Solid Snake

In the early games, Solid Snake's visual appearances were references to popular actors. He was given his own consistent design in Metal Gear Solid. He also establishes Philanthropy, an anti-Metal Gear organization carrying the motto "To let the world be", with his friend Otacon. In Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, he has access to OctoCamo, which allows him to change his appearance to match the surface he is leaning on. And FaceCamo, which can change his facial appearance to make him look like other characters, as well as his younger self.

Snake possesses an IQ of 180 and is fluent in six languages. Solid Snake has been on the battlefield for most of his life,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) and says that it is the only place he feels truly alive.Snake: It's only when I'm cheating death on the battlefield. The only time I feel truly alive. Meryl: 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? (Metal Gear Solid) He is a hardened veteran, burying his emotions within himself during missions, every one of which has different motives.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. He is also immediately shown as a loner,Snake: Right now my fifty huskies are my only family. I've got to take care of them. (Metal Gear Solid)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) often with no intentions of taking orders from anyone anymoreSolid 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) and he shows no sign of longing for the army or the country of which he was a part.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) However, along with these traits he has a more human side, being flirtatious,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) self-sacrificingNaomi: ...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) and with a strong belief that even on a battlefield friendshipNaomi 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) and loveOtacon: 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) can flourish, and that violence is not glorious.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) 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 he enjoys killing, and label him as more evil than the people he has killed.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.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. When he is not on duty, his favorite recreational activity is being a musher.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)

{{Main|Metal Gear (video game)|l1=Metal Gear|Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake}}

Metal Gear introduces Snake, a rookie recruit of the elite special forces unit FOXHOUND. Snake is sent by Big Boss into Outer Heaven, a rogue nation in South Africa, to rescue Gray Fox and discover who or what the "Metal Gear" is.{{cite video game|title=Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, Metal Gear|year=2005|developer=Kojima Productions|publisher=Konami|quote=Big Boss: Big Boss speaking. Operation Intrude N313. Penetrate the enemy's Outer Heaven and destroy the ultimate weapon, Metal Gear!}}{{cite video game|title=Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, Metal Gear|year=2005|developer=Kojima Productions|publisher=Konami|quote=Big Boss: First, contact missing Gray Fox and destroy Metal Gear!}} As his mission progresses, Snake finds out that he has been set up; Big Boss's phantom intended to use TX-55 Metal Gear (the experimental, nuclear-armed weapon) to establish Outer Heaven as a nuclear power.{{cite video game|title=Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, Metal Gear|year=2005|developer=Kojima Productions|publisher=Konami|quote=Big Boss: Solid Snake! You've finally come here. Yeah, I'm Big Boss General Commander of Foxhound. And in charge of this castle, Outer Heaven.}} After destroying the Metal Gear, Snake confronts and defeats Big Boss's phantom.{{cite video game|title=Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, Metal Gear|year=2005|developer=Kojima Productions|publisher=Konami|quote=Solid Snake: This is Solid Snake... Metal Gear's destruction is a success.}}

The sequel Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake sees Solid Snake called up to infiltrate Zanzibar Land, a heavily fortified enemy base in Central Asia that has aggravated an international oil crisis and declared themselves a nuclear power by kidnapping Dr. Kio Marv (after the creation of a bio-engineered algae that produces an oil substitute) and the Metal Gear engineer Pettrovich Madnar.{{cite video game|title=Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake|year=2005|developer=Kojima Productions|publisher=Konami|quote=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.}} Snake infiltrates the base and discovers that Pettrovich as well as Fox has defected to Zanzibar Land, and that Zanzibar Land is led by the true Big Boss.{{cite video game|title=Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake|year=2005|developer=Kojima Productions|publisher=Konami|quote=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!}} Snake destroys Metal Gear D, and defeats both Fox and the true Big Boss.{{cite video game|title=Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake|year=2005|developer=Kojima Productions|publisher=Konami|quote=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!}}{{cite video game|title=Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake|year=2005|developer=Kojima Productions|publisher=Konami|quote=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!}}{{cite web|title=The History of Metal Gear Solid|work=UGO.com|access-date=2005-07-15|url=http://www.ugo.com/channels/games/features/metalgearhistory/default.asp|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050331004729/http://www.ugo.com/channels/games/features/metalgearhistory/default.asp|archive-date=2005-03-31}}

{{Main|Metal Gear Solid (1998 video game)|l1=Metal Gear Solid|Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes}}

Metal Gear Solid and its remake – The Twin Snakes – reveals Solid Snake's real name as {{nihongo|David|デビッド|Debiddo}}. He is pulled out of retirement by Roy Campbell to deal with the "Sons of Big Boss" led by Liquid Snake who seized an isolated American nuclear weapons disposal facility on Shadow Moses Island. Snake's mission is to rescue Donald Anderson and Kenneth Baker but he is unable to prevent both hostages' deaths.{{cite video game|title=Metal Gear Solid|year=1998|developer=Konami Computer Entertainment Japan|publisher=Konami|quote=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.}} As the game progresses, Snake infiltrates and learns about Metal Gear REX while meeting up with rookie soldier Meryl Silverburgh and REX's engineer Hal Emmerich, confronts and defeats each member of the corrupt faction of FOXHOUND (consisting of Revolver Ocelot, Decoy Octopus, Psycho Mantis, Sniper Wolf, Vulcan Raven, and the Genome Soldiers), several confrontations with the Cyborg Ninja, is able to destroy REX, and personally confronts Liquid. During their fight, it is revealed that Solid and Liquid 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.{{cite video game|title=Metal Gear Solid|year=1998|developer=Konami Computer Entertainment Japan|publisher=Konami|quote=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...}} Liquid harbors a strong resentment towards Snake since Solid was apparently given their father's dominant "soldier genes" and Liquid was seemingly cast aside. A grueling series of battles and Liquid dies from the FOXDIE virus that was previously implanted into Snake by Naomi Hunter in order to wipe out FOXHOUND without risking any damage to REX for retrieval.{{cite video game|title=Metal Gear Solid|developer=Konami Computer Entertainment Japan|quote=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!}} In the end, it is revealed that Liquid got Big Boss's superior "soldier genes" while Solid was actually the inferior one.{{cite video game|title=Metal Gear Solid|developer=Konami Computer Entertainment Japan|quote=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.}}

