Solidus Snake

"I want my memory, my existence to remain. Unlike an intron of history... I will be remembered as an exon. That will be my legacy, my mark in history. But the Patriots would deny us even that. I will triumph over the Patriots and liberate us all. And we will become-- the "Sons of Liberty"!"

- Solidus Snake

Solidus Snake, real name George Sears, and also known as King, or simply Solidus, was the 43rd President of the United States, and a product of the Les Enfants Terribles project, making him the third "Son of Big Boss." After secretly instigating the events on Shadow Moses Island, he became directly involved in the Big Shell Incident.

Background
An adult Solidus Snake was foreseen by Elisa and Ursula in 1970, in a prophetic vision of Big Boss's future.

Solidus was the third "Son of Big Boss" created by the Patriots in 1972, through somatic cell cloning, as part of the Les Enfants Terribles project. The initial phase of the project produced genetically diverse twin clones with one expressing Big Boss's "inferior" genetic traits and the other Big Boss's "superior" traits which led to Big Boss's departure from the Patriots in 1972. Thus, the organization required a perfect clone in order to retain a figurehead for their organization in the image of Big Boss.

As neither of the Twin Snakes 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, Solidus possessed a nuclear genome identical to that of Big Boss, and would take much pride in his visible similarity to the man.

The accelerated aging written into each clone's genes provided the fail-safe of a limited life-span, should Solidus's genetic data fall into enemy hands or he himself turn against the Patriots. Despite being preceded by his brothers, Solidus appeared more aged than the other two clones in his later life.

Early life and career
In his teenage years, Solidus Snake was dispatched to Liberia in the late 1980s, to participate in the civil war. To test a hypothesis regarding the nature of his existence, he adopted a young boy during the war after killing his parents, named him Jack, and trained him to be a ruthless killer from as early as the age of six. Seeing himself as the boy's godfather, Solidus had Jack serve as part of his Small Boy Unit in the Army of the Devil. Jack proved himself to be one of Solidus's best child soldiers through his amazing record of kills, gaining platoon leadership of the unit at just ten years old, and earning him the nicknames "White Devil" and "Jack the Ripper." After the war ended, Jack suddenly disappeared from a relief center, leaving Solidus to wonder what happened to him for some time.

During this time, Solidus worked as a CIA paramilitary, and smoked cigars like his father Big Boss. At some point, he allowed a physician to inject Jack with a substance that he claimed would "never make him the same" although not before warning the physician that he would kill him if it permanently harmed Jack. He taught Jack that blades were "honorable" compared to guns, killing a soldier on one occasion by slitting his throat in front of the boy. Although Raiden possessed many unpleasant memories of Solidus, he would later feel that he had ultimately performed some good, by teaching him to be free with his own life. Solidus's activities in Liberia would later inspire the name of the Sears Program, which involved VR training of child soldiers in 2018.

During the Gulf War, some U.S. soldiers were injected with soldier genes in an attempt to replicate the results of Les Enfants Terribles, making them, and the reported "Gulf War Babies," Solidus's siblings, in a sense.

U.S. Presidency
In the early 2000s, the Patriots entrusted Solidus with the Presidency of the United States, making George Sears the 43rd U.S. President. While in office, Sears created the U.S. Navy special forces unit Dead Cell. When the NMD program was about to fail due to the complete failures of the trials, he reportedly pushed for it to be completed, resulting in success. The Sears administration was characterized by its stance on nuclear disarmament and anti-eugenic policies. In February 2005, he attempted to negotiate with Russia in regards to lowering the ceiling of nuclear stockpiles via START III, in order to get them to agree to a revision to the ABM treaty, since the NMD program violated the current ABM treaty. He wanted to have it signed so that it could go down in the history books, knowing that his term was soon to be up.

During negotiations for START III, George Sears acted outside the Patriots' orders and secretly orchestrated the Shadow Moses Incident. He ordered his agent Revolver Ocelot to persuade FOXHOUND's squad leader, Liquid Snake (Solidus's fellow clone) into hijacking Metal Gear REX. His intentions were to have Ocelot steal the REX data and the experimental nuclear warhead with which it was to be armed. Sears hoped to use this as a tool against the Patriots, whom he had come to loathe. The Next-Generation Special Forces also participated in the incident, whose members, like Solidus himself, had been experimented on to replicate Big Boss’s genes.

An unplanned factor, however, came when the Secretary of Defense issued an order to commence a nuclear air raid on Shadow Moses after REX was destroyed but Richard Ames arrested the Secretary for going out of line and rescinded the orders.

After the incident, his agent reported that he had purposefully killed the DARPA Chief and also reported that the "inferior" twin had defeated Liquid, the "superior" one, as well as FOXDIE being due to activate. The President then received a compliment on being a "well balanced individual" worthy of ruling the world, as the perfect clone of Big Boss.

Post-Shadow Moses
The existence of Metal Gear REX and the Next-Generation Special Forces were both exposed to the public during the aftermath of the incident, through the release of Nastasha Romanenko's In the Darkness of Shadow Moses: The Unofficial Truth. The Patriots removed Sears from the presidency and covered it up by telling the general public that he "resigned." Solidus went into hiding when he learned that his superiors were planning to eliminate him as punishment. He was also involved in the funding for Revolver Ocelot getting his arm transplant in Lyon, France beforehand.

During his time underground, Solidus made preparations for open rebellion against the Patriots and allied himself with Sergei Gurlukovich's private army of Russian mercenaries as well as the rogue anti-terrorist unit Dead Cell which Solidus had set up during his presidency.

In April 2009, Solidus Snake and his Sons of Liberty forces initiated an armed takeover of the Big Shell offshore cleanup facility, located in the Lower New York Bay. Assuming the identity of his presumed dead brother "Solid Snake", Solidus intended to take control of the new and highly advanced warship Arsenal Gear which was being developed in secret at the facility. He also kidnapped his successor James Johnson that had been on an inspection tour at the time, though he would later aid Solidus of his own free will, before ultimately disagreeing with his intended goal. Unbeknownst to either Solidus or Johnson, however, their actions were actually being manipulated by the Patriots as part of the S3 Plan.

