Solid Snake

Solid Snake (ソリッド・スネーク) (real name David (ディビッド), commonly referred to as Snake)is a product of the Les Enfants Terribles project and "son" of legendary soldier, Big Boss along with his "brothers" Liquid Snake and Solidus Snake. Possessing an IQ of 180 and seven-times multi-lingual, he is known as "the man who makes the impossible possible" and his exploits have made him into a living legend among the military black-ops. Initially a Green Beret, Snake was later inducted into high-tech special forces unit FOXHOUND during the early 1990s while it was under the leadership of Big Boss. From there, Snake would thrice avert potential nuclear catastrophe.

After the Shadow Moses Incident and subsequent manipulation campaign by the Patriots, the secret organization behind American politics, Snake became labeled a terrorist. He faked his own death in 2007 and proceeded into hiding, although he would later emerge in 2009 to assist Raiden in the Big Shell Incident. After that, his cells would enter a state of accelerated aging, causing his health to decline. The cause of his rapid aging was explained by Dr. Naomi Hunter, who examined Snake and determined that it was caused by planned genetic changes during the cloning process.

Early Years


Born in 1972 as a result of the "Les Enfants Terribles" project, Solid Snake is a product of a secret government project to create the perfect soldier by using the genes of the "Greatest Warrior of the 20th Century", Big Boss. By using the Super Baby Method, the twins Solid Snake and Liquid Snake were born, using EVA as a surrogate mother. From them three genotypes were created; Solid Snake receiving all of the inferior, but dominant genes; Liquid the superior, but recessive genes; Despite this fact, Liquid Snake is led to believe that he received the inferior genes and informs an unknowing Solid Snake as such. It is unclear whether Solid or Liquid eventually become aware of their actual genetic positions.

He was known within the Green Berets for his skill as a paratrooper, scuba diver, and tree climber. In the 1990's, he joined Big Boss's special forces unit FOXHOUND as a rookie soldier. It was while at FOXHOUND that he received the codename, Solid Snake. He also underwent CQC training by Big Boss at this time, but chose not to implement it because he felt that it didn't seem right to use a technique created by "a man who betrayed his unit." However, he would use CQC much later in his life.

See Operation Intrude N313

Snake's first mission for FOXHOUND came in 1995. He was tasked with infiltrating Outer Heaven, a military nation led by a feared and legendary mercenary, deep within South Africa. Snake was tasked with rescuing Gray Fox, a FOXHOUND agent who was captured earlier, and shed light on Metal Gear, which Gray Fox mentioned in a broken radio message sometime before his capture.

He succeeded in rescuing Dr. Pettrovich Madnar and destroyed Metal Gear TX-55 with the aid of Gray Fox. Big Boss, his mission commander, then revealed himself to be the leader behind the Outer Heaven uprising, but he was promptly dispatched by Snake.

See Operation Intrude F014

Snake's next mission was to infiltrate Zanzibar Land, a military base where a new Metal Gear was believed to be being developed. There, he fought his former ally Gray Fox who piloted the revised Metal Gear D, and successfully stopped the ambitions of Big Boss. Big Boss, the man behind Zanzibarland, returned to get his revenge on Snake, but Snake ultimately defeated him using a combination of a lighter and an Aerosol can.

Following the conclusion of Operation Intrude F014, he left FOXHOUND to join the CIA as a spy, but retired from his post after only six months. He subsequently moved into hiding in Alaska.

See FOXHOUND Rebellion

''"Snake listen up. It all went down five hours ago. Heavily armed soldiers occupied Shadow Moses Island, a remote island off the coast of Alaska."

-Colonel Campbell ''



Snake was called back to the US military in 2005 when he was deployed by his former commander Roy Campbell to Shadow Moses Island. Here, a rebellion had taken place by the members of FOXHOUND, his former unit, who were threatening the USA with a nuclear missile. The task fell on Snake, as a former operative and expert, to stop them.

In charge of the renegade group was Liquid Snake. His demand, the remains of Big Boss. Solid Snake was charged with ascertaining their nuclear capability and rescuing their hostages, Kenneth Baker and Donald Anderson.

Snake infiltrated the base alone, but quickly gained help in the form of Metal Gear REX developer Hal Emmerich and new FOXHOUND recruit Meryl Silverburgh, the latter of whom was actually Campbell's daughter, although Snake did not know this at the time. Metal Gear REX was an nuclear-armed bipedal walking tank developed in secret by the US Army and weapons manufacturer ArmsTech (later AT Corp). With the help of the two aforementioned, as well as his former comrade Gray Fox (now the Cyborg Ninja, Snake succeeded in destroying REX and defeating the members of FOXHOUND, including (supposedly) Liquid.

His mission, however, was a cleverly woven plot, prepared by the Pentagon. Through the secret, CIA-guided efforts of genetic engineer Naomi Hunter, Solid Snake's body became host to the artificial virus FOXDIE. Snake was outraged to hear that his mission was a government conspiracy, and that he was merely sent as a carrier of the virus, which was programmed to kill the hostages (for knowing too much about the project) and the FOXHOUND operatives.

Following this mission, Snake disappeared yet again after leaving the base with Meryl. Sometime later, however, he lost contact with Meryl, and in actuality set up the anti-Metal Gear NGO, Philanthropy, with Hal Emmerich. Revolver Ocelot, one of the FOXHOUND operatives under Liquid, escaped assassination by the FOXDIE virus and sold REX's plans to the black market, prompting Snake and Hal (aka. Otacon) to set up this organisation in secret.

See Tanker Incident and Big Shell Incident

Two years after Shadow Moses, Otacon received an anonymous tip from someone calling him or herself "E.E." (the initials of Otacon's younger step sister) that a new Metal Gear, codenamed Metal Gear RAY, was being developed by the U.S. Marine Corps., and was being sent via a Marine vessel disguised as an Oil Tanker.

The tanker was, however, quickly taken over by a group of Russians led by colonel Sergei Gurlucovich. He met Gurlucovich's daughter Olga on board the tanker, but proceeded to defeat her in a gunfight, however she promptly disappeared afterwards. Snake quickly made his way into the tanker's interior and, as per his mission orders, secured photographic evidence of the new Metal Gear, neither he nor Otacon could have predicted the reappearance of Revolver Ocelot on the tanker. Ocelot proceeded to sink the vessel, steal RAY, and frame Philanthropy for the deed, simultaneously exposing them to the public and destroying their reputation. Solid Snake apparently died in the incident, his body even retrieved from New York harbour as confirmation.

Another two years later, Snake disguised himself as Iroquois Pliskin and infiltrated the Big Shell. Rumors of another Metal Gear, Arsenal Gear, were spreading like wildfire. There, he met Raiden and eventually met his other brother, the final of the three Sons Of Big Boss, Solidus Snake. During this incident, both Solid Snake and Otacon become aware of the existence of The Patriots, although how and when isn't exactly known. He also once again met Olga and explained to her that it was in fact Revolver Ocelot who killed her father, Colonel Gurlukovich. Snake later helped Raiden, Otacon and Emma Emmerich (Otacon's Sister) install the re-programmed computer virus, a digital counterpart of FOXDIE, into GW (Arsenal Gear's AI system), shortly before Emma dies after being stabbed by Vamp.

Once aboard Arsenal Gear, Snake and Raiden made their way through fighting the army of Arsenal Tengu soldiers. On top of Arsenal, Ocelot revealed his true colors to them. But before he could kill them, Ocelot's right arm began to twitch, and Liquid Snake possessed him once more, revealing that he lured Snake out to the Big Shell so that Snake could "free [Liquid]". Liquid Ocelot then set off in RAY to kill the Patriots via "[his] host", with Snake in pursuit. Although Snake failed to follow RAY, he placed a tracker on RAY and explained later to Raiden that his plan was for him to find the Patriots. However, the data recovered from Arsenal showed that all 12 members had been dead for over a hundred years, and Philanthropy had lost their only lead.

See Liquid Sun, Solid Sun, Third Sun, Twin Suns, Old Sun and Naked Sin

After the Manhattan Incident, Snake once again went into hiding, and began suffering from inexplicable accelerated aging. His body began to age rapidly, with no doctors being able to figure out the cause. It was not until 2014 that Snake resurfaced for a final time.

