Solid Snake

Solid Snake

Solid Snake (born 1972), real name David, was a product of the Les Enfants Terribles project and "son" of legendary soldier, Big Boss. He was known as "the man who makes the impossible possible" and his exploits became a source of much myth and legend to the public and military. Initially a Green Beret, Snake was later inducted into FOXHOUND. From there, Snake would thrice avert potential nuclear catastrophe and slay his father and legend, Big Boss.

After the Shadow Moses Incident and subsequent manipulation campaign by the Patriots, the secret organization behind American politics, Snake became labeled a terrorist. He faked his own death in 2007 and proceeded into hiding, although he would later emerge in 2009 to assist in the Big Shell Incident. About five years later, his cells would enter an advanced stage of degeneration due to being a clone. His body began to age very rapidly and fail; during the 2014 Outer Heaven incident, Naomi Hunter gave Snake a terrible truth: he only had six months left to live.

Current status: Alive

Early Years


Solid Snake was born in 1972, a product of the Les Enfants Terribles project, a secret government project to create the perfect soldier by using the genes of the "Greatest Warrior of the 20th Century", Big Boss. By utilizing the Super Baby Method, eight clone babies, Solid Snake being one of them, were grown and transferred to an unknown woman's uterus. However, six of the clones were intentionally aborted (later revealed to be only five after the revelation of a third brother, Solidus Snake), leaving behind the two (three) children who would grow up to become Solid Snake and his brother, Liquid Snake (and Solidus Snake). A phenotype was created, with all of Big Boss's supposedly "superior" dominant genes being expressed to create Solid Snake, while Liquid received all the "inferior" recessive genes. This fact would enrage Liquid throughout his life and fuel his mission to enact revenge on his brother, although he did not realize that he infact got the "superior" set of genes. Even though Liquid had clear signs of recessivity, he had in fact gotten all the soldier genes, both the ones he had originally and the ones they took from his brother, Solid Snake.

There are no records of Solid's childhood proceeding the completion of the project. Snake claims he was "raised by many people," although he says he has no family. It is possible someone during his childhood bestowed the name "David" onto him, as Snake claims this to be his name at the conclusion of the Shadow Moses incident. But in one of the games, he mentions at being raised by nuns. This may be who gave him the name David, it's probably from the bible's stories about David and Goliath, or David and the Lions.

Nevertheless, Snake eventually made his way into the military by 1991. He had been inducted into the Green Berets and took part in a mission to infiltrate western Iraq during the Gulf War. Sometime after the Gulf War he joined FOXHOUND. Like most new recruits, he was trained by Master Miller.

The Outer Heaven Crisis
Snake's first mission for FOXHOUND came in 1995. He was tasked with infiltrating Outer Heaven, a military nation led by a feared and legendary mercenary, deep within South Africa. Snake was tasked with rescuing Gray Fox, a FOXHOUND agent who was captured earlier, and shed light on Metal Gear, which Gray Fox mentioned in a broken radio message sometime before his capture.

Codenamed Operation Intrude N313, Snake approached Outer Heaven via river passage and infiltrated the fortress. He kept in contact with Big Boss, the unit's commander who personally oversaw the operation. After skillfully passing guards and security measures, Snake found and released Gray Fox, who informed Snake on the truth behind Metal Gear, a bi-pedal, nuclear-equipped battle tank that could tip the balance of power in favor of Outer Heaven. Snake, still relatively green at the time, was impressed by the cool and precise demeanor and attitude of Gray Fox, a soldier within FOXHOUND who had achieved its highest ranking, "Fox". Snake then proceeded onward through the fortress, rescuing more prisoners and assisting the local resistance cell fighters in their battle against Outer Heaven.

After dealing with several of Outer Heaven's skilled mercenaries, Snake neared where Metal Gear was being stored; however, the further he progressed, the more difficult and confusing the situation became. Big Boss fed Snake poor or down-right wrong information via radio, leading him into traps and dangerous situations. Undeterred, Snake managed to destroy Metal Gear - only to discover the truth behind Outer Heaven's leader shortly thereafter. Big Boss, his commander and "father", was behind it all. He had established Outer Heaven as a means to give warriors such as himself a home, a place they would always be welcomed. He envisioned a world where warriors were always desired, where they were not shunned or used at the whim of politicians. He had sent his son, Snake, to Outer Heaven because he did not think Snake would succeed. Big Boss had underestimated the "inferior" clone of the Les Enfants Terribles project.

