Solidus Snake

Solidus Snake (ソリダス・スネーク), also known as George Sears, was the 43rd President of the United States, and a product of the Les Enfants Terribles project, making him the "third son" (and perfect clone) of Big Boss. After secretly instigating the events on Shadow Moses, he became directly involved in the Big Shell Incident, where he was revealed to be the adoptive father of Raiden.

Background
Solidus Snake was the third "Son of Big Boss", created by the Patriots in 1972, as part of the Les Enfants Terribles project. The initial phase of the project produced genetically diverse twin clones, one expressing Big Boss's recessive soldier genes (Solid Snake), and the other his dominant soldier genes (Liquid Snake). The creation of the original clones led to Big Boss's departure from the Patriots. Thus, the organization required a perfect clone in order to retain a figurehead for their organization in the image of Big Boss. Years later, Solidus's DNA would act as the key to the Patriots' master AI, to which Big Boss's genetic code was the key.

As neither of the Twin Snakes were genetically identical to Big Boss, Solidus was created with the same "perfect balance" of dominant and recessive soldier genes that Big Boss possessed. As a result, Solidus was genetically (and almost physically) identical to Big Boss, a fact that he took much pride in. The egg-donor and surrogate mother used in this phase of the project are unknown. Solidus was later known as George Sears.

The accelerated aging written into each clone's genes was apparently designed to be faster in Solidus's case, thus producing the required figurehead for the Patriots (a United States President in the image of Big Boss) in a relatively short space of time as well as providing the same fail-safe of limited life-span should the clone fall into enemy hands or turn against the organization. As a result, Solidus appeared considerably older than his cloned brothers, despite being created afterwards.

Early life and career
The early years of Solidus Snake's life is unknown. The earliest relevant information that has been discovered is that Solidus fought in the First Liberian Civil War during the late 1980s and early 1990s as a teenager. He killed a young boy's parents during that time, adopted the boy, named him Jack, and trained him to be a ruthless killer from as early as the age of six as part of Solidus's Small Boy Unit of which he was the commander. Jack proved to be one of his best child soldiers, his amazing record of kills gained him platoon leadership of the Small Boy Unit when he was just ten years old as well as the nicknames "White Devil" and "Jack the Ripper". After the war ended, Jack suddenly disappeared from the relief center, leaving Solidus to wonder what happened to him for some time.

Several years later, Solidus became known as George Sears. In 2001, the Patriots entrusted Solidus with the Presidency of the United States, becoming the 43rd US President. While he was in office, he created the Dead Cell unit, a U.S. Navy special forces unit. The Sears administration was characterized by its stance on nuclear disarmament and anti-eugenic policies.

In the year 2005, acting outside the orders of the Patriots, George Sears orchestrated the terrorist uprising known as the Shadow Moses Incident in total secrecy, ordering his agent Revolver Ocelot to persuade Liquid Snake into hijacking Metal Gear REX. But his true intentions were to have Ocelot steal Metal Gear REX. Solidus hoped to use REX as a tool against the Patriots, whom he loathed. the Patriots countered his plan by using Solid Snake as a vector for the FOXDIE virus and leave Metal Gear REX undamaged for retrieval.

An unplanned factor, however, came when Secretary of Defense Jim Houseman had issued an order to commence a nuclear air-raid on Shadow Moses after REX was destroyed by Solid Snake, and Sears arrested Houseman for going out of line, rescinding the orders as well. After Ocelot delivered the REX data, Ocelot (and possibly Solidus) then leaked the data out world-wide.

But because the existence of Metal Gear REX and the Genome Army (which went against his ironic public stances in favor of nuclear disarmament and against eugenics experiments) were both exposed to the public during the aftermath of the incident through the release of In the Darkness of Shadow Moses: The Unofficial Truth, by Nastasha Romanenko, Sears was forced to resign from the Presidency in humiliation and went into hiding when he learned that his former superiors, the Patriots, were planning to kill him off as punishment for such embarrassment.

Post-Shadow Moses
Solidus and Ocelot then made contact with Sergei Gurlukovich and his private army of Russian mercenaries, as well as the rogue anti-terrorist agency Dead Cell which Solidus had set up as George Sears. They also made preparations for another uprising against the Patriots four years later at the Big Shell with purpose of capturing Arsenal Gear.

From the early events of the Big Shell Incident it was made clear that Solidus Snake, along with Revolver Ocelot, Olga Gurlukovich and the remaining members of Dead Cell (Fatman, Fortune, and Vamp) had devised a plot to take over the Big Shell where rumors stated that a new and highly advanced warship known as Arsenal Gear was being developed there. Calling themselves the Sons of Liberty, Solidus Snake assumed the identity of his presumed dead brother, Solid Snake, and "kidnapped" the current President James Johnson (the President originally aided Solidus of his own freewill).

Raiden, upon orders from "Colonel Campbell" of the pseudo-FOXHOUND, had managed to infiltrate the Big Shell. Solidus encountered him, and identified Raiden as "a messenger from the Patriots", although he was certain that he knew Raiden from somewhere as he reminded him greatly of Jack but was not aware at this time that Raiden and Jack were one and the same. After trying to trick Raiden into thinking that he is Solid Snake, Iroquois Pliskin (the alias of the real Solid Snake) revealed in a furious tone that he was not Solid Snake. Solidus then revealed his surprise that the real Solid Snake was alive and identified him as his brother. Snake then tried firing a machine gun at Solidus, telling Raiden to take cover. Solidus, after deflecting the bullets, then revealed to Snake that he is "a whole different game from Liquid", and then his exoskeleton suddenly bulged. Snake then changed to a Grenade Launcher and while the first shot misses, he successfully managed to knock him off with the second. However, Solidus, after declaring that "the world needs only one Big Boss", managed to enter the Harrier 2 piloted by Vamp and decides to engage the Kasatka. After Raiden managed to shoot down the Harrier with Stinger Missiles, it crashed down towards the ocean, and Solidus, as a result of the Harrier 2 being shot down, had lost his left eye. However, Metal Gear RAY managed to catch the Harrier seconds before it crashed, and after telling Vamp to get out of the Harrier, he closed the cockpit and disappeared underwater with Metal Gear RAY (presumably the RAY was taking it back to the still under construction Arsenal Gear). While initially angered that Raiden had cost him his eye, he later expressed gratitude to Raiden after being told by Ocelot that he now was a splitting image of his father, Big Boss as a result of losing his eye. After Raiden was "captured" by Snake and Mr. X, Solidus finally realised who he was, and then revealed to Raiden their connection, that Raiden was his adopted son, as well as Raiden's past as a child soldier, something that Raiden did not want to remember.

It was initially believed that Solidus planned to reveal the existence of the Patriots to worldwide public by using a Purified Hydrogen Bomb (which is essentially radiation-free) from Arsenal Gear to create a gigantic electro-magnetic-pulse over New York City, bringing Wall Street to a halt (toppling the Patriots's power of the business community in Manhattan), and spurring the world into a panic. He would then free Manhattan from its digital yoke and establish a liberated zone in its place. Solidus later revealed that he was in fact going to give Arsenal to Dead Cell after extracting the identity of the Patriots. Dead Cell were intended to draw the Patriots' attentions whilst Solidus would hunt the 12 individuals down killing them off one by one. Solidus's plan never came to fruition thanks to Ocelot, a Patriot spy, who had helped orchestrate the entire event. Solidus was chosen to be involved because his relationship with Raiden resembled that of Solid Snake and Big Boss.

The discovery that Revolver Ocelot was an agent for the Patriots, and that Raiden was being manipulated by them as well, forced Solidus's back to the wall. When Liquid Snake (in Ocelot's body) crashed Arsenal Gear into Manhattan, Solidus and Raiden were thrown from the top of Arsenal onto the roof top of Federal Hall, where Solidus told Raiden his true intents and desires. Solidus, unable to father children and pass on his legacy, wished to be immortalized by history, but knowing the Patriots indomitable control of information they wouldn’t allow this. He explained his reason for the Big Shell takeover and his plan to kill off the Patriots, finishing off by declaring that only one monstrosity will have the privilege to live on. He also admitted to Raiden shortly after this that he was the one who killed his parents, mainly because he wanted to see if the both of them were of someone else's creation, even going as far as to compare their situation with Liquid, Snake, and Big Boss's situation.

Solidus revealed that he needed to kill Raiden because his final lead on the Patriots' identities lied inside the nanomachines within Raiden's brain and the pattern of nerves they created. Solidus and Raiden clashed blades in a duel that would ultimately result in Solidus's defeat at the hands of his former protégé, falling from the rooftop of Federal Hall with a significant portion of his spine severed from an elegant maneuver by Raiden. A dying Solidus crawled towards the statue of George Washington, reaching up to the first President of the United States as he let out his last breath.

After death
After Solidus's remains were retrieved by the Patriots, they passed to EVA, where they were used as spare parts for transplant surgery on Big Boss. Life support equipment was used to maintain the brain-dead body's metabolic processes, keeping all other vital organs alive and functional, and providing optimal opportunities for transplantation. Taking on the name "Big Mama," EVA formed the anti-Patriots resistance group, the Paradise Lost Army, and used Solidus's remaining head and chest as a dummy version of Big Boss's corpse.

In 2014, Solidus's corpse served as a decoy. Liquid Ocelot used the biomort's DNA to access the Sons of the Patriots System, after having stolen it from the Paradise Lost Army in Eastern Europe. Solidus, being an identical clone of Big Boss, provided DNA that was equally capable of tapping into the system. Vamp later threw the corpse into a boat fuel fire, sparked by a gunshot from Liquid, and Solidus's remains were incinerated. Big Mama, in an exhausted and hallucinatory state, threw herself into the fire in order to save "Big Boss," but was unable to prevent the biomort's loss, with Big Mama and Solid Snake having been convinced that the body of Big Boss had finally been destroyed.

Solidus Snake's likeness later appeared in the form of Outer Haven's "Mt. Snakemore," at Shadow Moses Island, alongside his brothers, Solid Snake and Liquid Snake, and his father, Big Boss.

Weapons
In terms of small arms, Solidus used a P90 sub-machine gun and also used a daisho (Katana and Wakizashi set); the "Minshuto" (Democrat) and "Kyowato" (Republican) blades. During the Big Shell Incident, Solidus demonstrated a highly dextrous combat ability, both as a marksman and a swordsman, (though he only ever fought while wearing his suit, which would have increased his abilities).

Exoskeleton
The exoskeleton that Solidus wore was developed by the U.S. Army. It increased the wearer's speed, strength, and agility through the use of the same artificial muscle technology that was initially developed for Metal Gear RAY. It had two prehensile tentacles or "Snake Arms" which could be used to grab or asphyxiate opponents and also had the ability to fire small missiles. The snake arms could be ejected to further increase the wearer's speed and agility. The suit was also equipped with an accelerator that allowed the user to make quick movements across terrain, leaving a trail of flames in his path.

Trivia

 * Solidus Snake was foreseen in a prophetic vision of the future by Elisa and Ursula, during the San Hieronymo Takeover.
 * The solidus (Latin for solid) was originally a gold coin issued by the Romans. The word soldier is ultimately derived from solidus, referring to these coins with which soldiers were paid. Solidus is also the term used by chemists for the line on a pressure/temperature diagram that marks the phase transition between a solid and liquid.
 * Whereas Solid and Liquid used their designations as their personal prefix to their FOXHOUND codenames, the reference to Solidus as "Solidus Snake" was a purely honorary title in reference to his brothers; he did not gain the codename as a member of FOXHOUND.
 * Solidus is the only clone of the Les Enfants Terribles project to have not participated in the Gulf War (Solid Snake participated in a mission for the Green Berets, while Liquid Snake was a sleeper agent in a mission to destroy Iraqi Scud missiles).
 * As George Sears, Solidus was the youngest man in history to be elected President of the United States, being only 28 years old at the time, which would have made him constitutionally ineligible (35 years of age is the minimum). However, having been programmed to age rapidly, he possessed a much older appearance.
 * Despite being dead during Liquid Ocelot's Insurrection, Solidus's body produced spontaneous reflex movements, as observed by Solid Snake as he approached it.
 * Solidus's ultimate goal of destroying the Patriots, was achieved at the conclusion of Liquid Ocelot's Insurrection, due to the effects of FOXALIVE.

Behind the Scenes
Solidus Snake is the primary antagonist of Metal Gear Solid 2. In the Japanese release, Solidus Snake and Solid Snake were both voiced by Akio Otsuka.

In Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid 2 Grand Game Plan, Solidus was originally to have faked his death from an assassination attempt, by having a double pose as him. He also intended to steal Arsenal Gear so that he could use the purified hydrogen bomb on board to shut down the Patriots' mother computer on Wall Street. The gameplan also implies that Solidus Snake intended for Nastasha Romanenko to publish her book in his agenda to expose the Patriots to the world.

MGS2's script originally had Raiden cut a rope off a flagpole at Federal Hall, after killing Solidus, which would have caused the American flag to fall onto the latter's body, thus, mirroring the draping of the flag over a President's coffin during a state funeral. The visual of an American flag falling from its pole ended up being cut from the final version due to the events of 9/11. The scene, however, was kept in the novelization, which was written many years later.

Raiden's entry for the Metal Gear Solid 4 Database, incorrectly states that it was Solidus who erased most of Raiden's memories, rather than the Patriots. Similarly, in his own entry for the Metal Gear Solid 4 Database, it was incorrectly stated that he was the one who caused Arsenal Gear to crashed into Manhattan as a last resort strike at The Patriots.

Gameplay
The "Big Boss" face camo in Metal Gear Solid 4 is actually that of Solidus Snake, as the camo is shown with its right eye intact.

Notes and References
Solidus Snake