History Characters / MetalGearBigBoss

[[center:[-[[Characters/MetalGear Main Character Index]] | Characters/MetalGear1 ([[Characters/MetalGearSolidSnake Solid Snake]] | '''Big Boss / Naked Snake''') | [[Characters/MetalGear2SolidSnake Metal Gear 2]] | [[Characters/MetalGearSolid Metal Gear Solid]] ([[Characters/MetalGearSolidFOXHOUND FOXHOUND]]) | [[Characters/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty Sons of Liberty]] ([[Characters/MetalGearRaiden Raiden]]) | [[Characters/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater Snake Eater]] | [[Characters/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots Guns of the Patriots]] | [[Characters/MetalGearSolidPortableOps Portable Ops]] | [[Characters/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker Peace Walker]] | [[Characters/MetalGearRisingRevengeance Revengeance]] ([[Characters/MetalGearSenatorArmstrong Senator Armstrong]]) | [[Characters/MetalGearSolidV Ground Zeroes/The Phantom Pain]] | [[Characters/MetalGearAcid Acid]] | [[Characters/MetalGearAcid2 Acid 2]] | [[Characters/MetalGearGhostBabel Ghost Babel]] | [[Characters/SnakesRevenge Snake's Revenge]] | [[Characters/MetalGearSurvive Survive]]-]]]
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[[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/big_boss_2_857.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:340:''"Let it go, my son."'']]
[[caption-width-right:340:[[labelnote:Click here]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mgs3_bb_7986.png[[/labelnote]] to see Naked Snake in ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater MGS3]]'']]
[[caption-width-right:340:[[labelnote:Click here]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/big_boss_1_877.jpg[[/labelnote]] to see Snake in ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker MGS:PW]]'']]
[[caption-width-right:340:[[labelnote:Click here]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mgsv_snake.png[[/labelnote]] to see Big Boss in ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain MGSV]]'']]
[[caption-width-right:340:[[labelnote:Click here]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mgsv_ishmael.jpg[[/labelnote]] to see Ishmael]]

->'''A.K.A.''': Naked Snake, Jack, John Doe, The Legendary Soldier, The Legendary Mercenary, The One-Eyed Man, Saladin, Vic Boss, Ishmael, The Bandaged Man

->'''Naked Snake voiced by''': Creator/AkioOtsuka (JP; ''[=MGS3=]'', ''[=MPO=]'', ''[=MGSPW=]'', ''[=MGSV=]''), Creator/DavidHayter (EN; ''[=MGS3=]'', ''[=MPO=]'', ''[=MGSPW=]'')\\
'''Big Boss voiced by''': Creator/ChikaoOhtsuka (JP, ''[=MGS4=]''), Richard Doyle (EN, ''[=MGS4=]''), Creator/KieferSutherland (EN, ''[=MGSV=]'')

->''"If the times demand it, we'll be revolutionaries, criminals, terrorists. And yes, we may all be headed straight to hell. But what better place for us than this? It is our only home. Our heaven and our hell. This is Outer Heaven."''

In 1964, [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater a man named John, an agent of the Black Ops unit FOX, saves the world from nuclear Armageddon]]. Along the way, he's forced to slay his teacher and adoptive mother codenamed the Boss. For his actions, he is christened "[[YouKillItYouBoughtIt Big Boss]]" by the President of the United States and inherits his teacher's title of "the Greatest Warrior of the Twentieth Century".

He later goes on to found the private military companies ''Militaires Sans Frontieres'' and ''Diamond Dogs'', as well as the U.S. Army black ops group ''FOXHOUND''. In the first ''Metal Gear'' game, Big Boss secretly leads the uprising at Outer Heaven and sends ''FOXHOUND'' rookie Solid Snake to investigate it, not expecting that he will actually survive. In ''Metal Gear 2'', Big Boss takes control of Zanzibar Land and kidnaps a scientist who developed an alternative fuel source. Solid Snake is sent in to rescue the scientist, and ultimately kills Big Boss with a makeshift flamethrower.

While he was originally little more than the BigBad of the first two ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' games, Big Boss later received a great deal of CharacterDevelopment, becoming the [[TragicHero tragic]] [[TragicVillain protagonist]] of the prequel games.

