Vulcan Raven

Vulcan Raven (バルカン・レイブン) was one of the renegade members of FOXHOUND who took over Shadow Moses with the Genome Army. He was a Shaman and was raised in the cold state of Alaska.

Biography
Vulcan Raven was born to Alaskan Indian and Eskimo parents, though he hates the word "Eskimo" used by white men. He has a large tattoo-like raven birthmark across his forehead and was raised as a shaman by his people.

He graduated from the University of Alaska and spent a few more years living in his homeland. He took part in the Eskimo-Indian Olympics, and won many Muk-tuk eating and Ear Pull contests; an event where two opponents pull each other's ear while enduring the harsh cold, intended to test both spiritual and physical strength.

One very cold winter, he decided to walk across the frozen Bering Sea, and managed to reach the USSR. He joined the Spetsnaz unit, Vympel, where he met Revolver Ocelot and Sergei Gurlukovich. After the fall of the Soviet Union, he was demoted along with other Vympel operatives following Boris Yeltsin's coup in 1993. He decided that he would not stay after this, and left Russia to become a mercenary for hire.

Years later he joined Outer Heaven. The destruction of Outer Heaven was Solid Snake's first mission, but Raven and Snake did not meet on this occasion. With Outer Heaven in ruins, Raven, on the recommendations of Revolver Ocelot, joined FOXHOUND.

During his FOXHOUND years, he excelled at using a M61A1 20 mm. multi-turreted machine gun, a machine gun usually mounted on F-16s. He acquired his infamous weapon from a downed vehicle that Colonel Campbell mentioned to Snake at the beginning of his mission.

Eventually, he and the other members of FOXHOUND, Liquid Snake, Revolver Ocelot, Psycho Mantis, Sniper Wolf, and Decoy Octopus, grew tired of their roles as puppets to the government, and attacked Shadow Moses Island.

As Solid Snake travelled across Shadow Moses Island, he encountered an M1 Abrams tank with Raven as its pilot. Snake defeated him by taking down the gunners.

Later in the mission, Snake faced him a second time inside a freezing cold warehouse. Here, Raven fought Snake with his M61 Vulcan cannon, though was ultimately defeated. In his final moments, Raven offered Snake a 'hint', telling him that the DARPA chief whom Snake had met and whom he saw dying, Donald Anderson, was actually Decoy Octopus. He did not explain why or how he was killed, or why he was disguised in the first place, but declared that Snake would always follow a life of bloodshed wherever he went. He also vaguely alluded to the fact that Snake is an artifically conceived clone, stating that he and Liquid "are from another world", one which he didn't wish to see.

"The path you walk on has no end. Each step you take is paved with the corpses of your enemies... Their souls will haunt you forever... you shall have no peace... Hear me, Snake! My spirit will be watching you!"

- Vulcan Raven to Solid Snake

As he made this declaration, he was eaten alive by his own ravens so that he could be "one with them" and told Snake his spirit would be watching him.

Behind the Scenes

 * After Decoy Octopus succumbed to FOXDIE, Vulcan Raven retrieved his corpse.
 * A McFarlane action figure of Vulcan Raven appears in the Tanker chapter of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. It is positioned in front of a flashlight, giving not only the player, but also Snake, the impression that Raven himself is standing around the corner, M61 in hand. It also appears in one of the flooded rooms in the Big Shell where it floats among the other debris.

Trivia

 * Killing any of the ravens on the way down will cause him to scold Snake for "killing his friends".
 * Raven was alleged once to be a real threat in the Muk-tuk eating contest of the Eskimo-Indian Olympics.
 * He is also rumored to have excelled in the Stick Pull and Four Man carry events as well.

Vulcan Raven