The Boss

"Is there such a thing as an absolute, timeless enemy? There is no such thing, and never has been. And the reason is that our enemies are human beings like us. They can only be our enemies in relative terms. The world must be made whole again."

- The Boss

The Boss, also known as The Joy, The Mother of Special Forces and Voyevoda (Russian for "Warlord"), was the "final child of the Philosophers," and the mentor of Naked Snake. She was the founding leader of the Cobra Unit, in which she was known as "The Joy," however, when they were disbanded at the end of World War II, she was granted the codename of "The Boss." Together with Naked Snake, she developed the technique of CQC.

In the Virtuous Mission, The Boss wore a bandana and Olive Drab uniform (which appeared to be the staple FOX unit battle fatigues). After Naked Snake pulled the bandana from her head when she threw him from the bridge in Dolinovodno, Snake wore it during Operation Snake Eater and later wore it in tribute to her. The Boss commented on his inability to let go of the past by taunting him for wearing her bandana as a reminder of her during his mission.

Early life and career
The Boss was born in 1922 as the daughter of one of the original and higher-ranking members of the Wisemen's Committee, and grew up in the care of the Philosophers. However, she also learned from her father even the most forbidden secrets of the Philosophers, and as a consequence, the shadowy organization arranged for his death. The Boss later went on to become an instructor at one of the Philosophers' "charm schools."

World War II
In 1941, during World War II, The Boss was invited to the SAS as a special advisor, which resulted in the creation of Rayforce and the L Detachment. She met David Oh, with whom she formed the 22nd SAS Regiment. She planned the dummy raids on Heliopolis and the bombings of German air bases during the North African Campaign. She participated in many "snatch" missions, in which she had to capture important officers without killing them; the incidents later served as the basis for her development of CQC. According to Major Zero, the SAS motto, "Who Dares, Wins," was a tribute to The Boss.

In 1942, The Boss (then known as The Joy) founded the Cobra Unit, which consisted of herself, The Pain, The Fear, The End, The Fury, and The Sorrow. They participated in many special operations during World War II, contributing heavily to the Allied forces' victory. Likewise, she was also trained in sniping by The End. The entire Cobra Unit looked up to her as their mother and leader, and she formed a close relationship with The Sorrow. The Boss became a legendary soldier, and was considered by many to be the "Mother" of America's special forces.

In 1943, The Boss was ordered to infiltrate Los Alamos and assassinate one of the Manhattan Project scientists, John von Neumann, under the belief that he was a Nazi spy, and make it seem like his death was accidental. She proceeded with the mission as planned, though she ended up blowing her cover on the day after learning that she was pregnant by The Sorrow. Though she avoided a bullet aimed for her gut, she received a graze to the side of her brain and would enter a coma for three months. After six months, The Boss made a complete recovery, theorizing that her body may have willed her to live for her child. She grew to regret failing the mission, even after it transpired that Neumann being a spy was actually Soviet misinformation to sabotage the Manhattan Project. The Boss felt that his living resulted in the Cold War, which made her partially responsible as well.

Invasion of Normandy
During the D-Day landings at Normandy, The Boss and her Cobras were sent on a mission to destroy several V2 rocket installations near Juno beach. It was there that she gave birth to her and The Sorrow's child on the battlefield, going into labor after she had been shot in the gut. The caesarean section required in the chaos left her with a snake-shaped scar on her torso. She gave birth to a baby boy, though he was soon taken away from her by the Philosophers.

In 1947, after the end of the war, The Boss disbanded the Cobra Unit.

Developing CQC with John
Afterwards, The Boss began participating in secret projects run by the U.S. Government. On November 1, 1951, The Boss was involved in the atomic testing at the Nevada desert, where she was exposed to radiation, and rendered infertile. It was around this time that she first met a 16 year old John (a.k.a. Jack), and was drawn to him due to sharing similar experiences. She spent nearly a decade with John, training him as her disciple and developing the tactics of CQC, a basic form of close quarters combat. John claimed that because of his training, part of him belonged to The Boss and that they were more than just friends, soldiers, or lovers. During 1957, she also was invited to the newly instated HALO School at the JFK Special Operations center at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and was also responsible for the development of the HALO jump.