Nevertheless, Big Boss would not allow Snake to escape without a fight. On the lowest level of Outer Heaven, father and son engaged in combat. After a fierce duel, Snake managed to defeat Big Boss. As the fortress began to crumble and fall apart, Snake left Big Boss for dead and made his escape from Outer Heaven. Operation Intrude N313 was a success.

Disillusioned, Snake quit FOXHOUND. He was later scouted by the CIA and spent six months as a deep cover agent before he became dissatisfied with the system and left. He became a mercenary for hire and when he earned enough money he retired into the Canadian wilderness.

The Zanzibar Land Uprising
In 1999, The world was facing an unprecedented energy crisis as oil reserves dried up. Meanwhile, the military nation of Zanzibar had become the world's sole nuclear power which threatened to upset the balance of power in the world. To respond to the energy crisis, a Czech biologist, Dr. Kio Marv, invented OILIX, an oil refining microbe. Before being able to put OILIX to use, Marv was kidnapped by Zanzibar, leaving Zanzibar in control of the world's answer to the energy crisis and nuclear arsenal.

The United States government would not let this continue and ordered FOXHOUND to infiltrate Zanzibar and rescue Marv. Roy Campbell, commander of FOXHOUND, called Solid Snake out of retirement, who accepted the assignment entitled Operation Intrude F014.

Snake succeeded in infiltrating Zanzibar. Along the way he teamed up with CIA agent Holly White and Natasha Markova, Marv's bodyguard. He was also reunited with Dr. Petrovich Madnar, the engineer responsible for the first Metal Gear, who revealed to Snake that Big Boss was alive and behind Zanzibar and that he had been captured to construct a new Metal Gear, Metal Gear D, for Zanzibar.

Snake once again ran into Gray Fox, but under very different circumstances: Gray Fox was working for Zanzibar and piloting the new Metal Gear. Fox killed Natasha as he blew up a suspension bridge, but Snake managed to elude Metal Gear and hook up with Madnar, who had been recaptured by Zanzibar's soldiers. However, Holly White informed Snake that Madnar had voluntarily joined Zanzibar and was willingly working for Big Boss. Upon learning this, Madnar tried to kill Snake, but was foiled and killed. Unfortunately for Snake, he arrived too late to save Marv. Nevertheless, Snake managed to recover the OILIX formula and destroy Metal Gear, but before he could escape he was confronted by Gray Fox.

Despite considering themselves friends, Snake and Gray Fox fought to the death amidst a mine field, hand-to-hand. Snake would later recount that it was a battle of two professionals doing their jobs, regardless of their friendship or personal feelings. The fight would end with Snake emerging victorious; Gray Fox lay apparently dead on the field of battle. His victory would be short-lived, however. Ushered forth by Big Boss's taunts, Snake was once again put face-to-face against the legendary mercenary. Weaponless, Snake was forced to elude the armed and dangerous Big Boss and create an improvised weapon; using a cigarette lighter and a can of hairspray, Snake fashioned a makeshift flamethrower and used it to put an end to Big Boss, but not before Big Boss revealed to Snake that he was his father. Shaken but undeterred, Snake committed the act of patricide and escaped Zanzibar Land with Holly White and the OILIX formula. He returned OILIX to Campbell, was commended for his actions, and once again retired, this time to the Alaskan wilderness. He hoped to forget his war-torn past, recover from his PTSD, and cope with the revelation that he had killed his father.

The Incident at Shadow Moses
''"Snake listen up. It all went down five hours ago. Heavily armed soliders occupied Shadow Moses Island, a remote island off the coast of Alaska."

-Colonel Campbell ''

And so it was at the beginning of the 21st century... Shadow Moses, a small nuclear disposal facility in Alaska's Fox Archapeligo is attacked and captured by the GENOME Army led by members of FOXHOUND. Once again Snake is called out of retirement. His mission is to first single-handedly infiltrate the nuclear weapons disposal site and rescue the two hostages, DARPA chief Donald Anderson and the President of ArmsTech, Kenneth Baker, and then to eliminate the terrorists and prevent a nuclear launch. He is not completely alone, however, his Support team consisted of Campbell (also called out of retirement), Naomi Hunter, Mei Ling, Master Miller and Nastasha Romanenko.

While there, Snake discovers that the leader of FOXHOUND's codename is Liquid Snake. When Snake attempts to rescue Donald Anderson (who later turns out to be Decoy Octopus) and Kenneth Baker they both mysteriously die of a heart attack. He also has a mysterious run-in with a cyborg ninja who, after Snake battles and defeats him, reveals himself to be the remains of Gray Fox. Snake then makes friends with Otacon, a man who inadvertantly creates Metal Gear REX, the newest and most deadly incarnation of Metal Gear. Snake also befriends Meryl and starts to care for her a lot; some may even say he falls in love with her. Snake then successfully manages to eliminate all members of FOXHOUND and is then told by Liquid that he and Solid Snake are in fact brothers; clones of Big Boss as part of the Les Enfants Terribles project. Then Snake destroys Metal Gear REX with the aid of Gray Fox. Liquid and Solid then battle atop of REX. When Solid wins he then escapes from Shadow Moses with Meryl.

Snake's relationship with Meryl may have been short-lived, as he mentions in his coments about Olga Gurlukovich during the Tanker Chapter in MGS2, that "[He's] had enough of tomboys." He may have also turned to chronic aloholism as a result of that, as he mentions in the Plant Chapter to Raiden that "[He] was holed up in Alaska, drinking too much."

After the events of Shadow Moses, Naomi was placed under arrest and locked up in a high security facility. Snake, the only man being able to, infiltrated the facility and rescued Naomi.

The Tanker incident
After the events of Shadow Moses, Nastasha Romanenko and Otacon formed an Anti-Metal Gear Group known as Philanthropy. Otacon recieved an anonymous tip from someone calling themself "E.E." (the initials of Otacon's younger step sister) that a new Metal Gear, codenamed Metal Gear RAY, was being developed by the Marine Corps., and was being sent via a Marine vessel disguised as an Oil Tanker.

Snake quickly made his way through and found his way down into the holds where RAY was being held. Shortly after taking photographic evidence of Metal Gear RAY, Revolver Ocelot appeared and claimed to be taking RAY back "to it's rightful owners." He is then posessed by Liquid Snake's arm, which was attached to replace the arm he lost in Shadow Moses. Solid Snake then jumped from his hiding place and confronted Liquid but it was too late; Liquid climbed aboard Metal Gear Ray and sank the tanker with Solid Snake still inside. Luckily, Otacon was waiting by the Manhattan shore with a small boat, which he used to rescue Snake and replace his body with that of Liquid Snake's, leading people to believe that Solid Snake was dead. Solid Snake was also entirely blamed for the incident leading Olga Gurlukovich and Fortune to blame him for the death of their fathers (Colonel Gurlukovich and Commander Scott Dolph respectively).

The Big Shell Takeover
Another two years later, Snake disguised himself as Iroquois Pliskin and infiltrated the Big Shell. Rumors of another Metal Gear, Arsenal Gear, were spreading like wildfire. There, he met Raiden and eventually met his other brother, the final of the three Sons Of Big Boss, Solidus Snake. He also once again met Olga and explained to her that it was infact Revolver Ocelot who killed her father, Colonel Gurlukovich. Snake later helped Raiden, Otacon and Emma Emmerich (Otacon's Sister) install the re-programmed computer virus, a digital counterpart of FOXDIE, into GW (Arsenal Gear's AI system), shortly before Emma dies after being stabbed by Vamp. Then once aboard Arsenal Gear, Snake and Raiden make their way through fighting the army of Arsenal Tengu soldiers. Once they reach the end Fortune challenges Snake to a fight claiming he killed her father. He signals for Raiden to carry on as he fights her. He then tells her that it was Ocelot who killed Scott Dolph and that they should work together in order to kill Ocelot. Later on, ontop of Arsenal Gear, Ocelot is once again posessed by Liquid Snake and steals RAY, Snake breaks free of his handcuffs he's wearing and leaps after Liquid, afixing a tracker onto his RAY. He then goes to Manhattan to see Raiden after he has defeated Solidus, and tells him that himself and Otacon are going to find the Patriots.

