Big Boss

Big Boss was the codename of the legendary soldier who founded the U.S. Army Special Forces Unit, FOXHOUND. He was also the founder and commander of Militaires Sans Frontieres, the "military without borders," which led to the creation of Outer Heaven in South Africa. Big Boss later helped the small nation of Zanzibar Land achieve independence in Central Asia, becoming its head of state. Big Boss was considered by many to be "The Greatest Warrior of the 20th Century" and a brilliant military leader and was hailed as a war hero by admirers and feared as a tyrant by his enemies. As a result of the Les Enfants Terribles project, he was the genetic father of Solid Snake (his subordinate and later nemesis), Liquid Snake and Solidus Snake.

Prior to earning the codename of Big Boss, he served as a field operative for the CIA black ops unit FOX (Force Operation X) which was founded by Zero and the apprentice of The Boss under the codename of Naked Snake during the Cold War.

Early years
Born in 1935, John was more commonly known as Jack during his early years. Jack's military career dated back to the 1950s, when he participated in the Korean War as a teenager and joined the Green Berets. During his tenure, he became The Boss's apprentice. At some point, he also learned how to snipe in urban and marine environments. In 1954, Jack was involved in the Bikini Atoll testing of the first airborne detonation of a hydrogen bomb. However, unlike most of his friends who were present during the testing who had gotten at least leukemia or thyroid cancer, or worse died from the radiation, he had not developed any symptoms at all. However, he did admit that he would eventually start showing symptoms sooner or later. This was later confirmed when it is revealed that his exposure to radiation resulted in him becoming sterile and unable to reproduce naturally. During Jack's time under the tutelage of The Boss, she taught him everything about combat, weaponry, survival, espionage, destruction, psychology and foreign languages like Russian. They also developed CQC together. The Boss and Jack went their separate ways on June 12, 1959.

In 1961, Jack carried out covert operations alongside Python during the early stages of Vietnam War, before America officially participated. He later stated that Python was one of the few soldiers he could completely rely on in battle. The two were involved in a mission together, where Python was shot and presumed to have been killed.

By late 1964, Jack had been awarded the Army Achievement Ribbon, the Good Conduct Ribbon, and the Distinguished Service Cross Ribbon, along with several others. At some point between 1962 and 1964, he joined Zero's FOX Unit.

In August 24th 1964, Jack took part in the Virtuous Mission as a member of the CIA's FOX unit, in which he was to rescue a defecting Soviet scientist (Nikolai Stephanovich Sokolov). It was during this mission that he was given the codename Naked Snake in honor of The Boss's former unit, the Cobra Unit. It was also during this mission that he participated in the world's first High Altitude-Low Opening (HALO) jump. However, this mission failed, due to the defection of The Boss. As a result of the events that followed the failure, he was also imprisoned by the U.S. Government while in intensive care, with the government considering executing Snake because they thought he might have had involvement in The Boss's defection.

A week later, the government decided to pardon Snake of any involvement in The Boss's defection, under one condition: the FOX unit and Snake were to participate in Operation Snake Eater, in which the objective was to eliminate The Boss and her new Soviet ally, Colonel Volgin, rescue Sokolov and destroy the Shagohod. It was during this mission that Snake came across the prototype designs for Metal Gear REX from Aleksandr Leonovitch Granin, who was sending them to a colleague in America.

During this mission, Snake had to fight off members of The Boss's former unit, the Cobra Unit. He also attempted to disguise himself as Major Raikov and knock out the real Raikov to infiltrate the production facility of Groznyj Grad, rescue Sokolov and find out how to destroy the Shagohod. However, the rescue attempt backfired when Volgin, being Raikov's lover, saw through his disguise easily and resulted in his capture. Snake had his right eye accidentally damaged by Major Ocelot's Colt Single Action Army, while in captivity for torture, in order to save EVA's life. However, he succeeded in completing the mission, and killed The Boss. For this, he was awarded the codename Big Boss and the Distinguished Service Cross by Lyndon B. Johnson.

Big Boss, however, was heavily affected by the events of Operation Snake Eater. He had been forced to kill The Boss (his old mentor) and discovered that the whole operation (including The Boss's supposed defection) was a ruse set up by his government, to avoid taking the blame for a nuclear attack, while secretly getting their hands on the Philosophers' Legacy. Big Boss lost sight of what he was fighting for, and with it, his patriotism for his country. Because of this, as well as his blaming himself for allowing it to happen, he decided to retire from FOX. He was mentally discouraged and alone. Unbeknownst to him, his disposing of Colonel Volgin had also made him a hero to the people of the Soviet Union.

Post-Snake Eater
Although he attempted to retire from the battlefield and make a peaceful living as an instructor or a hunting guide, he ended up returning to the battlefield. In 1966, Big Boss encountered a war orphan dubbed Frank Jaeger during his time in the Mozambican War of Independence. After defeating him in battle and nursing him back to health, he rescued the child and escorted him to a rehab facility where he could be taken care of. During this time, he also attempted to find EVA, but he wasn't able to find a trace of her for years.



Although he had been labeled Big Boss and became a legend in the Black ops world due to his exploits, he continued to refer to himself as Naked Snake, as he did not yet feel that he had surpassed The Boss's skill. On November 1970, the FOX unit was considered rogue after its members organized a revolt and took over a Soviet base in South America, on the San Hieronymo Peninsula. Big Boss was captured by FOX and taken to the peninsula, where he was imprisoned and interrogated. Likewise, Big Boss was also charged with treason by the Department of Defense for spearheading the FOX rebellion due to the one who led the rebellion also managing to gather FOX members who specialized in solo sneaking missions as well as kill off all those who opposed, with Snake being the only one known to be capable of doing so.

