Venom Snake

"I won't scatter your sorrow to the heartless sea. I will always be with you. Plant your roots in me. I won't see you end as ashes. You're all diamonds."

- Venom Snake to his fallen Diamond Dogs

Punished "Venom" Snake, also known as Big Boss, and formerly known as Ahab, V, Big Boss's phantom, or simply Snake, was a mercenary commander, formerly a combat medic for Militaires Sans Frontières (MSF), who led Diamond Dogs and Outer Heaven as one of Big Boss' most trusted lieutenants.

During his time as a medic, Venom Snake saved Big Boss's life during the destruction of MSF in 1975 by pushing him out of the way of an oncoming explosion, losing his left arm and right eye in the process. Despite his sacrifice, Big Boss fell into a coma. Venom Snake was then placed into an artificially induced coma, undergoing hypnotherapy and plastic surgery so that he could act as a body double for Big Boss. This was done in order to protect Big Boss from XOF forces who had destroyed MSF nine years earlier.

Shortly after awakening from his coma in 1984, Venom Snake was given command over the mercenary unit Diamond Dogs, which had been founded by Kazuhira Miller as a successor to MSF. While in charge, he defeated the XOF unit and took vengeance on its leader, Skull Face.

Venom Snake went on to command the military fortress of Outer Heaven during the time the real Big Boss returned to FOXHOUND. In 1995, Venom Snake was killed by Solid Snake, one of Big Boss's sons, in an operation commanded by the real Big Boss himself.

Militaires Sans Frontières
"He was always the best man we had."

- Big Boss on Venom Snake during tape "Doublethink"

Venom Snake was born in 1932 in California. During the Peace Walker Incident of 1974, Venom Snake served as a member of Militaires Sans Frontières, acting as a combat medic and doctor. According to Big Boss, Venom Snake was "always the best man we had", implying that he was an incredibly capable soldier, as well as a reliable field medic. Venom Snake was very skilled at CQC which he presumably learnt from Big Boss himself.

XOF Trojan Horse operation
Main article: XOF Trojan Horse operation

On March 16, 1975, Venom Snake was stationed on board the helicopter sent to extract MSF commander Big Boss and rescued POWs Chico and Paz Ortega Andrade from the United States Naval Prison Facility (Cuba). He was one of the few MSF staff members to have knowledge about Paz and Chico's situation as well as the mission itself.

During the flight back to Mother Base, Big Boss ordered the medic to look over the unconscious Paz, after Chico had noticed surgical scars on her abdomen. Suspecting that a bomb had been concealed inside her, Venom was forced to operate on her immediately, as there was no time to administer anesthesia. He successfully removed the bomb from her gut.

Returning to Mother Base, Big Boss and the medic discovered their home being destroyed as the nuclear inspection was a ruse arranged by, unbeknownst to them at the time, XOF which was Cipher's strike force. Big Boss briefly left the helicopter to rescue Kaz just before Mother Base sank to the bottom of the ocean. Kaz angry at the events demanded answers from the unconscious Paz.

Although the bomb was quickly disposed of, Paz awoke and revealed that there was a second bomb inside of her on the verge of exploding. Wasting no time, she jumped out of the chopper and the second bomb exploded in mid air. Venom Snake shielded Big Boss from the blast and his body bore the brunt of the explosion, before the helicopter was sent into a collision with an XOF chopper which resulted in the deaths of Morpho and Chico. Both men survived the incident but shortly thereafter they entered into a coma. Venom Snake in particular had suffered extensive injuries. His left arm had to be amputated several inches above the wrist and 108 foreign agents (shrapnel, human bone and teeth) had been embedded in his body, which, for the most part, could be removed successfully. However, certain pieces of shrapnel, which were located close to his heart and inside his cerebral cortex, were too risky to extract as impairment or even death would have been likely to occur upon removal. Ocelot also implied the injuries were severe enough that he was clinically dead.

Zero had EVA move both Big Boss and Venom Snake to Dhekelia SBA Memorial Hospital in Cyprus in order to be hidden, with Zero controlling the information so that their enemies, including Skull Face and XOF would not be able to find them while they are in their comas.

Ocelot and Zero talked, with the former being in charge of the security at the hospital. During the conversation Zero told Ocelot that he has created another Snake, with Ocelot angrily assuming it was a product of the Les Enfants Terribles project, with Zero saying that the medic is a mental copy of Big Boss, Ocelot, caring about only Big Boss's best interests, agreed to the plan.

After Kaz recovered from his injuries, noticing Big Boss missing, he contacted Zero, who explained that for Big Boss's safety, Kaz had to stay away from Big Boss until the latter wakes up from his coma. Zero said that the codeword for when Big Boss wakes up is "V has come to". Unbeknownst to Kaz, Zero was actually referring to Venom Snake, who will act as the new Big Boss, while the real one is to disappear out of the public eye.

In 1977, Zero visited both Venom Snake and Big Boss, though for the most part he ignored Venom Snake, having come to visit Big Boss. He only inquired about Venom Snake when asking which was the real Big Boss and if both of them have shown any change in their conditions.

Restoration of Mother Base and the hunt for Cipher
See also: Hospital Escape and Restoration of Mother Base and the hunt for Cipher

On February 26, 1984, after nine years, Venom Snake awoke from his coma. Nurse Alexandra Pikrammenos noticed his movements and after making sure he could hear her, following Zero's instruction, she gave the codeword "V has come to". Nurse Pikirammenos brought doctor Evangelos Constantinou to see Venom Snake, the latter explained to Snake his circumstances and situation. As per Zero's plan, Venom Snake was given plastic surgery to resemble Big Boss 48 hours before the attack took place. In order to ensure the ruse worked, he was also given hypnotherapy to have him possess Big Boss's memories and thus have him believe he was the real Big Boss. Although the process was not complete and Venom experienced what he thought was amnesia, having to be reminded of certain events and experiences by Ocelot. On March 11, another patient named Ishmael, who in actuality was the real Big Boss in disguise, saved Venom Snake from an assassin and managed to successfully get him out of the hospital they were in. As the two escaped in an ambulance, the real Big Boss was knocked unconscious after taking a shot from a helicopter. Venom Snake attempted to drive the ambulance, but he crashed into a river bank. When Venom Snake regained consciousness, Ishmael was gone, and he was greeted by Ocelot, who would accompany Venom Snake on a trip to Afghanistan in order to rescue Miller.

