Gray Fox

Gray Fox (グレイ・フォックス), formerly known as Null (ヌル), is the codename of FOXHOUND agent Frank Jaeger (フランク・イエーガー) (Jaeger being German for "hunter"). He was the only active field agent of FOXHOUND to achieve the Fox codename, FOXHOUND's highest commemoration. Fox was Solid Snake's war buddy and best friend after Operation: Intrude N313, but Fox's loyalty to Big Boss, forced him to betray Snake during the Zanzibar Land Uprising. He survived his injuries during his battle with Snake and was outfitted with a powered exoskeleton and given intense gene therapy. He confronted Snake as a neutral force in Shadow Moses before dying at the hands of Liquid Snake.

Early Life And Career
Only a small amount of information is known about Frank Jaeger's childhood. Born from German-American and Vietnamese parents, they died during the Vietnam War while Frank was still a child. As a result, he was discriminated due to his half-Caucasian heritage and was forced to work hard labor for the war effort. During his years fighting in the Mozambican War of Independence, Frank was known for his cruel war tactics: acting with the frank-ness of a young boy, he would trick enemies into letting their guard down, allowing him to kill them "with the ruthlessness of a hunter". This earned him the nickname "The Frank Hunter" by his enemies, but because he could speak a little German, his comrades called him Jaeger, giving him the proper name of "Frank Jaeger". Big Boss became acquainted with him as a nameless child soldier in a Marxist guerrilla group in Mozambique, sometime in 1966. Big Boss took Frank as a young child and left him at a rehab facility, thinking he would be safe.

While at the rehab center, he was taken by the CIA (The Philosophers) and used as a test subject for the "Perfect Soldier Project". The project turned the boy into a more efficient killer, capable of killing his targets without remorse, however it was at a cost. When he was not fighting, he was kept in a coffin-shaped sensory deprivation water tank which would reset his memories, and suppress his emotions. Because Frank was the only surviving test subject of the project, he was deemed a lost number and was given the codename of Null.

As a teenager, Null became a member of the FOX Unit when it was under the leadership of Gene during the incident at La Peninsula de los Muertos. He confronted Big Boss during the operation, but was unable to defeat him. Despite being laid back into his stasis-tank, his memories of the battle with Big Boss couldn't be erased. Driven by want to kill Big Boss, he broke free of his chamber and after slaughtering many of his own comrades he confronted Boss again, asking "Why won't you die? What do you hope to accomplish by living?". It was only after this second battle that Big Boss realized who Null really was. Big Boss defeated Null again and convinced him to seek help somewhere outside of the FOX Unit.

Post-Null and FOXHOUND
After Frank was saved by Big Boss again, he joined Big Boss' FOXHOUND unit and participated as a soldier for the Renamo during the Mozambican Civil War. During one of his missions, he was captured by Frelimo soldiers and was heavily tortured. He was rescued a few days later by none other than Big Boss. It was around this time that Frank killed two people in Rhodesia, during the Rhodesian Civil War, before discovering they had a child. Feeling immense guilt, he adopted her, giving her the name of Naomi and cared for her as an older brother.

During the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, while living under the alias of "Frank Hunter", Frank became romantically involved with Czech figure skating champion Gustava Heffner. The two tried to elope together, but Czech and American authorities denied her immigration rights and she was sent back to her country after being stripped of competition rights. Following this incident, Frank developed a great deal of resentment for his superiors.

During the 1990s (or perhaps earlier), Frank became the only active field agent in FOXHOUND to receive codename, "Fox" (the highest commemoration given to any member of the unit), due to his extraordinary soldiering skills.

In 1995, Gray Fox was the agent assigned to Operation: Intrude N312. Fox's objective was to gather data on a top-secret nuclear weapon that the fortified state of Outer Heaven was secretly developing. Several days later, Fox was captured by enemy forces and the last message he transmitted to headquarters were the words "Metal Gear...". In the follow-up mission, known as Operation Intrude N313, Fox was rescued by newly-recruited FOXHOUND member, Solid Snake and Fox provided Snake with all the known facts about Metal Gear; a nuclear-equipped walking battle tank. Together, they successfully destroyed the Metal Gear prototype under development in Outer Heaven.

However, shortly after the destruction of Metal Gear, it was revealed that Big Boss himself was secretly the commander of Outer Heaven's forces all along. After the destruction of Outer Heaven, Fox deserted the FOXHOUND unit and disappeared along with Big Boss (who was presumed dead after his battle with Snake). Around this time, Fox followed him and helped in the formation of Zanzibar Land by becoming an active participant of the "War of Mercenaries". After his success in the war, he was assigned as commander of Zanzibar Land's Mercenary Force, also known as the "Dogs of War".

In 1999, Fox began hijacking several nuclear disposal sites with the revised Metal Gear D. This act, along with Zanzibar Land's kidnapping of Dr. Kio Marv, led to a retaliation from FOXHOUND, which was now under the command of Col. Roy Campbell. Snake was pulled from retirement and was the sole agent sent out to neutralize Zanzibar Land. During the course of Snake's mission, Fox began transmitting anonymous messages to Snake in order to help him overcome certain obstacles and traps. Fox and Snake met again after four years when the bridge leading to the detention camp where Dr. Marv was being held was destroyed by Fox himself. Ironically enough, Fox also caused the death of his former lover, Gustava (who was in Zanzibar Land, now serving as an STB agent and Marv's bodyguard), when he destroyed the bridge. Later, Snake successfully destroyed Metal Gear D and confronted Fox barehanded in a minefield. Snake won the battle and escaped the facility, leaving a presumed dead Gray Fox behind.

Rebirth
After the supposed death of Big Boss and the downfall of Zanzibar Land, Fox's remains, blown apart by a landmine, were recovered on-site by a "clean-up" crew. He was taken by FOXHOUND's chief medic at the time, Dr. Clark, and became a guinea pig for Clark's gene-therapy project. In order to improve his mobility, an experimental exoskeleton was grafted directly onto his body along with his limbs or at least his right lower arm replaced with a metallic prosthetic. Aside from improved agility and strength, the suit also allowed Fox to 'cloak' at will, using a new form of Stealth Camouflage technology.

In 2000, Fox's foster sister, now going under the alias of Naomi Hunter, joined FOXHOUND as Dr. Clark's assistant. She helped Fox escape his containment, and summarily covered up his actions when he killed Dr. Clark in 2003, reporting it as a laboratory accident. In reality, Fox was requested to kill Dr. Clark by EVA as Dr. Clark was one of the founding members of The Patriots.

In 2005, during the Shadow Moses Incident, Fox infiltrated the island in search of Solid Snake, who was on a mission to neutralize the now-corrupt FOXHOUND unit led by Liquid Snake. He first made contact with Snake after releasing Armstech President Kenneth Baker from captivity and attacking Revolver Ocelot, severing his right forearm. Later, after taking out a large group of genome soldiers, Fox confronted Snake once again in the laboratory of Hal Emmerich, demanding that they fight to the death. At first, Snake did not recognize the man in the exo-skeleton, but after engaging him in hand-to-hand combat, Snake realized who he was. After a time, Snake began to prevail in the battle but before its ultimate conclusion was reached, Fox cried out in pain (presumably due to feedback from the experimental exoskeleton) and fled the laboratory. Fox later helped Snake in his mission by transmitting anonymous messages regarding dangers to Snake under the alias of Deepthroat (much as he did during Snake's Zanzibar Land mission).

When Snake is drawn into battle with Metal Gear REX, Gray Fox manages to damage it further by attacking REX's radome, interfering with the sealed cockpit's sensory input. As Liquid fought to locate Fox and Snake with REX's damaged sensors, Fox revealed to Snake that many years ago, he had been the one who had killed Naomi's parents in Rhodesia but he was unable to bring himself to kill Naomi, who had been too young at the time to remember the incident. Fox begged Snake to tell her the truth. Following this exchange, Fox leapt from his hiding spot and again attacked Metal Gear REX, eventually destroying the Radome completely, and forcing Liquid to open the cockpit up. This made the tank vulnerable to well placed Stinger missiles.

During a second assault on REX, Fox was severely injured when one of his arms was sliced off by the tank's laser. He was then pinned against a wall by REX before being released to fall to the ground. As Fox lay on the hanger floor, Liquid tried to kill off Fox once and for all by crushing him under one of Metal Gear's massive legs, however Fox's grafted exoskeleton meant that this first attempt failed. With REX's second stomp however, the only man to ever achieve the "Fox" codename was no more. His last words were directed towards Snake,

"We're not tools of the government or anyone else. Fighting was the only thing I was good at, but at least I always fought for what I believed in."

- Gray Fox

After escaping the Shadow Moses compound, Snake contacted Naomi, informing her that Fox's last message had been that he would always love her. He decided not to tell her that Fox killed her parents.

Trivia
"An enigmatic soldier with great physical and combat skills. Calling himself 'Deepthroat' and equipped with an enhanced environmental camouflage suit, he dedicated his life to fighting Snake. In a twist of fate, Gray Fox ends up protecting his sworn rival from Metal Gear REX. Long ago, Gray Fox fought Snake in Zanzibar Island."
 * Gray Fox is referenced several times in Metal Gear Solid 4. During one cutscene where Naomi recalls Fox, a sample of "The Frank Hunter" theme from Portable Ops is heard.
 * In English versions, Fox was voiced by Greg Eagles (credited as George Byrd) in Metal Gear Solid, Rob Paulsen in The Twin Snakes, Metal Gear Solid 4, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Larc Spies in Portable Ops. In Japanese versions, he was voiced by Kaneto Shiozawa in Metal Gear Solid and Jun Fukuyama in Portable Ops;
 * In MGS1 (and The Twin Snakes), if the player doesn't manage/attempt to escape the torture room's holding cell, Gray Fox will appear and open the door for Snake before disappearing.
 * In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Gray Fox appears as an Assist Trophy who leaps around the arena and attacks opponents with rapid sword-slashes. He also deflects any projectiles fired at him. He also has the ability to reappear from the top of the screen if he falls off the stage. If one of the players is in control of Solid Snake and the Gray Fox assist trophy is activated, the two characters will exchange in dialogue from Metal Gear Solid. An unlockable trophy of Gray Fox exists within the game, with the following text:
 * He was originally modeled after actor Tom Berenger in the MSX2 version of Metal Gear 2. In the later Mobile Phone and PlayStation 2 revisions of the game, he was redesigned to resemble Yoji Shinkawa's depiction of the character;
 * Gray Fox was named number 2 on Screw Attack's Top Ten Ninjas list.

Appearances

 * Metal Gear
 * Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
 * Metal Gear Solid (as the Cyborg Ninja)
 * Metal Gear Solid: Integral (as the Cyborg Ninja)
 * Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions (as the Cyborg Ninja)
 * Konami Krazy Racers (as the Cyborg Ninja)
 * Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (as Null)
 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl (as an Assist Trophy)

Gallery
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