Solidus's troops were later forced to contend with an anti-terrorist operation conducted by SEAL Team 10, as well as an undercover infiltration by FOXHOUND commando Raiden. Shortly after both SEAL Team 10 divisions were wiped out by Dead Cell, Solidus personally took care of the SEAL helicopters, shooting them down using a Harrier jet. After learning from his subordinate Olga Gurlukovich that both a sword-equipped "cyborg ninja" and a man in a cardboard box had been seen on the Big Shell, Solidus had her increase patrols and proceeded to place infrared sensor-equipped Semtex on the Shell 2 connecting bridge as a trap. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (script), Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (2001). P021_01_P01 Bomb disposal/Enter Olga 1 polygon demo 1 (MC) Heliport, roof of Strut E // ''Raiden neutralizes the bomb on the second level of Strut E and heads for the rooftop heliport. He clears the door and emerges outdoors in time to hear someone talking(from the radio). Shades of Snake and Olga in the Tanker Chapter. // Solidus Snake: (OFF) I’ve taken care of that annoying fly (the SEAL helicopter)''. What’s the situation over there? // Olga Gurlukovich: Puzzling. I saw a man dressed like a ninja just now. // Solidus: (OFF) Ninja? // Olga: That’s the only way to describe it. A kind of cyborg ninja, complete with a sword. // Solidus: (OFF) (Surprised) What...! // ''Raiden walks out in the direction of the voices. He can see Olga at the top of the stairs. She wears tiger-stripe urban camos over a ninja inner wear.'' // Olga: Are you hiding something from me? // Solidus: (OFF) Olga, are you it wasn’t an Aresenal Tengu? (referring to the special squadron attached to Arsenal, a new model of Metal Gear) // Olga denies the suggestion (and with it the user’s suspicion that she herself may be the ninja) vehemently. // Olga: Don’t be a fool. Think I wouldn’t know the difference? I’ve never seen field gear like that, ever. // Solidus: (OFF) All right. We’ll intensify patrols. Anything else? // Olga: Actually...one more thing. You’ll find it hard to believe, though. // ''Olga seems reluctant. She is leaning on the railings of the stairs.'' // Olga: I aw a man hiding under a cardboard box. // Solidus: (OFF) Where? // Olga: On the connecting bridge to Shell 2. // Solidus: (OFF) Hrmm. (grunt) // Olga: So you believe me this time? // Solidus: (OFF) I’ve seen someone use that box trick before. We’ll lay a trap on the Shell 2 connecting bridge. // Olga: Over and out then. // Olga puts away the radio. After Dead Cell's bomb specialist Fatman attempted to destroy the Big Shell, nearly ruining their plans, Solidus suspected that he may have been a plant for the Patriots, and ordered Revolver Ocelot to do a recheck on Dead Cell's background files just in case, as well as stopping a heated argument between Olga and Ocelot. Solidus later encountered Raiden on the Shell 2 connecting bridge, after the latter had disabled the Semtex IR sensors in his attempt to rescue President Johnson. Identifying him as "a messenger from the Patriots", Solidus was certain that he knew Raiden from somewhere. After declaring that he was Solid Snake, the real Solid Snake (under the alias Iroquois Pliskin) attacked him from a Kasatka helicopter. During an exchange of heated dialogue between the two, Raiden learned of their true identities. Snake also demanded that Solidus stop impersonating Big Boss. Solidus evaded Snake's machinegun fire with his armor and exoskeleton-enhanced speed and strength. Eventually knocked from the bridge by Snake's grenade launcher, Solidus landed on a waiting Harrier jump jet, piloted by his subordinate Vamp. Entering the Harrier's copilot seat, Solidus engaged the Kasatka, though Raiden was able to shoot the jet down with Stinger missiles. Hurtling down towards the ocean, the Harrier was caught within the jaws of the terrorists' Metal Gear RAY before it could crash. Solidus, having lost his left eye in the battle, ordered Vamp to escape before sealing the cockpit and allowing RAY to carry him and the crippled aircraft away underwater.

After Raiden was later captured, Solidus finally realized that he was his own adopted son Jack. Realizing that Raiden's memory of him may have been altered by the Patriots, Solidus revealed their connection and his past as a child soldier, something that Raiden did not want to remember.

It was initially believed that Solidus planned to expose the existence of the Patriots by using Arsenal Gear to detonate a nuclear warhead over the skies of New York City. The high-altitude blast would create a gigantic electromagnetic pulse and bring Wall Street to a halt, toppling the Patriots' power over the business community in Manhattan, and spurring the world into a panic. He would then free Manhattan from its digital yoke and establish the liberated zone Outer Heaven in place. Solidus later revealed that he was in fact going to give Arsenal to Dead Cell after extracting the identities of the Patriots from the onboard AI GW. Dead Cell were intended to draw the Patriots' attentions whilst Solidus would hunt the twelve individuals down, killing them off one by one. However, Solidus's plan never came to fruition due to the corruption of GW by a worm cluster, and Revolver Ocelot's action as an agent of the Patriots that had helped to orchestrate the entire incident. Solidus was chosen to be involved because his relationship with Raiden resembled that of Solid Snake and Big Boss.

Solidus's back was forced to the wall until Ocelot ("possessed" by Liquid's personality) crashed Arsenal Gear 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 uprising 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.

Solidus revealed that he needed to kill Raiden because his final lead on the Patriots' identities lied inside the nanomachines within Raiden's brain and the pattern of nerves they created. Solidus and Raiden clashed blades in a duel that would ultimately result in Solidus's defeat at his former protégé's hands, falling from the rooftop of Federal Hall with a significant portion of his spine severed from an elegant maneuver by Raiden. Solidus crawled towards the statue of George Washington, reaching up to the first President of the United States as he let out his last breath.