He met fellow prisoner Roy Campbell, a member of the Green Berets who had originally been sent to take care of FOX. After Big Boss contacted Para-Medic, she told him that both him and Major Zero have been charged with treason by the Pentagon, since the Pentagon suspected that they were the masterminds behind the revolt. The Big Boss and Roy Campbell managed to escape and went on to persuade former Red Army soldiers, along with disillusioned FOX operatives, to join forces with them and rise up against the renegade members (forming the early beginnings of what would become FOXHOUND), as they weren't going to expect any help from America due to both America and the Soviet Union being reluctant to get involved due to the risk of exposing to the other country some secrets (such as the creation of a weapon based on Soviet blueprints and a Soviet Missile Base, respectively). Para-Medic and Sigint also helped in defeating FOX and clearing their names, as well as Major Zero's (since they were all partially blamed for the uprising).

During this time, Big Boss met Null (Frank Jaeger) and the two fought on a number of separate occasions. He also met Python once again, who had not died during the Vietnam War, but was kept alive by the CIA and trained as an "anti-Snake" because of his knowledge of Big Boss's fighting style. Despite Python knowing this information, he was defeated. He also learned near the end of the mission from Cunningham, who initially seemed like he was trying to get the other half of the Legacy from Snake, that his actual mission from the United States Department of Defense was to force Gene to launch Metal Gear to tarnish the CIA's reputation, and to do that, they had Snake recruit many people in Gene's army into resisting Gene. However, Snake fought and killed Cunningham so he can destroy Metal Gear. Big Boss then went on to kill the renegade FOX unit's leader, Gene, although not before learning that, contrary to what was told to him, The Boss's death was actually planned from the very beginning by "a single deviously-cunning strategist."

Afterwards, with the help of the Red Army soldiers he had recruited, destroyed Gene's nuclear missile that FOX was threatening to launch into the United States. Gene left Big Boss with a large cache of funds and supplies that he intended to use in the creation of Army's Heaven. The official press, however, had changed it to his going to San Hieronymo to take down the base. After the incident, Big Boss officially formed FOXHOUND, to carry on the tradition of the FOX unit and to give a home to the soldiers he had recruited during the San Hieronymo Incident. Also, he had received another medal for his service.

The Patriots and Les Enfants Terribles
After San Hieronymo, Ocelot and Zero extended an invitation to Big Boss to join them in the formation of a new organization known as "the Patriots." This organization was to be set up in honor of The Boss's last wish. Big Boss, who knew her better than anyone else, was chosen by Zero to be an icon and hero to the world (although he was also chosen in part to get Ocelot to help him with a project). Some time after Big Boss joined the Patriots, he participated in a rescue mission in 1971 in Hanoi to rescue EVA and recruited her into The Patriots. Zero started spreading stories about him. Some of these tales were true, some exaggerated, and others were outright lies. Big Boss later became infuriated with Zero's lust for power, and was sick of playing the role of a puppet.

Afraid of losing Big Boss, Zero planned to finish up a secret project called the Les Enfants Terribles project. In 1972, while Big Boss fell into a coma from being gravely wounded from a battle, Zero brought his unconscious body to a lab where his genes were extracted to make genetically enhanced soldiers. Solid Snake, Liquid Snake, and Solidus Snake were produced in this program, and were known as the "Sons of Big Boss." However, Big Boss eventually found out about the project. This was the final straw between the two, and Big Boss left the Patriots with a determination to oppose them. He left the United States and FOXHOUND, drifting from country to country as a lone soldier.

Big Boss returned to Vietnam as a mercenary to participate in Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols (LRRP), and later served alongside SOG (Studies and Observation Group), Green Berets, U.S. Army Rangers and the Wild Geese. Afterwards, he established his own guerrilla group known as Militaires Sans Frontieres. Sometime in late 1972, Big Boss met Kazuhira Miller, who became MSF's second in command.

On November 4, 1974, Big Boss stationed the Militaires Sans Frontieres in the Barranquilla Coast of Colombia, where he was approached by Ramón Gálvez Mena and Paz Ortega Andrade from Costa Rica, a "Nation without a Military." Since the Cuban Missile Crisis, Latin America had become a key to maintaining the power balance between East and West, though Costa Rica had miraculously managed to maintain its peace and neutrality. However, in various regions of the country, a mysterious armed force seemed to be engaged in specific activities, claiming to be an &quot;international police force&quot; hired by the Costa Rican Development Agency (known as CODESA). However, Gálvez doubted this was the case as they were shipping in a lot of advanced equipment. He also told Snake that he believed that the armed force was actually employed by "la cia."

When Gálvez attempted to hire Big Boss and the Militaires Sans Frontieres to hold back the invasion, Big Boss was reluctant, as he did not want his unit to become a "dogs of war" group, and suggested that Gálvez try to get a negotiator whom he knew to the Costa Rican government to settle the dispute. Big Boss eventually agreed when Gálvez revealed that he knew who Big Boss really was, as well as learning from a Sony Walkman bird recording from Paz's missing friend that The Boss had apparently survived their fight at Rokovo Berej.

Six days later, to preserve peace in the region, the Militaires Sans Frontieres moved into action. After infiltrating the shipping facility in question, he learned from interrogating a radioman that cargo was going to a facility in Mount Irazu. He and Miller also suspected from the unusual amount of film badges and the fact that the radioman referred to the cargo as "spears" that the CIA was apparently bringing nukes into Costa Rica. He later enlisted the help of a FSLN unit led by Amanda Valenciano Libre to find out more information about the situation in Costa Rica and the cargo route while under the cover job of a Colombian Ornithologist. He later got Amanda to Mother Base after being injured while trying to save Chico Libre.

Big Boss later saved Chico from the prison and learned the exact route of the cargo from the coast to Mount Irazu. After finding the exact truck in the parking garage of the underground base, he discovered they already taken out the cargo, and encountered Pupa after overhearing an argument between Dr. Huey Emmerich and Hot Coldman. Big Boss then learned about the Peace Walker project, as well as an AI facility in a Mayan Pyramid, and recruited Huey to the Militaires Sans Frontieres. Afterwards, he managed to help out Cécile Cosina Caminades, the missing friend of Paz, as well as learning the disturbing truth that "The Boss" was actually an AI programmed in her image, known as the Mammal Pod.

He later encountered Strangelove, who hated Big Boss due to killing The Boss. He then took out Chrysalis after failing to shut down Mammal Pod. He then traveled to an underground base, disguised as a mining facility, and took out Cocoon. Unfortunately, while talking to The Boss's AI, he ended up captured by the Peace Sentinels. He attempted to stop Peace Walker from reaching Nicaragua, but ultimately failed and had to euthanize The Boss's horse, who was mortally wounded from tumbling off the natural border, and was also forced to relive the painful and tragic memory of him killing The Boss 10 years prior, during Operation Snake Eater.

He eventually traced Paz, who had been captured by Coldman earlier, as well as Peace Walker, at a United States missile base, and noticed that the personnel were of Soviet origin. He also learned Peace Walker's true capabilities, and that Gálvez (who was really KGB agent Vladimir Zadornov) was actually using Snake so that the Soviet Union could conquer Central America with ease. He was then forced to stop Peace Walker from not only firing at Cuba, but also causing a nuclear war after Coldman activated the launch sequence. After the end of the fiasco, Snake decided to formally identify himself as Big Boss after feeling betrayed by The Boss putting down her gun, which he viewed as betraying herself as a soldier. Big Boss also, under Kaz, Huey, and Strangelove's suggestion, commissioned the creation of Metal Gear ZEKE using parts salvaged from the AI weapons.

While ZEKE was nearing completion, Big Boss had to capture Vladimir Zadornov six times in Costa Rica, having escaped from his cell. After it was completed, he went to the shooting gallery aboard Mother Base only to find Vladimir waiting for him, and he was forced to shoot Vladimir in self defense. However, he deduced with Kaz from Vladimir's final words that he had an accomplice onboard the Mother Base. Before they could think of what this could mean, Big Boss received word that ZEKE was hijacked, and rushed to the ZEKE deck to confront the hijacker.

To his shock, he learned that the hijacker was Paz (who was actually Cipher agent Pacifica Ocean) and the entire mission was planned by Cipher in order for him to rejoin them. After refusing to rejoin Zero, he was forced to fight and defeat ZEKE, as Paz was going to launch a nuke towards the East Coast to frame the MSF as being an extremist cult. He later learned that Kaz was also involved with Cipher as a businessman, working with Cipher solely to expand MSF. However, he forgave Kaz when he apologized, and told him to "assemble the men" as they were going to be hunted down. In time, they would come to be known as the founders of "Outer Heaven."

Later career
By the early 1980s, Big Boss had completed more than 70 missions, and went on to participate in several regional conflicts and ethnic liberation wars. He fought in the Mozambican Civil War, during which point he rescued Gray Fox (Frank Jaegar) for the third time, this time from a FRELIMO POW camp (as Gray Fox was a RENAMO operative during that point).

After taking part in the Rhodesian Civil War, Big Boss took Frank Jaegar and Naomi Hunter to the United States after the end of that war in 1980. Afterwards, Frank and Big Boss returned to Africa to continue fighting, leaving Naomi behind in America.

Big Boss achieved near-mythical status due to his extraordinary military career, earning him the "Legendary Soldier" moniker. He was heralded as a true hero and made the front covers of popular magazines in many countries.

Afterwards, he served as a combat instructor and worked to reintegrate former child soldiers into society, often by training them to become elite soldiers. One of them was a young Kurdish girl whom he trained as a sniper.

Creating Outer Heaven
Using Gene's large cache of funds and resources, along with the funds he amassed as a mercenary, Big Boss began to bring about his vision of Outer Heaven. He created a military fortress to use as the main base of his personal mercenary dispatch company deep in South Africa. In the early 1990s, he returned to the U.S. to once again take command of FOXHOUND, the special forces unit he had founded almost two decades earlier. While serving as FOXHOUND commander, he planned on secretly building up his mercenary company into a larger military establishment.

Big Boss then kidnapped Russian scientist Dr. Drago Pettrovich Madnar and his daughter, forcing him to develop Metal Gear TX-55, based on Granin's designs. It was a weapon system designed to give Outer Heaven military supremacy over the West, and thus giving Big Boss the power he needed to confront Zero and The Patriots.

At some point before 1995, a young soldier with battle experience from the Gulf War joined the FOXHOUND unit. Big Boss immediately knew that this young solider was one of his sons and gave him the codename Solid Snake, after his former codename Naked Snake. Big Boss taught Snake the techniques of CQC as well as the importance of having the will to survive on the battlefield.

