Liquid Snake

_Metal Gear Solid_

Background

The information gained from the Human Genome Project opened the door for a number of genetic experiments. Aiming to create “super soldiers”, scientists isolated over sixty “soldier genes” in the greatest soldier of all time, a man code-named “Big Boss”. In a program that came to be known as Les Enfants Terribles , or The Terrible Children, three clones of Big Boss were engineered. One, a direct clone with balanced attributes, was code-named Solidus Snake. The other two became advanced experiments. One clone was awarded all of the dominant genes and the other received the recessive genes. The former, Solid Snake, went on to defeat Big Boss when he revolted and attempted to create a mercenary kingdom. The latter, Liquid Snake, trained with the SAS and endured the knowledge that he had lost all of his greatest potential to his brother before birth.

Liquid Snake finally took over the “FOXHOUND” Special Forces unit. Before long he learned of frightening genetic imbalances in the children of Big Boss, which by now included the hundreds of “Genome Soldiers” who had been augmented with soldier genes. At the urging of a FOXHOUND contact known as Revolver Ocelot, Liquid led FOXHOUND in a terrorist uprising on Shadow Moses Island in Alaska . He seized control of Metal Gear REX, a bipedal nuclear tank, and demanded the frozen body of Big Boss from the government, hoping to discover a cure to the genetic symmetry that he believes threatens the products of Les Enfants Terribles.

But Liquid's aims are twofold. He also plans to use REX to engage in untraceable nuclear strikes, pitting nation against nation in an attempt to recreate a chaotic world where soldiers like himself will again have the value they possessed during the Cold War. He also fully expects Solid Snake to be sent after him, and when this indeed happens Liquid savors the chance to revenge himself upon the brother who stole his dominant traits. But Liquid eventually perishes at the hands of the government's FoxDie Virus, a killer syndrome that can be programmed to eliminate specific people.

 

Analysis

Every word or action attributed to Liquid Snake seems to be one of manic desperation. Every one of his lines is delivered with dripping cynicism and malice, as though he has to squeeze in as much cold-blooded chaos as possible before time runs out. Which, given his impending genetic doom, is understandable. Liquid is almost admirable in that he really does seem to care about his Genome Soldier brothers, at least on a genetic level, and never stops mentioning them during his dialogues with Solid Snake. His desire to achieve Big Boss's dream of an “Outer Heaven” for soldiers and mercenaries, however, makes him a threat to global peace, and we lose our sympathy when we learn that he is willing to casually attack cities with nuclear weapons. Liquid's predicament calls to mind serious issues about genetic experiments—we cannot think of genetic children as tools of war or anything else. They will find a way to validate their existence as something other than weapons, and the results will usually be catastrophic.