For tropes pertaining to the Venom Snake persona in ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain The Phantom Pain]]'', go [[Characters/MetalGearSolidV here]]. Go [[Characters/SnakesRevenge here]] for the version of Big Boss in ''VideoGame/SnakesRevenge''.
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* EightiesHair: Has a mullet [[TheSixties twenty years early]] and sports it throughout TheSeventies.
* AbsurdPhobia: He is afraid of ''vampires'' of all things. (Of course, this being the ''Metal Gear'' universe, this fear might not be quite so absurd or irrational after all...)
* TheAce: Considered this throughout ''[=MGS3=]'', and his legend exploits this. He's good enough that losing an eye only leads to one instance of trouble with depth perception. Then he gets ''[[BrokenAce broken]]''.
* AffablyEvil: He may have been willing to cross any line to give soldiers a place in the world, but he was an otherwise likable guy: [[BenevolentBoss kind to his subordinates]], [[VillainRespect respectful of his enemies]], and full of many goofy character quirks.
* AlliterativeName: His {{codename}} is '''B'''ig '''B'''oss.
* AlasPoorVillain: At the end of his life, despite being a war criminal who would cycle new soldiers in and out of combat, and antagonized Snake on his first two missions, the latter realizes Big Boss was just a man who has as much, if not more, traumatizing experiences on the battlefield as his. He was manipulated into murdering his own mentor who desired for peace, and twisted her will for his own benefit, which he shows regret in doing. Once he wakes up, Big Boss decides to make peace not only with Snake, but with himself, and chose a peaceful death.
* AmbitionIsEvil: Solid Snake performs precision strikes against threats as they appear and succeeds. Big Boss tried to raise several sizeable organisations to accomplish his goals, went to seed from the stress, and ultimately fails.
* AndIMustScream: After his [[spoiler: battle with Solid Snake at Zanzibar, he was left heavily burned and just barely alive, but the Patriots recovered him and injected him with nanomachines to keep him from dying. After this he was kept in a [[HumanPopsicle cryogenic coma]], during which he was semi-aware, as the Patriots used him for extensive experiments, leaving quite the marks on his already damaged body. He was in that state [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid for]] [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty fifteen]] [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots years]] until the destruction of the Patriots' [=AIs=] finally let him wake up. Luckily for him, EVA had in the meantime been able to steal his body back from where the Patriots kept him and used parts of Liquid's and Solidus's bodies to restore him to his former appearance]].
* AntiHero: During his younger days, he was trying to make the world a better place, even if it meant fighting and killing on the battlefield to do so. And even after becoming [[BrokenPedestal extremely disillusioned]] at the end of ''Snake Eater'', he nonetheless keeps trying to do the right thing.
* AntiNihilist: As Solid Snake's predecessor, Big Boss once had a very similar philosophy, but became a WellIntentionedExtremist and one of the series' [[RogueProtagonist main antagonists]] when he took romantic notions of being a soldier too far, though it's hard to blame him for it, [[TraumaCongaLine with all things considered]].
** [[spoiler: He eventually [[HeelFaceTurn returns]] to anti-nihilism at the end of ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots Guns of the Patriots]]'', [[RedemptionEqualsDeath finding closure]] to his long and storied life: he [[RepairedPedestal reconciles]] with his son and reaffirms that world peace is WorthLivingFor, performs a [[MercyKill mercy kill]] on a comatose old friend who had [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom unwittingly]] become the keystone of the WarEconomy, salutes the grave of his mentor (who was also an AntiNihilist who sacrificed her life and reputation to make the world a better place) and enjoys a [[OneLastSmoke final smoke]] before finally passing away]].
* AntiVillain: After realizing that he rejects The Boss's philosophy of self-sacrifice for [[MyCountryRightOrWrong nations that care nothing for you]], he becomes willing to kill, torture and [[spoiler: [[CloneByConversion brainwash]]]] even non-combatants to make his dream of a nation where soldiers will always be needed a reality. Eventually, he even threatens the world with a nuclear weapon. However, [[NotSoAboveItAll even at his most villainous]], he still [[VillainRespect showed compassion to his former enemies]] and [[AFatherToHisMen cared deeply for his men]].
* ArchnemesisDad:
** He's the nemesis of his own son [[spoiler: Solid Snake/David]] in ''Metal Gear'' and ''Metal Gear 2''. [[spoiler:Liquid Snake/Eli]] is ''inmensely jealous'', [[YouKilledMyFather having wanted to kill Big Boss for years]]. And [[spoiler:Solidus Snake/George Sears]] was the one to idolize Big Boss, modeling himself after the legendary mercenary.
** Subverted with The Boss. The US government required him to kill her in Operation Snake Eater, and she allowed herself to be the fall woman for Volgin's detonation of a Davy Crocket she gave him. Snake has very mixed feelings about having to kill her with his own hands, and he knows it's what he was ordered to do. By acting on killing her, it left nothing but emotional scars that stays with him for decades right until the end of his life that he makes peace with himself so that with her Will fulfilled, he can finally rest in peace so that her Will will carry on.
* TheAtoner: While he's very much aware of how far he's fallen, takes him decades [[spoiler:until the end of ''Guns of the Patriots'']] before he at long last atones.
* BackForTheDead: [[spoiler: He returns at the end of ''[=MGS4=]'', only to die shortly after]].
* BadassBack: Some of his CQC moves allow for these moments.
* BadassBoast: ''"You don't have what it takes to kill me."''
* BadassInANiceSuit: For his final appearance in [[spoiler:''Guns of the Patriots''. Turns out he had [[DressingToDie some good reasons to]].]]
* BadassLongcoat: In his later years. The khaki trenchcoat is a standard attire for ''FOXHOUND'', but it originated with Gene's ''FOX'' unit.
* BadassNormal: Unlike his sons, Big Boss has had no genetic tampering, nor nano-augmentation, nor suit of power armor (though Solid Snake's genetics are actually ''supposed'' to be a [[FlawedPrototype flawed]] clone), and yet, his feats of military prowess are every bit as legendary.
** [[spoiler: As Ishmael, he appears to be an unarmed, otherwise unremarkable individual, he's the only reason why Venom Snake manages to make it out of the hospital, fending off a heavily-armed force of XOF soldiers and The Man On Fire. He also takes out the superhumanly strong Quiet (who had just moments earlier tossed him like a ragdoll) while unarmed, by improvising a flamethrower.]]
* BadLiar: During the Peace Walker incident, whenever confronted in regards to why Big Boss is in Costa Rica, he always comes up with a lie about why he's there, a lie that's very easy to pick apart. These include:
** Claiming that he was a Colombian bird photographer when meeting Amanda and the FSLN. His camera is not even set right, and when he rescues Chico, he actually slips up and calls himself a war photographer. To cover up his mistake, he says that he takes pictures of "the birds at the battlefield" in a somewhat unsure tone.
** Claiming that he's an entymologist, and that he's looking for the Ulysses butterfly. Huey points out that Ulysses butterflies are not present in Costa Rica, and Snakes says he meant the Morphos butterfly, and he's trying to get some for the CITES Washington Treaty. Huey tells him they aren't covered in the treaty.
** Claiming that he's an ornithologist and that he was looking for the Quetzal for the CITES Washington Treaty.
* BagOfSpilling: The rival military outfit ''XOF'' takes out Mother Base along with Big Boss's entire arsenal. Big Boss lands in a nine-year coma after this incident, which strips away his muscle mass.
* BaitTheDog: Though he has saved orphaned children on the battlefield, his dialogue with Snake in ''Metal Gear 2'' states that he intends to cycle them in and out of battle, meaning he'll save war orphans, train them, and send them out as harden soldiers. Snake even thinks that's going too far.
* BandagedFace: [[spoiler: This is probably [[JustifiedTrope because he's in a hospital]], but it also shows him as TheFaceless Ishmael and helps him hide his true identity.]]
* BaritoneOfStrength: Befitting someone who is known as "Big Boss" and has founded two [=PMCs=] and a U.S. Army black ops group, Creator/AkioOtsuka and Creator/DavidHayter give him the same baritone Solid Snake's famous for. The latter replaced later by Creator/RichardDoyle and Creator/KieferSutherland.
* BeenThereShapedHistory: In ''[=MGS3=]'', he, along with Sigint and Zero, came up with the American classification for the dreaded Mil Mi-24 (the "Hind"), and he was also the one who came up with the cardboard box trick that Solid Snake and Raiden made frequent use of. With Kazuhira Miller's help, he also founded the world's first private military companies.
* BeingGoodSucks: Moreso than Solid Snake, and he knew it too. ''Everything'' he ever did was for the sake of his country and The Boss, but no matter what, life found a way to take everything from him. When he found out the whole world wanted him dead, he decided [[ThenLetMeBeEvil he had enough]] and created ''Outer Heaven''.
** BeingEvilSucks: ...At the same time, he ultimately realizes how selfish his goal was, and wants to fulfill The Boss's will correctly. [[spoiler:When he sees David one last time, he commends his son [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre for not falling the path he did]]]].
* BenevolentBoss: There's [[AFatherToHisMen a good reason]] why his followers have genuine [[UndyingLoyalty undying loyalty]] to him. This is easily his greatest redeeming quality.
* BerserkerTears: While he was already suffering from [[KillTheOnesYouLove executing]] [[spoiler: The Boss]] -- and gradually started to lose his composure throughout ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker Peace Walker]]'' -- being forced to tear the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin aforementioned]] AI's pod apart [[spoiler: (reliving his "matricide" once more)]], caused his sanity to take an even ''further'' nosedive.
-->'''Big Boss:''' [[spoiler: Why]]?! ''(As he's banging on the pod he just dismantled.)'' [[spoiler: I don't understand! Answer me! Tell. ME. ''[[BigWhy WHY]]''! '''ANSWER ME!''' '''''[[SayMyName BO-O-O-OSS]]...!!!!''''' ...why?]]
* BigBad: Of ''Metal Gear'' and ''Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake'', wanting to enforce his ideals of ''Outer Heaven'' and give soldiers like him [[WarriorHeaven a place in the world]] through nuclear superiority, using ''Outer Heaven'' in South Africa (''VideoGame/MetalGear1'') and Zanzibar/[[spoiler: Tselinoyarsk]] (''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake'') as his bases of operations.
* BigNo: Lets one out during [[spoiler:Paz's HeroicSuicide at the end of ''Ground Zeroes'']].
* BloodKnight: One of his primary reasons for creating ''Outer Heaven'' and later Zanzibar Land was to give himself and his soldiers a place where they can go to war endlessly, due to the fact that he only ever felt truly alive when fighting in a war.
** He did originally intend and, more importantly, ''attempted'' to live his life peacefully after ''Operation Snake Eater'' (namely as an instructor or a hunting guide), but he ended up dragged back onto the battlefield.
* BodyDouble: [[spoiler:How he survived the original game, as revealed in ''The Phantom Pain'']].
* BodyHorror: As Naked Snake, he participated in a Bikini Atoll hydrogen bomb test to show the effects radiation had on soldiers exposed to the site aftermath. Whereas most others developed acute radiation symptoms, this [[BornLucky simply rendered him sterile.]] Then he went through ''[=MGS3=]'', having most of his body tortured and brutalized with permanent scarring and a [[EyeScream dead eye]]. Then he went through ''Ground Zeroes'' and ''The Phantom Pain'', barely surviving a chopper crash in the middle of the ocean and an explosion practically to his face. Then came the MSX games, where [[spoiler:Venom Snake is the one killed by rockets]] in ''Metal Gear'' and then he's seemingly put down for good by [[ManOnFire being set aflame into a burning crisp]] in ''Metal Gear 2''. [[spoiler:Then he [[NobodyCouldSurviveThat survived]] as little more than a burnt husk of a [[AndIMustScream mentally conscious]] cadaver for the years that followed until he was restored in secret in ''Metal Gear Solid 4'', which still doesn't last long before his heart is killed internally once and for all by FOXDIE.]]
* BondOneLiner: Something he usually does.
* BookEnds: [[spoiler: The ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots Guns of the Patriots]]'' novelization claims that Zanzibar Land was originally Tselinoyarsk, the place Naked Snake infiltrated in ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater Snake Eater]]'', suggesting that the location where his fame arose is also where he meets his final defeat]].
** ''[=MGS3=]'' ended with Big Boss saluting The Boss's grave, thus beginning his StartOfDarkness, while ''[=MGS4=]'' [[spoiler: ended with him saluting The Boss once more in his death throes. He's also seen shedding a SingleTear, completely overcome with guilt]].
*** Chronologically, the whole series begins and ends with him smoking a cigar.
* BreakTheCutie: He was a fairly nice guy who wanted nothing more than to serve his country. ''Operation Snake Eater'' changed that, and turned him into a bitter and angry shell of a man. Losing an eye and [[spoiler: killing your old mentor and mother figure ([[FakeDefector who never even betrayed her country]])]] will do that to you. Granted, he kept some of his quirks as well as a strong sense of morality, [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPortableOps but for]] [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker only]] [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain so long]]...
* BreakTheHaughty: Amusingly, going into ''Operation Virtuous Mission'', Naked Snake is easily the most smug a protagonist has been in the entire franchise, utterly cocksure of himself from beginning to end.. until [[CurbStompBattle The Boss shows up in person.]] The rest of ''[=MGS3=]'' is him having to take his pride and capability as a soldier and temper it on top of [[TookALevelInBadass his skill]] to overcome the impossible, setting in stone the legend of Big Boss as we know it -- where, [[BreakTheCutie by that point]], he simply doesn't [[CharacterDevelopment give a damn]] about how much of a legendary soldier he's become.
* BreakoutCharacter: While Big Boss has always been an important character to the series since the very first MSX game, it wasn't until the debut of his younger self Naked Snake that he gradually began taking the role of the series' protagonist away from his son Solid Snake. Having already starred in four prequels (''Snake Eater'', ''Portable Ops'', ''Peace Walker'', and ''Ground Zeroes''), the amount of canonical ''Metal Gear'' games starring Big Boss matches the amount starring Solid Snake.
* BrokenAce: In ''Peace Walker''.
* BrokenBird: Became this when he killed The Boss in ''[=MGS3=]'', and never really recovers. In his final meeting with Solid Snake, Big Boss openly admits he was essentially dead inside from that day onward.
* BrokenPedestal:
** The Boss becomes the former to him after The Boss's [[spoiler: faked]] defection. At the end of ''Peace Walker'', he denounces The Boss as a fraud for [[ILetYouWin laying down the gun]] and embracing peace, but still tries to enforce his interpretation of The Boss's will and honor his mentor's memory.
** The U.S. government becomes one to him and stays a broken one because of what they did to The Boss, though he retains some respect for his country.
** Big Boss himself becomes a BrokenPedestal to two other people:
*** To Solid Snake, his prized student and son. After the events of Outer Heaven and Zanzibar Land, Solid Snake is so bitter over Big Boss's betrayals that he's one of the last people to recognize his achievements, and swears off using CQC for nearly two decades. That being said, he still retains some respect for his old CO, being livid in ''[=MGS2=]'' when seeing Solidus impersonating Big Boss, as well as the fact that he visits and even salutes Big Boss's grave in ''[=MGS4=]''.
*** To Kazuhira Miller, his second-in-command and best friend during the events of ''Peace Walker''. [[spoiler:In the post-credits scene of the True Ending, Ocelot tells Kaz of Big Boss's true plan: leaving everyone he ever knew behind so he could conduct his own war against Cipher, building the true "Outer Heaven" without his old comrades, and having the Diamond Dogs acting as a decoy, complete with an exact body double of Big Boss (who is the character you play as throughout the whole game). After losing his comrades, his limbs, and even his dream, Kaz finally gets his revenge on those who wronged him, only to find out that he feels completely hollow and that his best friend is an impostor, the real Big Boss having abandoned Kaz without a goodbye. Having truly lost everything, Kaz furiously swears that Big Boss will pay for his betrayal, and that Kaz will be more than happy to train the phantom and his sons to oppose him]].
* BunnyEarsLawyer: The man is a total geek over his guns and cardboard boxes. He also sincerely believes in Santa Claus.