Along the way, Venom Snake was briefed on what had happened in the world in general due to the coma, as well as more specifically what happened while he was in a coma. He also had his loose prosthetic replaced with a bionic arm. He ultimately succeeded in saving Miller, and evacuated, although not before encountering Parasite Unit, a.k.a The Skulls, who were responsible for slaughtering Miller's men and giving him over to the Soviets to be tortured. After rescuing Miller, the three returned to the newly constructed Mother Base, where Venom Snake took command of Diamond Dogs. Venom Snake performed several missions in order to expand their new Mother Base so that they could fight Cipher. Unbeknownst to Venom Snake until later, Ocelot was aware of Venom Snake's true identity and preformed a similar technique on himself, as to trick himself into believing that Venom Snake was indeed the one and only "Big Boss."



Venom Snake and Diamond Dogs rose to huge heights as they collected resources, expanded their facilities, and swelled their ranks with volunteers and "recruits" forcibly extracted from the field. Venom Snake first embarked on various missions investigating Cipher's actions and involvement with private forces throughout Afghanistan. At some point, Venom Snake would embark on a mission to recover the Honey Bee from the caves of Da Smasei Laman before the Soviets could locate it. Upon taking the Honey Bee, Skull Face captured Venom Snake using the arm of Sahelanthropus. After briefly losing consciousness, Venom Snake awoke, and still held by the hand of Sahelanthropus, he finally met Skull Face for the first time. Skull Face taunted him about having survived the attack nine years ago before having the giant's fist release him. Skull Face then mounted the Sahelanthropus' hand like a platform and departed into the mist, leaving Venom Snake to formally battle the Mist Unit of the Skulls. Venom Snake would escape and return to Mother Base with the Honey Bee.

Some time later, as Venom Snake embarked on various missions, he once again encountered the assassin called Quiet in the Aabe Shifap Ruins and defeated her in a sniper duel. After the duel, Snake had extracted Quiet from the area to bring her back to Mother Base, only for her to seemingly escape en route. Just as Snake and Pequod were pursued by an enemy aircraft, Quiet revealed her presence and saved Snake by killing the enemy pilot. She surrendered herself to Snake and was taken to Mother Base, where Snake opted to have her be put in a cell, but stated that when the time came for her to die, he'd be the one to kill her himself.

Eventually Miller and Venom Snake received an anonymous message from Huey Emmerich in the Serak Power Plant as means of getting them to rescue him. Emmerich's circumstance as a survivor from Mother Base caused both Miller and Snake to suspect his involvement with Cipher as well as MSF's destruction.Venom Snake would then discover that Emmerich was working with Cipher's elite strike force XOF, and under the command of Skull Face, he had been put to work on a new upright bipedal Metal Gear called Sahelanthropus. Discovering Emmerich's actions of leading Venom Snake to his location, Skull Face decidedly cut ties with him and had him transported away. Venom Snake made his way to meet and extract Emmerich, only to be confronted by a fully-functional Sahelanthropus, in which it was operated by Tretij Rebenok under Skull Face's influence. Venom Snake was able to fend off the Metal Gear and leave the area with Emmerich via helicopter.

He then observed the resulting interrogation of Huey at the hands of both Miller and Ocelot from behind a two-way mirror, with Miller proceeding to report on what they've got so far, with Miller also stating he is certain that Huey's guilty of the attack on Mother Base nine years prior, although Venom Snake stated they still will need evidence before convicting him. However, Ocelot entered and revealed some key information he learned from Huey after Miller left: One, XOF had finished operations in Afghanistan and were headed for Africa, and two, they were developing "a weapon that would surpass Metal Gear." Venom Snake then deduced from this that it meant whatever it was XOF was working on was "not just another nuke."

Later Snake and Huey talk about cloning, in a conversation that Snake records against Huey's knowledge, at which point Dr. Clark is brought up by Huey who Snake claims to have never heard of "him". Through out the conversation Snake remained sceptical and shows clear distaste for Huey, by the end Snake suggested to have Ocelot brought in on the conversation, much to Huey's discomfort.

After shutting down an oil field, Snake found bodies in the water with two lumps on their chests, which looked like some kind of disease. It was later discovered that Cipher used another company as a front and were the powers behind the oil field.

Snake later rescued a man known as The Viscount, who was connected to the oil field, that he tried to deceitfully secure the rights to the oil field and blame it on his fellow British personal. The Viscount was then placed in the brig with Kaz promising to be extra persuasive with The Viscount.

To combat against the distribution of Walker Gears, Snake infiltrated an outpost and succeeded in destroying four Walker Gears. It was around this time that Emmerich revealed that he developed a Walker Gear called D Walker that became a buddy for Snake.

Snake captured a truck, and after defeating the Parasite Unit again, discovered that the cargo is yellow cake, which is used to make a nuclear weapon, which Kaz thought may possibly point to the weapon to surpass Metal Gear that Huey was talking about.

Due to Walker Gears spreading all over Africa, Huey had an idea of a counterweapon. Arriving in the hanger, Huey explained to Snake that it was a spinoff of the technology used for Metal Gear, with Ocelot referencing to his use of spinoffs in Costa Rica. Huey then gave a speech about how it was customizable and how useful the Battle Gear would be. Snake privately remarked to Miller that he is having déjà vu. Miller, who shared Snake's dislike of Huey, told him the Battle Gear would be needed and would do well. Snake gave them the okay.