In 1995, when FOXHOUND was commissioned by the U.S. to infiltrate Outer Heaven and destroy Metal Gear, Big Boss first sent in his most trusted soldier, Gray Fox, in a mission codenamed Operation Intrude N312; once Gray Fox was captured, Big Boss had briefed Solid Snake, FOXHOUND's least experienced member, on the events of N312, and supplied him with a classified chart detailing how Gray Fox infiltrated Outer Heaven before FOXHOUND lost contact with him. He then sent in Solid Snake in the follow-up mission codenamed Operation Intrude N313. Upon Snake's arrival in the general vicinity, Big Boss, through Solid Snake's wireless radio, wished him luck and warned him that what Solid Snake will experience is nothing like he had ever experienced before in his service in the Gulf War. Secretly, however, Big Boss figured that there was no way that a rookie like Solid Snake could fulfill such a mission, that his efforts would delay further action by the West and buy Big Boss enough time to complete Metal Gear's development.

However, much to Big Boss's surprise, Solid Snake succeeded in infiltrating Outer Heaven and was planning to destroy Metal Gear itself. Faced with the failure of his plans, Big Boss attempted to get Solid Snake to delay the mission, including setting up ambushes, luring him into a room in Building 3's ground floor that had a pit-trap, and even telling Solid Snake to abort the mission. When Metal Gear TX-55 ended up being destroyed, Big Boss confronted Solid Snake in the heart of Outer Heaven, and revealed his identity as Outer Heaven's mastermind. He then told him the truth behind his mission. After Big Boss activated the base's self-destruct countdown, the two of them engaged in one-on-one combat, with Big Boss dodging between crates and firing at Snake with a pistol. Even in his advanced age, Big Boss proved fast and dangerous, but Solid Snake eventually managed to defeat him.

However, Big Boss managed to survive and escape Outer Heaven. After NATO had conducted an air raid to bomb all of the refugees and war orphans within the area (regardless of their ties to Outer Heaven or not), he managed to save many of the refugees, war orphans, Outer Heaven mercenaries and Resistance members (whom he forgave). He later fled with the survivors to the Middle East.

In 1997, Big Boss and his followers had participated in the Mercenary War and helped give a fledgling nation on the border of the former USSR, Pakistan, China, and Afghanistan, Zanzibar Land, formerly known as the Zanzibar Province of the Soviet Union, its independence. After Zanzibar Land's independence was granted, they elected him to be the President of the new country. Recruiting war orphans from across the Third World and raising them as soldiers, Big Boss hoped to create a nation by and for soldiers, where soldiers were honored and not treated as political tools. Big Boss also recruited Gray Fox to his cause, and to ensure Zanzibar Land's success, he once again commissioned the creation of Metal Gear D, a more advanced Metal Gear prototype. This time, Dr. Madnar developed the new model of his own free will, after being branded a madman in the US. Dr. Madnar also provided Big Boss with cybernetic body parts to compensate for the injuries he received in Outer Heaven.

In 1999, Solid Snake once again managed to infiltrate the enemy nation's stronghold and destroy Metal Gear. Snake eventually defeated Gray Fox, hand-to-hand, in the middle of a minefield. Injured and unarmed, Snake was once again confronted by a machinegun-wielding Big Boss. Having spent his entire life on the battlefield, Big Boss could not conceive of a world without war. Big Boss paraphrased his mentor's final words to Solid Snake before challenging his son to one final battle.

"Whoever wins, our battle does not end. The loser is free from the battlefield, but the winner must remain there and the survivor must live his life as a warrior until he dies."

- Big Boss to Solid Snake, in Zanzibar Land

Snake managed to cobble together a makeshift flamethrower which consisted of a can of lacquer spray and a cigarette lighter. He used it to incinerate Big Boss, although not before Big Boss revealed to Snake that he was, in fact, his father.

After Zanzibar Land, Big Boss's body was recovered by the Patriots. Despite suffering major injuries, he was still alive. He was then injected with nanomachines by Zero in order to artificially induce a cryogenic coma, preserving him as an icon for the organization and (in Zero's view) an irreplaceable friend. Big Boss's genome was then used to identify the so-called "soldier genes," for the Next-Generation Special Forces via gene therapy.

Big Boss's body was said to be in cold storage to preserve his remains. A grave was laid next to The Boss's grave, which read: "A Hero Forever Loyal to the Flames of War, Rests in Outer Heaven. 193X - 1999." This was in order to reaffirm Zero's lore that Big Boss was indeed dead.

In 2005, the now renegade FOXHOUND (Revolver Ocelot, Psycho Mantis, Sniper Wolf, Vulcan Raven, Decoy Octopus, and the Genome Army) led by Liquid Snake incited an insurrection on Shadow Moses and demanded the Pentagon (the Patriots) hand over Big Boss's "remains" and one billion dollars or they'd launch a nuclear weapon via Metal Gear REX. A fatally wounded Sniper Wolf told Solid Snake how Big Boss inspired her. However, Liquid expressed extreme hatred to Snake when he described their father. Atop the damaged REX, Liquid revealed to Snake his plans: recreating Big Boss's dream of Outer Heaven in order to surpass Big Boss.

In 2009, Solidus Snake compared his and Raiden's relationship to that of Big Boss and the Twin Snakes (Solid Snake and Liquid Snake).

Post-Manhattan Incident
Prior to 2014, Big Boss's DNA and biometric data was used for the Patriots' ID recognition system, the use of which allows access to their AIs (also an earlier version of the Patriots' SOP system). The organization also declassified documents relating to Big Boss's exploits during the 1960s, which contributed to a resurgence in his popularity to the public, and various soldiers began to adopt some of his CQC techniques (although not to the extent of how Big Boss used it). Big Boss's body was later recovered by EVA and Raiden.

