Big Boss

Big Boss, real name John, also known as Jack, Naked Snake and Punished Snake, was a renowned special forces operative and mercenary commander. He founded U.S. Army Special Forces Unit FOXHOUND, along with the mercenary companies Militaires Sans Frontières and Diamond Dogs, and was one of the founding members of the Patriots. Big Boss later established the military states of Outer Heaven and Zanzibar Land as bases for his companies, in order to realize his ambitions of creating a nation for soldiers. He was considered by many to be "The Greatest Warrior of the 20th Century" and a brilliant military leader, being hailed as a war hero by admirers, while feared as a tyrant by his enemies.

During the Cold War, Big Boss was an apprentice to The Boss, the so-called "Mother of Special Forces," and later served as a black ops field agent for the CIA's FOX Unit, under Major Zero.

Having his genetic code used as part of the government project Les Enfants Terribles, Big Boss was the genetic father of Solid Snake (his subordinate and later nemesis), Liquid Snake and Solidus Snake.

Early years
Born in 1935, John was more commonly known as Jack during his early years. Jack's military career dated back to the 1950s, when he participated in the Korean War as a teenager and later joined the Green Berets. In 1950, at the age of fifteen, he met The Boss and became her apprentice after which point she trained him in combat, demolition, and intel gathering techniques. At some point, he learned how to snipe in urban and marine environments, and took part in survival training exercises, where he ate snakes for the first time.

In 1954, Jack was involved in the Bikini Atoll test of the first airborne detonation of a hydrogen bomb. However, unlike most of his friends who were present during the testing who had gotten leukemia, thyroid cancer, or died from the radiation, he initially did not develop any symptoms at all. He later admitted that he eventually started showing symptoms. His exposure to the radiation resulted in him becoming sterile and unable to reproduce naturally.

During Jack's time under the tutelage of The Boss, she also taught him everything about combat, weaponry, survival, espionage, destruction, psychology and foreign languages (such as Russian). He also excelled in urban warfare and building infiltration under her tutelage. and they later developed CQC together. They went their separate ways on June 12, 1959 only to meet once again five years later in Russia.

In 1961, Jack carried out covert operations alongside Python during the early stages of the Vietnam War, before America officially participated. He later stated that Python was one of the few soldiers he could completely rely on in battle. The two also played poker together, leaving Python owing Snake money. The two were later involved in a mission together where Python was shot and presumed dead.

He also heard JFK's speech about placing a man on the moon by the end of the decade. However, a lot of military personnel he knew weren't happy with this claim.

By late 1964, Jack had been awarded the Army Achievement Ribbon, the Good Conduct Ribbon, Defense Distinguished Service Ribbon, Korean Service Ribbon, a ribbon that resembles the Vietnam Service Ribbon, and the Distinguished Service Cross Ribbon, along with several others. At some point between 1962 and 1964, he joined Major Zero's FOX unit.

On August 24, 1964, Jack took part in the Virtuous Mission as a member of the CIA's FOX unit, in which he was to rescue defecting Soviet scientist Nikolai Stepanovich Sokolov. Operating under the code name Naked Snake, he infiltrated the Soviet region of Tselinoyarsk after undertaking the world's first High Altitude-Low Opening (HALO) jump. Evading KGB troops in the region, Snake successfully made contact with Sokolov and escorted him to safety, following a brief battle with Major Ocelot of GRU. However, the mission ended in failure with the surprise defection of The Boss, and Snake was injured during a confrontation with her. Sokolov was taken by The Boss's Cobra Unit as a gift for GRU colonel Yevgeny Borisovitch Volgin.

Following his rescue, Snake was placed in an advanced intensive care unit where he was interrogated by agents of the U.S. Government, regarding The Boss's defection. A week later, the government decided to pardon Snake of any involvement in the defection under the condition that he return to Tselinoyarsk, eliminate The Boss, and recover Sokolov. This mission was designated Operation Snake Eater. Despite not having completely recovered from his previous injuries, Snake was redeployed to Tselinoyarsk via a D-21 drone prototype. Initially scheduled to meet with ADAM, a KGB contact, Snake instead met EVA, who provided intel on Sokolov's whereabouts. It was during this mission that Snake came across the prototype designs for Metal Gear from Aleksandr Leonovitch Granin.

During his trek through Tselinoyarsk, Snake fought and defeated various members of The Boss's Cobra Unit, including The Pain, The Fear, The End, and ultimately The Fury. He disguised himself as a GRU officer to infiltrate Groznyj Grad, rescue Sokolov and find out how to destroy the Shagohod. However, the rescue attempt failed when Volgin saw through Snake's disguise, resulting in his capture. Snake awakened to the sounds of Sokolov's apparent death at Volgin's hands. During Snake's own torture a transmitter fell from his body. When suspicion fell on EVA, Snake saved her life at the cost of his own right eye. The disruption caused Volgin to depart with a distraught EVA (although not before EVA secretly told him where and how to escape from Groznyj Grad), and The Boss urged Snake to escape.

Upon escaping Groznyj Grad Snake headed to a rendezvous site to meet EVA, almost drowning himself in the process while evading the Ocelot Unit, and suffering a near-death experience involving deceased Cobra member, The Sorrow. Snake reunited with EVA, retrieved his equipment from her, and adopted the use of an eye patch. Snake returned to Groznyj Grad and successfully destroyed the Shagohod's hangar, eventually killing Volgin and eliminating the Shagohod itself.



Snake accomplished his main objective; to kill The Boss. Their final battle took place in a field of white flowers in Rokovoj Bereg, though he fought her with extreme reluctance. For this, Snake was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the codename of "Big Boss" by the U.S. President, Lyndon B. Johnson.

Big Boss, however, was heavily affected by the events of Operation Snake Eater. He had been forced to kill his mentor, The Boss, and discovered that the entire operation (including The Boss's supposed defection) was a ruse set up by his government, to avoid taking the blame for a nuclear attack, while covertly getting their hands on the Philosophers' Legacy. Big Boss lost sight of what he was fighting for, and with it, his patriotism for his country. Because of this, as well as his blaming himself for allowing it to happen, he retired from FOX. He was mentally discouraged and alone. Unbeknownst to him, his disposing of Colonel Volgin had also made him a hero to the people of the Soviet Union.

Post-Snake Eater
Snake's retirement from war was short lived, and his attempts at becoming an instructor or hunting guide failed. In 1966, Big Boss encountered a war orphan known as Frank Jaeger during the Mozambican War of Independence. After defeating him and nursing him back to health, he escorted him to a rehab facility where he could be taken care of. The rehab facility later gave Jaeger over to the CIA for use in the Perfect Soldier Project. During this time, he also attempted to find EVA, but was unable to find a trace of her for years.

Although he had been labeled Big Boss and became a legend in the black ops world due to his exploits, he continued to use the codename Naked Snake, feeling unworthy of the title of Boss. During November 1970, the FOX unit was considered rogue after its members organized a revolt, capturing a Soviet base in South America, on the San Hieronymo Peninsula. Big Boss was captured by FOX and taken to the peninsula, where he was imprisoned and interrogated. Likewise, Big Boss was also charged with treason by the Department of Defense for supposedly spearheading the FOX rebellion. The agent who led the rebellion managed to gather FOX members who specialized in solo sneaking missions and kill off all those who opposed, with Snake believed to be the only one capable of doing so.

Big Boss met fellow prisoner Roy Campbell, a member of the Green Berets. Big Boss managed to contact Para-Medic, who told him that both he and Major Zero had been charged with treason by the Pentagon, believing them the masterminds behind the revolt. Big Boss and Campbell escaped and went on to persuade former Red Army soldiers, along with disillusioned FOX operatives, to join them and rise up against the revolt. Para-Medic and Sigint also helped take down FOX and clear their names.

During this time, Big Boss met Null (Frank Jaeger) and the two fought on a number of separate occasions. He also met Python once again, who had not died during the Vietnam War, but was kept alive by the CIA and trained as an "anti-Snake." Despite this, Boss still managed to defeat Python. Big Boss also learned that FOX operative Cunningham's actual mission from the Department of Defense was to force Gene, the leader of the revolt, to launch Metal Gear to tarnish the CIA's reputation. Big Boss killed Cunningham and went on to kill Gene, although not before learning that, contrary to what was told to him, The Boss's death was actually planned from the very beginning by "a single deviously-cunning strategist."

With the help of the Red Army soldiers he had recruited, Big Boss destroyed Gene's nuclear missile. Gene left Big Boss with a large cache of funds and supplies that he intended to use in the creation of Army's Heaven. After the incident, Big Boss officially formed FOXHOUND, to carry on the tradition of the FOX unit and to give a home to the soldiers he had recruited during the San Hieronymo Takeover.

The Patriots and Les Enfants Terribles
After San Hieronymo, Ocelot and Zero extended an invitation to Big Boss to join them in the formation of a new organization known as "the Patriots." This organization was to be set up in honor of The Boss's last wish. Big Boss, who knew her better than anyone else, was chosen by Zero to be an icon and hero to the world (although he was also chosen in part to get Ocelot to help him with a project). Some time after Big Boss joined the Patriots, he participated in a rescue mission in 1971 in Hanoi to rescue EVA and recruited her into the Patriots. Zero started spreading stories about him. Some of these tales were true, some exaggerated, and others were outright lies. Big Boss expressed strong misgivings towards Zero's sometimes lopsided and unreasonable demands for control (i.e. lust for power). Big Boss became sick of playing the role of a puppet.

Afraid of losing Big Boss, Zero planned to finish up a secret project called Les Enfants Terribles. In 1972, genes were extracted from him to make genetically enhanced soldiers. Solid Snake, Liquid Snake, and later Solidus Snake were produced in this program and were collectively known as the "Sons of Big Boss."

Big Boss would eventually find out about the project. This was the last straw between the two. Determined to oppose Zero and his plans, Big Boss broke away from the Patriots. He left the United States and FOXHOUND, drifting from country to country as a lone soldier. Around this time Big Boss returned to Vietnam, joined an LRRP (Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol) and fought alongside SOG (Studies and Observation Group), Green Berets and the Wild Geese. Later, he became a mercenary who appeared in numerous territorial and ethnic conflicts around the world.

Sometime in late 1972, Big Boss was hired by the Colombian Government to work with the Colombian Army. There, Big Boss' unit ambushed Kazuhira Miller and his guerrilla unit, wiping them all out except for Miller. Big Boss then established his own guerrilla group known as Militaires Sans Frontières (Soldiers Without Borders), or MSF for short, and recruited Miller as second in command.

On November 4, 1974, Big Boss stationed MSF in the Barranquilla Coast of Colombia, where he was approached by Ramón Gálvez Mena and Paz Ortega Andrade from Costa Rica, a "Nation without a Military." Since the Cuban Missile Crisis, Latin America had become a key to maintaining the power balance between East and West. Despite this, an unknown armed force stationed themselves in various regions of the country, claiming to be an "international police force" hired by the Costa Rican Development Agency (known as CODESA). Gálvez doubted their claim believing they were actually employed by "la cia."

Big Boss initially refused to hold back the invasion, not wanting his unit to become "dogs of war." Big Boss eventually agreed when Gálvez showed Big Boss a recording from Paz's missing friend in which the voice of The Boss could be heard. Big Boss accepted, taking Gálvez gift of an off-shore base and establishing it as the new Mother Base for the Militaires Sans Frontières.

Six days later, to preserve peace in the region, MSF moved into action. Big Boss and Miller quickly discovered that the CIA was bringing nukes into Costa Rica. On his way to Nicaragua, Big Boss enlisted the help of an FSLN unit led by Amanda Valenciano Libre to find out more information, while under cover as a Colombian ornithologist, though he was eventually forced to take Amanda to Mother Base after she was injured while trying to save her younger brother Chico.

Big Boss rescued Chico and headed to Mount Irazu, where the nukes were stationed. There, he encountered Pupa after overhearing an argument between Huey Emmerich and Hot Coldman. Learning about the Peace Walker project, as well as an AI facility in a Mayan Pyramid, Big Boss recruited Huey to MSF. Afterwards, he managed to help Cécile Cosima Caminades, the missing friend of Paz, as well as learn a disturbing truth; The Boss's voice he had heard was actually an AI programmed in her image, known as the Mammal Pod.

Big Boss encountered Strangelove, who hated him, and took out Chrysalis and Cocoon. He attempted to stop Peace Walker from reaching Nicaragua, but ultimately failed. Boss followed Paz, who had been captured by Coldman, and found Peace Walker. Gálvez (whose real name was Vladimir Zadornov) revealed he was actually using Snake so the Soviet Union could conquer Central America with ease. Big Boss was forced to stop Peace Walker from causing a nuclear war after Coldman activated the launch sequence.

At the end of the fiasco, Snake decided to formally identify himself as Big Boss after learning of The Boss "putting down her gun", which he viewed as a betrayal of herself as a soldier. He removed The Boss's former bandanna from his head following Peace Walker's sacrifice. Big Boss, under Kaz, Huey, and Strangelove's suggestion, commissioned the creation of Metal Gear ZEKE using parts salvaged from the AI weapons.

While ZEKE was nearing completion on Mother Base, Big Boss deduced there was a spy among the ranks of MSF. Zadornov managed to escape several times while Zeke was being built, and the man hinted as much after Big Boss shot him in self defense. Before they could think of what this could mean, Big Boss received word that ZEKE was hijacked, and rushed to confront the hijacker.

To their shock, MSF learned that the hijacker was Paz (who was actually Cipher agent Pacifica Ocean) the mission was planned by Cipher in order for him to rejoin them. After refusing to rejoin Zero, Paz threatened to launch a nuke at the East Coast and frame MSF. Big Boss defeated ZEKE and although Paz was seemingly killed, Big Boss suspected she survived. Kaz admitted he too was working for Cipher as a businessman, though Big Boss forgave him. In time, they would come to be known as the founders of "Outer Heaven."

Camp Omega


Big Boss' suspicions about Paz's survival were eventually confirmed in 1975, when he learned that she had been rescued by a fisherman while she lay adrift in the ocean. Cipher suspected Paz was a compromised double agent. Big Boss suggested that he would kill Paz due to her knowledge of MSF but Kazuhira Miller decided against this. Paz is interrogated and imprisoned within Camp Omega, a maximum security military prison facility located on the southern tip of Cuba.

Big Boss later participated in a rescue mission for not only Paz, but also Chico, who lost contact with them 40 hours prior. His mission gear included a suppressed FN FNC rifle, binoculars, a WU silenced tranquilizer gun, hand grenades and an IDroid, a holographic map that displayed the area and enemy locations as well as recommended points to call in a chopper when he had rescued Chico and Paz. During the infiltration, U.N. inspection teams departed from Mother Base. Big Boss managed to rescue Chico and then went to rescue Paz. When he found Paz, emergency surgery was carried out to remove a bomb implanted in her abdomen. Their return to Mother Base occurred in the middle of an attack by XOF forces. Miller and Big Boss provided support and covering fire for MSF soldiers attempting to evacuate the base via chopper. Later, Big Boss and Miller were treated in a hospital emergency room, where Big Boss fell into a coma.

The Phantom Pain
Nine years later, Big Boss awoke in the hospital with his left arm missing and a shrapnel wound on the right side of his forehead. The lead doctor informed him about the nine-year long coma. He escaped from the facility, when it was attacked by an unknown military unit, aided by a man with a bandaged face calling himself Ishmael, who informed him that he had watched over Big Boss for the duration of his coma.

Successfully escaping the hospital, Ishmael and Big Boss commandeer a hospital ambulance; soon after the ambulance crashes violently, flipping the vehicle over. Big Boss is then approached by Revolver Ocelot on horseback who helps him flee. Some time later Ocelot and Big Boss (now known as "Punished Snake") travel to Soviet-occupied-Afghanistan to rescue Miller from captivity.

Presumably after these events, Big Boss had the shrapnel surgically removed from his head.

Later career
By the mid 1980s, Big Boss had completed more than 70 missions, and went on to participate in several regional conflicts and ethnic liberation wars. He fought in the Mozambican Civil War where he was reunited on the battlefield with Frank Jaeger (then a RENAMO soldier), and rescued him from imprisonment and torture. Big Boss later took both Jaeger and his foster sister, Naomi Hunter, to the United States where he helped them establish normal lives. Big Boss and Jaegar eventually returned to Africa to continue fighting, leaving Naomi behind in America.

Big Boss achieved near-mythical status due to his extraordinary military career, earning him the "Legendary Soldier" moniker. He was heralded as a true hero and made the front covers of popular magazines in many countries. Afterwards, he served as a combat instructor and worked to reintegrate former child soldiers into society. One of them was a young Sniper Wolf, whom he rescued from a harsh upbringing and raised as a soldier.

At some point during the Gulf War, information regarding Big Boss's genes was used for experimentation on various soldiers serving in the conflict. However, many of these soldiers would later suffer from psychological side-effects (attributed to Gulf War Syndrome), and their offspring would suffer from physical deformities (nicknamed the "Gulf War Babies").

Creating Outer Heaven
Using the funds he amassed as a mercenary, Big Boss began to bring his vision to life; Outer Heaven. He created a military fortress to use as the main base of his personal mercenary dispatch company deep in South Africa. In the early 1990s, he returned to the U.S. to once again take command of FOXHOUND, the special forces unit he founded almost two decades earlier. While serving as FOXHOUND commander, he secretly built up his mercenary company into a larger military establishment. During this time, he was responsible for the wild and instinctive strategies utilized by FOXHOUND during operations, which often appeared to be planned with little caution and detail.

Circa 1995, David, a former Green Beret who had fought in the Gulf War, joined FOXHOUND. Knowing that David was one of his three cloned sons, Big Boss designated him the code name Solid Snake. Big Boss taught Snake the techniques of CQC and the importance of having the will to survive on the battlefield.

Around this time Big Boss kidnapped Russian scientist Drago Pettrovich Madnar and his daughter, forcing Madnar to develop TX-55 Metal Gear, based on Granin's designs. It was a weapon system designed to give Outer Heaven military supremacy over the West.

