Liquid Snake

Liquid Snake, commonly referred to as Liquid, was the squad commander of High-Tech Special Forces Unit FOXHOUND during the Shadow Moses Incident and the "twin brother" of Solid Snake.

Liquid was one of the "Sons of Big Boss," created as part of the Les Enfants Terribles project, along with his clone brothers, Solid Snake and Solidus Snake. Liquid was led to believe that he was created in order to express Big Boss's "recessive genetic traits," and as such, was inferior to Solid Snake. Because of this, he held a strong resentment towards his twin brother, who supposedly expressed "superior" genes, and wished to defeat him in combat, reclaiming what he felt was his birthright, and thus proving his superiority.

Possessing an IQ of 180, Liquid spoke seven languages fluently, including English, Spanish, French, Malay, and Arabic, the last of which he spoke like a native. He was almost an exact double of Solid Snake in terms of appearance, with the only distinguishable feature being his darker skin tone and fair hair color, due to the environmental conditions in which he spent part of his life. He also had a tattoo on his left arm, which resembled the Rod of Asclepius, but with a sword in its place.

Background
Liquid Snake was born in 1972, along with his twin brother, Solid Snake as a result of "Les Enfants Terribles," a secret government project designed to create the perfect soldier, using the genes of the "Greatest Warrior of the 20th Century," Big Boss.

Using the process of somatic cell nuclear transfer, eight clone embryos were created by inserting Big Boss's DNA into enucleated egg cells, donated by a healthy Japanese woman. By utilizing the Super Baby Method, the embryos were then implanted into the womb of a surrogate mother, with six of the babies eventually being aborted to promote growth in the remaining two.

The two clones were also modified on the genetic level, with one clone expressing Big Boss's dominant genetic traits, and the other, his recessive traits. Nine months later, the twins were born, who would later receive the codenames of Solid Snake and Liquid Snake. A third clone was also later created, known as Solidus Snake, who inherited an identical genetic code to Big Boss. Liquid was later led to believe that he was the result of Big Boss's "inferior" recessive traits, and would inform an unknowing Solid Snake as such.

Early life and career
Liquid was raised in the UK shortly after birth. His real name was also heavily classified to the extent that even someone among the highest levels of the military chain of command was forbidden to know it. In 1974, Cipher decided to use Solid Snake and Liquid Snake as an insurance policy against Big Boss, should he continue to oppose the organization.

Liquid became the youngest person to serve in the Special Air Service, at the age of 18. During the Gulf War in Iraq, he was assigned to an SAS unit to track down and destroy mobile Scud missiles. In truth, he infiltrated the Middle East as a sleeper agent for the British Secret Intelligence Service, but he was taken prisoner by the Iraqis and went missing. In 1994, he was rescued by the U.S. Government. After Solid Snake "killed" Big Boss in Zanzibar Land, Liquid's hatred for Snake grew even more, since he had been denied the chance to exact his own revenge, due to his belief that Big Boss had undergone the Les Enfants Terribles project willingly, and "chose" Liquid to be the "inferior" clone. Liquid Snake joined FOXHOUND in the year 2000, after Solid Snake and Roy Campbell had already retired from the unit. After Liquid joined, he became FOXHOUND's field commander, reinstated the old codename system, with the addition of personal identifiers, and reorganized the unit to be as small as possible so as to allow it to be an elite unit.

In 2005, Liquid's FOXHOUND subordinate Revolver Ocelot, convinced him to launch an insurrection against the U.S. Government, during a weapons testing exercise on Shadow Moses Island. Liquid and Ocelot, along with the other members of FOXHOUND, and the Next-Generation Special Forces seized control of the island's nuclear weapons disposal site, and the newly-developed Metal Gear REX. Calling themselves the Sons of Big Boss, the group took DARPA Chief Donald Anderson and ArmsTech President Kenneth Baker as hostages, and threatened the White House with a nuclear strike unless Liquid's demand was met: the body of Big Boss.

When torturing Donald Anderson, Liquid Snake and the rest of the Sons of Big Boss terrorist group arrived at a setback after Anderson apparently died out of a botched torture session with Revolver Ocelot before he could divulge his half of the activation code for REX's activation, making his plans of a nuclear threat useless without a backup plan. Due to Psycho Mantis's suggestion, he decided to have Decoy Octopus pose as Donald Anderson and imprison himself to trick Snake into activating REX for them, as well as arranging for McDonell Benedict Miller to be murdered at his home so he could disguise himself as Miller to trick Snake.

Liquid anticipated that his clone brother Solid Snake, a former FOXHOUND operative, would be sent to Shadow Moses in order to eliminate the terrorist threat. After alerting the Genome Soldiers in the supply dock of Snake's imminent arrival, Liquid headed out to intercept two F-16s that had been launched by the Pentagon as a diversion. Using a Hind D gunship, provided to him by the Gurlukovich Mercenaries, Liquid successfully shot down the two fighters with his uncanny piloting skills. He then issued a threat to the U.S. Government, warning that he would launch the nuke should they attempt a similar assault. Liquid then contacted an unassuming Solid Snake via Codec, by impersonating his former mentor, Master Miller, in order to influence Snake's actions. However, his plans received an unexpected setback when it became apparent that Snake was also injected by the Pentagon with FOXDIE to which it claimed Decoy Octopus's life. Liquid also ordered Vulcan Raven to guard the warhead storage facility with one of the island's M1 Abrams tanks, namely to see what Snake was capable of, and to provide a way for him to recover the card key into the facility as part of their plan. After Snake destroyed the M1 tank, Raven reported back to Liquid, who then ordered Ocelot and Raven not to kill him yet.

After Snake and Meryl Silverburgh were captured by Sniper Wolf, Liquid Snake briefly conversed with her and Ocelot, giving the latter strict orders not to kill Snake yet, as he wants him alive, especially to get a DNA sample of Snake while he is still alive to come closer to curing the Genome soldiers various mutations. He also briefly alludes to an unconscious Snake inheriting what he perceives as the dominant genes and thus "stealing" Liquid's birthright, and states that the U.S. Government is most likely intending trying to avoid leaking details about Metal Gear REX. After Snake awoke, he briefly introduces himself and states that they are the last known "sons of Big Boss." However, he ended up getting a call from one of his men in regards to the negotiations, and was displeased to learn about their declining on the negotiations. Liquid Snake then gives the command to prepare REX's launch in approximately 10 hours. He also begins to suspect that the U.S. Government most likely delayed their response because they felt they had an ace up their sleeve. He then states that they most likely have a spy within their ranks, and that the mysterious ninja had managed to kill 12 men by then, and ordered an immediate investigation on Decoy Octopus and Kenneth Baker's deaths, and telling Ocelot to keep his torture/interrogation short for this reason, and also reminding him not to kill Snake, and not wanting any more accidents similar to the DARPA Chief.

After Snake managed to escape from the medical facility, Liquid attacked him with the Hind D as he attempted to cross over the communications towers, the Russian gunship menacing Snake several times before a final showdown on the roof of one tower; Liquid, when questioned by Snake as to who he is and why he keeps calling him "brother", mentions that he is "Snake's shadow", and then states that Snake should ask Big Boss, and that he'll "send [Snake] to hell to meet [Big Boss]!" before engaging Snake. The Hind eventually went down in flames due to stinger missiles fired by Snake, though Liquid was able to survive. Continuing his impersonation of Master Miller, he then tricked Snake into focusing on his mission support adviser Naomi Hunter as an enemy spy. Utilizing the distraction, Liquid ultimately deceived Snake into activating Metal Gear REX with President Baker's PAL card, since he had been unable to do so without it.

Eventually Liquid's plan became clear: he initially planned to launch the warhead during the START III signing between the US and Russia to make public the development of REX. That would expose the US government, put in danger the signing of the START III, and the loss of confidence in America’s commitment to non-proliferation could create international turmoil.

But later on, he decided that instead of taking the superpowers head on (such as by launching a nuke against the United States or Russia), they would provoke the superpowers into fighting against each other, which would possibly result in mutual assured destruction. This was the reason why he went against Ocelot’s suggestion to set the target for the nuclear strike to be Chernoton, Russia; preferring instead Lop Nor, China, the location of a nuclear test site. Firing a nuke on civilian territory would spell the end for any possible future negotiations, but an attack on a nuclear test site could still be concealed from the public by the Chinese government. This way, he could pit the Chinese against the US, and the latter would be forced to confess to some of its state secrets. At that point he figured the other superpowers in the world would be interested in buying the nuclear weapon system from them, at which point he would sell them to the highest bidder.

He also included two more demands to the White House: one billion dollars, which, along with Big Boss' DNA, would be used to correct the Genome Soldiers' mutations, and the FOXDIE vaccine. Not only that, but with Metal Gear REX in his possession, Liquid planned to join forces with Russian mercenary leader Sergei Gurlukovich, and turn Shadow Moses into a new "Outer Heaven." With these vast resources at his command, Liquid would drag the world into a Third World War, fulfilling Big Boss's dream of a world which always had a place for soldiers. However, he berated Solid Snake when he discovered that he was eavesdropping on their conversation.

After Solid Snake activated REX, Liquid revealed his deception to Snake while still posing as Master Miller, and then revealed his true identity after Roy Campbell called in attempting to warn Snake. He then locked him within the control room and activating the nerve gas, ostensibly to eliminate him due to his serving no more use for Snake. After Snake managed to escape with the help of Otacon, Liquid explained to Snake that not only was the Pentagon manipulating Snake, but they also developed and injected the FOXDIE virus into Snake in order for Snake to kill everyone involved with the Shadow Moses Incident unknowingly and allow the Pentagon to recover the Genome Soldiers' remains and REX without risk of damaging them. Liquid learned this information from his spy in the Department of Defense. Liquid also revealed that he hated Big Boss with a passion, because he thought Big Boss willingly chose Liquid, knowing he was the inferior clone, even expressing that he wanted to kill Big Boss and exact revenge, berating his brother for "stealing that chance", as well as saying that by following their old man's legacy, he would "surpass and destroy [Big Boss]."

The entire final act of the Shadow Moses Incident was a series of battles between Snake and Liquid. First, Liquid piloted Metal Gear REX and attacked Snake, but, with the help of Gray Fox, Snake destroyed Metal Gear. Despite being caught in REX's explosion, Liquid survived, and dragged an unconscious Snake (who had been knocked out by the force of the explosion) up to the top of what remained of REX. He then made contact with the Pentagon via Snake's Codec implant explaining that he knew about FOXDIE, and threatened to destroy them next, after he was done with Snake, explicitly referring to them as "Patriots."

As Snake regained consciousness, Liquid told him that he wouldn't be killed so long as Snake lived, and even with the destruction of REX, his fight was not over yet. He explained to Snake that his ultimate goal was to give soldiers a purpose again, especially since soldiers continued to be abused by hypocritical politicians and their political gambits. He also deduced that Snake, despite his protestations, enjoyed the thrill of battle and would welcome the prospect of a war-torn world, which he intended to create. Liquid then revealed to Snake the history of their own creation, as well as that of the Genome Soldiers, and the reason why they needed Big Boss's remains. Due to their extensive gene therapy, the Genome Soldiers would begin to succumb to an unknown genetic illness, and the key to curing them was Big Boss's DNA. He then revealed that while Snake was still unconscious, he had placed a prone Meryl Silverburgh on top of REX as well as wiring her to a timed explosive. With a bombing raid on the facility, ordered by Jim Houseman, due to commence shortly, Liquid and Snake battled barehanded atop the ruins of Metal Gear. Snake eventually managed to throw Liquid off to the ground far below. While it seemed Snake was victorious in this struggle, Liquid survived the fall, and was still able to fire a FAMAS one-handed whilst driving a jeep as he pursued Snake and Meryl, who were trying to escape from the impending nuclear strike using a jeep of their own until their vehicles crashed at the tunnel entrance, just outside the facility. Ultimately, as he was about to kill Snake and Meryl who were both trapped underneath their jeep, Liquid suddenly lurched backwards and collapsed to the ground, succumbing to the genetically engineered FOXDIE virus.