Secret operations in the Soviet Union
The Boss was forced to leave Jack when she was assigned a new top secret mission by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in June 12, 1959 involving recruiting Russians who were against the new single-party regime in Moscow to steal and sabotage various Soviet space projects and possibly directly become involved when necessary. However, the CIA disagreed with this, and refused to help The Boss, forcing her to utilize the Philosophers' spy channels for the first time to accomplish it. She managed to succeed in placing a sleeper agent to recruit them, and the CIA took over, namely to take all the credit. The Boss didn't mind. However, late into the year, The Boss discovered some discrepancies relating to the Soviet blueprints that their sleeper agent was sending, namely in regards to the Sputnik 5 where there was an ejection pod. She tried to report her findings to the CIA and get them to investigate, but they ignored her, thinking she wanted to regain her glory. She ended up infiltrating the Soviet Union without any official support and infiltrated the OKB-1 research facility. She discovered not only had her sleeper agent defected to the Soviet Union entirely, but also that the reason he did so was because the CIA was pocketing a large amount of his paycheck, and that the ejection pod on the Sputnik 5 was actually an ejection seat for human personnel to utilize to survive reentry. She reported her findings to NASA, which resulted in the CIA blaming The Boss on everything that went wrong to cover up their failures to the recently inaugurated President John F. Kennedy.

The Mercury Project
Later on, The Boss was chosen for participation in the Mercury Project and met for the first time Strangelove, who was assigned to Mercury as a key staff member. She was sent to space on a mission to acquire data on how well the human body could cope in such conditions, but during which radiation was an inevitability. She unofficially became the first person in space, and seeing the Earth from above sparked her dream of uniting the world as one. Unfortunately, as she returned to Earth from her flight on April 12, 1961, the addition of a "window" caused her re-entry capsule to veer off course and crash land in the ocean, resulting in The Boss being thrown from the capsule and severely burned by both the cosmic radiation, and the heat of re-entry. Miraculously, The Boss did survive, but she was hospitalized as a result, and she and Strangelove never saw each other again. The Boss also never realized that Strangelove had very deep feelings for her. The injuries sent The Boss into another deep coma for six months. The military covered up the accident by claiming that The Boss took part in the CIA's botched Bay of Pigs Invasion in Cuba.

Alone and resented
The Boss recovered, but the current administration resented the fact that the Russians had a widely publicized successful space flight, while The Boss' injuries and crash landing forced them to cover up the entire experiment, despite her being in space first. This resentment resulted in them sending her on a new mission in Soviet territory. In 1962, she was sent on a mission to eliminate her sleeper agent who betrayed the U.S.A. so she could pay her debt to her country even if the C.I.A. didn't believe her when she discovered something wrong on the data received from the U.R.S.S.. She had used the anti Soviet part of the Russian Philosophers to place her spy in 1959, but they neglected her when the Soviet part found out this plan and sent her former lover The Sorrow, who had returned to the Soviet Union after the disbandment of the Cobra Unit and that was unaware of the fact she was involved, to corrupt the spy. The mission culminated in the assassination of The Sorrow with the threat of the death of their child, if they both survived. She and The Sorrow met on top of a bridge in Tselinoyarsk. For a long time they discussed what they were going to do, eventually concluding not to fight. In the end The Boss reluctantly shot The Sorrow through the eye, at The Sorrow's request. Being a powerful medium and psychic, The Sorrow returned from the dead two years later as a spirit, and trailed after The Boss. Once this operation was over, she was reached out to by one of her former SAS comrades, Zero, and formed CIA Unit FOX with him. She continued to act as an agent in Soviet territory, effectively going "underground" for the following two years.



