Solid Snake

Solid Snake Solid Snake

Solid Snake, real name David, is a product of the Les Enfants Terribles project and "son" of legendary soldier, Big Boss along with his "brothers" Liquid Snake and Solidus Snake. He is known as "the man who makes the impossible possible" and his exploits have made him into a living legend among the military black-ops. Initially a Green Beret, Snake was later inducted into high-tech special forces unit FOXHOUND during the early 1990s while it was under the leadership of Big Boss. From there, Snake would thrice avert potential nuclear catastrophe and even slay his "father," Big Boss.

After the Shadow Moses Incident and subsequent manipulation campaign by the Patriots, the secret organization behind American politics, Snake became labeled a terrorist. He faked his own death in 2007 and proceeded into hiding, although he would later emerge in 2009 to assist Raiden in the Big Shell Incident. After that, his cells would enter a state of accelerated agin, causing his health to decline. The extent of his rapid degeneration was predicted by Dr. Naomi Hunter, who estimated that he only had six months left to live.

Snake is rarely seen without his cigarettes and enjoys smoking because it keeps him in touch with the "good old days". He's also a musher who enjoys dog sled riding, and can be seen as a bit of a perv, often seen peeking at Gentlemen's Magazines (such as Playboy) and openly hitting on most women he meets. Being an avid music lover, Snake sometimes takes his iPod with him on missions.

Early Years


Born in 1972 as a result of the "Les Enfants Terribles" project, Solid Snake is a product of a secret government project to create the perfect soldier by using the genes of the "Greatest Warrior of the 20th Century", Big Boss. By utilizing the Super Baby Method, eight clone babies, Solid Snake being one of them, were grown and transferred to an eva's uterus. Though Liquid Snake states that six of these were originally aborted, it is later revealed that it was actually five, resulting in three brothers, Solid Snake, Liquid Snake and Solidus Snake. From them three genotypes were created; Solid Snake receiving all of the recessive genes, Liquid the dominant and Solidus a mix of both, being a mix of both Solid and Liquid Snake. Despite this fact, Liquid Snake is led to believe that he received the recessive genes and informs an unknowing Solid Snake as such. It is unclear whether Solid or Liquid eventually become aware of their actual genetic positions.

There are no records of Snake's childhood proceeding the completion of the project. Snake claims he was "raised by many people," although he says he has no family. It is possible someone during his childhood bestowed the name "David" onto him, as Snake claims this to be his name at the conclusion of the Shadow Moses incident.

Nevertheless, Snake eventually made his way into the military by 1991. He had been inducted into the Green Berets and took part in a mission to infiltrate western Iraq during the Gulf War. Sometime after the Gulf War he joined FOXHOUND. Like most new recruits, he was trained by Master Miller.

Snake's first mission for FOXHOUND came in 1995. He was tasked with infiltrating Outer Heaven, a military nation led by a feared and legendary mercenary, deep within South Africa. Snake was tasked with rescuing Gray Fox, a FOXHOUND agent who was captured earlier, and shed light on Metal Gear, which Gray Fox mentioned in a broken radio message sometime before his capture.

Codenamed Operation Intrude N313, Snake approached Outer Heaven via river passage and infiltrated the fortress. He kept in contact with Big Boss, the unit's commander who personally oversaw the operation. After skillfully passing guards and security measures, Snake found and released Gray Fox, who informed Snake on the truth behind Metal Gear, a bi-pedal, nuclear-equipped battle tank that could tip the balance of power in favor of Outer Heaven. Snake, still relatively green at the time, was impressed by the cool and precise demeanor and attitude of Gray Fox, a soldier within FOXHOUND who had achieved its highest ranking, "Fox". Snake then proceeded onward through the fortress, rescuing more prisoners and assisting the local resistance cell fighters in their battle against Outer Heaven.

After dealing with several of Outer Heaven's skilled mercenaries, Snake neared where Metal Gear was being stored; however, the further he progressed, the more difficult and confusing the situation became. Big Boss fed Snake poor or down-right wrong information via radio, leading him into traps and dangerous situations. Undeterred, Snake managed to destroy Metal Gear - only to discover the truth behind Outer Heaven's leader shortly thereafter. Big Boss, his commander, was behind it all. He had established Outer Heaven as a means to give warriors such as himself a home, a place they would always be welcomed. He envisioned a world where warriors were always desired, where they were not shunned or used at the whim of politicians. He had sent his son, Snake, to Outer Heaven because he did not think Snake would succeed. Big Boss had underestimated the "inferior" clone of the Les Enfants Terribles project.

Nevertheless, Big Boss would not allow Snake to escape without a fight. On the lowest level of Outer Heaven, father and son engaged in combat. After a fierce duel, Snake managed to defeat Big Boss. As the fortress began to crumble and fall apart, Snake left Big Boss for dead and made his escape from Outer Heaven. Operation Intrude N313 was a success.

Disillusioned, Snake quit FOXHOUND. He was later scouted by the CIA and spent six months as a deep cover agent before he became dissatisfied with the system and left. He became a mercenary for hire and when he earned enough money he retired into the Alaskan wilderness.

In 1999, The world was facing an unprecedented energy crisis as oil reserves dried up. Meanwhile, the military nation of Zanzibar Land had become the world's sole nuclear power which threatened to upset the balance of power in the world. To respond to the energy crisis, a Czech biologist, Dr. Kio Marv, invented OILIX, an oil refining microbe. Before being able to put OILIX to use, Marv was kidnapped by Zanzibar Land, leaving them in control of the world's answer to the energy crisis and nuclear arsenal.

The United States government would not let this continue and ordered FOXHOUND to infiltrate Zanzibar Land and rescue Marv. Roy Campbell, commander of FOXHOUND, called Solid Snake out of retirement, who accepted the assignment entitled Operation Intrude F014.

Snake succeeded in infiltrating Zanzibar. Along the way he teamed up with CIA agent Holly White and Natasha Markova, Marv's bodyguard. He was also reunited with Dr. Petrovich Madnar, the engineer responsible for the first Metal Gear, who revealed to Snake that Big Boss was alive, and that he had been captured to construct a new Metal Gear, Metal Gear D, for Zanzibar Land.

Snake once again ran into Gray Fox, but under very different circumstances: Gray Fox was now his enemy and was piloting the new Metal Gear. Fox killed Natasha as he blew up a suspension bridge, but Snake managed to elude Metal Gear and hook up with Madnar, who had been recaptured by Zanzibar's soldiers. However, Holly White informed Snake that Madnar had voluntarily joined Zanzibar and was willingly working for Big Boss. Upon learning this, Madnar tried to kill Snake, but was foiled and killed. Unfortunately for Snake, he arrived too late to save Marv. Nevertheless, Snake managed to recover the OILIX formula and destroy Metal Gear, but before he could escape he was confronted by Gray Fox.

Despite considering themselves friends, Snake and Gray Fox fought to the death amidst a mine field, hand-to-hand. Snake would later recount that it was a battle of two professionals doing their jobs, regardless of their friendship or personal feelings. The fight would end with Snake emerging victorious; Gray Fox lay apparently dead on the field of battle. His victory would be short-lived, however. Ushered forth by Big Boss's taunts, Snake was once again put face-to-face against the legendary mercenary. Weaponless, Snake was forced to elude the armed and dangerous Big Boss and create an improvised weapon; using a cigarette lighter and a can of hairspray, Snake fashioned a makeshift flamethrower and used it to put an end to Big Boss, but not before Big Boss revealed to Snake that he was his father. Shaken but undeterred, Snake committed the act of patricide and escaped Zanzibar Land with Holly White and the OILIX formula. He returned OILIX to Campbell, was commended for his actions, and once again retired, this time to the Alaskan wilderness. He hoped to forget his war-torn past, recover from his PTSD, and cope with the revelation that he had killed his father.

''"Snake listen up. It all went down five hours ago. Heavily armed soldiers occupied Shadow Moses Island, a remote island off the coast of Alaska."

-Colonel Campbell ''

And so it was at the beginning of the 21st century... Shadow Moses, a small nuclear disposal facility in Alaska's Fox Archipelago is attacked and captured by the GENOME Army led by members of FOXHOUND. Once again Snake is called out of retirement. His mission is to first single-handedly infiltrate the nuclear weapons disposal site and rescue the two hostages, DARPA chief Donald Anderson and the President of ArmsTech, Kenneth Baker, and then to eliminate the terrorists and prevent a nuclear launch. He is not completely alone, however, his Support team consisted of Campbell (also called out of retirement), Naomi Hunter, Mei Ling, Master Miller and Nastasha Romanenko.

While there, Snake discovers that the leader of FOXHOUND's codename is Liquid Snake. When Snake attempts to rescue Donald Anderson (who later turns out to be Decoy Octopus) and Kenneth Baker they both mysteriously die of a heart attack. He also has a mysterious run-in with a cyborg ninja who, after Snake battles and defeats him, reveals himself to be the remains of Gray Fox. Snake then makes friends with Dr. Hal Emmerich (also known by his nickname, Otacon), a genius in engineering and the chief designer of Metal Gear REX, the newest and most deadly incarnation of Metal Gear. Snake also befriends Meryl Silverburgh, a female soldier who was captured during the uprising and the niece of Colonel Campbell (later revealed to be his daughter). Snake then successfully manages to eliminate all members of FOXHOUND and is then told by Liquid that he and Solid Snake are in fact brothers; clones of Big Boss as part of the Les Enfants Terribles project. Then Snake destroys Metal Gear REX with the aid of Gray Fox. Liquid and Solid then battle atop of REX. When Solid wins he then escapes from Shadow Moses with Meryl, in pursuit of a new life, where he can settle down.

Snake's relationship with Meryl may have been short-lived, as he mentions in his comments about Olga Gurlukovich during the Tanker Chapter in MGS2, that "[He's] had enough of tomboys." He may have also turned to chronic alcoholism as a result of that, as he mentions in the Plant Chapter to Raiden that "[He] was holed up in Alaska, drinking too much."

After the events of Shadow Moses, Naomi was placed under arrest and locked up in a high security facility. Snake, the only man being able to, infiltrated the facility and rescued Naomi. This event was hinted in Nastasha Romanenko's revealing book, "In the Darkness of Shadow Moses: The Unofficial Truth".

After the events of Shadow Moses, Nastasha Romanenko (using the royalties from her book) and Otacon formed an Anti-Metal Gear Group known as Philanthropy, and requested that Snake join them. Snake agreed, and he and Otacon formed a close, strong friendship.

Sometime after Shadow Moses, Philanthropy received intelligence from a woman named Victoria Reed that a Metal Gear REX model was being built by the company she was working for. Snake was sent in, but quickly discovered that the whole thing was a ruse. Victoria was an AI, and Snake had really been sent in so that terrorists could take over the facility once Snake had disabled the security system. Pressing on, Snake later realized that the Otacon he had been talking was also an AI, as it started to glitch. The real Otacon eventually managed to contact Snake and they decided it would be easier for Snake to finish the mission instead of Otacon hacking him out. Snake eventually overthrew the terrorist threat, and defeated their leader.

When Snake awoke from the VR, he overheard two voices talking. They stated that Snake was unable to provide them with the data they needed, and proceeded to erase his memory of the events.



Two years after Shadow Moses, Otacon received an anonymous tip from someone calling him or herself "E.E." (the initials of Otacon's younger step sister) that a new Metal Gear, codenamed Metal Gear RAY, was being developed by the U.S. Marine Corps., and was being sent via a Marine vessel disguised as an Oil Tanker.

Snake quickly made his way through and found his way down into the holds where RAY was being held. Shortly after taking photographic evidence of Metal Gear RAY, Revolver Ocelot appeared and claimed to be taking RAY back "to it's rightful owners." He is then possessed by Liquid Snake's arm, which was attached to replace the arm he lost in Shadow Moses. Solid Snake then jumped from his hiding place and confronted Liquid but it was too late; Liquid climbed aboard Metal Gear Ray and sank the tanker with Solid Snake still inside. Luckily, Otacon was waiting by the Manhattan shore with a small boat, which he used to rescue Snake and replace his body with that of Liquid Snake's, leading people to believe that Solid Snake was dead. Solid Snake was also entirely blamed for the incident leading Olga Gurlukovich and Fortune to blame him for the death of their fathers (Colonel Gurlukovich and Commander Scott Dolph respectively).

Another two years later, Snake disguised himself as Iroquois Pliskin and infiltrated the Big Shell. Rumors of another Metal Gear, Arsenal Gear, were spreading like wildfire. There, he met Raiden and eventually met his other brother, the final of the three Sons Of Big Boss, Solidus Snake. During this incident, both Solid Snake and Otacon become aware of the existence of The Patriots, although how and when isn't exactly known. He also once again met Olga and explained to her that it was in fact Revolver Ocelot who killed her father, Colonel Gurlukovich. Snake later helped Raiden, Otacon and Emma Emmerich (Otacon's Sister) install the re-programmed computer virus, a digital counterpart of FOXDIE, into GW (Arsenal Gear's AI system), shortly before Emma dies after being stabbed by Vamp. Then once aboard Arsenal Gear, Snake and Raiden make their way through fighting the army of Arsenal Tengu soldiers. Once they reach the end Fortune challenges Snake to a fight claiming he killed her father. He signals for Raiden to carry on as he fights her. He then tells her that it was Revolver Ocelot who killed Scott Dolph and that they should work together in order to kill Liquid Ocelot. Later on, on top of Arsenal Gear, Liquid Ocelot steals metal gear RAY, Snake breaks free of his handcuffs he's wearing and leaps after Liquid Ocelot, afixing a tracker onto his RAY. He then goes to Manhattan to see Raiden after he has defeated Solidus, and tells him that himself and Otacon are going to find the Patriots, only to later find out that all twelve members were already dead a hundred years ago.

Snake will be returning in the PS3 debut of Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots. He will be using the Solid Eye Technology (which Otacon invented). This is not related to the Solid Eye released with Metal Gear Acid 2.

On September 15, 2005, Kojima Productions released a trailer of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, their upcoming PLAYSTATION 3 title, at the Tokyo Game Show as part of their Metal Gear Saga presentation. It was revealed in the E3 2007 trailer that the game will begin in 2014. In the trailer, Snake, now referred to as "Old Snake" as he looks much older for his age (42 as of 2014), appears to be suffering from a respiratory illness, as he is seen collapsing to the ground in a coughing spasm, which he stops with the use of an immediate injection of medicine into his jugular vein. This may be a hint that Snake's health will play a vital role in the game. It is also possible that the FOXDIE virus has activated due to the wild card value set by Naomi for Snake's incubation period (as documented in the short story, In The Darkness of Shadow Moses). Another possible reason could lie in Snake's rapidly aging body, most likely due to the effects of cloning (as seen in Solid Snake's brother, Solidus Snake). Dr. Naomi Hunter stated that Snake's body is in such a rapidly decaying state that "A normal man wouldn't be able to walk in [his] condition."

Also of note is the fact that Snake is shown wearing an optical eye patch, called the Solid Eye System, which enables him to have an electronic radar of the surrounding area, enemy locations, etc. The Solid-Eye also serves to show more resemblance in Solid Snake to Big Boss though located on the opposite eye.

The kanji-like symbol on Snake's vest is called an Otakon (オタ魂), which is a portmanteau of Otacon's name with the kanji character (kon or tamashii) for spirit; beneath it is the phrase "to let the world be". The symbol is Otacon's personal logo and will appear on equipment designed by him. An unknown fact is if the Code name Old Snake is his offical code name or just a way of symbolizing that he's gotten old.

Personality and Views
Snake had been described by Rosemary in Metal Gear Solid 2 as cool, collected, and confident. His friends Meryl Silverburgh and Roy Campbell describe him as "...a real bastard..." (Meryl's reason being that Snake had no confidence in her ability to help him carry out a mission, primarily due to her lack of experience at the time.) Nastasha Romanenko described him in her book of In the Darkness of Shadow Moses: The Unofficial Truth as surprisingly calm considering the situation he was in while the world was on the brink of Nuclear holocaust.

Snake also shows little remorse for the people he kills that borders on vindictive. For example, after finishing off Sniper Wolf and hearing her life story before-hand, he points out that he doesn't care if people live a rough life, that they've always have had a choice to make something better of themselves and describes fate and karma as "just an excuse for giving up", while others like Naomi Hunter would disagree with him in that "If she hadn't been born on a battlefield she would have lived a happier, more promising life." Snake has said that some people just need killing, as was the case for his father Big Boss, when they just can't live the better things in life other than that of genocide. He does, however, give comfort to those who are in the midst of dying. In this case while Wolf was dying, she admitted that she shamed her people, sold her body and soul, making her nothing more than a dog, he reassures her that she is untamed and solitary, hence a wolf. When she requested that Snake would finish her off, he honored her request and did so.

When Psycho Mantis converses with him, he says that he's much worse than his brother Liquid Snake and "Compared to [Snake], I'm like a saint..." When Liquid Snake converses with him, he uses a textbook description of a psychopath to describe him, pointing out that Snake enjoys all the killing which is the reason why he came to Shadow Moses while "...[he] continued to follow [his] orders while [his] superiors betray [him]..." as he describes it. Snake denies Liquid's allegations but begins to believe so after hearing more about his origins from him. Snake also admitted to Meryl that being on the battlefield is the only time he's ever felt truly alive. Presumably after realizing this, Snake would try to atone for his original sin by working to make himself good. He points this out in one of Otacon's misread quotes in the events of the Tanker Chapter in MGS2. While he uses an M92F Beretta fitted with tranquillizer darts originally intended to avoid killing the US Marines guarding the Tanker carrying Metal Gear Ray (while he may have simply wanted to avoid committing crimes of terrorism as he'd had no problem killing the Gurlukovich Mercenaries in self defense or otherwise on both the Tanker and Plant chapters). While Snake seems to come to terms with his killer instinct, he's not proud of what's encoded into his very genes. He once told Meryl that "...everyone feels sick the first time they kill someone (perhaps even himself). Unfortunately, killing is just one of those things that gets easier the more you do it."

Snake is rather indifferent to those who ridicule him about his smoking habits. When Naomi tells him of what causes lung cancer during the events of Shadow Moses, he retorts saying "You might know a lot about genes, but you don't know how good a cigarette tastes in the morning." When Otacon tells him of how dangerous smoking is while Snake's infiltrated the tanker, he retorts saying "So's war, and I've done that all my life." (Not explicitly mentioning whether he had participated in other wars before he was involved in the Gulf War.)

During the Big Shell incident, Snake acted as a mentor for Raiden, showing him the ropes and giving him support and advice via codec. He teaches Raiden many things and most of all, after Raiden defeats Solidus Snake, living for a better future.

When Meryl asked Snake about whether there was anyone he liked, he says "I've never been interested in other people's lives. Other people just complicate my life...I don't like to get involved." This may suggest why he was with no one at the time he was living in Alaska and why he silently left Holly White at the end of the events of Zanzibar. While he does say this, in times of need, he still feels obligated to protect the weak and helpless. His attitude on this would seemingly change, however, when he successfully rescues Meryl in the aftermath of Shadow Moses and wished to spend a new life with her. However, he still ends up alone not long after.

Snake is also one to frown upon politicians who are in their professions for their own ego. When Nastasha Romanenko tells him that 43rd president George Sears (a.k.a. Solidus Snake) was set on making START 3 his first foreign policy success he describes him with disgust as a "Typical Politician..." When the events of Metal Gear Solid 4 unfold he describes the international community as "self serving" for not doing anything about the might of the PMCs because of fear for what cataclysmic effect it would have on the war economy. During his briefing prior to his infiltration to Shadow Moses, Snake also has expressed that he's no patriot for his country and, that perhaps since he's saved the world more than once from harm before, he doesn't feel very much in debt to his country or it's army. Campbell also mentions that "...there's enough dirt in [his] file from [his] days as an agent to keep [him] in the stockade until [he's] a very old man." This would suggest that he'd knowingly taken part in assignments that were harmful to western interests while he was in the CIA. These unlisted assignments may also be the reason why he left the CIA and choose to be a mercenary for hire until Zanzibar. Perhaps also after finding out that he'd killed Big Boss who turned out to be his father, Snake's views about his country may have waned even more.

Metal Gear Acid
Solid Snake is the main character in Metal Gear Acid. He came out of retirement to help the FBI in a mission to obtain the Pythagoras data but then begins to find out that he has worked at BEAGLE before as Hans Davis. Because of the storyline involved his character is not the same in the other Metal Gear games. For more information see Hans Davis.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Solid Snake is a character in the Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Nintendo Wii. Snake uses explosives, RPGs, and grenades, with a mix of CQC, the Cypher from MGS2, and the famous box as a taunt. Also, in the Shadow Moses Island stage, Snake can call Colonel, Otacon or Mei Ling for intel on his opponents. He is also a fan of Captain Falcon.

Clearing Classic Mode will award a trophy of Snake, with the following description: "A former member of FOXHOUND with an IQ of 180 and mastery of six languages. He's an infiltration specialist whose ability to carry out missions under any conditions has made him a legend. He's saved the world three times from the threat of bipedal, nuclear-armed mechs called Metal Gear. Currently he's working with the anti-Metal Gear group known as Philanthropy."

Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus
Solid Snake is a recruit character in MPO+. However, he goes under the "Old Snake" codename, and his appearance is closer to his aged look in Guns Of The Patriots. When recruited Campbell remarks "Some old guy joined our team. Kinda reminds me of Snake" (referring to Old Snake's obvious similarities to his father, Naked Snake).

Track & Field
Snake has been confirmed to be a playable character in the upcoming Nintendo DS game, New International Track & Field, alongside fellow Konami characters such as Sparkster and Simon Belmont, as well as new original characters.

Behind The Scenes


He is voiced by Akio Otsuka in the Japanese releases of the Metal Gear Solid series, and by David Hayter in the English releases. Hideo Kojima based Solid Snake on a number of different characters, including Snake Plissken from the film Escape from New York.

Snake's real name, David, which was revealed in the original Metal Gear Solid, is a reference to two fictional characters: David Bowman from 2001: A Space Odyssey and Dave Forrest from Policenauts (which was also created by Kojima). While Snake shares the same given name with the English voice actor, Hayter, this was not intentional (contrary to popular belief) and is merely coincidental. In Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, he uses the alias Iroquois Pliskin, which is a reference to Snake Plissken. The name "Iroquois" has a double meaning. The Iroquois were a confederacy of Native American tribes headquartered in New York. The word "Iroquois" was also a Huron word meaning "Black Snake".

Metal Gear 2, set in 1999, features an older-looking Snake than seen in Metal Gear Solid, set in 2005. However, there are numerous inconsistencies between the Metal Gear Solid trilogy and the previous incarnation of the series. Also, the portraits used in Metal Gear 2 were based on real actors, and the characters were redesigned for later games. In Konami's Japanese cell phone re-release of Metal Gear 2, Snake's portrait is brought more in line with his presentation in Metal Gear Solid.