Solid Snake

Solid Snake
Metal Gear character
First game Metal Gear (1987)
Created by Hideo Kojima
Designed by Yoji Shinkawa (Metal Gear Solid series)
Ikuya Nakamura (Metal Gear: Ghost Babel)
Tsubasa Masao (Metal Gear Acid series)
Voiced by (English) David Hayter (Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel, Metal Gear Solid 2: Digital Graphic Novel, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots)
Peter Lurie (Ape Escape 3)
Voiced by (Japanese) Akio Ōtsuka
Motion capture Mizuho Yoshida (Metal Gear Solid 2)
Ryoji Okamoto (Metal Gear Solid 4)
Portrayed by Giacomo Talamini (Metal Gear Solid: Philanthropy)
Fictional profile
Real name David (Metal Gear Solid)
Aliases Iroquois Pliskin (Metal Gear Solid 2)
Old Snake (Metal Gear Solid 4)
Classic Snake (Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes)
Nationality American
Affiliations FOXHOUND (Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake)
CIA (post-Metal Gear / pre-Metal Gear 2)[1]
DOD (Metal Gear Solid)
Philanthropy (Metal Gear Solid 2)
Hired assassin (Metal Gear Solid 4)

Solid Snake is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists of Konami's Metal Gear series created by Hideo Kojima. The Metal Gear Solid games has Japanese voice actor Akio Ōtsuka providing the character's Japanese voice while actor and screenwriter David Hayter provides the character's English voice.

Snake is a combination of a spy, mercenary and special operations agent. A member of FOXHOUND, he is often tasked with disarming and destroying various models of the bipedal nuclear weapon-armed mecha known as Metal Gear. Controlled by the player, he must act alone, supported via radio by commanding officers and specialists. While his first appearances in the original Metal Gear games were references to Hollywood films, the Metal Gear Solid series has given a consistent design by artist Yoji Shinkawa alongside an established personality. The character Solid Snake has been well-received by critics.

Characteristics

During his debut appearances, Solid Snake's visual appearances were references to popular actors, and he was given his own consistent design in Metal Gear Solid. Such design shows him as a brown-haired adult wearing a dark "sneaking suit", as well as a bandana. This appearance has remained mostly consistent throughout subsequent installments, with minor changes due to Snake's advancing age. During the beginning of the Plant Chapter in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, he disguises himself by wearing a Navy SEAL uniform. By Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, he has undergone a notable, drastic change as a result of his accelerated aging making him look near-elderly. Nevertheless, he still wears his sneaking suit for missions and has access to different disguises to make him look like other characters, as well as his younger self.

He possesses an IQ of 180 and is fluent in six languages, including English and French. Solid Snake has been on the battlefield for most of his life;[2] a hardened veteran, he has his emotions buried very deep inside himself during his missions, every one of which has different motives.[3] He is also immediately shown as a loner,[4][5] often with no intentions of taking orders from anyone anymore[6] and he shows no sign of longing for the army or the country he was part of.[7] However, along with these traits he nevertheless has a more human side, being flirtatious,[8] self-sacrificing[9] and with a strong belief that even on a battlefield friendship[10] and love[11] can flourish, and that violence is not glorious.[12] However Snake's perceived stance on violence may be a case of denial, as Snake's enemies and at least one of his allies have claimed that, in truth, he enjoys killing, and label him as more evil than the people he has killed.[13][14][15] When he is not on duty, he acts as a musher.[16]

Appearances

Metal Gear main series

Metal Gear series
fictional chronology

Metal Gear (initially released in 1987) introduces Solid Snake (ソリッド・スネーク Soriddo Sunēku), the rookie recruit of the elite special-forces unit FOXHOUND. Snake is sent by team leader Big Boss into the rogue nation Outer Heaven to rescue missing teammate Gray Fox and discover who or what the "METAL GEAR" mentioned is.[17][18] As his mission progresses, he finds out that he has been set up; Outer Heaven's leader is actually Big Boss intending to use the experimental, nuclear-armed mecha Metal Gear to establish Outer Heaven as a nuclear power.[19] After destroying the Metal Gear itself, Snake then confronts and defeats Big Boss.[20]