** Also, he apparently has a tendency to misunderstand exactly how some items are considered valuable to most people in other ways besides battle.
** In ''Portable Ops'', in a conversation with Para-Medic, Para-Medic explains about El Dorado and that even though it technically doesn't exist, there is evidence to suggest that there were similar civilizations that used gold even in the present, and mentioned that they used gold knives. Naked Snake expressed interest in the knives, although not in regards to its value as much as using the knife to distract the enemy so he could CQC them into submission, with Para-Medic exasperatedly explaining that she wasn't meaning that.
** In ''Peace Walker'', Paz explains to Big Boss about the Stone Spheres in Costa Rica, where it is not known what they were used for, but Big Boss guesses that he could use them for a trap, and that being nearly perfect spheres would make them perfect for rolling down slopes, causing Paz to express shock at what Big Boss is implying.
*** Though all of that is perfectly in character for Big Boss as in ''Metal Gear 2'', he claims that personal wealth doesn't mean anything to him, war is the only thing that has ever satisfied him. He doesn't look at those things in terms of how valuable they would be because money doesn't have any intrinsic value to him; money is nothing more than a means to an end, [[WarForFunAndProfit namely funding his ability to wage war]].
** At several points, he didn't seem to understand much about sexual orientations. Notable examples include when he calls EVA about Raikov, to which, despite EVA's not-so-subtle hints that Raikov was homosexual, Naked Snake seemed completely oblivious and didn't seem to know what EVA was talking about (at one point, he even misconstrues her hints as believing that she formerly dated Raikov yet he broke up with her), expressing confusion to Para-Medic's suggestion that he use the Raikov mask to shake up Volgin [[note]]Volgin's [[DepravedBisexual bisexual]] and in a relationship with Raikov[[/note]], and he also seemed slightly taken aback and confused when Cecile reveals that Strangelove, her captor, seemed to be a lesbian and have a romantic fascination with the same sex. Pretty much the only one where Snake seemed to have any clue about was heterosexuality, going by his reaction to some of EVA's comments.
* ByronicHero: Particularly in his ProtagonistJourneyToVillain.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In the first game, Big Boss is a generic villain with no personality. Come ''Metal Gear 2'', and he becomes far more complex and with more complicated motives and philosophies than most villains in modern games, let alone the 8-bit era. However, his [[LukeIAmYourFather father-son relationship]] with Solid Snake is completely absent, since the plot point wasn't even introduced at that point, leaving his appearance in [[spoiler: ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'']] to address that. The prequel games add on to this, detailing that he was an eccentric dork prior to his FaceHeelTurn.
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Big Boss's superior soldier genes apparently have some mutant healing factor thrown in for good measure, since he's able to still move around after breaking his legs twenty times as long as he's put splints on them.
** Apparently Big Boss is also capable of ''bench-pressing the equivalent weight of AI Weapon Cocoon's main body above his head''.
--->'''Paz:''' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YniykBNZa0w It's a miracle]]!
* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler: After the car crash, Ishmael mysteriously goes missing and isn't mentioned again. The True Ending establishes that he exited the car safely and set the stage for his phantom's creation.]]
* ChildSoldier: ''Portable Ops'' implied that Naked Snake had participated in the battlefield while he was still very young. He was also a member of the Green Berets (a special forces group) and a veteran of the UsefulNotes/KoreanWar as early in his twenties; however, he is canonically born in 1935, so the only known way he could join a special forces group and be a veteran of the Korean War (assuming the former actually preceded the latter) is if he joined the military at a really young age. Being The Boss's apprentice might have helped as he was ''15'' when The Boss took him. He later attempts to raise child soldiers in Zanzibar Land, though their lack of hostility towards Solid Snake's and Big Boss's reference of "the wars of tomorrow" suggest otherwise.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] Big Boss has a tragic tendency of getting backstabbed by a lot of the people he loves, and even more tragically is that most of them geniunenly love him back but circumstances force their hands (The Boss, EVA, [[spoiler: Zero and the Patriots]], Kaz and Huey), ironically the only person that doesn't betray him is ''[[ManipulativeBastard Ocelot of all people]]''. We also see how this pattern changes him game by game, becoming colder and more distrusting, paving the way for how he would become in the original games. [[spoiler: By ''the Phantom Pain'' he decides enough is enough and becomes determined to be the one that betrays rather than the one being betrayed as demostrated by his treatment of Venom Snake, ''his best and most loyal soldier'' and later to Solid Snake himself, his ''own son'' and a man he claimed he respected, during the original Metal Gear]].
* CigarChomper: He picked up the habit from The Boss who was known to smoke them. His preferred smokes appearing to be a fictional brand of Cuban cigars, modeled after the H. Uppman No. 2.
* CloseRangeCombatant: While skilled in many areas of warfare, he is particularly skilled at CQC, a combative system he developed in conjunction with The Boss. In ''[=MGS3=], he even notes that there are times when a handgun can be more useful than a rifle, as it allows him to quickly switch between knife and gun to suit the situation.
* ColorMotif: Green.
* CombatPragmatist: Going by the scene where Naked Snake first enters Dolinovodno during the Virtuous Mission, Snake has absolutely no problems with shooting down a hornet's nest that's directly above a KGB soldier if it meant passing by undetected.
** This habit annoys [[LetsFightLikeGentlemen Ocelot]] who [[WhatTheHellHero protests]] if Naked Snake shoots the hornet nest or flings grenades during their fight.
** Notably, he had no problem brandishing an automatic weapon (the Patriot perhaps?) against Solid Snake totally-unarmed and wounded. He still lost.
** [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] with his battle against The End, where if the player kills the old sniper early or lets The End die of old age first, Naked Snake will mention disappointment that he didn't beat the old man in a fair battle.
** [[AvertedTrope Averted]] in ''Portable Ops'', where he outright refused to kill Null while the young soldier was unconscious, despite being told how much of a threat Null will be while awake. [[spoiler: Sparing him would prove to be beneficial for both men in the long run]].
* CompositeCharacter: Made of equal parts from UsefulNotes/CheGuevara, John J. Franchise/{{Rambo}}, [[Film/EscapeFromNewYork Snake Plissken]] and Commander Film/JamesBond (young and old Creator/SeanConnery).
* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: Quite aside from the [[TrainingFromHell training from hell]] he received from The Boss, on top of what he went through to become a Green Beret, Big Boss's many painful experiences have made him [[JadeColoredGlasses cynical]] about his flirtation with horror.
** He's come to accept that [[DeterminedDefeatist he's destined to live in the heat of battle as long as he lives]]. When Paz asks Big Boss about his thoughts on peace he says flat out that he doesn't know what peace looks like, and in an odd way the battlefield itself brings him a type of peace that "real peace" [[BloodKnight could never satisfy]]. By the time he fights Solid Snake in Zanzibar Land, his stance has been progressively ''worse'' as he claims that it's '''their''' [[YouCannotFightFate fate]] to die bitterly like a dog on the battlefield. He goes so far as to say that nothing else matters to him; not money, not power, not even lust -- only war.
* CoolOldGuy
* CooldownHug: With [[spoiler:Solid Snake]]. And a damn touching one at that.
* CoveredWithScars: Admits to this in ''Snake Eater'', and Volgin acknowledges this in his torture scene if you received enough wounds to max out your life bar.
* CrazyPrepared: In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'', he apparently wised up to the two [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater prior]] [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPortableOps captures]] he endured, and fashioned a fake snake-shaped scar as a means to smuggle in a jigsaw which he can use to cut the lock off in the event that he did end up captured and didn't have an alternate means of escape.
* CreateYourOwnHero: A large case of irony, given he was Solid Snake's commander ''and'' the man who taught him what he knew in FOXHOUND. If he hadn't betrayed Snake in Outer Heaven, the latter would have been his greatest asset in his war against the Patriots, considering they have a mutual goal to put an end to the Patriots' hold on the world. Plus, it was Solid Snake who ironically manages to accomplish the goal The Boss wanted.
* CreateYourOwnVillain: Had he simply killed or rejected [[spoiler:Ocelot]] instead of befriending, the [[spoiler:son of his mentor]] would have likely remained a vicious government operative than the highly destructive zealot for his cause that Ocelot wound up being.
* DarkMessiah: Witness the unlimited sway he holds over thousands of troops across the globe, and it's clear how dangerous this man can be if pushed too far:
-->'''Big Boss:''' Yes, we may all be headed straight to hell. But what better place for us than this?
* DeadpanSnarker: Naked Snake proves to have a really dry, yet impish sense of humor and a sharp tongue to boot, frequently making quips at the expense of both allies and enemies.
** [[spoiler: In ''MGSV'', this trope is one of the first hints revealing that {{player character}} is ''not'' the real Big Boss, as Venom Snake is far less capable of snark, while "Ishmael" fires off quips like ammo]].
* DeathByDisfigurement[=/=]DeathByIrony: Well, [[spoiler: he ''barely'' avoided kicking the bucket]], but the tropes still apply. It's his habit to keep lighters on him what became his undoing, when Solid Snake picked up one he dropped in a room, and then used it as part of a makeshift flamethrower to immolate him. Then again, [[spoiler: it's heavily implied that his defeat at Snake's hands is actually intentional]].
* DeathSeeker: Hinted at on multiple occasions:
** He pretty much ''begs'' Dr. Strangelove to torture him to death when captured.
** The lyrics to "Heavens Divide" from ''Peace Walker'' seem to indicate he wishes for death so that he [[TogetherInDeath can rejoin]] [[spoiler:The Boss]].
--> ''When Heavens Divide\\
Time will come, to softly lay me down\\
Then I can see [[spoiler: her face]], that I long to see''
** Solid Snake's response when asked about his [[spoiler: supposed]] murder of Big Boss, [[spoiler: even as the latter revealed their ''true'' relationship]]?
-->'''Solid Snake:''' He ''wanted'' it.
** In ''Guns of the Patriots'', [[spoiler:he outright states that he was "already dead" since the minute he killed The Boss, and takes being infected with the FOXDIE strain as a good thing, [[DrivenToSuicide finally relieving him of his burden]]. One phrase in particular ''screams'' this trope]]:
-->'''Big Boss:''' [[spoiler: ''(Tearing up.)'' Boss... You only need one snake. No... The world would be better off without snakes.]]
* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: He takes the deconstruction of the ActionHero even further than his son:
** While we initially meet Naked Snake as a seasoned soldier, his first mission turns him from being a WideEyedIdealist with PatrioticFervor into a ShellShockedVeteran who felt that he became an UnwittingPawn to the government when the mission's true nature was revealed to him: a political affair carried out to kill an innocent soldier [[spoiler: (who served as his mentor)]] and ensure that the United States made off with a fortune. As such, he left the United States to start his own private military company that became involved with increasingly morally-questionable operations, which eventually led to him being branded as a terrorist in spite of the fact that his actions successfully prevented nuclear war. After his base of operations was destroyed for the first time, he became a shell of a man that decided to fully embrace his role as a war criminal as long as it meant he could create a "[[WarriorHeaven heaven]]" for soldiers like himself -- which, of course, would come at the cost of making the rest of the world a [[HellIsWar living hell]] for everyone else.
* DecoyProtagonist: [[spoiler:An odd case in ''MGSV''. He is the protagonist of the first part, ''Ground Zeroes'', but TheReveal in ''The Phantom Pain'' is that we weren't playing as him but his body double Venom Snake. So the twist is essentially that he was a Decoy Protagonist when we were lead to believe he was simply the protagonist of the whole thing]].
* DefectorFromDecadence: Ultimately, a soldier, no matter how legendary, is just a tool, something to be used and then readily replaced. Big Boss lost some respect for his native land after he learned that the Boss [[spoiler: was in fact innocent of defection and that the U.S. Government cast her aside because of an unanticipated factor involving Volgin and a nuclear weapon]]. [[note]] Of course, it's revealed in both ''Portable Ops'' and ''Peace Walker'' that The Boss's death was planned from the very beginning. [[/note]] This was a major impetus for Big Boss founding a Spartan-esque "[[WarriorHeaven nation of soldiers]]".
** Eventually, he ended up leaving [[spoiler: Cipher]] after [[spoiler: Zero]] had him cloned without his knowledge or his consent.
* DentedIron: In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'', not counting any injuries the player sustains in-game, he gets a couple of broken bones during the Virtuous Mission and [[EyeScream loses an eye]] during ''Operation Snake Eater''.
** His injuries rack up further in ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake'' following his encounter with Solid Snake and he winds up as a charred, limbless shell. [[spoiler:''[[AndIMustScream And he's still alive]]''. He does get better after some surgery, though]].
* DespairEventHorizon: He crossed it when he was forced to kill the Boss. In his own words:
-->'''Big Boss''': Ever since I killed The Boss... with my own hands... I... was already dead.
** While he was utterly and irrepairably heartbroken after killing The Boss, what truly turned him into villainy was [[spoiler: dismantling the Mammal Pod AI (modeled after The Boss's personality) in ''Peace Walker'', essentially forcing him to relive the same tragedy.]]
* {{Deuteragonist}}: Of the whole series. He's got the second-most playable appearances (''4'') after Solid Snake, and still plays a major role behind the scenes in the few games he doesn't appear in.
* DifficultButAwesome: His [=CQC=] in ''Snake Eater'' is generally held to be extremely complex. That said, it's also generally held to be the most overpowered version of said [=CQC=].
* DisappearedDad: Intentionally remained out of the lives of Solid Snake, Liquid and Solidus, due to not considering them as sons. He did personally mentor Snake within ''FOXHOUND'', and informed of their relationship before Snake "killed" him, but there is no evidence to suggest that he ever met Liquid or Solidus. [[spoiler:The fact that Liquid/Eli interacted with Venom and even inadvertently vowed his lifelong mission against Venom (not the original Big Boss) contributes to the DramaticIrony of his character arc.]]
* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:''Twice'']].
** Though with the reveal in ''The Phantom Pain'' that [[spoiler: there are two Big Bosses after ''MGSV'' this has been {{Retcon}}ned to only once. The "Big Boss" who died in ''VideoGame/MetalGear1'' was actually [[CollectiveIdentity Venom]] [[CloneByConversion Snake]]]].
* DontCallMeSir: For at least ten years after the events of ''Snake Eater'', he preferred to go by the Naked Snake codename or just Snake rather than Big Boss. It takes until the end of ''Peace Walker'' for him to embrace the Big Boss title.
* DoWrongRight: While he was impressed by Ocelot's ImprobableAimingSkills, he chews him out and gives him advice on firearms such as not to use techniques on the field that he hadn't practiced let alone even properly existed and most notably to use a revolver instead due to a tic he noticed which would normally damage regular firearms, but would be better with a revolver.
* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: When the Peace Walker weapon, powered by an AI patterned after the Boss' personality and memories, drowns itself rather than risk nuclear war, Big Boss is irritated and declares it as proof that the Boss betrayed him and everything that a soldier should stand for.
* DrivenToVillainy: His own existence is a kind of premature Hell. So why not share it?
* DrivesLikeCrazy: [[spoiler: He has half a dozen near misses when attempting to flee from the hospital in Cyprus, due to not looking at the road until it's almost too late to avoid several oncoming fire trucks. It's also foreshadowing; Americans drive on the right, but in Cyprus they drive on the left.]]
* DyingAlone: [[SubvertedTrope A subversion]]. [[spoiler:Despite their long-standing relationship as enemies, Big Boss peacefully dies in front of his last living son. They even share a final smoke together]].
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Almost every guy shows some attraction to him. Ocelot in particular has confirmed romantic feelings for him, thus why Ocelot is [[UndyingLoyalty forever loyal]] to Big Boss. Too bad Big Boss barely understands the concept of homosexuality or sexuality in general.
* EvilCounterpart: To Solid Snake. Their lives mirror each other, they faced very similar hardships, betrayals, and formed powerful friendships. But Solid Snake was able to overcome his pain, forgive his friends for betraying him due to circumstances beyond their power and not succumb to [[FaceHeelTurn villainy]], while when Big Boss's allies (EVA, [[spoiler: Zero]], Para-Medic, [=SigInt=], Paz, and eventually [[spoiler: Kaz]]) turned on him, he became a villain. [[spoiler: [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Big Boss himself who says that if David were put into the same situations he was in, his son wouldn't have made the same mistakes]].
* ExperiencedProtagonist: By the time of ''Snake Eater'', he's a Green Beret and a veteran of both the Vietnam War and Korean War.
* {{Expy}}: Starts out as one to Snake Plissken. Then turns into one to Colonel Kurtz.
* ExtremeOmnivore: The first question he asks of any wildlife in ''Snake Eater'' is how it tastes, assuming he even waits to call Para-Medic before eating it.
* EyepatchOfPower: Losing an eye doesn't stop him from being a good shot.
* EyeScream: He is well-known for having an eyepatch, so players can expect him to lose an eye at some point during ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater Snake Eater]]'':
** The scene in question comes when [[spoiler: Naked Snake's being tortured by Volgin, although it ends up being a DoubleSubversion. In order to clear her name as a spy, Volgin orders The Boss to cut out his eyes, and very nearly does, but is stopped at the last minute by EVA/Tatyana. Ocelot is then threatening EVA with three revolvers, loaded with a single bullet. Snake jumps in to push Ocelot out of the way, but ends up on the receiving end of a shot. However, it wasn't even a bullet that cost him his eye - the cornea was burnt out from the ''muzzle flash'']].
[[/folder]]

[[folder: F to M]]
* FaceHeelRevolvingDoor: Ulimately dies as a Face after both him and David bury the hatchet with each other.
* TheFaceless: [[spoiler: Almost all of his face is covered with bandages, save his eyes and mouth while recovering with Venom Snake.]]
* FailureHero: His largely well-intentioned actions wind up causing far more harm to the world than good.
* FakeUltimateHero: Zigzagged. While he was still one of the biggest badasses of his generation:
** His title "'''Big Boss'''" was given to him for "officially" besting The Boss in battle, thus he was granted the title to show his superiority over The Boss as a soldier. Except The Boss had actually [[ThrowingTheFight thrown the fight]], as the CIA would have assassinated him if both he and The Boss had returned from the mission alive.
** According to ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'', Zero and later the Patriots actually exaggerated most of Big Boss's reputation to cement his status as their icon, though the feats he pulls off during the prequels (particularly in ''Peace Walker'') calls into question just how much of it was a lie.
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'' [[spoiler:plays with it further when you realize that part of his reputation, strictly speaking, didn't come from his own actions, but to Venom Snake doing these exploits on his behalf. He acknowledges this, deeming that he and Venom Snake are ''both'' Big Boss; they're equally "real" because they both created his reputation]].
* FallenHero: A formerly good and idealistic man who got sick of seeing how soldiers were used, abused and then thrown away by their ungrateful governments, and eventually threatened to put the world in a state of never-ending warfare to ensure this would stop happening.
* FantasticDrug: [[spoiler:Subverted; he injects Venom Snake with digoxin in an attempt to help him get back on his feet, but it doesn't work as well as he hoped it would resulting in a ControllableHelplessness scenario for Venom Snake. Ironically, giving Venom Snake a shot of digoxin might have actually made the situation worse, as improper dosage can cause fatigue, weakness, and bradycardia.]]
* AFatherToHisMen: Most of his subordinates thought the world of him. He even helped extract some, like Gray Fox and Naomi Hunter, or Sniper Wolf, from warzones into relative safety in America or ''Outer Heaven''.
* FinalBoss: Kind of appropriate, considering his codename, but he serves as this in the first two games. [[spoiler:Except not really, as the "Big Boss" fought in the first game was actually Venom Snake]].
* FlashbackNightmare: It's implied in ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake'' that Big Boss himself suffered from nightmares from the battlefield (he reacts to Solid Snake's mention of nightmares with some recognition).
** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPortableOps'', Naked Snake awakes from a nightmare that presumably was flashing back to his capture by the ''FOX'' unit and Null.
** And in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'', the two instances that Big Boss was unconscious, he had dreams relating to his fights against The Boss in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater''.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler:There's a lot of hints to his true identity when Venom Snake interacts with him in his "Ishmael" disguise during the prologue of ''MGSV''.]]
** [[spoiler:His covername Ishmael is simultaneously [[FirstPersonPeripheralNarrator the main character and a supporting one]]. ]]
** [[spoiler:During the fight with Quiet, you can hear Big Boss's distinctive grunt as Quiet punches him and recovers; no matter how much of a CunningLinguist he is he can't keep up the act when fighting for his life. ]]
** Just before he introduces himself, he ruefully states, "You're talking to [[BodyDouble yourself]]".
** During his fight with Quiet, he weaponizes some chemicals along with a lighter. Because of ''course'' Big Boss would have a lighter on him, right?
** Also with using improvised weapons to set Quiet on fire, how did Solid Snake beat Big Boss in VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake?
** When Quiet throws a knife into his shoulder, he only winces in pain momentarily. After [[KillItWithFire setting Quiet on fire]], he promptly throws it back at Quiet without too much difficulty and even shrugs off the (not inconsiderable) pain afterwards. Of course, being Big Boss himself, ''[[MadeOfIron even serious injuries don't slow him down very much]]''.
** [[spoiler:He spouts a BondOneLiner when Ahab asks him whatever happened to the woman trying to assassinate him, something Naked Snake was noted to be quite fond of doing.]]
** [[spoiler:During the foyer section of the prologue, if he dies, a "Time Paradox" message appears, the same as if Naked Snake died during ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'', whereas Venom Snake dying evokes a standard "Game Over" message.]]
** [[spoiler:For a random patient, Ishmael is ''very'' [[HyperCompetentSidekick competent in stealth and combat]]- certainly much more than Ahab, who makes rookie mistakes like not ducking for cover against an attack helicopter searchlight, and not feigning death when investigated by XOF's death squad.]]
** Ishmael seemingly dies when a gunship shoots the ambulance he and Venom are in. Once Venom wakes up, he notices right away that Ishmael is missing, assuming it was just in his head. In actuality, [[spoiler:Ocelot manages to recover Big Boss while Venom was still unconscious so that the former would able to create Outer Heaven under the radar]].
** Big Boss scoffs at the idea of peace, since fighting is all he knows, and did not agree with The Boss' ideologies. Notably, he deliberately misinterprets her will (until the end of his life, when he decides to make peace with his surviving son). Venom, however, does not, and looks forward to the day soldiers can lay down their weapons and live in peace.
** Speaking of the sons of Big Boss, whenever the boys are mentioned in any capacity, he has nothing but contempt for their existence, but nonetheless tells Ocelot to treat them as any other person. Venom, however, is more than willing to bond with Eli.
** During the fight against Peace Walker and [[spoiler:Metal Gear ZEKE]], he can bench-press and deflect these giants' stomps prompting awe from his comrades for his impossible feat of strength. Venom does ''not'' display this strength when dealing with giants and trying to do the same on Sahelanthropus will get Venom squashed flat.
** In ''Metal Gear Solid 4'', EVA shows Snake his charred body, and a closeup shows that he's missing his left eye. Big Boss actually lost his ''right'' eye in ''Snake Eater''. It actually hints that EVA [[spoiler:stole Big Boss' body from the Patriots. She was using the parts of Solidus, who lost his eye in ''Sons of Liberty'']].
* ForgottenFallenFriend: While he mourns The Boss, Solid Snake doesn't lose much sleep over violently killing him in his second game due to how he was an outright terrorist at that point. After learning of their biological relations, Solid Snake deigns to visit Big Boss's grave on occasion, but doesn't hesitate to train a [[spoiler:gun on him during their "reunion" in the fourth game]].
* FourStarBadass: Sometime after ''[=MGS3=]''.
* FriendToAllChildren: Before ''Snake Eater'', the only clue we had to Big Boss's kinder side was his adoption of [[FreeRangeChildren war orphans from across the globe]]. He and his surrogate son Frank Jaeger (Gray Fox) formed a "family" of sorts with one of their charges, a girl who would grow up to assume the identity of Naomi Hunter.
** In ''Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake'', Solid Snake can converse with Big Boss's children who appear throughout Zanzibar. Ominously, one orphan mentions that their father figure "doesn't like adults", alluding to Big Boss's hatred of the world's politicians.
* FreudianExcuse: Oh good lord. It's all over his page, it actually holds a ''lot'' of water.
* TheGeneralissimo: With the U.S. believing him dead, Big Boss took over the third world backwater of Zanzibar Land sometime in the late nineties. His sprite wears the official beret of Zanzibar's troops, but his fatigues are green rather than tan.
* GeniusBruiser: He is a great soldier in his field, and will use any tactics he can take on an opponent.
* GlassEye: [[spoiler:As a part of his Ishmael disguise, he momentarily substitutes his iconic EyepatchOfPower for one of these during the Prologue of ''MGSV'' to make it appear like he has two eyes.]]
* GoingCommando: [[spoiler:As Ishmael, his ass is clearly visible through the slit in his backless hospital gown because this wouldn't be Metal Gear if we didn't see his butt.]]
* GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler: Overlapping with a TearfulSmile, at the end of ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots Guns of the Patriots]]'']].
* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: Both before and after his FaceHeelTurn, he smokes cigars. By contrast, Solid Snake smokes cigarettes.
* GunNut: Revealed early on during ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater Snake Eater]]'', when Eva gives him his [=M1911A1=] pistol during their first meeting. Naked Snake drools over every detail of the gun, rhapsodizing about what a beautiful, expertly-customized weapon it is.
* HandicappedBadass: You know his accomplishments in ''Snake Eater''? Well, it was strongly implied that he hadn't even fully recovered from the injuries he sustained during the Virtuous Mission, which included a broken arm, lacerations, and a broken rib, during that time, not to mention losing an eye during the course of said mission and still accomplishing it.
** He's also apparently able to aim with his missing eye. How? [[DontExplainTheJoke Because he's]] [[{{Determinator}} Big Boss]].
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: After twenty years of protecting earth from sci-fi warmongers with bottomless bank accounts, Big Boss fancies becoming one himself. Of course, the same could be said for the rest of the ''FOX'' unit, too.
* HeelRealization: [[spoiler:Like Venom Snake]], Big Boss is ''aware'' of how lost he is, but nonetheless pushes through as [[IveComeTooFar he's come too far]]. It's not until decades later that he fully rejects his actions, however.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: While fans '''thought''' that ''The Phantom Pain'' was going to be the story of how Big Boss was the BigBad of ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake'' prior to the game's release, the game in actuality is an elaborate backstory for [[spoiler:the "Big Boss" that players would fight in ''VideoGame/MetalGear1''.]]
* HeroesLoveDogs: In an optional Codec call with Para-Medic in ''[=MGS3=]'', he reveals that he's a fan of dog-sledding, a trait shared by one of his sons.
* HeroicSuicide: [[spoiler:He successfully manages to convince David to not shoot himself... by (knowingly) contracting FOXDIE the minute he embraced his son as a father]].
* HijackedByGanon: Solid Snake is called into Zanzibar to rescue Dr. Marv and prevent his formula from being turned against the United States. ''FOXHOUND'' is initially unaware of Big Boss's hand in the kidnapping.
* HoistByTheirOwnPetard: It's the training that he gave Solid Snake in FOXHOUND, along with instilling the mindset of a soldier that would haunt Snake for the rest of his life, that Snake proceeded to use to foil his and everyone else's plots multiple times over. Big Boss himself even admits in his betrayal that Snake was supposed to die as part of an elaborate ploy to get the rest of the world to back off -- but [[GoneHorriblyRight he was just too good to be stopped.]]
* HonorBeforeReason: In ''Portable Ops'', he refused to kill the helpless Null ([[spoiler:Gray Fox]]) in his culture tank because he couldn't defend himself.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: A common trait of his and possibly his biggest [[FatalFlaw character flaw]]:
** He trusted EVA throughout Operation Snake Eater even though EVA never provided the correct passphrase. While EVA did assist him in completing it, it turns out [[spoiler:EVA was actually a Chinese {{double agent}} who was using him to complete her own mission]]. Though at least in this case, [[spoiler:he may or may not have been onto her ruse given he slipped her the fake Philosopher's Legacy microfilm by the end.]]
** He believed the government's story that The Boss defected to the USSR. It took [[spoiler: EVA]] flatly telling him the truth to get him to understand. To his credit, even though he witnessed the "[[FakeDefector defection]]" with his own eyes, he still didn't ''fully'' believe it and constantly kept pressing The Boss for answers or [[spoiler: to admit The Boss didn't really defect]].
** He originally [[DramaticallyMissingThePoint misunderstood]] The Boss's goals that she wanted to pass on. Instead of seeking a united and peaceful world where soldiers would no longer be needed, or to live happily by leaving the world to its own devices, Big Boss sought to change the world and reshape it to where there was constant war and soldiers would always be valued and have a place. [[spoiler: It wasn't until years later, at the end of his life, that he finally understood what The Boss really wanted and managed to pass it onto his remaining son]].
** He trusted Kaz Miller as his partner and co-leader of the ''MSF''. It was then revealed that Miller had been in collusion with and receiving funding from [[spoiler: Cipher]] who Big Boss considered his greatest enemy at the time.
** He allowed Chico to try to sell a photo of the Chrysalis and pass it off as a UFO photograph because he believed that Chico wouldn't actually be able to. The end result was that Chico successfully sold a Chrysalis photograph to a tabloid magazine in Grenada, to which Sir Eric Gairy, Grenada's prime minister at the time, read it, and believing it as well as various rumors about various cattle mutilations and abductions being reported across the Americas that were suspected to be the result of the CIA Peace Sentinels activities, requested for the UN to set up a research facility to investigate aliens, which also nearly got the Prime Minister targeted by the CIA.
** He fell for Zadornov's deception as "Professor Gálvez" until he fell right into an ambush by set up by Zadornov.
** He was fooled by Paz's deception (thinking that Paz was just a little school girl) and allowed Paz free roam of the base. Paz went on to modify and hijack Metal Gear ZEKE on Cipher's orders to attack Big Boss.
** He trusted and recruited Huey Emmerich to his PMC as the head of his research staff. Huey in turn sold the PMC out to Skull Face and helped with the attack on Mother Base that destroyed the ''MSF'' and nearly killed Big Boss.
** His most notable example is during [[VideoGame/MetalGear1 Operation Intrude N313]]: He sent his son Solid Snake to infiltrate ''Outer Heaven'', a private military company run [[spoiler: by his body double]]. He was sure that the rookie agent would be overwhelmed by ''Outer Heaven'''s forces quickly. Surprisingly to him, Solid Snake managed to infiltrate ''Outer Heaven'', defeat its elite forces, destroy Metal Gear TX-55, and kill [[spoiler: Venom Snake]] (despite [[spoiler: Venom Snake]] having the full intel on the infiltration and Big Boss misleading Solid Snake the whole time).
** He completely misjudged [[spoiler:Zero]] after he left [[spoiler:Cipher]], figuring that [[spoiler:Zero]] was his worst enemy who wanted him either under control or dead. In reality, [[spoiler: Zero never stopped considering Big Boss as a closest friend and readily came to save and protect Big Boss's life when he was in danger]].
-->'''Big Boss:''' [[spoiler: Did Zero really hate me? Or... did he fear me? It's too late to ask him now.]]
