Metal Gear Solid Creator Talks About Origins of Snake’s Name

Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes sees Solid Snake – or Big Boss, depending on who you really want him to be – returning once more. But the name Snake has been moving across games and eras in the franchise for a while now. Why did series creator Hideo Kojima settle on the name Snake though? He explained the same on Twitter.

“The reason I used Snake as a code name in Metal Gear is that a snake was the most appropriate symbol of a living being that hides his presence, and sneaks without making any noise. The reason why I didn’t use any specific snake names like cobra, anaconda or viper was because the protagonist is the player. The reason why I use SOLID was to give opposite impression of something soft.

“Like for of all endings of the any series, the appearance of strongest enemy was a must in Metal Gear Solid. It’s the Snake who can surpass the Snake. Thus I brought about a ‘clone.’ The struggle between SOLID and LIQUID. That was Metal Gear Solid.

“As I developed a sequel, a third snake was needed. Since both solid & liquid express an actual natural state. Obviously the next would be “gas” but Gas Snake would be like a human made of gas, and that’s not a nice name. So I borrowed from the physics terms ‘solidus/liquidus’. SOLIDUS is not a real state but indicates the border between liquid and solid.”

Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes will be out on March 18th in North America and March 20th in Europe for PS3, PS4, Xbox One and Xbox 360.