Solid Snake - Definition and Overview

Solid Snake is the main protagonist in the Metal Gear video game series. He is known as "the man who makes the impossible possible" and is a mystery and myth to much of the world. He is a highly trained, elite soldier with a personal preference for parachuting, SCUBA diving, free climbing, rappelling, small and medium range handguns, and various hand-to-hand combat techniques.

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 people and characters, including Christopher Walken, Mel Gibson and the character Snake Plissken from the film Escape from New York.

Snake's real name, David, which was revealed in 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). In Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, he uses the alias Iroquois Pliskin, which is a reference to Snake Plissken.

Stats

The following information is current as of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty:

• Codename: Solid Snake
• Real name: David (full name not disclosed)
• Alias: Iroquois Pliskin
• Sex: Male
• Age: 37
• Nationality: American
• Height: 182 cm
• IQ: 180
• Born in 1972 along with the other "sons" of Big Boss

A number of Snake's main attributes were modified between Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake and Metal Gear Solid. The Metal Gear 2 manual reported differing vital statistics:

• Nationality: Japanese-British
• Height: 178 cm
• Weight: 75 kg
• IQ: 160

Snake's age also seems to be flexible between games. Metal Gear 2, set in 1999, features an older-looking Snake than we see in Metal Gear Solid, set in 2005.

History

Snake was a initially a FOXHOUND operative. Still a rookie, he was chosen to infiltrate the heavily fortified fortress Outer Heaven near South Africa, rescue his fellow operative Gray Fox and other prisoners and destroy a new super weapon called Metal Gear. Unbeknownst to Snake, his superior who ordered him into Outer Heaven, Big Boss, was behind the uprising. Using all his training and abilities, Snake managed to destroy Metal Gear and defeat Big Boss.

After the Outer Heaven incident, Solid Snake retired from FOXHOUND and spent some time as a CIA agent and mercenary for hire. Earning enough money, he went into semi-retirement in the Canadian wilderness. Eventually, Snake's former commander, Roy Campbell, recalled him for another operation in Central Asia. Snake's mission involved deposing the rising dictator of Zanzibar Land, who turned out to be none other than Big Boss himself, and had command of another Metal Gear tank as well as Snake's former comrade Gray Fox. Snake defeated Gray Fox and the new Metal Gear. Before defeating Big Boss for good, Snake learned that the super soldier Big Boss was his genetic "father."

After the Zanzibar Uprising, Snake returned to North America and retired to an Alaskan wilderness retreat, Twin Lakes, to try to forget his war-torn past and recover from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) but when members of recently re-formed FOXHOUND took over the supposed nuclear disposal facility on Shadow Moses Island (really a testing ground for the new Metal Gear), Campbell came calling on Snake again. This time, Snake found himself pitted against genetic enhanced, superhuman soldiers. The leader of FOXHOUND was revealed to be "Liquid Snake," Solid Snake's own genetic brother and the spoiled outcast of the "Les Enfants Terribles" super soldier project. After destroying the new Metal Gear REX and eliminating Liquid during an intense car chase, Snake went into deep hiding with his new partner, Metal Gear REX engineer Hal Emmerich.

The two men worked to create the first anti-Metal Gear political group, called "Philanthropy." Snake and Otacon, needing photographic proof that the Marine Corps were developing a new amphibious Metal Gear, proceed to New York City, following up a rumor that a ship carrying such proof was scheduled to travel through the Hudson. While investigating, the ship and Metal Gear Ray were taken by Gurlukovich mercenaries. As they were about to take Metal Gear Ray, Revolver Ocelot betrayed Sergi Gurlukovich and took Ray for an unknown force.

Framed for the terrorist act, Solid Snake was believed to have been killed during the incident, and his body was buried (it was actually the body of his twin brother, Liquid Snake). During an incident at Big Shell, a year later, Solid Snake turned up (hiding his identity), and assisted new FOXHOUND operative, Raiden, in rescuing hostages and discovering the plot of former President George Sears, who reveals himself to be the third "son" of Big Boss, brother of Solid and Liquid Snake and the one who ordered Ocelot to steal Metal Gear Ray. Calling himself Solidus Snake, the leader of the Sons of Liberty, he was working to overthrow a mysterious underlying force that drives the United State's government called The Patriots. Ocelot then betrays Solidus, upon the orders of the Patriots. At the end of this mission, Snake began looking into who the Patriots were and how Ocelot was involved.