Liquid Snake, now merged with the body of Ocelot into a single being, Liquid Ocelot, was the leader of a new Outer Heaven, this time incarnated as less of a physical thing, and more of a dummy corporation, acting a single mother company to five of the largest PMCs on the planet. With PMCs now taking over the world's armies in terms of firepower, Liquid was finally on the verge of world domination. With the world once again in crisis, Snake was dispatched as a personal favour to Roy Campbell to assassinate Liquid.

Snake, now codenamed Old Snake, successfully made it to the PMC base where Liquid was. He once again met Meryl, who was now in command of a reformed FOXHOUND group called Rat Patrol 01. He, however, failed to assassinate Liquid in time due to Liquid's sudden deactivation of the SOP system. The SOP (Sons of the Patriots) system was run by the Patriots with the purpose of monitoring and controlling every soldier engaged in combat action. Liquid's plan to disarm the system and take it for himself at first went horribly wrong when it caused the Middle Eastern base to descend into chaos (although the chaos unknowingly saved him from Snake's mission to kill him).

Later, Otacon received a message from Naomi Hunter, who had been there in the Middle East to save Snake when the SOP system went wrong. The message contained a distress call as well as an encrypted map of Liquid's South American base, the location of which Olga's daughter Sunny was able to trace. Snake made it to the base where Naomi was held, and she gave him a thorough medical examination. It was during this that Snake discovered the harsh truth: his aging was not part of any external source, it was merely the way he was designed as a clone. In addition, the FOXDIE virus that Naomi injected him with during the Shadow Moses incident almost a decade earlier was still circulating within him like a normal virus but, due to the damage to his body, was also sustaining damage that would soon cause it to be a threat to every human on the planet, making Snake a walking biological weapon.

After defeating Beauty and the Beast unit member Laughing Octopus, Snake escaped with Naomi with the help of Drebin, also picking up Raiden, who was now a cyborg ninja.

Raiden explained that he was acting under the orders of Big Mama, a leader of a small resistance group in Eastern Europe. Snake found Big Mama, discovering she was actually EVA who, due to her ties with Big Boss, was able to explain most of the Patriots' history to him. She also revealed that she had Big Boss' body in her possession. After escaping an onslaught of FROGS and defeating the second B&B member, Raging Raven, Snake found Liquid, who was in the midst of implementing the now perfected version of his plan. Taking control of the SOP system, Liquid used his now undefeatable army to kill every last soldier there, including Big Mama, but save for Snake and the members of Rat Patrol. Luckily, in the chaos, Otacon was able to stow the Mark II away with Naomi (who had apparently returned to Liquid), and discovered Liquid's true plan: to destroy the Patriots themselves.

Knowing Liquid was planning to do this by using the only non-Patriot controlled weapon in existence - the rail gun from Metal Gear REX - Snake followed Liquid back to Shadow Moses Island. There Snake managed to defeat Vamp, B&B member Crying Wolf and Metal Gear RAY, himself piloting Metal Gear REX for the latter. However, he was unable to kill Liquid or stop him from stealing the rail gun in time, a prize which Liquid quickly equipped to his own Arsenal Gear, Outer Haven. Snake, Meryl and Rat Patrol team member Akiba infiltrated the Haven ship, where Snake defeated the last of the B&B members, Screaming Mantis, as well as finally destroying GW, the Patriot's former AI which Liquid managed to reassemble. Thanks to Sunny's virus, FOXALIVE, the infection spread to the rest of the Patriots, eliminating them and saving the world from destroying itself. Atop Outer Haven, Snake faced his brother in arm-to-arm combat one last time, where Liquid died from the new FOXDIE virus, not before revealing to Snake that in fact he was not Liquid after all, but simply pretending to be him to throw the Patriots off. His mission, as it turns out, was the same as Snake's, putting them technically on the same side.

Sometime later, Snake considered committing suicide to prevent the spread of FOXDIE. He sat in front of Big Boss' grave with his gun in his mouth, but in the end was unable to end his life. Big Boss then appeared from nowhere, revealing the true brains behind the Patriots to be himself and Major Zero, and ends the life of the now-vegetative Zero himself. Snake and his father finally make amends, and Big Boss, before dying (as a target of the FOXDIE virus), made Snake promise to live however much time he had left "as a human, not a snake". Determined to fulfil this promise, Snake retreated into hiding with Otacon and Sunny, this time for good, to live the remainder of his life in peace.

