Liquid Snake

Liquid Snake (リキッド・スネーク) (commonly referred to as Liquid) was the "twin brother" of Solid Snake and the squad commander of High-Tech Special Forces Unit FOXHOUND during the Shadow Moses Incident.

He was a "Son of Big Boss", created in the Les Enfants Terribles project, along with his clone brothers Solid Snake and Solidus Snake. Big Boss told Liquid Snake that he was created in order to express Big Boss's "recessive soldier genes", and was therefore led to believe that he was inferior to Solid Snake. Because of this, he held a strong resentment towards his twin brother, who supposedly expressed "better" genes, and wished to defeat him in combat, reclaiming what he felt was his birthright, and thus proving his superiority.

Possessing an IQ of 180, Liquid spoke seven languages fluently, including English, Spanish, French, Malay, and Arabic, the latter of which he spoke like a native. He was almost an exact double of Solid Snake in terms of appearance, with the only distinguishable feature being his darker skin tone and blond hair color. He also had a tattoo on his left arm, which resembled the Rod of Asclepius, but with a sword in its place. Since he was raised in England shortly after birth, Liquid spoke with a British accent.

Background
Liquid was born in 1972, along with his twin brother, Solid Snake, as a result of the ninth batch of "Les Enfants Terribles", a secret government project designed to create the perfect soldier, using the genes of the "Greatest Warrior of the 20th Century", Big Boss. By utilizing the Super Baby Method, eight clone babies were grown using Big Boss's DNA merged with eggs taken from a healthy Japanese woman. Six of the babies were aborted to promote growth in the remaining two, who were then implanted into the womb of a surrogate mother. Nine months later twins were born: Solid Snake and Liquid Snake. The two clones were modified on the genetic level, with Liquid expressing all the "superior" soldier genes and Solid expressing all the "inferior" soldier genes. A third clone was also later created, known as Solidus Snake, who was a perfect clone of Big Boss. Liquid was later led to believe that he was the result of Big Boss's inferior genes and later informed an unknowing Solid Snake as such.

Early Life and Career
Liquid was raised in the UK shortly after birth. As his brother received intense military training at an early age, it is unknown if Liquid received similar training as a child. However, given the fact that Solid Snake and Liquid Snake were going to be used by Cipher as their insurance policy in case they failed to both get Big Boss (their father) to return to them and frame the Militaires Sans Frontieres as being an extremist cult by launching a nuke via Metal Gear Zeke to the East Coast of the United States, it is very likely that he did receive similar training. Liquid's real name was also heavily classified to the extent that even someone among the highest levels of the military chain of command is forbidden to know about it.

He became the youngest person to serve in the Special Air Service, at the age of 18. During the Gulf War in Iraq, he was assigned to a SAS unit to track down and destroy mobile Scud missiles. In truth, he infiltrated the Middle East as a sleeper agent for the British Secret Intelligence Service, but was taken prisoner by Iraqi forces and held captive as a prisoner of war until 1994, when he was rescued by the U.S. Government. After Solid Snake "killed" Big Boss during Zanzibar Land, Liquid hated Snake even more because Snake had killed Big Boss before Liquid himself could exact revenge on him, due to his belief that Big Boss had willingly undergone the Les Enfants Terribles project and "chose" Liquid to be what he believed to be the "inferior" clone. Liquid Snake joined FOXHOUND in the year 2000, after Solid Snake and Colonel Campbell had already retired from the unit. After Liquid joined, he became FOXHOUND's field commander, and reinstated the old codename system, with the addition of personal identifiers.

In 2005, Liquid Snake along with FOXHOUND members Revolver Ocelot, Psycho Mantis, Sniper Wolf, Vulcan Raven, Decoy Octopus, and the Genome Army, formed a terrorist group called the Sons of Big Boss. The terrorists seized control of Shadow Moses and the nuclear-equipped Metal Gear REX, taking the DARPA Chief Donald Anderson and ArmsTech President Kenneth Baker as hostages. Liquid then demanded Big Boss's preserved remains in order to produce a cure for the genetic defects of the Genome Army. Basing himself in the Shadow Moses facility, and supported by FOXHOUND, the Genome Army, and Metal Gear's nuclear capabilities, Liquid intended to recreate Outer Heaven. With these vast resources at his command, Liquid would drag the world into the Third World War, wanting to fulfill Big Boss's dream of a world which always had a place for soldiers.

During the course of Solid Snake's mission to eliminate the nuclear threat, he was confronted by Liquid on several occasions. Initially, Liquid attacked Snake with a Hind D attack helicopter as he crossed the Communications Towers, the Russian gunship menacing Snake several times before a final showdown on the roof of one tower; the Hind eventually went down in flames due to stinger missiles fired by Snake. He survived (a parachute was visible on a tree in the snowfield of the base, though a Codec call confirmed he couldn't possibly have used it and placed it there after crashing to taunt Snake with his survival) and while posing as Master Miller (Liquid had Miller killed earlier), tricked Snake into focusing on Naomi Hunter as a mole and activating REX with Baker's PAL card during Codec calls.

Eventually Liquid's plan became clear; not only did he plan to turn Shadow Moses Island into Outer Heaven, but he intended to provoke the superpowers into fight against each other rather than taking them head on (such as: launching a nuke against the United States itself), which would most likely result in mutual assured destruction. This was the reason why he went against Ocelot’s suggestion to set the target for the nuclear strike to be Chernoton, Russia; preferring instead Lop Nor, China, the location of a nuclear test site. Firing a nuke on civilian territory would spell the end for any possible future negotiations, but an attack on a nuclear test site could still be concealed from the public by the Chinese government. This way, he could pit the Chinese against the US – and the latter would be forced to confess to some of its state secrets. At that point he figured the other superpowers in the world would be interested in buying the system from them (Metal Gear Rex and possibly improved Genome Soldiers), at which point he would sell them to the highest bidder.

After Solid Snake activated REX, Liquid explained to Snake that not only was the Pentagon manipulating Snake, but they also developed FOXDIE and injected the virus into Snake in order for Snake to kill everyone involved with the Shadow Moses Incident unknowingly and allow the Pentagon to recover the Genome Soldiers' remains and REX without risk of damaging them via "a spy in the Pentagon". Liquid also revealed his bitterness towards Snake for "killing" Big Boss before he had the chance to exact revenge on him himself.

The entire final act of the Shadow Moses Incident was a series of battles between Snake and Liquid. First, Liquid piloted Metal Gear REX and attacked Snake, but, with the help of Gray Fox, Snake destroyed Metal Gear. Despite being caught in REX's explosion, Liquid survived, and dragged an unconscious Snake (who had been knocked out by the force of the explosion) up to the top of what remained of REX. He then made contact with the Pentagon, via Snake's nanomachines, explaining that he knew about FOXDIE, and threatened to destroy them next, after he was done with Snake, explicitly referring to them as "Patriots."

As Snake regained consciousness, Liquid told him that he wouldn't be killed so long as Snake lived, and even with the destruction of REX, his fight not over yet. He explained to Snake that his ultimate goal was to give soldiers a purpose again, especially since soldiers continued to be used by hypocritical politicians and their political gambits. He also deduced that Snake, despite his protestations, enjoyed the thrill of battle and would welcome the propect of a war-torn world, which he intended to create. Liquid then revealed to Snake the history of their own creation, as well as that of the Genome Soldiers', and why they needed Big Boss's remains. Due to their extensive gene therapy, the Genome Soldiers would begin to succumb to an unknown genetic illness, and the key to curing them was Big Boss's DNA. He then revealed that while Snake was still unconscious, he had placed a prone Meryl Silverburgh on top of REX as well as wiring her to a timed explosive. With a bombing raid on the facility, ordered by Jim Houseman, due to commence shortly, Liquid and Snake battled barehanded atop the ruins of Metal Gear, attempting to throw each other from the top of the bipedal tank to the ground far below. While it seemed Snake was victorious in this struggle, Liquid, still able to fire a FAMAS one-handed, pursued him as he tried to escape from the impending nuclear strike. Ultimately, Liquid fell victim to the genetically engineered FOXDIE virus, just outside the facility.