Snake was then given a contract by a platoon leader to eliminate the Melbe Squad, Snake found them and faked their deaths and took them back to Mother Base to have a better life their own headquarters, without being behind a gun.

Venom Snake then went on a mission to rescue the leader of the Melbe Squad Shabani, after infiltrating the Devil House, Snake found test subjects with headphones in their throats and lumps on their chests, similair to those Snake found at the oil field. Snake then found Shabani, who begged Snake to kill him, Skull Face then arrived, after killing a test subject and noticing Snake, he ordered Trji Rebenok and the Man on Fire to kill Snake, they killed Shabani, but Snake managed to escape.

While in the field, Snake got a call from Miller, who informed him that the R&D Platform on Mother Base was being held a PF called Mosquito Stinger Force, who had taken several members of Diamond Dogs hostage and are threatening to kill them if any other Diamond Dogs members attempted to interfere or set foot on the platform.

Snake, making his way to the top of the R&D Platform, found Mosquito. Once Snake had defeated Mosquito, Miller announced over a speaker to the PF that their leader was defeated and that they should lower their weapons and they would not be harmed.

Miller later informed Snake that Mosquito was a former member of the Militaires Sans Frontières, and that he had survived the attack on Mother Base. He was lead to believe that Big Boss himself was responsible for the attack, as a result he created his own PF and modeled it after the original MSF in order to get revenge on Big Boss. Mosquito then became a member of Diamond Dogs.

Snake later encountered "The White Mamba" whose real name was Eli, who harboured a huge hatred and resentment for Snake, who managed to defeat him using CQC, brought him back to Mother Base where Snake reprimanded him for his ruthlessness and told him once he has learnt howto use his head he would be allowed to leave Mother Base.

A Diamond Dog soldier was seen running away with fear, trying to get away from Quiet who gave him a deadly stare. Quiet incapacitated the soldiers who got in her way and proceeded to trying to shove a knife down the soldier's throat, taking out his front teeth in the process, Snake then used CQC to disarm her and held her in a restraining position. With the help of the other soldiers and Ocelot, they managed to sedate her. The wounded soldier was taken by the other soldiers to get treatment. Snake assumed that it was because of how they had treated her with him telling Ocelot to tighten security on her cell, for if it happened a second time, there would not be a third.

Ocelot informed Snake that there is some kind of epidemic on Mother Base which has infected members of Diamond Dogs and that those that have become symptomatic have died shortly after, including the soldier Quiet attacked, now knowing Quiet's reasons for the assault. With no way of telling who is infected in the early stages of the disease, Ocelot told Snake that he has created a Quarantine Zone and that the Zone is on the iDroid, he told Snake to identify those who are infected and place them in the Quarantine Zone, due to the infection they could not fire staff members. Snake eventually figured out that all those infected all have one common denominator: they all speak the language Kikongo. Snake not knowing why, but knowing that it is connected placed all those who speak Kiknogo into the Quarantine Zone, saving those who are not infected and buying the infected members more time.

Needing to find out what the root cause is for the epidemic at Mother Base, Snake was tasked with rescuing a member of the Intel Team before he is killed, both to save him and to find out the cause of the disease so it will lead to a cure.

Searching Ditadi Abandoned Village Snake found the member of the Intel Team and brought him back to Mother Base. The member that Snake rescued referred to the disease as "the pathogen" and mentioned "the old man who knows how to treat it" whose name he gave as "Code Talker" and gave his location.

Snake then went on a mission to find Code Talker, who researched the Vocal cord parasite and was forced to work for Skull Face, was being held captive at a mansion in Central Africa, Snake was sent to rescue him. On his way there, a thick blanket of mist soon rolls in and the Parasite Unit appeared. This time, however, it was a different unit consisting of female snipers. Despite this, they still possessed the superhuman abilities of the original unit.

After dealing with the barrages of sniper fire, he eventually resurfaced at the heavily guarded mansion. He broke into the basement and found Code Talker, who explained about the vocal cord parasites and how they infect and kill the host, he offered Snake a herb which halts the parasites, he then went on to explain how Skull Face stole his research and Kaz relised that Skull Face plans to wipe out all languages from Earth.

After getting out of the mansion with Code Talker, they escaped in a helicopter. Code Talker then revealed that that the Wolbacia can halt the parasites, however the price is that the host will be rendered infertile. Snake then explained that they captured a truck of cargo full of yellowcake, with Code Talker asking what became of it and the metallic archaea. Suddenly, the Parasite Unit's signature mist consumed the area. A cloud of corrosive metallic archaea appeared in front of the chopper just as it flew through, causing the windows to explode, killing Pequod in a barrage of jagged glass. As a result, the chopper crashed.

The ravaged chopper crashed in the Nova Braga Airport, where Snake and the unconscious Code Talker fortunately survived. However, as Snake crawled out of the wreckage, he realized that he was surrounded by the Parasite Unit, and the mist made it so calling another chopper was impossible. This forced him to fight them. After a grueling battle, the mist cleared and Code Talker and Snake were picked up by another chopper.

On the way back to Mother Base, Code Talker explained how five years prior in 1979 Skull Face did a detonation test to see if he can disable a nuke, Code Talker said that Skull Face plans to distribute nukes all around the globe along with the Walker Gears, however Skull Face will retain control of the nukes, with Snake and Ocelot realizing that is why they needed Huey and that the superpowers will be irrelevant.

The aftermath of these events had Code Talker recruited into Mother Base as a scientist, where he revealed almost everything about the parasites such as their properties. He provided the wolbacia which saved the infected Diamond Dogs soldiers, at the cost of being infertile.

