Since this Solid Snake is in an Alternate Continuity, tropes that only apply to this version should be put here.
For other characters in the franchise, see the Metal Gear character index at Characters.Metal Gear.
Characters that debuted in Metal Gear: Ghost Babel:
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Snake and Team
Solid Snake (Ghost Babel)
The incarnation of the hero in the Game Boy Color Gaiden Game Metal Gear: Ghost Babel. Like the version of Solid Snake found in consoles, Snake managed to defeat Big Boss's insurrection at Outer Heaven and destroy Metal Gear. However, unlike the mainstream version, Big Boss stayed dead, and although it is mentioned in an optional Codec call that Big Boss was Solid Snake's father, it is unknown whether it was via natural means or if Snake was cloned from him.
- Gosh Dang It to Heck!: As Ghost Babel came out with a much lower ESRB rating than other games in the series, Snake uses the word "Damn" less (and it's mispelled "Damm" in one instance). Additionally, the cigarettes are replaced with a "fogger", a device that emits smokes and apparently doesn't encourage kids to start smoking.
- Retired Badass: Snake retired after Outer Heaven, and is yet again dragged out to do some dirty work.
- Shrouded in Myth: Snake's accomplishments, particularly at Outer Heaven, are held to be legendary. It's revealed that this was deliberately manufactured by the U.S. Government, to divert attention away from their complicity in terrorist actions.
Roy Campbell
He formerly commanded FOXHOUND and resigned after he found out that he was manipulated to take out Black Chamber.
- I Have Your Wife: It's suggested by No. 4 in a special mission briefing that Roy is forced to command Snake in the Galuade op or Meryl will be killed.
Mei Ling
An analyst in the US Army and a PhD candidate at MIT. She serves as mission support.
- Voice with an Internet Connection: Like in the main timeline, Mei Ling serves to provide technical support for Snake.
Weasel (Ronard Lensenbrink)
A Dutch mercenary who often gives his services and information to the highest bidder. Because of this, he is extremely untrustworthy. It turns out he was an agent of Steven Gardner hired to quell the situation at Gindra, and then kill anyone in the know. However, he decides against it, apparently finding Snake's group to be nice.
- Abusive Parents: He got into a fight with his father that resulted in him getting scars and his father being confined to a wheelchair. Then again, since Weasel had indirectly killed his brother by that point, the father was probably justified in fighting Weasel.
- Cain and Abel: It's implied that Weasel killed his own brother (presumably also a mercenary) when they fought each other during a war, although it wasn't clear who was the Cain and who was the Abel.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Set up to be this, but ultimately averted.
- Defrosting the Ice Queen: Weasel was initially shown to be a cold mercenary who is willing to kill even his own allies and family if it meant accomplishing the mission. However, after being exposed to a somewhat friendly environment, he decides against killing them.
- Heel–Face Turn: He was supposed to kill Snake and the other people involved in the mission under Gardner's orders, but he relented at the last minute, apparently being touched about their friendship.
- The Mole: For Gardner, but he ultimately decides to let his targets go.
- Self-Made Orphan: Sort of: while he may not have actually killed his father, he did nonetheless injure him severely enough to force him into a wheelchair. It was the result of a fight that happened shortly after he killed his brother.
- Spell My Name With An S: His real name is spelled "Rheaunalt Lensenbrink" on the official Ghost Babel website.
- Walking the Earth: He implies that he'll go into hiding via this method in the event that Gardner attempts to kill him for his failure.
- You Have Failed Me: Campbell warns him when he decides to spare them against Gardner's orders that he'd probably end up killed by him.
Allies:
Christine "Chris" Jenner
The lone survivor of a Delta Force squad that Black Chamber takes out early on in the game. It's revealed that she had secret orders to cover up U.S. involvment in Gindra and kill the General.
- Fangirl: Of Snake
- Faux Action Girl: Not very useful for a supposed member of Delta Force.
- The Mole: Averted. Although Snake and his command group did begin to suspect Jenner of being the fifth Black Chamber due to the fact that she was never actually present in the Delta Force massacre, Viper and Jenner herself later revealed this was not truly the case (she was indeed a mole, just not one for Black Chamber).
Dr. James "Jimmy" Harks
A teenage child genius and lead engineer on developing GANDER under Ramdyne Systems.
- Bratty Half-Pint: How'd he get a doctorate at that age, anyway?
- Child Prodigy: James is recognized as such that the US military sought him out for the GANDER project. He studied at Carnegie Mellon University to obtain his Ph.D.
