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Characters in MGS3
Set in 1964, MGS3 is a prequel starring not Solid Snake but Naked Snake. This means that most of the characters will be different from previous games, but there are a few exceptions, and some make a surprising return in MGS4.
Naked Snake
Naked Snake is the man with a mission and the playable character in MGS3. He may look familiar but given that the whole Snake family is a load of clones, is that really surprising? Snake must find Director Sokolov and get information about a terrible new nuclear weapon, the Shagohod, and destroy it before terrorists use it for malicious purposes. Find out more about Naked Snake and the ubiquitous Ocelot here.
Major Zero / Major Tom
How refreshing to hear a British accent for once! Major Zero is in control of the mission and in charge of Fox. He is Naked Snake's main source of mission information. Major Zero asks Snake to call him Major Tom for a short time in the Virtuous Mission but changes his mind about the codename when he realises his reasons for naming himself Tom are flawed. Call Major Zero for general mission advice on radio frequency 140.85.
Para-medic
Para-medic is another friendly voice for Snake to hear over the radio, working closely alongside Major Zero. As her name suggests, Para-medic is an expert in medical matters and should be your first port of call if you get injured, as well as for nutritional enquires. She will tell Snake more about the fruits and animals he's caught and whether they are worth eating and taste good. Call her on 145.73 or, to save your game, 140.96. Once you've saved, Para-medic will normally make some suggestion of a film you should watch. All of these are real and so you can actually take her suggestions seriously!
Sigint
Sigint is available for you to call throughout Operation Snake Eater on frequency 148.41. He's your weapons and military expert who will make suggestions about weaponry, items, camouflage, face paints and general stealthiness. Quite unlike any Codec contact you've had before, Sigint has quite a sense of humour and also knows believes that you should call a spade a spade; don't expect Sigint to beat around the bush if you're doing something questionable. Try calling him having selected the "Naked" camouflage, whilst hiding in a box or after you've had a nightmare in the cell in Groznyj Grad (see MGS Secrets).EVA
EVA shows up towards the beginning of Operation Snake Eater as a replacement for ADAM who apparently couldn't make it to Rassvet. Snake and EVA form a strong bond but EVA remains something of an enigma throughout the game, always keeping her agenda a secret and playing double agent. To get information from Colonel Volgin, she adopts the persona of "Tatyana", supposedly Sokolov's lover. Volgin's attraction to her comes at a price but ever cool and composed, EVA withstands a lot and is forever trying not to arouse Ocelot's growing suspicion of her. EVA is an able soldier and loves motorbikes. She is a useful contact on frequency 142.52.Director Sokolov
Sokolov is a man who has been forced into this mission very much against his will. Snake must meet up with him in the Virtuous Mission, and again in Operation Snake Eater, in an attempt to rescue him and get him out of harm's way and back to his family. Colonel Volgin holds him hostage to get information about his creation of a nuclear tank, the Shagohod, out of him.
Director Granin
Granin is not a major character in the storyline but is another hostage Snake must find and get information out of before Volgin kills him. He has good faith in the weapons of the future and be sure to look out for Jehuty (ZOE), REX (MGS1) and RAY (MGS2) when talking to him and before he drinks so much he becomes irritable and needs a nap!
The Boss / The Joy
The Boss (or The Joy, as she is also known) is a very complicated character. Her relationship with Naked Snake goes back far and is very deep. She was Snake's mentor, and throughout the Virtuous Mission she can be called on frequency 141.80. By Operation Snake Eater, however, The Boss is your enemy and although no one is really sure whether they can trust her, no one dares cross her, not even Volgin. The Boss taught Snake all he knows of CQC (close-quarters combat) and makes a fast and formidable enemy. As leader of the Cobra Unit, Snake must stop her, even if it's against his will.The Sorrow
The Sorrow is a mysterious character and, like The Boss, is a member of the Cobra Unit. He once had a loving relationship with The Boss but is now actually dead. Quite remarkably for a dead character, he makes a lot of appearances in MGS3 although you never really fight him. Watch out for him in first person cutscenes giving clues and hints, and try to resist his depressing misery during his "boss battle" where he repeatedly tells you that everything is sad and full of sorrow, whilst he parades all those you've killed before you. Watch out also for his remains on the bank of the river at the end of the Virtuous Mission!The Pain
The Pain is another member of the Cobra Unit. In case you're wondering about all their codenames, The Cobras are named after the emotions they feel in battle, and so the Pain, with his swollen face, delights in the pain of battle. His weapon is the tommy gun... second only to a swarm of hornets he has following him all the time which are well controlled and attack when directed. Following his boss battle in the caves you can be rewarded with a special tasty hornets' nest if you throw one of your own onto his island (his hornets will occupy it) and his camo (if you drain his stamina to 0) which protects against bites and stings!The Fear
Yet another Cobra member, The Fear carries dread and a poison crossbow into battle. Another chracter we see very little of, Snake fights The Fear in a wood where his spider camouflage makes him hard to spot and incredibly quick and nimble on his feet. Avoid his poison arrows at all costs and remove them immediately if they hit you. You can kill him if you like but taking his stamina down to zero will result in you being rewarded his camouflage which will give you a high camo index wherever you are, but unfortunately will drain your stamina pretty quickly too. To take his stamina down quickly, try throwing him rotten food to eat!The End
The End, (or Ji Endo as he is known in the Japanese game) is undoubtedly BBM's favourite character in MGS3... Well over 100 years old, this sniper works alone and conserves all his energy for the battlefield. Snake will first see The End properly when he is asleep in his wheelchair outside the warehouse. This is during a cutscene but amazingly at the end of it, if you equip your own sniper rifle fast enough you can kill him there and then. If not, you'll have to do battle with him later in Sokrovenno but for a nice easy battle just save, come back a week later and marvel at how The End finally seems to have reached his own natural end.
The Fury
Fuelled by his burning rage, The Fury is equipped for battle with nothing less than a jet pack and flamethrower. Avoid looking at his flames through Thermal Goggles or you'll go temporarily blind! Keep your distance with this battle and attack him when he's firing in another direction - he often doesn't know where you are! Be sure to have a lot of ointment and bandages for the burns you may suffer as well. Only during the boss battle will you meet The Fury so once this battle is over and he's exploded (yeah, don't ask, all the Cobras do it), you can rest assured knowing that the only one left alive is The Boss. Oh Joy!
Colonel Volgin
Colonel Yevgeny Borisovitch Volgin is the terrorist mastermind here. Continuing the work of his father, Volgin is determined to heat up the cold war with a bit of nuclear action from the USSR with the help of his precious Philosopher's Legacy. Very few people dare to argue against Volgin but there are a few people who may be able to bring out a softer side to him, including The Boss whom Volgin seems to respect, Tatyana, whom Volgin falls for, and Major Raikov, whom Volgin is also attracted to. People like Naked Snake, on the other hand, stand no chance and Volgin can't wait to throw a few electrified punches at anyone who dares to stop him.Major Ocelot
A returning character to the Metal Gear series and a recurring character within the game itself, Ocelot is never very far from Snake, and is always up for a bit of friendly rivalry. Make no mistake, Ocelot is Naked Snake's enemy, but there's a mutual bond of respect between them which prevents them from killing each other and means they can both go on to feature in later games. Most players of MGS3 will already know Ocelot from the other games in the series and in this game a few gaps of knowledge are filled in, including how Ocelot comes to love revolvers and appreciate the act of torturing others. Read more about Ocelot here.Major Raikov
There is just too much to be said about Colonel Volgin's closest ally, Major Raikov, so I've made a page just for him which you can view by clicking here.
Characters from other games
Some of these characters feature in other games. See the character lists for the following games:
MG / MG2 / MGS1 / Ghost Babel / MGS2 / Ocelot and the Snakes / A-Z of all Characters