* HumanPopsicle: For the duration of ''MGS''. His frozen remains serve as a MacGuffin for the Genome soldiers and the rogue ''FOXHOUND'' who are demanding his remains so they can use them to cure genetic disorders the Genome army is apparently suffering from as a result of gene therapy.
* {{Hypocrite}}:
** Solid Snake flat-out calls him one before their second ([[spoiler:actually only]]) and final duel after Big Boss declares the only satisfaction [[BloodKnight true soldiers]] need is war itself. At first Big Boss ''claims'' he wished to uphold The Boss's will of a peaceful world... but his choices, tactics and philosophy (soldiers and war are a chaotic freedom unto themselves), make ''Outer Heaven'' little more than a dark mirror against the Patriots.
** When he is presented evidence contrary to his viewpoint in that The Boss eventually wanted soldiers to put down their arms and live in peace, Big Boss views this as a personal betrayal. During the decades long Cold War with [[spoiler:Zero's]] AIs, he was content to twist The Boss's legacy for his own revenge, [[HeelRealization something he later comes to deeply regret]].
** He is highly against the Les Enfants Terrible project and disowns the three Snakes [[spoiler:but goes along with Zero's plan to create a "fourth clone"; Venom Snake]].
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Big Boss's decision to leave everyone he still cared for behind [[spoiler:and go along with Venom Snake serving as his double can be seen as this. All to exact revenge on Cipher with his own secret war.]]
* IHaveManyNames: Sniper Wolf knows him as "Saladin", a high honor in the Middle East. He has also gone by Naked Snake, John Doe, and Jack.
** In the NES localizations, he's "Commander South" (a play on the controversial [[UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan Col. Oliver North]]). Two characters never seen in ''Snake's Revenge'' but mentioned in the advertising an manual similarly take up Big Boss's character role as the masterminds. They are Colonel Vermon [=CaTaffy=]" (UsefulNotes/MuammarGaddafi) and "Higharolla Kockamamie" (Ruhollah Khomeini -- subtle, eh?), who are both interestingly seperate characters with their own history to explain why Snake desired his titular revenge.
* IWasQuiteALooker: ''[[AvertedTrope Averted]]'', surprisingly. Old age hasn't diminished his good looks one bit. If anything, he's turned into a SilverFox.
* IfIWantedYouDead: When he [[spoiler: reappears at The Boss's grave after Solid Snake's attempted suicide in ''[=MGS4=]'', Solid Snake quickly reloads and draws his gun at him and assumes that he's back to settle the score. After a few tense moments of [[MexicanStandoff holding one another at gunpoint]], Big Boss uses a technique The Boss once used on him to get Solid Snake to lower the gun by dropping his own. He uses the moment to disarm Solid Snake and gives a combined CooldownHug[=/=]FinalFirstHug, softly reassuring his last living son that he didn't come all this way to pick a fight with both men being so near to death's door as it already was. It works]].
* ImprobableAimingSkills: [[ZigZaggedTrope Zigzagged]].
** Even after losing use of his right eye, Big Boss continued to use firearms with a right hand dominant stance, not even bothering to tilt his weapons so he could use his good eye. Apparently he aims with pure muscle memory alone because he is never seen using weapon sights after that. Yet he is still a top-grade marksman with pretty much any weapon he uses.
** TruthInTelevision: His shooting method is a style once commonly taught in the U.S. Army. The "Quick Kill" shooting method has the shooter use their rifle without using the sights, although this is relegated to close range engagements.
** PlayedStraight: Cutscenes in ''[=MGS3=]'' still have Naked Snake doing things like aiming a sniper rifle or The Patriot with the sight over his eyepatch.
* InsistentTerminology: He's known as "Big Boss" after Operation Snake Eater, but the marketing for the series consistently refers to him as "Snake". While this is [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in the earlier installments, where he considers the title a MedalOfDishonor and a source of internal conflict, it becomes increasingly confounding as the series goes on and he embraces the title.
** This becomes particularly noticeable in ''Ground Zeroes'', where the game introduces him as "Snake", and even refers to him as "a former hero once known by the codename "Big Boss"", when the '''reverse''' is true, and the only times he's referred to as "Snake" is when receiving certain orders and the game over sequence.
* {{Irony}}:
** His fight against Quiet turns out to be a mirror of the fight between him and Solid Snake in VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake, except this time Big Boss is the one injured, weaponless, and forced to make an improvised incendiary weapon, against an opponent armed to the teeth. Quiet's [=XOF=] uniform's color palette being similar to Solid Snake's iconic Sneaking Suit in [=MGS1=] helps with the allusion. [[GenerationXerox Like father, like son, huh?]]
** His ambition of creating a world of perpetual conflict where soldiers will always be needed winds up coming true thanks to the War Economy come ''Metal Gear Solid 4,'' and it's a product of the very system he was trying to destroy. The irony is not lost on Solid Snake.
* IveComeTooFar: By the height of his ProtagonistJourneyToVillain. Big Boss is fully aware of how far he's fallen and how monstrous he is, but keeps pushing forward because he sees no reason to stop anymore.
* JackOfAllStats: In games with multiple playable characters, such as ''Portable Ops'' or ''Peace Walker'', his stats are balanced, but all high, with most of them being A-rank. In the former game, he has the highest CQC stat and his weapon proficiencies are good across the board, with his pistol and assault rifle stats being higher than other guns. Throughout the series, he's skilled at close combat, sniping, and demolitions.
* KickTheDog: Delivers several at the height of his fall. He callously uses his rookie soldier to retrieve false information and when that went south, tried to get him killed or abort his mission. Then he threatened and attacked several nations, using stolen nukes and OILIX, which resulted in the death of doctor Kio Marv, gave a cynical [[BreakThemByTalking breaking speech]] to Solid Snake, convinced that life has no meaning beyond the battlefield, and finally decided on the unequivocal use of {{child soldiers}} in Zanzibar Land, feeling it was "only logical" to feed them back onto the battlefield against his enemies. After all, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. [[spoiler:''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'' is suggested to be the very start of this--in that he ultimately sanctioned the creation and activation of Venom Snake, even when it was a) a decision made for him by Ocelot and Zero, much like the ''Les Enfantes Terribles'' which he rejected; and b) it basically condemned a man to "[[ArcWords becoming a demon]]" much like himself, with that man being his most loyal follower too.]]
* KillTheOnesYouLove: The Boss, to be precise. [[BrokenBird He never really recovered from it]].
* KnightInSourArmor: He was pretty idealistic, even if he was just operating under orders, until the end of ''Operation Snake Eater''. After that his view of the world and the world's governments was drastically altered for the worse.
* KungFuJesus: Big Boss has some overtones of the "villainous" kind. [[spoiler: His reappearance in the graveyard of ''[=MGS4=]'' marks both his ''Resurrection'' and ''Second Coming'', as he prevents Solid Snake's suicide and casually switches off "Lucifer" (Zero), though the former is ultimately what costs him his life]].
* LargeAndInCharge: The [[https://www.tentenpro.com/muni_shinobu/mgs3/leak.html MGS3 casting sheet]] describes him thusly: "6'5" high, and his physical constitution is thick like Schwarzenegger. He has an 'all mighty', tough fighting style."
* LastRequest: Just before he dies [[spoiler:in ''[=MGS4=]'', he asks Solid Snake to live out what little time there's left to live in peace and not to waste it fighting. David promises to do so, deciding to finally quit smoking as the first step]].
* LegacyCharacter: He was the original "Snake", having received the codename for undergoing missions with minimal supplies and equipment. Stealthy and unarmed, like a snake. Thus, he serves as Solid Snake's predecessor in the prequels. Even after attaining the title of Big Boss at the end of ''[=MGS3=]'', he still prefers to go by Snake, as evident by the fact that it's still his primary name in ''Portable Ops'' and ''Peace Walker''. By the end of ''Peace Walker'', however, he fully accepts the title of Big Boss. ''The Phantom Pain'' has him [[spoiler:finally casts off his former code name to his decoy Venom Snake]].
* LukeIAmYourFather: This does not actually happen during ''Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake'', but is rather a {{retcon}} introduced in ''[=MGS1=]'' where Solid Snake only shared this revelation with Campbell, but it's an open secret amongst Liquid's faction.
* MacGuffin: In both ''[=MGS1=]'' and ''[=MGS4=]'', his body is sought after by the villains; FOXHOUND seeks it in the former to use his "soldier genes" to perfect the Genome Soldiers, and Liquid Ocelot needs it because [[spoiler:Big Boss's biometrics and DNA are the key he needs to hijack the Patriots' system and put it under complete control]].
* MadeOfIron: In the original ''Metal Gear'', [[spoiler:the guy took 4 propelled rockets to the chest before collapsing, and somehow survived the nuclear explosion that engulfed ''Outer Heaven''. The truth is, the guy who fought Solid Snake in Outer Heaven (a body-double) did not survive]]. ''Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake'' and all of the prequels expand upon this to hilariously absurd levels.
** In ''Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater'' alone, on the ill-fated Virtuous Mission he ends up getting his arm broken, a broken rib and multiple lacerations from coming out second-best to The Boss and being thrown off a bridge. Not even given a week of recovery where his medical officer admits he should be back in intensive care rather than on a mission to save the world, he then gets shot in the thigh with a crossbow bolt, poisoned by the venom of one of the deadliest spiders on Earth, beaten to within an inch of his life, subjected to 10 million volts of electroshock torture which is so painful that he ''pisses himself'' and ''then'' gets his right eye shot out. And this is ''just'' what happens to him canonically in the story cutscenes, not even counting injuries that can be received in the game. A normal person put through all this would be a physical and psychological wreck, but this is the greatest soldier in the world we're talking about, so this doesn't even slow him down.
* MagneticHero:
** Big Boss builds an army from scratch; Cipher blows them all to hell; Big Boss sets about building another, bigger one.
** Three of Solid Snake's former allies, Gray Fox, Kyle Schneider, and Dr. Madnar, all defected to Big Boss's side in the wake of [=MG1=]. Gray Fox stayed with him out of filial and professional loyalty; Kyle was moved by how Big Boss remained behind in ''Outer Heaven'' to help the refugees (after NATO callously bombed the ruins). Dr. Madnar joined Big Boss as he felt that he had been shunned by the scientific community for his revolutionary ideas.
** Just to show just how much loyalty he inspires, he's the only person in the entire franchise, barring The Boss, who ''[[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder Ocelot]]'' is truly loyal to.
* ManOnFire: Solid Snake immolates him at the end of ''Metal Gear 2'', resulting in a messy death. The Patriots immediately extracted his remains and put them on ice, setting the stage for ''[=MGS1=]''.
* MartialArtsHeadband: He wears a bandanna [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater for]] [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPortableOps ten]] [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker years]]. By the time of ''Metal Gear Solid V'', he's stopped wearing one.
* ManlyTears: [[spoiler: Shedding them is one of the very last things he does]].
* MeaningfulName: "Big Boss" is kind of a giveaway, isn't it? His Chinese name is "Tai-pan", a clever double meaning; it's shorthand for "big shot" or "boss" in corporate culture, but taipan is also a type of snake.
* MedalOfDishonor: Awarded the Distinguished Service Cross [[spoiler:for murdering The Boss]] to save America's face.
** Made even more so when it is later made apparent that the reason that [[spoiler:The Boss had to die didn't even to do with saving America's face and that a certain member of the American Government wanted her offed from the start, and actually manipulated the events of the ending of the Virtuous Mission just so there could be an excuse to send Naked Snake in to kill The Boss]].
* MercyKill: In ''Peace Walker'', Amanda asks him to do this to Chico should the worst happen. He does do this, but rather kills Chico's old self as a quivering child and invites Chico to live a new life as a soldier.
* MoleInCharge: He was leading FOXHOUND and Outer Heaven [[spoiler:(via his doppelgänger Venom Snake)]] by the 1990s. Ensuing that if the U.S.A. decided to act against his own forces, he could control what action the U.S.A. would take against him. Like sending in Solid Snake, an underequipped rookie that he personally trained with little chance of actual success. He's replaced by Colonel Campbell after his apparent death.
* MookFaceTurn: The majority of Big Boss' soldiers in both his armies composed of captured enemy soldiers who are convinced to fight for him.
* MrSmith: The guy's real name is literally "John", and some even calls him by "John Doe". To muddy the waters further, the only one of his sons who has a known last name has the family name "Sears". So his name may be: John Doe or John Sears. And that's just going on what tiny fragments of information there is.
* MyGreatestFailure: He views the killing of The Boss, his mentor and mother figure who taught him everything he ever knew as a soldier, and then going on to fight for causes that she never would have believed in as his greatest failure. He goes so far as to claim after that point he was "already dead" emotionally. At the end of [[spoiler: ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' as he stands above her grave, Big Boss proclaims to his son that if their roles had been reversed, he probably wouldn't have made the same mistakes and that he still has a chance to do things better than he ever had]].
** As of ''Peace Walker'' and '''especially''' ''Ground Zeroes'', [[spoiler:witnessing Paz's HeroicSuicide]] is all but outright stated to have become this for him as well, [[spoiler: to the point her impact extended well into his dying breath]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder: N to Z]]
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: He personally trained Solid Snake, who was given subpar training due to his inferior genes in the military, everything he knew. Which included using {{Improvised Weapon}}s, teaching him [=CQC=], how to get out in sticky situations. The first one was his undoing as Snake was able to defeat him using a lighter and a spray can.
* NoSell: Throughout ''Snake Eater'', EVA (a highly trained spy and seductress) keeps coming on to him in increasingly direct ways, and he usually just flat-out ''ignores'' EVA. [[spoiler:This turns out to have a thematic resonance, as she points out, she was the deceiving "Eve" who tempted the "Snake"]].
* NoDeadBodyPoops: [[spoiler:An [[InvertedTrope inversion]] occurs in ''Metal Gear Solid V'' as he and Venom Snake play dead in a hallway full of corpses to avoid a group of soldiers. Noticing one of the corpses emptying out he uses an iv bag filled with water to give the illusion that he's dead. [[OhCrap Unfortunately, the soldiers begin double-tapping the corpses, making the ruse moot]]. However, the soldier who was about to double tap Ishmael does buy it, seeing the 'emptying out' as a sign he's really dead and doesn't shoot. [[OhCrap Unfortunately again... Ahab is quickly found to not be doing so, and doesn't do anything to sell himself playing dead.]] It is only by grace of the Man on Fire showing up when he did that Ahab didn't get shot dead.]]
* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler: As revealed in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'', he actually survived his final showdown with Solid Snake at Zanzibar Land, albeit barely]].
* NoSocialSkills: PlayedForLaughs. In ''Snake Eater'' it is established that not only he lacks any knowledge about pop culture and films like his future son, Solid Snake,[[note]]The two films the former knows, is the subject ''he'' dislikes the most[[/note]] but, in EVA's words, he is completely slow on social cues; he doesn't realize that Ocelot is into him, and doesn't quite get that both Volgin and Raikov are lovers (even as EVA ''directly'' shows a photo of the two together). He loses this as he transitions from "Naked Snake" to "Big Boss".
* OffingTheOffspring: He tried to do this to Solid Snake on his first mission in Outer Heaven, but Big Boss' training went ''[[GoneHorriblyRight too well]]'' as Snake was able to traverse the entire fortress without issue, save key hostages, and destroy Metal Gear T-55. Big Boss' final gambit was [[spoiler:sending Venom Snake]] after him, but ultimately fail, and Outer Heaven was destroyed. He tries again in Zanzibar to confront him, but Snake's training allows him to defeat him yet again.
* OldSoldier: Even in old age, he proved himself the best soldier of his era. It took a clone of himself, that he personally trained, to finally get the better of him one-on-one.
* OneLastSmoke: [[spoiler:Shares one with David right before he passes away]].
* OneManArmy: Where do you think Solid Snake got it from? Big Boss isn't known as "The Legendary Soldier" for nothing!
* TheOneThatGotAway: [[spoiler:''Portable Ops'' at least has it be clear that Snake still cares for EVA despite her betrayal, and while Snake and EVA can meet again as part of a difficult side-quest with the implication they get together again, ''[=MGS4=]'' establishes this didn't happen.]]
* OrderVersusChaos: What his conflict with [[spoiler:Zero]] ultimately boils down to. Big Boss's goal is to establish an anarchic perpetual battleground where soldiers are free to serve as mercenaries and do battle without allegiance to any government, ideology, or creed, whereas the latter hopes to unite the world under a OneWorldOrder government run by Big Brother {{AIs}}.
* PapaWolf: Don't ever hurt soldiers under his command. XOF learned this the hard way in ''Ground Zeroes'', with help from Big Boss's assault rifle.
** Notable is that for almost the entire attack on Mother Base, he was completely calm while fighting, until he sees one of his men get killed in front of him, at which point he yells in anger and almost goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge right there.
* TheParagonAlwaysRebels: As Naked Snake, he was an American hero and came back home well-decorated after the events of ''Operation Snake Eater''. The same mission disillusions him to the war machine and tries to create a nation where soldiers can serve free from their home nations.
* ParentalSubstitute: Was this to Sniper Wolf, Gray Fox, and Naomi Hunter. Ironically, Solid Snake viewed him as this before Big Boss revealed that [[LukeIAmYourFather he was actually his father]].
* PetTheDog: Even at his worst, Big Boss was AffablyEvil and a BenevolentBoss to the end, and still had the capacity for kindness and compassion:
** During the [[spoiler: Truth tapes in ''The Phantom Pain''. Both Zero and Ocelot intended for Venom Snake to merely be a BodyDouble or [[DecoyProtagonist decoy]] for Big Boss and was supposed to be nothing but a disposable tool to him. Big Boss for his part refused this notion and disliked the fact that one of his most loyal men was reduced to a decoy. When Big Boss reveals the truth behind what had happened, he insists that neither him nor Venom Snake are Big Boss, but rather the legend of Big Boss [[CollectiveIdentity belongs to both men]]. On top of that, despite making it clear that he [[ThatThingIsNotMyChild doesn't consider Eli/Liquid Snake his son]], he nonetheless orders Ocelot to [[ClonesArePeopleToo treat him like a human being]] should they encounter him]].
** At the end of the first game, he takes it upon himself to save Kyle Schneider and the members of his rebellion from Outer Heaven's self-destruction, despite them being his enemies at the time; this led to Kyle defecting to Zanzibar Land [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe in]] [[IOweYouMyLife gratitude]].
** In [[spoiler:''[=MGS4=]'', despite believing that Zero had always feared him and wanted him dead, he still feels compassion and brotherly love for his old friend and CO. When he {{Mercy Kill}}s Zero, Big Boss gently hugs at Zero's death throes to ease the pain of passing]].
* {{Polyglot}}: ''Metal Gear Solid 3'' reveals he's perfectly fluent in Russian and ''Peace Walker'' shows that he has at least some basic knowledge of French, Spanish, and Cat.
* PopCultureIsolation: Discussed in-universe. Several of his conversations in ''Snake Eater'' with Para-Medic will have her asking him if he's seen certain movies, to which he often replies "''No''". He ''is'', however, aware of ''Franchise/JamesBond'' movies, but voices his disdain for those as seeing Bond as an unrealistic spy while Zero geeks out at a mere mention of it.
* PosthumousCharacter: His impact and legacy are felt long after Solid Snake immolates him in ''Metal Gear 2''. Many characters worship the ground he walked on (some more literally than others), and his body is even used as a MacGuffin in ''Metal Gear Solid''. [[spoiler: This ends up being subverted, as ''Metal Gear Solid 4'' reveals that he was being kept alive in a barely-cognitive state by the Patriots. ''Metal Gear Rising'', the only game in the series to take place after his final death, barely mentions him at all]].
* PerpetualFrowner: During the Solid Snake era, Big Boss is drawn to look as he has the biggest frown on his face during artwork cutscenes. [[spoiler:After he was revived, he still has a frown even after the Patriots' destruction]].
* ProperlyParanoid: Naked Snake mentions his being exposed to the Bravo Shot atomic blast in 1954. He mentions that while he hasn't shown any symptoms, he suspects that symptoms will pop up sooner or later in his life. This was later confirmed when he was revealed to have been made sterile as a result of the event.
* TheProtagonist: Of ''[=MGS3=]'', ''MPO'', ''MGSPW'' and ''MGSV''. [[spoiler: Well, not really in the latter game]].
* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: At the beginning of his story, Naked Snake is (essentially) as green and naive as Solid Snake was during the original two MSX ''Metal Gear'' games. His exploits in the prequels (''Snake Eater'', ''Portable Ops'', ''Peace Walker'', and ''The Phantom Pain'') all lead to him eventually being the BigBad of the original two ''Metal Gear'' games. His speech at the end of ''Peace Walker'' particularly cements his role as the future villain:
-->'''Big Boss:''' We will forsake our countries. We will leave our motherlands behind us and become one with this earth. We have no nation, no philosophy, no ideology. We go where we're needed, fighting not for country, not for government, but for ourselves. We need no reason to fight. We fight because we are needed. We will be the deterrent for those with no other recourse. We are soldiers without borders, our purpose defined by the era we live in. We will sometimes have to sell ourselves and services. If the times demand it, we'll be revolutionaries, criminals, terrorists. And yes, we may all be headed straight to Hell. But what better place for us than this? It is our only home. Our Heaven and Our Hell. This is ''Outer Heaven''.
* RealAwardFictionalCharacter: At the end of ''[=MGS3=]'', he's awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Like how he is with Solid Snake, his and and Snake's voice actors in the Japanese version, Creator/ChikaoOhtsuka and Creator/AkioOtsuka, were not in good terms with each other prior to ''Metal Gear Solid 4'' and Hideo Kojima found out about it. Kojima would deliberately chose Chikao to voice Big Boss, and the first line he was given were to let go of the grudges they had for each other. They both eventually reconcile with each other just like Big Boss and Solid Snake would.
* RealMenWearPink: He likes wearing the "Oyama" face paint and doesn't mind the GA-KO camo, even asking "What's wrong with being cute?" and also molded a piece of C3 into a butterfly, albeit more as a reference to a previous scene.
* RedOniBlueOni: [[spoiler:He is ultimately the blue to Solid Snake's red, though not initially]].
* RedRightHand: Big Boss loses a good deal of his anatomy over the course of his story. If you played any of the previous ''Metal Gear'' games, you would know that this was going to happen anyway. In fact, his amputated (left) forearm was foreshadowed all the way back in ''[[VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake Metal Gear 2]]'', though it was assumed Solid Snake caused that injury. [[spoiler: [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain Except that's not what happened]]]].
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: At the end of [[spoiler: ''Metal Gear Solid 4'', he finally locates and gives Zero a MercyKill, officially ending the decades and globe-spanning feud and plots. He also admits that his plans and actions did nothing but make the world a worse place. Too bad that, by reconciling with and getting close to his son, hugging him, he inadvertently gets infected with the new FOXDIE strain. He takes his fate as a good thing, however]].
* RepairedPedestal: [[spoiler: Feels this way towards The Boss after learning of the conspiracy. At the very end of ''Metal Gear Solid 4'', he considers himself to be "already dead" since he killed The Boss]].
** [[spoiler: Likewise in ''[=MGS4=]'', he repairs his own pedestal in the eyes of David. As after explaining what went wrong between him and Zero and finally ending it, then admitting he was wrong, before finally dying, his last living son gives him one last smoke, then salutes him]].
* RetiredBadass: Between ''[=MGS3=]'' and ''Portable Ops''.
* {{Revenge}}: One of the key reasons for his actions, as well as being a FatalFlaw. A lot of his actions began because of being an UnwittingPawn forced by the government to kill The Boss for an unjustifiable reason. Unfortunately, his anger toward the government makes him want to create a world where soldiers will always be needed, and causes him to forget The Boss's wish for a peaceful world that she wanted him to continue in her steed.
* RunningBothSides: Since he founded ''FOXHOUND'' and ''Outer Heaven'', he ran both organizations until Solid Snake exposed him. [[spoiler:Actually, [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain he]] wasn't really running ''Outer Heaven'', as his doppelgänger Venom Snake took control of the organization in his place]].
* ScarsAreForever: He has a facial scar on the left side of his face underneath his temple region that he received during the ''[=XOF=]'' attack on ''[=MSF=]'''s Mother Base back in 1975. He carries it on with him [[spoiler: to the very end, in 2014]].
** [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in ''Peace Walker''. It initially seemed like he cut himself a scar in the shape of The Boss's scar, but it is later revealed to be faked, having placed a jigsaw on his person by disguising it as a scar in case he got captured.
* ShadowArchetype: Big Boss represents what Solid Snake could have become had he allowed the trauma he suffered through to send him down a similar path and pull a FaceHeelTurn. During their final meeting, Big Boss even commends Solid Snake for not making the same mistakes he did.
* SharedFamilyQuirks:
** Like [[spoiler:Solid Snake/David]], he has an affinity for cardboard boxes, dog-sledding, and smoking (though he prefers cigars over cigarettes).
** Like [[spoiler:Liquid Snake/Eli]], he has a desire to outdo his predecessor, seeing them as both superior ''and'' inferior to themselves.
** Like [[spoiler:Solidus Snake/George Sears]], he has a habit of seeing his subordinates as his children, yet will dispose of them to accomplish their own goals, as well as being a NobleDemon willing to do horrible things to bring about his vision of a better world.
* ShellShockedVeteran: He states that on the day he killed the Boss, he pretty much ''died'' inside.
** Alluded to in '' Metal Gear 2'', when he's quite candid with Snake about the nightmares soldiers suffer from their experiences. Big Boss explains to Snake that those nightmares never go away, those feelings are ingrained into a soldier and will always be a part of them; in the same way the killer instincts that drive soldiers to desire more conflict are equally as ingrained, and there is no way to exorcise these demons, therefore the only sane solution is to embrace them.
* ShootingSuperman: [[spoiler: In MGSV, he shoots at the Man on Fire with a silenced pistol... right after he saw that "thing" shrug off machine gun fire and a ''helicopter missile'' without a scratch. He quickly realizes how pointless it is and instead shoots open a water pipe to fend it off.]]
* ShoutOut: His choice of smokes, modeled after the H. Uppman No. 2, are a reference to UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy, who preferred the H. Uppman No. 2.
* ShroudedInMyth: Big Boss literally has no identity, making him a perfect candidate for ''FOX''. And ''[=MGS4=]'' suggests that the Patriots actually exaggerated a good portion of his reputation to cement his status as their icon. [[note]] [[spoiler: Confirmed in ''MGSV'', where it's shown that possibly up to half of the things attributed to him were actually conducted by his [[BodyDouble body-double]]]]. [[/note]]
* ShutUpKirk: Towards Solid Snake during their climactic duel in the second game when his protege refuses to just roll over and die, citing a credo about never giving up and always believing in victory that Big Boss himself told him. Big Boss scornfully rebukes the notion, waving it off as rubbish.
* SignificantDoubleCasting: Shares the same voice actors with Solid Snake and Venom Snake.
* SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids: He doesn't really believe in peace, even during his Cold Warrior days.
* SilverFox: He's in his sixties by the time of the first two games, [[spoiler:and 79 by the time he finally dies for real in ''[=MGS4=]'']], but aside from graying hair, he retains the chiseled good looks he possessed in his youth during ''Snake Eater''.
* SlowlySlippingIntoEvil: Just look at his images, as each game in the prequel game progresses, Big Boss becomes a darker character:
** To list: In ''[=MGS 3=]'' (1964), he becomes disillusioned with the U.S.A. due to being manipulated into killing his mentor; in ''Portable Ops'' (1970) he begins kidnapping enemy troops and turning them to his cause (implied through torture if needed); by ''Peace Walker'' (1974) he had started a mercenary nation willing to provide services to any paying customer and even included at least two (technically one) child soldier(s) amongst his ranks, as well as developed a nuclear weapon; by ''Ground Zeroes'' (1975) he was actively infiltrating foreign military, bases/assassinating (or kidnapping) High Value Targets under contracts, and covering up his possession of [=WMDs=] from the United Nations; by ''The Phantom Pain'' (1984) he had restarted his mercenary group (though now with even '''LESS''' scruples) [[spoiler: and entrusted a loyal soldier into taking the fall for him]]; finally by ''[=MG 1 and 2=]'' (1995 & 1999 respectively) he was declaring war upon the world.
* SmokingIsCool: His choice of cigars are Habano-brand Cuban cigars, and will correct you if you mistakenly call them cigarettes. [[spoiler:He even smokes while he's dying, even lampshading it saying: "This is good, isn't it?"]]
* SmokyVoice: Like father, like son, Big Boss has a coarse and weathered voice from both his time as a soldier and being a habitual smoker. While both Snakes have the same smoking habits, Big Boss smokes Habano-brand Cuban cigars instead of normal cigarettes.
* StartOfDarkness: His character arcs over ''Snake Eater'' and ''Peace Walker'' {{prequel}} games show you just what motivated him to create Outer Heaven and become the BigBad of the first two ''Metal Gear'' games: seeing how disposable soldiers are to the world first hand over and over again eventually drove him to create a place where soldiers would be honored rather than thrown to the side.
* StillBelievesInSanta: In the briefing file about NORAD in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'', it is revealed that Big Boss, despite being a badass SuperSoldier, still believes Santa exists and refuses to listen to Huey's reason.
* StillWearingTheOldColors:
** In ''Portable Ops'', ''Peace Walker'' and ''Ground Zeroes'', each one of his uniforms still bears a ''FOX'' unit logo, though in ''Portable Ops'' his sneaking suit had been stolen from ''FOX''.
** In ''Metal Gear 2'' his sprite wears a green uniform, opposed to the tan uniforms of his troops. The green uniform having been the standard uniform of the ''FOX'' and ''MSF'' units.
** This is brought up by Snake in ''[=MGS4=]'' when Otacon asks why Meryl is still wearing a ''FOXHOUND'' patch on her uniform when ''FOXHOUND'' no longer exists. Snake's response is that some soldiers like to keep patches, or other mementos like maybe a tattoo, to remind themselves of their old units out of some leftover fondness or loyalty they may have to those memories. This implies that Big Boss has some attachment to his old unit.
** Likewise in ''[=MGS4=]'', [[spoiler: when he confronts Snake in person, he is wearing the officer's trenchcoat of the ''FOX'' (and its successor ''FOXHOUND'') units. This is despite both units having long since been defunct]].
* TheStoolPigeon: [[InvertedTrope An inversion]] of the Lacerated Larry type in ''Peace Walker''. He remained silent about the truth behind his killing of The Boss outside of the official story of "betrayal" the United States when Dr. Strangelove tortured him. Unfortunately, his remaining silent on the issue is ''exactly'' how Strangelove managed to deduce the truth behind The Boss's final mission.
* SuicideIsShameful: In ''Peace Walker'', he refuses to MercyKill Chico at Amanda's request for this reason. Also, in [[spoiler:''[=MGS4=]'', he commends Solid Snake for not going through with [[AteHisGun blowing his brains out]], remarking there's "no need for [David] to go just yet." Of course, he also ends up switching off Zero's life support in the same conversation, but that was to finally put an end to the Patriots, and by that point, Zero was nothing but a [[FateWorseThanDeath brain-dead vegetable]].]]
-->'''Big Boss''': Amanda, we gave up our homes. But we're still alive. We're still fighting. And there's ''always'' another reason to keep on living.
* SuperStrength: Implied in ''Peace Walker'', where Big Boss was capable of lifting up a sealed garage door to gain entry to Peace Walker's hangar twice with his own bare hands, and, at least in gameplay, bench-pressing even Cocoon. Which is roughly the size of a small-town municipal building.
* SurpassedTheTeacher: The source of his codename; Naked Snake was deemed "above even The Boss" when he defeated and slew his mentor, and thus was dubbed Big Boss by the President. Big Boss didn't feel the same, however, and it took ten years for him to embrace the title.
* SympathyForTheDevil: In [[spoiler:''[=MGS4=]'', despite their long history of animosity, and believing Zero hated him and wanted him dead, when he comes face-to-face with the vegetative Zero after awakening from his coma, Big Boss feels nothing but pity and compassion for his former friend before giving a MercyKill]].
-->'''Big Boss''': Now that I'm actually face to face with him again, the hatred is gone. All I feel is a deep sense of longing. And pity.
* ThenLetMeBeEvil: At the end of ''Peace Walker'', he gives a speech about how the world will view MSF differently as time goes by; either as revolutionaries, dogs of war or terrorists and he is willing to accept that role as a villain. And thus, [[WarriorHeaven Outer Heaven]] was born.
* ThatThingIsNotMyChild: His initial reaction to his three clones; in fact, the discovery that [[spoiler: Para-Medic]] had cloned him under [[spoiler: Zero]]'s orders in the first place was ultimately what led him to defect from [[spoiler: Cipher]]. As revealed in the Truth tapes in ''The Phantom Pain'', [[spoiler: he adamantly refused to acknowledge them as his sons, to the point of refusing to see Eli in Africa]]. Nonetheless, he came to respect David as a person and fellow soldier who he personally trained, and [[spoiler:still orders Ocelot to treat Eli like another human being regardless]]. It is only at [[spoiler:the very end of his life that he finally acknowledges David as his son who he encourages to live in peace with what time there's left.]]
-->'''Big Boss''': They're no sons of mine, and they're sure as hell not me.\\
'''Ocelot''': Just a bunch of cells grown in a lab?\\
'''Big Boss''': What they are is much sicker than that.
* ThouShaltNotKill: Prefers to simply tranquilize or knock out enemies rather than kill them unless killing is the only option.
* TookALevelInBadass: He was already TheAce when he goes into ''Operation Virtuous Mission'', but [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter The Boss]], his very own mentor, utterly [[CurbStompBattle trounced him with zero effort]] when they were forced to fight for the first couple times. By the end of ''Operation Snake Eater'', he has SurpassedTheTeacher, and gains the legendary moniker of Big Boss, going from a "newborn" without any emotion of his own to carry into battle into a genuine war hero -- and a ByronicHero that has firmly become a BrokenAce for what it took to come so far.
* TookALevelInKindness: The first thing he does after waking up from nanomachine-induced coma and seeing Snake again after their fateful battle in Zanzibarland is use CQC to hug him, showing he has finally accepted David as his son with no enmity he used to have when the latter used to work for him and became bitter enemies.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Used to express a one-track interest regarding eating the many animals he came across during ''Operation Snake Eater'', but snakes stuck out as a particular favorite to the point where he reacted with confusion when hearing about snakes being imported as pets, not food.
* TragicHero: Big Boss's dedication to his allies and his desire to avoid war ultimately causes him to lose everyone he cared about while being hunted by governments and militaries from all over the world.
* TragicKeepsake: Has had three major ones, all of them alluded to his deceased mentor:
** He kept wearing The Boss's bandanna, which he snatched from her head during the Virtuous Mission, for ten years. After watching the Peace Walker AI weapon drown itself in the ocean, he finds some closure to the event at last and casts it off to the winds.
** He also kept The Boss's weapon, the Patriot, after executing her with it, as his personal weapon; using it [[spoiler: until his death]], 40 years later.
** His smoking habit in general could be considered a ''huge'' one, [[spoiler: as his sharing a final smoke with David before his passing demonstrates]].
* TrainingFromHell: It's strongly implied that he underwent this when under The Boss's tutelage and when joining ''FOX''. In regard to the former, The Boss tells Volgin (who at the time was shocking him with electricity that was said by Volgin to be around ''ten million'' volts) that it wouldn't break him as The Boss trained him not to, and in the case of the latter, Cunningham stated that any attempts at beating him wouldn't even qualify as torture to Naked Snake due to his former ''FOX'' membership.
* {{Ubermensch}}: He develops his own moral code, and doesn't care if that makes him "evil" in the eyes of others.
* UndignifiedDeath: Subverted. Big Boss [[DisneyDeath seemingly]] dies at the end of ''Metal Gear 2'' when Solid uses an AerosolFlamethrower to burn him - a rather pathetic end for a [[BadassNormal man who used to fight superhumans]] and [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower once benched a 90-ton robot in his youth]]. Except this burning wasn't ''immediately'' fatal and he slipped into a coma and stayed that way for fifteen years. His actual death at the end of ''Guns of the Patriots'' is quite poignant, having a last smoke while burying the hatchet with his son.
* UsedToBeASweetKid: Well, young adult, anyway.
* VillainKiller: In ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater Snake Eater]]'', his battles with the Cobra Unit end like this, with their deaths being very over-the-top compared to the more somber ones seen in the game.
* VillainRespect: He freely admits that while he never saw Solid Snake as his son, he ''did'' respect Solid Snake as a man and fellow soldier.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Up until his plans for ''Outer Heaven'' are stopped by Solid Snake. However, in ''[=MGS4=]'', his popularity skyrockets once more after [[GreaterScopeVillain the Patriots]] declassify all files relating to his past exploits, including ''Operation Snake Eater'', much to his son's annoyance.
-->'''Solid Snake''': The war criminal, reinvented as a hero.
* VindicatedByHistory: InUniverse. As mentioned above, Big Boss's exploits had gotten recognition to the point people wanted to use CQC. Solid Snake naturally finds it stupid, to the point that he even calls the [=PMCs'=] CQC as cookie-cutter imitations.
* WalkingSpoiler: [[spoiler:He's the twist villain of the very first game who comes back from seemingly certain death on two later occasions, as well as the DecoyProtagonist of the ''MGSV'' duology.]]
* WalkingTransplant: [[spoiler: Big Boss reveals EVA hid his body and uses both Liquid's and Solidus's parts to replace damaged parts.]]
* WarForFunAndProfit: The ethos behind ''Outer Heaven''. Big Boss's objective was to give soldiers without a home someplace to belong, as well as an escape from Cipher/The Patriots' umbrella. As Big Boss happened across war orphans during his travels, he began integrating child soldiers into his army too. His intentions were benevolent, but ''Outer Heaven'' set the stage for a perpetual war machine, which Les Enfants Terribles and Desperado later accelerated.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: His friendship with Zero ended when he found out about the Les Enfants Terribles project and the Sons of Big Boss were cloned without his consent. This causes him to break off with the Patriots with EVA and Adam joining him. Both Para-Medic and [=SIGNIT=] remained loyal to Zero, and Big Boss' entire conflict throughout the '70's and 90's was a personal war between his Outer Heaven faction against Zero.
* WeakToFire: The only way to cause his [[spoiler:alleged]] death in ''Metal Gear 2'' is to immolate him with a lighter and a can of hairspray.
* WeCanRebuildHim: After his "death", [[spoiler: EVA recovered his body which gets patched up using parts of Liquid's and Solidus's corpses]].
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Given how horrifically governments and groups like Cipher treat soldiers in the ''Metal Gear'' Universe, it's not surprising Big Boss wanted to make a world where they'd always be needed.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: He's ''deathly'' afraid of vampires and all subject matter related to them; specifically, Bram Stoker's ''Literature/{{Dracula}}''. Para-Medic uses this to raise his adrenaline levels and spur him into action.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: The man had a life could best be described as a TraumaCongaLine of absolutely '''''epic''''' proportions:
** First off, [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater in 1964]], he's [[spoiler: forced to kill the only woman he had ever loved -- the same woman who had served as his mentor and mother figure since his childhood, all because somebody in the U.S. government held a grudge and set her up]].
** [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker Ten years later]], [[spoiler: Big Boss comes up with the project for a WarriorHeaven heaven: a place where soldiers can live free from the manipulations of governments, and be given the honor and respect they deserve. Along the way, he decides that The Boss abandoned her soldiers, her virtues, and therefore, him as well. Said project is then [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVGroundZeroes promptly destroyed]], as he watches hundreds of the men and women he adored as family die in front of him, and he's sent into a nine-year coma]].
** After [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain returning]] to action, Big Boss strives to take revenge and build his ''Outer Heaven'', gathering a formidable army, and also nuclear weapons, only to be [[VideoGame/MetalGear1 foiled]] and [[VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake crippled]] by his very own ''son'' Solid Snake. He is then held in another coma, essentially becoming a prisoner within his mind for fifteen years. And [[spoiler: when he's finally able to reawaken, and reconcile with Solid Snake, he dies shortly after]]. All things considered, it's a wonder Big Boss didn't snap sooner than he did.
* WorldsBestWarrior: He's renowned as the greatest soldier of the 20th century, and he can certainly back it up. It took the efforts of Solid Snake, a clone of himself who Big Boss personally trained, to finally take him down.
* WouldntHurtAChild: In ''[=MGS3=]'', though he's perfectly willing to fight and beat up Ocelot, he refuses to let EVA shoot Ocelot InTheBack while running away because Ocelot's "still young."
* WroteTheBook: Co-invented CQC with The Boss, and invented the use of the tactical cardboard box as a hiding place. He even originated the very idea of the "Stealth Mission" -- hence, the ''Metal Gear'' franchise owes its existence to this man. Zero pitched the idea after hearing about The Boss's war stories; the Stealth Mission is actually a modified version of what the Boss termed "Snatch" missions, wherein an agent is sent to extract a VIP. Obviously, these missions ruled out a full-on assault or tripping alarms since the hostage would instantly be killed. Virtuous Mission (a Snatch Mission) and ''Operation Snake Eater'' (a Sneaking Mission) were intended as test drives, to convince the higher-ups at Langley to marry spies and soldiers into a single unit.
* YouAreWhatYouHate: Over the years, he became as manipulative and deceitful as the politicians who manipulated him in his youth. His ambitions even turned his small team of earnest operatives into a cabal that would forge a war machine infinitely worse than the one that chewed up and spat out his mentor.
* YouHaveNoChanceToSurvive: When he confronts Solid Snake in Zanzibar Land, the agent has just emerged from a fire, lost all of his gear, and is utterly defenseless. And he ''still'' refuses Big Boss's offer of a quick death. The commander can only marvel at his audacity:
-->'''Big Boss:''' Really...? And how do you expect to beat me in your condition? With no weapon?\\
'''Solid Snake''': Never give up. Fight until the end. Always believe you will succeed, even when the odds are against you... Those are your words.\\
'''Big Boss''': Even I make mistakes from time to time.
* YouKillItYouBoughtIt: His codename "'''Big Boss'''" stems from his assignment to kill the Boss and her Cobra Unit.
* ZenSurvivor: [[spoiler: With moments left to live, Big Boss stays completely calm and offers some final words of wisdom to his son]].