Kaz and Ocelot then interrogated Huey who gave up the location as OKB Zero, in a lab built by The Russian Philosophers. Before leaving for OKB Zero, Kaz informed Snake that Skull Face has killed the Soviet soldiers at OKB Zero by using the vocal cord parasites, Kaz then told Snake to wipe Skull Face out, Snake told Kaz he will need back up, Kaz told him that they will meet up at OKB Zero.

During the climactic confrontation between Venom Snake and Skull Face's forces in the Metal Gear hangar bay, Skull Face revealed the true nature of the "Man on Fire" and had ordered Tretij Rebenok to pit him against Venom Snake one final time. Unbeknownst to either Venom Snake or Skull Face, Tretij Rebenok found himself favoring Eli's intense hatred over Skull Face or Volgin's, allowing himself to be used as a conduit in order to hijack Metal Gear Sahelanthropus for Eli. As Sahelanthropus' loading platform rolled forwards Eli had Volgin walk into the wheels, crushing himself. In the ensuing confusion, the XOF forces pulled away Skull Face from the area, as Sahelanthropus gave chase towards Venom Snake. The Eli-controlled Metal Gear chased down Venom Snake, but was stopped by a narrow gap in the canyon it was running in, forcing Eli to switch the Metal Gear into its upright configuration, in which he caused further mayhem on XOF's personnel and military vehicles.

As Venom Snake hid from the Metal Gear, he witnessed Sahelanthropus attacking Skull Face, resulting in the latter being trapped under a downed communications tower and be mortally wounded. Eli would then focus his efforts on attempting to kill Venom Snake by using the Metal Gear, pursuing him as Snake attempted to escape in a leftover XOF vehicle. Driving off on the XOF jeep, Venom Snake was halted by Sahelanthropus which greatly damaged the vehicle using its nano-fiber sword. Venom Snake momentarily lost consciousness and upon waking up he was confronted by Sahelanthropus which had been waiting for him to wake up. The two engaged in battle, with Sahelanthropus continuously attacking Snake through Tretij Rebenok's control and under Eli's influence. After a prolonged battle, Venom Snake was able to incapacitate the Metal Gear, thus removing Eli's control over it. Miller then landed the helicopter to pick up Venom Snake and the two decide to head back to the Serak Power Plant and finally exact their revenge on Skull Face. Landing the helicopter down, Venom Snake and Miller found Skull Face mortally wounded and trapped under scaffolding. Venom Snake then questioned the whereabouts of the third parasite vial, to which Skull Face replied as being close to him. Destroying the two parasite vials (though the second one being retrieved by Tretij Rebenok, unbeknownst to Snake), Venom Snake picked up Skull Face's rifle and aimed the gun as Skull Face begged to be killed.

After shooting off Skull Face's right arm and leg, mirroring injuries sustained by Miller when he was originally captured by XOF, Venom Snake and Miller left him to die, only for Huey Emmerich to arrive from the Diamond Dogs helicopter and finish him off himself. Returning to Mother Base, Venom Snake had Sahelanthropus placed on the R&D platform as a sign of their triumph over XOF.

Snake later encountered what appeared to be Paz inside one of the buildings of the Medical Platform on Mother Base. Miller and Ocelot would elaborate that Paz seemingly gained amnesia due to trauma. Snake would later embark on various missions to capture and recruit wandering soldiers that hailed from the original MSF Mother Base. This resulted in him finding old memento photos based on Paz's respective joyful experiences on Mother Base, and in turn, he would give these photos to the amnesiac Paz as means of helping her regain her memories. After collecting all the memento photos, Snake visited her again, only to find that she was suddenly in a panic. Paz explained that there was still a bomb inside of her, then slowly pulled out the bomb from her stomach. The bomb then exploded and Snake was seemingly caught in the blast only to find himself waking up unharmed. The "hospital room" was revealed to have actually been under construction and only consisted of a metal floor. A butterfly passed by him but it mysteriously vanished when he grabbed it and opened his hand. Having realized that Paz had truly passed away many years ago, Venom Snake finally came to terms with her death. It was heavily implied that what Snake witnessed was a phantom of Paz, and that he had experienced an elaborate and vivid hallucination (Miller and Ocelot did not really appear either) due to his grief over losing Paz (as his direct failure, not noticing the second bomb while reaching inside of her); in which it was akin to the feeling of a phantom pain.

A second outbreak of the vocal cord parasite, which has mutated to the point that the Wolbachia would not stopped them from copulating. Unable to allow the infected members to leave and get outside, Snake was forced to kill them all, with a group of them saluting him and humming to a familiar theme as they allowed their Boss to mercy kill them. During the funeral, Snake decided not to bury them at sea and decided to make diamonds from their ashes to carry them into battle.

With newfound evidence by Miller and Ocelot, Snake was quickly notified of Emmerich's trial based on his alleged crimes against Mother Base. Specifically, his collaboration with Eli, the Wolbachia mutation and second outbreak on Mother Base, and finally, the murder of Strangelove. Though Miller insisted on sentencing Emmerich to death, Snake decidedly spared him and later exiled Emmerich.

After the mutation of the Vocal Cord Parasite, Quiet left Mother Base and was captured by Soviet soldiers in Afghanistan. After reuniting with her and, working together to defeating Soviet reinforcement, Quiet was forced to speak English after Snake was bitten by, ironically, a snake. After that Quiet left Mother Base and Snake to avoid spreading the infection, leaving a cassette tape behind for Snake to find.

Some time later, Venom Snake would receive a cassette tape labelled "From the Man Who Sold the World" from the real Big Boss which contained the following:

"Now do you remember? Who you are? What you were meant to do? I cheated death, thanks to you. And thanks to you I've left my mark. You have too – you've written your own history. You’re your own man. I'm Big Boss, and you are too… No… He’s the two of us. Together. Where we are today? We built it. This story – this “legend” – it’s ours. We can change the world – and with it, the future. I am you, and you are me. Carry that with you, wherever you go. Thank you... my friend. From here on out, you’re Big Boss."

Venom Snake, despite now knowing the truth, decided to keep up the ruse. Diamond Dogs itself was a smoke screen to place all focus on Venom Snake while the real Big Boss could lay the ground work for Outer Heaven, his own nation.

Sometime later, the Diamond Dogs pilot who was forced too fly Eli, Treji Rebenok, and the other child soldiers off of Mother Base was finally recovered about fifty miles inland to Africa from the Seychelles waters. He explained that shortly after departing Mother Base, the levitating Sahelanthropus and the helicopter of the children split up and began to head in different directions, the helicopter making a forced landing in East Africa after running out of fuel. The pilot had been left alive on purpose, albeit trapped inside the chopper and near death from dehydration when rescued, to call Snake and Diamond Dogs out to settle their conflict. Due to Cipher hunting Eli as well, and Eli possessing the last sample of the English strain of vocal cord parasites, and if it began to spread the world would fall into chaos. it was important that Snake go to Eli first.

The Intel Team found out where Eli, his boys, and Sahelanthropus had gone - an island in a large salt lake in Central Africa. Eli presented that they had one demand in exchange for Sahelanthropus and its nuke - the body of "Big Boss".

When Venom Snake arrived on the island he found that XOF troops had already begun a strike operation to kill Eli and take Sahelanthropus back. Many of them had been killed by cruel booby traps set by Eli's boys, but a good number of them had survived. Snake made his way to the center of the island, where he found Eli resting in Sahelanthropus' cockpit among the child soldiers. However, a platoon of XOF soldiers had beaten him there, opening fire on Eli. Their weapons were rendered useless by Tretij Rebenok's psychokinesis. Eli activated Sahelanthropus and began killing the soldiers, eventually discovering Snake hiding from the attack. He stopped his onslaught momentarily to speak with Snake and declare that he was going to get his revenge, and the two then began their battle.

Their battle came to a close when Sahleanthropus' torso was blown in half at the waist, causing it to shut down and become inoperable, Eli and Tretij Rebenok having been finally defeated. As Eli emerged from the cockpit he was approached by a squadron of XOF soldiers ready to kill him. Snake sprung a surprise attack and killed the assassins, but back up quickly arrived. After a grenade went off in close proximity to Snake, his "horn" suffered damage and triggered a seizure in his brain, affecting his vision and making him unable to differentiate between red and white. He moved back in to attack, but due to his temporary colorblindness Eli's red pilot suit appeared similar to XOF's white suits and Snake accidentally shot Eli. Snake ran to Eli's motionless body to mourn his mistake.

It was discovered Eli hadn't died, as he had donned a bulletproof vest at some point in time before the attack. Venom Snake ordered that he be returned to Mother Base to be patched up, but Eli suddenly began showing symptoms of the English vocal cord parasite's effects. Eli expressed his hatred for Snake and Cipher, claiming the someday he would destroy Big Boss, believing Venom Snake to be his father. With the island completed contaminated by the vocal cord parasites, Ocelot ordered the entire island to be hit with a napalm strike to burn every last thing on it. As Diamond Dogs and the salvaged remains of Sahelanthropus began to move out, Snake gave Eli a pistol with one shot in it, leaving it up to him what to do. On board the Diamond Dogs helicopter, Venom Snake stared at his reflection in the glass of a window, seeing nothing but a demon once again.

After Outer Heaven's construction had been completed, Big Boss's reputation as a mercenary had travelled far and wide thanks to the activities of Venom Snake. While he knew that mercenaries around the world would eventually rally to his cause, he knew that it would also bring the attention of government agencies that would grow suspicious of his activities. Needing to keep attention away from Outer Heaven, Big Boss himself decided to return to the U.S. to rejoin FOXHOUND as its commander.

In 1995, Venom Snake received another cassette tape from Big Boss, this time explaining his final mission as part of Operation Intrude N313. Venom Snake followed his orders and began an uprising within Outer Heaven to bring chaos to the Patriots, who had been growing without control in spite of their leader Zero falling into a vegetative state. Venom Snake managed to capture the first FOXHOUND operative sent by Big Boss, codenamed Gray Fox.

Big Boss then sent his least experienced agent, a rookie codenamed Solid Snake, who happened to be Big Boss's cloned son, with the objective of rescuing Fox and destroying TX-55 Metal Gear. Solid Snake rescued Fox and destroyed the weapon.

After Solid Snake destroyed TX-55 Metal Gear, Outer Heaven's self destruct was activated, presumably by Venom Snake, his mission completed and not much time left until the fortress was destroyed, Solid Snake then made his escape from the doomed fortress.

Venom Snake intervened and revealed himself ,blocking Solid Snake's escape. Identifying himself as Big Boss, Venom Snake told Solid Snake was only meant to get false information, but he was too good, he then said that he will not die alone and that hell take Solid Snake with him. The two then fought, with Venom Snake despite his age proved to be fast and dangerous, despite this Solid Snake was victorious, killing Venom Snake.

With his fellow Big Boss and best man dead, Outer Heaven destroyed and his plans destroyed the real Big Boss left FOXHOUND and used Venom Snake's death to fake his own death before going into hiding. Three years later, Big Boss would establish Zanzibar Land with the remnants of Outer Heaven, which would eventually lead up to the Zanzibar Land Disturbance four years later, in an attempt to rebuild his military nation, his and Venom Snake's work.

Codenames and aliases
The codename "Venom Snake" is a reference to the "demon" inside Snake and the anger, hatred but most of all pain that he feels as a result of the destruction of Militaires Sans Frontières and the original Mother Base. Although not a codename, Venom Snake was referred to as "V" briefly when Venom Snake woke up from the hospital in 1984 as part the codeword "V has come to" to let those in the know that Venom Snake has woken up.

