Big Boss (Metal Gear)

Big Boss is one of the central characters in the Metal Gear video game series. He was introduced in the original Metal Gear games for the MSX2 as the commanding officer and subsequent nemesis of Solid Snake. He is later featured as Naked Snake, the protagonist of Metal Gear Solid prequels where he is initially depicted as an American Special Forces Operator and decorated war hero until political manipulations cause him to be disillusioned, and Big Boss started his own private military company and became the leader of a rogue band of mercenaries known as Outer Heaven. Big Boss's character has been praised by video game publications for his role as a villain as well for his relationship with Solid Snake. As the series' chronology progressed, his exact allegiance and motivations became increasingly complex; his first appearances are depicted as a traitor dreaming of a world of perpetual war, but subsequent appearances have revealed him to be a key figure in an ideological dispute that shaped the latter half of the twentieth century and a man whose conscience was disturbed by the attitude of leaders towards soldiers, prompting his decision to become a soldier of fortune.

In the series' Japanese versions, Naked Snake is voiced by Akio Ōtsuka (Solid Snake's voice actor) while Big Boss is voiced by Chikao Ōtsuka (Akio Ōtsuka's real-life father) in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. In the English versions, Naked Snake is voiced by David Hayter (Solid Snake's voice actor) while Big Boss is voiced by Richard Doyle (in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots) and by Kiefer Sutherland (for Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain).

Appearances

Metal Gear games

Big Boss (ビッグ・ボス, Biggu Bosu) is introduced in the original Metal Gear game as the Special Forces Unit FOXHOUND's leader and Solid Snake's commanding officer. He initially acts as a radio contact who provides Snake with information about mission objectives, as well as weapons and equipment.^[3][4] But after Snake destroys the titular TX-55 Metal Gear weapon despite Big Boss's discouragement, Outer Heaven's militia leader confronts Snake near the base's escape route in a final battle only to be defeated.^[5]

Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake reveals that Big Boss has since taken control of a fortified nation in Central Asia known as Zanzibar Land and commissions the development of Metal Gear D.^[6] Solid Snake confronts Big Boss once again while escaping from Zanzibar Land's detention camp, with Snake incinerating Big Boss.^[7]

Metal Gear Solid appearances

Big Boss's presence figures prominently in the original Metal Gear Solid games where his DNA created the genetically-altered clones from the secret "Les Enfants Terribles" government project (French for "The Terrible Children"): Solid Snake, Liquid Snake,^[8] and Solidus Snake.^[9]

The prequel Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater depicts a young incarnation of the character, under the codename Naked Snake (ネイキッド・スネーク, Neikiddo Sunēku),^[10] as a member of the CIA special forces unit FOX in 1964 that was founded by Zero.^[11] With Para-Medic and Sigint for additional support, he is sent on an assignment in the Soviet Union to thwart an uprising led by the sadistic Volgin; rescue key weapons researcher Nikolai Stepanovich Sokolov, and destroy the Shagohod prototype to avert a nuclear war. Over the course of his assignment, he encounters a young iteration of Ocelot multiple times, fights and defeats the Cobra Unit (consisting of The Pain, The Fear, The End, The Fury and The Sorrow) and is forced to kill The Boss in order to supposedly clear his own name.^[12][13] According to EVA's debrief, the political motives behind the operation do not sit well with Snake, especially after he is awarded the title of Big Boss for his actions;^[14] he initially rejects the title, prompting him to retire from active service.

Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops shows Big Boss still under his former codename Naked Snake, believing that he has yet to surpass The Boss as a warrior. Having spent six years wandering the globe, Snake finds himself involved in an armed uprising caused by Gene's rogue FOX unit in the (fictional) San Hieronymo peninsula in Colombia and learns that he has been convicted for instigating the revolt. Hoping to clear his name, Snake forms his own team of specialists by recruiting both old allies and defecting enemy soldiers to his cause, one of whom happens to be Roy Campbell. He faces not only the members of the FOX unit, but also the first Metal Gear prototype. After he learned that The Boss's death had been planned all along, Big Boss defeats Gene and obtains the funds for Army's Heaven.^[15]