Personality and Views
Snake had been described by Rosemary in Metal Gear Solid 2 as cool, collected, and confident. His friends Meryl Silverburgh and Roy Campbell describe him as "...a real bastard..." (Meryl's reason being that Snake had no confidence in her ability to help him carry out a mission, primarily due to her lack of experience at the time.) Nastasha Romanenko described him in her book of In the Darkness of Shadow Moses: The Unofficial Truth as surprisingly calm considering the situation he was in while the world was on the brink of a nuclear holocaust. His best friend, Hal Emmerich, while discussing Snake's defeat of an M1 tank with only grenades, Snake asked Otacon was this his idea of a compliment, Otacon replied "Yes...you're the toughest, craziest, most hardcore badass on the planet. You're...the shit!".

Snake also shows little remorse for the people he kills that borders on vindictive. For example, after finishing off Sniper Wolf and hearing her life story before-hand, he points out that he doesn't care if people live a rough life, that they've always have had a choice to make something better of themselves and describes fate and karma as "just an excuse for giving up", while others like Naomi Hunter would disagree with him in that "If she hadn't been born on a battlefield she would have lived a happier, more promising life." Snake has said that some people just need killing, as was the case for his father Big Boss, when they just can't live the better things in life other than that of genocide. He does, however, give comfort to those who are in the midst of dying. In this case while Wolf was dying, she admitted that she shamed her people, sold her body and soul, making her nothing more than a dog, he reassures her that she is untamed and solitary, hence a wolf. When she requested that Snake would finish her off, he honored her request and did so. Snake also seemed opposed to Campbell and Rosemary's "marriage" as he commented to Campbell saying that Rose is young enough to be his daughter.

When Psycho Mantis converses with him, he says that he's much worse than his brother Liquid Snake and "Compared to [Snake], I'm not so bad..." When Liquid Snake converses with him, he uses a textbook description of a psychopath to describe him, pointing out that Snake enjoys all the killing which is the reason why he came to Shadow Moses while "...[he] continued to follow [his] orders while [his] superiors betray [him]..." as he describes it. Snake denies Liquid's allegations but begins to believe so after hearing more about his origins from him. Snake also admitted to Meryl that being on the battlefield is the only time he's ever felt truly alive. Presumably after realizing this, Snake would try to atone for his original sin by working to make himself good. He points this out in one of Otacon's misread quotes in the events of the Tanker Chapter in MGS2. While Snake seems to come to terms with his killer instinct, he's not proud of what's encoded into his very genes. He once told Meryl that "...everyone feels sick the first time they kill someone (perhaps even himself). Unfortunately, killing is just one of those things that gets easier the more you do it."

Snake is rather indifferent to those who ridicule him about his smoking habits. When Naomi tells him of what causes lung cancer during the events of Shadow Moses, he retorts saying "You might know a lot about science, but you don't know how good a cigarette tastes in the morning." When Otacon tells him of how dangerous smoking is while Snake's infiltrated the tanker, he retorts saying "So's war, and I've done that all my life." (Not explicitly mentioning whether he had participated in other wars before he was involved in the Gulf War). When Rosemary brings up Snake's habit he mutters "Not this again...". Even so - after the countless times cigarettes may have helped Snake throughout the years, by the end of his last mission he has finally decided to kick the habit.

During the Big Shell incident, Snake acted as a mentor for Raiden, showing him the ropes and giving him support and advice via codec. He teaches Raiden many things, one of the most critical being the importance of a cardboard box on the battlefield, and most important, after Raiden defeats Solidus Snake, living for a better future. 5 years later, Raiden taught Snake how to track his subject. Snake was concerned for his well-being during his first battle against Vamp, as well as his battle on Shadow Moses. He even encouraged him that he had more of life to live for, indicating that "he still has his youth".

