Vulcan Raven

Vulcan Raven (バルカン・レイブン) was one of the renegade members of FOXHOUND who took over Shadow Moses with the Genome Army. He was a Shaman and was raised in the cold state of Alaska.

Biography
Vulcan Raven was born to Alaskan Indian and Inuit (Eskimo) parents, though he hates the word "Eskimo" used by white men. He had a large tattoo-like raven birthmark across his forehead and was raised as a shaman by his people.

He graduated from the University of Alaska and spent a few more years living in his homeland. He took part in the Eskimo-Indian Olympics, and won many Muk-tuk eating and Ear Pull contests; an event where two opponents pull each other's ear while enduring the harsh cold, intended to test both spiritual and physical strength.

One very cold winter, he decided to walk across the frozen Bering Sea, and managed to reach the USSR. He joined the KGB OZNAZ unit, Vympel, where he met Revolver Ocelot and Sergei Gurlukovich. After the fall of the Soviet Union, he was demoted along with other Vympel operatives following Boris Yeltsin's coup in 1993. He decided that he would not stay after this, and left Russia to become a mercenary for hire.

Years later he joined Outer Heaven. The destruction of Outer Heaven was Solid Snake's first mission, but Raven and Snake did not meet on this occasion. With Outer Heaven in ruins, Raven, on the recommendations of Revolver Ocelot, joined FOXHOUND.

During his FOXHOUND years, he excelled at using an M61A1 20 mm. multi-turreted machine gun, which is usually mounted on F-16s.

Eventually, he and the other members of FOXHOUND, Liquid Snake, Revolver Ocelot, Psycho Mantis, Sniper Wolf, and Decoy Octopus, grew tired of their roles as puppets to the government, and took over the nuclear disposal facility on Shadow Moses Island.

As Solid Snake travelled across Shadow Moses, he encountered an M1 Abrams tank with Raven as its commander. Snake destroyed the tank by throwing grenades into the open hatches as the gunner and loader tried to deal with him.

Later in the mission, Snake faced him a second time inside a freezing cold warehouse. Here, Raven fought Snake with his M61 Vulcan cannon, though was ultimately defeated. In his final moments, Raven offered Snake a "hint", telling him that the DARPA Chief whom Snake had met and whom he saw dying, Donald Anderson, was actually Decoy Octopus. He did not explain why or how he was killed, or why he was disguised in the first place, but declared that Snake would always follow a life of bloodshed wherever he went. He also vaguely alluded to the fact that Snake was an artifically conceived clone, stating that he and Liquid "are from another world", one which he didn't wish to know.

"The path you walk on has no end. Each step you take is paved with the corpses of your enemies... Their souls will haunt you forever... you shall have no peace... Hear me, Snake! My spirit will be watching you!"

- Vulcan Raven to Solid Snake

As he made this declaration, he was eaten alive by his own ravens, becoming "one with them."

Trivia

 * In the 1998 E3 promo, Raven's name is misspelled as "Valcan Raven."
 * After his M1 tank is defeated by Solid Snake, Revolver Ocelot warns Raven that Snake should not be underestimated, who then responds by reminding Ocelot of his own defeat and addressing him as "General Ivan" (Ivan is an ethnic slur towards Russians or someone of Russian descent).
 * Killing any of the ravens on the way down to the warehouse will cause Raven to scold Snake for "killing his friends."
 * Along with the Muk-tuk eating contest, he was also alleged to have excelled in the Stick Pull and Four Man Carry events, in the Eskimo-Indian Olympics.
 * A McFarlane action figure of Vulcan Raven appears in the Tanker chapter of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. It is positioned in front of a flashlight, giving not only the player, but also Snake and Otacon, the impression that Raven himself is standing around the corner, M61 in hand. It also appears in one of the flooded rooms in the Big Shell where it floats amongst other pieces of debris. Shooting it (in the Tanker chapter) will cause it to "speak" and fire small BB pellets.

Gallery
Vulcan Raven