Metal Gear voice actor David Hayter explains why he likes Solid Snake more than Big Boss 

David Hayter, best known for providing the English voices of Solid Snake and Big Boss, recently took to social media to celebrate Mother’s Day. Reposting a Metal Gear comic by artist Maddie, Hayter comments that he likes Solid Snake more than Big Boss. The comic shows Big Boss talking to the ghost of his mentor and mother-like figure The Boss, exclaiming how he created a military base just for her. 

In addition to heavy topics like child soldiers, military nations and WMDs, the Metal Gear franchise also focuses on familial ties. Whether it be the relationship between Big Boss and his clones, The Boss’s struggle to raise her son while betraying her country, or Otacon trying to step out of his father’s dark shadow, Metal Gear humanizes its cast by putting them through tough situations. The comic references another important relationship and event in the franchise, namely Naked Snake (aka Big Boss)’s reaction to the fate of his mentor The Boss at the end of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.  

Big Boss misinterpreted The Boss’s will 

Seeing as Big Boss is wearing a version of his sneaking uniform from Metal Gear Solid 3 in the comic, the “huge military base” he is referring to is likely the first Mother Base located in the Caribbean Sea. After seeing how his mentor was mistreated and labeled a criminal by the USA, Big Boss left his country to create a nation for soldiers that would be free from government interference 

Big Boss ultimately set up two Mother Bases (the first in the Caribbean Sea and the second in the Seychelles waters), as well as Outer Haven in South Africa, and Zanzibar Land in Central Asia. These independent nations took on mercenary work from other countries, and the funds from these operations were used to bolster the Mother Bases’s power with more soldiers, better equipment, and even nuclear weapons. 

The Boss’s final wish was carried out by Solid Snake 

But The Boss never wanted to create independent militaries like Big Boss did with Militaires Sans Frontières and Diamond Dogs. Rather, she simply wanted people to respect each other’s ideals so that everyone could live in peace- for the world to be one, just as she saw it from space.  

Even though he carried Big Boss’s recessive genes within him, it was Solid Snake who ended up realizing The Boss’s will and carrying out her final wish. Unlike his father who thought war would always be necessary, Solid Snake wanted to end the fighting. To this end, he and Otacon set out to atone for both their past mistakes and those of their fathers by defeating the Patriots and Ocelot.

David Hayter most likely prefers Solid Snake over Big Boss because of the former’s compassion. Although Solid Snake is a clone from a project designed to create the perfect soldier, he resists his origins by striving to create a better, more peaceful world. Maddie’s three-panel comic may be humorous, but it emphasizes how twisted Big Boss became after the events of Metal Gear Solid 3.