When Meryl asked Snake about whether there was anyone he liked, he says "I've never been interested in other people's lives. Other people just complicate my life...I don't like to get involved." This may suggest why he was with no one at the time he was living in Alaska and why he silently left Holly White at the end of the events of Zanzibar. While he does say this, in times of need, he still feels obligated to protect the weak and helpless. His attitude on this would seemingly change, however, when he successfully rescues Meryl in the aftermath of Shadow Moses and wished to spend a new life with her. However, he still ends up "disappearing" on her not long after as is mentioned in their reunion in the Middle East. He would continue to shrug off her slightest advances on nearly every turn. His reason for this is never explained nor mentioned. One reason may be however, that since Snake found himself getting involved with Philanthropy he wanted Meryl to let him go without any tearful farewell, or perhaps wanted her to not be emotionally devestaded should he be killed.

Snake is also one to frown upon politicians who are in their professions for their own ego. When Nastasha Romanenko tells him that 43rd president George Sears (a.k.a. Solidus Snake) was set on making START 3 his first foreign policy success he describes him with disgust as a "Typical Politician..." When the events of Metal Gear Solid 4 unfold he describes the international community as "self serving" for not doing anything about the might of the PMCs because of fear for what cataclysmic effect it would have on the war economy. During his briefing prior to his infiltration to Shadow Moses, Snake also has expressed that he's no patriot for his country and, that perhaps since he's saved the world more than once from harm before, he doesn't feel very much in debt to his country or its army. Campbell also mentions that "...there's enough dirt in [his] file from [his] days as an agent to keep [him] in the stockade until [he's] a very old man." This would suggest that he'd knowingly taken part in assignments that were harmful to western interests while he was in the CIA. These unlisted assignments may also be the reason why he left the CIA and choose to be a mercenary for hire until Zanzibar.

After finding out that he'd "killed" Big Boss who turned out to be his father, Snake's views about his country may have waned even more, though he still respected Big Boss as a soldier, and possibly as a mentor. This is evident due to Snake's visits to Big Boss's "grave". After he learned the truth of the conspiracy of the Patriots, as well as the conflict between Zero and Big Boss, his respect for his father was renewed.

While many people refer to Snake as a hero, Snake does not feel the same way and dislikes people using that moniker to describe him. In Metal Gear Solid 4, he states "I'm no hero, never was, never will be. I'm just an old killer, hired to do some wet work." Snake also doesn't have a high opinion of himself which is clearly present when he calls himself a beast "a shadow which no light can shine upon."

Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django
Snake appears as "???", a character who has lost their memory. The player rescues him in the House of Time. Django tells him to go to Sun Avenue, where he sets up a shop. The player can then buy "Blindboxes" (weapons and items that Snake has picked up in random boxes so the player can't see what he or she is buying) from him. He also gives advice on where to go next, and gives the player titles.

DreamMix TV World Fighters
Snake is one of the fighters in DreamMix TV World Fighters, the fighting cross-company game between Konami, Hudson Soft, and Takara, appearing alongside mascots like Bomberman, Castlevania's Simon Belmont, and Optimus Prime. His appearance in the game is based on Metal Gear Solid 2 with his special moves consisting of only C4, which can be planted onto anything and detonated at will. Snake's stage is based on one of the connecting bridges of the Big Shell, with the Harrier appearing and shooting the combatants. The music for this stage is a remix of the Metal Gear Solid Main Theme, with a remix of Yell "Dead Cell" playing when the Harrier appears. Snake also has alternate costumes like the tuxedo, his Iroqouis Pliskin alter ego, as well as one based on his original Metal Gear Solid appearance.

Metal Gear Acid
Solid Snake is the main character in Metal Gear Acid. He came out of retirement to help the FBI in a mission to obtain the Pythagoras data but then begins to find out that he has worked at BEAGLE before as Hans Davis, which he's only led to believe. For more information see Hans Davis.

Metal Gear Solid Mobile
This non-canonical game is set sometime after Shadow Moses. Philanthropy received intelligence from a woman named Victoria Reed that a Metal Gear REX model was being built by the company she was working for. Snake was sent in, but quickly discovered that the whole thing was a ruse. Victoria was an AI, and Snake had really been sent in so that terrorists could take over the facility once Snake had disabled the security system. Pressing on, Snake later realized that the Otacon he had been talking was also an AI, as it started to glitch. The real Otacon eventually managed to contact Snake and they decided it would be easier for Snake to finish the mission instead of Otacon hacking him out. Snake eventually overthrew the terrorist threat, and defeated their leader.