{{Main|Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty}}

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty shows Solid Snake as a central character. During the game's extensive prologue sequence, he is sent by Otacon's anti-proliferation organization Philanthropy to infiltrate a cargo tanker and photograph Metal Gear RAY.{{cite video game|title=Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty|year=2001|developer=Konami Computer Entertainment Japan|publisher=Konami|quote=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.}} During the operation, however, RAY is hijacked and the tanker destroyed, with Snake apparently dead and framed for the deed.{{cite video game|title=Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty|year=2001|developer=Konami Computer Entertainment Japan|publisher=Konami|quote=Revolver Ocelot: ...Yes, at the location we discussed. Yes. I have photographic evidence of Snake on the scene. The Cypher was most useful...I look forward to tomorrow morning's news flash. I would say the Marine Corps' plans are on indefinite hold.}} During the game's main portion, Solidus Snake steals Snake's identity,{{cite video game|title=Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty|year=2001|developer=Kojima Productions|publisher=Konami|quote=Raiden: So your the boss around here? / Solidus Snake: No, not just around here. I'm the boss to surpass Big Boss himself. Solid Snake. / Solid Snake: No! That is not Solid Snake! Solidus Snake: What a pleasant surprise – brother.}} and leads the "Sons of Liberty" (consisting of Revolver Ocelot, Fortune, Fatman, Vamp and Olga Gurlukovich) while Snake himself uses the pseudonym {{nihongo|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 and RAY while also learning about the Patriots.{{cite video game|title=Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty|year=2001|developer=Konami Computer Entertainment Japan|publisher=Konami|quote=Solid Snake: I'm not an enemy. Calm down. My name is S... My name is Pliskin. Iroquois Pliskin, Lieutenant Junior Grade.}}

{{Main|Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots}}

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots features an aged incarnation of the character who nicknamed himself {{nihongo|Old Snake|オールド・スネーク|Ōrudo Sunēku}} as the protagonist once again. Thanks to Otacon and Sunny, he 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.1up.com/do/minisite?cId=3146394|title=Metal Gear Solid 4 101|access-date=2006-12-25|publisher=Ziff Davis Media Inc|year=2005|author=MacDonald, Mark|work=1up.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927192646/http://www.1up.com/do/minisite?cId=3146394|archive-date=2007-09-27}}

For his final mission, he is once again enlisted by Campbell to assassinate Liquid Ocelot, CEO of a giant mother company that are trying to take control of the Patriots' AIs.{{cite video game|title=Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots|year=2008|developer=Kojima Productions|publisher=Konami|quote=Campbell: His will lives on - in the body of the man once known as Ocelot. He aims to fan the flames of war even higher - to create the perfect world once envisioned by Big Boss. / Old Snake: The one world in which soldiers will always have a place... / Campbell: He must be stopped... Before it's too late.}} He also learns from Naomi that his life has been artificially shortened as part of the cloning process so that his genes can't be used as a weapon in later research, thus explaining why he has the physical appearance of an elderly man despite being only forty-two years old.{{cite video game|title=Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots|developer=Kojima Productions|quote=Naomi Hunter: You're clones created for one purpose - war. And so in order to prevent you from being abused by clients or stolen by the enemy... They shortened your lifespan and removed your ability to reproduce. It was a safety device to ensure that the seed of Big Boss didn't end up in the hands of others. The reason you're aging so rapidly isn't that of disease, or faulty research, or FOXDIE. It's how you were born. It's your natural lifespan.}} Snake and his allies are forced to destroy the Patriots' AI and fight through Ocelot's forces until Snake defeats Liquid's doppelgänger in hand-to-hand combat. Snake tried to commit suicide as his DNA contains a mutated FOXDIE virus that might trigger an epidemic, but Big Boss revealed a new variant overwrote the mutant version to which the two make up as father and son. David is told he still has a chance to live "not as a snake but as a man" so he 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.{{cite video game|title=Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots|year=2008|developer=Kojima Productions|publisher=Konami|quote=Otacon: Our fight is finished. There's nothing left for us to do. / Old Snake: No. There's one thing I still have to do. I have to see this age off... See what the future brings.}}

The Metal Gear Solid prequels alludes to Solid Snake's existence; Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops has him briefly alluded in a prophetic vision as Naked Snake's "son [who] will save the world" (after Liquid and/or Solidus as Big Boss's "son [who] will bring the world to ruin"),Elisa/Ursula: The futures we saw were the same. [Naked Snake], you will destroy Metal Gear, and you will build a new Metal Gear to take its place. Your children... Les Enfants Terribles. Snake, your son will bring the world to ruin. Your son... will save... the world... (Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops) and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker shows Kazuhira Miller mentioning the "twin sons" that are two years old at the time.Kazuhira Miller: Speaking of which, any news on the "sons"?... But they're strictly an insurance policy, yes?... I wonder how Big Boss will respond... (Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker)

Solid Snake is featured/mentioned in Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.{{cite web|last=Serrels|first=Mark|title=MGSV: Ground Zeroes Has Classic Snake Missions, Exclusive To PS3 and PS4|url=http://www.kotaku.com.au/2013/11/mgsv-ground-zeroes-has-classic-snake-missions-exclusive-to-ps3-and-ps4/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131115141121/http://www.kotaku.com.au/2013/11/mgsv-ground-zeroes-has-classic-snake-missions-exclusive-to-ps3-and-ps4/|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 15, 2013|work=Kotaku|access-date=15 November 2013|date=2013-11-15}}{{cite web|last=Miller|first=Greg|title=Metal Gear Solid V: Classic Snake Reportedly Isn't David Hayter|url=http://ca.ign.com/articles/2013/11/15/metal-gear-solid-v-classic-snake-reportedly-isnt-david-hayter|work=IGN|access-date=16 November 2013|date=2013-11-15}} The unlockable bonus mission "Déjà Vu" on the PlayStation platform and later Xbox platform of Ground Zeroes in which Naked Snake must re-enact situations from the original Metal Gear Solid game and answer a series of trivia questions after fulfilling the mission. If all the questions are answered correctly on the Normal difficulty setting, the mission can be replayed with his low-polygon model from Metal Gear Solid in place of his father's standard character model. The Phantom Pain also shows that his low-polygon model from Metal Gear Solid can be an alternate outfit for Venom Snake after transferring the save data from Ground Zeroes. David is also alluded to in association with Eli during a conversation between Big Boss and Revolver Ocelot.

Solid Snake also serves as the protagonist in Snake's Revenge, a sequel to the original Metal Gear for the NES released for the western market in 1990 and developed without Kojima's involvement. 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/adventure/mgs3subsistence/news.html?sid=6145169 |title=GameSpot: Metal Gear Saga Q&A - The Inside Scoop |access-date=2007-02-03 |date=March 2006}} The first of these is Metal Gear: Ghost Babel (released outside Japan as Metal Gear Solid), in which Solid Snake must infiltrate 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 was done by Ikuya Nakamura, Yoji Shinkawa provided the promotional art like he did with the original Metal Gear Solid. In the second of these titles, Metal Gear Acid, 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 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. Metal Gear Acid 2 features a main character who is not the real version, but a clone created from tissue samples of the man from the original Metal Gear Acid, following the events of the Lobito Island mission; the Solid Snake from the original Acid is implied to be dead in the sequel.

