Solid Snake

Solid Snake
Metal Gear series character
File:Smash Snake.jpg The Yoji Shinkawa-designed Solid Snake, pictured here in a promotional render for Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, is used in Metal Gear Solid and later games.
First game	Metal Gear
Created by	Hideo Kojima

Solid Snake (ソリッド・スネーク, Soriddo Sunēku) is the protagonist of the Metal Gear video game series. Introduced in the 1987 video game Metal Gear and created by series creator Hideo Kojima, Solid Snake is the quintessential soldier and spy. He is repeatedly entrusted with the destruction of the latest incarnation of the Metal Gear, a bipedal, nuclear-weapon-armed mecha.

In each game, Snake is controlled by the player. The player must act alone, but is supported via radio by commanding officers and specialists. He enters armed only with his wits, his radio, and a pack of cigarettes, and has to acquire on-site any equipment, such as weaponry or his signature cardboard-box disguise.

He is voiced by actor/screenwriter David Hayter in the English releases of the Metal Gear Solid series, and by veteran seiyū Akio Otsuka in the Japanese releases.

On the MSX and NES

Much as Metal Gear began as a pastiche of action movies of the time, Solid Snake began as a pastiche of then-current action movie heroes. For example, on the cover artwork of the original Metal Gear, he resembles Michael Biehn in The Terminator, and the in-game portrait of Snake in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake resembles Mel Gibson (who was then starring in the Lethal Weapon movies). Solid Snake was even named after an action movie hero: Snake Plissken, Kurt Russell's character in Escape from New York.

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A comparison of detail from the cover of the Japanese release of Metal Gear for the MSX (left) and a Terminator promotional still (right). Here, and in the manual for the same version of Metal Gear, Solid Snake's appearance is based on Michael Biehn.

Metal Gear, initially released in 1987 on the MSX2 home computer, introduces Solid Snake, 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 his missing teammate Gray Fox and discover who or what is the "METAL GEAR" mentioned in Gray Fox's last transmission. After rescuing a member of the resistance, Snake discovers that he has been set up; the leader of Outer Heaven is actually Big Boss, who intends to use Metal Gear- an experimental, nuclear-armed mecha- to establish Outer Heaven as a nuclear power. After destroying the Metal Gear itself, he then confronts Big Boss and defeats him.

The NES port of Metal Gear, released in North America, was an unexpected million-seller. The sequel, Snake's Revenge, was developed without the involvement of the first game's director, Hideo Kojima. It only saw release in North America and Europe.

Snake's Revenge sets Lieutenant Solid Snake at the head of a team of FOXHOUND infiltrators. Snake must infiltrate a new base to investigate rumors of the development of a new Metal Gear. He discovers that not only is the enemy constructing mass-produced units of the original "Metal Gear 1" model, but that a new prototype known as "Metal Gear 2" is being developed at the heart of the main base. Snake must finish his mission alone, as the rest of his team is killed or captured, but defeats the enemy commander (who is revealed to be a massive, cybernetically-enhanced Big Boss) and destroys the new Metal Gear 2.

Kojima has told a story in several interviews about riding the train home and running into one of the staffers working on Snake's Revenge, and being asked to rejoin them and help make an authentic sequel to Metal Gear. Upon agreeing to this, the game they produced was Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. Metal Gear 2, initially released only in Japan for the MSX2, follows after the original Metal Gear rather than Snake's Revenge; indeed, all later games ignore the events of Snake's Revenge, relegating it to non-canon status.

Metal Gear 2 sees Solid Snake once again called up to infiltrate a heavily-fortified enemy base, this time in Zanzibar Land. Zanzibar Land has aggravated an international oil crisis and declared themselves a nuclear power by kidnapping Dr. Kio Marv, the creator of the formula to OILIX (a bio-engineered algae that produces an oil substitute), and Dr. Pettrovich (Dr. Madnar in later remakes of Metal Gear 2), the inventor of the Metal Gear. Snake infiltrates the base and retrieves Dr. Marv's OILIX formula (albeit not Marv himself, who is tortured to death). However, he discovers that Pettrovich and his former comrade Gray Fox have defected to Zanzibar Land, and that Zanzibar Land is led by none other than Big Boss. Snake destroys the new Metal Gear D, confronts and kills Gray Fox in a fist fight in the middle of a mine field, then kills Big Boss with a makeshift flamethrower in a final confrontation.