Post-Shadow Moses
Revolver Ocelot, the sole surviving member of FOXHOUND, reported the events on Shadow Moses to U.S. President George Sears, for whom he had acted as a spy throughout the entire incident. He informed Sears, a.k.a. Solidus Snake, that it was the inferior clone who had survived, stating that Liquid had wrongly believed himself to be the inferior one right until his death. Liquid's body was later recovered, and his right arm was transplanted onto Ocelot, replacing the one he had lost to the Ninja.

In 2007, Liquid Snake's personality took over the mind of Revolver Ocelot in the middle of his hijacking of Metal Gear RAY, aboard the USS Discovery. "Liquid" made his presence known to Solid Snake, telling his brother that he was "drowning in time," and that he avoided this fate by living on through the transplanted arm. After the hijacking, "Liquid" proceeded to destroy the Discovery, along with the U.S. Marines onboard, before making his escape, almost drowning Snake in the process. However, Snake survived the incident and used Liquid's stolen corpse in an attempt to fake his own death with Liquid's body (sans the right arm). The ruse worked, and Liquid's body eventually ended up interred in Snake's place.

In 2009, "Liquid" anonymously tipped off Snake and Otacon regarding the Big Shell, in order to lure his brother into Arsenal Gear and use his presence to gain full control of Ocelot's body. Apparently, Liquid's personality would often take over Ocelot's mind whenever Snake was in close proximity. Liquid's corpse was later exhumed for DNA testing by Rosemary under Raiden's request. During the Big Shell Incident's climax, Liquid's psyche dominated Ocelot's mind completely and revealed his intentions to destroy the Patriots, using their own spy's knowledge to locate them, he told both of his brothers, Solid Snake and Solidus Snake that he had in fact "chosen" Ocelot as a host for this very reason (but elaborated no more on this). Seizing the original RAY model a second time, "Liquid" crashed Arsenal Gear into Manhattan and then fled in search of the Patriots, though Solid Snake later theorized to Raiden that he was likely acting on false information and would never find them.

In 2014, Liquid Snake's "spirit" had completely fused with Revolver Ocelot, creating the new entity of Liquid Ocelot. In reality, Ocelot had merely pretended to be Liquid via a combination of nanomachines and hypnotherapy to trick the Patriots, although he did discard the transplanted right arm originally belonging to Liquid and replaced it with a prosthetic in order to restore balance to his psyche. Also, Liquid Ocelot used Liquid's DNA via a DNA chip during his first attempt to hack the SOP system. Atop Outer Haven, Ocelot referred to himself as "Liquid's doppelgänger" to Solid Snake.

Personality and characteristics
Liquid Snake displayed an arrogant and loud attitude in stark contrast to Solid Snake, who was often more calm and collected. He was an especially adept pilot; as demonstrated by his piloting of a Hind D during a blizzard, especially in combat against two F-16's, as well as pilot it from within the weapons operator's cockpit. Ocelot implies that his adept piloting skills were one of the results of the Les Enfant Terribles project. He would later use the same chopper to combat Snake. Because of his being raised in the United Kingdom shortly after his birth, Liquid spoke with a distinctly British accent.

