Hey guys so I have an interesting theory for TPP I want to get your opinion on. My basic theory is that Keifer Sutherland plays the role of Solidus Snake and not Big Boss. Keeping in mind that it's set in the 80's and involves child soldiers, this was a key factor in the relationship between Solidus and Raiden.

Potential objections: Solidus has an eye patch on the opposite eye -He doesn't get that until Metal Gear Solid 2 and he could be wearing an eye patch as a rouse into making people believe he really is Big Boss (seeing how at this point in his life, he would be all in with patriots and whatever crazy schemes they want him to partake in).

Solidus would look much younger than big boss: This is an iffy objection for me that could go either way. My only counterargument would be that Solidus was suppose to have a much more effective accelerated aging than Solid or Liquid so he could be placed as President much sooner.

The people closest to the real Big Boss would recognize the voice change: This is the one objection I have no counter arguments for.

All in all I seriously doubt this will prove to be true in TPP but it is definitely completely insane, and we can never put that level of insanity past Mr. Kojima.

Solidus is an interesting character that's for sure. The origins of Liquid and Solid have been described in detail but I feel like there are still missing spots in the origin story of Solidus. Hell, I'm not even sure when Solidus was created was it before Liquid and Solid? Was he not part of les enfant terrible?

Crazy is the right word. Unless you think of an explanation why Big Boss has an arm prosthetic and Solidus doesn't, this theory isn't going to get very far. Don't forget that Kojima specifically mentioned in MGS4 that they took Solidus' parts to "fix" Big Boss.

Never mind just the arm. Big Boss in Phantom Pain has seen some shit. His eye has been destroyed in MGS3, he lost that arm, he has a piece of shrapnel embedded in his head... In contrast, George Sears / Solidus doesn't show any battle scars until MGS2.

Also, I'm sure Solidus is supposed to be an up and coming CIA operative who is at least 5 years off of being sent off to the Liberian Civil War in the Phantom Pain timeline.

@gaff: Well, shit. I totally forget about the arm prosthetic

I hope that Solidus gets fleshed out a little more in this game somehow. Compared to Liquid and Solid, Solidus was a blip on the radar. Hell, his only appearance in another game is when he's a skinless, shrink-wrapped vegetable who gets tossed into a fire. Hardly fitting for a character who is the pinnacle of the three snakes.

Did anybody figure out what he mouthed to Raiden after their fight in MGS2?

I'm fairly certain one of them is Solidus, but I don't think we have sufficient basis to say which one is which. I do believe Solidus is most likely operating under orders from Zero though. But considering all the double and triple agency in the history of this series, that could still be either one of them.

The ending... It's all a dream. The game doesn't fit into the canon at all. All it really is is an excuse for Kojima to make a cool open world game and the only way Konami would let him is if it was a Metal Gear Solid game.

The thing that weird's me out about any potential Solidus involvement is how a 10-12 year old can look like that.

Right? And if his accelerated aging was that fast, he'd be long dead of old age before the events of MGS2.

Isn't Solidus supposed to have trained/interacted with Raiden/Jack the Ripper when he was a child soldier? Maybe we get more info on that?

@skullpanda1: That was during the First Liberian Civil War which lasted from 1989-1997. Unless the game stretches forward 5 years I'm not sure we'll see Raiden in any capacity.

@supa_kappa: ah, cool info. I didn't remember when that went down.

That would be insane if it were true!

Speaking of Solidus, my current theory for him:
IF Ishmael is not a figment of Big Boss' imagination, then he is Solidus.

If he goes full fan-service then the MGS Fox-Hound crew will probably make an appearance. Big Boss and Sniper Wolf have definitely crossed paths. Also, those Liberian Civil War dates still look weird. Means Solidus would've taken in Raiden between the ages of 15-23. That's big brother territory rather than a father figure. If Solidus is in this it'll be revealed he was the true son of Big Boss who was born outside the Les Enfants Terrible program.

@shindig: That last bit wouldn't work, though; the whole plot of MGS4 revolved around using Solidus to crack the protection on the AI's network; even Liquid and Solid, nearly perfect matches, weren't close enough to the real thing. They needed a dead ringer for Big Boss, and you only get that with cloning.

Fair enough. Sounds like there's a lot of explaining to do. Again.

If anyone really thinks Venom Snake is actually Big Boss, they are extremely gullible. I know someone who, every time I bring up the arm/shrapnel/scarring, keeps falling back to "Kojima said he would be fine with retconning stuff and also you don't really SEE Boss's arm!!"

It was smart of Kojima to throw up that smokescreen, I guess. As to who, exactly, Venom is, I'm not sure. The Grey Fox theory is idiotic, and it can't be someone from outside MSF or Kaz and Ocelot wouldn't help them. Maybe another, age-accelerated clone? The helicopter medic whose voice is a pitch-shifted Keifer (this would also be mega stupid)?

Whoever it is, it seems obvious that Bandage Man is the real Big Boss, as he was voiced by Keifer as well.

My wild guesses: Skullface is Huey's dad, Paz survived the vagina bomb by thinking with portals, Kaz is Zero's other man on the inside. Just getting those out there.

Noone realized there was a 4th snake, the ultimate snake and voiced by Keifer Southerland. Mr. President.

At the end of PW if you got 100% and heard the true secret phonecall, Kaz was told that two children had successfully been born and delivered. These two are blonde twins. Solidus came later from enhanced medical technology, made to be born on US soil in order to be eligible for presidency and also genetically modified to age fast enough to be able to take the presidency.

There is no voice change other than change of voice actors on the English language side of things. And Kiefer's not in the voice actor's guild so it's cheaper to multicast him as a general performance actor than hire separate voice-actors.

It sounds like the actual twist might be that there's another Snake/Big Boss running around - presumably the player character - heretofore unmentioned. For those keeping score, that's FIVE guys who all look the same and are believed to have nigh-superhuman military skills. I joked in the Spoiler Thread that this was turning into Spider-Man's Clone Saga and...Yep. it is.

The twist is: There's no twist at all