Solid Snake

Solid Snake (real name David, commonly referred to as Snake, and later referred to as Old Snake) was a former spy, special operations soldier, and mercenary. He was a product of the Les Enfants Terribles project and "son" of legendary soldier Big Boss, along with his "brothers" Liquid Snake and Solidus Snake.

Possessing an IQ of 180 and fluent in six languages, he was known as "the man who makes the impossible possible" and his exploits made him into a living legend among the military black ops. Initially a Green Beret, Snake was later inducted into High-Tech Special Forces Unit FOXHOUND in the mid 1990s while it was under the leadership of Big Boss. Repeatedly tasked with disarming and destroying the latest incarnation of Metal Gear, a bipedal nuclear weapon-armed tank, Snake would thrice avert potential nuclear catastrophe, becoming a famed war hero.

Following the Shadow Moses Incident in 2005 and subsequent smear campaign by the Patriots, the secret organization behind American politics, Snake was labeled a terrorist. He faked his own death in the Tanker Incident in 2007, though he re-emerged two years later to assist Raiden in the Big Shell Incident. During this time, his cells entered a state of accelerated aging, causing his health to decline. The cause of his rapid aging was explained by Naomi Hunter, who examined Snake and determined that it was caused by planned genetic changes during the cloning process.

In 2014, Snake performed his final mission, during which he took down Liquid Ocelot and destroyed the Patriots. After one last encounter with Big Boss, Snake chose to live his remaining days in peace.

Background
In 1970, Solid Snake was foreseen in a prophetic vision by Elisa and Ursula as the son of Big Boss that would "save the world."

In 1972, David and his twin brother were born as a result of the secret "Les Enfants Terribles" government project designed to create the perfect soldier, using the genes of the "Greatest Warrior of the 20th Century" Big Boss.

Using the process of somatic cell nuclear transfer, eight clone embryos were created by inserting Big Boss's DNA into enucleated egg cells, donated by a healthy Japanese woman. By utilizing the Super Baby Method, the embryos were then implanted into the womb of a surrogate mother with six of the babies eventually being aborted to promote growth in the remaining two.

The two clones were also modified on the genetic level, with one clone expressing Big Boss's dominant genetic traits and the other expressing Big Boss's recessive traits. Nine months later, the twins were born and would later receive the codenames of Solid Snake and Liquid Snake. Being a somatic cell clone of Big Boss, Solid Snake inherited mitochondrial DNA from the Japanese egg donor of "Les Enfants Terribles," later demonstrating some awareness of this heritage. A third clone was created afterwards.

Early life and career
Following his birth, Solid Snake was given the name David and spent his early life being raised and taught by a variety of foster parents. In 1974, Cipher decided to use Solid Snake and Liquid Snake as an insurance policy, should the organization fail to either convince Big Boss to return to them, or frame his mercenary company, the Militaires Sans Frontières, for launching a nuclear attack on the United States.

Making his way into the military, David was inducted into the Green Berets as a teen and took part in a mission to infiltrate western Iraq in 1991, during the Gulf War. Later, he joined Big Boss's special forces unit FOXHOUND, during which time he received the codename "Solid Snake." While undergoing FOXHOUND's training regimen, he became an expert of high-altitude skydiving, linguistics, closed-circuit open-circuit combat diving, and free climbing. Big Boss personally trained him in the use of CQC and taught him the importance of having the will to survive on the battlefield. It was at FOXHOUND's training camp that he also met survival instructor Master Miller. During this time, Snake's real name and origins were classified under National Security.

Snake's first mission for FOXHOUND came in 1995. He was tasked with infiltrating Outer Heaven; a military nation deep within South Africa, led by a feared and legendary mercenary. Snake was tasked with rescuing Gray Fox, a FOXHOUND agent who was captured earlier, and shed light on Metal Gear, which Fox mentioned in a broken radio message sometime before his capture. Shortly after arriving in the general vicinity of Outer Heaven, he was contacted by Big Boss via his wireless radio and was reminded that what he was to experience would not be an exercise, as this would be his first real mission for FOXHOUND.

After infiltrating the fortress via an underwater insertion, he learned from some of the hostages after freeing them that Fox was held in a high level prison cell in the basement, and the only way to find him was to get himself captured. After locating Gray Fox, he learned from him that Metal Gear was a bipedal nuclear-armed tank that can launch a nuclear warhead anywhere in the world. He was then told to locate Dr. Drago Pettrovich Madnar to find a way to destroy it. After a few delays, he succeeded in rescuing Dr. Madnar as well as his daughter Ellen and destroyed TX-55 Metal Gear with the aid of Fox. Big Boss, his mission commander, then revealed himself to be the leader behind the Outer Heaven Uprising, but he was promptly dispatched by Snake.

Post-FOXHOUND
Despite his success in Outer Heaven, Snake departed from FOXHOUND and entered early retirement. He also chose to abandon the CQC techniques taught to him by Big Boss, due to its association with the man who had betrayed his unit. To compensate, Snake instead relied on his knowledge of CQB.

Snake was later scouted by the CIA and spent six months as an undercover agent before he became dissatisfied with the organization and left. He then became a mercenary for hire, and after earning enough money, he went into semi-retirement in the Canadian wilderness. During this time, he found himself constantly having nightmares about Outer Heaven and Big Boss over the next four years due to PTSD.

In December 1999, Snake was called upon by FOXHOUND’s new commander, Roy Campbell, for an operation into Central Asia. Apparently, a new highly militarized nation called Zanzibar Land had kidnapped Dr. Kio Marv, inventor of the oil refining microbe, OILIX. Not only that, but a new Metal Gear was believed to be under development in Zanzibar Land. Snake accepted the mission, in part to end the nightmares that he had endured since Operation Intrude N313.

Snake's mission objectives were to infiltrate the seemingly impenetrable wall that surrounded Zanzibar Land, and to recover Dr. Marv and the OILIX formula, as part of Operation Intrude F014. His radio support team consisted of Colonel Campbell, former FOXHOUND instructor Master Miller, and mercenary adviser George Kasler. Snake succeeded in the first task, but complications arose when one of his allies in the mission, a CIA war coverage spy named Holly White blew her cover, and required rescuing. After freeing Holly, Snake learned how to contact Dr. Marv by radio, but after discovering that he could only speak Czech and Slovakian, was forced to locate his STB bodyguard Gustava Heffner. However, the two were attacked by Snake's former comrade Gray Fox while attempting a rescue, after being betrayed by his supposed ally Dr. Drago Pettrovich Madnar, resulting in both Gustava and Dr. Marv's death. Despite these events, Snake succeeded in recovering the OILIX formula, utilizing the polymimetic nature of a special brooch key, bequeathed to him by Gustava on her deathbed.

Deep in the heart of Zanzibar Land, Snake destroyed Metal Gear D and defeated Gray Fox, successfully thwarting the ambitions of Big Boss. As the man behind Zanzibar Land's rise to power, Big Boss returned for a final battle against his former subordinate, the former also having expected that Snake would return ever since he was defeated in Outer Heaven. Snake ultimately defeated Big Boss with a makeshift flamethrower, consisting of a lighter and lacquer spray. Snake and Holly then escaped the fortress, fending off enemy troops in the jungle until they were extracted by helicopter. During the mission debriefing, Snake declined Campbell's request to rejoin FOXHOUND, stating that his nightmares were now over. Likewise, Snake also confirmed to Holly and Campbell that the cartridge he retrieved was indeed the one Marv used to store the OILIX plans, citing that Marv's signature was written backwards on the MSX loading screen when used. Despite promising to have Christmas dinner with Holly following the mission, Snake stood her up and disappeared shortly afterwards. Campbell also implied that this was not the first time Snake disappeared without warning.

Retirement
Following the conclusion of Operation Intrude F014, Snake returned to North America and retired to an Alaskan wilderness retreat, Twin Lakes. By this time, the military had deemed that Snake had committed several acts of misconduct during his career, enough for him to serve a lengthy prison sentence, should he be brought to account. Through his retirement, Snake attempted to try and forget his war-torn past and recover from post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as come to terms with the fact that he had "killed" his own father. During this time, he began heavily drinking. He later became a dogsled racer, taking care of over 50 huskies, and competed in the Iditarod.

Snake was called back to the U.S. military in February 2005 when he was deployed by his former commander Roy Campbell to Shadow Moses Island. However, he wasn't too happy with Campbell for how he decided to call him back into service, since he sent armed soldiers to his doorstep in a manner that seemed like they wanted to capture him and also they strip searched him as well taking all his weapons away from him. Here, a rebellion had taken place by the members of FOXHOUND, his former unit, who were threatening the U.S. with a nuclear strike. The task fell on Snake, a former operative and expert, to stop them. Although he wasn't willing to get out of retirement, he ultimately accepted the mission under two conditions: That he be given full disclosure from Campbell on what is going on in the mission, and that he answer to no one besides Campbell, with no cutoffs involved.