The character appears in his Old Snake form as a playable character in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus, a stand-alone expansion to the Portable Ops focusing on online play. In Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, the VR Missions DLC add-on for the game's Japanese version 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 Ōtsuka); the weapon was never made available for the English version.{{cite web|title=「メタルギア ライジング リベンジェンス」，DLC第1弾の配信は4月上旬。30種類のVRミッションと"ソリッド・スネーク"の声を発する不思議な木刀を収録|url=http://www.4gamer.net/games/093/G009308/20130213084/|publisher=4Gamer|language=ja|access-date=February 4, 2013}}

Outside video games, Solid Snake appeared in the Metal Gear Solid audio drama that focuses on his missions following the battle from Shadow Moses.{{cite web |publisher=Konami |title= DRAMA CD メタルギア ソリッドVol.1|url=http://www.konami.jp/gs/game/mgs2/japanese/goods/goods_mgs_cd02.html |language=ja |access-date=June 22, 2013}} He also appears in Alex Garner's comic book adaptations of Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2.{{cite book|title=Metal Gear Solid: Sons Of Liberty Volume 2|publisher=IDW Publishing |date=December 25, 2007|isbn=978-1-60010-111-3 |author1=Garner, Alex |author2=Wood, Ashley}} Raymond Benson's novelizations of these two games also feature Solid Snake; Benson's adaptation of the character frequently focuses on the comical aspects of his characterization.{{cite book|title=Metal Gear Solid|publisher=Del Rey Books |date=May 27, 2008|isbn=978-0345503282 |author=Benson, Raymond}}{{cite book|title=Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty|publisher=Del Rey Books|date=November 24, 2009|isbn=978-0345503435|author=Benson, Raymond|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/metalgearsolid200bens}} 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.{{cite book |year=2013|title= Metal Gear Solid: Guns of the Patriots|isbn=9781421540016|publisher=Viz Media}}

In the Worlds of Power novelization series created by F.X. Nine, Solid Snake appears in the second in the series, based on Metal Gear. In the book, written by Alexander Frost, he is Marine Captain Justin Halley.Frost, Alexander. Metal Gear. New York: Scholastic, 1990, 1. 0590437771 This version of the character is non-canon and is not referenced by other versions.

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 as 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).{{cite web| url=http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/sports/evolutionskateboarding/cheats.html?tag=tabs%253Bcheats|title=Evolution Skateboarding Hints & Cheats|website=GameSpot|access-date=July 9, 2011}} 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 several cross-company fighting games. In DreamMix TV World Fighters, Solid Snake appears as a playable character alongside other Konami, Hudson Soft and Takara characters such as Bomberman and Optimus Prime. Similarly, in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the third installment from the popular fighting game series Super Smash Bros., Solid Snake appeared as a playable fighter alongside Sega character Sonic the Hedgehog and a variety of characters from Nintendo franchises such as Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Donkey Kong. Brawl Director Masahiro Sakurai has stated that Snake was included under Kojima's request, and that he had talked to Sakurai about adding Snake to the roster of the previous game Super Smash Bros. Melee, which did not materialize due to the game being too far into production.{{cite web|url = http://kotaku.com/gaming/nintendo/e306-super-smash-bros-brawl-qa-173071.php|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060604055930/http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/nintendo/e306-super-smash-bros-brawl-qa-173071.php|archive-date = 2006-06-04|title = E306: Super Smash Bros. Brawl Q&A|access-date = 2007-09-18|last = McWhertor |first = Michael |date = 2006-05-11 |website = Kotaku}} Snake returned as a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, after being absent in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. In addition, Snake has appeared as a playable character in other Konami crossover titles, such as New International Track & Field and Super Bomberman R.{{cite web|url=http://www.newtrackandfield.com/atg/characters|title=New International Track & Field Community - Characters|access-date=2008-06-13|archive-date=2011-10-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001213812/http://www.newtrackandfield.com/atg/characters|url-status=usurped}}

Old Snake has appeared in the Japanese version of Scribblenauts, having been published by Konami in that region.{{cite web |url=http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2011/01/27/scribblesnake/ |title=Scribblenauts? More like SCRIBBLESNAKE!!! (andriasang.com, 01.27.2011) |publisher=Andriasang.com |access-date=2013-08-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110201053948/http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2011/01/27/scribblesnake/ |archive-date=2011-02-01}} Customizations in Media Molecule's LittleBigPlanet for the PlayStation 3 allow the player character, Sackboy, to take on the appearance of Old Snake.{{cite web |author=QJ Staff |title= TGS 2008: LittleBigPlanet gets Sackboy Solid Snake and Sackboy Sephiroth|url=http://www.qj.net/qjnet/playstation-3/tgs-2008-littlebigplanet-gets-sackboy-solid-snake-and-sackboy-sephiroth.html |date=2008-10-09 |access-date=2011-01-24}} In December 2020, Paul W. Anderson stated that his 2020 film Monster Hunter had been based on a 2010 Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker crossover event with Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, in which a military squad briefly faced monsters from the Monster Hunter series, with Snake's equivalent in the narrative, US Army Ranger Artemis, being portrayed by Milla Jovovich.{{cite web | url = https://kotaku.com/the-monster-hunter-movie-was-inspired-by-a-metal-gear-s-1845806302 | title = The Monster Hunter Movie Was Inspired By A Metal Gear Solid Collab | first = Brian | last = Ashcroft | date = December 4, 2020 | access-date = December 4, 2020 | work = Kotaku | archive-date = December 4, 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201204110400/https://kotaku.com/the-monster-hunter-movie-was-inspired-by-a-metal-gear-s-1845806302 | url-status = live}}

Solid Snake appears as an outfit in Fortnite, starting from the first season of the battle royale mode's fifth chapter in December 2023 {{cite web |last1=Sabarwal |first1=Rishabh |title=Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 1 trailer reveals Weapon mods, Train, Wall Running & more |url=https://www.dexerto.com/fortnite/fortnite-chapter-5-season-1-trailer-2411600/ |website=Dexerto |date=2 December 2023 |access-date=2 December 2023}} and is unlockable from January 23, 2024 until the season's end date.