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots revealed that Big Boss was one of the founding members of Zero's cause to initially realize The Boss's dream, but this spiraled into a conspiracy to impose order and control over the world after Big Boss disagreed with Zero's nature of the dream. Big Boss despised his role as figurehead, especially since Zero's vision placed no value on loyalty to ideals and people, something The Boss treasured above all else. When Big Boss learns that his own DNA was being used for Zero's "Les Enfants Terribles" project, this proved to be the final straw. After his defection from Zero's cause, Big Boss plotted coup d'état with Outer Heaven (Metal Gear) and Zanzibar Land (Metal Gear 2).^[16] Although he had survived these defeats, he was placed in an artificially induced coma with his genetic code used for an ID recognition system, the use of which allows access to the AIs that make up the Patriots. His body is recovered and reconstructed using parts from the bodies of both Liquid and Solidus and he awakens from his coma after the fall of the Patriots' AIs. Following the voice casting credits, Big Boss appears before Old Snake. After he reveals to Snake the truth about himself and Zero, Big Boss shuts down his catatonic nemesis's life support system. He manages to come to terms with his feelings regarding The Boss,^[17] and then reconciles with his son before dying from unintended exposure to the new FOXDIE virus.

Big Boss's past as Naked Snake again serves as the scenario in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker after he and his business partner Kazuhira "Kaz" Miller established the mercenary force Militaires Sans Frontières (French for "Soldiers Without Borders") made up of expatriate soldiers recruited to his cause. He intends to use MSF to live out The Boss's final will, a world where soldiers are free to choose their own fights on their own terms, and not at the whim of a government. On Colombia's Barranquilla coast, two representatives of the Costa Rican government, Paz Ortega Andrade and Ramon Gálvez Mena, seek to hire MSF to liberate Costa Rica from Coldman's CIA Peace Sentinel unit that has established bases in the country. Snake accepts the mission after Gálvez hands him an audio cassette with a recording of The Boss's voice. Following Kaz's advice, the MSF takes over an offshore research platform in the Caribbean as their base of operations in a bid to expand the group's capabilities. Over the course of the story, Snake comes to learn about the true purpose of Coldman's Peace Walker prototypes (Pupa, Chrysalis, Cocoon, and Peace Walker) and gradually lets go of his guilt for The Boss' death after encountering an AI replica, finally accepting his Big Boss title.^[18] Later in the game, Big Boss has Huey Emmerich create Metal Gear ZEKE as a weapon to defend his interests, with no desire to use offensively. After Big Boss killed Gálvez out of self-defense, Paz pilots ZEKE to launch a nuclear strike on the Eastern Coast of the United States as part of an insurance policy if Big Boss refused to obey Cipher. After hearing the ultimatum, Big Boss refuses and fights ZEKE in order to stop Paz. He is victorious, but ZEKE was heavily damaged with Paz being ejected into the Caribbean Sea. After ZEKE's destruction, Kaz tells Big Boss and Kaz realize they'll no longer be able to be away from the outside world unless they reveal their true nature as well as realize that Kaz was in on Cipher's plot. Big Boss rejects this idea, stating that his "life shall be different from The Boss's". After this conversation, Big Boss gives a speech to the MSF soldiers, telling them that if the times demand it, they will be vigilantes, criminals and terrorists, but they will be the ones to choose their battles and their causes, not governments.

Big Boss plays a central role in Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. He is on a mission to rescue a child soldier and Paz Ortega Andrade from an American black site on Cuban soil. Big Boss believes that Paz can be converted to MSF's cause. While the rescue is successful and the medic found a bomb implanted inside Paz, Paz's sacrifice to save Big Boss and the others from another bomb causes an explosive concussion wave which causes the helicopter to crash into the Caribbean Sea as MSF is destroyed by an invading paramilitary force led by Skull Face. Big Boss comes out of his coma and poses as "Ishmael", a patient in the hospital where Venom Snake is also being treated, and aids in an escape when the hospital is attacked by Skull Face's forces. While Snake ventures into Soviet-controlled Afghanistan to seek revenge using a new mercenary group made from Big Boss's remaining forces, Big Boss stays behind the scenes to develop the true Outer Heaven.^[19]

Other appearances

In Snake's Revenge, a non-canonical sequel to the original Metal Gear for the NES released during the same year as Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, Big Boss returns as the leader of the enemy organization, having survived the injuries he sustained in the original game by becoming a cyborg. He fights Solid Snake as a boss prior to reaching the new Metal Gear prototype and has two forms: his human form and a fire-breathing cyborg form.

