Do be warned that this article contains major spoilers for the entirety of Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater.
As far as the Metal Gear Solid series goes, the bar for writing a strong female character is basically on the floor. Going all the way back to Metal Gear Solid, we had Meryl, who was portrayed as a fangirl rookie soldier that Snake couldn’t wait to get rid of every step of the way. Except for the part where the plot necessitated that Snake show some concern for her after she got shot by Sniper Wolf, of course.
Then, we had Rose and Emma in Metal Gear Solid 2, both of whom were nothing more than either support for our main character Raiden, or a burden that you had to escort around in the series’ most infamous escort quest segment.
In Snake Eater, however, we were finally introduced to the series’ first female character who was not only not sexualized or objectified in some gross way, but was actually a certified badass. Meet The Boss, the mentor of Big Boss himself, and easily one of the most compelling characters we’ve ever seen in the series. This isn’t to say that The Boss isn’t without flaws, but considering how rare it is to find a woman in Metal Gear who could actually go toe-to-toe with the series’ toughest male icons, it’s not surprising to see that The Boss has become such an influential presence in the Metal Gear saga.
An Unbeatable Adversary
The Boss was first introduced in Snake Eater as Snake’s own mentor and it’s revealed to us that she was the one who developed CQC, a form of martial arts that’s endured throughout the series’ timeline. Even from the very start of the game, it’s clear that this is a woman with considerable influence on the world of MGS, just by virtue of how Snake and his peers speak of her, and to her. So when the game reveals that The Boss has defected to the Soviet Union, there’s an instant sense of dread. Unlike Volgin, who serves as your typical cartoonish MGS villain, the stakes with The Boss feel much higher and personal.
It certainly helps that every time Snake encounters The Boss, he gets knocked on his ass within seconds. Being a CQC master, it’s only natural that she’s able to overpower Snake in hand-to-hand combat every single time and even completely dismantle his weapon.
This helps to turn The Boss into an unbeatable foe who makes the player feel at least a little apprehensive each time you see her. Snake Eater makes a point of showing you that Snake is nowhere near her level with every encounter, so by the time you’re forced into a final showdown with her, you can’t help but wonder, “Am I really going to be able to beat her?”
And indeed, The Boss is not like any of the other boss encounters in Snake Eater. You can’t just simply wait for her to finish her attack patterns, then shoot her with a gun. In fact, trying to do just that is suicide. Unlike the other foes you’ve faced so far, The Boss is extremely proactive, rushing towards you with a terrifying CQC move at the ready. And if you have a gun in your hand when she comes for you, it gets dismantled.
Outside of Snake’s very first fight with Gray Fox — brilliantly set up with the screams and bloody hallways — the showdown with The Boss might take top spot as the most intimidating boss fight in the series because of how she’s been presented this entire time.
A Female Character that Doesn’t Get Sexualized
As much as I love Metal Gear, it’s hard to talk about it without at least some acknowledgment of how poorly the series has treated its female characters over the years. They’re either annoying and burdensome, or sex objects created for the male gaze. Meryl, Rose, and Emma fall into both camps, EVA and Paz fall into the latter, and don’t even get me started on MGS4‘s beauties, or Quiet.
The Boss, however, is the only exception. From the start, she’s presented as a legendary soldier, and dressed in appropriate military garb, mind you. The other characters talk to her as equals, she doesn’t get any gratuitous sexual or torture scenes, she’s someone that the game wants you to take seriously, and you do. On top of that, she’s the main driver of some of the most interesting ideas brought forth in Snake Eater. As the catalyst for Snake to form his army without borders, The Boss is the one who questions the political ideologies in the world and forces Snake to consider the hard questions: Will enemies today still be enemies 10 years from now? What does loyalty mean? Does it mean to be loyal to your country or the mission? Ultimately, do any of the wars we’re fighting today actually matter?
Metal Gear has always perpetuated a very heavy anti-war message in all of its entries, and this idea is distilled into The Boss’ own characterization. It’s actually pretty strong writing for once, which is rare in and of itself in the MGS series.
Again, this doesn’t mean that The Boss has been written flawlessly. Creator Hideo Kojima once again lets his biases show with his obsession with motherhood and how it’s intrinsically linked with femininity (see: Big Mama in MGS4, Mama in Death Stranding). The Boss makes frequent references to Snake and the Cobra Unit as her children, and the game beats you over the head with the ridiculous, snake-shaped scar on her chest to tell you in bright neon lights: “Hey look here! The Boss is a mother! She has gone through the hardships of pregnancy, motherhood, and a C-section!”
You don’t see Kojima’s older male characters calling their comrades their children (see: Kaz in MGS V), but not even The Boss can get away unscathed. It’s a very inelegant bit of writing that clouds the otherwise strong characterization of The Boss in my view, but hey, I’ll take what I can get.
21 years on, and Snake Eater still stands out as the most beloved game in the series, and I think a large part of that has to do with The Boss. I might be a little too optimistic here but perhaps this goes to show that when you have a genuinely strong female character who’s compelling not because of her gender, but by her own merits, the story around her is elevated as well. And that’s why Snake Eater continues to stand the test of time.
