The Fury

The Fury was the "Flame Soldier" of the Cobra Unit.

Early life and career
The Fury was born sometime during the mid-1900s to early 1910s. During World War II, he became a member of the Cobra Unit, a secret special forces unit comprised of elite soldiers from the Allied Forces. Helping to lead the Allied forces to eventual victory, the unit was disbanded at the end of the war, and The Fury returned to his native Russia.

The Fury was later selected to be the first ever Russian in outer space (ahead of Yuri Gagarin). However, towards the end of the flight, an accident occurred during his re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, triggering a fire which engulfed him in flames. He suffered severe burns to his entire body, and became incapable of feeling pain. During this experience, he saw the Earth obscured by the wall of fire. He subsequently became obsessed over this vision of the Earth in flames, which may have contributed to his pyromania.

As with the rest of the Cobra Unit, his codename reflects the specific emotion he experienced whilst on the battlefield; he felt a boundless and unrelenting rage towards the world and everything he was fighting.

In August 1964, The Fury accompanied the other Cobra Unit members to Dolinovodno, Tselinoyarsk, aboard a Hind A, where they were reunited with The Boss, after her defection to the Soviet Union.

A week later, Naked Snake encountered The Fury in an underground tunnel while en route to Groznyj Grad, the mountain fortress of GRU Colonel Volgin. After describing his vision of the Earth in flames to Snake, the two fought one another. After a grueling battle, The Fury was eventually defeated by Snake, who had managed to tear his flame retardant suit and make him vulnerable to attack.

Accepting defeat, the heavily-injured Cobra lamented the passing of almost his entire unit, proclaiming that The Boss was the only one left. Comforted somewhat that the fires of Hell would "purge him clean," The Fury removed his helmet and began to relive his former life as a cosmonaut. Radioing "mission control," he fired up his jetpack and stated that he was "coming home," propelling himself upwards at full speed and smashing into the roof of the tunnel. His fiery remains, however, continued to pursue Snake as far as the exit, where his microbomb detonated in the narrow doorway and triggered a cave-in, rendering the tunnel inaccessible.

Personality and traits
The Fury exhibited a grand and bombastic attitude, with hints of delusional insanity behind his words. He was proud of his experience as a soldier and cosmonaut, in which he helmed his furious resentment at being alive. His near-death experience had caused him to adopt this insane mentality, concluding that this very same epiphany and rage he felt must be shared towards his enemies; describing it as a "scorching heat" of "horrible blackness". The only time he expressed any emotion other than rage was shortly after he was defeated, when he remarked in a somber tone to The Boss that she is the only one of the Cobras left as he was "off to join The Sorrow." His actions immediately prior to his death also imply that he suffered from PTSD from the space accident.

The Fury wore a fireproof Soviet cosmonaut suit, equipped with a jetpack and a powerful flamethrower. Unlike most flamethrowers, The Fury's utilized a type of fuel - presumed to be a mixture of UDMH (unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine) and NTO (nitrogen tetroxide) - that continued to burn long after it had been set ablaze. The suit can also withstand his flamethrower, which by consequence also nullifies other flame-based weapons such as White Phosphorous grenades. However, the suit is vulnerable to bullet fire and blade weapons, and once damaged, will also force him to be damaged to flame-based weapons. He could also absorb flames within a room upon removing his Cosmonaut helmet, as evidenced by his actions shortly before his death. In addition, upon his death, he also spawned two ghostly heads of fire that pursued its target.

Behind the scenes


The voice actor for The Fury (ザ・フューリー), Richard Doyle, would later provide the voice of Big Boss in Metal Gear Solid 4. Like several other characters in the series, The Fury's death is depicted in a surreal manner, with fiery "heads" proceeding to chase Naked Snake out of the underground tunnel after their battle. Shortly afterwards, his microbomb can be seen to detonate as his voice yells out his codename, similar to other Cobra Unit members. Defeating The Fury in the HD version will unlock the achievement/trophy "Houston, We HAD A Problem", referring to the accident on Apollo 13, as well as the film detailing the event in question.

In Metal Gear Solid 3, a photograph of the Cobra Unit prior to their disbandment, shows The Fury equipped with a flameproof mask, implying that he may have used his trademark flamethrower as early as World War II.

The Fury's line where he says that he is "coming home" is a reference to the Peter Schilling song "Major Tom (Coming Home)," an homage to David Bowie's Major Tom character. Hideo Kojima once mentioned in his blog that he originally wanted to use "Space Oddity" and "Ashes to Ashes" by David Bowie (which both feature the Major Tom character) as the ending themes for Metal Gear Solid 3. In Director Hideo Kojima's commentary, The Fury's release of the fiery heads shortly after he crashes into the ceiling was inspired by The Mummy, and that it took a lot of time to make.

The letters on The Fury's helmet, БЕИ (BEI), have no meaning in Russian, except in Soviet Standard GOST 7.62 country codes which it is the abbreviation for Belarus, although a very similar word, "БЕЙ," translates as "beat," "hit," or "whip," in imperative form. The same letters are on the sleeve of Colonel Volgin's suit. These same three characters can also be seen on some fictional posters for a PMC unit whilst Meryl Silverburgh talks to Solid Snake about the SOP system during Act 1 of Metal Gear Solid 4. In Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, the characters appear on the license plate of the truck in which Vladimir Zadornov was hiding in.

During his introduction and death sequences, when he activates his jetpack, the player could faintly hear radio chatter. It is unknown if this is real, or in The Fury's head, as he no longer works as a cosmonaut. In the latter instance, it was implied to be the result of his undergoing a PTSD-related flashback to his accident in space, which implies the chatter is not real.

Gameplay
Draining The Fury's stamina will yield Snake the Fire Camo. It prevents Snake from catching on fire and receiving burns, though he will still receive damage from the fire itself.

If the player shoots the red pipes located in the area during the fight, it will release water that will put out the fire. Also, the handkerchief will be ineffective against The Fury.

The Fury has a surprisingly good sense of hearing, so Snake can accidentally alert him from a distance by even slight movements. This makes it fairly difficult to sneak up on him.

Appearances

 * Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
 * Metal Gear Solid: Social Ops (trading card)