The sequel Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (initially released only in Japan in 1990[21]) sees Solid Snake once again called up to infiltrate a heavily fortified enemy base in Zanzibar Land. Zanzibar Land has aggravated an international oil crisis and declared themselves a nuclear power by kidnapping the creator of a bio-engineered algae that produces an oil substitute, Dr. Kio Marv, and the Metal Gear original designer Dr. Pettrovich Madnar.[22] Snake infiltrates the base and discovers that Pettrovich as well as his former comrade Gray Fox have defected to Zanzibar Land, and that Zanzibar Land is led by Big Boss.[23] Snake destroys their new Metal Gear D, and defeats both Fox and Big Boss.[24][25]

Metal Gear Solid sees Solid Snake pulled out of retirement by Colonel Roy Campbell in a mission to deal with a corrupt version of FOXHOUND under Liquid Snake's leadership and seized an isolated American nuclear weapons disposal facility on Shadow Moses Island.[26] Snake infiltrates the base and meets up with rookie soldier Meryl Silverburgh and Metal Gear engineer Hal Emmerich (Otacon). Snake defeats each member of FOXHOUND one by one, destroys Metal Gear REX, and confronts Liquid. During their fight, it is revealed that Liquid and Solid are twin brothers artificially conceived from Big Boss's genes during the "Les Enfants Terribles" government project designed to create the perfect soldier, in which one brother was genetically modified to be superior over the other.[27] Liquid harbors a strong resentment towards Snake since Solid was given their father's dominant "soldier genes" and Liquid was cast aside. After a grueling series of battles, Liquid dies from the Fox-Die virus that was previously implanted into Snake in order to wipe out FOXHOUND without risking any damage to REX and the Genome soldiers' bodies for retrieval.[28] In the end, it is revealed that Liquid got Big Boss's superior "soldier genes" while Solid was actually the inferior one.[29] The game's ending also reveals his real name David (デイビッド Deibiddo?).

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty shows Solid Snake as the playable character during the game's extensive prologue sequence in which he is sent by the anti-proliferation organization Philanthropy to infiltrate a cargo tanker and photograph the latest model Metal Gear RAY.[30] During the operation, however, RAY is hijacked and the tanker destroyed, with Snake apparently dead and framed for the deed.[31] During the game's main portion, Solidus Snake steals Snake's identity and leads the Sons of Liberty while Snake himself uses the pseudonym Iroquois Pliskin (イロコィ・プリスキン Irokoi Purisukin) as a non-playable character who assists rookie agent Raiden through the remote offshore Big Shell facility and in taking down Solidus while also learning about the Patriots.[32]

A statue of an aged version of Solid Snake codenamed "Old Snake" in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.

The PlayStation 3 game Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots features an aged incarnation of Solid Snake that is once again the main protagonist and identified as Old Snake (オールド・スネーク Ōrudo Sunēku) during the game. On account of his genetic code being a potential threat if it fell into enemy hands, he was designed with a short life span; as such he has the body of an old man while he is only 42 years old.[33] In the game, Snake wears a sneaking suit outfitted with "Octocamo" technology, which allows him to blend with his environment, as well as a face mask which alters his appearance.[34] Snake is once again enlisted by his old friend Roy Campbell to defeat Liquid Ocelot (an amalgam of Liquid Snake and Revolver Ocelot) trying to form a new version of Outer Heaven by taking control of the Patriots' AIs.[35] Snake and his allies are forced to destroy the Patriots' AIs to stop "Liquid", and fights most of Ocelot's soldiers until he finally kills Ocelot. Having learned that his rapid aging can cause an epidemic because of the mutated FOXDIE virus, Snake tries to commit suicide but changes his mind and is then confronted by Big Boss revealing that his son can spend the rest of his life peacefully. After making up with Big Boss, Snake decides to live out the remainder of his life in peace, vowing that he will live long enough to see what the future holds for the new world he has helped create.[36]

Other Metal Gear games

Solid Snake also serves as the protagonist in Snake's Revenge, the non-Kojima sequel to the original Metal Gear for the NES released for the western market in 1990. Set three years after the events of the Outer Heaven incident, Snake's Revenge has Snake leading a team of FOX HOUND operatives as they infiltrate an undisclosed enemy base where the Metal Gear weapon is being mass-produced. Snake is addressed by the military rank of Lieutenant and starts the game already equipped with a handgun and a combat knife, in contrast to the first game, where Snake had to procure all of his weapons on-site.

After the success of the original Metal Gear Solid, KCEJ produced a trilogy of Metal Gear spin-offs for portable platforms set in a parallel universe outside the main Kojima-directed series. All three of these portable games were directed by Shinta Nojiri.[37] The first of these is the Game Boy Color version of Metal Gear Solid (released in Japan as Metal Gear: Ghost Babel). In Ghost Babel, Solid Snake infiltrates a rebuilt Outer Heaven (now called Galuade) to defeat a FOXHOUND-like team of rogue agents called Black Chamber and destroy a stolen Metal Gear prototype, Gander. Although the actual in-game artwork of Ghost Babel were done by Ikuya Nakamura, Yoji Shinkawa provided the promotional art like he did with the Metal Gear Solid series. In Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance, a sidestory titled "Snake Tales" focused on a Solid Snake from a parallel universe as he fights through Big Shell.[38]

In Metal Gear Acid, Solid Snake must retrieve "Pythagoras" from the Lobito Physics and Research Laboratory, in order to satisfy hijackers who have kidnapped presidential candidate Viggo Hach. This mission is complicated by La Clown, an expert mimic who impersonates Solid Snake's contact Teliko, and subtle brainwashing that nearly convinces him that he is Hans Davis, a ruthless scientist that worked at the Lobito facility. He overcomes both and contacts the real Teliko, then destroys the latest model of Metal Gear, Metal Gear KODOQUE. The sequel Metal Gear Acid 2 features a main character who is not the real Solid Snake, but a clone created from tissue samples of the Solid Snake from the original Metal Gear Acid, following the events of the Lobito Island mission; the Solid Snake from the original game is said to be dead in the sequel.

Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops briefly features a prophetic vision of Naked Snake's future where one "son will save the world" (referring to Solid Snake) after another "son will bring the world to ruin" (either Liquid or Solidus).[39]

The character appears in his Old Snake form as a playable character in an updated pack from Metal Gear Online.[40] The VR Missions DLC add-on for the Japanese version of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance includes a new weapon that can be used by Raiden known as the Hebidamashi, a talking wooden sword which speaks with Solid Snake's voice (as portrayed by Akio Otsuka).[41] The weapon was removed in the game's international versions.

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes features a special non-canon mission "Déjà Vu" made exclusive to PlayStation consoles once again allows players to control the character (colloquially referred to as "Classic Snake") in favor of Big Boss.[42] The character model is based on his 32-bit depiction from the original Metal Gear Solid game and Classic Snake's voice has been replaced with Kiefer Sutherland (Big Boss's motion actor and English voice).[43]

Outside video games, Solid Snake appeared in the Metal Gear Solid audio drama that focuses on his missions following the battle from Shadow Moses.[44] He also appears in Alex Garner's comic book version from Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2.[45] Raymond Benson's novelization of these two games also feature Snake, albeit with a more comical characterization.[45] He also appears in Project Itoh's novelization from Metal Gear Solid 4 where his actions are told from Hal Emmerich's point of view.[46]

Other video games

Solid Snake has appeared in a number of other games, including other Konami games. Hideo Kojima makes a habit of referencing his previous work. In the Kojima-produced Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django (and Shin Bokura no Taiyō: Gyakushū no Sabata), Snake appears as an unnamed character who sells items to the player. Konami's Evolution Skateboarding features Snake and Raiden as hidden characters, as well two stages set in the Big Shell (the skateboarding minigame in Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance is a demo of Evolution Skateboarding composed exclusively of these elements).[47] Solid Snake also appears in both halves of a crossover between the Metal Gear and Ape Escape franchises: the Ape Escape monkeys appear with Solid Snake in the "Snake vs. Monkey" minigame featured in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. In turn, Snake appears in the corresponding Metal Gear Solid minigame featured in Ape Escape 3, where he is rescued by Pipo Snake (Snake's character design in this minigame is taken directly from Naked Snake's).

He has also appeared in two of cross-company fighting games. In DreamMix TV World Fighters, Solid Snake appears as a playable character alongside other third-party characters such as Bomberman and Convoy (Optimus Prime). Similarly, in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, a popular fighting game from Nintendo, Solid Snake appeared alongside Nintendo and Sega characters, Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog respectively. According to producer Masahiro Sakurai, Snake's inclusion in Brawl was done under Kojima's request, who wanted Snake to be featured.[48] In addition, Snake has appeared as a playable character in the Nintendo DS game New International Track & Field alongside some other Konami characters.[49] Also, Old Snake has appeared in the Japanese version of Scribblenauts, having been published by Konami in that region.[50] Customizations in Media Molecule's LittleBigPlanet for the PlayStation 3 allow the player character, Sackboy, to take on the appearance of Old Snake.[51]

Creation and development

Much as Metal Gear began as a pastiche of action movies of the time, Solid Snake began as a pastiche of contemporary action movie heroes. For example, on the cover artwork of the original Metal Gear, he resembles the Michael Biehn incarnation of Kyle Reese in The Terminator, and the in-game portrait of Snake in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake resembles Mel Gibson in the game's opening sequence.[52] Solid Snake was even named after another fictional special forces operative: Snake Plissken, Kurt Russell's character in Escape from New York.[53][54] In Guns of the Patriots, Snake is modeled after Lee Van Cleef, who appeared in Escape from New York.[55] His real name, David,[56][57] is a tribute to the film 2001: A Space Odyssey that has a character with the same name.[58] Kojima later described Snake's role in the original Metal Gear as the "player's presence", contrasting the defined personality Solid Snake acquired in Metal Gear Solid.[59]

In addition to expanding Solid Snake's backstory, as the first Metal Gear game to feature voice acting, Metal Gear Solid established his characteristic voice and appearance.[60] Yoji Shinkawa's Solid Snake design, characterized by his navy blue bandanna and "sneaking suit", would serve as the template for all future incarnations of Snake in later Metal Gear games. According to Shinkawa, Snake's physique in Metal Gear Solid was based on that of action star Jean-Claude Van Damme, while his facial appearance in the same game was inspired by actor Christopher Walken. Shinkawa described his rendition of Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid as a "middle ground" between the younger Snake who graced the cover artwork of the first Metal Gear and the middle-aged Snake from the MSX2 version of Metal Gear 2.[54][61] For the initial events from the Big Shell chapter from Metal Gear Solid 2, Snake's visual appearance was sightly modified with his hair being more blonde.[62] Solid Snake became one of the characters easiest to draw by Shinkawa as he notes that his appearance is consistent despite suffering minor changes across the games.[63]

Various scenes from the games relate Snake's ideals with Hideo Kojima's. During Metal Gear Solid 2 Snake encourages Raiden to trust himself in making his own choices with the former representing the veteran developer and the latter the younger staff who are to decide whether a sequel to the series would be made without Kojima.[58] In Metal Gear Solid 4, Snake tries to protect the next generation by stopping Ocelot which was representing by Kojima working with the staff to avoid bugs from occurying within the game.[64] Kojima introduced the cloning origins of Solid Snake to Metal Gear Solid in order to provide Solid Snake with an adversary who would be his equal, since the story, being a continuation to the original MSX2 games, established Snake as an experienced soldier.[65] Kojima explained that his decision to introduce a new playable character in Solid Snake's place for Sons of Liberty was done in order to develop Snake from another character's perspective, but also to avoid treating Snake as a rookie by having a new character be instructed via Codec instead.[66]

By the time of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots started development, Kojima told Shinkawa about his idea of making Snake look like an elder which surprised the designer. Once Shinkawa showed his artwork of Old Snake to the staff, they were all also surprised by the idea of playing as an old Solid Snake. However, as they were satisfied with end product as the staff started liking the character.[64] In Guns of the Patriots one of Kojima's endings for the game would have had Snake and Otacon turn themselves in for breaking the law, and subsequently they would be convicted and executed.[65] However, comments from Kojima's staff who were disappointed with his death resulted in the character's survival.[67] According to Ryan Payton of Konami at the time, Guns of the Patriots is the final canonical Metal Gear game to feature Solid Snake as the main character.[68] Kojima himself stated that the series will continue. He later stated that, despite earlier stating that he does not want the character to be handled by anyone else,[65] Solid Snake will reappear in a future Metal Gear Solid game in an interview with French gaming magazine IG.[69]

In the games, Solid Snake has been voiced by Akio Ōtsuka. Ōtsuka remembers being surprised during his debut as a result of the large amount dialogue Snake was given.[70] In the English adaptations, Solid Snake's role was made by David Hayter. Hayter found his work notable as he was originally a screenwriter and did not expect to become famous for dubbing a character.[71] While Hayter comments having issues with some of Snake's lines in his first game, most notably a conversation regarding romance with Hal Emmerich, he stated he would talk about such things if he was asked again. By the time Metal Gear Solid 4 had its first trailers released, Hayter was frustrated by Snake's flinchs during his attempt of committing suicide based on the character's experience in the battlefield.[72] For the crossover game Super Smash Bros., Hayter remembers having fun in voicing the character due to the comical lines Snake had to say.[71]

Reception

Solid Snake's character was very well received by gaming media. Retro Gamer included him in the section "top ten forces of good" in their 2004 list of top 50 retro game heroes.[73] In 2005, Electronic Gaming Monthly listed Solid Snake as number one as the top ten video game characters of all time.[34] He was ranked 17th in UGO Networks's 2010 list of the best heroes in entertainment.[74] Snake appeared in multiple GameFAQs "Character Battle" contests, and was runner-up in two, the "Character Battle V" in 2006,[75] and the "Character Battle VII" in 2008.[76] In an Oricon poll from 2008, he was voted as the most popular video game character in Japan, tying with Nintendo's Pikachu.[77] In a Famitsu poll in 2010, Snake was voted by readers as the most popular video game character.[78] His character was amongst the last 16 contestants on the greatest video game hero on GameSpot contest held in 2009, and lost out to Gordon Freeman on a tiebreaker.[79] In the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition from 2011, Snake was voted as the fourth most popular video game character.[80] In 2011, Empire ranked him as the 19th greatest video game character, adding that "beginning as an action pastiche, he swiftly evolved into his very own character".[81]

Critics have commented on his traits and appearance, often praising Solid Snake for his appealing personality.[34][74] In 2007, ScrewAttack ranked him as the sixth "coolest" character in video games.[82] 1UP.com listed him second in the list of top video game smokers, while GamesRadar placed him at the top of their 2009 list of manliest men in video game history.[83][84] Complex ranked him as fourth on the list of top "pervs" in games in 2012[85] and as the seventh greatest soldier in video games in 2013.[86] Solid Snake's endurance in the face of extreme punishment was even made the focus of a comedy article in the satirical newspaper The Onion.[87] In 2013, Rich Knight and Gus Turner from Complex ranked him as the ninth best video game mascot, adding that he represents "deep, human emotion that other characters fail to match."[88]

Solid Snake's Metal Gear Solid 2 design was at the bottom of the worst game character makeovers list by GamePro, condemning his conversion in hairstyle in comparison to his Metal Gear Solid design,[89] and was also at the top of IGN's list of the worst video game haircuts.[90] Before Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, the character was thought to be the game's protagonist because of his physical resemblances with Naked Snake. However, later previews speculated how was it impossible for Solid Snake to be in the game's settings, leading to the conclusion it was a young incarnation of Big Boss.[91][92][93] A comparison between Solid Snake's and Big Boss's characters was made by IGN in article "Stars Thunderdome: Snake vs. Big Boss."[94]

The character's appearance in Metal Gear Solid 4 has received mostly positive opinions. Before it was released, various speculations were made regarding Snake's role. As he was the only one who suffered from a drastic change in appearance, IGN commented that the most famous rumor was the one of Snake's body deteriorating across the game.[95] Moreover, since it had been announced it would be his last appearance, IGN and GamesRadar wondered whether the character would die during the game and if Raiden would replace him following his death.[96][97] GamesRadar commented that Snake was one of the few gaming characters that aged across video games.[98] GamePro also listed Old Snake as one of the biggest surprises from the game, as the character was found interesting in contrast to pessimistic thoughts they had before the game's release.[99] GameDaily listed the "old hero" as one of their list of top video game archetypes, using the old version of Snake as an example of this.[100] PLAY gave praise to his moustache considering how highly detailed it is, and represents the change from Snake's character.[101] On the other hand, 1UP.com placed him third in their 2009 list of most gracelessly aging characters as it gave negative messages about aging.[102] In 2013, Complex included Old Snake among the ten video game characters who look like sex offenders.[103]

GameDaily made Solid Snake top their Smash Bros. characters list,[104] while PLAY listed him as one of the characters they wanted to be playable in Mortal Kombat.[105] The character customization in Soulcalibur IV that allowed to create Snake was listed by UGO as one of the best ones from the series owing to his popularity within gamers.[106]

David Hayter's performance as Solid Snake's English voice actor has received praise to the point of being called one of the best ones in gaming as well as one of the character's most recognizable traits.[107][108] In 2013, Game Informer ranked Hayter's role as Snake as the seventh most memorable character voice in video games for "a portrayal that's considered to be a real classic in the history of video game voice acting", adding that "long-time fans are still reeling from the casting of Kiefer Sutherland as [ the character ] for MGSV."[109]

References

  1. ↑ Solid Snake profile, MGS4 Database
  2. ↑ Roy Campbell: ...You were there too I believe. Didn't you infiltrate western Iraq with a platoon of Green Berets? Snake: I was just a kid myself back then. (Metal Gear Solid)
  3. ↑ Colonel Campbell: [Solid Snake], there's enough dirt in your file from your days as an agent to keep you in the stockade until you're a very old man.
  4. ↑ Snake: Right now my fifty huskies are my only family. I've got to take care of them. (Metal Gear Solid)
  5. ↑ Meryl Silverburgh: Is there anyone you like? Solid Snake: I've never been interested in anyone else's life... Meryl Silverburgh: So you are all alone. Just like Mantis said. Solid Snake: Other people just complicate my life. I don't like to get involved. Meryl Silverburgh: You're a sad, lonely man.(Metal Gear Solid)
  6. ↑ Solid Snake: I'm retired from FOX-HOUND. You're not my commander anymore, and I don't have to take orders from you or anyone else. (Metal Gear Solid)
  7. ↑ Solid Snake: I told you, even if I do owe you I don't owe anything to this army or this country!. Colonel Campbell: You will accept this assignment! Solid Snake: Why should I be stupid enough to do that? I'm no patriot. (Metal Gear Solid)
  8. ↑ Solid Snake: ...I just didn't expect a world-class designer of military technology to be so...cute. Mei Ling: You're just flattering me... Solid Snake: No, I'm serious. Now I know I won't be bored for the next 18 hours. (Metal Gear Solid)
  9. ↑ Naomi: ...Why did you go so far out of your way to save her? For Campbell's sake... or... maybe it's because you like her? Solid Snake: I don't want to see any woman die right in front of me. Naomi Hunter: Oh really? Since when did anybody's death bother you so much? Colonel Campbell: Naomi! It's true that [Solid Snake] has killed a lot of people, that doesn't mean he doesn't have a heart. (Metal Gear Solid)
  10. ↑ Naomi Hunter: ...Friends? Solid Snake: ...Frank Jaeger Naomi Hunter: But... didn't you try to kill each other? Solid Snake: That's true. We did. In Zanzibar. But it was nothing personal. We were just professionals on opposite sides, that's all. Naomi Hunter: And you still call yourselves friends? Solid Snake: Hard to believe? War is no reason to end a friendship. (Metal Gear Solid)
  11. ↑ Otacon: I wanna ask you... Do you think love can bloom even on a battlefield? Solid Snake: Yeah...I do. I think at any time, any place... people can fall in love with each other. (Metal Gear Solid)
  12. ↑ Vulcan Raven: Rejoice, Snake! Ours will be a glorious battle. Solid Snake: This isn't glorious. It's just plain killing. Violence isn't a sport! (Metal Gear Solid)
  13. ↑ Solid Snake: It's only when I'm cheating death on the battlefield. The only time I feel truly alive. Meryl Silverburgh: Seeing other people die makes you feel alive, huh? You love war and don't want it to stop... Is it the same with all great soldiers throughout history?
  14. ↑ Meryl Silverburgh: You monster! Snake: Let him talk. He doesn't have much time left. Psycho Mantis: I've seen true evil. You Snake. You're just like the Boss... No, you're worse. Compared to you, I'm not so bad.
  15. ↑ Solid Snake: I don't want that kind of world! Liquid Snake: Ha! You lie! So why are you here then? Why do you continue to follow your orders while your superiors betray you? Why did you come here? Solid Snake: ...... Liquid Snake: Well... I'll tell you then. You enjoy all the killing, that's why. Solid Snake: What! Liquid Snake: Are you denying it? Haven't you already killed most of my comrades? Solid Snake: That was... Liquid Snake: I watched your face when you did it. It was filled with the joy of battle.
  16. ↑ talk after fight with Psycho Mantis (and before with Sniper Wolf for the first time): Meryl Silverburgh: How do you know so much? Solid Snake: I ride dog sleds. I'm a musher. (Metal Gear Solid)
  17. ↑ Kojima Productions. "Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, Metal Gear". Konami. Big Boss: This is Big Boss... Operation Intrude N313. Penetrate the enemy's Outer Heaven and destroy the ultimate weapon, Metal Gear!
  18. ↑ Kojima Productions. "Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, Metal Gear". Konami. Big Boss: First, contact missing Gray Fox and destroy Metal Gear!
  19. ↑ Kojima Productions. "Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, Metal Gear". Konami. Big Boss: Solid Snake! You've finally come here. Yeah, I'm Big Boss General Commandant of Foxhound. And in charge of this fortress, Outer Heaven.
  20. ↑ Kojima Productions. "Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, Metal Gear". Konami. Solid Snake: This is Solid Snake... Metal Gear's destruction is a success.
  21. ↑ "The History of Metal Gear Solid". UGO.com. Retrieved 2005-07-15.
  22. ↑ Kojima Productions. "Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake". Konami. Roy Campbell: Snake... Right on time, as always. Let's get started... Commencing Operation Intrude F014. Let's go over this one more time. Your mission is to infiltrate Zanzibar Land and rescue the kidnapped Czech biologist, Dr. Kio Marv.
  23. ↑ Kojima Productions. "Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake". Konami. Solid Snake: Big... Boss?! / Madnar: The very same! With Metal Gear and OILEX, he plots to rule the world. We cannot let the secret of OILEX fall into his hands!
  24. ↑ Kojima Productions. "Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake". Konami. Gray Fox: Snake... I'm not the same as I used to be. And neither is Metal Gear. I'll show you what fear really is. Prepare to taste defeat!
  25. ↑ Kojima Productions. "Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake". Konami. Big Boss: Even I make mistakes from time to time. Snake! This will be our final battle... Let's end this once and for all!
  26. ↑ Konami Computer Entertainment Japan. "Metal Gear Solid". Konami. Solid Snake: FOX-HOUND hijacking a nuclear weapon? / Campbell: Now you understand how serious the situation is. You'll have two mission objectives. First, you're to rescue the DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) Chief Donald Anderson, and the ArmsTech president Kenneth Baker. They're both being held as hostages.
  27. ↑ Konami Computer Entertainment Japan. "Metal Gear Solid". Konami. Liquid Snake: There's a killer inside you... You don't have to deny it. We were created to be that way. Solid Snake: Created? Liquid Snake: Les enfants terribles... the terrible children. That's what the project was called. It started in the 1970's. Their plan was to artificially create the most powerful soldier possible. The person that they chose as the model was the man known then as the greatest living soldier in the world...
  28. ↑ Konami Computer Entertainment Japan. "Metal Gear Solid". Liquid Snake: The Pentagon only needed for you to come into contact with us. That's what killed the ArmsTech president and Decoy Octopus. / Solid Snake: You don't mean... / Liquid Snake: That's right. You were sent in here to kill us so they could retrieve Metal Gear undamaged along with the bodies of the genome soldiers. From the beginning, the Pentagon was just using you as a vector to spread FoxDie!
  29. ↑ Konami Computer Entertainment Japan. "Metal Gear Solid". Revolver Ocelot: Yes, although [Solid Snake] proved he was superior and was the winner after all. ...That's right. Until the very end, [Liquid Snake] thought he was meant to be the inferior one.
  30. ↑ Konami Computer Entertainment Japan. "Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty". Konami. Solid Snake: All right. I'll head to the bridge ASAP. / Otacon: Try to avoid confrontations. Our goal is to collect evidence on Metal Gear development and expose it to the world. It would be best if you could get out of there without alerting anyone. / Solid Snake: Don't worry. I know the drill -- we're not terrorists. / Otacon: Very good. Don't you forget that you're a part of "Philanthropy" now, an anti-Metal Gear organization and officially recognized by the UN.
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