In charge of the renegade group was Liquid Snake, who had demanded that the remains of Big Boss be turned over to him. Due to his resemblance to the terrorist leader, Solid Snake had his hair cut shortly before departing to Shadow Moses, to avoid being mistaken for him. Snake was charged with ascertaining their nuclear capability and rescuing their hostages: president of ArmsTech weapons manufacturer Kenneth Baker, and the DARPA Chief Donald Anderson.

Snake infiltrated the base alone, but quickly gained help in the form of Metal Gear REX developer Hal Emmerich and new FOXHOUND recruit Meryl Silverburgh, Campbell's legal niece. Metal Gear REX was a nuclear-armed bipedal walking tank developed in secret by the U.S. Army and ArmsTech. Although he largely was in shape for the mission, he did end up exhausted after climbing the flight of stairs up to Tower A's roof, causing Campbell to briefly joke that Snake's mushing had him get out of shape. However, he ended up being tricked into activating Metal Gear due to misinformation supplied by Liquid Snake (who had infiltrated Snake's support group by posing as Master Miller, having had him murdered three days prior). With the help of the two aforementioned, as well as his former comrade Gray Fox (now the Cyborg Ninja), Snake succeeded in destroying REX and defeating the members of FOXHOUND, including Liquid.

His mission, however, was a cleverly woven plot, prepared by the Pentagon. Through the secret, Pentagon-guided efforts of genetic engineer Naomi Hunter, Snake's body became host to the artificial virus FOXDIE. Snake was outraged to hear that his mission was a government conspiracy, and that he was merely sent as a carrier of the virus, which was programmed to kill Baker (for knowing too much about the project), and the FOXHOUND operatives just to ensure that the bodies of the Genome Soldiers and Metal Gear REX could be recovered undamaged. He was also reminded of the possibility that he had willingly returned to the battlefield because he enjoyed war, as commented upon by Meryl, Psycho Mantis, and Liquid Snake, and echoing Big Boss's words in Zanzibar Land.

Throughout the incident, Snake suspected that Campbell was concealing important information regarding the mission's true nature, although he later forgave the Colonel, after learning that the Pentagon had used Meryl as leverage in order to force him to cooperate with them (they had deliberately sent Meryl to Shadow Moses the same day as the revolt). Snake also discovered that Naomi was the foster sister of Gray Fox, who desired revenge for what Snake had done to her brother and had modified the FOXDIE virus so that it would kill him in addition to FOXHOUND. However, she set the virus to a "wildcard" value, leaving him vulnerable at a later time.

Post-Shadow Moses
Following the Shadow Moses Incident, Snake and Meryl disappeared after leaving the base, after Campbell faked their deaths by claiming that they had died after their jeep crashed into the ocean. Sometime later, Snake lost contact with Meryl. Because of his exploits at Shadow Moses, he also became a hero to the public, which greatly concerned the Patriots.

Revolver Ocelot, the sole surviving member of FOXHOUND, reported the events on Shadow Moses to U.S. President George Sears, for whom he had acted as a spy throughout the entire incident. He informed Sears, that it was the inferior clone Solid Snake, who had survived, stating that Liquid had wrongly believed himself to be inferior right until his death. Ocelot also reported in the phone call that FOXDIE was set to activate soon, indicating that Snake being a target for FOXDIE was intended from the start by Ocelot and Solidus. Three weeks after the Shadow Moses Incident, Naomi escaped from confinement at a high-security facility during debriefing due to someone breaking her out. As Nastasha Romanenko and the U.S. Government believed Snake to have been the one who broke her out (in actuality, it was Liquid Ocelot who did the deed), the U.S. military also added Snake's supposed involvement in her escape to his rap sheet.

Ocelot later sold REX's plans onto the black market, prompting Snake and Otacon to found the anti-Metal Gear NGO, Philanthropy. With the goal of eradicating all Metal Gear technology, Snake participated in investigating its development across the world, often by illegal means, which Philanthropy then exposed to the public via the Internet. During one of these operations in a facility, Snake, along with Otacon, also stole Liquid Snake's corpse, which was kept in cold storage. Around 2007, Snake also began suffering the effects of accelerated aging.

For more information on his alias during the Big Shell Incident, see Iroquois Pliskin.

In August 2007, Otacon received a tip from his estranged stepsister Emma Emmerich that a new Metal Gear was being developed by the United States Marine Corps, and was being transported via a Marine vessel disguised as an oil tanker. Solid Snake would later reminisce that the intelligence had been suspicious, but Philanthropy had grown complacent due to its previous successes in sabotage. Snake boarded the tanker while en route to its destination, and quickly discovered that a group of Russian mercenaries led by Sergei Gurlukovich had their own plans for Metal Gear RAY, arriving shortly thereafter to takeover the vessel. Snake soon encountered Olga Gurlukovich (Sergei’s daughter) on board the tanker, and proceeded to defeat her in a gunfight, knocking her unconscious with his modified M9 tranquilizer pistol.

Snake quickly made his way into the tanker's holds and, as per his mission objectives, secured photographic evidence of the new Metal Gear. Neither he nor Otacon could have predicted the reappearance of Revolver Ocelot on the tanker, who proceeded to detonate Semtex explosives onboard the ship in order to sink it. While attempting to stop Ocelot, Snake was confronted by the spirit of his deceased brother Liquid Snake, who had apparently taken over the mind of Ocelot through an arm transplant (Liquid's arm having been grafted onto Ocelot, to replace the hand he lost at Shadow Moses). Snake's presence had seemingly released Liquid's personality, who went on to comment that he had evaded the accelerated aging that Snake was now undergoing. After Liquid escaped in the stolen RAY, Snake successfully escaped the sinking tanker and made his way the surface of the river, where he was rescued by Otacon on a small boat. The two also rescued Olga, and, taking advantage of the situation, decided to fake Snake's death by using the corpse of Liquid Snake as a decoy.

Thanks to the photographs taken by a U.S. Army Cypher, the Patriots framed Solid Snake and Philanthropy in a smear campaign for the tanker sinking, simultaneously exposing them to the public and destroying their reputation. It was widely believed that Snake had been killed in the incident, after Liquid's body was retrieved from the New York Harbor, its genetic similarity to Snake's providing apparent confirmation.

In April 2009, Snake infiltrated the Big Shell offshore facility, which was occupied by the Sons of Liberty, who entered by cutting a hole in the surrounding oil fence. He later knocked out several Gurlukovich sentries in the deep sea dock, and ascended to the roof of Strut A by elevator; Raiden, who had infiltrated shortly after Snake, briefly saw him, though his back was turned. Snake later disguised himself as a Navy SEALS Alpha squad member named Iroquois Pliskin; a reference to "Snake Plissken" of Escape from New York, and the name of a confederacy of Native American tribes headquartered in New York (also a Huron word meaning "Black Snake"). He encountered Raiden in a transformer room after the two were attacked by Vamp, and they later teamed up to disarm enemy C4s planted around the facility.

Snake eventually met his genetic brother, the terrorist leader Solidus Snake, though he refused to acknowledge him as such. He also once again met Olga and explained to her that it was in fact Revolver Ocelot who had killed her father Sergei. Snake later helped Raiden, Otacon and Emma install the reprogrammed computer virus, a digital counterpart of FOXDIE, into GW (Arsenal Gear's AI system), shortly before Emma died after being stabbed by Vamp. Snake worked together with Olga, using Raiden in order to gain access to Arsenal Gear and to acquire a disc that contained information on the true identities of the Patriots’s Wisemen's Committee. Once aboard Arsenal Gear, Snake gave Raiden Olga's H.F. Blade, and despite not being "a big fan of blades," he instructed Raiden on how to use it. He and Raiden then fought their way through an army of Arsenal Tengu soldiers. They were both eventually split up from one another, with Snake being captured by Fortune and brought to the top of Arsenal.

Atop Arsenal, Ocelot revealed his true colors to Solidus, Fortune, Snake and Raiden. But before he could kill them, Ocelot's right arm began to twitch, and Liquid Snake possessed him once more, revealing that he had leaked the information about Arsenal Gear to lure Snake out to the Big Shell so that Snake could "free him [Liquid]." Liquid (in Ocelot's body) then set off in RAY to kill the Patriots via his host, with Snake in pursuit. Although Snake failed to stop RAY, he placed a tracker on the Metal Gear and explained later to Raiden that his plan was for him to find the Patriots by deciphering the source code of Emma's worm cluster, admitting that the disc they gave Raiden was a decoy. He also declined Raiden's request to help Snake in Philanthropy and save Olga's child, as he suspected that even after the S3 Plan was complete, the Patriots would still monitor Raiden's vital signs and thus place Sunny in further danger of being killed should he try to help, and also hinted that Rosemary did indeed exist and that he should maintain his relationship to her before joining. He then slipped away unnoticed to Otacon's car and left, being long gone by the time Raiden remembered about Snake. However, the data recovered from Arsenal showed that all 12 members had been dead for over a hundred years, and Philanthropy had lost their only lead. However, Snake eventually deduced that the information was a fake lead (or as he put it, five years later, "a load of crap").