In 1995, the U.S. learned of Metal Gear's development in Outer Heaven, and commissioned FOXHOUND to infiltrate the fortified nation and destroy the weapon.

Using the opportunity to spread misinformation, Big Boss first sent in his most trusted lieutenant, Gray Fox. Fox was captured leading Big Boss to brief Solid Snake, FOXHOUND's least experienced member, sending him in a follow-up mission codenamed Operation Intrude N313 to rescue Gray Fox and destroy Metal Gear. Big Boss aided Snake over the radio by giving him advice on weapons and equipment usage. Secretly, however, he felt that a rookie like Snake could not accomplish such a mission, and that Snake's efforts would delay further action by the West, buying him enough time to complete Metal Gear's development.

Much to Big Boss's surprise, Snake succeeded in infiltrating Outer Heaven. Faced with the failure of his plans, Big Boss attempted to delay Snake's mission by leading him into various traps. At one point, he even told Snake to abort the mission. When Snake destroyed TX-55 Metal Gear, Big Boss confronted him personally, revealing his identity as Outer Heaven's mastermind. Big Boss activated the base's self-destruct countdown and the two of them engaged in one-on-one combat. Even in his advanced age, Big Boss proved fast and dangerous, but Snake managed to defeat him.

Big Boss survived and escaped Outer Heaven before its destruction. Following NATO's subsequent bombing of the area, Big Boss rescued many of the survivors, including refugees, orphans, and Resistance members, the latter of whom he would forgive for their opposition. He later fled with the survivors to Central Asia.

In 1997, Big Boss and his followers participated in the Mercenary War, giving a fledgling nation on the border of the former USSR, Pakistan, China, and Afghanistan its independence. Zanzibar Province, a former autonomous zone of the USSR, thus became Zanzibar Land with Big Boss as its president. Recruiting war orphans from across the Third World and raising them as soldiers, Big Boss hoped to create a nation by and for soldiers where soldiers were honored, not treated as political tools. Big Boss recruited Gray Fox to his cause and, to ensure Zanzibar Land's success, he once again commissioned the creation of a Metal Gear: Metal Gear D. This time, Dr. Madnar developed the new model of his own free will, after being branded a madman in the U.S. Dr. Madnar was also rumored to have provided Big Boss with cybernetic body parts to compensate for the injuries he received in Outer Heaven, under orders from an Eastern Bloc despot, who couldn't resist getting his hands on the legendary soldier.

In 1999, ex-FOXHOUND agent Solid Snake was tasked with infiltrating Zanzibar Land's stronghold, who succeeded in defeating the elite mercenaries arrayed against him. In recognition of his professionalism, a dying Black Ninja imparted Snake with knowledge on Dr. Kio Marv's location, claiming that Zanzibar Land's leader would have wanted him to. After the CIA agent/journalist Holly White was captured by Zanzibar Land forces and imprisoned, Big Boss, anticipating the likelihood of Snake rescuing her, had one of the children posted near her cell to report whether he was nearby, as Holly denied Snake's presence.

Despite Big Boss's efforts, Snake destroyed Metal Gear D, and defeated his former comrade Gray Fox, in hand-to-hand combat, in the middle of a minefield. Injured and unarmed, Snake was once again confronted by Big Boss, who likewise also anticipated and expected they would inevitably encounter each other. Having spent his entire life on the battlefield, Big Boss could not conceive of a world without war, and stated that the best soldiers were otherwise dead weight and useless when removed from the battlefield. Big Boss paraphrased his mentor's final words to Solid Snake before challenging his son to one final battle.

"Whoever wins, our battle does not end. The loser is free from the battlefield, but the winner must remain there and the survivor must live his life as a warrior until he dies."

- Big Boss to Solid Snake, in Zanzibar Land

Evading Big Boss's attacks, Snake managed to cobble together a makeshift flamethrower, consisting of a can of lacquer spray and a cigarette lighter to incinerate Big Boss.

After "death"
After Outer Heaven and Zanzibar Land, Big Boss's body was recovered by the Patriots. Despite suffering major injuries, he was still alive. He was then injected with nanomachines by Zero in order to artificially induce a cryogenic coma, preserving him as an icon for the organization and an irreplaceable friend. Big Boss's genome was then used to identify the so-called "soldier genes," for the Next-Generation Special Forces via gene therapy.

Big Boss's body was said to be in cold storage to preserve his remains. A grave was laid next to The Boss's grave, which read: "A Hero Forever Loyal to the Flames of War, Rests in Outer Heaven. 193X - 1999." This was in order to reaffirm Zero's lore that Big Boss was indeed dead.

In 2005, the now renegade FOXHOUND Unit, along with the Next-Generation Special Forces, mounted an insurrection on Shadow Moses Island, commanded by Liquid Snake. They demanded that the Pentagon hand over Big Boss's "remains" and one billion dollars or they would launch a nuclear weapon via Metal Gear REX. Liquid expressed extreme hatred to Snake when he described their father. Atop the damaged REX, Liquid revealed to Snake their true origin as clones of Big Boss, as well as his plan to recreate Big Boss's dream of Outer Heaven in order to surpass Big Boss. Likewise, Big Boss's "death" also fueled Naomi's desire for revenge against Solid Snake, which she attempted to achieve by injecting him with FOXDIE and listing him as one of its targets.

Prior to 2014, Big Boss's DNA and biometric data was used for the Patriots' ID recognition system, the use of which allowed access to their AI network. The Patriots also declassified documents relating to Big Boss's exploits during the 1960s, which contributed to a resurgence in his popularity, with soldiers beginning to adopt CQC techniques.

Data relating to the location of Big Boss's comatose body was stored in the Patriots' AI, GW. This data fell into the hands of Raiden supplying the information to the Paradise Lost Army led by EVA, now known as Big Mama. Using the body parts of Liquid and Solidus Snake, EVA had Big Boss's body rebuilt, eventually restoring him to his former appearance, though he remained in comatose state due to the Patriots' nanomachines within him.

Due to his identical genome to Big Boss, the remains of Solidus Snake were used as a decoy in order to fool both the Patriots and Liquid Ocelot. Prior to GW's destruction, with which Liquid Ocelot had infiltrated the Patriots' AI network, access to the core AI JD was opened, revealing the location of Zero. After the FOXALIVE virus was uploaded into GW, the Patriots' system of control was destroyed thus allowing Big Boss to awaken from his coma. Now fully revived, he proceeded to track down Zero.

Big Boss found that his former friend was now in a vegetative state, dependent on life support and confined to a wheelchair. Boss took Zero to Arlington National Cemetery, the location of The Boss's grave. Big Boss witnessed his son Solid Snake attempt suicide and commended him when he hesitated. Big Boss revealed his presence to the startled Snake, disarming him with CQC after the latter drew his weapon in surprise. Embracing him in a fatherly hug, Big Boss told Snake that he felt no hatred between them.

Elaborating on the history of the Patriots, Big Boss described the struggle between Zero and himself to Snake. Big Boss stated that, although there was bad blood between him and Zero, all he felt now was "a deep sense of longing, and pity." He pondered on whether Zero hated or feared him. Big Boss proceeded to switch off Zero's air supply machine, killing him, and finally ending their conflict. Big Boss started to feel the effects of the new FOXDIE virus that had been injected into Snake. While in pain, he requested Snake to take him over to The Boss's grave. He stood and saluted, echoing his salute 50 years beforehand. He said that ever since he killed The Boss, he "was already dead." Sharing one final smoke, Big Boss finally made peace with his last living son, and, as a last request, pleaded with Snake to spend his final days in peace, not to waste them fighting. Moments later, Big Boss passed away at the grave of the woman whose life and death had made him into the person he was.

"This is good... Isn't it?"

- Big Boss's last words.

Legacy
Big Boss's influence on the world could be compared only to The Boss's. He inherited her dream of a unified world free from the short-sighted ambitions of nations, soured by the senselessness he perceived in her death. Though he stated during the Virtuous Mission that he would die in the service of his country if that was necessary, the death of The Boss showed him there was no purpose in doing so. This realization led him to create Outer Heaven; a nation where, in his words, "every soldier will have his place, and where they will answer to no government" which can be seen as him believing in a variation of Anarchy, thus contrasting the total control of society as displayed by the Patriots, wishing for every individual to be "free." This idea would persist decades into the twenty-first century and would even influence and be mentioned by Liquid Ocelot to Solid Snake before his demise.

He thus spent many of his later years in conflict with the Patriots, individuals who followed a different interpretation of The Boss's will - that of a world ruthlessly unified by the age-old methods of intrigue and espionage. Lacking their economic resources and popular support, Big Boss believed there was no way that he could change the world, even if he was the world's greatest soldier. However, he still chose to fight for what he believed in. This determination earned him many admirers and followers, even long after his "death." Over and over again the standard of "Outer Heaven" would be raised in defense of those who suffered due to the machinations of the Patriots.

Big Boss also never wanted, or saw, Solid Snake as his son but confessed that he had always respected him as a soldier and a man, yet he believed that unlike Liquid or Solidus, Solid Snake always fought for more than himself, as The Boss always did. While Liquid and Solidus were almost completely obsessed with either living up to Big Boss's legend or surpassing him by creating their own versions of Outer Heaven, Solid Snake never sought a reason to rebel against his government superiors by threatening mass murder despite the same kinds of deceptions and manipulations not unlike the ones Big Boss had suffered. After being liberated from induced comatose by FOXALIVE, Big Boss saw how Solid Snake remained similar to the soldier Naked Snake was during Operation Snake Eater since Zanzibar. He realized his son was perhaps the better man who could have done things differently in 1964. The Snake who truly surpassed Big Boss was not Liquid or Solidus but Solid Snake.

While the original intention of the Les Enfant Terribles project was having Big Boss's genetic replacements ready and preserving the soldier genes to create human weapons, Solid Snake inherited more than just the genes or the skills of his father. Loyalty, selflessness, courage along with all the other admirable traits that made Big Boss the legendary soldier held Solid Snake steadfast against danger, accusations, loss of comrades, and his own failing body. When the conflict between Cipher and Big Boss became uncontrollably out of proportion, it was Solid Snake who prevented numerous disasters. Thus the son served as a champion to undo all the damage that the father and his nemesis had started. Without even knowing about The Boss until the end, Solid Snake truly lived the virtue that The Boss envisioned by not trying to forcefully change the world but repeatedly saving it no matter how thankless the job was. Big Boss's greatest legacy is without a doubt Solid Snake.

As a last chance to prevent him from further damaging himself, Big Boss told his son to spend the rest of his life not as a soldier, but as a man. Spending his entire life fighting and experiencing sorrow, Big Boss made it clear that no one needs to die for another person's cause. People must believe in themselves and fight for what they feel is right, for in the end they alone can judge their own deeds. As Big Boss smoked his last cigar and sharing a fatherly moment with his son, he finally passed away at The Boss's grave.

Codename
Big Boss's former codename of "Naked Snake" was in reference to the on-site procurement policy in FOX, and to the stealthy nature associated with snakes. It was also partially in honor to the Cobra Unit, which was founded and led by his mentor, The Boss.

Big Boss's current codename, "Big Boss" was in reference to him having killed The Boss during Operation Snake Eater, and thus was "above even The Boss." Though due to his dislike of the title (feeling that he hadn't actually surpassed The Boss), he didn't use the codename himself until 1974. However, several of his subordinates and comrades called him "Vic Boss" or just "Boss" even before that.

During the San Hieronymo Takeover and the Peace Walker Incident, several of Big Boss's comrades often mistook or joked about the meaning behind the "Naked" part of his codename, in that Snake didn't wear any clothes during the Virtuous Mission.

In 1984, Big Boss was referred to as Punished Snake.

Personality and traits
Big Boss had an innate desire for conflict, mostly because that was the only thing he truly knew, having been exposed to combat at a fairly young age. Big Boss often viewed subjects from a military perspective such as using environmental landmarks to set traps, and identifying with aspects of other countries, such as France, by their armed forces and national anthem. However, he was tolerant to people who believed in peace; even if his Outer Heaven vision involved giving the soldier a place where he would always be needed in the world, he had nothing against people who aspired for peace, as evidenced by his interaction with Paz's alleged beliefs towards peace. He was also compassionate and forgiving towards his enemies, to the point of even attempting to save them if they were in need, as evidenced by his saving the Outer Heaven resistance survivors from the Outer Heaven bombings despite the latter attempting to take down his organization earlier, as well as forgiving Kazuhira Miller after he admitted that he was in on Cipher's plot and Ocelot for blinding his right eye. Consequentially, his compassion to both his allies and his enemies resulted in his soldiers being genuinely loyal to Big Boss, serving him out of respect.

During his youth, he was also willing to sacrifice himself for his country if need be, although why he defended America came into serious question after he was forced to kill The Boss in a conspiracy that showcased to him how even the best of soldiers are expendable to the government. While Big Boss did still have some respect for his country, he wasn't going to live his life the way The Boss had, as a tool for corrupt political aims, and anything he did would be done out of loyalty to himself rather than a country. Big Boss was implied to be disillusioned after killing The Boss, misinterpetting her final message as The Boss wanted absolute freedom for all. His disillusionment was pushed further at the end of the Peace Walker Incident when Strangelove said that The Boss laid down her gun and wanted to live in peace. Big Boss at this moment believed that The Boss betrayed him and everything she stood for as a soldier. On his death in 2014, Big Boss finally realized what her final will was.

The corona and lens of Big Boss's right eye was damaged, and the eyeball itself ruptured, due to the muzzle burn from Major Ocelot's revolver in Operation Snake Eater. From then on he adopted the use of an eyepatch. Coincidentally, two of his clones would later utilize similar attire, but on their left eyes instead: Solidus Snake, to cover his own damaged eye, and Solid Snake, to aid the vision of his still functioning eye via the Solid Eye device.

Perhaps the biggest effect had on Big Boss's personality was when he was forced to kill The Boss, who was akin to a mother figure to him, during Operation Snake Eater, an action that haunted him for the rest of his life. Even six years later, he preferred to go by the codename of Naked Snake rather than Big Boss because he felt that he was still inferior to The Boss, and in his final moments, told Solid Snake that he was already dead from the moment he killed her. It wasn't until ten years after Operation Snake Eater that he was able to find some closure to the event and go by the title of Big Boss.

In his later years, Big Boss had a duplicitous nature, leading both FOXHOUND and Outer Heaven simultaneously during the 1995 Uprising, and allowing misinformation to reach the West in his scheme to accrue more power for his mercenary state. Big Boss also during this time felt that body armor was "unmanly." During this time, he was also shown to be wise-cracking as well, such as jokingly claiming that the uniform Snake asked about was a girl's high school uniform, or asking Snake, upon learning that he procured a cardboard box, if he was planning on moving.

Big Boss was fond of smoking cigars, and would do so even while undertaking a sneaking mission. He also ended up irritated whenever people either erroneously refer to his cigar as a cigarette or act as though they are the same thing, as evidenced by his reaction to Para-Medic and Sigint's statements about his cigar in 1964. Big Boss also drank alcohol, although he had enough restraint to keep himself from doing so during a mission. He also showed fluency in some foreign languages, such as Russian and French, and was shown to know at least a bit of Spanish.

During the time of Operation Snake Eater, Naked Snake was a fan of dog-sledding.

Big Boss did not like spy-genre films, specifically the James Bond films, feeling that they didn't portray agent life realistically at all, to the point that he couldn't help but compare himself to Bond negatively even when he knew it was fiction. Because of this, he once got into an argument with Major Zero, who was a big James Bond fan. Zero assumed that one of the primary factors for his distaste was related to Bond's interaction with femme fatales. He also generally did not watch or follow pop culture aspects such as movies, although he was convinced by Para-Medic to see two movies during his missions in Tselinoyarsk: A Fistful of Dollars and Jason and the Argonauts.

Unlike EVA, who genuinely loved Solid Snake and Liquid Snake and viewed them as her own children, Big Boss wanted nothing to do with them and abandoned them to be raised by the Patriots, though this was largely due to the fact that Zero and Para-Medic cloned him without his knowledge or consent. In his final moments, however, he embraced Snake, his last living clone/son, and made peace with him.

Having a large appetite, Big Boss was willing to eat anything he could capture during his missions into Tselinoyarsk, sometimes not even caring if they were poisonous as long as they at least tasted good. This caused Para-Medic to either scold him if the animal in question was not something to eat, or jokingly call him a cannibal if he was eating something like snakes or jackfruit. During the San Hieronymo and Peace Walker Incidents, he decided not to hunt any animals (although he did jump into the water to eat a raw Arowana fish while searching for the AI lab in Central Heredia during the Peace Walker Incident), as he and his men had plenty of food to eat in either case.

Due to a combination of both his training under The Boss and his drills in FOX, Big Boss was resilient to varying levels of torture and serum-based interrogation to prevent him from talking. Though if his comrades/friends are threatened he will submit to interrogation as when Cunningham tried to kill his comrades to make him talk.

Big Boss was opposed to killing people who were unable to defend themselves, such as when the Perfect Soldier Null was vulnerable in his culture tank. He was also against killing enemies if he didn't have to, preferring to knock them out or tranquilize them if he couldn't simply sneak past them. In addition, Big Boss disagreed with mercy killings, feeling that there was always another reason to live, as evidenced by his response to Amanda's request that he put Chico out of his misery, if the latter should reveal information under torture. Though Big Boss did kill his former friend Zero, it was mainly to finish off the Patriots.

Big Boss possessed no qualms in utilizing unorthodox tactics, such as hiding in a cardboard box, or considering the idea of shooting down a hornets' nest on an unsuspecting soldier during the Virtuous Mission.

