I've always been captivated by characters with ambitious goals and ambiguous morality. It's for this very reason that to this day, I continue to suffer the slings and arrows of everyone who ridicules me when I tell them that I love Metal Gear Solid 2. As ridiculous and campy as some of them may be, I love the cast of villains. Unlike MGS3, their back-stories mesh and weave into the main plot, keeping both the plot and the villains themselves extremely engaging. But overall, no single villain in the game, or even the series, stands out to me more than Mr. George Sears, the one and only Solidus Snake.

I haven't yet finished playing MGS4 on account of my not owning a PS3... However, my intent with this article is to paint a portrait of my initial experience with the character of Solidus Snake and how that experience compelled me as a gamer.



So, what's so compelling about Solidus?

First off, his motivations. It's obvious that despite his questionable means, his goals are virtuous: He's a rogue ex-president with a mission to free America from The Patriots. All right, fair enough... But ironically, we also learn that in addition to being sinister adversaries, The Patriots also happen to be responsible for upholding the very foundations of civilization. This juxtaposition is exactly what initially intrigued me about Solidus: The fact that he's actually a tragic hero playing the role of a villain. Even though Solidus strives for something noble, Raiden realizes that he must stop him and in essence, defend the interests of The Patriots. I'll be honest: I didn't want to kill Solidus at the end of MGS2. It was one of the only instances I can remember when a game left me with a distinct feeling of betrayal, wondering whether or not my accomplishments were 'beneficial' to the world of the game.

A lot of people argue that Solidus feels 'tacked on' to Big Boss' genetic line: A last-minute loose end that was included for the sake of having an antagonist relevant to the series' continuing storyline. But to me, this is just another reason why I love Solidus:

He IS a loose end: The forgotten product of Les Enfant Teribles.

"We have no legacy: Our ability to reproduce has been conveniently engineered out"

Go ahead and imagine what that would be like - To be the abandoned aftermath of a genetic experiment with no way to make any kind of mark on the world's history; no legacy to pass down to the next generation. And this is also a very important concept because it re-introduces the overall theme of the entire series - 'What we choose to pass on the the next generation.' Solidus' inability to choose has molded him into a resentful renegade with one desire only: To make his mark in history, no matter what the cost. I don't know about all of you, but these are the qualities of a great character, and an excellent villain at that. All he really wanted was to be remembered; to be assured that his actions in this life would have some sort of bearing on the future of the world. And even though his methods were sinister, he aimed to make his mark on the world by fighting for the one thing that he believed in - Freedom.

In his very last moments, as he lays dying on the grounds of Federal Hall, he reaches up futilely at the statue of Thomas Jefferson... I don't care what anyone says: This was one of the most defining moments of any character in any game I've ever played.

"Federal Hall - This is where it was all suppose to happen! This is where Liberty should have been born!"



So, hate on MGS2 all you want: Tell me that Raiden is lame and the Big Shell was a boring environment and the ending was confusing. You can even tell me that Solidus is camp as hell and looks like Dr. Octopus...

Just as long as you join me in pourin' one out for mah homie, G-baby Sears.

R.I.P.