Cobra Unit

The Cobra Unit, also known as The Cobras and once referred to as the Sons of The Boss, was a legendary team of soldiers that were assembled by The Boss in 1942 to combat the Axis Powers. Together, it is said that they nearly won the war single handedly.

Early formation
The Cobra Unit was one of the many superhuman soldiers that the Philosophers had formed through their resources.

In 1942, the Cobra Unit was officially formed and led by The Boss (then known as The Joy) during the Battle of Stalingrad. The Cobra Unit consisted of soldiers trained to win the war and with superhuman abilities: The Pain, The Fear, The End, The Fury, and The Sorrow. Because of each of the members of the unit being extremely loyal to The Boss, to the extent that they only obey her orders even when she is under the command of someone else, they are sometimes referred to as the Sons of The Boss.

During the D-Day landings at Normandy (June 6, 1944), the Cobras were sent on a mission to destroy several V2 rocket installations. During the war, the Cobra Unit was used for the nastiest kinds of wet works, the kind that could never be let out into the open. Their missions were so top secret that not only were they forbidden to be taken prisoner, they couldn't even leave their corpses behind. Because of this, they carried a microbomb with them on their missions, which would automatically detonate upon their deaths. During D-Day, The Boss gave birth on the battlefield to her and The Sorrow's child, who was taken away by agents of the Philosophers.

The Cobras were later officially disbanded in 1947. However, they still kept their microbombs on them due to wanting death on the battlefield, as they don't have a country to call home or even a unit to belong to.

In 1962, The Boss was forced to execute The Sorrow, otherwise both the American faction and the Russian faction of the Philosophers would have executed their son if both of them have lived.

The Cobra Unit returned to action on August 24, 1964, following The Boss' defection to the Soviet Union, and the capture of Dr. Nikolai Sokolov at the end of the Virtuous Mission. One week later during Operation Snake Eater, the Cobras followed Snake using a transmitter that The Boss had planted on Naked Snake during the end of the Virtuous Missionac. Each fought Naked Snake (the final apprentice of The Boss) and were all ultimately defeated by him. In the case of the surviving four members (The Pain, The Fear, The End, and The Fury), their microbombs automatically detonated when exclaiming their individual codenames after being killed; while The Sorrow (being dead) "fought" Snake during an out-of-body experience. The Cobra Unit members were ordered to fight Naked Snake by The Boss, presumably with Colonel Volgin not knowing the full details behind the orders due to their only being obedient to The Boss.

Members

 * The Boss (The Joy) (founder/leader)
 * The Sorrow (medium)
 * The Fury (fire trooper)
 * The End (sniper)
 * The Fear (stealth expert)
 * The Pain (infiltrator)

Behind the scenes
The Cobra Unit were created to act as the bosses for the game Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. When The Pain was about to fight Naked Snake, he referred to the Unit as being the "Sons of The Boss," which was intended to reference the future (in-story) terrorist organization led by Liquid Snake, the "Sons of Big Boss."

Probable theme
Throughout Metal Gear Solid 3, the Cobra Unit are used as a metaphor for the arbitrariness of enemy lines in war. Although comrades-in-arms during World War II, they are later separated because of the events of the Cold War. This is only remedied when The Boss supposedly defects over to the communist faction.

They also rarely exhibited a strong nationalist sentiment or necessarily agreed with Volgin's plans to adversely compromise Mutually Assured Destruction diplomacy. If anything, they only battle Naked Snake due to their interest in his abilities (being a protégé of The Boss).

This can be perceived as an expression of Kojima's views that soldiers are continually being used as pawns in political affairs; a view that he stressed beforehand in Metal Gear Solid. The Boss explains to Naked Snake before their final encounter her true intentions, expressing her views on relativity (that enemies and friends change with the times and that soldiers may have to fight their old comrades) and the futility of war.

Gameplay
Even if the Cobras (excluding The Sorrow and The Boss) are defeated non-lethally, their bombs will still activate. Because of this, their "ghosts" appear during the confrontation with The Sorrow, as well as the "ghosts" of all the other soldiers Snake has physically killed. If Snake merely tranquilized the troops up to this point, the only spirits that will appear are the Cobras.

Other Appearances
The Cobra Unit as a whole appeared in Versus Battle, where they fought against Dead Cell.

Appearances

 * Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

Notes and references
Cobra Unit Unidad Cobra