In 1964, the CIA began to fear The Boss's overwhelming charisma, so they made plans to eliminate her. In July, The Boss, who still remained in contact with the U.S. homeland, was ordered to take part in a major operation to recover the Philosophers' Legacy, known as the Virtuous Mission. In order to acquire the Legacy, The Boss had to trade her way into GRU colonel Volgin's ranks, utilizing the Philosophers' spy network. She was contacted by Volgin with the suggestion of defection, as well as learning the location of Soviet rocket scientist Nikolai Stepanovich Sokolov, and the details of a secret nuclear weapon he had been developing. A month later, The Boss participated in the Virtuous Mission (which she was also responsible for getting the CIA Director, Hot Coldman, to give the green light for it), where she was reunited with Naked Snake. She served as part of the mission control, maintaining contact with the mission control and Naked Snake via radio supposedly from on board a Permit-Class Submarine stationed in the Arctic Ocean. However, she removed herself from radio contact just as Naked Snake successfully retrieved Sokolov from Rassvet. The Boss was provided with two portable nuclear warheads and launcher, with the intention of handing them over to Colonel Volgin and gaining his trust. The Boss also helped Volgin recover Sokolov before he could escape the Soviet Union with Naked Snake's help. Volgin used one of the nukes to destroy Sokolov's design bureau, OKB-754. The destruction of the bureau in a nuclear explosion called for The Boss's mission to be greatly expanded and revised. She would have to prove the innocence of the United States, in a mission known as Operation Snake Eater, which Coldman had masterminded. Continuing to act as a traitor to America, The Boss would allow herself to be assassinated by her beloved protégé Jack, then an operative of FOX codenamed Naked Snake.

Understanding that she had to give her life and even eternally sacrifice her reputation for her country, in order to save the world from nuclear war, The Boss subtly helped Snake with his mission, while at the same time maintaining Volgin's trust. One by one Snake killed off the remaining Cobra Unit members. In their last moments of life, The End and The Fury became worried for the life of their commander. In addition, The Boss almost had her cover blown after Volgin discovered the transmitter she had previously planted on Snake, and when she became hesitant upon being ordered by the colonel to cut out Snake's eyes while he was being tortured. However, his attention became focused on Tatyana, when she prevented The Boss from performing the act, also drawing Ocelot's suspicions. She also shot Snake in the leg with a Fake Death Pill and then slipped a Single Action Army she confiscated from Ocelot into Snake to provide him with a potential means of escape as well as a means to defend himself after escaping, respectively.

After Snake defeated Volgin and destroyed Sokolov's Shagohod, with the help of EVA, The Boss met Snake in a field of white flowers, by Rokovoj Bereg. There, she reminded him of his duty as a soldier, prior to engaging him in a final duel. She also described to him the perceived betrayal of the Cuban exiles in the Bay of Pigs Invasion, as an example of the U.S. Government's questionable policies, concealing her true role in the events of the Mercury Project by claiming to have been there. Additionally, because of her previous experience as a teacher at one of the Philosophers' charm schools, The Boss had also seen through EVA's disguise as Tatyana.

"One must die and one must live. No victory, no defeat. The survivor will carry on the fight. It is our destiny... The one who survives will inherit the title of Boss. And the one who inherits the title of Boss will face an existence of endless battle."

- The Boss to Naked Snake.

To ensure that Snake would carry out his mission, The Boss radioed Russian fighters to begin bombing Rokovoj Bereg, which was only ten minutes away from their position. The Boss fought Snake with the intent to kill him, but he had gained much experience from his mission. She attacked with her assault rifle, the Patriot, but Snake evaded her attacks, and engaged her in CQC, now equalling her skill. Though her white Sneaking Suit aided in her camouflage among the Easter lilies, she eventually collapsed from Snake's ongoing attacks. After falling at the hands of her former disciple, The Boss passed the microfilm, containing the Philosophers' Legacy, to him. Snake then shot her with her own weapon. The Boss's horse approached her body, appearing to mourn her passing, while in the distance, Snake witnessed the spirits of The Boss and The Sorrow fade away.

Prior to her death, The Boss had explained part of the truth of her mission to EVA, who later informed Snake of this. She had also made EVA and GRU Major Ocelot promise not to kill Snake, nor aid in killing him. In the end, she had left everything in the hands of Snake.

The Boss's grave was later placed in Arlington National Cemetary in Virginia. Snake would arrive later to pay his respects to her with an Easter lily and the Patriot planted on her grave by him.

Legacy
After Operation Snake Eater, Snake was promoted and given the Big Boss codename to show that he had surpassed The Boss, though he refused to acknowledge that codename for some time, believing that he was not worthy of it. She was also used as a template for the Successor Project, which resulted in the creation of FOX operative Gene. Some time later, Gene discovered the true details of The Boss's final mission, which he later passed on to Big Boss in an attempt to break his spirit, and get him to join his side. Gene also implied that it was The Boss's actions that led to his belief that humanity should sacrifice their individual goals to a higher cause/being.

Despite her death, The Boss's beliefs greatly influenced major events that came later. Major Zero, inspired by The Boss's idea of a united world, formed the Patriots, of which Big Boss was also a founding member. However, Big Boss broke away from the Patriots in 1972, and formed his own private mercenary group, the Militaires Sans Frontières, in response to what he believed to be the Patriots' misinterpretation of The Boss's will.

In 1974, The Boss's personality was used as the model for the AI housed within Peace Walker's Mammal Pod, in a project carried out by the CIA Peace Sentinels. The person directly involved in her "revival" was a former acquaintance of hers, the AI researcher known as Strangelove, who requested that she have all the data on The Boss for the AI in exchange for her participation in the project. Big Boss and the Militaires Sans Frontières were then dispatched to Costa Rica after learning of the Peace Sentinels' activities as well as rumors of The Boss's survival. Big Boss later tried to converse with The Boss AI, asking if she had any regrets about her final mission, though the AI reacted with confusion. The Boss AI directly aided Big Boss afterwards by allowing him inside the Mammal Pod, when Peace Walker began transmitting false trajectory data to NORAD. When disabling the AI did not halt the transmission, Peace Walker decided to drown itself in Lake Nicaragua, in order to save the world from threat of a nuclear war. These actions also resulted in The Boss's name being cleared of treason. However, Big Boss lost some respect for The Boss, feeling that she had betrayed him, and by extension, herself, having been taught never to put down his gun as a soldier. He would nonetheless continue to bring about his interpretation of The Boss's will through his own means.

Meanwhile, Zero continued to implement his own interpretation of The Boss's vision as unity under a single will, and sought to control the United States (and later the world) from behind the scenes. Big Boss later formed the nations of Outer Heaven and Zanzibar Land in the 1990s, in order to bring about a soldier's paradise, free from the fickleness of politics, which he believed the Boss had truly envisioned.

In 2014, The Boss's final will was lost when the Patriots' AIs, disregarding Zero's intentions, implemented the war economy to propagate their means of control over the world. Upon meeting with Solid Snake at Arlington National Cemetary, Big Boss remarked sorrowfully that her death had greatly affected him to that point, going as far as to comment that he had been dead since the day he killed her. Saluting her grave one last time, a dying Big Boss finally came to understand the meaning behind The Boss's actions; that it was not about changing the world, but about leaving it as it is, by respecting the will of others and believing in one's own.

"In Memory of a Patriot, Who Saved the World"

- The Boss's Epitaph

Personality and traits
The Boss used to smoke cigars, but quit sometime prior to the Virtuous Mission.

Although The Boss scolded Naked Snake for wearing her bandana during Operation Snake Eater, she was really somewhat happy in her heart.

Despite "The Joy" being her former codename, The Boss rarely smiled during the events of Operation Snake Eater. In contrast, The Sorrow always smiled during his encounters with Naked Snake, with not one occasion where there was a frown on his face.

The Boss, as her second codename suggests, did love war but when she went to space her view on war changed and she knew that there was more to life than the Cold War and saw the pointlessness of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union.

The Boss also had a lot of love and care for her apprentice Naked Snake and may have thought of him as her own son. She also protected Snake during Operation Snake Eater from Ocelot and EVA by making them promise not to kill him, and she instructed EVA to tell Snake the truth behind her final mission and death as she wanted him to know. The Boss knew that Snake would feel guilty for killing her so she told EVA to tell him to forgive himself and to let it go.

The Boss also possessed a tremendous amount of physical strength, evidenced by her carrying the containers for the Davy Crockett launcher and the two Davy Crockett shells, which in combined weight would have exceeded 300 kg (nearly 700 pounds) late into the Virtuous Mission, and presumably fire it by hand at Groznyj Grad late into Operation Snake Eater.

The Boss also had a great amount of loyalty to her country; So great, she let her government use her ruthlessly and knowingly have her killed by her apprentice Naked Snake. She is not blinded by her loyalty to her country to the extent that she didn't know how soldiers are used, as she mentions to Naked Snake when they re-encountered each other after five years.

The Boss, like her apprentice Big Boss and his son Solid Snake, was a very stronged willed person and had a very strong charisma as she could take the burden of her country having her killed, turning her back on her Cobra Unit and having her reputation destroyed in order to complete her final mission. Her charisma was so strong it was the reason The Patriots were born but it was also the reason she was killed.

She was also one of the few members of Groznyj Grad to be allowed access to Groznyj Grad's weapons lab's west wing in spite of being below Colonel-class.

Tributes
The Boss's words to Naked Snake in 1964 were often paraphrased by the latter and others in later events:
 * The speech that The Boss gave to Naked Snake in their final battle is paraphrased by Gene in one of his speeches in his final battle with Big Boss (Naked Snake) in 1970.
 * The Boss's final speech to Naked Snake was similar to that given by Big Boss to Solid Snake in 1999.
 * The Boss's last words ("There's only room for one Boss and one Snake") to Naked Snake were similar to the speech given by Solidus Snake ("The world needs only one Big Boss!") to Solid Snake and Raiden and the speech given by Liquid Snake ("There's room for only one Snake and one Big Boss") to Solid Snake and Solidus Snake, both which was said in 2009, and as one of the final phrases uttered by Big Boss ("Boss...You only need one snake. No...The world would be better off without snakes") prior to his demise in 2014.

In the early 1970s, Big Boss fashioned a fake snake-shaped scar across his chest, similar to that of The Boss. This was used to conceal a jigsaw on himself for use in emergency situations.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Director Hideo Kojima revealed in a Metal Gear Solid 3 commentary that The Boss (ザ・ボス) was designed based on the image of actress Charlotte Rampling. One of the game's cutscenes, in which Naked Snake's disguise as Major Raikov is discovered, The Boss comments, while removing his mask, "What is this fairy disguise? It's gonna rub off on you. And then you'll lose sight of who you really are." According to Kojima's commentary, this was intended to be a reference to herself, as well as an early hint at the true nature of her defection to the Soviet Union.

A voice casting sheet for Metal Gear Solid 3, which was leaked prior to E3 2004, stated that The Boss was a Green Beret and Navy SEAL, and that she was of British descent, though these details were never mentioned in-game.

Although The Boss's and Ocelot's familial relationship can be deduced from the game's storyline, it is not made clear whether the two characters themselves were aware of it.

The Boss's personal data (accessed via the radio during the Virtuous Mission) states that her hair is brownish gray, though her in-game character model actually has blond hair, similar to her son Ocelot. Since The Boss no longer serves as a radio contact following the completion of the Virtuous Mission, she is the only support team member whose radio profile does not allow a sixth or seventh data slide to be unlocked by the player through multiple calls.

In the ending cutscene for the Virtuous Mission, The Boss and Naked Snake are seen reaching out to each other from far away (on the Hind chopper and on the ground, respectively) before pulling back. According to Hideo Kojima, this scene was originally going to have The Boss release her bandana to the wind for Snake to catch, which he'd then use as a sling. However, the concept was cut (though not the scene itself) because one of the motion capture actors requested that they move Snake's acquiring the bandana to when The Boss threw him down into the river earlier.