By 2014, Big Boss was rebuilt by EVA and her rebel group using body parts of his sons, Liquid and Solidus. When they were finished, Big Boss was restored to his former appearance. In 2014, when GW was properly destroyed, it led the way open into JD, which, in turn, revealed the location of Zero. Big Boss, now fully revived, proceeded to find him.

After Old Snake (Solid Snake) had attempted suicide in Arlington National Cemetery, Big Boss emerged from behind with Zero; telling his son that there was no hatred between them. Despite his advanced age, Big Boss was still a formidable fighter and was able to disarm Snake with ease then embrace him in a fatherly hug.

Big Boss told Snake about the history of the Patriots and the struggle between Zero and himself. He also told Snake that Ocelot had used hypnotherapy and nanomachines as part of his plan to become Liquid Snake's doppelganger. Big Boss was informed of the switch from a video that Naomi had left him when he awoke. As Zero was sitting in his wheelchair in a vegetative state, Big Boss commented that, although there was bad blood between him and Zero, all he felt now was "a deep sense of longing, and pity." He pondered on whether Zero hated or feared him. Big Boss then switched off Zero's air supply machine, killing him and finally ending their conflict. Soon after that, Big Boss started to feel the effects of the new FOXDIE virus that was injected into Snake. While in pain, he requested Snake to take him over to The Boss's grave. He stood and saluted, echoing to his salute 50 years beforehand. He said that ever since he killed The Boss, he "was already dead." Sharing one final smoke, Big Boss finally made peace with his last-living son, and, as a last request, pleaded with Snake to spend his final days in peace and not waste them fighting, and both agreed. Moments later, Big Boss, the greatest soldier who ever lived, passed away at the grave of the woman whose life and death had made him into the person he was.

"This is good... Isn't it?"

- Big Boss's last words.

Legacy
Big Boss's influence on the world could be compared only to The Boss. He inherited her dream of a unified world free from the short-sighted ambitions of nations, soured by the senselessness he perceived in her death. Though he stated during the Virtuous Mission that he would die in the service of his country if that was necessary, the death of The Boss showed him there was no purpose in doing so. This realization led him to create Outer Heaven; a nation where, in his words, "every soldier will have his place, and where they will answer to no government." which can be seen as him believing in a variation of Anarchy, thus contrasting the total control of society as displayed by the Patriots, wishing for every individual to be "free". This idea would persist decades into the twenty-first century and would even influence and be mentioned by Liquid Ocelot to Solid snake before his demise.

He thus spent many of his later years in conflict with the Patriots, individuals who followed a different interpretation of The Boss's will - that of a world ruthlessly unified by the age-old methods of intrigue and espionage. Lacking their economic resources and popular support, Big Boss believed there was no way that he could change the world, even if he was the world's greatest soldier. However, he still chose to fight for what he believed in. This determination earned him many admirers and followers, even long after his "death." Over and over again the standard of "Outer Heaven" would be raised in defense of those who suffered due to the machinations of the Patriots.

Big Boss also never wanted or saw Solid Snake as his son but confessed that he had always respected him as a soldier and a man, yet he believed that unlike Liquid or Solidus, Solid Snake always fought for more than himself, as The Boss always did. As a last chance to prevent him from making any more terrible mistakes, Big Boss told his son to spend the rest of his life not as a soldier, but as a man. Spending his entire life fighting and experiencing sorrow, Big Boss made it clear that no one needs to die for another person's cause. People must believe in themselves and fight for what they feel is right, for in the end they alone can judge their own deeds.

Personality and characteristics
Big Boss had an innate desire for conflict, namely because that was the only thing he truly knew. However he was tolerant to people who believed in peace, even if his Outer Heaven vision involved giving the soldier a place where he would always be needed in the world, he had nothing against people who aspired for peace, as evidenced by his interaction with Paz's alleged beliefs towards peace. He is also compassionate and forgiving towards his enemies, to the point of even attempting to save them if they were in need, as evidenced by his saving the Outer Heaven resistance survivors from the Outer Heaven bombings despite the latter attempting to take down his organization earlier, as well as forgiving Kazuhira Miller after he admitted that he was in on Cipher's plot. During his youth, he was also willing to sacrifice himself for his country if need be, although why he defended America came into serious question after he was forced to kill The Boss in a conspiracy that showcased to him how even the best of soldiers are expendable to the government. Eventually Big Boss did still have respect for his country but he wasn't going to live his life the way The Boss did as a tool for corrupt political aims, anything he did was done out of loyalty to himself rather than a country. He also did not like trying to kill people when they were unable to defend themselves, such as when Null was vulnerable in his capsule, and was against killing enemies if he didn't have to preferring to knock them out or tranquilize them if he couldn't simply sneak past them.

Big Boss was fond of smoking cigars, and would do so even while undertaking a sneaking mission. He also showed fluency in some foreign languages, such as Russian and French, and was shown to know at least a bit of Spanish.

Big Boss also did not like spy-genre films, specifically the James Bond films, feeling that they don't portray agent life realistically at all, to the point that he can't help but compare himself to Bond negatively even when he knows it was fiction. Because of this, he once got into an argument with Major Zero, who was a big James Bond fan.

Big Boss was also willing to eat anything alive during both his missions into Tselinoyarsk, sometimes not even caring if they were poisonous as long as they at least tasted good, causing Para-Medic to either tell him off if the animal in question was not something to eat, or jokingly call him a cannibal if he is eating something like Snakes or Jack Fruit. By the San Hieronymo and Peace Walker Incidents, however, he decided not to eat any animals, as he and his men had plenty of food to eat in either case.