Metal Gear Solid

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Solid Snake in the original Metal Gear Solid, drawn by Yoji Shinkawa. Shinkawa's design would mark the beginning of consistency and continuity in Snake's design, and variations of differing degree would appear in all later games.

Solid Snake would not appear in another game until eight years later, in 1998's Metal Gear Solid, for the PlayStation. Metal Gear Solid debuted at E3 1997 to great fanfare and, after its release, great sales, topping charts around the world. As the PlayStation was now able to render more detailed characters than the comparatively-primitive systems the previous Metal Gear games had appeared on, this game would see the introduction of Solid Snake's enduring appearance and voice, as well as his backstory.

Metal Gear Solid sees Solid Snake pulled out of retirement by Colonel Campbell to deal with FOXHOUND. Under the leadership of Liquid Snake, FOXHOUND goes rogue, seizing Shadow Moses Island, the home of an American nuclear weapons disposal facility. Snake infiltrates the base and meets up with Meryl Silverburgh, a rookie soldier, and Hal "Otacon" Emmerich, the designer of Metal Gear REX. Snake defeats each member of FOXHOUND one by one, destroys Metal Gear REX, and confronts Liquid Snake. Liquid Snake reveals that he and Solid Snake both are clones of Big Boss. He then challenges his brother to show who is truly superior, a confrontation which ends in Liquid Snake dying by the FOXDIE virus which had previously been implanted in Solid Snake. Snake then escapes and continues with his retirement in Alaska.

In addition to telling Solid Snake's backstory, this game marks the first appearance of Yoji Shinkawa's character designs, and the Shinkawa-designed Snake, characterized by the dark grey "sneaking suit" and bandana, would become the dominant design in all later games. According to Yoji Shinkawa, the Snake in Metal Gear Solid is not youthful looking like in the original Metal Gear, nor middle aged like in Metal Gear 2, but serves as a middle ground between the two. His physique was based on Jean Claude Van Damme, while his facial appearance was originally based on Christopher Walken.

The first reappearance of the Metal Gear Solid version of Solid Snake would be in the 2000 Game Boy Color game Metal Gear Solid (originally released in Japan as Metal Gear: Ghost Babel). This game, set after the original Metal Gear, is a non-canonical side-story, and features Snake infiltrating Galuade, a fortress built on the remains of Outer Heaven, seeking to defeat the rogue Black Chamber and destroy the latest Metal Gear.

Solid Snake later reappears in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. In this game, Snake appears much as he did in Metal Gear Solid, with the addition of stubble, a mullet, and several years of apparent aging. The prologue "tanker" portion of the game features Solid Snake, now a member of anti-proliferation organization "Philanthropy", infiltrating a cargo tanker to photograph Metal Gear RAY, the latest model of Metal Gear. However, during this operation the Metal Gear is hijacked and the tanker is destroyed. By the start of the next portion of the game, Snake has disappeared and is presumed to be dead.

In a controversial move, the remainder of the game features the effeminate-looking rookie Raiden as the playable protagonist. Solid Snake (using the pseudonym "Iroquois Pliskin" and posing as a Navy SEAL operative) instead has a non-playable supporting role as one of several conspirators attempting to destroy Arsenal Gear and defeat The Patriots, an organisation secrectly controlling the USA.

File:MGS4 Snake.jpg

Solid Snake from the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 4, rendered by Hideki Sasaki. His aged look is the result of the cloning process from the "Les Enfants Terribles" project.

While Solid Snake does not appear in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (save for a guest appearance in the Snake vs. Monkey minigame), Naked Snake, a new character who shares Solid Snake's appearance, voice actor (in both Japanese and English versions of the game), and several other characteristics, including his trademark bandana and expertise in urban warfare and espionage, serves as the protagonist in his place. By the end of Snake Eater, It is revealed that this character is Big Boss, the antagonist of the early Metal Gear games and the genetic father of Solid Snake and his clone brothers.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is a reversal of Snake Eater; instead of a young Big Boss looking like Solid Snake, an aged Solid Snake with a moustache appears, looking much like Big Boss and now going by the name Old Snake. While this game has not yet been released, in pre-release materials, Solid Snake has aged greatly and appears decades older, a result of advanced cellular degenaration from his cloned genes. He sports a new sneaking suit while he retains his signature bandana and mullet. Solid Snake is recruited by the United Nations to infiltrate the newly reestablished Outer Heaven in the Middle East, which is now a private military contractor operated by Liquid Ocelot (formerly Revolver Ocelot, apparently completely possesed by Liquid Snake's personality).

Metal Gear Acid

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Snake in Metal Gear Acid 2. Artwork by Tsubasa Masao. In both games in the Acid series, Snake suffers from an identity crisis.

Shinta Nojiri, the event planner on Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, directed the Metal Gear Acid series, and takes a dramatically different tack from the main Metal Gear series. These games, which are not canonical with respect to the main, Kojima-directed series, have Solid Snake confronting identity crises, as, in each game, Snake isn't exactly what he seems. The character designs in the Metal Gear Acid series were done by Tsubasa Masao (character designer of the Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner). In Metal Gear Acid, the in-game models do not reflect Masao's anime-style designs, instead closely resembling the designs used in the Metal Gear Solid series. Masao's divergent style does appear in MGA promotional art, and the cel-shaded graphical style and more-stylized character designs of Acid 2 adhere closely to his colorful, clearly-inked concept art.

In Metal Gear Acid, Solid Snake must infiltrate the Lobito Physics and Research Laboratory, in order to retrieve "Pythagoras", to satisfy hijackers who have kidnapped presidential candidate Viggo Hach. This mission is complicated by Swallowtail, an expert mimic who impersonates Teliko (Solid Snake's intended inside contact), 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.

Metal Gear Acid 2 forces upon Snake a different kind of identity crisis. An amnesiac Snake, framed for the death of the president of the Serena Republic, is coerced into teaming up with an agent named Venus to infiltrate SaintLogic Labs, to investigate illegal experiments. The illegal experiments turn out to be a rebuilt Metal Gear KODOQUE and its successor, Metal Gear Chaioth Ha Qadesh, but their destruction is no end to Snake's troubles. It is revealed that he is not Solid Snake at all, but instead a clone based on tissue samples from Lobito Island. After this revelation and his separation from Venus, Snake commandeers the Chaioth Ha Qadesh to launch himself into the ocean, where he is rescued and reunited with the Serena Republic resistance.

Cameo appearances

Solid Snake has appeared in a number of other games, including other Konami games, more unusually, under license in games developed and published by other companies, such as Sony and Nintendo.

Hideo Kojima makes a habit of referencing his previous work; in the second and third games in the Kojima-produced, Konami-published Boktai series, Solid Snake makes cameo appearances, under the name "?". (This is similar to the reuse of the name "Metal Gear" and the presence of a "Meryl Silverburgh" in Policenauts and the Metal Gear series.)

Solid Snake also appears in both halves of two different series crossovers.In Evolution Skateboarding, from Konami, Snake, along with Raiden, appears as hidden playable character. The game includes two levels based on the Big Shell stage featured in Metal Gear Solid 2. (A demo of Evolution Skateboarding is, in turn, included the PlayStation 2 version of Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance.) Similarly, while Metal Gear Solid 3 includes Snake vs. Ape, a mini-game pitting Solid Snake against the escaping monkeys of Sony Computer Entertainment's Ape Escape, in Ape Escape 3 Solid Snake appears in the mini-game Mesal Gear Solid, where he helps out Pipo Snake via radio.

He has also appeared in a pair of cross-company fighting games. In DreamMix TV World Fighters, a fighting game from Hudson Soft, Solid Snake appears as a playable character alongside other fictional characters such as Simon Belmont and Optimus Prime. Similarly, in the as-of-yet unreleased Super Smash Bros. Brawl, a fighting game from Nintendo scheduled to be released on the upcoming Wii system, Solid Snake will appear alongside Nintendo-owned characters such as Mario and Link.