Accelerated aging and CQC
After the Big Shell Incident, Snake's Werner syndrome like symptoms gradually grew worse. His body began to age rapidly, with no doctors being able diagnose the cause. In addition, in 2011, although Snake had earlier promised Raiden that he would rescue Sunny from the Patriots, he wasn't able to get that chance, and ended up receiving Sunny via Raiden (albeit covertly on the latter's part). By 2014, Otacon and the various doctors who treated Snake estimated that Snake's life span would be a year at best.

Sometime prior to 2014, the Pentagon declassified documents relating to Big Boss's exploits during the 1960s, which evidently contributed greatly to his legend to the populace, and his CQC was also being taught in the military. After the army decided to implement CQC in an attempt to mimic Big Boss, he lifted his self imposed ban on CQC in order keep himself ahead of the other users (who had been using, as he called it, "cookie cutter imitations"), and adopted the use of a stun knife.

It was not until 2014 that Snake, now occasionally referred to as Old Snake, resurfaced for a final time. Liquid Ocelot (a fusion of Liquid Snake and Revolver Ocelot) was the leader of a new Outer Heaven, this time acting as a single mother company to five of the largest PMCs on the planet. With PMCs now taking over the world's armies in terms of firepower, Liquid was finally on the verge of world domination. With the world once again in crisis, Snake was dispatched to the Middle East as a personal favor to Campbell to assassinate Liquid. In addition, he was to meet up with a PMC investigation group, and was also given the cover job of inspecting PMCs.

Failed assassination attempt
Snake successfully made it to the PMC base that Liquid was using as his headquarters by disguising himself as a militia instructor for the militia in the region fighting off the Praying Mantis PMC, although he briefly lost the disguise after an ambush by several Gekko units, escaping with the use of his new OctoCamo suit. Snake once again met Meryl, who was now in command of the CID unit Rat Patrol Team 01. He also briefly witnessed the Beauty and the Beast unit when they wiped out a Middle Eastern militia platoon. However, he failed to assassinate Liquid in time due to the latter's sudden deactivation of the Sons of the Patriots system, which resulted in all the soldiers in the vicinity to experience mass convulsions from the sudden release of emotions, including Snake himself, although he was affected to a lesser degree. SOP was run by the Patriots with the purpose of monitoring and controlling every soldier engaged in combat action. Liquid's plan was to remove the system altogether, though his initial attempt had unforeseen consequences, when it caused the PMC's Middle Eastern base to descend into chaos (although the chaos unknowingly saved him from Snake's mission to kill him).

Infiltrating South America
Later, Otacon received a message from Naomi Hunter, who had been there in the Middle East to save Snake when the SOP System went haywire. The message contained a distress call as well as an encrypted map of Liquid's South American base in Soliton Radar format (a sign from Naomi that it was truly from her), the location of which Olga's daughter Sunny was able to trace. In addition, he was able to arrive at Liquid's base, located in a mountainous region (implied to be the Andes) surrounded by forests, by landing at the El Dorado International Airport with the cover job of a UN inspector as well as gaining a 4x4 vehicle, driving it as close to the security perimeter as he could before sneaking into the region, due to Roy Campbell's influence. Although Snake initially was to meet up with a rebel group to aid him in getting into Liquid Ocelot's primary base, the Vista Mansion, he was forced to change plans after Laughing Octopus murdered some rebel soldiers and spared one under the condition that he not forget "his" face (Laughing Octopus having disguised herself as Old Snake via FaceCamo at that time).

Snake made it to the base where Naomi was held, and she gave him a thorough medical examination. It was during this that Snake discovered the harsh truth: his aging was not part of any external source, but the way he was designed as a clone, and also that the FOXDIE that Naomi injected him with almost a decade earlier will finally claim his life within six months. This was because the FOXDIE was also starting to mutate due to Snake's rapid aging, and would eventually lose its ability to kill by specific DNA patterns and indiscriminately infect anyone and everyone, effectively turning Snake into a walking biological weapon who could cause the deaths of millions. Because of this, he asked if killing himself would have any impact on stopping FOXDIE. Naomi confirmed this, stating that FOXDIE will also die with its host. Snake also learned from Naomi that he had a new FOXDIE strand that was injected into him recently, and immediately deduced that Drebin 893 was the one who injected it into him.

After defeating Laughing Octopus of the Beauty and the Beast Unit, as well as procuring her FaceCamo, Snake escaped with Naomi with the help of Drebin 893, a "gun launderer" he had met in the Middle East. They also picked up Raiden, who was now a Cyborg Ninja. He also learned from Naomi that, despite what he and anyone else believed earlier, Solid Snake was neither a perfect clone of Big Boss nor was he genetically identical to Liquid Snake, which also explained why the previous FOXDIE virus was not able to kill him earlier.

In Eastern Europe
Raiden explained that he was acting under the orders of Big Mama, the leader of a small resistance group in Eastern Europe. He then disguised himself as a civilian in Eastern Europe, also putting his FaceCamo to good use by giving himself a younger look, and was tasked to meet up with a contact that Campbell supplied. However, Raven Sword anticipated this move and made sure to blacklist him if he carried the same nanomachines, which nearly resulted in his cover being blown before his contact, Meryl, managed to get him through. However, Snake and Meryl ended up getting into an argument regarding Liquid's threat level, as well as some of Snake's decisions. Snake, stalking a member of the resistance group, Paradise Lost, eventually found Big Mama, discovering she was the former Chinese spy who Big Boss had known, back when his codename was Naked Snake, as EVA. Due to her ties with Big Boss, she was able to explain most of the Patriots' history to him. She also revealed that she had Big Boss's body in her possession. After escaping an onslaught of Haven Troopers and defeating a second BB Corps member, Raging Raven, Snake found Liquid, who was in the midst of implementing the now perfected version of his plan. Taking control of the SOP system, Liquid used his now unbeatable army to kill every last soldier there, including Big Mama, save for Old Snake and the members of Rat Patrol. Luckily, in the chaos, Otacon was able to stow the Mk. II away with Naomi (who had returned to Liquid), and discovered Liquid's plan: to destroy JD and use GW to take over the Patriots AI system. As a result of the chaos in the final legs of the mission, he also received severe burns to the left side of his face.

Return to Shadow Moses and infiltrating Outer Haven
Knowing Liquid was planning to do this by using the only non-Patriot controlled weapon in existence - the rail gun from Metal Gear REX - Snake followed Liquid back to Shadow Moses Island. There Snake managed to defeat Vamp, BB Corps member Crying Wolf, and a Metal Gear RAY piloted by Liquid, with Snake himself piloting REX against the latter. However, he was unable to kill Liquid or stop him from stealing the rail gun in time, a prize which Liquid quickly equipped to his own recreation of Arsenal Gear, Outer Haven. Snake, Meryl and Rat Patrol team member Johnny "Akiba" Sasaki infiltrated Outer Haven from the USS Missouri, where Snake defeated the last of the BB members, Screaming Mantis, as well as finally destroying GW, the Patriots' former AI which Liquid had managed to reassemble. Unbeknownst to Snake, the FOXALIVE worm cluster that he had uploaded to GW, spread to JD and the rest of the Patriots' AIs. Atop Outer Haven, Liquid revealed to Snake that he had wanted him to succeed in uploading the worm, and thus eliminate the Patriots' control, though he was unaware that the societal collapse, which he anticipated would come about, had been averted. Snake faced his "brother" in hand-to-hand combat one last time, where it was revealed that Liquid Ocelot no longer possessed the right arm of Liquid Snake, but rather a cybernetic prosthetic instead. Snake ultimately defeated Liquid, with Ocelot's former personality temporarily reasserting control prior to his death. After performing his signature hand gesture and commenting, "You're pretty good," he passed away, having succumbed to the new FOXDIE virus within Snake's body.

Final encounter with Big Boss
Some time later, Snake prepared to commit suicide to prevent the spread of the mutated strain of FOXDIE. He sat in front of Big Boss's grave with his gun in his mouth, but ultimately was unable to end his own life. Big Boss then appeared, returning the Patriot to the grave of The Boss and explained the full history of the Patriots from his point of view, and euthanized the now-vegetative Zero himself. He also revealed to Snake that Revolver Ocelot was never truly possessed by Liquid, but had put himself through hypnotherapy and implanted himself with nanomachines in order to make himself "believe" that he was Liquid Snake. This was done to throw off the Patriots who, being a computer program, could only repeat the same processes and would send Snake in to take down Liquid if they thought he was alive. Big Boss also revealed that when Drebin injected Snake with modern nanomachines in order to make him compatible with SOP weaponry, he also injected him with a second strain of FOXDIE, which was programmed to kill Big Mama, Liquid Ocelot, and Big Boss himself, but also cancelled out the original mutating FOXDIE; thus, Snake was no longer in danger of becoming a biological weapon. Snake and his father, who calmly accepted the fact that he was dying, finally made amends, and Big Boss, before dying, made Snake promise to live however much time he had left "not as a snake, but as a man." Determined to fulfill this promise, Snake decides to quit smoking and retreated with Otacon and Sunny, this time for good, to live out the remainder of his life in peace, resolving to live long enough to see what the future held for the new world he helped to create.