Liquid was incredibly bitter towards Big Boss for apparently knowingly choosing Liquid to be the inferior one and Solid Snake having what he thought was the superior genes. Although his hatred for them knew no bounds, he was also driven by a sense of connection to his twin brother. His main drive was the belief that he bears all of Big Boss's recessive genes, and that he was born knowing that his brother was superior. He was driven to surpass his genetic destiny, and in essence, his father. However, he never learned the truth that it was in fact he that gained the superior genes, while Snake was the inferior. Therefore, in an ironic twist, it turns out that Snake did what Liquid had set out to do all along, with neither of them ever knowing.

Liquid also apparently lacks compassion and loyalty for his allies as well as his enemies, in contrast to his twin brother as well as his father, and only seems to view his allies as pawns at best. This is implied when, after Snake defeated Mantis, Wolf and Raven, Liquid, while disguised as Master Miller, will say how pathetic and foolish they were for not fighting more effectively.

Liquid also displayed heightened levels of endurance, having survived numerous, seemingly fatal, events throughout Snake's mission to Shadow Moses:
 * He was shot down in the Hind D, the explosion of which Snake could see from the top of the communications towers;
 * During the REX battle, Liquid survived the multiple stinger missile hits on the cockpit, and was still inside REX when it finally blew up. The force of that explosion was sufficient to bodily hurl Snake across the room and slam him into a wall. However, once again, Liquid emerged relatively unscathed, dragging Snake to the top of REX's remains for a final fight;
 * At the conclusion of the brawl, Liquid survived a fall of over 10 meters (40 feet) from the top of REX, when he had claimed beforehand that such a fall would kill even Snake;
 * Immediately afterwards, Liquid gave chase to Snake and Meryl Silverburgh, via jeep, eventually causing both vehicles to crash. Dragging himself from the wreckage, staggering but still alive, he attempted to finish off Snake, but finally succumbed to FOXDIE before he could.

Trivia

 * Being a somatic cell clone of Big Boss, Liquid Snake inherited mitochondrial DNA from the Japanese egg donor of Les Enfants Terribles.
 * Liquid Snake and Solid Snake were both aware of their Japanese heritage. During the Shadow Moses Incident, Liquid almost let slip his true identity, while posing as Master Miller, when discussing Snake's and Vulcan Raven's common ancestry.
 * When Solid Snake was "summoned" from Alaska, he originally possessed the same hairstyle as Liquid, but he cut his hair just prior to being sent to Shadow Moses, so that "he won't be mistaken for Liquid." However, Meryl still confused him with the terrorist leader upon first meeting Snake.
 * Liquid was foreseen in Elisa and Ursula's prophetic vision in 1970 as "the son that will bring the world to ruin."
 * Liquid is the only Snake that has not worn an eye patch (or a similar device).

Unconfirmed history
The Twin Snakes were born as a result of a ninth batch of clones, in Carlsbad, New Mexico.

After being sent to Great Britain after birth, Liquid Snake experienced a harsh childhood where he received an education and combat training courtesy of the MI5. By the time of age 13, he experienced several combat situations, and spent time as a mercenary and assassin, having disdain for service in the military. He also had the uncanny ability to disguise himself in a multitude of ways, which earned him a spot on the SIS. During the Gulf War, Liquid Snake succeeded in destroying four mobile SCUD missile launchers before Iraqi paratroopers captured him. He was then brainwashed by the Iraqi government and assigned to undertake major terrorist activities throughout the Middle East before he was rescued in 1994. He also developed a resistance to extreme climate temperatures due to his missions in the Arab desert regions. By the time he became the commander of FOXHOUND, he started suffering mental instability as a result of discovering that the "genes" that he inherited from Big Boss as a result of the Les Enfants Terribles project were apparently recessive.