The title of "Big Boss" was awarded to Venom Snake's former commander, Naked Snake following Operation Snake Eater, being regarded as "above even The Boss" after his defeat of the former legendary soldier. Due to Venom Snake being Big Boss body double, Venom Snake shared the title of "Big Boss" with his former commander from 1984 up to his death in 1995. It was not just because Venom Snake was the body double, but due to the fact Venom Snake ,along with Naked Snake, built the legend of Big Boss. By 1995, Venom Snake, would just go by the title Big Boss.

While not his most formal codename like Venom Snake and Big Boss, he was also known as Ahab, which comes from the central character from the novel Moby-Dick.

Ocelot and Big Boss himself referred to Venom Snake as Big Boss's Phantom or simply The Phantom, which is a reference to the fact that Venom Snake is a body double of Big Boss and that Venom Snake is Big Boss as well.

Personality and traits
Unlike Big Boss, Venom Snake was far more reserved in his speech and absent of the wit exhibited by Big Boss. He rarely retorted or commented against his enemies, and most of his reactions were inferred through obvious body language. During the medic's days in MSF, Big Boss considered him the group's "best man." While impersonating Big Boss as Venom Snake, he adopted much of his commander's personality and possessed a similar physical appearance, having undergone hypnotherapy and plastic surgery. Following his escape from a Cypriot hospital and recovery from muscle atrophy, Venom Snake gained muscle mass similar to that of Big Boss. As a result of wounds suffered during the destruction of MSF, Venom Snake had a piece of shrapnel embedded in his forehead in the shape of a horn, and also lost his right eye and left arm. He was later given a cybernetic prosthetic in place of his missing left arm.

Like his mental and physical template, Venom Snake did show compassion for his enemies as he chose not to kill Quiet or Huey and instead had the former imprisoned and the latter exiled with food and water. He would even develop a strong bond of mutual respect with Quiet. Though he and Big Boss shared similarities in their compassion over enemies, Venom Snake differed from Big Boss with respect to Paz; in which Venom Snake notably viewed Paz in a more positive light. Being formerly an MSF soldier himself, he sympathized with her and it was implied that he held a fondness for her peaceful personality. He felt guilt and grief over her death to the point of experiencing hallucinatory scenarios where he had meetings with a phantom of Paz. This was markedly different from Big Boss's view of Paz, who greatly recognized her traitorous role towards MSF, in which he was even willing to kill her to avoid having her give away intelligence regarding MSF.

Venom Snake appeared to have had a code in which comrades should not draw weapons on each other, as he regarded Diamond Dogs his family, as he said this to a Diamond Dog soldier who was about to attack a fellow Diamond Dogs member with a knife and to Eli after dislocating his arm when the latter attempted to stab him. Snake was forced to break this code himself when he had no choice but to kill all the Diamond Dogs soldiers infected with the vocal cord parasites because of Huey's actions.

Although not sadistic, and not vengeful to the same degree as Miller, Snake did display a vengeful and angry side when he mutilated Skull Face by blowing his left leg and right arm off and decided to leave Skull Face to die slowly and painfully.

Venom Snake was very skilled in using weapons and CQC which he was skilled in using during his previous life as the field medic even before he became Big Boss, they latter he presumingly learnt from his template, Big Boss himself.

Like his template Big Boss and his killer Solid Snake, Venom Snake had a habit of repeating words that someone said in a questioning tone, as he did when Ocelot told him that Kaz was being held prisoner in the war torn Afghanistan.

Venom Snake appeared to suffer from a form of amnesia (or more accurately, the memory transfer was not completed), as both Miller and Ocelot had to remind him of certain events, such as how the real Big Boss had led Militaires Sans Frontières and how Miller helped him lead "his" old unit. He also did not possess Big Boss's fluency in Russian, relying instead on a translator. Despite this, however, he did seem to remember events from the Peace Walker Incident, such as the prototype Battle Gear's similarity to Metal Gear ZEKE giving him déjà vu, and his quoting of Hot Coldman regarding the ineffectiveness of nuclear deterrence. Ocelot stated that his amnesia might have to do with the shrapnel in his forehead, while on the Truth tapes, it's because they had to cut the memory transfer as XOF was set to attack ahead of schedule.

Big Boss
Venom Snake was regarded as the best man in MSF by Big Boss, who viewed him as a friend. Venom Snake saved Big Boss's life by taking the full force of the explosion in 1975, after jumping in between the explosion and Big Boss, showing unwavering dedication and loyalty to his commander.

Big Boss expressed reluctance to the idea of using Venom Snake as a decoy for him, he was later convinced being told Venom would have wanted to act as a decoy for him.

While the relationship between the two was never provided with much insight, it appears the two respected enough to have several photos with each other. Big Boss later called Venom a friend in the cassette tape addressed to him as well as thanking him for his role in leaving his mark as Big Boss, a title that they both share, as the two of the make the legend. Venom's loyalty towards Big Boss appeared unchanged as he continued the ruse of acting as a decoy for Big Boss after regaining his memories and being informed of his role as a decoy. Venom Snake would continue to go by his shared name "Big Boss" and follow his commander and friend until his death.

Kazuhira Miller
Miller at first appeared to friendly with Venom Snake, fully believing that he was his old partner Big Boss upon his rescue from Afghanistan. However, as time went on distance increased between the two, with events such as the sparing of both Quiet and Huey's lives broadening the gap. Ocelot's inclusion in the Diamond Dogs also irritated Kaz, as he now had gained competition for Venom's favor. Kaz continued to support Venom until the truth was revealed to him by Ocelot, upon which Kaz was disgusted and enraged at being kept in the dark. He began to resent both Venom Snake and the real Big Boss, abruptly leaving Diamond Dogs and deciding that he would devote his life to assisting David and Eli in destroying Venom and their father. However, he nonetheless stated he would support Venom Snake, although solely because he wanted him to surpass Big Boss so he could have the latter sent to hell as revenge.

Ocelot
Ocelot treated Venom Snake as a friend, and actually believed he was the real Big Boss due to hypnotherapy. He often acted as a voice of reason within Diamond Dogs and still harbored a bit of an obsession with his "Big Boss". Venom Snake tend to favor Ocelot's voice and opinion over Kaz like using Huey's Walker Gear and sparing Quiet, much to Kaz's annoyance. Ocelot ,when the hypnotherapy wore off, acknowledged Venom Snake as Big Boss as well as Naked Snake, and that he would follow both of them and their revolutions.

Quiet
Although they first met as part of a violent assassination, Venom Snake and Quiet were shown to have an intense mutual respect for each other after Snake spared her life upon her defeat. Both being at least somewhat laconic, the two managed to understand each other very deeply and could relate to one another. Quiet later regretted not expressing her romantic feelings for him and abandoning him for his own safety. It is unknown if Venom Snake reciprocated these feelings.

Code Talker
Venom Snake met Code Talker when he needed his help to defeat the vocal cord parasites, they both worked together as they shared a hatred for an enemy who was Skull Face. Though the two do not know each other that well, they seemed to respect and trust each other, despite the fact that Venom Snake's American people oppressed Code Talker's people the Navajo. Code Talker's knowledge of the vocal cord parasites proved to be invaluable to Venom Snake.

Huey Emmerich
Due to his hypnotherapy, Venom Snake harbored similar feelings towards Huey as Big Boss did. Venom didn't trust Huey at all, recognizing that he was the cause of the destruction of Mother Base. He was often disgusted and annoyed by Huey's immature and cowardly attitude towards the world, but decided to put up with it. In a tape of them talking, when Huey expressed shock at Dr Clark's work, venom Snake said that it was rich coming from him. From the surface Huey seemed to respect Venom, believing he was Big Boss after all, but also feared him greatly and tried to stay on his good side. Venom did give him a second chance with his inclusion in Diamond Dogs and the construction of Battle Gear, but in the end found himself betrayed by the scientist once again. Upon being forced to execute many Diamond Dogs soldiers because of Huey's testing on the vocal cord parasites, Venom Snake hated him even more. However, he managed to bridle his anger and act reasonably, banishing Huey from Mother Base on a life raft with food and water instead of simply killing him in revenge. From Venom's point of view, he was just glad to have him gone.

Skull Face
Like Big Boss, Venom Snake knew very little of XOF and Skull Face, seeing them as more pawns of Cipher. Although he rarely showed it, he burned for revenge on Skull Face as Kaz did, instead acting in a very calm and disturbed coldness around his foe. He never personally engaged in conversation with Skull Face, listening to Skull Face's words as he formulated his next strike for revenge. Oddly, he also seemed to have some degree of tolerance for the XOF commander, patiently listening to Skull Face's monologue on the trip from OKB Zero to Serak Power Plant in silence. Like everyone else, Skull Face saw Venom as Big Boss and treated him thusly, often taunting him and gloating to make himself feel superior. He remained bitter towards Big Boss for his involvement in Operation Snake Eater and their roles on opposite sides of the same coin, taking these negative emotions out on Venom, as he was unaware of his true identity. In the end Venom and Kaz did end up exacting their revenge on Skull Face, but it was a hollow bout of revenge that continued to leave him with a lasting phantom pain. Upon returning to Mother Base with Sahelanthropus he saw a vision of Skull Face, foreshadowing his eventual transformation into a demon.

Eli
Due to the hypnotherapy, both Venom Snake and Eli believed that Venom Snake was the original Big Boss and Eli's father. Because of this Eli harboured a huge hatred and resentment and hatred for Venom Snake, so great that it was even stronger then Skull Face and Volgin's hatred, that he tried to kill Venom Snake on multiple occasions. Venom Snake displayed a calm and tolerance for Eli, but he did not underestimate Eli's skills and violent tendencies.

Behind the scenes
Punished "Venom" Snake appears as a supporting character in Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, as the main protagonist of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and the secondary antagonist and final boss of Metal Gear. Although he is never called "Punished" in The Phantom Pain, it appears in the opening and end credits of nearly every main mission in the game.

Venom Snake first appears as an unidentified field medic during the closing cutscenes of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes. Because of the cinematic angles, there is never a clear view of the medic's face, although his character model can briefly be glimpsed as possessing white skin and brown hair. The full character model was discovered in the PC version through the use of mods, with the facial model and textures for the medic sharing identical scars to those of Big Boss. Despite this predetermined, albeit obscured, appearance in Ground Zeroes, Venom Snake's name and facial features prior to surgery is chosen by the player in The Phantom Pain. In the cutscene showing a flashback to the events of Ground Zeroes, before the final twist is revealed, the medic is instead shown wearing a balaclava.

It is heavily implied in The Phantom Pain that Venom Snake himself (and his nondescript identity as a medic) serves as a deliberate player avatar, due to his original appearance being reliant on the player's decisions.

On the Command Center menu, if the player looks closely at Venom Snake's reflection, it shows the avatar the player created, hinting at the plot-twist of Venom Snake not being Big Boss. Also, a pair of white gloves can be seen hanging in the cabin of the ACC. These gloves bear a strong resemblance to those worn by the Medic during the scene in Ground Zeroes where he operates on Paz. In addition, a leaked Italian version of the Piggyback game guide for The Phantom Pain strongly implied Venom Snake's true identity is separate from Big Boss, although they never explicitly confirmed it due to Konami and at that time Kojima Productions specifically forbade them from giving any statements about Ishmael's identity. The GDC 2013 reveal trailer for The Phantom Pain had first hinted at his existence when Miller, after learning about Big Boss falling into a coma, asks "What about him?" before the scene cut away.

The plot twist of Venom Snake not truly being Big Boss is hinted at multiple times throughout the game. Ishmael told him that he was "looking at himself" after Venom Snake had asked Ishmael who he was. When Venom Snake meets The Boss AI and Huey, the AI states, "You're not Snake, are you?", and Huey notices a difference between the two. Another hint is Ocelot explaining that Eli was not Venom Snake's clone, and that the genetic examination of the two did not match.

The ending timeline of The Phantom Pain establishes Venom Snake as the final boss of the original Metal Gear, fulfilling his role as a "phantom" of Big Boss via a retcon. As such, his character sprite does not show an apparent prosthetic arm or cranial horn.

Whatever day and month the player puts as their birthday, if they play Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain on that date, Kaz will ask you to return to Mother Base and he and Ocelot and whoever has been rescued to that point will celebrate your birthday.

If Snake runs low on GMP, he will be forced to return to base due to morale having fallen to such an extent that at least two personnel had gotten into a particularly violent brawl amongst each other, resulting in Snake breaking up the fight and even forcing one of the soldiers to stab him when he attempted to draw a weapon on the other soldier he restrained, also suggesting to Ocelot that they need a job to do to get them focused on something other than their tenuous relationship with other personnel. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015). Pequod's chopper arrives at the landing pad and Venom Snake disembarks only to see a crowd present at the base and arrives to observe, with it cutting to a fight between two Diamond Dogs members // Diamond Dogs member 1: Son of a... // ''The soldier shoves the other DD member, only to be socked in the face in return as Venom Snake walks up. The soldiers then exchange blows, only for the second soldier to kick the first soldier in the gut. Two soldiers attempt to restrain them, only for the soldiers to knock them away and rush at each other. They then grapple each other and are in a lock, only for the second soldier to be kneed in the face and punched by the first soldier'' // Diamond Dogs member 1: Bring it on! // Diamond Dogs member 2: Get off me! (Socks the first soldier in the face and then kicks him upside the head just as he turns around) // ''The second soldier then draws a knife and raises it up high, as the crowd cheers him on. As the soldier is about to make the killing blow, Venom Snake suddenly tackles the soldier, forcibly disarms the knife, knocks down the first soldier, then throws the second soldier away. The first soldier then draws his knife and attempts to go at the downed second soldier only to be stopped by Venom Snake via the latter grabbing his knife arm'' // Diamond Dogs member 1: Boss! // Venom Snake: We don't draw weapons on comrades. (the soldier struggles) Look around you. This is your family. // (Snake then forces the unwilling soldier to stab him through the chest and then releases him, the soldier landing on his back as the crowd looks on in shock at what happened). // Ocelot: Show is over! Get out of here! // ''Ocelot arrives just as the soldiers do as they are told and leave the area. Snake then gets up and attempts to remove the knife himself, only for Ocelot to nonverbally suggest against it and request removing it for him.'' // Snake: Be gentle. // Ocelot: Of course. (Ocelot then proceeds to remove the knife swiftly yet gently.) // Ocelot: These [knife] are bad for you, you know. // Snake: (looking to the soldiers who were fighting amongst each other) Morale has fallen. // The two soldiers stand at attention // Ocelot: They just need a mission. Orders to follow. If you see someone stuck in the Waiting Room, you give 'em a job to do. (Turns to the soldiers) You two! (motioning the knife) You just earned yourselves a week in the brig with deck-cleaning duty by day. // Snake: (grabs Ocelot's knife hand) No. Wait. (Grabs the knife from Ocelot) You've got some blood to pay me back for first. Your CQC is sloppy - Come see me later for a lesson you won't forget. (wipes blood off the blade via his thigh before handing it back to the first DD soldier. The soldiers then salute and walk off). // Ocelot: Well morale taken care of. (Ocelot walks off)

Venom Snake's alias as Ahab is a reference to the central character from the novel Moby-Dick; the same way that Big Boss's adopted identity as Ishmael is also derived from the main character of the novel.

Venom Snake being made to believe he is Big Boss via hypnotherapy is similar to Ocelot being led to believe he was Liquid.

According to Hideo Kojima's notes in the Piggyback Collector's Edition Guide's art gallery, Venom Snake (or rather, Big Boss as he is identified in the notes) losing his arm was decided early on in the project, and also implied that he was supposed to lose two fingers from his right hand as well. He also mentioned that the powerful prosthetic arm was implemented to allow players to appreciate the full intended experience, as while Snake could technically still wield weapons, it would have made it difficult to appreciate such.

Although the Truth ending reveals that Venom Snake is not Big Boss, his exact reaction to learning of this revelation is left ambiguous, as he briefly demonstrates a smirk as if accepting and embracing the role. After he flips the tape "From Man Who Sold the World", he sees Operation Intrude N313, which is the name of the mission in the original Metal Gear. In the next scene, Venom Snake sees himself in the mirror with a bloody face and larger horn, before punching the mirror. The exact time frame is deliberately vague, and Venom Snake disappears into the fog after smashing the mirror.

Overall, Venom Snake is the sixth canonical Snake in the Metal Gear series. Venom Snake is also the second playable character whose true role is revealed via a plot twist, similar to Raiden in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.

Similar to Big Boss in Peace Walker, his stats are not accessible on the Mother Base staff menu. They are instead accessible when selecting a playable soldier for a mission or FOB event. As such, he also doesn't have his own iDroid image.

As revealed on his passport that Big Boss used, Venom Snake was born in California, and is 52 years old.

Besides his appearance in the main game, he is also playable in the third iteration of Metal Gear Online in two ways: First, as the player avatar the player created for themselves at the beginning of the game (confirmed in the truth mission to be Venom Snake's pre-surgery identity), and second, as Venom Snake himself post-surgery as a bonus character.

Canonically, Venom Snake is the first Snake to die in the.

Appearances

 * Metal Gear 
 * Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
 * Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain