Yevgeny Borisovitch Volgin

From the Metal Gear Wiki

Yevgeny Borisovitch Volgin
Also known as	Colonel Volgin Thunderbolt
Nationality	Soviet Russian
Affiliations	NKVD GRU
Current status	Deceased
Eye Colour	Light green-gray
Hair Colour	Gray
Family	Father
First game	Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Created by	Hideo Kojima
Designed by	Yoji Shinkawa
English voice actor	Neil Ross
Japanese voice actor	Kenji Utsumi

Yevgeny Borisovitch Volgin (Russian: Евгений Борисович Волгин), also known as Thunderbolt, was a sadistic Stalinist GRU colonel who attempts to seize control of the Soviet Union by overthrowing Nikita Khrushchev and installing Leonid Brezhnev and Aleksei Kosygin in his place.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early Life 1.2 Operation Snake Eater 2 Abilities 3 Trivia

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early Life

Not much is known about Volgin's early life. During World War II, he took part in the Katyn Forest Massacre, in which the Soviets murdered over 20,000 Polish officers. During this time he was serving in the NKVD, a Soviet police unit that murdered deserting or retreating Soviet soldiers.

At some point prior to the events of Operation Snake Eater, Volgin's father died and he inherited The Philosophers' Legacy illegally.

Volgin was an extremely strong man, even for his large size. He combined his tremendous strength and skills with unexplained ability of electrical manipulation, gaining him the nickname "Thunderbolt" in America.

[edit] Operation Snake Eater

See Virtuous Mission and Operation Snake Eater

Volgin, under the rank of Colonel, was present during the Virtuous Mission, where he supervised the formal defection of The Boss to the Soviet Union. Unbeknownst to him, The Boss' defection was a ruse set up the US government to steal the Philosophers' Legacy from him. Unfortunately, Volgin, in a move not anticipated by the US government, fired an American-made Davy Crockett at Sokolov's research facility, destroying it in a nuclear explosion. In actuality, the CIA Director had instructed Volgin to do this, as part of a cunning plan to assassinate The Boss from the start. This sparked an international incident, and began Operation Snake Eater.

During the operation, Volgin was constantly enraged at Naked Snake's actions, and of the actions of a spy among their ranks. He was unaware that the spy he hated was in fact Tatyana, a woman he constantly abused. Volgin found and captured Naked Snake, however, when Snake disguised himself as Volgin's lover, Ivan Raidenovitch Raikov, in order to find Sokolov. Snake, however, escaped his prison cell and continued his mission to destroy the Shagohod.

Later, Volgin found Naked Snake planting C3 explosives on the Shagohod's liquid fuel tanks, intending to destroy it. He, with the assistance of Ocelot and The Boss, captured Snake. Whilst this was happening, EVA had stolen the Philosophers' Legacy microfilm from Groznyj Grad's underground vaults, but was discovered by the guards, revealing her true identity.

Volgin faced Snake in combat, but was defeated by Snake despite his impressive electrical abilities. Snake and EVA escaped Groznyj Grad by motorcycle, but were quickly pursued by Volgin in the Shagohod, which they had in fact failed to destroy. After the Shagohod was almost destroyed, Volgin piloted what was left of it to face Snake and EVA. Even after the Shagohod failed completely, Volgin refused to let it go, powering it with his own electricity. In the end, however, Volgin fell to Naked Snake's RPG-7.

Standing atop the ruined Shagohod, Volgin died after being struck by a bolt of lightning. Catching a glimpse of The Sorrow at that moment, Snake could not help but wonder if The Sorrow had summoned the lightning.

[edit] Abilities

Volgin has incredible strength which makes him a deadly foe in battle, even though he is rarely shown to use a weapon of any kind.

On top of this, however, Volgin possesses the ability of electrical manipulation; as he stated during his torture session with Naked Snake, his "body carries an electric charge of 10 million volts". He uses this power to enhance his strength to a superhuman level. Notably, he was seen punching through the solid metal of the Shagohod's armour which even the RPG-7 was unable to penetrate directly.

However, the true capabilities of his electrical power were not seen until his battle with Naked Snake. During this battle, he demonstrated the ability to electrify metallic objects to his own specifications (for example, he was able to create a steady band of electricity across the floor) and project steady beams of electricity forward. Instead of using a firearm, he could hold bullets in his hands and use his power to ignite the propellant. He used this ability in several ways, including a barrage attack, a machine-gun, and to increase the damage from his punches. It is useful defensively as well, This was shown when he deflected the bullets that Major Ocelot fired at him. He is also able to channel his own electricity, as shown by how he was able to revive and power the Shagohod after it failed.

Nevertheless, his electricity is subject to the same physics as regular electricity. It is attracted by metal or water (which he used to his advantage to stop Naked Snake using a metal gun). It may also be that he himself is vulnerable to it, as he wears an insulated rubber suit under his clothes (this may explain his lightning-shaped scars).

[edit] Trivia

• Volgin is bisexual, as can be seen by his relationships with both Major Ivan Raidenovich Raikov and Tatyana.
• On several occasions (particularly whenever it was raining) Volgin would chant the phrase "Kuwabara. Kuwabara", a saying that in Japanese mythology is supposed to ward off lightning. Ironically the only time Volgin does not utter this phrase he is struck by a bolt of lightning.
• Volgin's powers are never explained in MGS3.
• Volgin might have been proud of his skills as a torturer, but he's actually extremely bad at it. Not one person he tortured tells him anything. In fact, Volgin actually managed to interrogate Naked Snake backwards by revealing information that Snake didn't previously know about such as the nature and exact location of the Legacy. Later, Cunningham ends up making a similar error in interrogation techniques when he accidentally blabs about the Pentagon's involvement, and nearly giving away his true loyalties/employers.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater Characters
Naked Snake — Major Zero — Para-Medic — Sigint The Boss — Colonel Volgin — Ocelot — EVA The Pain — The Fear — The Fury — The End — The Sorrow Sokolov — Granin — Raikov — Johnny Sasaki Sr.