Although Big Boss was very intelligent, there were times when he was very slow to catch on to things that were very obvious. For example, when EVA explained why Major Raikov got special treatment from Volgin, Big Boss still did not understand. On a related note, Big Boss, at the time of the 1960s, also didn't completely understand the concepts of sexual orientations other than heterosexuality: regarding Snake's objective to impersonate Major Raikov in Groznyj Grad, EVA heavily implied that the GRU major was homosexual, though Snake remained oblivious to it, once even asking if Raikov and EVA had broken off a relationship, much to EVA's irritation. Later on, while fighting Volgin, Para-Medic also attempted to hint that Snake should exploit Volgin's bisexual relationship with Raikov by donning the Raikov mask and land a free punch, but Snake expressed confusion. He eventually managed to have some understanding by the time of 1974, briefly reacting in shock upon learning of Strangelove's attraction to the same sex from Cécile, although he later speculated that Cécile may have enjoyed the experience. While discussing Dr. Strangelove's nickname, Big Boss assumed that she acted in the movie, causing Strangelove to call him "stupid."

Big Boss, like his eldest son Solid Snake, was a very forgiving person or at least did not hold grudges and a need for revenge as he did not hold greviances against EVA and Miller for lying to him, Ocelot and Null for trying to kill him, Zero for putting him in a coma for 15 years and Solid Snake for ruining his plans and nearly killing him twice, and in fact helped his son to make the right choice to live peacefully before he follows Big Boss in death. In addition, during the Zanzibar Land Disturbance, Big Boss also implied that he was hoping that Solid Snake could rejoin him when meeting face to face. The only time he could not forgive is when Zero cloned him without his knowledge and consent.

During his days as a CIA agent and mercenary, Big Boss indicated that he held several beliefs in myths and the supernatural, in conversations with his comrades: Despite his beliefs, there have been instances where he was unfamiliar with some supernatural creatures, a notable example occurring during Operation Snake Eater, regarding the Zombie facepaint, where he expressed unfamiliarity with the concept of zombies.
 * He stated that thinking about vampires gave him nightmares, in a radio conversation with Para-Medic regarding vampire bats. For this reason, he would rather she didn't utter the name "Dracula" when speaking to him (as she was quite the movie buff). His fear of vampires was also noted by a female soldier in the Militaires Sans Frontières.
 * Big Boss revealed to Huey Emmerich that he believed in Santa Claus, going so far as to argue for his existence. Their conversation related to NORAD, and was in reference to an annual event called "NORAD tracks Santa."

In the early 1970s, Big Boss received a snake-shaped scar across his chest, similar to that of his mentor, The Boss. Although its appearance suggested that it was self-inflicted, the scar was actually a fake, and was used to store a jigsaw on his person in case he needed it in an emergency situation. Nevertheless, the shape and placement of the scar served as a visual testament to Big Boss's passion, and even obsession, with The Boss.

One of Big Boss's flaws was his tendency to underestimate people in regards to accomplishing a task, having done so in two notable incidents: The first instance was during the Peace Walker Incident where he allowed Chico to sell a photo of Chrysalis and passing it off as a UFO photograph because he believed Chico wouldn't get far, and the second time was during Snake's mission into Outer Heaven where he sent Snake into Outer Heaven believing he wouldn't get far and end up spreading misinformation towards the West. Both times, this led to potentially disastrous consequences; The first time, Chico managed to successfully sell a Chrysalis photograph to a tabloid magazine in Grenada, to which Sir Eric Gairy, Grenada's prime minister at the time, read it, and believing it as well as various rumors about various cattle mutilations and abductions being reported across the Americas that were suspected to be the result of the CIA Peace Sentinels activities, requested for the UN to set up a research facility to investigate aliens, which also nearly got the Prime Minister targeted by the CIA. The second time resulted in Solid Snake gaining the information on TX-55 Metal Gear and planning to destroy Metal Gear, and succeeding in doing so and destroying Outer Heaven, as well as ruining Big Boss's chances of keeping control over FOXHOUND.

Big Boss intended to become an instructor after the events of Operation Snake Eater. In his later years, he eventually served as a combat instructor, working to reintegrate former child soldiers into society. However, he eventually came to believe that soldiers on the battlefield could never be reintegrated into society.

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

Unconfirmed history
Naked Snake's reluctance towards shaking President Lyndon B. Johnson's hand, following Operation Snake Eater, was partially due to his view that Johnson was not a true president, having only entered office because of President Kennedy's assassination. This could also be because of his depression after the death of The Boss.

Shortly after Solid Snake's initiation into FOXHOUND, Big Boss gave a speech while shaking the hands of each recruit, telling them that the battles they would face were in a war unlike any before, and that none would tell of their successes, failures, or even deaths. However, the battles the soldiers faced would be ones that they were chosen for, regardless of who gave the order, and that they would know no life but combat. Big Boss also acknowledged that they were in a way to be pitied, but informed the soldiers that they were not tools of the government, or anyone else, and that they would fight for themselves and to protect the things they held dear. Snake never realized the connection between this speech and Frank Jaegar's last words on Shadow Moses until meeting with Big Boss in Arlington almost twenty years later.

Behind the scenes
Big Boss (ビッグ・ボス) is the central character in the Metal Gear series. He is first introduced in the original Metal Gear as the commanding officer of protagonist Solid Snake, only to be revealed as the leader of the enemy forces as well, a role he would resume in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. Big Boss would play a key role in the backstory of the series where Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty revealed he is the genetic father of Solid Snake, Liquid Snake and Solidus Snake.

In addition to his role in the sequels, Big Boss also appears as the protagonist in a series of prequels set before the events of the original Metal Gear (beginning with Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, followed by Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain), where he is depicted as an American covert operative codenamed Naked Snake (ネイキッド・スネーク), the partial namesake of Solid Snake, Liquid Snake and Solidus Snake.

As his younger self, the character's Japanese voice is provided by Akio Ōtsuka. His English voice is provided by David Hayter and Kiefer Sutherland. In his appearance in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Big Boss was voiced by Chikao Ōtsuka (Akio Ōtsuka's father) in the Japanese version and Richard Doyle in the English version.

Big Boss's name in Chinese is Tai Pan, which is also the name of a family of the most dangerous snakes in the world. In Cantonese Chinese, Tai-Pan could also mean a foreign "Big Boss" or "Big Shot" in business term.

Metal Gear, Snake's Revenge, and Metal Gear 2
The Japanese MSX2 manual of Metal Gear displays Big Boss's eyepatch on his left eye, although his character sprite displays it on his right. The eyepatch itself may have been influenced by the appearance of Snake Plissken in the film Escape from New York, much like Solid Snake was. The same manual also describes Big Boss as having been a previous member of SAS and GSG 9. However, this information was disregarded in the MSX2 manual for Metal Gear 2, and later Metal Gear Solid 3, and the Metal Gear Solid 4 Database, so it is assumed to no longer be canon. Big Boss (or rather, the mysterious commander of Outer Heaven) was also seen using a cane in the artwork showing the main Outer Heaven mercenaries.

Big Boss returns as the second-to-last boss in the non-canonical Nintendo Entertainment System sequel to Metal Gear, Snake's Revenge. He guards the final fortress where Metal Gear 2 is located. Big Boss reveals to Solid Snake that he survived his injuries in Outer Heaven through surgeries that turned him into a cyborg. At first, he fights with a machine gun, but after being shot several times, he then transforms into a giant RoboCop-like cyborg, and proceeds to chase Snake around while firing napalm shells at him. However, Snake lures him out of the command room and places mines on his feet, which ultimately kills him. Despite his death in this game, Metal Gear 2 is still activated.

In the instruction manuals for the Nintendo Entertainment System version of Metal Gear and Snake's Revenge, Big Boss is identified as Commander South, Colonel Vermon CaTaffy, and Higharolla Kockamamie, for his roles as Solid Snake's commanding officer, the commander of Outer Heaven, and his role as the enemy leader in Snake's Revenge, respectively. The names are references to Marine Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, Libyan dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi, and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, respectively. Although the changes were primarily a consequence of Konami and other video game companies localization attempts at the time, the change regarding Big Boss being the leader of Outer Heaven was also speculated by the video game site IGN, during their coverage of the NES and MSX2 versions of Metal Gear, to have also been done to avoid negative stigma regarding an American Special Forces agent being the leader of a terrorist group.

Like Snake's Revenge, Big Boss returns as the main villain in the canonical sequel Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. His appearance in the original MSX2 version was modelled after Scottish actor Sean Connery. Like other characters, this image was updated during later releases of the game to reflect his look in official artwork of Metal Gear Solid, which was also carried over to his appearance in Metal Gear Solid 4. In the original manual, Big Boss was stated to have lost his eye on the battlefield, during the late 1980s, which caused him to retire from active duty. During this time, he began to focus on military education and training. This information was later retconned in Metal Gear Solid 3. It was also stated that he had been nominated as FOXHOUND's international planning commander in the '90s, rather than having simply reassumed command, and that he became transformed by greed and dreams of absolute power, which resulted in his creation of Outer Heaven. One of the mercenary units that he was said to have fought with, after serving in Vietnam, was the Wild Geese, a reference to the novel and 1978 war film of the same name, about a mercenary group participating in African conflicts. The novel itself was named after a 17th-century Irish mercenary army. His character sprite in Metal Gear 2 also depicts him wearing a red beret, although his portrait, both in the original and the re-released versions of Metal Gear 2, does not depict him wearing it.

