| This article is about the codename. You may be looking for other uses of the term. |
Raiden, a.k.a. Snake, and Solid Snake, circa 2009.
Snake was a codename used by the special forces units FOX and FOXHOUND, to distinguish several of their agents. It was named after the animal of the same name due to the reptile's stealthy nature. In the Book of Genesis, the snake is considered to be the first spy, making it a fitting codename for the Snakes on their solo sneaking missions.
Snakes[]
- Naked Snake (Big Boss)
- Punished "Venom" Snake (Big Boss's phantom)
- Solid Snake/Old Snake
- Liquid Snake
- Solidus Snake
- Solid Snake (Operation 747) (non-canon)
- Solid Snake (Galuade) (non-canon)
- Solid Snake (Lobito Island) (non-canon)
- Snake (SaintLogic) (non-canon)
- Snake (Raiden) (temporary codename)
Behind the scenes[]
The various incarnations of "Snake" in the Metal Gear series.
Hideo Kojima chose the name "Snake" for the protagonist of the original Metal Gear due to the animal's sneaking-like qualities, feeling that it was appropriate to the game's stealth-based approach.[1] During the leadup to the release of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Kojima reiterated this claim in a series of tweets, and explained that he had not selected a specific type of snake because, at the time of Metal Gear, Solid Snake had solely been intended as an extension of the player.[2][3]
A T-shirt was released featuring the names of all variants of Snake up to Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Solid, Liquid, Solidus, Naked, and Old), with the "d" in their names being colored red.
Sources[]
- Metal Gear Solid 4 Database ("Codename "SNAKE"")
Notes and references[]
- ^ "Hideo Kojima: Game Guru, Movie Maniac," by Steven Kent, Gamers Today (1999).
- ^ https://twitter.com/HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN/status/441458254300708864
- ^ https://twitter.com/HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN/status/441458452737445888