Metal Gear’s creator took to Twitter to talk about the conceptual origins behind the name of series protagonist Solid Snake. Over eight tweets.
It… makes sense if you think about it, really. Have a look:
The reason I used Snake as code name in MG was snake was the most appropriate symbol of living thing that hides his presence, (cont)
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) March 6, 2014
hides his presence, & sneaks w/o any noise. The reason I didn't make any specific snake like cobra, anaconda, viper was because(cont)
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) March 6, 2014
(cont) because the protagonist is the player. The reason I use SOLID was to give opposite impression of soft image.
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) March 6, 2014
Like of all endings of the any series are, the appearance of strongest enemy was a must in MGS. It's Snake who can surpass the Snake. (cont)
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) March 6, 2014
Thus I brought about "clone". SOLID vs LIQUID. That is MGS.
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) March 6, 2014
As to develop sequel, the 3rd snake was needed. Since both solid & liquid express state, means same true state.(cont)
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) March 6, 2014
Naturally the next would be gas but gas snake is like gas human, not handsome name. So I borrowed from physics terms of (cont)
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) March 6, 2014
So I borrowed from physics terms of (cont) "solidus/liquidus". SOLIDUS is not state but implies the boundary of liquid and solid.
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) March 6, 2014
Did you get that? Solid for battle-hardened, Snake for stealthy. Only a snake can beat a snake, so Solid Snake’s nemesis for Metal Gear Solid also had to be a snake—thus Liquid Snake, where ‘Liquid’ is a reference to his being a clone. And apparently, Solidus Snake from Metal Gear Solid 2 could have been called Gas Snake. That would have been really silly.
Top pic courtesy of the Metal Gear Wiki
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