A final conversation between Ocelot and President George Sears (Solidus Snake) revealed that Liquid was in fact the superior clone and Solid Snake the inferior one.

In 2007, Liquid Snake's influence did not end with his death. During Revolver Ocelot's hijacking of Metal Gear RAY during the Manhattan Incident, Liquid's personality was able to take control of his former ally, via the transplant of the right arm that once belonged to him.

Two years later in 2009, he anonymously tipped off Solid Snake and Otacon about the events unfolding at the Big Shell, as he knew he could only take full control of Ocelot in Snake's presence. After setting Arsenal Gear's emergency ascent course into Manhattan, Liquid berated his "brothers", Solid Snake and Solidus Snake, then escaped with RAY in search of The Patriots.

In addition, it was revealed that Liquid's corpse was stolen by Snake in an attempt to fake his own death. After examining the body, Rosemary confirmed that the DNA matched that of Solid Snake, seemingly reaffirming his death to Raiden.

In 2014, Liquid Snake's "spirit" had completely fused with Revolver Ocelot, creating the new entity: "Liquid Ocelot". In reality, Ocelot had merely pretended to be Liquid to trick the Patriots. Before his death, Ocelot referred to himself as "Liquid's doppelgänger" to Solid Snake. Also, Liquid Ocelot used Liquid's DNA via a DNA chip during his first attempt to hack the SOP system. Big Boss later explained to Snake that Ocelot was able to recreate Liquid's consciousness using a combination of nanomachines and hypnotherapy (although it's unknown if during the Manhattan Incident, Liquid really possessed Ocelot or not).

In the meantime, Liquid's corpse had been put to further use, with various body parts used in the process of rebuilding Big Boss's damaged body.

Personality and Characteristics
Liquid Snake displayed an arrogant and loud attitude in stark contrast to Solid Snake, who is more calm and collected.

He was an especially adept pilot; as shown when he was flying a Hind D during a blizzard as a dangerous decision, especially in combat against two F-16's, as well as pilot it from within the weapons operator's cockpit. He would later use the same chopper to combat Snake.

Liquid also displayed superhuman endurance, surviving a helicopter crash, repeated hits with surface-to-air missiles, sitting right on top of an explosion so powerful it knocks Snake out from the other side of the room, falling off Metal Gear REX, repeated hits from a .50 caliber heavy machine gun and a car crash; he was still standing immediately before he finally succumbed to FOXDIE.

Liquid was incredibly bitter towards Big Boss and Solid Snake for apparently knowingly choosing Liquid to be the inferior one, and having what he thought was the superior genes, respectively. Although his hatred for them knows no bounds, he was also driven by a sense of connection to his twin brother. His main drive was the belief that he bears all of Big Boss's recessive genes, and that he was born knowing that his brother was superior. He was driven to surpass his genetic destiny, and in essence, his father. However, he never learned the truth that it was in fact he that gained the superior genes, while Snake was the inferior. Therefore, in an ironic twist, it turns out that Snake did what Liquid had set out to do all along, with neither of them ever knowing (although it's possible that Liquid did manage to find out about his true inheritance after taking control of Ocelot, due to his comments about how he had access to Ocelot's memories).

