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Solid Snake was a legendary soldier and the biological son of Big Boss, created as part of the Les Enfant Terribles project, where Big Boss's DNA was used to create Solid Snake, Liquid Snake and Solidus Snake. Snake fought the Outer Heaven Revolt and the Zanzibar Land Uprising, both times stopping Big Boss. He then fought against the Shadow Moses Revolt, in the Big Shell Incident and, finally, Liquid Ocelot's Insurrection. He was finally reunited with Big Boss afterwards, though Big Boss died shortly after.
History[]
Early Life[]
Solid Snake was first foreseen in 1970 a prophetic vision by Elisa and Ursula as the son of Big Boss that would "save the world."
Two years later, in 1972, David and his twin brother Eli, were born as a result of the secret "Les Enfants Terribles" government projectdesigned to create the perfect soldier, using the genes of the "Greatest Warrior of the 20th Century " Big Boss.
Following his birth, Solid Snake was given the name David. He spent his early life being raised by a variety of foster parents and never left the States in his early years.
Making his way into the military, David was inducted into the Green Berets as a teen and took part in the Gulf War.
Outer Heaven Revolt[]
Solid Snake in Outer Heaven, circa 1995.
In 1995, David joined Big Boss's special forces unit FOXHOUND, during which time he received the codename "Solid Snake." While undergoing FOXHOUND's training regimen, he became an expert of high-altitude skydiving, linguistics, closed-circuit open-circuit combat diving, and free climbing.
Snake's first mission for FOXHOUND came in was when he was tasked with infiltrating Outer Heaven; a military nation deep within South Africa, led by a feared and legendary mercenary. Snake was charged with rescuing Gray Fox, a FOXHOUND agent who was missing in action, and shed light on the "ultimate weapon", the TX-55 Metal Gear, which Fox had mentioned in a broken radio message prior to his capture.
Upon insertion into Outer Heaven, Snake makes contact with local resistance members Schneider, Diane, and Jennifer. Using all of his skills and the equipment he procures on site, he manages to rescue Fox. Fox explains that Metal Gear is the codename of a nuclear-equipped bipedal walking tank, which can engage in all forms of combat and launch nuclear weapons from any location. Outer Heaven plans to use Metal Gear to impose itself as the new world superpower.
To destroy Metal Gear and topple the Outer Heaven mercenaries, Snake rescues lead Metal Gear engineer Dr. Pettrovich and his daughter Elen. The scientist explains how Metal Gear can be destroyed, and Snake takes on Outer Heaven's troops. However, he begins to notice that the traps put in his way are too precise, and wonders how information on his activities are being tracked. Big Boss begins to act strangely, gives misleading advice that leads Snake into several traps, and eventually tells Snake to abort the mission (breaking the fourth wall by telling the player to turn off the system). Moreover, Schneider is ambushed by hostiles and is presumed dead after losing contact with Snake.
Snake penetrates Outer Heaven's main base and takes out Metal Gear before it reaches completion. As he safely escapes the compound's basement, he is confronted by the mercenary leader of Outer Heaven, who turns out to be Big Boss. The corrupt leader reveals that he had been using his connections to steal military intelligence, establish his own mercenary force, and fund his activities. It was his aim to have Outer Heaven become the world's greatest superpower, able to bring even the West to its knees. He had the rookie Snake sent in, hoping to have him captured and feed misinformation to authorities, but had quite obviously underestimated Snake's capabilities.
Having lost Metal Gear and much of his force, Big Boss seemingly starts the self-destruct sequence for the compound, and promises he will not die alone; Snake will join him. Snake defeats and kills the phantom Big Boss in a last battle and escapes the Outer Heaven compound as it crumbles in flames behind him.
Post-FOXHOUND[]
Despite his success in Outer Heaven, Snake departed FOXHOUND and entered early retirement. He also chose to abandon the CQC techniques taught to him by Big Boss, due to its association with the man who had betrayed his unit.
Snake was later scouted by the CIA and spent six months as an undercover agent, until he became dissatisfied with the organization and left. He then became a mercenary for hire, and after earning enough money, he went into semi-retirement in the Canadian wilderness. For the next few years, Snake experienced PTSD, caused by memories of Big Boss and Outer Heaven.
Zanzibar Land Disturbance[]
Solid Snake during the Zanzibar Land Disturbance in 1999.
On December 24th, 1999, Snake was called upon by FOXHOUND’s new commander, Roy Campbell, for an operation into Central Asia. Apparently, a new highly militarized nation called Zanzibar Land had kidnapped Dr. Kio Marv, inventor of the oil refining microbe, OILIX. Not only that, but a new Metal Gear was believed to be under development in Zanzibar Land. Snake accepted the mission, in part to end the nightmares that he had endured since Operation Intrude N313.
Snake's mission objectives were to infiltrate the seemingly impenetrable wall that surrounded Zanzibar Land, and to recover Dr. Marv and the OILIX formula, as part of Operation Intrude F014. His radio support team consisted of Colonel Campbell, former FOXHOUND instructor Master Miller, and mercenary advisor George Kasler. Snake succeeded in the first task, but complications arose when one of his allies in the mission, a CIA war coverage spy named Holly White blew her cover, and required rescuing. After freeing Holly, Snake learned how to contact Dr. Marv by radio, but after discovering that he could only speak Czech and Slovakian, was forced to locate his STB bodyguard Gustava Heffner. However, the two were attacked by Snake's former comrade Gray Fox while attempting a rescue, after being betrayed by his supposed ally Dr. Drago Pettrovich Madnar, resulting in both Gustava and Dr. Marv's death. Despite these events, Snake succeeded in recovering the OILIX formula, utilizing the polymimetic nature of a special brooch key, bequeathed to him by Gustava on her deathbed.
