The 50 Greatest Video Game Villains Of All Time

Greatest Video Game Villains – #30 Liquid Snake

Game(s): Metal Gear Solid

Background: First introduced as the primary antagonist in Metal Gear Solid, Liquid Snake is a clone of Big Boss along with his brothers Solid Snake and Solidus Snake. Commonly referred to as “Liquid”, he was led to believe that Solid Snake had received all of Big Boss’s dominant genes. This sparked Liquid’s strong resentment towards his brother and his quest to prove his superiority over him. As the leader of the special forces unit FOXHOUND, Liquid led an armed insurrection against the U.S. government to capture a secret nuclear facility in Alaska. After a long battle, he unsuccessfully attempts to kill Snake, resulting in an epic hand-to-hand fight and high-speed car chase. After surviving a series of devastating injuries, Liquid eventually dies not at the hand of Snake, but due to his infection from the FOXDIE assassination virus. It was later revealed that Liquid was deceived and actually did carry Big Boss’ superior genes all along.

Why He’s One Of The Greatest Video Game Villains: Liquid, while closely resembling Snake in terms of appearance, shared little to no personality traits with his brother. Liquid is arrogant, loud, and resentful while Snake is generally calm and collected. Liquid did share Snake’s prowess as a highly skilled solider and genius level intellect, both possessing a very high IQ and language-learning aptitude. He became mentally unstable upon being told he was the inferior clone, which was the driving factor behind all his actions. He had no respect for anyone else, including Big Boss himself, with his only goal to defeat Snake. Liquid does seem to have some sort of sense of pride, however when he fights Snake unarmed one-on-one at the end of Metal Gear Solid. He also displays extremely high levels of endurance and durability, surviving numerous explosions, gunshots, falls, and vehicle crashes. Liquid’s ignorant thirst for superiority led to a great and defining rivalry between him and Snake.

Next: 29- Master Xehanort