The End

The End was the so-called "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. He was known as "the father of modern sniping." He also taught The Boss everything he knew about 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 at least partially because he was able of generating food like an autotroph – the energy provided by the photosynthetic moss that grows inside and outside of his body allowed him go for long periods of time without any 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.

In 1964, during the Virtuous Mission, The End was among the other Cobra Unit members on the Hind A who greeted The Boss when she defected. A week later, after The Boss gave Colonel Volgin the news that The Pain had fallen to Naked Snake, he was carried out in a wheelchair fast asleep by The Fear (the latter of whom was initially cloaked due to his bio-mechanical cloaking device). The reason he was asleep, as The Boss stated to Colonel Volgin, was 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. Shortly afterwards, The End was taken back in by one of the GRU guards. The End then waited in Sokrovenno, a large forest located in Tselinoyarsk, 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 was fitting for his final hunt. He then battled Naked Snake in a long sniper duel in Sokrovenno. 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."

Characteristics
As with the other members of the Cobra Unit, The End's codename signified the emotion he felt while on the battlefield; in his case, total oblivion. In battle, he blocked out everything except his targets, allowing himself to focus on his "hunt." Because he was very old and incredibly close to death, he would often fall asleep during 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, 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.

The End was armed with a M1891/30 Mosin-Nagant sniper rifle, a Russian-made bolt-action rifle used during both World Wars. His model was modified to fire special tranquilizer rounds that were effective at long range. His Mosin-Nagant rifle also has a folding paratrooper's stock and a pistol grip. 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.

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 elements of Old Boy, a character who was cut from the final version of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
The End first appears in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, voiced by Grant Albrecht in English and Osamu Saka in Japanese. He is fought by the player in a boss battle, which was named the fourth greatest of all time by Electronic Gaming Monthly, and was rated #3 in the "Top Ten Video Game Sniper Moments" by Game Informer.

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 death and eventual microbomb detonation.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
In Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, The End makes a vocal cameo in several "Dead Man's Treasure" missions, in which he "contacts" Big Boss from the grave, using the radio frequency 000.00, while in front of the ghosts. He can be encountered again in Extra Ops [062], where Big Boss himself "contacts" him, as well as mysteriously supplying him with the Neo-Moss camouflage should the player achieve an A or higher in the mission. Grant Albrecht and Osamu Saka both return to voice the role, in addition to voicing the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

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

Boss battle
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.

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. As the parrot appears in the cutscene after defeating The End, the option of killing the parrot is unlikely to be canon.

If the player, with the SVD, had shot The End at Ponizovje without killing him, The End will have lowered health and stamina by the time the player fights The End at Sokrovenno.

It is also possible to use the thermal goggles to track the End's movements.

Mosin Nagant and Moss Camo
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 camo, the player must hold him up when his stamina is at 3/8, or 1,5/4 bars. Multiple hold ups and non lethal battle makes this faster than waiting. 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. On a related note, The End is the only Cobra Unit member where defeating him non-lethally rewards the player with his weapon.

Avoiding the fight
There are two 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.
 * Note: changing the system's time may sometimes result in a cutscene where The End ambushes Snake while he's sleeping. Since The End is only using tranquilizers, Snake will awake in a cell in Graniny Gorki. The cell is open, so Snake can simply walk out. He will need to go on foot back to Sokvrovenno to continue the battle with The End.

Other
If the player punches The End during his fight with The Sorrow, The End will turn over.

Appearances

 * Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater