Gray Fox

Overview

Gray Fox, real name Frank Jaeger, is a recurring, influential character in the Metal Gear franchise that first appeared in Hideo Kojima's 1987 MSX game Metal Gear. He is introduced as Solid Snake's senior in the US Army's Special Forces Unit FOXHOUND, and over the course of the series has appeared as both Snake's friend and foe. In addition to his FOXHOUND codename, he is known by a number of other aliases as well, including Frank Hunter, Null, and the Cyborg Ninja. He reappears time and time again upon the field of battle, driven by his obsession to do battle with Solid Snake.

Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops

Gray Fox began his career as a child soldier in Africa during the 1960s. His cold-blooded actions against the enemy earned him the title "Frank Hunter" which evolved into "Frank Jaeger," as a nod to the broken German he spoke. In 1966, Jaeger met Big Boss, who took him under his wing, but the boy was soon abducted by the Philosophers as a test subject for their Perfect Soldier Project. In 1970, having lost all memory of his past, he took part in the San Hieronymo Peninsula Uprising as FOX Unit's "Perfect Solidier" codenamed Null. Through his fight against Big Boss, after which the mercenary again saved his life, Null regained some trace of humanity and memory of his past.

Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2

When Big Boss later formed FOXHOUND, Jaeger joined under the codename Gray Fox. During this time, he adopted a young girl in Rhodesia after he had killed her parents, and named her Naomi Hunter. He took her with him when he moved to America with Big Boss and continued to care for her until she attended college. Gray Fox was given a solo infiltration mission during the 1995 Outer Heaven uprising, but was captured in action. After being rescued by Solid Snake during the events of the original Metal Gear, he disappeared and was not heard from until 1999 during the Zanzibar Land Disturbance depicted in Metal Gear 2. Gray Fox offered Solid Snake support from the shadows via codec, leading Snake to him to challenge him. After Snake defeated the Gray Fox-piloted Metal Gear D, the two fought bare-fisted atop a minefield. Solid Snake defeated his old friend and left him for what he thought was dead.

Metal Gear Solid

Gray Fox's "remains" were recovered by the Patriots and he was brought back to life by Dr. Clark. Pumped full of drugs, he was used as an experimental gene therapy test subject as a part of Clark's genome soldier research. In the end, Fox slaughtered Dr. Clark, destroyed the facility and began to hunt down Solid Snake, leading him to Shadow Moses Island.

Armed with stealth camouflage and a reinforced exoskeleton, Gray Fox plunged Shadow Moses Island into panic under the guise of the Cyborg Ninja. He cut off Revolver Ocelot's right hand, and gave Solid Snake warning through short burst Codec communications under the alias "Deepthroat." He waited for Solid Snake in Dr. Hal Emmerich's (Otacon's) office where he challenged Solid Snake to a fight to the death, even though he claimed that he is neither enemy nor friend. The battle was cut short when he experienced some sort of mental attack that threw him into a frenzy, a side-effect of the experimentation he endured, and escapes. He later assisted Snake in taking down Metal Gear REX by destroying its radome; a component used for its automatic targeting functions.

Gray Fox met his end when Liquid Snake, piloting REX, crushed him under the Metal Gear's foot. Before he died, Fox informed Snake about Naomi Hunter and how he was the one who had killed her parents. He wanted Snake to tell her that what he had told him. At the end of the game, Snake decides not to inform Naomi of the truth and instead tells her that Fox said that he will always love her.

Legacy

One of Fox's last line's, "Fighting was the only thing I was good at, but at least I always fought for what I believed in," resonated with Snake, who would adopt the line as his motto during his time in Philanthropy following the events of Metal Gear Solid and into Metal Gear Solid 2.

Gray Fox is the first of several characters in the Metal Gear franchise that undergo similar cybernetic enhancements. Olga Gurlukovich and Raiden each become cyborg ninja figures in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots respectively. By the events of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, this cyborg technology becomes more widespread.

Gray Fox's popularity as the original cyborg ninja led to his appearance being used as an unlockable character skin in both Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance and Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes.