Highlights
- The Boss' design, including her sneaking suit and black cloak, is symbolic and represents her complex nature and hidden motives.
- The Patriot, The Boss' weapon of choice, had cut features, which were intended to add depth to her character.
- The Boss' interaction with Snake in Metal Gear Solid 3 conveys a warning about disguises and losing oneself, possibly foreshadowing her own fate as a defector.
Out of all the female characters that have been featured in the Metal Gear Solid series, The Boss is quite possibly one of the most beloved by fans. A true patriot, she is fanatically dedicated to the completion of a mission for the sake of her country, no matter how much she has been mishandled and manipulated. She’s just that much of a strong-willed soldier.
First appearing in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, The Boss has made quite the impression on fans and journalists throughout the years, with her defeat being one of the most emotionally difficult moments to get through. While her past may be mostly shrouded in mystery, there’s a lot of fascinating information to uncover about her in-game and behind-the-scenes.
10 Her Design Is Symbolic In A Lot Of Ways
The Boss is a complex character, and that goes all the way to her design. According to commentary by series creator Hideo Kojima, her sneaking suit (much like her Andalusian horse) is white, which is said to represent purity. Naked Snake, her mentor, can find a black version, which is further representative of their division. Her cloak is also black, hiding her outfit, which could also be interpreted as her hiding her true colors (being a double agent).
When she destroys Snake’s drone with the Patriot, even after it explodes, she continues to fire at it, which is implied to be her letting out her anger and emotions.
9 The Boss’ Weapon Of Choice Had Some Cut Features
The Patriot is a deadly weapon, being a fully-automatic XM16E1 assault rifle with a shortened barrel, a removed stock, and a barrel in the shape of an ‘infinity’ symbol. This would, supposedly, be the explanation as to why it has infinite ammo.
The noise it makes was intended to sound like a rattlesnake shaking its tail, being a nod to the myth that no one will hear said sound and live to tell the tale. The snake-like tattoo on her body (the result of a cesarean section birth) was intended to look like it was laughing when The Boss fired a gun. Both of these ideas never made it into the final product.
8 Snake Is Warned By The Boss When Captured
Snake’s attempts to sneak into the Groznyj Grad weapons lab goes awry when he is unmasked. The Boss scolds him, asking him, “What is this fairy disguise?” As peculiar as the line is, she continues by saying, “It's gonna rub off on you. And then you'll lose sight of who you really are.”
In the Japanese version of the script, she says “Disguise yourself for too long, and it will erode you.” Kojima has gone on record to say that these lines are meant to be subtle references to herself defecting to the Soviet Union, almost as if to warn him of a fate much like her own.
7 Her CQC Moves Were Motion-Captured Twice
Mori Motosada, a military advisor, was hired for motion capture animations for Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater. They would perform The Boss’ technique, CQC (Close Quarters Combat), twice, one with Motosada pulling off the stuns and another with Snake’s motion actor, Kenichi Yoshida, performing them. Most of Mori’s were used in the game, as they looked the most painful.
The scene where The Boss meets Naked Snake after Operation Snake Eater was a particularly tough shoot for Hirata Eriko, who also performed motion capture for the character. After reading the script, she burst into tears exclaiming the line “Go back!” This would be adapted in the English version as “go home!”
6 Star Of Bethlehem Flowers Reappear In The Series
Snake and The Boss have their final fight together in Rokovoj Bereg, within a grass lily field. This is also known as the Star of Bethlehem. Its whiteness is also symbolic of purity, while the seeds being passed on by the flower to form new life are also representative of The Boss’ inevitable passing to allow a younger generation to grow and flourish. Originally, The Boss was to be fought in a field of sunflowers, which was scrapped when they tapped into the themes of black and white.
During the events of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, Snake is in a hospital in Romania. Near the bedside of the player is a Star of Bethlehem, a nod to The Boss and where she was defeated.
5 Volgin Is Scared Of Her
It may not be immediately obvious to players, especially on the first playthrough, but Colonel Volgin of the USSR does actually fear The Boss. Even after he defected to the Soviet Union, he still feared her presence, despite his hulking size and muscle-bound build.
Kojima mentions that he keeps his distance when they are standing together, even more so when he watches The Boss fight a disguised Snake with CQC - a fighting style he doesn’t quite understand (mistaking it for self-defense martial arts like Judo). When she leaves, however, he confidently and relentlessly pummels Snake into submission.
4 Goofy Clips Of Her Can Be Found In The Secret Theater
The updated release of the third entry, called Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, packed alongside all sorts of exclusives. One of the more light-hearted inclusions is the Secret Theater mode, which contains different versions of cutscenes from the original game.
One of them is named ‘The Joy,’ whereby the hornets from her fellow Cobra member, The Pain, ends up swarming her and sending her falling off the cliff before her micro-bomb explodes. Meanwhile, in ‘The Ultimate Weapon,’ she loses her mind after constantly losing at rock-paper-scissors against Snake, resorting to firing a Davy Crockett nuclear warhead at him in close range.
3 She Has Unused Dialogue From Her Boss Fight
The final battle against The Boss is an emotional one, ultimately ending with Snake needing to finish the mission by executing her with her own gun. Players will be forced to stand still, aiming the Patriot at her, and the game will only progress when they finally pull the trigger.
In the game’s files, there are unused lines of dialogue recorded whereby The Boss would ask what Snake is aiming at and to shoot her properly. This would’ve likely been in response to the player avoiding aiming directly at her while firing. In the final product, however, the gun remains aimed at her and cannot be moved.
2 The Boss AI Makes Numerous References
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker marks the return of The Boss’ voice in the form of an AI pod. Damaging the pod and climbing into it to remove parts of its memory boards will result in some glitchy responses spoken by the AI.
Players may hear The Boss recite Japanese train stations a la The Colonel AI in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, lines like “the lonely fox chases the one-eyed hound” (a reference to both organizations FOX and FOXHOUND, as well as Zero and Big Boss’ eventual feud), estimated guesses for what pi is (eventually resorting to the unspecific answer “about 3”), and “kill me now,” her final words before being shot by Snake.
1 The Fifth Game Was Supposed To Be About The Boss
After the fourth entry was shipped, Kojima thought of ideas for what would eventually become Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. His original concept was that it would be based on the wet works missions of The Boss and the Cobra Unit after their landing in Normandy in WWII.
However, the team at Konami - especially the younger, more inexperienced developers - were hesitant to work on such a project without Kojima’s involvement. At this point, he and the other developers who worked on Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of The Patriots were taking time off. What spawned from all this was a totally different concept that was worked on to become Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.