Besides the account given in the manual for Metal Gear 2, a call to George Kasler during the final battle mentioned a rumor that Big Boss lost his eye during the battle in Outer Heaven, alongside his limbs and his right ear before he was reconstructed as a cyborg under the Snatcher Project, referring to an earlier work by Hideo Kojima. In addition, although Kasler implied that Big Boss's supposed cyborg status made him invincible to Snake's abilities and attacks, Snake managed to finish him off with a flamethrower. This account was also included in the Metal Gear Solid 4 Database, and the novelization for Metal Gear Solid 4 by Project Itoh.

Metal Gear Solid
It is first revealed that Big Boss is the father of Solid Snake in Metal Gear Solid. Snake tells Naomi Hunter that Big Boss had told him of this prior to his "demise" in Zanzibar Land. It is commonly assumed that Big Boss relayed the information to him immediately prior to their final battle in Metal Gear 2, though the only detail made clear is that Snake knowingly "killed" his own father at that time, with only himself and Roy Campbell being aware of this.

In the English version of Metal Gear Solid, Liquid Snake states that Big Boss was in a coma during the time of Les Enfants Terribles. However, the original Japanese script states that he had simply been sterilized due to injuries from combat. The latter account was briefly referenced in Nastasha Romanenko's book In the Darkness of Shadow Moses: The Unofficial Truth. Despite the dialogue changes made for the remake Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, in order to be a more direct translation of the Japanese script, the specific line concerning the coma remains as is.

Strategy guide biography
The Metal Gear Solid: Official Mission Handbook, published in 1998 by Millennium Books, gave an alternate account of Big Boss's early years. This information has since been retconned in more recent games, in which Big Boss was of a younger age, and had been a member of the CIA in the early 1960s. Similarly, his clones' Japanese heritage had actually originated with an egg donor's mitochondrial DNA.

In the Handbook, Big Boss had been born of Japanese-American descent, in Hawaii. The entire American side of his family had perished during the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor. While his Japanese relatives were locked up in internment camps, he joined the 442nd Infantry Regiment in his teens. Big Boss gained his first combat experience fighting in France, where his unit had contributed to freeing towns from Nazi control in 1944. After returning to America after the war, he lost patriotism for his country, due to prejudice towards his Japanese heritage. Big Boss later participated as a mercenary for France in the Congo Crisis, from 1961 to 1968, later serving in wars in Asia, Africa, and the Middle/Far East. He also specifically chose missions that related to people's liberation, even declining various missions from an abundance of governments, military organizations, and terrorist groups that were well-paid. It was also implied that his sterility was diagnosed due to various battlefield injuries, and that he covertly agreed with the U.S. Government to participate in the Les Enfants Terribles. Big Boss also allegedly said, upon being defeated by Solid Snake, that "Even after my [Big Boss's] demise, I [Big Boss] shall live on, in the fears and tormented minds of my hated enemies."

Ghost Babel
In Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, an alternative sequel to the original Metal Gear, Big Boss did not survive his fight with Solid Snake in Outer Heaven. It is stated that Big Boss was originally under orders by the U.S. Government to form Outer Heaven as part of Project Babel, but he broke ties with the project, resulting in Operation Intrude N313. In addition, Solid Snake reveals to Chris Jenner that Big Boss is his father, during an optional Codec conversation, although it is not specified whether their relationship is through natural means or via Les Enfants Terribles. He also alluded to knowingly killing his father in a Codec conversation with Weasel, regarding rumors of the latter murdering his brother in a conflict. No. 4 of the Special Stages section of Ghost Babel, speculated that the reason Big Boss went renegade was so he'd have an opportunity to fight his son to the death. No. 4 also mentioned that using Metal Gear in the project was Big Boss's idea, and indicated that he intended for the TX-55 to include a rail gun to fire stealth missiles. One of the main antagonists of the game, "General" Augustine Eguabon, was also a former disciple of Big Boss during the Outer Heaven Uprising.

Metal Gear Solid 2
Prior to the release of Metal Gear Solid 3, Big Boss was originally to have learned the art of warfare from Dead Cell strategic master Old Boy, in Hideo Kojima's "Grand Game Plan" for Metal Gear Solid 2. In the game itself, Big Boss appears opposite both Solid Snake and Liquid Snake in a cutscene, during Solidus Snake's explanation to Raiden of the similarities of their connection to the one shared by the Twin Snakes and Big Boss.

Metal Gear Solid 3
According to a voice casting sheet for Metal Gear Solid 3, Naked Snake's "physical constitution" was intended to be similar to actor Arnold Schwarzenegger in terms of bulk. It also stated that Snake was to be 6'5, though a cutscene towards the end of the game shows that he is the same height as Revolver Ocelot, who is about 6'0. During the game's development, Kojima intended that Naked Snake be given a more human feel (having feelings and pain) to directly contrast him to his "son," Solid Snake.

Naked Snake in the Olive Drab uniform is very similar looking to the appearance of Iroquois Pliskin, the Navy SEAL who Solid Snake disguised himself as during the Big Shell incident. In early testing versions of Metal Gear Solid 3, Pliskin's model served as a placeholder for Naked Snake, as can be seen here.

Before commencing the HALO jump into Tselinoyarsk, Naked Snake stamps out a cigar that is almost blown out of the aircraft he is on board. According to Kojima's commentary on Metal Gear Solid 3, this was done as a response to Solid Snake throwing away a cigarette into the Hudson Bay during the Tanker chapter in Metal Gear Solid 2, of which a lot of angry reactions were made to it. The director's commentary, as well as Para-Medic's conversation about Snake's mask, reveal that portions of his mask were based on the film The Fly, and was done both to give it a feel of the time period, the 1960s, as well as a homage to Raiden. His curling up and spinning after jumping off the plane before going into position was also intended to be an homage to Kamen Rider. Regarding Snake's use of the high speed drone, during commencement of Operation Snake Eater, Kojima commented on his lack of pressure suit in comparison to the pursuing MiG pilots, and jokingly stated that this was the moment when he became superhuman.

Shortly after Naked Snake told Para-Medic that his real name was John Doe, she claimed that he was "a real Captain Nemo." This is an inside joke as Akio Ohtsuka, the Japanese voice actor of Naked Snake, previously voiced Captain Nemo in Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water.

During the game, Snake mentions that he can't smell, in a radio conversation with The Boss; it is actually the player that cannot use their sense of smell to help play the game.

A conversation with Zero, regarding Big Boss's brothers (or lack thereof), is a subtle reference to the three future clones: Solid, Liquid, and Solidus. The conversation originated when Zero noted the coincidence that Major Raikov technically had the same name as Naked Snake ("Ivan" is the Russian version of "John" or "Jack"), and that common Russian folklore had the youngest in the family, usually named "Ivan," treated badly by the family, and yet he often ended up better off than his elder brothers.

Naked Snake mentioning that he couldn't help but compare himself to James Bond could be seen as an inside joke. In the original MSX2 version of Metal Gear 2, Big Boss' appearance was modeled after Sean Connery, as noted above. Connery famously portrayed Bond from 1962–71 and again in 1983 and 2005 (the latter as the voice of Bond in the video game James Bond 007: From Russia with Love).

Naked Snake's motion actor throughout the game was Mizuho Yoshida, the sole exception being during the CQC battle at Dremuchij North at the beginning of Operation Snake Eater, in which Motosada Mori did the motion capture acting after deciding that the way Mori did it was more painful compared to how Yoshida did it, and thus more genuine. Similarly, Mori also did the motion capture of The Boss landing the deciding blow on Naked Snake in the same scene.

Naked Snake's immense knowledge of handguns, more specifically his explanation and reaction to the M1911A1 custom that he received from EVA, was the result of one of the production staff suggesting that they characterize Snake as being similar to a gun maniac at a Gun Shop. This suggestion also resulted in the original concept of Snake getting a spy-film gun being cut.

When EVA attempts to kiss Naked Snake, during their rendezvous at the Krasnogorje mountaintop, he freezes up. The reason for this was because Snake's motion actor, Mizuho Yoshida, got nervous and froze up due to his ending up being in an emotional scene, whereas the regular actresses were told to do action scenes.

If the player inputs the Konami Code on the game cleared screen, Naked Snake will be heard saying "One More to Go..."

While fighting The Sorrow, Naked Snake encounters the souls of all the soldiers he has killed during the Virtuous Mission and Operation Snake Eater, but none other. Given The Sorrow's dialogue that Snake would face "all those whose lives he had ended," it is unclear whether this is intended to imply that he had never killed anyone prior to the Virtuous Mission. Most likely, however, the amount killed was a gameplay element.

In Metal Gear Raiden: Snake Eraser, part of a series of videos called Secret Theatre, Naked Snake was the target of Raiden, a'la the Terminator, so he could usurp Solid Snake's position as star of the series. However, eventually, Raiden was unable to bring himself to kill Naked Snake when he had him at his mercy during the Shagohod chase. This would later come back to haunt him when he decided to target Solid Snake directly by travelling back in time to kill Snake during the Zanzibar Land Disturbance in 1999, which cumulated in Big Boss shooting Raiden, presumably to defend Solid Snake from being killed by Raiden before he had a chance to fight Snake, with Raiden then angrily stating that he knew he should have killed Big Boss when he had the chance. Similarly, in Metal Gear S..., Sigint frequently managed to beat Naked Snake to the punch in regards to key events, with Naked Snake at one point being implied to have been killed by the air raid that was due to commence.