After "death"
As a result of his injuries, Solidus was left brain dead. After being retrieved by the Paradise Lost Army, Big Mama used Solidus as spare parts for transplant surgery on Big Boss. Life support equipment was used to maintain the body's metabolic processes, keeping it alive and functional, and providing optimal opportunities for transplantation. Big Mama's resistance group used Solidus's remaining head and chest as a dummy version of Big Boss's body in case the Patriots' proxy AIs attempted to track Big Boss down.

In 2014, Solidus's prediction and fears of what the Patriots intended to do were proven correct with the advent of the war economy and the development of the SOP system.

By 2014, Solidus's body served as a decoy with his body producing spontaneous reflex movements on occasion. Liquid Ocelot used the biomort's DNA to access the SOP system, after having stolen it from the Paradise Lost Army in Eastern Europe. Solidus, being an identical clone of Big Boss, provided DNA that was equally capable of tapping into the system. Vamp later threw the corpse into a boat fuel fire, sparked by a gunshot from Liquid, and Solidus's remains were incinerated. Big Mama, in an exhausted and hallucinatory state, threw herself into the fire in order to save "Big Boss" but was unable to prevent the biomort's loss, with Big Mama and Solid Snake having been convinced that the body of Big Boss had finally been destroyed.

Solidus's likeness later appeared in the form of Outer Haven 's "Mt. Snakemore" at Shadow Moses (alongside his brothers and his father). Solidus's end goal of destroying the Patriots was ultimately realized at the conclusion of the Guns of the Patriots Incident, due to the effects of FOXALIVE.

Name
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. This may also mirror the fact that he has a perfect balance of Big Boss's dominant and recessive genes (Solid and Liquid had only one or the other).

Personality and traits
Solidus was driven by a strong desire to be remembered by history, and leave a lasting impression on the world following his death. Having been denied a genetic legacy by the project Les Enfants Terribles, he also had a strong political opposition to the secretive Patriots, which would lead him to carry out an attempted coup d'état, and ultimately remake the U.S. in a similar manner to George Washington.

What drove Solidus was a deep patriotic love for his country. The primary motivation of his actions was to destroy the Patriots and give the power back to the citizens of America. Despite his radical methods, he strongly valued civil liberties and personal freedoms. He opposed The Patriots plot for digital censorship as he believed that it would be the nail in the coffin for the Patriots plan to control the American population.

He idolized George Washington. To the extent that his terrorist group was named after the historical Sons of Liberty. Additionally he intended to go down into history as a liberator and a revolutionary, not unlike George Washington. In his final moments Solidus gazed up at a statue of his idol moments before succumbing to his wounds.

Unlike Liquid and Solid Snake, Solidus apparently held a lot of open respect for their genetic father Big Boss, modelling himself after the "legendary mercenary" in both attitudes and beliefs. He gathered disillusioned soldiers to his cause and gave them purpose, as he did with the Gurlukovich Mercenaries. However, he seemed to lack Big Boss's forgiveness towards his allies, executing Olga Gurlukovich for betraying him to the Patriots, despite explaining her reasons.

Solidus held a great deal of respect towards his "adopted son" Raiden, with their relationship similar to that between Solid Snake and Big Boss. In addition, Solidus seemed to have a code of honor as he supplied Raiden with a sword for him to defend himself, despite making it clear that he intended to kill Raiden for the information on the Patriots located inside his nanomachine network.

Despite his idealistic mentality, Solidus was ruthless in his methods during warfare. Having trained child soldiers in his younger years during the First Liberian Civil War, he had put said children under harsh training and conditions. He lacked remorse in his treatment towards the children of his Small Boy Unit, even going so far as relishing in Raiden's success as an accomplished killer.

Solidus had keen senses, as evidenced when he managed to shoot out one of the Metal Gear RAY's AIs with his P90 without even turning to face it, after the units went haywire. His superhuman speed and reflexes were artificially heightened by his powered exoskeleton, to which he claimed that he was a "whole different game" from Liquid Snake. Solidus was also a skilled pilot, using a Harrier jet to shoot down SEAL Team 10's two transport choppers, and also acted as the co-pilot during his fight against Raiden and Philanthropy's Kasatka.

Although he displayed proficiency with firearms, Solidus's preferred weapons were blades. He was skilled enough to wield two swords simultaneously.

Weapons
In terms of small arms, Solidus used a P90 submachine gun and also used a Daishō (Katana and Wakizashi set); the "Minshuto" (Democrat) and "Kyowato" (Republican) high-frequency blades. During the Big Shell Incident, Solidus demonstrated a highly dexterous combat ability, both as a marksman and a swordsman (though he only ever fought while wearing his suit, which increased his abilities).

Exoskeleton
Main: Solidus Snake's exoskeleton

The exoskeleton that Solidus wore was developed for the U.S. Army by DARPA. It increased the wearer's speed, strength, and agility through the use of the same artificial muscle technology initially developed for Metal Gear RAY, as well as the Tengu soldiers’ combat suits, and to a lesser extent, the Skull Suit. It could allow a skilled sword user to deflect a heavy barrage of machine gun fire with relative ease. The suit could also withstand attacks from blade weapons due to sensors stretching between the interior and the surface of the suit comparable to a neural network, which upon detecting an impact, would instantaneously react by automatically contracting and diffusing the damage. In contrast to Gray Fox' exoskeleton, the abilities of Solidus's suit were not in effect permanently, but could be activated at will.

Solidus's suit was also armed with two prehensile tentacles or "Snake Arms" that could be used to grab or asphyxiate opponents, inject drugs such as Phenobarbital B into the system of an opponent, analyze the content of someone's brain for nanomachines and the information in them, and also had the ability to fire small missiles. The snake arms could be ejected to further increase the wearer's speed and agility. This technology was also utilized in the combat suit of Laughing Octopus of the Beauty and the Beast Unit.

In addition, the suit was equipped with a built-in accelerator unit that allowed the user to make quick movements across terrain, leaving a trail of flames in their path.

Unconfirmed history
During his time in Liberia, Solidus Snake managed to capture several Liberian terrorists responsible for murdering American soldiers. On Jack's tenth birthday, Solidus then had Jack decapitate ten of the Liberian terrorists (each one acting as a "birthday candle" representing each year Jack had lived by that point) as the former's "birthday present" for the latter.

After Solidus's body was burned in Eastern Europe, 2014, his remains were recovered and flown over to the U.S. They were interred next to The Boss's burial site by Solid Snake and Otacon, with Meryl, Mei Ling, and Roy Campbell's help, still believing that the remains were those of Big Boss.

Behind the scenes
Solidus Snake (ソリダス・スネーク) is the primary antagonist of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. In the Japanese version, both Solidus Snake and Solid Snake are voiced by Akio Ōtsuka, while John Cygan voiced the former in the English version.

Metal Gear Solid
Solidus's identity as the U.S. President in Metal Gear Solid is only revealed in the post-credits telephone conversation between himself and Revolver Ocelot. This detail is only given in the original game if Meryl Silverburgh survives the events of the story, whereas The Twin Snakes remake reveals this regardless of whether or not she survives.

Hideo Kojima, in a series of Twitter posts elaborating on the reason behind naming the Les Enfants Terribles clones in the leadup to Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes ' release, explained that he chose the name "Solidus" to indicate he was a boundary between Solid and Liquid Snake, as their "states" names were allegorical to their nature, as Solidus was intended to be used for the eventual sequel to Metal Gear Solid. He also explained that although "gas" was technically a state and the next stage forward, he didn't give him the name "gas snake" because, like the term "gas human," it wasn't a very appealing name.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
In Kojima's "Grand Game Plan" for Metal Gear Solid 2 (MGS2), Solidus was originally to have faked his death from an assassination attempt, by having a double pose as him. His last name was also originally "Ryan" instead of "Sears." The gameplan also implies that Solidus intended for Nastasha Romanenko to publish her book in his agenda to expose the Patriots to the world, and that he carried the FOXDIE antidote, rendering him immune to Solid Snake's FOXDIE virus.

Solidus's in-game model is a re-textured version of Solid Snake's, maintaining the same facial shape but with the addition of details such as wrinkles, paler skin and aged hair. Kojima used this unique method to authentically display that Solid Snake and Solidus were clones.

Shortly before Solidus' duel with Raiden, a flock of white doves are seen flying in the background, a reference to the style of film director John Woo, used to indicate a battle or shootout. The MGS2 script originally had Raiden cut a rope off a flagpole at Federal Hall, after killing Solidus, which would have caused the American flag to fall onto the latter's body, thus, mirroring the draping of the flag over a President's coffin during a state funeral. 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.

In the aftermath of the Tanker Incident, Ocelot referred to his contact as "Mr. President." The game script, included in The Document of Metal Gear Solid 2, stated that this person was Solidus. However, this is later contradicted by Otacon, who claims that it could not have been Solidus as he was underground at that time, so the only group he could have been working for was the Patriots. It is unclear whether Ocelot is directly speaking to James Johnson, the President at the time, or to the Patriots.

During his speech on top of Federal Hall, Solidus incorrectly states that "George Washington took office as the first President of the United States of America 200 years ago today." Washington actually took office on April 30, 1789, exactly 220 years prior to Solidus' speech. The Document also contains an error in this regard as it incorrectly states that Solidus' speech took place 223 years after Washngton becoming President.

During the boss fight with Solidus, the player can exploit the blind spot created from Solidus' loss of his left eye to attack him easily. In the HD Collection version of MGS2, defeating Solidus will unlock the achievement/trophy "Another Snake Bites the Dust."

Aside from the main game, Solidus also had a major role in the Snake Tales story "External Gazer" as the main antagonist. In it, he (or rather, an alternate version of Solidus) accessed the Koppelthorn Engine and attempted to manipulate realities to ensure his self-preservation and the preservation of his alternate selves, not caring who he hurts in the process. This version of Solidus also married an alternate version of Mei Ling, and had her replace their Mei Ling to manipulate Philanthropy into merging the various parallel universes by destroying the Gurlugon. He later tries to stop Snake, eventually resorting to trapping him in the body of a young, blond man and experiencing various disturbing scenarios. Ultimately, Solidus fails in his goal due to Otacon finding the singularity, and fights Solid Snake due to rage at the failure of his plans. He perishes when he falls to his death after Solid Snake knocks him off Federal Hall.

In the fictional history of the Metal Gear series, Solidus is the youngest known U.S. President, being in his mid to late 20s at the time, which would have made him constitutionally ineligible in reality (35 years of age being the minimum). However, having apparently aged more rapidly than his clone brothers by the time of MGS2, it is likely he possessed a much older appearance than his actual age would imply, thus arousing less suspicion. His "resignation" from the Presidency, as a result of the Shadow Moses Incident, also makes him the second known U.S. President to resign from office, the first being Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal.

George Sears' fictional presidency appears to coincide with real world events that occurred after the 2001 release of MGS2, such as U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the establishment of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, which are mentioned in later games in the series and other official timelines. The series' plot does not link Sears' presidency with these events, and the article, similarly, does not attempt to conflate them.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
The Big Boss FaceCamo in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is actually that of Solidus, as the camo is shown with its right eye intact. Its appearance is based on the biomort featured in Act 3, then believed to be Big Boss.

Raiden's entry for the Metal Gear Solid 4 Database, incorrectly states that it was Solidus who erased most of Raiden's memories, rather than the Patriots. Similarly, in his own entry, it is incorrectly stated that he was the one who caused Arsenal Gear to crash into Manhattan as a last resort strike at the Patriots. It also showed him wearing eyeglasses though he is never seen wearing them in MGS2.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
Solidus makes a cameo appearance in the English version of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, on the cover of the Solidus Magazine item. This magazine replaced the Dengeki Games/GAMES Blitz of the original Japanese version, during the game's localization.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
During the development of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (MGR), Quinton Flynn tweeted that he had been working with fellow voice actor John Cygan, implying that Solidus might appear in some form in the game. The "Arm" trailer, which was later released on the official website, showed an obscured figure that sounded similar and bore a physical resemblance to Solidus, overseeing the treatment of the child soldier Jack (Raiden). His identity was confirmed on MGR 's Facebook page, inviting viewers to "Uncover the secret behind Raiden's training under Solidus @ http://www.metalgearsolid.com/rising." In these trailers, Solidus also has the appearance and voice of his 2009 self, although it is unknown whether this was the case in-universe, or whether this was in order to have the audience identify Solidus more easily. Solidus does not make an appearance in the game itself, although he is mentioned in reference to the goals of the main antagonists. In addition, MGR describes his role during the Liberian Civil War as a CIA paramilitary, whereas previous games had left this unclear (the IDW comic book adaptation of MGS2, however, does imply his serving U.S. interests in the conflict).

E3 Battle and Versus Battle
Solidus Snake appeared as a participant in the Konami-sponsored event E3 Battle, defeating Jehuty in the first round, namely because he was a master of Metal Gears, to which Jehuty bore a similar design to a Metal Gear. He proceeded to face off against, and defeat, Rat Patrol Team 01 in the second round (although the percentage points implied that he lost against them). Solidus proceeded to fight Solid Snake in the third round, although he lost to him. "SOLIDUS SNAKE FIRST APPEARED IN Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001) Former President of the United States of America and leader of the Sons of Liberty. Said to be a perfect clone of Big Boss."

- Solidus Snake's bio in E3 Battle

Solidus also appeared in Versus Battle, where he fought against Gray Fox Skin, Black Raiden and later Ocelot. He also, under then name Armored Clone, fought against Metal Gear earlier.

"STRENGTHS: Exoskeleton-Enhanced Lethality WEAKNESSES: One Eye; Presidential Duties FEATURED FACT: It was Solidus Snake who mentored a young Raiden in the ways of the blade. FEATURED GAME: METAL GEAR SOLID HD Collection"

- Armored Clone in Versus Battle

"STRENGTHS: Best Exoskeleton Ever WEAKNESSES: It's Inhuman to Think Any Exist FEATURED FACT: Solidus Snake became the youngest clone ever to be elected President of the US FEATURED GAME: METAL GEAR SOLID HD Collection"

- Solidus in Versus Battle; Solidus vs. Gray Fox Skin

"STRENGTHS: President, Superior Soldier, Son of Big Boss WEAKNESSES: Taught Raiden Everything Solidus Knew FEATURED FACT: Raiden actually defeated Solidus once during the Big Shell incident in an epic duel. Could Raiden do it again? FEATURED GAME: METAL GEAR SOLID: THE LEGACY COLLECTION"

- Solidus in Versus Battle; Solidus vs. Black Raiden

"STRENGTHS: Ocelot’s Superior & Perfect Clone of Big Boss WEAKNESSES: Accelerated Aging FEATURED FACT: The Presidential figurehead of the Patriots, Solidus Snake grew to despise them and formed the Sons of Liberty to combat them FEATURED GAME: METAL GEAR SOLID: THE LEGACY COLLECTION"

- Solidus in Versus Battle; Solidus vs. Ocelot

Appearances

 * Metal Gear Solid (off-screen, unintelligible voice and mentioned)
 * Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
 * Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance (Snake Tales; non-canon)
 * Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (off-screen and mentioned)
 * Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (indirectly mentioned)
 * Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (indirectly mentioned and prophetic vision)
 * Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (biomort, mentioned, flashbacks, and voice)
 * Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (magazine cover; non-canon)
 * Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (mentioned and viral material)
 * Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (indirectly mentioned)

Notes and references
Solidus Snake Солидус Снейк