Trivia

 * Liquid is the only Snake that has not worn an eyepatch (or a similar device).
 * When Solid Snake was "summoned" from Alaska, he originally possessed the same hairstyle as Liquid, but he cut his hair just prior to being sent to Shadow Moses, so that "[Snake] won't be mistaken for Liquid". However, Meryl still confused him with the terrorist leader upon first meeting Snake.
 * Despite being a clone of Big Boss, Liquid Snake did possess some East Asian DNA in his genome, as a result of the Les Enfants Terribles project. The donor egg, provided by a Japanese woman, would have passed on mitochondrial DNA to Liquid, though his nuclear DNA would still be entirely composed of Big Boss's genes.
 * Liquid was also, somewhat, aware of his and Snake's Japanese heritage. During the Shadow Moses Incident, he almost let slip his true identity, while posing as Master Miller, when discussing Snake's and Vulcan Raven's ancestry. It was also possible that he provided Raven with this knowledge, due to his remarks to Solid Snake that "blood from the East flows within your veins".
 * Liquid is the only Snake whose real name is not revealed, as Campbell told Solid Snake that it was so highly classifed that even he couldn't know it.

Behind the Scenes

 * The mission that Liquid Snake partook in that resulted in his capture in Iraq had similarities for one of the mission outlines of the failed SAS mission during the Gulf War: Bravo Two Zero.
 * AbbyShot Clothiers, a company that creates media-inspired and video game clothing, created a trench coat similar to the one that Liquid wears. It is priced at $400 CAD, $343.14 USD, and £223.44.
 * When outside the control room of Metal Gear REX before Snake loses the PAL Card, the player can contact Liquid, who will still answer disguised as Master Miller, even though Liquid will appear to be sharing a conversation with Ocelot if the player looks at the control room in first person view.
 * If Snake fails to defeat Liquid atop REX before the time limit runs out, Liquid will laugh maniacally during the Game Over screen.
 * In the original plot for Metal Gear Solid 2, Liquid was supposed to have faked his death from FOXDIE and was also going to be the main villain of the game. However, this, along with most of the original plot, was scrapped.
 * Liquid was foreseen in Elisa and Ursula's prophetic vision, in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, as "the son that will bring the world to ruin."
 * Killing enough human enemies in Metal Gear Solid 4 will cause Old Snake to recall Liquid’s words to him at the end of Metal Gear Solid ("You enjoy all the killing, that's why!"). The shock from this episode causes Snake to throw up and his Psyche Gauge lowers drastically.
 * In Metal Gear Solid 4, during the opening stage of the final battle with Liquid Ocelot, images of Liquid from Metal Gear Solid flash on the screen, and the "Encounter" music from Metal Gear Solid is played. Liquid Ocelot's attack patterns in this stage are similar to the ones Liquid Snake used in the fistfight atop REX. The pre-fight cutscene also bears some resemblance to Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes post-battle cutscene with Liquid.
 * Liquid Snake and Zero share many similarities as they both are British, they both have an ego (Liquid's ego is more well known while Zero developed his later in his life) and share the same voice actor (Banjo Ginja) in the Japanese version of the Metal Gear series.
 * According to Shinkawa, Liquid Snake was originally dark haired like his brother (Solid Snake) but it was bleached to blonde by the intense rays of the sun during his time in Iraq.
 * Liquid (along with several other Metal Gear characters) made a cameo feature in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a mention in a collectible trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a mention in a collectible trophy.
 * According to the Cardboard Box trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Liquid is just as fond of cardboard boxes as his brother and father.
 * In the Metal Gear Solid: Official Missions Handbook, Liquid Snake was stated to have taken down four mobile SCUD missile launchers before Iraqi paratroopers captured him. He was then brainwashed by the Iraqi government and assigned to undertake major terrorist activities throughout the Middle East before he was rescued. This could explain why Liquid was not released with the other POWS that Iraq held at the end of the Gulf War in 1991. However, due to the questionable nature of the book, it is unclear whether this should be considered canon. The information was not included in any of the games or the Metal Gear Solid 4 Database.
 * In the original Metal Gear Solid for the PSX, Liquid mentioned that Big Boss always told him that [Liquid] was inferior. This line was changed in its remake, The Twin Snakes, to stating his belief that Big Boss chose him, knowingly, to be the inferior one. On that note, the Metal Gear Solid: Official Missions Handbook did not mention anything about Liquid and Big Boss even knowing each other, never mind Big Boss telling Liquid Snake that he was the inferior one several times.