I'm back, and quite possibly the most obsessive MGS person I know. Breakdown to come.
And I'm back. To be brief, but explanatory, I will post both for Solid Snake and Big Boss (Naked Snake), so as to at least nullify the 'what if this Snake" that might pop up.
SOLID SNAKE:
Special Forces FOXHOUND: some of the world's top soldiers, including the Inuit shaman Vulcan Raven, a strongman who can survive incredible conditions, who wields a harrier jet chaingun; Sniper Wolf, a beautiful and deadly Sniper, one of the world's best; Revolver Ocelot, interrogations and handgun specialist, feared for all his abilities, including the ability to ricochet bullets to hit around cover; Decoy Octopus, the most convincing spy the world will ever know, so detailed as to alter his own body chemicals; Psycho Mantis, a powerful telekinetic and telepathic manipulator; and Liquid Snake, the twin brother of Solid Snake, whom shares the same codename, designed from the Les Enfants Terrible project to create the ultimate soldier.
During the Shadow Moses Island incident, Solid Snake was called from retirement to infiltrate the top-secret military base by old friend Roy Campbell, treated and armored by Doctor Naomi Hunter, and assisted by Mei Ling, world-leading telecommunications specialist. His mission; Defeat the insurgency on the island, Special Forces Unit FOXHOUND included, and destroy Metal Gear. He was forced to begin his mission unarmed with OSP (On-Site Procurement).
During this incident, Solid Snake procured and accumulated numerous weapons of all sorts; C4 plastic explosives, Frag grenades, NIKITA guided missiles, STINGER homing rocket launchers, SOCOM pistols, and more. He shows great experience with all these weapons, using them to their fullest; crippling tanks, eliminating genome soldier threats, and even disabling the might Metal Gear, a top-secret walking tank capable of launching nuclear missiles. He even went toe-to-toe with the Cyborg Ninja, a crazed Spectre of his old friend Gray Fox, who held the highest rank ever in FOXHOUND; Gray Fox had fought him once before on Zanzibar Island during Big Boss's attempt to create a warrior's paradise: Outer Heaven. They fought, hand-to-hand on a minefield; only Snake walked away.
Snake is clearly deadly in hand-to-hand combat, possibly the best fighter seen on the planet; specialized CQC techniques developed by some of the deadliest soldiers to walk the earth (see BIG BOSS down the page) allowed Snake to fight armed opponents bare-handed, leaving him never short of a way to defend himself. His dueled Frank Jaeger, the famed "Gray Fox" and won; he did the same when Gray Fox came back as the crazed Cyborg Ninja. He defeated his rival and brother Liquid Snake under the same pretexts. He would later on do the same to Liquid Ocelot (spoilers withheld).
Snake to date is unmatched in hand-to-hand combat; his incredible genetic structure and genius level IQ of over 180 (180 still base number, IQ tests vary by 30 points on average), combined with incredible conditioning and specialized training in the most devastating hand-to-hand combat style to date makes him unbelievably tough. Whether the use of blades or bare hands, getting close to Snake is a mistake; throat-cuts, crippling joint locks, devastating body blows, throws, and the ever-awesome rear naked choke (a move that can leave his opponent's neck snapped or simply subdued into unconsciousness) are among his hand-to-hand arsenal.
As a Sniper, he bested Sniper Wolf twice at Shadow Moses with his own long-range ability, and later did the same against B&B Corps members Crying Wolf and Raging Raven. His body and will did not yield to electric shock treatment that Ocelot imposed on him, nor the horror that was the microwave room during the Arsenal Gear mission. His will and mental defenses also lead to him defeating Psycho Mantis twice. Through use of ballistics and explosive weaponry he destroyed and disabled tanks, Metal Gear REX, and Metal Gear GEKKOS. He even piloted REX against the sleek-designed REX-killer, Metal Gear RAY. And won.
Throughout Solid Snake's career, he's been proven to have no equal. Even if the Patriots had caused his life to be manipulated, by no means did many of his opponents know that factor.
BIG BOSS:
Cobra Unit: the alliance of legendary soldiers who name themselves after the feelings they carry into battle. The Pain, a horrifying man who can manipulate and command Bees and hornets to do his bidding, transforming them into weaponry if need be; The Fear, a deadly stealth fighter who can move swiftly and quietly, able to contort his body into impossible shapes; The End, the legendary old man who was rumored to not only be the best Sniper, but the first; The Fury, a spaceman whose own hatred for everything is rivaled by the intense heat of his flamethrower; The Sorrow, a psychic medium who could contact the dead; and the Joy, a fighter worthy of recognition, also known as The Boss.
Naked Snake, who would soon become the legendary soldier Big Boss, was trained by the Boss personally. Together, they developed the fighting style CQC (Close-Quarters Combat), devastating, unprecedented, and unparallelled.
Snake at the time of the Virtuous Mission was to infiltrate Soviet Russia and rescue rocket scientist Nikolai Sokolov, a leader in the world of nuclear research. During the Virtuous Mission, Snake had encountered Shalashaska, later known as Revolver Ocelot, and his group of highly trained russian GRU soldiers. Defeating them with CQC and a handgun while outnumbered and surrounded, he met his contact EVA and proceeded and almost succeeded in rescuing Sokolov; if it weren't for The Boss' defection, revealing herself to be in Russia with him and defeating him.
During Operation Snake Eater, Snake once again had to infiltrate Russia to rescue Sokolov and assassinate Colonel Volgin, who was himself staging a coup d'etat. Having to disarm and eliminate threats such as KGB, GRU, and the Cobra Unit, Naked Snake's achievements would mirror his son's later on. Having met and dueled Ocelot again, who at the time was skilled but inexperienced and cocky, he became the inspiration for ocelot to become "Revolver Ocelot" later. Naked Snake, too, did battle in a sniper duel with the End, and won. Naked Snake outsmarted and outgunned the Pain and the Fear; Naked Snake's resolve to do his duty helped him to get past the Sorrow's spectre and his trials; He outplayed the Fury and survived the fire to tell a tale later; He was captured and shot in the eye. Yet despite his visual impairment, he continued to maintain a stedy shot and skillful combat prowess.
During the later parts of his mission, Snake had defeated Volgin, an electrically-charged monster of a man in close combat, and the Boss herself in a duel of CQC and gunplay. He even destroyed the mechanical monstrosity that was the Shagohod with the help of EVA's driving and the use of RPG missiles.
((No, I haven't played portable Ops, I haven't had the chance to. ;_; I know the story, but not enough in detail.))
Big Boss's genes were the base of the Les Enfants Terrible project, meaning his genes were that of the closest humanity could get to the perfect soldier. Later, it is revealed, that Big Boss had survived his fight with Solid Snake (during the events of Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2). Even in old age and dying from FOXDIE, Big Boss managed to defeat his own son, also aged at an accelerated rate, in one last moment with CQC, disarming him to explain himself.
As a note on armor, I will point this out; multiple times do both of them get shot and tortured, and Big Boss was able to treat himself with lack of armor, while Solid Snake's sneaking suit had mild bullet and heat protection; he crawled through a microwave, after all.
Much dilemma comes up on the subject of Big Boss versus Solid Snake, though. Wouldn't that be interesting? In either case, whether it is Solid Snake and his more celebrated successes or Big Boss and his deadly and perfected presence, any opponent should fear a man who goes by the name of "Snake".
