Sniper Wolf

Early Life

Sniper Wolf was an Iraqi Kurd born and raised in the middle of a violent guerrilla conflict between Kurdish rebels and the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein. As a result, she was perpetually surrounded by gunfire, sirens, and screams. She was constantly being hunted after and always had to move from one shelter to another on a regular basis. When she would wake up from sleep, she would find one of her friends or family dead beside her, and prayed that she would make it through each day.

During the 1988 Al-Anfal Campaign in the Iran-Iraq War, Sniper Wolf witnessed the gassing of her friends and family at the hands of Iraqi soldiers. Orphaned as a result, she was taken in by the Iraqi Ministry of Internal Affairs, and was brainwashed into serving Iraq. It was during her military training that her exceptional abilities as a sniper were discovered. Wanting to fully realize this ability, Sniper Wolf was trained by a Gurkha who taught her all he knew about sniping.

During the Gulf War in 1991, Sniper Wolf escaped and found herself at a refugee camp. It was here that she first met Big Boss, who saw great potential and talent within her. Big Boss brought the young Sniper Wolf to the United States, where she underwent mental deprogramming to remove the brainwashing she had received during her time in Iraq. Sniper Wolf eventually came to look up to Big Boss, whom she affectionately called "Saladin."

She then became a lone sniper, so she could watch and wait, and see war from the outside (as a detached spectator) rather than from the inside. She could now get her revenge on the world. After the "death" of Big Boss, Sniper Wolf was later recruited into FOXHOUND by Liquid Snake, to get her revenge on the world.

She eventually became a famous sniper and was capable of waiting for her targets for days, even weeks, without moving or even eating. She typically formed an emotional connection with her targets before killing them with her favored weapon, the Heckler & Koch PSG-1, and used mercury bullets to poison the victims as well. She later developed an addiction to diazepam and pentazemin, two drugs that relieve anxiety and stop muscle spasms.

Metal Gear Solid 1

Eventually, she and the other members of FOXHOUND became frustrated by soldiers becoming increasingly disenfranchised in world affairs and sought to achieve their goals of recreating Outer Heaven by holding Shadow Moses Island hostage.

When FOXHOUND took over Shadow Moses Island, they were planning on killing the dogs on the island, though Sniper Wolf refused to let them kill them. She would let Otacon feed them when he asked and believed that she was a good person due to her love for them. He eventually fell in love with her.

As Solid Snake and Meryl Silverburgh made their way through Shadow Moses Island, Sniper Wolf managed to wound Meryl in order to lure Snake out, which then results in his capture. It becomes apparent that she has a sadistic obsession with Snake when she tells him that he's all she'll think about until she kills him. While in captivity, Otacon provides Snake some materials to escape, including a handkerchief Sniper Wolf had given him. Snake then battles Sniper Wolf again after downing Liquid Snake's Hind D. After a silent yet deadly battle across the expansive snow field, Sniper Wolf is bested by Snake.

After crossing the snowfield, Snake finds Wolf lying down and coughing up blood. As she lay dying, Sniper Wolf tells Snake of her past, how she was born and raised on the battlefield, how "Saladin" had helped her, who Snake correctly assumes as Big Boss. She reveals to Snake that she has shamed herself and her people by joining Liquid's plot "to take (her) revenge on the world." Distraught, she refers to herself as a dog, but Snake assures her that she is wild, untamed, and solitary, hence a wolf. She also reveals that Meryl was never her real target and that she does not kill for sport and takes no pleasure in seeing women and children being harmed. Before asking Snake to kill her, she says she has not been waiting to kill people but rather has been waiting for someone to kill her.

Just before Snake is about to kill her, Otacon appears and openly expresses his feelings for her, however, it's unknown whether or not she actually shares the same feelings. She asks Snake to give her the gun and to shoot her, Otacon clumsily hands her the gun before Snake finishes her off with his SOCOM. After killing her, Snake wraps her handkerchief over her face and says that he has no more tears to shed.

Trivia

• While the use of handkerchiefs to wipe one's nose is made obsolete by tissue paper, in some countries, such as Japan, it's seen as "fancy" and respectable. As such, it lends Sniper Wolf an air of dignity and pride.
• Shortly following the passing of Crying Wolf, Snake and Otacon witness the appearance of a wolf on the scene. It is possible, judging from the reactions of Otacon, that is the reincarnation of Wolf herself. The Wolf, after howling in mourning for the recently deceased, lifts her "sister" up upon her back and vanishes into the wilderness.
• In Metal Gear Solid 4 after the battle with both forms of Crying Wolf, the player can see a ghost picture of her if they take a picture of the door that leads to the Blast Furnace.
• In the video game Army of Two, there is a barrel for the MSG-90 called "MGS Sniper Wulf Mk. II." The spelling is most likely to avoid legal issues; since a figure of her was released, the name "Sniper Wolf" may well be trademarked by Konami.
• She was born in the 80's, because it was said that she lost her parents when she was 5, during the Iran-Iraq War.
• According to an IGN interview with Yoji Shinkawa, Sniper Wolf was originally intended to be a man, but when Shinkawa suggested to Hideo Kojima that Wolf be a young lady, Kojima thought it to be a much better idea. A subsequent interview with Shinkawa revealed that Sniper Wolf is still popular amongst the staff at Konami.