Characters · Solid Snake
Solid Snake
Solid Snake is the primary protagonist of the Metal Gear series — a special forces operative and stealth expert whose story spans from the late 1980s through Metal Gear Solid 4 in 2008.
What makes Snake unusual as a lead is how openly the series ages him. By Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, accelerated aging is part of the plot — not just a remaster with a new head model. You are watching a character get old on purpose, which is still rare in blockbuster games.
Games featuring Solid Snake (release order)
- Metal Gear (1987)
- Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (1990)
- Metal Gear Solid (1998)
- Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001) — playable in the tanker prologue; the rest of the campaign follows Raiden.
- Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008) — widely treated as Snake's closing chapter in the saga fans followed for years.
Created by Konami
Big Boss (often called Naked Snake in later writing) is a separate but linked protagonist — Metal Gear Solid 3, Peace Walker, and Metal Gear Solid V sit on his side of the ledger, not Solid Snake's. Keep the two timelines straight and the soap opera makes more sense.
Metal Gear franchise →Where to start with Metal Gear →