Guns of the Patriots
Snake will be returning in the PS3 debut of Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots. He will be using the Solid Eye Technology (which Otacon invented). Whether this is connected with the Solid Eye announced for Metal Gear Acid 2 is unknown.

On September 15, 2005, Kojima Productions released a trailer of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, their upcoming PlayStation 3 title, at the Tokyo Game Show as part of their Metal Gear Saga presentation. The exact time period of the game is unknown, as the trailer shown at the Tokyo Game Show only states that Metal Gear Solid 4 takes place "several years after Big Shell"). In the trailer, Snake appears to be suffering from a respiratory illness, as he is seen collapsing to the ground in a coughing spasm, which he stops with the use of an immediate injection of medicine into his jugular vein. This may be a hint that Snake's health will play a vital role in the game. It is also possible that the FOXDIE virus has activated due to the wildcard value set by Naomi for Snake's incubation period (as documented in the short story, In The Darkness of Shadow Moses). Another possible reason could lie in the rapid aging caused by Solid Snake's genes.

Also of note is the fact that Snake is shown wearing an optical eyepatch, called the Solid Eye System, which enables him to have an electronic radar of the surrounding area, enemy locations, etc. The Solid-Eye also serves to show more resemblance in Solid Snake to Big Boss though located on the opposite eye.

The kanji-like symbol on Snake's vest is called an Otakon (オタ魂), which is a portmanteau of Otacon's name with the kanji character (kon or tamashii) for spirit; beneath it is the phrase "to let the world be". The symbol is Otacon's personal logo and will appear on equipment designed by him. An unknown fact is if the Code name Old Snake his offical code name or just a way of symbolizing he's gotten old

Metal Gear Acid
Solid Snake is the main character in Metal Gear Acid. He came out of retirement to help the FBI in a mission to obtain the Pythagoras data but then begins to find out that he has worked at BEAGLE before as Hans Davis. Because of the storyline involved his character is not the same in the other Metal Gear games. For more information see Hans Davis.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Solid Snake has been confirmed as a character in the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Brawl game for the Nintendo Wii. It has been said that Snake will most likely use explosives and the famous box as a taunt.

Behind The Scenes
He is voiced by Akio Otsuka in the Japanese releases of the Metal Gear Solid series, and by David Hayter in the English releases. Hideo Kojima based Solid Snake on a number of different characters, including Snake Plissken from the film Escape from New York.

Snake's real name, David, which was revealed in the original 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 the English voice actor, Hayter, this was not intentional (contrary to popular belief) and is merely coincidental. In Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, he uses the alias Iroquois Pliskin, which is a reference to Snake Plissken. The name "Iroquois" has a double meaning. The Iroquois were a confederacy of Native American tribes headquartered in New York. The word "Iroquois" was also a Huron word meaning "Black Snake".

Metal Gear 2, set in 1999, features an older-looking Snake than seen in Metal Gear Solid, set in 2005. However, there are numerous inconsistencies between the Metal Gear Solid trilogy and the previous incarnation of the series. Also, the portraits used in Metal Gear 2 were based on real actors, and the characters were redesigned for later games. In Konami's Japanese cell phone re-release of Metal Gear 2, Snake's portrait is brought more in line with his presentation in Metal Gear Solid.

After a largely non-playable appearance in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and a virtual absence in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (wherein he appeared only in the bonus minigame, Snake vs. Monkey), a much older (aged look is due to the fact that he is a clone, undergoing advanced cellular degeneration) Snake will appear in the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, in which he will once again be the main character.