Naked Snake also appears as a playable character on Subsistence 's online mode. His stats are very similar to in the main game. In addition, guards will be constantly searching for Snake, and unlike the guards, if he is killed, he can't respawn, although he is stronger and faster than the soldiers. He also has a specialized taunt in the game, where he smokes a cigar. In addition, if he uses stealth camo, it lasts less long than other players, and his weapons and the microfilm that he is required to steal will also show up. Doing his taunt will also give away his position due to the burning cigar. His CQC is similar to the other characters (barring Raikov), but it stuns the opponent instanly.

Portable Ops and Portable Ops Plus
If Para-Medic is recruited in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, Big Boss can learn about El Dorado in an optional radio conversation with her. Upon hearing about golden knives, Big Boss expresses intrigue in them, since he could use it to distract the enemy during CQC, much to Para-Medic's annoyance. If the player utilizes a radio frequency in the Town area gained from interrogating a Soviet soldier, Big Boss will call in and fake his identity to HQ as a patrolman claiming that a suspicious individual was sighted at the south of the town and that they request backup. He also appears in the expansion for Portable Ops, Portable Ops Plus, and also does the opening narration for the game. Besides his appearance in that game, he also was the main commanding officer-type character on the official site, where he supplies the new recruit (the website user) with the mission of locating various Kerotans across various parts in the Town. Afterward, Snake congratulates the user and supplies the user with an exclusive wallpaper, and was about to close the mission, but then discovered that more Kerotans have been spotted in the REX hangar, dispatching the recruit to locate them. Afterwards, he supplied the user with a second wallpaper, before stating that he has to depart, feeling his place was at a place for soldiers like himself.

"A former member of the Special Forces unit FOX, and a hero who once saved the world from nuclear war. Hailed as a true patriot by the U.S. President and given the title of Big Boss, he subsequently retired from FOX."

- Character description in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Big Boss appears (as Naked Snake) in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as both a trophy and sticker. His trophy description is as follows:

"As a member of the special-forces unit FOX, Naked Snake assassinated The Boss and ruined the Shagohod, a Soviet nuclear weapon. Years later, he was used to plant the seeds of Les Enfants Terribles, a project designed to create cloned super soldiers. The three Snakes - Liquid, Solid, and Solidus - were thus born. He would then embrace his name, Big Boss, and duel Solid Snake."

His trophy depiction had him wearing bandages over his torso and arms, referring to the injuries he sustained both when fighting against The Boss in the ending of the Virtuous Mission, and when he was tortured by Colonel Volgin during Operation Snake Eater.

His appearance as a sticker grants the second highest possible Flinch Resistance of +160 in the Subspace Emissary Adventure Mode (only being beaten by The Boss' sticker by one point).

A sticker depicting his artwork from Metal Gear Solid/The Twin Snakes was also unlockable, granting its wearer an increase by 30 in Trophy drops.

During a Codec conversation about Toon Link, Solid Snake mentions to Mei Ling that "there's been more than one Snake." He is referring to his counterparts, Big Boss, Liquid Snake, and Solidus Snake (and possibly Raiden).

Also, several of Naked Snake's camouflage uniforms appear as alternate costume options for Solid Snake. Brawl presents Solid Snake as a composite of the Metal Gear Solid 2 Solid Snake and the Metal Gear Solid 3 's Naked Snake, as in Brawl, Snake has Naked Snake's beard and green bandana, but his own sneaking suit from Metal Gear Solid 2.

Metal Gear Solid novelization
While Big Boss never physically appeared in the original Metal Gear Solid, he does so in the 2008 novelization by Raymond Benson, as one of Psycho Mantis's illusions. After Mantis enters Solid Snake's mind, Big Boss, Meryl Silverburgh, and Hal Emmerich, are trapped inside the mirrors of a funhouse, in a themepark where Solid Snake spent many of his childhood summers. While he was ultimately resigned to his fate, Big Boss begs Snake to input the detonation codes for Metal Gear REX, as otherwise the Sons of Big Boss would kill him.

Metal Gear Solid 4
In the Japanese version of Metal Gear Solid 4, Big Boss is voiced by Chikao Ōtsuka, the real life father of Akio Ōtsuka, who portrays Solid Snake and Big Boss's younger self. According to the Outcast Podcast and Famitsu, this was intentional, as Akio Ōtsuka and Chikao Ōtsuka had fallen out years before, so Kojima arranged for the two to work together.

In the English version of Metal Gear Solid 4, Big Boss is voiced by Richard Doyle, rather than David Hayter.

Big Boss's gravestone in Metal Gear Solid 4 revealed that he had been born sometime in the 1930s (later confirmed to be circa 1935 in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker), retconning him to be at least one decade younger than stated in previous games.

The game's Virtual Range also features targets named "John Doe," one of Big Boss's aliases, and later the name of the Patriots' core AI.

Although the game depicts Big Boss wearing an eyepatch in Naked Son, the novelization for Metal Gear Solid 4 by Project Itoh mentions that Big Boss was not wearing his eyepatch at the time of his meeting with Snake at Arlington and his death.

Metal Gear Online
Although Big Boss himself doesn't appear in Metal Gear Online, several items were released that referenced him, such as a STABO Harness, Combat Boots and supporters, and leather gloves, resembling the ones Big Boss, then known as Naked Snake, utilized during his missions into Tselinoyarsk. These items also came in various colors, as well as the option to use them in the coloring that was originally used by Naked Snake. In addition, Big Boss's eyepatch as well as a Crocodile Cap that was stated to have been formerly used by Naked Snake during his missions at Tselinoyarsk could also be equipped, although unlike the above items, these had a fixed color scheme.

Peace Walker and Monster Hunter
A promotional image for Peace Walker depicted Big Boss wearing a beret though he wears a bandana in the game itself. This was presumably to emphasize the similarities between Big Boss and Che Guevara, which is noted during the story.

When Big Boss contacts Kazuhira Miller after escaping from the torture area, he briefly coughs violently due to the effects of the torture. According to David Hayter in a podcast, he actually had to force himself to vomit during recording in order to come up with those coughs.

Big Boss's snake-shaped scar in Peace Walker resembles the tattoo of Escape from New York protagonist Snake Plissken. The game is also the first to define Big Boss's age, being 39 years old at the time of the Peace Walker Incident in November 1974. This was mentioned by KGB agent Vladimir Zadornov, when he remarked upon the irony of Big Boss being dead at the same age as Che Guevara, before attempting to execute him. In briefing tapes relating to the non-canon Monster Hunter missions, Big Boss was revealed to have the ability to speak cat language, and, although shocked that he could actually understand what Trenya was saying, he implies that he may have learned how to speak the language from "picking up the local lingo." In addition, two Extra Ops missions in Peace Walker will portray Big Boss as being bisexual, giving him the opportunity to date either Paz Ortega Andrade or Kazuhira Miller (although the briefing for the latter part implied that he was caught offguard and unsure). Given the two missions' non-serious nature, as well as contradictory evidence between them and the story (such as Paz declaring twice in her third entry of her diary tape that she has absolutely no interest in Big Boss, and Miller's womanizing character throughout the story), neither mission is considered to be canon.

Big Boss's stats in Peace Walker are: In addition, he can only be usable in missions, and thus cannot be placed on Mother Base's staff.
 * Life: 8000
 * Psyche: 6000
 * GMP+: 0
 * Combat Unit: A
 * Shoot: A
 * Reload: A
 * Throw: A
 * Place: A
 * Walk Speed: A
 * Run Speed: A
 * Fight: A
 * Defense: A

Big Boss was the basis for three action figures in the Peace Walker line of the Square Enix toy-making subsidiary Play Arts Kai. Each were based on uniforms the player could obtain in the game (the Jungle Fatigues, the Sneaking Suit, and the Battle Dress). Of the three, two of the figures (Jungle Fatigues and Sneaking Suit) also came with a passcode that would unlock a soldier for Mother Base if inputted. Likewise, the Battle Dress was also customizable so it would resemble an MSF soldier.

During gameplay, Big Boss could benchpress the AI weapons Cocoon and Peace Walker, as well as ZEKE via a button prompt to counter their respective crush and stomp attacks. Similarly, in missions relating to the Mine Base, depending on whether the player is playing via single player (prior to completing the storyline in the case of Main Ops) or via the game's CO-OP mode, Big Boss either is required to lift up a garage door that acted as the sole remaining obstacle between him and Peace Walker's hangar, or otherwise allow a friend to do it for him.

As part of a crossover promotion between Peace Walker and Monster Hunter Freedom 3, male players can receive a Big Boss outfit in a special quest. Female players receive The Boss outfit, while Felyne comrades get a Solid Snake outfit.