During his days as a CIA agent and mercenary, Big Boss indicated that he held several beliefs in myths and the supernatural, in conversations with his comrades:
 * He stated that thinking about vampires gave him nightmares, in a radio conversation with Para-Medic regarding vampire bats. For this reason, he would rather she didn't utter the name "Dracula" when speaking to him (as she was quite the movie buff). His fear of vampires was also noted by a female soldier in the Militaires Sans Frontieres.
 * Big Boss revealed to Huey Emmerich that he believed in Santa Claus, going so far as to argue for his existence. Their conversation related to NORAD, and was in reference to an annual event called "NORAD tracks Santa."

Trivia

 * Big Boss's rivalry with Ocelot throughout Operation Snake Eater is somewhat akin to that of siblings. Gene also referred to himself and Big Boss as being "like brothers" during the San Hieronymo Takeover. These relationships mirror the one between Solid Snake and Liquid Snake.
 * Big Boss intended to become an instructor after the events of Operation Snake Eater. In his later years, he eventually served as a combat instructor, working to reintegrate former child soldiers into society. However, he eventually came to believe that soldiers on the battlefield could never be reintegrated into society.
 * In the early 1970s, Big Boss received a snake-shaped scar across his chest, similar to that of his mentor, The Boss. Although its appearance suggested that it was self-inflicted, the scar was actually fake, and was used to store a jigsaw on himself in case he needed it in an emergency situation. Nevertheless, the shape and placement of the scar served as a visual testament to Big Boss's passion, and even obsession, with The Boss.
 * During the San Hieronymo Takeover and the Peace Walker Incident, several of his comrades often mistook and joked about Big Boss's FOX codename, "Naked Snake", to mean that he wasn't wearing any clothes when he got it during the Virtuous Mission, although Big Boss later explained what it meant in the latter event.
 * During the Peace Walker Incident, Big Boss was remarked upon by several Sandinistas as resembling El Che.
 * In a conversation with Huey Emmerich, Big Boss was asked if he would ever fight a clone of himself, to which he answered "I wouldn't want to do that, no telling who'd survive." Huey used this question as a metaphor for nuclear deterrence.
 * Big Boss once allowed Chico to sell a photograph of Chrysalis to gain funding for MSF because he thought Chico wouldn't have gotten far enough in selling them anyways. This ultimately proved to be a mistake, as not only did Chico manage to sell photographs to a magazine publisher, but also resulted in the Prime Minister of Grenada, Sir Eric Gairy, requesting for the UN to establish an agency to study the UFO problem and nearly got Gairy into trouble with the CIA and nearly caused the situation to go red.
 * Despite removing The Boss's bandana from his head after Peace Walker sacrificed itself, he continued to wear one for a time afterwards. He stopped wearing it for good by the time of the Outer Heaven Uprising.
 * After reassuming command of FOXHOUND in the 1990s, Big Boss was responsible for the wild and instinctive strategies utilized by the unit during operations, which often appeared to be planned with little caution and detail. This somewhat alluded to his true motivations in preventing FOXHOUND from interfering with his plans for Outer Heaven.
 * Despite his dream of wanting to create a world in which soldiers were honored and not treated as political tools, Kyle Schneider implied that Big Boss wanted Solid Snake to succeed in his mission of rescuing Kio Marv from Zanzibar Land.
 * According to some of the children in Zanzibar Land, Big Boss "doesn't like adults," referring to his hate for the world's politicians and, by extension, the Patriots.
 * Naked Snake was able to defeat The Fury and his flamethrower relatively unscathed. However, later in life as Big Boss, he was defeated by his own son Solid Snake who piece together a makeshift flamethrower, using a lighter and aerosol can.

Behind the scenes
Big Boss (ビッグ・ボス) is a recurring character in the Metal Gear series. He is first introduced in the original Metal Gear as the commanding officer of protagonist Solid Snake, only to be revealed as the leader of the enemy forces as well, a role he would resume in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. Big Boss would play a key role in the backstory of the series beginning with the first Metal Gear Solid, where he is revealed to be the genetic father of Solid Snake along with his other clone sons, Liquid and Solidus.

In addition to his role in the sequels, Big Boss also appears as the protagonist in a series of prequels set before the events of the original Metal Gear (beginning with Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, followed by Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker), where he is depicted as an American covert operative codenamed Naked Snake (ネイキッド・スネーク, Neikiddo Sunēku?), the partial namesake of Solid Snake and his brothers.

As Naked Snake, the character is voiced by Akio Ōtsuka in Japanese and David Hayter in English. In his appearance in Metal Gear Solid 4, Big Boss was voiced by Chikao Ōtsuka (Akio Ōtsuka's father) in the Japanese version and Richard Doyle in the English version.

Metal Gear series
The Japanese MSX2 manual of Metal Gear displays Big Boss's eyepatch on his left eye, although his in-game character model displays it on his right. The eyepatch itself may have been influenced by the appearance of Snake Plissken in the film Escape From New York, much like Solid Snake was. The same manual also describes Big Boss as having been a previous member of SAS and GSG 9. However, this information was disregarded in the MSX2 manual for Metal Gear 2, and later Metal Gear Solid 3, and the Metal Gear Solid 4 Database, so it is assumed to no longer be canon.

In the instruction manuals for the NES version of Metal Gear and its sequel, Snake's Revenge, Big Boss was identified as Commander South, Colonel Vermon CaTaffy, and Higharolla Kockamamie for his roles as Solid Snake's Commanding Officer, the Commanding Officer of Outer Heaven, and his role as the enemy leader in Snake's Revenge, respectively. The names are a reference to Marine Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, Libyan dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi, and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini, respectively.

