Les Enfants Terribles (event)

After Big Boss had been exposed three times to nuclear radiation (at Bikini Atoll, at the end of the Virtuous Mission & Operation Snake Eater when The Boss launches a second nuke) he was discovered to be infertile. Not wanting to let the genetic legacy of the greatest soldier to have ever lived simply die out, as well as not wanting to lose the Patriots' icon, the US Government hatched a plan to create clones of Big Boss. This became known as the Les Enfants Terribles project.

In 1972, Big Boss returned from a radical mission in a coma, and the government used this opportunity to extract DNA from him. Utilizing the latest in Analog Cloning technology and the Super Baby Method, eight embryos were created from the DNA sample. Six of these embryos were aborted and the remaining two were genetically modified. One was to express all the dominant soldier genes, while the other was to express the recessive genes. The project had previously produced eight batches of clones which resulted in failure until they correctly fixed the problem. With the ninth batch, they were then placed into the womb of a surrogate mother, EVA, who personally requested to carry the twins.

The Sons of Big Boss are Born

Nine months later in a special testing facility under ground in the Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico, the surrogate mother went into labor. Present at the birth, was President Nixon, accompanied by General Houseman. Nixon was incredibly nervous about the project, as he had only inherited the project as opposed to initiating it. His predecessor, President Lyndon B. Johnson, was the one who had originally backed the project. Dr. Clark, who was in charge of over seeing the creation and birth of the twins, assured the President that there was nothing to worry about. Although this was the ninth attempt at producing clones, this time it would be successful as the genetic code in this batch had been corrected, and the surrogate mother possessed certain genetic "latches" that would connect with those of Big Boss.

Dr. Clark explained to the President that Big Boss did not know they had so many of his cells, since they were taken from him when he was in surgery after suffering injures in a war. He knew only that he was sterile, unable to produce children. Big Boss was not allowed to know about the project, no matter the outcome. Though Dr. Clark theorized that he probably already knew, blaming the terrible security the US Government had. She described the Super Baby Method, and explained that their genetic make up had been altered: one clone would express more dominant soldier genes than the other, though she stated that this might not necessarily effect which one would become "better."

Before leaving to assist in the delivery of the babies, the President asked Dr. Clark if he could choose which one the US Government kept, and demanded that they be given the "dominant" one. Dr. Clark reminded him that there was no guarantee if one would be stronger than the other. Dr. Clark later thought about what would become of Big Boss's remaining cells, and that if the need arised they could create another clone of the legendary soldier.

The "Twin Snakes" were born and given codenames. The genetically superior clone was codenamed Solid Snake, and the genetically inferior one was codenamed Liquid Snake. A later batch produced a third clone who was created to be an exact replica of Big Boss, codenamed Solidus Snake.

After the Project

After Big Boss learned of his children, he became incredibly frustrated with the US Government and the Patriots and eventually he left America and drifted throughout the globe. During his travels, he also formed the international guerilla group Militaires Sans Frontieres He eventually realized his philosophy of Outer Heaven, based on his vision of The Boss's final will and created a gigantic fortress of the same name in South Africa.

Liquid Snake was raised in the UK shortly after birth and was the youngest person to serve in the Special Air Service. During the Gulf War in Iraq, he was assigned to track down and destroy mobile Scud missiles. In truth, he infiltrated the Middle East as a sleeper agent for the British SAS, but was taken prisoner by Iraqi forces and held captive as POW until 1994, when he was rescued by the U.S. Government.

Solid Snake made his way into the military by 1991 (although he did spend the first ten years undergoing intense military training in Oregon). He had been inducted into the Green Berets and took part in a mission to infiltrate western Iraq during the Gulf War. Sometime after the Gulf War and before 1995 he joined FOXHOUND which was once again being commanded by Big Boss himself.

Solidus Snake fought in the First Liberian Civil War during the late 1980s and 1990s as a teenager in which he commanded the "Small Boy Unit." He trained many young boys into ruthless killers, including young Raiden. In 2001, he became the 43rd President of the United States of America under the alias George Sears.

Behind the Scenes

 * Because complete intel on the Les Enfants Terribles project is limited in the games, the information above came from the Metal Gear Solid novelization. Also, a clear start date is never given aside from it starting during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration.