The End

The End (ジ・エンド) appears in the game Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. He is the "Ancient Sniper" of the Cobra Unit.

Born in the early 1860s, The End is over 100 years old during the events of the game, set in 1964. He is a veteran of countless wars, and is considered to be the world's greatest sniper, as he originated all sniping techniques and is known as "the father of modern sniping".. He is said to never require a spotter, and can stay in the same prone sniping position without moving for days or even weeks at a time. This is partially because he is an apparent autotroph - the energy provided by the photosynthetic moss that grows inside and outside of his body lets him go long periods without food or water. The End also wears false teeth and has the ability to bulge his eyes out of their sockets.

Battle with Snake
As with the other members of the Cobra unit, his codename signifies the emotion he feels while on the battlefield, in his case, total oblivion, blocking out everything except his targets. Because he is very old and incredibly close to death, he will often fall asleep during a battle. His closest companion, a parrot, will, in this case, wake him up. The parrot acts as The End's spotter. By killing it, The End finds it much more difficult to track Snake's movements. However, this makes him become more aggressive.

The End is also an expert on camouflage. His uniform is a soviet standard sniper ghillie suit (a.k.a. a Leshij Suit, which he most probably made himself), and the sniping positions he chooses conceal him well. When in a prone position, he becomes "one" with the area - his body temperature lowers so that it is close to that of the surrounding foliage. This makes spotting him with thermal goggles difficult. Additionally, when The End's stamina drops dangerously low, he will call forth the sun's rays and recover half his stamina quickly.

He is armed with a modified Mosin-Nagant sniper rifle that fires tranquilizer rounds. He also uses stun grenades when Snake gets too close to him. If Snake's stamina depletes in the course of battle, a cutscene will play where Snake slowly succumbs to the effect of the tranquilizer. Snake then wakes up in the opened jail cell of Graniny Gorki.

The End battles Naked Snake in a long sniper duel in an area spanning three "zones"--Sokrovenno South, West, and North. It is a thick forest, divided into a river, a plateau, and a clearing.

Eventually, Snake defeats The End. Before he dies, he gives a speech saying thanks to the forest for giving him the strength for his 'final hunt'. Before activating his micro-bomb, he says, "I can return to the forest at last" and that he has no regrets.

Alternatives to Battling The End
Alternatively, The End can be killed on the Warehouse Docks after you exit the cave where you battle The Pain. He can be killed with one shot to the head from the SVD sniper rifle if you are fast enough. In order to do so, you must make a detour to the left on the river before reaching the main route. There are only two guards to look out for, and the SVD is in the weapons shed to the right of the map. Have it out as the main weapon and enter the northern area. After the cutscene, take it out and aim for The End who should be directly in front of you without looking for him. If you successfully hit and kill him, he will groan "The End..." and explode, sending one of the wheels of his wheelchair off into the distance. If you don't move, Snake will be directly hit by the wheel. The guards in the area also go into an immediate Caution status. If you miss, a red "!" will appear above The End's head, and he will quickly wheel himself offscreen.

Another more interesting way to kill him, if you can call it killing him, is to reach The End, save the game, then turn the game off. When you turn it back on, change the time on the system 7+ days after the time you encountered him. When you load the saved game, there will be a cutscene where Snake sneaks up from behind him and learns that The End died from old age. If the game is saved and loaded before seven days have passed, Snake will wake up only to be shot from behind by The End. Snake will then wake up inside the open jail cell in Graniny Gorki. The End also remarks on this, saying if Snake had not reached him in time, his sleep would have been "eternal", hinting that his extreme age would kill him before Snake could defeat him.

Trivia

 * His sniper suit isn't really a Ghillie, it's a Leshij. The Leshij suit is actually a sniper suit used by Soviet (and now Russian) snipers;
 * The Leshij suit is made by the sniper himself by utilizing the foliage and vegetation surrounding him. Therefore, it can be argued that The End made his own Leshij;
 * A Russian folklore figure is also known as the Leshij, a woodland god of sorts,also called "the Old Man of the Forest" in folklore;
 * While The End is dying, the foliage on his Leshij shifts from green to orange;
 * Snake fought a similar boss, Jungle Evil, in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. It can be argued that this character served as the inspiration for The End;
 * The End was named the fourth greatest boss of all time by Electronic Gaming Monthly in their 196th issue.