Creation and design

In his initial appearances, Big Boss's visual appearance was inspired by actor Sean Connery. But for the ports of the game re-released version, the original design was replaced by Yoji Shinkawa's design.^[20] During the making of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Hideo Kojima asked Shinkawa to make Naked Snake similar to Solid Snake. But with the differences that unlike Solid Snake, Naked Snake was a rookie and thus acted more naive. Shinkawa stated having no difficulties in designing Naked Snake as basically a revised version of Solid Snake. As a result, Naked Snake is virtually identical to Solid Snake from the previous Metal Gear Solid games in terms of appearance.^[21] Since the game's trailers did not state that Naked Snake was Big Boss, Kojima often gave vague answers to the character's true identity.^[22] Although the ending of Metal Gear Solid 3 reveals Naked Snake was given the Big Boss title, Kojima stated "he's not really the Big Boss yet". With Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, he wanted to explain how Naked Snake became the man who appeared in the original Metal Gear games as Solid Snake's enemy.^[23]

On June 6, 2013, during the third annual Konami Pre-E3 show, Konami officially confirmed that Sutherland would also be doing motion capture work for Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.^[24][25] Sutherland was assigned the role after a suggestion to Kojima from Hollywood producer and director Avi Arad; Kojima's reason for replacing Hayter was to "have a more subdued performance expressed through subtle facial movements and tone of voice rather than words", and that he "needed someone who could genuinely convey both the facial and vocal qualities of a man in his late 40s".^[26][27][28]

Reception

Big Boss's character has been well-received with IGN having ranked him number 32 on their 2010 list of top video game villains,^[29] and as the fourth top Metal Gear villains.^[30] In 2010, IGN's Jesse Schedeen found him one of the most important characters from the franchise to the point his "influence is felt in every Metal Gear game, even if he isn't always present in the flesh."^[31] Computerworld named Big Boss as one of the most creative "badass villains" in video games, citing the complexity of his betrayal of Solid Snake, fueled by Snake being his genetic heir.^[32] Additionally, GameSpot listed him as one of the 20 best Metal Gear bosses with focus on his importance within the series' plot.^[33] He was ranked as the 28th "coolest" video game villain by Complex in 2012.^[34]

The inclusion of Naked Snake's role in Metal Gear Solid 3 has also received praise from critics.^[35] Prior to the game's release, Naked Snake was often called 'Solid Snake' or simply Snake by critics due to his resemblance with Solid Snake, although some still were not sure about his true identity.^[36][37] Additionally, early speculation of Big Boss being the playable character from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater was listed by IGN as one top ten rumors on the PlayStation 2.^[38] GameSpy further noted that various fans started making theories about Naked Snake's identity before the game's release as while they thought it was Solid Snake, the setting from the game made it impossible for Solid Snake to be the game's main protagonist due to their difference of years.^[39] Finding the revelation of Naked Snake's identity was considered by GameSpy as "the single coolest thing Kojima could have done in MGS3" because of [Naked Snake's] differences from [Solid Snake] in regards to their personality as well as because it made fans wonder how Naked Snake would become the series antagonist Big Boss.^[40] Another comparison between Big Boss's and Solid Snake's character was made by IGN's Phil Pirrello in article titled "Stars Thunderdome: Snake vs. Big Boss."^[41] GamesRadar placed his relationship with EVA in their top list of disastrous game romances due to how it was ruined by the two's different roles in the story.^[42] Play editor Nick Jones listed Naked Snake's final fight against The Boss in such game as the second best moment from the franchise, citing the emotional focus from their characters.^[43] Various gaming sites such as 1UP.com, Game Informer and Kotaku placed him as one of the worst fathers in video games due to his poor relationship with Solid Snake and his attempts to murder his own son.^[44][45][46] David Hayter's performance as Naked Snake's English voice actor in Metal Gear Solid 3 has been criticized by Edge while discussing the dialogues from the game.^[47]

References

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