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Solid Snake: Badass agent. Special ops legend. Unsuccessful illustrator – wait, what?


For fans of the Metal Gear Solid games, Solid Snake is an iconic hero with a background steeped in legend. The clone of Big Boss who thwarted multiple potential nuclear catastrophes, the chiseled, bandana-wearing agent is a hardened hero.

But back in his pre-Solid, Metal Gear days, Snake apparently had a side hobby that not many people know about. Twitter user @kommander_hzk revealed images of an old game book from Konami, titled Metal Gear.


The muscled guy who looks like a cross between a young Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson would be our protagonist, Solid Snake.

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The game book apparently works in the style of a choose your own adventure book, with a branching plot that changes depending on the reader's choices within the story.


The character introduction page of the book reveals the bio of Solid Snake as follows:

Normally an unsuccessful illustrator, his true identity is a member of the secret unit, FOXHOUND. Cool and calculating, yet a warrior skilled at bold actions.


Note that while his name is English is written as "Solid Snake," his name in Japanese is slightly different from what has become the accepted norm indicating that this Solid Snake might be a different person from the one we know.

Name in book: ソリッド・スネイク

Name in games: ソリッド・スネーク

Then again, this could be a side of Solid Snake that the games have yet to explore.


Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

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