[[/folder]]
----
->''This is good... Isn't it?''
----

* DecoyProtagonist: [[spoiler:An odd case in ''MGSV''. He is the protagonist of the first part ''Ground Zeroes'' but TheReveal is that ''The Phantom Pain'' was in fact not him but his body double Venom Snake. So the twist is essentially that he was a DecoyProtagonist when we were lead to believe he was simply the protagonist of the whole thing]].

* TheOneThatGotAway:[[spoiler:''Portable Ops'' at least has it be clear that Snake still cares for EVA despite her betrayal, while Snake and EVA can meet again as part of a difficult side-quest with the implication they get together again, ''[=MGS4=]'' establishes this didn't happen.]]

* WalkingSpoiler: [[spoiler: He's actually the ''real'' Big Boss who went into hiding after the hospital escape to begin work on creating Outer Heaven while leaving the player character to be his "phantom".]]

[[center:[-[[Characters/MetalGear Main Character Index]] | Characters/MetalGear1 ([[Characters/MetalGearSolidSnake Solid Snake]] | '''Big Boss / Naked Snake''') | [[Characters/MetalGear2SolidSnake Metal Gear 2]] | [[Characters/MetalGearSolid Metal Gear Solid]] ([[Characters/MetalGearSolidFOXHOUND FOXHOUND]]) | [[Characters/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty Sons of Liberty]] ([[Characters/MetalGearRaiden Raiden]]) | [[Characters/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater Snake Eater]] | [[Characters/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots Guns of the Patriots]] | [[Characters/MetalGearSolidPortableOps Portable Ops]] | [[Characters/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker Peace Walker]] | [[Characters/MetalGearRisingRevengeance Revengeance]] ([[Characters/MetalGearSenatorArmstrong Senator Armstrong]]) | [[Characters/MetalGearSolidV The Phantom Pain]] | [[Characters/MetalGearAcid Acid]] | [[Characters/MetalGearAcid2 Acid 2]] | [[Characters/MetalGearGhostBabel Ghost Babel]] | [[Characters/SnakesRevenge Snake's Revenge]]-]]]

* TraumaCongaLine: Let's face it. From Operation Snake Eater to Zanzibar Land, his life has been one huge TraumaCongaLine. See ShellShockedVeteran and WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds to elaborate in his backstory.

** He trusted EVA throughout Operation Snake Eater even though EVA never provided the correct passphrase. While EVA did assist him in completing it, it turns out [[spoiler:EVA was actually a Chinese {{double agent}} who was using him to complete her own mission]]. Though at least in this case, [[spoiler:he [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation may or may not have been onto her ruse]] given he slipped her the fake Philosopher's Legacy microfilm by the end.]]

* CreateYourOwnHero: If he hadn't betrayed Solid Snake in Outer Heaven, the latter would have been his greatest asset in his war against the Patriots, considering they have a mutual goal to put an end to the Patriots' hold on the world. Plus, it was Solid Snake who ironically manages to accomplish the goal The Boss wanted.

** He trusted EVA throughout Operation Snake Eater even though EVA never provided the correct passphrase. While EVA did assist him in completing it, it turns out [[spoiler:EVA was actually a Chinese {{double agent}} who was using him to complete her own mission]].

** This becomes particularly noticeable in ''Ground Zeroes'', where the game introduces him as "Snake", and even refers to him as "a former hero once known by the codename "Big Boss", when the '''reverse''' is true, and the only times he's referred to as "Snake" is when receiving certain orders and the game over sequence.

** His ambition of creating a world of perpetual conflict where soldiers will always be needed winds up coming true thanks to the War Economy come ''Meteal Gear Solid 4,'' and it's a product of the very system he was trying to destroy. The irony is not lost on Solid Snake.

* BaritoneOfStrength: Befitting someone who is known as "Big Boss" and has founded two [=PMCs=] and a U.S. Army black ops group, Creator/DavidHayter gives him the same baritone Solid Snake's famous for. Replaced later by Creator/RichardDoyle and Creator/KieferSutherland.

* GutturalGrowler: Like father, like son.

* SmokingIsCool: [[spoiler: He even smokes while he's dying, even lampshading it saying: "This is good, isn't it?"]]

* AndIMustScream: After his [[spoiler: battle with Solid Snake at Zanzibar, he was left heavily burned and just barely alive, but the Patriots recovered him and injected him with nanomachines to keep him from dying. After this he was kept in a [[HumanPopsicle cryogenic coma]], during which he was semi-aware, as the Patriots used him for extensive experiments, leaving quite the marks on his already damaged body. He was in that state [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid for]] [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2 fifteen]] [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4 years]] until the destruction of the Patriots' [=AIs=] finally let him wake up. Luckily for him, EVA had in the meantime been able to steal his body back from where the Patriots kept him and used parts of Liquid's and Solidus's bodies to restore him to his former appearance]].

** [[spoiler: He eventually [[HeelFaceTurn returns]] to anti-nihilism at the end of ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4 Guns of the Patriots]]'', [[RedemptionEqualsDeath finding closure]] to his long and storied life: he [[RepairedPedestal reconciles]] with his son and reaffirms that world peace is WorthLivingFor, performs a [[MercyKill mercy kill]] on a comatose old friend who had [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom unwittingly]] become the keystone of the WarEconomy, salutes the grave of his mentor (who was also an AntiNihilist who sacrificed her life and reputation to make the world a better place) and enjoys a [[OneLastSmoke final smoke]] before finally passing away]].

* BigBad: Of ''Metal Gear'' and ''Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake'', wanting to enforce his ideals of ''Outer Heaven'' and give soldiers like him [[WarriorHeaven a place in the world]] through nuclear superiority, using ''Outer Heaven'' in South Africa (''VideoGame/MetalGear1'') and Zanzibar/[[spoiler: Tselinoyarsk]] (''VideoGame/MetalGear2'') as his bases of operations.

* BookEnds: [[spoiler: The ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4 Guns of the Patriots]]'' novelization claims that Zanzibar Land was originally Tselinoyarsk, the place Naked Snake infiltrated in ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3 Snake Eater]]'', suggesting that the location where his fame arose is also where he meets his final defeat]].

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In the first game, Big Boss is a generic villain with no personality. Come ''Metal Gear 2'', and he becomes far more complex and with more complicated motives and philosophies than most villains in modern games, let alone the 8-bit era. However, his [[LukeIAmYourFather father-son relationship]] with Solid Snake is completely absent, since the plot point wasn't even introduced at that point, leaving his appearance in [[spoiler: ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'']] to address that. The prequel games add on to this, detailing that he was an eccentric dork prior to his FaceHeelTurn.

* CooldownHug[=/=][[spoiler: FinalFirstHug]]: With [[spoiler:Solid Snake]]. And a damn touching one at that.

* GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler: Overlapping with a TearfulSmile, at the end of ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4 Guns of the Patriots]]'']].

** His fight against Quiet turns out to be a mirror of the fight between him and Solid Snake in VideoGame/MetalGear2, except this time Big Boss is the one injured, weaponless, and forced to make an improvised incendiary weapon, against an opponent armed to the teeth. Quiet's [=XOF=] uniform's color palette being similar to Solid Snake's iconic Sneaking Suit in [=MGS1=] helps with the allusion. [[GenerationXerox Like father, like son, huh?]]

[[caption-width-right:340:[[labelnote:Click here]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mgsv_ishmael.jpg[[/labelnote]] to see Big Boss as Ishmael]]

* BreakTheHaughty: Amusingly, going into ''Operation Virtuous Mission'', Naked Snake is easily the most smug a protagonist has been in the entire franchise, utterly cocksure of himself from beginning to end.. until [[CurbStompBattle The Boss shows up in person.]] The rest of ''[=MGS3=]'' is him having to take his pride and capability as a soldier and temper it on top of [[TookALevelInBadass his skill]] to overcome the impossible, setting in stone the legend of Big Boss as we know it -- where, [[BreakTheCutie by that point]], he simply doesn't [[{CharacterDevelopment give a damn]] about how much of a legendary soldier he's become.

* BreakTheHaughty: Amusingly, going into ''Operation Virtuous Mission'', Naked Snake is considered [[TheAce the ace in the hole]] for the foundation of the FOX Squad, and has a confident, if not downright ''arrogant'', attitude about him, between how he casually handles the HALO Jump, his smug disregard for Ocelot's threat in their first meeting thanks to noticing the flaws in the young man's style, and the nonchalance he has about the mission overall. Then The Boss betrays him ''and'' the United States, knocks his ass flat and breaks his arm before leaving him for dead, and the entire operation goes up in smoke thanks to Sokolov being taken by Volgin and The Boss, plus America being framed for the detonation of a Davy Crockett nuclear warhead on Russian soil. While he has his more cheeky moments in side-conversations or with less tense situations, the somber realization that one of his goals in ''Operation Snake Eater'' is to kill The Boss herself creates a much more mission-focused mindset and rather grim outlook for the rest of ''[=MGS3=]'', since it's either a successful mission, death in Russia, or death by firing squad back home. Succeeding that mission resulted in [[BreakTheCutie the above.]]

** [[spoiler: As Ishmael, he appears to be an unarmed, otherwise unremarkable individual, he's the only reason why Venom Snake manages to make it out of the hospital, fending off a heavily-armed force of XOF soldiers and The Man On Fire.]]

[[caption-width-right:340:[[labelnote:Click here]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mgsv_ishmael.jpg[[/labelnote]] to see Big Boss as [[spoiler:Ishmael]]]]

->'''A.K.A.''': Naked Snake, Jack, John Doe, The Legendary Soldier, The Legendary Mercenary, The One-Eyed Man, Saladin, Vic Boss, [[spoiler: Ishmael]], [[spoiler: The Bandaged Man]]

[[center:[-[[Characters/MetalGear Main Character Index]] | Characters/MetalGear1 ([[Characters/MetalGearSolidSnake Solid Snake]] | '''Big Boss / Naked Snake''') | [[Characters/MetalGear2SolidSnake Metal Gear 2]] | [[Characters/MetalGearSolid Metal Gear Solid]] ([[Characters/MetalGearSolidFOXHOUND FOXHOUND]]) | [[Characters/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty Sons of Liberty]] ([[Characters/MetalGearRaiden Raiden]]) | [[Characters/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater Snake Eater]] | [[Characters/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots Guns of the Patriots]] | [[Characters/MetalGearSolidPortableOps Portable Ops]] | [[Characters/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker Peace Walker]] | [[Characters/MetalGearRisingRevengeance Revengeance]] ([[Characters/MetalGearSenatorArmstrong Senator Armstrong]]) | [[Characters/MetalGearSolidV The Phantom Pain]] | [[Characters/MetalGearAcid Acid]] | [[Characters/MetalGearAcid2 Ac!d 2]] | [[Characters/MetalGearGhostBabel Ghost Babel]] | [[Characters/SnakesRevenge Snake's Revenge]]-]]]

[[center:[-[[Characters/MetalGear Main Character Index]] | Characters/MetalGear1 ([[Characters/MetalGearSolidSnake Solid Snake]] | '''Big Boss / Naked Snake''') | [[Characters/MetalGear2SolidSnake Metal Gear 2]] | [[Characters/MetalGearSolid Metal Gear Solid]] ([[Characters/MetalGearSolidFOXHOUND FOXHOUND]]) | [[Characters/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty Sons of Liberty]] ([[Characters/MetalGearRaiden Raiden]]) | [[Characters/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater Snake Eater]] | [[Characters/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots Guns of the Patriots]] | [[Characters/MetalGearSolidPortableOps Portable Ops]] | [[Characters/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker Peace Walker]] | [[Characters/MetalGearRisingRevengeance Revengeance]] ([[Characters/MetalGearSenatorArmstrong Senator Armstrong]]) | [[Characters/MetalGearSolidV The Phantom Pain]] | [[Characters/MetalGearAcid Acid]] | [[Characters/MetalGearGhostBabel Ghost Babel]] | [[Characters/SnakesRevenge Snake's Revenge]]-]]]

* BadassNormal: Unlike his ''[[CloningBlues sons]]'', Big Boss has had no genetic tampering, nor nano-augmentation, nor suit of power armor (though Solid Snake's genetics are actually ''supposed'' to be a [[FlawedPrototype flawed]] clone), and yet, his feats of military prowess are every bit as legendary.

* NoSocialSkills: PlayedForLaughs. In ''Snake Eater'' it is established that not only he lacks any knowledge about pop culture and films like his future son, Solid Snake,[[note]]The one film the former knows, is the one ''he'' dislikes the most[[/note]] but, in EVA's words, he is completely slow on social cues; he doesn't realize that Ocelot is into him, and doesn't quite get that both Volgin and Raikov are lovers (even as EVA ''directly'' shows a photo of the two together). He loses this as he transitions from "Naked Snake" to "Big Boss".

For tropes pertaining to his [[spoiler:mental doppelgänger Venom Snake]] in ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain The Phantom Pain]]'', go [[Characters/MetalGearSolidV here]]. [[Characters/SnakesRevenge Same here]] for the version of Big Boss in ''VideoGame/SnakesRevenge''.