{{quote box|quote="The name 'Snake' in MGS comes from creeping up on someone silently like a snake. The adjective 'Solid' expresses Snake's strong and blade-sharp image - paradoxical when combined with a snake's litheness. Normally, 'snake' and 'solid' do not go together. It's like talking about 'hot ice.' I came up with the name to express this lack of balance and equilibrium. But when I decided the codename would be Snake, the character was more Plissken than snake-like at the subconscious level. If I had used a different name for 'Snake' in MGS, he probably would have been a totally different character."| source= – Hideo Kojima{{cite magazine

| last = Kojima

| first = Hideo

| date = Christmas 2002

| title = Hideo Kojima at the Movies: Escape From New York

| magazine = PlayStation Official Magazine – UK

| location = Bath, Somerset

| publisher = Future Publishing Ltd.

| url = https://retrocdn.net/images/4/44/OPS2_UK_028.pdf

| access-date = 30 October 2023

}}

|align=left|width=30em}}

Solid Snake was apparently named after the fictional special forces operative Snake Plissken, Kurt Russell's character in Escape from New York.{{cite web|author=Kent, Steven|title=Hideo Kojima: Game Guru, Movie Maniac|work=Gamers Today| access-date = 2005-07-15|url=http://www.gamerstoday.com/world_tours/tour9.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010727020355/http://www.gamerstoday.com/world_tours/tour9.html|archive-date=2001-07-27}} However, Kojima revealed in March 2014 that the character's name origins were something else. According to Kojima, he was given the "Snake" name because snakes are a symbol of stealth. Additionally, the "Solid" part of his code-name was given to give the opposite impression of a soft image.{{cite web|url= http://www.gamespot.com/articles/why-is-metal-gear-solid-s-snake-called-solid-snake-kojima-explains/1100-6418140/|title= Why is Metal Gear Solid's Snake called Solid Snake? Kojima explains|author= Martin Gaston|work= GameSpot|publisher= CBS Corporation|date= March 6, 2014|access-date= February 3, 2016}} Kojima has compared Snake's personality with Lupin III of Monkey Punch's Lupin III franchise, stating that in "MGS, Snake became this sharp-tongued, Lupin III-like guy who flirted with women and told lots of jokes".{{cite web|url=http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3177896|title=Snake Beats Mario, Is Coolest Video Game Character Ever|author=Glifford, Kevin|website=1UP.com|date=February 10, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622072101/http://www.1up.com/news/snake-beats-mario-coolest-video|archive-date=June 22, 2011|url-status=dead}} His real name David{{cite video game|title=Metal Gear Solid|developer=KCEJ|quote=Meryl: So...where to, Snake?//Snake: David. My name is David... Meryl: Okay, so where to, Dave?}}{{cite video game|title=Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots|developer=Kojima Productions|quote=Big Mama: My, how you've grown...David...}} is a tribute to the film 2001: A Space Odyssey that has a character with the same name (and coincidentally shared with his English voice actor David Hayter).{{cite video game|title=The Document of Metal Gear Solid 2|year=2002|developer=Kojima Productions|publisher=Konami|level=Making of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty}} Kojima later described Snake's role in the original Metal Gear as the "player's presence", contrasting the defined personality acquired in Metal Gear Solid.{{cite web|url=http://www.konami.jp/gs/game/mgs4_inte/en/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080304105426/http://www.konami.jp/gs/game/mgs4_inte/en/|archive-date=2008-03-04|title=METAL GEAR SOLID 4 INTEGRATED SITE}}

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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.{{cite web|author=Chen, David|title=Retro/Active: Kojima's Productions|work=1up.com|access-date=2005-07-15|url=http://www.1up.com/do/minisite?cId=3146356|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927194345/http://www.1up.com/do/minisite?cId=3146356|archive-date=2007-09-27}}

Various scenes from the games relate Solid 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. In Metal Gear Solid 4, Snake tries to protect the next generation by stopping Ocelot which represented Kojima working with the staff to avoid bugs from occurring within the game. Kojima introduced the cloning origins of Snake to Metal Gear Solid in order to provide Snake with an adversary who would be his equal, since the story, being a continuation of the original MSX2 games, established Snake as an experienced soldier.{{cite web|url=http://www.gamespot.com/news/6179757.html|title=GameSpot: TGS '07: Kojima speaks|date=2007-09-25}} Kojima explained that his decision to introduce a new playable character in Snake's place for Metal Gear Solid 2 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/video/btg_mgs2/index.html|title=The Final Hours of Metal Gear Solid 2}} Snake was written to act as father figure not only to protect those he cares but also leave a message for the future generation despite his imminent death. As a pacifist message, Snake's stress increases when killing enemies.{{cite web|url=http://www.konami.jp/mgs4/uk/interview/03.html|title=Hideo Kojima interview|publisher=Konami|access-date=August 28, 2018}} Snake and Otacon were meant to die in the game, with Kojima being inspired by the movie Sacco & Vanzetti in regards to how the duo use death as a penalty for how they are criminals rather than heroes. While the novel retained this idea, the ending in the game was changed with Snake and Otacon surviving.{{cite web|url=https://webnewtype.com/special/metalgear/en_01/|title=Manabu Makime & Hitori Nojima Metal Gear discussion vol.1|website=Newtype|access-date=April 5, 2020}} Following Kojima's departure from Konami, the company indicated that it does not intend to produce further Metal Gear games with Solid Snake as the protagonist;{{cite web|url=http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_More_Metal_Gear_No_Solid_Snake_17802.html|title=More Metal Gear, No More Solid Snake|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090923222834/http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_More_Metal_Gear_No_Solid_Snake_17802.html|archive-date=2009-09-23}} Kojima has himself stated that Solid Snake "is one character that I don't want to entrust to other people".

File:Van Damme Cannes (cropped).jpg for Metal Gear Solid is inspired by actors Jean-Claude Van Damme (pictured) and Christopher Walken.]]

Much as Metal Gear began as a pastiche of action movies of the time, Solid Snake began as a pastiche of action movie heroes. On the cover artwork of the original Metal Gear he resembles actor Michael Biehn as Kyle Reese in the 1984 film The Terminator, although Kojima claimed to have no involvement in the production of the game's packaging illustration.{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/kojima_hideo/status/437060441575927808|title=小島秀夫 on Twitter: "MG1の時は新人でパッケージには全く関与出来ず不本意なものになったが、「スナッチャー」では開田裕次さんにMG2では高荷義之さんにMGSでは生頼範義さんにメインビジュアルやポスターをお願いできた。当時はゲーム自体のビジュアルが陳腐だったのでイラストでのメインビジュアルは重要だった。"|language=ja}} In the in-game portrait of Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, he resembles Mel Gibson.{{cite video|title=Metal Gear Saga Vol. 1|medium=DVD|publisher=Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.|date=2006}}

Yoji Shinkawa's Solid Snake design, characterized by his navy blue bandanna and "sneaking suit", would serve as the template for all future incarnations 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 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 was in the cover artwork of the first Metal Gear and the middle-aged Snake from the MSX2 version of Metal Gear 2.{{cite book|title=Metal Gear Solid: Official Mission Handbook|last=Hodgson |first=David S.J.|year=1998|publisher=Millennium Publications Inc. |page=142}}{{cite web|url=http://www.konami.jp/gs/game/metalgear/art/snake_v.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060716131123/http://www.konami.jp/gs/game/metalgear/art/snake_v.html|archive-date=2006-07-16|title=Yoji Shinkawa's Art Gallery from the official Metal Gear Solid website| access-date = 2006-07-19|date= July 9, 1998 |publisher=Konami|language=ja}} 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, and his appearance somewhat resembling the Man with No Name (as portrayed by Clint Eastwood).{{cite web|url=http://www.konami.jp/gs/game/mgs2/art/fourth.html|title=Yoji Shinkawa Interview: Segment 4| access-date = March 2, 2012|publisher=Konami}} Shinkawa commented that Snake was one of the easiest Metal Gear characters for him to draw, as his appearance is consistent across games with only minor changes.{{cite web|url=http://mp.i-revo.jp/user.php/kp-ryan/entry/52.html|title=The KP Report Session 027|publisher=mp.i.revo|work=Kojima Productions Report|author=Payton, Ryan|access-date=February 17, 2012|archive-date=July 3, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703183506/http://mp.i-revo.jp/user.php/kp-ryan/entry/52.html|url-status=dead}} According to Kojima, Snake's character model was specifically designed to have a well-sculpted buttocks, as the player spends the majority of the game staring at the character's back from a third-person view.{{cite magazine |last1=Rogers |first1=Tim |author1-link=Tim Rogers (writer) |title=Jungle Fervor |url=https://www.wired.com/2004/11/jungle-fervor/ |magazine=Wired |access-date=June 20, 2023 |date=November 4, 2004}}

By the time Metal Gear Solid 4 started development, Kojima told Shinkawa about his idea of making Snake look elderly, 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 version of the character. However, they were satisfied with the end product as the staff began to like the character.{{cite video|title=Making of Metal Gear Solid 4|medium=Blu-ray|publisher=Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH|date=2008}} In Metal Gear Solid 4, one of Kojima's endings would have had Snake and Otacon turn themselves in for breaking the law, and subsequently they would be convicted and executed. However, comments from Kojima's staff who were disappointed with his death resulted in the character's survival.{{cite web| url=http://gamerant.com/hideo-kojima-solid-snake-project-ogre-metal-gear-rising-ts-123571/|title=Hideo Kojima Talks Killing Snake, Project Ogre, Metal Gear Rising & More!|publisher=GameRant|author=Schirado, Tyler|date=January 5, 2012|access-date=February 20, 2012}} In Metal Gear Solid 4, Old Snake is modelled after Lee Van Cleef who appeared in Escape from New York.{{cite web|url=http://www.1up.com/features/metal-gear-retrospective?pager.offset=2&cId=|website=1UP.com|access-date=February 18, 2012|author=Parish, Jeremy|title=Gear Up! A Metal Gear Retrospective|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140610180934/http://www.1up.com/features/metal-gear-retrospective?pager.offset=2&cId=|archive-date=June 10, 2014}}

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In the games, Solid Snake has been voiced by Akio Ōtsuka in the Japanese version, and by David Hayter in the English adaptations. When working in Captain Planet, Hayter met the casting director of this show, Kris Zimmerman, who would later also be the voice-over director for Metal Gear games. When debuting in Metal Gear Solid, Hayter was impressed by the game's cutscenes and the amount of dialogue. One of Snake's lines that Hayter liked was "I just didn't expect a world-class designer of military technology to be so… cute." when Snake interacts with Mei Ling, believing it showed a more fun side of him. Solid Snake's English voice was inspired by Hayter's experience with Japan's storytelling, resulting in minor changes for the script. Hayter himself felt shocked when Sons of Liberty was released as the narrative focused more on newcomer Raiden rather than him. Although there were no news about Snake's future role in Metal Gear, the actor believes Guns of the Patriots gave the character a proper closure.{{cite web|url=https://www.metalgearinformer.com/?p=13843|title=DAVID HAYTER ON HIS ROLE AS SNAKE: 'I TRIED TO DO SOMETHING VERY SPECIFIC WITH THIS CHARACTER'|website=Metal Gear Informer|date=6 April 2014|access-date=March 26, 2020}} One of Snake's final scenes in this game bothered Hayter as during the ending the character hesitates to kill himself despite having killed multiple enemies in fights. Nevertheless, Hayter stated that he "loves" the character he was given to portray.{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder/2016/05/11/david-hayter-on-voicing-snake-in-metal-gear-and-the-joys-of-being-covered-in-goo/#2c7aa2615bcb|title=David Hayter On Voicing Snake In 'Metal Gear' And The Joys Of Being Covered In Goo|website=Forbes|access-date=March 26, 2020}}

Other than the aforementioned voice actors, Solid Snake has also been dubbed in four different languages for the European localization of Metal Gear Solid; in French by Emmanuel Bonami,{{cite web |url=https://fr.ign.com/metal-gear-solid-gb/55923/news/framboise-gommendy-mgs-une-interview-touchante |title=Metal Gear Solid : Framboise Gommendy, traductrice et doubleuse, livre une interview touchante |access-date=October 7, 2022 |date=September 9, 2011 |publisher=IGN France |language=fr |archive-date=September 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210909131506/https://fr.ign.com/metal-gear-solid-gb/55923/news/framboise-gommendy-mgs-une-interview-touchante}} in German by Stephan Grothgar,{{cite web |url=https://www.turn-on.de/article/unterirdisch-13-spiele-mit-einer-grausigen-synchronisation-76465 |title=Unterirdisch: 13 Spiele mit einer grausigen Synchronisation |language=de |date=September 6, 2016 |author=aktualisiert |access-date=October 7, 2022 |website=Turn on}} in Italian by Alessandro Ricci,{{cite web|url=https://www.player.it/speciali/352195-intervista-ad-alessandro-ricci-la-storica-voce-di-solid-snake.html |title=Intervista ad Alessandro Ricci, la storica voce di Solid Snake |website=player.it |author=Amerigo "ilCirox" Cirelli |date= August 19, 2018 |access-date=October 7, 2022 |language=it}} and in Spanish by Alfonso Vallés.{{cite web |url=http://blogs.gamefilia.com/momone/11-07-2010/34371/dobladores-ilustres-05 |title=Artículo acerca de la carrera de Alfonso Vallés |language=es |date=July 11, 2010 |author=momone |access-date=October 7, 2022 |archive-date=October 18, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101018040221/http://blogs.gamefilia.com/momone/11-07-2010/34371/dobladores-ilustres-05}}

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.Retro Gamer, page 36. In 2005, Electronic Gaming Monthly listed Solid Snake as number one as the top ten video game characters of all time. Solid Snake appeared in multiple GameFAQs "Character Battle" contests, and was runner-up in three: the "Character Battle V" in 2006,{{cite web|url=http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/contest/cb5|title=Fall 2006: The Great GameFAQs Character Battle V|website=GameFAQs|access-date=2007-09-23}} the "Character Battle VII" in 2008,{{cite web|url=http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/cb7.html|title=Fall 2008: The Great GameFAQs Character Battle VII|website=GameFAQs|access-date=2011-01-05}} and the "Character Battle IX" in 2013.{{cite web|url=http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/5266-character-battle-ix-final-draven-vs-solid-snake-vs-samus|title=Poll of the Day - 09/15/2013|website=GameFAQs|access-date=2015-08-22}} In an Oricon poll from 2008, his character was voted as the most popular video game character in Japan, tying with Nintendo's Pikachu.{{cite web|title=And Japan's Favorite Video Game Characters Are...?|url=http://kotaku.com/5035884/and-japans-favorite-video-game-characters-are|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120726181420/http://m.kotaku.com/5035884/and-japans-favorite-video-game-characters-are|archive-date=2012-07-26|website=Kotaku|access-date=2009-09-12|author=Ashcraft, Brian|date=2009-10-04|url-status=dead}} In a Famitsu poll in 2010, Solid Snake was voted by readers as the most popular video game character. 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.gamespot.com/greatest-video-game-hero/storied/index.html?battler_id=31 |title=Behind the Hero-Snake |publisher=Gamespot.com |access-date=2013-08-04}} In the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition from 2011, Solid Snake was voted as the fourth most popular video game character.{{cite web|url=http://www.gamasutra.com/view/pressreleases/68759/TOP_50_VIDEO_GAME_CHARACTERS_OF_ALL_TIME_ANNOUNCED_inGUINNESS_WORLD_RECORDS_2011_GAMERrsquoS_EDITION.php|title=Top 50 video game characters of all time announced in Guinness World Records 2011 Gamer's Edition

|website=Gamasutra|date=February 16, 2011|access-date=July 9, 2011}} In 2011, Empire ranked Solid Snake as the 19th greatest video game character, adding that "beginning as an action pastiche, he swiftly evolved into his very own character".{{cite web|url=http://www.empireonline.com/features/50-greatest-video-game-characters/Default.asp?film=2- |title=The 50 Greatest Video Game Characters - 19. Solid Snake |work=Empire|access-date=August 2, 2013|first1=James |last1=Dyer |first2=David |last2=McComb |first3=Alastair |last3=Plumb |first4=David |last4=Scarborough |date=May 26, 2010}} In 2007, ScrewAttack ranked him as the sixth "coolest" character in video games.ScrewAttack, [http://www.gametrailers.com/videos/bcm09g/screwattack-s-top-ten-top-ten-coolest-characters Top Ten Coolest Characters], ScrewAttack's Top 10, GameTrailers, 02/07/2007 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.{{cite web|author=Sharkey, Scott|title=Top 5 Video Game Smokers|url=http://www.1up.com/features/top-5-video-game-smokers|website=1UP.com|access-date=2011-07-13|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120731224633/http://www.1up.com/features/top-5-video-game-smokers|archive-date=2012-07-31}}{{cite web|author=McNeilly, Joe|date=2009-01-30|title=The 10 manliest men in videogame history|url=http://www.gamesradar.com/f/the-10-manliest-men-in-videogame-history/a-2009013092777018/p-2|publisher=GamesRadar|access-date=2011-07-13}} Complex ranked him as fourth on the list of top "pervs" in games in 2012{{cite magazine|url=http://www.complex.com/video-games/2012/03/the-top-25-pervs-in-video-games/snake |title=Solid Snake — The Top 25 Pervs In Video Games |magazine=Complex |date=2012-03-20 |access-date=2013-08-04}} and as the seventh greatest soldier in video games in 2013.Chad Hunter, Michael Rougeau, [http://www.complex.com/video-games/2013/05/the-50-greatest-soldiers-in-video-games/snake The 50 Greatest Soldiers In Video Games], Complex.com, May 25, 2013. In 2021, Chris Morgan for Yardbarker described Snake as one of "the most memorable characters from old school Nintendo games".{{Cite web|last=Morgan|first=Chris|date=October 6, 2021|title=The most memorable characters from old school Nintendo games|url=https://www.yardbarker.com/entertainment/articles/the_most_memorable_characters_from_old_school_nintendo_games/s1__36068006|website=Yardbarker}} HobbyConsolas named Snake as third of their "The 30 best heroes of the last 30 years."{{Cite web|url=https://www.hobbyconsolas.com/reportajes/30-mejores-heroes-ultimos-30-anos-816865|title=Los 30 mejores héroes de los últimos 30 años|date=March 2021}}

Critics have commented on his traits and appearance, often praising Solid Snake for his appealing personality. Rich Knight and Gus Turner from Complex acknowledged him as one of the best video game mascot, praising his "deep, human emotion that other characters fail to match."{{cite magazine|url=http://www.complex.com/video-games/2013/08/best-video-game-mascots/ |title=Best Video Game Mascots |magazine=Complex |date=2013-08-23 |access-date=2014-01-14}} IGN also remarked their rivalry, saying "Few rivalries in games have spanned as massive and confusing a timeline as Solid Snake and Liquid Snake".{{cite web | url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/11/19/the-top-25-video-game-rivalries?page=3| title=The Top 25 Video Game Rivalries | date=November 19, 2013 | publisher=IGN | access-date=April 19, 2014}} Among the several characters he encounters, critics noticed that Snake's friendship with Otacon was one of the best parts of his character due to the contrast it has with enemies as well as how he Snake comforts him in Sons of Liberty.{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/Play_Issue_279_2017_03_Imagine_Publishing_GB_a/page/54/mode/2up|title=Ten Examples of Mad Genius Metal Gear Solid|publisher=Play|access-date=December 13, 2023|year=2017}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/10/16/moments-snake-and-otacon-39-s-handshake-in-mgs2.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019025424/http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/10/16/moments-snake-and-otacon-39-s-handshake-in-mgs2.aspx|url-status=live|archive-date=October 19, 2012|title=Moments: Snake And Otacon's Handshake In MGS2|magazine=Game Informer|access-date=December 13, 2023}} His rivalry with Big Boss was also popular according to journalists, especially when they are compared as son and father and genetic heir.{{cite web |last=Gagne |first=Ken |url=https://www.computerworld.com/article/2541492/you-can-run--but-you-ll-only-die-tired--gaming-s--baddest--villains.html |title=You can run, but you'll only die tired: Gaming's 'baddest' villains |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207002607/http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9022399&pageNumber=3 |date=December 7, 2008 |archive-date=December 7, 2008 |website=Computerworld |access-date=August 20, 2022}} Various gaming sites such as 1UP.com, Game Informer and Kotaku joked on the poor relationship between the two of them as the father attempts to murder his own son.{{cite web |title=Father Knows Best: The Best and Worst Fathers in Video Games |website=Kotaku |url=http://m.kotaku.com/5297186/father-knows-best-the-best-and-worst-fathers-in-video-games |date=June 21, 2009 |last=Glasser |first=AJ |access-date=August 17, 2011}}{{cite magazine |title=Gaming's Crappiest Fathers |magazine=Game Informer |url=https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2010/09/09/gamings-crappiest-dads.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100911072626/http://gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2010/09/09/gamings-crappiest-dads.aspx |url-status=live |archive-date=September 11, 2010 |date=September 9, 2010 |last=Sharkey |first=Scott |access-date=July 18, 2011}}{{cite web |title=Top 5 Crappiest Videogame Dads |website=1UP.com |url=http://www.1up.com/features/top-5-crappiest-videogame-dads |date=September 9, 2010 |last=Ryckert |first=Dan |access-date=July 18, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120601230558/http://www.1up.com/features/top-5-crappiest-videogame-dads |archive-date=June 1, 2012}} Among other character relationships, Snake and Gray Fox were popular due to the variety of enemies the player faces.{{cite web |url=http://www.officialplaystationmagazine.co.uk/2012/07/02/playstations-scariest-characters/7/#gallery-top |title=10 of PlayStation's scariest characters - Page 7 of 10 | Features |publisher=Official PlayStation Magazine |date=2012-07-02 |access-date=2013-09-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120815165913/http://www.officialplaystationmagazine.co.uk/2012/07/02/playstations-scariest-characters/7/#gallery-top |archive-date=2012-08-15 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |url=http://www.destructoid.com/the-ten-best-metal-gear-bosses-ever--90176.phtml |title=The ten best Metal Gear bosses EVER! |publisher=Destructoid |access-date=2013-09-28 |archive-date=2013-10-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002130712/http://www.destructoid.com/the-ten-best-metal-gear-bosses-ever--90176.phtml |url-status=dead}}

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,{{cite magazine |first=Patrick |last=Shaw |title= The 8 Worst Game Character Makeovers Ever |date= 2008-07-22 |url=http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/205548/the-8-worst-game-character-makeovers-ever/ |magazine= GamePro |access-date= 2010-03-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607061847/http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/205548/the-8-worst-game-character-makeovers-ever/|archive-date=2011-06-07}} and was also at the top of IGN{{'}}s list of the worst video game haircuts.{{cite web |first=Mark Ryan|last=Sallee |title= Top 10 Tuesday: Worst Videogame Haircuts|date= 2006-02-07 |url=http://ps2.ign.com/articles/684/684806p1.html |website= IGN|access-date= 2011-07-01}} The book Playing with Videogames states that Raiden's inclusion was intended to surprise Metal Gear fans who, instead of playing as Snake, played as his opposite. Writer James Newman commented that fans' reactions were highly negative; they acted as though Kojima had betrayed their expectations. He compared Raiden to the controversial Star Wars character Jar Jar Binks.{{cite book |title=Playing with Videogames |pages=39–40 |last=Newman |first=James |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-415-38523-7}} Eurogamer{{'}}s Tom Bramwell commented that his interactions with the other characters also helped expand Solid Snake's character.{{cite web|title=Metal Gear Solid 2 : Sons of Liberty - Review |website=Eurogamer |date=December 3, 2002 |author=Bramwell, Tom |url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/r_mgs2_ps2 |access-date=June 30, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110826060156/http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/r_mgs2_ps2 |archive-date=August 26, 2011}} His interactions with veteran Solid Snake identify the former as "a Metal Gear fan". As the game progresses it is stated that Raiden "has become Snake", having developed skills similar to those he gained from taking part in the Big Shell's fights that resemble Metal Gear Solid{{'}}s Shadow Moses Island.{{cite book|title=Utopic Dreams and Apocalyptic Fantasies: Critical Approaches to Researching Video Game Play|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=drH7l-VYUGEC&q=raiden+metal+gear&pg=PA73|pages=87–88|publisher=Lexington Books|date=September 25, 2010|isbn=978-0-7391-4700-9 |author=Emmbrick, David}} 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 his father.{{cite web|url=http://palgn.com.au/playstation-2/1027/metal-gear-solid-3-snake-eater-preview/|title=Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater Preview|date=2004-02-29|website=PALGN|access-date=2011-07-05|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016023240/http://palgn.com.au/playstation-2/1027/metal-gear-solid-3-snake-eater-preview/|archive-date=2012-10-16}}{{cite web |url=http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/metalgearsolid3/preview_6091542.html|title=Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater Updated Impressions|date=March 16, 2004|author=Torres, Ricardo|website= GameSpot|access-date=2011-07-05}}{{cite web |url=http://ps2.gamespy.com/playstation-2/metal-gear-solid-3-snake-eater/532018p3.html|title=Metal Gear Solid 3 -- Everything We Know|publisher=GameSpy |page=3|access-date=2011-07-05}} A comparison between Solid Snake's and Big Boss's characters was made by IGN in article "Stars Thunderdome: Snake vs. Big Boss."{{cite web |url=http://stars.ign.com/articles/881/881688p1.html|title=Stars Thunderdome: Snake vs. Big Boss|website=IGN |author=Pirrello, Phil |date=2010-01-11|access-date=2011-07-05}}

The character's appearance in Metal Gear Solid 4 has received mostly positive opinions. Before it was released, various speculations were made regarding his 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 his body deteriorating across the game.{{cite web |last=Alfonso|first=Andrew|title=E3 2006: Eyes-on MGS4 Teaser|url=http://ps3.ign.com/articles/706/706016p1.html|access-date=September 2, 2011|website=IGN|date=May 8, 2006}} 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.{{cite web |last=Kolan|first=Patrick|title=Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of Speculation|url=http://ps3.ign.com/articles/810/810332p3.html|access-date=September 2, 2011|website=IGN|date=3 August 2007}}{{cite web |last=Richardson|first=Ben|title=Metal Gear Solid 4: 10 Predictions |date=7 March 2008|url=http://www.gamesradar.com/metal-gear-solid-4-10-predictions/?page=3|access-date=March 29, 2012|publisher=GamesRadar}} GamesRadar commented that his character was one of the few gaming characters that aged across video games.{{cite web |last=Wilder|first=Tyler |title=If game characters were old |date=20 June 2008 |url=http://www.gamesradar.com/if-game-characters-were-old/|access-date=August 28, 2011|publisher=GamesRadar}} 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.{{cite magazine |last=Shuman|first=Sid |title=The 25 biggest surprises in Metal Gear Solid 4|url=http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/175488/the-25-biggest-surprises-in-metal-gear-solid-4-page-2-of-3/|date=2009-01-23 |access-date=2011-01-24 |magazine=GamePro|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100113190055/http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/175488/the-25-biggest-surprises-in-metal-gear-solid-4-page-2-of-3/|archive-date=2010-01-13}} GameDaily listed the "old hero" as one of their list of top video game archetypes, using the old version of the character as an example of this.{{cite web |last=Buffa |first=Chris |title=Top 25 Game Archetypes |url=http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/galleries/top-25-video-game-characters-archetypes/?page=10 |date=2009-01-23 |access-date=2011-01-24 |publisher=GameDaily}} PLAY gave praise to his moustache considering how highly detailed it is, and represents the change from Solid Snake's character.{{cite web |title=Lip Service: A tribute to moustaches in games|url=http://www.play-mag.co.uk/features/lip-service-a-tribute-to-moustaches-in-games/ |publisher=Play|author=Mackenzie, Gavin|access-date=2011-07-13}} On the other hand, 1UP.com criticized it as the most gracelessly aging characters as it gave negative messages about aging.{{cite web |last=Sharkey |first=Scott |title=Top 5 Gracelessly Aging Characters|url=http://www.1up.com/features/top-5-gracelessly-aging-characters|date=2009-01-23 |access-date=August 29, 2011 |website=1UP.com}} 1UP.com listed their fight as the 13 "most dumbass" boss battles for its simple style in comparison to other more challenging bosses from Metal Gear Solid 3 and its excessive length for a hand-to-hand fight between two old people.{{cite web|url=http://www.1up.com/features/13-dumbass-boss-battles?pager.offset=3|title=The 13 Most Dumbass Boss Battles|publisher=1UP.com|access-date=August 17, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020014451/http://www.1up.com/features/13-dumbass-boss-battles?pager.offset=3|archive-date=October 20, 2012}} The design resulted in mixed reactions regarding whether or not the character kept his original sex appeal.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.complex.com/video-games/2013/02/10-video-game-characters-who-look-like-sex-offenders/ |title=10 Video Game Characters Who Look Like Sex Offenders |magazine=Complex |date=2013-07-13 |access-date=2013-07-21 |archive-date=2013-06-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130625062642/http://www.complex.com/video-games/2013/02/10-video-game-characters-who-look-like-sex-offenders/? |url-status=dead}}[http://www.lne.es/vida-y-estilo/tecnologia/videojuegos/2014/11/29/10-personajes-sexys-videojuegos/1678837.html Los 10 personajes más sexys de los videojuegos - La Nueva España]