During the filming of The Boss's fighting Naked Snake at Dremuchij North during Operation Snake Eater (specifically, the part where she says to Snake "Go Back!"), Eriko Hirata, The Boss's motion capture actress, started breaking into tears, as she had read the script and thus already knew about The Boss's ultimate fate.

According to a commentary by Kojima, the boss battle with The Boss originally had her wearing shooting goggles to hide her tears, as well as using a machine pistol alongside the Patriot. In addition, she was also originally to have worn a blue sneaking suit, similar to that of Solid Snake in Metal Gear Solid, so as to make her more visible. However, both of these concepts were cut.

In the Secret Theatre film The Joy, The Boss dies in a manner similar to the rest of the Cobra Unit, with the detonation of a microbomb and the exclamation of her former codename, "The Joy."

Defeating The Boss in the HD version of Metal Gear Solid 3 will unlock the achievement/trophy "The Patriot."

Gameplay
Draining The Boss's stamina during the final battle in Metal Gear Solid 3, will yield the Snake Camo. Though not as effective as The Fear's Spider Camo, it nevertheless provides a high Camo Index in the average environment. Also, if the player attempts to use the fake death pill, The Boss will see right through the trick. If the player times the CQC right against The Boss, instead of simply grabbing her arm and throwing it aside, Snake will instead flip over her and leave her stunned, leaving an opening to attack her.

Other appearances
During the March 29, 2007 edition of the Metal Gear Solid Podcast, David Hayter, when explaining Big Boss's characterization and why he went down the path he did, erroneously implied that The Boss was Big Boss's biological mother.

The Boss appeared as a sticker in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which granted the player an increase of flinch resistance by 161.

"The Boss" was the name of Solid Snake's brand of cigarettes in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Although The Boss herself does not appear in Metal Gear Online, the CQC gloves are described as having been based on those of The Boss. The player can also attain her code name by playing as a female character and holding a 2/1 kill/death ratio or higher. Her symbol will be a Grass lily which had been the flowers in Rokovoj Bereg and used by Big Boss for his respects paid to her.

In Monster Hunter Portable 3rd, female hunters can unlock an outfit based on The Boss's appearance. Also while equipping said outfit, the player's hunter's audio files changes to that of The Boss. The game's general sound effects are replaced as well with typical Metal Gear sound effects.

In a press release by Kojima, he admitted that the original concept for Metal Gear Solid 5 was to be about The Boss, though he gave up on the idea after it became apparent to him that the new staff at Kojima Productions were probably not ready to handle such a plot by themselves.

The Boss was a participant in the Konami-sponsored E3 Battle, where she defeated Anne Cunningham from Silent Hill: Downpour in the first round. She will end up facing Metal Gear RAY in the second round where she defeated it (although going by percentage points, she seemingly lost). Afterwards, she faced off against, and defeated, Gabriel Belmont from Castlevania: Lords of Shadow in the third round. She then faced off against, and defeated, Vamp in the fourth round. She fought Metal Gear REX in the semifinals and lost.

During a BAFTA conference, Kojima revealed during his recollections of the series that The Boss was designed for the purpose of creating a more motherly character, although her becoming a powerful and moving character was unintentional on his part. In addition, Kojima also stated that she is the one of the few characters who could replace Snake in a future game for that reason alone.

Although The Boss herself neither makes an appearance nor is referenced directly, her life-changing view of the world was referenced by Raiden in an optional Codec call to Sunny in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, regarding how the world was one and not made up of borders, shortly after using a Solis-issued Mach 23 spacecraft to arrive in Pakistan in an attempt to halt Operation Tecumseh, at the time believed to be the assassination of President Hamilton by World Marshal while making it seem as though Desperado and Pakistani rebels were responsible.

"THE BOSS FIRST APPEARED IN: Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater (2004) Mother of special forces and creator of Close Quarters Combat (CQC). Leader of the Cobra Unit and mentor of Naked Snake"

- The Boss' bio in E3 Battle

Appearances

 * Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
 * Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D
 * Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (flashback/still only)
 * Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (flashback only)
 * Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (flashback/Peace Walker's voice only)

Notes and references
The Boss The Boss