Personality and traits
Solid Snake, a hardened career soldier, often displayed a calm and collected demeanor, rarely showing any signs of fear in extreme circumstances. He buried his emotions deep inside himself, causing some to see him as cold and uncaring. Despite this perceived attitude, Snake occasionally showed a more human side, expressing great concern for allies' well being during dangerous operations, and even demonstrating compassion towards fallen enemies. During the Zanzibar Land Disturbance, Snake claimed to be different from Big Boss, and that he loved life. Unlike his clone brothers, Snake never displayed anger over his origins and accepted who he was.

Though mostly reserved, Snake showed some prominent change in his outlook towards life throughout the years. Big Boss' betrayal in 1995 and his battle to the death with Gray Fox and again with Big Boss in 1999 left a deep seeded emotional pain leading to PTSD, alcoholism, and cynicism. His reunion with Gray Fox at Shadow Moses and new found love towards Meryl invigorated his desire to live. With Philanthropy, Snake aspired towards building a better future for the world by eradicating Metal Gears and liberating humanity from digital subjugation. His accelerated aging, however, would create a morbid willingness to accept death as he was no longer exuberant in his words or actions in 2014. It was only by Big Boss's dying fatherly words that Snake was finally able to absolve himself of all guilt and torment and accept peace.

Though he was born with what were known as Big Boss's "flawed recessive genes," he defeated Liquid Snake, the son with the "dominant genes" on multiple confrontations in 2005. Solidus Snake, the perfect clone of Big Boss, expressed a mixed sense of admiration and envy towards his older brother as well in 2009. Perhaps it was because of the fact that Snake somehow managed to kill Big Boss when all odds favored the contrary that garnered such respect among the Snakes. Unlike Liquid and Solidus who spent their lives under the pressure of Big Boss's legend, Snake did not burden himself with the weight of his father's name since he defiantly sought out a life of his own. In the end, his indomitable will for justice made him the final survivor and victor among the clones because he lived through Naomi Hunter's theory spoken in Shadow Moses: not "to be chained to fate."

Of all the relationships he has had, his connection to Big Boss would have the biggest impact. He constantly struggled between respect and anger towards his former commander. Snake truly respected Big Boss. When Snake found out that Big Boss was actually the leader of Outer Heaven, he thought that this was unacceptable. Because of this, he refrained from using CQC for years. Moreover, he suffered greatly with the fact that he commited "patricide" despite being forced to save the world from a disaster. Before Snake faced off with Liquid at Shadow Moses, he described Liquid's desire for re-creating Outer Heaven insane and pointless, calling it out as "Big Boss's fantasy." Snake struggled to understand Big Boss' true motive for two decades believing that his betrayal was based on foul intentions. Nevertheless, he could never truly give up his respect to the legendary soldier as he visited his grave and chose to end his life right then and there after destroying the Patriots. When Big Boss explained his reasons for his uprising in the 1990s, Snake was finally able to find closure between their fates as old enemies. Not only that, Snake briefly, but finally, spent time as a son with his father.

Due to his extensive military background, Snake found his calling on the battlefield, having spent most of his life there, and believed it was the only place where he felt truly alive. Because of this, he was often accused of enjoying the killing in warfare, by both allies and enemies. Although Snake refused to admit to such views, his clone brother Liquid believed that he was in self denial, while Psycho Mantis remarked that he was even "worse" in this regard than Liquid himself. Despite conceding that he was "heartless," Snake showed himself to be self-sacrificing and with a strong belief that even on a battlefield friendship and love can flourish, and that violence is not glorious. Even so, Snake rejected any idea that he was a hero, in the face of praise and admiration from fellow operatives. Though willing to take on the mission to Shadow Moses, Snake showed no sign of longing for the army or the country he was part of. Snake also had a disdain for politicians.

While Snake was often flirtatious towards his female team members,  and expressed interest in intimate relationships on occasion, he did not like getting involved with other people's lives and was a loner by nature. However, during the Shadow Moses Incident, Snake developed a powerful bond with Meryl, displaying uncharacteristic concern and care for her. Although he was often blunt and logical with Meryl as he was with everybody else, he did show her a softer side of his personality, stating the beauty of Alaska and Meryl herself before leaving Shadow Moses. Snake apparently was not too keen of younger-older relationships. When he found out about Colonel Campbell's "marriage" to Rose, Snake noted that she was young enough to be his daughter.

Following the Shadow Moses Incident, Snake developed a good friendship with Hal "Otacon" Emmerich, even developing their own personal handshake with one another. In regards to their anti-Metal Gear sabotage efforts, Snake did not consider himself a terrorist, though he admitted that Philanthropy's actions might be perceived differently by others.

Just as Gray Fox did for him during Outer Heaven, Snake "showed the ropes" to Raiden, acting as a de facto mentor to the "rookie" and teaching him about his supplies and how to become a better soldier. Despite this, Snake was willing to use Raiden to further his mission, allowing him to infiltrate Arsenal Gear more easily during the Big Shell Incident by having enemy forces capture him temporarily.

During the events of Liquid Ocelot's Insurrection, Snake calmly accepted the inevitability of his impending death. Because of this, he was more willing to risk his life, as demonstrated during the Missouri debriefing. However, he would often become annoyed upon being reminded of his accelerated age, once telling Otacon to "cut the senior citizen crap" and his psyche dropping at occasional moments when called "Old Snake." When Raiden offered to head to the microwave-protected server room on Outer Haven, Snake refused, saying that Raiden shouldn't "waste [his] youth." Through sheer willpower, Snake survived passing through the corridor, and went on to defeat Liquid Ocelot in hand-to-hand combat. Big Boss noted that Snake had always fought for something more than himself, and that if Snake had been in his place then the mistakes the latter made may not have come to pass. By this time, Snake had also developed an apprehension to nanomachine injections, due to Naomi's betrayal at Shadow Moses, and initially refused to allow Drebin 893 to administer a shot to him.

Through years of training and experience, he developed heightened levels of endurance and reflexes, surviving prolonged periods of pain, torture, and narrowly evading numerous near-fatal incidents.

Snake was a heavy cigarette smoker. During Operations Intrude N313 and F014, he smoked an unfiltered version of "Lucky Strikes." During the Shadow Moses Incident, he smoked "Moslems," designed to reduce second-hand smoke. During Liquid Ocelot's Insurrection, he smoked a brand called "The Boss," which were unfiltered hand-rolled cigarettes, each containing 16mg of tar. Snake didn't like being lectured on the dangers of smoking. During the same time, he often ignored the no-smoking policy onboard the Nomad, often resulting in Sunny telling him off when she found out or caught him in the act. After sharing one last smoke with his father Big Boss, Snake decided to quit smoking.

Snake disliked wearing hats, preferring his bandana, despite "Master Miller" warning him that 70% of body heat dissipates from the head. Snake likewise was not too keen with using bladed weapons, informing Raiden as much during the Big Shell Incident. He did nonetheless have knowledge on how to use them, and in 2014, he also utilized a stun knife during his operations.

Snake did not possess any qualms for doing things that are normally considered unacceptable social behavior if it meant completing a mission. For example, Snake entered the women's bathroom in both the Zanzibar Land and the Shadow Moses facilities in order to find a disguised female contact (Gustava Heffner and Meryl Silverburgh, respectively). In the former instance, after Snake made contact with Dr. Marv, Dr. Madnar told Snake to look for Gustava there due to her disguise. In the latter, even though Colonel Campbell and Otacon had no problems about it, Nastasha complained to Snake about being in there, while Mei Ling was angry at him. He even encouraged Raiden to do the same thing during the Big Shell Incident.

Snake was fluent in six languages, including French. Although he was unfamiliar with Czech during the Zanzibar Land Disturbance, he was able to recognize the term "Matka Pluku," when Raiden told him of Big Mama's alias during Liquid Ocelot's Insurrection. Conversely, his knowledge of computer programming was somewhat limited, often relying on more technical-minded allies to deal with such matters during missions. Unlike his father, Snake was somewhat knowledgeable about popular media, having partially named an alias from the character Snake Plissken from Escape from New York, and once referenced Star Wars by describing Outer Haven as Liquid Ocelot's "very own Death Star."

Snake seems not to believe in the supernatural; when Otacon explained the technology to attach to walls, he asked if Vamp could have used it during the Big Shell Incident. Otacon said it was possible, but Snake assured Otacon that he was not supernatural and despite the visual evidence, believed that Vamp was not actually immortal.

The Shocking Conspiracy Behind Shadow Moses
It is possible that a Stealth Camo-equipped Snake returned to the Fox Archipelago in 2007, while trailing journalist Gary McGolden. According to his magazine article, The Shocking Conspiracy Behind Shadow Moses, McGolden had received an optical disc from an unknown source, containing Nastasha Romanenko's novel In the Darkness of Shadow Moses. After supposedly journeying to the island himself in order to verify Nastasha's account, McGolden was captured and interrogated by an unknown party and subsequently rescued by an "invisible" savior. The article helped to give more exposure to Nastasha's novel, though its publisher raised doubts as to the accuracy of McGolden's report.

Unconfirmed history
The Twin Snakes were born as a result of a ninth batch of clones, in Carlsbad, New Mexico. David then spent the first ten years of his life in the state of Oregon where he underwent intense military training, being raised and taught by a variety of teachers. During the summer months of his childhood, he would make weekly visits to a small, privately owned theme park known as "Kiddieland."

When first joining FOXHOUND, he heard Big Boss's speech during the initiation ceremony, although he never made the connection between it and Gray Fox's last words during the Shadow Moses Incident until meeting with Big Boss at Arlington nearly twenty years later.

After joining FOXHOUND, Snake became knowledgeable in various foreign languages, including Russian and Slavic. Following his retirement from the unit, and his brief stint in the CIA, Snake was responsible for the assassination of several despotic dictators during his years as a mercenary. After the events of the Zanzibar Land Disturbance, Snake retreated to Alaska, where he resided in a small log cabin, and lived off the native flora and fauna, developing a taste for blueberries and salmonberries. Befriending an Inuit of the Yup'ik tribe, who helped him to train sleigh dogs, Snake indulged in Huskie sleigh racing in an attempt to banish the intense hallucinations, guilt, and flashbacks of battlefield trauma that he suffered from.

Behind the scenes
Solid Snake (ソリッド・スネーク) is one of the main protagonists of Konami's Metal Gear series of stealth video games. Created by Hideo Kojima, Snake was introduced in the first game of the series, Metal Gear (1987), and has appeared in the majority of subsequent games and spin-offs. Japanese voice actor Akio Ōtsuka voices Snake in Japanese, while actor and screenwriter David Hayter provides his English voice.

Among the three main protagonists of the Metal Gear series (himself, Big Boss, and Raiden), Solid Snake is the only one to have not lost either the use of an eye or the eye itself, although he did wear an eyepatch-like device, the Solid Eye, to assist in his vision in Metal Gear Solid 4. Similarly, he does not lose any other body parts, unlike Raiden who lost most of his body after becoming a Cyborg Ninja, and Big Boss who lost his left arm.

In early games, Solid Snake is depicted as the main protagonist of the Metal Gear series. However, that role passed to Big Boss, as he aquired a prominent status as a character in the five prequel games he appears as the protagonist.

Early Metal Gear games
Much as Metal Gear began as a pastiche of action movies of the time, Snake began as a pastiche of contemporary action movie heroes. Kojima based Snake on a number of different characters, including Escape from New York’s Snake Plissken, which inspired the name. The addition of "Solid" was Kojima's intent to create a paradoxical name, in contrast to the smooth motion commonly attributed to snakes, and to express the character's strong image. Snake's appearance on the cover artwork for Metal Gear is based on a screenshot of actor Michael Biehn, in character as Kyle Reese in the 1984 film The Terminator. Kojima later described Snake's role in the original Metal Gear as the "player's presence," contrasting the defined personality he acquired in later games in the series. The ambiguity of his character was contributed to by Metal Gear ' s limited script, in which he only speaks five times. Although Snake Plisskin inspired the name, Kojima denied that he was the basis for Snake's personality, which instead was developed as the series itself progressed.

The MSX2 user's manual for Metal Gear implied that Operation Intrude N313 was Snake's first experience of being on the battlefield. This was retconned in later games, when it was established that FOXHOUND only pick recruits who had previous experience within the military, and that Snake had participated in the Gulf War as a Green Beret. In the Nintendo Entertainment System manual, it was stated that prior to Operation Intrude N313, Snake was a former Marine who had taken part in the Grenada Invasion, and in fact had been recruited into FOXHOUND due to his heroic actions during that conflict. However, the NES version of the game and its localized story by Konami of America is non-canon, as Kojima himself has denounced it.

In the Worlds of Power novelization of Metal Gear, based on the NES version, Solid Snake is given the name of "Justin Halley" and he uses his handgun only once to shoot out a lock.



In the original version of Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, released exclusively in Japan, Snake's appearance in the intro resembles actor Mel Gibson; his in-game appearance is also speculated to be modeled after either Gibson or Sylvester Stallone. In the re-released versions, Snake's appearance was brought more in line with his altered presentation in the sequel Metal Gear Solid.

Snake's biography, featured in Metal Gear 2 ' s MSX2 manual, revealed that he was of Japanese-British descent, though his origins, much like his military background, would be retconned in later games in the series. His Japanese heritage, however, was retained.

Metal Gear Solid
In addition to expanding Solid Snake's backstory, as the first canon Metal Gear game to feature voice acting (although the Tiger Electronic LCD game talk handheld version of Snake's Revenge did have Snake talking), Metal Gear Solid established his characteristic voice and appearance. Yoji Shinkawa's Solid Snake design, characterized by his navy blue bandana and "sneaking suit", would serve as the template for all future incarnations of Snake in later Metal Gear games. According to Shinkawa, Snake's physique in Metal Gear Solid was based on that of action star Jean-Claude Van Damme, while his facial appearance in the same game was inspired by actor Christopher Walken. Shinkawa described his rendition of Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid as a middle ground between the younger Snake who graced the cover artwork of the first Metal Gear and the middle-aged Snake in the MSX2 version of Metal Gear 2. Kojima introduced the cloning origins of Solid Snake to Metal Gear Solid in order to provide Solid Snake with an adversary who would be his equal, since the story, being a continuation to the original MSX2 games, established Snake as an experienced soldier. He later expressed the decision as "cheating."

Snake's real name, David (デイビッド), which was revealed at the end of Metal Gear Solid, is a reference to two fictional characters: David Bowman from 2001: A Space Odyssey and Dave Forrest from Policenauts (which was also created by Kojima). While Snake shares the same given name with his English voice actor, David Hayter, this was not intentional (contrary to popular belief) and is merely coincidental. The name David is of Hebrew origin and was used by the biblical King David, who managed to slay the giant Goliath with a slingshot and a sword. Similarly, Solid Snake also overcame several almost impossible challenges despite being a clone created from supposedly inferior genes.

In the Shadow Moses briefing files for the original game, Solid Snake appears to have fair-colored hair. Shinkawa said in an interview that Snake's hair might be naturally blond, and that he had probably dyed it brown before infiltrating Shadow Moses, while commenting on his designs for Snake's alias in the game's sequel, Iroquois Pliskin. In the remake, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, Snake is instead clearly shown to have dark-colored hair in the corresponding briefing files. Snake, like Liquid and Big Boss, sported a mullet, as seen in the briefing, but he trimmed it before infiltrating Shadow Moses. He also had a mullet in Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4.

It remains unclear as to which clone was created to express Big Boss's dominant or recessive traits, since Liquid Snake's exposition on Les Enfants Terribles is contradicted by Ocelot's later report to Solidus, regarding which clone was designated the "inferior" one. The subject of Big Boss's dominant and recessive traits, in regards to the clones' gene expression, is never referred again in other games in the series, after Metal Gear Solid. A recap of Liquid's dialogue was included in the fictional in-game novel In the Darkness of Shadow Moses, but there is no mention of dominant and recessive traits. However, the dialogue remains essentially unchanged from the original game, in its 2004 remake, The Twin Snakes.

Just prior to the second fight with Vulcan Raven during Metal Gear Solid and its remake, Raven referred to Solid Snake as "Kasack," which is a word similar in pronunciation with the Russian name "Cossack," which means "One of a warlike, pastoral people, skillful as horsemen, inhabiting different parts of the Russian empire and furnishing valuable contingents of irregular cavalry to its armies, those of Little Russia and those of the Don forming the principal divisions."

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
For Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Kojima explained that his decision to introduce a new playable character in Solid Snake's place was done in order to develop Snake from another character's perspective, but also to avoid treating Snake as a rookie by having a new character be instructed via Codec instead.

A story idea, featured in Kojima's Metal Gear Solid 2 Grand Game Plan suggested that the Patriots were wary of Solid Snake, due to the possibility of him being a spy for China.

In Metal Gear Solid 2, due to a placement error of Codec calls, Snake denied any knowledge of Outer Heaven when asked by Raiden about it shortly after the Harrier battle despite the fact Snake was no longer using the alias of Iroquois Pliskin by that point. It is possible, however, that he was either hiding his knowledge or denying the idea presented to him (more likely the latter).

The handshake that Snake and Otacon performed, shortly after Emma's death, was a physical representation of the Konami Code (Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A). Likewise, if the player inputs the Konami Code on the game clear screen, Solid Snake will be heard saying either "What do you think you're doing!?" or "STOP FOOLIN' AROUND KID!"

If the player manages to retrieve the shaver and supply it to Solid Snake (while disguised as Iroquois Pliskin) during their first meeting, Snake will appear cleanshaven when meeting up with Raiden on Arsenal Gear.

During the Tanker chapter's Codec conversations, if the player presses R1 to listen to his positive thoughts, Snake will remark "Hey, I'm the main character!" or "I'm the hero of this game!", the latter of which is despite Snake remarking in both Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 4 that he was not a hero and never will be.

Killing Snake after rendezvousing with him at Arsenal Gear will have the Colonel laugh during the game over sequence.

Snake Tales
Solid Snake was also playable in the non-canonical Snake Tales stories. In Confidential Legacy, because of the events of the story taking place six months after the Shadow Moses Incident, Solid Snake is wearing the entire version of the Metal Gear Solid-era Sneaking Suit rather than the stripped down one in Metal Gear Solid 2. Likewise, in Dead Man Whispers, he also briefly adopted the alias of Iroquois Pliskin under Scott Dolph's request when he was invited to participate in a SEALs training operation onboard the Big Shell, as a means of not drawing attention to himself.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Although Solid Snake does not appear in the main game itself, due to it taking place eight years before his birth via Les Enfant Terribles, he is foreshadowed at a few points, such as during The Sorrow's battle, and Para-Medic expressing interest in Naked Snake's genes. In addition, the timeline supplies the information regarding Solid Snake's birth.

He does, however, play a major part, and is the playable character, in the non-canonical Metal Gear Solid—Ape Escape crossover minigame included in Metal Gear Solid 3, Snake vs. Monkey. In it, he was summoned from vacation by Colonel Campbell to retrieve monkeys (or rather, apes) that had escaped. He is baffled and wonders why he was even hired for a job like that, until he learns that the Professor (from Ape Escape) was the one who suggested to Otacon to have Snake be hired for the job. Because Snake vs. Monkey uses Metal Gear Solid 3 's game engine, Solid Snake's appearance in this game is based on Naked Snake's pre-torture character model.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots was intended to be the final canonical Metal Gear game to feature Solid Snake as the main character. Kojima himself has stated that the series will continue but he does not want the character to be handled by anyone else. He apparently backed out of that decision, however, as he stated that Solid Snake may reappear in another future Metal Gear Solid game.

In the original ending of Metal Gear Solid 4, Solid Snake and Otacon would have turned themselves in to be executed for their crimes. The staff at Kojima Productions were strongly opposed to this idea, and convinced Kojima to change it.

The Metal Gear Solid 4 Database mistakenly places Snake's recruitment by the CIA as occurring after the Zanzibar Land Disturbance, rather than before.

During gameplay, Snake may throw out his back after doing a forward roll (with his Psyche gauge decreasing slightly) and will get up rather slowly, while holding his back, further portraying his now-advanced years. Similarly, if the player dies during combat or some other related death, chooses to continue, and calls Rosemary, he will mention seeing himself having been killed in that manner (or in the case of the player being killed via explosion, Rosemary will admit she dreamed of Snake being killed via an explosion). In one particular call, Rosemary will also speculate that Snake is suffering from a mild case of depersonalization disorder.

According to the director's commentary, most of Solid Snake's mannerisms (including the way he smokes his cigarettes) were replicated from that of his voice actor, Akio Ohtsuka.

Potential future appearance


Hideo Kojima, in a Twitter blog, posted a picture of Yoji Shinkawa drawing Solid Snake as well as a female character, possibly implying that Snake will reappear in a future game. The artwork was later appeared on the packaging of the Metal Gear REX model kit by Kotobukiya. In addition, Kojima stated on his Japanese Twitter account that Solid Snake will have a major role in a future game, although he did not specify whether the future game was Metal Gear Solid 5 or another Metal Gear Solid game. He also claimed in an interview with the French gaming magazine IG that he "isn't finished with Snake yet, even though he intended to kill him off earlier in 4." This was later confirmed when it was announced on November 15, 2013 that the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 versions of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes will include a special "Deja Vu" mission that will star Solid Snake, who is referred to as "Classic Snake" by Kojima.

Other appearances
There are two non-canon games in which Snake does not smoke: one is Snake's Revenge, an initial attempt to make a Western-aimed sequel to Metal Gear for the NES; the other is Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, where he instead starts the game with a Fogger, described by the Item box as a "device that lights up and emits smoke." Ghost Babel ' s opening scene, however, does show him smoking a cigarette, while waiting aboard a cargo plane, en route to Gindra.

Snake's Revenge
Solid Snake was the playable character of the unofficial sequel Snake's Revenge. Snake's in-game appearance resembles that of Austrian bodybuilder and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Snake was promoted to Lieutenant sometime after the events of Operation Intrude N313 and remained a member of FOXHOUND. He is called into action in order to investigate rumors of a nation mass producing the TX-55 Metal Gear (referred to as "Metal Gear 1" in-game).

After infiltrating the enemy's main warehouse, Snake uncovered evidence that the nation had not only been mass producing Metal Gear 1, but had also began to ship them to other countries. Snake then infiltrated the enemy tanker transporting them, and then blew up its ammunition room in order to sink it. Afterwards, he learned from his support group's helicopter pilot that contact had been lost with the FOXHOUND operatives, and that the nation also built an entirely new Metal Gear model: Metal Gear 2. Snake discovered that the leader of the nation was actually former FOXHOUND commander Big Boss, the mastermind behind Outer Heaven, and that in order to defeat him, he had to lure him out of the command room. He later entered Big Boss's command room, where Big Boss explained that after Outer Heaven was destroyed, he suffered extensive injuries that resulted in him becoming a cyborg, and he wanted revenge. Snake fought his former commanding officer, but after seemingly defeating him, Big Boss transformed into a giant robotic version of himself. Placing mines at Big Boss's feet after luring him out, Snake killed Big Boss once and for all, and managed to destroy Metal Gear 2 before it could launch its nukes into New York, Tokyo, and Moscow.

According to the back of the game's box, Solid Snake also spent his time pursuing Colonel Vermon CaTaffy (the supposed villain of Metal Gear) out of vengeance because of the latter killing two of his comrades shortly after he succeeded in his mission.

Metal Gear: Ghost Babel
See Solid Snake (Ghost Babel)

Solid Snake is the main character in the non-canon Game Boy Color game Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, known as Metal Gear Solid outside Japan. He is brought out of retirement to thwart a terrorist plot in the African country of Gindra, located around the same area as in Outer Heaven, after its liberation front hijacked a Metal Gear.

Metal Gear Solid audio drama


Solid Snake reappears in the audio drama for Metal Gear Solid that is set at some point after the events of Shadow Moses. Unlike in the other games, FOXHOUND was not disbanded following the incident. Solid Snake is sent to the Basra Republic by Roy Campbell to rendezvous with Meryl Silverburgh after her and a unit of UN peace negotiators were forced to crash land in the region, also getting help from a member of Delta Force member Allen Iishiba. Afterwards, he helped Mei Ling infiltrate a neo-communist island of San Chago in order to acquire evidence of a chemical plant that is secretly being built on the island and then expose its existence. While undergoing this portion of the mission, he also ends up getting into an argument with Mei Ling in regards to whether killing child soldiers is any different than killing regular soldiers, to which Snake states that there is no difference. Snake later has to undergo an unofficial rescue mission for Roy Campbell after the latter ended up captured by the enemy.

Metal Gear Acid
See Solid Snake (Metal Gear Acid)

Solid Snake is the main character in the turn-based strategy game, Metal Gear Acid. He is brought out of retirement to obtain data on a secret project conducted on Lobito Island, and to help thwart a terrorist plot.

Metal Gear Solid Mobile
Metal Gear Solid Mobile is set some time after the events of the Shadow Moses Incident. Philanthropy received intelligence from a woman named Victoria Reed that a Metal Gear REX model was being built by the company she was working for. Snake was sent in, but quickly discovered that the whole thing was a ruse. Victoria was an AI, and Snake had really been sent in so that the terrorists could take over the facility once Snake had disabled the security system. Pressing on, Snake later realized that the Otacon he had been talking was also an AI, as it started to glitch. The real Otacon eventually managed to contact Snake and they decided it would be easier for Snake to finish the mission instead of Otacon hacking him out. Snake eventually overthrew the virtual terrorist threat, and defeated their leader.

When Snake awoke from the VR, he overheard two voices talking. They stated that Snake was unable to provide them with the data they needed, and proceeded to erase his memory of the events.

Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus
Snake is an unique recruitable character in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus, under the Old Snake codename, and featuring his aged appearance from Metal Gear Solid 4. In addition, because Portable Ops Plus was released before Metal Gear Solid 4, this also marks the first time that Solid Snake appeared as Old Snake in terms of the overall series. When he is recruited, Campbell remarks, "Some old guy joined our team. Kinda reminds me of Snake" (referring to Old Snake's obvious similarities to his father, Naked Snake). He is equipped with an M4 (SOPMOD) and a stun knife when newly recruited. In-game, Old Snake has the same stats and skills as Naked Snake but his maximum stamina and health are the highest among special characters, surpassing Raiden, Campbell and even Naked Snake. Players can unlock him by completing "Infinity Mission" under the Medium difficulty.

"A legendary mercenary and former member of FOXHOUND, he single-handedly overthrow the fortress states of Outer Heaven and Zanzibar Land, and ended the terrorist crisis on Shadow Moses Island. Along with Otacon, founded "Philanthropy," an anti-Metal Gear movement."

- Character description in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus

Although Snake does not actually appear in Portable Ops due to it taking place two years prior to his "birth," he was briefly alluded to by Elisa/Ursula while dying, where she explains the future to Big Boss.

Metal Gear Online
Although Old Snake was not playable in the initial release of the SCENE Expansion of Metal Gear Online, he was downloadable on June 16, 2009 for the SCENE Expansion, alongside the stage Icebound Inferno, based on the Snowfield area of Shadow Moses Island. He also comes with a unique weapon called the OctoCamo suit. Solid Snake's OctoCamo, unlike the main game, and Sneaking Matches, will not render him completely invisible, but rather it will help him blend into the main environment. In addition, his Command Vest and his holster are also included as unlockable equipment in the rewards shop with its own colorized index, four of which are based on the areas he went to. If tranquilized, he will sometimes say either "Liquid..." or "Makes me too frisky..." It should be noted that he is the only playable character, unique or otherwise to have more than one sleep talk phrase (having two).

Besides his playability, he is also alluded to in a sleep talk by Female Soldiers with the "H" option of voices, where she says "...Uhmmm... watch it, Snake..."

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
Aside from his mention in Kazuhira Miller's phone call, Solid Snake also makes a cameo appearance in the English version of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, on the cover of the appropriately named Solid Magazine. The cameo resulted when the English version had to change a few items during localization due to their being real life products (in Solid Magazine 's case, it was Weekly Famitsu). Although the cover mentioned references to UMAs and Area 51, there was one line that was uttered by Solid Snake, "KeptYOUwaiting", a variation of his line in Metal Gear Solid 2 in direct reference to the player in the beginning of the Tanker Chapter.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance


Because Metal Gear Rising takes place four years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 4, and thus Snake's implied death by that point, he does not actually appear in this game. Snake does, however, receive a brief mention by Raiden in an optional Codec conversation with Kevin Washington, where he explained that he decided to use Raiden in place of Jack to craft a new life based on someone's advice (referring to Snake's speech at the end of Metal Gear Solid 2). During another Codec conversation with Kevin, due to the ambiguous nature of his fate, Raiden referred to Snake in the present tense, while Kevin referred to him in the past tense. Additionally, when Sunny is launching the vehicle to send Raiden to Pakistan, she says "this is a no-smoking flight," obviously referring to Snake, and Raiden chuckles in response. There is also a wooden sword called "Snake's Soul", a DLC-exclusive item. It contains voice samples from Snake whenever it is swung. It was released in Japan in April 2013 along with the VR DLC. It is unknown if it will receive an international release.

Metal Gear Solid: Social Ops
Although not in the game itself, one of the trading cards released was based on Snake during the Shadow Moses Incident. Unlike most cards, the card wasn't actually based on a prior game appearance (either Metal Gear Solid or its remake, The Twin Snakes). Rather, it was based on the Play Arts Kai figurine.

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes


Snake will appear in the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 versions of Ground Zeroes. He will have his own exclusive "Deja Vu mission", which is based on the events of the Shadow Moses Incident. His appearance is modeled directly after his in-game render from Metal Gear Solid, hence his alternate codename of "Classic Snake." This also reflects on the original PlayStation's technical capabilities in supporting retro lower-polygon models, and lower-resolution textures.

In the mission, Classic Snake has to recreate images to match up with mysterious, yet oddly familiar instances depicted in them.

In Metal Gear

 * Metal Gear
 * Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
 * Metal Gear Solid/Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
 * Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions (non-canon)
 * Metal Gear: Ghost Babel (non-canon)
 * Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
 * Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance (Snake Tales; non-canon)
 * Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (indirectly mentioned and [Snake vs. Monkey; non-canon])
 * Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence ([Snake vs. Monkey and Secret Theatre]; non-canon)
 * Metal Gear Acid (non-canon)
 * Metal Gear Acid 2 (mentioned; non-canon)
 * Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (indirectly mentioned and prophetic vision)
 * Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus (non-canon)
 * Metal Gear Solid Mobile (non-canon)
 * Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
 * Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (indirectly mentioned and [picture; non-canon])
 * Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (mentioned)
 * Metal Gear Solid: Social Ops (trading card)
 * Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (Deja Vu mission [as Classic Snake]; non-canon)

Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou
In chapter 18 of the manga, the manga references Snake in his cardboard box with a Genome Soldier. In the later parts, a character called Mea walks around in a box called with the letters "SNAKE" written on it and is wearing a different version of Snake's Sneaking Suit. Another character called Rachnera is wearing a rather exposed version of The Boss's white sneaking suit.

Yu-Gi-Oh!
Snake makes a cameo appearance in the Game Boy Advance game, Yu-Gi-Oh! 7 Trials to Glory: World Championship Tournament 2005, after the player unlocks the Mystic Lands. He is hiding in a cardboard box and when spoken to says "I don't know why I'm revealing this, but I'm a secret spy. I was hired by an organization, which shall remain nameless, in order to study this Shadow World."

In the ''Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game'', the card "Tactical Espionage Expert" is based on Snake.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl


Solid Snake is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl for Nintendo's Wii console. When Snake is selected with the Wii Remote he says "It's show time!", which he also said in the premiere trailer. Snake uses explosives, RPGs, and grenades, with a mix of CQC, the Cypher from Metal Gear Solid 2, and the trademark cardboard box as a taunt. His "Final Smash" super move has him hanging from a helicopter on a rope ladder, firing a grenade launcher at the rest of the combatants. In order to keep the game's rating a "T," Snake never uses knives or firearms, despite there being a pistol in his leg holster, and solely relies on explosives in-game. In addition, Snake's entrance has him appearing with electric bolts on the ground before rising up, referring to his opening appearance in Metal Gear Solid 2 's Tanker Chapter, where after landing on the U.S.S. Discovery tanker, his stealth camo malfunctions.

He is the first third party character in the game, the other being SEGA's mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog.

In the Shadow Moses Island stage, Snake can use the Codec to contact Colonel Campbell, Otacon, or Mei Ling, in order to acquire intel on his opponents. The Codec in Brawl is based on the Metal Gear Solid version, which utilizes animated character artwork, though Snake's icon has been modified to match his in-game appearance. To use the Codec, the player must press the down taunt button and release very quickly. During Codec dialogue, Snake is revealed to be a fan of Captain Falcon, with he and Otacon referring to the Captain's signature Falcon Punch and Falcon Kick moves as something they have always wanted to try themselves. When Snake contacts Otacon and Mei Ling, regarding Samus Aran, it is implied that Snake may be infatuated with the bounty hunter. Snake also knows Mario to be a world-wide celebrity; criticizes Link's lack of speed due to his plethora of equipment; defends Luigi from verbal attack by the Colonel (presumably the AI); and believes that Pit is a mutant due to skepticism towards his being an angel. Slippy Toad, from the Star Fox series, hacks into the Colonel's frequency when trying to get information on Falco; Snake is impressed at Slippy's invention of a multi-purpose shield generator, requesting that he also build a weapon for him. It is also revealed that Snake fears Ganondorf, stating "This guy is giving off a murderous vibe! Even getting close to him makes my skin crawl..." If Snake is KOed by his enemies while making a Codec call, the characters that he has called will repeatedly shout his name in the same manner as the main series' Game Over screen. Snake also acts in a similar fashion towards Colonel Campbell, when the latter vilifies Luigi and begins repeating the phrase "La Li Lu Le Lo." When fighting Sonic the Hedgehog, Snake remarks "something about that hedgehog rubs me the wrong way," but refuses to explain why, merely stating, "...I just don't like him." This is a reference to the father of Snake's Japanese voice actor being the Japanese voice of Dr. Robotnik, Sonic's worst enemy. Another meaning of the joke (and the one that makes sense in America) is that hedgehogs actually eat snakes.

Solid Snake's character model in Super Smash Bros. Brawl combines traits from both the Metal Gear series' Solid Snake and the young Big Boss; Naked Snake. While the Snake of Brawl wears the MGS2 Sneaking Suit, he also has a full beard similar to Naked Snake, whereas his Metal Gear counterpart is usually portrayed with only stubble. Additionally, in one palette swap (Tiger Stripe), Snake wears Naked Snake's green bandana as opposed to Solid Snake's trademark gray-blue one. Furthermore, in his Codec call about Yoshi, Snake suggests to Otacon that he capture him and "see what he tastes like," which was Naked Snake's typical response to animal life in Metal Gear Solid 3. This design for Solid Snake was later reused for one of his renders in the 2012 E3 Battle.

Snake is the only character to be given actual dialogue in "The Subspace Emissary" Adventure mode, when he first becomes playable in the storyline, remarking "Kept you waiting, huh?" Similarly, he is the only character to refer to the events of "The Subspace Emissary" in gameplay outside of the Adventure mode, commenting that he has seen Meta Knight's ship, the Halberd, while speaking to Mei Ling via Codec.

In "The Subspace Emissary," Snake infiltrates the Halberd, and spends most of the story hiding in the cardboard box. He attempts to hide from Lucario and Meta Knight, but fails after Lucario detects him hiding in the box using his aura powers. A fight seemed inevitable, but they put aside their differences and team up when they realize that some security primids are approaching in their direction. After becoming involved in saving the princesses on the Halberd, he, Lucario, and Meta Knight infiltrate the bridge area, where they discover various Mr. Game and Watches copies manning the bridge. They then tackle them, knocking them all from the bridge, though the multitude of Mr. Game and Watches later merge together into Duon. Snake attempts to fight it along with Fox, Zelda/Shiek, Peach, Lucario, and Falco. He is later turned into a trophy by Tabuu, only to be revived before the final confrontation.

Clearing "Classic Mode" with Snake will award a trophy of Snake, with the following description:

"A former member of FOXHOUND with an IQ of 180 and mastery of six languages. He's an infiltration specialist whose ability to carry out missions under any conditions has made him a legend. He's saved the world three times from the threat of bipedal, nuclear-armed mechs called Metal Gear. Currently he's working with the anti-Metal Gear group known as Philanthropy."

Besides his various trophies, Solid Snake also has two stickers: One depicting his Twin Snakes artwork, and another depicting his Metal Gear Solid 2 artwork. The former is exclusive to Snake and increases his arm and leg attacks by 7, and the latter increases the affected characters' explosive attacks by 19.

On April 25, 2013, Brawl's Tier List updated to the current list, Snake is currently ranked 6th out of 38 and sits in the A- Tier alongside Fire Emblem's Marth and Star Fox's Falco, Marth is the highest, Snake sits in the middle, and Falco is the lowest, Among the competitive fanbase, Snake is considered to be one of the best fighters in Brawl.

Evolution Skateboarding
Solid Snake is a secret character in Evolution Skateboarding. To play as Solid Snake, beat the game 100% and collect all coins with the character Colin McKay. A demo of Snake and the Big Shell level are playable as a special feature in the PS2 version of Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance.

Boktai series
In Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django, Snake appears as "???," a character who has lost their memory. The player rescues him in the House of Time. Django tells him to go to Sun Avenue, where he sets up a shop. The player can then buy "Blindboxes" (weapons and items that Snake has picked up in random boxes so the player can't see what he or she is buying) from him. He also gives advice on where to go next, and gives the player titles. He also appears in Boktai 3: Sabata's Counterattack.

DreamMix TV World Fighters


Snake is one of the fighters in DreamMix TV World Fighters, the fighting cross-company game between Konami, Hudson Soft, and Takara, appearing alongside mascots like Bomberman, Castlevania 's Simon Belmont, and Optimus Prime. His appearance in the game is based on Metal Gear Solid 2 with his special moves consisting of only C4, which can be planted onto anything and detonated at will. Snake's stage is based on one of the connecting bridges of the Big Shell, with the Harrier II appearing and shooting the combatants. The music for this stage is a remix of the "Metal Gear Solid Main Theme", with a remix of "Yell 'Dead Cell'" playing when the Harrier appears. Snake also has alternate costumes like the Tuxedo, his Iroquois Pliskin alter ego, as well as one based on his original Metal Gear Solid appearance.

Ape Escape 3
Solid Snake makes a non-canon appearance in Metal Gear Solid 3, specifically in the Snake vs. Monkey game, part of a promotional crossover between Konami's Metal Gear and Sony's Ape Escape series, which included a special mode in Ape Escape 3 called Mesal Gear Solid (the name is a pun on both the Japanese pronunciation of "metal" (metaru) and the Japanese word for monkey, saru). Here, Campbell too makes an appearance in a call, where he had to bring Snake out of vacation to capture mechanical monkeys that escaped a lab, much to Snake's dismay. Snake replies back that Campbell could have gotten Gabe or Sam (referring to Gabriel Logan and Sam Fisher, protagonists of the Syphon Filter and Splinter Cell series respectively, competitors of Metal Gear Solid in the stealth genre) to do the job, though is told that there were a number of reasons why Snake was chosen, one of them being that the lab scientist is a friend of Otacon's. Once Snake has completed all of his monkey capturing, Naked Snake can acquire a Monkey Mask. Although he is usually voiced by David Hayter in most of his appearances, including Snake vs. Monkey, he was voiced by Peter Lurie (the voice actor of Vulcan Raven in Metal Gear Solid).

New International Track & Field
Solid Snake appears as a playable character in Konami's sports video game New International Track & Field.



LittleBigPlanet
The "Metal Gear Solid" costume download for LittleBigPlanet allows Sackboy to dress up as Old Snake. The pack can be downloaded at the PlayStation Store for $5.99. Or by getting the Game of the Year edition of the game.



Monster Hunter Portable 3rd
In the PlayStation Portable game Monster Hunter Portable 3rd, the player can obtain a Solid Snake outfit for their Felyne Comrade. When the player character ducks, the Felyne Comrade also hides under a cardboard box.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
In Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, the player can add Solid Snake's bandana and Solid Eye to Gabriel Belmont's normal attire by going to the Extras menu, after completing the game.

"Michael" - PS3 Long Live Play
In this commercial, Solid Snake makes a cameo appearance, along with other iconic video game characters who have appeared prominently in the PlayStation consoles.

Scribblenauts
In the Japanese version of Scribblenauts for the Nintendo DS, both Solid Snake and Old Snake can be summoned. This is because Konami published the game in Japan.

LEGO Harry Potter Years 1-4
Although Solid Snake himself does not actually appear in the game, he is briefly referenced as an achievement/trophy in the Xbox 360/PS3 videogame. Playing as Snape and then putting a barrel over him will earn the achievement "Solid Snape," a pun on Solid Snake, and is likewise referencing his usage of the cardboard box in the series (although the overall item more closely resembles his usage of the drum can in Metal Gear Solid 4).

E3 Battle
Solid Snake appeared as a participant in the Konami-sponsored event E3 Battle, where he defeated Billy Jones, a.k.a., Bayou Billy from the 1988 game Mad City, AKA the Adventures of Bayou Billy in the first round. He then proceeded to face off against, and defeated, the Nurses from the Silent Hill series. Snake then fought against and defeated Solidus Snake in the third round, but was himself defeated by Naked Snake in the fourth round. He is the only character to utilize two different renders that represented him: One render was taken directly from one of his renders in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, the other reused one of his renders for Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

"SOLID SNAKE FIRST APPEARED IN Metal Gear (1987) Expert infiltrator. Possesses an IQ of 180 and fluent in six languages. Known to make the impossible, possible."

- Solid Snake's bio from E3 Battle

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
Solid Snake himself does not appear in the game, but there is an achievement/trophy in this game that allude to the Metal Gear series. In guerrilla mode, if the player kills everyone during first wave stealthy, they will receive the achievement/trophy "Just a Box" referencing Snake's usage of the cardboard box in the series.

Battlefield: Bad Company
In one of the teaser trailers for this game, one of the characters, Sweetwater, notices a man with an eyepatch hiding in a barrel. One of his squadmates, Haggard, comments that hiding inside a barrel is as stupid as hiding in a cardboard box, Snake's signature hiding maneuver. Sweetwater also comments that the man might be part of a "Japanese thing" referencing the fact that Snake and the Metal Gear series are both of Japanese origin. Haggard then grabs another squadmate's grenade launcher and shoots the man out of the barrel. At the end, Haggard says he found an eyepatch, referencing Snake's Solid Eye. The trailer is called "Snake Eyes," referencing Snake's name.

Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII
In the story mode of the game, there is a mission called "Solid Cait." In this mission, the player plays as Cait Sith. They must sneak through the Mako Reactor 0 without being caught.

Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory
In the town menu for Lastation, one of the NPCs is a character hiding in cardboard box with an orange pictured on it, a nod to the one Metal Gear Solid 2 had. Only a single eye is seen peeking out through a roughly punctured hole. In the English version, this NPC is named Snake Hayter.

Versus Battle
Solid Snake also appeared in Versus Battle, where he fought against Naked Snake.

"STRENGTHS: The Most Decorated Snake, Warrior Extreme WEAKNESSES: Accelerated Aging, FOXDIE, Cigarettes FEATURED FACT: A cloned “son” of Big Boss, Solid Snake was the “brother” of fellow clones Liquid Snake and Solidus Snake, & ultimately battled them both FEATURED GAME: METAL GEAR SOLID: THE LEGACY COLLECTION"

- Solid Snake bio in Versus Battle

Notes and references
Solid Snake Solid Snake Solid Snake