Solid Snake or Big Boss. Who is the main character?

Who is the main character?

  • Solis Snake

    Votes: 97 69.8%

  • Naked Snake/Big Boss

    Votes: 42 30.2%
  • Total voters
    139
VulcanRaven

VulcanRaven

Member
In my opinion its Solid Snake.

It feels odd how Naked Snake/Big Boss seems to be more popular sometimes. Of course MGS4 being 17 years old and MGSV being the newest game explains it. Then many new fans starting with the prequels because of it. Also Delta coming soon might only increase people doing that. Solid Snake has been the main character in more games and even more if count all the spin-offs. But a very large part of the fanbase (most probably) have played only the 3D games so to them Solid is the main character in MGS1 and 4. Big Boss has MGS3, Portaple Ops, Peace Walker and MGSV.

MGSV spoilers:
He isn't the main character of MGSV.
 
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Solid Snake.

MGS3 was excellent and more than enough to expand on BB story, MGS5 was simply bad and confusing.

I wish Konami would remake MSX games for Playstation 5
 
James Franco GIF
 
Its literally the story of Big Boss & his Peon (Venom) and his 3 Sons, Solid just got more screen time.

Big Boss: Solid 3, PO, PW and GZ
Solid: 1, 2, Solid, GB?, Solid 2, Solid 4
Raiden: Solid 2, Reveangance
Venom: TPP

Both have games among them and are intertwined. And I'm not gonna count the non-canon games.
 
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Naked, after playing MGS3 his story was all I cared about, that feeling only furthered after playing Peace Walker and Ground Zeroes. Big Boss is an infinitely more interesting character than Solid Snake.
 
GudOlRub said:
Naked, after playing MGS3 his story was all I cared about, that feeling only furthered after playing Peace Walker and Ground Zeroes. Big Boss is an infinitely more interesting character than Solid Snake.
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MGS3 might have the best story but I didn't really care about it in PW and MGSV.
 
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It's a lot like star wars. At its core it is the story of big boss much like Star Wars is about Anakin's fall and redemption. However, Solid Snake is the face of the series and the protagonist that brings about the resolution of the story much like Luke did.
 
Sorry but retconning a Villain into the misanthropic 'hero' does not automatically make him the main character.
Solid Snake is the main character, through and through.
 
noob smokes said:
Ocelot
Click to expand...
Beat me to it.

It's a joke answer but some truth is said in jest. He's there from start to finish manipulating things behind the scenes and playing everyone. If there's one true constant, it's him.
Metal Gear started and finished with Solid Snake as the main character, and it's evident that the series is primarily about his exploits. Prequels are there to add to the world by telling new stories that provide different perspectives. There being a lot of supplemental material doesn't make what happens in MG1-MGS4 any less the main story.
 
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It's very much a Luke or Anakin situation.

They are both the main character but truth is Luke wouldn't exist without Anakin and neither would David without Big Boss.
 
ChatGPT:

The main protagonist of the Metal Gear Solid series is Solid Snake, especially when considering the series as a whole and its original narrative arc.


Why Solid Snake?


  1. Narrative Centrality: In Metal Gear Solid (1998), MGS2: Sons of Liberty (shared with Raiden), and MGS4: Guns of the Patriots, Solid Snake is clearly the central character. His actions and decisions directly drive the plot and themes.
  2. Legacy and Origins: Snake is a clone of Big Boss, the legendary soldier, and his existence is tightly bound to the overarching themes of fate, identity, and rebellion against legacy. The entire series explores how he struggles against the path that was chosen for him.
  3. Moral Compass & Player Avatar: He often acts as the player's voice, questioning authority and the morality of the missions he's sent on. Despite being a tool of war, he retains a strong personal code.
  4. Narrative Closure: MGS4 serves as a conclusion to his arc — aging, reflecting on war, and seeking peace — making it the emotional and thematic endpoint of the saga.


But What About Big Boss?


From MGS3: Snake Eater onward, Big Boss becomes the central figure in the prequel arc (MGS3, Peace Walker, MGS5). His fall from hero to villain (or antihero) is crucial to understanding the Metal Gear world.


So, if you're focusing on chronological lore, Big Boss might be argued as the "core" protagonist due to his foundational role in the events that shape the world. But in terms of player experience and emotional narrative, Solid Snake remains the true protagonist of Metal Gear Solid.
 
FeralEcho said:
It's very much a Luke or Anakin situation.

They are both the main character but truth is Luke wouldn't exist without Anakin and neither would David without Big Boss.
Click to expand...
You could see Big Boss as means to end though.
Anakin in the bigger picture was the beginning and end as he killed palpatine.
 
They should remake the msx metal gear 1 and metal gear 2 solid snake with david hayter writing the script and him as solid snake and kiefer sutherland as big boss on unreal engine 5
 
VulcanRaven said:
Luke
Click to expand...
Kojima ended up trying to make a loop similar to Star Wars. Exploring the tragic anti-hero/villain background.
Solid Snake was always to be the protagonist / hero of the series. After 4, his story was done, so we got more Big Boss with Peace Walker and Phantom Pain.

Also i'm not sure i agree that Big Boss is the core of the story because The Boss is the source for Zero and Big Boss ideals.
 
Some games has Big Boss, some Solid Snake

If someone is to be blamed as the primary character of the series is Zero since he has something with every game
 
Solid Snake aka David was the protagonist of:

- original Metal Gear game
- original Metal Gear Solid game
- Metal Gear Solid sequel
- Metal Gear Solid second sequel that finishes the story

It is Solid Snake.

The two prequels with Big Boss/Venom are great, but he is a secondary protagonist and semi-primary antagonist of the saga.
 
TGO said:
You could see Big Boss as means to end though.
Anakin in the bigger picture was the beginning and end as he killed palpatine.
Click to expand...
I suppose that's true but at the end of the day they were both necessary for Luke and Snake to have their journeys in the first place. They both became the goal in a way for their sons.
 
It's exactly the same case of Star Wars

The entire saga is about Big Boss and his actions, not Snake.

ps. Play PO and PW.
 
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Solid Snake is the superior character. Dude is a beast, takes a mission, goes in, settles it and leaves.

He doesn't give a shit about anyone's goal or how to change the world like all the others in the franchise. Even if death is knocking on his door, he is sheer fucking will.

He never knew the boss, but is the only one who operates the same way, unlike all the other morons like big boss and Zero. The latter two just couldn't let go of the boss and were stuck in the denial phase their entire life, which is why they went apeshit.

I really like liquid, but he had the same problem like big boss, stuck up in his own ass and ocelot had become a cheerleader as the series went on.

Yes Mgs3 was a great game, but that doesn't change the fact that big boss is a little pretentious choir boy.
 
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