The End

The End was the "Ancient Sniper" of the Cobra Unit; he was over 100 years old when he was defeated by Naked Snake in 1964.

Early life and career
Born in the early 1860s, The End was a veteran of countless wars, and was considered to be the world's greatest sniper, having originated all sniping techniques and was known as "the father of modern sniping." He was said to never require a spotter, and could stay in the same prone sniping position without moving for days or even weeks at a time. This was partially because he was an apparent autotroph – the energy provided by the photosynthetic moss that grows inside and outside of his body which let him go long periods without food or water. The End also wore false teeth and had the ability to bulge his eyes out of their sockets. He also had a parrot that usually landed on any part of his body.

As with the other members of the Cobra Unit, his codename signified the emotion he felt while on the battlefield, in his case, total oblivion, blocking out everything except his targets. Because he was very old and incredibly close to death, he would often fall asleep during a battle. His closest companion, a parrot, would wake him up when he fell asleep. The parrot acted as The End's spotter.

The End was also an expert on camouflage. His uniform was a standard sniper ghillie suit with the synthetic moss that added more camouflage to his (which he most probably made himself), and the sniping positions he chose to conceal himself well. When in a prone position, he became "one" with the area – his body temperature lowered so that it was close to that of the surrounding foliage. This made spotting him with thermal goggles difficult. Additionally, when The End's stamina dropped dangerously low, he would call forth the sun's rays and recover his stamina quickly.

He was armed with a modified M1891/30 Mosin Nagant sniper rifle that fired special tranquilizer rounds with a very long effective range. Although he could easily have handled a Dragunov SVD sniper rifle, The End probably opted to use the Mosin Nagant instead because of his apparent unwillingness to kill his prey outright. He did this also because tranquilizer rounds drain an enemy's stamina, rather than health. He would also use stun grenades, should an enemy get too close to him, in order to escape and find a new sniping location.

In 1964, during the Virtuous Mission, he was among the other Cobra Unit members on the Hind A who welcomed her back when The Boss defected. A week later, after The Boss gave Volgin the news that The Pain had fallen to Naked Snake, he was carried out by wheelchair fast asleep, because The End, due to his advanced age, was effectively "dead", and thus needed to conserve his remaining life energy until the time came for his battle with Snake. The End then waited in Sokrovenno, although he was asleep when Snake arrived and thus resulting in his parrot waking him. He then prayed to the forest to linger in life for a little longer and grant him enough strength for his final hunt. He also thanked Naked Snake for arriving, as his own sleep would have been eternal if he hadn't shown up, and announced his intention of sending Snake to his ultimate fate, declaring that Snake is fitting for his final hunt. He then battled Naked Snake in a long sniper duel in Sokrovenno, a large forest located in Tselinoyarsk. Eventually, Snake defeated The End. Before he died, he gave a speech saying thanks to the forest for giving him the strength for his "final hunt." Before his microbomb activated, he said, "I can return to the forest at last."

Trivia

 * The End's parrot called him "Grandpa."
 * After absorbing sunlight to revitalize himself, the liver spots on The End's head would disappear.
 * While The End was dying, the foliage on his ghillie suit shifted from green to orange, like dying leaves.

Behind the scenes
The End (ジ・エンド) was developed from the elements of Old Boy, a character who was cut from the final version of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. In both Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, The End is voiced by Grant Albrecht in English and Osamu Saka in Japanese, both of whom also voice the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the latter game. Naked Snake's battle against The End was named the fourth greatest boss fight of all time by Electronic Gaming Monthly in their 196th issue, and was rated #3 in the "Top Ten Video Game Sniper Moments" by Game Informer.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
In Metal Gear Solid 3, the player fights The End in an area spanning three zones – Sokrovenno North, South and West. It is a thick forest, divided into a river, a plateau, and a clearing. He is the only Cobra who will under no circumstances kill Snake, choosing to tranquilize him instead.

The End's tranquilizer rounds will drain Snake's stamina, causing his hands to shake. This effect can be countered with the Animals uniform, which is found in the Chyornaya Peschera Cave after defeating Ocelot in a non-lethal duel. However, Snake will eventually collapse if the dart is not removed from his body or if he does not eat any food. After fainting, The End will carry Snake back to Graniny Gorki.

There are two non-canon ways to defeat The End, without fighting him directly:
 * The player can snipe him immediately after his first appearance at the Ponizovje warehouse. If the player succeeds in killing him, the explosion from his microbomb will send his wheelchair flying towards Snake, so it is advised that player quickly dodge after killing him. The Ocelot unit will be waiting to ambush Snake in Sokrovenno if Snake chooses this. If Snake kills him via this method, Zero and the other support team members will congratulate him for killing him, although Snake will express disappointment in killing him in the manner that he did, as he was hoping that he'd actually face him in battle.
 * Another way is to wait for nature itself to take him. If the player saves their game in the middle of the battle and waits over a week before playing again, The End will have died of old age. The player can also just set their PlayStation 2's internal clock a week ahead to get the same result. Similar to the above, when Naked Snake calls his support team, they will decide that Snake is winner by default, although Snake feels that he had disappointed The End by failing to face him before his death. Also, The End's microbomb will detonate posthumously by his parrot after his demise and the call.

By killing his parrot, The End will find it more difficult to track Snake's movements. However, this will make him enraged and more aggressive.

The End is one of only two bosses in Metal Gear Solid 3 where the player will not receive his camouflage if he is defeated non-lethally (the other is The Sorrow). They will instead receive The End's Mosin Nagant. To receive his Moss camouflage, the player must hold him up several times. It is the only uniform that actually provides a full 100% Camo Index, but only in certain areas of Sokrovenno and Svyatogornyj. However, it can also recover Snake's stamina if he encounters sunlight or other intense illumination sources.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence
In Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, The End makes an appearance in the Secret Theater movie, He's still got it, where he became infatuated with Tatyana (EVA), as she walked by him at the Ponizovje warehouse, "reviving him." He then began stalking her, even tranquilizing Ocelot when he was intimidating her at Groznyj Grad. However, he ended up becoming angered at Naked Snake due to his advancing on her, until his heart finally broke after discovering (while hiding under a tigerskin rug) that EVA had reciprocated Snake's feelings, at the Alaskan retreat. He decided to try and snipe EVA the morning afterwards, while waiting outside of the retreat. However, he became too involved with his monologue and was run over by EVA's motorcycle, causing his microbomb to detonate.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
In Peace Walker, The End makes a vocal cameo in several "Dead Man's Treasure" missions where he "contacts" Big Boss from the grave using the radio frequency 000.00 in front of the ghosts. He can be "encountered" again in Extra Ops [062], where Big Boss "contacts" him, as well as mysteriously supplying him with the Neo-Moss camouflage if Big Boss ranks an A or higher in the mission.

The End is also heavily referenced in the game's audio file conversations, one example being when Big Boss asks if any of the enemy snipers are accompanied by parrots, whilst in another, Big Boss muses as to whether it is possible to photosynthesise with very little foliage.