Solid Snake finally defeats Big Boss.
Deep in the heart of Zanzibar Land, Snake destroyed Metal Gear D and defeated Gray Fox, successfully thwarting the ambitions of Big Boss. As the man behind Zanzibar Land's rise to power, Big Boss returned for a final battle against his former subordinate. Snake ultimately defeated Big Boss with a makeshift flamethrower, consisting of a lighter and lacquer spray. Snake and Holly then escaped the fortress, fending off enemy troops in the jungle until they were extracted by helicopter. During the mission debriefing, Snake declined Campbell's request to rejoin FOXHOUND, stating that his nightmares were now over.
Likewise, Snake also confirmed to Holly and Campbell that the cartridge he retrieved was indeed the one Marv used to store the OILIX plans, citing that Marv's signature was written backwards on the MSX loading screen when used. Despite promising to have Christmas dinner with Holly following the mission, Snake stood her up and disappeared shortly afterwards. Campbell also implied that this was not the first time Snake disappeared without warning.
Retirement[]
Following the conclusion of Operation Intrude F014, Snake returned to North America and retired to an Alaskan wilderness retreat, Twin Lakes. By this time, the military had deemed that Snake had committed several acts of misconduct during his career, enough for him to serve a lengthy prison sentence, should he be brought to account.
Through his retirement, Snake attempted to try and forget his war-torn past and recover from PTSD, as well as come to terms with the fact that he had "killed" his own father. During this time, he began heavily drinking. He later became a dogsled racer, taking care of 50 huskies, and competed in the Iditarod.
Shadow Moses Incident[]
On February 28th, 2005, Snake was called back to the U.S. military when he was deployed by his former commander Roy Campbell to Shadow Moses Island. A rebellion had taken place at Shadow Moses by rogue members of FOXHOUND, who had threatened the U.S. with a nuclear strike and demanded that the remains of Big Boss be turned over to them. Unhappy at how Campbell had sent armed soldiers after him and had his personal effects confiscated, Snake reluctantly accepted the assignment on the condition that he only take orders from Campbell, and that he be given full disclosure of all mission information. Due to his resemblance to the terrorist leader Liquid Snake, Solid Snake had his hair cut shortly before departing to Shadow Moses, to avoid being mistaken for him. Snake was charged with ascertaining their nuclear capability and rescuing their hostages: president of ArmsTech weapons manufacturer Kenneth Baker, and the DARPA Chief Donald Anderson.
Snake infiltrated the base alone, but quickly gained help in the form of Metal Gear REX developer Hal Emmerich and new FOXHOUND recruit Meryl Silverburgh, Campbell's niece. Metal Gear REX was a nuclear-armed bipedal walking tank developed in secret by the U.S. Army and ArmsTech. Although he largely was in shape for the mission, he did end up exhausted after climbing the flight of stairs up to Tower A's roof, causing Campbell to briefly joke that Snake's mushing had him get out of shape. However, he ended up being tricked into activating Metal Gear due to misinformation supplied by Liquid (who had infiltrated Snake's support group by posing as Master Miller, having had him murdered three days prior). With the help of the two aforementioned, as well as his former comrade Gray Fox (now the Cyborg Ninja), Snake succeeded in destroying REX and defeating the members of FOXHOUND, including Liquid. Prior to their final battle, Liquid taunted Snake with the knowledge that he had killed many of his brothers in the Next-Generation Special Forces, who like Snake, had been experimented on to replicate Big Boss’s genes.
Snake soon learned that the mission had been a cleverly woven plot, prepared by United States Department of Defense|the Pentagon. Through the secret, Pentagon-guided efforts of genetic engineer Naomi Hunter, Snake's body had become host to the artificial virus FOXDIE. Snake was outraged to hear that his mission was a government conspiracy, and that he was merely sent as a carrier of the virus, which was programmed to kill Baker (for knowing too much about the project), and the FOXHOUND operatives just to ensure that the bodies of the Next-Generation Special Forces and Metal Gear REX could be recovered undamaged. He was also reminded of the possibility that he had willingly returned to the battlefield because he enjoyed war, as commented upon by Meryl, Psycho Mantis, and Liquid Snake, and echoing Big Boss's words in Zanzibar Land.
Throughout the incident, Snake suspected that Campbell was concealing important information regarding the mission's true nature, although he later forgave Campbell after learning that the Pentagon had used Meryl as leverage in order to force him to cooperate with them (as they had deliberately sent Meryl to Shadow Moses the same day as the revolt). Snake also discovered that Naomi was the foster sister of Gray Fox, who desired revenge for what Snake had done to her brother and had modified the FOXDIE virus so that it would kill him in addition to FOXHOUND. However, she set the virus to a "wildcard" value, leaving him vulnerable at a later time.
To enable Snake some peace, Campbell reported Snake died when his jeep sank into the ocean. This cover story was short lived, assuming it fooled anyone at all.