Antagonists:
Black Chamber
The main villains in Ghost Babel. They are a quintet of mercenaries serving the Gindran Liberation Front, an army which has taken over the fortress Galuade (built upon the rubble of Outer Heaven) and hijacked Metal Gear Gander. It's revealed that Black Chamber was originally a U.S. Special Forces team. Because of Solid Snake's success at thwarting Metal Gear in Outer Heaven, FOXHOUND no longer could remain top secret, and therefore, conduct clandestine operations. Therefore, Black Chamber was created to replace it in the wetwork role. However, eventually 'Anonymous', a mysterious U.S. official, had them all gunned down by FOXHOUND under Roy Campbell (who had been told they were terrorists, and resigned when he learned the truth). The five members of Black Chamber that survived swore vengeance upon the U.S. government, FOXHOUND, and Solid Snake. They are Slasher Hawk, Marionette Owl, Pyro Bison, and Black Arts Viper. And Brian McBride.
- Animal Motifs: Much like Liquid Snake's incarnation of FOXHOUND, they each have an animal-themed codename which reflects on their specialty.
- Attack Its Weak Point: Pyro Bison's only weak point is logically the flamethrower's fuel tank on his back.
- Ax-Crazy: Owl and Bison. The former is a serial killer, while the latter is a pyromaniac.
- Big Bad: Black Arts Viper.
- Breaking Speech: They all accuse Snake of being just as bad as they are or no match for the legend that was built around him.
- Death Trap: Viper's specialty.
- Disability Superpower: Viper lost an arm in the ambush, and uses a prosthetic that can generate flashes and cause shockwaves. However, he rarely ever uses it, as he apparently uses his stump to remind himself of FOXHOUND's betrayal.
- Evil Counterpart: Viper to Snake.
- Evil Is Not Well-Lit: Marionette Owl's specialties includes better night vision.
- Expy: The whole team is this to the FOXHOUND in MGS1.
- Black Arts Viper to Liquid Snake, although his motivations for hating Snake arguably make more sense than Liquid's, targeting Snake specifically because they were made to take on the same missions as Snake once he got too famous following Outer Heaven. His gear - given his codename and status on his team - also appears to be designed as an opposite number sneaking-suit to Snake's own.
- Pyro Bison to Vulcan Raven, being fought in a mazelike room of boxes, having a similar stature, and using a weapon that involves carrying a large part of it on his back.
- Marionette Owl to Psycho Mantis, being a psychotic individual who was driven that way due to the actions of a different serial killer and much more of a Puzzle Boss.
- Slasher Hawk's relationship with his hawk is also similar to Vulcan Raven, though the fact that you fight him from across the screen means he's probably the counterpart to Sniper Wolf.
- Brian McBride to Decoy Octopus, being The Unfought who pretends to be an ally of the player.
- Freudian Excuse: Marionette Owl became the psychotic stalker and serial killer before being recruited into Black Chamber because he witnessed a traumatic event where a female friend of his was killed and dismembered in a field that he witnessed.
- He Who Fights Monsters: Subverted: Although they did do a similar action of hijacking Metal Gear from the U.S. as a South American terrorist group that they eliminated two years prior, it was not their defeating the terorist group or the destruction of Metal Gear that led to them commiting the action as much as being betrayed and massacred by FOXHOUND and Campbell via someone known only as Anonymous.
- Playing with Fire: With a name like "Pyro Bison", what do you'd think he'd have? Also mixed with Kill It with Fire and Better to Die than Be Killed.
- Pet the Dog: The Black Chamber unit had its moments. Black Arts Viper gave even the worst bunch a chance in his unit, and he even allowed Slasher Hawk into the unit when he had nowhere else to go because the Aborigines didn't allow him into their tribe, despite observing their taboos, simply because of his Caucasian heritage.
- The Mole: Bison suggests that one of the remaining Black Chamber members is among Snake's support team. They argue amongst themselves for a while trying to figure out who, but ultimately Campbell concludes that there is no spy and that Bison was simply trying to confuse and disorientate them. It later turns out to be McBride.
- Moral Myopia: They have no problem with the General's plans to launch a nuke, because in their opinion, even innocent civilians are just the pawns of "Anonymous", and in fact are the reasons why people like Anonymous even existed.
- Precision-Guided Boomerang: Slasher Hawk, a member raised by Australian aboriginals, uses a pair of boomerangs. Six-foot, razor-sharp, steel boomerangs.
- Revenge Before Reason: The Black Chamber Unit wanted revenge against FOXHOUND and Anonymous specifically because it was because of them that, thanks to misinformation supplied by Anonymous/Deputy Director of Central Intelligence Steve Gardner to Roy Campbell about a terrorist cell attempting to arrive in America, their unit ended up decimated completely.
- Sunglasses at Night: Marionette Owl. It's justified, however, due to the fact that the same gene that supplies him with his enhanced vision in dark places on par with an owl also results in his eyes shining in the dark.
- Timed Mission: Snake's last fight with Viper; Snake must win before Metal Gear reaches the surface, or else it will activate seven Kill Sats in orbit which will lay destruction across the world.
- Villainous Breakdown: Once beaten for the last time, Viper apologizes to his dead comrades for failing to avenge them.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: After the Black Chamber unit was wiped out, it is strongly implied that a lot of the survivors changed for the worse as a result of the deaths of their comrades and being set up: Viper often keeps his stump of an arm instead of wearing the prosthetic specifically to serve as a reminder of their being betrayed, for example. By the time of the game, they felt that it didn't matter if the world was innocent, as their innocence is what allowed Anonymous to exist and cause the atrocities to them. Their stance as this was also highlighted in their death speeches.
Augustine Eguabon
The "General" and leader of the Gindran Liberation Front. He has a secret agenda beyond simply liberating Gindra from the surrounding countries. He was a lieutenant of Big Boss, who was set up in Outer Heaven with the express permission of "Anonymous" and the United State government, but rebelled. After Snake defeated Outer Heaven, U.S. involvement in Gindra continued, with the aim of securing U.S. influence over the entire continent.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: He mentions that he had absolutely no intention of being Parker's puppet, stating he was going to break the deal.
- Evil Overlord
- Beard of Evil
- I Gave My Word: One fo the few redeemable aspects of his character, as he said he'd reveal the connection between the U.S. and GLF if Snake defeated him in battle. Sure enough, that's exactly what Snake did, and thus, true to his word, he told him everything. It's also hinted that he did legitimately intend to give Gindra their independence, and that he only worked with Parker in order to get the funds necessary to back their revolution, and betray him afterwards.
- The Reveal: The General declares, prior to piloting Metal Gear against Snake, that the loser would relinquish all the information they had.
Sophie N'Dram
The second-in-command of the General. Unlike Eguabon, she is a true believer in Gindran independence.
- Anti-Villain: She is genuinely dedicated to Gindran independence and unaware of Eguabon's behind the scenes dealing. Because of this, Snake ultimately decides to leave her alive to continue her fight.
- Majored in Western Hypocrisy: Cambridge-educated, courtesy of the money from her French father who worked in Gindra briefly, had an affair with a local woman, and later paid Sophie off to get her out of his life.
Metal Gear Codename: GANDER
The follow-up model to the TX-55 developed by the United States, GANDER was being transported to be tested when it was stolen by Gindran forces and taken to Galuade. Similar to the Rex model, it is capable of firing nuclear warheads with a railgun (which it has two of). Its greatest asset and danger is communications equipment to contact satellites carrying nuclear missiles and using them to strike anywhere in the world.
- Attack Drone: Carries two flying attack pods for additional defense.
- Gatling Good: Has two vulcan guns mounted on it.
- Humongous Mecha: Barring Arsenal Gear from MGS2 (which isn't really, technically, a Metal Gear), it's possibly the largest Metal Gear in the entire franchise until much later designs like Excelsus or Sahelanthropus.
- Kill It with Fire: Has a flamethrower for short-range combat.
- Kill Sat: It can uplink to nuke-carrying satellites in orbit.
- Macross Missile Massacre: Can launch a salvo of guided missiles from an array on its back.
- Subsystem Damage: Unlike most Metal Gears, this one does not have a single weak point to focus your attacks towards. Snake first has to cripple its legs, and then destroy every single weapon emplacement on the thing (apart from the railguns).
US Government:
Steve Gardner
The National Security Advisor and a former Director of Central Intelligence. Was the one who got Snake to participate in the mission, allegedly for the sake of America. In actuality, he set up most of the mission and manipulated both sides so he could discredit Army Chief of Staff John Parker so he'd regain control over Project Babel, and was the actual founder of Outer Heaven as a means to keep unofficial tabs on Anti-American Forces, while he was the Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, and he was responsible for wiping out Black Chamber.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Was responsible for pretty much everything bad that happened in that game, and in that storyline, even the story of Metal Gear. However he is never shown on screen.
- It's Personal: The vendetta between him and Parker began when one of them was considered to be partially responsible for the death of the other's daughter. The anger and enmity didn't take long to escalate.
John Parker
The US Army Chief of Staff. He's been the founder of Black Chamber.
- It's Personal: He blames Gardner for his overzealous investigation into an assassination attempt that led to his daughter killing herself out of paranoia.
Others:
William Weah
Gindran president who once led a coup in 1997.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Weah being a dictator led to the rise of the GLF.