GameDaily made Solid Snake top their Smash Bros. characters list,{{cite web |title=Top 10 Smash Bros. Characters - Page 8 |url=http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/galleries/top-ten-super-smash-bros-characters/?page=8 |publisher=GameDaily|access-date=2009-08-07}} while PLAY listed him as one of the characters they wanted to be playable in Mortal Kombat.{{cite web |title=Five alternative characters for Mortal Kombat |url=http://www.play-mag.co.uk/general/five-alternative-characters-for-mortal-kombat/ |publisher=Play|author=McMahon, Chris|access-date=2011-07-13}} The character customization in Soulcalibur IV that allowed to create Solid Snake was listed by UGO as one of the best ones from the series owing to his popularity within gamers.{{cite web|last=Rosenberg|first=Adam|title=Remembering... Soul Calibur 4|url=http://www.ugo.com/games/soulcalibur-4-create-a-character-top-50-solidsnake|date=February 28, 2010|access-date=August 29, 2011|publisher=UGO Networks|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016183913/http://www.ugo.com/games/soulcalibur-4-create-a-character-top-50-solidsnake|archive-date=October 16, 2011}} Gavin Jasper of Den of Geek ranked Solid Snake as 12th of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate characters, and stated that "bringing Snake in Smash Bros. was an act of pure dominance."{{Cite web|url=https://www.denofgeek.com/games/super-smash-bros-characters-ranked/|title=Super Smash Bros. Characters Ranked|date=March 7, 2019|website=Den of Geek}} Jeremy Parish of Polygon ranked 73 fighters from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate "from garbage to glorious", listing Solid Snake as 18th, stating that "The legendary super-soldier Solid Snake remains one of gaming's greatest and most tragic figures."{{Cite web|last=Parish|first=Jeremy|date=2018-12-03|title=We rank the Smash Bros. (and friends)|url=https://www.polygon.com/features/2018/12/3/18120401/super-smash-bros-ultimate-character-rankings|access-date=2020-11-05|website=Polygon|language=en}} People expressed some disappointment on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate when Solid Snake wears a skintight stealth suit, and the rendition being completely changed. Leaving the character's butt being reduced.{{Cite web|url=https://www.polygon.com/e3/2018/6/13/17459358/super-smash-bros-ultimate-solid-snake-butt|title = Super Smash Bros. Fans are upset about Solid Snake's butt|website = Polygon|date = 13 June 2018}}

Akio Otsuka's and David Hayter's performances as Solid Snake's voice actors has received praise. Ōtsuka remembers being surprised during his debut as a result of the large amount of dialogue Solid Snake was given.{{cite web|url=http://andriasang.com/comz1y/|title=More Metal Gear Solid Launch Event Draws 500 Fans|date=November 23, 2011|publisher=Andriasang|author=Gantayat, Anoop|access-date=November 24, 2011}} Hayter's performance was called one of the greatest in gaming as well as one of the character's most recognizable traits.{{cite web|first= Scott|last= Sharkey|title= The Most Prolific Video Game Voice Actors|url= http://www.1up.com/features/prolific-video-game-voice-actors|website= 1UP.com|access-date= 2011-09-05|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111019233821/http://www.1up.com/features/prolific-video-game-voice-actors|archive-date= 2011-10-19}}{{cite web |first=Dan|last=Howdle |title= Gaming's Top 10 Deepest Voices|url=http://www.nowgamer.com/features/895130/gamings_top_10_deepest_voices.html|publisher= Now Gamer|date=2010-06-02|access-date= 2011-09-05}} In 2013, Game Informer ranked Hayter's role as Solid 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".{{cite web|last=Shoob |first=Punished |url=https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2013/10/14/top-10-memorable-character-voices.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014223932/http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2013/10/14/top-10-memorable-character-voices.aspx |url-status=live |archive-date=October 14, 2013 |title=Top 10 Memorable Character Voices In Video Games - Features |publisher=Game Informer |date=2013-10-14 |access-date=2013-11-22}} In 2024, a poll conducted by BAFTA with around 4,000 respondents named Solid Snake as the fourteenth most iconic video-game character of all time.{{Cite news |title=Lara Croft Crowned Most Iconic Video Games Character of All Time, According to BAFTA Poll |url=https://www.bafta.org/media-centre/press-releases/bafta-most-iconic-character-poll-results |work=BAFTA |date=2024-04-04}}

In the Tekken 7 Evo 2019 finals, the character was used to have a chat with developer Katsuhiro Harada. The organizers of Evo stated this was a joke as many fans believed it was a hint for a possible usage of the character as downloadable content.{{cite web|url=https://www.siliconera.com/the-evo-solid-snake-tekken-tease-was-a-little-joke/|title=The Evo Solid Snake Tekken Tease Was A 'Little Joke'|date=August 5, 2019|author=Lada, Jenni|website=Siliconera|access-date=July 2, 2020}} David Hayter complained about this joke as Evo did not consult Konami or him when using the audio.{{cite web|url=https://www.siliconera.com/david-hayter-spoke-out-against-the-evo-2019-tekken-7-snake-prank/|title=David Hayter Spoke Out Against The Evo 2019 Tekken 7 Snake Prank|date=August 6, 2019|author=Lada, Jenni|website=Siliconera|access-date=July 2, 2020}}

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