Myth:
Metal Gear Solid 4's Old Snake is NOT Solid Snake!
Fact: He is.
By Ravi Singh
Posted on November 20, 2006; updated April 02, 2007
Look, make up as many theories about the possibility of Raiden being a cyborg,
fine. Big Boss somehow coming back? Whatever. Old Snake is not Solid Snake? Fuck
off.
How am I so sure that the old man with the mustache (alias Old Snake) in the Metal
Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots trailers is in fact Solid Snake and nobody else?
Especially with the game not released as of the writing of this article, and the
fact that Wikipedia does not find my site to be a reliable source?
Well, let's go over the "compelling evidence" that everyone seems to always bring
out. Most of these were taken from
here and
there.
1) Old Snake has a mustache. Solid Snake does not.
Well, if I remember correctly, Big Boss had a beard. Not a mustache. The mustache
is not proof of it being anybody. I can get a mustache in two days. Would that make
ME Big Boss? No.
2) Old Snake uses CQC. Solid Snake does not.
Apparently, the only person who has ever used CQC ever was Big Boss (and The Boss).
It's a fucking technique, and Solid Snake will be using it, as said by Hideo Kojima:
PSM: Will we see the return of CQC...?
Kojima: I can say that CQC will return, but it doesn't really make sense
because that's Big Boss' technique. People will have question marks if Snake
can do CQC, but if you follow the story, you'll understand why he has it.
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UPDATE (03/10/07): Yes, I know the main reason why Snake is using CQC is because
of the fact that everyone that mattered liked it in Snake Eater. Still, with the
quote above, and the fact that CQC is a technique that can be learnt, Solid Snake
can easily have done something between the end of the Sons of Liberty and Guns of
the Patriots in order to start using the skills like a pro. In other words--it's
still not proof that Old Snake is Big Boss, let alone anyone but Solid Snake!
3) Old Snake has a knife. Solid Snake is "not a fan of blades."
I'm not a fan of blades either, but I still have one on me. Also, the knife is essential
to CQC, and I've already discussed that, so that's that.
4) Old Snake is really fucking old. Solid Snake is not.
Obviously, somebody was too busy using their DualShock 2 controller as a masturbation
instrument during Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. The Les Enfant Terribles
project was kind of fucked up due to several reasons:
a) It happened in the 1970's.
b) Big Boss was old when they cloned him.
c) They started fucking around and had each Snake end up differently genetically,
somehow.
Don't believe me? Let's see what Kojima has to say of this!
PSM: Snake looks significantly older in MGS4. Is he aging faster
because he's a clone of Big Boss?
Kojima: [Laughter] You're exactly right! You're right, he is a clone.
He was a copy, but the cloning technology was from the '70s. It was a very
new technology back then. It's not like it is today with our technology.
Snake is aging very fast. If you look at Otacon, you'll notice that he has
not aged very much, but Snake has.
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5) Old Snake salutes to some grave. Solid Snake never saluted to any grave.
We have not seen Solid Snake ever taking a shit. Doesn't mean he hasn't. Also, the
grave could be anybody's. Here's a list of who it could be:
a) Gray Fox
b) Solid Snake / Liquid Snake (Hey, everyone thought he died) *shrugs*
c) Sniper Wolf
d) Master Miller
e) The Snake Soup
f) Big Boss (assuming there is a grave)
g) Raiden (assuming he's "dead")
h) Master Miller
i) Fortune (Psh)
j) Ian Curtis
k) Natasha Markova a.k.a. Mrs. Gustava Hugh Heffner
l) Some bitch
m) Bush's presidency
n) The Boss
o) Or... it could be the grave of ANY-fucking-BODY!
How could Snake have known about The Boss? Maybe he heard of her, somehow? Give
this one a rest already.
6) Old Snake has an "eye patch." Solid Snake does not.
Old Snake doesn't even have an eye patch. It's the Solid Eye. Same shit? Not really.
First off, he's not always wearing the damn thing, and even when he does, it's over
his left eye!
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In comparison, Big Boss, who wore an actual eye patch, had it over his non-existent
right-eye, even when he was Sean Connery:
    
From left to right: Naked Snake, Sean Connery, Big Boss, Big Boss, Big Boss,
and Big Boss, possibly his dead body.
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So how can Big Boss not only come back from the dead, but also get his burnt-to-fuck-body
back, in addition to his right-eye? Oh, and left-eye, which somehow gets missing
again in some freak accident?
6) Old Snake seems to have a legacy. Solid Snake does not.
Yeah, because killing Big Boss and Liquid Snake, in addition to destroying more
than a handful of Metal Gears is something any asshole can do, huh?
7) Old Snake is never actually shown being addressed to. Solid Snake... is teh kewls.
You apparently missed these parts of the trailers:
 
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Sure, they just call him Snake, but Old Snake apparently is on speaking terms with
Otacon. That's not Big Boss.
8) Old Snake is referred to as "Snake." Solid Snake... did as well, but fuck you,
I'm better than you.
In every god damn Metal Gear game, Solid Snake goes by the name "Snake" as well.
9) Liquid Ocelot is composed of Big Boss and Solid Snake's greatest foes.
Ocelot wasn't really Big Boss' foe in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. In fact--they
seemed to hit it off quite well and Ocelot ends up joining Outer Heaven and FOX-HOUND.
And Liquid Snake was not a foe of Big Boss... Big Boss was a foe to him! There is
a difference.
10) Big Boss dies in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. But so did Gray Fox in Metal Gear
2, Liquid Snake in Metal Gear Solid, and Vamp in Metal Gear Solid 2.
Gray Fox's body was recovered, with only the legs fucked up. It was a mine field.
He didn't get burnt to death. Liquid Snake died from FOX-DIE. As for the arm...
well, I guess Ocelot's dad being The Sorrow doesn't justify it that much, but still.
As for Vamp, yes, he apparently dies thrice in Sons of Liberty, but continues to
come back. He'll even be back in Guns of the Patriots. How is this possible? We
don't know, but if you couldn't tell, there's a huge difference between Vamp and
Big Boss.
11) Solid Snake - IS = Old Snake. But it's not legit Sideways Arithmetic! And minus
means "not" right? So Solid Snake NOT IS OLD SNAKE!!!
Shut up. God damn it.
Now, regardless of anything anyone has to say in addition to the ridiculous claims
above, how about a word from Kojima... besides the ones I already mentioned above?
But one character that he's ready to confirm for certain is Solid
Snake. The elderly appearance of the character in the [TGS 2005] trailer
led some to speculate that the main character of Metal Gear Solid 4 wasn't
actually Snake, and many elaborate theories immediately appeared on the
internet.
...
However, Kojima assured us that the main character in MGS4 is definitely
Solid Snake, and his new look was deliberately designed to throw people
off.
...
...Kojima explained with a laugh. "The reason why he looks much older is
because of course he is a clone of Big Boss, and the technology during the
seventies was not as mature as it is today."
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Still not enough? How about the Show Maybe? booklet passed out during E3 2006
by Kojima Productions? Below are just a couple of things that state that Solid Snake
and Old Snake are the same person. Show Maybe? also included
an interview with Hideo Kojima, in which he pretty much says the same thing
he's always said.
Solid Snake makes a depressing and distressing appearance in the E3 2006
trailer. In addition, he is referenced to as "Snake."
(Page 6)
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This pretty much sums this myth article up.
(Page 9)
* I added that bit there.
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The E3 2006 trailer had "Solid Snake" suddenly change to "Old Snake" before showing
Old Snake. If that wasn't good enough, how about this nifty wallpaper
from the Kojima Productions website?
Fig 1: Old Snake
Fig 2: Old Snake, close-up
Fig 3: "Solid Snake" with "Old Snake" underneath.
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But then, some of you are even more inclined to beLIEve that Old Snake is Big Boss
because Kojima said he's Solid Snake. Why? Because Kojima tricked you guys! You
poor souls are still bitter over the fact that you had to play as Raiden for 90%
of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. Kojima altered the trailers so that nobody
would think that there would be another main character.
But that's the thing. As Snake said in Sons of Liberty, "You never asked." Since
most people assumed, with the previous three games starring Solid Snake, that Solid
Snake would be the main character, nobody asked if there was another playable character.
Kojima never flat-out lied. He just put a drape over it.
During the production of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Kojima continued to trick
fans, but he still didn't lie. When asked about Snake being Solid Snake or Big Boss,
he simply refused to give out an answer--even after it was getting ridiculously
obvious.
Hideo Kojima has said that the old character in Guns of the Patriots is none other
than Solid Snake. He's never lied about characters, he just refrains information.
So what about that "Young Snake" everyone keeps talking about? Even I talked about
him in my Guns of the Patriots page, with
pictures and such!
Well, Kojima didn't say much about him. So go ahead and make up some theories, kids.
Keep in mind, however, that Old Snake is still Solid Snake.
That is why when some idiots on Wikipedia
made a huge deal out of this "controversy" which resulted in the main character
always being refered to as "Old Snake" instead of "Solid Snake" in the Metal Gear
Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots article, I actually put my foot down. Yes, that's
me, 75.28.39.120, putting my foot down. I changed every instance of "Old Snake"
back to "Solid Snake" and as of today, it has remained that way.
Now, hopefully, I will get less idiot theories in my e-mail inbox and more news
from the king of Nigeria who apparently wants to give me an assload of money!
(EDIT: 04/02/07) I have gotten some mails that claim that Snake has no right-eye
in the part where he puts a gun in his moth, and thus, claim #6 is valid. I have
taken the liberty of wasting my time to prove this screenshot to make you shut the
fuck up:
Snake isn't missing his eye--you just need to adjust your monitor's setting,
idiot. Besides, even if he did lose his right-eye, if I were to stab out my right-eye,
does that make ME Big Boss?
No. (And even if it did, fuck that, I like having depth perspective)
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