Solidus Snake

Solidus Snake (ソリダス・スネーク) was the third "Son of Big Boss", a result of the tenth batch of Big Boss's genetic code, and was created as part of the Les Enfants Terribles project as a result of the surplus of Big Boss's genetic material after the success of the ninth batch. The project was initiated by The Patriots in order to retain a figurehead for the organization in the image of Big Boss. The initial phase of the project produced genetically diverse twin clones, one inheriting Big Boss's superior soldier genes (Solid Snake), and the other his inferiour soldier genes (Liquid Snake). The creation of the original clones led to Big Boss's departure from The Patriots, thus the organization required a perfect clone to act as the key to its master AI, JD, to which Big Boss's DNA was the key.

As neither Solid nor Liquid were genetically identical to Big Boss, Solidus was created with the same "perfect balance" of dominant and recessive soldier genes that Big Boss possessed. As a result, unlike Solid and Liquid, Solidus was genetically (and almost physically) identical to Big Boss, a fact that he took much pride in. The egg-donor and surrogate mother used in this phase of the project are unknown. Though Solidus was later known as George Sears, it is unknown if this was his birth name or if he even had one.

The accelerated aging written into each clone's genes was apparently designed to be faster in Solidus's case, thus producing the required figurehead for The Patriots (a United States President in the image of Big Boss) in a relatively short space of time as well as providing the same fail-safe of limited life-span should the clone fall into enemy hands or turn against the organization. As a result, Solidus appeared considerably older than his cloned brothers, despite being created afterwards.

Whereas Solid and Liquid used their designations as their personal prefix to their FOXHOUND codenames, the reference to Solidus as "Solidus Snake" was a purely honorary title in reference to his brothers, he did not gain the codename as a member of FOXHOUND.

Background
The early years of Solidus Snake's life are unknown. The earliest relevant information that has been discovered is that Solidus fought in the First Liberian Civil War during the late 1980s and early 1990s as a teenager. He killed a young boy's parents during that time, adopted the boy, named him Jack, and trained him to be a ruthless killer from as early as the age of six as part of Solidus' Small Boy Unit of which he was the commander. Jack proved to be one of his best child soldiers, his amazing record of kills gained him platoon leadership of the Small Boy Unit when he was just ten years old as well as the nicknames "White Devil" and "Jack the Ripper". After the war ended, Jack suddenly disappeared from the relief center, leaving Solidus to wonder what happened to him for some time.

Several years later, Solidus became known as "George Sears". In 2001, The Patriots entrusted Solidus with the Presidency of the United States, becoming the 43rd US President. While he was in office, he created the Dead Cell unit, a U.S. Navy special forces unit.

In the year 2005, acting outside the orders of The Patriots, George Sears orchestrated the terrorist uprising known as the Shadow Moses Incident in total secrecy, ordering his agent Revolver Ocelot to persuade Liquid Snake into stealing Metal Gear REX and use the weapon as he saw fit. An unplanned factor, however, came when Secretary of Defense Jim Houseman had issued an order to commence a nuclear air-raid on Shadow Moses Island after REX was destroyed by Solid Snake, and Sears arrested Houseman for going out of line, rescinding the orders as well. But because the existence of Metal Gear REX and the Genome Army were both exposed to the public during the aftermath of the incident, Sears was forced to resign from the Presidency in humiliation and went into hiding when he learned that his former superiors, the Patriots, were planning to kill him off as punishment for such embarrassment by genetically lowering his health. While in hiding, he took command of the Dead Cell unit as a way to gain power and destroy the Patriots.

From the early events of the Manhattan Incident it was made clear that Solidus Snake, along with Revolver Ocelot, Olga Gurlukovich and the remaining members of Dead Cell (Fatman, Fortune, and Vamp) had devised a plot to take over the Big Shell where rumors stated that a new and highly advanced warship known as Arsenal Gear was being developed there. Calling themselves the Sons of Liberty, Solidus Snake assumed the identity of his presumed dead brother, Solid Snake, and "kidnapped" the current President James Johnson (the President originally aided Solidus of his own freewill).

Raiden, upon orders from "Colonel Campbell" of pseudo-FOXHOUND, had managed to infiltrate the Big Shell. Solidus encountered him, and identified Raiden as "a messenger from The Patriots", although he was certain that he knew Raiden from somewhere as he reminded him greatly of Jack but was not aware at this time that Raiden and Jack were one and the same. After trying to trick Raiden into thinking that he is Solid Snake, Iroquois Pliskin (the alias of the real Solid Snake) revealed in a furious tone that he was not Solid Snake. Solidus then revealed his surprise that the real Solid Snake was alive and identified him as his brother. Snake then tried firing a machine gun at Solidus, telling Raiden to take cover. Solidus, after deflecting the bullets, then revealed to Snake that he is "a whole different game from Liquid", and then his exoskeleton suddenly bulged. Snake then changed to a Grenade Launcher and while the first shot misses, he successfully managed to knock him off with the second. However, Solidus, after declaring that "the world needs only one Big Boss", managed to enter the Harrier 2 piloted by Vamp and decides to engage the Kasatka. After Raiden managed to shoot down the Harrier with Stinger Missiles, it crashed down towards the ocean, and Solidus, as a result of the Harrier 2 being shot down, had lost his left eye. However, Metal Gear RAY managed to catch the Harrier seconds before it crashed, and after telling Vamp to get out of the Harrier, he closed the cockpit and disappeared underwater with Metal Gear RAY (presumably the RAY was taking it back to the still under construction Arsenal Gear). While initially angered that Raiden had cost him his eye, he later expressed gratitude to Raiden after being told by Ocelot that he now was a splitting image of his father, Big Boss as a result of losing his eye. After Raiden was "captured" by Snake and Mr. X, Solidus finally realised who he was, and then revealed to Raiden their connection, that Raiden was his adopted son, as well as Raiden's past as a child soldier, something that Raiden did not want to remember.

It was believed that Solidus planned on using a Purified Hydrogen Bomb (which is essentially radiation-free) from Arsenal Gear to create a gigantic electro-magnetic-pulse over New York City, and attempt to reveal the existence of The Patriots to worldwide public scrutiny and topple their power of the business community in Manhattan. Solidus later revealed that he was in fact going to give Arsenal to Dead Cell after extracting the identity of The Patriots. Dead Cell were intended to draw the Patriots' attentions whilst Solidus would hunt the 12 individuals down killing them off one by one. Solidus's plan never came to fruition thanks to Ocelot, a Patriot spy, who had helped orchestrate the entire event. Solidus was chosen to be involved because his relationship with Raiden resembled that of Solid Snake and Big Boss.

When Arsenal Gear crashed into Manhattan, Solidus and Raiden were thrown from the top of Arsenal onto the roof top of Federal Hall, where Solidus told Raiden his true intents and desires. Solidus, unable to father children and pass on his legacy, wished to be immortalized by history, but knowing The Patriots indomitable control of information they wouldn’t allow this. He explained his reason for the Big Shell takeover and his plan to kill off The Patriots, finishing off by declaring that only one monstrosity will have the privilege to live on. He also admitted to Raiden shortly after this that he was the one who killed his parents, mainly because he wanted to see if the both of them were of someone else’s creation, even going as far as to compare their situation with Liquid, Snake, and Big Boss's situation. He also revealed that he needed to kill Raiden because the Patriots coding was in Raiden, and was the only other way of getting their information other than GW. Solidus and Raiden clashed blades in a duel that would ultimately result in Solidus's defeat at the hands of his former protégé, falling from the rooftops of Federal Hall with a significant portion of his spine severed from an elegant maneuver by Raiden. Upon hitting the ground, a crippled Solidus, with what little strength he had left, attempted to crawl towards the statue of George Washington, reaching up to the first President of the United States.

Though Solidus was defeated by Raiden and presumed dead thereafter, it was later revealed that he survived, but was in a state of constant paralysis as a result of his severed spine, and was possibly subject to the same consciousness-suppressing nanomachines as was injected into Big Boss. In 2014, Solidus Snake's body was stolen by EVA and her Paradise Lost, and had most of his skin removed to restore Big Boss's body. Solidus's body was then used as a decoy as Liquid Ocelot believed it was Big Boss and was able to use the DNA of Solidus to tap into the SOP system. Originally, Liquid Ocelot thought he had needed the DNA of Big Boss to do this, but Solidus, being the only perfect clone, worked just as well (this also confirmed that neither Solid Snake nor Liquid Snake was a perfect clone). Vamp later threw the body into a fire where it was incinerated, everyone around having been convinced the body of Big Boss had been destroyed, thus killing Solidus.

Solidus Snake also made a cameo in the form of "Mt. Snakemore", alongside his brothers Solid Snake and Liquid Snake, and his father, Big Boss.

Weapons
In terms of small arms, Solidus used a P90 sub-machine gun and also used a daisho (Katana and Wakizashi set); the "Minshuto" and "Kyowato" (Democrat and Republican) blades.

It's of note that Solidus's combat ability was demonstrated as highly dextrous; both as a marksman and a swordsman (though he was only ever seen fighting while wearing his suit which would have increased his abilities).

Exoskeleton
The Exoskeleton that Solidus wears was developed by the U.S. Army. It increases the wearer's speed, strength, and agility through the use of the same artificial muscle technology that was initially developed for Metal Gear RAY. It has two prehensile tentacles or "Snake Arms" which can be used to grab or asphyxiate opponents and also have the ability to fire small missiles. The snake arms can be ejected to further increase the wearer's speed and agility. The suit is also equipped with an accelerator that allows the user to make quick movements across terrain, leaving a trail of flames in his path.

Trivia

 * The solidus (Latin for solid) was originally a gold coin issued by the Romans. The word soldier is ultimately derived from solidus, referring to these coins with which soldiers were paid. Solidus is also the term used by chemists for the line on a pressure/temperature diagram that marks the phase transition between a solid and liquid.
 * As George Sears, he was the youngest man in history to be elected President of the United States, only 28 years old at the time, which would have made him constitutionally ineligible (35 years of age is the minimum). However, having been programmed to age rapidly, he had a much older appearance; it was likely that the Patriots provided him with documentation showing a more advanced age.
 * It could be said that Solidus's ultimate goal was achieved at the end of Liquid Ocelot’s Insurrection, as the Patriots were destroyed by FOXALIVE.
 * Solidus is the only one of the Les Enfants Terribles to not participate in the Gulf War (Solid Snake participated in a mission for the Green Berets, while Liquid Snake was a sleeper agent in a mission to destroy Scud missiles).
 * Solidus Snake lost his left eye, whereas Big Boss lost his right. The body that Big Mama showed to Old Snake in Eastern Europe, during Liquid Ocelot’s Insurrection, had the missing eye on the left, giving an early clue that it was actually Solidus, rather than Big Boss. It should also be noted that the body moved slightly in the van as Snake approached it, showing that Solidus had actually survived his fight with Raiden during the Manhattan Incident.

Behind the Scenes

 * Solidus Snake and Solid Snake have the same Japanese voice actor, Akio Otsuka.
 * Originally when Solidus "died", Raiden was going to cut a rope off of the flagpole at Federal Hall, which would have caused the American flag to fall onto Solidus's body, mirroring how a President is put in a coffin with the American flag on it. The visual of an American flag falling from its pole ended up being cut from the final version due to the events of 9/11. The scene, however, was kept in the novelization, which was written many years later.
 * Solidus Snake was foreseen in a prophetic vision of the future by Elisa and Ursula in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops.
 * Despite Solidus being shown to have survived his fight with Raiden, the Metal Gear Solid 4 Database contradicts this by stating that he had been killed.
 * In Raidens's entry for the Metal Gear Solid 4 Database, it had controversially claimed that it was Solidus who erased most of Raiden's memories, and not the Patriots.
 * In the Game Plan for Metal Gear Solid 2, Solidus had originally faked his death from an assassination attempt by having a double pose as him. He also intended to steal Arsenal Gear so he could use the purified Hydrogen Bomb to shut down the mother computer of the Patriots on Wall Street.

Notes and References
Solidus Snake