The End

The End (ジ・エンド) was the "Ancient Sniper" of the Cobra Unit. Born in the early 1860s, The End was over 100 years old when he was defeated by Naked Snake in 1964. He was a veteran of countless wars, and was considered to be the world's greatest sniper, as he originated all sniping techniques and was known as "the father of modern sniping." He was said to never require a spotter, and could stay in the same prone sniping position without moving for days or even weeks at a time. This was partially because he was an apparent autotroph – the energy provided by the photosynthetic moss that grows inside and outside of his body lets him go long periods without food or water. The End also wore false teeth and had the ability to bulge his eyes out of their sockets.

Battle with Snake
As with the other members of the Cobra Unit, his codename signified the emotion he felt while on the battlefield, in his case, total oblivion, blocking out everything except his targets. Because he was very old and incredibly close to death, he would often fall asleep during a battle. His closest companion, a parrot, would wake him up when he fell asleep. The parrot acted as The End's spotter. By killing it, The End found it much more difficult to track Naked Snake's movements. However, this made him more aggressive.

The End was also an expert on camouflage. His uniform was a standard sniper ghillie suit (which he most probably made himself), and the sniping positions he chose to conceal himself well. When in a prone position, he became "one" with the area – his body temperature lowered so that it was close to that of the surrounding foliage. This made spotting him with thermal goggles difficult. Additionally, when The End's stamina dropped dangerously low, he would call forth the sun's rays and recover his stamina quickly.

He was armed with a modified M1891/30 Mosin Nagant sniper rifle that fired tranquilizer rounds. He also used stun grenades when Snake got too close to him.

The End battled Naked Snake in a long sniper duel in an area spanning three zones – Sokrovenno South, West, and North. It is a thick forest, divided into a river, a plateau, and a clearing.

Eventually, Snake defeated The End. Before he died, he gave a speech saying thanks to the forest for giving him the strength for his "final hunt." Before his microbomb activated, he said, "I can return to the forest at last."

Trivia

 * The End was developed from the Old Boy character concept discarded as a boss for Metal Gear Solid 2.
 * After absorbing sunlight to revitalize himself, the liver spots on The End's head dissapear.
 * While The End is dying, the foliage on his Ghillie shifts from green to orange.
 * Solid Snake fought a similar boss, Jungle Evil, in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake.
 * The End was named the fourth greatest boss fight of all time by Electronic Gaming Monthly in their 196th issue.
 * The battle with The End was rated #3 in the Top Ten Video Game Sniper Moments by Game Informer.
 * There two alternate ways to kill The End before the boss battle.
 * The player can snipe him after his first appearance at the docks. If the player does kill him, his microbomb explosion will send his wheelchair wheel towards Snake, so it is advised that player quickly dodge after killing him. (Note, this is the only instance where The End says his codename before his destruction.)
 * Another way to alternately kill The End, is to wait for nature itself to take him. If the player saves their game in the middle of the battle and wait for a week before playing again, The End will die of old age. The player can also just set their PlayStation 2's internal clock a week ahead to get the same result.
 * The End is the only boss in MGS3 where the player will not receive his camouflage if he is defeated non-lethally. They will instead receive his Mosin Nagant. To receive his Moss camouflage, the player must hold him up.
 * The End is also one of only two bosses where the player can receive his camouflage without defeating him non-lethally, the only other boss being The Sorrow (In his case, you need to touch The Sorrow's corpse during the "fight" against him to get his camouflage)