Yoji Shinkawa painted a picture of Big Boss for a small live audience as part of his "The Art of Yoji Shinkawa" exhibit at the Konami Style store. This same painting was also used for the cover of the Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker Official Arts Book. Similarly, MetalGearSolid.com also "snuck in" T-shirts that bore this design into the 2011 Comic Con, with them reporting to their Facebook page that fans "infiltrate" to buy one and give positive reviews to Kojima.

Similar to the naming controversy from Metal Gear Solid 3 below, there was some debate after the demo and game for Peace Walker was released regarding what the term "Vic Boss" meant, with some fans thinking that it was Big Boss in a Central American accent, or a short term for Boss of Victory. However, the Japanese version of the name was "Shōri no Boss", which translates to Boss of Victory, and both the English and the international versions has Big Boss responding when it was first used by stating that there is no victory for the MSF, suggesting the latter argument was true.

During the Extra Ops mission "Base Defense" for the Mine Base interior, Big Boss after defeating every 10 soldiers will contact the player via radio, marking the first time since Metal Gear that Big Boss contacts the player via radio (not counting the Portable Ops Plus official website).

Metal Gear Solid: Social Ops
Big Boss also appears in the android/iOS game Metal Gear Solid: Social Ops, both as a major character and as several cards. As such, he also possesses the most bios in the game, containing separate entries for his Virtuous Mission appearance, his Operation Snake Eater appearance, and his Peace Walker Incident appearance.

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes/Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Big Boss will reappear as the main character of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, the former of which was officially stated to be the prologue to the latter. There was a minor controversy regarding his appearance in the Ground Zeroes trailer, where he apparently appeared to have a fully gray head of hair after taking off his NVGs. According to Kojima, this was in fact the result of lighting, and not an indicator that he had gone gray. In the actual gameplay, he still retained brown hair for the most part, although his beard had gone gray.

He later appeared in the VGA 2012 Phantom Pain trailer, which also revealed that he had his left arm replaced with a prosthetic hook. However, because of the game being stated to be made by a seeming separate company called Moby Dick Studios, he wasn't explicitly identified as such. It was also revealed that while Akio Ohtsuka will reprise his role for the Japanese version, David Hayter would not for the English version. The led to some controversy when this was announced. According to Hayter, Kojima had left him out of the decision.

Prior to the official announcement for Ground Zeroes, and by extension, The Phantom Pain, during the 2012 GDC conference, Big Boss appeared on two pictures on a Developers Sans Frontières website recruiting various game developers for the new Metal Gear game. The first picture, on the entry gate for the website, was Big Boss, stylized in a similar manner to Uncle Sam recruitment posters, pointing at the user with the words "BIGBOSS [sic] wants YOU! THE "NEXT" MGS DEVELOPMENT WITHOUT BORDERS GDC 2012 Booth #1914" below him. The second picture, contained in a "classified" manilla folder, shows Big Boss wearing a poncho with a Rhodesian Ridgeback-like dog accompanying him, as well as a logo that was later revealed by Kojima to be the logo for "Diamond Dogs."

The Phantom Pain portion takes place in 1984, nine years after the events of Ground Zeroes. This seems to be a retcon of the events that took place in the 1980s in which Big Boss rescued Frank Jaeger and met the girl who would become Naomi Hunter. However, it is currently unconfirmed whether the event itself is retconned or just the specific date, as the Mozambician Civil War ended in 1992.

In the beginning part of The Phantom Pain, Big Boss's left hand was equipped with a prosthesis that had a plastic hook-like device at the end. Coincidentially, Chikao Ōtsuka, the father of Akio Ōtsuka and voice for Big Boss in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, was well known for supplying the voice for various incarnations of the Peter Pan character Captain Hook, who was known for his hook-like prosthesis due to the titular character chopping it off and feeding it to a crocodile.

On June 6, 2013, Kojima confirmed that Kiefer Sutherland will be the voice and motion capture actor for Big Boss. Big Boss's appearance in the game is also based on four different people.

Allusions to previous games
Big Boss's rivalry with Ocelot throughout Metal Gear Solid 3 is somewhat akin to that of siblings. Gene also referred to himself and Big Boss as being "like brothers" during Portable Ops. These relationships mirror the one between Solid Snake and Liquid Snake in the original Metal Gear Solid. On a somewhat related note, Kojima, in his commentary of the former game, noted that Ocelot and Liquid's Japanese names rhymed, further comparing Naked Snake and Ocelot's rivalry with Solid and Liquid Snake's rivalry.

In Peace Walker, Huey Emmerich asks Big Boss if he would ever fight a clone of himself, using it as a metaphor for nuclear deterrence. Big Boss answers "I wouldn't want to do that, no telling who'd survive." This is an obvious allusion to the future conflict between Big Boss and his clone Solid Snake, in which the former is twice defeated.

E3 Battle
In May 2012, Big Boss, identified as Naked Snake, appeared as a participant in the Konami sponsored web event E3 Battle, where he beat out Ash Lambert from the 1996 game Vandal Hearts in the first round. He proceeded to face off against, and defeated Murphy Pendleton from Silent Hill: Downpour in the second round. He proceeded to face off against, and defeated, Psycho Mantis in the third round. He then faced off against and defeated Solid Snake in the fourth round. He proceeded to face off against, and defeated Raiden in the semifinals. He will face off against Metal Gear REX in the final round of the event, in a no-holds barred beatdown. Naked Snake managed to defeat REX and became the champion of the E3 Battle.

"NAKED SNAKE FIRST APPEARED IN: Metal Gear (1987, as 'Big Boss') Founder of the Special Forces Unit, FOXHOUND, among others. Survivor of countless battlefields."

- Naked Snake's bio in E3 Battle

Versus Battle
Big Boss appeared in Versus Battle twice, first fighting against Metal Gear REX and later FOXHOUND under the name Big Boss, and also under the name Naked Snake while fighting against Solid Snake.

"STRENGTHS: Arguably the Greatest Warrior Ever WEAKNESSES: Nukes? Cigars? FEATURED FACT: FOXHOUND founder and genetic father of Solid, Liquid, & Solidus Snake, Big Boss earned his name by defeating The Boss in Operation Snake Eater FEATURED GAME: METAL GEAR SOLID: THE LEGACY COLLECTION"

- Big Boss' bio on Versus Battle; against REX

"STRENGTHS: The Original Snake, Taught by The Boss WEAKNESSES: Disillusioned from Battle & Betrayal FEATURED FACT: Although given the nickname “Big Boss” after defeating The Boss, he continued to call himself Naked Snake in respect to The Boss’s skill FEATURED GAME: METAL GEAR SOLID: THE LEGACY COLLECTION"

- Naked Snake's bio on Versus Battle

"STRENGTHS: Too Numerous To Name WEAKNESSES: EVA, Cigars FEATURED FACT: Naked Snake became known as Big Boss after defeating The Boss in battle, and was the genetic father of Solid Snake, Liquid Snake, and Solidus Snake FEATURED GAME: METAL GEAR SOLID: THE LEGACY COLLECTION"

- Big Boss in Versus Battle; against FOXHOUND

Naming controversy
Much controversy and debate surrounds Big Boss's real name. When Metal Gear Solid 3 was released, players safely assumed his real name was Jack, as The Boss and Zero called him by this name on several occasions. In addition, a voice casting sheet leaked before Metal Gear Solid 3 's release stated that Big Boss's real name was Jack.

However, early on in the game, Big Boss is asked by Para-Medic what his real name is, to which he responds "John Doe" with Para-Medic replying "and they call you Jack for short?" Due to slightly tongue-in-cheek nature of the conversation, as well as Para-Medic jokingly responding that her real name is Jane Doe, most initially thought it was nothing more than a joke. However, at the end of Metal Gear Solid 3, Big Boss also tells Ocelot that his name is John, and in Japan, a Limited Edition release of Metal Gear Solid 3 included a book called R which stated Big Boss's real name was John Doe. The master Patriot AI, which is accessed via Big Boss's biometric data, is also named John Doe (although it is also possible that JD was named as such as a reference to the fact that the last leaders of the Patriots were "no one" (i.e. AIs)). In Peace Walker, when Snake tells Galvez that Big Boss is just a codename the CIA made up, Galvez then asks if he would prefer it if he called him John.

To further add to the confusion, the Metal Gear Solid 4 Database listed Big Boss's name as simply "John."

Kojima was asked in session 08 of the Kojima Productions Report Podcast which helped celebrate the North American release of Portable Ops whether Big Boss' real name was Jack or John. Kojima answered by saying that it could be both since both names can be applicable as the name "Jack" in English is the diminutive form of the name "John."

The name John Doe is used as a colloquialism for an unidentified male corpse.

Appearances

 * Metal Gear
 * Snake's Revenge (non-canon)
 * Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
 * Metal Gear Solid/Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (mentioned and picture)
 * Metal Gear: Ghost Babel (mentioned; non-canon)
 * Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (mentioned and picture)
 * Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
 * Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence (Secret Theatre; non-canon)
 * Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
 * Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus (non-canon)
 * Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
 * Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
 * Metal Gear Solid: Social Ops (trading card)
 * Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
 * Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain