Matt Campbell

Matthew "Matt" Campbell was the younger brother of Roy Campbell and the legal father of Meryl Silverburgh.

Biography
For many years, it was believed that Matt Campbell was Meryl's biological father, though it was later revealed that it was actually his brother Roy, due to an earlier affair between the latter and Matt's wife. Matt was killed in action during the Gulf War.

Behind the scenes
Roy Campbell's brother was first mentioned in Metal Gear Solid, though his first name was only given in one of the Snake Tales chapters, featured in Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance. It is unknown whether Matt ever found out that he was not Meryl's biological father.

Snake Tales
Matt Campbell was featured in the non-canonical Snake Tales story "Confidential Legacy."

During the Cold War, Matt had been a member of a top-secret Metal Gear development project in the South American republic of Eldera to ensure the country's stability. Before that, he was working for the U.S. Part of his job was feeding falsified information to the minority separatist guerrillas. First he would pick a suitable candidate and essentially brainwash them. Matthew would then send his now-willing accomplice into the ranks of the separatists. Once there, the spy provided the Americans with useful information, selling out his comrades in the process. In his dealings with the separatists, he came to sympathize with their cause. He grew to resent the U.S. for the way it exploited smaller, weaker nations for its own gain. In the end, Matt decided to help the guerrillas create their own nation. He wanted to give them the trump card they needed to secure their independence. Sergei Gurlukovich, who was also supporting the guerrillas, agreed to cooperate. Matt's plan was executed. The guerrillas succeeded in stealing the Metal Gear from the American base. But, when their plan was discovered, Matt was executed by the Americans. However, Snake questioned whether this account was actually true, speculating that Gurlukovich may have lied to Meryl in order to get her to cooperate.