStation 2 revisions of the game, he was redesigned to resemble Yoji Shinkawa's depiction of the character.
 * Gray Fox is referenced several times in Metal Gear Solid 4. During one cut-scene where Naomi recalls Fox, a sample of "The Frank Hunter" theme from Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops is heard.
 * In English versions, Fox was voiced by Greg Eagles (credited as George Byrd) in Metal Gear Solid, Rob Paulsen in The Twin Snakes, Metal Gear Solid 4, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Larc Spies in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops. In Japanese versions, he was voiced by Kaneto Shiozawa in Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 4, Takumi Yamazaki in Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel and Jun Fukuyama in Portable Ops.
 * In MGS (and Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes), if the player doesn't manage/attempt to escape the torture room's holding cell, Gray Fox will appear and open the door for Snake before disappearing.
 * In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Gray Fox appears as an Assist Trophy who leaps around the arena and attacks opponents with rapid sword-slashes. He also deflects any projectiles fired at him. He also has the ability to reappear from the top of the screen if he falls off the stage. If one of the players is in control of Solid Snake and the Gray Fox assist trophy is activated, the two characters will exchange in dialogue from Metal Gear Solid. An unlockable trophy of Gray Fox exists within the game, with the following text:

"An enigmatic soldier with great physical and combat skills. Calling himself 'Deepthroat' and equipped with an enhanced environmental camouflage suit, he dedicated his life to fighting Snake. In a twist of fate, Gray Fox ends up protecting his sworn rival from Metal Gear REX. Long ago, Gray Fox fought Snake in Zanzibar Island."


 * Gray Fox was ranked #2 on Screw Attack's Top Ten Ninjas list.


 * In the novelization of Metal Gear Solid, Gray Fox's death was slightly different than in both the original game and the remake. Namely, Gray Fox had managed to destroy the radome at the exact same time that the REX stepped on him, thus failing to crush him into oblivion. However, he was still gravely wounded from REX stomping on him, and as a result, he died with his body intact.
 * In both the original and rereleased versions of Metal Gear 2, Gray Fox tells Snake after the fight that the first time Big Boss saved him was sometime during or even after the Vietnam War when he was placed in a work camp for anyone Vietnamese of Caucasian heritage, and how he "saved him from that hell". Due to the release of Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, it's unknown if this remains completely canon.

Appearances

 * Metal Gear
 * Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
 * Metal Gear Solid (as the Cyborg Ninja)
 * Metal Gear Solid: Integral (as the Cyborg Ninja)
 * Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions (as the Cyborg Ninja)
 * Konami Krazy Racers (as the Cyborg Ninja)
 * Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (as Null)
 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl (as an Assist Trophy)
 * Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Flashbacks, voice only)