Chronicling decades of espionage, intrigue, and political drama, the Metal Gear franchise tells one of gaming’s greatest stories across nearly a dozen different games. While the story can be hard to follow at times, paying astute attention is more than enough to make a lifelong fan out of anyone– especially in a series as character driven as Metal Gear.
Although Metal Gear may ultimately be the stories of Solid Snake & Big Boss (and occasionally Raiden,) the villains stand out as some of the series’ most memorable characters, in large part due to how intimidating they can be. Strong, smart, and incredibly cunning, Metal Gear’s villains are always certain to give Snake the fight of a lifetime.
9 Zadornov (PW)
Zadornov is a chump, plain and simple. It’s not enough that Zadornov enlists Big Boss’ services just to stab him in the back alongside Paz (who rounds out Peace Walker’s villain roster alongside Hot Coldman and Zadornov,) he has to spend multiple missions on end hiding from Big Boss before players can actually finish the game.
He doesn’t put up a fight, his hiding spots aren’t that exciting, and his mere presence feels like padding at the end of a game that already felt over. Recontextualizing the story so Zadornov was pulling the strings is a neat idea, but it’s overshadowed by an awkward finale centered on Paz.
8 Liquid Ocelot (MGS4)
Liquid Ocelot is a genuinely intimidating & imposing villain, and Metal Gear Solid 4’s final battle proves he can handle his own in a fight, but he’s also an old man far past his prime. When compared to the younger, fitter, (mostly) in their prime antagonists who make up the rest of the franchise, Liquid Ocelot is a step down.
But an important one, and one that only makes sense. With Snake’s accelerated aging, he needs an antagonist who he can realistically keep up with. MGS4 also closes the door on Big Boss’ legacy and those enwrapped in it, so it’s fitting that both Solid Snake and Liquid Ocelot appear as weaker old men.
7 Skull Face (GZ & TPP)
It’s hard to pinpoint where exactly Skull Face falls in regards to strength, mainly because Big Boss & Venom confront the character so few times over the course of Metal Gear Solid V. In Ground Zeroes, Skull Face is introduced as a genuinely imposing figure, managing to decimate MSF by the end of the game. Come The Phantom Pain, however, he’s considerably more pathetic and less in control.
At the same time, The Phantom Pain also establishes that Skull Face was lurking in the shadows of Operation Snake Eater all along, serving as an unseen clean-up crew of sorts for Naked Snake. Logistics of the retcon aside, this does suggest that Skull Face must have been close to Big Boss’ level at some point, if not potentially stronger and more skilled.
6 The Boss (MGS3)
Just about every major thread in Metal Gear can be tied back to The Boss in some capacity. It was her relationship with Big Boss, the Naked Snake, that ultimately kickstarted the series. Her “betrayal” of the United States shook Big Boss’ own beliefs, and Operation Snake Eater ends up completely shattering his own perspective of America.
Peace Walker seems to imply that The Boss was going easy on Naked Snake during their final fight, but Snake Eater frames it very clearly: this is the greatest soldier in living history giving her greatest student one final exam. But more than that, it’s two people connecting on the battlefield– the breeding ground of their bond– one last time. The Boss may not be the strongest “villain” in the series, but she’s the most important.
5 Gene (PO)
It’s hard to tell what exactly in Portable Ops is and isn’t canon considering how fast and loose Peace Walker plays with its predecessor’s continuity, but that doesn’t make the events of the game any less interesting. Or derivative of Metal Gear Solid 1, but that’s a topic for another day. Notably, Portable Ops gives The Boss another apprentice: Gene.
It’s debatable how well this works (really, not that well,) but Gene is an charismatic character who has a cult leader vibe that’s unique for the series. He’s depicted as Big Boss’ ideological equal and rival, much in the way Liquid was to Snake in MGS1. Unexpectedly, Big Boss is the victor in their final battle, but Gene makes a worthy rival in CQC.
4 Venom Snake & Big Boss (MG 1 & 2)
For all intents and purposes, Venom Snake and Big Boss are equals. That’s more or less the point of The Phantom Pain’s ending (specifically you, the player, standing in for Venom in this case.) As Big Boss’ shadow, it goes without saying that Venom is his other’s equal. Snake doesn’t know this, of course, but that doesn’t prevent him from killing either Venom or Big Boss.
Venom falls first, killed at Outer Heaven, while Big Boss is ultimately burnt alive with a lighter and aerosol spray on Zanzibarland. Metal Gear Solid notably retcons the latter encounter to include a conversation where Big Boss reveals to Snake that he was his father all along. Either way, as the legendary soldier, Big Boss and Venom naturally stand above most of the series’ antagonists. But not all.
3 Liquid Snake (MGS)
Liquid Ocelot might disappoint in comparison to other villains in the franchise, but the same can’t be said for his predecessor, Liquid Snake. Solid Snake’s twin brother and one of three children born from the Les Enfants Terrible project which cloned Big Boss, Liquid is one of the most formidable antagonists in the series.
He simply does not die during his final fight with Snake at the end of Metal Gear Solid 1. It takes Snake destroying Metal Gear Rex, beating Liquid into submission during a fistfight, and littering him with machine gun bullets to take Liquid down– but even that doesn’t finish him off. It’s ultimately FoxDie that ends up killing Liquid.
2 Solidus Snake (MGS2)
Although he may not be the strongest villain in the franchise, Solidus is arguably the most interesting. Presumably born George Sears, Solidus Snake is the last born child of Les Enfants Terrible, and the “perfect” clone of Big Boss. He’s the main’s spitting image, seemingly inheriting all of his combat prowess.
Of course, nature versus nurture is quite the prevalent theme in Metal Gear, so Solidus Snake’s ideals don’t quite line up with Big Boss’ even if the former does respect the latter deeply. Wearing an exoskeleton with “Snake Arms” and wielding two swords, Solidus ends up giving Raiden the fight of a lifetime. Or at least his first fight of a lifetime.
1 Senator Armstrong (MGR:R)
Senator Armstrong played college ball and rocked Raiden’s world. It’s frankly kind of insane just how overwhelmingly powerful Senator Armstrong is. In a franchise where characters are genetically altered, cybernetically enhanced, or pilot walking nuclear weapons, Senator Armstrong is raw power personified through the magic of Nanomachines.
It takes Raiden (and the player) quite literally everything he has to just inflict damage on Armstrong. This is a fight that captures the insanity present at the core of the Metal Gear Rising experience, and Senator Armstrong is a wildly entertaining antagonist whose sheer fortitude is only rivaled by his endlessly quotable dialogue. Armstrong may not be Metal Gear’s most graceful villain, but it’s hard to deny he’s anything but the strongest.