Big Boss's appearance in the MSX2 version of Metal Gear 2 was modeled after actor Sean Connery. Like other characters, this image was updated during later releases of the game to reflect his look in official artwork of Metal Gear Solid, which was also carried over to his appearance in Metal Gear Solid 4. In the original manual, Big Boss was stated to have lost his eye on the battlefield, during the late 1980s, which caused him to retire from active duty. During this time, he began to focus on military education and training. This information was later retconned in Metal Gear Solid 3. It was also stated that he had been nominated as FOXHOUND's international planning commander in the '90s, rather than having simply reassumed command, and that he became transformed by greed and dreams of absolute power, which resulted in his creation of Outer Heaven. One of the mercenary units that he was said to have fought with, after serving in Vietnam, was the Wild Geese, a reference to the novel and 1978 war film of the same name, about a mercenary group participating in African conflicts. The novel itself was named after a 17th-century Irish mercenary army.

Strategy guide biography
The Metal Gear Solid Official Mission Handbook, published in 1998 by Millennium Books, gave an alternate account of Big Boss's early years. This information has since been retconned in more recent games, in which Big Boss was of a younger age, and had been a member of the CIA in the early 1960s. Similarly, his clones' Japanese heritage had actually originated with an egg donor's mitochondrial DNA.

In the Handbook, Big Boss had been born of Japanese-American descent, in Hawaii. The entire American side of his family had perished during the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor. While his Japanese relatives were locked up in internment camps, he joined the 442nd Infantry Regiment in his teens. Big Boss gained his first combat experience fighting in France, where his unit had contributed to freeing towns from Nazi control in 1944. After returning to America after the war, he lost patriotism for his country, due to prejudice towards his Japanese heritage. Big Boss later participated as a mercenary for France in the Congo Crisis, from 1961 to 1968, later serving in wars in Asia, Africa, and the Middle/Far East. It was also implied that his sterility was diagnosed due to various battlefield injuries, and that he covertly agreed with the U.S. Government to participate in the Les Enfants Terribles.

Metal Gear Solid series


In the non-canonical Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, Big Boss did not survive his fight with Snake in Outer Heaven. It was stated that Big Boss was originally under orders by the US Government to form Outer Heaven as part of Project Babel, but he broke ties with the project, resulting in Operation Intrude N313.

Prior to the release of Metal Gear Solid 3, Big Boss was originally to have learned the art of warfare from Dead Cell strategic master Old Boy, in Hideo Kojima's Grand Game Plan for Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. In the game itself, Big Boss appears opposite both Solid Snake and Liquid Snake in a cutscene, during Solidus Snake's explanation to Raiden of the similarities of their connection to the one shared by the Twin Snakes and Big Boss.

Naked Snake in the Olive Drab uniform is very similar looking to the appearance of Iroquois Pliskin. In early testing versions of Metal Gear Solid 3, Pliskin's model served as a placeholder for Naked Snake, as can be seen here.

During the game, Snake mentions that he can't smell, in a radio conversation with The Boss; it is actually the player that cannot use their sense of smell to help play the game.

A conversation with Zero, regarding Big Boss's brothers (or lack thereof), is a subtle reference to the three future clones: Solid, Liquid, and Solidus. The conversation originated when Zero noted the coincidence that Major Raikov technically had the same name as Naked Snake ("Ivan" is the Russian version of "John" or "Jack"), and that common Russian folklore had the youngest in the family, usually named "Ivan," treated badly by the family, and yet he often ends up better off than his elder brothers.

Before commencing the first "HALO Jump" into Tselinoyarsk, Naked Snake stamped out a cigar that was almost blown out of the cargo. According to the director's commentary for Metal Gear Solid 3, this was done as a response to Solid Snake throwing away a cigarette into the Hudson Bay during the Tanker chapter in Metal Gear Solid 2, of which a lot of angry reactions were made to it. The director's commentary, as well as Para-Medic's conversation about Snake's mask, reveal that portions of his mask were based on the film The Fly, and was done both to give it a feel of the time period, the 1960s, as well as a homage to Raiden. His curling up and spinning after jumping off the plane before going into position was also intended to be an homage to Mask Rider.

When Metal Gear Solid 3 was in development, Kojima intended that Naked Snake be given a more human feel (having feelings and pain) to directly contrast him to his "son," Solid Snake.

Naked Snake's immense knowledge of handguns, more specifically his explaination and reaction to the M1911A1 custom that he received from EVA, was the result of one of the production staff suggesting that they characterize Snake as being similar to a gun maniac at a Gun Shop. This suggestion also resulted in the original concept of Snake getting a spy-film gun being cut.

When learning about El Dorado and the possible real-life version from Para-Medic (if she is recruited in Portable Ops), Big Boss, when hearing about golden knives, expressed intrigue in them namely because he could use it to distract the enemy so he could CQC them, to Para-Medic's annoyance. Peace Walker, in a briefing tape with Paz, had a similar conversation in regards to the Stone Spheres of Costa Rica, where Big Boss expressed some interest in the stone spheres namely in regards to them being good for setting a trap, to Paz's shock.

"A former member of the Special Forces unit FOX, and a hero who once saved the world from nuclear war. Hailed as a true patriot by the U.S. President and given the title of Big Boss, he subsequently retired from FOX."