When Snake awoke from the VR, he overheard two voices talking. They stated that Snake was unable to provide them with the data they needed, and proceeded to erase his memory of the events.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Solid Snake is a character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Nintendo Wii. Snake uses explosives, RPGs, and grenades, with a mix of CQC, the Cypher from MGS2, and the famous box as a taunt. Also, in the Shadow Moses Island stage, Snake can call Colonel, Otacon or Mei Ling for intel on his opponents. He is also a fan of Captain Falcon. When Snake contacts Otacon and Mei Ling on his Codec regarding Samus Aran (In both her Power Suit and Zero Suit), it's implied that Snake might be infatuated with the bounty hunter. Also, when using Codec calls while fighting Sonic the Hedgehog, Snake states that he doesn't like him, because in real life, hedgehogs are the snake's natural enemy. (he states that "something about that hedgehog rubs me the wrong way...")

Clearing Classic Mode with Snake will award a trophy of Snake, with the following description: "A former member of FOXHOUND with an IQ of 180 and mastery of six languages. He's an infiltration specialist whose ability to carry out missions under any conditions has made him a legend. He's saved the world three times from the threat of bipedal, nuclear-armed mechs called Metal Gear. Currently he's working with the anti-Metal Gear group known as Philanthropy."

Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus
Solid Snake is a recruit character in MPO+, under the "Old Snake" codename, and his appearance is closer to his aged look in Guns Of The Patriots. When recruited Campbell remarks "Some old guy joined our team. Kinda reminds me of Snake" (referring to Old Snake's obvious similarities to his father, Naked Snake).

Track & Field
Snake has been confirmed to be a playable character in the upcoming Nintendo DS game, New International Track & Field, alongside fellow Konami characters such as Sparkster of Rocket Knight Adventures, Silent Hill's Pyramid Head, and Simon Belmont, as well as new original characters.

Ape Escape 3
Solid Snake makes a non-canonical appearance in Metal Gear Solid 3, specifically in the Snake vs Monkey game. Here, Campbell too makes an appearance in a call, where he had to bring Snake out of vacation to capture mechanical monkeys that escaped a lab, much to Snake's dismay. Snake replies back that Campbell could have gotten Gabe or Sam (referring to Gabe Logan and Sam Fisher, protagonists of Syphon Filter and Splinter Cell, competitors of Metal Gear Solid in the stealth genre) to do the job though is told that there were a number of reasons why Snake was chosen, one of them being that the lab scientist is a friend of Otacon's.

LittleBigPlanet: Paint Of The Patriots
A costume available to download for LittleBigPlanet allows Sackboy to dress up as Old Snake.

Behind The Scenes


He is voiced by Akio Otsuka in the Japanese releases of the Metal Gear Solid series, and by David Hayter in the English releases. Hideo Kojima based Solid Snake on a number of different characters, including Snake Plissken from the film Escape from New York.

Snake's real name, David, which was revealed at the end of the original Metal Gear Solid, is a reference to two fictional characters: David Bowman from 2001: A Space Odyssey and Dave Forrest from Policenauts (which was also created by Kojima). While Snake shares the same given name with the English voice actor, Hayter, this was not intentional (contrary to popular belief) and is merely coincidental. In Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, he uses the alias Iroquois Pliskin, which is a reference to Snake Plissken. The name "Iroquois" has a double meaning. The Iroquois were a confederacy of Native American tribes headquartered in New York. The word "Iroquois" was also a Huron word meaning "Black Snake".

Metal Gear 2, set in 1999, features an older-looking Snake than seen in Metal Gear Solid, set in 2005. However, there are numerous inconsistencies between the Metal Gear Solid series and the previous incarnation of the series. Also, some of the portraits used in Metal Gear 2 were based on real actors, and the characters were redesigned for later games. In Konami's Japanese cell phone re-release of Metal Gear 2, Snake's portrait is brought more in line with his presentation in Metal Gear Solid.