Summary
There are more twists and turns in theMetal Gear Solidseries than there are in a snake’s nest, which should come as no surprise for a series about gritty warfare, espionage, and grand conspiracies. Throwing honor aside and stabbing others in the back is par for the course in the sneaking business.
However, there have been brutal moments of betrayal in the series that would make (and have made) even a pessimist like Solid Snake wince, even after allthe horrible things that happened to him. It should go without saying that there are nuclear-threat-level spoilers coming up. Only those with the highest security privileges should access this highly sensitive information.
9Betrayed By Sunglasses - Metal Gear Solid
Throwing Shade From Behind The Codec Screen
Throughout his dark, icy mission through Shadow Moses Island, Snake is able to receive advice from his old mentor, Master Miller, via Codec. These tips range from survival advice to hints on how to take down the various members of FOXHOUND that he encounters (except, suspiciously, the fight against Liquid Snake in his Hind D helicopter).
The twist that Miller was actually Liquid Snake masquerading behind a fake American accent and a pair of aviators would have been especially hard-hitting to fans ofMetal Gear 2: Solid Snake, as the real McDonell “Kaz” Benedict Miller actually appeared as a supporting character in that game. His ability to impersonate is just one ofLiquid’s many hidden abilities, although Ocelot would later invert this during the Big Shell Incident and beyond.
8Betrayed By Paz - Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
Not So Peaceful After All
After being lured into taking a mission after hearing the voice of his old mentor, The Boss, Big Boss (going by his former codename, Snake) finds himself going up against a rogue faction of the CIA, who call themselves “Peace Sentinel.” Snake and his soldiers, theMilitaires Sans Frontières,then head to Costa Rica to liberate the country and discover the truth behind the recording.
However, the one who supposedly made the recording, Paz, is, in reality, an asset of Cipher (which would later beknown as The Patriots). Eventually, Paz (or Pacifica, to use her real name) turns on Snake and the MSF. She hijacks Peace Sentinel’s Metal Gear with a plan to use it against the United States to frame Big Boss and his outfit, but she is eventually defeated before being able to enact the strike.
7Betrayed By EVA - Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater
Stealing Away After A Mission To Remember
After surviving the confrontation with Volgen, a danger-fraught dash through the jungle after enduring a motorbike crash, and finally making it to the WIG and surviving both the confrontation with The Boss and Ocelot, Snake and EVA manage to escape, their mission complete.
EVA was perhaps the only woman (other than The Boss) that Snake had ever trusted, and she repaid that trust by revealing her identity as a Chinese spy entrusted with the mission of retrieving the Philosopher’s Legacy microfilm. By the time Snake heard her message on an audio tape, she was long gone. The film that she recovered was not necessarily the true copy, but Snake’s trust had been shattered all the same.
6Betrayed By Big Boss - Metal Gear
Defeated By A Legendary Rookie
Although the story of the originalMetal Gearwas hardly delivered in an eloquent way as later entries in the series (perhaps due to memory storage issues), it carried all the elements of betrayal and side-switching that laterMetal Gear Solidgames would be famous for, namely the reveal that Big Boss, Solid Snake’s commander, was behind Outer Heaven and the development of Metal Gear T-55.
After many attempts to sabotage the mission with false information, Big Boss reveals himself to Solid Snake as the mastermind behind Outer Heaven. The two fight, with Solid Snake coming out on top. Of course, fans ofMGS5will know that it was not Big Boss that Solid Snake killed buthis body-double, Venom Snake, who was himself betrayed.
5Betrayed By The Boss - Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater
The Mother Of Special Forces Defects
The inciting incident that kicks off Operation Snake Eater is The Boss' defection to Volgen and the Soviet Union. Initially on-call via radio to offer Naked Snake advice on his Virtuous Mission to save Nikolai Stepanovich Sokolov, a brilliant rocket scientist, she appears in person along with two miniature nuclear shells and recaptures Sokolov.
The Boss wasn’t just some military commander to Snake but something of an adoptive mother. Her crossing sides meant more pain than the broken arm and cracked rib he received while trying to defend himself against her; it was akin to the loss of a parent. However, asSnake Eaterplays out, it becomes obvious that there was more to the defection than initially believed.
4Betrayed By Vic Boss - Metal Gear Solid: The Phantom Pain
Forced Into The Body And Face Of A Phantom
Although the medic who would eventually “transform” into Big Boss' phantom was one of his most loyal soldiers, and even if he did accept his new identity and body by the end ofThe Phantom Pain, it is no exaggeration to say that Venom Snake was betrayed by his comrades, including Big Boss, when he was turned into his body double without giving so much as a trace of consent.
After receiving a facelift and memory transfer against his will, Venom was left in the dark about his true nature and left to take up the mantle of the man he idolized so much. He was expected to carry on the business of Big Boss while suffering from (what he perceived as)severe memory lossfrom the helicopter crash before his coma. Whatever remained of his old life or history was lost when he was forced into the shoes of Big Boss.
3Betrayed By Misinformation - Metal Gear Solid: Sons Of The Patriots
Raiden, AI, And The Grand Bait And Switch
Many fans consider Raiden himself a betrayal after expecting to be able to play Solid Snake through the whole game, asMetal Gear Solid 2: Sons of the Patriots' marketing material implied. However, during the events of the game, which many fans now consider a masterpiece despite the bait-and-switch, Raiden is subjected to betrayals that reachexistentially mind-breakinglevels.
Raiden is played and played again by the Patriots, who contrived the Big Shell Incident to gather data for their S3 project (the Selection for Societal Sanity). From the get-go, Raiden is deceived about his purpose on the Big Shell, as the whole operation was designed to recreate the events that occurred on Shadow Moses with Solid Snake and FOXHOUND as a test to see how well AI could be used to manipulate a human being.
2Betrayed By Naomi Hunter - Metal Gear Solid
Worse Than Just A Jab In The Arm
Poor Solid Snake is lied to just about every step of the way by his commanding officer and most of the intel team. Before being shot into Shadow Moses in a Swimmer Delivery Vehicle at the start ofMetal Gear Solid, Snake is pumped full of nanomachines to help him cope with the cold conditions. However, the shot came with more than just nanomachines.
Naomi had, by order of the Pentagon, inserted in him the contagious FOXDIE virus, which had been engineered to kill every member of FOXHOUND and the former president of Armstech, Kenneth Baker. However, in secret, as a way to attain revenge against Snake for mutilating her brother, Frank Jaeger, AKA the cybernetic ninja Gray Fox, during his previous mission, Naomi had altered the virus to target Snake as well, giving him an unknown amount of time to live beyond the parameters of the Shadow Moses incident.
1Betrayed By The US Government - Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater
The Day That Big Boss Truly Died
In theMetal Gear Solidseries, the protagonist usually suffers betrayal. In the ultimate twist, it is revealed that the final boss of the game, The Boss, was the one who had been stabbed in the back by her government and country. The Boss had never defected to the Soviet Union, but she had been sent undercover to retrieve the Philosopher’s Legacy. However, when Volgen set off a nuclear weapon against his own countrymen, the US was on the hook, as their aircraft had been detected at the same time the explosion went off.
The CIA devised a plan to clear the US of fault by pinning the blame on The Boss. To clear up all loose ends, they would have her former protege, Naked Snake, kill her. In truth, The Boss was loyal to her country to the end. While The Boss accepted her fate, this betrayal would send Snake downa dark path of revengeand hatred. In his final words duringGuns of the Patriots, he admits that killing The Boss was the day he truly died in his heart.