- Official description from Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus

In Metal Gear Solid 4, Big Boss's gravestone revealed that he was born sometime in the 1930s (confirmed to be 1935 in Peace Walker), retconning him to be at least a decade younger than stated in previous games. In the Japanese version, Big Boss is voiced by Chikao Ōtsuka, the real-life father of Akio Ōtsuka, who plays Solid Snake (and in the case of Metal Gear Solid 3, Portable Ops, and Peace Walker, Naked Snake/Big Boss himself). According to Outcast Podcast and Famitsu, this was intended as Akio Ōtsuka and Chikao Ōtsuka had fallen out years before so Hideo Kojima had arranged for Chikao Ōtsuka to play the role of Big Boss so they could work together. Metal Gear Solid 4 's Virtual Range features targets named "John Doe," one of Big Boss's aliases, and later the name of the Patriots' core AI.

Big Boss's snake-shaped scar in Peace Walker resembles the tattoo of Escape From New York protagonist Snake Plissken. The game is also the first to define Big Boss's age, being 39 years old at at the time of the 1974 Peace Walker Incident. This was mentioned by KGB agent Vladimir Zadornov, when he remarked upon the irony of Big Boss being dead at the same age as Che Guevara, before attempting to execute him. In briefing tapes relating to the non-canon Monster Hunter missions, Big Boss was revealed to have the ability to speak cat language, and, although shocked that he could actually understand what Trenya was saying, he implies that he may have learned how to speak the language from "picking up the local lingo."

Naming controversy
Much controversy and debate surrounds Big Boss's real name. When Metal Gear Solid 3 was released, players safely assumed his real name was Jack, as The Boss and Zero called him by this name on several occasions.

However, early on in the game, Big Boss is asked by Para-Medic what his real name is, to which he responds "John Doe" with Para-Medic replying "and they call you Jack for short?" Due to slightly tongue-in-cheek nature of the conversation, as well as Para-Medic jokingly responding that her real name is Jane Doe, most initially thought it was nothing more than a joke. However, at the end of Metal Gear Solid 3, Big Boss also tells Ocelot that his name is John, and in Japan, a Limited Edition release of Metal Gear Solid 3 included a book called R which stated Big Boss's real name was John Doe. The master Patriot AI, which is accessed via Big Boss's biometric data, is also named John Doe (although it is to be noted that it is also possible that JD was named as such as a reference to the fact that the last leaders of the Patriots were "no one" (ie, AIs)). In Peace Walker, when Snake tells Galvez that Big Boss is just a codename the CIA made up, Galvez then asks if he would prefer it if he called him John.

To further add to the confusion, the Metal Gear Solid 4 Database listed Big Boss's name as simply "John."

Hideo Kojima was asked in session 08 of the Kojima Productions Report Podcast which helped celebrate the North American release of Portable Ops whether Big Boss' real name was Jack or John. Kojima answered by saying that it could be both since both names can be applicable as the name "Jack" in English is the diminutive form of the name "John."

The name John Doe is used as a colloquialism for a male unidentified corpse.

Snake's Revenge
Big Boss also appears as the second-to-last boss in the NES sequel to the original Metal Gear, Snake's Revenge. He guards the final fortress where Metal Gear 2 is located. Big Boss reveals that he survived his injuries from Outer Heaven through surgeries that turned him into a cyborg. At first, he fights with a machine gun, but after being shot several times, he then transforms into a giant RoboCop-like robot, and proceeds to chase Solid Snake around while firing napalm shells at him. However, Snake lures him out of the command room and places mines on his feet, which ultimately destroys him. Despite his death in this game, Metal Gear 2 was still activated.

In Metal Gear 2, when the player calls George Kasler during the final battle, he mentions a rumor about Big Boss receiving cybernetic "snatcher" organs from Dr. Drago Pettrovich Madnar after losing his limbs, right ear, and right eye (which was already missing in the original game) in battle. While some fans interpret this as a jab directed at Snake's Revenge, it is actually a reference to Kojima's previous game, Snatcher. Dr. Petrovich [sic] appears in Snatcher as the founder of the Snatcher Project. Strangely, this reference was counted as canon by the Metal Gear Solid 4 Database.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Big Boss appears (as Naked Snake) in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as both a trophy and sticker. His trophy description is as follows:



"As a member of the special-forces unit FOX, Naked Snake assassinated The Boss and ruined the Shagohod, a Soviet nuclear weapon. Years later, he was used to plant the seeds of Les Enfants Terribles, a project designed to create cloned super soldiers. The three Snakes - Liquid, Solid, and Solidus - were thus born. He would then embrace his name, Big Boss, and duel Solid Snake."

His appearance as a sticker grants the highest possible Flinch Resistance of +160 in the Subspace Emissary Adventure Mode.

During a Codec conversation about Toon Link, Solid Snake mentions to Mei Ling that "there's been more than one Snake." He is referring to his father, Big Boss, his two brothers, Liquid Snake and Solidus Snake.

Also, several of Naked Snake's camouflage uniforms appear as alternate costume options for Solid Snake, and Solid Snake himself also has certain characteristics that originally belonged to Naked Snake (such as the green bandana and the beard).

Metal Gear Solid novelization
While Big Boss never physically appeared in Metal Gear Solid, he did appear in the novelization by Raymond Benson as part of Psycho Mantis's forcing himself into Solid Snake's mind where he along with Meryl Silverburgh and Otacon were trapped in the funhouse mirrors. While he was ultimately resigned to his fate, he does beg Snake to input the detonation codes, as otherwise the Sons of Big Boss would kill him.

Monster Hunter Freedom 3
In the PSP game Monster Hunter Freedom 3, male players can receive a Big Boss outfit in a special quest. Female players receive The Boss outfit, while Felyne comrades get a Solid Snake outfit.

Notes and references
Big Boss Big Boss