Behind the scenes
Liquid Snake (リキッド・スネーク) serves as the primary antagonist of the first Metal Gear Solid. He is the only "Snake" whose real name is not revealed in the series. The mission that Liquid Snake partook in that resulted in his capture in Iraq had similarities for one of the mission outlines of the failed SAS mission during the Gulf War: Bravo Two Zero. In the original game, Liquid mentioned that Big Boss had personally told him that he was inferior. This line of dialogue was changed in the remake, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, to stating his belief that Big Boss chose him, knowingly, to be the inferior one, suggesting that the two never met one another.

It remains unclear as to which clone was created to express Big Boss's dominant or recessive traits, since Liquid's exposition on Les Enfants Terribles is contradicted by Ocelot's later report to Solidus, regarding which clone was designated the "inferior" one. The subject of Big Boss's dominant and recessive traits, in regards to the clones' gene expression, is never once referred to again in other games in the series, after Metal Gear Solid. A recap of Liquid's dialogue was included in the fictional in-game novel In the Darkness of Shadow Moses, but there is no mention of dominant and recessive traits. However, the dialogue remains essentially unchanged from the original game, in its 2004 remake, The Twin Snakes.

In the original plot for Metal Gear Solid 2, Liquid was intended to have faked his death from FOXDIE and was also to have been the main villain of the Tanker Chapter (which was originally supposed to be on an aircraft carrier). However, this, along with most of the original plot, was scrapped due to tensions rising in the Middle East. According to character designer Yoji Shinkawa, Liquid Snake was originally dark haired like his brother (Solid Snake) but it was bleached to blonde by the intense rays of the sun during his time in Iraq.

AbbyShot Clothiers, a company that creates movie and video game-inspired clothing, created a trench coat similar to the one that Liquid wears. It is priced at $399 CAD, $387.03 USD, and £247.38.

During the TGS 2009, Hideo Kojima, in his speech about Peace Walker implied that Liquid Snake would make an appearance as a child in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. However, despite this, no actual appearance was made of him. He is only mentioned once as one of the "two sons" of Big Boss in Miller's phone call. He does, however, gain an additional mention in the English version of Peace Walker as a magazine, due to changing some of the items due to their being real life products (in the Liquid Magazine ' s case, it was Dengeki PlayStation magazine).

Metal Gear Solid
When outside the control room of Metal Gear REX before Snake loses the PAL Card, the player can contact Liquid, who will still answer disguised as Master Miller, even though Liquid will still appear to be sharing a conversation with Ocelot if the player looks at the control room in first person view (at this point, the player is unaware that Miller is really Liquid, and the player cannot look in First Person View while using the Codec. You can however use the scope to view Liquid and call Master Miller.).

If Snake is killed during the torture session with Ocelot, Liquid will berate Ocelot for "doing it again," referring to Donald Anderson's death.

If Snake fails to defeat Liquid atop REX before the time limit runs out, Liquid will laugh maniacally during the Game Over screen. If the player pushes Liquid off REX in The Twin Snakes, Liquid will drop his Dog Tags.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Killing enough human enemies in Metal Gear Solid 4 will cause Old Snake to recall Liquid’s words to him at the end of Metal Gear Solid ("You enjoy all the killing, that's why!"). The shock from this episode causes Snake to throw up and his Psyche Gauge lowers drastically. Although, if you pause the game after Liquid's speech, then you will skip the vomiting and not lose any Psyche.

In Act 4, when arriving at the Supply Route where REX's remains are located, taking a picture of the cockpit area will reveal a ghost of Liquid Snake sitting in the cockpit.

During the opening stage of the final battle with Liquid Ocelot, images of Liquid from Metal Gear Solid flash on the screen, and the "Encounter" music from Metal Gear Solid is played. Liquid Ocelot's attack patterns in this stage are similar to the ones Liquid Snake used in the fistfight atop REX.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Liquid (along with several other Metal Gear characters) made a cameo feature in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a mention in a collectible trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. According to the Cardboard Box trophy, Liquid is just as fond of cardboard boxes as his brother and father.