Myth: Big Boss is the hero of the entire Metal Gear series
Our hero, showing off some good facial cream for severe near-death burns.Fact: This is debatable; Solid Snake is still the hero.
By Ravi Singh, Posted on August 03, 2008; Updated June 28, 2010
Out of fucking nowhere, Big Boss appears. Despite his two deaths, he’s back in full glory and for a burnt man whose been rebuilt using the flesh of his clones, he looks to be in better shape than Solid Snake. Why is Big Boss here, in the cemetery, with an old guy? He wants to talk to Solid Snake about stuff. That’s cool, Boss. Wait, this comes at a price though–Snake’s FOX-DIE is targeted to Big Boss’ DNA. Big Boss doesn’t seem to mind since, as a founding member of The Patriots, he’s actually doing the world a favor by killing the old man and having himself killed. Hope the future generation doesn’t fuck it as bad as his did. “This is good, isn’t it?”
Tons of Metal Gear fans stormed the internet, either full of love or hate, branding Big Boss as the hero of the series. Some of these even go as far as claiming that Big Boss has always fought for good while Solid Snake just gets used to do the bidding of The Patriots. There are some truths behind these claims, but for the most part, Big Boss was still a villain during the Outer Heaven uprising and Zanzibar Land disturbance.
DESPITE ALL THE BULLSHIT, THEY’RE ALL GOOD GUYS RIGHT?!?!?! (oh, and is that a cumshot?)Let’s understand what the hell was happening between Big Boss and The Patriots. After the San Hieronymo Peninsula incident Big Boss, Zero, Ocelot, Sigint, and Paramedic formed The Patriots, effectively replacing The Philosophers. They all wanted to “reunite the world” or some shit because apparently that’s what The Boss wanted. Later, Big Boss finds Eva and recruits her as well, just to complete the Snake Eater cast roster. I guess Sokolov didn’t want to join?
Anyways, controlling the world and being dicks all in the name of some dead woman was all cool for Big Boss until they cloned him in 1972. Then he was like “fuck off” and leaves The Patriots like an angsty preteen. Ocelot and Eva, in secret, agreed with Big Boss although this seems to be due to some sort of affection towards him rather than being based on reason. So he’s good because now he fights against The Patriots right?!
No, not quite, because Big Boss had to have been at least forgiven by The Patriots when he comes back to the United States, bringing along Naomi Hunter and Gray Fox, and becoming the commander of FOX-HOUND once again. Sure, Big Boss was still butthurt and indeed, his Outer Heaven (and later Zanzibar Land) was just a way to stick it up to The Patriots… but was Big Boss going to end The Patriots completely?
The Patriots were controlling the United States politically and economically. Since the United States effectively became the super-power after World War II, and especially after the fall of the Soviet Union, The Patriots also effectively controlled the world. Outer Heaven practically questioned their powers with Big Boss believing that The Boss would have wanted soldiers to have a place of their own. This is, ultimately, the true beginnings of the civil war between Zero and Big Boss’ beliefs on what The Patriots should be doing. Solid Snake ends up being thrown into this mess and eventually helps end it.
This jackass claims that Liquid Snake and Solidus’ Outer Heavens were just “trail-and-error” even though he practically let them get fucked over, and HE’S the hero?Big Boss only planned to replace The Patriots with Outer Heaven, much like how The Patriots took over The Philosophers. Outer Heaven was not a plan to get rid of what The Patriots were doing at all! If it were, then why on Earth would Ocelot, a Patriot who was secretly working to revive Big Boss, purposely fuck with Liquid Snake and Solidus Snake’s Outer Heavens?
In the end, it was all about Big Boss. While Liquid Snake’s Outer Heaven was very much like his father’s, Solidus Snake truly wanted to free the United States of The Patriots’ rule. However, since neither were Big Boss, their plans didn’t matter to Ocelot or Eva. By having them killed, Eva also was able to score some identical tissue to rebuild Big Boss’ burnt body with so that he can wake up and practically take over.
Ocelot and Eva seemed to have intentionally kept Solid Snake alive, much like how Big Boss did in 1995 during Operation: Intrude N313; to confuse The Patriots and ultimately do their own deed. Naomi, however, lied to Snake and had him believe that the only way to prevent a horrid catastrophe in the future was for him to kill himself. This was a lie.
The reality was that the new FOX-DIE actually inhibited Solid Snake from becoming the weapon of mass destruction Naomi told him he was going to become. The side-effect, though, was something Ocelot, Eva, and Naomi did not like–Ocelot, Eva, and Big Boss’ deaths. Big Boss knew this beforehand, and he even tells Snake that Naomi told him “everything.” Upon waking up, he was debriefed about what has happened for nearly fifteen years while he took a long nap. Considering that Naomi had a video recorded for Solid Snake and Otacon upon the destruction of JD–which triggers Big Boss’ freedom–it’s most likely that Naomi was able to tell Big Boss to stay the fuck away from Solid Snake.
UPDATE (June 28, 2010) – ‘Soup reader JohnKiller118 has brought up a good point to me which may explain what exactly inspired Big Boss to save Solid Snake and “turn everything back to zero.” In his speech, Big Boss implies that it was Naomi herself who wanted him to tell Snake everything.
What does this mean? It explains Big Boss’ sudden change in behavior. It also has Naomi’s actions more questionable than ever. Was her plan the entire time to help Big Mama and Ocelot in restoring Big Boss’ fucked up version of The Boss’ will, or did she play along only because she believed that, if told everything, Big Boss will be willing to save Solid Snake? Did she lie to Snake in order to fool The Patriots, Big Mama and Ocelot… or both?
It’s not certain as to why the fuck Big Boss had a change of heart. His “dying” words were pretty much “FUCK YOU IT’S NOT EVER YET” and yet, upon waking up and learning some things he decides to prevent Snake’s suicide by sacrificing his own life. Still, he did it. Was this a good thing to do? Certainly a very selfless thing to do, but it doesn’t make Big Boss the hero of the series by far.
 “FUCK YOU SNAKE NOT YET ITS NOT OVER GRRR WAR WAR WAR!!!” |
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In the end of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Luke Skywalker is attacked by Emperor Palpatine. Darth Vader decides to go up to the Emperor, pick his ass up, and throw him off a ledge. He dies later as Palpatine attacked him while he was lifting him. Darth Vader is still a villain though. Yes, his last act was noble, but he still fucking blew up a planet.
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Big Boss never actually succeeded in making a never-ending war, but it was still his intention. Is it necessarily a bad thing to have soldiers be really important and rage war everywhere? Even Big Boss doesn’t seem to agree with this idea during his last conversation with Snake.
“If you’d been in my place back then, maybe you wouldn’t have made the same mistakes I did.”Falling in front of The Boss’ grave, Big Boss comes to a realization. “It’s not about changing the world. It’s about doing our best to leave the world the way it is. It’s about respecting the will of others and believing in your own.” Fifty years after hearing The Boss’ last words, Big Boss, “At last” understands “the meaning behind what [she] did” as well as “the truth behind [her] courage.” Big Boss then expresses his content upon his upcoming death, claiming the civil war between him and Zero as a “fruitless war.”
Even ignoring the fact that Big Boss himself repents what he did before 2014, isn’t ending his The Patriots in it’s entirety (which was NOT his original plan) enough? “This is good. Isn’t it?” Yes, definitely. Even then though, it all revolved around Solid Snake. Yes, Solid Snake was a tool being used by The Patriots. Despite this though, he acted on behalf of what he felt responsible for. Big Boss kept on insisting that what he did was what somebody he killed would have wanted.
Also keep in mind that while taking down a system that has mankind in chains is noble, the original plan was to have Outer Heaven be in control. Would Big Boss be less of a dick than Zero? Possibly. Would the world be free, as it becomes when Big Boss kills Zero and has himself killed? Not at all. Remember, The Patriots was formed once The Philosophers were killed off. That didn’t go so well, did it?
This is an odd myth article because, to some degree, the myth is correct. Big Boss does do good at the end. However, if you want to beLIEve that Big Boss is the hero of the Metal Gear series, then you must believe that Darth Vader is the hero of the Star Wars series. I mean, it is Vader himself who ends the empire, right? Luke had nothing to do with it! Oh, the whole blowing up Alderaan shit was cool, right? I mean, Vader couldn’t have told Tarkin to shut the fuck up, huh?