"You still don't get it! I'm using war as a business to get elected! So I can end war as a business... In my new America, people will die and kill... for what they believe! Not for money, not for oil, not for what they're told is right! Every man will be free to fight his own wars!"
In the war-torn world of Metal Gear, there are many who find their strings pulled by secret cabals and profiteers. There are also those who find themselves either cutting off or even holding those strings themselves.
All spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!
Franchise-Wide
- Big Boss himself helped found the Patriots AIs, only to have them spiral out of control on the side of his former best friend Major Zero. Slowly playing the government from the inside, Big Boss planned to create a world of war to honor soldiers forever. Having a loyal soldier who took the name Venom Snake used as a double to believe he truly was Big Boss, Big Boss used the man and his plans as a diversion while he focused on building his own nation, effortlessly playing his enemies for years and decades while forming Outer Heaven and later the nation of Zanzibar Land. Even surviving his own supposed death, Big Boss returns to find his plans have come to fruition to bring down the Patriots and makes amends with his son and clone Solid Snake before peacefully passing away by the grave of his mentor, the Boss.
- Revolver Ocelot, also known as Shalashaska, was born to the infamous Boss (aka the Joy) as Adamska and spent his youth as a double agent for the CIA and NSA while undercover. After managing to deliver the Philosopher's Legacy to the US, Ocelot begins to despise the puppet masters of the world, the Patriots, and seeks to bring them down. Betraying and manipulating every side he joins, Ocelot even uses drugs and psychotherapy to make everyone think he is possessed by the spirit of Liquid Snake, knowing what the Liquid persona will do to allow him to destroy the Patriots, eventually hijacking the plans of Solidus Snake and forming his own group. Even when defeated, Ocelot still achieves his goal of defeating the Patriots and ends his life in a final battle with his Arch-Enemy, Solid Snake, having been only loyal to the dream of his mother's successor Big Boss to the end.
- Original game: Sniper Wolf is a devious and cunning member of FOXHOUND that joined Liquid Snake's insurrection to exact vengeance on the world for ignoring the plight of herself and her fellow Kurds following the Second Kurdish-Iraqi War. Introduced ambushing Solid Snake and Meryl Silverburgh, Wolf wounds Meryl to lure Snake into the open. After Snake fights back, Wolf affects a retreat and then ambushes Snake with guards, taking him prisoner. Ambushing him one last time after he escapes, Wolf is finally defeated, expressing regret for helping Liquid and dying on her own terms. Humanized by her friendship with the wolves of Shadow Moses, her kindness towards Otacon and sparing Meryl's life because she doesn't kill for sport, Sniper Wolf was a proud soldier, "wild" and "untamed."
- Snake Eater: "The Boss", the greatest soldier ever, known as "The Joy" to the Cobra unit, is a tactical genius responsible for countless successful missions and tactical innovations. Inspiring nothing short of fanatical devotion and love from her subordinates, the Boss became the mentor to Jack, AKA "Naked Snake." Upon her undercover mission with the depraved Colonel Yevgeny Volgin going terribly wrong, the Boss resolves to take the blame and die at Jack's hands, manipulating him with her brutal mentorship to guide him to best Volgin before engaging him in a final battle to the death to pass the title of "Boss" to him and pass into history, even if she will be reviled forever as a traitor to the country she has sacrificed everything for.
- Portable Ops: Gene is the leader of the rogue FOX unit and the insurrection at San Hieronymo. A participant in the Successor Project to create a replacement for the Boss and the Perfect Battle Commander, Gene's natural charisma was enhanced to give him a Compelling Voice. Using this, he was able to sway the disillusioned Red Army soldiers to his side, even those resistant to his powers. Wanting Big Boss to join him in forging "Army's Heaven", Gene is nevertheless ruthless in his goals, forcing Big Boss' and his own men to slaughter each other to escape when cornered. When confronted at the finale Gene reveals to Big Boss he knew Cunningham was a traitor all along and played along with him so he could enact his real plan to use Metal Gear to attack the USA and trigger a new world war. Defeated by Big Boss, Gene acknowledges him as the Boss' true successor and gave him a microfilm containing all his resources and contacts he was planning to build his new home for soldiers.
- The Phantom Pain: "Ahab", the soldier known as Punished "Venom" Snake, was a medic whom idolized Big Boss and, after suffering severe brain damage, eventually became convinced he was Big Boss through extensive reconstructive surgery and hypnotism. Becoming the leader of the Diamond Dogs, Venom Snake undertakes a number of missions to strategically dismantle conflicts in multiple regions and increase the Diamond Dogs' fame and reputation. Engaging human traffickers, destroying militia groups and more while also managing to destroy the Metal Gear of the depraved war criminal Skull Face, Venom Snake stifles the attempt at unleashing a vocal parasite across the world to wipe out the English language, while eventually becoming aware of his true identity. Deciding to remain loyal to Big Boss, Venom Snake strips away his humanity for the sake of soldiers and devotes himself to building Outer Heaven with Big Boss, helping to fool the world governments to pull off the plans to defeat Cipher and the Patriots organizations. Eventually facing Solid Snake to buy time for Big Boss, Venom Snake is acknowledged by his leader as the only other man worthy to share the coveted title as the greatest of soldiers.
- General Augustine Eguabon is a charming and polite leader of Gindra Liberation Front, who uses new Metal Gear GANDER to threaten US in to withdrawing their forces from Gindra and declare it independent. In reality, he was a field controller of Project Babel, sent to Gindra by United States Army Chief of Staff John Parker to help establish the U.S. as the sole superpower in Africa, by creating a climate of hostility to discourage organized alliance, which would lead to the arrival of U.S.-dominated peacekeeping troops for an indefinite stay, who then could exercise control over the entire region. However, Augustine grew to care for people of Gindra and decided to betray Parker by actually following his promises and deliver Gindra independence and then he hired and manipulated Black Chamber unit to help him wipe out the soldier team, which was sent to kill him. As Solid Snake tries to stop him, Augustine continues to prove that he always has a backup plan, rendering all Snake's victories hollow. When Solid Snake manages to defeat him, Augustine honorably follows his promise to reveal all truth to Snake and give him the data proving everything he said was true before dying.
- Senator Steven Armstrong seeks to get elected US President using war as a business so he can end war as a business. Having manipulated the political system to give his company more power in his state of Colorado and getting elected, Armstrong forms the group Desperado Enforcement LLC to initiate more conflicts so he can raise his approval ratings. Armstrong decides to have the President assassinated in Pakistan to capitalize and start a war to restart the war economy to pull America from its economic slump. When Raiden interferes, Armstrong just works his involvement into his plans and decides the damage already done is enough for his plans. While defeated by Raiden, Armstrong reveals that he truly believes in creating a world of the strong surviving for the sake of freedom and happily acknowledges Raiden as his successor, telling him to carve his own path while letting nothing stand in his way.
- Samuel "Jetstream Sam" Rodrigues is an exceptionally skilled samurai and a top lieutenant of Desperado Enforcement, having joined after its leader, Steven Armstrong, defeated him in a fight. Believing that Might Makes Right, Sam first duels Raiden on a train during an assassination mission, easily defeating him and making him question his ideals. Later mentally breaking Raiden into returning to his "Jack the Ripper" persona with a brutal speech and insight into the minds of his foes, Sam finally meets with Raiden in the Colorado Desert for a final showdown. After his defeat, it is revealed via a last recording on Sam's sword that he, in questioning his own actions, arranged for his sword, Murasama, to fall into Raiden's hands, allowing Raiden to defeat Armstrong and prove his philosophy alongside stopping Armstrong's plans from beyond the grave.
