Johnny (Soviet soldier)

Johnny was a Russian GRU soldier, who served under the command of Colonel Volgin during the Cold War.

Biography
In 1964, Johnny was assigned to guard the cell in which CIA operative Naked Snake had been imprisoned, within the military fortress of Groznyj Grad, Tselinoyarsk. Volgin threatened that if Snake should be killed, Johnny would be executed. Johnny showed Snake his hospitality by giving him some food. After Snake gave the food back to Johnny, he struck a conversation with Snake about his firstborn son, who was also named Johnny, and that eventually, his son's son would probably be named Johnny too. He explained that all of the firstborn sons in his family were traditionally named as such. He also managed to grab Snake's cigarette-shaped gas spray gun, while Snake was being tortured, and handed it back to him, having no idea what it actually was. Despite the friendliness towards each other, however, Johnny refused to release Snake from the prison and threatened to shoot him if he tried to escape. Snake was eventually able to outwit Johnny and successfully escape his cell.

Grandson
Years later, Johnny's grandson, also named Johnny, would be placed in a similar position during the Shadow Moses Incident, in which he was assigned to guard the cell of Naked Snake's own son, Solid Snake.

Trivia

 * During Operation Snake Eater, Naked Snake commented on Johnny's name, saying it had a nice ring to it (Snake's real name is John). When Johnny showed him a photo of his family, the radio frequency to unlock the cell (144.75) was written on the back.
 * Johnny's mask had the letter "J" sewn onto it.
 * During the Peace Walker Incident, one of the soldiers recruited by Big Boss mentioned that he "has a friend named Johnny," possibly suggesting that Johnny survived the events of Operation Snake Eater.

Behind the scenes
In Metal Gear Solid 3, if the player is killed during the prison sequence, Johnny will run up to the body to check it like any other guard. However, when he finds that Snake is dead, he yells, "Snake! Don't give up on me, Snake! SSNNNNAAAAKKKKEEE!!!!!" Johnny also appears as a recruitable character in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus.